JP7645567B2 - In-vehicle electronic device, server, and client terminal - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to in-vehicle electronic devices, servers, client terminals, etc.

Patent Documents 1 and 2 disclose inventions relating to drive recorders.
The drive recorder disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a data collection unit that collects driving status data of a vehicle, a storage unit that stores the driving status data in a non-volatile manner, a communication unit that performs wired or wireless communication with a mobile phone terminal, and a control unit that comprehensively controls these functional units. When the control unit determines that a predetermined trigger condition is satisfied, it controls the communication unit to transmit the driving status data to the mobile phone terminal.

The drive recorder disclosed in Patent Document 2 includes a video data generating means for generating video data from a video signal that captures at least the outside of the vehicle, and an image data transmitting means for transmitting image data including the video data to an external device when an event is detected.

Patent No. 5561847 JP 2009-93255 A

Conventional in-vehicle electronic devices such as drive recorders transmit driving status data and video data to the outside when a predetermined trigger condition is satisfied, when an event occurs, etc. Data when the predetermined trigger condition is not satisfied or when no event occurs is not transmitted to the outside. For example, if data is transmitted continuously, not only when a predetermined trigger condition is satisfied, there is a concern that the amount of communication traffic will increase.
Furthermore, when detecting the occurrence of an event in a vehicle and transmitting information indicating the occurrence of the event and video data to a server, the number of events may become too large.

The purpose of the invention of this application is not limited to this, and the applicant intends to obtain rights for configurations that aim to obtain effects from parts of the configuration disclosed in this specification and drawings, etc., through divisional applications, amendments, etc. For example, this specification discloses problems in which the phrase "can be" is read as "the problem is." Each problem is described as an independent one, and the applicant intends to obtain rights for the configuration for solving this problem alone through divisional applications, amendments, etc. Even if the problem is understood implicitly from the description in the specification, the applicant intends to include part of the configuration described in this specification in the scope of the patent claim through amendments or divisional applications. Problems that combine these independent problems are also disclosed.

(1) An in-vehicle electronic device may have a processing means having a function of generating first video data and second video data having a smaller data volume than the first video data based on a moving image captured by an imaging means mounted on the vehicle, recording the first video data in a storage means, and transmitting the second video data to a server on a network via a wireless communication means.

Since the amount of data of the second video data to be transmitted is smaller than the amount of data of the first video data recorded in the storage means, the amount of data to be transmitted can be reduced compared to the case of transmitting the first video data. When the second video data is transmitted continuously without being limited to a specific point in time such as the occurrence of an event, a particularly notable effect of suppressing an increase in the amount of transmitted data can be obtained. For example, a corporation can install an on-board electronic device in multiple vehicles that it wishes to manage, and collect the second video data from the multiple vehicles under management in a server.

As the imaging means mounted on the vehicle, for example, a camera that captures an image of the area in front of the vehicle to obtain a moving image may be used. The imaging means may be configured to capture images of the vehicle in all directions, the interior of the vehicle, etc. The second video data may have a lower resolution and a lower frame rate than the first video data, so that the amount of data of the second video data is less than the amount of data of the first video data. For example, the resolution of the first video data may be equivalent to full high definition (1920 x 1080 pixels) and a frame rate of 30 fps, etc., while the resolution of the second video data may be equivalent to VGA (640 x 480 pixels) and a frame rate of 5 to 10 fps, etc.

As the storage means, for example, a removable medium such as an SD card can be used. By removing the removable medium from the in-vehicle electronic device and attaching it to an external electronic device such as a personal computer or tablet terminal, the first video data recorded on the removable medium can be played on the external electronic device. It may be difficult for removable media such as an SD card to meet the required specifications in terms of reliability. For example, a failure may occur that makes it impossible to read the video data that should have been recorded. By transmitting the second video data to a server, it is possible to read the second video data from the server even if a failure occurs that makes it impossible to read the first video data that should have been recorded on the removable medium.

As the storage means, a storage device built into the in-vehicle electronic device may be used instead of a removable medium. When a built-in storage device is used as the storage means, the first video data may be transferred to an external device via a wireless LAN or the like.

As the wireless communication means for transmitting the second video data, it is preferable to use a communication module that complies with a mobile wireless communication standard such as LTE or 4G. This makes it possible to transmit the second video data to a server when the vehicle is located within a service area of the mobile wireless communication. It is preferable to ensure an upstream communication speed of, for example, 512 kbps.

The server may have a function for storing the received second video data, and a function for distributing the stored second video data via the network in response to a request from the client terminal.

(2) When the processing means executes the function of transmitting the second video data to the server, the in-vehicle electronic device may transmit the second video data to the server regardless of whether or not an external impact is applied to the vehicle.

The second video data is sent to the server not only when an impact is applied to the vehicle, but also, for example, during normal driving. Compared to sending video data only when an impact occurs, the server can obtain more information. It is preferable to give the server the ability to use this information for various purposes, such as live distribution, on-demand distribution, and machine learning.

For example, the processing means may be configured to constantly transmit the second video data to the server while the vehicle accessory switch is on.

(3) The function of the processing means to transmit the second video data to the server may be an in-vehicle electronic device that includes a function to transmit the second video data to the server in real time.

By providing the server with the ability to live stream the second video data, the user of the client terminal (the vehicle manager) receiving the live streamed second video data can check the video captured by the imaging means installed in the vehicle under management in almost real time.

Video data may be generated by adding vehicle information in association with each frame of a video image captured by an imaging means, and the video data may be transcoded to generate first and second video data. If the frame rates of the original video data and the newly generated first and second video data are not changed, the vehicle information added in association with each frame may be directly associated with each frame of the newly generated first and second video data.

For example, if the frame rate of the second video data, which has a smaller amount of data, is made lower than the frame rate of the original video data and vehicle information is directly associated with each frame of the second video data, vehicle information will be lost in the second video data. In order to prevent loss of vehicle information, a process for changing the association between vehicle information and frames may be performed in the process of generating the second video data. For example, a process may be performed to associate vehicle information associated with multiple frames of the original video data with one frame of the second video data.

(4) The processing means may be an in-vehicle electronic device that generates third video data and fourth video data having a smaller data volume than the third video data based on the moving image captured by the imaging means, generates the first video data by adding vehicle information about the vehicle in association with each frame of the third video data, and generates the second video data by adding the vehicle information in association with each frame of the fourth video data.

Even if the frame rates of the first video data and the second video data are different, vehicle information can be added in association with each frame according to the frame rate. It is preferable that the video data playback device has a function for extracting vehicle information from the first video data or the second video data at the time when the image of the currently displayed frame was acquired when playing back the first video data or the second video data. Since vehicle information is added in association with each frame, the vehicle information associated with that frame can be easily extracted from the first video data or the second video data.

The vehicle information may be added to a frame header of the first video data or the second video data. The vehicle information may include, for example, GPS data, real-time clock time information, acceleration information in the forward/rearward/upper limit/left/right directions, terminal identification information (terminal ID), etc. The GPS data may include, for example, current time information, current position information (latitude and longitude), driving speed information, traveling direction information, current altitude information, valid/invalid information, etc. The time information of the real-time clock may be periodically calibrated based on the current time information included in the GPS data. The acceleration information may be acquired by an acceleration sensor mounted on the vehicle or an acceleration sensor built into the on-board electronic device.

As the terminal identification information, for example, the ID number of the SIM card may be used. In this case, the terminal identification information is unique to the in-vehicle electronic device. Instead of the ID number of the SIM card, the terminal identification information may be an ID number assigned to each of the multiple in-vehicle electronic devices. In addition, if multiple drivers may drive a single vehicle and it is desired to manage video data for each driver, in addition to the terminal identification information, driver identification information for identifying the driver currently driving may be used to associate the video data with the driver. For example, before the vehicle is driven, the in-vehicle electronic device may read the driver ID information recorded on the ID card held by the driver. As the ID card, an IC driver's license, a non-contact IC card such as FeriCa, a contact IC card such as an SD card, or the like may be used.

(5) The processing means may be an in-vehicle electronic device that detects the occurrence of an event based on a determination condition for determining that an event has occurred in the vehicle, and that includes the presence or absence of an event as part of the vehicle information.

It is preferable that the server that receives the second video data including the vehicle information has a function of reading the vehicle information, determining whether an event has occurred in the vehicle, and executing a special process depending on the determination result. The server that has the function of determining whether an event has occurred can perform a special process on the second video data when an event occurs. For example, it is preferable that the server performs the special process instead of the in-vehicle electronic device when an event occurs, without the in-vehicle electronic device performing the special process. For example, it is preferable that the server has a function (event recording function) of recording video images before and after the event occurrence in a storage area separate from the storage area for continuous recording when an event occurs. If the server has the event recording function, it is preferable that the in-vehicle electronic device does not perform event recording.

Events occurring in a vehicle may include sudden steering, sudden braking, and the occurrence of an impact. The occurrence of these events may be detected by an acceleration sensor mounted on the vehicle or an acceleration sensor built into the on-board electronic device. A judgment condition may be, for example, that the acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor exceeds a predetermined judgment threshold. An event flag indicating whether an event has occurred may be used as vehicle information indicating whether an event has occurred. It is even more preferable to provide an event flag for each event type, such as sudden steering, sudden braking, and the occurrence of an impact.

(6) The processing means may be an in-vehicle electronic device that, upon receiving an instruction to update the judgment conditions from the server, updates the judgment conditions and detects the occurrence of an event based on the updated judgment conditions.

The vehicle manager can update the judgment conditions via the server without directly operating the on-board electronic devices installed in the vehicle. For example, if there are too many detected events, it is advisable to lower the detection sensitivity by increasing the acceleration judgment threshold. Conversely, if events that should be detected are being overlooked, it is advisable to increase the detection sensitivity by lowering the acceleration judgment threshold.

When the processing means receives a command to update the judgment conditions, it is preferable that the processing means immediately update the judgment conditions. The vehicle manager can find the optimal judgment conditions by fine-tuning the judgment conditions while checking the event detection results based on the updated judgment conditions.

(7) The processing means may be an in-vehicle electronic device having a function of blanking the image portion of the second video data and transmitting the second video data with the vehicle information added to the server when the processing means receives a command from the server to stop transmitting video images.

The amount of data can be reduced by blanking the image portion of the second video data. For example, the image portion can be blanked by setting all pixels to a single color such as black. Even if the transmission of the video image is stopped, the second video data is still transmitted, so the transmission of vehicle information to the server continues. Although the transmission of vehicle information continues, the amount of data to be transmitted is also reduced because the amount of data in the second video data is small. The second video data can be compressed using a video compression technology such as the H.264 standard.

(8) The processing means may be an in-vehicle electronic device having a function of determining whether or not to transmit the second video data based on the state of the radio waves used by the wireless communication means, and if it is determined that transmission is not to be performed, recording the second video data in a storage means instead of transmitting it to the server.

When the radio wave conditions are such that communication is not possible or a communication speed sufficient for transmitting the second video data is not secured, it is preferable to determine not to transmit the second video data. The processing means is preferable to detect that the radio wave conditions are not suitable for transmitting the second video data before performing the transmission process. This makes it possible to eliminate unnecessary retries of the transmission process of the second video data.

By recording the second video data in the storage means, after the radio wave condition is recovered, the processing means may be provided with a function to transmit the second video data currently being acquired to the server and to read the second video data recorded in the storage means and transmit it to the server. In this way, it is possible to prevent the second video data transmitted to the server from being lost. If a transfer speed or processing capacity sufficient to transmit both the current second video data and the second video data recorded in the storage means is not ensured, the processing means may be provided with a function to transmit the second video data recorded in the storage means to the server after the vehicle stops operating (for example, after the accessory switch is turned off). In this way, the second video data can be transmitted to the server even if a transfer speed or processing capacity sufficient is not ensured.

(9) The processing means may be an in-vehicle electronic device having a function of outputting the contents of the message from an output means by an image or sound when the processing means receives a message from the server via the wireless communication means.

The client terminal may have a function to transmit a message from the client terminal to the in-vehicle electronic device via the server by the vehicle manager operating the client terminal of the server. In this way, the vehicle manager can transmit a message to the driver of the vehicle by operating the client terminal. The driver who notices the message can reflect the content of the message in his driving operation, etc. The content of the message may be, for example, a warning to the driver to avoid speeding, frequent sudden steering and braking, etc. Alternatively, the message may be a general business notice that needs to be notified to the driver. The message content from the output means may wait until the vehicle stops at a traffic light, etc., so as not to interfere with the driving operation, and may be output after the vehicle has stopped. For example, it may be determined that the vehicle has stopped when the driving speed becomes 0.

A message notifying the occurrence of an emergency such as a traffic accident may be sent from the on-board electronic device to the administrator via the server. For example, the on-board electronic device may be provided with a switch such as a button for notifying the occurrence of an emergency, and when the driver operates this switch, the processing means may send a message notifying the occurrence of the emergency. The administrator can be informed via the server that an emergency has occurred in the vehicle.

The server may have a processing means that has a function of receiving video data from each of a plurality of managed vehicles, the video data including video images captured by an imaging means mounted on each of the managed vehicles and vehicle information associated with each frame of the video images, and storing the video data in a storage means.

When a device that reads and processes accumulated video data of a specific vehicle processes a specific frame, the device can easily access vehicle information for that vehicle associated with the frame currently being processed. The processing means of the server can be provided with a function for reading and processing accumulated video data. The device that reads and processes video data can be provided with a function for extracting vehicle information associated with a frame from the video data while processing a specific frame, for example, while performing processing to display an image on a display means.

It is preferable that the server has a processing means with a function of extracting vehicle information from video data including video images captured by imaging means mounted on each of a plurality of managed vehicles and vehicle information associated with each frame of the video images, and storing the vehicle information in the storage means separately from the video data.

By extracting vehicle information from the video data and storing it in a storage means separately from the video data, a device that accesses the stored vehicle information can easily extract the necessary vehicle information without, for example, reading out the video data in chronological order. It is preferable to provide the processing means of the server with a function for accessing the stored vehicle information.

