JP2010239391A - Terminal position specifying system and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To specify the position of a mobile terminal with accuracy corresponding to practical use, without using a GPS function. <P>SOLUTION: In response to reception of a connection request wirelessly transmitted from a mobile terminal 30, a fixed terminal 10 notifies a processing terminal 20 about detection of the mobile terminal and in the processing terminal 20, among individual areas divided by overlapping of wireless communication areas, an individual area corresponding to one or more fixed terminals having detected the mobile terminal is specified in response to the notification of the mobile terminal detection from the fixed terminal. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a wireless communication technique, and more particularly to a technique for specifying the position of a mobile terminal based on a radio wave transmitted from the mobile terminal.

There is a GPS (Global Positioning System) function as a technique for specifying the position of a mobile terminal using radio waves. The GPS function specifies the position of the mobile terminal by receiving reference radio waves from three or more artificial satellites.
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a technique for controlling a communication operation in a mobile terminal by specifying the position of the mobile terminal using such a GPS function has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In this technology, when a mobile terminal that communicates wirelessly with a vehicle via Bluetooth (registered trademark) becomes distant from the parked car and communication becomes impossible, the parking position is determined by the GPS function of the mobile terminal. In addition, the wireless communication with the automobile is switched to the pause mode, and when the current position detected by the GPS function becomes equal to the original parking position, the wireless communication with the automobile is switched to the resume mode. Thereby, the power consumption of the mobile terminal is reduced, and the operation switching operation of the mobile terminal can be automated.

JP 2006-287644 A

However, in such a conventional technology, since the position of the mobile terminal is specified by the GPS function, the position specifying accuracy originally includes an error of more than a dozen meters, and the error becomes large depending on the radio wave condition. Since it cannot be used in places where the reference radio waves from artificial satellites do not reach, such as indoors and underground, there is a problem of low practicality. In particular, it is difficult to specify a parking position in a hierarchical building parking lot or an underground parking lot, or to specify a product sales place in a department store.
The present invention is intended to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a position specifying technique capable of specifying the position of a mobile terminal with accuracy according to practical use without using a GPS function.

  In order to achieve such an object, a terminal location specifying system according to the present invention includes a plurality of fixed terminals arranged so that parts of a wireless communication area overlap each other, a processing terminal that performs data communication with these fixed terminals, The fixed terminal notifies the processing terminal of the detection of the mobile terminal in its own wireless communication area in response to receiving the connection request wirelessly transmitted from the mobile terminal, and is notified from the processing terminal. A mobile terminal processing unit that wirelessly transmits position information of the mobile terminal to the mobile terminal, and the processing terminal is located in the individual area for each individual area divided by overlapping wireless communication areas. A storage unit that stores a list of fixed terminals that can detect a connection request from a terminal, and the area information according to a mobile terminal detection notification from the fixed terminal. Identify the individual areas corresponding to the fixed terminal that has detected the mobile terminal, and a terminal position determination unit for notifying the location information including the individual area to the fixed terminal.

  In addition, the terminal location specifying method according to the present invention is used in a terminal location specifying system including a plurality of fixed terminals arranged so that parts of wireless communication areas overlap each other and processing terminals that perform data communication with these fixed terminals. A fixed terminal, in response to reception of a connection request wirelessly transmitted from the mobile terminal, notifies the processing terminal of the detection of the mobile terminal in its own wireless communication area, A mobile terminal processing step for wirelessly transmitting position information of the mobile terminal notified from the processing terminal to the mobile terminal, and for each individual area where the processing terminal is divided by overlapping wireless communication areas, A storage step for storing area information in which a list of fixed terminals capable of detecting a connection request from a mobile terminal located in a location is registered; A terminal location identifying step of identifying an individual area corresponding to the fixed terminal that detected the mobile terminal from the area information in response to the detection notification of the mobile terminal, and notifying the fixed terminal of location information including the individual area. ing.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the position of a mobile terminal can be pinpointed with the precision according to the arrangement position of each fixed terminal, without using a GPS function.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the terminal location specification system concerning this Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the fixed terminal concerning this Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the processing terminal concerning this Embodiment. It is a structural example of area information. It is an example of registration of area information. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the mobile terminal concerning this Embodiment. It is a sequence diagram which shows the terminal position specific operation | movement of the terminal position specific system concerning this Embodiment. It is an example of the display screen of the positional information in a mobile terminal. It is another example of composition of area information. It is another example of a display screen of the positional information on a mobile terminal.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[This embodiment]
First, with reference to FIG. 1, the terminal location specifying system according to the present embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a terminal location specifying system according to the present embodiment of the present invention.

