JP7297982B2 - Information processing device and information processing method - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD Embodiments of the present invention relate to an information processing apparatus and an information processing method.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a technique of determining a toll for a vehicle traveling on a toll road such as an expressway based on the entrance and exit through which the vehicle has passed. Also known is a toll collection system that charges different amounts of money depending on not only the entrance and exit but also the route traveled by the vehicle.

JP 2016-151969 A Japanese Patent No. 3212241 Japanese Patent No. 3760134 JP 2012-059046 A JP 2010-198571 A JP-A-2003-123109

An object of an embodiment of the present invention is to make it possible to discount the toll for vehicles traveling on detour routes that are set according to the degree of congestion in each section of the toll road.

An information processing apparatus according to an embodiment includes a detour route determining unit, a road-to-vehicle communication device or an entrance device , a receiving unit, a determining unit, and a toll calculating unit. When there is a congested section among a plurality of sections of the toll road, the detour route determination unit determines one or more detour routes that are a combination of the sections of the toll road and that can bypass the congested section. The road-to-vehicle communication device is installed in each section and can communicate with the vehicle-mounted device of the vehicle traveling on the toll road. The entrance device is provided at the entrance of the toll road and can communicate with the vehicle-mounted device. The receiving unit receives the identification information of the road-to-vehicle communication device or the entrance device and the vehicle identification information received by the road-to-vehicle communication device or the entrance device from the vehicle-mounted device from the road-to-vehicle communication device or the entrance device. The determination unit determines whether the vehicle has taken any of the detour routes based on the identification information of the vehicle received by the reception unit for each section and the identification information of the road-to-vehicle communication device or the entrance device. The toll calculation unit calculates a toll by applying a discount to the vehicle when it is determined that the vehicle has passed through one of the detour routes. The detour route determination unit determines a detour confirmed section in which the detour route is confirmed to be traveled from among the plurality of sections included in the detour route. The determination unit determines that the vehicle has passed through the detour route when the travel section of the vehicle matches the detour confirmed section. The toll calculation unit calculates, as tolls, a fixed toll that is a toll for the travel route that the vehicle has already passed through, and an additional scheduled toll that is scheduled to change when the vehicle travels from the section in which the vehicle is traveling to the exit device. . An exit device is a device that is provided at an exit of a toll road and that can mutually communicate with on-vehicle devices of vehicles that pass through the exit.

1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of an ETC system and a traffic control system according to Embodiment 1; FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of functions of an information processing device and a traffic control device according to the first embodiment; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a data configuration of a discount information database according to the first embodiment; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a data configuration of a billing information database according to the first embodiment; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of data configuration of a zone database according to the first embodiment; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of data configuration of a route database according to the first embodiment; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a data configuration of a transmission information database according to the first embodiment; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the data configuration of detour route information according to the first embodiment; FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing an example of the flow of dynamic charging processing according to the first embodiment; 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of toll discount processing according to the first embodiment; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of an ETC system and a traffic control system according to Embodiment 2; FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of functions of an information processing device and a traffic control device according to a third embodiment; It is a figure which shows an example of a data structure of the discount information database concerning Embodiment 3. FIG. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of dynamic charging processing according to the third embodiment; FIG. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of toll discount processing according to the third embodiment; FIG. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of an ETC system and a traffic control system according to Embodiment 4; FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a data configuration of a discount information database according to the fourth embodiment; FIG. FIG. 16 is a flow chart showing an example of the flow of toll discount processing according to the fourth embodiment; FIG.

(Embodiment 1)
In the ETC (Electronic Toll Collection, registered trademark) system of this embodiment, a detour route is dynamically set according to the degree of congestion for each zone (section) in the toll road, and the toll for vehicles traveling on the detour route is Distribute traffic from congested zones to other zones by discounting .

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of an ETC system S1 and a traffic control system S10 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the toll road R of this embodiment is a toll road having a branch in the middle section. An ETC system S1 is installed in order to charge the vehicle 2a traveling on the toll road R with a toll. The ETC system S1 includes an information processing device 100, an entrance device 11a, and an exit device 12a.

The toll road R is divided into a plurality of zones A0 to A4 by communication areas of road-vehicle communication devices 10a to 10d, which will be described later, and an entrance device 11a or an exit device 12a. Zones A0 to A4 are referred to as zone A when not specifically distinguished. Further, in the present embodiment, a combination of multiple zones A is called a route.

Although one entrance device 11a and one exit device 12a are installed on the toll road R in FIG. For example, each zone A may be provided with a plurality of inlet devices 11a or outlet devices 12a.

In this embodiment, the vehicle 2a traveling on the toll road R is equipped with an on-vehicle device capable of communicating with the entrance device 11a and the exit device 12a. The vehicle-mounted device can also communicate with the road-to-vehicle communication devices 10a to 10d using DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communication). In this embodiment, one vehicle-mounted device corresponds to ETC and DSRC, but the vehicle-mounted device for ETC and the vehicle-mounted device for DSRC may be separate vehicle-mounted devices. The vehicle-mounted device displays the information received from the road-to-vehicle communication devices 10a to 10d, the entrance device 11a, and the exit device 12a on the display unit.

The entrance device 11a is provided at the entrance of the toll road R, and is a device capable of communicating with the vehicle-mounted device of the vehicle 2a passing through the entrance. In this embodiment, the entrance device 11a is an ETC gate provided at the entrance of the toll road R.

The entrance device 11a transmits the information transmitted from the information processing device 100 to the vehicle-mounted device of the vehicle 2a entering (entering) the toll road R from the entrance where the entrance device 11a is installed. Further, the entrance device 11 a receives vehicle identification information of the vehicle 2 a entering the toll road R from the entrance where the entrance device 11 a is installed from the vehicle-mounted device of the vehicle 2 a and transmits the information to the information processing device 100 .

The exit device 12a is provided at the exit of the toll road R, and is a device capable of communicating with the vehicle-mounted device of the vehicle 2a passing through the exit. In this embodiment, the exit device 12a is an ETC gate provided at the exit of the toll road R. The exit device 12a receives toll information associated with the vehicle identification information of the vehicle 2a from the information processing device 100 . The amount of the toll is the amount charged when the vehicle 2a exits (outflows) the toll road R from the exit where the exit device 12a is installed.

When the vehicle 2a passes through the exit device 12a, the exit device 12a transmits information on the amount of the toll to be charged to the vehicle 2a to the vehicle-mounted device of the vehicle 2a. Also, the exit device 12a may display the amount of the toll on a display unit (not shown) or the like.

In addition, the exit device 12a transmits to the information processing device 100 the vehicle identification information of the vehicle 2a that has exited the toll road from the exit where the exit device 12a is installed.

The information processing device 100 is, for example, an ETC central device, and calculates a toll to be charged to the vehicle 2a. The information processing apparatus 100 of this embodiment basically calculates the toll to be charged to the vehicle 2a based on the entrance and exit through which the vehicle 2a has passed. A detour route is dynamically set according to the above, and the toll for the vehicle 2a traveling on the detour route is discounted.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the traffic control system S10 includes a traffic control device 200 and road-to-vehicle communication devices 10a to 10d.

The traffic control device 200 communicates with the road-to-vehicle communication devices 10a to 10d and the information processing device 100 mutually. Also, the traffic control device 200 calculates congestion information indicating the congestion status of the toll road R using a known technique, and transmits the congestion information to the information processing device 100 .

The road-to-vehicle communication devices 10a to 10d are devices capable of communicating with a vehicle 2a traveling on the toll road R, and are provided on the roadside of the toll road R. FIG. In this embodiment, the road-to-vehicle communication devices 10a to 10d are ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) spots capable of communicating with the vehicle 2a using DSRC. In addition, the communication means of the vehicle-mounted device and the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 is not limited to DSRC. Hereinafter, the road-to-vehicle communication devices 10a to 10d will be referred to as the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 when not distinguished. The road-to-vehicle communication device 10 is also called a roadside wireless communication device.

