JP7342516B2 - information processing system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing system.

Patent Document 1 has an object to provide an asset tracking system that facilitates communication between assets such as railway vehicles without going through a transponder such as a satellite or a central station. Configured as a dynamic local area network with a tracking device and multiple slave tracking devices, where each tracking device is attached to a separate asset, a master tracking device is configured to improve communication reliability between tracking devices. Estimate the distance from the master device to the slave device by comparing the phase of the signal transmitted by the device with the phase of the transmitted signal returned from one other tracking device in the network, and optionally It is disclosed that it is determined whether a device is "before" or "after" a master device.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 09-133755

In a configuration in which a master device is used to communicate with nearby slave devices to track the movement of multiple devices, the master device must have a means for detecting the position. Must have. Therefore, it is not possible to use a device that does not have a means for detecting the position. Therefore, the present invention provides an information processing system that can estimate the position of a group of devices even if the device does not have a means to detect the location when tracking the movement of a plurality of devices. is intended to provide.

The gist of the present invention to achieve this object resides in the following inventions. The "claims" below are the claims originally filed.
The invention of claim 1 comprises a group and a plurality of first devices each having a first communication means capable of long-distance wireless communication but not having a means for detecting a position. storage means for storing the plurality of first devices in association with each other; and second communication means capable of communicating with the first device via a second device capable of long-distance wireless communication with the first device. and specifying means for specifying a group made up of the first devices with which communication is possible via the second device, using the storage means, and mediating communication between the first devices in the group. The information processing system includes a third device including an estimating means for estimating the position of the group specified by the specifying means using the position of the second device.

The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that the third device further includes a detection device that detects the first device that is away from the position estimated by the estimation device as a first device that has separated from the group. This is an information processing system described in .

The invention according to claim 3 is the information processing according to claim 2, wherein the detection means detects the first device that has left the group by using the position of the second device that relayed communication with the first device. It is a system.

The invention according to claim 4 is the information processing system according to claim 2, further comprising notification means for notifying the user of the first device detected by the detection means.

The invention according to claim 5 is the information according to claim 1, wherein the estimating means calculates a statistical value of the position of the first device and excludes a first device whose position deviates from the statistical value. It is a processing system.

The invention according to claim 6 is the information processing system according to claim 5, further comprising a detection means for detecting the first device excluded by the estimation means as a first device that has left the group.

According to the information processing system of claim 1, when tracking the movement of a plurality of devices, the position of a group of the plurality of devices can be estimated even if the device does not have a means for detecting the location. I can do it.

According to the information processing system of claim 2, it is possible to detect the first device that has left the group.

According to the information processing system of claim 3, the position of the second device that relayed communication with the first device can be used to detect the first device that has left the group.

According to the information processing system of claim 4, it is possible to notify the user of the first device that has left the group.

According to the information processing system of claim 5, when estimating the position of the group, it is possible to exclude the first device located at a position that deviates from the statistical value of the position of the first device.

According to the information processing system of claim 6, it is possible to detect the first device that has left the group.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual module configuration diagram regarding a configuration example of the present embodiment. It is a concrete module block diagram of a server. FIG. 3 is a specific module configuration diagram of a base station. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a system configuration using this embodiment. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of processing according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of processing according to the present embodiment. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a data structure of a person/terminal device correspondence table and a machine/terminal device correspondence table. It is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a data structure of a group composition table. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example data structure of a relay device management table. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example data structure of communication data. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing according to the present embodiment. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing according to the present embodiment. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a computer that implements the present embodiment. FIG.

Hereinafter, an example of a preferred embodiment for realizing the present invention will be described based on the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a conceptual module configuration diagram of a configuration example of this embodiment.
Note that a module generally refers to logically separable components such as software (computer programs are included in the interpretation of "software"), hardware, and the like. Therefore, the module in this embodiment refers not only to a module in a computer program but also to a module in a hardware configuration. Therefore, this embodiment provides a computer program for making the computer function as those modules (for example, a program for making the computer execute each procedure, a program for making the computer function as each means, a program for making the computer It also serves as an explanation of programs, systems, and methods for realizing the functions of However, for convenience of explanation, words such as "storing", "storing", and equivalent words are used; however, when the embodiment is a computer program, these words mean "storing in a storage device" or "storing". This means controlling the device so that it stores information. In addition, modules may have one-to-one correspondence with functions, but in implementation, one module may be composed of one program, multiple modules may be composed of one program, or conversely, one module may be composed of one program. may be composed of multiple programs. Also, multiple modules may be executed by one computer, or one module may be executed by multiple computers by computers in a distributed or parallel environment. Note that one module may include other modules. Further, hereinafter, the term "connection" is used not only for physical connection but also for logical connection (for example, data exchange, instructions, reference relationships between data, login, etc.). "Predetermined" refers to something that has been determined before the target process, not only before the process according to this embodiment starts, but also after the process according to this embodiment starts. Also, before the target process, it is used to include the meaning that it is determined according to the situation/state at that time or according to the situation/state up to that point. If there are multiple "predetermined values", they may be different values, or two or more values ("two or more values" includes all values, of course). They may be the same. Furthermore, the statement "If A, do B" is used to mean "determine whether A is the case, and if it is A, do B." However, this excludes cases where it is not necessary to determine whether or not it is A. Furthermore, when things are listed like "A, B, C", etc., unless otherwise specified, this is an exemplary list, and includes cases where only one of them is selected (for example, only A).
In addition, a system or device is composed of multiple computers, hardware, devices, etc. connected by communication means such as a network (a "network" includes a one-to-one communication connection), or a It also includes cases where it is realized by a computer, hardware, device, etc. The terms "device" and "system" are used interchangeably. Of course, the term "system" does not include anything that is nothing more than a social "mechanism" (in other words, a social system) that is an artificial arrangement.
In addition, for each process performed by each module, or for each process performed within a module, the target information is read from the storage device, and after the processing is performed, the processing results are written to the storage device. be. Therefore, a description of reading from the storage device before processing and writing to the storage device after processing may be omitted. Note that storage devices here include hard disk drives, RAM (abbreviation for Random Access Memory), external storage media, storage devices via communication lines, registers in CPU (abbreviation for Central Processing Unit), etc. Good too.

