JP2003283509A - Indoor/outdoor deciding device and radio communication terminal provided with the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily discriminate whether the location of a radio communication terminal is indoor or outdoor without particularly providing the radio communication terminal with an attitude control function based on an angle sensor and an acceleration sensor. <P>SOLUTION: When a wall surface is really present, a directional signal reflected on the wall surface is received by a directional antenna which sends the directional signal after the lapse of a time proportional to a distance between the wall surface and the radio communication terminal. The received directional signal is passed through a directional antenna switching part 12, the directional signal is received by a directional signal receiving part 13, the presence/absence of the directional signal is confirmed by a directional signal confirming part 14 and together with information such as the signal strength of the directional signal and the relative location of the wall surface led from the analysis of the propagation time of the directional signal, whether the location is indoor or outdoor is decided by an indoor/outdoor deciding part 16. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an indoor / outdoor determination device which can be used for a mobile terminal or the like in a wireless LAN system. The indoor according to the present invention means that a ceiling (roof) is present at least above, and for example, a platform of a covered station is indoor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A low power wireless LAN (Local Area)
In recent years, a wireless communication system such as a network) is permitted to be used indoors in order to avoid interference with other existing wireless communication systems that use the same frequency band. To do.

For example, IEEE using the 5.2 GHz band
HI-S of E802.11a and ARIB (Radio Industry Association)
A low power wireless communication system such as the WAN standard uses the same frequency band as the uplink (communication from a satellite connection station to a satellite) of an existing satellite mobile phone system used outdoors. Therefore, the low-power wireless communication system is limited to indoors in order to avoid interference with the satellite mobile phone system.

Conventionally, as a measure for limiting the low power wireless communication system to indoor use, a method has been adopted in which a user adheres to indoor use by attaching a warning sticker to a terminal of the wireless communication system. . This strategy is
If the user's awareness is insufficient or if the user's morals are lacking, it will not be a means to suppress the outdoor use prohibition and may interfere with other wireless communication systems such as satellite mobile phone systems. Cannot be prevented.

As a conventional example for solving this problem, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
There is a local wireless communication device described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 001-136117. FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of this wireless communication device.
In the figure, 101 is an antenna, 102 is a receiver, 103 is a transmitter, 104 is a modulation / demodulation unit for performing digital communication, 105 is a wireless LAN device that realizes a data link protocol, and an interface with a host PC is a data link. It is a department. Reference numeral 107 denotes an indoor determination unit, and the signal from the pulse transmission unit 109 is the directional antenna 1
It is radiated upward through the device via 06. When indoors, the transmitted radio wave is reflected by the ceiling and received by the pulse receiving unit 108 via the antenna. At this time, it is possible to determine whether or not the ceiling exists by determining in the time difference determination unit 110 whether or not the reflected signal can be received within a certain time after the pulse transmission time.

[0006] The indoor determination unit 107 periodically determines whether or not the indoor wireless device is used indoors. When it is determined that the indoor wireless device is outdoor, the indoor unit determination unit 107 uses the alarm generation unit 111.
Call attention to. If the period determination unit 112 determines that the indoor unit will not be used again after a certain time, the power supply unit 11
3 is controlled to forcibly stop the power supply of the wireless transmission unit. The indoor / outdoor discriminating means of the conventional example radiates radio waves, infrared rays, or the like toward the ceiling and judges that the indoor / outdoor is indoors when a reflected signal reflected by the ceiling can be received within a predetermined time.

[0007]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]
The method of Japanese Patent Publication No. 117 is provided with an attitude control function using an angle sensor or an acceleration sensor to determine the ceiling direction,
The signal radiation from the directional antenna etc. is always directed toward the ceiling. However, providing the attitude control function by the angle sensor or the acceleration sensor in the wireless communication terminal device increases the manufacturing cost and the volume of the wireless communication terminal device. There are challenges to installing.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a function for easily determining whether the position of the wireless communication terminal is indoors or outdoors without providing the wireless communication terminal with an attitude control function by an angle sensor or an acceleration sensor. An object is to provide an indoor / outdoor determination device.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has directivities in a total of 6 directions including 3 directions which are substantially perpendicular to each other and 3 directions which are opposite to the 3 directions. Transmitting means for separately transmitting, receiving means for separately receiving reflected signals of signals transmitted from the transmitting means in the six directions, and confirmation for receiving the receiving means and confirming the presence or absence of reflected signals from the six directions And an indoor / outdoor determination unit that determines whether indoors or outdoors based on the result of the confirmation means.