Specifically, the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 transmits the information transmitted from the traffic control device 200 to the vehicle-mounted device of the vehicle 2a traveling in the zone A in which the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 is installed. Further, in the present embodiment, the information processing device 100 transmits information indicating a detour route for which the toll is discounted to the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 via the traffic control device 200 . The detour route in this embodiment is a combination of zones A within the toll road R, and refers to a route that can detour the zones A whose degree of congestion is equal to or higher than the first threshold. Details of the information transmitted from the information processing apparatus 100 will be described later.

Further, the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 receives the vehicle identification information of the vehicle 2 a traveling in the zone A in which the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 is installed from the vehicle-mounted device of the vehicle 2 a and transmits the information to the information processing device 100 . In this embodiment, the ID of the vehicle-mounted device mounted on the vehicle 2a and the ID of the ETC card inserted into the vehicle-mounted device are used as the vehicle identification information of the vehicle 2a. In addition, the vehicle identification information of the vehicle 2a is not limited to this.

The information processing device 100 and the traffic control device 200 include a CPU (Central Processing Unit), memories such as ROM (Read Only Memory) and RAM (Random Access Memory), and external storage devices such as HDD (Hard Disk Drive). It has a hardware configuration using a normal computer. Further, the information processing device 100 and the traffic control device 200 are installed in a management center of the toll road R or the like. Alternatively, the information processing device 100 and the traffic control device 200 may be installed at different locations. Next, details of functions of the information processing device 100 and the traffic control device 200 will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of functions of the information processing device 100 and the traffic control device 200 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2 , the traffic control device 200 includes a receiver 201 , a transmitter 202 and a processor 203 . The receiving unit 201 receives information from the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 and the information processing device 100 . The processing unit 203 calculates congestion information indicating the congestion status of the toll road R from the information acquired from the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 and other information using a known technique. The transmission unit 202 transmits information to the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 and the information processing device 100 .

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the information processing apparatus 100 includes an acquisition unit 101, a congestion degree calculation unit 102, a detour route determination unit 103, a transmission unit 104, a reception unit 105, a determination unit 106, a fee It includes a calculation unit 107 and a storage unit 150 .

The storage unit 150 includes a charge information database (DB) 151, a discount information database (DB) 152, a charge information database (DB) 153, a zone database (DB) 154, a route database (DB) 155, and transmission information. a database (DB) 156; The storage unit 150 is configured by a storage device such as an HDD, for example.

The toll information database 151 is a database in which tolls for the toll road R are registered in advance. More specifically, the toll information database 151 stores, for each zone A, the toll from the start position to the end position of each zone A, or the exit device provided within the zone A from the start position of each zone A. Tolls up to 12a are registered. Further, when the entrance device 11a is provided in the zone A, the toll information database 151 also registers the toll from the entrance device 11a in the zone A to the exit device 12a provided in the zone A. . Note that the toll information database 151 may register different tolls for each vehicle type. The tolls registered in the toll information database 151 are standard tolls before discounts are applied.

The discount information database 152 is a database in which information on discounts applied to tolls on the toll road R is registered. The discount in this embodiment is to charge (charge) an amount that is lower than the standard toll, and the method of discount is not limited. For example, discounting the amount obtained by multiplying the standard toll by a discount rate, discounting the standard toll by a predetermined amount, applying a fixed toll that is cheaper than the standard toll, can be adopted as a discount method.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the data configuration of the discount information database 152 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, in the discount information database 152, discount identification information, a detour target zone, a detour confirmed zone, a branch zone, a discount degree, a start time, and an end time are registered in association with each other. be done. In the present embodiment, the detour target zone, detour confirmed zone, branch zone, discount degree, start time, and end time associated with each discount identification information are collectively referred to as discount information. Further, each information held in the discount information database 152 is registered by the fee calculation unit 107, which will be described later.

Discount identification information is information that can identify discount information, such as a code or number.

The detour target zone is zone A that should be detoured because it is congested or congested. In this embodiment, "Zone A4" is registered as the detour target zone. Which zone A is to be the detour target zone is determined by the detour route determination unit 103, which will be described later.

The fixed detour zone is the zone A in which the vehicle 2a travels in order to avoid the detour target zone. In this embodiment, "Zone A2" is registered as the confirmed detour zone. When the vehicle 2a enters the detour confirmation zone, it is determined that the vehicle 2a does not pass through the detour target zone. Also, the fixed detour zone is one of the zones A constituting the detour route. Which zone A is to be the detour confirmed zone is determined by the detour route determination unit 103, which will be described later.

The branch zone is located upstream from the detour target zone and the detour confirmation zone, and is zone A including a branch point between a route including the detour target zone (detour target route) and the detour route, or a zone located upstream from the branch point. It is A. Which zone A is to be a branch zone is determined by the detour route determination unit 103, which will be described later. In this embodiment, "zone A1" including a branch point, and "zone A0-1" and "zone A0-2" located upstream of "zone A1" are branch zones. The range of the upstream branch zone is not particularly limited. For example, the branch zone may be defined as a zone until reaching another zone A including another branch point located on the upstream side. Note that the range of the branch zone is not limited to this, and only zone A including the branch point between the detour target route and the detour route may be the branch zone.

The discount degree includes a discount type and a numerical value, and represents how much the standard toll is discounted. There are multiple types of discount types, which are the types of methods used to apply discounts to tolls. For example, if you want to discount the amount obtained by multiplying the standard toll by the discount rate, "discount rate", if you want to discount the standard toll by a predetermined amount, "discount amount", than the standard toll If a fixed price that is even cheaper is applied, “limit price” is registered as the discount type. In this embodiment, "discount rate" is registered as the discount type. The content of the discount type is an example, and is not limited to this. Also, if the same discount type is used for all discount information, the discount information database 152 does not have to include that item.

The numerical value is a numerical value used when the discount method registered in the discount type is applied. For example, if the discount type is "discount rate", the value of the discount rate (for example, "50%" etc.) by which the standard toll is multiplied is registered as a numerical value. If the discount type is "discount amount", the amount to be subtracted from the standard toll (for example, "500 yen") is registered as a numerical value. Also, if the discount type is "limit price", the amount of the fixed toll that is lower than the standard toll is registered. The content of the discount degree is an example, and is not limited to this.

The start time is the time when application of the discount information is started. Also, the end time is the time when the application of the discount information ends. In the present embodiment, application of discount information starts or ends depending on the degree of congestion of each zone A, so the discount information database 152 may adopt a configuration that does not store the start time and end time.

The data configuration of the discount information database 152 shown in FIG. 3 is an example, and is not limited to this. The information registered in the discount information database 152 is also referred to as variable charge information because it is information relating to changes in the charge amount for standard tolls.

Returning to FIG. 2, the billing information database 153 is a database in which information on the toll charged to the vehicle 2a traveling on the toll road R is registered.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the data configuration of the billing information database 153 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, the billing information database 153 contains vehicle identification information, the latest passing device, the update time, the final toll, the travel zone, the toll to be added for each zone A, the applicable discount information, is registered in association with the detour determination flag.

The latest passage device is the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 or the entrance device 11a that last communicated with the vehicle 2a.

The update time is the time when the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 or the entrance device 11a registered as the latest passing device communicated with the vehicle 2a.

The fixed toll is the total value of tolls on the traveling route that the vehicle 2a has already passed.

The travel zone is zone A in which the vehicle 2a is traveling. The driving zone is also called zone A in which the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 or the entrance device 11a registered as the latest passing device is installed. When the vehicle 2a exits the toll road R, "exit" is registered in the travel zone.

The additional planned toll for each zone A is a toll to be charged to the vehicle 2a when the vehicle 2a enters another zone A connected to the zone A registered as the travel zone. In addition, when the exit device 12a is provided in the travel zone, the toll to be charged when the vehicle 2a exits from the exit device 12a provided in the travel zone is also registered as the additional planned toll for each zone A. be done. A standard toll before the discount is applied is registered as the expected additional toll for each zone A.