(10) The server may have a processing means having a function of receiving video data from each of a plurality of managed vehicles, the video data including video images captured by an imaging means mounted on each of the vehicles and vehicle information associated with each frame of the video images, storing the video data in a storage means, and extracting the vehicle information from the video data and storing the vehicle information in the storage means separately from the video data.

When a device that reads and processes accumulated video data of a specific vehicle processes a specific frame, it can easily access the vehicle information of that vehicle associated with the frame currently being processed, and can easily retrieve the required vehicle information from the storage means, for example, without having to read the video data in chronological order.

It is advisable to provide the server's processing means with the functionality to read and process the stored video data, and the functionality to access the stored vehicle information.

The video data may be transmitted from an in-vehicle electronic device such as a drive recorder. The processing means of the server may group the video data, vehicle information, etc. transmitted from the vehicle by terminal ID, store them, and manage them.

It is advisable to organize vehicle information stored separately from video data into a database so that it can be searched using various search keys. Search keys can include, for example, vehicle identification information, driver identification information, date and time information, and information indicating whether an event has occurred. Vehicle managers can easily access this database to find the vehicle information they need.

(11) The processing means may be a server having a function of, when a client terminal identifies a vehicle and requests live streaming, live streaming the video data received from the identified vehicle to the client terminal that requested the live streaming, and a function of, when a client terminal identifies a vehicle and requests on-demand streaming, reading the video data of the identified vehicle from the storage means and streaming it on-demand to the client terminal that requested the on-demand streaming.

The vehicle manager can check live video images captured in a specific vehicle by operating a client terminal to request live streaming. Furthermore, the vehicle manager can check video images captured in the past in a specific vehicle by requesting on-demand streaming by specifying a specific vehicle and a specific date and time.

When a request for live streaming is made for a vehicle for which video transmission is currently stopped, the processing means of the server may send a command to the target vehicle to start transmitting video. The in-vehicle electronic device may have a function to start transmitting video when it receives a command to start transmitting video. When video transmission is started from the in-vehicle electronic device installed in the target vehicle for which a live streaming request has been made, the processing means of the server may live stream the video to the client terminal. The vehicle manager may operate the client terminal to check the current video from the target vehicle.

(12) The vehicle information includes location data indicating a current location of the corresponding vehicle,
The processing means may be a server having a function of, when a client terminal identifies a vehicle and requests live streaming of the video data, transmitting location data indicating the current location of at least one vehicle other than the vehicle to be live streamed to the client terminal that requested the live streaming.

It is preferable to provide a client terminal with a function for extracting position data of a specific vehicle from video data of the specific vehicle that is being live-streamed. A vehicle manager can learn the current position of a specific vehicle by operating a client terminal having this function. Furthermore, a vehicle manager can learn the current positions of vehicles other than the specific vehicle by operating a client terminal having a function for receiving position data indicating the current positions of vehicles other than the vehicle being live-streamed.

Position data of vehicles other than the vehicle that is the subject of live streaming may be transmitted to the client terminal only when requested by the client terminal. In addition, position data of vehicles other than the vehicle that is the subject of live streaming may be constantly transmitted to the client terminal that is the destination of the live streaming. Position data of vehicles other than the vehicle that is the subject of live streaming may also be transmitted to the client terminal while maintaining immediacy. Position data of vehicles other than the vehicle that is the subject of live streaming may be transmitted at time intervals longer than the frame interval of the video during live streaming. For example, when the frame interval of the video is about 0.1 seconds, the transmission interval of position data of vehicles other than the vehicle that is the subject of live streaming may be about 1 to 5 seconds.

(13) The vehicle information includes an event flag indicating whether an event has occurred in the corresponding vehicle,
The processing means may be a server having a function of determining whether or not an event has occurred in a vehicle based on the event flag contained in the video data received from multiple managed vehicles, and if it is determined that an event has occurred in a vehicle, storing in the storage means as event recording data, the video data received from the vehicle in which it has been determined that an event has occurred, for a certain period before and after the time the event occurred, separately from the process of storing the video data in the storage means regardless of the occurrence of an event.

The processing means should have a function for managing the event recording data separately from the video data (continuously recorded data) that is received continuously from the vehicle and stored in the storage means. The time span before and after the occurrence of the event that is stored as event recording data should be, for example, one minute before and after the event occurrence, and it is even better if the vehicle manager can set this as desired. It is also good to be able to set this time span for each type of event.

The processing means may have a function to delete (erase) the continuous recording data under set conditions for each terminal (drive recorder) or for each group. The deletion conditions for the continuous recording data may be set, for example, by a client terminal (for example, a PC application installed on a personal computer) operated by the user. For example, the processing means may delete the continuous recording data when a certain period of time has passed since the video data was acquired. The processing means may leave the event recording data even after deleting the continuous recording data. By deleting the continuous recording data, the storage capacity of the storage means occupied by the continuous recording data can be reduced. Even after the continuous recording data is deleted, the manager of the vehicle, etc., can check the contents of the event recording data that is of high importance, such as when an accident occurs. The processing means may have a function to delete the event recording data under conditions different from those for deleting the continuous recording data. The processing means of the server and the client terminal may have a function that allows the manager of the vehicle to operate the client terminal and set the deletion conditions for the event recording data. For example, the processing means may request approval for the deletion from the user (the vehicle manager) via the client terminal before deleting the event recording data. After the vehicle manager approves the deletion by operating the client terminal, the processing means may delete the event video data. In this way, it is possible to prevent the event recording data from being deleted without the vehicle manager realizing it.

The event flag check and event recording data accumulation process should be performed in real time when video data is received. In this way, the vehicle manager can immediately access the event recording data on the server after an event occurs. The event flag check and event recording data accumulation may also be performed periodically or as a batch process upon command from the vehicle manager.

If checking the event flag and storing the event recording data is done in batch processing, it is a good idea to check the event flag before deleting the continuous recording data, and if an event that has not been stored as event recording data is found, to inquire of the vehicle manager whether or not to store the event recording data before and after the event occurred. This can prevent important video data from being erased at the time of the event from being deleted.

When the processing means of the server detects the occurrence of an event, it is preferable to send an email to a registered email address notifying the occurrence of the event. As the destination email address, for example, an email address that can receive the email on a terminal operated by the vehicle manager can be registered. Instead of sending an email, a push notification can be sent to a mobile terminal such as a tablet terminal operated by the vehicle manager. In this way, the vehicle manager can immediately become aware that an event has occurred in a vehicle under his/her management.

(14) The processing means may be a server having a function of accumulating data communication volume for each managed vehicle and for each unit period, associating the data communication volume for each vehicle with the vehicle, and transmitting the data communication volume for each vehicle to the client terminal.

The vehicle manager can grasp the data communication volume for each vehicle by operating a client terminal having a function of receiving and displaying the data communication volume sent from the server. The unit period for accumulating the data communication volume can be the period that is the basis for calculating the communication fee, for example, one month. The processing means can also transmit the total value of the data communication volume for all managed vehicles to the client terminal. When the communication fee is determined based on the total value of the data communication volume, the vehicle manager can easily predict the communication fee from the total value of the data communication volume. The processing means can total the data communication volume for each vehicle for a period longer than the unit period, for example, one year, and transmit the total value to the client terminal.

The processing means may have a function for sending an e-mail to a registered e-mail address when the communication fee for each vehicle or the total communication volume exceeds a set upper limit, notifying the user that the communication volume has exceeded the set upper limit. The registered e-mail address may be an e-mail address that the vehicle manager can receive. Alternatively, instead of sending an e-mail, a push notification may be sent to a tablet device or the like that the manager can operate. In this way, when the manager realizes that the communication volume has exceeded the expected value, he or she can stop sending the video data, thereby preventing the communication volume from exceeding the expected amount.

(15) The processing means may be a server having a function of transmitting the contents of the message to the identified vehicle when a request to identify a vehicle and send a message is received from a client terminal.

The vehicle manager can send messages to the vehicle via the server by operating the client terminal. Examples of messages include messages encouraging the driver to avoid dangerous driving, or simple business communications. When the server receives a message from the vehicle's onboard electronic device, it can send the message to the client terminal. This allows messages to be exchanged between the client terminal (PC app) and the onboard electronic device (e.g., a drive recorder).

(16) The processing means may be a server having a function of transmitting a command to stop transmission of video images to the vehicle targeted for video image transmission when a command to stop transmission of video images captured by a specific vehicle among the vehicles under management is received from a client terminal.

The vehicle manager can stop the transmission of video images from a specific vehicle via the server by operating the client terminal. For example, the vehicle manager can stop the transmission of video images from a specific vehicle when the communication charges exceed an expected upper limit.

(17) The processing means may be a server having a function of performing machine learning based on the video data received from a plurality of managed vehicles, and using the results of the machine learning to predict the risk of an accident occurring for the video data newly received from the managed vehicles.

By performing machine learning by associating video images contained in the video data with vehicle information, the processing means can derive more useful learning results than machine learning based only on vehicle information or only on video images. Measures to prevent accidents from occurring can be taken by utilizing the predicted results of the risk of accidents. For example, locations where caution is required when driving can be extracted based on information such as locations where accidents are likely to occur and locations where sudden braking or steering operations are frequent.

Furthermore, by analyzing the video images contained in the video data, it is possible to calculate the frequency of occurrence of situations that did not result in an accident but had a high risk of causing an accident for each vehicle or driver. For example, the occurrence of situations where a vehicle comes abnormally close to a pedestrian or bicycle but does not make contact, or violations of stop signs, etc. cannot be detected from the measurement values of an acceleration sensor. The occurrence of such situations can be detected by analyzing the video images of the video data. Furthermore, by associating the video images with vehicle information, it is also possible to associate the driving speed when passing a pedestrian or bicycle with the distance to the pedestrian or bicycle when passing, and calculate the degree of risk.

(18) The client terminal may have a processing means having a function of receiving video data from a server, the video data including video images captured by an imaging means mounted on each of a plurality of vehicles to be managed and vehicle information of the vehicle associated with each frame of the video images, displaying the video images included in the video data on a display means, extracting the vehicle information included in the video data, and displaying the vehicle information in association with the video images to be displayed on the display means.

Since the vehicle information is added in association with each frame of the video, the processing means of the client terminal can easily associate the frame images of the currently displayed video with the vehicle information. The vehicle information may include the vehicle's current position information, acceleration information, driving speed information, whether an event has occurred, etc. In this way, the processing means may have a function for extracting from the video data the position information, acceleration information, driving speed information, whether an event has occurred, etc. at the time when the frame images of the video currently displayed on the display means were acquired. For example, the processing means may display on the display means the position information, acceleration information, driving speed information, whether an event has occurred, etc. together with the video, in synchronization with the video being played.

The client terminal may have a function of displaying a list of vehicles to be managed. When a vehicle manager selects one vehicle from the multiple vehicles displayed in the list, the processing means may receive video data relating to the selected vehicle from the server and display the video image.

If new (unconfirmed) event recording data exists for a vehicle displayed in the list, the display means may display information (event indicator) for each vehicle notifying the existence of unconfirmed event recording data. When the administrator checks the event recording data, the event indicator may not be displayed. For example, the processing means may display a "Confirm" button along with the event indicator, and clicking or tapping the "Confirm" button may indicate that confirmation of the event recording data has been completed.

A "Data" button may be displayed for each vehicle on the screen displaying a list of vehicles, and clicking or tapping the "Data" button may transition to a vehicle data screen in which video images and vehicle information contained in video data relating to the vehicle are displayed on the display means. Furthermore, a "Map" button may be displayed for each vehicle, and clicking or tapping the "Map" button may transition to a map display screen in which a map and the position of the selected vehicle on the map are displayed. When transitioning to the map display screen, the map may be displayed so that the current position of the vehicle displayed on the previous vehicle data screen is positioned at the center of the map. Clicking or tapping a "Managed Vehicle List" button displayed on the vehicle data screen or map display screen may return to a vehicle list screen displaying a list of managed vehicles.

(19) Further comprising a storage means for storing data,
The function of the processing means to display the moving images contained in the moving image data on the display means is realized by streaming playback of the moving images contained in the moving image data, and the processing means may be a client terminal having a function of storing the moving image data used for streaming playback in the storage means.

Once streaming playback has been performed, the streamed video data can be saved in the client terminal without needing to be downloaded again. The video data saved in the client terminal can be played back without accessing the server. For example, even if video data stored in the server is deleted after the storage period has expired, if the video data is saved in the client terminal, it can be played back as needed. When streaming playback is performed, the processing means may inquire of the vehicle administrator as to whether or not to save the video data being streamed in the client terminal.

"Storing the video data used for streaming playback in the storage means" means storing the video data in the storage means in a manner that allows the video data to be read from the storage means and played back even after streaming playback has ended.

Streaming playback of video images included in video data includes playback of video images distributed live from a server and playback of video images distributed on demand. When video data is distributed live from a server, the situation around the vehicle can be grasped in real time at the client terminal. The processing means of the client terminal may be configured to display, on the display means, information that enables the determination of whether the video image currently being played is distributed live, distributed on demand, or stored in the client terminal. It is even more preferable to have a function of downloading video data from the server to the client terminal without streaming playback.

(20) The processing means may be a client terminal having a function of reading out the video data stored in the storage means and displaying the video images included in the video data on the display means, and a function of displaying on the display means information that can identify whether the video images displayed on the display means are based on the video data received from the server or the video data read out from the storage means.

The vehicle manager who operates the client terminal can easily know from the information displayed on the display means whether the video currently being played is based on video data stored on the server or on video data stored on the client terminal. For example, if the manager determines that a video image included in video data stored on the server may be played even after it has been deleted from the server while playing the video image, the manager can recognize that the video data needs to be downloaded from the server to the client terminal.

It is advisable to use a character string, color, etc. as information that can identify whether the video being played is based on video data received from the server or video data stored in the client terminal. For example, when video data is being received from the server, the character string "Video from server" can be displayed on the video display screen, and when video data stored in the client terminal is being read, the character string "Video from terminal" can be displayed on the video display screen. Alternatively, the two can be distinguished by using different colors for the video playback indicator.

