Patent Publication Number: US-2022225458-A1

Title: Control system, mobile object, control method, and computer-readable storage medium

Description:
The contents of the following Japanese patent application(s) are incorporated herein by reference:
         NO. 2021-003339 filed on Jan. 13, 2021.       

     BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present invention relates to a control system, a mobile object, a control method, and a computer-readable storage medium. 
     2. Related Art 
     Patent document 1 discloses a technique regarding bearer establishment between a mobile communications device (UE) and a wireless communications base station apparatus, which is an evolved node B (eNB). 
     PRIOR ART DOCUMENTS 
     Patent Documents 
     
         
         Patent document 1: Japanese patent application publication No. 2009-246772. 
       
    
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  schematically illustrates a communications environment of a vehicle  20  according to an embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  schematically illustrates a system configuration of a control system  200 . 
         FIG. 3  schematically illustrates a processing sequence regarding attachment processing to a mobile communications network  10 . 
         FIG. 4  schematically illustrates a processing sequence regarding attachment processing to the mobile communications network  10 . 
         FIG. 5  is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary processing procedure regarding attachment processing by the control system  200 . 
         FIG. 6  illustrates a data configuration of vehicle data collected and stored by an ECU  220 . 
         FIG. 7  illustrates an exemplary computer  2000 . 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS 
     The present invention will now be described using embodiments of the invention. The following embodiments are not to limit the present invention according to the appended claims. All combinations of features described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential to solutions provided by the present invention. 
       FIG. 1  schematically illustrates a communications environment of a vehicle  20  according to an embodiment. The vehicle  20  includes a control system  200 . The control system  200  controls the vehicle  20 , communicates with a mobile communications network  10 , and communicates with an external device  70  via the mobile communications network  10  and a communications network  90 . The communications network  90  may include an IP network such as the Internet, a P2P network, a dedicated line including a VPN, and a virtual network. 
     In this embodiment, an LTE network will be given as an example of the mobile communications network  10 . The mobile communications network  10  includes an eNB  11 , an MME  12 , and an HSS  13 . The eNB  11  is an evolved node B (a wireless base station). The eNB  11  controls wireless communications with user equipment (UE) including the control system  200 . The MME  12  is a mobility management entity. The MME  12  constitutes part of a core network in the mobile communications network  10 . The MME  12  contains the eNB  11  and performs position registration, paging, movement control such as handover, and bearer establishment and deletion. The MME  12  also performs user authentication in cooperation with the HSS  13 . The HSS  13  is a home subscriber server and manages, as subscriber information, position information such as within-range information, user contract information, authentication information and the like of a mobile communications device. The mobile communications network  10  is connected to the communications network  90  via a serving gateway (S-GW) and a packet data network gateway (P-GW) that constitute part of the core network. 
     In the vehicle  20 , the control system  200  controls the vehicle  20  and transmits vehicle data including position information of the vehicle  20  and state information of the vehicle  20  to the external device  70  via the mobile communications network  10  and the communications network  90 . The external device  70  stores the vehicle data received from the control system  200 . 
     When an ignition (IG) power source of the vehicle  20  is turned on, for example, the control system  200  requests position registration from the eNB  11  so as to perform attachment to the mobile communications network  10 . Based on authentication information notified by the HSS  13 , the MME  12  performs user authentication and determines whether to perform position registration. When the user authentication ends unsuccessfully, the MME  12  transmits a position registration rejection signal to the control system  200  via the eNB  11  as rejection information of rejecting the attachment to the mobile communications network  10 . 
     Upon receiving the rejection information from the eNB  11 , the control system  200  notifies a vehicle controller for controlling the vehicle  20  that the attachment has been rejected. When notified that the attachment has been rejected, the vehicle controller of the control system  200  controls the vehicle  20  in an operation mode predetermined for a case of rejection of the attachment. For example, the vehicle controller of the control system  200  controls the vehicle  20  in an operation mode for disallowing mobile communications. In one example, the vehicle controller of the control system  200  switches a wireless communications mode for communications with an outside to a short-distance wireless communications mode such as wireless LAN or Bluetooth (registered trademark). 
