JP2003163958A - Present location information confirmation system and method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To confirm present location information of a searched person timely, surely and securely, and also situation such as entrance to the location, exit from the place and staying there. <P>SOLUTION: This present location confirmation system consists of a base station for transmitting location information, a portable terminal of the searched person which receives the location information, and a searcher terminal for informing the present location information of the searched person to the searcher. At least one base station exists in an area which a place name shows, and has a place name, information inside the place and information outside the place as location information. The portable terminal of the searched person stores location information and received time in portable terminal memory, and compares the latest location information from the base station with the preceding location information stored in the memory, thereby deciding the state such as entrance, exit and stay. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a portable terminal that receives and processes location information from a short-distance wireless transmission station, and transmits it automatically and in a timely manner, and notifies it automatically and in a timely manner. The present invention relates to a whereabouts information confirmation system and a whereabouts information confirmation method using a terminal.

[0002]

[Prior Art] In the case where the child wants to confirm the whereabouts and the situation of the other person, such as whether the child has properly attended school, what time has left the school, where is the friend who was lost at the department store, etc. You can use your mobile phone or PHS to confirm your whereabouts by directly contacting yourself, such as GPS or PHS.
To confirm the position information (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-2583)
25) When the ID card is passed through the ID card reader at the ticket gate of the station, etc., the ID card reader sends the location (station) information by e-mail to the contact mail address registered in the ID card (JP-A-11 -16011).

[0003]

The problems associated with the above-mentioned prior art are as follows.

When the person wants to contact the person directly by using a mobile phone or PHS, the other party does not turn on the power of the mobile phone or PHS, does not currently own it (forget it at home or somewhere), and is out of the radio wave range. You are there, you are talking to another person, you do not have a cell phone or PHS yourself if the other person is a child,
There are problems associated with the other party, such as the fact that I do not currently own it (I left it at home or somewhere), and I am out of the radio wave range. Also, even if you can contact the other person, if the other person is busy, such as at work, you should avoid contacting as much as possible.

When confirming whereabouts information using GPS or PHS, it is possible to obtain position information with considerably high accuracy as in car navigation and navigation for PDA, but on what floor of the building It is not possible to obtain information in the height direction such as whether or not there is. Therefore, the judgment regarding the state of the other party such as entry, exit, and stay at the place becomes ambiguous.

[0006] In the case of transmitting the location information by e-mail using an ID card reader, the mail address of a third party who wants to communicate the location information is sent from his / her ID card to the ID card reader, which is a public device. Therefore, personal information may leak from the card reader to the outside network.

Therefore, the problem to be solved by the invention is
Confirming the whereabouts of the other party in a timely and reliable manner, checking not only where the other party is, but also the situation such as entry, exit, and stay at that location, and eliminating the risk of personal information leakage. ,.

[0008]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention relates to a base station for transmitting location information, a portable terminal of a searchee for receiving location information, and a searchee. The location information confirmation system is composed of the searcher's terminal that obtains the whereabouts information and notifies the searcher.

Further, at least one base station exists in the area indicated by the place name, a place information identifier indicating that the information is related to the place, the name of the installation place as the place information, and the inside and outside of the place. , A direction information or a floor number information storage means for storing location information, and a location information storage means for transmitting location information by performing distance wireless communication with the searchee's mobile terminal.

Further, the portable terminal of the person to be searched for obtains location information by performing short-distance wireless communication with the base station, and stores the location information in correspondence with the reception time in the memory built in the portable terminal. Location information storage means, state determination means that compares the latest location information obtained from the base station with the previously obtained location information in memory, and determines the status such as entry, exit, and stay, preset searcher Location information notification determining means for determining whether or not to immediately notify the location information to the terminal of, the location, state, time, name of the current searchee, and the location information identifier indicating that this is information about the location. It was decided to have a whereabouts information creating means for creating whereabouts information, and a whereabouts information transmitting means for transmitting the whereabouts information of the search target person to the terminal of the searcher set in advance in an e-mail format.

As another means, the searchee's mobile terminal has a location information acquisition means for obtaining location information by performing short-distance wireless communication with a base station, and a mobile terminal built in by associating the location information with the reception time. Location information storage means to store in the memory of the, the latest location information obtained from the base station and the previously obtained location information in the memory to determine the status such as entrance, exit, stay, internet Location information update determination means for determining whether to immediately update the location information of the searchee in the location information server accessible only by the terminal of the searcher set above, the current location of the searchee , Status, time, name, whereabouts information identifier that indicates that this is information about whereabouts, whereabouts information creating means for creating whereabouts information, which is on the Internet, Seekers terminal set because it was to have, whereabouts updating means for updating the whereabouts of the seeker in the accessible whereabouts server.

Further, the searcher's terminal has a location information acquisition means for receiving an electronic mail from the person to be searched, and a location information notification means for automatically and timely notifying the searcher of the electronic mail. did.

As another means, the searcher's terminal is
At a certain time interval, manually, or by receiving a notification that the whereabouts information has been updated from the whereabouts server, the whereabouts server on the Internet that can be accessed by a preset searcher's terminal is also available. It is decided to have a whereabouts information income means to access for confirmation of information, and a whereabouts information notification means to notify the searcher of the contents automatically and in a timely manner.

Here, the location information notifying means for the searcher's terminal to notify the searcher automatically and in a timely manner suspends the program currently being executed by the searcher's terminal and is attached to the searcher's terminal. Display on the display, lighting / blinking of the night illumination device, notification by sound, sending a location information notification signal to another terminal and notifying using the notification means of the other terminal,
It was decided to take any one or more of the above.

