JP2008060652A - Content update system and content update method of wireless location information transmitter - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently update a content in a wireless location information transmitter which uses short-distance wireless communication, in a location information providing system using the short-distance wireless communication. <P>SOLUTION: The master transmitter 10 of the wireless location information transmitter acquires a distribution content for a subordinate slave transmitter 11 from a content distribution server 61 through a network 62. When the content is distributed from the master transmitter 10 to the slave transmitter 11, the master transmitter 10 and the slave transmitter 11 change output power levels of short-distance wireless communication to extend radio wave reaching ranges from radio wave reaching ranges 70 and 72 to radio wave reaching ranges 80 and 81, whereby communication between the master transmitter 10 and the slave transmitter 11 is made possible to distribute the content. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a content update system and a content update method for a wireless position information transmitter used in a pedestrian navigation system that provides position information and information on nearby commercial facilities to portable terminals such as pedestrians.

  A plurality of wireless position information transmitters that transmit position information by short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) are installed along street corners and roads, and the wireless position information transmitter transmits position information to portable terminals such as pedestrians. A position information providing system for transmission has been proposed.

  For example, Patent Literature 1 describes a method of transmitting position information and advertisement information from a position information transmission device to a user's mobile terminal by Bluetooth.

  Moreover, in patent document 2, a positional information is transmitted to a portable terminal by short-distance wireless communication from the identification information transmission part installed in the sidewalk or the vicinity of a sidewalk, Based on this positional information, a route provision server is a route | root to a destination A pedestrian navigation system that provides information is described.

  In such a position information providing system, it is necessary to update contents such as position information and advertisement information provided by the wireless position information transmitter. As the update method, for example, as shown in FIG. 13, a method of performing update using short-range wireless communication from a portable management terminal is known. The position information providing system of FIG. 13 includes wireless position information transmitters 12A, 12B, and 12C and a management terminal 50, and the reach of radio waves by short-range wireless communication of each of the wireless position information transmitters 12A, 12B, and 12C is as follows. The range is indicated by the radio wave reach ranges 71A, 71B, 71C. At the time of content update, the management terminal 50 is sequentially moved, for example, from the radio wave arrival range 71A → 71B → 71C of the wireless location information transmitter, and the content is written from the management terminal 50 to each wireless location information transmitter. In this way, in the position information providing system using short-range wireless communication, network wiring to each wireless position information transmitter for content update is achieved by using short-range wireless communication for content update of the wireless position information transmitter. There is an advantage that the degree of freedom of installation of the wireless location information transmitter can be increased.

JP 2002-44710 A JP-A-2005-106468

  In the position information providing system using the wireless position information transmitter, once the wireless position information transmitter is installed at a certain location, the position information written in the wireless position information transmitter does not need to be changed. It is considered that advertisement information such as content is frequently rewritten. Also, regarding the position information, when the expression format is not absolute position information such as latitude and longitude (for example, relative position information in a building), rewriting may occur although the frequency is lower than that of the advertisement information.

  However, as described above, in the method in which the content of the wireless location information transmitter is updated by the short-range wireless communication using the portable management terminal, the content is managed in the communication area of the short-range wireless communication of each wireless location information transmitter. It is necessary to update the content while moving the terminal. For this reason, when a large number of wireless location information transmitters are arranged on street corners or along roads, there is a problem that the cost and time for updating the content become extremely large and the efficiency becomes poor.

  An object of the present invention is to update content when a large number of wireless position information transmitters are installed in a position information providing system that updates the contents of a wireless position information transmitter by short-range wireless communication, which is the conventional problem described above. It is an object of the present invention to provide a content update system and a content update method that solve the problem of inefficiency for the content.

  The first content update system of the present invention receives distribution content storage means for storing distribution content, and the distribution content from a content distribution server via a network, and stores it in the distribution content storage means. Distribution content reception control means, first transmission power control means for controlling the transmission power level of wireless communication, and transmission of the wireless communication transmission power level to second wireless position information by the first transmission power control means. The content of the second wireless position information transmitter is switched to the second wireless position by the wireless communication among the distribution contents stored in the distribution content storage means. After transmission of the content to the information transmitter and transmission of the content, transmission before switching the transmission power level of the wireless communication A first wireless position information transmitter having content transmission control means for returning to a power level, a content information storage means for storing the content, and a second transmission power control means for controlling the transmission power level of the wireless communication The transmission power level of the wireless communication is switched to a transmission power level communicable with the first wireless position information transmitter by the second transmission power control means, and transmitted from the first wireless position information transmitter. Content receiving control means for receiving the content, storing it in the content information storage means, and returning the transmission power level of the wireless communication to the transmission power level before switching after the reception of the content is completed. A wireless location information transmitter is provided.