The information processing system configured by the information processing device 100, the relay device 150, and a plurality of terminal devices 170 according to the present embodiment has a function of estimating the position of a group consisting of the plurality of terminal devices 170. As shown in example 1, communication between the information processing device 100 and the terminal device 170 is performed via the relay device 150.

The terminal device 170 only needs to be capable of long-distance wireless communication and provided with information that can uniquely identify the terminal device 170. Further, the terminal device 170 may be attached to a target object (including a target animal and a target person). As a result, a group formed by a plurality of terminal devices 170 is a group of objects. This embodiment can be used, for example, for tracking when the target object is a product, etc. when it is transported in a container, and when the target object is a target animal such as a cow, it can be used for tracking the target object when it is transported in a container or the like. It can be used to track groups of animals, and if the target is a human such as a child, it can be used to track group behavior. For example, if the terminal device 170 is attached to each product loaded in a container, the information processing device 100 estimates the position of the group of products loaded in the container. Further, by providing each child who goes on a field trip as a group activity with the terminal device 170, the information processing device 100 estimates the position of the group of children.

A plurality of terminal devices 170 communicate with the information processing device 100 via the relay device 150. In FIG. 1, three terminal devices 170 (terminal device 170A, terminal device 170B, and terminal device 170N) are illustrated, but two or more may be used. Further, a plurality of terminal devices 170 constitute a group.
Terminal device 170 has a communication module 175. The communication module 175 is communicably connected to the information processing device 100 via a wireless communication line and the relay device 150. Communication module 175 is capable of long-distance wireless communication. Here, "long-distance wireless communication" may be used as long as long-distance wireless communication is possible than short-range wireless communication. Further, it is preferable that the power consumption is lower than that of short-range wireless communication. Furthermore, it is preferable that communication charges are at least cheaper than mobile phone communication. For example, LPWA (abbreviation for Low Power, Wide Area), LPWAN (abbreviation for Low-Power Wide-Area Network), etc. are applicable.
However, the terminal device 170 does not have a means for detecting the position. Since the terminal device 170 "does not have a means for detecting the position", the terminal device 170 itself cannot detect the position. Note that the "position detecting means" may be one that accurately detects the position of the terminal device 170. For example, this corresponds to GPS (abbreviation for Global Positioning System or Global Positioning Satellite), and the terminal device 170 does not have GPS.
Therefore, a so-called LPWA tag that does not have a GPS function corresponds to the terminal device 170. Note that although it does not have a GPS function, it may have other functions, such as a sensor that detects the surrounding situation. Specifically, it may include a thermometer, a proximity sensor, a brightness sensor, an acceleration sensor, and the like.

The information processing device 100 includes a communication module 105, a storage module 110, and a group search processing module 115.
Communication module 105 is connected to relay device 150A and relay device 150B via a communication line. The communication module 105 is capable of communicating with a plurality of terminal devices 170 via a relay device 150 capable of long-distance wireless communication with the terminal devices 170. Note that the communication between the information processing device 100 and the relay device 150 may be any type of communication, and may be wireless, wired, or a combination thereof. For example, the communication infrastructure may be the Internet, an intranet, or the like. Further, the functions of the information processing device 100 may be realized as a cloud service.

The storage module 110 stores a group and a plurality of terminal devices 170 forming the group in association with each other. For example, this corresponds to a table that stores identification information of a group and identification information of the terminal device 170 in correspondence with each other.

The group search processing module 115 includes a group identification module 120, a group position estimation module 125, a detached device detection module 130, and a notification module 135. The group search processing module 115 performs search processing for a group made up of a plurality of terminal devices 170. For example, the location of the group is estimated and the terminal device 170 that has left the group is detected.

The group identification module 120 uses the storage module 110 to identify a group made up of terminal devices 170 that can communicate via the relay device 150. For example, the group identification information corresponding to the received terminal device 170 identification information is extracted from a table storing the group identification information and the terminal device 170 identification information in correspondence, and the group identification information to which the terminal device 170 belongs is extracted. Just identify the group.

