EP1870871A1

EP1870871A1 - Ship call-up apparatus

Info

Publication number: EP1870871A1
Application number: EP06731380A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Naoki JAPAN RADIO CO. LTD. YOKOYAMA; Yoshio JAPAN RADIO CO. LTD. MIYADERA; Tatsuyuki JAPAN RADIO CO. LTD. TAKAHASHI; Atsushi 121 Cosmo Kichijoji-minami SHIMOJIMA
Original assignee: Japan Radio Co Ltd
Current assignee: Japan Radio Co Ltd
Priority date: 2005-04-12
Filing date: 2006-04-07
Publication date: 2007-12-26
Also published as: JP4203038B2; JP2006293753A; EP1870871A4; NO343168B1; NO20075681L; WO2006109711A1

Abstract

A sequence deciding part (10) acquires information of other ships from other-ship information signals (I), and decides the sequence of information elements of the other-ship information in descending order of probabilities of approaching the local ship. A ship selecting part (12) selects, based on the sequence of information elements decided by the sequence deciding part (10), another ship to be called up. A call-up signal generating part (14) inserts, into a call-up signal, an identification number of the other ship selected by the ship selecting part (12). The call-up signal generating part (14) then transmits the call-up signal to the other ship via a radio communication part (30) and an antenna (16).

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an apparatus which calls up other ships via radio communication.