  The second content update system of the present invention includes a management terminal having distribution content transmission control means for transmitting distribution content to the first wireless location information transmitter by wireless communication, and for distribution storing the distribution content A content storage unit, a distribution content reception control unit that receives the distribution content from the management terminal by the wireless communication and stores it in the distribution content storage unit, and a first that controls a transmission power level of the wireless communication The transmission power level of the wireless communication is switched to a transmission power level communicable with the second wireless position information transmitter by the first transmission power control means and stored in the distribution content storage means Among the distributed contents, the contents of the second wireless location information transmitter are transmitted by the wireless communication. Content transmission control means for transmitting to the wireless position information transmitter of No. 2 and returning the transmission power level of the wireless communication to the transmission power level before switching after transmission of the content is completed. A content information storage means for storing the content, a second transmission power control means for controlling the transmission power level of the wireless communication, and a transmission power level of the wireless communication by the second transmission power control means. Switching to a transmission power level communicable with the first wireless location information transmitter, receiving the content transmitted from the first wireless location information transmitter, storing the content in the content information storage means, The content reception control means for returning the transmission power level of the wireless communication to the transmission power level before switching after the reception is completed. Characterized by comprising a radio positional information transmitter.

  According to a third content update system of the present invention, in the first or second content update system, the first wireless location information transmitter further transmits the content to the second wireless location information transmitter. Transmission schedule storage means for storing a transmission start time to be started, and the content transmission control means of the first wireless location information transmitter transmits the first transmission time at the transmission start time stored in the transmission schedule. The transmission power control means switches the transmission power level of the wireless communication to a transmission power level communicable with the second wireless position information transmitter, and the content of the second wireless position information transmitter is changed to the first by the wireless communication. 2, and the second wireless position information transmitter further receives the content from the first wireless position information transmitter. Reception schedule storage means for storing the reception start time for starting the reception, and the content reception control means of the second wireless location information transmitter is configured to receive the second at the reception start time stored in the reception schedule. The transmission power control means switches the transmission power level of the wireless communication to a transmission power level communicable with the first wireless position information transmitter, and receives the content transmitted from the first wireless position information transmitter. It is characterized by doing.

  According to a fourth content update system of the present invention, in the content update system according to any one of the first to third features, the communication method of the wireless communication is Bluetooth.

  According to a fifth content update system of the present invention, in the content update system according to any one of the first to third aspects, the wireless communication method is a wireless LAN.

  According to a sixth content update system of the present invention, in the content update system according to any one of the first to third features, the wireless communication method is ZigBee.

  In the first content update method of the present invention, the first wireless location information transmitter receives distribution content from the content distribution server via the network and stores it in the distribution content storage means. And the first wireless position information transmitter can communicate the transmission power level of the wireless communication with the second wireless position information transmitter by the first transmission power control means for controlling the transmission power level of the wireless communication. Among the distribution contents stored in the distribution content storage means, the content of the second wireless position information transmitter is transferred to the second wireless position information transmitter by the wireless communication. After the transmission of the content is completed, the content transmission control for returning the transmission power level of the wireless communication to the transmission power level before switching. And the second wireless position information transmitter sets the transmission power level of the wireless communication to the first wireless position information transmitter by a second transmission power control means for controlling the transmission power level of the wireless communication. Switching to a communicable transmission power level, receiving the content transmitted from the first wireless location information transmitter, storing it in content information storage means, and after receiving the content, transmit the wireless communication transmission power And a content reception control step for returning the level to the transmission power level before switching.

  According to a second content update method of the present invention, the management terminal transmits a distribution content to the first wireless location information transmitter by wireless communication, and the first wireless location information transmitter. A distribution content reception control step of receiving the distribution content from the management terminal through the wireless communication and storing the distribution content in a distribution content storage unit; and the first wireless location information transmitter includes: The transmission power level of the wireless communication is switched to a transmission power level communicable with the second wireless position information transmitter by first transmission power control means for controlling the level, and the distribution stored in the distribution content storage means Content of the second wireless location information transmitter is transmitted to the second wireless location information transmitter through the wireless communication. After transmission of the content, a content transmission control step for returning the transmission power level of the wireless communication to the transmission power level before switching, and the second wireless location information transmitter controls the transmission power level of the wireless communication. The transmission power level of the wireless communication is switched to a transmission power level communicable with the first wireless position information transmitter by the second transmission power control means, and the transmitted from the first wireless position information transmitter A content reception control step of receiving content, storing the content in a content information storage unit, and returning the transmission power level of the wireless communication to the transmission power level before switching after the content reception is completed.

