JP6504062B2 - Task execution method and task execution system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to task execution processing, and more particularly to task execution processing in which a group that receives a task execution request appropriately determines an apparatus that executes the task.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, vehicles are equipped with highly functional calculation processing devices, storage devices, wireless communication devices, and sensors. By providing such computing resources to other vehicles and devices other than vehicles, the vehicle network system can be utilized as an ICT base (large CPU, storage, etc.).

  For example, in Patent Document 1, a terminal device that has become communicable with the data processing device transmits a distributed processing request to the data processing device, and the data processing device determines whether the predicted turnaround time satisfies the request and is requested. It is disclosed to determine whether or not to execute distributed processing.

  In addition, Non-Patent Document 1 offloads an application program to an infrastructure to reduce battery consumption of a smartphone terminal. At this time, in Non-Patent Document 1, it is studied to appropriately adjust the division particle size in consideration of the connection situation and the energy consumption.

JP 2005-208834 A

Cuervo, Eduardo, et al. "MAUI: making smartphones last longer with code offload." Proceedings of the 8th international conference on mobile systems, applications, and services. ACM, 2010.

  When the vehicle network system receives a task execution request from an external device, it is desirable to execute the task using an optimal vehicle (calculation resource) from among a group of vehicles. Then, in an environment where a plurality of external devices use vehicle resources at the same time, it is necessary to determine a task execution vehicle in real time because vehicle resources suitable for task processing change from time to time.

  Although patent document 1 is examined about determination of whether to receive the execution request of a task, it is not examined about the task processing method after receiving the execution request of a task. In particular, since a single computer is assumed as a request destination of a task, it is not considered to select a computing device suitable for task execution from among a plurality of computing devices after accepting a task execution request. Similarly, Non-Patent Document 1 does not consider determining a computer that substitutes a task among a plurality of computers.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a task execution method and a task execution system capable of appropriately determining an information processing apparatus that executes a task in a group including a plurality of information processing apparatuses.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention transmits task information in a group, and autonomously determines whether or not each device in the group executes a task based on the task information. Further, by storing the predicted execution end time of the device currently executing the task in the task information, each device can determine whether or not to execute the task in consideration of the predicted execution end time. Also, in the present invention, redundancy is ensured by performing one task on two or more devices in a group.

  More specifically, one aspect of the present invention is a task execution method in a group configured of a plurality of information processing devices, wherein the step of receiving task information and the task based on the received task information The method includes a determination step of determining whether or not to execute a task corresponding to information, and a transmission step of transmitting task information related to the task.

  In the present invention, it is assumed that one task is executed by at least two information processors in a group. Therefore, the task information includes information (for example, an identifier) identifying the first device in charge of the task, predicted execution end time of the task by the first device in charge, information identifying the second device in charge of the task, and (2) The predicted execution end time of the task by the device in charge is included. It is also preferable that the task information includes information specifying a task, and the content of the task (for example, source code, intermediate code, etc.).

  In the determination step, when the own device does not execute any task as the first device in charge, and the task can be terminated earlier than the predicted execution end time of the first device in charge included in the task information It is determined to execute the task as a first device in charge. In this case, in the transmission step, the first responsible device of the received task information is updated to the own device, and the second responsible device is updated to the first responsible device up to that point, and then the updated task information is transmitted.

  In addition, in the determination step, the own device does not execute any task as the first device in charge or the second device in charge, and earlier than the predicted execution end time of the second device in charge included in the task information. It is determined to execute the task as a second device in charge when the task can be ended. In this case, in the transmitting step, the second device in charge of the received task information is updated to the own device (the first device in charge is not updated), and the updated task information is transmitted.

  When it is determined in the determination step that the task corresponding to the task information is not to be executed, the transmission step transmits the information on the first responsible device and the second responsible device of the received task information without updating. Other information in the task information may be updated.

  According to such a configuration, it is possible to determine in real time and autonomously whether or not each information processing apparatus should execute a task by transmitting task information in a group. In addition, it is also possible to reduce the time required for searching for a device suitable for task execution. Furthermore, redundancy can be ensured because one task is executed by multiple devices.

  In the determination step of the present invention, when the task information is task information regarding a task being executed by the own device, and the task information does not include information regarding the own device, the task corresponding to the task information It can be determined to discontinue the execution of Further, in the determination step, the task information is task information regarding a task that the own device is executing as a first device in charge, and information regarding the own device is included in the task information as a second device in charge In this case, although the execution of the task continues in the own device, it is preferable to recognize that it is being performed as the second device in charge again.