The group position estimation module 125 estimates the position of the group specified by the group identification module 120 using the position of the relay device 150 that mediated communication with the terminal device 170 in the group specified by the group identification module 120. . For example, the position of the relay device 150 that communicated with the terminal device 170 may be used as the position of the terminal device 170, and further, the position of the relay device 150 may be adjusted using the radio field strength when communicating with the terminal device 170. The position of the terminal device 170 may be calculated by this.
Furthermore, the collective position estimation module 125 may calculate a statistical value of the position of the terminal device 170, and exclude terminal devices 170 whose position deviates from the statistical value.
Here, the "statistical value" may be any value obtained by statistical processing of the position of the terminal device 170, and may be, for example, an average value, median value, mode value, etc. For example, if the position of a certain terminal device 170 is at a distance equal to or more than a predetermined threshold from the position of the statistical value, even if the terminal device 170 is determined to be at a "position outside the statistical value". good.
Specifically, the group position estimation module 125 may extract the relay device 150 used by a threshold value X% or more of the terminal devices 170 in the group, and estimate the position of the relay device 150 as the group position. .
Furthermore, the position of the group may be estimated according to the radio field strength when the relay device 150 and the terminal device 170 communicate. Specifically, if the radio field strength from the terminal device 170A is strong, the terminal device 170A is located at a position close to the relay device 150, and when the radio field strength from the terminal device 170B is weak, the terminal device is located at a location far from the relay device 150. The position may be 170B.

The detached device detection module 130 detects a terminal device 170 that is away from the position estimated by the group position estimation module 125 as a terminal device 170 that has separated from the group. For example, if the "position estimated by the group position estimation module 125" is the position of a relay device 150 used by X% or more of the terminal devices 170 in the group, a relay device 150 different from the relay device 150 is used. The terminal device 170 that has communicated via the group may be defined as "the terminal device 170 that is far from the position estimated by the group position estimation module 125", that is, "the terminal device 170 that has left the group".
Furthermore, the detached device detection module 130 may detect the terminal device 170 excluded by the group position estimation module 125 as the terminal device 170 that has left the group.
Further, the detached device detection module 130 uses the results of measuring the position information of the terminal device 170 at predetermined time intervals to determine whether the specific terminal device 170 deviates from the above-mentioned statistical value at a predetermined rate or more. If the terminal device 170 is located at a certain position, it may be determined that the terminal device 170 is separated from the group. Note that "at least a predetermined percentage" herein includes "always" as a matter of course. In other words, the condition may be that the specific terminal device 170 is located at a position that deviates from the above-mentioned statistical value in all of the measurement results. Note that the location information may be information indicating latitude, longitude, altitude, etc., for example.

The notification module 135 notifies the user of the terminal device 170 detected by the detached device detection module 130. Examples of notifications include e-mail, chat, electronic bulletin boards, communication functions of SNS (Social Networking Service), push notifications, and telephone calls using automatic voice responses. Examples of telephone calls include Lync (registered trademark), etc. This can be done using
For example, a person in charge of the target group may be extracted using a person in charge table in which persons in charge are stored in association with groups, and the person in charge may be notified. The user to be notified may be, for example, the person in charge of the product loaded in the container mentioned above, or the person in charge of leading the product, such as a faculty member, in the case of an excursion.

The relay device 150 is connected to the communication module 105 of the information processing device 100 and the communication module 175 of the terminal device 170 via a communication line.
The relay device 150 only needs to be capable of long-distance wireless communication with the terminal device 170. For example, it may be a base station located at a fixed location, or it may be a mobile information processing device such as a smartphone that is capable of long-distance wireless communication with the terminal device 170. In the case of the former base station, etc., the location of the relay device 150 is fixed, so once the relay device 150 is specified, its location is known. For example, the location of the relay device 150 may be specified using a table that stores information that uniquely identifies the relay device 150 and the location of the relay device 150 in correspondence. In the latter case, such as a portable information processing device, since the relay device 150 itself moves, the relay device 150 has a means for detecting the position. For example, it only needs to be equipped with GPS. For example, by transmitting the position information detected by the GPS to the information processing apparatus 100, the information processing apparatus 100 can acquire the position of the mobile information processing apparatus or the like that is the relay device 150.
Note that the information processing device 100 may have the function of the relay device 150. In this case, if the information processing device 100 is movable, the information processing device 100 may include a position detection device such as a GPS.

FIG. 2 is a concrete module configuration diagram of the server 200. The server 200 shows a configuration example in which the functions of the information processing device 100 are implemented.
The server 200 includes a storage module 110, a communication device 205, a communication control module 210, a control module 215, a beacon reception instruction module 220, a location information transmission instruction module 225, an information registration module 230, and a location information determination module 235. The communication device 205 is an example of the communication module 105, and the control module 215, position information determination module 235, etc. are examples of the collective search processing module 115. User terminal 290 is communicatively connected to communication device 205 of server 200 . Base station 300 is communicatively connected to communication device 205 of server 200 .

The storage module 110 is connected to a control module 215, a location information transmission instruction module 225, an information registration module 230, and a location information determination module 235.
The communication device 205 is connected to the communication control module 210, and is communicably connected to the user terminal 290 and the base station 300. Communication device 205 communicates with user terminal 290 and base station 300 under the control of communication control module 210 .