  According to a third content update method of the present invention, in the first or second content update method, the content transmission control step of the first wireless location information transmitter transmits the content to the second wireless location information transmitter. The transmission power level of the wireless communication is set to the second wireless position information by the first transmission power control means at the transmission start time stored in the transmission schedule storage means for storing the transmission start time for starting the content transmission. Switching to a transmission power level communicable with the transmitter, transmitting the content of the second wireless location information transmitter to the second wireless location information transmitter by the wireless communication, and the second wireless location information transmitter The content reception control step stores a reception start time for starting reception of the content from the first wireless location information transmitter. The transmission power level of the wireless communication is switched to a transmission power level communicable with the first wireless position information transmitter by the second transmission power control means at the reception start time stored in the network. The content transmitted from one wireless location information transmitter is received.

  According to a fourth content update method of the present invention, in the content update method according to any one of the first to third aspects, the wireless communication method is Bluetooth.

  According to a fifth content update method of the present invention, in the content update method according to any one of the first to third aspects, the wireless communication method is a wireless LAN.

  According to a sixth content update method of the present invention, in the content update method according to any one of the first to third aspects, the wireless communication method is ZigBee.

  An effect of the present invention is that, in a location information providing system that updates content of a wireless location information transmitter by short-range wireless communication, even when a large number of wireless location information transmitters are installed, the content can be updated efficiently. . The reason is that a wireless location information transmitter (parent transmitter) that acquires content to be distributed from a content distribution server to a subordinate wireless location information transmitter (child transmitter) and wireless location information that acquires content from the parent transmitter Provide a transmitter (child transmitter), provide transmission power control means for both the parent transmitter and the child transmitter, and perform short-range wireless communication only for a certain period of time to distribute content from the parent transmitter to the child transmitter. This is because communication between the parent transmitter and the child transmitter is enabled by setting the output power level high, and the content is distributed to the child transmitter.

  Next, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment of the invention)
FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a position information providing system in the first embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the position information providing system according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a parent transmitter 10 and a child transmitter 11 of a wireless position information transmitter, a portable terminal 90, and a content distribution server 61. The The parent transmitter 10 and the content distribution server 61 are connected by a network 62 such as an Internet network or a telephone line. The parent transmitter 10 sends distribution contents for distribution to the child transmitter 11 from the content distribution server 61 to the network 62. Download via.

  The parent transmitter 10 and the child transmitter 11 of the wireless position information transmitter transmit contents such as position information and advertisement information to the portable terminal 90 by short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth, wireless LAN, or ZigBee (registered trademark). To do. The portable terminal 90 includes an application such as pedestrian navigation, and performs route guidance for the user using the position information received from the parent transmitter 10 and the child transmitter 11, or the parent transmitter 10 and the child transmitter. The advertisement information received from 11 can be displayed to the user, or more relevant information can be acquired from the information server (not shown) through the mobile communication network (not shown) and displayed to the user. When transmitting content to the portable terminal 90 (when transmitting location information), the parent transmitter 10 and the child transmitter 11 transmit radio waves at a low output power level. In this case, the radio wave arrival ranges of the parent transmitter 10 and the child transmitters 11A and 11B are ranges that do not overlap each other, as indicated by the radio wave arrival ranges 70, 71A, and 71B, respectively. The radio wave reachable ranges 70, 71A, 71B are set so as to be able to provide content without overlapping radio waves transmitted from the parent transmitter 10 and the child transmitter 11, and have directivity other than circular. It is good also as a shape.

  Further, according to a predetermined schedule such as at night, the parent transmitter 10 distributes content to the child transmitter 11 by short-range wireless communication. During content distribution, the parent transmitter 10 and the child transmitter 11 transmit radio waves at a high output power level. In this case, the radio transmitters 10 and the slave transmitters 11A and 11B reach the radio wave arrival ranges 80, 81A and 81B, respectively, and the master transmitter 10 and the slave transmitters 11A and 11B can communicate. Become.

  FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the parent transmitter 10. The parent transmitter 10 includes an antenna 21, a radio unit 22, a transmission unit 23, a reception unit 25, a network IF unit 26, a control unit 30, and a storage unit 40.

