JP2001280994A - Portable device for position recognition using gps - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a portable device for position recognition using GPS which can not only recognize the current position but inform to the third party and proceed the portability even more. SOLUTION: The position information from a GPS satellite is received by a GPS receiver 3 to be transmitted to a microcomputer application circuit 4. The microcomputer application circuit 4 detects the current position of the person who carries this device based on the position information. At the time of position confirmation, the microcomputer application circuit 4 displays the current position information of the person carrying the portable device for position confirmation 1 which has been detected on the displaying part by connecting a cellular phone 9 which is placed separately from a portable device for position confirmation 1 to an output port 8. The microcomputer application circuit 4 informs the current position information of the person carrying the device 1 to the predetermined third party by the cellular phone 9 by switching a calling operation switch 7.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a GPS capable of easily confirming its current position by displaying its position on a portable display device such as a portable telephone using a GPS, and being easily portable. The present invention belongs to the technical field of a portable position confirmation device that uses a personal computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, various position confirmation devices utilizing GPS have been developed as one of devices for confirming a current position. As this type of conventional position confirmation device, a portable position confirmation device using a portable GPS has been developed. As an example of a portable position confirmation device using the GPS, there is a portable position display device having a built-in GPS receiver. This portable position display device confirms its own current position by receiving a signal of its own current position from a GPS satellite with a GPS receiver and displaying the received position information on the display device. In addition, since the portable position display device is portable, the user can check his / her own position anytime and anywhere as long as the portable position display device is carried.

[0003] As another example of a portable position confirmation device using GPS, there is a digital wristwatch having a built-in GPS receiver. This digital wristwatch confirms its own current position by receiving position information from a GPS satellite with a GPS receiver and displaying it on a display unit of a clock, as described above.
As long as you wear this digital watch on your wrist, you can easily check your position when needed.

[0006] As still another example of a portable position confirmation device using GPS, there is a portable telephone having a built-in GPS receiver.
This mobile phone confirms its current position by receiving position information from a GPS satellite with a GPS receiver and displaying it on the display unit of the mobile phone, as described above. As long as it is worn, you can easily check your position when needed.

[0005] Each of the above-described portable position confirming devices using GPS is a position confirming device which is relatively easy to carry and only needs to confirm its own current position by itself. Device. On the other hand, conventionally, various dynamic position management systems using GPS, which are movable or portable and can notify a third party of their current position, have been developed. As a dynamic position management system of this type, a dynamic position management system that is configured separately from a GPS receiver, a communication control unit and a wireless device and is mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile, or a combination of a portable personal computer and a mobile phone. There is a dynamic position management system with a different configuration. According to these dynamic position management systems, it is possible not only to confirm the current position of the user, but also to notify a third party who needs to be contacted. It should be noted that a mobile phone incorporating the above-mentioned GPS receiver can also notify a third party.

[0006]

However, each of the above-described position confirmation apparatuses has the following problems. The portable type position display device with a built-in GPS receiver is small and portable in consideration of a certain degree of portability. However, the digital wristwatch with a built-in GPS receiver and the built-in GPS receiver described above are still used. They are larger than mobile phones and are less portable. In addition, since it does not have a function as daily necessities such as a wristwatch or a mobile phone, it is inconvenient to carry around everyday.

Further, digital wristwatches with a built-in GPS receiver and mobile phones with a built-in GPS receiver are larger and heavier than ordinary wristwatches and mobile phones, respectively. Not only is it damaged, but it consumes more power than regular wristwatches and mobile phones. Furthermore, the dynamic position management system is not designed to be carried around, and therefore has poor portability.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to easily confirm the current position of the user and to notify the current position to a third party easily, and furthermore, to improve portability. To provide a portable position confirmation device using a GPS, which can further improve the vehicle position.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a portable position confirming apparatus for confirming a position based on position information from a GPS, which relates to position information from a GPS satellite. A GPS receiver for receiving signals;
A control device for detecting the current position of the person carrying the portable position confirmation device based on the position information received by the PS receiver; and a display function provided separately from the portable position confirmation device and portable and computer controlled. An external output port communicatively connectable to the portable display means, the portable display means being connected to the external output port, and the current position of the person detected by the control device being displayed on the portable device. It is characterized in that the carrier confirms his / her current position by displaying on the display means.