BACKGROUND ART

Most ships are equipped with a radio communication apparatus for performing radio communication with operators of other ships. When another ship approaches a ship which is operated by a subject operator to thereby cause a probability of collision, for example, the radio communication apparatuses mounted on these ships can be used to draw to the attention of the operator of the approaching ship that there is a probability of collision with the subject ship or the own ship. Here, in many cases, an operator of a ship and an operator of a radio communication apparatus mounted in the ship are different people. Accordingly, an operator of a ship as used in the present specification will refer not only to a person who operates or steers the ship but also to a person who operates a radio communication apparatus mounted in the ship. Similarly, an operator of an apparatus mounted in a ship as used herein will refer not only to a person who operates the apparatus but also to a person who operates or steers a ship equipped with the apparatus. Further, for the sake of simplicity, such expressions as "to call up a ship" and "communication with a ship" will be simply used to mean "to call up the operator of a ship" and "communication with the operator of a ship", respectively.
When another ship is called up by an own ship using a radio communication apparatus, it is first necessary to establish names of the respective ships so as to recognize each other. When the name of the other ship is not known, the other ship is called up by informing of the course and the characteristics of the other ship, and so on. The other ship, receiving information concerning the course and the characteristics of the ship being currently called up through the radio communication apparatus thereof, compares the course and the characteristics thus received with those of the other ship, to recognize that the other ship itself is being called up.
In a radio communication apparatus mounted in a ship, a calling channel which is a frequency channel for calling up other ships is assigned. The calling channel is defined as a channel which uses universally common frequencies from a viewpoint of safe navigation of ships. In order to call up the other ship, the frequency channel of the radio communication apparatus is set to a calling channel. After recognition of each other, the frequency channel is switched to a working channel for proceeding with radio communication.
As such, when calling up other ships by a radio communication apparatus so as to perform radio communication, it is necessary to immediately identify the name of the other ship to be called up or the name of the own ship, the course, and so on, and at the same time to quickly set the frequency channel of the radio communication apparatus. However, it is difficult to perform this series of operation in an immediate manner, and the even a slight delay of the operation performed by the operator of the ship could result in a collision accident.
In order to address the above difficulty, ship call-up radio apparatuses such as DSC (Digital Selective Calling) apparatuses are in a wide-spread use as apparatuses for rapidly performing a series of operations including setting of the calling channel, calling of other ships, and switching to the working channel. An identification number is assigned to each of the ships equipped with such a ship call-up radio apparatus, and the series of operation processing is performed in accordance with the identification numbers. When calling up the other ship, the operator of the ship call-up radio apparatus inputs the identification number of the other ship and information concerning the working channel which will be used after calling.
Fig. 7 shows a conventional ship call-up radio apparatus 5. The ship call-up radio apparatus 5 includes a radio communication unit 30 which performs radio communication on a calling channel or a working channel, a call-up signal generating unit 14, and watchkeeping receiver unit 22. The call-up signal generating unit 14 generates a call-up signal A including an identification number of the other ship and information concerning the working channel to be used after the calling, and inputs the call-up signal A to the radio communication unit 30. Here, the identification number of the other ship and the information concerning the working channel is input by an operator via a keyboard or the like (not shown) included in the ship call-up radio apparatus 5. The radio communication unit 30 converts the call-up signal A which is input into a signal having carriers thereof modulated, further converts the signal into a signal having a radio frequency band and amplifies it, and then transmits the signal via an antenna.
The calling channel is used for transmitting the call-up signal A. The watchkeeping receiver unit 22 continuously receives a call-up signal A transmitted from the ship call-up radio apparatus 5 mounted in other ships via an antenna 20. The watchkeeping receiver unit 22 then extracts the identification number from the call-up signal A which is received and compares the extracted identification number to the own identification number stored in a ship static information storage unit 26, thereby monitoring whether or not the own ship is being called.
The ship call-up radio apparatus 5, when recognizing through the watchkeeping receiver unit 22, that the ship equipped with the ship call-up radio apparatus 5 itself (i.e. the own ship) has been called up, activates display of the display unit 28 to indicate that the ship has been called up by another ship. The ship call-up radio apparatus 5 then sets the frequency channel of the radio communication unit 30 to the working channel under control of a channel control unit 24, so as to set a state which allows radio communication with the calling ship by the radio communication unit 30. Once this setting is made, the operator of the called ship can communicate with the operator of the calling ship via a receiver 34.
As described above, with the ship call-up radio apparatus 5, a series of operation processing from setting of the calling channel to setting of the working channel can be performed automatically by designating the identification number of the other ship to be called up and the working channel to be used after calling.
Here, in order to call up the other ship by the ship call up radio apparatus 5, it is necessary to know the identification number of the other ship in advance. Application of a ship identification system is conceivable as a means for obtaining the identification number of a ship. With this system, a terminal device mounted in each ship can transmit, via radio, information concerning its own identification number and navigation information such as a location, speed, and so on, and also receive, via radio, information concerning the identification numbers of other ships and navigation information. In practice, systems such as Automatic Identification System (AIS) have been realized. Hereinafter, a terminal device in this system will be referred to as a ship identification apparatus.
Fig. 8 shows a structure of a general ship identification apparatus 7. A positioning unit 62 receives, via an antenna 60, a positioning signal from a positioning satellite such as a GPS satellite and calculates the position, speed or the like of the ship in which the positioning unit 62 is mounted (i.e. the own ship), thereby generating navigation information. Further, a ship information storage unit 66 stores ship static information (unique information) including the name and identification number of the ship in which the ship information storage unit 66 is mounted (i.e. the own ship), the cargo type, the destination port, the expected arrival time, type of ship, and so on. An own ship information generating unit 64 acquires the navigation information from the positioning unit 62 and the ship static information from the ship information storage unit 66 to generate a ship information signal including the acquired information and transmits the ship information signal for notification via a radio circuit unit 68 and an antenna 70.
A notification information acquisition unit 72 acquires, via the antenna 70 and the radio circuit unit 68, the ship information signals being transmitted by a plurality of other ships. A display information generating unit 74 extracts the navigation information of the plurality of other ships from the ship information signals which are acquired, and generates other ship graphic data for indicating positions of other ships on a graph and ship static information sequence data for displaying various information in the ship static information of other ships in a sequence designated by the operator. A display unit 76 displays charts based on the other ships graphic data and charts based on the ship static information sequence data in accordance with a switching operation performed by the operator.
On the other hand, an other-ship information output unit 78 outputs the ship information signals acquired from the plurality of other ships via the antenna 70 and the radio circuit unit 68 in an order in which the ship information signals were acquired. Hereinafter, signals to be output in an order in which the signals were acquired from the plurality of other ships will be particularly referred to as an other-ship information signal I. The other-ship information signal I can be regarded as a signal including the other-ship information in which information elements such as the navigation information and the ship static information of other ships are arranged in a sequence.
With the ship identification apparatus 7, which can display information concerning the identification numbers, the navigation information, and so on of a plurality of other ships, the operator can grasp the movement of ships existing within a predetermined range from the own ship along with their identification numbers or the like.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

