JP2015068674A - Positioning device, positioning method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a positioning device for performing positioning with accuracy by only designating the accuracy by an intuitive method.SOLUTION: Provided is a positioning device comprising: a plurality of pieces of position measurement means; a positioning result calculation unit for calculating a position measurement result including a predicted position and accuracy information on the basis of the result of each position measurement result obtained by the plurality of pieces of position measurement means and a weighting value set for the plurality of position measurement means; an output unit for outputting a predicted current position range on the basis of the position measurement result; an accuracy information acceptance unit for accepting a change of the accuracy information; and a weighting value change unit for changing the weighting value set for the plurality of pieces of position measurement means on the basis of accuracy information for which the change was accepted.

Description

  The present invention relates to a positioning device, a positioning method, and a program.

In recent years, location information services using mobile phones have become familiar. In the case of a mobile phone, the location information service is a service that measures the current location of the mobile phone terminal using the GPS function or the radio wave intensity from the base station and provides the location information to the user.
There are a plurality of positioning means used in the location information service, and a hybrid type positioning means that performs positioning by selecting a positioning means from a plurality of positioning means, or performs positioning by combining a plurality of positioning means. Is used.

Each positioning means has good or bad positioning accuracy due to its technical properties. Although the approximate value of positioning accuracy is determined for each positioning means, it varies depending on the environment and conditions of positioning. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a method for calculating accuracy information when positioning is performed by GPS.
In addition, since the accuracy differs depending on the positioning means, it is important for the user which positioning means is available. Patent Document 2 describes a technique for displaying an operation status of each positioning means indicating which positioning means can be used in a hybrid positioning system that performs positioning by combining a plurality of positioning means.

Japanese Patent No. 4463130 JP 2001-101225 A

  However, even if it is known which positioning means can be used, the position information is not very useful unless the accuracy of the positioning result obtained by actually performing positioning is acceptable to the user. In order for the positioning result to be effective for the user, it is preferable that positioning can be performed by positioning means capable of positioning with accuracy specified by the user.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a positioning device, a positioning method, and a program that can solve the above-described problems.

  The present invention provides a plurality of position positioning means, predicted position and accuracy information based on each position positioning result obtained by the plurality of position positioning means and weight values set for the plurality of position positioning means. A positioning result calculation unit that calculates a position positioning result including: an output unit that outputs a predicted current position range based on the position positioning result; an accuracy information receiving unit that receives a change in the accuracy information; and the change received A positioning device comprising: a weight value changing unit that changes weight values set for the plurality of position positioning means based on accuracy information.

  Further, the present invention provides a positioning by a plurality of position positioning means, based on each position positioning result obtained by the plurality of position positioning means and a weight value set for the plurality of position positioning means, Calculating a position positioning result including accuracy information, outputting a predicted current position range based on the position positioning result, accepting a change in the accuracy information, and determining the plurality of position positioning based on the accuracy information received in the change The positioning method is characterized in that the weight value set for the means is changed.

  Further, according to the present invention, the computer of the positioning device is configured to calculate the predicted position and the accuracy information based on each positioning result obtained by the plurality of positioning means and the weight value set for the plurality of positioning means. Means for calculating a position positioning result including; means for outputting a current position prediction range based on the position positioning result; means for receiving a change in the accuracy information; and the plurality of position positioning means based on the accuracy information having received the change. Is a program for functioning as a means for changing the weight value set for.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain an effect that positioning can be performed with accuracy specified by a user.

It is a figure which shows the minimum structure of the positioning apparatus by 1st embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the specific structure of the positioning apparatus by 1st embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the positioning apparatus by 1st embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of operation by 1st embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the positioning means with which the positioning apparatus by 1st embodiment of this invention is provided. It is a figure explaining the weight value in the positioning apparatus by 1st embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the table which the positioning apparatus by 1st embodiment of this invention memorize | stores. It is a figure which shows the processing flow of the positioning apparatus by 1st embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of operation by 2nd embodiment of this invention.

<First embodiment>
Hereinafter, a positioning device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a minimum configuration of the positioning device according to the first embodiment.
In this figure, reference numeral 1 represents a positioning device. As shown in FIG. 1, the positioning device 1 includes at least a position positioning unit 20, an accuracy information receiving unit 30, a weight value changing unit 40, a positioning result calculating unit 50, and an output unit 60. The positioning device 1 is provided in a mobile terminal such as a digital camera or a mobile phone or a mobile body such as an automobile.

