JPH08340570A - Position confirmation system for mobile body - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To realize a position confirmation system for a mobile body with a simple configuration without the need for building up a large scale exclusive system by utilizing the mobile communication system in which micro cell processing is promoted. CONSTITUTION: An identification code is allocated to mobile bodies 5a, 5b, 5c and when base stations 1a, 1b, 1c receive the identification code from the mobile bodies in a radio wave, the base stations 1a, 1b, 1c send the mobile body identification information to a central control station 3 together with the identification information of its own station. As a result, the central control station recognizes the mobile bodies and the base stations in which the mobile bodies are in service areas 2a, 2b, 2c thereby confirming the position of an object mobile body. Furthermore, the base station sends position information of its own station in a radio wave periodically or on request from a mobile body and a mobile body in a communication coverage of the base station receives base station position information. As a result, the mobile body confirms the base station communication range it is in.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system for confirming the position of a mobile unit that wirelessly communicates with a base station based on the communication range of the base station.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a method of tracking and confirming the position of a moving body such as a person, an automobile, a ship, etc. by using wireless communication, a method using a directional antenna or a navigation signal from an artificial satellite has been used. How to do (GPS: Global Positio
ning System) is known.

In the method using a directional antenna, antennas having excellent directivity are installed at a plurality of locations, radio waves transmitted from the mobile body by these antennas are received, and the position of the mobile body is measured from the receiving direction. To recognize. However, in this method, each directional antenna is provided with a mechanism for changing its installation direction, and the installation direction of the antenna must be adjusted each time the position of the moving body is recognized, which complicates the operation. There was a problem that there was. Furthermore, since radio waves are reflected, scattered, shielded, or the like by obstacles such as structures, it is difficult to accurately recognize the direction of the moving body from the reception intensity of the antenna.

In the method of utilizing GPS, the navigation signals transmitted from a plurality of artificial satellites are received on the mobile body side, and the mobile body side recognizes its own position from the transfer information of the plurality of received navigation signals. I will get it. However,
With this method, there is a problem that the position cannot be confirmed if the moving object is in an environment where the navigation signal from the artificial satellite does not reach, such as inside a shield such as a building or underground. there were.

Nowadays, mobile communication systems for carrying out radio communication with a base station such as car phones, mobile phones and pagers are widely used and cover a predetermined area (communication range). Many base stations are installed. Furthermore, in order to make effective use of frequencies, miniaturization of the service area of each base station is being promoted, and microcells are being promoted to provide services by a large number of base stations. (P
(HS: Personal Handyphone System) is being put to practical use. In a personal handyphone system, each base station covers a very narrow service area with a radius of several hundred meters at most, and many such base stations are installed not only outdoors, but also inside buildings and underground malls. It enables communication from mobile phones via base stations.

[0006]

As described above, in the conventional moving body position confirmation system, the cost for installing the directional antenna is increased despite the construction of a dedicated system for confirming the position. There were problems such as increase in number, complicated operation, and restrictions on the navigation signal reception environment.

Therefore, the present invention utilizes a mobile communication system such as PHS in which microcellization is promoted,
It is an object of the present invention to realize a system for confirming the position of a moving body with a simple configuration without requiring the construction of a large-scale dedicated system.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the position confirmation system for a moving body according to claim 1 comprises:
A plurality of base stations having respective radio communication ranges, a central control station for identifying each base station, and a mobile body to which an identification code is assigned are provided, and the position of the mobile body in the central control station is set to that of the base station. A mobile body position confirmation system for recognizing in communication range units, wherein the mobile body includes a transmission unit that wirelessly transmits an identification code, and the base station receives a mobile unit identification code that is wirelessly transmitted. And transmitting means for transmitting the received mobile unit identification information to the central control station together with the identification information of its own station.

