Terminal device, roadside device, communications system, and communications method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11212653-B2
Application number	US-201816642677-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 13, 2018
Priority date	Aug 29, 2017
Publication date	Dec 28, 2021
Grant date	Dec 28, 2021

Abstract

A terminal device includes: a pedestrian-to-vehicle communication device configured to communicate with an in-vehicle terminal by using a first communication method, in which direct communication is performed as pedestrian-to-vehicle communication; a wireless LAN communication device configured to communicate with the in-vehicle terminal by using a second communication method, in which indirect communication is performed via a roadside device disposed on or near a road; and a controller configured to determine whether or not the terminal device is in a risky state based on state information indicating a state of the terminal device, and select either one of the first communication method, in which direct communication is used and the second communication method, in which indirect communication is used, based on a result of the determination.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A terminal device for transmitting a message including position information of the terminal device to a different terminal device through pedestrian-to-vehicle communication, the terminal device comprising:
a first communication device configured to communicate with the different terminal device by using a first communication method which is a direct communication method, in which direct communication is performed as the pedestrian-to-vehicle communication;
a second communication device configured to communicate with the different terminal device by using a second communication method which is an indirect communication method, in which indirect communication is performed via a roadside device disposed on or near a road; and
a controller configured to select either one or both of the direct communication method and the indirect communication method based on device information, the device information including at least one of state information or attribute information, the state information indicating a state of the terminal device, the attribute information indicating an attribute of the terminal device, the controller being further configured to transmit the message to the different terminal device by using the one or both of the direct communication method and the indirect communication method selected by the controller,
wherein the controller is configured to determine, as a first determination, whether or not the terminal device is located within a specific area based on the position information and map information, and select the one or both of the direct communication method and the indirect communication method based on a result of the first determination, and
wherein the controller is configured such that, when being located within an area around a railroad crossing as the specific area, the controller determines, as a second determination, whether or not a railroad crossing gate is in a non-passage state based on information on operation of the railroad crossing gate acquired from a railroad crossing gate controller, and select the one or both of the direct communication method and the indirect communication method based on a result of the second determination.

2. A terminal device for transmitting a message including position information of the terminal device to a different terminal device through pedestrian-to-vehicle communication, the terminal device comprising:
a first communication device configured to communicate with the different terminal device by using a first communication method which is a direct communication method, in which direct communication is performed as the pedestrian-to-vehicle communication;
a second communication device configured to communicate with the different terminal device by using a second communication method which is an indirect communication method, in which indirect communication is performed via a roadside device disposed on or near a road; and
a controller configured to select either one or both of the direct communication method and the indirect communication method based on device information, the device information including at least one of state information or attribute information, the state information indicating a state of the terminal device, the attribute information indicating an attribute of the terminal device, the controller being further configured to transmit the message to the different terminal device by using the one or both of the direct communication method and the indirect communication method selected by the controller,
wherein the controller is configured to determine whether or not a user of the terminal device is a specific person based on the attribute information included in the device information, and wherein the controller is configured such that, when the user is the specific person, the controller selects both of the direct communication method and the indirect communication method.

3. A terminal device for transmitting a message including position information of the terminal device to a different terminal device through pedestrian-to-vehicle communication, the terminal device comprising:
a first communication device configured to communicate with the different terminal device by using a first communication method which is a direct communication method, in which direct communication is performed as the pedestrian-to-vehicle communication;
a second communication device configured to communicate with the different terminal device by using a second communication method which is an indirect communication method, in which indirect communication is performed via a roadside device disposed on or near a road; and
a controller configured to select either one or both of the direct communication method and the indirect communication method based on device information, the device information including at least one of state information or attribute information, the state information indicating a state of the terminal device, the attribute information indicating an attribute of the terminal device, the controller being further configured to transmit the message to the different terminal device by using the one or both of the direct communication method and the indirect communication method selected by the controller,
wherein the controller is configured to determine whether or not a vehicle carrying the terminal device is a specific type of vehicle based on the attribute information included in the device information, and wherein the controller is configured such that, when the vehicle carrying the terminal device is the specific type of vehicle, the controller selects both of the direct communication method and the indirect communication method.

4. The terminal device according to claim 3 , wherein the controller is configured to determine whether or not the vehicle carrying the terminal device is the specific type of vehicle and is in a state of high urgency based on the attribute information included in the device information, and wherein the controller is configured such that, when the vehicle is the specific type of vehicle and is in the state of high urgency, the controller selects both of the direct communication method and the indirect communication method.

5. The terminal device according to claim 3 , wherein the controller is configured to determine whether or not the vehicle carrying the terminal device is the specific type of vehicle and multiple pedestrians are present near the vehicle based on the attribute information included in the device information, and wherein the controller is configured such that, when the vehicle is the specific type of vehicle and the multiple pedestrians are present near the vehicle, the controller selects both of the direct communication method and the indirect communication method.

6. A roadside device disposed on or near a road for communicating with terminal devices, the roadside device comprising:
a communication device configured to relay a message transmitted between the terminal devices, wherein the message includes a position information of a first terminal device of the terminal devices; and
a controller configured to collect device information including at least one of state information or attribute information, the state information indicating a state of the first terminal device, the attribute information indicating an attribute of the first terminal device, the controller being further configured to select either one or both of a direct communication method, in which direct communication is performed between the terminal devices, and an indirect communication method, in which indirect communication is performed between the terminal devices via the roadside device, based on the device information, and to transmit a message including information indicating

Assignees

• Panasonic Corp

Inventors

• Ueno Tsuyoshi
• Sudo Hiroaki
• Gomyo Kazumasa
• Tanaka Satoshi
• Muramatsu Shintaro

Classifications

• H04W4/027

  using movement velocity, acceleration information · CPC title

• H04W4/44

  for communication between vehicles and infrastructures, e.g. vehicle-to-cloud [V2C] or vehicle-to-home [V2H] · CPC title

• H04W40/24

  Connectivity information management, e.g. connectivity discovery or connectivity update · CPC title

• H04W4/90

  Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS] · CPC title

• H04W28/0958

  based on metrics or performance parameters · CPC title