The position positioning means 20 includes a plurality of means for measuring position information where the positioning device 1 exists. Examples of the position measuring means 20 include the following.
First, the first example is positioning by GPS. GPS is a method of estimating the current position by receiving signals from 3 to 4 or more GPS satellites and calculating the distance to each GPS satellite. Positioning by GPS has a property that a positioning result with high accuracy can be obtained, but the positioning time is long and it cannot normally be used indoors. The GPS includes a GPS (Stand Alone) system in which a mobile terminal directly receives a signal from a GPS satellite and performs positioning, and a signal received from the GPS satellite is received by a mobile phone base station, and the signal received by the mobile terminal by the base station There is a GPS (Network Assisted) system that performs positioning using it. The GPS (Network Assisted) method has an advantage that the positioning time is shorter than the GPS (Stand Alone) method.

  The second example of positioning means is base station positioning. Base station positioning is a method of positioning based on the radio field intensity of a signal from a mobile phone base station. Base station positioning has the advantage of being able to perform positioning indoors as long as the positioning time is short and a mobile phone is connected. However, there is a drawback that the accuracy of base station positioning is worse than GPS. Base station positioning includes a cell-based method and an OTDOA (Observed Time Difference Of Arrival) method. In the cell-based method, the representative point in the area of the base station with which the mobile phone is communicating is estimated as the position of the mobile terminal. In the OTDOA method, the position of a mobile terminal is calculated from the arrival time differences of radio waves from a plurality of base stations. The OTDOA method has the advantage of higher positioning accuracy than the cell-based method.

  A third example of positioning means is positioning by wireless LAN. Positioning by wireless LAN is a method of estimating position information from position information of an access point with which a mobile terminal communicates and radio wave intensity of communication. Positioning by wireless LAN can be used indoors and if the conditions are met, the positioning accuracy is high and the positioning time is short. However, a database for storing the location information of the access point is required, and it is easily affected by the environment, resulting in poor accuracy. There is a drawback that it is easy.

  The fourth example of the positioning means is IMES (Indoor Messaging System) positioning. In this method, an IMES transmitter is installed, and positioning is performed based on position information and radio wave intensity transmitted by the IMES transmitter. IMES is designed for indoor positioning and can be used if there is a GPS receiver compatible with IMES. It is expected that positioning is performed using GPS outdoors using a smartphone with a GPS function that is currently popular, and positioning is performed using IMES indoors. IMES positioning has high accuracy and short positioning time, but an IMES transmitter is required.

  The other positioning means is a positioning method using a gyro sensor or an acceleration sensor. In this method, the acceleration and inclination of the mobile terminal are detected using these sensors, and the position information is estimated by calculating the movement distance and the movement direction from the detected information. Unlike the other methods, these methods have the advantage of not requiring an external signal. Usually used in combination with other positioning means such as GPS.

  The position positioning means 20 includes a plurality of these positioning means, and performs positioning by combining these. Such positioning by a plurality of positioning means is called hybrid positioning. Hybrid positioning has the effect of reducing variations in accuracy of predicted positions obtained by one positioning means. For example, even if positioning is performed using a highly accurate positioning means, a highly accurate positioning result may not always be obtained depending on conditions such as radio waves in a space where the mobile terminal moves. When hybrid positioning is used, more stable positioning results can be obtained by using other positioning means together.

The accuracy information receiving unit 30 receives accuracy information of a positioning result desired by the user. Specifically, the size indicated by the designated range is recognized as the accuracy desired by the user from the coordinate information of the range designated for the map information displayed on the display of the positioning device 1 and the scale of the map information.
The weight value changing unit 40 changes the weight value set for the plurality of position positioning means based on the accuracy information received by the accuracy information receiving unit 30. The weight value is a value indicating how much importance is given to the result of which positioning means. The weight value changing unit 40 selects a combination of positioning means that can be measured with the accuracy desired by the user by changing the weight value.