A mobile body position confirmation system according to a second aspect of the present invention includes a plurality of base stations having respective radio communication ranges, and a mobile body that performs radio communication with each base station. A mobile body position confirmation system for recognizing its own position in a body in units of communication range of a base station, wherein the base station includes a transmitting unit for wirelessly transmitting position information of the mobile station, wherein the mobile body is a base station. It is characterized in that it is provided with a receiving means for receiving the position information of the mobile station and an output means for outputting the position information of the moving body based on the received position information of the base station.

[0010]

According to the present invention, if it can be confirmed in which communication range (service area) of the base station the mobile unit is located, the position of the mobile unit can be confirmed in units of the communication range. Based on the viewpoint, when using a mobile communication system such as PHS in which micro-cellization is promoted, the position of the mobile can be confirmed in an area with a radius of several hundred meters. Even with this level of accuracy, it is possible to check, for example, in which part of the town the mobile carrier is located (such as the number of chomes). Can be realized.

That is, according to the first aspect of the invention, an identification code is assigned to the mobile unit, and when the base station receives the identification code wirelessly transmitted from the mobile unit, the mobile unit identification information identifies the mobile unit. It is sent to the central control station together with the information.
As a result, the central control station can identify the moving body and the base station in which the moving body is located within the communication range, and thereby the position of the target moving body can be confirmed.

Further, in the invention of claim 2, the base station wirelessly transmits the position information of the own station periodically or when there is a request from the mobile unit, and the mobile unit located within the communication range of the base station. Receives this base station location information. As a result, the mobile unit can confirm which base station it is located within the communication range of the mobile unit. Can be confirmed.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A position confirmation system for a moving body according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2,
It shows an embodiment in which the position confirmation system according to claim 1 is applied to a PHS. As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of base stations 1a, 1b, 1c are installed at predetermined intervals, and each base station 1a, 1b, 1c has a predetermined service area (communication range) 2a, 2b, 2c. Is set. These service areas 2a, 2b, 2c are set in a relatively narrow range, and P as a preferred embodiment.
When using HS, the radius is set to a range of several hundreds of meters.

Each of the base stations 1a, 1b, 1c is connected to the central control station 3 via a line 4, and the central control station 3 provides information about the location of each of the base stations 1a, 1b, 1c and its service area. It is managed in association with the identifier assigned to each base station. As shown in FIG. 2, the moving body 5a,
5b and 5c respectively include a communication unit 6 that performs wireless communication with the base stations 1a, 1b, and 1c, an antenna 7 that transmits and receives radio waves, and a memory 8 that stores an identification code uniquely assigned in the system. And have. The mobile units 5a, 5b, 5c can also be configured by mounting the memory 8 on a mobile phone such as a PHS. In this case, the central control station 3 also has a switching function and receives data via the base station. Calls from the mobile phones 5a, 5b, and 5c are connected to the telephone line.

The base stations 1a, 1b and 1c respectively communicate with the mobile units 5a, 5b and 5c by wireless communication and the communication means 9 that communicates with the central control station 3. ,
It has an antenna 10 for transmitting and receiving radio waves, and a memory 11 for storing an identifier uniquely assigned in the system.

In the present embodiment, when the carrier of the mobile unit 5a, 5b, 5c performs a transmission operation, the communication unit 6 reads the mobile unit identification code from the memory 8 and wirelessly transmits this mobile unit identification code to the base station. Send. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the mobile unit 5a located within the service area 2b wirelessly transmits the mobile unit identification code to the base station 1b, and the mobile units 5b and 5c located within the service area 2c respectively transmit to the base station 1c. The mobile unit identification code is wirelessly transmitted.

The mobile unit is provided with a timer to automatically transmit the mobile unit identification code to the base station automatically at a certain fixed period, or the central control station 3 specifies the mobile unit identification code. The base station may transmit the request based on the request from the mobile station, and the corresponding mobile body may make the request accordingly. Further, when the mobile unit is configured as a mobile phone, when wireless communication is performed with the base stations 1a, 1b, 1c, the communication unit 6 reads the mobile unit identification code from the memory 8 and identifies the mobile unit. The code may be wirelessly transmitted to the base station together with the call signal.