The target discount information is information identifying discount information that may be applied to the vehicle 2a identified by the vehicle identification information.

The detour confirmation flag is a flag indicating whether or not it is confirmed that the vehicle 2a specified by the vehicle identification information has traveled the detour route. Details of the detour confirmation flag will be described later in the determination unit 106 .

Returning to FIG. 2, the zone database 154 is a database in which information on zone A included in the toll road R is registered.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the data configuration of the zone database 154 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, the zone database 154 contains zone IDs, zone entrances 1 to n, zone exits 1 to n, discount identification information 1 to n, zone types 1 to n, and congestion levels. It is associated and registered.

The zone ID is an example of identification information that identifies each zone A. FIG.

The zone entrances 1 to n are the road-vehicle communication device 10 or the entrance device 11a with which the vehicle 2a enters each zone A. FIG. More specifically, the zone entrances 1 to n are the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 indicating the starting position of each zone A, or the entrance device 11a included in each zone A. Since one zone A may have multiple entrance routes, multiple zone entrances can be registered.

Zone exits 1 to n are road-to-vehicle communication devices 10 or exit devices 12a with which the vehicle 2a communicates when exiting each zone A. FIG. More specifically, the zone exits 1-n are road-to-vehicle communication devices 10 indicating the start position of the next zone A to be connected to each zone A, or exit devices 12a included in each zone A. Since one zone A may have multiple exit routes, multiple zone exits can be registered.

Discount identification information 1 to n is information for identifying discount information. The zone types 1 to n indicate whether each zone A corresponds to a branch zone, a detour fixed zone, a detour target zone, or a normal zone by the detour route determination unit 103, which will be described later, for each of the discount identification information 1 to n. It is a type that indicates Even in one zone A, if the discount identification information is different, the corresponding zone type may be different. In FIG. 5, zone A, which is neither a branch zone, a detour confirmation zone, nor a detour target zone, is a normal zone, but may be of no zone type.

The degree of congestion is information indicating how congested each zone A of the toll road R is. In the present embodiment, the degree of congestion is indicated by three discrete values of "smooth", "congested", and "congested", but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the degree of congestion may be represented by continuous values.

In the present embodiment, "congestion" is an example of a first threshold used in dynamic billing processing, which will be described later. Also, "congestion" is an example of a second threshold used in the dynamic billing process, which will be described later. Details of the first threshold and the second threshold will be described later.

Of the information held by the zone database 154, zone IDs, zone entrances 1 to n, and zone exits 1 to n are registered in advance. Also, the discount identification information 1 to n and the zone types 1 to n are registered in association with the zone ID by the detour route determination unit 103, which will be described later. The degree of congestion is registered by the congestion degree calculation unit 102, which will be described later.

Returning to FIG. 2, the route database 155 is a database in which information on routes that are combinations of zones A within the toll road R is registered.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the data configuration of the route database 155 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 6, in the route database 155, a route ID that identifies a route, a configuration zone that defines the zone A included in each route and its order, and a route type are registered in association with each other. be. Each piece of information held by the route database 155 is generated by the detour route determination unit 103, which will be described later.

The route type is a type indicating whether each route is a detour target route or a detour route. A detour route is a route that includes a detour target zone, and is also called a congested route.

Returning to FIG. 2, the transmission information database 156 is a database in which information regarding the transmission destination of the discount information registered in the discount information database 152 is registered.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the data configuration of the transmission information database 156 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 7, transmission destination devices, discount identification information, and zone types are registered in association with each other in the transmission information database 156 .

The transmission destination device is the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 or the entrance device 11a to which each discount information is transmitted. Also, the zone type is the type of zone A in which the transmission destination device (the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 or the entrance device 11a) is installed. Each piece of information held in the transmission information database 156 is registered by the charge calculation unit 107, which will be described later.

Returning to FIG. 2, the acquisition unit 101 acquires congestion information indicating the congestion status of the toll road R from the traffic control device 200 at regular intervals. The fixed time is, for example, 5 minutes, but is not limited to this. In addition, since the congestion information calculated by the traffic control device 200 is used for purposes other than determining the detour route, the congestion status may be indicated in a unit different from that for Zone A.

The congestion degree calculation unit 102 calculates the congestion degree for each zone A in the toll road R from the congestion information acquired by the acquisition unit 101 using a known method.

The detour route determining unit 103 determines one or a plurality of detour routes that can bypass the zone A whose degree of congestion is equal to or greater than the first threshold. More specifically, the detour route determining unit 103 of the present embodiment sets the zone A4 registered in the zone database 154 and having a congestion degree of "congested" for each zone A as a detour target zone. A detour target zone is an example of a congested section in this embodiment. In the present embodiment, the first threshold is set to the highest degree of congestion, i.e., "congestion", but the first threshold is not limited to this. For example, the detour route determination unit 103 may employ a configuration in which the zone A with the degree of congestion equal to or higher than "congested" is the detour target zone.

In addition, the detour route determination unit 103 determines a detour route that is a combination of a plurality of zones A that can bypass the detour target zone. The vehicle 2a can bypass the detour target zone (zone A4 in this embodiment) without passing through (passing through) the detour target zone (zone A4 in this embodiment). This means that it can merge with a route that goes through In this embodiment, the detour route determining unit 103 determines a route from zone A1 located before zone A4 to zone A3 via zone A2 as a detour route.

A known method can be adopted as a method for determining the detour route. For example, the detour route determination unit 103 generates a route that does not pass through the detour target zone by applying a known algorithm such as closed path determination with each zone A as a node of the directed graph. The method of determining the detour route is not limited to this, and other methods may be adopted.

In addition, the detour route determining unit 103 sets the zone A, in which it is confirmed that the vehicle 2a will travel on the detour route, as a detour confirmed zone. In the present embodiment, zone A2 is the confirmed detour zone. The detour route determination unit 103 registers information about each zone A in the zone database 154 . In addition, the detour route determination unit 103 selects a zone A located upstream of the detour target zone and the detour confirmed zone and including a branch point between the detour target route and the detour route, or a zone A located upstream of the branch point. Make it a branch zone.

Also, the detour route determining unit 103 registers the determined detour route in the route database 155 . In addition, the detour route determination unit 103 registers in the route database 155 a route reaching from the zone A1 to the zone A3 via the zone A4 as a detour target route.

The charge calculation unit 107 generates discount information applied to the vehicle 2 a that has traveled the detour route, and registers the discount information in the discount information database 152 . More specifically, the charge calculation unit 107 acquires the detour route registered in the route database 155 and the information of the zone A constituting the detour route registered in the zone database 154 . Then, the charge calculation unit 107 determines the degree of discount to be applied to the vehicle 2a traveling on the detour route.

In this embodiment, the method of determining the degree of discount is not particularly limited. Decide on a larger amount. Further, when the degree of congestion is indicated by a continuous value, the charge calculation unit 107 may determine the degree of discount so that the higher the degree of congestion of the detour target zone, the larger the amount of discount.

Further, the fee calculation unit 107 determines the start time at which the application of the discount information is started, and registers it in the discount information database 152 . The start time is, for example, the time when the charge calculation unit 107 generated the discount information, but is not limited to this. For example, the charge calculation unit 107 may set the start time to a time after a predetermined time has passed since the acquisition unit 101 acquired the degree of congestion equal to or greater than the first threshold value (“congestion”). In this embodiment, only one piece of discount information is registered, but if multiple zones A are congested on the toll road R, multiple pieces of discount information are registered.

Further, after the application of the discount information is started, if the congestion degree of the detour target zone becomes equal to or lower than the second threshold lower than the first threshold (“traffic jam”), the charge calculation unit 107 end the application of In this embodiment, the second threshold is "congestion", but it is not limited to this. For example, the second threshold may be "smooth". The charge calculation unit 107 registers in the discount information database 152 the time when the congestion degree of the detour target zone becomes equal to or less than the second threshold value as the end time.