The invention according to claim 2 further comprises a transmission operation switch, wherein the transmission operation switch is turned on in a state where the portable display means capable of transmitting as the portable display means is connected to an external output port. The present invention is characterized in that the present position of the wearer is displayed on a portable display means capable of transmitting, and a predetermined third party is notified. Further, the invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the portable display means capable of transmitting is a mobile phone.

Further, the invention of claim 4 further comprises the GP
Power supply control means for controlling the turning on and off of the power of the S receiver, wherein the power control means periodically turns on and off the power of the GPS receiver at predetermined time intervals by the control device. It is controlled so that it is repeated, and the predetermined time interval is set shorter than a cycle in which the content of the satellite orbit information sent from the GPS satellite is changed. Furthermore, the invention of claim 5 is characterized in that the portable display means is connected wirelessly.

[0012]

In the portable position confirming device using the GPS of the present invention thus constructed, portable display means for displaying the current position is provided separately from the portable position confirming device. It is not necessary to provide a display means in the confirmation device itself. Therefore, since the portable position confirmation device does not include the display means, the portable position confirmation device is small and lightweight, easy to carry, and portability is improved. Furthermore, since there is no display means, the number of electronic components of the portable position confirmation device is reduced, and as a result, the power consumption can be suppressed, and the operation time is prolonged with batteries having the same capacity.

In addition to the above, in the invention of the second aspect, the transmission operation switch is simply turned on while the portable display means capable of transmitting the signal is connected to the portable position confirmation device, so that the portable display means capable of transmitting the signal can be transmitted. , The current position of the carrier is displayed, and a predetermined third party can be easily notified by a simple switch operation.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, as a portable display means capable of transmitting a call, an ordinary general portable telephone widely used in the world as owned by most people is used. As a result, there is no need to use a special display means, so that the cost is reduced and the GP
Since there is no need to provide the S function, portability and convenience of the mobile phone are not impaired. Further, since the communication mechanism of a normal mobile phone is used, the operation for notifying a predetermined third party of the current position of the mobile phone is further simplified. Particularly, in a case of emergency such as an emergency, when the carrier wants to inform his / her current location to a specific person, the carrier can easily and quickly be notified of his / her exact location.

Further, according to the present invention, the predetermined time interval at which the power of the GPS receiver is periodically turned on and off is set to a period at which the content of the satellite orbit information from the GPS satellite is periodically changed. It will be set shorter. Therefore, the latest satellite orbit information is always stored in the control device. Accordingly, when the control device operates by turning on the power, it is not necessary to update the satellite orbit information one by one, so that the time required until the position detection based on the satellite orbit information is completed is shortened.

Further, according to the invention of claim 5, the portable position confirmation device and the portable display means are wirelessly connected to each other, so that the portable position confirmation device and the portable display device are separated from each other within a familiar predetermined range. It can be operated. As a result, the portable position confirmation device can be placed in a place where radio waves from more GPS satellites can be received, thereby improving the accuracy of position detection and shortening the time required for position detection.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing a portable position confirmation device using a GPS according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a portable position confirmation device 1 using a GPS in this example includes a GPS satellite and a G (not shown).
GPS consisting of a GPS receiver 3 equipped with a PS antenna 2
A microcomputer application circuit 4 which is a control device of the present invention; a battery 5; a power supply control circuit 6; a transmission operation switch 7;
And has no display means, and is formed to be small, lightweight and portable.