     Upon receiving the rejection information from the eNB  11 , the vehicle controller of the control system  200  sets a value indicating “rejected” at an acceptance flag as internal information. The vehicle controller of the control system  200  stores the vehicle data concerning the vehicle  20  in association with the acceptance flag. When the vehicle data associated with the acceptance flag indicating “rejected” is transmitted to the external device  70 , the vehicle controller of the control system  200  masks a predetermined kind of data among the vehicle data and transmits the same to the external device  70 . In one example, the vehicle controller of the control system  200  masks data concerning an individual associated with the vehicle  20 , such as position information of the vehicle  20 , and transmits the same to the external device  70 . 
     With the control system  200 , the vehicle controller of the control system  200  can refer to user authentication rejection information in the mobile communications network  10  to control the vehicle  20  and manage the vehicle data. 
       FIG. 2  schematically illustrates a system configuration of the control system  200 . The control system  200  includes a TCU  210 , a GW  202 , and ECUs  220 ,  230 ,  240 , and  250 . 
     The GW  202  and the ECUs  220 ,  230 ,  240 , and  250  are electronic control units. Each of the GW  202  and the ECUs  220 ,  230 ,  240 , and  250  serves as the vehicle controller for controlling the vehicle  20 . 
     The TCU  210  is a telematics control unit. The TCU  210  communicates at least with the mobile communications network  10 . The TCU  210  is an example of the communications controller for controlling mobile communications via the mobile communications network  10 . 
     The TCU  210 , and the ECUs  220 ,  230 ,  240 , and  250  are connected to the GW  202  via at least one in-vehicle communications line  280 . The TCU  210 , and the ECUs  220 ,  230 ,  240 , and  250  are connected to the in-vehicle communications line  280 , and communicate mutually via the in-vehicle communications line  280  and the GW  202 . The GW  202  comprehensively controls the TCU  210 , and the ECUs  220 ,  230 ,  240 , and  250 . The in-vehicle communications line  280  may be configured to include a controller area network (CAN) and Ethernet. The in-vehicle communications line  280  is an example of a network inside the vehicle  20 . 
     Each of the GW  202  and the ECUs  220 ,  230 ,  240 , and  250  controls various kinds of devices of the vehicle  20 . The devices controlled by the GW  202  and the ECUs  220 ,  230 ,  240 , and  250  include vehicle drive devices such as an engine or a motor of the vehicle  20 , a battery of the vehicle  20 , an advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) of the vehicle  20 , and various kinds of auxiliary devices of the vehicle  20 . It is noted that although the four ECUs  220 ,  230 ,  240 , and  250  are provided as an example according to this embodiment, the ECUs of the vehicle  20  are not to be limited to the example in this embodiment. The system configuration of the control system  200  is also not to be limited to the example in this embodiment. 
     As the present embodiment, a case where, when the attachment to the mobile communications network  10  is rejected, the TCU  210  notifies the ECU  220  that the attachment has been rejected will be described. With the TCU  210  and the ECU  220  being connected via a connection communications network, the TCU  210  may notify the ECU  220  that the attachment has been rejected using a connection message. It is noted that the TCU  210  may notify at least one of the ECUs  230 ,  240 , and  250  other than the ECU  220  that the attachment has been rejected. 
     The TCU  210  requests the attachment to the mobile communications network  10 , and when rejection information of the attachment to the mobile communications network  10  having been rejected is acquired, the TCU  210  notifies the ECU  220  that the attachment has been rejected. Specifically, the TCU  210  transmits a position registration request signal to the mobile communications network  10 , and when a position registration rejection message is received in return for the position registration request signal transmitted to the mobile communications network  10 , the TCU  210  notifies the ECU  220  that the attachment has been rejected. 
     When the rejection information is acquired, on condition that a rejection reason of the attachment is a predetermined value indicating that subscriber information could not be authenticated, the TCU  210  may notify the ECU  220  that the attachment has been rejected. 
     For example, when a predetermined cause value is received from the mobile communications network  10  as the predetermined value, the TCU  210  may notify the ECU  220 . 
     When the rejection information is acquired, on condition that a reason for rejecting the attachment is the predetermined value indicating that subscriber information could not be authenticated, the TCU  210  may notify the ECU  220  that the attachment has been rejected and stop transmitting a random access preamble (RAM). 
     When the rejection information is acquired, on condition that a rejection reason of the attachment is the predetermined value indicating that subscriber information could not be authenticated, the TCU  210  switches a communications mode with the outside to a predetermined wireless communications mode different from mobile communications. 
