ES2575122B1 - Method, system and device to detect, locate and obtain information on the presence of objects or places of interest - Google Patents

Abstract

Method, system and device for detecting, locating and obtaining information on the presence of objects or places of interest. # The present invention relates to a method, a system and a device for obtaining information, detecting and locating the presence of an object in The environment of a user with a mobile phone. The invention comprises: locating a wireless device in the object, where the wireless device stores information about the object; periodically emit a signal with information about the object and the power with which the signal is emitted; measure the power with which the signal is received on the mobile phone to calculate the distance based on the power with which the signal is emitted and received; indicate on the mobile phone the information on the object of interest and the distance calculated; send, after user interaction, a request for additional information from the mobile phone to the wireless device; receive the request for additional information on the wireless device: and send a message with additional information previously stored on the wireless device to the mobile phone.

Description

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DESCRIPTION

Method, system and device to detect locate and obtain information on the presence of objects or places of interest

Object of the invention

The present invention has application in the technical sector of wireless communications and more specifically in the exchange of wireless signals to assist users provided with a smart mobile phone in the detection, localization and obtaining information of objects or places of interest in their environment.

Background of the invention

Currently, concepts such as "Smart City" or "Internet of Things" are experiencing such a boom that a sensorization of cities is inevitably taking place. Both the private and public sectors are showing a growing interest in technological solutions linked to wireless scenarios and the benefits they can bring in the improvement of city management, in bringing information closer to the citizen, and in the creation of large intelligent systems that result in better use of resources. In the implementation of these solutions, a wide range of wireless technologies are used, which allow communication between different devices for this purpose through the use of radio frequency signals such as WiFi, ZigBee or Bluetooth, each of them specialized in a Type of communications and services.

An example of these solutions is the user assistance systems to identify objects in their environment, offer them access to additional information of a place or characteristics that at first glance may not be easily detected. Especially useful are of course for people with some visual impairment although anyone can take advantage of these advances to access certain information in a more comfortable way.

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Currently there are transmitters that are mainly used for indoor positioning and allow their presence to be notified by proximity to mobile devices in their environment. Bluetooth low energy communications make it especially suitable for commercial use and advertising purposes, as they mainly try to give visibility to the products of stores that a user has around them. These transmitters issue a serial number, which has previously been entered into a database associated with a location or has been configured to perform some specific action through applications installed on the mobile device. One of the advantages is that the user can be located in the approximate environment of the transmitter, but it is clear that he cannot be given accurate information on the location of the transmitter since their relative positions are unknown. On the other hand, unidirectional communication is a problem that completely loads applications that are installed on the phone with all the work of processing, deciphering the serial number and offering the relevant information, whether via the internet, access to certain base of data or some other preconfigured action, but of course, forcing prior knowledge of the serial number and associated information, which presents some drawbacks such as the creation of that database and its maintenance. Or in the case of hosting it on a server, the phone will make use of its data connection, which in addition to being unavailable, entails fee costs. In terms of usability, storage capacity and performance of mobile devices used to communicate with these types of transmitters, it is also not advantageous to have to resort to installing specific applications for each of the different types of transmitters that you want to access.

Other existing solutions in the state of the art to interact with objects of the environment resort to devices specially designed for this, which implies, in addition to high costs, usability problems by forcing the user to load with additional devices to those that he typically already uses in your day to day This is the case, for example, of the US patent US 6977579B2, which refers to an assistive device for the visually impaired by placing RFID tags on objects in a controlled environment for the user and providing the user with an RFID tag reader for Identify labels and their associated objects. This approach has several drawbacks in terms of the service offered, since it forces the user to be aware of the placement of the labels and, therefore, a prior knowledge of the environment. In addition, the

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The user needs to transport a device dedicated exclusively to reading the labels on which he has to act actively to turn it on, off, take readings or direct it towards the objects he intends to identify. These actions, for a visually impaired person, are not obvious and require a concentration that is detrimental to their well-being and safety in their movements.