The GPS receiver 3 receives a GPS antenna's detection signal of the current position of the portable position confirming device 1, that is, the latitude and longitude of the current position of the person carrying the portable position confirming device 1, from a GPS satellite. 2, and transmits the received latitude and longitude position information of the current position of the carrier to the microcomputer application circuit 4, and the microcomputer application circuit 4 stores the position information. The microcomputer application circuit 4 is connected to the battery 5 through the power supply control circuit 6, and when the operation switch (not shown) of the portable position confirmation device 1 is turned on, the microcomputer application circuit 4
Is always operating with the battery 5 inserted.

The power supply control circuit 6 is controlled by the microcomputer application circuit 4 so as to control the turning on and off of the power to the GPS receiver 3. That is, when the mobile phone 9 is not connected to the external output port 8, the power supply control circuit 6
The power supply to the S receiver 3 is periodically turned on and off at predetermined time intervals. In this case, the signal from the GPS satellite includes satellite orbit information necessary for calculating the position. However, since the content of the satellite orbit information is changed in a cycle of about 4 hours, the predetermined time is used. The interval is set shorter than this cycle (about 4 hours). Therefore, the latest satellite orbit information is always stored in the microcomputer application circuit 4. Thereby, when the microcomputer application circuit 4 is powered on and operates, it is not necessary to update the satellite orbit information one by one, so that the time required until the position detection based on the satellite orbit information is completed can be shortened.

Further, when the mobile phone 9 is connected to the external output port 8, the power supply control circuit 6 turns on the power of the GPS receiver 3 under the control of the microcomputer application circuit 4. The microcomputer application circuit 4 calculates based on the latest satellite orbit information stored therein and the latitude and longitude position information transmitted from the GPS receiver 3 to quickly detect the latitude and longitude of the current position of the carrier. It is supposed to. Further, when the transmission operation switch 7 is turned on, the current position of the carrier detected by the microcomputer application circuit 4 is notified to a predetermined third party by a cellular phone 9 described later.

Further, the external output port 8 is connectable to a rear device interface 10 of the portable telephone 9.
The mobile phone 9 is an ordinary general mobile phone. When the mobile phone 9 is connected to the external output port 8, the microcomputer application circuit 4 displays the detected latitude and longitude position information as a “non-telephone notification service display” function provided in the downstream device interface 10. Using the “command”, the display is periodically displayed on the display unit of the mobile phone 9. Further, when the transmission operation switch 7 is turned on while the mobile phone 9 is connected to the external output port 8, the microcomputer application circuit 4 performs the function of the downstream device interface 10 such as “memory dial read”. Using the “command”, a destination telephone number of a predetermined memory number is obtained, communication is established based on a communication procedure of the downstream device interface 10, and positional information of the detected latitude and longitude is obtained. It is transmitted to the other party's telephone number by the mobile phone 9. Thus, the information on the current position of the carrier is notified to a predetermined third party.
In this case, the telephone line of the other party is, for example, a data communication terminal such as a modem and a computer on which application software capable of outputting position information operates, a telephone having a display function including a mobile phone, or the like. Anything that can be confirmed may be used.

Further, the connection between the portable position confirmation device 1 and the portable telephone 9 has three connection forms as shown in FIG. That is, as shown in FIG. 2A, a connection form in which the portable position confirming device 1 and the portable telephone 9 are structurally directly connected, and as shown in FIG. Is connected by a cable 11, and as shown in FIG. 3C, the portable position confirmation device 1 and the portable telephone 9 are connected using a wireless network (bluetooth) for home electric appliances including portable telephones and personal computers. This is a connection mode for wireless connection.

In the portable position confirming apparatus 1 using the GPS of this embodiment configured as described above, the carrier usually uses the portable telephone 9 alone as a so-called portable telephone in many cases. The mobile phone 9 is separated from the mobile position confirmation device 1. At this time, the portable position confirmation device 1
As described above, the latest satellite orbit information is always stored in the microcomputer application circuit 4.