In the indoor / outdoor determination device of the present invention,
The transmitting means includes a directional signal transmitting section corresponding to the six directions and a directional signal switching section for switching the directional signal transmitting section.

Further, in the indoor / outdoor determination apparatus of the present invention, the receiving means includes a directional signal receiving section corresponding to the six directions and a directional signal switching section for switching the directional signal receiving section. It is characterized by

Further, in the indoor / outdoor determination device of the present invention, the confirmation means outputs a result of detecting presence or absence of the wall surface in the six directions.

Here, the confirming means detects the arrival time of the reflection signal of the directional signal reflected on the wall surface, the signal intensity of the reflection signal, and the frequency deviation of the reflection signal in the six directions. It is characterized by detecting the presence or absence of a wall surface.

In the indoor / outdoor determination apparatus of the present invention, the indoor / outdoor determination unit recognizes the detected number of wall surfaces and the relative position where the wall surfaces exist, so that the ceiling exists in the direction opposite to the floor surface. The feature is that it is determined to be indoors based on a criterion for whether or not to do.

Here, when the number of detected wall surfaces is 6, the indoor / outdoor determination unit determines that the indoor surface is indoors.
If the number of detected walls is 1, it is judged to be outdoor, and if the number of detected walls is 2, if the directions of detecting the walls are not adjacent to each other, it is judged to be indoors and If they are adjacent to each other, it is judged to be outdoors, and when the number of detected wall surfaces is 3, 4, or 5, the wall surface existing in the direction opposite to the direction in which the wall surface closest to the indoor / outdoor determination device is detected is determined. When it is detected, it is determined to be indoor, and when the wall surface is not detected, it is determined to be indoor.

Further, the present invention is a wireless communication terminal characterized by comprising the indoor / outdoor determination device.

In the indoor / outdoor determination device of the present invention, means for transmitting directivity signals in each of the six directions centering on the wireless communication terminal is provided, and the presence or absence of the reflection signal of the transmitted directivity signal and the reflection signal existed. Whether or not there is a wall surface is detected by recognizing the arrival time in such cases. further,
By recognizing the number of detected wall surfaces and the relative positions, it is determined whether or not a ceiling (roof) exists in the direction opposite to the floor surface, thereby determining the distinction between indoor and outdoor.
For example, when six wall surfaces are detected, it is determined that the wall surfaces are present in all directions, so it is determined to be indoor, and when only one wall surface is detected, only the floor surface is present and it is determined to be outdoor. In this way, each of the cases where the number of wall surfaces is 2 to 5 is also determined.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a wireless communication terminal device having an indoor / outdoor determination function, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a structure of a wireless communication terminal device having an outdoor / indoor determination device. The configuration and operation of the wireless communication terminal including the indoor / outdoor determination device will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

The structure of the wireless communication terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped structure as shown by reference numeral 1a in FIG. Directional signal transmitters (directional antennas) 11-1 to 11
-6 is provided. The directional antenna has directivity in a total of six directions, which are three directions that are substantially orthogonal to each other and three directions that are opposite to each other. Further, other circuits are built in the wireless communication terminal 1a and are connected to the directional antenna as shown in FIG.

The wireless communication terminal equipped with the indoor / outdoor judgment device of the present invention includes an indoor / outdoor judgment device 10, a wireless communication device 20,
The system controller 30 is included. The outer shape of the wireless communication terminal is a rectangular parallelepiped structure having six surfaces, and each of the surfaces is provided with one directional antenna 11a to 11n, which is a personal digital assistant (PDA) having a wireless data transmission / reception function. .

The indoor / outdoor determination device 10 includes a plurality of directional antennas (six in the present embodiment) 11a to 11n, a directional antenna switching unit 12, a directional signal receiving unit 13, a directional signal confirming unit 14, and a directional signal. The sex signal transmission unit 15 and the indoor / outdoor determination unit 16 are included. A directional signal (pulse wave or the like) for determining the presence or absence of a wall surface (including floor / ceiling) in the directional signal transmission unit 15 based on a command from the system control device 30.
Is generated, and the directional antenna switching unit 12 selects from which directional antenna the directional signal is transmitted. The directional signal transmitted from the directional antenna advances linearly in almost one direction.