  The antenna 21 transmits and receives radio waves based on high frequency signals. The radio unit 22 converts the high frequency signal received by the antenna 21 into a low frequency signal and transmits the signal to the receiving unit 25, converts the signal input from the transmission unit 23 into a high frequency signal, and outputs the signal to the antenna 21. The receiving unit 25 performs demodulation processing on the signal input from the wireless unit 22 and outputs the obtained data (digital signal) to the control unit 30. The transmission unit 23 performs modulation processing or the like on the data input from the control unit 30 and outputs a signal to the radio unit 22. The transmission unit 23 includes a transmission power amplifier 24 that can change the amplification factor. The transmission power control unit 33 of the control unit 30 outputs a control signal corresponding to a predetermined output power level stored in the storage unit 40 to the transmission power amplifier 24. The transmission power amplifier 24 sets the amplification factor according to the control signal so that the output power level of the transmitted radio wave becomes a predetermined output power level. Note that there is no need to always output a control signal from the transmission power control unit 33 to the transmission power amplifier 24, and the control signal from the transmission power control unit 33 is latched in the transmission unit 23. The network IF unit 26 is an interface for providing connection to a network 62 such as a LAN (Local Area Network) for connecting to the Internet network or a telephone line network.

  The control unit 30 includes a position information transmission control unit 31, a content transmission control unit 32, a transmission power control unit 33, and a distribution content reception control unit. The control unit 30 is composed of, for example, a microcomputer (with a timer function) and operates by program control.

  The position information transmission control unit 31 periodically transmits the position information and advertisement information stored in the content information storage unit 43 to the mobile terminal 90 via the transmission unit 23 and the reception unit 25. The content transmission control unit 32 transmits the content stored in the distribution content storage unit 44 to the child transmitter 11 according to the transmission schedule stored in the transmission schedule storage unit 45. The transmission power control unit 33 sets the amplification factor of the transmission power amplifier 24 and controls the output power level of the transmitted radio wave. The transmission power control unit 33 controls the output power level to the output power level stored in the transmission output power level storage unit 42 when transmitting position information, and stores the transmission schedule when distributing content to the child transmitter 11. The output power level stored in the unit 45 is controlled. The distribution content reception control unit 34 downloads the distribution content from the content distribution server 61 via the network IF unit 26 and stores it in the distribution content storage unit 44. Further, of the distribution contents, the content transmitted by the parent transmitter 10 itself is stored in the content information storage unit 43.

  The storage unit 40 includes a transmitter identifier storage unit 41, a transmission output power level storage unit 42, a content information storage unit 43, a distribution content storage unit 44, and a transmission schedule storage unit 45. FIG. 4 shows the contents stored and managed by the storage unit 40. The transmitter identifier storage unit 41 stores and manages a transmitter identifier for uniquely identifying its own transmitter. The transmission output power level storage unit 42 stores and manages the output power level at the time of transmitting position information. The content information storage unit 43 stores and manages contents such as position information and advertisement information transmitted from the transmitter to the mobile terminal 90. The distribution content storage unit 44 stores and manages contents such as position information and advertisement information for transmitter identifiers of a plurality of transmitters. The transmission schedule storage unit 45 stores and manages the transmission start time and the output power level for the transmitter identifier of the child transmitter 11.

  FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the child transmitter 11. In the child transmitter 11 of FIG. 3, the components given the same numbers as the parent transmitter 10 of FIG. 2 have the same functions as the parent transmitter 10. The slave transmitter 11 includes an antenna 21, a radio unit 22, a transmission unit 23, a reception unit 25, a control unit 30, and a storage unit 40.

  The control unit 30 includes a position information transmission control unit 31, a content reception control unit 35, and a transmission power control unit 33. The content reception control unit 35 receives the content transmitted by the parent transmitter 10 according to the reception schedule stored in the reception schedule storage unit 46 and stores it in the content information storage unit 43.

  The storage unit 40 includes a transmitter identifier storage unit 41, a transmission output power level storage unit 42, a content information storage unit 43, and a reception schedule storage unit 46. FIG. 4 shows the contents stored and managed by the storage unit 40. The reception schedule storage unit 46 stores and manages the reception start time and the output power level for the transmitter identifier of the parent transmitter 10 that is the content distribution source.

  Next, the operation of the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Content acquisition processing]
FIG. 5 shows an operation flow of content acquisition processing. The content acquisition process is a process in which the parent transmitter 10 downloads content for distribution to the child transmitter 11 from the content distribution server 61 via the network 62, and is periodically performed between the content distribution server 61 and the parent transmitter 10. Implemented.

