JP2007279895A - Monitoring system for monitoring geographic position of monitoring object - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a monitoring system, capable of suppressing the setting cost of a sensor even if the activity range of a monitoring object is extended. <P>SOLUTION: The monitoring system for monitoring the geographic position of at least one monitoring object in area block bases comprises a portable end device which transmits a monitoring object identification signal corresponding to the monitoring object, and a plurality of sensor networks each of which detects the monitoring object identification signal when the current position of the end device is within its own detection area block. When one of the sensor networks detects the monitoring object identification signal, an area block number corresponding to the one detection area block is stored, and an event report related to the position of the monitoring object is generated, according to the change behavior of the stored area block number, and transmitted to a receiver terminal. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a monitoring system that monitors the geographical position of a monitoring object that autonomously behaves like a human being or an animal, and more particularly to the monitoring target geography using a sensor group such as a sensor network each having a detection area block. The present invention relates to a monitoring system that monitors a target position in area block units.

  In recent years, there have been many crime cases that harm children's physical lives. In such a social situation, measures such as group attendance at school and parents accompanying parents should be taken to ensure the safety of children. However, this measure restricts the time burden of parents and the behavior of children diversified by going to cram school, and it is also difficult to thoroughly implement such measures.

By the way, as a technique for monitoring a person's daily behavior pattern, there is a technique disclosed in Patent Document 1. The disclosed living behavior pattern abnormality determination system is a system including a sensor that detects an arbitrary living behavior pattern of a monitored person, i.e., a monitoring target, and a space such as a room where the monitoring target living behavior is assumed. It is assumed that they are distributed.
JP 2005-173668 A

  However, in order to monitor the behavior of the monitoring target using the sensor, it is necessary to install a sensor network including a large number of sensors so as to cover the entire expected behavior range of the target. The wider the action range of the target, the more it is necessary to set the sensors around a number of bases so that the position and movement of the monitoring target can be recognized. End up.

  The objective of this invention is providing the monitoring system which can hold down the installation cost of a sensor also by broadening the action range of the monitoring object.

  A monitoring system according to the present invention is a monitoring system that monitors a geographical position of at least one monitoring target in area block units, and transmits a monitoring target identification signal corresponding to the monitoring target, and a portable end device, and the end device When the current position of the device is within its own detection area block, when a plurality of sensor networks that detect the monitoring target identification signal and one of the sensor networks detects the monitoring target identification signal, A monitoring unit that stores an area block number corresponding to one detection area block, an event generation unit that generates an event notification related to the position of the monitoring target, according to a mode of change of the stored area block number, and a generation And event notification transmission means for transmitting the event notification to the receiver terminal.

  According to the monitoring system of the present invention, a configuration is provided that includes a plurality of sensor networks each having a detection area block that shares the assumed moving area to be monitored. Thereby, the installation cost of the sensor can be suppressed even by widening the action range of the monitoring target.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an embodiment of the present invention and shows the overall configuration of a monitoring system. The monitoring system 100 according to the present invention detects an end device 70 carried by a monitoring target 90 that is a person or an object, and each of a plurality of areas A, B, and C where the monitoring target 90 is supposed to be located or moved. A plurality of sensor networks 40, 50 and 60 (hereinafter referred to as detection areas), and a receiver terminal group 30 including a plurality of receiver terminals that receive event notifications related to the position and movement of the monitoring target 90; The monitoring server 10 that monitors the position of the monitoring target 90 is included, and these are connected to each other via the IP network 20.

  The end device 70 is a terminal device in a network using Zigbee (registered trademark), and has a function of transmitting sensor information including a monitoring target ID for identifying the monitoring target 90 as a monitoring target identification signal. The end device 70 can be realized by a wireless LSI in which an analog wireless function and a physical layer communication function are integrated into one chip. The wireless LSI is a low power consumption element that can be driven for a long time by a small dry battery such as a watch dry battery, for example, and its size is set to about 7 mm × 7 mm, so that it can be incorporated in a key holder or the like. Thereby, the monitoring object 90, such as a person and an animal, can be easily carried for a long time continuously.

  Each of the sensor networks 40, 50 and 60 is a network using Zigbee (registered trademark) as a common communication method. The network has a cluster tree structure in which a star topology and a mesh topology based on the IEEE 802.15.4 standard are merged.

  Since each of the plurality of sensor networks 40, 50 and 60 has the same configuration, one of them will be described. The sensor network 40 includes one monitoring coordinator 41 wired to the IP network 20, and a monitoring coordinator. And a plurality of monitoring routers 42 to 45 that are wirelessly connected to the computer 41 in a star link form.

  Each of the monitoring routers 42 to 45 has a function of detecting sensor information transmitted from the end device 70 and a function of transferring the detected sensor information to the monitoring coordinator 41 by multi-hop communication. Since the sensor information includes the monitoring target ID of the monitoring target that carries the end device 70, each of the monitoring routers 42 to 45 functions as a sensor that measures the presence of the monitoring target 90. The sensor network 40 forms a sensor network in which monitoring routers 42 to 45 as sensors are distributed in a network.

