JP3526539B2 - Seamless information provision system - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a user who is frequently in a communication environment, such as a user who is on board a vehicle, and is always provided with the best communication medium in the communication environment in which the user is located. The present invention relates to an information providing system aiming to provide seamless information across a plurality of communication media without disconnection by providing a function of automatically switching.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Currently, there are FM multiplex broadcasting, optical beacon, DSRC, digital cellular, etc. as communication media providing information to users on board vehicles. It is used to provide traffic information because it is suitable for providing the contents of. Optical beacons and DSRCs are capable of high-speed transmission, but the range provided per unit is as narrow as a few meters and is scattered, so limited information such as traffic information in a narrow range is provided. . Digital cellular is capable of responding to individual users and continuous communication, so that route guidance and tourist information are provided according to each user's request.

[0003]

At present, in addition to traffic information, value-added information such as e-mail services and tourist information has started to be provided to users who are on board the vehicle. Is not very advanced. Considering the explosive spread of the Internet using terrestrial wire lines, poor response due to acquisition of large-capacity value-added information using low-speed communication media and communication charges tend to be expensive. It is considered that this is a bottleneck in the spread of information provision services to vehicles. Currently, IMT-20 is used as a faster communication medium.
00 and MMAC (Multimedia Mobile)
Access Communication System
Ems) is being put to practical use, and high speed communication will be possible if it is realized.

However, the transmission speeds of these communication media greatly differ depending on the communication environment, and it is considered difficult to continuously use the communication media at a high transmission speed when the communication environment is frequently different like a user on board a vehicle. . In addition, depending on the content of the information, it is not always necessary to obtain the communication fee at high speed even after paying an expensive communication fee. Therefore, there is a need for an information providing system that automatically switches to the most suitable communication medium according to the communication environment in which the user is placed to send and receive information.

The present invention, like a user in a vehicle,
For users who change their communication environment frequently, we automatically switch to the best communication media in the communication environment where they are located, and provide seamless information across multiple communication media without disconnection. The object is to provide an information providing system.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is a system for seamlessly providing various information to a moving user terminal, and a content provider that provides the various information at appropriate times. A traffic control center for collecting traffic control information, various communication media networks, various communication media base stations connected to the various communication media networks,
Estimating the movable range of the user terminal by acquiring the traffic control information and the movement status information from the user terminal,
A network management center that forwards various information requested by the user terminal to the various communication media base stations within the movable range, and the various communication media networks physically.
Integrated network systematically integrated, the content provider,
A node device that connects the traffic control center, the network management center, and the various communication media base stations to an integrated network, and physically and systematically convert between the integrated network and various communication media networks to enable interconnection. A media gateway, the user terminal side is connected to the movement status grasping system for grasping movement status information of the user terminal, the various communication media networks, and the grasped movement status information is connected to the network. Send to the management center,
Various communication media terminals for receiving the various information from the content provider, accommodating the various communication media terminals, select one communication media terminal capable of communicating at any time to switch the connection, and connect from the user terminal At least a user media gateway capable of being handled like one communication media terminal is provided.

Alternatively, the network management center includes a traffic control including one or more of traffic information, accident information, construction information, and signal control information obtained from the traffic control center connected using a ground line or a satellite line. Information, and the current position transmitted from the user terminal, the moving direction, the moving speed, using the movement status information including one or more of the movement history, to estimate the movable range of the user within a certain time, It is characterized in that a plurality or a single communication media base station existing within the movable range is grasped.

Alternatively, the media gateway is
It is characterized in that a protocol, a transmission method, and a transmission speed between the various communication media networks and the integrated network are converted to perform mutual connection.

Alternatively, the user media gateway connected to the user terminal configures the various information to be acquired by using the user terminal when there are a plurality of communication media terminals determined to be communicable. It is characterized in that a communication media terminal with a high priority is used among various communication media terminals that are preferentially used when acquiring the content, which is set in advance according to the type and capacity of the content, and the time period of acquisition.

Alternatively, the user terminal uses the communication media terminal selected and connected by the user media gateway, and the user's current position, moving direction, moving speed, and moving history acquired by the moving situation grasping system. Is transmitted to the network management center.

Alternatively, the network management center acquires one or more of traffic information, accident information, construction information, and signal control information collected and created by the traffic control center.

Alternatively, the network management center is a base including at least one of communication type, installation location, communication area, and accommodable user number of the base station connected to the communication media network, which has been notified in advance. It is characterized in that a plurality of or a single various communication media base stations existing within the movable range of the user terminal are grasped from the station information.