When an operator of a ship finds a ship having a probability of collision with the operator's ship (the own ship) by the ship identification apparatus 7, it is possible to call up the ship in accordance with the identification number of the ship displayed in the ship identification apparatus 7 and perform radio communication with the ship thorough the radio communication unit 30 of the ship call-up apparatus 5. However, because the ship call-up radio apparatus 5 and the ship identification apparatus 7 are separate apparatuses independently configured, it is necessary for the operator to input the identification number of the ship in the ship call-up radio apparatus 5 manually through key entry while referring to the display unit 76 of the ship identification apparatus 7. As such, it requires a long time for the operation from when a ship having a probability of collision is found until when the ship is called up.
The ship call-up radio apparatus and the ship identification apparatus are thus configured individually and independently in the following backgrounds: (1) with regard to the ship identification apparatus, the system design is established on the premise that the positions and courses of other ships can be grasped easily and accurately so that hazards including collision or the like can be prevented in advance; (2) accordingly, the act of positively communicating with other ships is not expected; and (3) under such a design concept, the ship identification systems such as AIS have been in a rapid and wide-spread use in recent years and are currently installed in many ships separately and independently from radio apparatuses.
However, in view of navigation of the ships, the act of calling up other ships to positively perform radio communication is the most important in view of safe service of ships. Accordingly, there are demands from many ship operators for making use of the radio manipulation technologies which have been accumulated through years of operations of the ship call-up radio apparatus such as the DSC apparatus.
Therefore, a structure is conceivable in which the information displayed in the ship identification apparatus 7 can be automatically acquired to thereby eliminate the need for complicated operations such as manual key entry of the identification number or the like. In this case, however, in the ship identification apparatus 7 whose design has already been completed, a further design for adding the ship call-up radio apparatus 5 must be performed. In order to additionally provide the ship call-up radio apparatus 5 in the ship identification apparatus 7, it is necessary to provide an interface between both apparatuses in the display information generating unit 74 shown in Fig. 8, which will require a lot of design and manufacturing cost.
Further, because the ship identification systems such as AIS are already in wide-spread use, it is expected that there will be an increased demand for additionally providing the ship call-up radio apparatus in the ship identification apparatus already mounted in a ship. In this case, as the ship identification apparatus already mounted in a ship needs to be modified, a great amount of labor and cost will be required for modification. Alternatively, if the ship identification apparatus already mounted in a ship is replaced with a new apparatus equipped with both the ship identification apparatus and the ship call-up radio apparatus, the value of the existing apparatus will come to nothing.
Accordingly, a further structure is conceivable in which the other-ship information signal I output from the other-ship information output unit 78 shown in Fig. 8 can be automatically acquired. With this structure, however, because the information included in this signal is merely a sequence of the navigation information and the ship static information of other ships arranged as an information element, it is difficult to use this signal directly as a signal for selecting a ship to be called up and immediately generating a call-up signal A including the identification number of the selected ship.
The present invention was made so as to overcome the above problems and provides a ship call-up apparatus which acquires information concerning a plurality of other ships from an existing apparatus and calls up another ship immediately.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other objects of the invention will be explained in the description below, in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a view showing a structure of a ship call-up radio apparatus according to a first embodiment;
Fig. 2 is a view showing a structure of other-ship information;
Fig. 3 is a chart showing a sequence of information elements according to a current time point distance arranging method;
Fig. 4 is a view showing display obtained when a call-up signal is being transmitted;
Fig. 5 is a view showing display indicating that an own ship has been called up by another ship;
Fig. 6 is a view showing a structure of a ship call-up radio apparatus according to a second embodiment;
Fig. 7 is a view showing a structure of a conventional ship call-up radio apparatus; and
Fig. 8 is a view showing a structure of a general ship identification apparatus.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
Fig. 1 shows a structure of a ship call-up radio apparatus 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In the drawing, information flow is indicated by arrows, among which information flow concerning control is indicated by dotted lines. A control unit 40 controls a priority deciding unit 40, a ship selecting unit 12, and a call-up signal generating unit 14 by transmission and reception of a control signal C. Operations of each of other constitutional units will be described below in conjunction with the operation of the ship call-up radio apparatus 1.
The operation for calling up another ship will be described first. The other-ship information signal I output from the ship identification apparatus 7 shown in Fig. 8 is input to the priority deciding unit 10. While this signal I includes other-ship information including navigation information and ship static information concerning each of other ships arranged as a sequence of information elements, the order of this sequence has no particular meaning and is merely based on the order in which the notification information acquiring unit 72 of the ship identification apparatus 7 acquired the ship information signals from a plurality of other ships.
Fig. 2 shows a structure of the other-ship information included in the signal input to the priority deciding unit 10. Specifically, the identification number, the position represented by latitude and longitude, the bearing obtained when the direction of the own ship's bow is 0°, the distance from the own ship, the ground speed, the course obtained when the north direction is set to 0°, and the ship's name are arranged in a sequence. In Fig. 2, a series of information items from the identification number to the ship's name which are listed in a line are designated collectively as one information element. Here, the other-ship information may also include other ship static information such as the cargo type, the destination port, the expected arrive time, and so on.
The priority deciding unit 10 stores the other-ship information concerning other ships in the predetermined number (n), and arranges, in a sequence, the information elements of the other-ship information concerning the n ships which are stored in descending order of probability of approaching the own ship. Here, the following four methods of arrangement are conceivable:

(1) A current time point distance arranging method in which the information elements are arranged in ascending order of distance from the own ship at the current point in time;
(2) A distance after designated time arranging method in which the distance from the own ship at a time which is a time t₂ designated by the operator after the current time is calculated and the information elements are arranged in ascending order of the calculated distance;
(3) An approaching speed arranging method in which the speed vectors of the own ship and other ships are calculated to thereby calculate the approaching speeds and the information elements are arranged in descending order of the approaching speed; and
(4) A track arranging method in which linear tracks to be drawn by the own ship and other ships from the current time to a time which is a time t₄ designated by the operator after the current time are calculated, and the information elements are arranged in the order in which the information element of a ship with the linear track having a closer distance to that of the own ship comes first. Here, the distance between the two tracks is defined as a distance between points on the respective tracks at a time when the two linear tracks are expected to be closest to each other.

All the arranging methods (1) to (4) described above are considered to arrange the information elements in descending order of probability of approaching the own ship, and any appropriate method is selected by the operator depending on the situation. Specifically, when a command is input by the operator through a key entering unit 36, the control unit 40 performs operation setting for the priority deciding unit 10. Further, the times t₂ and t₄ are set by previously storing them in a storage unit 38 by the operator via the key entering unit 36 and the control unit 40 and then reading them out by the control unit 40 to control the priority deciding unit 10. In the following description, a case where the current time point distance arranging method is selected will be described.
The priority deciding unit 10 particularly notes the information concerning the distance from the own ship among the information elements of the other-ship information concerning the n ships and arranges the information elements in the order of increasing distance. The other-ship information which is thus arranged in a sequence is then input to a display unit 28 and a ship selecting unit 12. Consequently, the result of arrangement is displayed on the display unit 28 as shown in Fig. 3, and at the same time, the ship call-up radio apparatus 1 is placed in a key entry waiting state for selecting a ship from the displayed arrangement result. The display unit 28 displays, in "calling key" boxes, key entry numbers for enabling selection of a ship to be called up from among the displayed ships. These numbers are allocated by the priority deciding unit 10 at the time of deciding the sequence.
When the operator determines that the ship having the identification number "554647848" has a high probability of collision based on the display of the display unit 28, the operator inputs a key "1" indicated in the corresponding "calling key" box through the key entering unit 36, so that the ship selecting unit 12 selects the information element corresponding to the ship having the identification number "564647848" and inputs the information element in the call-up signal generating unit 14. This operation is performed under control of the control unit 40 to control the ship selecting unit 12 based on the information input to the key entering unit 36 by the operator.
Upon depression of the key indicated in the "calling key" box by the operator, display representing a working channel entry waiting state is displayed in the display unit 28, so that the ship call-up radio apparatus 1 is placed in a state where information W for determining the working channel can be input in the call-up signal generating unit 14 via the key entering unit 36 and the control unit 40. Here, the working channel refers to a frequency channel for proceeding with radio communication after the other ship is called up and the ships recognize each other. The information W for determining the working channel is input to the call-up signal generating unit 14 by further inputting the working channel by the operator after depression of the key indicated in the "calling key" box. Here, in place of the structure in which the working channel is input through keys, a structure in which the control unit 40 automatically reads out information for determining the radio channel which is previously allocated as the working channel from the storage unit 38 and inputs the information in the call-up signal generating unit 14 may be employed.
The call-up signal generating unit 14 generates a call-up signal A based on the information element which is input, the ship static information of the own ship previously stored in the ship static information storage unit 26, and the information W for deciding the working channel. Here, the call-up signal A, which is a signal to be used for calling up another ship via radio communication, refers to a signal including information concerning the identification number of the ship to be called up and the identification number of the own ship and information concerning the working channel to be used after the calling up. The call-up signal A can further include arbitrary ship static information such as names of the ship to be called up and of the own ship, and so on.