This terminal location specifying system 1 is a system for specifying the location of a mobile terminal 30 having a wireless communication function such as a mobile phone terminal or a PDA, and a plurality of fixed communication locations arranged such that parts of the wireless communication area W overlap each other. A terminal 10 and a processing terminal 20 that performs data communication with the fixed terminal 10 via a communication line 40 are included.
In the example of FIG. 1, nine fixed terminals 10 of M1 to M9 are arranged in a 3 × 3 matrix in a target area 50 where the position of the mobile terminal 30 is a facility such as a parking lot or a department store. Thus, a part of the wireless communication area W of the fixed terminal 10 overlaps each other. For example, the wireless communication areas W of the fixed terminals M2, M4, and M5 overlap the wireless communication area W of the fixed terminal M1.

  In the present embodiment, the fixed terminal 10 notifies the processing terminal 20 of the detection of the mobile terminal in response to the reception of the connection request wirelessly transmitted from the mobile terminal 30, and the processing terminal 20 In accordance with the detection notification of the mobile terminal, among the individual areas divided by overlapping wireless communication areas, the individual area corresponding to one or more fixed terminals that detected the mobile terminal is specified. It is.

[Fixed terminal]
Next, the configuration of the fixed terminal according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the fixed terminal according to the present embodiment.
The fixed terminal 10 as a whole is composed of a wireless communication device. As main functional units, a wireless interface unit (hereinafter referred to as a wireless I / F unit) 11, a communication interface unit (hereinafter referred to as a communication I / F unit) 12, a storage A unit 15 and a control unit 16 are provided.

The wireless I / F unit 11 includes a dedicated wireless circuit and has a function of performing wireless communication with the mobile terminal 30 using a wireless communication method such as Bluetooth or wireless LAN.
The communication I / F unit 12 includes a dedicated communication circuit, and has a function of performing data communication with the processing terminal 20 and other fixed terminals 10 via a communication line 40 such as a LAN.
The storage unit 15 includes a storage device such as a semiconductor memory or a hard disk, and has a function of storing various processing information and programs used for processing operations in the control unit 16.

The control unit 16 includes a CPU and its peripheral circuits, and has a function of realizing various processing units by reading and executing a program in the storage unit 15. As a main processing unit realized by the control unit 16, there is a mobile terminal processing unit 16A.
The mobile terminal processing unit 16A has a function of receiving a connection request wirelessly transmitted from the mobile terminal 30 by the wireless I / F unit 11, and in response to the reception of this connection request, the mobile terminal processing unit 16A A function of notifying the processing terminal 20 of the detection of the mobile terminal 30 via the communication I / F unit 12, and a function of wirelessly transmitting the location information notified from the processing terminal 20 to the mobile terminal 30 ing.

[Processing terminal]
Next, the configuration of the processing terminal according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the processing terminal according to the present embodiment.
The processing terminal 20 includes an information processing apparatus such as a server device or a personal computer as a whole, and includes a communication interface unit (hereinafter referred to as a communication I / F unit) 22, an operation input unit 23, and a screen display unit 24 as main functional units. A storage unit 25 and a control unit 26 are provided.

The communication I / F unit 22 includes a dedicated communication circuit, and has a function of performing data communication with the fixed terminal 10 via a communication line 40 such as a LAN.
The operation input unit 23 includes an operation input device such as a keyboard and a mouse, and has a function of detecting an operator operation and outputting the operation to the control unit 26.
The screen display unit 24 includes a screen display device such as an LCD or a PDP, and has a function of displaying various information such as an operation menu output from the control unit 26 and position information of the mobile terminal 30 on the screen.