Further, the charge calculation unit 107 selects the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 or the entrance device 11a registered in the zone database 154 as the zone entrance of zone A registered in the discount information database 152 as a branch zone. , and is registered in the transmission information database 156 . At this time, the charge calculation unit 107 registers the transmission destination device, the discount identification information specifying the target discount information, and the zone type in association with each other.

Further, the toll calculation unit 107 calculates the fixed toll for the vehicle 2a from the toll registered in the toll information database 151 each time the travel zone of the vehicle 2a in the billing information database 153 is updated by the receiving unit 105, which will be described later. , and the expected additional charge for each zone A are calculated and registered in the billing information database 153 .

Further, the toll calculation unit 107 calculates a discounted toll as the toll for the vehicle 2a when it is determined by the determination unit 106, which will be described later, that the vehicle 2a has taken a detour route. In the present embodiment, when the determination unit 106 determines that the vehicle 2a has taken the detour route, the detour confirmation flag of the billing information database 153 becomes "True". Therefore, when the detour determination flag is "True", the toll calculation unit 107 uses the discount degree associated with the discount identification information registered as the target discount information for the vehicle 2a to discount the toll. do. In other words, the toll calculation unit 107 of the present embodiment dynamically charges the toll for the vehicle 2a based on the travel route of the vehicle 2a and discount information valid for the vehicle 2a.

The toll calculation unit 107 may apply the discount only to the travel toll of zone A included in the detour route, or may apply the discount to the toll of all zones A traveled by the vehicle 2a. It is good as

The transmission unit 104 transmits the detour route information to the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 or the entrance device 11a registered in the transmission information database 156 as a transmission destination device. More specifically, the transmission unit 104 transmits detour route information to the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 via the traffic control device 200 . The detour route information is information indicating a detour route.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the data configuration of the detour route information 700 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 8, detour route information 700 is information in which discount identification information, detour target zones, detour fixed zones, branch zones, and discount levels are associated with each other. The transmission unit 104 acquires these pieces of information from the discount information database 152 and transmits them as detour route information 700 to the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 or the entrance device 11a. Note that the data configuration of the detour route information 700 shown in FIG. 8 is an example, and is not limited to this.

The road-to-vehicle communication device 10 or the entrance device 11a that has received the detour route information 700 stores the detour route information 700 in a storage unit (not shown). Then, the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 or the entrance device 11a transmits the detour route information 700 to the vehicle-mounted device mounted on the vehicle 2a traveling within the communication range of the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 or the entrance device 11a.

The transmission unit 104 also transmits the toll calculated by the toll calculation unit 107 to the exit device 12a in association with the vehicle identification information of the vehicle 2a. More specifically, the transmitter 104 transmits the vehicle identification information of the vehicle 2a registered in the billing information database 153 to the exit device 12a installed in the zone A registered as the driving zone of the vehicle 2a in the billing information database 153. The associated final toll and the expected addition toll for zone A in which the exit device 12a is provided are transmitted.

Further, when the application of the discount information set in the discount information database 152 is completed, the transmission unit 104 transmits the detour route information 700 associated with the discount identification information of the discount information to the road-to-vehicle communication device 10. Then, an instruction to delete the detour route information 700 is transmitted via the traffic control device 200 . Further, the transmission unit 104 transmits an instruction to delete the detour route information 700 to the entrance device 11a that has transmitted the detour route information 700 associated with the discount identification information of the discount information whose application has ended. In this embodiment, the transmission unit 104 determines that application of the discount information has ended when the end time is set in the discount information database 152 .

Returning to FIG. 2, the receiving unit 105 receives the vehicle identification information of the vehicle 2a received by the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 from the vehicle-mounted device of the vehicle 2a, and the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 associated with the vehicle identification information of the vehicle 2a. Identification information is received from the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 via the traffic control device 200 . The identification information of the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 is an ID that identifies the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 . Further, the receiving unit 105 receives the vehicle identification information of the vehicle 2a received by the entrance device 11a from the vehicle-mounted device of the vehicle 2a, and the identification information of the entrance device 11a associated with the vehicle identification information of the vehicle 2a. Receive from 11a. The identification information of the entrance device 11a is an ID that identifies the entrance device 11a.

The receiving unit 105 associates the vehicle identification information of the vehicle 2a with the vehicle identification information of the vehicle 2a in the driving zone of the charging information database 153, and sets the zone A in which the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 or the entrance device 11a specified by the identification information is installed as the driving zone. Register as The receiving unit 105 also registers the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 or the entrance device 11a identified by the received identification information in the latest passing device of the billing information database 153 . At this time, the reception unit 105 sets the current time as the update time of the billing information database 153 .

In addition, the receiving unit 105 receives the vehicle identification information of the vehicle 2a received by the exit device 12a from the vehicle-mounted device of the vehicle 2a, and the identification information of the exit device 12a associated with the vehicle identification information of the vehicle 2a. and receive. The identification information of the exit device 12a is an ID that identifies the exit device 12a. When receiving these pieces of information, the receiving unit 105 registers the exit device 12a identified by the received identification information in the latest passing device of the billing information database 153, registers "exit" in the travel zone, and updates the update time. to the current time.

Based on the vehicle identification information of the vehicle 2a received by the receiving unit 105 for each zone A and the identification information of the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 or the entrance device 11a, the determination unit 106 determines which detour route the vehicle 2a will take. Decide whether you passed or not.

More specifically, the determining unit 106 refers to the billing information database 153 updated by the receiving unit 105, and determines that the driving zone of the vehicle 2a corresponds to any unfinished discount identification information registered in the discount information database 152. When matching with the associated branch zone, the discount identification information is registered as target discount information. Further, when the target discount information is registered, it is not determined whether the vehicle 2a actually travels the detour route, so the determination unit 106 sets the detour determination flag to "False".

Then, when the driving zone of the billing information database 153 updated by the receiving unit 105 matches the detour fixed zone associated with the discount identification information registered as the target discount information, the determination unit 106 determines whether the vehicle 2a will make a detour. Assume you have passed the route. In this case, determination unit 106 sets the detour determination flag of billing information database 153 to "True".

Next, the dynamic billing process executed by the information processing apparatus 100 of this embodiment configured as described above will be described.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of dynamic billing processing according to this embodiment.

First, the acquisition unit 101 acquires congestion information on the toll road R from the traffic control device 200 (S1). Then, the congestion degree calculation unit 102 calculates the congestion degree for each zone A from the acquired congestion information (S2). The congestion degree calculator 102 registers the calculated congestion degree in the zone database 154 .

Next, the detour route determination unit 103 determines whether or not there is a zone A in which the degree of congestion for each zone A registered in the zone database 154 is "congested" (S3).

If there is no zone A in which the degree of congestion is "congested" ("No" in S3), the processes of setting a detour route and applying a discount are not executed, so the processes of S1 and S2 are repeated.

If there is a zone A whose congestion level is "congested" ("Yes" in S3), the detour route determining unit 103 sets zone A whose congestion level is "congested" as a detour target zone. The detour route determining unit 103 determines a detour route that can bypass the detour target zone (S4). The detour route determination unit 103 registers the determined detour route and the detour target route including the detour target zone in the route database 155 . Also, the detour route determination unit 103 determines detour fixed zones and branch zones, and registers them in the zone database 154 .

Next, the fee calculation unit 107 generates discount information applied to the detour route determined by the detour route determination unit 103 (S5). For example, the charge calculation unit 107 determines the degree of discount such that the longer the distance of the detour route than the detour target route, the greater the amount of discount. Further, the charge calculation unit 107 sets, for example, the time at which the discount information is generated as the discount start time. The charge calculation unit 107 registers the detour target zone, the detour confirmed zone, the branch zone, the degree of discount, and the start time in the discount information database 152 in association with the discount identification information.

Further, the charge calculation unit 107 selects the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 or the entrance device 11a registered in the zone database 154 as the zone entrance of zone A registered in the discount information database 152 as a branch zone. , and is registered in the transmission information database 156 .