     When notified by the TCU  210  that the attachment has been rejected, the ECU  220  switches to a predetermined control mode associated with communications by the predetermined wireless communications mode. 
     The predetermined wireless communications mode may be wireless LAN. 
     When notified by the TCU  210  that the attachment has been rejected, the ECU  220  may output, in association with the information indicating that the attachment has been rejected, information concerning the vehicle  20  collected by the ECU  220 . When notified by the TCU  210  that the attachment has been rejected, the ECU  220  may mask a predetermined kind of information among information transmitted to the outside. 
     As an example of the predetermined kind of information thus masked, position information of the vehicle  20  may be given. When notified by the TCU  210  that the attachment has been rejected, the ECU  220  manages information concerning control conditions of the vehicle  20  collected by the ECU  220  to be distinguished from a case where the attachment is processed normally. For example, when notified by the TCU  210  that the attachment has been rejected, the ECU  220  may store or control to cause another storage medium to store information concerning the vehicle  20  collected during a period in which the attachment is being rejected, in particular, information concerning control states of the vehicle  20  that is exchanged in the communications network of the vehicle  20  so that the information can be distinguished from information collected during a period in which the attachment is being processed normally. The information concerning the vehicle  20  that has been collected during a period in which the attachment is being rejected may be handled as unauthenticated period information. 
       FIG. 3  schematically illustrates a processing sequence regarding attachment processing to the mobile communications network  10 .  FIG. 3  illustrates a processing sequence when attachment is accepted in the attachment processing. The processing sequence in  FIG. 3  is performed when the IG power source of the vehicle  20  is turned on and when a power source of the TCU  210  is switched from an off state to an on state. The processing sequence in  FIG. 3  may be also performed when a SIM-valid contract term of the TCU  210  expires. 
     At S 302 , the TCU  210  transmits RRC connection request to the eNB  11  and requests wireless resource connection. At S 304 , the eNB  11  transmits RRC connection setup to the TCU  210  and notifies initial setting information designating a channel used for communications, for example. At S 306 , the TCU  210  transmits RRC connection setup complete to the eNB  11  and notifies that setting of the channel used for communications has been completed. At S 308 , the eNB  11  transmits RRC connection reconfiguration to the TCU  210  and requests reconfiguration of RRC connection. 
     Next, at S 310 , the TCU  210  transmits a position registration request to the eNB  11 . The position registration request includes subscriber information such as international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) read from SIM information set in the TCU  210 . At S 312 , the eNB  11  transmits the position registration request to the MME  12 . Upon receiving the position registration request, the MME  12  uses terminal identification information in the mobile communications network  10  to perform authentication and position registration in cooperation with the HSS  13 , and when the position registration is completed, the MME  12  at S 314  transmits a position registration response as a position registration completion signal (attach accept) to the eNB  11 . At S 316 , the eNB  11  transmits the position registration response transmitted from the MME  12  to the TCU  210 . 
     Upon receiving the position registration response indicating that the position registration has been completed from the eNB  11 , the TCU  210  at S 318  outputs an attachment acceptance notification notifying that the attachment has been accepted, to the ECU  220 . At S 320 , the ECU  220  sets a predetermined value such as 1 indicating “accepted” at the acceptance flag as an internal variable and outputs acknowledgement of the attachment acceptance notification to the TCU  210  at S 322 . 
       FIG. 4  schematically illustrates a processing sequence regarding attachment processing to the mobile communications network  10 .  FIG. 4  illustrates a processing sequence when attachment to the mobile communications network  10  is rejected. Since the processing at S 402  to S 412  in  FIG. 4  is the same as the processing at S 302  to S 312 , the processing at S 402  to S 412  will not be repeatedly elaborated. 
     Upon receiving a position registration request at S 412 , the MME  12  uses the user identification information and attempts authentication in cooperation with the HSS  13 . When the authentication ends unsuccessfully, the MME  12  at S 414  transmits position registration rejection in the form of a position registration rejection signal (attach reject) to the eNB  11 . The position registration rejection includes a cause value which is a value indicating a cause of rejecting the position registration. For example, when the position registration is rejected because the user holds no contract, the position registration rejection includes a specific cause value indicating that the user holds no contract. The specific cause value indicating that the user holds no contract includes “IMSI unknown in HSS. 
