JP2007194801A - Integration system for terminal position information - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable all members of a group to easily confirm positions and names of members of the group present at relatively short distances in the same room, building, etc., without limiting places. <P>SOLUTION: In this integration system, IC chips for short-distance detection and readers are mounted to respective communication terminals 2 which search for members present at short distances among the members of the group. A communication server integrates search results to calculate positions, so that position information on all the members of the group can be detected. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication terminal, a communication network using a communication server, and an integrated system of terminal location information in a communication method.

In recent years, as a position detection of a person or an object using the communication terminal 2, there is a position detection method mainly using GPS or base station information of a mobile phone outdoors. Further, as a method for detecting a position at a shorter distance, a method using infrared rays, RFID, ultrasonic waves, wireless LAN radio waves, or the like has been proposed. Using these position detection methods, when the user belongs to a certain group, it is possible to know the position and identification information of the entire member, and the system for displaying the position information of members in a relatively wide range is Many systems using GPS and base station information have been devised. (For example, the position information providing device of Patent Document 1 and the position information providing system of Patent Document 2)
JP 2003-333184 A JP 2001-218250 A

  When all members belonging to a group are relatively close, for example, when there is a desire to confirm the position and identification information of all members at a meeting or the like, a means for obtaining the position information of all members is used. It must exist within the detection range of the position detection method and have a positional relationship wider than an error range in which the position can be distinguished. For example, in the case of GPS, the detection range is wide, but the error range is several meters, and the relative positional relationship of members near the error range cannot be detected.

For detection of such a short distance, a method with a relatively small detection range is used. For example, when RFID is used, since the detection range is several cm to several meters, an IC chip outside the detection range is detected by the reader. Not. Therefore, when considering the group members gathering in one room, in order to obtain the positional relationship of the entire member, when an RFID IC chip is mounted on the communication terminal, a plurality of readers are set according to the detection range. It is necessary to install and integrate the read data, and there is a problem that it is limited to the place where the reader is installed. In addition, when only a reader is mounted on the communication terminal 2, IC chips are installed at various positions in the room, and the position of the IC chip that can be read by the reader of the terminal is recognized as the position of the communication terminal 2. Need to be integrated, and there is a problem that it is limited to the place where the IC chip is installed. Alternatively, when a reader and an IC chip are mounted on the communication terminal and the communication terminal 2 directly detects another terminal position, there is a disadvantage that only other terminals within the detection range can be recognized.
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and there is provided a means by which the entire member can easily confirm the position and name of a member of a group at a relatively close distance such as the same room or building without limiting the place. It is intended to provide.

In order to achieve the above object, the terminal location information integration system of the present invention provides:
A communication terminal for applying to belong to a group member with at least one other terminal, a means for wirelessly transmitting identification information of the terminal within a certain distance, and one or more existing within a certain distance Means for receiving identification information wirelessly transmitted from another terminal and calculating a distance to the other terminal; means for transmitting the received identification information and the calculated distance to the communication server via the communication network; , Having means for receiving and displaying the position and identification information of the communication terminal of the group member to which the own terminal belongs from the communication server,
Means for setting at least two or more communication terminals as group member communication terminals, means for receiving distances and identification information of communication terminals transmitted from the respective communication terminals of the group member, and Based on the received distance and identification information, means for calculating the positional relationship of the entire group member communication terminal 2, and transmitting the calculated position and identification information of the group member communication terminal to each communication terminal of the group member. And means.
In addition, when the communication terminal receives identification information from the other terminal existing within a certain distance, it has means capable of simultaneously acquiring information of the direction seen from the own terminal,
A communication server capable of simultaneously receiving the identification information of the other terminal existing within a certain distance received from the plurality of terminals together with information on the direction of the other terminal viewed from the own terminal, and a relative position based on the received information It has a means for calculating and integrating information.
In addition, the communication terminal includes means for limiting transmission / reception of identification information to / from other terminals existing within a certain distance to only other terminals that need to be performed.
In addition, the communication server includes means for selecting and transmitting only predetermined member information from data calculated by integrating the transmitted terminal position information.

The present invention provides the above solution.
Even if there is a member outside a certain distance, the position and identification information of the entire group member can be viewed in a place where members of the same group exist in the same place.
Further, when the communication terminal transmits information in which the direction is matched, the communication server can calculate more accurate position information and can transmit the position and identification information of the entire group member in which the direction is matched. The communication terminal can browse the position and the identification information in which the directions are matched, and can browse more easily.
Even if the position of a terminal that is not the same member is detected by detecting a communication terminal, personal information can be protected by using the result of the communication terminal or communication server to calculate the member but not disclosing it as information. Can do.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Here, it is assumed that the position and identification information of the group members are acquired when the groups gather at the same place.