  According to such a configuration, by transmitting the task information, it is possible to stop the task execution on the device that has been executing the task and to change the first device in charge to the second device in charge.

  As described above, when the task information does not include the information related to the own device, the condition that any predicted task end time included in the task information is earlier than the estimated end time of the task in the own device. It is desirable to determine whether or not When the condition is satisfied, it is determined that the execution of the task is stopped, and when the condition is not satisfied, it is determined that the execution of the task is continued, and the task information is updated and transmitted in the transmission step. , And good. The same applies to the case of changing from the first device in charge to the second device in charge.

  Relying on task information alone may cause a device whose task execution end time is later than its own device to execute the task. By comparing the task execution end prediction times again, such a situation can be prevented, and the device that executes the task can be determined more appropriately.

  The present invention further includes an execution request acquisition step of acquiring a task execution request from the user device, the task requested to be executed is executed as the first device in charge, and the first device in charge is the own device, It is also preferable that the information on the device in charge 2 send empty task information.

  As described above, the apparatus that has received the task execution request from the user apparatus can immediately execute the task, thereby reducing time waste.

  When the device that has acquired the task execution request from the user device is executing another task as the first device in charge, the first device in charge and the second device in charge are not executing the task of the user device. It is good to send information about empty task information. In addition, when the device which has acquired the task execution request from the user device executes another task as the second device in charge, the task from the user device may be executed as the first device in charge. Alternatively, the device which has acquired the task execution request from the user device may execute the task from the user device as the first device in charge, on the condition that no other task is being executed.

  In the determination step of the present invention, the execution end time is estimated for both the case where the task corresponding to the task information is executed from the beginning and the case where an intermediate result is acquired and halfway from being executed. It is also preferable to set the predicted end time of execution on the device. This is particularly effective when the task can be executed from the beginning from the information contained in the task information but communication with other devices is necessary to execute the task halfway. If it is quicker to execute the task from the beginning after acquiring the task intermediate result, the task intermediate result is acquired and the task is executed from the middle.

  Further, in the present invention, when it is detected that the information processing apparatus executing the task as the first apparatus or the second apparatus leaves the group, the task information corresponding to the task is updated and transmitted. It is also preferred to include further steps. When the first device in charge is disconnected, it is preferable to set the second device in charge until that time as the first device in charge and transmit task information in which the second device in charge is empty. When the second device in charge is disconnected, it is preferable to transmit task information with the second device in charge empty, without changing the first device in charge. In this way, when the information processing apparatus that is in charge of task execution has left, a new apparatus can execute the task from among the remaining apparatuses.

In the present invention, one task can be executed by N (N is an integer of 2 or more) information processing apparatuses. In this case, the device that executes the task is from the first device in charge to the Nth device in charge. The device executing the task as the first device in charge does not execute other tasks. On the other hand, a device executing a task as the k-th device in charge (k is an integer of 2 or more and N or less) is faster than the j-th device in charge of received task information (j is an integer of 1 or more and k-1 or less) If the task execution can be completed, the task is executed as the j-th responsible apparatus.

  In the present invention, the above-described information processing apparatus may be movable or fixed. The above-described information processing apparatus can be, for example, an information processing apparatus mounted on a mobile object such as a vehicle or an information processing apparatus brought in a mobile object such as a vehicle.

  In the present invention, a task means any process that can be executed by an information processing apparatus (computer). Therefore, the task includes not only arithmetic operation but also processing such as acquisition of data from an external device and output / transmission of data to an external device.

  In the present invention, task submission may be performed in any manner. For example, the submission can be binary, source code including an executable scripting language, an intermediate code (also called byte code), an execution command or function name, or a general work order, including data, Parameters, arguments, processing results, etc. may be added and passed.

In the present specification, the on-vehicle terminal means an information processing apparatus (computer) provided in a vehicle or an information processing apparatus carried into the interior of the vehicle. The information processing apparatus is a combination of a general-purpose arithmetic processor such as a central processing unit (CPU) or a micro processing unit (MPU) and a storage device storing a program, and a programmable integrated circuit (field-programmable gate array) such as an FPGA (field-programmable gate array). Programmable logic device), ASIC
And / or an integrated circuit such as an application specific integrated circuit.