The call-up signal generating unit 14 generates a call-up signal A from the ship static information of the ship to be called up such as the identification information thereof extracted from the information element which is input, the ship static information of the own ship such as the identification number acquired from the ship static information storage unit 26, and the information W for deciding the working channel which is designated by the control unit 40, and inputs the call-up signal A to the radio communication unit 30. The radio communication unit 30 converts the call-up signal A which is input into a signal whose carriers have been modulated, further converts the signal into a signal having a radio frequency band and amplifies it, and then transmits the resultant signal via an antenna 16. Here, the call-up signal generating unit 14 has previously input information concerning the calling channel in the channel control unit 24, which controls the radio communication unit 30 such that the call-up signal A is transmitted on the calling channel. The call-up signal A transmitted from the antenna 16 as an electromagnetic wave is received by the ship call-up radio apparatus 1 mounted in a plurality of other ships.
Here, the call-up signal generating unit 14 has input the information included in the call-up signal A in the display unit 28, which indicates the display as shown in Fig. 4 at the time of transmitting the call-up signal A. While the display content of Fig. 4 includes the calling channel, the identification number of the ship to be called up, and the working channel, it is also possible to display ship static information of the ship to be called up other than the identification number.
The call-up signal generating unit 14 has further input the information W for deciding the working channel in the channel control unit 24. Consequently, the channel control unit 24 can control the receiving frequency of the radio communication unit 30 at predetermined timing such that, after the call-up signal A is transmitted, response communication by the operator of the ship which is called up is performed on the working channel.
The radio communication unit 30 receives, via the antenna 16, a signal in accordance with a response from the operator of the ship which is called up, and informs the operator of the ship call-up radio apparatus 1 of the response through a speaker 32. Hereinafter, communication through conversation between the operator of the ship call-up radio apparatus 1 and the operator of the ship which is called up is performed through a receiver 34. While in the present embodiment, communication via the radio communication unit 30 is audio communication through the receiver 34 and the speaker 32, general data communication using facsimile data, image data, and so on can also be performed.
Next, the operation performed when the ship call-up radio apparatus 1 is called up will be described. A watchkeeping receiver unit 22, which is continuously receiving the call-up signals A transmitted from the ship call-up radio apparatuses mounted in other ships via the antenna 20, extracts the identification number from the call-up signal A which is received. Specifically, the watchkeeping receiver unit 22 amplifies the call-up signal A received at the antenna 20 for frequency conversion, and further demodulates the signal so as to extract the identification number. The watchkeeping receiver unit 22 then compares the identification number thus extracted with the identification number of the own ship stored in the ship static information storage unit 26 to determine whether or not the own ship is being called up.
If it is recognized by the watchkeeping receiver unit 22 that the own ship has been called up, the information included in the called-up signal A which is received is input to the display unit 28, which then indicates display representing the fact that the own ship has been called up by another ship, as shown in Fig. 5, for example. While the display content of Fig. 5 includes the calling channel, the identification number of the calling ship, the name of the calling ship, and the working channel, it is also possible to display ship static information of the calling ship other than the identification number.
The ship call-up radio apparatus 1 performs display indicating that the own ship has been called up by another ship by the display unit 28, and, at the same time, is placed in a state where radio communication with the calling ship is enabled. More specifically, the ship call-up radio apparatus 1, on the basis of the information W for deciding the working channel extracted from the call-up signal A which is received, performs operation processing such as setting the frequency channel of the radio communication unit 30 to the working channel, and so on. Here, setting of the frequency channel of the radio communication unit 30 is performed under the control of the channel control unit 24. Once the operation processing described above is completed, the operator of the ship which is called up is allowed to perform communication for responding to the operator of the calling ship via the receiver 34. Hereinafter, communication through conversation between the operator of the calling ship and the operator of the ship call-up radio apparatus is to be performed through the receiver 34.
As described above, with the ship call-up radio apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment shown in Fig. 1, decision concerning probability of ship collision is left completely to the discretion of the operator, who makes a decision in accordance with the display shown in Fig. 3 and so on. With this structure, however, the operator must bear a heavy burden in anticipating the collision risk, which may result in a collision accident caused by human error. In order to deal with this defect, a ship call-up radio apparatus 3 according to a second embodiment shown in Fig. 6 is provided with a means for automatically performing hazard anticipation. In Fig. 6, elements identical with those in the ship call-up radio apparatus 1 shown in Fig. 1 are denoted by the same numerals and will not described again.
The other-ship information in which the sequence of the information elements has been decided by the sequence decision unit 10 is input to the display unit 28 and the ship selection unit 12. Consequently, the arrangement result is displayed in the display unit 28, as shown in Fig. 3. On the other hand, the other-ship information signal I has also been input to a hazard anticipation unit 50, as in the priority deciding unit 10. The hazard anticipation unit 50 stores other-ship information concerning ships in the predetermined number (n), and arranges information elements of the other-ship information concerning the n ships which are stored in the descending order of probabilities of approaching the own ship. Here, the methods of arrangement including (1) the current time point distance arranging method, (2) the distance after designated time arranging method, (3) the approaching speed arranging method, and (4) the ship track arranging method, as described above, are conceivable. It is here assumed that the hazard anticipation unit 50 performs hazard anticipation by using the above sequence deciding methods (1) to (4).