On the other hand, RFID technology is the most widespread in this type of solutions, which in itself limits a user's field of action to the range of centimeters or, in the best cases, as disclosed in WO 2009/063114 A1, a few meters. Undoubtedly, it is insufficient to interact appropriately with the environment, since the utility can hardly reach beyond recognizing similar objects (content of different boats) or the position of previously known objects, such as chairs in a salon.

Therefore, the state of the art demands a more ambitious solution that allows a user to move freely through wide environments in which they can access additional information without having any prior knowledge of the environment or additional devices. An invention that allows users to be aware of their environment without any prior knowledge necessarily implies that it does not require any action on the part of the user and yet allows him to detect, interact and precisely locate the objects or places of interest.

Description of the invention

The present invention solves the aforementioned problems by means of a method to detect, locate the presence and obtain information of an object or place of interest in the environment of a user with a mobile phone. The method comprises the steps of:

- locate a wireless device in an object or place of interest, where the wireless device stores information, at least about the object or place of interest in which it has been located;

- periodically emit, from the wireless device, a signal through a wireless communications network, where said signal comprises at least the information about the object or place of interest and the power with which the signal is emitted;

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- receive the signal on the mobile phone, through the wireless communications network;

- measure the power with which the signal is received on the mobile phone;

- calculate in the mobile phone a distance between the mobile phone and the wireless device depending on the power with which the signal is emitted and the power with which it is received;

- show on the mobile phone the information or place of interest and the approximate distance calculated, so that the user can identify the object or place.

The signals emitted by the wireless device, according to one of the embodiments of the invention, are contemplated to include summary information about the object or place of interest in a user-readable format and a serial identification number of the object in the one that has been located the wireless device.

The present invention allows the user to interact with the wireless device through their mobile phone comprising the following steps.

- send, after a user interaction, a request for additional information from the mobile phone to the wireless device;

- receive the request for additional information on the wireless device;

- send the additional information previously stored in the wireless device in user-readable format to the mobile phone.

Alternatively or in combination with the above steps, the invention may comprise:

- Send, after a user interaction, a second request for additional, more comprehensive information to the wireless device;

- receive the second request for more comprehensive additional information on the wireless device.

- send a WEB address to the mobile phone;

- Access from the mobile phone and through the web link to additional information without limit of capacity hosted on an external server.

In one of the embodiments of the present invention, the wireless device comprises

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an alarm and, once indicated by the mobile phone information about the object or place of interest, the method also includes the steps of:

- send, after a user interaction, a request to activate the alarm from the mobile phone to the wireless device;

- receive the request to activate the alarm on the wireless device;

- activate the alarm in the wireless device, so that the user can precisely locate the object.

The activation of the alarm may include activating an acoustic signal, a light signal or both at the same time.

Optionally, it is contemplated to reproduce an alert on the mobile phone, perceptible by the user, when the mobile phone receives the signal emitted by the device.

The indication on the mobile phone of the information about the object or place of interest and the calculated distance, according to different embodiments of the invention, may comprise reproducing the indications on a mobile phone screen or reproducing the indications in a sound or reproducing manner. tactile indications on a braille keyboard or any similar device.

A second aspect of the invention relates to a wireless device for detecting and locating the presence of an object or place of interest in the environment of a user with a mobile phone, where the device is located in the object or place of interest and comprises :

- a memory module that stores certain information, at least about the object or place of interest in which the wireless device is located;

- a communications module that periodically emits a signal through a wireless communications network, where said signal comprises at least the information about the object or place of interest stored in the memory module and the power with which the signal is emitted.

- a processing module that allows interactions between the user and the device, the processing module is configured to: receive, from the module

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communications, interaction requests sent from a mobile phone that has previously received the signal issued by said communications module; and send additional information, depending on the petition received, to the mobile phone through the communications module.

In one embodiment of the invention, the wireless device further comprises a sound module configured to activate a sound signal when the processing module receives, through the communications module, a request from the mobile terminal to activate the alarm.

In an embodiment of the invention, the wireless device may comprise a light module configured to activate a light signal when the processing module receives, through the communications module, a request from the mobile terminal to activate the alarm.