Then, the transmission unit 104 identifies, from the transmission information database 156, a transmission destination device whose zone type is a branch zone and which is associated with the unfinished discount information. The transmission unit 104 transmits the detour route information 700 to the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 or the entrance device 11a, which is the specified transmission destination device (S6). In this embodiment, the transmission unit 104 transmits the detour route information 700 via the traffic control device 200 to the road-to-vehicle communication device 10a installed in the zone A1. Further, the transmission unit 104 transmits the detour route information 700 to the entrance device 11a installed in the zone A0-1.

Here, in the example shown in FIG. 1, the road-to-vehicle communication device 10a that has received the detour route information 700 transmits the detour route information 700 to the vehicle-mounted device of the vehicle 2a that has entered the zone A1. Based on the detour route information 700 received from the road-to-vehicle communication device 10a, the vehicle-mounted device mounted on the vehicle 2a displays on the display section that a discount will be applied if the vehicle travels through the detour fixed zone. Thereby, the vehicle-mounted device can guide the driver of the vehicle 2a to travel along the detour route. Moreover, the vehicle-mounted device may inform the driver that a discount will be applied if the vehicle travels through the fixed detour zone by outputting the contents of the detour route information 700 by voice.

Then, toll discount processing for the vehicle 2a traveling on the detour route is started (S7). The details of the toll discount processing flow will be described later.

The acquisition unit 101 also acquires congestion information on the toll road R again from the traffic control device 200 (S8). The congestion degree calculation unit 102 calculates the congestion degree for each zone A from the acquired congestion information (S9). The congestion degree calculation unit 102 updates the information in the zone database 154 with the calculated congestion degree.

The fee calculation unit 107 refers to the zone database 154 and determines whether or not the degree of congestion in the detour target zone has become "congested" or less (S10). If the degree of congestion in the detour target zone does not become "congested" or less (S10 "No"), the processing of S7 to S10 is repeated.

If the degree of congestion in the detour target zone is equal to or less than the second threshold (“congestion”) (S10 “Yes”), the charge calculation unit 107 determines that the degree of congestion in the detour target zone is equal to or lower than the second threshold (“congestion”). The time when it becomes below is registered in the discount information database 152 as the end time.

In this case, the transmission unit 104 transmits an instruction to delete the detour route information 700 to the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 or the entrance device 11a that transmitted the detour route information 700 associated with the discount identification information of the discount information. (S11). In this embodiment, the transmission unit 104 transmits a deletion command to the road-to-vehicle communication device 10a via the traffic control device 200. FIG. Further, the transmission unit 104 transmits a deletion command to the entrance device 11a. As a result, transmission of the detour route information 700 to the vehicle 2a from the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 or the entrance device 11a ends. Here, the processing of this flowchart ends.

Next, toll discount processing executed by the information processing apparatus 100 of the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of toll discount processing according to the present embodiment.

The receiving unit 105 receives the vehicle identification information received by the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 and the identification information of the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 from the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 via the traffic control device 200 . Further, the receiving unit 105 receives the vehicle identification information received by the entrance device 11a and the identification information of the entrance device 11a from the entrance device 11a. Receiving unit 105 registers the travel zone and the latest passing device in billing information database 153 based on the received information. The determination unit 106 determines whether or not the vehicle 2a is traveling in a branch zone from the travel zone of the vehicle 2a registered in the billing information database 153 (S101).

If the travel zone of the vehicle 2a matches the branch zone associated with any of the unfinished discount identification information registered in the discount information database 152, the determination unit 106 determines that the vehicle 2a travels in the branch zone. (S101 "Yes"). In this case, the determination unit 106 registers the discount identification information for the vehicle 2a in the billing information database 153 (S102).

When the determination unit 106 determines that the vehicle 2a is not traveling in the branch zone (S101 "No"), the process of S101 is repeated.

Next, the determination unit 106 determines whether or not the vehicle 2a has traveled through the fixed detour zone (S103). More specifically, when the travel zone of billing information database 153 matches the detour fixed zone associated with the discount identification information registered as the target discount information, determination unit 106 determines that vehicle 2a will not pass through the detour route. (S103 "Yes"). If the determination unit 106 does not determine that the vehicle 2a has traveled through the detour decision zone (S103 "No"), the process of S103 is repeated.

When it is determined that the vehicle 2a has taken the detour route (S103 "Yes"), the determining unit 106 sets the detour determination flag of the billing information database 153 to "True" (S104).

The toll calculation unit 107 applies the discount of the discount identification information associated with the vehicle identification information of the vehicle 2a in the billing information database 153, and calculates the toll to be paid for the vehicle 2a (fixed toll and additional scheduled toll). Update (S105). In addition, the toll calculation unit 107 calculates the planned toll to be added for each zone A according to the latest travel zone of the vehicle 2a.

The transmission unit 104 associates the toll of the vehicle 2a (fixed toll and additional scheduled toll) calculated by the toll calculation unit 107 with the vehicle identification information of the vehicle 2a, and transmits the toll to the exit device 12a (S106).

When receiving the vehicle identification information of the vehicle 2a from the exit device 12a (S107 "Yes"), the receiving unit 105 registers the exit device 12a specified by the received identification information in the latest passing device of the billing information database 153. , the exit of the vehicle 2a is registered (S108). Further, when the vehicle identification information of the vehicle 2a is not received from the exit device 12a (S107 "No"), the reception unit 105 repeats the process of S107 and waits. Here, the toll discount processing ends, and the processing returns to the flowchart of FIG.

In addition, in the flowchart of FIG. 10, when the determination unit 106 does not determine that the vehicle 2a has traveled through the detour decision zone (S103 "No"), the process of S103 is repeated. It is also possible to determine whether or not the vehicle has traveled through the detour target zone, and if the vehicle has traveled through the detour target zone, terminate the toll discount processing assuming that the discount is not applied.

As described above, the information processing apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, when the toll road R includes a zone A whose degree of congestion is equal to or greater than the first threshold value (“congestion”), determines a detour route that can bypass the zone A. to decide. Further, the information processing apparatus 100 of the present embodiment transmits the detour route information 700 indicating the detour route to the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 or the entrance device 11a, and discounts the toll for the vehicle 2a traveling on the detour route. apply. Therefore, according to the information processing apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, the traffic volume can be dispersed from the congested zone A in the toll road R to other zones A. FIG.

Further, the information processing device 100 of the present embodiment transmits the detour route information 700 to the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 or the entrance device 11a installed in the branch zone. Therefore, according to the information processing apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, the detour route information 700 can be notified to the driver of the vehicle 2a that has entered the branch zone.

Further, when the degree of congestion in the detour target zone becomes equal to or less than the second threshold value (“congestion”), the information processing device 100 of the present embodiment Then, an instruction to delete the detour route information 700 is transmitted. When the detour route information 700 is deleted in the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 or the entrance device 11a, transmission of the detour route information 700 to the vehicle-mounted device of the vehicle 2a by the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 or the entrance device 11a ends. Therefore, according to the information processing apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, the notification of the detour route information 700 can be terminated at an appropriate timing according to the congestion status of the toll road R.

In this embodiment, route information, billing information, and the like are stored in each database of the storage unit 150, and each function unit such as the charge calculation unit 107 and the transmission unit 104 refers to each database. , a configuration in which data is transmitted and received between the functional units may be adopted.

(Modification 1)
In the first embodiment, the information processing apparatus 100 terminates the discount when the degree of congestion in the detour target zone becomes equal to or less than the second threshold, but the termination timing is not limited to this.

In this modification, the transmission unit 104 transmits the information indicating the detour route after the congestion degree of the detour target zone has become equal to or less than the second threshold, and a predetermined time has passed. 10 or the entrance device 11a, an instruction to delete the detour route information 700 is transmitted. According to the information processing apparatus 100 of this modified example, by providing such a configuration, it is possible to suppress repetition of the end and start of the discount in a short period of time when traffic congestion occurs intermittently. .