  As described above, a detection area in which sensor information from the end device 70 can be detected is determined for each of the sensor networks 40, 50, and 60. The sensor network 40 includes a detection area that is area A, the sensor network 50 includes a detection area that is area B, and the sensor network 60 includes a detection area that is area C. Each name of area A, area B, and area C is an area block number for identifying each detection area block, that is, a detection area ID, and is information for specifying a geographical position. The detection area ID is not limited to a term associated with a geographical position, but may be a string of characters and numbers that can be simply associated with the geographical position.

  The above-described end device 70 is wirelessly connected to any one of the sensor networks 40, 50 and 60 according to the current position. For example, assume that the current position of the end device 70 is in area A. At this time, the end device 70 is wirelessly connected to a monitoring router included in the sensor network 40, for example, the monitoring router 42. Thereby, sensor information including the monitoring target ID transmitted from the end device 70 is transmitted to the monitoring server 10 via the sensor network 40.

  The monitoring coordinator 41 has a gateway function with the IP network 20 and has a function of transmitting sensor information detected or transferred by the monitoring routers 42 to 45 to the monitoring server 10.

  The receiver terminal group 30 includes terminals used by receivers that receive event notifications, and has a function of receiving event notifications from the monitoring server 10 and providing them to the receivers. Each terminal in the receiver terminal group 30 is an ordinary personal computer that can communicate with the monitoring server 10 via the IP network 20, and further notifies the event from the monitoring server 10 via the public subscriber telephone network. It may be a landline phone or a mobile phone that can be received.

  FIG. 2 shows a configuration example of sensor information. The sensor information 80 is at least a sensor information header 81 determined by the Zigbee (registered trademark) method, a monitoring target ID 82 for identifying the monitoring target 90, and which detection area is the sensor network 40, 50, or 60. It includes a detection area ID 83 for identification. The sensor information 80 may further include additional sensor information 84. As the additional sensor information 84, for example, biological information such as a fingerprint or an iris of the monitoring target 90 carrying the end device 70 can be considered.

  FIG. 3 shows a more detailed configuration of the monitoring server shown in FIG. The monitoring server 10 includes a policy registration unit 11, a policy information table 12, a sensor information reception unit 13, a sensor information table 14, an event control unit 15, and an event transmission unit 16.

  The policy registration unit 11 has a function of performing registration by writing the policy information in the policy information table 12 in response to input of policy information from the outside. Further, the policy registration unit 11 may be capable of registering policy information from an external recipient terminal group 30 or another terminal (not shown) by providing a function of communicating with the IP network 20.

  The sensor information receiving unit 13 has a function of communicating with the IP network 20, receives sensor information transmitted from the monitoring target 90 via the monitoring router 41, and stores it by writing it in the sensor information table 14. Is provided. The sensor information is stored in a corresponding portion of the sensor information table 14 according to the monitoring target ID that identifies the monitoring target 90.

  The event control unit 15 periodically or continuously performs sensor information storage update on the sensor information table 12, and when there is an update on a certain monitoring target, based on the contents of the policy information table related to the monitoring target. It has a function of determining whether or not to generate an event notification, generating an event notification if necessary, and sending the event notification to the event transmitting unit 16.

  The event transmission unit 16 has a function of communicating with the IP network 20 and a function of transmitting the event notification sent from the event control unit 15 to the receiver terminal group 30.

  FIG. 4 shows a storage example of the sensor information table shown in FIG. The sensor information table 14 includes a plurality of monitoring target sensor information tables 14a to 14c associated with the monitoring targets 90, respectively. In this figure, three monitoring target sensor information tables 14a to 14c are shown as an example.

  Each of the monitoring target sensor information tables 14a to 14c stores a monitoring target ID 141 for identifying the monitoring target, a time 142, and a detection area ID 143 associated with the time. Looking at the sensor information table 141 for each monitoring target as an example, the detection area ID “area A” is stored in association with the time “09:13:01” for the monitoring target with the monitoring target ID “00110001”. Yes. From this, it can be seen that the monitoring object has moved to area A at time 9:13:01.

  FIG. 5 shows a registration example of the policy information table shown in FIG. The policy information table 12 includes policy information 162 associated with each monitoring target ID 161 for identifying the monitoring target. Policy information 162 needs to be registered in advance by the policy registration unit described above. The policy information 162 includes a generation condition that defines whether or not to generate an event notification regarding each change in the position of the monitoring target or each staying state.

  As an example, when the monitoring target ID “00110001” is viewed, policy information “stores an event notification when it takes 20 minutes or more to move from area A to B” is stored. The policy information is referred to by the event control unit, and the content of the sensor information table 12 related to the monitoring target stores, for example, sensor information for detecting separation from the area A at 9:00 and at 9:30. When the sensor information that reaches the area B is stored, it is determined that an event notification should be generated because it matches the policy for the monitoring target.