Another aspect of the invention relates to a system for obtaining information, detecting and locating the presence of an object or place of interest in the environment of a user with a mobile phone, comprising:

- a wireless device located in an object or place of interest, where said device stores information, at least, about the object or place of interest in which it has been located, configured to:

- periodically emit a signal through a wireless communications network, where said signal comprises at least the information about the object or place of interest and the power with which the signal is emitted;

- receive requests for additional information and send a message with additional information previously stored on the device to the mobile phone;

- a mobile phone configured to:

- calculate the power with which the signal is received;

- calculate an approximate distance between the mobile phone and the wireless device, depending on the power with which the signal is emitted and the power with which it is received;

- indicate on the mobile phone the information received and the distance calculated;

- send, after a user interaction, a request for additional information

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to the wireless device.

The invention also contemplates that the mobile phone is also configured to, after a user interaction, send a petition to the wireless device to activate an alarm; and the wireless device is also configured to activate the alarm depending on the request received.

A final aspect of the invention relates to a computer program characterized in that it comprises program code means adapted to perform the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, when said program is executed in a general purpose processor, a Digital signal processor, an FPGA, an ASIC, a microprocessor, a microcontroller, or any other form of programmable hardware.

Therefore, a new accessibility solution is proposed, receiving information and interacting with our environment, viable both technically and economically. The evolution of current mobile phones, has made available to a large majority of users, powerful hardware tools, software and communication systems, which are an inseparable part of people's daily lives. This makes it possible to dispense with dedicated devices for interaction with environmental objects and instead use a smart mobile phone, of the type that most people have today.

The location of small wireless devices in the objects or places of interest is enormously advantageous, since it allows the objects themselves to actively manifest their presence to any user with an appropriate mobile phone without requiring any action, so the user does not need to know the existence of the wireless device before it manifests its presence when approaching it. This transmits itself readable information such as "service door", so that the mobile device does not have to have any previous knowledge of any serial number, databases or data connections, but directly shows the information received Otherwise, the invention would be limited in terms of benefits and benefits, since it would imply prior knowledge of the place.

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by the user or would imply that the user previously installed specific applications for each type of device, location or manufacturer.

Thanks to the interaction capability discussed above, the present invention allows the user to request more detailed information of the object or place of interest, so that the user directly receives that requested information from the small memory incorporated into the wireless device, which again does not need Resolve serial numbers or connections to databases and allows the mobile phone to only have to reproduce the information sent to it.

Advantageously, a single application is sufficient to manage all these communications and offer different user interaction options. It is the only intervention required on the software that can be found in a current smart mobile phone to access any wireless device according to the present invention.

The possibility of activating a light or acoustic signal on the objects that have previously been identified by the mobile phone, is a valuable help for a person trying to locate it. Initially it has received an estimate of the distance, but depending on the place where the user is and their own visual limitations it may not be so easy to find the appropriate direction and the object itself, but instead, activating an acoustic signal or a light signal located on the device, which in turn is located on the identified object, this task is greatly facilitated and allows the user to accurately locate the location of the object or place of interest

Although both the method of the invention, as the wireless devices and the system take into account the needs of people with visual problems, their advantageous applications are not limited at all to the spatial orientation of this group with solutions such as to find the toilets in public establishments, locate vending machines, emergency exits or a hotel room, but the information received and the interactions with the objects through the wireless devices located in them, allow access to clear menus and instructions for use of multitude of objects that many people are not familiar with or use for the first time

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time. This is applicable to parking meters, ticket purchase stations or any other similar element, so that the application of the present invention is universal.

Description of the drawings

To complement the description that is being made and in order to help a better understanding of the features of the invention, according to a preferred example of practical realization thereof, an set of drawings is accompanied as an integral part of said description. With an illustrative and non-limiting nature, the following has been represented:

Figure 1 shows the process of approximation and detection of the present invention between a user provided with a mobile telephone and one of the wireless devices.

Figure 2 shows the process of information exchange between the mobile phone and the wireless device according to one of the embodiments of the invention.

Figure 3 shows the localization process, according to one of the embodiments of the invention comprising the activation of an alarm in the wireless device.

