Nippondenso Co., Ltd.

Denso Corporation

Manabu Matsumoto

Ichiro Yoshida

Yoshiyuki Kago

Toshihide Ando

Mutsushi Yamashita

Atsushi Watanabe

Michinaga Nagura

Takashi Sakurai

Naoki Tokitsu

Taisei Katoh

Taisei Kato

Akira Torii

A fixed station and an on-board apparatus are constructed to carry out a short range communication. The on-board apparatus specifies an application from a command included in reception data received from the fixed station and starts a corresponding processing, when an acquired command is a menu selection command. A menu including commodities and charges are displayed. When a selected item is determined, the determined content is displayed. When an IC card unit receives an IC card for settling the charge, the charge is settled by rewriting the IC card by data exchange via wireless communication. A short range wireless unit is used to ensure individuality of the communication. This short range communication may also be used at a vehicle repair shop, at a curved corner on a travel path or the like.

Short range wireless communication using on-board apparatus

A stationary communication device (SCD) is placed at a predetermined position to form a communication area covering vehicles traveling on a road. A vehicular communication device (VCD) is mounted on a vehicle for communicating with the SCD when the vehicle enters in the communication area. The SCD divides sound guidance data into a plurality of sound data blocks of predetermined communication frames and transmits the divided sound data blocks successively. The VCD receives the divided sound data blocks transmitted from the SCD, and requests the SCD to transmit specific sound data block again when the VCD fails to receive this specific sound data block, thereby issuing a sound guidance using the received sound data blocks including the specific sound data block transmitted again.

Information delivery method for vehicular communication devices

A method and apparatus for enabling a processor to execute processing routine even if a power-source voltage drop occurs during processing. When an ignition key switch 102 is closed, voltage VB is supplied from a vehicle-mounted battery B1 to a comparator AMP of a CPU 108 and to a power-source stabilizer circuit 201 of a regulator 200. Also, capacitors C1 and C2 are charged with a load from the vehicle-mounted battery B1. Even if the power-source line is momentarily interrupted while in this state, the capacitor C1 has already been charged, and so the transition of the drop in voltage VB is gradual compared with a case wherein the capacitor C1 is absent. Additionally, because the capacitor C2 has already been charged, voltage VCC supplied to the CPU 108 from the regulator 200 is held at a fixed value for a certain interval. Because of this, the drop in voltage VCC is delayed and the power source is switched from the vehicle-mounted battery B1 to a battery B2, thereby allowing the CPU 108 to continue to perform uninterrupted data processing.

Final accommodation device for power-source drop

When a vehicle-mounted device receives a FCM signal from a road-side communication device, the vehicle-mounted device receives or transmits a data signal in accordance with a link direction and a time slot specified by the FCM signal. When the vehicle-mounted device does not receive a signal to be received within an expected time, or when it transmits an ACK signal which is a last signal of communication, retry processing starts. In this retry processing, the vehicle-mounted device determines the contents of communication processing to be next carried out from both the contents of the signal transmitted from the road-side communication device and the contents of the last time communication processing.

Moving-body communication device

An apparatus has a detector for, when the operation of a vehicle is started, determining whether a specific portable wireless tolling storage medium is loaded in an automatic toll processing unit installed in the vehicle. A warning unit produces a visual or auditory warning if the detector determines that the specific tolling storage medium is not loaded. The apparatus enables realization of a tolling system that prevents incidents where a user neglects to load a tolling storage medium into a toll processing unit, thus ensuring normal toll processing.

Apparatus for checking for loading of a storage medium

A communication system for vehicles, which obtains exact communication processing with responders mounted on vehicles running on a road having a plurality of traffic lanes, is disclosed. An expressway has three traffic lanes. A gantry is disposed in a specified position on the expressway. On the gantry are disposed antenna units to counter the traffic lanes respectively. The antenna units are provided with communication areas by means of a pair of antenna elements respectively. The antenna element is composed of a microstrip array antenna disposed with eight pieces of patches laid out in two rows with four pieces in each row. The antenna units controls communication processing to communicate with vehicles adjoining each other. When response signals are sent from a vehicle mounted responder, the vehicle mounted responder is fixed and communication processing for toll collection is performed. As a result, communication processing with responders mounted on vehicles respectively which are running in the respective traffic lanes can exactly be performed.

Communication system for vehicles

A semiconductor integrated circuit, which can precisely measure the sleep time of a CPU by using a built-in oscillation circuit which does not utilize an oscillator to automatically activate the CPU, is disclosed. A communication control part of a responder mounted on a vehicle, which composes a toll road charging system, is composed of an LSI having a built-in CPU with a sleep function for automatically stopping operation clocks. The CPU is held in the sleep state for a certain time period from the time when the responder completes data communications with a ground station until the time when the responder exits the communication area of the ground station. The sleep time is measured by having a dividing counter downcount oscillation signals from a CR oscillation circuit built in the LSI. However, as the oscillation frequency of the CR oscillation circuit varies according to the operational environment, such as temperature, the CPU obtains the frequency error of the second clock pulses and correct the count value for sleep time measurement based on the reference clock pulses from a quartz oscillator, which becomes the operation clocks of its own, immediately before entering the sleep state.

Semiconductor integrated circuit and communication control apparatus

To enable communications between a vehicle-installed device and an antenna unit even when the vehicle-installed device passes through an area where neighboring communication areas overlap each other, a toll collection point of a multiple-lane express road is provided with a gantry having antenna units provided corresponding to the lanes. The antenna units are controlled so that neighboring units alternately transmit signals. The antenna units transmit signals according to a predetermined cycle and transmit an unmodulated carrier wave. Upon receiving a signal, a vehicle-installed device generates a response signal by using a control circuit and transmits a signal by reflection, fixes a communication party for further communications and assumes a status of waiting for an interrogation signal. If the vehicle-installed device receives pilot signals repeatedly from a single antenna unit, the device determines that the communications have failed, and cancels the fixation of communication party and invalidates the party to become able to communicate with other antenna units. The vehicle-installed device will communicate with one of the antenna units without a failure even if the device passes through an overlapping area, thus performing tolling processing without a failure.

Vehicle communication system and method providing high responsivity to

After a vehicle-mounted unit determines that a vehicle has entered a toll chargeable area, if communication is determined to be allowable through a flag, communication operations are performed and after finishing communication operations, the flag is set and communication operations thereafter are prohibited. Next, the unit determines if a travel distance has exceeded a toll chargeable distance. The travel distance is measured by counting the number of vehicular speed pulses received after the end of the communication operations, and the toll chargeable distance is set to be equal or greater than the travel distance needed by the vehicle to enter the communication area and leave it. If it is determined that travel distance has exceeded toll chargeable distance, the flag is reset, communication prohibition is released and communication thereafter is allowed.

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Handa, Japan

Manabu Matsumoto