In-vehicle apparatus, roadside device, and traffic information system

1. An in-vehicle apparatus, comprising:

a first receiver to receive first group identification information about a vehicle group that is transmitted from a first roadside device by a signal having directivity and to receive second group identification information from a transmitter of another vehicle;

a judging unit to identify the vehicle group to which a host vehicle of the in-vehicle apparatus belongs based on at least one of the first group and the second group identification information; and

a second transmitter to transmit identification information of the identified vehicle group rearward from the vehicle by a signal having directivity, wherein

the first receiver receives the second group identification information transmitted from the second transmitter of a vehicle ahead, and

the judging unit judges that the host vehicle thereof is a representative vehicle of a vehicle group if the first receiver receives first group identification information from the first roadside device and does not receive the second group identification information from the vehicle ahead.

2. The in-vehicle apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a second receiver to receive information transmitted from the second roadside device; and

a selection unit to select relevant information from the information received by the second receiver based on the identified vehicle group.

3. The in-vehicle apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the first transmitter transmits information about the host vehicle of the first transmitter to the second roadside device if the judging unit judges that the host vehicle is the representative vehicle.

4. The in-vehicle apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the judging unit judges that the host vehicle thereof is a dependent vehicle in a vehicle group if the receiver receives both first group identification information from the first roadside device and the second group identification information from the vehicle ahead and the first group identification information and the second group identification information match.

5. The in-vehicle apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the first transmitter does not transmit information about the host vehicle of the first transmitter to the second roadside device if the judging unit judges that the host vehicle is the dependent vehicle.

6. The in-vehicle apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the judging unit judges that the host vehicle thereof is a representative vehicle in a predetermined section defined by the first roadside device if the first group identification information and the second group identification information do not agree with each other.

7. The in-vehicle apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the first transmitter transmits information about the host vehicle of the first transmitter to the second roadside device if the judging unit judges that the host vehicle is the representative vehicle of the predetermined section.

8. The in-vehicle apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the first receiver receives a signal transmitted from one of a plurality of the first roadside devices, and

the in-vehicle apparatus further comprises a retention unit to retain a last identification information received from the first roadside device for a predetermined time period.

9. The in-vehicle apparatus according to claim 8 , further comprising:

a detection unit to detect a movement of the host vehicle of the in-vehicle apparatus; and

a prediction unit to predict identification information from the first roadside device that is to be received next by the first receiver based on the movement of the host vehicle of the in-vehicle apparatus detected by the detection unit and identification information retained in the retention unit for the predetermined time period.

10. A traffic information system, comprising:

a first roadside device comprising a transmitter to transmit first group identification information about a vehicle group to a vehicle in a signal having directivity;

an in-vehicle apparatus comprising a receiver to receive the first group identification information from the first roadside device and to receive second group identification of a vehicle group from a transmitter of another vehicle, and a judging unit to identify a vehicle group to which a host vehicle of the in-vehicle apparatus belongs based on at least one of the first group identification information and the second group identification; and

a second transmitter to transmit identification information of the identified vehicle group rearward from the vehicle by a signal having directivity, wherein

the first receiver receives the second group identification information transmitted from the second transmitter of a vehicle ahead, and

the judging unit judges that the host vehicle thereof is a representative vehicle of a vehicle group if the first receiver receives first group identification information from the first roadside device and does not receive the second group identification information from the vehicle ahead.

11. The traffic information system according to claim 10 , wherein the in-vehicle apparatus further comprises a transmitter to transmit the group information of the identified vehicle group to a roadside device other than the first roadside device; and

the traffic information system further comprises a second roadside device comprising a receiver to receive the identification information transmitted from the transmitter of the in-vehicle apparatus and being connected to a network of a road traffic system.

12. The in-vehicle apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a first transmitter to transmit the group identification information of the identified vehicle group to a second roadside device connected to a network of a road traffic system.