The positioning result calculation unit 50 acquires each positioning result measured by the positioning means 20 and calculates the expected position and accuracy information of the mobile terminal. The predicted position is a position (for example, a center of gravity position) selected as a representative from a position range where the mobile terminal can be expected to exist. The accuracy information is a circle centered on the predicted position, and is the radius of the smallest circle including an area of a predetermined ratio or more in the position range where the mobile terminal can be expected to exist. What is the accuracy information? The positioning result calculation unit 50 uses the weight value set for each positioning means when calculating the predicted position. The weight value will be described with reference to FIG.
The output unit 60 outputs the current position prediction range to the display of the positioning device 1 based on the result calculated by the positioning result calculation unit 50. The current position predicted range is a position range in which accuracy information is added to the current predicted position. The output unit 60 outputs the current position prediction range in a different manner based on the accuracy information calculated by the positioning result calculation unit 50. For example, when the accuracy desired by the user is “0 to 50 m”, it is displayed as a yellow circle, and when the accuracy desired by the user is “200 m”, it is displayed as a blue circle.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a specific configuration of the positioning device according to the first embodiment. The same functional units as those in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, the positioning device 1 includes at least a display unit 10, a positioning unit 20, an accuracy information receiving unit 30, a weight value changing unit 40, a positioning result calculating unit 50, an output unit 60, and a storage unit 70.
The display unit 10 is a display of the positioning device 1. In the present embodiment, the display unit 10 is a combination of a display and a touch panel, for example, and has both a display function and an input function.
The storage unit 70 is a database that stores map information, weight values set for each positioning means, and the like.
The location information providing function unit 80 is an application that provides a location information service. The position information providing function unit 80 includes an accuracy information receiving unit 30, a weight value changing unit 40, a positioning result calculating unit 50, and an output unit 60.
The accuracy information receiving unit 30, the weight value changing unit 40, the positioning result calculating unit 50, the output unit 60, and the position information providing function unit 80 are functions provided when a CPU (Central Processing Unit) provided in the positioning device 1 executes a program. is there.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a positioning device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
A typical example according to the first embodiment is a case where the positioning device 1 is provided in a smartphone. As shown in FIG. 3A, the positioning device 1 includes a display unit 10.
When the user performs a predetermined operation, the position information providing function unit 80 is activated. Then, the position information providing service of the positioning device 1 is started, and the output unit 60 outputs map information including the current position to the display unit 10 based on the result of positioning by the position positioning unit 20. The output unit 60 displays the result of positioning by a predetermined positioning means on the map information in a predetermined manner.
FIG. 3B is a diagram illustrating a state in which map information and an expected position where the positioning device 1 exists are displayed on the display unit 10 of the positioning device 1. The position indicated by reference numeral 101 is the current position expected range of the positioning device 1 by a predetermined positioning means. The predicted current position range is indicated by a circle, which indicates that the position where the positioning device 1 is expected to exist has an appropriate width, and this width is referred to as accuracy information.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation according to the present embodiment.
An operation in which the user designates accuracy information will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 4A shows a screen image when the positioning unit 20 continuously performs positioning even when the positioning device 1 is moved by the user's positioning instruction operation, and the output unit 60 outputs the positioning result to the display unit 10. It is an example. Reference numeral 100 indicates map information in the vicinity of the current position output from the output unit 60. The position positioning means 20 measures the current position information of the positioning device 1 by a plurality of predetermined positioning means by the user's positioning instruction operation. Then, the positioning result calculation unit 50 calculates the current predicted position (latitude and longitude information) and accuracy information from the positioning result. And the output part 60 acquires the map information containing the position from the memory | storage part 70 or the server which provides map information via a network, and outputs it to the display part 10. FIG. Further, the output unit 60 outputs a circle 101 centered on the current predicted position calculated by the positioning result calculation unit 50 and having accuracy information as a radius on the map information. This circle 101 indicates the position where the positioning device 1 was present from time to time. At the center of the circle indicating the latest current position, an “x” mark as indicated by reference numeral 104 may be displayed. An arrow 103 indicates a trajectory actually moved by the positioning device 1 (the arrow 103 is only displayed in FIG. 4 for explanation and not displayed on the display unit 10). A circle 101 displayed so as to substantially follow the trajectory indicates the expected position and accuracy information calculated by the positioning result calculation unit 50 at a predetermined timing while the positioning device 1 actually moves on the arrow 103. It is.
The user can grasp what route the current position is reached by looking at the circle 101 output by the output unit 60.