The hazard anticipation unit 50 defines the probability of approach, i.e., the degree of hazard, with numeral values 1 to n, in which the higher the numeral value, the greater the degree of hazard. The hazard anticipation unit 50 decides the sequence of the information elements concerning each of the methods (1) to (4) described above, and assigns the degree of hazard to the information element corresponding to each ship.
The hazard anticipation unit 50 then calculates, for each information element, a weighted average value based on the four degrees of hazard assigned in the four arrangement methods (1) to (4) described above. Here, it is preferable to configure that the weight of each arrangement method for use in the weighted average calculation is previously stored in the storage unit 38 via the key entering unit 36, so that the control unit 40 then reads out the weight for setting. The hazard anticipation unit 50 then arranges the information elements in the descending order of the weighed average values calculated based on the four degrees of hazard. The resulting arrangement is preferably displayed in the display unit 28.
With regard to the information element having the greatest weighted average value of the four degrees of hazard, hazard determination is further performed. In the hazard determination, when an information item in the information element which can be used for deciding possibilities of hazard, such as the distance from the own ship, satisfies a predetermined hazard condition, the ship corresponding to the identification number included in that information element is determined to have a probability of collision. Here, it is preferable to configure that the predetermined hazard condition such as that the distance from the own ship is 200m or less, for example, is previously stored by the operator in the storage unit 38 via the key entering unit 36 and the control unit 40, so that the control unit 40 can read out the hazard condition for setting.
If a certain ship is determined to have a probability of collision by the hazard determination, the hazard anticipation unit 50 inputs the information element corresponding the ship thus determined in a warning unit 52, the display unit 28, and the ship selecting unit 12. The warning unit 52 issues a warning, through a warning sound or voice guidance, that the ship corresponding to the identification number included in the input information element has a probability of collision. Further, the display unit 28 displays indication that the ship corresponding to the identification number included in the input information element has a probability of collision and therefore that a call-up signal A is to be automatically transmitted to the ship. In addition, the ship selecting unit 12 selects the information element corresponding to the ship with the identification number included in the input information element and then inputs the information element in the call-up signal generating unit 14.
It should be noted that until the probability of collision is determined by the hazard determination, the ship call-up radio apparatus 3 is in a key entry waiting state for selecting a ship based on the arrangement result displayed in the display unit 28. In the key entry waiting state, operation processing in which a key in the "calling key" box is depressed and a call-up signal A is transmitted through input of the working channel is given priority with respect to the hazard determination by the hazard anticipation unit 50. Further, it is also possible to configure that, even after determination concerning the probability of collision is made by the hazard determination, the hazard anticipation by the hazard anticipation unit 50 is suspended when the key indicated in the "calling key" box is depressed and the working channel is input, and interrupt processing for transmitting a call-up signal A based on the depression of the key indicated in the "calling key" box and input of the working channel is preferentially performed. By enabling the results of the arrangement methods (1) to (4) described above or the arrangement results due to the weighted average values based on the four degrees of hazard to be displayed on the display unit 28, the operator can select a ship to be called up based on either of the arrangement results.
The operation processing in which the call-up signal generating unit 14 generates a call-up signal A based on the information element which is input, the ship static information of the own ship which is previously stored in the ship static information storage unit 26, and the information concerning the working channel, and calls up the other ship is similar to that of the ship call-up radio apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment. In the second embodiment, however, when transmitting a call-up signal A based on the hazard anticipation, the information W for deciding the predetermined working channel is automatically read from the storage unit 38 by the control unit 40 and is input to the call-up signal generating unit 14.
With the ship call-up radio apparatus 3, a ship with a probability of collision is detected by the hazard anticipation unit 50 and a call-up signal A is automatically transmitted to the ship, so that a collision accident caused by human error can be prevented.
According to the present invention, because information elements of the other-ship information can be arranged in a sequence as information suitable for calling up the other ship and then used, a ship to be called up can be called up immediately.