Preferred Embodiment of the Invention

In view of the figures summarized, it can be observed that in one of the possible embodiments of the invention, the disclosed method is divided into several processes that can be collected as: approximation process, information process and location process.

Figure 1 shows the approach process, whose main objective is that the wireless device (1) that has been located in a certain object or place of interest (2), notify a user (3) provided with a smart mobile phone ( 4) or “smartphone” of his presence when the user approaches him, without the user having to perform any operation on his phone.

For example, a person (3) with a visual impairment walks along a path (5) near a vending machine (2) or “vending” in a certain public place unknown to her in which she has never been before. In this case, the vending machine is responsible for notifying the user of their presence. The user's mobile phone, which can be configured to produce a vibration, a sound, a notification or message,

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or any other warning method that fulfills the task of notifying the user, when this, in its trajectory, penetrates (6) in the range of the signals emitted (7) by the wireless device, will produce a warning in any of the ways discussed above so that the user is aware that an object or place that may be of interest has been detected.

These devices continuously emit signals (7) that contain information that will allow the user's mobile phone to discern that the information received belongs to this type of device, and not another that also operates with the same communications protocol. For this, the wireless devices, according to an embodiment of the invention, periodically transmit signals with the following information:

- A unique identifier that differentiates it from any other device, other than the wireless devices of the present invention, that is using the same protocol.

- A serial number, so that the user's mobile phone can distinguish between the different wireless devices, according to the present invention, which it detects simultaneously.

- A value of the power with which the signal is transmitted, so that it allows the user's mobile phone (and depending on the received power), estimate the distance between the mobile phone and the wireless device.

- A small description of the object or place of interest in which the device has been located, so that the user's mobile phone can give preliminary indications to the user without having to access any database, either local or remote.

A second example illustrating this description refers to a wireless device located in an elevator. The device is periodically emitting signals with at least the information mentioned above and, when a user approaches the device and falls within the range of the signals emitted by the device, the user's mobile phone receives said signals . The mobile phone performs a processing of the received signals and determines, thanks to the unique identifier, that it is actually a wireless device of the type proposed hereby

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invention. From the value of power with which it has been transmitted and the power itself that the telephone measures in reception, determines the approximate distance to which the telephone and the wireless device are located, where the indications of distance that the telephone gives the user can be implemented according to different embodiments, in meters of distance or encode them in several levels and thus offer relative indications such as: "near", "very close", depending on preset distance thresholds.

Following this example, the mobile phone, after processing the received signal gives the user the corresponding indications, which in this case could be presented on the mobile phone screen as "MAIN ELEVATOR", depending on the small description that had stored the wireless device, and "VERY NEAR", depending on the calculated distance and coded levels.

This information can be presented to the user without having to access local data on the user's mobile phone, or remote on any server, since this information is entirely stored in a memory module and is transmitted by the device's own communications module wireless located, in this case, in an elevator, thus differentiating the present invention from other embodiments that need access to data remotely, through a data connection in the mobile phone, which in addition to needing an economic expense by the user, it may not be available in the place of the object.

In addition, the serial number that is transmitted can be used to access more information directly from the mobile phone, either because it has been previously stored in the mobile phone itself or because when recognizing certain serial numbers during the processing of the signals received from the Wireless devices in your environment, the mobile phone could also connect directly to a remote database.

Figure 2 shows the information process, where the user interacts (20) with the wireless device (1) through his mobile phone (4), so that he can request and access additional information once he is already aware of the existence in your environment of a wireless device located in an object or place of interest. The wireless devices of the present invention contain more extensive information fields than

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the small description sent together with the signals that are periodically issued, where the information that is stored in these fields can be transmitted in successive interactions to the user's request, therefore without the need for access to remote data. Once the user has received on his mobile phone a signal emitted from a wireless device and is aware that an object or place of interest is in his environment, the user can select through an appropriate interface for it, expand the information of the object or place of interest. To do this, after an interaction (20) with the mobile phone, a request (21) for additional information is sent to the wireless device through the wireless link that has been established.