Now, the person carrying the portable position confirming device 1 connects his / her portable telephone 9 to the portable position confirming device 1 in order to confirm his / her current position. Then, the microcomputer application circuit 4 detects the latitude and longitude position information of the current position of the wearer based on the signal from the GPS satellite as described above, and causes the display unit of the mobile phone 9 to display the information. This allows the wearer to easily and accurately check his / her current position. Further, the carrier turns on the transmission operation switch 7 in order to notify a predetermined third party of his / her current position. Then, the information of the current position detected by the microcomputer application circuit 4 is notified to a predetermined third party by the mobile phone 9 as described above. This allows a third party to easily and accurately know the current position of the carrier. In this manner, the portable position confirmation device 1 of this example and the portable telephone 9 can exhibit a position display function of displaying the current position of the carrier and a position notification function of notifying the current position of the carrier to a third party. Become like

According to the portable position confirming device 1 of this embodiment, the ordinary portable telephone 9 used as a display device is provided separately from the portable position confirming device 1, so that the display device is provided in the portable position confirming device itself. Therefore, the portable position confirmation device 1 is not provided with a display device, so that the portable position confirmation device 1 is small and lightweight, easy to carry, and improved in portability. In addition, as a display device, an ordinary general mobile phone 9 which is widely used in the world so as to be owned by most people can be used, and there is no need to use a special display device. In addition to this, since it is not necessary to provide the mobile phone 9 with the GPS function, the portability and convenience of the mobile phone 9 are not impaired.

Further, since the display device is not provided, the number of electronic components of the portable position confirmation device 1 can be reduced. As a result, the power consumption can be suppressed, and the operation time can be extended with the battery 5 having the same capacity. Furthermore, since the communication mechanism of the ordinary mobile phone 9 is used, the operation for notifying the third party of his / her own position can be simplified. In particular, when it is desired to notify a specific person of his / her position in an emergency such as an emergency, it is possible to easily and quickly notify his / her exact position.

Further, a predetermined time interval at which the power supply to the GPS receiver 3 is periodically turned on and off is defined by G
Since the content of the satellite orbit information from the PS satellite is set shorter than the period at which it is periodically changed, the microcomputer application circuit 4
Will always be able to store the latest satellite orbit information.
Thereby, when the microcomputer application circuit 4 is powered on and operates, it is not necessary to update the satellite orbit information one by one, so that the time required until the position detection based on the satellite orbit information is completed can be shortened.

Further, by connecting the portable position confirming device 1 and the portable telephone 9 wirelessly as shown in FIG. 2C, the portable position confirming device 1 and the portable telephone 9 can be connected to each other within a predetermined range. Can be operated separately.
As a result, the portable position confirmation device 1 can be placed at a place where radio waves from more GPS satellites can be received, so that the accuracy of position detection can be improved and the time required for position detection can be reduced. Becomes In this case, the position of the portable position confirmation device 1 and the position of the person actually holding the portable telephone 9 are very slightly deviated, but a decrease in the accuracy of position detection due to this deviation is caused by many GPS satellites. Since the accuracy of the position detection based on the above signal is negligible compared with the improvement of the accuracy of the position detection, there is almost no influence of the position shift on the position accuracy.

In the above-described example, a normal mobile phone is used as a display device. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and is conventionally used, for example, in a small mobile personal computer. Any type can be used as long as it is portable and has a built-in computer and can be displayed.

[0030]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the portable position confirming device of the present invention, it is not necessary to provide the portable position confirming device itself with a display means for displaying the current position information. Therefore, the portable position confirmation device can be reduced in size and weight and can be easily carried because the display means is not provided, so that portability can be further improved. Furthermore, since there is no display means, the number of electronic components of the portable position confirmation device can be reduced, and as a result, the power consumption can be suppressed and the operation time can be extended with batteries having the same capacity.