Alternatively, the network management center, in addition to the movement status information transmitted from the user terminal and the traffic control information acquired from the traffic control center,
It is characterized by estimating the movable range of the user within a fixed time from the road map information owned by himself.

Alternatively, the network management center is characterized in that the road position, length, width, connection status, signal installation position, signal type, and control method are stored in advance as road map information.

Alternatively, the network management center compares the base station information owned by itself with the estimated movable range of the user terminal, and a plurality of or within the movable range of the user terminal are detected. It is characterized by grasping a single variety of communication media base stations.

Alternatively, the network management center possesses in advance the media type information of the communication media terminal connected to the user terminal, so that various communication media existing within the estimated movable range of the user terminal. It is characterized by grasping available communication media base stations among the base stations.

Alternatively, the network management center exists in all or a part of the node devices forming the integrated network within the estimated movable range of the user terminal, and It is characterized by instructing a communication media base station capable of communicating with various connected communication media terminals to transfer information addressed to the user.

Alternatively, the user media gateway is characterized by converting a protocol, a transmission method, and a transmission speed of the selected communication media terminal, and treating it as one communication medium from the user terminal.

Alternatively, the user media gateway continuously switches the communication media terminals used to acquire the contents forming the various types of information in accordance with the change in the communication environment due to the movement or stop of the user, It is characterized in that the content can be acquired seamlessly.

According to the present invention, the moving range of the user is estimated on the network side, and the requested information is distributed in advance to the base station, so that the user can set the communication environment in which he / she is located and the communication contents he / she wants to use. According to the above, information can be transmitted and received while continuously switching the communication media.

That is, the first feature of the present invention is that by using a media gateway, it is possible to accommodate various communication media networks having different protocols, transmission methods, and transmission speeds in an integrated network and treat them as one network. To do.

A second feature of the present invention is that by using a user media gateway, a plurality of communication media terminals having different protocols, transmission methods and transmission speeds can be used as one transceiver from the user terminal. Especially.

A third feature of the present invention is that the network management center sends traffic information such as vehicle traveling speed for each road, accident information, construction information from the traffic control center in real time.
To acquire traffic control information such as signal control information.

The fourth characteristic of the present invention is that the current position grasped by the user by using the movement situation grasping system,
The purpose is to send and report movement status information such as movement speed and movement direction to the network management center.

A fifth feature of the present invention is that the network management center grasps in advance the road position and length, the connection state, the width, the signal installation position, and the control method as road map information. .

A sixth feature of the present invention is that the network management center uses, as the base station information, the type of base station connected to various communication media networks, the installation location, the communication area, and the number of available users. I have to know in advance.

The seventh feature of the present invention is that the network management center grasps the type and ID of the communication media terminal owned by the user in advance as the user information.

An eighth feature of the present invention is that the network management center acquires traffic control information from the traffic control center,
This is to estimate the range in which the user is moving within a certain period of time based on the movement status information reported by the user and the map information information that the user owns.

A ninth feature of the present invention is that among the various communication media base stations existing within the range of movement of the user, the network management center is based on the user information, the base station information and the estimated movement range. It is to instruct the node device to transfer the information addressed to the user to the communication media base station that the user can use.

The tenth feature of the present invention is that the user media gateway grasps all kinds of communication media currently communicable from the identification signal transmitted from the communication media base station.

The eleventh feature of the present invention enables the user to prioritize the communication media terminals to be used according to the type and capacity of the content and the time zone in which the content is acquired, and the user uses it when acquiring the content. When the priority order of the communication media terminals is designated and there are a plurality of available communication media which the media gateway has grasped, the communication media having a high priority order are used.

A twelfth feature of the present invention is that since the information is pre-distributed to all communication media base stations available at the point where the user has moved, the user can connect to a suitable communication medium at any time, It is to be able to send and receive information seamlessly.