When a wall surface is actually present, the directional signal reflected by the wall surface is received by the directional antenna that has transmitted the directional signal after a time proportional to the distance between the wall surface and the wireless communication terminal has elapsed. To be done. As for the received directional signal, the directional signal is received by the directional signal receiving section 13 via the directional antenna switching section 12, and the directional signal confirming section 1 is received.
The presence / absence of the directional signal is confirmed in 4 and the indoor / outdoor determination unit 16 combines the information such as the relative position of the wall surface derived from the analysis of the signal strength of the directional signal and the propagation time of the directional signal with the indoor / outdoor determination. Make a decision.

The wireless communication device 20 includes a transmitting / receiving antenna 2
1, antenna sharing unit 22, receiving unit 23, signal demodulating unit 2
4, a bus controller 25, a signal modulator 26, and a transmitter 27, and has a function of transmitting and receiving LAN data such as a personal computer.

The communication data sent from the personal computer to the bus controller 25 is modulated by the signal modulator 26 into wireless data such as QAM and QPSK. The wireless data is up-converted into a high frequency signal by the transmitting unit 27, passes through the antenna common unit 22, and is transmitted as a wireless data signal wave by the transmitting / receiving antenna 21. In addition, the transmitting / receiving antenna 2
The wireless data signal wave received by 1 passes through the antenna common unit 22, is down-converted by the receiving unit 23, and the signal demodulating unit 24 demodulates the wireless data. The demodulated communication data is sent to the personal computer through the bus control unit 25. The system control device 30 individually controls the indoor / outdoor determination device 10 and the wireless communication device 20, and also performs overall control of the wireless communication terminal.

FIG. 2B is a schematic diagram of FIG.
It is the figure which showed the example of the structure of the wireless-communications terminal different from (a). The wireless communication terminal 1b includes six directional signal transmitters (directional antennas) 11-1 to 11-6 on each surface of the antenna mounting portion 2 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped structure, and the inside of the antenna mounting portion 2 is provided. The directional signal switching unit 12 is built in. Further, the antenna mounting portion 2 is connected to the wireless communication terminal body by the antenna supporting portion 3. As shown in FIG. 2B, the indoor / outdoor determination device of the present invention does not necessarily have to be integrated with the wireless communication terminal body, and some or all of the indoor / outdoor determination device is separated from the wireless communication terminal body 1b. It may be.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing a wall surface detection method, and FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing an indoor / outdoor determination method. The operation flow of the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

The wireless communication terminal detects the wall surface corresponding to each direction (the above six directions) before starting the communication. In step S11 of FIG. 3, the number of detections I of the wall surface
Is initialized and I = 0 is set. Next step S1
In 2, it is determined whether or not I = 6 (all 6 directions have been tried). If I = 6, the process proceeds to step A of indoor / outdoor determination shown in FIG. In step S13, the operation of adding 1 to I is performed. Since the value of I corresponds to each direction of the directional antenna, the relative position of the wall surface can be determined by combining the value of I and the detection data of the wall surface.

In the next step S14, a directional signal is transmitted from the directional signal transmitting section 11a for detecting the wall surface, and an attempt is made to receive the reflected signal of the directional signal reflected by the wall surface in step S15. In S16, it is determined whether or not there is a reflected signal. In step S16, the presence / absence of the reflected signal is determined by whether or not the power above a certain level is detected. If the reflected signal can be received within the fixed time, it is determined that the wall surface may exist and the process proceeds to step S17. If the reflected signal cannot be received within the fixed time, it is determined that there is no reflected signal. Then, the process returns to step S12 to try to detect the wall surface in another direction.

In step S17, by analyzing the reflected signal, the time from the transmission of the directional signal to the reflection on the wall surface, the transmission of the directional signal, and the reception of the reflected signal (the arrival of the signal) Time), the signal strength of the reflected signal, frequency deviation, and other data are acquired. That is, the distance between the wireless communication terminal and the wall surface can be determined by the arrival time of the reflected signal, and information such as the reflectance of the reflector can be obtained by combining with the signal intensity. Furthermore, the moving speed of the wireless communication terminal or the reflector can be determined by the Doppler effect from the Doppler frequency shift.

Based on these pieces of information, in step S18, it is possible to determine whether or not the reflector is a wall surface with higher accuracy than in step S16. For example, when the signal strength is weak compared to the distance between the wireless communication terminal and the reflector, which is calculated by the arrival time of the directional signal, and there is a Doppler frequency shift of about 60 Hz (when the transmission frequency is 10 GHz), the reflection It can be estimated that the body is a human, the directional signal is scattered due to the complicated reflection cross section, the signal strength is weakened, and that the human is walking and the Doppler frequency shift has occurred, and it is determined that the reflector is not a wall surface. it can. With similar transmission conditions,
In the case of a car, it will be about 600 Hz.