In addition to this, in particular, according to the second aspect of the present invention, the transmission operation switch is simply turned on while the portable display means capable of transmitting to the portable position confirmation device is connected. Not only can the present position of the wearer be easily displayed by the possible portable display means, but also a predetermined third party can be easily notified by a simple switch operation.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, as a portable display means capable of transmitting a call, an ordinary general portable telephone widely used in the world so as to be owned by most people is used. There is no need to use special display means.
As a result, the cost can be reduced and the mobile phone does not need to have a GPS function, so that the portability and convenience of the mobile phone are not impaired. Furthermore,
Since the communication mechanism of an ordinary mobile phone is used, the operation for notifying a predetermined third party of the current location of the mobile phone can be further simplified. In particular, when the carrier wants to notify his / her current position to a specific person in an emergency such as an emergency, the user can easily and quickly notify his / her exact position.

Further, according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the content of the satellite orbit information from the GPS satellite is periodically changed to a predetermined time interval at which the power of the GPS receiver is periodically turned on and off. Since the period is set shorter than the predetermined period, the latest satellite orbit information can always be stored in the control device. Thus, when the control device is operated by turning on the power, it is not necessary to update the satellite orbit information one by one, so that the time required until the position detection based on the satellite orbit information is completed can be shortened.

Further, according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the portable position confirmation device and the portable display means are wirelessly connected,
It is possible to operate these portable position confirmation devices and portable display means separately within a predetermined familiar range. As a result, the portable position confirmation device can be placed in a place where radio waves from more GPS satellites can be received, and the accuracy of position detection can be improved, and the time required for position detection can be shortened.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically illustrating an example of an embodiment of a portable position confirmation device using a GPS according to the present invention.

2A and 2B show a connection mode between the mobile position confirmation device and the mobile phone in the example shown in FIG. 1, wherein FIG.
(B) is a diagram showing a connection by a cable, and (c) is a diagram showing a wireless connection.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Portable position confirmation device using GPS, 2 ... GPS antenna, 3 ... GPS receiver, 4 ... Microcomputer application circuit (control device), 5 ... Battery, 6 ... Power control circuit, 7 ... Transmission operation switch, 8 ... External output port, 9: mobile phone, 10: rear device interface, 11: cable

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page F term (reference) 2F029 AA07 AB07 AC02 AC06 5H180 AA21 BB05 BB08 BB15 FF05 5J062 AA08 BB01 BB05 CC07 5K067 AA34 BB04 BB36 EE03 FF03 FF23 JJ52 JJ56 9A001 JJ78

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A portable position confirming device for confirming a position based on position information from a GPS, comprising: a GPS receiver for receiving a signal relating to position information from a GPS satellite; and a position detecting device based on the position information received by the GPS receiver. A control device for detecting the current position of the person carrying the portable position confirming device, and portable display means provided separately from the portable position confirming device and portable and having a display function under computer control can be communicatively connected. And an external output port, wherein the portable display means is connected to the external output port,
The portable position confirming device, wherein the portable person confirms his / her current position by displaying the current position of the portable person detected by the control device on the portable display means. 2. A transmission operation switch further comprising a transmission operation switch, wherein the transmission operation switch is turned on in a state where the portable display means capable of transmitting as the portable display means is connected to an external output port. 2. The mobile position confirmation device according to claim 1, wherein the current position of the wearer is displayed, and a predetermined third party is notified. 3. The portable position confirmation device according to claim 2, wherein said portable display means capable of transmitting is a portable telephone. 4. A power supply control means for controlling turning on and off of the power of the GPS receiver, wherein the power control means controls turning on and off of the power of the GPS receiver by the control device. The control is performed so as to be periodically repeated at a predetermined time interval, and the predetermined time interval is set shorter than a cycle in which the content of the satellite orbit information sent from the GPS satellite is changed. The portable position confirmation device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: 5. The portable position confirmation device according to claim 1, wherein said portable display means is connected wirelessly.