[0033]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

First, a network and device configuration example according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and a method example corresponding thereto will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of the structure of a seamless information providing system. This system uses the various sensors installed on the roadside such as vehicle detectors and vehicle speed sensors to grasp the vehicle running speed and the degree of congestion, as well as the accident and construction information grasped by police and road management groups. Traffic control center 1 that collects and controls traffic lights, traffic information from the traffic control center 1, accident information, construction information, traffic signal control information, and movement from the user such as current position, moving speed, moving direction, etc. Collect the situation, estimate the user's movement range within a certain time using a traffic flow micro simulator or macro simulator based on such information and road map information, etc., and make it a communication media base station suitable for the user A network management center 2 that issues information transfer instructions, a content provider 3 that provides various electronic information such as electronic newspapers / books, music data, and tourist information, IMT-2000 MMA
C, various communication media networks 4A, 4 such as optical beacons
B, 4C, IMT-2000 base station, MMAC base station,
Various communication media base stations 5A, 5 such as optical beacons
B, 5C, integrated network 6 in which various communication media networks are integrated,
Node devices 7A to 7F such as exchanges and routers, media gateways 8A and 8B for physically and systematically converting between various communication media networks and integrated networks, and interconnecting each other.
8C, a moving condition grasping system 9 for monitoring and recording the moving condition of the user such as GPS and a vehicle speed sensor, and IMT
-2000 terminals, MMAC terminals, various communication media terminals such as optical beacon transceivers 10A, 10B, 10C,
User terminal 11 such as car navigation system or PDA, protocol of various communication terminals 10A, 10B, 10C, transmission method / transmission speed are converted to 1 from the user terminal.
It is composed of a user media gateway 12 that can be handled as one communication medium.

FIG. 2 shows a configuration example of the network management center 2. The network management center 2 has a traffic information database 13 provided by the traffic control center 1 for accumulating traffic information such as vehicle traveling speed, accident information, construction information, and signal control information for each road, a user ID, and a user's possession. A user information database 14 that stores information such as the type of communication media being used, a base station database 15 that stores information such as the installation position / type / communication area of various base stations on the road, etc. User movement situation database 16 that accumulates movement situation such as current position, traveling speed, traveling direction, map information database 17 that accumulates road map information such as road location and connection situation, traffic information database 13 and user movement situation Based on the database 16 and the road map information database 17, a traffic flow micro simulator or macro simulator The mobile range estimating module 18 in which the user estimates the mobile range within a certain time by using the search method, and the base station database 15 searches for a base station existing in the mobile range estimated by the mobile range estimating module 18 and uses it. An information provision range determination module 19 that determines a transfer destination of information addressed to a user and creates change information to a node device such as a router or an exchange in consideration of information accumulated in the user information database 14, a traffic control center And for performing operation and maintenance of a network management center such as a keyboard and a monitor, which is connected to the integrated network for transmitting the information transfer destination change information to various communication media base stations. The input / output unit 21 and the control unit 22 that controls various modules and databases are included.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the configuration of the vehicle-mounted terminal system.
The in-vehicle terminal system is an IMT-2000 terminal or MMAC.
Conversion of protocol, transmission method, and transmission speed so that the user terminal 11 can use the communication media terminals 10A, 10B, and 10C, such as terminals and optical beacon transceivers, to determine whether the communication media terminals can be used. The user media gateway 12, the input / output unit 23 such as a touch panel and a speaker, the type of communication media owned by the user, the identification ID such as the telephone number and the terminal ID, and the information such as the protocol / method to be used. A communication media database 24 to be stored, a movement situation grasping system 9 for grasping a movement situation such as a user's current position and traveling speed, various storage media 25 such as a flash memory and a hard disk for storing application programs and downloaded contents. , IMT-2000 terminal, M
It is composed of various communication media terminals 10A, 10B and 10C such as a MAC terminal and an optical beacon transceiver, and a control unit 26 for controlling various modules. The user terminal 11 includes an input / output unit 23, a communication media database 24, various storage media 25, and a control unit 26.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the configuration of the user terminal movement status ascertaining system 9. The user terminal movement status comprehension system 9 includes a GPS reception module 27 that receives GPS radio waves transmitted from satellites and ground stations, a travel status sensing module 28 that monitors the travel status such as the traveling speed and traveling direction of the vehicle, A travel situation creation module 29 that analyzes information from the GPS reception module 27 and the travel status sensing module 28 and creates travel status information including a current position, travel speed, travel direction, and travel history, travel status that accumulates travel status It is composed of a database 30 and a control unit 31 that controls various modules.

FIG. 5 shows the configuration of the user media gateway 12. The user media gateway 12 includes a physical layer accommodating module 32 for physically accommodating various communication media terminals, and a protocol conversion module 33 for converting a protocol used by various communication media into a protocol used by the user terminal. , A transmission method conversion module 34 for converting between the transmission speed / transmission method of various communication media and the transmission speed / transmission method of a user terminal, and monitoring the identification signals transmitted from various communication media base stations to determine whether communication is possible The communication environment monitoring module 35, the user terminal communication module 36, and the controller 37.