FIG. 1 is a functional explanatory block diagram of an integrated system of terminal location information including a communication terminal 2 and a communication server 3 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. Each communication terminal 2 is configured to transmit / receive wirelessly to / from the base station 5 and to communicate with other wireless terminals 2 and the communication server 3 via the communication network 4. The communication server 3 is configured to be able to communicate with each communication terminal 2 via the communication network 4. In FIG. 1, each communication terminal 2 can perform detection directly with another communication terminal 2.
FIG. 2 shows a functional description of the communication server 3 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The communication server 3 includes a transmission / reception unit that transmits / receives various data to / from the communication terminal 2, a group member information DB that stores group member information, and a position information calculation unit that calculates group position information.
FIG. 3 shows a functional description of the communication terminal 2 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The communication terminal 2 includes an information transmission / reception unit that transmits / receives various information to / from the communication server 3 via the communication network 4, a display unit that displays group member positions and identification information received from the communication server 3, and a certain distance A detection processing unit that performs detection with other terminals is provided.

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of the process flow of the first embodiment of the present invention. A description will be given in order. First, the member who has the communication terminal 2 first applies to the communication server 3 for group membership. The communication server 3 receives this and registers the communication terminal 2 in the group DB. Thereafter, when the members gather in the same group, the process of detecting each other's position is started.
In the detection process, first, a process for permitting the detection of the own terminal is performed so that the detection can be performed from another terminal. Thereafter, detection processing is performed with other terminals existing within a certain distance. The identification data of the other terminal detected by the detection process and the distance data of the other terminal are transmitted to the communication server 3.
The communication server 3 receives the identification data of the other terminals detected from the short distance transmitted from the member communication terminal 2. Similarly, it receives from other members and uses the identification data group to calculate the positional relationship of the entire group members.
The calculated positional relationship of the group members is transmitted to each member's communication terminal 2 as group information together with the identification information of each member.
The communication terminal 2 receives the group information, and can browse the position, identification information, etc. of the entire group member as group information on the display unit.
These processes are repeated as needed while the group members are gathered, and a new position can be recognized even if the group members move. When the group gathering is completed, the member cancels the group membership application from the communication terminal 2 to the communication server 3. The communication server 3 receives the release and releases the member from the group DB.

  FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram of the detection process. As an example, a diagram in which members A to F are gathered is shown. Each detectable distance is indicated by a dotted line. In this figure, A can detect B and C. In the detection result of A, identification information from B and C from A is received, and the distance from B to C from A is calculated. The distance can be calculated, for example, by measuring the received signal strength and calculating the distance from the relationship between the decrease in signal strength and the distance. B can detect A, C, D, and E. In the detection result of B, identification information from B of A, C, D, and E is received, and the distance from B of A, C, D, and E Is calculated. Similarly, C is A, B, and F, D is B and E, E is B, D, and F is C, and E receives identification information from its own terminal, and calculates the distance. Each communication terminal 2 transmits these results to the communication server 3.

The communication server 3 that has received the information calculates the position of the group member based on the information. As a calculation principle, assuming that the positions are two-dimensional, the relative positions of the three points can be determined if the distances between the three points are known to each other. (ACB and BDE triangles) It can also be seen that the points that cannot be detected are outside the respective detection ranges. Therefore, for example, it can be seen that D, E, exist outside the detection range of A, C and within the detection range of B. By estimating these possible ranges from the data of the entire group, the positions of the entire group members can be detected if they are assembled with a certain density.
As a result of the above detection, the communication server 3 transmits the position and identification information of the entire group member to each communication terminal 2 belonging to the group.

In many cases, the functions of the communication terminal 2 and the communication server 3 are difficult to calculate the positions of the members at the end of the group and the members in the surroundings where the member density is low.
Therefore, the communication terminal 2 and the communication server 3 that have been improved to improve the accuracy of position calculation will be described.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic diagram of detection processing when the communication terminal 2 and the communication server 3 which are Embodiment 2 of the present invention are used. Since the processing flow is the same as that of the communication terminal 2 and the communication server 3, it is omitted. The communication terminal 2 has means capable of searching for the distance and direction of other terminals within the detection range.
The direction of the other terminal can be searched by investigating the relationship between the signal strength for receiving the identification signal and the direction of the antenna of the receiving device, for example. This figure shows a diagram in which members A to D are gathered as an example.
Each detectable distance is indicated by a dotted line (circle), and each basic direction of direction detection is indicated by an alternate long and short dash line. In this figure, A can detect B and C, and in the detection result of A, the distance from B and C from A and the direction (angle) from the basic direction are detected, and the identification information is received. Similarly, the distance and direction from B's own terminal are detected for B, A, C and D, C for A and B, and D for B, respectively, and identification information is received. Each communication terminal 2 transmits these results to the communication server 3.
Receiving this information, the communication server 3 calculates the position of the group member based on the information. Since the calculation unit of the communication server 3 knows the distance and direction, there is no need for calculation. If the member positions are arranged from the detection result, the whole position can be found.