  The present invention can also be understood as a task execution method that executes at least a part of the above-described processing. The present invention can be grasped as a task execution system or an information processing apparatus including means for executing at least a part of the above-mentioned processing. Also, the present invention can be regarded as a computer program for causing a computer to execute this method, or a computer readable storage medium storing this computer program non-temporarily. Each of the above means and processes can be combined with one another as much as possible to constitute the present invention.

  According to the present invention, in a group constituted by a plurality of information processing apparatuses, it is possible to appropriately determine an information processing apparatus which executes a task.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a calculation system according to an embodiment. FIG. 2A is a block diagram of an on-vehicle terminal, and FIG. 2B is a functional block diagram of the on-vehicle terminal. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an entire process in the calculation system according to the embodiment. FIG. 4A is a flowchart showing a process at the time of receiving a task execution request from the user terminal in the task execution process, and FIG. 4B is a diagram showing an example of task information. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a process of receiving task information in the task execution process. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a process of receiving task information in the task execution process. FIG. 7 is a view showing an operation example of task execution vehicle determination processing according to the present embodiment.

In the following, in order to simplify the description, the on-vehicle terminal and the vehicle are used interchangeably as they are not distinguished. For example, it may be expressed that a vehicle performs processing that a vehicle-mounted terminal mounted in the vehicle performs processing. Alternatively, the position of the vehicle or the movement route may be expressed as the position of the on-vehicle terminal or the movement route. Also, the same reference numeral may be used for a vehicle and an on-vehicle terminal mounted on the vehicle.

<Overview>
FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the system outline of the calculation system according to the present embodiment. The calculation system according to the present embodiment includes a user terminal 200 used by a user and a plurality of in-vehicle terminals 100 mounted on a vehicle, and the user terminal 200 consigns execution of a calculation task to the in-vehicle terminal 100.

  In the present embodiment, a plurality of in-vehicle terminals 100 form a vehicle group 10, and from the user terminal 200, the vehicle group 10 can be grasped as one calculation resource. For example, the user terminal 200 does not need to be involved in the transfer of the calculation task in the vehicle group 10 after the user terminal 200 requests a certain vehicle in the vehicle group 10 to execute the task. The calculation task commissioned from the user terminal is executed by the two in-vehicle terminals 100 in the vehicle group 10, and the calculation result is transmitted from any of the in-vehicle terminals 100 to the user terminal.

  The vehicle group 10 having received the task execution request from the user terminal 200 executes the task in the appropriate on-vehicle terminal 100 in the vehicle group 10. In the present embodiment, the task execution vehicle is determined so that the task execution vehicle can be determined quickly, and the vehicle can be coped with leaving the vehicle group. In the following, a process of executing a task in the vehicle group 10 after the vehicle group 10 receives a task execution request from the user terminal 200 will be mainly described.

<Configuration>
FIG. 2A is a diagram showing a device configuration of the on-vehicle terminal 100 in the present embodiment. The on-vehicle terminal 100 includes an arithmetic device 101, a storage device 102, a GPS device 103, an input / output device 104, a wireless communication device 105, and a plurality of sensors 106.

  The arithmetic device 101 includes a processor such as a central processing unit (CPU) or a micro processing unit (MPU), and provides a predetermined function by executing a program stored in the storage device 102. The storage device 102 includes a main storage device such as RAM (Random Access Memory), and an auxiliary storage device such as a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, and the like. The GPS device 103 receives GPS satellite signals from a GPS receiver (not shown), and acquires position information of the vehicle 100. The input / output device 104 is an input device such as a keyboard, various pointing devices (mouse, touch pad, touch panel, pen tablet, etc.) and a microphone, and an output such as a display device (liquid crystal display, CRT display, projector, etc.) and an audio output device Includes the device. The wireless communication device 105 is a wireless communication device capable of communicating with the other vehicle 100 and the user terminal 200. The communication method of wireless communication may be arbitrary. Moreover, the communication between vehicles and the communication with a user terminal may be the same system, and may be different systems, respectively. The sensor 106 is a sensor for acquiring information on the inside and the outside of the vehicle 100, and, for example, a camera outside the vehicle (including a visible light camera, an infrared camera, and a stereo camera), a ranging radar (millimeter wave radar, ultrasonic waves Radar), a vehicle speed sensor, an acceleration sensor, etc. are included.

FIG. 2B is a functional block diagram showing a functional configuration of the on-vehicle terminal 100. As shown in FIG. The following functions are realized by the arithmetic device 101 of the vehicle 100 executing the program stored in the storage device 102. That is, the on-vehicle terminal 100 includes the task execution request reception unit 11, the task information reception unit 12, the determination unit 13, the task execution unit 14, the execution result transmission unit 15, the update unit 16, the task information storage unit 17, and the task information transmission unit 18. And other functions. The details of each of these functions will be described later in conjunction with the description of the processing content.