Further, as the whereabouts information confirmation method of the present invention, a step in which the terminal of the searchee receives the location information from the base station, and the terminal of the searchee compares the previously obtained location information with the latest location information. Then, the step of determining the state such as entry, exit, or staying, the step of determining whether the searchee's terminal immediately notifies the searcher's terminal of whereabouts information, the searchee's terminal is currently searching Whereabouts, condition,
Step of creating whereabouts information including time, name, whereabouts information identifier indicating that this is information about whereabouts, step of sending the whereabouts information to the terminal of the searcher preset by the terminal of the searchee in an electronic mail format , The step of the searcher's terminal automatically and timely notifying the searcher of the content of the electronic mail regarding the whereabouts information.

As another method of confirming whereabouts, a step of the terminal of the searchee receiving the location information from the base station, and a terminal of the searchee comparing the previously obtained location information with the latest location information. Steps to determine the status such as entry, exit, staying, etc., the searchee's terminal is the location information server of the searchee in the location information server on the Internet that can be accessed only by the searcher's terminal set in advance. A step of determining whether to update immediately, the searchee's terminal creates location information including the current location of the searchee, state, time, name, and location information identifier indicating that this is location information. The searching person's terminal updates the whereabouts information of the searching person in the whereabouts information server on the Internet. The whereabouts server in the above, the step of accessing for confirmation whereabouts, seeker terminals, consisted of notifying automatically and timely contents to seekers.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Regarding the first embodiment of the present invention,
explain.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system for a parent to confirm that a child has attended school.

1a is a base station installed at the school gate, 1
b is a base station installed on an ordinary road, 2 is a searchee, here is a mobile terminal owned by a child, 3a is a searcher, here is a terminal owned by a parent of a child, 3b is location information from the terminal of the searcher Is a terminal to which is transferred (transfer setting terminal), 4 is 1a,
A range in which the base station of 1b can transmit and receive, and 5 indicates a history of movement of a child (searchee).

A child goes to school in the process as described in 5. At that time, the child's mobile terminal 2 is connected to the base station 1 on the way.
The location information is received from a and 1b, and as a result, it is determined that the student has attended school. Then, the reason is notified to the terminal 3a owned by the parent in a mail format, and 3a is a system for transferring the content to the terminal 3b carried by the parent.

Here, the base stations 1a and 1b send out place information relating to their installation places. In this embodiment, the place information is sent out using the wireless standard Bluetooth. Therefore, the transmittable / receivable range 4 of 1a and 1b is b
Approximately 10m radius, which is the transmission / reception distance of Bluetooth
And 1a and 1b are installed at a distance more than that. Of course, when a wireless standard other than Bluetooth is used, the base station may be installed at a distance longer than that according to the transmittable / receivable distance.

The searcher's mobile terminal 2 includes base stations 1a, 1
It is a mobile terminal that can send and receive to and from b, and can also send mail here. In this embodiment, it is a talisman type bluet that can be attached to a school bag so that it can be carried by a child.
A mobile phone with built-in (or external) ooth. Of course, if you can send and receive mail to and from the base station,
Bluetooth, mobile phones, regardless of shape.

The searcher's terminal 3a is a terminal capable of receiving mail. When transferring information such as mail to the transfer setting terminal 3b, it is necessary to provide an interface for establishing a local network with 3b. Therefore, in the present embodiment, 3a is a mobile phone with built-in (or external) Bluetooth, and it is assumed that data is transmitted / received to / from 3b by Bluetooth. However, regarding this as well, if you can receive mail and can send and receive with 3b, you can use mobile phone
I don't care about uetooth.

The transfer setting terminal 3b is a portable terminal capable of transmitting and receiving to and from the searcher's terminal 3a via Bluetooth, and has a means for effectively transmitting the whereabouts information to the searcher, and here is an arm-type portable terminal. This can also be transmitted / received to / from 3a, and if it is possible to inform the searcher of whereabouts information of the searchee by some means, bluetooth
Regardless of h, shape.

The individual configurations will be described.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the base stations 1a and 1b. A short-range wireless transmission / reception unit (101) for communicating with other terminals, and transmission / reception for determining whether transmission / reception with other terminals are possible A terminal determination section (102), a location information storage section (103) for storing location information, a location information input control section (104) for inputting and storing location information in advance in the location information storage section, Consists of.

That is, the location information storage unit (103) and the location information input control unit (104) are base station location information storage means, and the short-distance wireless transmission / reception unit (101) and the receivable / transmittable terminal determination unit (102) are location information. It constitutes a transmission means.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the portable terminal 2 of the person to be searched, here a child, which includes a short-distance wireless transceiver (111) for communicating with the base station and other terminals, the base station and other terminals. Receivable / transmissible terminal determination unit (112) for determining whether or not data can be transmitted / received, what kind of data is received data from the base station and other terminals, and an identifier stored in the received data identifier storage unit (114) The received data type confirmation unit (113) that makes a determination with reference to the above, if the received data is location data, the location information storage unit (11) previously obtained.
6) The place information stored in 6) is compared to determine the current place and the state of the person to be searched, and the place information in the place information storage unit (116) is updated to the latest one.
Whereabouts information transmission determining unit (117), which refers to the state determining unit (115) and the timer (118) to determine whether to immediately transmit the information to the searcher, and when transmitting, the location information and the transmission information storage unit ( 120), a transmission message (location information) creation unit (119) that creates a transmission message (location information), and a message (location information) transmission unit (12) that transmits the transmission message.
1), and.