  FIG. 6 shows an outline of a processing procedure executed by the monitoring server. Here, it is assumed that the monitoring target enters the area A of the sensor network 40.

  The monitoring server 10 is always in a state of waiting for reception of sensor information (step S1). At this time, it is assumed that the monitoring target enters the area A of the sensor network 40. As a result, the monitoring target becomes communicable with the sensor network 40, and the sensor information is transmitted to the monitoring server 10. In response to the transmission of the sensor information, the monitoring server 10 receives this (step S2).

  Next, the monitoring server 10 identifies the sensor network and updates the sensor information table (step S3). Then, following the storage update of the new sensor information, the policy information table is referred to and it is determined whether or not the result of the storage update of the sensor information matches the registered policy (step S4). If it does not match the policy, the process returns to waiting for reception in step S1.

  On the other hand, if it matches the policy, the monitoring server 10 generates an event notification (step S5). For example, if the policy registered in the policy information table is “send event notification when entering area A”, it matches the policy and an event notification is generated. Next, the monitoring server 10 transmits the generated event notification to the recipient terminal (step S6). Then, the process returns to the reception waiting of step S1 again.

  As is clear from the above embodiments, the sensor information transmitted by the end device carried by the monitoring target is added with the identification information of the detection area of the sensor network in which the monitoring target is connected, and the monitoring server Sent to. Thereby, the monitoring server can recognize the position of the monitoring target. Then, the event notification can be generated and transmitted to a recipient terminal such as a mobile phone in response to the stay or movement of the position.

  Further, when generating an event notification, policy information that defines various event generation conditions can be set for each monitoring target. In such policy information, not only triggered by movement between areas, but also conditions for generating event notifications by setting various condition parameters such as dwelling, dwelling time and moving time, or combining conditions Can be devised in various ways. For example, it is also possible to transmit an event such as “when the monitoring target does not move from the sensor network A to B for X hours and then moves to B for X hours and does not move from B to C for Y hours”. By combining a plurality of these policies, monitoring can be performed with a more complicated policy.

  In the above embodiment, the form of monitoring the position of one monitoring object has been shown. However, the present invention is not limited, and a form of monitoring the position of a plurality of monitoring objects is also possible. Moreover, in the above Example, although the three sensor networks 40, 50, and 60 were shown, there is no limitation concerning this invention and four or more sensor networks can be included. The sensor information can include not only the monitoring target ID of the monitoring target but also various additional sense information that can be measured by the end device carried by the monitoring target. The monitoring server can also perform finer monitoring using the additional sense information.

It is an Example of this invention and is a block diagram which shows the whole structure of a monitoring system. It is a figure which shows the structural example of sensor information. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a more detailed configuration of the monitoring server shown in FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows the example of a memory | storage of the sensor information table shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of registration of the policy information table shown in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the outline | summary of the process sequence which a monitoring server performs.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Monitoring server 11 Policy registration part 12 Policy information table 13 Sensor information receiving part 14 Sensor information table 14a-14c Sensor information table for every monitoring target 15 Event control part 16 Event transmission part 20 IP network 30 Receiver terminal 40 Sensor network (area A) )
41 Monitoring Coordinator 42-45 Monitoring Router 50 Sensor Network (Area B)
60 Sensor network (Area C)
70 End device 80 Sensor information 90 Monitoring object 100 Monitoring system

Claims (6)

A monitoring system for monitoring the geographical position of at least one monitoring target in area block units,
A portable end device that transmits a monitoring target identification signal corresponding to the monitoring target;
A plurality of sensor networks that detect the monitoring target identification signal when the current position of the end device is within its own detection area block;
Monitoring means for storing an area block number corresponding to the detected area block when one of the sensor networks detects the monitoring target identification signal;
Event generation means for generating an event notification related to the position of the monitoring target according to the mode of change of the stored area block number;
Event notification transmission means for transmitting the generated event notification to the recipient terminal;
A monitoring system comprising:   The said event production | generation means contains the policy information holding | maintenance means which hold | maintains at least 1 production | generation condition which defines whether the said event notification is produced | generated according to the content of the said positional information as policy information. The monitoring system according to 1.   The policy information holding unit generates the event notification when the position of the monitoring target does not move from the first detection area block to the second detection area block in the detection area block within a predetermined time. The monitoring system according to claim 2, further comprising: policy information.   The policy information holding unit generates the event notification when the position of the monitoring target is moved from the first detection area block of the detection area block to a detection area block other than the second detection area block. The monitoring system according to claim 2, further comprising policy information.   The monitoring system according to claim 2, wherein the policy information holding unit holds policy information obtained by combining a plurality of the generation conditions.   2. The monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the sensor network includes a plurality of monitoring routers, at least one of which detects the monitoring target identification signal by sharing the detection area block.

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