JP7206926B2 - Occupant position estimation system - Google Patents

Description

The disclosure herein relates to an occupant location estimation system that obtains the location of an occupant of a vehicle.

Conventionally, there have been systems that execute various controls such as locking/unlocking the vehicle doors and starting the engine based on successful authentication by wireless communication between the vehicle-mounted device and the portable device owned by the vehicle user. Are known.

Further, by specifying the position of the portable device brought into the vehicle and regarding the seat corresponding to the specified position of the portable device as the seat on which the user of the portable device is seated, an individual service according to the user is provided. is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2017-118485 A

In the technique described in the aforementioned Patent Document 1, all passengers need to have a portable device in order to acquire the positions of the passengers. However, since some passengers do not have a portable device, there is a problem that the positions of the passengers cannot be acquired.

Therefore, the object of the disclosure is to provide an occupant position estimation system capable of estimating the position of an occupant without using all the portable devices that the occupant has. aim.

The present disclosure employs the following technical means to achieve the aforementioned objects.

The occupant position estimation system disclosed herein includes a plurality of communication devices (20) mounted on a vehicle (40) and a control unit (30) for controlling the communication devices. ), the communicator includes a communication unit (22) that communicates with other communicators using radio communication, and a communication unit (22) that receives transmission signals from other communicators and a detection unit (23) for detecting the reception strength of the received transmission signal, and a virtual straight line (L) connecting one of the plurality of communication devices and the other communication devices. , the vehicle is equipped with communicators such that one of the plurality of virtual straight lines passes through a predetermined seat (42) in the vehicle, and the control unit transmits radio waves from the plurality of communicators. A transmission control unit (33) that selects a communication device for transmission and causes the selected communication device to transmit radio waves using the selected communication device as a radio wave transmission source, and a reception strength detected by a detection unit provided in the communication device that received the radio waves transmitted by the radio wave transmission source. an estimating unit (34) for estimating the presence or absence of an occupant in the seat between the radio wave transmitting source and the communication device that received the radio wave, and an obtaining unit (47) for obtaining opening/closing of the vehicle door (41) using and, when it acquires that the door is open, the estimation unit starts to periodically monitor the estimation of the presence or absence of an occupant, and the estimation unit gets into the rear seat when the door is open. An occupant position estimation system that counts the number of people and estimates that the counted number of people are sitting in the backseat when the number of people in the backseat estimated using the reception intensity differs from the counted number of people in the backseat . be.

According to such an occupant position estimation system, the communication device has a communication section that communicates with each other and a detection section that detects the reception strength of the received transmission signal. A plurality of communication devices are mounted so that one of the plurality of virtual straight lines passes through the seat so that the presence or absence of a passenger can be detected. In this way, two communication devices located on the imaginary straight line passing through the seat communicate, and when there is an occupant between them, the reception strength of the transmission signal is attenuated compared to when there is no occupant. Therefore, the estimating unit uses the reception intensity to estimate the presence or absence of a passenger between communication devices that have received radio waves from the radio wave transmission source. This makes it possible to estimate the position of the occupant without using the occupant's portable device.

It should be noted that the symbols in parentheses of each of the means described above are examples showing the correspondence with specific means described in the embodiments described later.

1 is a block diagram of a vehicle system according to a first embodiment; FIG. Diagram showing the layout of the vehicle-side communication device Diagram explaining boarding pattern Diagram explaining the detection pattern Processing time chart including occupant estimation processing Time chart of other processing including occupant estimation processing Flowchart showing the processing of the control device Flowchart showing occupant estimation processing Flowchart showing processing of vehicle-side communication device Flowchart showing request reception processing from the control device Flowchart showing result reception processing from the communication unit Flowchart showing processing of the communication unit Flowchart showing control device update processing A diagram showing a first arrangement example of vehicle-side communication devices Diagram for explaining occupant estimation processing The figure which shows the 2nd example of arrangement|positioning of a vehicle side communication apparatus. Diagram for explaining occupant estimation processing performed in real time Diagram for explaining occupant estimation processing near opened and closed doors Time chart for explaining occupant estimation processing using a portable device

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereafter, the form for implementing this invention is demonstrated using several forms, referring drawings. In some cases, portions corresponding to the items described in the preceding embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals, or one character is added to the preceding reference numerals to omit redundant description. Further, when a part of the configuration is explained in each embodiment, the other part of the configuration is assumed to be the same as the previously explained embodiment. It is possible not only to combine the parts specifically described in each embodiment, but also to partially combine the embodiments if there is no problem with the combination.

(First embodiment)
A first embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 13. FIG. A vehicle system 100 includes a portable device 10 , a vehicle-side communication device 20 and a control device 30 . The vehicular system 100 performs authentication by matching the portable device 10 carried by the user and the vehicle-side communication device 20 provided in the vehicle 40 through wireless communication with the control device 30. When the authentication is successful, It has a PEPS (Passive Entry Passive Start) function that enables control of the vehicle 40 to be authenticated. A configuration related to the PEPS function in the vehicle system 100 corresponds to an electronic key system. The electronic key system is a system in which a response signal is transmitted from the portable device 10 in response to a request signal from the vehicle-side communication device 20, and the door 41 of the vehicle 40 is locked and unlocked based on the response signal. Further, the vehicle system 100 of the present embodiment has the function of an occupant position estimation system that estimates the position of the occupant 43 seated in the vehicle interior using wireless communication between the vehicle side communication devices 20 .

The portable device 10 has an electronic key function. The portable device 10 includes a switch 11 operated by a user, a wireless communication section 12 that transmits and receives data by wireless communication, and a wireless control section 13 that controls the wireless communication section 12 . The mobile device 10 may be a Fob, which is a small dedicated device, or may be a mobile terminal such as a multifunctional mobile phone having an electronic key function. The mobile device 10 can execute processing related to the PEPS (Passive Entry Passive Start) function. As processing related to the PEPS function, the portable device 10 transmits a response signal including the authentication code by wireless communication when receiving a request signal requesting an authentication code transmitted from the vehicle-side communication device 20 by wireless communication. configured to

In the present embodiment, the mobile device 10 is implemented by a multifunctional mobile phone having a communication function that performs communication according to the short-range wireless communication standard of Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy (abbreviation: BLE). The vehicle-side communication device 20 and the portable device 10 perform wireless communication according to the short-range wireless communication standard of BLE. Communication in accordance with the short-range wireless communication standard of BLE is connection-oriented communication, in which data is transmitted through a connection, which is a virtual dedicated communication path established with a communication partner before starting communication with the communication partner. Send and receive.