That is, the short-range wireless transmission / reception unit (111),
The transmittable / receivable terminal determination unit (112), the received data type confirmation unit (113), and the received data identifier storage unit (114) are location information acquisition means, and the location information comparison and location / state determination section (115) is state determination means. The location information storage unit (11
6) the location information storage means, the location information transmission determination unit (1
17), a timer (118) serves as a location information notification determination means, and a transmission message (location information) creation unit (119),
The transmission information storage section (120) constitutes the whereabouts information creating means, and the message (whereabouts information) transmitting section (121) constitutes the whereabouts information transmitting means.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a searcher, here a parent terminal, a transmission / reception unit (131) for communicating with various terminals, what kind of data is received, received data identifier A received data type confirmation unit (13) that makes a determination by referring to an identifier in the storage unit (133)
2), whether to transfer the received data from the searcher's terminal to another terminal owned by the searcher, a transfer setting storage unit (13
Transfer setting confirmation section (1)
34), if there is a terminal specified in the transfer setting, a transferable terminal determination section that determines whether or not the terminal is currently capable of transmitting / receiving with the terminal of the search target person using the short-range wireless transmission / reception section (140) (136) If there is no transfer setting, the received message (location information) notification unit (137) for notifying the searcher of the received message (location information) while referring to the setting of the notification setting storage unit (138), and A display unit, an alarm unit, a night illumination unit, and a vibration unit (generally referred to as 139), each of which functions according to a command from.

That is, the transmission / reception unit (131), the received data type confirmation unit (132), and the received data identifier storage unit (1
33) the transfer location confirmation unit (13)
4), transfer setting storage unit (135), transferable terminal determination unit (136), received message (location information) notification unit (1)
37), notification setting storage unit (138), display unit, alarm unit, night illumination unit, vibration unit (collectively 13
9) and the short-distance wireless transmission / reception unit (140) constitute a whereabouts information notification unit.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the transfer terminal to which the whereabouts information is transferred when the transfer setting is made in the terminal of the searcher, and is a proximity terminal for communicating with the terminal of the searchee or another terminal. A distance wireless transmission / reception unit (151), a receivable / receivable terminal determination unit (152) for determining whether transmission / reception is possible with the terminal of the searchee, or another terminal, what kind of data is received, A received data type confirmation unit (153) and a notification setting storage unit (15) for making a determination with reference to an identifier in the received data identifier storage unit (154)
Received message (location information) that notifies the searcher of the received message (location information) while referring to the setting in 6).
A notification unit (155) and a display unit, an alarm unit, a night illumination unit, and a vibration unit (generally referred to as 157) that function based on commands from the notification unit (155).

That is, all of the components shown in FIG. 5 constitute the whereabouts information notifying means.

Next, the operation will be described. 6 to 9
Is a flow showing the operation. In the figure, the numbers in the 100s numbered in the frame surrounded by the dotted line correspond to the numbers in the block diagrams of FIGS. 2 to 5, and the part indicated by the number indicates that the operation is performed. FIG. 6 shown is a flow of location information transmission from the base stations 1a and 1b to the searchee's mobile terminal 2.

The base stations 1a and 1b transmit location information according to the wireless standard used. Here bluetooth
Since h is used, an inquiry is first made as to whether or not the portable terminal capable of transmitting and receiving with Bluetooth is in the range 4 capable of transmitting and receiving (202). In response, the searchee's mobile terminal 2 responds to the inquiry by saying that it is receivable (212). After that, both sides exchange initial settings necessary for transmission and reception (203, 213), and the mutual state information transmission and reception are possible.

Next, the base station transmits the location information to the searcher's portable terminal 2 in accordance with the location information format of FIG. 10 (204). Specifically, as shown in FIG. 11, the base station 1a uses the "location (identifier)" and "△△ town (location name)".
"1st-4th (detailed name of place)""2001/11/0
5 08:04:58 (date and time) "" 0 (entrance / exit identifier, 1 indicates entrance / exit, 0 indicates other than that) ", the base station 1b indicates" location "" ○ △ elementary school "" south side school gate ""2001/11/0508:05:30"
The information "0" is transmitted. Mobile device 2 of searchee
Is a base station 1 because it goes to school for a reason like 5.
The location information is received in the order of a and the base station 1b. Then, based on the received location information, the process of determining the current whereabouts and state is started (215).

FIG. 7 is a detailed flow of (215), which is a flow of determining the location / state and the whereabouts information transmission in the portable terminal of the searchee.

Upon receiving the information, the portable terminal 2 of the searchee examines the attribute of the received information as to what kind of information it is. Specifically, this is determined by the identifier included in the information (216). If it is not a location identifier,
Process the information according to what the identifier means.
If it is a location identifier, the previously obtained location information (called old location information) stored in the memory is read (217), and the location information obtained now (defined as new location information).
And makes a judgment about the current state of the person being searched.

First, place names are compared. When the old and new place names are the same, it can be determined that the searched person is in a state of staying at the place indicated by the place name (222). Even if the place names are different between the old and new, if there is no entrance / exit identifier for both the old and the new, it can be determined that this is also currently in the place indicated by the new place name.

When the place name is different between the old and new, and only the new one does not have an entrance / exit identifier (there is the old one), the searchee can judge that he / she has left the place indicated by the old place name (22).
1) On the contrary, if the new place name only has an entrance / exit identifier, it can be judged that the new place name has entered the place (2)
20).

When the person to be searched takes the "entering" and "leaving" states, the location information thus obtained is overwritten in the memory (22
2) Immediately, a routine for transmitting the whereabouts information to the searcher's terminal 3a is entered (225).