In the next step S19, the indoor / outdoor determination section 16 stores the analysis data such as the number (corresponding to I) of the directional antenna that has transmitted / received the directional signal, the distance to the wall surface, the radio field intensity, etc., and in step S12. Return Try to detect the wall in another direction.

Next, the steps of indoor / outdoor determination shown in FIG. 4 will be described. After detecting the presence / absence of the wall surface in all of the six directions, the process proceeds to step S21 to make a determination when the detected number N of the wall surfaces is 6. The detected number N of wall surfaces is 6
The directional antenna corresponding to the direction receives the reflected signal,
It is the number detected as wall surfaces, and may differ from the actual number of wall surfaces. For example, the case where the number of detected walls is the same as the actual number of detected walls is only when the directional antenna attached to the wireless communication terminal is not inclined with respect to the six walls, In many cases, it does not match the actual number of wall surfaces because it is slightly inclined.

When the detected number N is 6, that is, when there are wall surfaces in all directions, it can be determined that the indoor area. Number of detections N
If is not 6, the process proceeds to step S22, and the determination is performed when the detected number N of wall surfaces is 1. When the detected number N of wall surfaces is 1, it means that the wireless communication terminal is placed horizontally with the floor surface (which may be a desk or the like), and since the wall surface exists only on the floor surface, it can be determined to be outdoors. .

If the detected number N is not 1, step S2
Proceeding to step 3, the judgment is made when the detected number N on the wall surface is 2.
When the number N of detected wall surfaces is 2, it is determined in step S26 whether or not the detected directions of the two wall surfaces are diametrically opposite to each other.

If the detected number N is not 2, step S
24, the wall surface closest to the wireless communication terminal is determined by the data calculated in step S16, and step S2
In step 5, it is determined whether or not there is a wall surface on the opposite side of the nearest wall surface. If there is a wall surface on the opposite side, it is determined that the wall surface is indoors. Below, FIG.
A specific determination example will be described with reference to FIGS.

(Specific determination method based on actual number of wall surfaces) FIG. 5 is a specific example in the case where the actual number of wall surfaces is 2, in which the directional antenna is vertically mounted on the wireless communication terminal, This is an example related to the case where the wireless communication terminal is not tilted. In FIG. 5A, there are two wall surfaces, a floor surface 41 and a ceiling 42, and the wireless communication terminal 40a exists in a position parallel to the floor surface 41 and the ceiling 42. The directional signal 51a is reflected on the floor surface 41, and the directional signal 52a is reflected on the ceiling 42. However, since the directional signals 53b and 54b have no wall surface, the wireless communication terminal reflects the reflected signals of the directional signals 53b and 54b. I can't receive.

In FIG. 5B, a floor surface 41 and a wall surface 43 perpendicular to the floor surface are present, and the wireless communication terminal 40a is present in a position horizontal to the floor surface 41 and the wall surface 43. Although the directional signal 51a is reflected on the floor surface 41 and the directional signal 53a is reflected on the wall surface 43, respectively, the directional signals 53b and 54b have no wall surface, so that the wireless communication terminal reflects the reflected signals of the directional signals 52b and 54b. I can't receive.

In steps S23 and S26, when the number N of detected wall surfaces can be determined to be indoors, it is the case corresponding to FIG. 5 (a). In any situation, the wall surface is the opposite of the existing floor surface. (Ceiling) is present. In the case of FIG. 5B, the wall surface exists at a position adjacent to the floor surface, but the ceiling does not exist, so it can be determined to be outdoors.

FIG. 6 shows the case where the actual number of wall surfaces is two.
Another specific example, in which the wireless communication terminal is tilted with respect to the floor surface 41. FIG. 6A shows a floor surface 41 and a ceiling 42.
There are individual wall surfaces, and the wireless communication terminal 40b is inclined with respect to the floor surface 41 and the ceiling 42. Directional signal 55
a1 and 56a are the floor surface 41, and the directional signal 57a is the ceiling 4
However, since the directional signal 58b has no wall surface, the wireless communication terminal cannot receive the reflected signal of the directional signal 58b.

FIG. 6B has a floor surface 41 and a wall surface 43 perpendicular to the floor surface, and the wireless communication terminal 40b has an inclination as shown in FIG. 5B with respect to the floor surface 41 and the wall surface 43. There is.
The directional signal 56a is reflected by the floor surface 41, and the directional signal 55a2 is reflected by the wall surface 43.
Since 58b has no wall surface, the wireless communication terminal has a directional signal 5
The reflected signals of 7b and 58b cannot be received.