The mobile unit identification codes wirelessly transmitted from the mobile units 5a, 5b, 5c are received by the corresponding base stations 1a, 1b, 1c. Then, in the base stations 1a, 1b, 1c, the communication means 9 reads the identifier of the own station from the memory 11 and transmits the mobile unit identification code received together with this base station identifier to the central control station 3. Based on the received base station identifier and mobile unit identification code, the central control station 3 determines each mobile unit 5a, 5a,
The positions b and 5c are recognized as a service area of a specific base station, and in this embodiment, the central control station 3 holds and manages the recognized positions of the mobile units 5a, 5b and 5c for a certain period.

Therefore, the user can confirm the location of the desired moving body 5a, 5b, 5c by referring to the central control station 3. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 1, it can be confirmed that the mobile unit 5a is located within the service area 2b of the base station 1b, and the mobile units 5b and 5c are located within the service area 2c of the base station 1c. it can.

3 and 4 show an embodiment in which the position confirmation system according to claim 2 is applied to PHS.
As shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of base stations 1a, 1b, 1c are installed at a predetermined interval from each other.
A predetermined service area (communication range) 2a, 2b, 2c is set for each of a, 1b, 1c.

As shown in FIG. 4, each base station 1a, 1b,
1c has a memory 21 for storing information about the installation position (or identifier) of its own station as position information, and a wireless reception means 22 for wirelessly receiving a position confirmation request from the mobile units 5a, 5b, 5c. It has a wireless transmission means 23 for wirelessly transmitting position information to the mobile bodies 5a, 5b, 5c, a communication control means 24 for controlling transmission / reception of information, and an antenna 10 for transmitting / receiving wireless radio waves.

Further, to the mobile units 5a, 5b, 5c, wireless transmission means 25 for wirelessly transmitting a position confirmation request to the base stations 1a, 1b, 1c, and position information from the base stations 1a, 1b, 1c are wirelessly transmitted. Wireless reception means 26 for receiving, position confirmation means 27 for outputting and processing the own position information based on the received base station position information, output means 28 for displaying and outputting the own position information on a display, and transmitting and receiving radio waves It has an antenna 7 to operate.

In this embodiment, when the carrier of the moving bodies 5a, 5b, 5c performs a position confirming operation, the position confirming means 27 wirelessly transmits a position confirming request from the wireless transmitting means 25. FIG.
In the example shown in FIG. 2, the mobile unit 5a located in the service area 2b wirelessly transmits a position confirmation request to the base station 1b, and the mobile units 5b and 5c located in the service area 2c are connected to the base station 1b.
Each position confirmation request is wirelessly transmitted to c.

The wirelessly transmitted position confirmation request is received by the wireless reception means 22 of the corresponding base station 1a, 1b, 1c, and the communication control means 24 responds to the request by the communication control means 24.
The position information of its own station is read from and is transmitted from the wireless transmission means 23. Here, in the PHS, a control carrier is set in the radio wave transmitted from the base station, and a data packet channel that can be used by the user is prepared in this control carrier. In the present embodiment, the position information is placed on this data packet channel, and the mobile units 5a, 5
Send to b and 5c.

The position information transmitted from the base stations 1a, 1b, 1c is the mobile unit 5a located in the service area,
It is received at 5b and 5c. That is, in the above example, the moving body 5a located in the service area 2b is the base station 1b.
The wireless receiving means 26 receives the position information from the mobile stations 5b and 5c located in the service area 2c, and the wireless receiving means 26 receives the position information from the base station 1c.

Then, in the mobile body which has received the position information from the base station, the position recognizing means 27 determines the area where the mobile body is located based on the installation position of the base station (or its identifier), and determines this area. The output means 28 displays on the display. Here, the position recognizing means 27, based on the information about the installation position of the base station and its service area,
It has a table for converting it into a specific place name, address, etc. In this table, a specific place name etc. is stored in advance in association with the installation position (or its identifier) of the base station. It should be noted that the location information transmitted from the base station may include a specific place name, and in this case, the above table may be omitted.