Next, the vehicle side communication device 20 will be described. A plurality of vehicle-side communication devices 20 are mounted on the vehicle 40 . The vehicle-side communication device 20 is mounted so as to be optimally arranged for each vehicle type in order to realize the PEPS function and to detect the presence or absence of the passenger 43 . The vehicle-side communication device 20 communicates with the portable device 10 and other vehicle-side communication devices 20 . In other words, the vehicle-side communication device 20 communicates with each other. The vehicle-side communication device 20 is connected to the control device 30 by wire, and communicates with the control device 30 by using a wire.

As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle-side communication device 20 includes an antenna 21, a communication unit 22, a communication device control unit (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as a control unit) 23, and a reception intensity measurement unit 24. . The antenna 21 transmits and receives radio waves in the 2.4 GHz band used in BLE. Further, the vehicle-side communication device 20 is mounted outside and inside each of the four doors 41, as shown in FIG. The vehicle-side communication device 20 inside the door 41 and the vehicle-side communication device 20 outside the door 41 have the same function, but the vehicle-side communication device 20 outside the door 41 has the antenna 21 outside the vehicle. 21 is an inner vehicle side communication device 20 provided inside the vehicle.

As an example, 12 vehicle-side communication devices 20 are mounted as shown in FIG. Two vehicle-side communication devices 20 are mounted on each of the four doors 41 as described above. Furthermore, it is mounted in the center of the left-right direction of the vehicle 40 so that four may be lined up in the front-back direction. The vehicle side communication device 20 in front of the center is mounted near the instrument panel 44, the second vehicle side communication device 20 from the front is mounted near the center console 45, and the third vehicle side communication device 20 from the front is mounted near the luggage compartment 46. , and the fourth vehicle side communication device 20 from the front, that is, the rearmost vehicle side communication device 20 is mounted on the door 41 of the luggage compartment 46 .

The external antenna 21 may be provided on the exterior side of the vehicle body, and is not limited to an exposed configuration such as being covered with a material such as resin that does not easily block radio waves. Note that the configuration in which the entire vehicle-side communication device 20 is provided outside the vehicle is not limited to the configuration in which at least part of the antenna 21 of the vehicle-side communication device 20 is provided outside the vehicle.

The antenna 21 transmits and receives radio waves in the 2.4 GHz band used in BLE. The antenna 21 may be a transmitting antenna and a receiving antenna integrated or separated.

The communication unit 22 has a circuit necessary for performing communication according to the short-range communication standard of BLE, and transmits and receives data via the antenna 21 . The communication unit 22 establishes a one-to-one connection with a communication partner, and transmits and receives data to and from the communication partner with which the connection has been established. When establishing a connection with the portable device 10 , the communication unit 22 transmits the above-described request signal to the portable device 10 and receives a response signal from the portable device 10 . Further, the communication unit 22 receives various data from the other vehicle-side communication device 20 when establishing a connection with the other vehicle-side communication device 20 . The communication unit 22 outputs the received data to the control unit 23 .

The reception strength measuring unit 24 measures the reception strength of radio waves received by the antenna 21 (hereinafter referred to as RSSI). The reception strength measurement unit 24 measures RSSI and outputs it to the control unit 23 . This RSSI measurement section corresponds to the detection section. When communicating with the portable device 10 by establishing a connection, that is, when performing connection-type communication, the communication unit 22 receives data from the communication partner and is used for this connection-type communication. The RSSI of radio waves is measured to identify the RSSI.

Furthermore, when the device itself is not performing connection-type communication, the communication unit 22 sniffs, that is, intercepts, the radio waves used for the connection-type communication performed by the other vehicle-side communication device 20, and transmits the radio waves to the antenna 21. to identify the RSSI. According to this, the RSSI of radio waves from the portable device 10 and the other vehicle-side communication device 20 can be specified without performing connection-type communication in the own device.

The control unit 23 sends the data received by the communication unit 22 and the RSSI specified by the reception strength measurement unit 24 to the control device 30 . When the communication unit 22 receives the response signal from the portable device 10 , the control unit 23 sends data of the received response signal and the specified RSSI to the control device 30 . Further, when the communication unit 22 receives data from another vehicle-side communication device 20 , the control unit 23 sends the received data and the specified RSSI to the control device 30 . Note that, when the communication unit 22 identifies the RSSI by sniffing, the control unit 23 sends the identified RSSI to the control device 30 .

In this embodiment, the vehicle-side communication device 20 and the control device 30 are connected by wire, and the control unit 23 receives the data received by the communication unit 22 and the RSSI specified by the reception strength measurement unit 24, to the control device 30 by wire. The control device 30 and the vehicle-side communication device 20 are not limited to transmitting data and RSSI by wire, but may be configured to transmit data and RSSI by wireless communication using radio waves in a low frequency band.

Next, the mounting position of the vehicle-side communication device 20 will be described with reference to FIG. As described above, the vehicle-side communication device 20 is mounted so as to be optimally arranged for each vehicle type in order to detect the presence or absence of the passenger 43 . Specifically, when a virtual straight line L connecting one vehicle-side communicator 20 and another vehicle-side communicator 20 among the plurality of vehicle-side communicators 20 is formed in each of the vehicle-side communicators 20, the vehicle 40 A predetermined seat 42 is mounted so that one of a plurality of imaginary straight lines L passes through. As indicated by the phantom lines in FIG. 2, the vehicle 40 has four seats 42, namely, a driver's seat 42a and a passenger's seat 42b at the front and two seats 42 at the rear.