In FIG. 6A, the detected number N is 3, and the judgment is made in step S25. In this case, since the surface of the wireless communication terminal that is closest to the wall surface is the surface that has transmitted the directional signal 56a, the directional signal 5 corresponding to the surface on the opposite side is transmitted.
If the reflected signal of 7a can be received, it can be determined that it is indoors. Figure 6
In (a), since the reflected signal of the directional signal 57a can be received by the ceiling 42, it can be determined that it is indoors. In FIG. 6B, the detected number N is 2, and the determination is made in steps S23 and S26. In this case, since the detected wall surfaces are adjacent to each other and the diametrically opposite wall surfaces have not been detected, it can be determined to be outdoors.

FIG. 7 is a specific example in the case where the number of actual wall surfaces is 3, and the wireless communication terminal has the inclination shown in FIG. 7A with respect to the floor surface 41. FIG. 7A shows the floor surface 4.
1. There is a ceiling 42 and a wall surface 43 adjacent to the ceiling 42, and the wireless communication terminal 40c is inclined with respect to the floor surface 41, the ceiling 42, and the wall surface 43 as shown in FIG. Directional signal 59
a, 60a1 is the floor surface 41, and the directional signal 61a is the ceiling 4
2, the directional signals 62a are reflected by the wall surface 43, respectively.

In FIG. 7B, there is a floor surface 41 and wall surfaces 43 and 44 perpendicular to the floor surface, and the wireless communication terminal 40c has a floor surface 41.
And the wall surfaces 43 and 44 have the inclination shown in FIG. The directional signal 59a is reflected on the floor surface 41, the directional signal 62b is reflected on the wall surface 43, and the directional signal 60a2 is reflected on the wall surface 44. However, the directional signal 61b does not have a wall surface (ceiling), and thus the wireless communication terminal 40c. Is a directional signal 61
Since the reflected signal of b cannot be received, it can be determined that it is outdoors.

In FIG. 7A, the detected number N is 4, and the judgment is made in step S25. In this case, since the surface of the wireless communication terminal that is closest to the wall surface is the surface that has transmitted the directional signal 59a, the directional signal 6 corresponding to the opposite surface is
If the reflected signal of 1a can be received, it can be determined that it is indoors. Figure 7
In (a), the ceiling 42 can receive the reflected signal of the directional signal 61a, so that it can be determined to be indoors.

In FIG. 7B, the detected number N is 3, and the judgment is made in step S25. In this case, since the surface of the wireless communication terminal that is closest to the wall surface is the surface that has transmitted the directional signal 59a, the directional signal 6 corresponding to the opposite surface is
If the reflected signal of 1b can be received, it can be determined that it is indoors. Figure 6
In (b), since there is no wall surface (ceiling) capable of reflecting the directional signal 61b, the reflected signal of the directional signal 61b cannot be received. That is, in this case, it can be determined that it is outdoors.

Further, as the wall detecting means by the indoor / outdoor detecting device, an example of using a radio wave has been described in the embodiment of the present invention, but an optical signal such as an infrared ray or an ultrasonic wave may be used. Therefore, by providing the wireless communication terminal with the indoor / outdoor determination device of the present invention as in the configuration example of FIG. 1, it is possible to prevent interference with other systems. That is, the transmission permission may be given to the wireless communication terminal only when the indoor / outdoor determination device determines that it is indoors.

[0047]

As described above, according to the indoor / outdoor determination apparatus of the present invention, the existing position of the wireless communication terminal is indoors without providing the wireless communication terminal with the attitude control function by the angle sensor or the acceleration sensor. It is possible to easily determine whether it is outdoors or outdoors.

In addition, the directional antenna (1
(100 yen or less per piece) enables a significant cost reduction compared to an attitude control device (several thousands yen or more) using an angle sensor or an acceleration sensor. Even when mounted on a wireless communication terminal, 5
The use of the GHz band enables downsizing (3 cm or less in length), and can be significantly slimmer compared to the case where the attitude control device is mounted.