FIG. 6 shows various communication media networks 5A, 5B, 5
Media gateway 8 interconnecting C and integrated network 6
A configuration example of A, 8B, and 8C is shown. The media gateways 8A, 8B, and 8C are individual network accommodation modules 38 that physically accommodate individual networks such as IMT-2000, MMAC, and optical beacon networks, and individual networks that convert protocols between the accommodated individual networks and integrated networks. → Integrated network protocol conversion module 39, individual network for converting transmission method and transmission rate ← → Integrated network transmission method conversion module 40, integrated network accommodation module 41 for accommodating integrated network, media gateway control for controlling various modules It is composed of the section 42.

FIG. 7 shows a configuration example of the base station. The base station is
The temporary database 43 for accumulating the content delivered in advance from the content provider until it is provided to the user, and after authenticating the information included in the connection request from the user, the temporary database 43
Provided information determination module 44 for deciding content to be provided to the user, wireless communication module 45 installed on the roadside for directly communicating with the user's communication media terminal, transmission / reception of information with each individual network identification signal transmitting module 47 vs. individual network communication unit 46 performs communication media gateway user to transmit an identification signal for identifying the variable-Call communication, and a control unit 48 for controlling the various modules .

An example of the method according to the present embodiment that enables seamless information acquisition by prior delivery to the estimated moving range and continuous media switching will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9.

FIG. 8 shows a prior delivery method of information.

The traffic control center 1 uses various sensors installed on the roadside to constantly grasp the running speed and congestion degree of the vehicle. In addition, we have received notifications of construction and accident information from various road management groups and police. It also manages control information such as signal switching timing and priority control method.

The network management center 2 is connected to the traffic control center 1 using the integrated network 6, and the traffic control center 1 is aware of traffic information, construction and accident information,
The vehicle traveling speed, congestion degree, signal control information, etc. (1) for each road are acquired in real time and stored in the traffic information database 13.

The network management center 2 stores the map information stored in the map information database 17, the construction and accident information obtained from the traffic control center 1, the vehicle traveling speed, congestion degree, signal control information, etc. for each road. Originally, the traffic flow micro simulator or the traffic flow macro simulator of the movement range estimation module 18 is used to grasp the vehicle traveling state of each road in real time.

The movement status information (2) created by the movement status grasping module 9 connected to the user terminal 11 is
It is reported to the network management center 2 using the communication medium 10A selected by the user media gateway 12 of the user terminal 11.

The movement range estimation module 18 of the network management center 2 is used for the traffic flow micro-simulator and the traffic flow macro simulator to determine the vehicle running speed and congestion of each road on the traffic information database 13, accident information, construction information,
The movement status information (2) such as the signal control information and the current position and the traveling history transmitted from the user are input, and the movement range of the user within a fixed time is estimated. Based on the obtained results, the type and position information of the base station stored in the base station database 15, the communication area, etc. and the communication media terminal information owned by the user stored in the user information database 14. The information provision range determination module 19 determines the base station to which the information is transferred.

The network management center 2 notifies the node devices 7A to 7F of the information provision range information (broadcast range designation (4)) determined by the information provision range determination module 19 using the integrated network 6. Upon receiving the information provision range information from the network management center 2, each of the node devices 7A to 7F changes the setting of the information transfer destination information such as the routing table.

In order for the user to acquire the contents (receive the information provision (7)), the storage medium 2 of the user terminal is used.
The communication media terminal such as IMT-2000, which has a small limitation on the moving speed of the user, starts the application stored in 5, and creates request information using the input unit 23 such as a touch panel or voice recognition. After making a connection request (3) to the network management center 2 using 10A, the request information (5) is transmitted to the content provider 3. While receiving information (7),
When the communication environment changes due to movement and the communication media terminal is switched, a reconnection request is transmitted to the network management center, and the switched communication media terminal continues to receive information provision (9).

Upon receiving the request information (5), the content provider 3 confirms the existence of the requested content, and returns OK to the user if it possesses it. If there is no requested information or if the requested information is incorrect, NG is transmitted to the user terminal. After returning OK, the content provider 3
A node device 7 to which the content is connected by attaching a destination such as an address or a telephone number that can identify the user
Send to F.