The communication control module 210 is connected to the communication device 205 , the control module 215 , the beacon reception instruction module 220 , the location information transmission instruction module 225 , the information registration module 230 , and the location information determination module 235 .
In "terminal device 170, group registration", the communication control module 210 receives the user ID (abbreviation of IDentification), which is the identification information of the user operating the user terminal 290, received from the user terminal 290, and the terminal device. 170 is passed to the information registration module 230.
The information registration module 230 is connected to the storage module 110, the communication control module 210, and the control module 215. The information registration module 230 registers the user ID and terminal device ID received from the communication control module 210 in the storage module 110.

When receiving a group search instruction from the user terminal 290, the communication control module 210 passes the user ID received from the user terminal 290 and the group ID, which is identification information of the group, to the control module 215.
The control module 215 is connected to the storage module 110, the communication control module 210, the beacon reception instruction module 220, the position information transmission instruction module 225, and the information registration module 230. When the control module 215 receives a group search instruction from the user terminal 290, the control module 215 uses the information in the storage module 110 to cause the base station 300 to communicate with the terminal device 170 (that is, search target The terminal device ID of the terminal device 170) belonging to a certain group is passed to the beacon reception instruction module 220.
The beacon reception instruction module 220 is connected to the communication control module 210 and the control module 215. Beacon reception instruction module 220 receives the terminal device ID from control module 215, and transmits the terminal device ID and beacon reception instruction to base station 300 via communication control module 210 and communication device 205. In other words, the terminal device 170 is caused to transmit to the base station 300. Note that the base station 300 that is the instruction destination here may be a predetermined base station 300 if there are multiple base stations 300, or may be a predetermined base station 300 if the location of the previous group is known. , may be base stations 300 near that position, or may be all base stations 300.

The position information determination module 235 is connected to the storage module 110 and the communication control module 210. The location information determination module 235 receives the terminal device ID, radio field strength, and relay device ID, which is identification information of the base station 300, from the base station 300 via the communication device 205 and the communication control module 210, and estimates the location of the group. , detects a terminal device 170 that has left the group, and stores it in the storage module 110.
The communication control module 210 passes the radio field strength and search ID to the position information determination module 235. A user ID and a beacon reception instruction are received from the beacon reception instruction module 220. A terminal ID and a location information transmission instruction are received from the location information transmission instruction module 225.
The position information transmission instruction module 225 is connected to the storage module 110, the communication control module 210, and the control module 215. The location information transmission instruction module 225 receives the user ID of the user who issued the search instruction from the control module 215, and stores the location of the group corresponding to the search instruction and the terminal device 170 that has left the group from the storage module 110. , and transmits the information as a response to the search instruction via the communication control module 210 and the communication device 205 to the user terminal 290 of the user who issued the search instruction.

FIG. 3 is a concrete module configuration diagram of the base station 300. Base station 300 shows a configuration example in which the functions of relay device 150 are implemented.
The base station 300 includes a communication device 305, a communication control module 310, a beacon reception control module 315, an LPWAN communication device 320, a storage module 325, and an ID verification module 330. Server 200 is communicatively connected to communication device 305 of base station 300 . The terminal device 170 is communicably connected to the LPWAN communication device 320 of the base station 300 by long-distance wireless communication such as LPWAN.

The communication device 305 is connected to the server 200, the communication control module 310, the storage module 325, and the ID verification module 330. The communication device 305 receives the beacon reception instruction and the search target terminal device ID from the beacon reception instruction module 220 under the control of the communication control module 310, and receives the terminal from the terminal device 170 that is now capable of communicating via long-distance wireless communication. The device ID and the radio field strength in the communication are transmitted to the server 200.

Communication control module 310 is connected to communication device 305, beacon reception control module 315, and ID verification module 330. The communication control module 310 passes the beacon reception instruction and terminal device ID received from the server 200 via the communication device 305 to the beacon reception control module 315, and passes the terminal device ID to the ID verification module 330.
Beacon reception control module 315 is connected to communication control module 310, LPWAN communication device 320, and storage module 325. In accordance with the beacon reception instruction received from the communication control module 310, the beacon reception control module 315 issues beacon operation instructions to the terminal device 170 via the LPWAN communication device 320 for the terminal device ID that is the target of the search. Send. In addition, as a reply, it receives from each terminal device 170 the terminal device ID of that terminal device 170 and the radio field strength at the time of reception, and stores this information in the storage module 325.

