Patent ID: 8234057

Claim:
An inter-vehicle communication apparatus mounted to a subject vehicle, comprising: a transmission section configured to transmit information about the subject vehicle to a peripheral vehicle existing around the subject vehicle; a reception section configured to receive information about the peripheral vehicle from the peripheral vehicle; a detection section configured to identify the peripheral vehicle that satisfies a predetermined condition as a same directing peripheral vehicle based on the information about the peripheral vehicle, the predetermined condition including a first condition that the peripheral vehicle is traveling on a same road and in a same direction as the subject vehicle is traveling; a determination section configured to determine whether the subject vehicle is one of a lead vehicle and a tail vehicle in a group of vehicles, the group of vehicles including the subject vehicle and the same directing peripheral vehicle; and a transmission control section configured to control the transmission section in such manner that: when the determination section determines that the subject vehicle is one of the lead vehicle and the tail vehicle in the group of vehicles, the transmission control section causes the transmission section to transmit the information about the subject vehicle in a first cycle, the first cycle being shorter than a predetermined cycle; and when the determination section determines that the subject vehicle is neither the lead vehicle nor the tail vehicle in the group of vehicles, the transmission control section causes the transmission section to transmit the information about the subject vehicle in a second cycle, the second cycle being longer than the predetermined cycle.