(21) The device further includes a reading means for reading data from the attached removable medium,
The processing means may be a client terminal having a function, when it receives a date and time registration command input by an operator during the period in which the moving image included in the video data is being displayed on the display means, to extract the imaging date and time data of the frame of the moving image being displayed on the display means at the time when the date and time registration command was received as the command date and time, to extract the frame at the time based on the command date and time from the moving image recorded on the removable media attached to the reading means, and to display it on the display means.

The removable media may be one that records video data captured by an on-board electronic device such as a drive recorder mounted in the vehicle, capturing images of the vehicle's surroundings. The removable media may record video data with a higher resolution and frame rate than the video data sent from the vehicle to the server. When a situation arises where a higher resolution video is desired while playing back video on the client terminal, the vehicle manager may input a date and time registration command to the client terminal. By removing the removable media from the on-board electronic device of the vehicle and attaching it to the client terminal, the video contained in the video data in the removable media can be easily played back from the beginning at the date and time specified in the date and time registration command. This makes it possible to check the situation around the vehicle using video with a higher resolution than the video contained in the video data received from the server.

When a date and time registration command is input, the processing means of the client terminal may transmit, via the server, to the vehicle's onboard electronic device, a message urging the driver to bring the removable media to the vehicle's administrator. The onboard electronic device may output this message to the driver after the engine is stopped. If the driver notices this message and brings the removable media to the vehicle's administrator, the administrator can immediately play back the video images contained in the video data in the removable media.

After the vehicle that is the subject of the input date and time registration command returns to the depot, high-resolution, high-frame-rate video data may be sent from the on-board electronic device to the server via short-range wireless communication such as Wi-Fi. This eliminates the need to remove the removable media from the on-board electronic device and bring it to the manager.

(22) The processing means may be a client terminal having a function of identifying at least one of a plurality of managed vehicles, and when a command to change the operating conditions of the on-board electronic devices of the identified vehicle is input, notifying an operator that it is necessary to stop acquiring video images from the imaging means when changing the operating conditions of the target to be changed, before transmitting a command to change the operating conditions to the server.

The manager of the vehicle can change the operating conditions of the on-board electronic device without going to the vehicle in which the on-board electronic device is installed. When it is necessary to stop the acquisition of video images in order to change the operating conditions, the manager operating the client terminal can notice that the acquisition of video images will be stopped in order to change the operating conditions. For example, a message such as "Recording will be stopped for XX seconds in order to change the operating conditions. Do you want to change the operating conditions?" can be displayed on the display means of the client terminal. The manager can decide whether or not to change the operating conditions, taking into account the priority between changing the operating conditions and acquiring video images.

Operating conditions include, for example, the sensitivity with which the in-vehicle electronic device detects the occurrence of an event, the resolution and frame rate of the video data that the in-vehicle electronic device transmits to the server, the on/off setting of the overwrite mode, the on/off of the beep sound when an event occurs, the initialization of the removable media, and firmware updates. The sensitivity to detect the occurrence of an event is expressed, for example, as a threshold value of the acceleration applied to the vehicle. When the overwrite mode is on and there is insufficient free space on the removable media, old videos are erased and overwritten with new videos. When the overwrite mode is off and there is insufficient free space on the removable media, old videos are left and new videos are not recorded. When a command to initialize the removable media is issued, the in-vehicle electronic device initializes the removable media and then resumes recording of video data. When initializing the removable media or updating the firmware, it is necessary to stop recording of video data.

The in-vehicle electronic device that receives the command to change the operating conditions may notify the driver that the operating condition change process is being executed. For example, the display means of the in-vehicle electronic device may display a message stating, "The operating condition settings are being changed. Do not turn off the engine until the changes are complete."

(23) The vehicle information includes position data indicating a position of the vehicle when an image of a frame of the video data associated with the vehicle information was acquired,
The processing means may be a client terminal having a function of receiving the video data being live-streamed from the server, displaying a map on the display means based on location data associated with each frame of the received video data, and displaying a symbol indicating the vehicle corresponding to the received video data at the position on the map indicated by the location data.

An administrator operating a client terminal can view video images of the area surrounding a specific vehicle under management and easily determine the location of the vehicle on a map. Because the location data is associated with frames of video data, the processing means of the client terminal can easily associate the current frame image of the video being played with the vehicle's location at that time.

(24) The processing means may be a client terminal that receives from the server location data indicating the current locations of at least some of the multiple vehicles under management, and displays on the map displayed on the display means a symbol indicating a vehicle at a position on the map corresponding to the current location of the other vehicles, in addition to the current location of the vehicle associated with the video data being received.

The administrator who operates the client terminal can easily grasp the current positions of multiple vehicles under management. For vehicles other than the vehicle associated with the video data being received, it is preferable to send and receive position data, etc., without sending and receiving video data. In this way, the amount of data sent and received can be reduced.

It is preferable that the server described in (10) above has a function of transmitting vehicle information of a specific vehicle requested by the client terminal to the client terminal, and a function of transmitting vehicle information of managed vehicles other than the specific vehicle to the client terminal.

When displaying the positions of the vehicle associated with the video data being received and other vehicles on a map, it is advisable to display the map full screen without displaying the video data's moving images. This allows the current positions of multiple vehicles to be confirmed in detail on a large map. It is advisable to make it possible for an administrator to switch between a mode in which the video data's moving images are displayed and a mode in which the map is displayed large. Even in the mode in which the map is displayed large, video data is still being received for the particular vehicle of interest, so when the mode is switched to displaying the video data's moving images, the moving images can be displayed immediately.

When a symbol indicating a vehicle displayed on the map is selected by clicking or tapping, the processing means of the client terminal may transition the screen displayed on the display means from the map display screen to a vehicle data screen for the selected vehicle.

(25) The in-vehicle electronic device may have a processing means having a function of recording in a storage means video data based on moving images captured by an imaging means mounted on the vehicle, location information indicating the location of the vehicle, and time information indicating the date and time in association with each other, and transmitting the location information and the time information to a server in association with a vehicle ID that identifies the vehicle.

(26) The server may have a processing means having a function of receiving from the on-board electronic device time information indicating the date and time when the video was captured, location information indicating the location where the video was captured, and a vehicle ID identifying the vehicle in which the on-board electronic device that captured the video is installed, and creating a database configured to enable searching for the vehicle ID using the time information and location information as search keys.

(27) The server may have a function whereby, when the processing means of the server receives a request from a client terminal to search a database by specifying the location information and the time information, the processing means searches the database using the specified location information and the time information as search keys and returns the search results to the client terminal.

(28) The client terminal may have a processing means that has a function for allowing a user to input information (time information and location information) specifying the date, time, and location of an image to be confirmed, a function for requesting a database search from a server by specifying the input time information and location information, and a function for receiving search results from the server and displaying them on a display means.

Compared to sending video data in addition to location and time information from the in-vehicle electronic device to the server, the amount of data sent can be reduced. This makes it possible to reduce the cost of data transfer. In addition, because video data is not sent to the server, it is possible to prevent a third party from reading the video data on the server without the consent of the owner of the in-vehicle electronic device, thereby protecting privacy.

It is preferable to register in the server a vehicle ID that identifies the vehicle in which the on-board electronic device is installed and information (account) that identifies the owner of the on-board electronic device in association with each other. The processing means of the server may return the account of the owner of the on-board electronic device to the client terminal together with the database search results. It is even more preferable to return account attributes together with the owner's account. The account attributes returned may include, for example, the owner's name or title. The processing means of the client terminal may cause the display means to display the owner's account or account attributes together with the database search results. In this way, the user of the client terminal can finally know the owner of the on-board electronic device installed in the vehicle identified by the vehicle ID.

The user of the client terminal can look at the search results returned from the server and request the owner of the in-vehicle electronic device to provide video data by specifying the date, time and location. When the owner of the in-vehicle electronic device provides video data, the user can play video images from the specified date, time and location from the provided video data. This video data can be used as evidence of accidents, crimes, etc. By utilizing this evidence in criminal investigations, mistaken arrests can be prevented. Furthermore, if it becomes socially recognized that video images captured by the in-vehicle electronic device of a third party's vehicle who happens to be at the scene of a crime can be used in criminal investigations, this will have the effect of deterring crime.

The location information and time information may be transmitted from the in-vehicle electronic device to the server using wireless communication such as the Wi-Fi standard or the LTE standard. The processing means of the in-vehicle electronic device may transmit (upload) the location information and time information to the server periodically at a predetermined time interval. The processing means of the in-vehicle electronic device may have a function of automatic uploading without requiring operation by the owner of the in-vehicle electronic device or the driver of the vehicle. If the processing means of the in-vehicle electronic device has an automatic upload function, it is possible to prevent the location information and time information from not being uploaded due to an operating error (forgetting to operate).

Instead of wirelessly transmitting position information and time information from the in-vehicle electronic device to the server, the external electronic device that reads video data recorded on removable media and plays back the video images may have the function of transmitting (uploading) position information and time information of the route traveled up to the current time to the server. In this case, there is no need to provide the in-vehicle electronic device with wireless communication capabilities.

For example, a personal computer, a tablet terminal, a smartphone, etc. can be used as an external electronic device having this function. This function can be realized by a PC viewer installed on a personal computer, or an application program (smartphone app) installed on a tablet terminal or smartphone. This external electronic device should also have a function to manage whether or not the location information and time information included in the video data recorded on the removable media has already been uploaded to the server. When the removable media is attached, the external electronic device should extract the unuploaded location information and time information from the video data and upload the unuploaded location information and time information. In this way, it is possible to avoid uploading the same information twice.

The processing means of the server may include, in the search results returned to the client terminal, location information and time information of the vehicle found by the search for a certain period of time before and after the specified time. The processing means of the client terminal may have a function of displaying a map on the display means in a manner that allows the vehicle's travel route to be determined based on the returned search results. The user of the client terminal may view the vehicle's travel route and extract owners of in-vehicle electronic devices that may have useful video data.

For example, a drive recorder may be used as the in-vehicle electronic device. Vehicle location information may be obtained from a GPS receiver mounted on the vehicle. It is even more preferable to have a GPS receiver built into the in-vehicle electronic device. Time information may be obtained from the GPS receiver or a built-in clock of the in-vehicle electronic device. The "time information" may include, for example, "year, month, and date" information and "hour, minute, and second" information. As a storage means for recording video data, a removable medium such as an SD card may be used. In this way, the removable medium can be removed from the in-vehicle electronic device and the video data recorded on the removable medium can be read out and the video images can be played back on another external electronic device, such as a personal computer or tablet terminal.

(29) The processing means of the client terminal may have a function of accepting a request for provision of video images by specifying the owner of an on-board electronic device installed in a vehicle that has traveled to a specified location at a specified date and time, and a function of sending a message requesting the provision of video data.

(30) The processing means of the server may have a function of, when receiving a message from the client terminal specifying the account of the owner to whom the provision of video data is requested, storing the account of the owner specified in the received message, and, when detecting that the external electronic device has been logged in with the account of the owner to whom the provision of video data is requested, notifying the external electronic device that there is a request to provide video data.

(31) The processing means of the external electronic device may have a function of transmitting the logged-in owner's account to the server when the owner of the in-vehicle electronic device logs in by entering an account, and, upon receiving a notification from the server that there is a request for video data to be provided, outputting information notifying the owner that the video data has been requested from the output means.

The user of the client terminal can operate the client terminal to request the owner of the client terminal to provide the desired video image. The owner of the in-vehicle electronic device notices the information displayed on the output means of the external electronic device and knows that a request has been made to provide the video data that he or she has stored.

When the processing means of the client terminal causes the display means to display the results of a search by the server based on the specified time information and location information, it is preferable that the processing means of the client terminal display a list of account attributes, such as names or appellations, of the owners of the in-vehicle electronic devices found in the search. The processing means of the client terminal may have a function that allows the user of the client terminal to select some or all of the owners from the list of owners displayed on the display means. When the user of the client terminal selects from the list of owners an owner from whom they wish to request the provision of video data, the processing means of the client terminal may have a function to request the provision of video data from the selected owner.

The processing means of the external electronic device should have a function that allows the owner of the in-vehicle electronic device to choose whether to accept or decline the request to provide video data. If the owner of the in-vehicle electronic device chooses to accept the request to provide video data, the processing means of the external electronic device should have a function that reads the video data from the removable medium and uploads it to the server. It is even more preferable that the video data to be uploaded can be specified by the date and time of capture. In this way, the owner of the in-vehicle electronic device can exclude video data that he or she does not want to provide and select and upload only the video data that he or she is willing to provide.

The server may notify the external electronic device of the request for video data, or may instead send an email to the owner of the requested video data. The owner's email address may be registered on the server as one of the account attributes.

In the inventions described in (25) to (31) above, video data is not sent from the in-vehicle electronic device to the server, but as in the inventions described in (1) and (24) above, video data may be sent from the in-vehicle electronic device to the server. In this way, as in the invention described in (30) above, when the server receives a request for video data from a client terminal, it can immediately send the video data to the client terminal after obtaining the consent of the owner who is the recipient of the request to provide the video data.

The inventions shown in (1) to (24) above can be combined in any way. For example, the invention shown in (1) may be combined with at least a part of the configuration of at least one of the inventions from (2) onwards. In particular, the invention shown in (1) may be combined with at least a part of the configuration of at least one of the inventions from (2) onwards. In addition, any configuration may be extracted from the inventions shown in (1) to (24) and the extracted configurations may be combined. The applicant of this application intends to obtain rights to the inventions including these configurations.

The inventions shown in (25) to (31) above can be combined in any way. For example, the invention shown in (25) may be combined with at least a part of the configuration of at least one of the inventions from (26) onwards. In particular, the invention shown in (25) may be combined with at least a part of the configuration of at least one of the inventions from (26) onwards. In addition, any configuration may be extracted from the inventions shown in (25) to (31) and the extracted configurations may be combined. The applicant of this application intends to obtain rights to the inventions including these configurations.

The specific method of the present invention described above is an example, and some parts may be expanded or limited.