The storage unit 25 includes a storage device such as a semiconductor memory or a hard disk, and has a function of storing various processing information and programs used for processing operations in the control unit 26. As main processing information stored in the storage unit 25, there is area information 25A.
FIG. 4 is a configuration example of area information. In the area information 25A, a list of fixed terminals 10 that can detect a connection request from the mobile terminal 30 located in the individual area is provided for each individual area divided by the overlap of the wireless communication areas W of the fixed terminals 10. It is registered.

  FIG. 5 is an example of registration of area information. Here, wireless communication areas W2, W4, and W5 of fixed terminals M2, M4, and M5 that overlap with the wireless communication area W1 of fixed terminal M1 are shown. For example, the individual area A5 is an area where the wireless communication areas W1, W2, and W5 overlap. When the mobile terminal 30 exists at the point P in the individual area A5, the radio wave transmitted from the mobile terminal 30 is It is received by three fixed terminals M1, M2, and M5.

The control unit 26 includes a CPU and its peripheral circuits, and has a function of realizing various processing units by reading and executing a program in the storage unit 25. As a main processing unit realized by the control unit 26, there is a terminal position specifying unit 26A.
The terminal location specifying unit 26A has a function of receiving the detection notification of the mobile terminal 30 from the fixed terminal 10 via the communication I / F unit 21, and the mobile terminal from the area information 25A according to the reception of the detection notification. A function for specifying an individual area corresponding to the fixed terminal 10 that has detected 30 and a function for notifying the fixed terminal 10 of positional information of the mobile terminal 30 including the individual area to the fixed terminal 10 via the communication I / F unit 21. Have.

Next, the configuration of the mobile terminal according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the mobile terminal according to the present embodiment.
The mobile terminal 30 is composed of a communication information terminal such as a mobile phone terminal or a PDA as a whole, and has a wireless interface unit (hereinafter referred to as a wireless I / F unit) 31, an audio processing unit 32, and an operation input unit 33 as main functions. A screen display unit 34, a storage unit 35, and a control unit 36 are provided.

The wireless I / F unit 31 includes a dedicated wireless circuit and has a function of performing wireless communication with the fixed terminal 10 using a wireless communication method such as Bluetooth or wireless LAN.
The audio processing unit 32 includes a dedicated audio processing circuit, decodes audio data received via the wireless I / F unit 31 into an audio signal, outputs the audio signal from the speaker, and converts an input audio signal from the microphone into audio data. It has a function of encoding and outputting to the wireless I / F unit 31, and a function of outputting various signal sounds such as a ringtone from a speaker in response to an instruction from the control unit.

The operation input unit 33 includes operation detection devices such as dial keys and cursor keys, and has a function of detecting a user operation and outputting the operation to the control unit 36.
The screen display unit 34 includes a screen display device such as an LCD, and has a function of displaying various information such as an operation menu output from the control unit 36 and a terminal position of the mobile terminal 30 on the screen.
The storage unit 35 includes a storage device such as a semiconductor memory or a hard disk, and has a function of storing various processing information and programs used for processing operations in the control unit 36.

The control unit 36 includes a CPU and its peripheral circuits, and has a function of realizing various processing units by reading and executing a program in the storage unit 35. As a main processing unit realized by the control unit 36, there is a position confirmation processing unit 36A.
The position confirmation processing unit 36A has a function of transmitting, from the wireless I / F unit 31, a connection request for searching for a fixed terminal 10 that can communicate with itself in response to a user position detection request detected by the operation input unit 33. And a function of displaying the position information from the processing terminal received by the wireless I / F unit 31 via the fixed terminal on the screen.

[Operation of this embodiment]
Next, with reference to FIG. 7, the operation of the terminal location specification system according to the present exemplary embodiment will be described. FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram showing a terminal position specifying operation of the terminal position specifying system according to the present embodiment.
Here, referring to FIG. 5 described above, the position of mobile terminal 30 existing at point P in individual area A5 where radio communication areas W1, W2, and W5 of fixed terminals M1, M2, and M5 overlap is specified. A case will be described as an example. Note that the terminal location specifying system 1 uses Bluetooth as a wireless communication method when specifying the terminal location.