The LPWAN communication device 320 is connected to the beacon reception control module 315, and is communicably connected to the terminal device 170 by long-distance wireless communication. The LPWAN communication device 320 transmits a beacon operation instruction to the terminal device 170 under the control of the beacon reception control module 315, detects the terminal device ID and the radio field strength at the time of reception from the terminal device 170, and transmits the beacon operation instruction to the terminal device 170. The information is passed to the beacon reception control module 315.
The storage module 325 is connected to the communication device 305, the beacon reception control module 315, and the ID verification module 330. The storage module 325 passes the terminal device ID and radio field strength to the ID verification module 330.
ID verification module 330 is connected to communication device 305, communication control module 310, and storage module 325. The ID matching module 330 matches the terminal device ID received from the communication control module 310 with the terminal device ID of the terminal device 170 that has responded to the beacon operation instruction, and determines the terminal device ID of the terminal device 170 that is the search target and the terminal device ID of the terminal device 170 that is the search target. The corresponding radio field strength is transmitted to the server 200 via the communication device 305.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a system configuration using this embodiment.
The server 200 and the user terminal 290 can communicate, the server 200 and the terminal device 170 can communicate via the base station 300, and the base station 300 and the terminal device 170 can communicate by LPWAN.
First, the searcher 495 operates the user ID: A405 and registers in the server 200 that the terminal device 170A, the terminal device 170B, and the terminal device 170C form one group 470. Specifically, in accordance with the operation of the searcher 495, the user terminal 290 causes the server 200 to register 410 the terminal device IDs of the terminal device 170A, the terminal device 170B, and the terminal device 170C as a group 470. At that time, the user ID: A405 of the searcher 495 may be transmitted.

Then, the searcher 495 operates the user ID: A405 and searches for the group 470. Specifically, in accordance with the operation of the searcher 495, the user terminal 290 transmits a search instruction 415 to the server 200.
When the server 200 receives the search instruction 415 from the user terminal 290, it transmits the terminal device ID to be searched and a beacon reception instruction 420 to the base station 300.

When base station 300 receives beacon reception instruction 420 from server 200, base station 300 transmits beacon operation instruction 425 to each terminal device 170. Then, a reply from the LPWAN beacon 430 is received from the terminal device 170. From the terminal device 170, if the terminal device 170 has the above-mentioned sensor, the detection result by the sensor is received. At that time, the strength of the radio waves at the time of reception is detected.
Then, the base station 300 transmits to the server 200 the relay device ID of the base station 300, the terminal device ID of the terminal device 170 that received a response from the LPWAN beacon 430, the radio field strength, and the detection result by the sensor.
As a reply to the beacon reception instruction 420, the server 200 receives from the base station 300 the terminal device ID and radio field strength notification 435 of the terminal device 170 that communicated with the base station 300.
Then, the server 200 estimates the location of the group 470 using the terminal device ID and radio field strength of the terminal device 170 that responded, and transmits the location as a location information notification 440. If there is a terminal device 170 that has left the group 470, the searcher 495 is notified of this fact.
User terminal 290 receives location information notification 440 of group 470 as a reply to search instruction 415 . Further, if there is a terminal device 170 that has left the group 470, a notification to that effect is received.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of processing according to this embodiment.
A group is composed of a person 550A, a person 550B, a person 550C, a person 550D, a person 550E, and a person 550F. The person 550A has a terminal device 570A, the person 550B has a terminal device 570B, the person 550C has a terminal device 570C, the person 550D has a terminal device 570D, Person 550E has terminal device 570E, and person 550F has terminal device 570F.
Each terminal device 570 transmits an LPWAN beacon 430 signal to the base station 300. Then, the base station 300 detects the radio field strength of the signal of the LPWAN beacon 430. The server 200 calculates the position of the terminal device 570 from the position of the base station 300 and the radio field intensity of each terminal device 570. Specifically, terminal device 570A is at position 575A, terminal device 570B is at position 575B, terminal device 570C is at position 575C, terminal device 570D is at position 575D, terminal device 570E is at position 575E, and terminal device 570F is at position 575F. calculate. Each of the calculated positions 575 has an error from the original position of the terminal device 570. For example, there is a measurement error 580 between the terminal device 570A and the position 575A.
The average value of each position 575 is defined as a group position 590. Then, the distance between the group position 590 and each position 575 is calculated, and if the distance is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, it is determined that the object has left the group. In the example of FIG. 5, it is determined that the terminal device 570F (that is, the person 550F who owns the terminal device 570F) has left the group. Specifically, since there is a high possibility that the person 550F is lost, the person in charge of guiding the person is notified.
Furthermore, if each position 575 is within a predetermined distance, it may be determined that the terminal devices 570 within that distance form a group. Then, a terminal device 570 corresponding to a position 575 that is not within the predetermined distance may be determined to have left the group.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of processing according to this embodiment.
A group is constituted by machine 650A, machine 650B, machine 650C, machine 650D, machine 650E, and machine 650F. A terminal device 670A is attached to the machine 650A, a terminal device 670B is attached to the machine 650B, a terminal device 670C is attached to the machine 650C, and a terminal device 670D is attached to the machine 650D. A terminal device 670E is attached to the machine 650E, and a terminal device 670F is attached to the machine 650F.
Each terminal device 670 transmits an LPWAN beacon 430 signal to the base station 300. Then, the base station 300 detects the radio field strength of the signal of the LPWAN beacon 430. The server 200 calculates the position of the terminal device 670 from the position of the base station 300 and the radio wave intensity of each terminal device 670. Specifically, terminal device 670A is at position 675A, terminal device 670B is at position 675B, terminal device 670C is at position 675C, terminal device 670D is at position 675D, terminal device 670E is at position 675E, and terminal device 670F is at position 675F. calculate. Each calculated position 675 has an error from the original position of the terminal device 670. For example, there is a measurement error 680 between the terminal device 670A and the position 675A.
The average value of the positions of each position 675 is defined as a group position 690. Then, the distance between the group position 690 and each position 675 is calculated, and if the distance is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, it is determined that the object has left the group. In the example of FIG. 6, it is determined that the terminal device 670F (that is, the machine 650F to which the terminal device 670F is attached) has left the group. Specifically, since the machine 650F may have been stolen, the person in charge is notified.
Furthermore, if each position 675 is within a predetermined distance, it may be determined that the terminal devices 670 within that distance form a group. Then, a terminal device 670 corresponding to a position 675 that is not within the predetermined distance may be determined to have left the group.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of processing by the present embodiment (information processing device 100 or server 200).
In step S702, information on the terminal device is registered according to the user's operation. For example, when a person is to have the terminal device 170, a person/terminal device correspondence table 800 is generated. FIG. 8A is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the data structure of the person/terminal device correspondence table 800. The person/terminal device correspondence table 800 has a person ID column 805 and a terminal device ID column 810. In this embodiment, the person ID column 805 stores information for uniquely identifying a person (specifically, a person ID). In this embodiment, the terminal device ID field 810 stores information for uniquely identifying the terminal device 170 (specifically, the terminal device ID).
Further, for example, when the terminal device 170 is attached to a machine, a machine/terminal device correspondence table 850 is generated. FIG. 8B is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the data structure of the machine/terminal device correspondence table 850. The machine/terminal device correspondence table 850 has a machine ID column 855 and a terminal device ID column 860. In this embodiment, the machine ID column 855 stores information for uniquely identifying a machine (specifically, a machine ID). The terminal device ID column 860 stores terminal device IDs.