     At S 416 , the eNB  11  transmits the position registration rejection transmitted from the MME  12  to the TCU  210 . When cause value included in the position registration rejection received from the eNB  11  includes a specific value, the TCU  210  at S 418  transmits an attachment rejection notification notifying that the attachment has been rejected, to the ECU  220 . At S 420 , the ECU  220  sets a predetermined value such as 0 indicating “rejected” at the acceptance flag as the internal variable and transmits acknowledgement of the attachment rejection notification to the TCU  210  at S 422 . 
     At S 424 , the TCU  210  and the ECU  220  switch to operation modes at the time of attachment rejection. For example, the TCU  210  may switch a wireless communications mode with the outside to a communications mode using wireless LAN or Bluetooth (registered trademark). The TCU  210  may disallow communications with the outside via the mobile communications network  10  for a predetermined period of time. The ECU  220  may operate in an operation mode for a case where the mobile communications network  10  is disallowed. For example, the ECU  220  may disable a communications route using the mobile communications network  10  and enable a communications route using wireless LAN or Bluetooth (registered trademark). The TCU  210  may disallow attempt of the attachment to the mobile communications network  10  until a next start-up of the vehicle  20 . The TCU  210  may stop transmitting a random access channel (RACH) to the mobile communications network  10 . Thus, the vehicle  20  can be prevented from useless communications via the mobile communications network  10  so as to reduce power consumption by the vehicle  20 . The vehicle  20  can be also prevented from useless attachment request to the mobile communications network  10  so as to prevent degradation of radio-wave environment of the mobile communications network  10 . 
       FIG. 5  is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary processing procedure regarding attachment processing by the control system  200 . The processing of the flowchart in  FIG. 5  is performed when the power source of the TCU  210  is switched from an off state to an on state. The processing of the flowchart in  FIG. 5  may be also performed when the SIM-valid contract term of the TCU  210  expires. At S 502 , the TCU  210  starts the attachment processing to the mobile communications network  10 . For example, the TCU  210  performs processing described in relation to the processing at S 302  to S 312  in  FIG. 3  and the processing at S 402  to S 412  in  FIG. 4 . 
     At S 504 , the TCU  210  determines whether the attachment has been accepted. For example, when the position registration response described with reference to  FIG. 3  is received from the eNB  11 , the TCU  210  determines that the attachment has been accepted, and when the position registration rejection described with reference to  FIG. 4  is received from the eNB  11 , the TCU  210  determines that the attachment has been rejected. When the attachment is accepted, the TCU  210  at S 506  outputs an attachment acceptance notification to the ECU  220 . At S 508 , the ECU  220  sets a value indicating “accepted” at the acceptance flag and outputs acknowledgement to the TCU  210 . 
     When it is determined at S 504  that the attachment has been rejected, the TCU  210  at S 510  judges the cause value included in the position registration rejection. When the cause value is a value indicating that “the user holds no contract,” the TCU  210  at S 512  outputs an attachment rejection notification to the ECU  220 . At S 514 , the ECU  220  sets a value indicating “rejected” at the acceptance flag and outputs acknowledgement to the TCU  210 . At S 516 , the TCU  210  and the ECU  220  set operation modes at the time of attachment rejection. 
       FIG. 6  illustrates a data configuration of vehicle data collected and stored by the ECU  220 . The ECU  220  stores dates and time, vehicle information, and the acceptance flag in association with one another. The “vehicle information” contains position information of the vehicle  20  and state information of the vehicle  20 . As an example of the state information of the vehicle  20 , a state of charge of a battery aboard the vehicle  20  may be given. 
     The “acceptance flag” contains values set at the acceptance flag as the internal variable of the ECU  220 . In  FIG. 6 , “1” indicates that the attachment has been accepted, and “0” indicates that the attachment has been rejected. 
     When the vehicle data is transmitted to the external device  70 , the ECU  220  may mask a specific kind of information among the vehicle information and transmit the same to the external device  70 . For example, among the vehicle information, the ECU  220  may mask the position information of the vehicle  20  and transmit the same to the external device  70 . For example, among the vehicle information, the ECU  220  may set the position information of the vehicle  20  at a null value and transmit the same to the external device  70 . In another example, among the vehicle information, the ECU  220  may delete the position information of the vehicle  20  and transmit the same to the external device  70 . It is noted that the ECU  220  may transmit vehicle data including the acceptance flag to the external device  70 . When the vehicle data including the acceptance flag is received, the external device  70  may mask and store a specific kind of information among the vehicle information associated with the acceptance flag “0”. It is noted that when vehicle data is output to a freely selected external device, the ECU  220  may mask and output a specific kind of information among the vehicle information. For example, when vehicle data is output to a diagnostic tester connected to a diagnostic port of the vehicle  20 , the ECU  220  may mask and output a specific kind of information among the vehicle information associated with the acceptance flag “0”. 
     According to the described embodiment, the TCU  210  and the ECU  220  can gain access to contract information in the mobile communications network  10 . This enables the TCU  210  and the ECU  220  to recognize a state of a user holding no contract and control operations with respect to the mobile communications network  10 . 
       FIG. 7  illustrates an exemplary computer  2000  wholly or partly implementable according to a plurality of embodiments of the present invention. A program installed in the computer  2000  can cause the computer  2000  to function as an apparatus such as an information processor according to the embodiments or as each unit of the apparatus, to perform operations associated with the apparatus or each unit of the apparatus, and/or to perform a process according to the embodiments or steps of the process. Such a program may be executed by the CPU  2012  so as to cause the computer  2000  to perform specific operations in association with a processing procedure described in this specification or some or all of the blocks in the block diagram. 
     The computer  2000  according to this embodiment includes the CPU  2012  and a RAM  2014 , which are connected to each other with a host controller  2010 . The computer  2000  also includes a ROM  2026 , a flash memory  2024 , a communications interface  2022 , and an input/output chip  2040 . The ROM  2026 , the flash memory  2024 , the communications interface  2022 , and the input/output chip  2040  are connected to the host controller  2010  via an input/output controller  2020 . 
     The CPU  2012  operates in accordance with programs stored in the ROM  2026  and the RAM  2014  and controls each unit based on the programs. 
     The communications interface  2022  communicates with other electronic devices via a network. The flash memory  2024  stores programs and data used by the CPU  2012  in the computer  2000 . The ROM  2026  stores a boot program executed by the computer  2000  upon activation and/or programs dependent on hardware of the computer  2000 . The input/output chip  2040  may connect various input/output units, such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a monitor, to the input/output controller  2020  via input/output ports, such as a serial port, a parallel port, a keyboard port, a mouse port, a monitor port, a USB port, and an HDMI (registered trademark) port. 
     Programs are provided through computer-readable storage media, such as a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, or a memory card, or via a network. The RAM  2014 , the ROM  2026 , and the flash memory  2024  are examples of the computer-readable storage media. The programs are installed in the flash memory  2024 , the RAM  2014 , and the ROM  2026 , and executed by the CPU  2012 . Information processing written in these programs is read by the computer  2000  and provides cooperation between the programs and various kinds of hardware resources described above. An apparatus or a method may be configured by operations or processing of information in accordance with use of the computer  2000 . 
     For example, when the computer  2000  and an external device communicate with each other, the CPU  2012  may execute a communications program loaded in the RAM  2014  and instruct communications processing to the communications interface  2022  based on processing written in the communications program. Under control of the CPU  2012 , the communications interface  2022  reads transmission data stored in a transmission buffer processing region provided in a recording medium, such as the RAM  2014  and the flash memory  2024 , transmits the read transmission data to a network, and writes reception data received from the network in a reception buffer processing region provided in the recording medium. 
     The CPU  2012  may cause the RAM  2014  to read a whole or a required part of a file or a database stored in a recording medium such as the flash memory  2024 , and may subject the data in the RAM  2014  to various kinds of processing. Next, the CPU  2012  writes back the processed data in the recording medium. 
     Various types of programs, and various types of information, such as data, tables, and databases, may be stored in the recording medium and subjected to information processing. The CPU  2012  may subject the data read from the RAM  2014  to various kinds of operations described in this specification and designated by an instruction sequence of a program, and various kinds of processing including information processing, condition determination, conditioned divergence, unconditioned divergence, and information search/replacement. The CPU  2012  writes back a result on the RAM  2014 . The CPU  2012  may search information in a file and a database in the recording medium. For example, when the recording medium stores a plurality of entries including attribute values of a first attribute, each of which is associated with an attribute value of a second attribute, the CPU  2012  may search an entry that is designated by the attribute value of the first attribute and that accords with a condition among the plurality of entries. The CPU  2012  may read an attribute value of the second attribute stored in the entry so as to acquire the attribute value of the second attribute associated with the first attribute that satisfies the predetermined condition. 