The effects of the invention of this application are not limited to this, and effects achieved from the configuration parts disclosed in this specification and drawings, etc. are also disclosed, and it is our intention to obtain rights to the configuration that achieves said effects through divisional applications, amendments, etc. For example, in this specification, the phrase "can..." is a description that clearly indicates the effect achieved, and there are also parts that show the effect even without the phrase "can...". Also, there are effects that can be understood from the configuration even without such a description.

When an event is detected in a vehicle and information indicating whether or not an event has occurred is sent to a server along with video data, it is possible to prevent the number of events from becoming too large.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an on-vehicle electronic device, a server, and a client terminal of a vehicle management system according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the process executed by the processing unit of the on-vehicle electronic device of the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an outline of the frame structure of high-resolution video data and low-resolution video data. FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the shutdown process in step SA7. FIG. 5A is a diagram showing an example of a menu screen displayed on a display by the processing unit of the client terminal (FIG. 1), and FIG. 5B is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed on the display of the client terminal. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the structure of a frame of data transmitted to a server by an in-vehicle electronic device that has stopped continuous transmission of low-resolution video data. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a process executed by a processing unit of an on-vehicle electronic device according to the third embodiment. FIG. 8 is a flow chart executed by the server of the vehicle management system according to the fourth embodiment. FIG. 9A is a diagram showing a menu screen displayed on the display of a client terminal of a vehicle management system according to the fifth embodiment, and FIG. 9B is a diagram showing a managed vehicle list screen displayed on the display. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a vehicle data display screen displayed on the display. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a map screen displayed on the display. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a vehicle data display screen displayed on a client terminal of the vehicle management system according to the sixth embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a signal transmission/reception sequence of the vehicle management system when the "Date and Time Registration" button is clicked or tapped. FIG. 14A is a diagram showing a menu screen displayed on the display of a client terminal of a vehicle management system according to the seventh embodiment, and FIG. 14B is a diagram showing a menu screen for realizing a video playback function. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a transmission/reception sequence of various messages transmitted and received among the client terminal, server, and on-vehicle electronic device of the vehicle management system according to the eighth embodiment. FIG. 16A is a diagram showing a menu screen displayed on the display of a client terminal of a vehicle management system according to the ninth embodiment, and FIG. 16B is a diagram showing an image displayed on the display when the processing unit executes an event detection threshold change process. FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a signal transmission/reception sequence between the on-board electronic device, the server, and the client terminal of the vehicle management system according to the tenth embodiment. FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a sequence of message transmission and reception between the vehicle-mounted electronic device and the server of the vehicle management system according to the twelfth embodiment. FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a signal transmission/reception sequence of the vehicle search system according to the thirteenth embodiment. FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of an input screen for position and date and time displayed on a client terminal of the vehicle search system according to the thirteenth embodiment. FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for allowing selection of an owner, which is displayed on a client terminal of the vehicle search system according to the thirteenth embodiment. FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed after login on an external electronic device (personal computer) of the vehicle search system according to the thirteenth embodiment.

[First embodiment]
A vehicle management system according to a first embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 4. This vehicle management system includes an on-board electronic device, a server, and a client terminal.

Figure 1 is a block diagram of the on-board electronic device 20, server 40, and client terminal 50 of the vehicle management system according to the first embodiment. First, the configuration of the on-board electronic device 20 will be described.

The on-board electronic device 20 operates while mounted on the vehicle. The camera 22 captures the surroundings of the vehicle, for example the area ahead. The video images obtained by the camera 22 are input to the processing unit 21. The GPS receiver 23 receives radio waves from GPS satellites and calculates the vehicle's current position information (latitude and longitude), current altitude information, and current time information. The calculation results are input to the processing unit 21.

The orientation sensor 24 detects the orientation of the vehicle. The acceleration sensor 26 detects the acceleration of the vehicle in the forward/backward, left/right, and up/down directions. The detection results of the orientation sensor 24 and the acceleration sensor 26 are input to the processing unit 21.

The clock 27 provides current time information to the processing unit 21. The processing unit 21 periodically calibrates the clock 27 based on the current time information obtained from the GPS receiver 23.

The display 28 displays images in response to commands from the processing unit 21. The speaker 29 outputs sounds or voices in response to commands from the processing unit 21. An SD card 32 is attached to the SD card reader 30. The processing unit 21 reads data from the SD card 32 attached to the SD card reader 30 and writes data to the SD card 32. The LTE module 31 receives a data transmission/reception command from the processing unit 21 and transmits/receives data to/from the server 40 via the network 60.

Various information related to the vehicle is input to the processing unit 21 from the vehicle's ECU 35. Vehicle information obtained from the ECU 35 includes, for example, engine coolant temperature, engine RPM, speed information, etc.

The processing unit 21 transmits video data generated from the video images captured by the camera 22 and various vehicle information to the server 40 via the LTE module 31. The transmission process of these data will be described later with reference to FIG. 2.

The server 40 includes a processing unit 41 and a storage device 42. The processing unit 41 transmits and receives data to and from the in-vehicle electronic device 20 and the client terminal 50 via the network 60. The processing unit 41 processes various data received from the in-vehicle electronic device 20 and stores the processing results in the storage device 42.

The client terminal 50 includes a processing unit 51, a storage device 52, a display 53, and an input device 54. The vehicle manager operates the input device 54 to input commands to the server 40 or the on-board electronic device 20. The processing unit 51 performs data processing and data communication based on the input commands, and displays the processing results on the display 53.

Figure 2 is a flowchart of the processing executed by the processing unit 21 (Figure 1) of the in-vehicle electronic device 20. The functions of the processing unit 21 are realized by executing a program that is stored in advance in a storage device.

When the accessory switch of the vehicle equipped with the on-board electronic device 20 is turned on, the processing unit 21 starts the operation of collecting, storing, and transmitting video data. First, the processing unit 21 captures a predetermined number of frames of video image data (original video data) from the camera 22 (step SA1). Furthermore, the processing unit 21 acquires vehicle information from the GPS receiver 23, the direction sensor 24, the acceleration sensor 26, and the ECU 35 (step SA2). The vehicle information includes GPS data, current time information obtained from the clock 27, acceleration information obtained from the acceleration sensor 26, a terminal ID, and an event flag. The GPS data includes information indicating the position, time, speed, direction of travel, and altitude, as well as valid/invalid information for each.

The terminal ID is identification information for identifying each of the multiple on-board electronic devices 20, and is recorded, for example, in non-volatile memory within the processing unit 21 of each on-board electronic device 20.

The event flag is a flag for notifying that a specific event (impact, sudden acceleration, sudden braking, sudden steering, etc.) has occurred in the vehicle. The event flag includes flags for each type of event, such as an impact detection flag, a sudden acceleration detection flag, a sudden braking detection flag, and a sudden steering detection flag. The processing unit 21 detects whether or not these events have occurred based on the detection results of the acceleration sensor 26, and when it detects the occurrence of an event, it sets the event flag corresponding to that event. The processing unit 21 determines that an event has occurred when the acceleration values in the forward/backward, left/right, and up/down directions measured by the acceleration sensor 26 exceed specific thresholds.

The processing unit 21 generates high-resolution video data and low-resolution video data based on the original video data (step SA3). For example, the frame rate of the high-resolution video data is 28 fps and the resolution is full HD, while the frame rate of the low-resolution video data is 5-10 fps and the resolution is VGA. Each frame of the high-resolution video data and low-resolution video data is composed of a frame header and an image data section that stores image data for that frame. The processing unit 21 stores vehicle information at the time the image of that frame was acquired in the frame header of each frame.

Normally, the update cycle of the vehicle information does not coincide with the update cycle of the frame. The measurement value of the acceleration sensor 26 is updated at a time interval (e.g., 10 ms) shorter than the update cycle of the frame. The processing unit 21 stores the acceleration measurement value collected from the acquisition time of the previous frame to the acquisition time of the current frame in the frame header of one frame. For example, if the frame rate is 10 fps and the update cycle of the acceleration data is 100 Hz, the processing unit 21 stores 10 cycles of acceleration measurement value in the frame header of one frame.

Figure 3 is a diagram showing an outline of the frame structure of high-resolution video data and low-resolution video data. The processing unit 21 generates high-resolution video data and low-resolution video data by compressing the original video data using a codec conforming to the H.264 standard. The high-resolution video data and low-resolution video data are composed of multiple I frames that hold all the information of the image of the frame, and multiple P frames that hold only the information of the differences from the image of the I frame. Both the I frames and the P frames have a frame header and an image data section. The image data section stores image data of each frame that is generated by compressing the video using a specified codec.

After generating the high-resolution video data and the low-resolution video data, the processing unit 21 records the high-resolution video data on the SD card 32 (FIG. 1) (step SA4). Furthermore, the processing unit 21 transmits the low-resolution video data to the server 40 (FIG. 1) (step SA5).

After transmitting the low-resolution video data to the server 40, the processing unit 21 determines whether to end the process (step SA6). For example, if the vehicle accessory switch is turned off, the processing unit 21 executes a shutdown process (step SA7) and then ends the process. If the vehicle accessory switch remains on, the processing unit 21 repeats the process from step SA1.

Figure 4 is a flowchart of the shutdown process of step SA7. When the processing unit 21 detects that the vehicle accessory switch has been turned off, it sends a shutdown command to the LTE module 31 (Figure 1) (step SB1). The processing unit 21 then terminates the recording of high-resolution video data to the SD card 32 (step SB2). It then waits until it receives a shutdown completion notification from the LTE module 31 (step SB3). When it receives the shutdown completion notification from the LTE module 31, the processing unit 21 sends a signal to the server 40 notifying the server 40 of the shutdown completion (step SB4).

When the server 40 (Figure 1) receives low-resolution video data from the in-vehicle electronic device 20, it stores the data in the storage device 42 for each terminal ID. The vehicle information remains stored in each frame header of the stored low-resolution video data. When a request for video data delivery is made by the client terminal 50, the server 40 delivers the low-resolution video data to the client terminal 50.

[Effects of the First Embodiment]
Next, the advantageous effects of the vehicle management system according to the first embodiment will be described.
The amount of low-resolution video data transmitted from the in-vehicle electronic device 20 to the server 40 is smaller than the amount of high-resolution video data recorded on the SD card 32. Therefore, the amount of data to be transmitted can be reduced compared to the case where high-resolution video data is transmitted to the server 40. In particular, when video images captured by the camera 22 are constantly transmitted, a significant effect of reducing the amount of data can be obtained.

The frame header of the video data stores vehicle information at the time the frame was acquired. It is advisable to give the client terminal 50 that plays the video data a function for extracting vehicle information from the frame header of the video data. A client terminal 50 with this function can immediately read out vehicle information at the time of playback while the video is being played back. By reading out vehicle information, the client terminal 50 can display vehicle information such as the vehicle's position and whether or not an event has occurred on the display 53, and provide this vehicle information to the vehicle manager.

Generally, the downlink from the network to the terminal is congested, and the uplink from the terminal to the network is less congested than the downlink. The method of the first embodiment for transmitting low-resolution video data from the in-vehicle electronic device 20 to the server 40 has the effect of making effective use of the uplink, which is generally less congested.

Movie data recorded on the SD card 32 is prone to becoming unplayable due to the occurrence of some kind of abnormality. In the first embodiment, even if a situation occurs in which high-resolution movie data recorded on the SD card 32 cannot be played back, low-resolution movie data transmitted to the server 40 and stored in the server 40 can be distributed to the client terminal 50, and streaming playback can be performed on the client terminal 50.

In the first embodiment, the in-vehicle electronic device 20 transmits low-resolution video data to the server 40 regardless of whether an event such as an impact to the vehicle has occurred. Transmitting video data regardless of whether an event has occurred is sometimes referred to as "constant transmission." In the first embodiment, the server 40 accumulates video images of the surroundings of the vehicle during normal driving, as well as when an event occurs. The vehicle manager can view video images of the surroundings of the vehicle during normal driving.

The on-board electronic device 20 transmits low-resolution video data to the server 40 in almost real time, allowing the vehicle manager to view video images of the vehicle's surroundings in almost real time.

[Modification of the first embodiment]
Next, a modification of the first embodiment will be described.
In the first embodiment, the terminal ID is recorded in the non-volatile memory of the processing unit 21, but the terminal ID may be specified by other methods. For example, the ID number of the SIM card inserted in the LTE module 31 may be used as the terminal ID. Also, for example, the terminal ID may be recorded in the SD card 32. In this case, the driver carries the SD card 32 and inserts the SD card 32 into the in-vehicle electronic device 20 before starting driving, so that the terminal ID can be associated with the driver. Instead of the SD card 32, a driver's license with an embedded IC chip, a contactless IC card carried by the driver, or the like may be used as a medium for recording the terminal ID. In this case, a reader for the driver's license with an embedded IC chip, a contactless IC card, or the like may be mounted in the in-vehicle electronic device 20.

[Second embodiment]
Next, a vehicle management system according to a second embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 5A, 5B, and 6. The vehicle management system according to the second embodiment has the functions of the vehicle management system according to the first embodiment, and further has a function of stopping continuous transmission of low-resolution video data from the in-vehicle electronic device 20 to the server 40.

Figure 5A is a diagram showing an example of a menu screen displayed on the display 53 of the client terminal 50 (Figure 1) of the vehicle management system according to the second embodiment. "Start/Stop Continuous Transmission" is displayed as a selectable menu item. When the administrator selects the "Start/Stop Continuous Transmission" item, the processing unit 51 of the client terminal 50 displays on the display 53 a screen for inputting commands to start and stop continuous transmission.

Figure 5B is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed on the display 53 of the client terminal 50. The processing unit 51 (Figure 1) of the client terminal 50 displays, in the form of a list, on the display 53, for each managed vehicle, information indicating whether the vehicle is constantly transmitting low-resolution video data or has stopped transmitting (video data transmission state), as well as the data communication volume for each vehicle within a specified period and the total data communication volume for all vehicles. In the example shown in Figure 5B, vehicles 1 to 3 and vehicle 5 are constantly transmitting low-resolution video data to the server 40, and vehicle 4 has stopped transmitting. The administrator can display information about managed vehicles other than vehicles 1 to 5 by operating the slider displayed on the right edge of the screen.