By the way, the user may not be satisfied with the accuracy of the currently displayed position information. For example, even if the display unit 10 of the positioning device 1 carried by the user is displayed as shown in FIG. 4A, the point where the user actually exists from the surrounding scenery or the like is denoted by reference numeral 104 in FIG. This is the case where it seems that it is not near.
In such a case, the user taps an arbitrary place on the display unit 10. Then, the accuracy information receiving unit 30 detects a tap by the user, and the output unit 60 outputs a circle 102 having a predetermined size. Subsequently, when the user performs an operation of reducing the diameter of the displayed circle 102 by a finger operation such as a so-called pinch-in using the index finger and the thumb, for example, the accuracy information receiving unit 30 touches the display unit 10 with the user's finger. Then, the operation of reducing the diameter of the circle 102 is detected, and the output unit 60 is instructed to reduce the diameter of the circle displayed in accordance with the movement. Then, the output unit 60 outputs the circle 102 whose diameter is adjusted based on the user's operation. When the user removes his / her finger from the display unit 10, the accuracy information receiving unit 30 receives the distance on the map information indicated by the radius of the circle 102 displayed by the output unit 60 as accuracy information desired by the user.

When the accuracy information receiving unit 30 receives the accuracy information desired by the user, the weight value changing unit 40 performs positioning by combining any positioning means, and finally weights the positioning results by each positioning unit. The positioning result calculation unit 50 recalculates the current predicted position and accuracy information according to the determination. Then, the output unit 60 outputs the current position predicted range including the predicted position and the accuracy information in a different mode (color / diameter of the circle) according to the calculation result.
FIG. 4B shows an example of a screen image in which the position information of the positioning device 1 after the user specifies accuracy information is displayed on the display unit 10. A circle 105 indicates the result of positioning after the user designates accuracy information. It can be seen that the diameter of the circle is smaller than that before the user specifies the accuracy information, and positioning is performed with high accuracy.
Thus, the positioning device 1 performs positioning with the accuracy desired by the user and outputs the position information simply by specifying the accuracy information intuitively while viewing the map information.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of positioning means provided in the positioning device according to the present embodiment.
In the table of FIG. 5, each positioning means described in the position positioning means 20 in FIG. 1 is described. The “average accuracy” and “average time required for positioning” described in the table of FIG. 5 are guidelines and differ depending on the positioning environment. For example, there is a possibility that the accuracy information differs between the result of positioning using a base station positioning (cell base) method in areas where base stations such as urban areas are densely packed and areas where such base stations are not dense. Even if GPS (Stand Alone) is used, the accuracy may be deteriorated depending on the state of signal reception from a GPS satellite. Also, “whether or not it can be used now” is determined not only by the environment, but may be determined to be unusable depending on the user's intention. For example, “no GPS positioning is performed since the battery is exhausted” is a decision made by the user. It is assumed that the position information providing function unit 80 includes a program capable of setting whether the user uses or not for each positioning means, and the storage unit 70 stores the setting.
The weight value changing unit 40 considers “average accuracy” and “average time for positioning” from the table in which the weight value is set for each positioning means in advance, the condition “whether it can be used now” and the user's required accuracy. A combination of positioning means satisfying the conditions is selected and the weight value is determined. In the present embodiment, weight values set in advance in the table are used, but the method for determining the weight values is not limited to this. The method in which the weight value changing unit 40 weights each positioning unit may be performed by other known techniques.
The weight value in FIG. 5 shows an example of the weight value selected by the weight value changing unit 40 based on the “whether it can be used now” condition in FIG. 5 and the accuracy required by the user. In this case, wireless LAN positioning and IMES are not currently available. In such a case, the weight value selected by the weight value changing unit 40 for these positioning means is “0”. A weight value of “0” indicates that the positioning means is not used. In this example, a high weight value (= 1) is set for GPS (Network Assisted) with high accuracy and short positioning time. A low weight value (= 0.1) is set for base station positioning (cell base) with low accuracy.
The table used by the weight value changing unit 40 to determine the weight value will be described later with reference to FIG.