FIG. 2 shows part of the virtual straight line L for the three vehicle-side communication devices 20 shown hatched. An imaginary straight line L connecting the vehicle-side communication device 20 of the center console 45 and the vehicle-side communication device 20 mounted on the door 41 of the driver's seat 42a and the door 41 of the passenger's seat 42b passes through the driver's seat 42a and the passenger's seat 42b. A straight line L is formed. Similarly, an imaginary straight line L connecting the vehicle-side communication device 20 in the luggage compartment 46 and the vehicle-side communication devices 20 mounted on the four doors 41 is an imaginary straight line L passing through the four seats 42 . Furthermore, the virtual straight line L connecting the vehicle side communication device 20 of the door 41 of the seat 42 behind the driver's seat 42 a with the other vehicle side communication device 20 is four virtual straight lines L passing through the seat 42 . In this manner, the 12 vehicle-side communication devices 20 can form virtual straight lines L that pass through the four seats 42 from various directions.

Next, the control device 30 will be described. The control device 30 is mainly composed of a microcomputer having a processor, a memory, an I/O, and a bus connecting them, and executes a control program stored in the memory to perform various processing such as processing related to the PEPS function. is an electronic control unit that executes The control device 30 acquires information from various sensors 47 such as a water temperature sensor, an opening/closing sensor, and an outside air temperature sensor of the vehicle 40 and controls each part. Execution of this control program by this processor corresponds to execution of the method corresponding to the control program. Memory, as used herein, is a non-transitory tangible storage medium for non-transitory storage of computer-readable programs and data. A non-transitional physical storage medium is implemented by a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, or the like.

The control device 30 includes a PEPS function section 31 and a position determination function section 32 as functional blocks. A part or all of the functions executed by the control device 30 may be configured as hardware using one or a plurality of ICs or the like. Also, some or all of the functional blocks included in the control device 30 may be implemented by a combination of software executed by a processor and hardware members.

The PEPS function unit 31 performs processing related to the PEPS function. More specifically, when a predetermined trigger is detected, the vehicle-side communication device 20 is requested to transmit a request signal, and the vehicle-side communication device 20 transmits the request signal. The predetermined triggers are (1) the vehicle is parked and the door handle SW provided on the outer door handle is operated, and (2) the vehicle is parked and the vehicle is parked. For example, the push SW for requesting the start of the traveling drive source is operated. Subsequently, the PEPS function unit 31 acquires the response signal received from the portable device 10 by the vehicle-side communication device 20 and the RSSI specified by the vehicle-side communication device 20 .

The PEPS function unit 31 also has a function as a position estimation unit that estimates the position of the portable device 10 . In the PEPS function unit 31, the vehicle-side communication device 20 receives radio waves transmitted by the portable device 10 carried by the user, and estimates the position of the portable device 10 based on distance estimation based on the radio wave intensity of the received radio waves. Specifically, the PEPS function unit 31 identifies the position of the portable device 10 inside and outside the vehicle 40 based on the RSSI identified by the plurality of vehicle-side communication devices 20 . More specifically, utilizing the fact that the RSSI pattern of radio waves received from the portable device 10 by the plurality of vehicle-side communication devices 20 changes according to the position of the portable device 10 inside or outside the vehicle 40, the PEPS function unit 31 The position of the portable device 10 inside and outside the vehicle 40 is specified based on the RSSI specified by the plurality of vehicle-side communication devices 20 .

As an example, the PEPS function unit 31 may specify the position of the portable device 10 based on the principle of triangulation using RSSIs from at least three of the plurality of vehicle-side communication devices 20 . In addition, a map or the like showing the correspondence relationship between the RSSI patterns of a plurality of vehicle-side communication devices 20 and the position of the mobile device 10 for each carrying mode of the mobile device 10 of the user is obtained in advance by simulation, experiment, or the like. The position of the portable device 10 may be specified by storing it in the memory of the control device 30 and using this correspondence relationship.

Further, the PEPS function unit 31 performs authentication using the authentication code included in the response signal, and determines the position of the portable device 10 specified based on the RSSI and whether or not the authentication is established. locking/unlocking of the vehicle 40, permission to start the driving source of the vehicle 40, and the like.

Next, the occupant determination function section will be described. The occupant determination function unit performs occupant estimation processing for estimating the position of the occupant 43 seated in the vehicle compartment. As shown in FIG. 1, the position determination function unit 32 includes a transmission control unit 33, an estimation unit 34, and an update unit 35 as sub-functional blocks. The transmission control unit 33 selects a vehicle-side communication device 20 to transmit radio waves from a plurality of vehicle-side communication devices 20, and causes the selected vehicle-side communication device 20 to transmit radio waves using the selected vehicle-side communication device 20 as a radio wave transmission source. The estimating unit 34 uses the RSSI detected by the vehicle-side communication device 20 that received the radio wave transmitted by the radio wave transmission source to estimate the occupant seat 42 between the radio wave transmission source and the vehicle-side communication device 20 that received the radio wave. Presence or absence of 43 is estimated. The updating unit 35 updates the information that serves as a criterion for determining whether or not the occupant 43 is present by the estimating unit 34 when there is no one in the vehicle.

A specific occupant estimation process will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. FIG. 3 shows three riding patterns. Boarding pattern 1 is a pattern in which the passenger 43 is in the rear left seat. Riding pattern 2 is a pattern in which the passenger 43 is in the driver's seat 42a. Riding pattern 3 is a pattern in which passengers 43 occupy three seats 42 excluding the right rear seat. In such a case, radio waves from the vehicle-side communication device 20 near the luggage compartment 46 are greatly attenuated by the human body. The value of RSSI will decrease in comparison. The three riding patterns have different routes that are attenuated. As a result, the vehicle side communication device 20 near the luggage compartment 46 can estimate which route the passenger 43 is on.