The above-mentioned movement status transmission may be carried out before the request is transmitted.

Upon receiving the information from the content provider 3, the node device 7F broadcasts the information (6) to the node device designated by the network management center 2. Alternatively, the node device 7F transfers to the node device 7A, the node device 7A transfers to the node device 7B, and the node device 7B transfers to the node device 7C, thereby sharing the content.

A method for acquiring information while continuously switching communication media will be described with reference to FIG.

The user media gateway (MG) 12 connected to the user terminal monitors the identification signal sent from the base station via the various communication media terminals 10A, 10B and 10C, and various communication media terminals. 10A, 1
It monitors the communication enabled / disabled status of 0B and 10C. When there are a plurality of communicable terminals, the most suitable communication media at present is selected according to the priority information of the communication media terminals 10C, 10A, 10B set by the user. In the illustrated example, the user media gateway 12 at the time of the request transmission, have selected communication media terminal 10A. Therefore, the request information created by the user terminal 11 is transmitted to the communication media base station 5A using the communication media terminal 10A, and is transmitted to the content provider 3 via the communication media network 4A and the integrated network 6.

Upon receiving the request information, the content provider 3 sends the requested information to the connected node device 7F. The information addressed to the user is instructed by the network management center 2, and the communication media base station 5A, 5
Broadcasted to B and 5C. Even when the user obtains the information, the communication media terminal 10A has been determined to be optimal, and therefore the communication media terminal 10A is continuously used to receive the information from the base station 5A.

[0057] In the meantime, according to the movement or stopping of the user, communication media terminal 10A is from the communication media base station 5B and receiving the identification signal. User media gateway 12 also communicate media terminal 10B has been recognized that it becomes available, the user because it was set to favor communication media terminal 10A, subsequently by using a communication media terminal 10A Information To get.

Furthermore, it is assumed that the user media gateway 12 recognizes that the communication media base station 5C receives the identification signal and the communication media terminal 10C becomes available when the user moves or stops. .
Since the user has set to preferentially use the communication media terminal 10C over the communication media terminal 10A,
The user media gateway 12 is supposed to switch the communication media. At the time of switching, a connection request is transmitted to the communication media base station 5C via the communication media terminal 10C to complete the connection. When the communication media terminal 10A used previously can communicate, the transfer stop request is issued to the base station 5A to which the communication media terminal 10A is connected. After the connection with the new base station 5C is completed,
The base station 5C is notified of the amount of information received through communication with the base station 5A together with the user ID. Base station 5C is the user ID
After confirming that the addressed information is on the temporary database 43, the user starts transmission from the unreceived information.

By repeating the above operation, it is possible to receive information without disconnecting while switching the communication medium while moving. When all the contents have been provided, the last provided base station 5C instructs the base stations 5A and 5B to which the corresponding contents have been broadcast to delete the contents, or a certain time after the contents are stored in the temporary database 43. Information that has passed is automatically deleted.

A concrete embodiment example to which the method example according to the second embodiment of the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 10 shows an example of the configuration of the seamless information providing system on the network side. In this embodiment, a fixed network 49 such as a leased line or a telephone line is used as the integrated network. As various communication media networks, optical beacon networks 50A, 50B, MMAC networks 51A, 51B, IM
There are T-2000 networks 52A and 52B, and optical beacons 53A to 53D, MMAC base stations 54A to 54D, IMT-2000 base station 55A, as base stations of the respective networks.
There is 55B. The media gateway function for interconnecting various communication media networks and the fixed network 49 is configured as a part of the functions of the node devices 56A, 56B, 56C. The network management center 2 is the node device 56D of the fixed network 49, the traffic control center 1 is the node device 56E of the fixed network 49, and the content provider 3 is the fixed network 49.
Connected to the node device 56F.

In this embodiment, the traffic control center 1
The vehicle speed and road congestion are grasped by the vehicle detectors and speed sensors installed on the roadside. In addition, we have received notifications of accident information and construction information from police and road management groups. The traffic information such as the traffic jam information and the accident information is provided to the network management center 2 using the fixed network 49.

FIG. 11 shows a system configuration example of the user terminal. The user terminal system of this embodiment is a voice recognition / voice synthesizer 57A or a touch panel monitor 57B as an input / output device, and a D- as a movement status grasping module.
Optical beacon transmitter / receiver 59A, MMAC terminal 59B, IMT- connected to the user terminal via GPS 58A, vehicle speed sensor 58B, and user media gateway 12.
2000 terminal 59C, which is a storage medium for storing the content and the application program, a flash memory 60 A, the hard disk 60B, DVD60C like,
And a control unit 26 that controls various modules.

In the present embodiment, the optical beacon transmitter / receiver 59A, the MMAC terminal 59B, and the IMT-200 are used as communication media terminals used by the user when acquiring music information.
The priority order is set in the order of 0 terminal 59C.

When using the seamless information providing system, the user declares the type and ID of the communication medium owned by the network management center 2. The network management center 2 gives a user ID such as an IP address for information transfer. The network management center 2 stores the user information and the information of the communication media owned by the user in the user information database 14. The user is
Hard disk 60B which is a storage device of the user terminal 11
To store the assigned ID.

FIG. 12 shows an example of using the seamless information providing system.

The user terminal 11 uses the various communication media to obtain the position information obtained by the D-GPS 58A and the vehicle speed sensor 5.
The movement status obtained as a result of analyzing the information obtained by 8B is regularly reported to the network management center 2 at intervals of about 5 minutes. Therefore, the network management center 2 can grasp the approximate position of the user.

User A uses the touch panel monitor 57B and the voice recognition / voice synthesizer 57A connected to the user terminal while traveling near the point P1 to create music information request information. The user terminal 11 determines that the optical beacon transceiver 59A, which has the first priority in the information from the user media gateway 12, is available,
Through the optical beacon 53B, the movement status such as the current location, the traveling direction, and the traveling speed is transmitted to the network management center 2, and the request information is transmitted to the content provider 3. The movement status at this time is the time when the request is transmitted. A flag indicating that it is the sent movement status is set.

Estimation of movement range of network management center 2
Module 18 is the movement status at the time of sending a request
When the flag information indicating that
Enter The network management center 2 keeps track of traffic information
The databaseThirteenTraffic information and signal control information, and map information
Traffic database microsimulator
Input to a computer or macro simulator to drive vehicles on the road network
I know the condition. The estimation of the movable range is
By inputting the user's current position information, driving information, etc.
Do it. The network management center 2 moves the user A
The possible range was estimated to be area α. Informed by the result
The coverage determination module 19 detects the packet addressed to the user A.
Transfer destinations are roadside beacons 53C, 53D, MMAC base station
54A, 54B, 54C, 54D, IMT-2000
Determined as the ground station 55B, no media gateway function
Drive devices 56A, 56B, 56C,56D,56E,56
The packet addressed to user A is transferred to F to the designated base station.
Instruct Media gateway function instructed
Attached node devices 56A, 56B, 56C,56D,56
E,56F immediately writes the transfer destination of the information addressed to the user.
Change.

On the other hand, the content provider 3 which receives the request from the user A adds the user ID to the requested information and sends it to the node device 56F connected via the fixed network 49. 56F detects that the information is addressed to the user A, and broadcasts the information to the transfer destination node devices 56A and 56B instructed by the network management center 2. The node devices 56A and 56 that have received the transfer
B is a base station 53C, 53D, 54A, 54 of each individual network.
Broadcast to B, 54C, 54D and 55B.

The user A can seamlessly receive the information while switching the base station with which he / she appropriately communicates while traveling. A sequence in which the user seamlessly acquires the information broadcast-transmitted to the base station will be described with reference to FIG.

User Media Gateway 1 of User A
After transmitting the movement status and the request to the network via the optical beacon 53B, when detecting that the communication area of the optical beacon has been exceeded, 2 reselects the communication medium used for receiving the information provision. In the present embodiment example, the user A temporarily stops at the point P2, so that the MMAC
Although communication with the base station 54B and the IMT-2000 base station 55B is enabled, the MMAC terminal 59B is selected from the priority order set by the user A. User terminal 1
1 is an optical beacon transceiver 59A for the communication medium to be used
From the MMAC base station 5 to the MMAC terminal 59B.
4B, transmits that there is no received information together with the user ID, and requests information transfer. When the MMAC base station 54B confirms that the information for the user A exists in the provision information database 22, it starts transmitting the information. When the vehicle starts moving at high speed, the user media gateway 12 of the user A is transferred to the MMAC base station 54.
When it is determined that communication with B is impossible, the user media gateway 12 determines the communication media IM to be used next.
The amount of information already received is transmitted together with the user ID to the base station 55B of T-2000, and the transfer of the unreceived portion is requested. The IMT-2000 base station 55B confirms whether the transmitted information for the user A exists in the provided information database 22 of its own station, and if so, starts transmitting the information. By moving further, optical beacon 53
When entering the communication area of D, IM the communication media terminal
Information is provided by switching from the T-2000 terminal 59C to the optical beacon terminal 59A having a higher priority.