The additional information can be presented in different ways, according to an embodiment of the invention, a detailed description of the object or place of interest can be stored directly in the memory of the wireless device, but according to other embodiments, it can be provided to the user, only or in conjunction with the detailed description of a web address that refers to additional information hosted on an external server and without a size limit.

Continuing with the previous example, in which the user has been alerted to the presence of an elevator in their environment, the user selects on his mobile phone the option to request additional information, with which a request is sent to the wireless device. The wireless device receives the request through its communications module, then this request is processed in a processor module and the wireless device returns a message (22) to the mobile terminal with the information expanded on two levels:

- On the one hand, a more detailed description, such as in this case:

“You are in the vicinity of the main elevator of the hospital, this elevator communicates with the floors -2 to 12. You will find the braille button panel to the left of the cabin. You are currently on the ground floor. Also, in the web address provided you can find a detailed description of the hospital services of each of the plants. "

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- And on the other hand, a URL, such as:
www.servicioshosDitalariosdeeiemDlo.es.

where the user, through his mobile phone, can access a much more extensive information of each and every one of the services and doctors that are in the hospital for each plant. This information, unlike the previous one, is not stored in the memory module of the wireless device itself, but in an external web server.

Figure 3 shows the localization process, according to a particular embodiment of the invention, so that it allows the user to locate exactly the point at which he is in the object or place of interest and not only approximately. Once the user has been alerted that their mobile phone has detected the existence of a wireless device located in an object or place that may be of interest and, possibly, but not necessarily, has requested more extended information about it, you can require to use the additional service offered in this particular embodiment of the invention, where the wireless device has a signaling or alarm module that the user can activate to locate with exact accuracy, speed and simplicity the exact location of the object.

To do this and thinking mainly of people with visual disabilities, the signaling or alarm module comprises a sound module and / or a light module (for those with visual remains) that can be activated remotely from the user's mobile phone.

The user interacts with the wireless device (1) through his mobile phone (4), so that he can request to activate the signaling module and consequently, the audible and / or light alarm, once he is already aware of the existence in your environment of a wireless device located in an object or place of interest.

Once the user has received on his mobile phone a signal emitted from a wireless device and is aware that an object or place of interest is in his

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environment, the user can select through an appropriate interface for this, activate the signaling module of the wireless device located in the object or place of interest. To do this, after an interaction with the mobile phone, a petition (31) was sent to activate the signaling to the wireless device through the wireless link that has been established. Then, the wireless device receives the request through its communications module, processes the request in its processor module and responds by activating (32) the signaling included by the signaling module depending on the request received which, depending on the execution , it can be an audible alarm, a light alarm or both.

For example, continuing with the previous example, once the user has been alerted to the existence of the elevator in its vicinity, and checking with the information received that this elevator can transfer him to the destination floor, he decides to use the elevator. To locate its exact location, activate the audible and / or light alarm so that it can be immediately guided to the exact access point of the elevator.

The wireless devices of the invention, according to a particular embodiment, have a communications module that operates under the Bluetooth 4.0 protocol, although of course they could be designed using any other wireless protocol, the features offered by Bluetooth 4.0 are very appropriate for requirements of the present invention, where low consumption and low cost prevail, allowing to implement affordable devices that, with a power supply such as a simple battery, can guarantee its operation for a long period of time, greater than one year. On the other hand the range of reach can be considered in the range of tens of meters which, in one of the embodiments at least guarantees operation up to 50 meters away.

One of the embodiments of the present invention has an application developed specifically to be executed in the user's mobile phone and to customize the options menus for exchanging messages and information with the wireless devices. This application is executed transparently to the user and only when the user has been notified of the presence of an object or place of interest, it offers the different interaction options available.

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The usual smart mobile phones are compatible with the present invention regardless of their operating system. The usual hardware is sufficient to transfer the instructions to the user through, for example, their screen, if they are visually, or their loudspeaker, if they are reproduced by voice.