When the administrator modifies the contents of the list displayed on the display 53 and selects the "Change" button, the client terminal 50 specifies the terminal ID of the vehicle to be changed and sends a command to the server 40 to instruct it to start or stop transmitting video data. When the server 40 receives this command, it sends a command to the on-board electronic device 20 of the vehicle to be changed to instruct it to start or stop transmitting video data. The on-board electronic device 20 that receives the command to stop transmitting stops the continuous transmission of low-resolution video data. The on-board electronic device 20 that receives the command to start transmitting starts the continuous transmission of low-resolution video data.

Figure 6 is a diagram showing the structure of a frame of data transmitted to the server 40 by the in-vehicle electronic device 20 that has stopped the continuous transmission of low-resolution video data. As in the first embodiment shown in Figure 3, the data transmitted to the server 40 includes an I frame and a P frame. Each frame includes a frame header and an image data section. When the continuous transmission of low-resolution video data is stopped, the in-vehicle electronic device 20 blanks the image data section of all frames. For example, the image stored in the image data section is a single color such as black. At this time, the size of the image data section is smaller than the size when low-resolution video data is being transmitted. Even during the period when the transmission of low-resolution video data is stopped, the in-vehicle electronic device 20 stores data such as vehicle information in the frame header similar to that when low-resolution video data is being transmitted continuously.

[Effects of the Second Embodiment]
Next, the advantageous effects of the vehicle management system according to the second embodiment will be described.
During the period when the transmission of low-resolution video data is stopped, a blank image is stored in the image data section, so the amount of data to be transmitted is smaller than when the low-resolution video data is transmitted, which makes it possible to reduce communication costs.

From the content displayed in Figure 5B, the administrator can easily identify which vehicles are constantly transmitting low-resolution video data and which vehicles have stopped constant transmission. Furthermore, the administrator can identify the amount of data communication for each vehicle. If the total amount of data communication for all vehicles within a specified period exceeds an expected upper limit, the transmission of low-resolution video data can be stopped to prevent excessive data communication volume. In addition, the administrator can set priorities for the vehicles under management and stop the constant transmission of low-resolution video data for vehicles with the lowest priority first.

[Modification of the second embodiment]
In the second embodiment, the administrator monitors the data traffic, and when the total data traffic within a predetermined period exceeds an expected upper limit, the administrator stops the continuous transmission of low-resolution video data. The server 40 or the client terminal 50 may periodically monitor the data traffic on behalf of the administrator. The administrator may predetermine an upper limit for the data traffic and set it in the server 40 or the client terminal 50. When the server 40 or the client terminal 50 detects that the total data traffic exceeds the upper limit, the server 40 or the client terminal 50 transmits a command to each vehicle to stop the continuous transmission of low-resolution video data. In this way, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the data traffic becomes excessive without the administrator periodically monitoring the data traffic. Alternatively, when the server 40 or the client terminal 50 detects that the total data traffic exceeds the set upper limit, the server 40 or the client terminal 50 may transmit an email to the administrator's registered email address to notify that the data traffic has exceeded the set upper limit.

The video data transmission status of the in-vehicle electronic device 20 may be inquired of by the server 40 to the in-vehicle electronic device 20 as necessary. For example, the server 40 may determine the video data transmission status by sending an inquiry command to the in-vehicle electronic device 20 and receiving a response message from the in-vehicle electronic device 20 notifying the video data transmission status.

As another method, the server 40 may store the video data transmission status for each vehicle. For example, if the image data section of each frame of video data transmitted from the in-vehicle electronic device 20 is blank, the server 40 may determine that the vehicle in which the in-vehicle electronic device 20 is installed is constantly stopping transmission. Alternatively, information notifying the video data transmission status may be included in the frame header of the video data. In this way, the server 40 can know the video data transmission status without sending a query command to the in-vehicle electronic device 20 every time it becomes necessary to know the vehicle's video data transmission status.

In the second embodiment, the data traffic for each vehicle and the total data traffic are displayed on the display 53, but the display mode may be changed depending on the contract conditions for calculating the communication fee. In the case of a contract in which the communication fee is calculated based on the communication fee for each vehicle, the data traffic for each vehicle may be displayed, and the total data traffic may not be displayed. In the case of a contract in which the communication fee is calculated based on the data traffic for all contracted vehicles, the data traffic for each vehicle may not be displayed, and only the total data traffic may be displayed. Alternatively, the administrator may be allowed to select one of a mode in which both the data traffic for each vehicle and the total data traffic are displayed, a mode in which only the data traffic for each vehicle is displayed, and a mode in which only the total data traffic is displayed. In the selected mode, the processing unit 51 may display a screen (FIG. 5B) of a list of managed vehicles on the display 53.

In the second embodiment, the data communication volume within the period that is the unit for calculating the communication fee is displayed, but it is preferable to switch the screen to display the history of past data communication volume. For example, it is preferable to display the monthly data communication volume for the past year and the total data communication volume for the past year for each vehicle.

[Third Example]
Next, a vehicle management system according to a third embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 7. The vehicle management system according to the third embodiment has the functions of the vehicle management systems according to the first and second embodiments, and further has a function of determining whether or not the in-vehicle electronic device 20 is capable of transmitting low-resolution video data.

In the first embodiment, the in-vehicle electronic device 20 constantly transmits low-resolution video data to the server 40, but there are cases where the low-resolution video data cannot be transmitted, such as when the vehicle enters a tunnel. In the third embodiment, the processing for the case where the low-resolution video data cannot be transmitted is clarified, as described below.

Figure 7 is a flowchart of the processing executed by the processing unit 21 of the in-vehicle electronic device 20 according to the third embodiment. Below, we will explain the differences from the first embodiment shown in Figure 2.

After recording the high-resolution video data on the SD card 32 (step SA4), the processing unit 21 determines whether data transmission via the LTE module 31 is possible based on the radio wave conditions (step SA41). If data transmission is possible, the processing unit 21 transmits the low-resolution video data to the server 40 via the LTE module 31 (step SA5), as in the first embodiment. If data transmission is not possible, the processing unit 21 records the low-resolution video data on the SD card 32 without transmitting it to the server 40 (step SA51). After step SA5 or step SA51, the processing unit 21 determines whether to end the video data transmission process, as in the first embodiment (step SA6).

If the transmission process is not to be ended, the processing unit 21 repeats the process from step SA1. If the transmission process is to be ended, for example, if the accessory switch is turned off, the processing unit 21 determines whether or not there is low-resolution video data remaining on the SD card 32 that has not been transmitted (step SA61).

If unsent low-resolution video data remains, the processing unit 21 reads the low-resolution video data from the SD card 32 and transmits it to the server 40 via the LTE module 31 (step SA62). When transmission of all the low-resolution video data is complete, the processing unit 21 erases the low-resolution video data from the SD card 32 (step SA63). Thereafter, a shutdown process is performed (step SA7).

If it is determined in step SA61 that there is no unsent low-resolution video data remaining, the processing unit 21 executes a shutdown process (step SA7).

[Effects of the Third Embodiment]
Next, the advantageous effects of the vehicle management system according to the third embodiment will be described.

In the third embodiment, even if the low-resolution video data cannot be transmitted while driving, the low-resolution video data can be recorded on the SD card 32 without being discarded. After the driver stops the engine and turns off the accessory switch, the low-resolution video data is transmitted to the server 40 (step SA62), so that the low-resolution video data acquired while driving can be accumulated in the server 40.

[Modification of the third embodiment]
Next, a modified example of the third embodiment will be described. In the third embodiment, after the accessory switch of the vehicle is turned off, the low-resolution video data in the SD card 32 is transmitted to the server 40. In a first modified example of the third embodiment, when the radio wave condition is recovered while driving, both the low-resolution video data currently being acquired and the low-resolution video data in the SD card 32 are transmitted to the server 40. When the communication speed of the data communication using the LTE module 31 is sufficiently fast, the low-resolution video data currently being acquired and the low-resolution video data read from the SD card 32 can be transmitted in parallel in this way.

In the third embodiment, low-resolution video data was recorded on the SD card 32 during the time period when video data could not be transmitted, but in a second modified example of the third embodiment, the low-resolution video data is discarded and the time period when low-resolution video data could not be transmitted is stored. After the accessory switch is turned off, high-resolution video data in the SD card 32 during the time period when low-resolution video data could not be transmitted is read, converted to low-resolution video data, and transmitted to the server 40. With this method, the processing unit 21 needs to have the function of converting high-resolution video data to low-resolution video data, but the storage capacity of the SD card 32 is not consumed by the low-resolution video data.

In the third embodiment, the low-resolution video data and the high-resolution video data are recorded on the same SD card 32. In a third modification of the third embodiment, the low-resolution video data is recorded on a recording medium different from the SD card 32 that records the high-resolution video data. For example, two SD cards may be attached to the in-vehicle electronic device 20, one for recording high-resolution video data and the other for recording low-resolution video data. In this modification, a part of the area for recording high-resolution video data is not consumed by the low-resolution video data. In this case, after all of the low-resolution video data is transmitted to the server 40, the SD card for recording low-resolution video data may be automatically formatted. This prevents the occurrence of a situation in which formatting is forgotten and low-resolution video data cannot be recorded on the SD card. Alternatively, after the server 40 receives all of the low-resolution video data, the server 40 may transmit a command to the in-vehicle electronic device 20 to instruct it to format the SD card for recording low-resolution video data.

In the third embodiment, when data transmission is impossible, low-resolution video data is recorded on the SD card 32 without being transmitted to the server 40. In the fourth modified example of the third embodiment, not only when data transmission is completely impossible, but also when the radio wave conditions are poor and it is assumed that a sufficient communication speed cannot be secured, the processing unit 21 records low-resolution video data on the SD card 32 without transmitting it to the server 40. In this way, it is possible to eliminate unnecessary transmission retry processing.

[Fourth embodiment]
Next, a vehicle management system according to a fourth embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 8. The vehicle management system according to the fourth embodiment has a function in which the server 40 records events, in addition to the functions of the vehicle management systems according to the first to third embodiments.

Figure 8 is a flowchart executed by the server 40 of the vehicle management system according to the fourth embodiment. The processing unit 41 of the server 40 (Figure 1) associates the low-resolution video data received from each of the multiple on-board electronic devices 20 with the vehicle ID and stores it in the storage device 42 (Figure 1) (step SE1). When storing the low-resolution video data in the storage device 42, the processing unit 41 of the server 40 determines whether an event flag in the frame header is set (step SE2).

If the event flag is set, the processing unit 41 notifies the vehicle administrator that an event has occurred (step SE3). In this embodiment, the administrator's email address is registered in the server 40, and the processing unit 41 notifies the administrator of the vehicle ID, event details, time of occurrence, location of occurrence, etc. by sending an email to the registered email address.

Then, the processing unit 41 of the server 40 extracts low-resolution video data around the time the event occurred from the low-resolution video data that is constantly being transmitted, and stores the extracted data in the storage device 42 as event recording data (step SE4). The processing from step SE1 to step SE4 is repeated until the server 40 is shut down (step SE5).

[Effects of the Fourth Embodiment]
Next, the advantageous effects of the vehicle management system according to the fourth embodiment will be described. In the fourth embodiment, event recording data when an event occurs can be managed separately from low-resolution video data continuously transmitted from the vehicle. For example, when the server 40 has a function to automatically delete the low-resolution video data continuously transmitted when the accumulated amount of the data exceeds an upper limit, the event recording data can be left without being deleted. For example, the event recording data can be stored semi-permanently by the server 40 until the administrator deletes the data.

The vehicle manager can immediately know when an event such as an accident has occurred in a vehicle under his/her management by checking the email sent from the server 40.

[Modification of the Fourth Embodiment]
Next, various modifications of the fourth embodiment will be described.
In the first modification of the fourth embodiment, the server 40 has a function of storing event occurrence times in a list for each vehicle ID in addition to the functions of the server 40 in the fourth embodiment. In this way, when searching for an event occurrence time, it is possible to quickly find the event occurrence time from the already stored list without reading out low-resolution video data in chronological order.

In the fourth embodiment, the server 40 determines whether an event has occurred almost in real time when it receives low-resolution video data that is constantly transmitted. In a second modified example of the fourth embodiment, the server 40 does not determine whether an event has occurred when it stores the low-resolution video data that is constantly transmitted in the storage device 42. Before deleting the low-resolution video data stored in the storage device 42, the processing unit 41 reads the stored low-resolution video data and detects the occurrence of an event.

When the occurrence of an event is detected, the processing unit 41 stores low-resolution video data around the time of the event occurrence as event recording data in the storage device 42. In this way, the event recording data can be retained even after the low-resolution video data that is constantly transmitted is deleted. Triggers for deleting the low-resolution video data that is constantly transmitted include when the low-resolution video data stored in the storage device 42 exceeds a preset capacity, or when the administrator performs a deletion operation.

In the third variant of the fourth embodiment, as in the second variant, when constantly transmitted low-resolution video data is stored in the storage device 42, the occurrence of an event is not judged, but the occurrence of an event is judged periodically by batch processing. This batch processing may be started, for example, at night when the amount of video data received is expected to be low.

In the fourth embodiment, the administrator is notified that an event has occurred by sending an email. In the fourth variant of the fourth embodiment, the server 40 notifies the administrator that an event has occurred by sending a push notification to an application program installed on the administrator's information terminal. This method also allows the administrator to immediately know that an event has occurred in a vehicle under management.

In the fifth variation of the fourth embodiment, the server 40 has a function of statistically analyzing the event details, vehicle ID, location information, etc., at the time the event occurs. By performing statistical analysis, it is possible to generate driving assistance information such as locations where driving should be particularly careful. For example, from an analysis result showing that there are many cases of sudden braking at a specific location on a map, driving assistance information can be obtained that indicates that driving should be particularly careful at that location.

[Fifth Example]
Next, a vehicle management system according to a fifth embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 9A to 11. In addition to the functions of the vehicle management systems according to the first to fourth embodiments, the vehicle management system according to the fifth embodiment has a function of providing an administrator with information for the client terminal 50 to manage vehicles based on data stored in the server 40, as described below.