In step S704, group information is registered according to the user's operation. For example, a group composition table 900 is generated. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the data structure of the group composition table 900. The group configuration table 900 has a group ID column 905, a group name column 910, a configuration number column 915, and a component terminal device ID column 920. In this embodiment, the group ID column 905 stores information for uniquely identifying a group (specifically, a group ID). The group name column 910 stores the name of the group. The number of components column 915 stores the number of elements constituting the group. In other words, it is the number of terminal devices 170 within the group. The component terminal device ID column 920 stores the terminal device IDs of the terminal devices 170 that make up the group.

In step S706, it is determined whether or not there is a search instruction from the user. If there is, the process advances to step S708; otherwise, the process waits until there is a search instruction.
In step S708, position information of each terminal device 170 is acquired. For example, the relay device management table 1000 and communication data 1100 are used. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the data structure of the relay device management table 1000. The relay device management table 1000 has a relay device ID column 1005 and a relay device location information column 1010. In this embodiment, the relay device ID field 1005 stores information for uniquely identifying the relay device 150 (specifically, the relay device ID). The relay device position information column 1010 stores the position information of the relay device 150.
FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing an example data structure of communication data 1100. The communication data 1100 has a terminal device ID field 1105, a relay device ID field 1110, a transmission date and time field 1115, a communication content field 1120, and a radio field strength field 1125. The terminal device ID column 1105 stores the terminal device ID of the terminal device 170. The relay device ID column 1110 stores the relay device ID of the relay device 150 that communicated with the terminal device 170. The transmission date and time column 1115 indicates the date and time when the terminal device 170 and the relay device 150 communicated (the interpretation of "date and time" is year, month, day, hour, minute, second, less than a second, or a combination thereof. I remember that. The communication content column 1120 stores the communication content from the terminal device 170. The radio field strength column 1125 stores the radio field strength in that communication.

In step S710, a terminal device 170 that is a singular point and has left the group is selected.
In step S712, position information of the group is calculated. Here, the position of the group may be calculated including the terminal devices 170 selected in step S710, or may be calculated excluding the terminal devices 170 selected in step S710. Note that it is desirable to calculate the position of the group by excluding the terminal devices 170 selected in step S710.

In step S714, it is determined whether there is a terminal device 170 that has left the group, and if there is, the process advances to step S716, and if there is not, the process returns to step S706.
In step S716, individuals who have left the group are identified.
In step S718, information on individuals that have left the group is notified. The notification destination may be the group administrator or the user who issued the search instruction. Furthermore, it goes without saying that the user who has given the search instruction may be notified of the location information of the group.

12A and 12B are flowcharts illustrating an example of processing by the present embodiment (information processing device 100 or server 200). In this embodiment, the following processing may be performed. In this processing example, the position of the group is calculated mainly using the position of the relay device 150.

The processing from step S1202 to step S1206 is equivalent to the processing from step S702 to step S706 in the flowchart shown in the example of FIG.
In step S1202, terminal device information is registered.
In step S1204, group information is registered.
In step S1206, it is determined whether there is a search instruction from the user. If there is, the process advances to step S1208; otherwise, the process waits until there is a search instruction.

In step S1208, communication data 1100 from multiple terminal devices 170 is received. Of course, the information processing device 100 or the server 200 receives the communication data 1100 via the relay device 150 or the base station 300.
In step S1210, a group composed of terminal devices 170 is identified. For example, the group ID corresponding to the terminal device ID may be extracted from the terminal device ID column 1105 of the communication data 1100 using the group composition table 900.