Furthermore, FIG. 4 shows three detection patterns. Detection pattern 1 is a pattern in which the vehicle-side communication device 20 near the luggage compartment 46 serves as the radio wave transmission source. Detection pattern 2 is a pattern in which the vehicle-side communication device 20 inside the rear right door 41 serves as the radio wave transmission source. Detection pattern 3 is a pattern in which the vehicle-side communication device 20 of the center console 45 serves as the radio wave transmission source. When the occupant 43 is on the rear left side, the paths indicated by the broken lines in the three detection patterns pass through the occupant 43, so the RSSI value decreases compared to when the occupant 43 does not exist. The three detection patterns have different attenuation paths.

The occupant determination function unit determines what boarding pattern the attenuation route detected by the detection pattern corresponds to, and estimates the boarding position of the occupant 43 . In other words, the seating position and the number of passengers are estimated by specifying the combination pattern of RSSIs acquired from the plurality of vehicle-side communication devices 20 . The pattern of the RSSI values acquired by the other vehicle-side communication devices 20 when each vehicle-side communication device 20 is used as a radio wave transmission source is information that serves as a criterion for determining whether or not the passenger 43 is present, and is stored in memory in advance. remembered. However, the detected RSSI value varies depending on the physique of the occupant 43, the deviation of the hip point, the environment outside the vehicle, and the like. In order to take such fluctuations in values into consideration, a threshold is set using, for example, machine learning. Machine learning algorithms use, for example, support vector machines. As inputs for machine learning, a group of RSSI data when the user is seated at each seating position and correct seating positions are used, and machine learning is performed to construct a learning model. This makes it possible to efficiently set the threshold.

Next, an example of the flow of occupant estimation processing will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 5, two antennas 21 among the antennas 21 of the vehicle-side communication device 20 are indicated as antenna 1 and antenna 2, and the other antenna 21 is indicated as antenna n.

When the passenger 43 approaches the vehicle 40 at time t1 and unlocks the vehicle 40 at time t2, an unlock signal is transmitted to the control device 30 . The control device 30 authenticates the unlock signal and unlocks. After that, at time t<b>3 , when the passenger 43 opens the door 41 , a door open signal is transmitted from the door sensor to the control device 30 . At time t4, the passenger 43 gets on the vehicle, and when the door 41 is closed at time t5, the door sensor transmits a door close signal to the controller 30. FIG.

Then, at time t6, a preparatory signal for occupant estimation is transmitted from the control device 30 to each antenna 21 in order to start the occupant estimation process. The power of each antenna 21 is turned on by the preparation signal to enter a reception standby state. At time t7, the occupant estimation process is started, the antenna 21 serving as the radio wave transmission source is selected, and a transmission request signal is transmitted to the selected antenna 1. FIG. As a result, the antenna 21 transmits a radio wave, and in response, the other antenna 21 transmits the RSSI value of the received radio wave and its own identification signal to the control device 30 .

At time t8, the controller 30 estimates the number of passengers and the seating position from the received RSSI value pattern. Further, it selects an antenna 21 as a radio wave transmission source and transmits a transmission request signal to the selected antenna 2 . As a result, the antenna 2 transmits radio waves, and in response, the other antenna 21 transmits the RSSI value of the received radio waves and its own identification signal to the control device 30 .

At time t9, control device 30 estimates the number of passengers and the seating positions from the received RSSI value pattern and information estimated up to the previous time. The occupant estimation process from time t8 to time t9 is repeated a predetermined number of times, and when the end condition is met at time t10, the controller 30 transmits an end signal to each antenna 21 to end the occupant estimation process. . This completes the series of occupant estimation processes from time t7. The end condition is, for example, when a certain period of time has elapsed from time t7, or when the door 41 is opened from a closed state.

Next, another example of the flow of occupant estimation processing will be described with reference to FIG. The processing from time t1 to time t6 is the same as in FIG. Further, the processing from time t7 to time t9 in FIG. 5 is collectively referred to as occupant estimation processing in FIG.

When the occupant 43 performs the locking operation at time t11 after the termination condition is met, a lock signal is transmitted to the control device 30 . The control device 30 authenticates the lock signal and locks. Then, at time t12, a preparatory signal for occupant estimation is transmitted from the control device 30 to each antenna 21 in order to start the occupant estimation process. Next, at time t12, occupant estimation processing is performed.

The occupant estimation process at time t13 is the same as the occupant estimation process from time t7. Therefore, the occupant estimation process is executed even if the locking operation is performed. At time t<b>14 , when the termination condition is satisfied, the controller 30 transmits a termination signal to each antenna 21 to terminate the occupant estimation process.

The timing at which the occupant estimation process is performed is, for example, when the door 41 changes from open to closed, when the door 41 is locked, when the vehicle 40 starts running, or after a certain period of time. preferably. If it is carried out after a certain period of time has passed, it can also be detected that the passenger 43 has moved from one seat to another in the vehicle.

Next, the processing of the control device 30 will be described with reference to FIG. The control device 30 executes the processing shown in FIG. 7 in the power-on state. In step S11, it is determined whether or not it is the occupant detection timing, and if it is the occupant detection timing, the process proceeds to step S12, and step S11 is repeated until the occupant detection timing is reached.

In step S12, it is the occupant detection timing, so a request to start occupant detection is transmitted to each antenna 21, and the process proceeds to step S13. In step S13, the occupant estimation process is started, and the process proceeds to step S14. In step S14, it is determined whether or not the termination condition is satisfied, and if satisfied, this flow is terminated, and the process of step S13 is repeated until the termination condition is satisfied. In this manner, when the passenger detection timing comes, the passenger estimation process is performed. Then, the occupant estimation process is repeatedly executed until the termination condition is satisfied.

Next, with reference to FIG. 8, specific contents of the occupant estimation process will be described. When the occupant estimation process is started, in step S21, the antenna 21 serving as a radio wave transmission source for transmitting BLE radio waves is selected, and the process proceeds to step S22. In step S22, a transmission request is transmitted to transmit BLE radio waves from the antenna n selected in step S21, and the process proceeds to step S23.

In step S23, a process of receiving a response signal to the transmission in step S22 is performed, and the process proceeds to step S24. In step S24, it is determined whether or not the predetermined number of antennas 21 are used for reception processing.If the reception processing for the number of antennas 21 is completed, the process proceeds to step S25. , the process returns to step S23.

In step S25, since the reception processing of all the antennas 21 has been completed, the number of passengers and the seating positions are estimated based on the received RSSI values, and this flow ends. In the estimation process, the number of occupants and the seating position can be estimated by comparing with the preset threshold values as described above.

Next, control of the vehicle-side communication device 20 will be described with reference to FIG. The control unit 23 of the vehicle-side communication device 20 executes the processing shown in FIG. 9 in the power-on state. In step S31, a request reception process from the control device 30 is executed, and the process proceeds to step S32. In step S32, it is determined whether or not the power of the antenna 21 is ON. If it is ON, the process proceeds to step S33, and if it is not ON, this flow ends. In step S33, since the antenna 21 is powered on, the process of receiving the result from the communication unit 22 is executed, and this flow ends.

Next, with reference to FIG. 10, specific contents of the request reception processing from the control device 30 will be described. When the request receiving process is started, the receiving process is performed in step S41, and the process proceeds to step S42. The reception process is a process of grasping received information when a signal is received from the antenna 21 via the communication unit 22 .

In step S42, it is determined whether or not the received content is an instruction request from the control device 30. If it is an instruction request, the process proceeds to step S43, and if it is not an instruction request, this flow ends. In step S43, since the request has been received from the control device 30, it is determined whether or not the request is an occupant detection end command. , the process moves to step S45. In step S44, since the occupant detection end command has been received, the power of each antenna 21 is turned off, and this flow ends.

In step S45, it is determined whether or not the received request is an occupant detection start command. If it is an occupant detection start command, the process proceeds to step S46. In step S46, since the occupant detection start command has been received, each antenna 21 is turned on, and this flow ends.

In step S47, it is determined whether or not the received request is a call request command directed to itself. If it is a call request command, the process proceeds to step S48. In step S48, since the transmission request command has been received, control is performed so that radio waves are transmitted from the predetermined antenna 21, and this flow ends.

In this way, in the request reception process, the power of the antenna 21 is turned on when reception is started, the power of the antenna 21 is turned off when the process ends, and radio waves are transmitted when it is necessary to transmit. Control.

Next, with reference to FIG. 11, specific contents of the request reception processing from the communication unit 22 will be described. When the request receiving process is started, the receiving process is performed in step S51, and the process proceeds to step S52. The reception process is a process of grasping received information when a signal is received from the antenna 21 via the communication unit 22 .

In step S52, since the request has been received from the control device 30, it is determined whether or not the request is a result processing command. End this flow. In step S53, since the result processing command has been received, the RSSI value of the received radio wave and its own antenna number (No) are transmitted, and this flow ends.

In this manner, in the process of receiving a request from the communication unit 22, when a result processing command is received, the RSSI value and the antenna number are controlled to be transmitted.

Next, control of the communication unit 22 will be described with reference to FIG. 12 . The communication unit 22 of the vehicle-side communication device 20 executes the processing shown in FIG. 12 in the power-on state. In step S61, an initialization process is performed to initialize various settings, and the process proceeds to step S62. In step S62, control is performed so that a command can be received from the control unit 23, and the process proceeds to step S63. In step S63, it is determined whether or not a command has been received. If the command has been received, the process proceeds to step S64, and if the command has not been received, the process returns to step S62.

In step S64, it is determined whether or not the received command is a transmission command. If it is a transmission command, the process proceeds to step S65. In step S65, since it is a transmission command, control is performed to transmit information from the antenna 21, and this flow ends. In step S66, since the command is not a transmission command, the antenna 21 is placed in the reception state, and this flow ends.

In this way, when the command from the control unit 23 is a transmission command, the antenna 21 is controlled to transmit information.

Next, processing in the updating unit 35 of the control device 30 will be described with reference to FIG. 13 . The control device 30 repeatedly executes the processing shown in FIG. 13 in the power-on state. In step S71, it is determined whether or not all the doors 41 of the vehicle 40 are closed and the locked state has continued for a certain period of time. End the flow.

In step S72, since the conditions are satisfied, calibration is started, and the process proceeds to step S73. In the calibration, in order to update the RSSI value data in the absence of the occupant 43, the received RSSI values are obtained by using the respective vehicle-side communication devices 20 as radio wave transmission sources in turn. This acquires the RSSI value when the passenger 43 is not present.

In step S73, it is determined whether or not the door 41 is unlocked before the calibration ends. In step S75, since the door 41 is unlocked, the calibration is stopped and the flow ends.

In step S74, it is determined whether or not the calibration has been completed. If the calibration has been completed, the process proceeds to step S76. If the calibration has not been completed, the process returns to step S73. In step S76, since the calibration is completed, various data are updated so as to reflect the result of the calibration, and this flow ends.

When the state without the passenger 43 continues for a predetermined time, for example, several tens of minutes, calibration is performed. By this, the RSSI value when the passenger 43 is not present can be updated, and the estimation accuracy of the passenger 43 can be improved.

As described above, in the vehicle system 100 of the present embodiment, the vehicle-side communication device 20 functions as a communication unit 22 that communicates with each other, and a control unit that functions as a detection unit that detects the RSSI value that is the reception strength of the received transmission signal. 23. The plurality of vehicle side communication devices 20 are mounted so that any one of the plurality of virtual straight lines L passes through the seat 42 as shown in FIG. ing. In this way, when the two vehicle side communication devices 20 located on the virtual straight line L passing through the seat 42 communicate and the passenger 43 is present between them, the RSSI value of the transmission signal is higher than when the passenger 43 is not present. Attenuate. Therefore, the estimation unit 34 uses the RSSI value to estimate the presence or absence of the occupant 43 between the vehicle-side communication devices 20 that have received radio waves from the radio wave transmission source. Accordingly, the position of the passenger 43 can be estimated without using the portable device 10 of the passenger 43 .