However, in the present embodiment, when the person to be searched takes the state of "while staying", after overwriting the location information thus obtained in the memory (224), the timer is checked (2).
26), at the preset time, the searcher's terminal 3a
It is set to enter a routine that sends whereabouts information. This is because information such as “entry” and “exit” is considered to be more important for the searcher or more important to the searcher than “while staying”, and the number of transmissions is limited. This is because the power was saved. Of course, “while staying” may be set so as to enter a routine for immediately transmitting the whereabouts information to the searcher's terminal 3a, similarly to “entering” and “leaving”.

The searcher's mobile terminal 2 is the searcher's terminal 3
After transmitting the whereabouts information to a, the standby state (227) for receiving some information (location information) is taken again.

In this embodiment, as a result of this flow,
Regarding the whereabouts, it was judged that "the entrance was from the school gate on the south side of the elementary school", and the routine entered to transmit the whereabouts information to the terminal 3a of the searcher.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the whereabouts information transmission from the searchee's mobile terminal 2 to the searcher's terminal 3a, which continues from (225).

The searchee's portable terminal 2 reads out the searchee's name or nickname from the personal information of the searchee in the memory (228). Here, it is assumed that "R child", which is the name of the person to be searched, is read.

Next, the process of creating a message (location information) is started. First, the whereabouts identifier and the date and time are joined together leaving a blank space (marked as "_" here) (229). Specifically, "location (identifier) _2001 / 11/05
08:05:30 ".

The ending of the message (location information) is selected according to the state taken by the person to be searched (230). If you are entering, the ending is "from the ending", if you are staying, "I am at the ending", and if you are leaving the ending is "ending from the ending". This time, it's an admission, so "I started from the ending"
Is.

If the status is "admission" or "while staying", the name of the location and the detailed location name obtained just now are changed to "exit".
If so, the place name and place detail name obtained last time are used in the message creation (234, 235). Therefore, this time, the name of the place and the detailed name of the place that have been obtained are used, "○ × elementary school (place name)" and "South side school gate (detailed place name)".

After the whereabouts information identifier and the date and time created in (229), the searchee's name, place name, particle (ha), place detailed name, and ending are blank (in this case, "_"). ") And join (23
6). Therefore, the specific message is “whereabouts (identifier) _2001 / 11/05 08: 05: 30_R child_ entered from _ ○ × elementary school _ south side school gate_”.

Finally, the preset destination e-mail address (searcher's e-mail address) is read from the memory (237), and the message completed in (236) is transmitted (238) to carry the searchee's cell phone. The terminal 2 finishes the work relating to whereabouts information. Then, the message is received by the searcher's terminal 3a (241) and notified.

Upon receiving the message (location information), the searcher's terminal 3a first checks the identifier at the beginning of the message in order to investigate what kind of information it is (242). If the identifier is not a whereabouts identifier, the information is processed according to what the identifier means. If the identifier is the whereabouts information identifier, the transfer setting that determines whether the transfer setting terminal 3b is set on the terminal 3a of the searcher or, if it is set, to which terminal the transfer setting is to be transferred is confirmed (243). If there is the transfer setting terminal 3b, the routine for transferring the whereabouts information to the transfer setting terminal 3b is entered (244).

When the transfer setting terminal 3b is not set, the searcher is notified of a message (location information) and information is displayed based on the notification setting (246). The notification setting in this embodiment is set to display a message and blink night light. Therefore, specifically, as shown in FIG. 12, when a message is received, the received message is displayed on the display of the mobile phone which is the searcher's terminal 3a (6), and the LED blinks (7).

When the routine (244) for transferring the whereabouts information to the transfer setting terminal is entered, Bluetooth is used for transmission / reception between the terminals in this embodiment. Therefore, the searcher's terminal 3a first transfers data that can be transmitted / received by Bluetooth. An inquiry is made as to whether or not the setting terminal 3b is within the transmittable / receivable range (248).

The transfer setting terminal 3b receives an inquiry from the searcher's terminal 3a and responds that it is receivable (2
62). After that, both parties exchange the initial settings necessary for transmission and reception (249, 263), and the mutual location information can be transmitted and received. And the terminal 3a of the searcher
The message (location information) received from the searchee's mobile terminal 2 is transferred to the transfer setting terminal 3b (250).

Upon receiving the message (location information) from the searcher's terminal 3a, the transfer setting terminal 3b first checks the identifier at the beginning of the message in order to investigate what kind of information it is ( 265). If the identifier is not a whereabouts identifier, the information is processed according to what the identifier means. When the identifier is the whereabouts information identifier, the searcher is notified of the message (whereabouts information) and the information is displayed based on the notification setting (267). The notification setting in this embodiment is set to a reception notification display for notifying the reception of a message, a vibration, and an alarm sound. Therefore, specifically, as shown in FIG. 13, when a message is received, a reception notification “message is present” is displayed on the display of the arm-shaped band terminal which is the transfer setting terminal 3b, and a vibration function is displayed on the display function 9 as shown in FIG. The terminal vibrates, and an alarm sound sounds like 10.

The searcher's terminal 3a and transfer setting terminal 3b
The above does not have to be configured as a separate body as described above, and may be integrally configured by providing the searcher's terminal 3a with the function of the transfer setting terminal 3b.

As described above, the system in which the base station, the searchee's portable terminal, the searcher's terminal, and the transfer setting terminal have the above-described structure and operation allows the searcher to access the searchee's child. It is now possible to obtain the latest information on whereabouts and conditions in great detail and automatically. Also, even if the searchee himself is unable to contact,
It's very convenient because it doesn't require any personal operation.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of a system for confirming where a friend is in a department store. 1c is a base station installed at the entrance of a department store, and 1d to 1i are base stations installed on each floor. Reference numeral 2 is a searchee, here a portable terminal owned by a friend, 3c is a searcher's terminal, and 11 is a whereabouts server that stores whereabouts information from the searchee's terminal.