Further, by equipping the wireless communication terminal with the indoor / outdoor determination device of the present invention, it is possible to prevent interference with other wireless communication systems used outdoors.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a wireless communication terminal including an indoor / outdoor determination device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a structural example of a wireless communication terminal equipped with an indoor / outdoor determination device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a flowchart regarding a wall surface detection method of the indoor / outdoor determination device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a flow chart regarding an indoor / outdoor determination method of an indoor / outdoor determination device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a specific example when the actual number of wall surfaces is two.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a specific example different from FIG. 4 in the case where the actual number of wall surfaces is two.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a specific example when the number of actual wall surfaces is three.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a wireless communication device including a conventional indoor determination unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

1a, 1b Main body 2 of wireless communication terminal 2 Antenna mounting part 3 Antenna support part 10 Indoor / outdoor determination device 11a, 11n Directional signal transmission (reception) receiver (directional antenna) 12 Directional signal switch 13 Directional signal receiver 14 Directional signal confirmation unit 15 Directional signal transmission unit 16 Indoor / outdoor determination unit 20 Wireless communication device 21 Transmission / reception antenna 22 Antenna sharing unit 23 Reception unit 24 Signal demodulation unit 25 Bus control unit 26 Signal modulation unit 27 Transmission unit 30 Control device 40a , 40b, 40c Wireless communication terminal 41 Floor 42 Ceiling 43, 44 Wall surfaces 51a, 52a, 53a Directional signals 52b, 53b, 54b reflected on wall surfaces Directional signals 55a1, 55a2, 56a, 57a, 58a not reflected on wall surfaces Directional signals 57b, 58b that reflect the directional signals 59a, 60a1, 6 that do not reflect on the wall surface 0a2, 61a, 62a Directional signal reflected on the wall surface 61b Directional signal reflected on the wall surface

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F-term (reference) 5J070 AB01 AC02 AC06 AD05 AE07                       AF02 AG03 AG09 AH01 AH33                       AK06 AK14 BA01                 5K033 BA08 CC04 DA19 EA02 EA05                 5K067 AA04 AA21 BB21 BB45 DD11                       DD41 EE02 EE10 HH22

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. Three directions which are substantially perpendicular to each other,
Transmitting means having directivity in a total of 6 directions of 3 directions opposite to each other of the 3 directions and transmitting by distinguishing the 6 directions, and a reflection signal of a signal transmitted from the transmitting means are divided into the 6 directions. The receiving means receives separately, the confirming means for receiving the receiving means and confirming the presence / absence of the reflected signal from the six directions, and the indoor / outdoor determining section for determining the distinction between indoor and outdoor based on the result of the confirming means. An indoor / outdoor determination device characterized in that 2. The transmitting means includes a directional signal transmitting section corresponding to the six directions, and a directional signal switching section for switching the directional signal transmitting section. Indoor / outdoor determination device. 3. The receiving means includes a directional signal receiving section corresponding to the six directions, and a directional signal switching section for switching the directional signal receiving section. Indoor / outdoor determination device. 4. The confirmation means outputs a result of detecting the presence or absence of the wall surface in the six directions.
Indoor / outdoor determination device described in. 5. The checking means is configured to perform the 6th time based on an arrival time of a reflection signal of a directional signal reflected on the wall surface, a signal intensity of the reflection signal, and a frequency deviation of the reflection signal.
5. The presence or absence of a wall surface in the direction is detected.
Indoor / outdoor determination device described in. 6. The indoor / outdoor determination unit recognizes the detected number of existing wall surfaces and the relative position where the wall surfaces exist to determine whether or not the ceiling exists in the direction opposite to the floor surface. It is determined that
Indoor / outdoor determination device described in. 7. The indoor / outdoor determination apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the indoor / outdoor determination unit determines that the indoor is indoors when the number of detected wall surfaces is six. 8. The indoor / outdoor determination device according to claim 6, wherein the indoor / outdoor determination unit determines that the indoor / outdoor determination is outdoors when the number of detected wall surfaces is one. 9. The indoor / outdoor determination unit, when the number of detected wall surfaces is 2, determines that the directions in which the wall surfaces are detected are indoors if they are not adjacent to each other, and if they are adjacent to each other. 7. The indoor / outdoor determination device according to claim 6, wherein is determined to be outdoors. 10. The indoor / outdoor determination unit determines, when the number of detected wall surfaces is 3, 4 or 5, a wall surface existing in a direction opposite to the direction in which the wall surface closest to the indoor / outdoor determination device is detected. 7. When it is detected, it is determined to be indoor, and when the wall surface is not detected, it is determined to be indoor.
Indoor / outdoor determination device described in. 11. A wireless communication terminal comprising the indoor / outdoor determination device according to claim 1. Description: