JP3982425B2 - Vehicle navigation device and vehicle wireless communication device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a vehicle navigation device and a vehicle wireless communication device equipped with a VICS receiver and another wireless communication device.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As a reference, an in-vehicle navigation device that displays a travel route of an automobile together with map information is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 1).
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-1077917
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
VICS (Road Traffic Information Communication System) is widely used as a system for obtaining real-time traffic information in vehicles (for example, automobiles), and as a system for reducing traffic congestion and providing traffic information such as parking lots. It is operating.
[0005]
In this VICS, a radio beacon is transmitted at a frequency of about 2499 MHz (fundamental wave) from a base station installed on the roadside of an expressway, and a vehicle occupant receives a radio beacon with a VICS receiver on the vehicle side. Various information services can be exchanged.
[0006]
On the other hand, the vehicle may be equipped with a wireless communication device different from the VICS receiver. For example, Bluetooth (BlueTooth) communication technology compliant with the Bluetooth standard is being established, and vehicles equipped with this Bluetooth communication device are becoming popular. According to the standard, communication by Bluetooth is performed in a frequency band (about 2400 MHz to 2483.5 MHz), and since this frequency band is close to the frequency band used by VICS, communication by a Bluetooth communication device is not VICS information. The inventors have confirmed that reception of radio beacons is affected.
So, as a way to solve this problem,
(1) The effect of the filter is increased with respect to the frequency used by each wireless communication device. (2) There is a solution that increases the installation position of each wireless communication device.
[0007]
However, even if the filter effect is to be increased as in (1), there is a problem in that a sufficient filter effect cannot be obtained with respect to each other's use frequency because the use frequencies of the wireless communication devices are quite close.
Further, even if the installation position of the wireless communication device is set far away as in (2), for example, if it is installed in a device (for example, a navigation device) disposed in the instrument panel of the vehicle, a small casing (several number) Since the mounting position of the two wireless communication devices is very close, it may cause interference.
[0008]
On the other hand, for reference, a mobile phone in which a PHS standard communication device is mounted on a mobile phone conforming to the PDC standard has been developed. In this case, a PDC standard communication device and a PHS standard communication device cannot communicate simultaneously. There is no need to consider interference because either one is selectively used. Mobile phones in which a Bluetooth standard communication device is mounted on a mobile phone conforming to the CDMA standard have also been developed. However, since the frequency used is sufficiently separated in these standards, for example, by increasing the filter effect, Interference can be prevented.
[0009]
However, if a VICS receiver and a Bluetooth communication device are simultaneously installed in a vehicle navigation device or the like, the use frequency bands (fundamental waves) of the two wireless communication devices must be close to each other as described above. The interference prevention method described above cannot be used. As an example, an example in which a VICS receiver and a Bluetooth communication device are simultaneously mounted has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and even if other wireless communication devices are simultaneously mounted in the VICS receiver, fundamental waves, spurious and This is not preferable because it may be affected by harmonics.
[0010]
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and a vehicle navigation apparatus and a vehicle wireless communication that can prevent interference as much as possible even when both a VICS receiver and another wireless communication device are housed in a small casing. To provide an apparatus.
[0011]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, even when the VICS receiver and the other wireless communication device are both housed in a small casing, the other wireless communication device is operating when the VICS receiver starts receiving data. Even so, the control means sequentially determines whether or not the other wireless communication device is operating while the received data is being fetched, so the transmission power of the other wireless communication device is reduced or the operation is stopped. And interference can be prevented as much as possible.
[0012]
In addition, when the control means determines that the other wireless communication device is operating and affecting the VICS receiver , the control means decreases the transmission power of the other wireless communication device. The influence on the receiver can be minimized. As a result, interference can be prevented as much as possible, and the communication operation of the wireless communication device can also be maintained.
[0013]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the control means determines that another wireless communication device is operating and affecting the VICS receiver, the control means causes the transmission power of the wireless communication device to be zero. The influence of the wireless communication device on the VICS receiver can be eliminated. Thereby, interference can be prevented completely.
[0014]
According to the invention described in claim 3 , when the control means determines that another wireless communication apparatus is operating and affecting the VICS receiver, the wireless communication apparatus is selected and operated by the operation means. Then, since the reception data received by the VICS receiver is displayed on the display means, the reception data received so far by the VICS receiver can be displayed. In addition, when the VICS receiver is selected and operated by the operation means, the control means reduces the transmission power of the wireless communication device, so that the influence of the wireless communication device on the VICS receiver can be reduced as much as possible. Therefore, it can be selectively used according to the user's selection, and versatility and convenience can be improved.
[0015]
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, when it is determined by the control means that the wireless communication device is operating and affecting the VICS receiver, the notification means indicates that the operation of the wireless communication device is the VICS receiver. Since the user is informed of the influence on the received data received by the user, the user can quickly know the operating state.
[0016]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a vehicle navigation device equipped with a VICS receiver and a Bluetooth communication device will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 2, a vehicle navigation device 1 is mounted in an automobile (vehicle). This navigation device 1 is provided with a main body integrally fixed together with a display device (display) 2 disposed on an instrument panel A in a vehicle and having a size of about several cm cubic.
[0017]
In FIG. 1 showing a schematic electrical configuration of the entire vehicle navigation apparatus 1 as a functional block diagram, the vehicle navigation apparatus 1 mounted in an automobile includes a display device 2 as a display means and a notification means, and a position detector. 3, the map data input device 4, the memory unit 5, the voice output unit 6, the data communication unit 7, the VICS receiver 8, the Bluetooth communication device 9, the operation switch group 10 and the like are connected to a control circuit 11 mainly composed of a microcomputer. It is configured. The Bluetooth communication device 9 corresponds to the wireless communication device of the present invention.
[0018]
Among these, the position detector 3 requires a geomagnetic sensor 12, a gyroscope 13, a distance sensor 14, a GPS receiver 15 used to obtain vehicle position information based on radio waves from GPS satellites, and the like. This is a portion that is provided according to the specification, and that specifies the current position, traveling direction, altitude, and the like of the vehicle with high accuracy.
[0019]
The map data input device 4 includes a driver device for reading data from a map data recording medium storing various data such as map data. As the map data recording medium, a large-capacity storage medium such as a CD-ROM or a DVD-ROM is used.
[0020]
The memory unit 5 includes, for example, a ROM, a RAM, and an EEPROM, and a storage area for data such as a program area, a work area area, and vehicle information related to navigation is secured, and various programs and various information are stored. It has become so.
[0021]
Based on the synthesized voice data obtained through the map data input device 4, the voice output unit 6 outputs various voices such as voice guides at the time of route guidance and voice guides for operation explanation, guidance, and the like.
[0022]
The data communication unit 7 has a bi-directional communication function with an external device (not shown), and is composed of, for example, a packet communication device, a mobile phone, and a car phone.
[0023]
A VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System) receiver 8 receives an optical beacon (emission wavelength 850 nm), a radio beacon (frequency about 2499 MHz), FM multiplex broadcasting (from a base station (not shown) installed on the road) The frequency 76 to 90 MHz) is received and various information is received, and the information can be transmitted to the base station (not shown) by the above-described optical beacon. Although a specific hardware configuration is not illustrated, as a configuration for receiving a radio beacon, a radio signal received by an antenna is filtered by a filter, frequency-converted by a down converter, and then demodulated by a demodulator. At this time, data obtained by measuring a reception level (RSSI) and data demodulated by a demodulator are supplied to the control circuit 11.
[0024]
The display device 2 is made up of, for example, a full-color liquid crystal display, and on its screen, a map around the current location of the vehicle is normally displayed at a scale that is selected and set. A current location mark indicating the traveling direction is selectively displayed.
[0025]
The Bluetooth communication device 9 can perform communication conforming to the Bluetooth (registered trademark) standard, and performs spread spectrum communication by a frequency hopping method in a frequency band (about 2400 MHz to 2483.5 MHz). It has become. Although a specific hardware configuration is not shown, a radio wave signal received by an antenna is processed by a high frequency circuit and processed by a Bluetooth control CPU, and the processed data is given to the control circuit 11 by serial communication. By providing data from the control circuit 11 side to the Bluetooth control CPU through serial communication, data can be transmitted and received between the Bluetooth communication device 9 and the control circuit 11.
[0026]
The VICS receiver 8 and the Bluetooth communication device 9 normally receive and communicate with each other independently, and the control circuit 11 transmits a control command to the Bluetooth communication device 9 by serial communication. As a result, the operation of the Bluetooth communication device 9 is monitored and the transmission power of the Bluetooth communication device 9 is adjusted, and data is received from the VICS receiver 8. Will be described later.
[0027]
The control circuit 11 is composed mainly of a CPU. Due to its software configuration, the current position information of the vehicle detected by the position detector 3 and the road shape of the map data acquired from the map data input device 4 are used. Based on the data, the road on which the current position of the vehicle exists is specified, and an appropriate route from the starting point to the destination specified by the user through the operation switch group 10 is calculated according to the specified condition. Information is displayed on the screen of the display device 2 together with the map data information obtained from the map data input device 4, thereby realizing a navigation function.
[0028]
The operation of the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG.
First, the navigation device 1 implements the above-described navigation function and executes the operation of the flowchart shown in FIG. Here, the case where the Bluetooth communication device 9 does not operate and the case where it operates will be described separately.
[0029]
<When the Bluetooth communication device 9 does not operate when the VICS receiver 8 captures the received data>
The control circuit 11 monitors the reception level (RSSI) of the VICS receiver 8 (S1), and determines whether or not the reception level is greater than a threshold value (S2). The reception level of the VICS receiver 8 generally varies depending on the distance from the VICS radio beacon transmitter on the highway. The threshold value of the reception level is preset in the control circuit 11, and the VICS reception data can be received by the VICS receiver 8 when the reception level is larger than the threshold value. When the reception level is higher than the threshold value in S2, the control circuit 11 causes the VICS receiver 8 to start taking reception data for each frame, for example (S3). Then, the control circuit 11 determines whether or not the reception data from the VICS receiver 8 has been received (S4).
[0030]
At this time, if the reception by the VICS receiver 8 is not completed, the control circuit 11 determines whether or not the Bluetooth communication device 9 is operating and determines whether or not the VICS receiver 8 is adversely affected. (S5). At this time, if the Bluetooth communication device 9 is not operating, the control circuit 11 returns to S3 to fetch data for each frame and sequentially determines the operation of the Bluetooth communication device 9 until reception is completed (S3 to S5). ). When the reception is completed (S4: YES), the control circuit 11 displays the data received by the VICS receiver 8 on the display device 2 (S6: NO, S7), and again monitors the reception level of the VICS receiver 8. Return to (S1). As a result, the VICS receiver 8 can receive all the series of data of the frame.
[0031]
<When the Bluetooth communication device 9 is operating or started when the VICS receiver 8 captures received data>
In this case, when the control circuit 11 determines in S5 that the Bluetooth communication device 9 is operating and adversely affects the VICS receiver 8 (S5: YES), the transmission of the Bluetooth communication device 9 is performed. The fact that the operation affects the reception operation of the VICS receiver 8 is notified by displaying a message such as “There is a disturbance in the VICS reception” on the display device 2 (S8). As a result, the user can quickly know the operation state. As a specific configuration for determining whether or not the control circuit 11 has an adverse effect on the VICS receiver 8, for example, the control circuit 11 or the VICS receiver 8 may receive an error in received data of the VICS receiver 8. This is done by measuring the rate and determining that the error rate exceeds a predetermined value.
[0032]
Along with this notification, the control circuit 11 prompts the user to preferentially select one of the Bluetooth communication device 9 and the VICS receiver 8. Specifically, the control circuit 11 causes the display device 2 to display a message such as “Which Bluetooth or VICS have priority? Is prioritized (S9).
[0033]
When this content is selected by the user and Bluetooth is preferentially selected and operated (S10: YES), the control circuit 11 displays the received data received by the VICS receiver 8 on the display device 2 (S11), After the operation of the Bluetooth communication device 9 is monitored, it is confirmed that the state has been changed to the non-operation state (S12), and the process returns to the reception level monitoring operation (S1) of the VICS receiver 8. Therefore, when the Bluetooth communication device 9 is selected and operated, data received by the VICS receiver 8 so far is displayed. Thereby, it can use properly by a user's selection and can improve versatility and convenience.
[0034]
On the other hand, when VICS is selected and operated in S9 (S10: NO), the control circuit 11 reduces the transmission power of the Bluetooth communication device 9 (S13), and the process returns to S3 and is repeated. In this case, in S13, the transmission power of the Bluetooth communication device 9 is reduced to a level assumed not to affect the VICS receiver 8. In this case, the control circuit 11 may be configured to sequentially monitor the operation of the Bluetooth communication device 9.
[0035]
If the VICS receiver 8 is selected and operated at this time, the processes of S3, S4, S5, S8, S9, S10, and S13 are repeated. That is, if the control circuit 11 determines that the influence is still exerted even if the level is assumed to have no influence in the first processing loop, the transmission power is further reduced. It will be. By repeating the process in this manner, the data can be received by the VICS receiver 8, and when the reception is completed (S4: YES), the data received by the VICS receiver 8 can be displayed in S7. it can.
[0036]
When the reception is completed in S4 and it is determined that the Bluetooth communication device 9 is operating in S5 (S6: YES), the control circuit 11 restarts the communication operation by the Bluetooth communication device 9 (S14). ), The transmission power reduced in S13 is restored. Therefore, while the VICS receiver 8 is receiving the reception data, the influence of the operation of the Bluetooth communication device 9 on the operation of the VICS receiver 8 can be reduced as much as possible.
[0037]
According to such an embodiment, the control circuit 11 causes the VICS receiver 8 to start taking reception data when the reception level received by the VICS receiver 8 is greater than a preset threshold value. In order to sequentially determine whether or not the Bluetooth communication device 9 is operating during capture, even if the VICS receiver 8 and the Bluetooth communication device 9 are both contained in a small casing, the VICS receiver 8 receives data. Even if the Bluetooth communication device 9 is operating at the time, the transmission power of the Bluetooth communication device 9 can be reduced, and mutual interference can be prevented as much as possible.
[0038]
(Other embodiments)
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and for example, the following modifications and expansions are possible.
Although the embodiment in which the Bluetooth communication device 9 is applied to a wireless communication device has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and another wireless communication device (for example, a mobile phone conforming to the communication standard of a mobile phone) is used instead of the Bluetooth communication device 9. It can be applied to telephones and the like.
[0039]
In the embodiment, when it is determined by the control circuit 11 that the Bluetooth communication device 9 is operating, the transmission power of the Bluetooth communication device 9 is gradually reduced to a level that does not affect the VICS receiver 8. However, when the Bluetooth communication device 9 is operating, the control circuit 11 may be configured to immediately reduce the transmission power of the Bluetooth communication device 9 to 0 in S13. In this case, the influence of the Bluetooth communication device 9 on the VICS receiver 8 can be eliminated. Thereby, interference can be prevented completely.
After the VICS receiver 8 is once selected and operated in S9 and S10, the process of S9 and S10 may be passed in the second and subsequent processes to be processed.
Although the embodiment applied to the vehicle navigation apparatus 1 is shown, the navigation function (for example, the position detector 3, the map data input device 4) is not provided, the display device 2, the VICS receiver 8, the Bluetooth communication device 9, The present invention can be applied to a vehicle wireless communication device equipped with the control circuit 11 or the like. The display device 2 may be applied to the vehicle display device by mounting the VICS receiver 8 and the Bluetooth communication device 9.
When the voice communication function and the data communication function of the Bluetooth communication device 9 are divided and voice communication is performed, the transmission power of the Bluetooth communication device 9 is gradually reduced, and when the data communication is performed, the Bluetooth communication device 9 is used. Alternatively, the control circuit 11 may be configured so that the transmission power immediately becomes zero.
Although the embodiment in which the display device 2 that does not have the navigation function is integrally provided in the vehicle navigation device 1 has been described, it can be applied to the present invention even if it is provided separately.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an electrical configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing an arrangement in a vehicle. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing processing operation contents.
1 is a vehicle navigation device (vehicle wireless communication device), 2 is a display device, 8 is a VICS receiver, 9 is a Bluetooth communication device (wireless communication device), 10 is an operation means, and 11 is a control circuit (control means). is there.

Claims (6)

The vehicle navigation apparatus equipped with a radio communications device close to that of the VICS receiver and the VICS receiver using frequency band,
When the reception level received by the VICS receiver is greater than a preset threshold value, the VICS receiver starts to receive the received data, and the wireless communication device operates during the reception of the received data. Control means for sequentially determining whether or not ,
The vehicle navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control means reduces the transmission power of the wireless communication device when it is determined that the wireless communication device is operating and affecting the VICS receiver . In a vehicle navigation device equipped with a VICS receiver and a wireless communication device having a frequency band close to that of the VICS receiver,
When the reception level received by the VICS receiver is greater than a preset threshold value, the VICS receiver starts to receive the received data, and the wireless communication device operates during the reception of the received data. Control means for sequentially determining whether or not,
The vehicle navigation apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein when the wireless communication device is operating and affecting the VICS receiver, the control unit causes transmission power of the wireless communication device to be zero . An operation means capable of preferentially selecting either the wireless communication device or the VICS receiver by a user,
When it is determined that the wireless communication device is operating and affecting the VICS receiver, the control unit is configured to select the VICS receiver in a state in which the wireless communication device is preferentially selected by the operation unit. 2. The reception data received in step (1) is displayed on a display means, and the transmission power of the wireless communication device is reduced when the VICS receiver is preferentially selected and operated by the operation means. Or the navigation apparatus for vehicles of 2 . When it is determined by the control means that the wireless communication device is operating and affecting the VICS receiver, the operation of the wireless communication device affects the received data received by the VICS receiver. The vehicle navigation device according to claim 1, further comprising a notification unit that notifies the outside of the vehicle. In a vehicle wireless communication device equipped with a VICS receiver and a wireless communication device having a frequency close to that of the VICS receiver,
When the reception level received by the VICS receiver is greater than a preset threshold value, the VICS receiver starts to receive the received data, and the wireless communication device operates during the reception of the received data. Control means for sequentially determining whether or not,
Wherein, when said wireless communication device determines that it affects the operation and and VICS receiver, vehicle radio communication apparatus characterized by lowering the transmission power of the wireless communication device. In non-linear equipped with radio communication apparatus for a vehicle communication device close in the used frequency VICS receiver and the VICS receiver,
When the reception level received by the VICS receiver is greater than a preset threshold value, the VICS receiver starts to receive the received data, and the wireless communication device operates during the reception of the received data. Control means for sequentially determining whether or not ,
The vehicle wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit sets transmission power of the wireless communication device to 0 when it is determined that the wireless communication device is operating and affecting a VICS receiver .

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