FIG. 6 is a view for explaining weight values in the positioning device according to the present embodiment.
An outline of a method for obtaining a final positioning result using a weight value from a positioning result obtained by each positioning means will be described with reference to FIG. A method of calculating the final positioning position using the weight value may be performed using a predetermined known method, but may be calculated as follows as an example.
Reference numeral 104a in FIG. 6 indicates the center of the currently predicted position by the positioning means “a”. Reference numeral 105a indicates a current position expected range to which accuracy information by the positioning means “a” is added. Similarly, reference numeral 104b indicates the center of the current predicted position by the positioning means “b”, and reference numeral 105b indicates a current position predicted range to which accuracy information by the positioning means “b” is added. Assume that the weight value changing unit 40 sets the weight value “2” for the positioning means “a” and the weight value “1” for the positioning means “b”. Then, the positioning result calculation unit 50 calculates the final positioning result by weighting the positioning result by the positioning means “a” twice as much as the positioning result by the positioning means “b”. Specifically, a point closer to the point of the reference numeral 104a (reference numeral 104c) among the points dividing the straight line connecting the point of the reference numeral 104a and the point of the reference numeral 104b into three equal parts is set as the center point according to the final positioning result. Next, regarding accuracy information, if the radius of the circle 105a is 100 m and the radius of the circle 105b is 400 m, the accuracy information is obtained by adding 100 m, which is a value obtained by equally dividing the difference between the radii of the two circles, to the radius of the circle 105a. calculate. In this way, the final positioning result is calculated by using a value close to the result of the positioning means “a” at a ratio of 2: 1 for both the center point and accuracy information of each positioning result. The result is a circle 105c centered on the center 104c.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a table stored in the positioning device according to the present embodiment.
A method in which the weight value changing unit 40 determines the weight value of each positioning means will be described using the table of FIG.
Each item in the table of FIG. 7 will be described. The “combination ID” column in the first column is an identifier given for each combination of positioning means. The “usability” column in the second to sixth columns is a flag indicating whether or not each positioning means can be used. The “request accuracy” column in the seventh column is an expected value of accuracy information of the positioning result. For example, if the accuracy specified by the user is 60 m, a row in this table whose value in the “request accuracy” column is 60 m or less is selected. In the “weight value” column, a weight value is set for each positioning means in the case of performing hybrid positioning on condition of the value indicated by each flag in the “usability” column and the value in the “request accuracy” column.

  The first row of this table will be described. The first line is a combination of positioning means and weight values set in advance assuming, for example, “an indoor environment in which the accuracy desired by the user is 50 m and IMES and positioning by wireless LAN can be used”. First, since it is indoor, GPS positioning cannot be used. Accordingly, “×” and “0” are set in “GPS (Network Assisted)” and “GPS (Stand Alone)” in the “Usability” column and “Weight value” column, respectively. Also, since base station positioning (cell base) and base station positioning (OTDOA) can be used, “O” is set in the “Usability” column, but the accuracy is far from the desired accuracy. Is set to “0”. Since IMES can be used, “O” is set in the “Usability” column. Further, IMES has high accuracy and the time required for positioning is short, so a high weight value “1” is set. Since the accuracy of the wireless LAN deteriorates when the number of access points is small or far, the medium weight “0.5” is set. Since the gyro cannot be measured by itself, an intermediate weight value “0.5” is set.

The second and subsequent lines will be briefly described. The second line sets a combination of positioning means assuming, for example, “an indoor environment in which the accuracy desired by the user is 50 m, IMES cannot be used, and positioning by wireless LAN can be used”. “1” is set as the weight value for wireless LAN positioning with excellent accuracy and positioning time. However, as described above, the accuracy of wireless LAN positioning may deteriorate or cannot be determined depending on the environment, so base station positioning is also used. Since the user's desired accuracy is as high as 50 m, a low value “0.1” is set as the weight value for base station positioning (cell base) and base station positioning (OTDOA).
The third line sets a combination of positioning means assuming, for example, “the indoor environment in which the accuracy desired by the user is 200 m, IMES cannot be used, and positioning by wireless LAN can be used”. As in the second row, “1” is set as the weight value for wireless LAN positioning. Since the desired accuracy of the user is low, the weight value of base station positioning (cell base) and base station positioning (OTDOA) is set to “0.5”, which is higher than the second row.

The fourth line is a combination of positioning means assuming, for example, “accuracy desired by the user is 50 m and outdoor environment”. “1” is set as the weight value of GPS (Network Assisted) with high accuracy. In preparation for an environment where network connection is not possible, a time-consuming but accurate GPS (Stand Alone) weight value is set to “0.5”. Then, the base station positioning (OTDOA) weight value with a fast positioning time and good accuracy is set to “0.5”.
The fifth line is a combination of positioning means, assuming, for example, “the accuracy desired by the user is 200 m and an outdoor environment”. About GPS, it is the same as that of the 4th line. Since the desired accuracy is as low as 200 m, the weight values for base station positioning (cell base) and base station positioning (OTDOA) are set to values higher than the fourth row.

