Patent ID: 7764194

Claim:
A vehicle-use communication apparatus, installed on a vehicle for operating within a traffic communication system wherein a signal lamp of a traffic light apparatus transmits, to vehicles, light which is modulated with a signal conveying information, and wherein said vehicle-use communication apparatus transmits said information to a following vehicle; said vehicle-use communication apparatus comprising a photo-receptive device for receiving said light emitted from said signal lamp and light which is emitted from a tail lamp of a preceding vehicle, demodulator circuitry for demodulating a signal which is conveyed by modulated light that is received by said photo-receptive device, notification means for notifying, to a driver of said vehicle on which said communication apparatus is installed, received information that is expressed by said signal obtained by demodulating said modulated light, and light emission control circuitry configured to modulate light emitted from a tail lamp of said vehicle on which said communication apparatus is installed, in accordance with said received information, for thereby transmitting said received information to a following vehicle; wherein said vehicle-use communication apparatus comprises; discrimination circuitry configured to distinguish between reception of modulated light emitted from said signal lamp and reception of modulated light emitted from said tail lamp of a preceding vehicle; and, control circuitry configured to control said notification means and said light emission control circuitry in accordance with results obtained by said discrimination circuitry, said control being applied whereby when modulated light is received by said photoreceptive device both from said signal lamp of a traffic light apparatus and from said tail lamp of a preceding vehicle, only information conveyed by said modulated light from said signal lamp is notified to said vehicle driver and transmitted to said following vehicle.