     The described program or software module may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium in the computer  2000  or in the vicinity of the computer  2000 . A recording medium, such as a hard disk or a RAM, provided in a server system connected to a dedicated communications network or the Internet may be employed as the computer-readable storage medium. A program stored in the computer-readable storage medium may be provided for the computer  2000  via a network. 
     The programs, which are installed in the computer  2000  and cause the computer  2000  to function as the control system  200 , may operate the CPU  2012  to cause the computer  2000  to function as each unit of the control system  200 . The information processing written in these programs is read by the computer  2000  so as to function as each unit of the control system  200 , which is a specific measure of cooperation of software with the described various kinds of hardware resources. Such specific measures calculate or process information in accordance with an intended purpose of the computer  2000  according to this embodiment, thus configuring the control system  200  peculiar to the intended purpose. 
     Various embodiments have been described with reference to the block diagram and other drawings. Each block in the block diagram may refer to 1) a process step where an operation is performed or 2) each unit of an apparatus serving to perform the operation. A specific step and each unit may be provided with a dedicated circuit, a programmable circuit supplied with a computer-readable instruction stored on the computer-readable storage medium, and/or a processor supplied with the computer-readable instruction stored on the computer-readable storage medium. The dedicated circuit may include a digital and/or analog hardware circuit, and may include an integrated circuit (IC) and/or a discrete circuit. The programmable circuit may include a reconfigurable hardware circuit including logical AND, logical OR, logical XOR, logical NAND, logical NOR, and other logical operation circuit, and a memory element, such as a flip-flop, a register, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), and a programmable logic array (PLA). 
     The computer-readable storage medium may include a freely selected concrete device where an instruction executed by an appropriate device is storable. As a result, the computer-readable storage medium including the stored instruction constitutes at least part of a product including instructions that can be executed to provide measures for performing operations designated by the processing procedure or the block diagram. Examples of the computer-readable storage medium may include an electronic storage medium, a magnetic storage medium, an optical storage medium, an electromagnetic storage medium, and a semiconductor storage medium. More specific examples of the computer-readable storage medium may include a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a diskette, a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an electrically erasable read-only memory (EEPROM), a static random-access memory (SRAM), a compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital multi-purpose disk (DVD), a Blu-ray (registered trademark) disk, a memory stick, and an integrated circuit card. 
     The computer-readable instruction may include either a source code or an object code written in one or a freely selected combination of a plurality of programming languages including an assembler instruction, an instruction set architecture (ISA) instruction, a machine instruction, a machine-dependent instruction, a microcode, a firmware instruction, state setting data, an object-oriented programming language, such as Smalltalk (registered trademark), JAVA (registered trademark), and C++, and a conventional procedural language such as a “C” programming language or a similar programming language. 
     A computer-readable instruction may be provided for a processor or a programmable circuit of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus locally or via a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN) such as the Internet. The computer-readable instruction may be executed to provide measures for performing operations designated by the described processing procedure or the block diagram. Examples of the processor may include a computer processor, a processing unit, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor, a controller, and a microcontroller. 
     While the embodiments of the present invention have been described, the technical scope of the invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. It is apparent to persons skilled in the art that various alterations and improvements can be added to the above-described embodiments. It is also apparent from the scope of the claims that the embodiments added with such alterations or improvements can be included in the technical scope of the invention. 
     The operations, procedures, steps, and stages of each process performed by an apparatus, system, program, and method shown in the claims, embodiments, or diagrams can be performed in any order as long as the order is not indicated by “prior to,” “before,” or the like and as long as the output from a previous process is not used in a later process. Even if the process flow is described using phrases such as “first” or “next” in the claims, embodiments, or diagrams, it does not necessarily mean that the process must be performed in this order. 
     EXPLANATION OF REFERENCES 
     
         
           10 : mobile communications network 
           11 : eNB 
           12 : MME 
           13 : HSS 
           20 : vehicle 
           70 : external device 
           90 : communications network 
           200 : control system 
           202 : GW 
           210 : TCU 
           220 : ECU 
           230 : ECU 
           240 : ECU 
           250 : ECU 
           280 : in-vehicle communications line 
           2000 : computer 
           2010 : host computer 
           2012 : CPU 
           2014 : RAM 
           2020 : input/output controller 
           2022 : communications interface 
           2024 : flash memory 
           2026 : ROM 
           2040 : input/output chip