In step S1212, relay device 150 is extracted from communication data 1100.
In step S1214, it is determined whether the number of relay devices 150 relaying communications from the terminal devices 170 forming the group is one. If there is one, the process advances to step S1232; otherwise, The process advances to step S1216.

In step S1216, the positions of multiple relay devices 150 are extracted. For example, the relay device location information column 1010 of the relay device management table 1000 may be used.
In step S1218, for each relay device 150, the number of terminal devices 170 that communicated via that relay device 150 is counted.

In step S1220, it is determined whether there is a relay device 150 in which the number of terminal devices 170 is equal to or less than a predetermined number, and if there is, the process advances to step S1222; otherwise, the process advances to step S1226. Here, the "predetermined number" may be A% of the number of elements in the group. The A% may be, for example, 5%.
In step S1222, the terminal device 170 that communicated via the relay device 150 is determined to be a "device that has left the group." In other words, although there are many terminal devices 170 that have communicated via other relay devices 150, there are few terminal devices 170 that have communicated via this relay device 150, and therefore it is determined that the device is a "device that has left the group."
In step S1224, the group position is estimated from the position of the relay device 150 with the largest number of terminal devices 170, and the process proceeds to step S1236. For example, as described above, the position of the relay device 150 itself may be used, or the radio field strength of each terminal device 170 may be used to adjust the position of the relay device 150 to determine the position of the group of terminal devices 170. You may.

In step S1226, it is determined whether the distance between the relay devices 150 is less than or equal to a predetermined distance, and if it is less than or equal to the predetermined distance, the process advances to step S1228; otherwise, the process advances to step S1236.
In step S1228, it is determined that "there is no terminal device 170 that has left the group." That is, if the distance between relay devices 150 is less than or equal to a predetermined distance, it can be determined that the locations where terminal devices 170 are present form a group.
In step S1230, the position of the group is estimated from the statistical position of the relay device 150, and the process advances to step S1236. For example, the statistical value of the position of the relay device 150 may be used as the group position, or the statistical value of the position of the relay device 150 may be adjusted using the radio wave intensity of each terminal device 170 to The location of the group may also be determined.

In step S1232, it is determined that "there is no terminal device 170 that has left the group." In other words, if it is determined Yes in step S1214, it is determined that the group remains formed because one relay device 150 is sufficient.
Furthermore, as described above, the position of each terminal device 170 is calculated using the radio field strength, and if all terminal devices 170 forming a group are within a predetermined distance, it is possible to calculate the position of each terminal device 170 using the radio field strength. It may be determined that there is no terminal device 170 that has left. Then, a terminal device 170 that is not within a predetermined distance may be determined to be a terminal device 170 that has left the group.
In step S1234, the location of the group of terminal devices 170 is estimated from the location of the relay device 150. For example, as described above, the position of the relay device 150 itself may be used, or the radio field strength of each terminal device 170 may be used to adjust the position of the relay device 150 to determine the position of the group of terminal devices 170. You may.

In step S1236, the location of the group and the terminal device 170 that has left the group are notified. The notification destination may be the group administrator or the user who issued the search instruction.

Note that the hardware configuration of the computer on which the programs of the information processing device 100, server 200, and base station 300 according to the present embodiment are executed is a general computer, as illustrated in FIG. is a personal computer, a computer that can serve as a server, etc. That is, as a specific example, the CPU 1301 is used as a processing unit (calculation unit), and the RAM 1302, ROM 1303, and HDD 1304 are used as storage devices. As the HDD 1304, for example, an HDD (abbreviation for Hard Disk Drive), an SSD (abbreviation for Solid State Drive) which is a flash memory, or the like may be used. Communication module 105, group search processing module 115, group identification module 120, group position estimation module 125, detached device detection module 130, notification module 135, communication device 205, communication control module 210, control module 215, beacon reception instruction module 220, A CPU 1301 that executes programs such as a location information transmission instruction module 225, an information registration module 230, a location information determination module 235, a communication device 305, a communication control module 310, a beacon reception control module 315, an LPWAN communication device 320, and an ID verification module 330; , a RAM 1302 that stores programs and data, a ROM 1303 that stores programs for starting this computer, an HDD 1304 that is an auxiliary storage device that functions as a storage module 110, a storage module 325, etc., and a keyboard. , a reception device 1306 that accepts data based on user operations (including motion, voice, line of sight, etc.) on a mouse, touch screen, microphone, camera (including line of sight detection camera, etc.), and a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display. , an output device 1305 such as a speaker, a communication line interface 1307 for connecting to a communication network such as a network interface card, and a bus 1308 for connecting these and exchanging data. A plurality of these computers may be connected to each other via a network.

Among the embodiments described above, those based on computer programs are implemented by loading the computer program, which is software, into the system with this hardware configuration, and the software and hardware resources cooperate to implement the embodiments described above. is realized.
Note that the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 13 shows one example of the configuration, and this embodiment is not limited to the configuration shown in FIG. 13. Good to have. For example, a GPU (abbreviation for Graphics Processing Unit, including GPGPU (abbreviation for General-Purpose computing on Graphics Processing Units)) may be used as a processor, or some modules may be configured as dedicated hardware (for example, for a specific purpose). It consists of integrated circuits (specific examples include ASICs (application specific integrated circuits)) and reconfigurable integrated circuits (specific examples include FPGAs (field-programmable gate arrays)). Alternatively, some of the modules may be located in an external system and connected via communication lines, or a plurality of the systems shown in FIG. 13 may be connected to each other via communication lines and operate cooperatively with each other. In particular, in addition to personal computers, mobile information communication devices (including mobile phones, smartphones, mobile devices, wearable computers, etc.), information appliances, robots, copiers, faxes, scanners, printers, and multifunction devices (scanners, printers, etc.) , a copying machine, an image processing apparatus having two or more functions, such as a facsimile machine, etc.).