Figure 9A is a diagram showing a menu screen displayed on the display 53 of the client terminal 50. When the administrator selects the "Vehicle Management" item from the menu screen, the processing unit 51 of the client terminal 50 receives information from the server 40 and causes the display 53 to display a managed vehicle list screen.

Figure 9B is a diagram showing the managed vehicle list screen displayed on the display 53. Based on the information received from the server 40, the processing unit 51 displays in list form the managed vehicle IDs, the communication volume for each vehicle, and the date and time information of new events that have occurred in the vehicles. If the information of all managed vehicles cannot be displayed on the screen, a slider is displayed on the right edge of the list. The administrator can check the information of all managed vehicles by operating the slider to scroll the screen display. In addition, the managed vehicle list screen displays a "Vehicle Data" button for transitioning to the vehicle data screen, a "Map" button for transitioning to the map screen, and check boxes for each vehicle.

A "Confirm" button is displayed corresponding to the date and time information of the new event. When the administrator selects the "Confirm" button, the processing unit 51 displays the contents of the event and a "Back" button on the display 53. When the administrator confirms the contents of the event and selects the "Back" button, the processing unit 51 displays the managed vehicle list screen on the display 53. The date and time information of the confirmed event is not displayed on the managed vehicle list screen.

When the administrator checks the checkbox of the vehicle for which he/she wants to check detailed information and selects the "Vehicle Data" button, the processing unit 51 queries the server 40 for information about the checked vehicle and causes the display 53 to display a vehicle data display screen.

Figure 10 shows an example of a vehicle data display screen displayed on the display 53. The display area of the display 53 is divided into a video display area 71, a date and time input area 72, an event indicator area 73, a map display area 74, a driving speed display area 75, a vehicle position display area 76, and an acceleration display area 77. The contents that the processing unit 51 causes to be displayed in each display area are described below.

Video display area 71 displays video images based on low-resolution video data that server 40 receives from a vehicle (hereafter referred to as the vehicle of interest) specified on the managed vehicle list screen (Figure 9B) and that server 40 live-streams to client terminal 50.

Indicators showing the time when an event occurred and the period during which low-resolution video data was constantly transmitted are displayed in the event indicator area 73. For example, the vertical axis of the event indicator area 73 represents elapsed time, and an event occurrence mark (e.g., a red dot) is displayed at the position corresponding to the time when the event occurred. Furthermore, a constant transmission mark (e.g., a green vertical line) indicating constant transmission is displayed at the position corresponding to the period during which low-resolution video data was constantly transmitted.

A calendar display button, a "+" button, and a "-" button are displayed in the date and time input area 72. The administrator can select the calendar display button to display a calendar and input acquisition date and time information for the video to be displayed. By operating the "+" button and the "-" button, the scale of the vertical axis of the event indicator area 73 can be changed.

A map including the current position of the vehicle of interest is displayed in the map display area 74, and the latitude and longitude information of the current position of the vehicle of interest is displayed numerically in the vehicle position display area 76. The current position information of the vehicle of interest is obtained from the vehicle information stored in the frame header of the low-resolution video data distributed from the server 40. A mark (icon) indicating the vehicle of interest is displayed at the current position of the vehicle of interest on the map displayed in the map display area 74. When the current position of the vehicle of interest moves, the map displayed in the map display area 74 is automatically scrolled up, down, left, and right so that the current position of the vehicle of interest is located approximately in the center of the map display area 74.

The current driving speed of the vehicle of interest is displayed numerically in the driving speed display area 75. The current driving speed information of the vehicle of interest is obtained from the vehicle information stored in the frame header of the low-resolution video data delivered from the server 40.

The acceleration display area 77 displays a graph showing the change over time in the acceleration acting on the vehicle of interest in the forward/backward, left/right, and up/down directions. The horizontal axis represents the elapsed time, and the vertical axis represents the magnitude of acceleration. The acceleration in the forward/backward, left/right, and up/down directions is displayed, for example, as broken lines of different colors.

Furthermore, a plurality of transition buttons 78 are displayed on the display screen of the display 53. The plurality of transition buttons 78 include a "Managed Vehicle List" button, a "Map" button, a "Current Image" button, and a "Past Image" button.

When the administrator selects the "Managed Vehicle List" button, the processing unit 51 displays the managed vehicle list screen (Figure 9B) on the display 53.

When the administrator selects the "Past Images" button, the processing unit 51 specifies the date and time entered in the date and time input area 72 and sends a command to the server 40 requesting the delivery of low-resolution video data. When the server 40 receives this command, it reads out the low-resolution video data of the vehicle of interest for the date and time specified in the date and time information and streams it (on-demand delivery) to the client terminal 50. During on-demand delivery, live delivery is interrupted. The client terminal 50 displays moving images in the video display area 71 based on the low-resolution video data being delivered on-demand.

The administrator can also specify the date and time when the video data to be distributed on demand was acquired by clicking or tapping the event occurrence mark or the constant transmission mark displayed in the event indicator area 73. Furthermore, the administrator can play back the video image of the desired date and time by operating marks such as fast forward, rewind, and slider for viewing the video.

When the administrator selects the "Current Image" button, the processing unit 51 sends a command requesting live streaming to the server 40. When the server 40 receives this command, it live streams the low-resolution video data that is constantly being transmitted from the vehicle of interest to the client terminal 50. The client terminal 50 displays a moving image in the video display area 71 based on the live-streamed low-resolution video data. Note that during live streaming, the "Current Image" button is grayed out and cannot be selected.

Figure 11 shows an example of a map screen displayed on the display 53. The contents that the processing unit 51 displays on the display 53 are described below.

The map is displayed so that approximately the center of the display area of the display 53 corresponds to the current location of the vehicle of interest. In addition, multiple transition buttons 78, such as a "Managed Vehicle List" button and a "Vehicle Data" button, are displayed on the display 53.

An icon showing the current location of the vehicle of interest is displayed on this map. Furthermore, if other managed vehicles are present within the area shown on the displayed map, icons showing the current locations of the other vehicles are displayed on the map. Vehicle 1, whose icon is displayed in Figure 11, corresponds to the vehicle of interest, and vehicles 2 and 3 correspond to the other managed vehicles.

Next, the process performed by the server 40 to display the map screen will be described.
When the server 40 receives low-resolution video data from multiple managed vehicles, the server 40 associates the vehicle ID in the frame header of the video data with the current position information and stores it as vehicle position information separately from the video data. When the map screen is displayed, the server 40 transmits low-resolution video data of the target vehicle and position information of other managed vehicles to the client terminal 50. Video data of vehicles other than the target vehicle is not transmitted.

When the vehicle's accessory switch is turned off and the in-vehicle electronic device 20 is shut down, the server 40 stores the current location information in the frame header of the most recently received video data as the vehicle's location information. If continuous transmission of video data is not being performed and the driving speed in the frame header of the most recently received video data is 0, the server 40 stores the current location information in the frame header of the most recently received video data as the vehicle's location information. If continuous transmission of video data is not being performed and the driving speed in the frame header of the most recently received video data is not 0, it is considered that the vehicle has entered a tunnel, for example, and thus is unable to send or receive video data. In this case, the vehicle's current location becomes undefined.

Next, the process performed by the client terminal 50 will be described. When the vehicle of interest moves, the map is scrolled up, down, left and right so that the current position of the vehicle of interest is positioned approximately in the center of the display screen of the display 53.

When the administrator selects the "Managed Vehicle List" button, the processing unit 51 displays the managed vehicle list screen (Figure 9B) on the display 53. When the administrator selects the "Vehicle Data" button, the processing unit 51 displays the vehicle data display screen (Figure 10) on the display 53.

[Effects of the Fifth Embodiment]
Next, the advantageous effects of the vehicle management system according to the fifth embodiment will be described.
The administrator can view video images based on video data distributed live from the server 40 or video data distributed on demand by displaying the vehicle data display screen (FIG. 10) on the display 53. The administrator can select any vehicle from among the managed vehicles from the managed vehicle list screen and display the vehicle data display screen (FIG. 10). In addition, the administrator can know the current positions of not only the target vehicle but also other managed vehicles from the map screen (FIG. 11).

Even when the map screen (Figure 11) is displayed on the display 53, low-resolution video data of the vehicle of interest is live-streamed to the client terminal 50, so when the vehicle data display screen is displayed on the display 53, information about the vehicle of interest can be displayed immediately.

[Modification of the Fifth Example]
Next, a modified example of the fifth embodiment will be described. In this modified example, when the client terminal 50 is displaying a video based on low-resolution video data that is being distributed live, the client terminal 50 displays information in a corner of the video display area 71 to inform the administrator that live distribution is in progress, for example, the character string "LIVE". When the client terminal 50 is displaying a video based on low-resolution video data that is being distributed on demand, the client terminal 50 displays information in a corner of the video display area 71 to inform the administrator that past video is being played back, for example, the character string "PAST VIDEO". The administrator can easily tell whether the video currently being viewed is being distributed live or past video.

During live streaming, the bottom end of the vertical axis of the event indicator area 73 may correspond to the current date and time, and information for a predetermined period going back from the current time may be displayed in the area between the top and bottom ends. Alternatively, the event indicator area 73 may be left blank during live streaming.

When the map screen (Figure 11) is displayed on the display 53, a specific location may be fixed at the center of the display area, and the current position of the vehicle may be moved on the map. Immediately after the map screen is displayed, it is advisable to display the map so that the current position of the vehicle of interest is located at the center of the display area of the display 53.

When the map screen (Figure 11) is displayed on the display 53, the location information of vehicles other than the vehicle of interest may be transmitted at a time interval longer than the frame interval of the video data, for example, at intervals of 1 second or 5 seconds. In addition, the location information of vehicles other than the vehicle of interest may be transmitted only when a transmission request is made from the client terminal 50 to the server 40. This makes it possible to prevent an increase in the amount of data communication.

In the fifth embodiment, the managed vehicle ID is displayed on the managed vehicle list screen (Figure 9B), but it is preferable to display the name of the driver who drives the vehicle together with the vehicle ID. The driver's name should be associated with the vehicle ID. This association should be stored in at least one of the server 40 and the client terminal 50.

[Sixth Example]
Next, a vehicle management system according to a sixth embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 12 and 13. In addition to the functions of the vehicle management systems according to the first to fifth embodiments, the vehicle management system according to the sixth embodiment has a function of playing back high-resolution video data recorded on the SD card 32 (Figure 1) at a specified date and time.

Figure 12 is a diagram showing an example of a vehicle data display screen displayed on a client terminal 50 of a vehicle management system according to the sixth embodiment. In the sixth embodiment, a "Date and time registration" button 79 is further displayed on the vehicle data display screen (Figure 10) displayed on a client terminal 50 of a vehicle management system according to the fifth embodiment.

The administrator can register the date and time of the video they want to play by clicking or tapping the "Register Date and Time" button 79 while the video is being played.

Figure 13 is a diagram showing the signal transmission and reception sequence of the vehicle management system when the "Date and Time Registration" button 79 is clicked or tapped. When the processing unit 51 detects that the "Date and Time Registration" button 79 (Figure 12) has been clicked or tapped by the administrator while a video is being played (step SG1), the client terminal 50 transmits a command to the server 40 instructing the server 40 to submit the SD card. The server 40 transfers the command instructing the server 40 to submit the SD card to the in-vehicle electronic device 20.

The in-vehicle electronic device 20 that has received the command to instruct the user to submit the SD card stores the fact that this command has been received. When the vehicle engine is stopped (step SG2), the processing unit 21 of the in-vehicle electronic device 20 causes the display 28 to display a message urging the user to submit the SD card to the administrator (step SG3). A sound may also be output from the speaker 29.

When the driver of the vehicle notices this message, he or she removes the SD card 32 from the in-vehicle electronic device 20 (step SG4) and submits it to the administrator. The administrator receives the SD card from the driver and inserts it into the client terminal 50 (step SG5). When the administrator performs an operation to read the video data from the SD card 32, the processing unit 51 of the client terminal 50 plays back the video from the registered date and time based on the high-resolution video data recorded on the SD card 32.

[Effects of the Sixth Embodiment]
Next, the advantageous effects of the vehicle management system according to the sixth embodiment will be described. When the manager finds something that concerns him while playing back a video based on low-resolution video data being distributed live and wants to check the video in high resolution, he or she can click or tap the "date and time registration" button 79 (FIG. 12). Then, a message is sent to the driver of the vehicle to request the submission of the SD card 32, and the manager can obtain the SD card 32 from the driver.

The administrator can insert the SD card 32 inserted or removed by the driver into the client terminal 50 and play back the video based on the high-resolution video data from the date and time when the point of concern occurred. This eliminates the need to manually cue up the video. It becomes possible to check matters that were difficult to check from low-resolution video from the high-resolution video.

[Modification of the Sixth Embodiment]
Next, a vehicle management system according to a modification of the sixth embodiment will be described. In the sixth embodiment, the driver of the vehicle submits the SD card 32 to the administrator, but in this modification, the high-resolution video data in the SD card 32 is transmitted to the server 40 as described below.

The client terminal 50 transmits a command to the on-board electronic device 20 via the server 40, requesting the transmission of high-resolution video data. After the on-board electronic device 20 receives this command and returns to the vehicle depot and the engine is stopped, it transmits the high-resolution video data in the SD card 32 to the server 40. This video data can be transmitted using the LTE module 31 (Figure 1), or even better, a communication module that complies with a short-range wireless communication standard such as WiFi. To achieve this function, the on-board electronic device 20 can be equipped with a built-in battery, and even better, the on-board electronic device 20 can be powered from the vehicle's battery even after the accessory switch is turned off.

In this modified example, the driver can be saved the trouble of removing the SD card 32 from the in-vehicle electronic device 20 and submitting it to the administrator. It is preferable that the high-resolution video data transmitted to the server 40 be video data for only a specified period before and after the registered date and time. In this way, the amount of data transmitted can be reduced.