My friend is currently on the 4th floor of the XX department store.
The friend's mobile terminal 2 receives the location information from the base station 1c at the entrance of the department store or any of the base stations 1d to 1i provided on each floor, and thereby determines the current whereabouts and the state taken by the friend. . Then, these are used as whereabouts information and are automatically transmitted to the whereabouts information server 11 existing on the network to automatically update the information, and only a user who has an access right in advance, here, a searcher, uses the terminal 3c to read the contents. It is a browsing system.

Here, the base stations 1c to 1i transmit and receive the location information using Bluetooth as in the first embodiment. Therefore, the base stations are separated from each other by a distance of about 10 m or more, which is the transmission and reception distance of Bluetooth. Have been installed. Of course, when a wireless standard other than Bluetooth is used, the base station may be installed at a distance longer than that according to the transmittable / receivable distance.

The mobile terminal 2 of the person to be searched has base stations 1c to 1
i is a mobile terminal that can send and receive data to and from the Internet and can connect to the Internet. In this embodiment, blue
A cell phone with built-in (or external) tooth. Of course, as long as it can transmit / receive to / from the base station and can connect to the Internet, it does not matter whether it is Bluetooth, mobile phone, or shape.

The searcher's terminal 3c is a terminal capable of connecting to the Internet. In this embodiment, the personal computer is connected to the Internet. Of course, the terminal is not limited to a personal computer as long as the terminal is connected to the Internet and can notify the searcher of some whereabouts information obtained through the Internet. In addition, when transferring the whereabouts information of the searchee obtained through the Internet to the transfer setting terminal, it is necessary to provide an interface for establishing the local network with it, which is omitted here.

The individual configurations will be described.

A block diagram of the base stations 1c to 1i is the same as that shown in FIG.

A block diagram of the portable terminal 2 of the searchee is also shown in FIG.
However, since the whereabouts information on the whereabouts information server is automatically updated instead of sending the whereabouts information to the searcher in the form of an e-mail, the means taken by each configuration are slightly different. Specifically, the whereabouts information transmission determining unit (117) and the timer (118) constitute the whereabouts information update determining means, and the message (whereabouts information) transmitting unit (121) constitutes the whereabouts information updating unit. These will be described later.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of the terminal 3c of the searcher, which is a transmitting / receiving unit (13) for communicating with various terminals.
1), whereabouts information confirmation / download unit (151), whereabouts information is downloaded when a preset time is reached by the timer (152), or whereabouts information is downloaded by a searcher operating the input device (153). , A transfer setting confirmation unit (134) for confirming whether to transfer the received data from the searcher's terminal 3c to another terminal owned by the searcher while referring to the contents of the transfer setting storage unit (135). When there is a designated terminal, a transferable terminal determination unit (136) that determines whether or not the terminal can currently transmit / receive with the terminal of the searchee using the short-range wireless transmission / reception unit (140), transfer setting If there is not, referring to the setting of the notification setting storage unit (138),
A reception message (location information) notification unit (137) for notifying the searcher of the reception message (location information), and a display unit, an alarm unit, which function based on a command from the notification unit (137).
It consists of a night illumination unit and a vibration unit (general term 139).

That is, the transmitting / receiving unit (131), the whereabouts information confirmation / download unit (151), the timer (15)
2), the input device (153) is a transfer location confirmation unit (134), a transfer setting storage unit (135), and a location information acquisition unit.
Transferable terminal determination unit (136), received message (location information) notification unit (137), notification setting storage unit (13)
8), display unit, alarm unit, night illumination unit, vibration unit (generally 139), short-range wireless transmission / reception unit (14)
0) constitutes the whereabouts information notification means.

In the present embodiment, since the existence of the transfer setting terminal 3c is omitted, the transferable terminal determining unit (13
6), the operation of the short-range wireless transmission / reception unit (140) is not mentioned, but even if there is a transfer setting terminal, its block diagram and operation are the same as those of the first embodiment.

Next, the operation will be described. In the figure, the numbers in the 100s numbered in the frame surrounded by the dotted line correspond to the numbers in the block diagrams of FIGS. 2, 3, and 15, and the part indicated by the number is operating. Indicates that.

The location information transmission flow from the base stations 1c to 1i to the searchee's portable terminal 2 is the same as in FIG. However, the latest location information obtained by the searchee's terminal 2 is the location information transmitted from the base station 1i, "location (identifier)""xx department store (because the searchee is currently in the XX department store 4F. (Place name) ”“ 4F (detailed place name) ”“ 2001 /
11/06 10:30: 00 (date and time) "" 0 (entrance / exit identifier, 1 indicates entrance / exit, 0 indicates other than that) ", and the location information received before that (stored in the memory) is When passing 3F, "Place (identifier)""XX department store (place name)""3F (place detailed name)""2001/11/06 10:28:30
(Date and time) "" 0 (entrance / exit identifier, 1 indicates entrance / exit, 0 indicates other than that) ".

The location / state determination and the whereabouts information transmission determination flow of the searchee's mobile terminal 2 are the same as in FIG. However, as for whereabouts, as a result of comparing the previous place information in memory with the latest place information obtained now,
I decided to stay in the 4th floor of the XX department store. And
The timer confirms the preset transmission time, and when the time arrives, the routine enters into the routine for transmitting the location information to the location information server 11.