Further, in the present embodiment, the transmission control unit 33 controls the plurality of vehicle-side communication devices 20 to transmit radio waves using the plurality of vehicle-side communication devices 20 as radio wave transmission sources. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, the imaginary straight line L can pass through the seat 42 from various directions, so the accuracy of estimating the position of the occupant 43 can be improved.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the vehicle-side communication devices 20 are arranged so that a plurality of virtual straight lines L pass through all the seats 42 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 . Then, the transmission control unit 33 performs control so that radio waves are transmitted from a plurality of radio wave transmission sources forming a plurality of virtual straight lines L for one seat 42 . Furthermore, when the transmission control unit 33 transmits radio waves from a plurality of radio wave transmission sources forming a plurality of virtual straight lines L for one seat 42, the estimation unit 34 forms a plurality of virtual straight lines L for one seat 42. Presence or absence of the passenger 43 is estimated based on the RSSI values detected by the plurality of vehicle-side communication devices 20 . As a result, estimation accuracy can be improved as compared with estimation using a single virtual straight line L. FIG.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 13, the present embodiment further includes an update unit 35 that updates the information that serves as a reference for determining the presence or absence of the passenger 43 by the estimation unit 34 when there is no one in the vehicle. Since the information for estimation can be updated by the update unit 35, for example, if a child seat is installed, the information can be updated in consideration of the attenuation due to the child seat. Specifically, when a child seat is placed, the radio wave conditions change from those at the time of shipment from the factory. In addition, since the radio wave condition changes depending on the position where the child seat is attached, the radio wave condition is learned in order to update the information when it is determined that the occupant 43 is not present after the child seat is placed.

As described above, in this embodiment, by using one of the antennas 21 of the vehicle-side communication device 20 arranged at various locations inside and outside the vehicle as a radio wave transmission source, the number of passengers and Estimates the seating position of the occupant. Furthermore, by sequentially switching the antenna 21 serving as the radio wave transmission source, blind spots between the antenna 21 and the radio wave transmission source at the seated position can be eliminated. Further, in the vehicle 40 already equipped with the PEPS system, the occupant estimation function of the present embodiment can be realized simply by adding a control program. Therefore, the occupant estimation function can be added to the PEPS system at low cost. Further, by periodically performing the occupant estimation process, even if the occupant 43 moves within the vehicle 40, the position of the occupant 43 after movement can be estimated.

(Second embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present disclosure will be described using FIGS. 14 to 16. FIG. This embodiment is characterized by the arrangement position of the vehicle-side communication device 20 . 14 and 15 show a first arrangement example, and FIG. 16 shows a second arrangement example.

As shown in FIG. 14, in the first arrangement example, six vehicle-side communication devices 20 are provided in the vehicle interior. Of the six, one vehicle side communication device 20 (shown as "A" in FIG. 14) is provided on the ceiling of the passenger compartment, and the other five are provided on the seating surfaces of the seats 42, respectively. Therefore, in a vehicle 40 having a capacity of five people, the vehicle-side communication devices 20 are provided at positions corresponding to the respective seats 42 of the two front seats, and at positions corresponding to the backrests of the three rear seats. As for the vehicle side communication device 20 provided on the ceiling, the imaginary straight line L with the other five vehicle side communication devices 20 extends in the vertical direction. Therefore, the five vehicle-side communication devices 20 and the vehicle-side communication device 20 on the ceiling form an imaginary straight line L that passes through the seated occupant 43 from the buttocks and back upwards.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 15, the rear seats 42 are provided with backrests, which are the backs of the respective seats 42 of the center of the rear seat, the left side of the rear seat, and the right side of the rear seat of the vehicle 40 . Therefore, vehicle-side communication devices 20 are arranged so as to correspond to the three rear seats 42, respectively. As a result, the accuracy of estimating whether three or two people are sitting in the rear seat 42 can be improved.

With this arrangement, if the vehicle-side communication device 20 on the ceiling is controlled to serve as a radio wave transmission source, the positions of the five passengers 43 can be estimated at the same time. Therefore, the position of the occupant 43 can be estimated even with a small number of vehicle-side communication devices 20 .

Further, in the second arrangement example, seven vehicle-side communication devices 20 are provided inside the vehicle so as to sandwich each seat 42 in the front and rear. Specifically, the vehicle-side communication device 20 is provided on each of the backrests of the five seats 42 . A vehicle-side communication device 20 is provided on an instrument panel 44 in front of the driver's seat 42a and the passenger's seat 42b so as to sandwich the driver and the passenger 43 in the passenger's seat 42b. As a result, as shown in FIG. 16, an imaginary straight line L passing through the occupant 43 can be formed.

With this arrangement, the positions of the five passengers 43 can be estimated by sequentially controlling the two vehicle-side communication devices 20 on the driver's seat 42a and the passenger's seat 42b to serve as radio wave transmission sources. Therefore, the position of the occupant 43 can be estimated even with a smaller number of vehicle-side communication devices 20 than in the first embodiment, as in the first arrangement example described above.

Also, in this embodiment, the vehicle-side communication device 20 is arranged on the ceiling, but it is not limited to the ceiling. For example, as shown in FIG. 14, the central position of the vehicle 40 is not limited to the ceiling, and the same action and effect can be obtained even if it is arranged in the vicinity of the center console 45. FIG. The vehicle side communication device 20 arranged near the center console 45 can form virtual straight lines L corresponding to the three rear seats 42 respectively. Furthermore, if the vehicle-side communication devices 20 of the driver's seat 42a and the passenger's seat 42b are also arranged near the doors 41 of the seats 42, a virtual straight line L passing through the seats 42 can be formed.

(Third embodiment)
Next, a third embodiment of the present disclosure will be described using FIGS. 17 and 18. FIG. This embodiment is characterized in that the position of the occupant 43 is estimated by monitoring the situation during boarding in real time using information on opening and closing of the door 41 .

The vehicle 40 is provided with an open/close sensor 47 for detecting opening/closing of the door 41 . The open/close sensor 47 provides the open/close state of the door 41 to the control device 30 . The control device 30 has a function of an acquisition unit that acquires opening/closing of the door 41 of the vehicle 40 and acquires information from the opening/closing sensor 47 .