Also, a configuration may be adopted in which the application of the discount is terminated when the administrator of the toll road R or the like inputs the termination time. Further, if the acquisition unit 101 can acquire from the traffic control device 200 the time at which the congestion is predicted to be resolved, the configuration may be adopted in which the time is registered in advance as the discount end time.

(Modification 2)
In the first embodiment, the transmission unit 104 of the information processing device 100 transmits the fixed toll of the vehicle 2a, the scheduled toll to be added, and the vehicle identification information of the vehicle 2a to the exit device 12a. A configuration in which these pieces of information are also transmitted to the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 via 200 may be employed. For example, the toll calculation unit 107 transmits the fixed toll calculated by the toll calculation unit 107 to the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 installed in the zone A located beyond the travel zone of the vehicle 2a. When adopting this configuration, the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 transmits fixed tolls and the like at the time when the vehicle 2a enters each zone A to the vehicle-mounted device of the vehicle 2a. In this case, the vehicle-mounted device of the vehicle 2a can display the final toll and the like at the time of entering each zone A on the display unit to inform the driver.

(Modification 3)
In the first embodiment, the transmission unit 104 and the reception unit 105 of the information processing device 100 transmit and receive information to and from the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 via the traffic control device 200. A configuration in which the device 10 directly transmits and receives information may be adopted.

(Modification 4)
In the first embodiment, when the vehicle 2a travels in the zone A that matches the branch zone associated with any of the unfinished discount identification information registered in the discount information database 152, the determination unit 106 Although the discount identification information is registered as the target discount information for the vehicle 2a, the conditions for applying the target discount information to the vehicle 2a are not limited to this. For example, when the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 or the entrance device 11a transmits the detour route information 700 to the vehicle-mounted device of the vehicle 2a, the vehicle identification information of the vehicle 2a that receives the detour route information 700 is acquired, and the information You may transmit to the processing apparatus 100. FIG. When adopting this configuration, the determination unit 106 associates the discount identification information included in the detour route information 700 with the vehicle identification information of the vehicle 2a that received the detour route information 700, and stores the discount identification information in the billing information database as the target discount information. Register with 153.

Alternatively, regardless of whether or not the vehicle 2a has received the detour route information 700, when the congestion degree of the detour target zone becomes equal to or less than the second threshold value and the end time is registered in the discount information database 152, the fee is calculated. A configuration may be employed in which the unit 107 terminates the application of the toll discount.

(Embodiment 2)
In the first embodiment, the case where one detour route is set for one detour target route has been described, but a plurality of detour routes may be set.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of the ETC system S2 and traffic control system S10 according to this embodiment. The traffic control system S10 of this embodiment includes a traffic control device 200 and road-to-vehicle communication devices 10a to 10e. The traffic control device 200 and the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 have functions similar to those of the first embodiment.

2, the information processing apparatus 2100 of this embodiment includes an acquisition unit 101, a congestion degree calculation unit 102, a detour route determination unit 103, a transmission unit 104, and a reception unit. 105 , determination unit 106 , charge calculation unit 107 , and storage unit 150 . Acquisition unit 101, congestion degree calculation unit 102, transmission unit 104, reception unit 105, determination unit 106, and storage unit 150 have functions similar to those of the first embodiment.

In the example shown in FIG. 11, the route from zone A1 to zone A3 includes a route including "zone A1, zone A2, zone A3", a route including "zone A1, zone A4, zone A3", and a route including "zone A1 , zone A5, and zone A3''. Therefore, when one of the routes is congested or congested, the other route becomes a detour route.

In this embodiment, the zone A4 is the detour target zone whose congestion level is "congestion". In such a case, the detour route determination unit 103 can detour the detour target zone by selecting a route including “zone A1, zone A2, zone A3” and a route including “zone A1, zone A5, zone A3”. detour route. The configuration of the paths in FIG. 11 is an example, and is not limited to this. Also, the number of detour routes is not limited to two, and may be three or more.

The detour route determination unit 103 of the present embodiment has the function of the first embodiment, and determines the congestion degree for each of a plurality of detour routes from the congestion degree for each zone A calculated by the congestion degree calculation unit 102 . The detour route determination unit 103 may determine the congestion degree of each detour route based on the highest congestion degree of zone A constituting each detour route, or determine the congestion degree of the route using another method. Also good.

Further, the charge calculation unit 107 of the present embodiment has the functions of the first embodiment, generates discount information for each detour route, and registers the discount information in the discount information database 152 . The toll calculation unit 107 of this embodiment determines the discount rate of the toll according to the degree of congestion of each detour route. More specifically, the charge calculation unit 107 determines the degree of discount so that the lower the degree of congestion of each detour route, the higher the amount of discount. By determining the degree of discount in this way, the vehicle 2a can be guided to a detour route with a lower degree of congestion.

The flow of dynamic charging processing and the flow of toll discount processing in this embodiment are the same as those in the first embodiment.

According to the information processing apparatus 2100 of this embodiment, when a plurality of detour routes are determined, the degree of toll discount is determined according to the degree of congestion of the detour routes. From A, traffic can be further distributed to other zones A.

(Embodiment 3)
In the first embodiment, when the degree of congestion in the detour target zone becomes equal to or less than the second threshold (“congestion”), application of the discount ends. In this embodiment, an upper limit is set for the number of vehicles 2a to which the discount is applied, and when the upper limit is reached, application of the discount is terminated.

The overall configurations of the ETC system S1 and the traffic control system S10 according to this embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of functions of the information processing device 3100 and the traffic control device 200 according to this embodiment. The traffic control device 200 of this embodiment has the same functions as those of the first embodiment. The information processing apparatus 3100 of the present embodiment includes an acquisition unit 101, a congestion degree calculation unit 102, a detour route determination unit 103, a transmission unit 1104, a reception unit 105, a determination unit 106, a fee calculation unit 107, A discount target control unit 108 and a storage unit 1150 are provided. Acquisition unit 101, congestion degree calculation unit 102, reception unit 105, determination unit 106, and charge calculation unit 107 have functions similar to those of the first embodiment.

The storage unit 1150 of this embodiment includes a charge information database (DB) 151, a discount information database (DB) 1152, a billing information database (DB) 153, a zone database (DB) 154, and a route database (DB) 155. , and a transmission information database (DB) 156 . Information registered in the charge information database 151, the charge information database 153, the zone database 154, the route database 155, and the transmission information database 156 is the same as in the first embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the data configuration of the discount information database 1152 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 13, the discount information database 1152 of the present embodiment includes discount identification information, detour target zones, detour fixed zones, branch zones, discount levels, start times, discount application balances, are associated and registered. The discount identification information, detour target zone, detour confirmed zone, branch zone, discount degree, and start time are the same as in the first embodiment.

The discount application remaining number is the remaining number of vehicles 2a to which the discount is applied. When the discount application balance becomes "0", the transmission unit 1104, which will be described later, transmits an instruction to delete the detour route information 700 to the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 or the entrance device 11a.

Returning to FIG. 12, the discount target control unit 108 determines the upper limit of the number of vehicles 2a subject to the toll discount according to the degree of congestion of the detour target zone. Then, the discount target control unit 108 registers the upper limit value of the number of vehicles 2a in the discount information database 1152 as the remaining number of discount applications. In addition, the discount target control unit 108 refers to the billing information database 153, and each time the detour confirmation flag of the vehicle 2a becomes "True", the discount application remaining amount of the discount information associated with the detour confirmation flag is Subtract. When the number of vehicles 2a for which the toll is discounted is equal to the upper limit of the number of vehicles 2a, the detour decision flag becomes "True", the remaining number of discount application becomes "0".

In addition to the contents of the first embodiment, the detour route information 700 of the present embodiment further includes an upper limit value for the number of vehicles 2a that are eligible for toll discounts. For this reason, the transmission unit 1104 of the present embodiment, having the functions of the first embodiment, transmits the detour route information 700 including the upper limit of the number of vehicles 2a subject to toll discounts to the road-to-vehicle communication device. 10 or the entrance device 11a.