<Processing content>
[Overall processing]
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an outline of the overall processing performed by the computing system according to the present embodiment. In this flowchart, processing executed by the user terminal 200 and the vehicle system is described. The processing indicated to be performed by the vehicle system includes processing independently performed by at least a part of the vehicles 100 in the vehicle system and processing performed cooperatively by a plurality of vehicles 100 in the vehicle system.

  First, the user terminal 200 transmits a task execution request to the vehicle system, and the vehicle system receives the task execution request (S301, S302). In step S302, the task execution request receiving unit 11 of the vehicle 100 that can communicate with the user terminal 200 receives the task execution request from the user terminal 200. Whether the user terminal 200 requests task execution to the vehicle group 10 or whether the vehicle group 10 accepts a task execution request from the user terminal 200 may be determined by an appropriate method. For example, when the vehicle group 10 can execute a task while the vehicle group 10 can communicate with the user terminal 200, a task execution request can be issued from the user terminal 200 to the vehicle group 10.

  In step S303, the task requested to be executed in the vehicle group 10 is executed. Specific procedures will be described in detail below with reference to FIG.

  In step S304, the execution result of the task is transmitted from the vehicle group 10 to the user terminal 200. Specifically, the vehicle 100 capable of directly communicating with the user terminal 200 is determined by the execution result transmission unit 15, and the execution result is transmitted to the user terminal 200 via the vehicle 100. In step S305, the user terminal 200 receives this execution result from the vehicle system. The execution result does not necessarily have to be the result of execution of the task to the end, but may be an intermediate result.

[Process when receiving task submission]
Among the task execution processing in the vehicle group 10 in step S303, the processing by the vehicle 100 that has received the task execution request from the user terminal 200 will be described with reference to FIG. 4A. Here, the vehicle 100 that has received the task from the user terminal 200, that is, the vehicle that executes the process of FIG. 4A is referred to as a vehicle P.

  In step S401, the task execution request receiving unit 11 receives a task execution request from the user terminal 200. The task execution request includes the ID (identifier) of the user terminal 200 and the contents of the task. The contents of the task can be represented by source code, intermediate code, binary, for example.

  In step S402, the determination unit 13 determines whether the vehicle P is currently executing another task as a device in charge of the main task.

  If the vehicle P is not executing another task (S402-NO), in step S403, the task execution unit 14 starts execution of the task as the main device in charge. Note that the main device in charge and the auxiliary device in charge are different only in their roles as described later, and the task execution method itself is the same. Then, in step S404, the updating unit 16 generates task information and stores the task information in the task information storage unit 17.

The task information will be described with reference to FIG. 4B. The task information 410 has a task ID
411, content information 412, main responsible vehicle information 414, and auxiliary responsible vehicle information 417 are included. The task ID 411 is an identifier for uniquely identifying a task. The content information 412 includes information for executing a task. In the present embodiment, source code of the task, intermediate code, and the like are included as content information 412. The main vehicle information 414 includes vehicle information (Vm) 415 and end time information (Tm) 416. The vehicle information 415 is an identifier for specifying the main responsible vehicle, and the end time information 416 is a time when the main responsible vehicle is expected to finish the execution of this task. The auxiliary vehicle information 417 similarly includes vehicle information (Vs) 418 and end time information (Ts) 419. The end time information may be represented by an absolute time or may be represented by a relative time from a reference time.

In the task information generation process of step S404, since the vehicle P executes the task as the main vehicle-in-charge, the identifier of the vehicle P is stored in the vehicle information (Vm) 415 of the main vehicle-in-charge information 414. Further, in the end time information (Tm) 416, the predicted end time of the task is stored. The task end time is obtained, for example, by estimating the worst execution time (WCET: Worst Case Execution Time) by static analysis. The auxiliary responsible vehicle information 417 is left blank.

  On the other hand, when the vehicle P is executing another task (S402-YES), the update unit 16 generates task information and stores it in the task information storage unit 17 in step S405 without executing the task. . In this case, the main in-charge vehicle information 414 and the auxiliary in-charge vehicle information 417 of the task information are left blank.

  In step S406, the task information transmission unit 18 transmits the task information generated in step S404 or S405 to surrounding vehicles.