[Seventh Example]
Next, a vehicle management system according to the seventh embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 14A and 14B. In addition to the functions of the client terminals 50 of the vehicle management systems according to the first to sixth embodiments, the client terminal 50 of the vehicle management system according to the seventh embodiment has a function of streaming video data distributed live or on-demand from the server 40 and storing the video data in a storage device 52. The frame header of the video data stored in the client terminal 50 is the same as the frame header of the video data accumulated in the server 40, and vehicle information is stored in the frame header.

Figure 14A is a diagram showing a menu screen displayed on the display 53 of the client terminal 50. "Video playback" is displayed as one of the menu items. When the administrator selects the "Video playback" item, the client terminal 50 executes the video playback process.

Figure 14B shows a menu screen for implementing the video playback function. The video playback menu items displayed are "Live playback," "Play video stored on server," "Play video stored on device," and "Play video stored on SD card." When the administrator selects one of the menu items, the client terminal 50 plays the video corresponding to the selected menu item.

When the administrator selects the "Live Playback" option, the client terminal 50 queries the administrator for the vehicle ID to be played back live. When the administrator enters the vehicle ID, the client terminal 50 identifies the vehicle ID to the server 40 and transmits a command requesting live streaming. When the server 40 live streams a video of the vehicle, the client terminal 50 plays the live streamed video. Furthermore, the live streamed video data is saved in the storage device 52.

When the administrator selects the "Play video stored on server" option, the client terminal 50 queries the administrator for the vehicle ID and date and time for which the video is to be played. When the administrator inputs the vehicle ID and date and time information, the client terminal 50 transmits a command to the server 40 specifying the vehicle ID and date and time and requesting on-demand distribution. When the server 40 distributes on-demand video from the specified date and time for that vehicle, the client terminal 50 streams the on-demand distributed video. Furthermore, the video data distributed on-demand is stored in the storage device 52.

When the administrator selects the "Play video stored on device" option, the client terminal 50 queries the administrator for the vehicle ID and date and time for which the video is to be played. When the administrator inputs the vehicle ID and date and time information, the processing unit 51 reads the corresponding video data from the storage device 52 and plays the video.

When the administrator selects the "Play videos stored on SD card" option, the client terminal 50 reads high-resolution video data from the installed SD card and plays the video images.

[Effects of the Seventh Embodiment]
Next, the advantageous effects of the vehicle management system according to the seventh embodiment will be described.
In the seventh embodiment, video data stored in the server 40 can be stored in the client terminal 50. For example, even if the video data stored in the server 40 has a capacity limit or a storage period limit, the video data can be stored in the client terminal 50 without being restricted by the capacity limit or storage period limit of the server 40.

[Modification of the Seventh Example]
When the client terminal 50 plays back a moving image that is being distributed live or on demand, it is preferable to inquire of the administrator as to whether or not to save the moving image data in the storage device 52 of the client terminal 50. The processing unit 51 saves the moving image data in the storage device 52 only when the administrator inputs an instruction to save the moving image data. This makes it possible to prevent moving image data that does not need to be kept from being saved in the storage device 52 of the client terminal 50.

The color or shape of the constant transmission mark displayed in the event indicator area 73 (Figure 10) may be different when a video is being played back by receiving on-demand delivery of video data stored on the server 40 and when a video is being played back by reading out video data stored on the client terminal 50. For example, the constant transmission mark may be a thin vertical line when a video is being played back by receiving on-demand delivery from the server 40, and a thick vertical line when a video is being played back by reading out video data stored on the client terminal 50. In this way, the administrator can easily know whether the video data of the video currently being played back is stored on the client terminal 50.

[Eighth Example]
Next, a vehicle management system according to an eighth embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 15. The vehicle management system according to the eighth embodiment has a function of transmitting and receiving various messages between the client terminal 50, the server 40, and the in-vehicle electronic device 20, in addition to the functions of the vehicle management systems according to the first to seventh embodiments.

Figure 15 is a diagram showing a transmission/reception sequence of various messages transmitted and received between the client terminal 50, the server 40, and the in-vehicle electronic device 20. When the server 40 analyzes the vehicle information embedded in the frame header of the low-resolution video data constantly transmitted from the in-vehicle electronic device 20 and detects an abnormality (step SJ1), the server 40 transmits a warning message to the in-vehicle electronic device 20. For example, the abnormality to be detected may include excessive driving speed.

When the processing unit 21 of the in-vehicle electronic device 20 receives the warning message, it displays the content of the received message on the display 28 (FIG. 1) and outputs a warning sound from the speaker 29 (FIG. 1) (step SJ2). The driver of the vehicle notices the warning message and is urged to drive safely.

When a situation occurs in which some kind of rescue is required in the vehicle, such as a traffic accident, the on-board electronic device 20 is provided with a function that allows the driver to request rescue by operating the on-board electronic device 20. For example, the on-board electronic device 20 is provided with a help button, etc., and the driver can request rescue by pressing the help button.

When the driver operates the on-board electronic device 20 to request assistance (step SJ3), the processing unit 21 of the on-board electronic device 20 sends a message requesting assistance to the server 40. The server 40 transfers this message to the client terminal 50. When the client terminal 50 receives the assistance request message, it displays the contents of the assistance request message on the display 53 (Figure 1) (step SJ4). When the administrator notices the assistance request message, he or she can take appropriate action, such as contacting the police, contacting the insurance company, or dispatching necessary personnel to the scene.

When the administrator operates the client terminal 50 to input a general message (step SJ5), the client terminal 50 transmits the general message to the in-vehicle electronic device 20 via the server 40. The processing unit 21 of the in-vehicle electronic device 20 displays the content of the received general message on the display 28 (step SJ6).

When the driver operates the in-vehicle electronic device 20 to input a general message (step SJ7), the in-vehicle electronic device 20 transmits the general message to the client terminal 50 via the server 40. When the processing unit 51 of the client terminal 50 receives the general message, it displays the contents of the message on the display 53 (step SJ8).

By enabling the sending and receiving of general messages in this way, communication can take place between the vehicle manager and the driver. When the on-board electronic device 20 receives a general message, it is preferable for it to wait to display the contents of the general message until the vehicle stops, such as at a traffic light. This allows the driver to concentrate on driving operations while traveling.

[Ninth Example]
Next, a vehicle management system according to a ninth embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 16A and 16B. In addition to the functions of the vehicle management systems according to the first to eighth embodiments, the vehicle management system according to the ninth embodiment has a function of allowing the client terminal 50 to change the threshold value (event detection threshold value) at which the on-vehicle electronic device 20 detects the occurrence of an event.

Figure 16A is a diagram showing a menu screen displayed on the display 53 of the client terminal 50. "Change event detection threshold" is displayed as one of the menu items. When the administrator selects the "Change event detection threshold" item, the client terminal 50 prompts the administrator to input the vehicle ID to be changed, and when the vehicle ID is input, the client terminal 50 executes the process of changing the event detection threshold.

Figure 16B is a diagram showing an image displayed on the display 53 when the processing unit 51 executes the event detection threshold change process. The processing unit 51 displays in the form of a graph the measured values of acceleration in the forward/backward direction (x direction), left/right direction (y direction), and up/down direction (z direction) of the vehicle ID to be changed for a certain period immediately preceding the present time. This graph is generated based on the vehicle information in the frame header of the low-resolution video data that is constantly transmitted from the in-vehicle electronic device 20 to the server 40, and is updated in real time. Furthermore, the graph displays the x-, y-, and z-direction thresholds Tx, Ty, and Tz of the acceleration for detecting the occurrence of an event as dashed lines. The absolute values of the positive threshold and the negative threshold are the same.

The administrator uses the mouse to move the dashed line indicating the threshold to a position corresponding to the new threshold. This operation can be achieved, for example, by dragging and dropping. If one of the dashed lines indicating the positive threshold or the dashed line indicating the negative threshold is moved, the other dashed line will automatically move as well.

The processing unit 51 determines the size of the threshold value corresponding to the position after the dashed line indicating the threshold value is moved, and sends a command to change the threshold value to the in-vehicle electronic device 20 via the server 40. The in-vehicle electronic device 20 that receives this command immediately changes the event detection threshold value and determines whether or not an event has occurred based on the changed threshold value.

[Effects of the ninth embodiment]
Next, the advantageous effects of the vehicle management system according to the ninth embodiment will be described. In the ninth embodiment, the administrator can change the event detection threshold of the in-vehicle electronic device 20 without going to the vehicle. In addition, the administrator can change the threshold while checking the time-dependent change in the measured value of the acceleration applied to the vehicle to be changed in real time on a graph. This allows the administrator to intuitively find the optimal threshold.

[Modification of the ninth embodiment]
In the ninth embodiment, the vehicle ID of the vehicle for which the threshold is to be changed is specified, and the event detection threshold of the on-board electronic device 20 installed in that vehicle is changed, but the client terminal 50 may have a function for changing the event detection threshold of a specific vehicle and then changing the event detection threshold of other managed vehicles to the same value. In this way, it is not necessary to change the event detection threshold for each managed vehicle, and therefore the administrator's work can be reduced.

In the ninth embodiment, the administrator moves the dashed line indicating the threshold displayed on the graph to specify the changed threshold. Alternatively, the threshold may be entered as a numerical value.

In the ninth embodiment, the event detection threshold is the object to be changed by remote control, but other setting items of the in-vehicle electronic device 20 may be changed by remote control. Depending on the item to be changed, it may not be desirable to change it immediately when a command to change it is received. Such setting items may be changed, for example, when the in-vehicle electronic device 20 is started. For items that should be changed when the in-vehicle electronic device 20 is started, the processing unit 51 may store new setting values in a buffer area, and when the in-vehicle electronic device 20 is started, the new setting values may be read from the buffer area. For example, firmware updates, etc. may be performed when the in-vehicle electronic device 20 is started.

In cases where video acquisition must be stopped in order to change a setting item of the in-vehicle electronic device 20, the processing unit 51 may inform the administrator that video acquisition must be temporarily stopped after the administrator operates the client terminal 50. The administrator may take this notification into consideration and determine whether to change the setting item or to cancel it. For example, the client terminal 50 may display an inquiry message on the display 53 stating, "Video acquisition will be stopped for XX seconds in order to change the settings. Do you want to stop video acquisition and change the settings?"

The in-vehicle electronic device 20 may notify the driver that a setting item is to be changed before the setting item is changed. For example, the processing unit 21 may display a message on the display 28 stating, "The setting is being changed. Do not turn off the engine until the change is complete."

In addition to the event detection threshold, other setting items for the in-vehicle electronic device 20 include, for example, the resolution and frame rate of high-resolution and low-resolution video data.

[Tenth Example]
Next, a vehicle management system according to a tenth embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 17. In addition to the functions of the vehicle management systems according to the first to ninth embodiments, the vehicle management system according to the tenth embodiment has a function of transmitting high-resolution video data from the in-vehicle electronic device 20 to the server 40 when a predetermined condition is satisfied.

Figure 17 is a diagram showing the signal transmission and reception sequence between the in-vehicle electronic device 20, the server 40, and the client terminal 50. Low-resolution video data is constantly being transmitted from the in-vehicle electronic device 20 to the server 40. When the server 40 detects that an event flag is set in the frame header of the low-resolution video data, it transmits a command to the in-vehicle electronic device 20 that transmitted the video data with the event flag set, specifying the date and time of the event occurrence, and instructing the transmission of high-resolution video data. In addition, it transmits a message to the client terminal 50 notifying that the occurrence of an event has been detected.

The processing unit 51 of the client terminal 50 that receives this message causes the display 53 to display a message informing the administrator that an event has occurred (step SK2). It also causes the display 53 to display a message asking the administrator whether or not to play high-resolution video (step SK3). The administrator instructs the client terminal 50 whether or not to play high-resolution video.

When the in-vehicle electronic device 20 receives a command to transmit high-resolution video data, it transmits high-resolution video data from before and after the event occurrence date and time to the server 40. Note that the constant transmission of low-resolution video data continues.

When the server 40 receives the high-resolution video data, it distributes it to the client terminal 50. If an instruction to play high-resolution video images has been issued, the client terminal 50 streams video images based on the distributed high-resolution video data (step SK4).

[Effects of the Tenth Example]
Next, the advantageous effects of the vehicle management system according to the tenth embodiment will be described.
When an event such as an accident occurs to a vehicle, the administrator can view high-resolution video images of the time before and after the event, allowing the administrator to learn in detail about the situation around the vehicle before and after the event.

[Modification of the Tenth Example]
In the tenth embodiment, when the server 40 detects the occurrence of an event, it transmits a command to the in-vehicle electronic device 20 to instruct the transmission of high-resolution video data regardless of the type of event. As a modification of the tenth embodiment, it is preferable to limit the type of event that triggers the instruction to transmit high-resolution video data. It is preferable that the administrator can input the limited event type by operating the client terminal 50. This prevents the transmission of high-resolution video data when an event of low importance occurs, thereby suppressing an increase in the amount of data communication.

[Eleventh embodiment]
Next, a vehicle management system according to the 11th embodiment will be described. In addition to the functions of the vehicle management systems according to the first to tenth embodiments, the vehicle management system according to the 11th embodiment has a function in which the server 40 performs machine learning based on the moving images included in the video data and the vehicle information included in the frame headers of the video data.

For example, based on video and vehicle information, server 40 can find locations where traffic accidents are likely to occur, locations where sudden braking is likely, and situations in which sudden braking is required. Furthermore, it can find situations from video where no accident has occurred but where the risk of an accident has increased, and perform machine learning by associating these situations with vehicle information. For example, it can find situations from video where a pedestrian was not hit but a pedestrian was nearly hit.

By applying machine learning to low-resolution video data collected from multiple vehicles, it is possible to identify situations where the risk of an accident is increased and create a database of these situations. It is also possible to classify the causes of the increased risk into speeding, violation of stop signs, approaching pedestrians or bicycles, etc., and then create a database of these situations.

The server 40 may apply the learning results to the currently received low-resolution video data to evaluate whether the current driving is one that poses a high risk of an accident. The server 40 may transmit the evaluation results to the client terminal 50 to inform the administrator.

Since video images and vehicle information are embedded in low-resolution video data, machine learning that associates the two can be easily performed.