Furthermore, preventing leakage of personal information is an important issue in recent years, and the communication terminal 2 and the communication server 3 for dealing with it will be described.
FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of detection processing when the communication terminal 2 according to the third embodiment of the present invention is used. Before the search for other terminals within a certain distance starts, the ID data of the group member is transmitted from the communication server 3 so that the communication terminal 2 can only send and receive identification information to other terminals within a certain distance. And store the data. When the search is started when gathering in a group, first the terminal's detection permission process is performed. At this time, the permission is not given to all terminals, but only to the terminals registered in the group member ID. Also, when the detection of the short-range terminal is started and the identification information is received from the terminal detected after the detection, the identification information is not received if the terminal is not in the group member registration ID. Accordingly, the identification information of the own terminal can be given only to the members in the group, and the search for the own terminal can be limited to only the group members. This prevents personal information from leaking outside the group. In the case of this communication terminal 2, it is not necessary for the communication server 3 to identify whether or not it is a member of the detected identification information transmitted.

  In the fourth embodiment, when the communication server 3 is used, the communication server 3 determines whether or not the transmitted identification information belongs to the member, and the data transmitted to the member communication terminal 2 is the member ID. Send only to Since the detection result of the communication terminal 2 is once transmitted to the terminal and displayed as the group information received from the server, even if the detection result or the identification information of the terminal not related to the group is received, the communication server 3 is limited. By doing so, the leakage of personal information can be prevented. Even when the members of the group are present among the people outside the members, the terminal positions of the people outside the members can be used when calculating the position data.

FIG. 1 is a system block diagram. FIG. 2 is a functional explanatory diagram of the communication server 3 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a functional explanatory diagram of the communication terminal 2 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the process flow of the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the detection process according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of detection processing according to the second embodiment. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the process flow of the third embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

1 terminal location information integration system 2 communication terminal 3 communication server 4 communication network 5 base station

Claims (10)

In an integrated system of terminal location information in which a plurality of communication terminals and a communication server can communicate with each other via a communication network,
The communication terminal has a means for setting affiliation with at least one or more other terminals to a group member, a means for transmitting the identification information of its own terminal within a certain distance, and a 1 or Means for receiving identification information transmitted from a plurality of other terminals at a short distance and calculating a distance to the other terminal; and transmitting the received identification information and the calculated distance to the communication server via the communication network. Means for receiving and displaying the position and identification information of the communication terminal of the group member to which the own terminal belongs from the communication server,
Means for the communication server to set at least two or more communication terminals as group member communication terminals; means for receiving the distance and identification information between the communication terminals transmitted from each communication terminal of the group member; Means for calculating a positional relationship of the entire group member communication terminals based on the received distance and identification information; and transmitting the calculated position and identification information of the entire group member communication terminals to each communication terminal of the group member. And a terminal position information integration system. In the terminal location information integration system according to claim 1,
When the communication terminal receives identification information from the other terminal existing within a certain distance, the communication terminal comprises means capable of simultaneously acquiring information of the direction seen from the own terminal,
The communication server is capable of simultaneously receiving information on the direction of the other terminal viewed from the own terminal together with the identification information of the other terminal existing within a certain distance received from the plurality of terminals, and a relative based on the received information. A terminal position information integration system comprising means for calculating position information in an integrated manner. In the terminal location information integration system according to claim 1,
An integrated system of terminal location information, characterized in that the communication terminal comprises means for limiting transmission / reception of identification information to / from other terminals existing within a certain distance only to other terminals that need to be transmitted. In the terminal location information integration system according to claim 1,
An integrated system characterized in that the communication server comprises means for selecting and transmitting only predetermined member information from data calculated by integrating the transmitted terminal location information. In a communication terminal capable of communicating with each other via a communication network with a plurality of communication terminals and a communication server,
The communication terminal has a means for setting affiliation with at least one or more other terminals to a group member, a means for transmitting the identification information of its own terminal within a certain distance, and a 1 or Means for receiving identification information transmitted from a plurality of other terminals at a short distance and calculating a distance to the other terminal; and transmitting the received identification information and the calculated distance to the communication server via the communication network. And a means for receiving and displaying the position and identification information of the communication terminal of the group member to which the terminal belongs from the communication server. The communication terminal according to claim 5,
A communication terminal comprising means capable of simultaneously acquiring information on a direction viewed from the own terminal when the communication terminal receives identification information from the other terminal existing within a certain distance. In the terminal location information integration system according to claim 5,
The communication terminal includes means for limiting the transmission / reception of identification information to / from other terminals existing within a certain distance to only other terminals that need to be transmitted / received. In a communication server that can communicate with a plurality of communication terminals via a communication network,
Means for setting at least two or more communication terminals as group member communication terminals, means for receiving a distance between communication terminals and identification information transmitted from the group member communication terminals, and Based on the received distance and identification information, means for calculating the positional relationship of the group member communication terminals as a whole, and transmitting the calculated position and identification information of the group member communication terminals to each of the group member communication terminals. And a communication server. The communication server according to claim 8, wherein
Based on the received information, the communication server can simultaneously receive information on the direction of the other terminal viewed from the own terminal together with the identification information of the other terminal existing within a certain distance received from the plurality of terminals. A communication server comprising means for calculating relative position information in an integrated manner. The communication server according to claim 8, wherein
The communication server includes means for integrating the transmitted terminal location information and selecting and transmitting only predetermined member information from the calculated data.