  When the user of the mobile terminal 30 performs a position specifying operation to confirm his / her position, the control unit 36 of the mobile terminal 30 detects the position specifying operation by the operation input unit 33. In response to this, the position confirmation processing unit 36A wirelessly transmits a connection request used when searching for a partner terminal capable of wireless communication with itself from the wireless I / F unit 31 (step 100).

  Here, the connection request transmitted from the mobile terminal 30 reaches the fixed terminals M1, M2, M5 including the individual area A5 in which the mobile terminal 30 exists in its own wireless communication areas W1, W2, W5. The fixed terminal M4 that does not include A5 in its own wireless communication area W4 will not reach.

  Accordingly, the mobile terminal processing unit 16A of the fixed terminals M1, M2, and M5 receives the connection request from the mobile terminal 30 via the wireless I / F unit 11, and in its own wireless communication areas W1, W2, and W5. A terminal detection notification for notifying that the mobile terminal 30 has been detected is transmitted from the communication I / F unit 12 to the processing terminal 20 (step 110). This terminal detection notification includes target terminal identification information including the address of the mobile terminal 30 notified by the connection request.

Generally, in wireless communication, wireless communication is performed individually with a partner terminal by designating the address of the partner terminal. Therefore, when the address is not known, an operation of searching for a partner terminal capable of wireless communication with itself is performed.
For example, in the case of Bluetooth, each terminal has a unique device address, and when the device address of the partner terminal is not known, an inquiry message is transmitted and the partner terminal performing the inquiry scan operation as a standby state A function is provided for searching for a partner terminal capable of wireless communication with itself by collecting communication parameters such as a device address in response to a response from.

  In the present embodiment, such a terminal search function used mainly by the mobile terminal 30 is used for detection of the mobile terminal 30 in the fixed terminal 10 and transmitted from the mobile terminal 30 to each fixed terminal 10. Based on the connection request made, it is detected that the mobile terminal 30 exists in the wireless communication area of the fixed terminal 10.

  The terminal location specifying unit 26A of the processing terminal 20 receives terminal detection notifications with the mobile terminal 30 as target terminal identification information from the fixed terminals M1, M2, and M5 via the communication I / F unit 22, respectively. The terminal position of the mobile terminal 30 is specified based on the terminal detection notification (step 111). Here, the mobile terminal is obtained by referring to the area information 25A in the storage unit 25 and obtaining an individual area in which the combination of the fixed terminals M1, M2, and M5 that are the transmission sources of these terminal detection notifications is a fixed terminal list. 30 terminal locations are identified.

Subsequently, the terminal location specifying unit 26A selects one of these fixed terminals M1, M2, and M5, here the fixed terminal M1 as the communication partner of the mobile terminal 30 (step 112), and the mobile terminal Position information including the individual area specified as the terminal position of 30 is transmitted from the communication I / F unit 22 to the fixed terminal M1 selected as the communication partner (step 113).
At this time, as a communication partner selection method, a method that matches a communication partner selection method in the mobile terminal 30 described later is used.

  On the other hand, when the mobile terminal processing unit 16A of the fixed terminals M1, M2, and M5 receives a connection request from the mobile terminal 30 via the wireless I / F unit 11 in Step 100, the mobile terminal processing unit 16A A connection response for notifying that wireless communication is possible is returned from the wireless I / F unit 11 (step 101).

The position confirmation processing unit 36A of the mobile terminal 30 receives the connection response from the fixed terminals M1, M2, and M5 via the wireless I / F unit 31, and sends one of the fixed terminals, here the fixed terminal M1, to the communication partner. (Step 102), and establishes a wireless link for wireless communication with the selected fixed terminal M1 (Step 103).
At this time, as a method of selecting a communication partner, the communication partner may be selected based on the address order of the fixed terminal that is the transmission source of these connection responses.