When the accuracy information receiving unit 30 receives the accuracy setting from the user, the weight value changing unit 40 selects a record from the table shown in FIG. 7 using the accuracy information specified by the user and whether each positioning means can be used as a key. And read the weight value of each measuring means.
Then, the positioning means 20 performs positioning using positioning means whose weight value determined by the weight value changing unit 40 is not “0”. The positioning result calculation unit 50 obtains a final positioning result from each positioning result and the weight value.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a processing flow of the positioning apparatus according to the present embodiment.
A method for performing positioning with the accuracy specified by the user using the processing flow of FIG. 8 will be described.
As a premise, it is assumed that the user has started the location information providing service of the positioning device 1 by a predetermined operation, and the output unit 60 displays the map information and the result of positioning by a predetermined positioning means on the display unit 10. . Then, it is assumed that the user has started an operation for specifying accuracy information.
First, the accuracy information receiving unit 30 detects a tap on the display unit 10 by the user, and determines that accuracy information is designated by the user. The accuracy information receiving unit 30 instructs the output unit 60 to display a circle having a predetermined size in a predetermined color (for example, green). The output unit 60 displays a green circle having a predetermined length as a radius on the display unit 10 based on the instruction. Next, the accuracy information receiving unit 30 detects an operation (pinch-in, pinch-out) that makes the circle larger or smaller by contacting the outer circumference of the green circle with, for example, a thumb and an index finger sandwiching the circle. The user reduces the green circle if higher accuracy is desired. If accuracy is not required but it is desired to continue to acquire position information, the user may consider increasing the circle with more importance on battery consumption and positioning time than accuracy. When the accuracy information receiving unit 30 detects that the user changes the size of the green circle and removes his / her finger from the display unit 10, the accuracy information receiving unit 30 obtains the final radius of the green circle from the coordinate information. Then, the accuracy information receiving unit 30 calculates accuracy information desired by the user by multiplying the calculated radius length by the scale denominator of the currently displayed map information (step S1). Then, the accuracy information receiving unit 30 outputs the accuracy information to the weight value changing unit 40.

The weight value changing unit 40 inquires of each positioning means whether or not each positioning means is currently available, and grasps the positioning means that can be used. In response to this inquiry, for example, if the smartphone is out of the current range, a signal indicating that the base station positioning means cannot be used is output to the weight value changing unit 40.
Furthermore, the weight value changing unit 40 reads from the storage unit 70 the setting that the user has made for each positioning means and determines whether each positioning means can be used.
Next, the weight value changing unit 40 reads the table described with reference to FIG. Then, the table is searched using information on the currently available positioning means and the accuracy information desired by the user, and the combination of positioning means and the weight value given to each positioning means at that time are selected (step S2). Then, the weight value changing unit 40 determines whether or not a weight value has been selected (step S3). If the weight value changing unit 40 cannot select a combination of positioning means and a weight value that meet the conditions (step S3 = No), an error is displayed (step S8), and the process flow ends. The case where the weight value cannot be selected is, for example, when all the positioning means cannot be used.
When the weight value changing unit 40 can select the combination of the positioning means and the weight value that meet the conditions (step S3 = Yes), the weight value changing unit 40 outputs the determined content to the position positioning means 20. Then, the positioning means 20 performs positioning using positioning means whose weight value acquired from the weight value changing unit 40 is not “0”. Positioning by each positioning means is performed by a predetermined known technique. The same applies to how to obtain accuracy information when positioning is performed by each positioning means. For example, when positioning by GPS is performed, Patent Document 1 discloses accuracy information for positioning results.

When the positioning by each positioning unit is completed, the position positioning unit 20 outputs the positioning result (expected position and accuracy information) and the weight value acquired from the weight value changing unit 40 to the positioning result calculating unit 50.
The positioning result calculation unit 50 calculates the final positioning result in consideration of the positioning result and the weight value by each positioning means, for example, by the method described with reference to FIG. 6 (step S4). The positioning result calculation unit 50 outputs the calculated positioning result to the weight value changing unit 40.
The weight value changing unit 40 determines whether or not the accuracy information of the calculated positioning result satisfies the accuracy desired by the user (step S5).