Claims

A ship call-up apparatus which is mounted in a ship for calling up other ships via radio communication, comprising:
a call-up signal transmitting unit for transmitting a call-up signal including identification information of another ship to be called up;

a priority deciding unit for acquiring, with regard to each of a plurality of other ships, other-ship information including identification information and navigation information arranged in a sequence as an information element and deciding a sequence of information elements of the other-ship information in descending order of probability of approaching a ship in which the ship call-up apparatus is mounted;

a ship selecting unit for selecting another ship to be called up based on the sequence decided by the priority deciding unit; and

a call-up signal generating unit for generating the call-up signal including the identification information of another ship selected by the ship selecting unit,
wherein the call-up signal which is generated by the call-up signal generating unit is transmitted by the call-up signal transmitting unit.
The ship call-up apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein
the priority deciding unit acquires the other-ship information from an other-ship information generating apparatus which outputs the other-ship information,
the other-ship information generating apparatus including:
a notification information receiving unit for receiving, in a ship information notification system in which each of a plurality of ships transmits for notification a signal including its own identification information and navigation information, identification information and navigation information concerning each of the plurality of ships; and

an other-ship information output unit for generating and outputting the other-ship information based on the information received by the notification information receiving unit.
The ship call-up apparatus according to Claim 1 or 2, further comprising:
a hazard anticipation unit for deciding the sequence of the information elements of the other-ship information in descending order of probability of collision with a ship in which the ship call-up apparatus is mounted,
wherein
the ship selecting unit selects a ship having a high probability of collision with the ship in which the ship call-up apparatus is mounted based on the sequence decided by the hazard anticipation unit, and also issues a warning that the ship which is selected has a high probability of collision.
The ship call-up apparatus according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein
the ship selecting unit includes:
a display unit for displaying the sequence of the information elements decided by the priority deciding unit; and

selection means for allowing an operator of the ship call-up apparatus to select another ship to be called up.