The road-to-vehicle communication device 10 or the entrance device 11a that has received the detour route information 700 is connected to the vehicle-mounted device mounted on the vehicle 2a traveling within the communication range of the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 or the entrance device 11a, as in the first embodiment. , the detour route information 700 is transmitted. The vehicle-mounted device may inform the driver of the upper limit of the number of vehicles 2a subject to the toll discount, for example, by displaying it on the display unit.

In addition, when the discount application balance of the discount information database 1152 becomes "0", the transmission unit 1104 of this embodiment transmits the detour route information 700 associated with the discount identification information of the discount information. An instruction to delete the detour route information 700 is transmitted to the inter-vehicle communication device 10 or the entrance device 11a.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of dynamic billing processing according to this embodiment. The processing from the acquisition of congestion information in S1 to the generation of discount information in S5 is the same as the processing of the first embodiment described with reference to FIG.

Next, the discount target control unit 108 determines the upper limit of the number of vehicles 2a subject to the toll discount (S31). The discount target control unit 108 registers the upper limit value of the number of vehicles 2a in the discount information database 1152 as the discount application balance.

The process of transmitting the detour route information 700 in S6 is the same as in the first embodiment. Also, the flow of the discount processing (S32) of this embodiment will be described later.

Then, the transmission unit 1104 refers to the discount information database 1152, and determines whether or not the discount remaining amount of the currently applied discount information is "0" (S33). If the discount application balance is not "0" (S33 "No"), the process returns to S32.

If the discount application balance is "0" (S33 "Yes"), the transmission unit 1104 transmits the detour route information 700 associated with the discount identification information of the discount information. (S11).

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of toll discount processing according to the present embodiment. The process from the determination of whether the vehicle 2a is traveling in the branch zone in S101 to the process of changing the detour confirmation flag in S104 is the same as the process of the first embodiment described with reference to FIG.

The discount target control unit 108 refers to the billing information database 153, and each time the detour confirmation flag of the vehicle 2a becomes "True", subtracts the discount application balance of the discount information associated with the detour confirmation flag. (S301).

The process of updating the discounted toll in S105 to the process of registering the exit of the vehicle 2a in S108 is the same as the process of the first embodiment described with reference to FIG.

In this way, the information processing apparatus 3100 of the present embodiment determines the upper limit of the number of vehicles 2a subject to a toll discount according to the degree of congestion of the detour target zone, and determines the number of vehicles 2a that have traveled the detour route. number reaches the upper limit, an instruction to delete the detour route information 700 is transmitted to the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 or the entrance device 11a that transmitted the detour route information 700 . Therefore, according to the information processing device 3100 of the present embodiment, when the number of vehicles 2a reaches the upper limit, the notification of the detour route information 700 can be terminated, and the number of vehicles 2a to which the discount is applied can be increased. You can control the details.

(Modification 5)
The upper limit of the number of vehicles 2a to be discounted for the toll may be input to the information processing device 3100 by the administrator of the toll road R or the like.

(Modification 6)
The configuration of the first embodiment or modification 1 may be combined with the configuration of the third embodiment. For example, when the number of vehicles 2a traveling on the detour route reaches the upper limit value, or when the degree of congestion in the detour target zone becomes equal to or less than the second threshold, the transmission unit 1104 issues a deletion command for the detour route information 700. may be adopted.

(Embodiment 4)
In this embodiment, by restricting the vehicle types to which the discount is applied, vehicles of a specific vehicle type are guided to take the detour route.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of the ETC system S4 and traffic control system S10 according to this embodiment. In the present embodiment, only large vehicles such as the vehicle 2b are subject to toll discounts. In this case, the toll is not discounted for ordinary vehicles such as the vehicle 2c. Hereinafter, the vehicle 2b and the vehicle 2c are referred to as the vehicle 2 unless otherwise distinguished.

The traffic control device 200 of this embodiment has the same functions as those of the first embodiment. An information processing apparatus 4100 of this embodiment includes an acquisition unit 101, a congestion degree calculation unit 102, a detour route determination unit 103, a transmission unit 1104, a reception unit 105, and a determination unit 106, as in the third embodiment. , a charge calculation unit 107 , a discount target control unit 108 , and a storage unit 1150 . Acquisition unit 101, congestion degree calculation unit 102, detour route determination unit 103, reception unit 105, determination unit 106, and charge calculation unit 107 have the same functions as those of the first embodiment.

The storage unit 1150 of this embodiment has a charge information database 151 , a discount information database 2152 , a billing information database 153 , a zone database 154 , a route database 155 and a transmission information database 156 . Information registered in the charge information database 151, the charge information database 153, the zone database 154, the route database 155, and the transmission information database 156 is the same as in the first and third embodiments.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of the data configuration of the discount information database 2152 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 17, the discount information database 2152 of this embodiment includes discount identification information, detour target zones, detour confirmed zones, branch zones, discount levels, start times, end times, discount It is registered in association with the target vehicle type. The discount identification information, detour target zone, detour confirmation zone, branch zone, discount degree, start time, and end time are the same as in the first and third embodiments.

The discount target vehicle type is the vehicle type to which the discount is applied, and is an example of a predetermined condition in the present embodiment.

The discount target control unit 108 of the present embodiment determines the vehicle type subject to the toll discount according to the degree of congestion of the detour target zone, and registers the vehicle in the discount information database 2152 . For example, the discount target control unit 108 may employ a configuration that increases the number of vehicle models included in the discount target vehicle models as the degree of congestion increases.

Further, the detour route information 700 transmitted by the transmitting unit 1104 of the present embodiment further includes, in addition to the content of the first embodiment, information on the vehicle type for which the toll is discounted. For this reason, the transmission unit 1104 of the present embodiment, having the functions of the first embodiment, transmits the detour route information 700 including information on the vehicle type for which the toll is discounted to the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 or the entrance device. 11a.

The road-to-vehicle communication device 10 or the entrance device 11a that has received the detour route information 700 is, as in the first embodiment, a vehicle-mounted device mounted on the vehicle 2 traveling within the communication range of the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 or the entrance device 11a. , the detour route information 700 is transmitted. The vehicle-mounted device displays on the display part that the discount is applied when the vehicle travels through the detour fixed zone when the vehicle type to which the toll discount is applied matches the vehicle type of the vehicle 2 on which the device is mounted. Alternatively, the vehicle-mounted device displays the vehicle type for which the toll discount is applicable, regardless of the vehicle type of the vehicle 2 in which the device is installed, and that the discount is applied if the vehicle type is traveling in the detour fixed zone. may be displayed in the

Further, the receiving unit 105 of the present embodiment has the function of the first embodiment, and vehicle identification information received by the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 or the entrance device 11a from the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 or the entrance device 11a, The identification information of the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 or the entrance device 11a and the vehicle type of the vehicle 2 are received in association with each other. The receiving unit 105 registers the received vehicle type of the vehicle 2 in the charging information database 153 in association with, for example, the vehicle identification information of the vehicle 2 .

In addition, the determination unit 106 of the present embodiment, having the function of the first embodiment, determines whether or not the vehicle type of the vehicle 2 determined to be traveling in the branch zone is a discounted vehicle type. do. More specifically, the discount target control unit 108 determines whether or not the vehicle type of the vehicle 2 registered in the billing information database 153 matches the discount target vehicle model registered in the discount information database 2152. First, it is determined that the vehicle type of the vehicle 2 is a discounted vehicle type.

The toll calculation unit 107 of the present embodiment has the function of the first embodiment, and the vehicle type of the vehicle 2 received by the receiving unit 105 is a discounted vehicle type, and the vehicle 2 is detoured. When it is determined that the vehicle 2 has passed through the route, a discounted toll is calculated as the toll for the vehicle 2. - 特許庁

The flow of dynamic billing processing in this embodiment is the same as in the first embodiment described with reference to FIG.

Next, the flow of toll discount processing in this embodiment will be described.
FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of toll discount processing according to the present embodiment. The process of determining whether the vehicle 2 is traveling in the branch zone in S101 is the same as the process of the first embodiment described with reference to FIG.