  In addition, although it demonstrated as what performs the task which received the execution request from the user terminal when the vehicle P is not performing any other task, the vehicle P is not performing the other task as a main handling vehicle In this case, the task requested to be executed may be executed. That is, when the vehicle P is executing another task as an auxiliary execution vehicle, the execution of the task may be interrupted, and the task requested from the user terminal may be executed as the main device in charge. In this case, the vehicle P transmits the task information not only to the task information on the task requested from the user terminal but also to the task whose execution has been interrupted.

[Process when receiving task information]
Among the task execution processing in the vehicle group 10 in step S303, the processing by the vehicle 100 which has received the task information from another vehicle will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, the vehicle 100 that has received task information from another vehicle, that is, the vehicle that executes the processing of FIGS. 5 and 6 is referred to as a vehicle P.

  In step S501, the task information receiving unit 12 receives task information. Here, it is assumed that the received task information relates to task A. In step S502, the determination unit 13 determines whether the vehicle P is executing task A. If the vehicle P is not executing the task A (S502-NO), the process proceeds to step S503.

  In step S503, the determination unit 13 determines whether the vehicle P is currently executing a task other than the task A as the main vehicle. If the vehicle P is executing another task as the main vehicle-in-charge (S503-YES), the process proceeds to step S512 without doing anything. On the other hand, if the vehicle P is not executing another task as the main handling vehicle (S503-NO), the process proceeds to step S504.

  In step S504, the determination unit 13 estimates a task execution end time Tx when the vehicle P executes the task A. There are two possible ways to perform a task. The first method is a method of executing task A based only on information included in task information. The second method is a method of acquiring the intermediate result of calculation from a vehicle currently executing task A and executing task A from the middle. In the second method, although the calculation time itself becomes short, communication takes time. In the present embodiment, the determination unit 13 estimates execution end times for these two methods, and sets a method of ending earlier as the execution end time Tx.

  In step S505, the determination unit 13 compares the task end time Tx of the vehicle P with the task end time Tm of the main vehicle in charge included in the task information. If the vehicle P can finish the task A earlier, that is, if Tx <Tm (S505-YES), the process proceeds to step S506, and the task execution unit 14 starts executing the task A as the main vehicle in charge. The task execution method adopts the method of ending earlier than the above two. In step S507, the updating unit 16 updates the contents of the task information received in step S501. Specifically, the vehicle information Vm (415) and the end time information Tm (416) of the main responsible vehicle are changed to the identifier of the vehicle P and the end time, and the vehicle information Vs (418) and the end time information of the auxiliary responsible vehicle Change Ts (419) to the identifier and end time of the main vehicle in charge until then.

  In addition, in step S506, when the other task B has been executed as the vehicle in charge of assistance until then, the vehicle P interrupts the execution of the task B and starts the execution of the task A. At this time, the vehicle P updates the task information of the task B and transmits it to the surrounding vehicles in order to notify the surrounding vehicles of the suspension of the execution of the task B in the vehicle P. Specifically, the vehicle P deletes the information on the auxiliary responsible vehicle from the task information of the task B, and transmits task information in which the auxiliary responsible vehicle information is empty.

  If it is determined in step S505 that the finish time of task A of vehicle P is later than the finish time of the main duty vehicle of task A (S505-NO), the process proceeds to step S508, and determination unit 13 It is determined whether or not the task other than task A is being executed as the assistant vehicle in charge. If the vehicle P is executing another task as the assistant vehicle (S508-YES), the process proceeds to step S512 without doing anything. On the other hand, if the vehicle P is not executing another task as an assistant vehicle (S508-NO), the process proceeds to step S509.

  In step S509, the determination unit 13 compares the task end time Tx of the vehicle P with the task end time Ts of the assistant vehicle in charge included in the task information. If the vehicle P can finish the task A earlier, that is, if Tx <Ts (S509-YES), the process proceeds to step S106, and the task execution unit 14 starts executing the task A as an assistant vehicle. In step S511, the updating unit 16 updates the contents of the task information received in step S501. Specifically, the information on the main handling vehicle is left as it is, and the vehicle information Vs (418) and the end time information Ts (419) of the auxiliary handling vehicle are changed to the identifier of the host vehicle and the end time.

  In the comparison of the task execution end times in steps S505 and S509, when the end times Tm and Ts of the main responsible vehicle or the auxiliary responsible vehicle are not stored in the task information, the task end time Tx of the vehicle P is the one. It may be determined as early. In other words, the end times Tm and Ts in the absence of the main responsible vehicle or the auxiliary responsible vehicle may be treated as infinity.