Further, in this embodiment, when the door 41 is opened, passenger detection is started and passenger estimation processing is performed. Therefore, when the control device 30 acquires that the door 41 is open, the estimation unit 34 starts to periodically monitor the presence or absence of the occupant. Therefore, the occupant estimation process is performed periodically. As a result, it is possible to monitor in real time when the passenger 43 gets on and off the vehicle after the door 41 is opened.

Further, as shown in FIG. 17, when the door 41 is opened and the occupant estimation process is started in step S81, it is counted that one occupant 43 has boarded the rear seat 42 in step S82. In order to count the number of people, the vehicle-side communication device 20 whose RSSI value changes when getting on or off the vehicle with the door 41 open is used as a radio wave transmission source. This makes it possible to count the number of people.

Further, in step S83, when another passenger 43 is seated on the rear seat 42, the number of people on the rear seat 42 is counted as two. In step S84, when another passenger 43 is seated on the rear seat 42, the number of passengers on the rear seat 42 is counted as three. In step S84, if the three passengers in the rear seats are in contact with each other, the estimation unit 34 may estimate that there are two passengers. Then, the estimated number of people using the RSSI value and the number of people counted when the door 41 is open are different. In such a case, it is assumed that the counted number of people is correct and that three people are seated in the rear seat 42 . After that, the door 41 is closed, but the occupant estimation process is repeatedly performed in the same manner as in FIG. 6 of the first embodiment described above.

As described above, the detection pattern and count of the RSSI values are different between steps S83 and S84, so that the control device 30 can increase the possibility of distinguishing between the case of two persons and the case of three persons. Therefore, even if three people are sitting together in the backseat 42, it can be estimated with high accuracy that three people are sitting in the backseat 42.例文帳に追加

Further, as shown in FIG. 18, when the door 41 is opened and closed, the presence or absence of the passenger 43 may be presumed preferentially for the seat 42 near the door 41 that has been opened and closed. Specifically, when the transmission control unit 33 acquires that the door 41 is closed after the door 41 is opened, the transmission control unit 33 detects whether or not the passenger 43 is present in the seat 42 where the door 41 is opened and closed. Control is performed so that the vehicle-side communication device 20, which is predetermined as a radio wave transmission source, is used as a radio wave transmission source.

As shown in FIG. 18, in a state in which the door 41 of the passenger seat 42b is changed from open to closed, in step S91, control is performed so that the vehicle side communication device 20 of the door 41 of the passenger seat 42b is used as a radio wave transmission source. Go to S92. In step S92, the vehicle-side communication device 20 in the front center of the vehicle 40 is controlled to serve as a radio wave transmission source, and the process proceeds to step S93. In step S93, the vehicle side communication device 20 of the left rear door 41 of the vehicle 40 is controlled to be a radio wave transmission source, and the process proceeds to step S94. In step S94, the vehicle side communication device 20 in the center of the vehicle 40 is controlled to serve as a radio wave transmission source.

In this manner, the four vehicle-side communication devices 20 surrounding the passenger seat 42b are sequentially controlled to serve as radio wave transmission sources. The order in which the four vehicle-side communication devices 20 are used as radio wave transmission sources is not particularly limited. As a result, the change in the occupant 43 due to the opening and closing of the door 41 can be estimated in a short time with high accuracy.

In this embodiment, the four vehicle-side communication devices 20 are sequentially switched, but the number is not limited to four. By using at least one vehicle-side communication device 20 as a radio wave transmission source, it is possible to detect changes in the occupant 43 due to the opening and closing of the door 41 . As a result, changes in the occupant 43 can be estimated in a short detection time.

(Fourth embodiment)
Next, a fourth embodiment of the present disclosure will be described using FIG. 19 . The present embodiment is characterized in that the occupant estimation process is performed using the portable device 10 carried by the user.

The mobile device 10 wirelessly transmits communication packets including source information at predetermined transmission intervals, thereby notifying, ie, advertising, the existence of itself to surrounding communication terminals having a short-range communication function. . A communication packet that is periodically transmitted for the purpose of advertising is hereinafter referred to as an advertising packet. Control device 30 receives a signal transmitted from portable device 10 by the short-range communication function, and detects that portable device 10 exists within a range where short-range communication with control device 30 is possible.

Next, an example of the flow of occupant estimation processing will be described with reference to FIG. Before approaching the vehicle 40, the portable device 10 transmits advertisement packets at predetermined transmission intervals as described above. Further, the control device 30 controls each antenna 21 to be in a reception standby state in which reception is possible in the standby state.

Then, at time t11, when the passenger 43 approaches the vehicle 40 and the portable device 10 enters a communicable range with the control device 30, the vehicle-side communication device 20 receives the advertisement packet from the portable device 10 and stores it. A communication connection with the portable device 10 is automatically established using the already-finished information. Then, the control device 30 authenticates the portable device 10, and when the authentication is completed, portable device position estimation is started at time t12. As a result, the control device 30 transmits a portable device position specifying request to each antenna 21, and portable device position specifying processing is started.

When the portable device position specifying process is started, the antenna 21 transmits the RSSI value of the received radio wave and its own identification signal to the control device 30 as a response to the periodic communication from the portable device 10 . At time t13, control device 30 estimates the position of portable device 10 from the received RSSI value pattern.

Next, the occupant estimation process is started at time t14. The occupant estimation process is substantially the same as the process in FIG. 5 of the first embodiment described above, but differs in that the portable device 10 functions as a radio wave transmission source in addition to the antenna 21 . In other words, not only the antenna 21 but also the portable device 10 are made to function as pseudo additional radio wave transmission sources. That is, in the occupant estimation process, the antenna 21 and the portable device 10 are controlled to serve as radio wave transmission sources. The RSSI value and its own identification signal are transmitted to the control device 30 . Then, the control device 30 estimates the number of occupants and the seating position from the pattern of the RSSI values received from the plurality of antennas 21, the position of the portable device 10, and information estimated up to the previous time.