When the desired accuracy is satisfied (step S5 = Yes), the weight value changing unit 40 outputs the calculation result acquired from the positioning result calculating unit 50 to the output unit 60. The output unit 60 outputs a circle whose accuracy information is a radius by associating the acquired position information of the positioning result with an appropriate position on the map information. It is assumed that the color of this circle is a predetermined color stored in the storage unit 70 in association with the accuracy information. For example, if the accuracy desired by the user is about 200 m, the output unit 60 may output blue, and if it is about 50 m, the output unit 60 may output yellow (step S6).
When the desired accuracy is not satisfied (step S5 = No), the weight value changing unit 40 determines the number of positionings up to the present, and determines whether the number of positionings is within a predetermined number of retries (step S7). The determination may be not the number of positioning times but the elapsed time from the start of positioning. In addition, when the positioning accuracy is not satisfied, the case where the positioning cannot be performed for some reason is included.

  When the number of positioning is within the predetermined number (step S7 = Yes), the weight value changing unit 40 selects a new combination of positioning means and weight value from the table described with reference to FIG. For example, when the accuracy desired by the user is 200 m, the first time, the combination of positioning means is determined for the record whose “request accuracy” column in the table of FIG. 7 is “200 m”. If the accuracy is not satisfied, a combination of positioning means and a weight value may be determined by searching for a record whose “request accuracy” column is “50 m”. Alternatively, the accuracy information obtained by each positioning means may be acquired from the position positioning means 20, and the table may be searched again on the condition that the positioning means with low accuracy cannot be used at present. Alternatively, it may be determined that the accuracy has decreased due to the temporary radio wave condition, and the same positioning means and weighting combination may be selected again (step S2). Then, the processes in steps S3 and S4 are repeated again.

When the number of positioning is not within the predetermined number (step S7 = No), the weight value changing unit 40 outputs a signal indicating that the positioning has an error to the output unit 60. The output unit 60 may output an error message such as “positioning could not be performed with a desired accuracy” on the display unit 10 (step S8). The output unit 60 may output, for example, the positioning result obtained at the last time simultaneously with the error message.
This processing flow is completed.

According to the present embodiment, the user can obtain the position information with the desired accuracy by an intuitive and simple method of designating the accuracy of the desired position information while viewing the map information displayed on the screen of the positioning device 1. it can.
The method of specifying accuracy information is not limited to the above method. For example, instead of designating the accuracy for the map information, the accuracy information may be designated by a numerical value such as “100 m” or “50 m”. However, the above method has the merit that the user can intuitively grasp the accuracy required by comparing the road width, city area, building size, etc. displayed on the map while looking at the map information. is there.
In the above example, the accuracy information is specified by increasing or decreasing the diameter of the circle displayed on the display unit 10 with the movement of the finger, but the user draws a circle on the display unit 10 with the operation of the finger, The accuracy information receiving unit 30 may receive the radius of the circle as accuracy information.
Moreover, although operation | movement was demonstrated to the example for the smart phone provided with the touch panel in this embodiment, the positioning apparatus 1 is notebook PC, for example, a user performs mouse operation and touchpad operation with respect to the map information displayed on the display of PC. The accuracy information may be specified by.

<Second Embodiment>
Hereinafter, a positioning apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
In the second embodiment, the configuration of the positioning device 1 is the same as that of the first embodiment. However, the output unit 60 not only displays the positioning result but also indicates that the positioning is completed by a method such as sound, vibration, or light. The point which has the function to alert | report to a user differs.
FIG. 9 is an example of a screen image displayed on the display unit 10 in the positioning device 1 according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 9A, the position information providing service of the positioning device 1 is started by a predetermined operation by the user, and the map information 100 and a circle 102 as a result of positioning by a predetermined positioning means are displayed on the display unit 10. It is an example of the screen image of the state which is in a state. It is assumed that the user wants to know the position where he / she exists a little more accurately by looking at the positioning result of FIG. Then, the user designates desired accuracy information by the circle 102 by the operation of the finger on the display unit 10 in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