In step S512, the task information transmission unit 18 transmits task information. Specifically, the task information updated in step S507 is transmitted when task A is to be executed as the main vehicle, and step S51 is performed when task A is to be performed as the auxiliary vehicle.
The task information updated in 1 is transmitted, and when the task A is not executed, the task information received in step S501 is transmitted.

  Next, processing in the case where the vehicle P is executing the task A corresponding to the received task information (S502-YES) will be described with reference to FIG.

  In step S601, the determination unit 13 determines whether information (identifier) relating to the vehicle P is included in the main responsible vehicle information or the auxiliary responsible vehicle information of the task information. If the task information includes information on the vehicle P (S601-YES), the process proceeds to step S602 to continue execution of task A. At this time, it is determined whether the vehicle P is the main responsible vehicle for task A or the auxiliary responsible vehicle, depending on whether the vehicle P is set as the main responsible vehicle or the auxiliary responsible vehicle in the task information.

  When the task information does not include the information on the vehicle P (S601-NO), it is known that the other vehicle is changed to the vehicle P and the vehicle in charge of the task A is in charge. In this case, the vehicle P may immediately finish the execution of the task A, but in the present embodiment, in step S603, the finish time Tx of the task A of the vehicle P and the termination of the auxiliary responsible vehicle included in the task information The time Ts is compared. When the end time Ts of the vehicle in charge of assistance included in the task information is earlier (S603-YES), it can be said that it is appropriate for the vehicle specified in the task information to execute the task A. The execution is ended (S604). On the other hand, when the task end time Tx of the vehicle P is earlier (S603-NO), it can be said that the vehicle P continues executing the task A. Therefore, in this case, the task information is updated and transmitted to surrounding vehicles without ending the execution of the task A (S605). If the task end time of the vehicle P is earlier than the task end time Tm of the main responsible vehicle in the task information, the vehicle P becomes the main responsible vehicle for the task A, and if it is later than the task responsible time Tm of the main responsible vehicle Is the assistant vehicle in charge of task A.

<Operation example>
An operation example of task execution processing according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7A is a diagram for explaining a situation when a vehicle group including six vehicles N1 to N6 receives an execution request for task A from the user terminal UT. Here, the vehicle N1 receives an execution request for task A from the user terminal UT. Further, at this time, it is assumed that the vehicle N2 executes the task B as a main vehicle in charge, and the vehicle N4 executes the task C as an auxiliary vehicle. Other vehicles are not performing tasks.

As shown in FIG. 7B, first, the vehicle N1 executes task A as a main handling vehicle (S402-NO, S403), and transmits task information 701 indicating that the main handling vehicle is the vehicle N1. The vehicle N2 that has received the task information 701 is executing the other task as the main vehicle, and thus does not execute the task A, and transmits the task information 701 as it is (S503-YES, S512). End time _{T N3} of the task A of the vehicle N3 is slower than the current of the main charge of vehicle end time of the (vehicle _{N1) Tm (= T N1)} . However, since there is no auxiliary responsible vehicle for task A, the vehicle N3 executes task A as the auxiliary responsible vehicle (S505-NO, S509-YES, S510).

  As shown in FIG. 7C, the vehicle N3 transmits task information 702 for task A indicating that the main responsible vehicle is the vehicle N1 and the auxiliary responsible vehicle is the vehicle N3 to surrounding vehicles. In FIG. 7C, the task information 702 is drawn to propagate only to the rear of the vehicle group, but it also propagates to the front of the vehicle group.

The vehicle N4 having received the task information 702 is executing the task C as an assistant vehicle. End time _{T N4} of the task A of the vehicle N4 is slower than the end time Tm of the main charge of vehicle of the task A (vehicle N1). Therefore, the vehicle N4 continues the execution of the task C (S505-NO, S508-YES). Incidentally, if the end time _{T N4} task A vehicle N4 is even earlier than the end time Ts of the auxiliary charge vehicle _{N3 (= T} N3), vehicle N4 continues to run as an auxiliary charge vehicle task C.

Although the vehicle N5 is not executing a task, the end time T _N5 of the task A of the vehicle _N5 is the end time Tm (= T _N1 ) of the main responsible vehicle (N1) of the task A and the auxiliary responsible vehicle (N3) Since it is later than any of the time Ts (= T _N3 ), the task A is not executed (S505-NO, S509-NO).