FIG. 16 is a flow from the searchee's portable terminal 2 to the server. The searchee's mobile terminal 2 first enters a message (location information) creation process. The whereabouts information identifier and the date and time are joined with a blank (indicated here as "_") (229). Specifically, it is “location (identifier) _2001 / 11/06 10:30:30”.

Next, the ending of the message (location information) is selected according to the state taken by the person to be searched (230). If you are admission, "I started from the ending =", if you are staying, "End =
I'm in. ”And if I leave, the ending is“ I came out of the ending = ”. This time I'm staying, so I'm at the end of the word
Is.

If the status is "entry" or "while staying", the name of the place and the detailed name of the place obtained are changed to "exit".
If so, the place name and place detail name obtained last time are used in the message creation (234, 235). Therefore, this time, the name of the place and the name of the place obtained just now, “XX department store (place name)” and “4F (place detailed name)” are used.

Then, after the whereabouts information identifier and the date and time created in (229), a space name, a place detailed name, and a word ending are blank in this order (marked as "_" here).
Join at 236 (236), message (location information)
And The specific message (whereabouts information) is “whereabouts (identifier) _2001 / 11/06 10:30:30.
I am in the _XX department store_4F. "

Finally, the terminal 2 of the person to be searched proves to the whereabouts information server 11 existing on the network that the sender of the whereabouts information to be transmitted is certainly a person who has an access right to the whereabouts information server. In order to do so, it is transmitted by a secure transmission means (271). Specifically, a certificate authority issues an electronic certificate for personal identification in advance, and when connecting to the whereabouts information server 11 on the Internet, the SSL method, which is one of the encrypted transmission protocols, is adopted to obtain the electronic certificate. A system is adopted in which the document and the whereabouts information are encrypted and transmitted to the whereabouts information server 11. Whereabouts server 11
Has stored the digital certificate of the person who has the access right in advance, and by comparing this with the received digital certificate, it is sure that the sender has the right to access the whereabouts information server 11. To confirm. Then, the received whereabouts information is stored as the whereabouts information of the search target person. Thereby, the searchee's mobile terminal 2 finishes the work relating to whereabouts information (250). The method is not limited to this as long as the location information can be securely transmitted.

FIG. 17 is a flow of the searcher's terminal 3c.

The timing at which the searcher uses the searcher's terminal 3c to check (access) the whereabouts information stored in the whereabouts information server 11 is the input of the searcher's terminal 3c. The device is manually accessed using a device (282). When the whereabouts information is updated, the updating of the whereabouts information server 11 is set so that the updating of the whereabouts information is recognized and the whereabouts information server 11 is accessed (283). ), Whereabouts server 1 at regular intervals
1 is accessed (284). However, whichever means is used, a secure receiving means is used when accessing the whereabouts information server 11 and downloading the whereabouts information (285). Specifically, as in the case where the terminal 2 of the searchee sends and uploads the whereabouts information, the SSL method is adopted, the electronic certificate of the searcher is encrypted and transmitted to the whereabouts information server 11, and the sender After certifying that the user has an access right to the whereabouts information server 11, it is decided to download the whereabouts information. Note that the method is not limited to this as long as it is a method capable of securely receiving the whereabouts information.

Further, the download of the whereabouts information is automatically performed except when the whereabouts information server 11 is manually accessed. In the present embodiment, the searcher terminal 3c automatically downloads the whereabouts information in response to the information update notification from the whereabouts information server 11.

Next, it is confirmed whether or not the transfer setting terminal is set in the searcher's terminal 3c, and if it is set,
A routine for transferring the whereabouts information to the transfer setting terminal is entered (244). Although the transfer setting terminal is omitted in this embodiment, it is specifically the same as the description in the first embodiment.

When the transfer setting terminal is not set, the searcher is notified or displayed of the message (location information) based on the notification setting (246). In this embodiment, display of a message (location information) is set as notification setting.

Specific display examples and application examples are shown in FIGS.

When the message (location information) is received (automatically downloaded), the location information display application operates and the location information (updated location information) 12a is displayed on the display as shown in FIG. If you click on this screen, as shown in FIG.
The whereabouts information 12b of other persons who have access rights and can be browsed is displayed. INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is for automatically updating information on whereabouts and for allowing a searcher to easily confirm the whereabouts information of a searchee. However, for other persons who have preset access rights and can browse. An application combined with the display of manually input messages may be considered. For example, K child (searchee) in FIG.
In addition to the automatically updated whereabouts information, a manually input message is stored in the whereabouts information server 11, and the message can be viewed by clicking on the whereabouts information display for K child.

FIG. 20 shows Koko's whereabouts information and a message 12c manually input by Kko. This allows the searcher to reliably confirm the whereabouts of Koko and the current situation of Kko.

Since the base station, the searchee's mobile terminal, and the searcher's terminal have the above-described structure and operation, the searcher can obtain the latest information on the searchee's whereabouts and state in great detail. And now it can be acquired automatically. In addition, even if the person being searched cannot contact the person himself / herself, it is not necessary to operate the person himself / herself, which is very convenient. Further, since the flow of the whereabouts information from the searchee to the searcher is very secure, there is no fear of leakage of personal information or the like.

[0088]

According to the present invention, a base station transmitting location information, a portable terminal of a searchee who receives the location information, and a searcher who obtains and notifies the searcher's whereabouts information. As a whereabouts information confirmation system consisting of terminals, in particular, the base station has at least one or more in the area indicated by the place name, and as the place information transmitted by each base station,
A place information identifier indicating that the information is about a place, a name of the place, a detailed place name where the base station is installed, and an entrance / exit identifier indicating whether the base station is installed at the entrance / exit of the place, The base station location information means for storing the location information and the location information transmission means for transmitting location information by performing short-distance wireless communication with the searchee's mobile terminal. It is now possible to obtain more detailed information such as directions and floor numbers.