[Twelfth embodiment]
Next, a vehicle management system according to a twelfth embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 18. In addition to the functions of the vehicle management systems according to the first to eleventh embodiments, the vehicle management system according to the twelfth embodiment clarifies a means for ensuring communication when the IP address of the in-vehicle electronic device 20 is changed.

While the in-vehicle electronic device 20 is constantly transmitting low-resolution video data to the server 40, the IP address of the in-vehicle electronic device 20 is constantly notified to the server 40. Therefore, when the IP address of the in-vehicle electronic device 20 changes, the server 40 can immediately know that the IP address of the in-vehicle electronic device 20 has changed. The server 40 simply sends various messages to the latest IP address of the in-vehicle electronic device 20.

Next, we will explain the procedure by which the server 40 finds the latest IP address of the in-vehicle electronic device 20 when no signal is being transmitted from the in-vehicle electronic device 20.

Figure 18 is a diagram showing the sequence of message transmission and reception between the in-vehicle electronic device 20 and the server 40. The IP address of the server 40 is fixed, for example, 200.200.200.1. The IP address of the in-vehicle electronic device 20 changes dynamically. The initial IP address of the in-vehicle electronic device 20 is, for example, 100.100.100.1. Messages #001 and #002 are stored in the message queue 90 of the server 40 and are waiting to be sent.

The in-vehicle electronic device 20 periodically sends an inquiry message to the server 40. The inquiry message includes the terminal ID and the IP address of the in-vehicle electronic device 20. By receiving the inquiry message SS1, the server 40 can learn the current IP address of the in-vehicle electronic device 20. The server 40 sends a response message SS2 including message #001 to the IP address included in the inquiry message SS1 from the in-vehicle electronic device 20. When the server 40 receives a message SS3 from the in-vehicle electronic device 20 confirming receipt of message #001, it deletes message #001 from the message queue 90.

The on-board electronic device 20 again sends an inquiry message SS4. In response to the inquiry message SS4 from the on-board electronic device 20, the server 40 sends a response message SS5 including message #002 to the IP address included in the inquiry message. We will explain an example in which the IP address of the on-board electronic device 20 changes to 100.100.100.2 immediately after the on-board electronic device 20 sends the inquiry message.

Because the IP address of the in-vehicle electronic device 20 has changed, the response message SS5 sent from the server 40 to the old IP address does not reach the in-vehicle electronic device 20. Message #002 is stored in the message queue 90 and the state continues.

The on-board electronic device 20 again sends an inquiry message SS6. This inquiry message SS6 includes the new IP address of the on-board electronic device 20. When the server 40 receives this inquiry message SS6, it sends a response message SS7 including message #002 to the new IP address. When the server 40 receives a message SS8 from the on-board electronic device 20 confirming receipt of message #002, it deletes message #002 from the message queue 90. This frees up the message queue 90.

After that, when the in-vehicle electronic device 20 sends an inquiry message SS9, the server 40 sends a response message SS10 to the IP address included in the inquiry message SS9, notifying the server 40 that there are no unsent messages. The in-vehicle electronic device 20 sends a receipt confirmation message SS11 to the server 40 notifying the server 40 that it has received the response message SS10 notifying the server 40 that there are no unsent messages.

In the twelfth embodiment, the in-vehicle electronic device 20 periodically sends an inquiry message to the server 40, so that if the IP address of the in-vehicle electronic device 20 changes, the server 40 can learn of the change in the IP address. This ensures communication from the server 40 to the in-vehicle electronic device 20.

[Thirteenth embodiment]
Next, a vehicle search system according to a thirteenth embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 19 to 22. The vehicle management systems according to the first to twelfth embodiments are intended to support vehicle management by vehicle managers, but the vehicle search system according to the thirteenth embodiment searches for vehicles based on position information and time information, and supports the provision of video images captured by an on-board electronic device installed in the searched vehicle.

In the first to twelfth embodiments, the in-vehicle electronic device 20 transmits low-resolution video data to the server 40 (FIG. 1) and records high-resolution video data on the SD card 32, but in the thirteenth embodiment, the low-resolution video data is not transmitted, and high-resolution video data is recorded on the SD card 32. Instead of the low-resolution video data, the in-vehicle electronic device 20 transmits the vehicle's current position information and time information together with the vehicle ID to the server 40. Also, in the first to twelfth embodiments, the user of the client terminal was the manager of the vehicle, but in the thirteenth embodiment, the user of the client terminal is a third party that has no relationship to the owner or manager of the vehicle.

Figure 19 is a diagram showing the sequence of signal transmission and reception between the on-board electronic device 20, server 40, client terminal 50, and personal computer 80 of the vehicle search system according to the thirteenth embodiment. Multiple on-board electronic devices 20 mounted on multiple vehicles periodically transmit vehicle position information and time information together with the vehicle ID to the server 40.

The server 40 stores the information received from the on-board electronic device 20 in a database 45 that can search for the vehicle ID using the location information and time information as search keys. Furthermore, the server 40 registers the vehicle ID in association with the account of the owner of the on-board electronic device 20 installed in the vehicle.

When a user of the client terminal 50 operates the client terminal to input search conditions, the client terminal 50 specifies the search conditions and sends a search request message to the server 40.

Figure 20 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for a user of the client terminal 50 to input search conditions. The display screen of the client terminal 50 is divided into a map area 55 and a search condition input area 56. A map is displayed in the map area 55. Items that are search conditions are displayed in the search condition input area 56. The items that are search conditions include "location," "date and time," "range," and "purpose of use." A "start search" button is also displayed in the search condition input area 56.

The user of the client terminal 50 scrolls the map displayed in the map area 55 to specify on the map the location (position) where the user wishes to view the video. When a position is specified on the map, the specified position is displayed in the search condition input area 56 with latitude and longitude.

Furthermore, the user selects the "Date and Time" item in the search condition input area 56 to specify the date and time for which the user wants to check the video. For example, a period with a time span can be specified by entering a start date and time and an end date and time. The date and time can be entered, for example, by selecting it from a pull-down menu.

The user then selects the "Range" item to specify the range of the search target. The range of the search target is specified by a radius centered on the position specified by the location information. The value of this radius is entered, for example, by selecting it from a pull-down menu.

The user also inputs the intended use of the video. Examples of intended uses include collecting information about accidents, crime investigations, and collecting information about damage. The intended use is input, for example, by selecting it from a pull-down menu.

When the user selects the "Start Search" button by clicking or tapping it, the client terminal 50 sends a search request message to the server 40 specifying location information (including range conditions) and time information.

The server 40 (Figure 19) that receives the search request message searches the database 45 using the specified location information and time information as search keys, and extracts the vehicle ID. For example, the server 40 extracts the vehicle ID of a vehicle that was traveling within the range specified by the location information during the time period specified by the time information. The server 40 returns the search results to the client terminal 50. The search results include the vehicle ID and the account attributes (e.g., name or title) of the owner of the in-vehicle electronic device 20 specified by the vehicle ID. When the client terminal 50 receives the search results, it displays the search results on the screen.

Figure 21 is a diagram showing an example of a screen of the client terminal 50 on which the search results are displayed. The screen of the client terminal 50 is partitioned into a map area 55 and a search result display area 57. The processing means of the client terminal 50 causes the search result display area 57 to display the name or title of the owner corresponding to the vehicle ID extracted by the search, and a check box. In addition, a "Request" button is displayed in the search result display area 57.

The map area 55 displays a map and the driving routes of the vehicles extracted by the search. When multiple vehicles are extracted, the owners of the on-board electronic devices installed in the vehicles are displayed in a manner that associates the driving routes with each other. For example, when three vehicles are extracted, the owners of each vehicle are displayed in a list, and a circled number symbol is displayed in association with each owner, and the corresponding circled number symbol is added to the driving route.

When a user checks the checkbox of the owner of the in-vehicle electronic device 20 to which the user wishes to request the provision of video data and selects the "Request" button, the client terminal 50 identifies the requested owner and sends a video data request message to the server 40. The server 40 registers the account of the requested owner in a list of recipients of requests to provide video data.

When the owner of the in-vehicle electronic device 20 starts the PC viewer on the personal computer 80 (Figure 19) and logs in, the personal computer 80 notifies the server 40 of the login information. If the account of the logged-in owner is registered in the list of recipients of requests to provide video data, the personal computer 80 is notified that there is a request to provide video data. When the personal computer 80 receives this notification, it notifies the owner that there is a request to provide video data.

Figure 22 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed after logging in to a personal computer 80 that has been notified of a request to provide video data. For example, the processing means stage of the personal computer 80 displays on the display screen a message saying "You have received a request to share information from Mr./Ms. XX," along with a "Do not allow" button and a "Next" button.

If the owner selects the "Do not allow" button, the video data recorded on the SD card, for example, is read and a process of playing moving images is performed without transmitting the video data to the server 40. If the owner selects the "Next" button, the personal computer 80 transitions to a screen for performing a process of uploading the video data.

On the processing screen for uploading video data, the user performs an operation to extract video data that may be uploaded from the video data recorded on the SD card. In addition, the user confirms whether or not it is acceptable to upload data such as driving speed, images of the inside of the vehicle, and audio data. The personal computer 80 uploads to the server 40 the video data and other data that the owner has given permission to be uploaded.

The server 40 transfers the uploaded video data to the client terminal 50. The user of the client terminal 50 can read the transferred video data and play the moving images by operating the client terminal 50.

[Effects of the thirteenth embodiment]
Next, the excellent effects of the vehicle search system according to the thirteenth embodiment will be described.
In the thirteenth embodiment, provision of video data is postponed, and only GPS logs such as location information and time information are uploaded to the server 40. Since video data is not transmitted from the in-vehicle electronic device 20 to the server 40, the amount of transmitted data can be reduced. This can reduce the cost of data transfer. Furthermore, since video data is not constantly transmitted to the server 40, it is possible to prevent a third party from reading out the video data on the server 40 without the consent of the owner of the in-vehicle electronic device 20, thereby protecting privacy.

Video data provided by the owner of the on-board electronic device 20 can be used as useful information for accident investigations, and can also be used as evidence of crimes, etc. By utilizing this evidence in criminal investigations, it is possible to prevent mistaken arrests. Furthermore, if it becomes socially recognized that video images captured by the on-board electronic device 20 of a third party's vehicle who happens to be at the scene of a crime can be used in criminal investigations, this will have the effect of deterring crime.

In addition, in the thirteenth embodiment, the video data provider can extract and provide only the video data that is acceptable for provision from all captured video data. Furthermore, information that is not desired to be provided to third parties, such as driving speed, audio data, and images of the inside of the vehicle, can be prevented from being uploaded to the server 40. This makes it possible to protect privacy and prevent information providers from suffering losses.

[Modification of the 13th embodiment]
Next, a vehicle search system according to a modified example of the thirteenth embodiment will be described. In the thirteenth embodiment, the position information and time information are wirelessly transmitted from the on-board electronic device to the server, but an external electronic device such as a personal computer 80 may have a function of transmitting (uploading) the position information and time information of the route traveled up to the present time to the server 40. In this case, it is not necessary to provide the on-board electronic device 20 with a wireless communication function.

For example, the owner of the in-vehicle electronic device 20 can insert the SD card 32 (Figure 1) on which video data is recorded into a personal computer 80 with a PC viewer installed, and have the personal computer 80 read the location information and time information contained in the video data recorded on the SD card 32 and upload it to the server 40.

In the thirteenth embodiment, it is not necessary to distinguish between the client terminal 50 and the personal computer 80. By adding the functions of the client terminal 50 according to the thirteenth embodiment to the PC viewer of the personal computer 80, the personal computer 80 on which the PC viewer is installed can be used as the client terminal 50. In this case, the owner of the in-vehicle electronic device 20 can be both a provider of video data and a user who receives video data from others. In this case, providing video data to a third party can be considered as sharing the video data with the third party.

The server 40 may use a password-protected account to manage the owner of the in-vehicle electronic device 20. This ensures that the person providing the video data is the owner of the in-vehicle electronic device 20. If the video data is later required as evidence, it can be treated as valid.

The scope of the present invention is not limited to the configurations expressly described in the specification, but includes combinations of various aspects of the invention disclosed herein. The configurations of the invention that are sought to be patented are specified in the accompanying claims, but it is the intention of the present inventors to claim configurations disclosed in this specification that are not currently specified in the claims.

The present invention is not limited to the configurations described in the above-mentioned embodiments. The components of each of the above-mentioned embodiments and variations may be arbitrarily selected and combined. Any of the components of each of the embodiments and variations may be arbitrarily combined with any of the components described in the means for solving the invention or any of the components that embody any of the components described in the means for solving the invention. We intend to obtain rights to these as well through amendments to this application or divisional applications, etc.

In addition, we intend to obtain rights to the overall design or partial design by filing a conversion application to a design application. The drawings show the entire device in solid lines, but they include not only the overall design but also partial designs claimed for some parts of the device. For example, not only can some components of the device be made into partial designs, but they can also include some parts of the device as partial designs regardless of the components. A part of the device may be a component of the device, or it may be part of that component. We intend to obtain rights to not only the overall design, but also partial designs in which any part of the solid line parts of the drawings are made into dashed lines.

20: on-board electronic device 21: on-board electronic device processing unit 22: camera 23: GPS receiver 24: orientation sensor 26: acceleration sensor 27: clock 28: display 29: speaker 30: SD card reader 31: LTE module 32: SD card 35: ECU
40 Server 41 Processing unit of server 42 Storage device 50 Client terminal 51 Processing unit of client terminal 52 Storage device 53 Display 54 Input device 55 Map area 56 Search condition input area 57 Search result display area 60 Network 71 Video display area 72 Date and time input area 73 Event indicator area 74 Map display area 75 Traveling speed display area 76 Position display area 77 Acceleration display area 78 Transition button 79 Date and time registration button 80 Personal computer 90 Message queue

Claims (1)

An in-vehicle electronic device having a function of recording video captured in a vehicle onto a removable medium,
An in-vehicle electronic device having a function of outputting a message requesting the user to submit the removable media when the vehicle engine is detected to have stopped after receiving an instruction to submit the removable media via wireless communication .

Images