The vehicle N6 is not executing a task, and the finish time TN6 of the task A of the vehicle N6 is earlier than the finish time Tm (= T _N1 ) of the main responsible vehicle (N1) of the task A. Therefore, the vehicle N6 executes the task A as a main vehicle in charge (S505-YES, S506).

  As shown in FIG. 7D, the vehicle N6 updates the task information of task A, and transmits task information 703 indicating that the main vehicle in charge is the vehicle N6 and the auxiliary vehicle in charge is the vehicle N1 to surrounding vehicles. .

When the vehicle N3 receives the task information 703, the vehicle N3 can detect that another vehicle has become an assistant vehicle because the task information regarding the task being executed by itself does not include the information of the own vehicle. . Therefore, the vehicle N3 interrupts the execution of the task A (S601-NO, S604). The task end time Ts (= T _N1 ) of the assistant vehicle N1 is earlier than the task end time T _N3 of the vehicle N3.

  When the vehicle N1 receives the task information 703, it can be detected that the vehicle N6 has become the main vehicle in charge of the task A and the vehicle N1 has become the auxiliary vehicle in charge of the task A. The vehicle N1 continues the execution of the task A, but recognizes that the vehicle N1 is executing as the assistant vehicle (S601-YES, S602).

<Benefit of this embodiment>
According to the present embodiment, it is possible to determine whether each vehicle in the vehicle group should execute the task autonomously based on the task information. In addition, the end time of the task can be compared in consideration of the latest resource status, and vehicles that can complete the execution can execute the task more quickly. In addition, since a plurality of vehicles execute one task in the vehicle group, it is possible to avoid a situation where the task execution result is lost even when the task execution vehicle leaves the vehicle group.

<Others>
The above description exemplifies the present invention, and does not limit the present invention. The present invention can be variously modified within the scope of the technical idea.

  In the above description, the new task information is generated and transmitted only when the vehicle newly starts the execution of the task. However, it is preferable that the task information be transmitted more frequently in the vehicle group, considering that the timing of receiving the task information is the determination timing of whether to execute the task. Therefore, it is preferable that the main responsible vehicle (and the auxiliary responsible vehicle) of the task regularly transmit task information of the task.

It is assumed that the task execution vehicle is detached from the vehicle group. In order to cope with such a situation, it is preferable that the vehicle that has detected the departure of the task execution vehicle updates the task information related to the task being executed by the detached vehicle and transmits it to the surroundings. Specifically, when the main responsible vehicle leaves the vehicle, task information is generated and transmitted with the auxiliary responsible vehicle up to that point as the main responsible vehicle and the auxiliary responsible vehicle empty (or own vehicle). In addition, when the auxiliary responsible vehicle leaves, the task information is generated and transmitted with the auxiliary responsible vehicle empty (or the own vehicle) without changing the information on the main responsible vehicle. Alternatively, the vehicle that has detected the departure of the task execution vehicle may transmit task information based on the result after determining whether the host vehicle executes the task as the main responsible vehicle or the auxiliary responsible vehicle. .

  When the task execution vehicle leaves, the task execution vehicle leaving may transmit task information. That is, when the task execution vehicle leaves the vehicle group, the task information as described above (in this case, the auxiliary responsible vehicle is empty) may be transmitted. The departure prediction from the vehicle group can be determined based on the predicted route of another vehicle in the vehicle group and the predicted route of the host vehicle. If the task execution vehicle leaves the vehicle group and the result of the task execution is also included in the task information and transmitted, it is preferable because the vehicle that has received the task information can execute the task from the middle.

  Although the task information includes the task source code and the like in the description of the above embodiment, an intermediate result of the task at the time of task information generation may be included in the task information. In this way, the capacity of the task information increases, but there is an advantage that other vehicles can immediately start execution from the middle of the task. Conversely, the task information may not include the source code of the task. In this case, the vehicle that executes the task needs to obtain the task source code and the like from another vehicle, but the volume of task information can be reduced.

  In the above embodiment, although the case where the information processing apparatus executing a task is an on-vehicle terminal is described as an example, the information processing apparatus executing a task may be any information processing apparatus. The method of the above embodiment is applicable not only to the in-vehicle terminal but also to a system configured by an arbitrary information processing apparatus, and the information processing apparatus may or may not move.