Accordingly, the position confirmation processing unit 36A thereafter receives the position information from the processing terminal 20 by the communication I / F unit 12 (step 113), and wirelessly transmits the wireless I / F unit 11 to the mobile terminal 30. (Step 114).
On the other hand, when the position confirmation processing unit 36A of the mobile terminal 30 receives the position information by the wireless I / F unit 31, the position information processing unit 36A displays the position information on the screen display unit 34 to display the current position of the mobile terminal 30. To the user (step 115), and the wireless I / F unit 31 is controlled to disconnect the wireless link with the fixed terminal M1 (step 116). Thereby, a series of terminal location specifying operations are completed.

FIG. 8 is an example of a display screen of position information on the mobile terminal. Here, the arrangement positions of the fixed terminals M1 to M6 and the positional relationship between the individual areas A1 to A7 are shown, and the current position of the mobile terminal 30 in the individual areas A1 to A7 is the individual area A5. Has been.
Moreover, although it is necessary to also show the arrangement | positioning position of an actual facility and fixed terminal M1-M6, in the example of FIG. 8, the case where a user can visually recognize the arrangement position of fixed terminal M1-M6 is taken as an example. Usually, in a parking lot, area identification information such as a number and a symbol is given in advance for each parking area, and is posted as a mark on a pillar, a lighting pole, or a dedicated support. Therefore, for example, each fixed terminal may be arranged on a pillar on which a mark is posted, and area identification information may be displayed on the screen instead of “M1” to “M6” indicating the arrangement positions of the fixed terminals M1 to M6.

  FIG. 9 shows another configuration example of the area information. As shown in FIG. 9, in the area information 25A, area identification information that is a mark in an actual facility is registered for each individual area, and this area identification information is transmitted from the processing terminal 20 via the fixed terminal 10 according to position information. You may make it transmit to the mobile terminal 30. FIG.

  Furthermore, the block information and map information in an actual facility may be transmitted to the mobile terminal 30, and the current position may be displayed together with these block information and map information. FIG. 10 shows another display screen example of the position information in the mobile terminal. Here, the division information of the department store and the current position are displayed together, and the area identification information described in FIG. 9, here, the store name, is displayed in each division. The user can move to the destination based on the notice.

  Further, on the display screen of FIG. 8 or FIG. 10, when the user selects and operates A3 as the destination, the direction to go from the current position to the destination may be displayed on the screen with an arrow. Thereby, the user can be navigated to the destination.

[Effects of the present embodiment]
As described above, in the present embodiment, the fixed terminal 10 notifies the processing terminal 20 of the detection of the mobile terminal in response to the reception of the connection request wirelessly transmitted from the mobile terminal 30, and the processing terminal 20 In response to the notification of detection of the mobile terminal from the fixed terminal, the individual area corresponding to one or more fixed terminals that detected the mobile terminal is identified from among the individual areas divided by the overlap of the wireless communication areas. Since it did in this way, the position of a mobile terminal can be pinpointed with the precision according to the arrangement position of each fixed terminal, without using a GPS function.

[Extended embodiment]
In the above, the case where the fixed terminals 10 are arranged in a 3 × 3 matrix as shown in FIG. 9 has been described as an example. However, the arrangement is not limited to this, and the fixed terminals 10 are arranged in the target area 50. What is necessary is just to arrange | position the fixed terminal 10 suitably according to a structure and the path | route which a user moves.

  In the above description, the processing terminal 20 is provided separately from the fixed terminal 10 and the current position of the mobile terminal 30 is specified by the processing terminal 20 as an example. However, the position confirmation processing unit 36A in the processing terminal 20 is described. Alternatively, the area information 25A may be provided in any one of the fixed terminals 10 to specify the current position.

  Further, the position confirmation processing unit 36A and the area information 25A in the processing terminal 20 may be provided in all the fixed terminals 10, and any one of the fixed terminals 10 may specify the current position. In this case, for example, from among the fixed terminals 10 that have received the connection request from the mobile terminal 30, the fixed terminals 10 that perform the current position specifying process based on conditions such as the order of addresses or randomly are used as these fixed terminals. What is necessary is just to decide between.