Therefore, the carrier of the moving bodies 5a, 5b, 5c can confirm the location of his / her own by performing the position confirming operation. For example, in the above example, the mobile unit 5a is located within the service area 2b of the base station 1b,
It can be confirmed that the mobile units 5b and 5c are located within the service area 2c of the base station 1c.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show another embodiment in which the position confirmation system according to claim 2 is applied to PHS. The same parts as those in the above-described embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and a duplicate description will be omitted. In the present embodiment, unlike the above-described embodiments, the base stations 1a, 1b, 1c wirelessly transmit the position information every predetermined period.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, each base station 1
Each of a, 1b, and 1c is provided with a timer 29, and the communication control means 24 reads out the position information from the memory 21 for each period measured by the timer 29, and the wireless transmission means 23.
Send from Further, the wireless transmission means for transmitting the position confirmation request is omitted in each of the mobile bodies 5a, 5b, 5c, and the position information periodically transmitted from the base stations 1a, 1b, 1c is wirelessly received by the mobile reception means. Received at 26.

In this embodiment, when the carrier of the moving bodies 5a, 5b, 5c performs a position confirming operation, the position recognizing means 27 positions the moving body based on the position information received by the wireless receiving means 26. The place name and the like are calculated, and the output unit 28 displays the place name and the like on the display. Therefore, the moving body 5
Carryers a, 5b, and 5c can confirm their own location by performing a position confirmation operation. For example,
In the example shown in FIG. 5, the mobile unit 5a is located within the service area 2b of the base station 1b, and the mobile units 5b and 5c are the base station 1c.
It can be confirmed that it is located in the service area 2c of.

[0031]

As described above, according to the system for confirming the position of a mobile unit according to the present invention, the position of the mobile unit can be simplified simply by making a slight change to the base station using the mobile communication system. Therefore, the system construction can be realized at low cost. In addition, the position confirmation accuracy of the mobile object is improved with the microcell of the mobile communication system. Especially, when using PHS, not only is the accuracy sufficient for practical use, but also in a building or an underground mall. The position can be confirmed, and a system with extremely high practicality is realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a mobile body position confirmation system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing configurations of a mobile unit and a base station according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an overall configuration diagram of a mobile body position confirmation system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing configurations of a mobile unit and a base station according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an overall configuration diagram of a mobile body position confirmation system according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing configurations of a mobile unit and a base station according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1a, 1b, 1c ... Base station, 2a, 2b, 2c ...
-Service area (communication range), 3 ... Central control station, 5a, 5b, 5c ... Mobile unit, 6 ... Communication means, 8 ... Identification code memory, 9 ... Communication means,
11 ... Identifier memory, 21 ... Position information memory,
24 ... communication control means, 27 ... position recognition means,
28 ... Output means,

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of base stations having respective wireless communication ranges, and a central control station for identifying the respective base stations,
A mobile body position confirmation system comprising: a mobile body to which an identification code is assigned; and the central control station recognizing the position of the mobile body in units of communication range of a base station, wherein the mobile body wirelessly transmits an identification code. And a transmitting means for transmitting the received mobile body identification information to the central control station together with the identification information of its own station. ,
A system for confirming the position of a mobile body, which comprises: 2. A plurality of base stations each having a wireless communication range, and a mobile unit that performs wireless communication with each base station, and the position of the mobile unit is recognized in units of the communication range of the base station. In the system for confirming the position of a moving body, the base station includes a transmitting unit that wirelessly transmits the position information of its own station, the moving unit receives the position information from the base station, and the receiving base station. An output unit that outputs the position information of the moving body based on the position information of the moving body, and a position confirmation system for the moving body.