The discount target control unit 108 of the present embodiment determines whether or not the vehicle type of the vehicle 2 determined to be traveling in the branch zone is a discount target vehicle type (S401). If the vehicle type of the vehicle 2 is a discount target vehicle type (S401 "Yes"), the process proceeds to the discount identification information registration process of S102.

If the vehicle type of the vehicle 2 is not a discounted vehicle type (S401 "No"), the processes of S101 and S401 are repeated. The process from the discount identification information registration process in S102 to the exit registration process of the vehicle 2 in S108 is the same as the process of the first embodiment described with reference to FIG.

In this manner, the information processing apparatus 4100 of the present embodiment determines the vehicle type for which the toll is discounted according to the degree of congestion of the detour target zone, and determines that the vehicle 2 has passed through one of the detour routes. If the vehicle 2 is the type of vehicle that is subject to the toll discount, the discounted toll is calculated. In general, large vehicles are more likely to cause congestion on the toll road R than ordinary vehicles. Therefore, according to the information processing apparatus 4100 of the present embodiment, by guiding a specific vehicle type to travel on a detour route, it is possible to more efficiently move from the congested zone A in the toll road R to another vehicle. Traffic can be distributed to Zone A.

(Modification 7)
In the fourth embodiment, the discount object control unit 108 determines the discount object vehicle type.

(Modification 8)
The predetermined condition that determines the discount application target is not limited to the vehicle type. For example, a rule may be provided that specifies the application target by the last two digits of the vehicle-mounted device ID. Alternatively, a vehicle 2 whose travel time on the toll road R (the time from passing through the entrance device 11a to the current time) is equal to or greater than a threshold value may be applied.

As described above, according to the information processing apparatuses of the first to fourth embodiments, the traffic volume can be dispersed from the congested zone A on the toll road R to other zones A. FIG.

Also, the configurations included in the above-described Embodiments 1 to 4 and Modifications 1 to 8 may be combined with each other. For example, the configuration of the second embodiment and the configurations of the third and fourth embodiments may be combined. Also, the configuration of Modification 1 may be combined with the configurations of Embodiments 2-4.

The program executed by the information processing apparatus of the present embodiment is a file in an installable format or an executable format, and can be stored on a computer such as a CD-ROM, flexible disk (FD), CD-R, DVD (Digital Versatile Disk). It is recorded on a readable recording medium and provided.

Alternatively, the program executed by the information processing apparatus of this embodiment may be stored in a computer connected to a network such as the Internet, and may be provided by being downloaded via the network. Also, the program executed by the information processing apparatus of this embodiment may be configured to be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet. Also, the program executed by the information processing apparatus of the present embodiment may be configured to be pre-installed in a ROM or the like and provided.

The program executed by the information processing apparatus of the present embodiment performs the above-described units (acquisition unit, congestion degree calculation unit, detour route determination unit, transmission unit, reception unit, determination unit, charge calculation unit, discount target control unit). As actual hardware, the CPU (processor) reads out and executes the program from the storage medium, and the above units are loaded onto the main storage device, and the acquisition unit, the congestion degree calculation unit, A detour route determination unit, a transmission unit, a reception unit, a determination unit, a charge calculation unit, and a discount object control unit are generated on the main storage device.

While several embodiments of the invention have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the scope of the invention described in the claims and equivalents thereof.

2, 2a to 2c vehicle 10, 10a to 10e road-vehicle communication device 11a entrance device 12a exit device 100, 2100, 3100, 4100 information processing device 101 acquisition unit 102 congestion degree calculation unit 103 detour route determination unit 104, 1104 transmission unit 105 Receiving unit 106 Judging unit 107 Charge calculation unit 108 Discount object control unit 150, 1150 Storage unit 151 Charge information database 152, 1152, 2152 Discount information database 153 Billing information database 154 Zone database 155 Route database 156 Transmission information database 700 Detour route information A , A0-A5 Zone R Toll road S1, S2, S4 ETC system S10 Traffic control system

Claims (6)

a detour route determination unit that determines one or more detour routes that are a combination of the sections of the toll road and that can bypass the congested section when there is a congested section among a plurality of sections of the toll road; ,
a road-to-vehicle communication device installed in each section and capable of communicating with an on-board device of a vehicle traveling on the toll road, or an entrance device provided at an entrance of the toll road and capable of communicating with the on-board device; ,
an exit device provided at an exit of the toll road and capable of communicating with the vehicle-mounted device;
receiving from the road-to-vehicle communication device or the entrance device the identification information of the road-to-vehicle communication device or the entrance device and the identification information of the vehicle received from the vehicle-mounted device by the road-to-vehicle communication device or the entrance device a receiver;
Based on the identification information of the vehicle received by the receiving unit for each section and the identification information of the road-to-vehicle communication device or the entrance device, it is determined whether the vehicle has passed through any of the detour routes. a judgment unit that judges;
a toll calculation unit that calculates a toll by applying a discount to the vehicle when it is determined that the vehicle has passed through one of the detour routes;
a transmission unit that transmits information indicating the toll in association with identification information of the vehicle to the exit device;
with
The detour route determination unit determines, from among the plurality of sections included in the detour route, a detour confirmed section for which it is confirmed that the detour route is traveled;
The determination unit determines that the vehicle has passed through the detour route when the travel section of the vehicle matches the detour confirmed section,
The toll calculation unit includes, as tolls, a fixed toll that is a toll for the travel route that the vehicle has already passed through, and an additional scheduled toll that is scheduled to change when the vehicle travels from the section on which the vehicle is traveling to an exit device. to calculate
Information processing equipment. an acquisition unit that acquires congestion information on the toll road from a traffic control system;
a congestion degree calculation unit that calculates the degree of congestion for each section of the toll road from the acquired congestion information;
The information processing device according to claim 1 . When a plurality of detour routes are determined, the toll calculation unit determines a discount degree of the toll according to the degree of congestion of the detour routes.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 2. The toll calculation unit calculates the discounted toll when the determination unit determines that the vehicle has passed through one of the detour routes and when the vehicle satisfies a predetermined condition. calculate,
The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The predetermined condition is a condition based on any of the type of vehicle, the identification information of the vehicle-mounted device, or the running time on the toll road,
Further comprising a discount target control unit that determines the predetermined condition according to the degree of congestion in the congested section,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 4. An information processing method executed by an information processing device,
a detour route determination step of, when there is a congested section among a plurality of sections of a toll road, determining one or a plurality of detour routes that are a combination of the sections of the toll road and can bypass the congested section; ,
Identification of a road-vehicle communication device installed in each section and capable of communicating with an onboard device of a vehicle traveling on the toll road, or an entrance device provided at an entrance of the toll road and capable of communicating with the onboard device. a receiving step of receiving from the road-to-vehicle communication device or the entrance device information and identification information of the vehicle received from the vehicle-mounted device by the road-to-vehicle communication device or the entrance device;
Based on the identification information of the vehicle received for each section in the receiving step and the identification information of the road-to-vehicle communication device or the entrance device, it is determined whether the vehicle has passed through any of the detour routes. a judgment step for judging;
a toll calculation step of calculating a toll by applying a discount to the vehicle when it is determined that the vehicle has passed through one of the detour routes;
a transmission step of transmitting the information indicating the toll in association with the identification information of the vehicle to an exit device provided at the exit of the toll road and capable of communicating with the vehicle-mounted device;
including
In the detour route determination step, determining a detour confirmed section for which it is confirmed that the detour route is traveled, from among a plurality of sections included in the detour route;
determining in the determination step that the vehicle has passed through the detour route when the travel section of the vehicle matches the detour confirmed section;
In the toll calculation step, as tolls, a fixed toll, which is a toll for the travel route that the vehicle has already passed through, and an additional scheduled toll that is scheduled to change when the vehicle travels from the section in which the vehicle is traveling to an exit device. calculate,
Information processing methods.

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