While the information is being provided, the user terminal transmits the movement status to the network management center 2, so that the network management center 2 can change the information providing range at any time and follow the movement of the user to obtain information. Can be provided.

[0074]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The network management center estimates the user's destination and distributes the requested information to the various communication media base stations installed within the range of movement in advance so that the communication environment in which the user is located and the information used Depending on the characteristics, the user terminal can automatically switch the communication media to send and receive information, which can be convenient for users whose communication environment changes frequently, such as users who are on board the vehicle. it can.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a seamless network configuration according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block configuration diagram showing an internal configuration of a network management center in the first embodiment example,

FIG. 3 is a block configuration diagram showing an internal configuration of an in-vehicle system in the first embodiment example.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a movement status monitoring module according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a user media gateway in the first embodiment example.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a media gateway in the first embodiment example.

FIG. 7 is a block configuration diagram showing an internal configuration of a base station in the first embodiment example.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an outline of a prior delivery method of the seamless information providing system in the first embodiment example.

FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram when receiving information provision while switching communication media in the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a network configuration example according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an on-vehicle system in the second embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of prior delivery of content in the second example of the embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a sequence diagram when receiving information provision while switching communication media in the second embodiment.

[Description of Symbols] 1 ... Traffic control center 2 ... Network management center 3 ... Content providers 4A, 4B, 4C ... Various communication media networks 5A, 5B, 5C, 5X, 5Y, 5Z ... Various communication media base stations 6 ... Integrated network 7A, 7B, 7C, 7D, 7E, 7F ... Node devices 8A, 8B, 8C ... Various communication media network-intermediate network media gateway 9 ... User movement status grasping system 10A, 10B, 10C ... Various communication media terminals 11 ... User terminal 12 ... User media gateway 13 ... Traffic information database 14 ... User information database 15 ... Base station database 16 ... User movement status database 17 ... Map information database 18 ... Movement range estimation module 19 ... Information provision range determination module 20 ... Communication unit of network management center 21 ... Network I / O unit 22 of the network management center ... Control unit 23 of the network management center ... I / O unit 24 of the user terminal ... Communication media database 25 of the user terminal ... Self-contained medium 26 of the user terminal ... Control unit 27 ... GPS receiving module 28 ... Running state sensing module 29 ... Travel status creating module 30 ... Travel status database 31 ... Travel status grasping system control unit 32 ... Physical layer accommodation module 33 ... Protocol conversion module 34 ... Transmission method conversion module 35 ... communication environment monitoring module 36 ... user terminal communication module 37 ... user media gateway control unit 38 ... individual network accommodation module 39 ... individual network <-> integrated network protocol conversion module 40 ... individual network <-> integrated network transmission method conversion module 41 ... Integrated network accommodation module 42 ... Media game Tway control unit 43 ... Temporary database 44 ... Provision information determination module 45 ... Wireless communication module 46 ... Individual network communication unit 47 ... Identification signal transmission module 48 ... Base station control unit 49 ... Fixed network 50A, 50B ... Optical beacon network 51A, 51B ... MMAC networks 52A, 52B ... IMT-2000 networks 53A, 53B, 53C, 53D ... Optical beacons 54A, 54B, 54C, 54D ... MMAC base stations 55A, 55B ... IMT-2000 base stations 56A, 56B, 56C, 57D, 57E, 57F ... Node device 57A with media gateway function ... Voice recognition / voice synthesis device 57B ... Touch panel monitor 58A ... D-GPS 58B ... Vehicle speed sensor 59A ... Optical beacon transceiver 59B ... MMAC terminal 59C ... IMT-2000 terminal 60A ... Flash memory 6 B ... hard disk 60C ... DVD

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-11-103479 (JP, A) JP-A-9-147289 (JP, A) JP-A-8-130766 (JP, A) Sawamura Takashi and 3 others, 1 pair 1 Study on communication traffic of traffic information collection and provision service using communication, Proceedings of IEICE General Conference 1999 (Information and System 1), SID-2-2 Mayumi Yanagiya and 2 others, to vehicle Information Proposal System, Proceedings of the 1999 IEICE Society Conference ITS Symposium Proceedings, SAD-6-7 (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04L 12/66 H04L 12 / 28 300 H04L 12/46