Claims (13)

5 10 fifteen twenty 25 30 1. - Method to detect, locate and obtain information on the presence of an object or place of interest in the environment of a user with a mobile phone, which includes the following steps: a) locate a wireless device in an object or place of interest, where the wireless device stores information, at least about the object or place of interest in which it has been located; b) periodically emit, from the wireless device, a signal through a wireless communications network, where said signal comprises at least the information about the object or place of interest and the power with which the signal is emitted; c) receive the signal on the mobile phone, through the wireless communications network; d) measure the power with which the signal is received on the mobile phone; e) calculate on the mobile phone a distance between the mobile phone and the wireless device based on the power with which the signal is emitted and the power with which it is received; f) indicate on the mobile phone the information about the object or place of interest and the distance calculated. g) send, after a user interaction, a request for additional information from the mobile phone to the wireless device; h) receive the request for additional information on the wireless device: i) send a message with additional information previously stored in the wireless device to the mobile phone. 2. - Method according to revindication 1, which also includes the following steps: - send, after a user interaction, a second request for additional information to the wireless device; - receive the second request for additional information on the wireless device: - send a message with a web link to the mobile phone; - Access from the mobile phone and through the web link to additional information hosted on an external server. 5 10 fifteen twenty 25 30 3. - Method according to any of the preceding claims wherein the wireless device comprises an alarm and, once indicated by the mobile phone information about the object or place of interest, the method also includes the steps of: - send, after a user interaction, a request to activate the alarm from the mobile phone to the wireless device; - receive the request to activate the alarm on the wireless device; - activate the alarm on the wireless device. 4. - Method according to revindication 3 where activating the alarm comprises at least activating an acoustic signal in a sound warning module. 5. - Method according to any of claims 3-4 wherein activating the alarm comprises activating a light signal in a light module. 6. - Method according to any of the preceding claims which further comprises reproducing an alert on the mobile telephone perceptible by the user, when the mobile telephone receives the signal emitted by the wireless device. 7. - Method according to any of the preceding claims, where to indicate on the mobile phone the information about the object or place of interest and the distance calculated, includes reproducing the indications on a mobile telephone screen or reproducing the indications in a sound way or play the indications tactilely on a braille keyboard or any similar device. 8. - Wireless device to detect, locate and obtain information on the presence of an object or place of interest in the environment of a user with a mobile phone, where the device is located in the object or place of interest and includes: - a memory module that stores certain information, at least about the object or place of interest in which the wireless device is located; - a communications module that periodically emits a signal through a wireless communications network, where said signal comprises at least the information about the object or place of interest stored in the memory module and the power with which the signal is emitted. 5 10 fifteen twenty 25 30 - a processing module configured to: receive, from the communications module, requests sent from a mobile phone that has previously received the signal issued by said communications module; and send additional information, depending on the request received, to the mobile phone through the communications module. 9. - Wireless device according to revindication 8, which also comprises a sound module configured to activate a sound signal when the processing module receives, through the communications module, a request from the mobile terminal to activate the alarm. 10. - Wireless device according to any of claims 8-9, which further comprises a light module configured to activate a light signal when the processing module receives, through the communications module, a request from the mobile terminal to activate the alarm. 11. - System to detect, locate and obtain information on the presence of an object or place of interest in the environment of a user with a mobile phone, which includes: - a wireless device located in an object or place of interest, where said device stores information, at least, about the object or place of interest in which it has been located, configured to: - periodically emit a signal through a wireless communications network, where said signal comprises at least the information about the object or place of interest and the power with which the signal is emitted; - receive requests for additional information and send a message with additional information previously stored on the device to the mobile phone; - a mobile phone configured to: - calculate the power with which the signal is received; - calculate a distance between the mobile phone and the wireless device, depending on the power with which the signal is emitted and the power with which it is received; - indicate on the mobile phone the information about the object or place of interest and the distance calculated. - Send, after a user interaction, a request for additional information to the wireless device. 12. - System according to revindication 11 where the mobile phone is also 5 configured to, after a user interaction send a request to the device wireless to activate an alarm; and the wireless device is also configured to activate the alarm depending on the request received. 13. - Computer program characterized by comprising program code means 10 adapted to perform the steps of the procedure according to any of the claims 1 to 7, when said program is executed in a purpose processor In general, a digital signal processor, an FPGA, an ASIC, a microprocessor, a microcontroller, or any other form of programmable hardware.