  In the above embodiment, one task is described as being performed by two devices, the main device and the auxiliary device, but one task may be performed by three or more devices. The number of information processing apparatuses executing a task is N (N is an integer of 2 or more), and the apparatuses executing the task are the first apparatus in charge to the Nth apparatus in charge. The device executing the task as the first device in charge does not execute other tasks even if it receives the task information. On the other hand, a device executing a task as the k-th device in charge (k is an integer of 2 or more and N or less) is faster than the j-th device in charge of received task information (j is an integer of 1 or more and k-1 or less) If execution of the task can be completed, the task may be executed as the j-th device in charge.

100: Vehicle (vehicle-mounted in-vehicle terminal)
11: task execution request reception unit 12: task information reception unit 13: determination unit 14: task execution unit 15: execution result transmission unit 16: update unit 17: task information storage unit 18: task information transmission unit

Claims (10)

A task execution method in a group including a plurality of information processing apparatuses, comprising:
A receiving step of receiving task information including a first device in charge of a task and its predicted execution end time, and a second device in charge of the task and its predicted completion time of the task;
A determination step of determining whether to execute a task corresponding to the task information based on the received task information;
Sending the task information regarding the task;
Including
In the determination step, (A) any task is not executed as the first device in charge, and the task can be terminated earlier than the predicted execution end time of the first device in charge included in the task information In this case, it is determined that the task is executed as the first device in charge, and (B) no task is executed as the first device in charge or the second device in charge, and the second information included in the task information When it is possible to end the task earlier than the predicted execution end time of the device in charge, it is determined that the task is to be executed as the second device in charge,
In the transmission step, when the task is executed as (A) the first device in charge, the first device in charge of task information is updated to the own device, and the second device in charge is updated to the first devices in charge until that time. (B) When executing the task as the second device in charge, the second device in charge of task information is updated to the own device, and the updated task information is transmitted. ,
Task execution method. When it is determined in the determination step that the task corresponding to the task information is not to be executed, the transmission step transmits, without updating, the information on the first responsible device and the second responsible device of the received task information.
A task execution method according to claim 1. In the determination step, when the task information is task information regarding a task being executed by the own device, and when the task information does not include information regarding the own device, execution of the task corresponding to the task information is performed Determine to cancel
A task execution method according to claim 1 or 2. In the determination step, when the task information is task information regarding a task being executed by the own device, and when the task information does not include information regarding the own device, the task end prediction included in the task information If any of the times further satisfies the condition that it is earlier than the predicted end time of the task in the own device, it is determined that the execution of the task is stopped, and if the condition is not satisfied, the execution of the task is continued Then, the task information is updated and transmitted in the transmission step.
A task execution method according to claim 3. Further including an execution request acquisition step of acquiring a task execution request from the user device;
The task requested to be executed is executed as a first device in charge, and the first device in charge is an own device, and information on the second device in charge sends empty task information.
The task execution method according to any one of claims 1 to 4. In the determination step, the execution end time is estimated for both the case where the task corresponding to the task information is executed from the beginning and the case where the result is obtained halfway and executed from the middle, and whichever is earlier in the own device Let the predicted end time of the run
The task execution method according to any one of claims 1 to 5. If it is determined in the determination step that the task corresponding to the task information is to be executed, and if it is faster to execute the process from the beginning by acquiring the process result of the task and performing the process from the beginning, the process result of the task To execute the task from the middle,
A task execution method according to claim 6. Updating and transmitting task information corresponding to the task when it is detected that the information processing apparatus executing the task as a first apparatus or a second apparatus leaves the group;
The task execution method according to any one of claims 1 to 7. A receiving unit for receiving task information including a first device in charge of a task and its predicted execution end time, and a second device in charge of the task and its predicted completion time of the task;
A determination unit that determines whether or not to execute a task corresponding to the task information based on the received task information;
Transmitting means for transmitting task information related to the task;
Equipped with
The determination means (A) does not execute any task as the first device in charge, and can finish the task earlier than the predicted execution end time of the first device in charge included in the task information In this case, it is determined that the task is executed as the first device in charge, and (B) no task is executed as the first device in charge or the second device in charge, and the second information included in the task information When it is possible to end the task earlier than the predicted execution end time of the device in charge, it is determined that the task is to be executed as the second device in charge,
(A) When executing the task as the first device in charge, the transmission means updates the first device in charge of task information to the own device and updates the second device in charge to the first device in charge so far. (B) When executing the task as the second device in charge, the second device in charge of task information is updated to the own device, and the updated task information is transmitted. ,
Information processing device.   A program for causing a computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

Images