Claims (14)

(57) [Claims] 1. A system for seamlessly providing various information to a moving user terminal, the content provider providing the various information, a traffic control center for collecting the traffic control information in a timely manner, and various communication media. A network, various communication media base stations connected to the various communication media networks, and estimating the movable range of the user terminal by acquiring the traffic control information and the movement status information from the user terminal,
A network management center that forwards various information requested by the user terminal to the various communication media base stations in the movable range; and an integrated network that physically and systematically integrates the various communication media networks, A node device that connects the content provider, the traffic control center, the network management center, and the various communication media base stations to an integrated network, and physically and systematically converts between the integrated network and various communication media networks, A media gateway that enables mutual connection, and on the user terminal side, a movement status grasping system for grasping movement status information of the user terminal, and connecting to the various communication media networks, To send movement status information to the network management center and receive the various information from the content provider It is possible to accommodate various communication media terminals and the various communication media terminals, select one communication media terminal that can communicate at any time and switch the connection, and treat it as one communication media terminal from the user terminal. A seamless information providing system comprising at least a user media gateway. 2. The network control center includes a traffic control including one or more of traffic information, accident information, construction information, and signal control information obtained from the traffic control center connected using a ground line or a satellite line. Information, and the current position transmitted from the user terminal, the moving direction, the moving speed, using the movement status information including one or more of the movement history, to estimate the movable range of the user within a certain time, The seamless information providing system according to claim 1, wherein a plurality or a single number of the communication media base stations existing within the movable range are grasped. 3. The seamless information according to claim 1, wherein the media gateway converts a protocol, a transmission method, and a transmission speed between the various communication media networks and the integrated network to perform mutual connection. Offer system. 4. The user media gateway connected to the user terminal configures the various information to be acquired by using the user terminal when there are a plurality of communication media terminals determined to be communicable. The communication media terminal having a high priority of various communication media terminals that are preferentially used when acquiring the content, which is set in advance according to the type and capacity of the content, and the time period when the content is acquired, is used. The seamless information providing system according to any one of 3 to 3. 5. The user terminal uses the communication media terminal selected and connected by the user media gateway, and the user's current position, moving direction, moving speed, and movement history acquired by the movement status grasping system. 5. The seamless information providing system according to claim 1, wherein movement status information including at least one of the above is transmitted to a network management center. 6. The network management center acquires one or more of traffic information, accident information, construction information, and signal control information collected and created by the traffic control center. Seamless information provision system. 7. The network management center is a base including at least one of communication media type, installation location, communication area, and accommodable user number of the base station connected to the communication media network, which has been notified in advance. 6. The seamless information providing system according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of or a single various communication media base stations existing within the movable range of the user terminal are grasped from the station information . 8. The network management center, in addition to the movement status information transmitted from the user terminal and the traffic control information acquired from the traffic control center, from the road map information owned by the user, a fixed time period. 6. The seamless information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the movable range of the user is estimated. 9. The network management center stores road position information, road position, length, width, connection status, signal installation position, signal type, and control method in advance as road map information. 8. The seamless information providing system described in 8. 10. The network management center compares the base station information owned by itself with the estimated movable range of the user terminal, and a plurality of or within the movable range of the user terminal are detected. A single varieties of various communication media base stations is grasped, and the above-mentioned one to five.
Seamless information provision system described. 11. The network management center possesses in advance media type information of a communication media terminal connected to a user terminal, so that various communication media existing within the estimated movable range of the user terminal. 6. The seamless information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the available communication media base station among the base stations is grasped. 12. The network management center exists in all or some of the node devices forming the integrated network within the estimated movable range of the user terminal, and 12. The communication media base station capable of communicating with various connected communication media terminals is instructed to transfer information addressed to the user.
Seamless information provision system described. 13. The user media gateway comprises:
The protocol, the transmission method, and the transmission speed of the selected communication media terminal are converted so that the user terminal handles the communication media as one communication medium.
2. Seamless information providing system described in 2. 14. The user media gateway comprises:
It is possible to seamlessly acquire the content by continuously switching the communication media terminals used to acquire the content forming the various types of information according to the change of the communication environment due to the movement and stop of the user. 14. The seamless information providing system according to claim 1, which is characterized in that.