Further, the portable terminal of the searchee has a location information acquisition means for obtaining location information by performing short-distance wireless communication with the base station, and stores the location information in correspondence with the reception time in the memory built in the portable terminal. Location information storage means, state determination means that compares the latest location information obtained from the base station with the previously obtained location information in memory, and determines the status such as entry, exit, and stay, preset search The location information notification determining means for determining whether or not to immediately notify the location information to the person's terminal, the location of the current searchee, the state, the time, the name, and the location information identifier indicating that this is information about the location, Whereabouts information creating means for creating whereabouts information including, whereabouts information sending means for sending the searchedee's whereabouts information in an e-mail format to a preset searcher's terminal,
A location information acquisition unit that obtains location information by performing short-distance wireless communication with a base station by the searchee's mobile terminal, or associates the location information with the reception time and stores it in a memory built in the mobile terminal. Location information storage means, state determination means that compares the latest location information obtained from the base station with the previously obtained location information in the memory, and determines the status such as entry, exit, and stay, on the Internet , Determining whether to immediately update the location information of the searchee in the location information server accessible only to the terminal of the searcher set in advance, location information update determination means, the current location of the searchee, the state, Whereabouts information creating means for creating whereabouts information including time, name, whereabouts information identifier indicating that this is information about whereabouts, on the Internet, preset Since it has the location information updating means for updating the location information of the searchee in the location information server accessible only to the terminal of the searcher, the searchee does not need to perform any operation, and the information about the location is available. Can now be notified to the explorer. Further, the personal information of the search target person does not flow from the external personal information reading device such as the ID card reader in the conventional example to the external network, and the whereabouts information can be handled very securely.

The terminal of the searcher has a whereabouts information income means for receiving an electronic mail from the searchee, and a whereabouts information notifying means for automatically and timely notifying the searcher of the electronic mail, or , The searcher's terminal receives a notification from the whereabouts information server that the whereabouts information has been updated at certain time intervals or manually, and can also be accessed from the preset searcher's terminal on the Internet. Since the location information server has the location information acquisition means for accessing the location information confirmation and the location information notification means for automatically and timely notifying the searcher of the content thereof, the searcher is Very detailed up-to-date information on whereabouts and conditions of people,
It is now possible to automatically obtain in a timely manner.

The location information notifying means for the searcher's terminal to notify the searcher automatically and timely is attached to the searcher's terminal by temporarily suspending the program currently being executed by the searcher's terminal. The display shows the location information of the person being searched for, or that the location information has been updated, lighting / blinking of the night illumination device, notification by sound, and sending a location information notification signal to another terminal to notify other terminals. Since it is decided to use any one or more methods of notification using the notification means, the searcher can recognize the automatically acquired whereabouts information in a timely and reliable manner.

Furthermore, as the whereabouts information confirmation method of the present invention, the step of the terminal of the searchee receiving the location information from the base station, the terminal of the searchee compares the previously obtained location information with the latest location information. Then, the step of determining the state such as entry, exit, or staying, the step of determining whether the searchee's terminal immediately notifies the searcher's terminal of whereabouts information, the searchee's terminal is currently searching Whereabouts, condition,
Step of creating whereabouts information including time, name, whereabouts information identifier indicating that this is information about whereabouts, step of sending the whereabouts information to the terminal of the searcher preset by the terminal of the searchee in an electronic mail format , The step of the searcher's terminal automatically and timely notifying the searcher of the e-mail content relating to the whereabouts information. The step of receiving the location information, the terminal of the searchee compares the location information obtained last time with the latest location information, and judges the state such as entry, exit, and stay, the terminal of the searchee is the Internet Determine whether to immediately update the location information of the searchee in the location information server that is accessible only by the preset searcher's terminal above The location of the searchee, the location of the current searchee, state, time, name, and whereabouts information identifier indicating that this is information about whereabouts, creating the whereabouts information, the searchee's terminal The step of updating the location information of the searchee in the location information server whose terminal is on the Internet, the terminal of the searcher,
Since the location information server on the Internet is accessed to confirm the location information, and the searcher's terminal automatically and timely notifies the searcher of the contents, The terminal can obtain more detailed information about the whereabouts of the searchee, such as the direction and number of floors within that location, and the searchee can notify the searcher without performing any operation. It is possible to handle the information and personal information very securely, and to provide a system that allows the searcher to automatically and timely obtain the whereabouts information of the searchee and surely recognize it without forgetting it. I was able to.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system in which a parent confirms that a child has attended school according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a base station.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a mobile terminal of a search target person.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a terminal of a searcher.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a transfer terminal to which whereabouts information is transferred from the terminal of the searcher.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of transmitting location information from a base station to a terminal of a searchee.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a location / state determination and a whereabouts information transmission determination flow in the searchee terminal.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of location information transmission from the searchee terminal to the searcher terminal.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a transfer flow from a searcher terminal to a transfer setting terminal.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a format of location information.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram illustrating location information according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing the whereabouts information notified to the terminal of the searcher.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing the whereabouts information notified to the transfer setting terminal.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of a system for confirming where a friend is in a department store according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of a terminal of a searcher.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a flow from a searchee's mobile terminal to a server.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a searcher's terminal.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram showing a PC screen 1 of the searcher.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram showing a searcher's PC screen No. 2;

FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram showing a searcher's PC screen No. 3;

[Explanation of symbols]

1a base station (general road (outside the school gate)) 1b base station (school gate) 1c base station (department entrance) 1d to 1i base station (installed on each floor) 2 mobile terminal 3a of searchee terminal of searcher (here Parent terminal) 3b Terminal to which location information is transferred from the searcher's terminal (transfer setting terminal) 3c Searcher's terminal (PC) 4 Transmission / reception range of base station 5 History of movement of searchee 6 Received message 7 LED light (Blinking) 8 Reception notification 9 Vibration 10 Alarm sound 11 Server 12a containing whereabouts information 12a Whereabouts information 12b Whereabouts information (including other members) 12c Whereabouts information (when there is a message)

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A base station for transmitting location information, a mobile terminal of a searchee for receiving the location information, and a searcher's terminal for obtaining and notifying the searcher's whereabouts information. Whereabouts confirmation system characterized by. 2. A location information identifier indicating that there is at least one base station in the area indicated by the location name, and the location information transmitted by each base station is information relating to the location, and the location information identifier indicating the location. Base station location information storage means for storing a name, a detailed location name where the base station is installed, and an entrance / exit identifier indicating whether the base station is installed at the entrance / exit of the location, and a mobile terminal of the searchee The location information confirmation system according to claim 1, further comprising: location information transmission means for transmitting location information by performing short-distance wireless communication with the location information transmission means. 3. A location information acquisition means for obtaining location information by a short-distance wireless communication with a base station by a portable terminal of a person to be searched and a memory built in the portable terminal by associating the location information with the reception time. A place information storage means for storing, a state determination means for comparing the latest location information obtained from the base station with the previously obtained location information in the memory, and determining a state such as entry, exit, or stay, Location information notification determining means for determining whether or not to immediately notify the location information to the set searcher's terminal, and location information indicating the current location, state, time, name of the searchee, and this location information. A location information creating means for creating location information including an identifier, and a location information transmitting means for transmitting the location information of the search target person in an e-mail format to a preset terminal of the searcher. The whereabouts confirmation system according to claim 1, which is characterized. 4. A location information acquisition means for obtaining location information by a short-distance wireless communication with a base station by a portable terminal of a searchee, and a memory built in the portable terminal by associating the location information with the reception time. Location information storage means to store, state determination means that compares the latest location information obtained from the base station with the previously obtained location information in memory to determine the status such as entry, exit, staying, on the Internet In, the location information update determining means for determining whether to immediately update the location information of the searchee in the location information server accessible only to the terminal of the preset searcher, and the current location of the searchee, Whereabouts information creating means for creating whereabouts information including a state, time, name, and whereabouts information identifier indicating that this is information relating to whereabouts, and a preset on the Internet. 2. The whereabouts information confirmation system according to claim 1, further comprising: whereabouts information updating means for updating the whereabouts information of the searched person in the whereabouts information server accessible only to the terminal of the searcher. 5. The searcher's terminal has a whereabouts information acquisition means for receiving an electronic mail from the searched person and a whereabouts information notification means for automatically and timely notifying the searcher of the electronic mail. The whereabouts confirmation system according to claim 1 or 3, characterized in that. 6. The terminal of the searcher, at a certain time interval,
Or, manually or by receiving a notification that the whereabouts information has been updated from the whereabouts server, and checking the whereabouts information on the whereabouts server on the Internet that can be accessed only by the searcher's terminal set in advance. 5. The whereabouts information confirmation system according to claim 1 or 4, further comprising: whereabouts information acquisition means for accessing, and whereabouts information notifying means for notifying the searcher of its contents automatically and in a timely manner. 7. The searcher's terminal automatically and timely notifies the searcher of the whereabouts information notifying means, which suspends the program currently being executed by the searcher's terminal and is attached to the searcher's terminal. Display the location information of the searchee itself or that the location information has been updated on the display, turn on / blink the night illumination device, notify by sound, send a location information notification signal to another terminal, and send it to another terminal. 7. The whereabouts information confirmation system according to claim 1, wherein the notification means is used to perform one or more methods of notification. 8. The step of the searchee's terminal receiving the location information from the base station, and the searchee's terminal comparing the previously obtained location information with the latest location information such as entry, exit, and stay A step of determining the state, a step of determining whether the searchee's terminal immediately notifies the searcher's terminal of whereabouts information, and the searchee's terminal is the current searchee's whereabouts, state, and time. , A name, a whereabouts information identifier indicating that this is information about whereabouts, and a step of sending the whereabouts information to the searcher's terminal preset by the searchee's terminal in an electronic mail format. And a step of causing the searcher's terminal to automatically and timely notify the searcher of the content of the e-mail regarding the whereabouts information. 9. The step of the searchee's terminal receiving the location information from the base station, and the searchee's terminal comparing the previously obtained location information with the latest location information during entry, exit, or staying. The step of determining the state, and whether or not the searchee's terminal should immediately update the searchee's whereabouts information on the whereabouts information server on the Internet accessible only by the preset searcher's terminal. The step of making a judgment, the step of the searchee's terminal creating location information including the current location, state, time, name of the searchee, and a location information identifier indicating that this is information about whereabouts, the searchee The terminal of the searcher updates the whereabouts information of the searchee in the whereabouts server on the Internet, and the terminal of the searcher is set to the whereabouts server on the Internet. A method for confirming whereabouts information, which comprises: a step of accessing for confirmation of whereabouts information; and a step of allowing the searcher's terminal to notify the searcher of the contents automatically and in a timely manner.