In addition, in the comparison process in the description of the embodiment described above, "more than", "less than or equal to", "greater than", and "less than (less than)" are examples, and the combinations are contradictory. As long as this does not occur, "greater than", "less than", "greater than", and "less than or equal to" may be used, respectively.
Further, in the description of the embodiment described above, an example is shown in which the radio field strength is used, but if the direction of the terminal device 170 with which the relay device 150 communicates can be detected, in addition to the radio field strength, the terminal device relative to the relay device 150 may be detected. The position of the terminal device 170 may be calculated using the direction 170.

Note that the program described above may be provided by being stored in a recording medium, or may be provided by means of communication. In that case, for example, the program described above may be regarded as an invention of "a computer-readable recording medium on which a program is recorded."
A "computer-readable recording medium on which a program is recorded" refers to a computer-readable recording medium on which a program is recorded, which is used for program installation, execution, program distribution, etc.
Examples of recording media include digital versatile discs (DVDs), such as "DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM, etc.", which are the standards established by the DVD Forum, and DVD+RW, which is the standard established by the DVD Forum. standard "DVD+R, DVD+RW, etc.", compact disc (CD), read-only memory (CD-ROM), CD recordable (CD-R), CD rewritable (CD-RW), etc., Blu-ray disc ( Blu-ray (registered trademark) Disc), magneto-optical disk (MO), flexible disk (FD), magnetic tape, hard disk, read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable and rewritable read-only memory (EEPROM (registered trademark) )), flash memory, random access memory (RAM), SD (abbreviation for Secure Digital) memory card, etc.
The entire program or a portion thereof may be recorded on the recording medium and stored or distributed. Also, by communication, for example, a local area network (LAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a wide area network (WAN), a wired network used for the Internet, an intranet, an extranet, etc., or wireless communication. It may be transmitted using a transmission medium such as a network or a combination thereof, or it may be carried on a carrier wave.
Further, the above program may be part or all of another program, or may be recorded on a recording medium together with a separate program. Further, the information may be divided and recorded on a plurality of recording media. Further, the data may be recorded in any format, such as compression or encryption, as long as it can be restored.

100... Information processing device 105... Communication module 110... Storage module 115... Group search processing module 120... Group identification module 125... Group position estimation module 130... Departing device detection module 135... Notification module 150... Relay device 170... Terminal device 175... Communication module 200... Server 205... Communication device 210... Communication control module 215... Control module 220... Beacon reception instruction module 225... Location information transmission instruction module 230... Information registration module 235... Location information determination module 290... User terminal 300... Base station 305...Communication device 310...Communication control module 315...Beacon reception control module 320...LPWAN communication device 325...Storage module 330...ID verification module

Claims (8)

a plurality of first devices having first communication means capable of long-distance wireless communication but not having means for detecting position;
storage means for storing a group and the plurality of first devices constituting the group in association with each other;
a second communication means capable of communicating with the first device via a second device capable of long-distance wireless communication with the first device;
identification means that uses the storage means to identify a group made up of the first devices that can communicate via the second device;
Estimating means for estimating the position of the group specified by the specifying means, using the position of the second device that mediated communication with the first device in the group,
In the case where there are a plurality of second devices that have relayed communication with the plurality of first devices, the estimating means is configured to estimate that the second device is a second device in which the number of relayed first devices is less than or equal to a predetermined number. and when the distance between the second devices is less than or equal to a predetermined value, estimating the position of the group using the positions of the plurality of second devices;
An information processing system having a third device. The third device is
The information processing system according to claim 1, further comprising: a detection unit that detects the first device that is away from the position estimated by the estimation unit as a first device that has separated from the group. The detection means detects the first device that has not left the group using the position of the second device that relayed communication with the first device.
The information processing system according to claim 2. When there are a plurality of second devices that have relayed communication with the plurality of first devices, the detection means compares the number of first devices that have been relayed by the second devices, and detects the number of first devices that have left the group. detect the device,
The information processing system according to claim 2. The information processing system according to claim 2, further comprising notification means for notifying a user of the first device detected by the detection means. The estimating means extracts a second device that has relayed a number of first devices equal to or greater than a predetermined value in the group, and estimates the position of the second device as the position of the group.
The information processing system according to claim 1. 7. The information processing system according to claim 6, further comprising: a detection unit that detects a first device indicating a position outside the group position estimated by the estimation unit as a first device that has left the group. The estimating means estimates the statistical value of the position of the plurality of second devices as the position of the group, or adjusts the statistical value using the radio wave intensity of each first device to estimate the statistical value of the position of the group. estimate the location of
The information processing system according to claim 1.

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