Then, the positioning result calculation unit 50 calculates the predicted current position and accuracy information as in the first embodiment. Then, the positioning is repeatedly performed until the accuracy specified by the user can be satisfied or until positioning can be performed with accuracy close to that. When the positioning is completed, the output unit 60 displays the circle 105 that is the positioning result. In the present embodiment, the output unit 60 outputs notification information based on a comparison result between the accuracy information included in the newly calculated position positioning result and the accuracy information received by the accuracy information receiving unit 30.
For example, when the positioning is completed, the output unit 60 compares the accuracy information received from the user with the newly calculated accuracy information. You may output a voice saying "I know the position." Further, when the positioning satisfying the desired accuracy cannot be performed, the output unit 60 may output a voice “The current position could not be grasped”.
When the newly calculated accuracy information satisfies the accuracy information received from the user, the output unit 60 causes the LED included in the positioning device 1 to emit green light. When the accuracy information is not satisfied, the output unit 60 causes the positioning device 1 to The provided LED may emit red light.
Alternatively, the output unit 60 may notify the user of completion of positioning by vibrating the positioning device 1 regardless of whether or not the desired accuracy is satisfied when positioning is completed.
FIG. 8B is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen image of the display unit 10 when positioning is completed with desired accuracy.

  According to the present embodiment, since the positioning device 1 notifies that the positioning is completed, there is no need to look at the display unit 10 after designating the accuracy information. Especially when positioning is performed with high accuracy, it may take time. Even in such a case, the user need not look at the display unit 10 and wait for the positioning to be completed.

  The positioning device 1 described above has a computer inside. Each process of the positioning device 1 described above is stored in a computer-readable recording medium in the form of a program, and the above-described processing is performed by the computer reading and executing this program. Here, the computer-readable recording medium means a magnetic disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, a semiconductor memory, or the like. Alternatively, the computer program may be distributed to the computer via a communication line, and the computer that has received the distribution may execute the program.

  The program may be for realizing a part of the functions described above. Furthermore, what can implement | achieve the function mentioned above in combination with the program already recorded on the computer system, what is called a difference file (difference program) may be sufficient.

  In addition, it is possible to appropriately replace the components in the above-described embodiments with known components without departing from the spirit of the present invention. The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Positioning device 10 ... Display part 20 ... Positioning means 30 ... Accuracy information reception part 40 ... Weight value change part 50 ... Positioning result calculation part 60 ... Output part 70- ..Storage unit 100 ... map 101 ... circle 102 ... circle 103 ... arrow 104 ... center 105 ... circle

Claims (7)

A plurality of positioning means;
Positioning result calculation for calculating a position positioning result including an expected position and accuracy information based on each position positioning result obtained by the plurality of position positioning means and a weight value set for the plurality of position positioning means. And
An output unit for outputting a current position prediction range based on the position measurement result;
An accuracy information receiving unit for receiving a change in the accuracy information;
A weight value changing unit that changes the weight value set for the plurality of position positioning means based on the accuracy information that received the change;
A positioning device comprising: The positioning device according to claim 1, wherein the output unit outputs a current position prediction range in a different manner based on the calculated position positioning result. The notification information is output based on a comparison result between the accuracy information included in the position measurement result newly calculated by the output unit and the accuracy information received by the accuracy information receiving unit. Item 3. The positioning device according to any one of Items 2 above. The display according to claim 1, further comprising a display unit having an input function, wherein the accuracy information receiving unit receives a range specified by an operation by a user's finger on the display unit as the changed accuracy information. The positioning device according to any one of the above. The output unit outputs map information,
The positioning apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the accuracy information receiving unit receives a change of the accuracy information made to the map information. Positioning by multiple positioning means,
Based on each position positioning result obtained by the plurality of position positioning means and weight values set for the plurality of position positioning means, a position positioning result including an expected position and accuracy information is calculated,
Based on the position measurement result, the current position expected range is output,
Receiving a change in the accuracy information;
Changing the weight value set for the plurality of position positioning means based on the accuracy information received the change,
A positioning method characterized by that. Positioning device computer,
Means for calculating a position positioning result including an expected position and accuracy information based on each position positioning result obtained by a plurality of position positioning means and a weight value set for the plurality of position positioning means;
Means for outputting a current position prediction range based on the position measurement result;
Means for accepting a change in the accuracy information;
Means for changing a weight value set for the plurality of position positioning means based on the accuracy information for which the change has been received;
Program to function as.

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