After that, the portable device location specifying process is repeatedly executed periodically at time t15 and time t16. When the unlocking operation is performed at time t<b>17 , an unlock signal is transmitted to the control device 30 . The control device 30 authenticates the unlock signal, and unlocks the portable device 10 if it is in the unlock area at time t18. After that, at time t<b>19 , when the passenger 43 opens the door 41 , a door open signal is transmitted to the control device 30 . Subsequent processing is performed by replacing the occupant estimation processing of FIG. 6 of the first embodiment with the portable device position specifying processing.

As described above, the estimating unit 34 of the control device 30 of the present embodiment determines the radio wave intensity when the vehicle-side communication device 20 receives the radio wave transmitted by the portable device 10, and By comparing the strength of the radio wave received by the communication device, it is estimated that there is an occupant 43 between the vehicle side communication device 20 and the portable terminal, which are attenuated compared to when no one is present. Accordingly, the presence or absence of the passenger 43 can be estimated using not only the vehicle-side communication device 20 but also the portable device 10 carried by the user. Therefore, estimation accuracy can be further improved.

(Other embodiments)
Although the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present disclosure.

The structures of the above-described embodiments are merely examples, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope of these descriptions. The scope of the present disclosure is indicated by the description of the claims, and further includes all changes within the meaning and range of equivalents to the description of the claims.

In the first embodiment described above, the occupant 43 position estimation system is implemented using the configuration of the electronic key system, but the configuration is not limited to this. For example, the vehicle-side communication device 20 may be a dedicated communication device for the occupant 43 position estimation system as a system that is partly or wholly different from the electronic key system in the occupant 43 position estimation system.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Portable device (mobile terminal) 20... Vehicle side communication apparatus (communication apparatus) 21... Antenna 22... Communication part 23... Control part for communication apparatus (detection part) 24... Receiving intensity measurement part 30... Control device 31... PEPS function Part (position estimation part) 32... Position determination function part 33... Transmission control part 34... Estimation part 35... Update part 40... Vehicle 41... Door 42... Seat 43... Passenger 47... Sensor (acquisition part) 100... Vehicle system L … imaginary straight line

Claims (8)

An occupant position estimation system comprising a plurality of communication devices (20) mounted on a vehicle (40) and a control unit (30) for controlling the communication devices, and estimating the position of a passenger (43) seated in a vehicle interior. and
The communication device
a communication unit (22) that communicates with the other communication device using wireless communication;
a detection unit (23) for detecting the reception strength of the received transmission signal when receiving the transmission signal from the other communication device;
When a virtual straight line (L) connecting one of the plurality of communicators and the other communicators is formed in each of the communicators, a predetermined seat (42) in the vehicle is The communication device is mounted on the vehicle so that one of the plurality of virtual straight lines passes through,
The control unit
a transmission control unit (33) that selects one of the plurality of communication devices that transmits radio waves and causes the selected communication device to transmit radio waves as a radio wave transmission source;
Using the reception intensity detected by the detection unit provided in the communication device that received the radio wave transmitted by the radio wave transmission source, the occupant's position on the seat located between the radio wave transmission source and the communication device that received the radio wave. an estimation unit (34) for estimating the presence/absence;
an acquisition unit (47) for acquiring opening and closing of the door (41) of the vehicle ,
When it is acquired that the door is opened, the estimation unit starts regular monitoring of the estimation of the presence or absence of a passenger,
The estimation unit counts the number of people in the backseat when the door is open, and counts the number of people in the backseat when the number of people in the backseat estimated using the reception intensity is different from the counted number of people in the backseat. An occupant position estimation system that estimates the number of people seated in the rear seats . 2. The occupant position estimation system according to claim 1, wherein the transmission control unit controls the plurality of communication devices to transmit radio waves as the radio wave transmission sources. When the acquisition unit acquires that the door is closed after the door is opened, the transmission control unit is configured to estimate the presence or absence of an occupant in the seat where the door is opened and closed. 3. The occupant position estimation system according to claim 2, wherein the communication device predetermined as a radio wave transmission source is used as the radio wave transmission source. For at least some of the seats, the communication device is arranged so that a plurality of the virtual straight lines pass through,
The transmission control unit transmits radio waves from a plurality of the radio wave transmission sources forming a plurality of the virtual straight lines for one of the seats,
The estimating unit forms a plurality of virtual straight lines for one seat when the transmission control unit transmits radio waves from a plurality of radio wave transmission sources forming a plurality of virtual straight lines for one seat. The occupant position estimation system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the presence or absence of an occupant is estimated based on the reception strength detected by a plurality of said communication devices. A position estimating unit (31) for receiving radio waves transmitted by a mobile terminal (10) carried by a user and estimating the position of the mobile terminal based on distance estimation based on the radio wave intensity of the received radio waves. including
The estimating unit determines a radio wave intensity when the radio wave transmitted by the mobile terminal is received by the communication device, and a radio wave when the radio wave transmitted by the mobile terminal is received by the communication device when the vehicle interior is unoccupied. The occupant position estimation system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the occupant position estimation system estimates that the occupant is between the communication device and the portable terminal, which are attenuated more than when unmanned, by comparing the intensity. 6. The controller according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the control unit further comprises an updating unit (35) for updating, when the vehicle interior is unoccupied, information that serves as a criterion for determining whether or not a passenger is present by the estimating unit. The occupant position estimation system according to . 7. The vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein some of the plurality of communication devices are provided on the back of each of the center of the rear seat, the left side of the rear seat, and the right side of the rear seat of the vehicle. occupant position estimation system. A communication device mounted on a vehicle and a mobile terminal carried by a user, wherein a response signal is transmitted from the mobile terminal in response to a request signal from the communication device, and a door of the vehicle based on the response signal. The occupant position estimation system according to any one of claims 1 to 7 , which is used in the vehicle equipped with an electronic key system that locks and unlocks the
An occupant position estimation system using the communicator of the electronic key system as the communicator of the occupant position estimation system.

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