Further, in the above, the fixed terminal 10 that establishes a link with the mobile terminal 30 is similarly selected by the mobile terminal 30 and the processing terminal 20, and the position from the processing terminal 20 to the mobile terminal 30 is determined via the fixed terminal 10. Although the case of transmitting information has been described as an example, the present invention is not limited to this.
For example, in step 103 of FIG. 7, the fixed terminal 10 selected by the mobile terminal 30 and established the link notifies the processing terminal 20 of the link establishment with the mobile terminal 30 and, based on this notification, the mobile terminal The position information may be transmitted from the processing terminal 20 to the fixed terminal 10 that has established a link with the terminal 30. Alternatively, position information is transmitted from the processing terminal 20 to each fixed terminal 10 that is a transmission source of terminal detection, and only the fixed terminal 10 that has established a link with the mobile terminal 30 transmits the position information to the mobile terminal 30. You may make it do.

  In the above description, when a connection request is transmitted from the mobile terminal 30 (step 100 in FIG. 7), the destination input by the user is designated, and the fixed terminal 10 obtains this from the connection request and the terminal. The processing terminal 20 may be notified by the detection notification, and the navigation information for navigating from the current position to the destination may be generated by the processing terminal 20 and transmitted to the mobile terminal 30 together with the position information.

  For navigation information, for example, for each combination of destinations at the current position, a message sentence indicating what direction should be used as a landmark is registered in the storage unit 25 in advance, and is used as described above. What is necessary is just to select the message sentence corresponding to the group of the specified present position of the mobile terminal 30 and the destination designated at the time of a connection request | requirement. Thereby, the user can be navigated to the destination.

  Moreover, although the case where the terminal location specifying system 1 according to the present invention is applied to a parking lot or a department store is described above as an example, the present invention is not limited to this and may be applied to other facilities and places. Good.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Terminal location system 10, M1, ..., M9 ... Fixed terminal, 11 ... Wireless I / F part, 12 ... Communication I / F part, 15 ... Memory | storage part, 16 ... Control part, 16A ... Mobile terminal process , 20 ... processing terminal, 22 ... communication I / F unit, 23 ... operation input unit, 24 ... screen display unit, 25 ... storage unit, 25A ... area information, 26 ... control unit, 26A ... terminal location specifying unit, 30 ... mobile terminal, 31 ... wireless I / F section, 32 ... voice processing section, 33 ... operation input section, 34 ... screen display section, 35 ... storage section, 36 ... control section, 36A ... position confirmation processing section, 40 ... Communication line, 50 ... target area.

Claims (2)

Including a plurality of fixed terminals arranged so that parts of the wireless communication area overlap each other, and a processing terminal that performs data communication with these fixed terminals,
In response to reception of a connection request wirelessly transmitted from the mobile terminal, the fixed terminal notifies the processing terminal of detection of the mobile terminal in its own wireless communication area, and is notified from the processing terminal. A mobile terminal processing unit that wirelessly transmits the location information of the mobile terminal to the mobile terminal;
For each individual area divided by the overlap of the wireless communication areas, the processing terminal stores area information in which a list of fixed terminals capable of detecting a connection request from a mobile terminal located in the individual area is registered. In response to detection notification of the mobile terminal from the storage unit to be stored and the fixed terminal, an individual area corresponding to the fixed terminal that detected the mobile terminal is identified from the area information, and includes the individual area A terminal location specifying unit that notifies the fixed terminal of the location information. A terminal location specifying method used in a terminal location specifying system including a plurality of fixed terminals arranged so that parts of a wireless communication area overlap each other, and a processing terminal that performs data communication with these fixed terminals,
In response to reception of a connection request wirelessly transmitted from the mobile terminal, the fixed terminal notifies the processing terminal of detection of the mobile terminal in its own wireless communication area, and is notified from the processing terminal. A mobile terminal processing step of wirelessly transmitting location information of the mobile terminal to the mobile terminal;
Area information in which a list of the fixed terminals capable of detecting a connection request from a mobile terminal located in the individual area is registered for each individual area divided by the overlapping of the wireless communication areas. A storage step for storing;
In response to a detection notification of the mobile terminal from the fixed terminal, the processing terminal specifies an individual area corresponding to the fixed terminal that detected the mobile terminal from the area information, and includes the individual area. A terminal location specifying step of notifying the fixed terminal of location information.

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