  The parent transmitter 10 normally continues a standby operation for waiting for content transmission processing to the mobile terminal 90 (step A101). When the content distribution server 61 reaches the content distribution time, the content distribution server 61 transmits the distribution content to the parent transmitter 10 (step C101). The distribution content reception control unit 34 of the parent transmitter 10 stores the distribution content received from the content distribution server 61 in the distribution content storage unit 44 (step A102). The distribution content reception control unit 34 further stores, in the content information storage unit 43, the content whose transmitter identifier is the own transmitter among the received distribution content (step A103). Thereafter, the parent transmitter 10 continues the standby operation.

  The content acquisition process may be performed at an arbitrary time according to a request from the content distribution server 61 or the parent transmitter 10.

[Content delivery processing]
FIG. 6 shows an operation flow of content distribution processing. The content distribution process is a process of transmitting content from the parent transmitter 10 to the child transmitter 11 by short-range wireless communication, and is performed according to the schedule stored in the transmission schedule storage unit 45 and the reception schedule storage unit 46. The

  The parent transmitter 10 and the child transmitter 11 normally continue a standby operation for waiting for content transmission processing to the portable terminal 90 (steps A201 and B201). The output power level during standby operation of the parent transmitter 10 and the child transmitter 11 is set to the output power level (low output) of the output power level storage unit 42 for transmission. In this case, the radio wave arrival ranges of the parent transmitter 10 and the child transmitter 11 are the radio wave arrival ranges 70 and 71 of FIG. 1, respectively, and communication between the parent transmitter 10 and the child transmitter 11 is not possible.

  The content transmission control unit 32 of the parent transmitter 10 periodically checks the transmission schedule storage unit 45 to confirm whether any of the child transmitters 11 has reached the transmission start time (step A202). . When the transmission start time arrives, the content transmission control unit 32 reads the output power level (high output) for communicating with the child transmitter 11 from the transmission schedule storage unit 45, and outputs the radio wave through the transmission power control unit 33. The power level is switched to high output (step A203). Thereby, the radio wave reachable range of the parent transmitter 10 becomes the radio wave reachable range 80 of FIG. The content reception control unit 35 of the child transmitter 11 also periodically checks the reception schedule storage unit 46 to confirm whether or not the reception start time has arrived (step B202). When the reception start time arrives, the content reception control unit 35 reads the output power level (high output) for communication with the child transmitter 11 from the reception schedule storage unit 46, and outputs the radio wave through the transmission power control unit 33. The power level is switched to high output (step B203). Thereby, the radio wave reachable range of the child transmitter 11 becomes the radio wave reachable range 81 of FIG. 1, and communication between the parent transmitter 10 and the child transmitter 11 becomes possible. The content transmission control unit 32 and the content reception control unit 35 establish communication in short-range wireless communication (steps A204 and B204). The content transmission control unit 32 reads the content to be transmitted to the child transmitter 11 from the distribution content storage unit 44 and transmits the content to the child transmitter 11 (step A205). The content reception control unit 35 stores the content received from the parent transmitter 10 in the content information storage unit 43 (step B205). The content transmission control unit 32 and the content reception control unit 35 cancel communication in short-range wireless communication (steps A206 and B206). The content transmission control unit 32 reads the output power level (low output) from the transmission output power level storage unit 42, and switches the radio wave output power level to low output through the transmission power control unit 33 (step A207). The content reception control unit 35 also reads the output power level (low output) from the transmission output power level storage unit 42, and switches the output power level of the radio wave to low output through the transmission power control unit 33 (step B207). Thereby, the radio wave arrival ranges of the parent transmitter 10 and the child transmitter 11 return to the radio wave arrival ranges 70 and 71 of FIG. 1, respectively, and communication between the parent transmitter 10 and the child transmitter 11 becomes impossible. . Thereafter, the parent transmitter 10 and the child transmitter 11 continue the standby operation.

[Content transmission processing]
FIG. 7 shows an operation flow of content transmission processing. In the content transmission process, the parent transmitter 10 or the child transmitter 11 of the wireless position information transmitter transmits contents such as position information and advertisement information to the mobile terminal 90. The content transmission process is the same for both the parent transmitter 10 and the child transmitter 11. The parent transmitter 10 / slave transmitter 11 continues the standby operation (step A301 / B301). As described above, the output power level during standby operation of the parent transmitter 10 / slave transmitter 11 is set to the output power level (low output) of the output power level storage unit 42 for transmission. In this case, the radio wave reachable range of the parent transmitter 10 / slave transmitter 11 is the radio wave reachable range 70/71 in FIG.

  In the portable terminal 90, an application such as pedestrian navigation is activated (step E301). When the portable terminal 90 enters the radio wave reachable range 70/71, the location information transmission control unit 31 of the parent transmitter 10 / slave transmitter 11 and the portable terminal 90 establish communication in short-range wireless communication (steps A302 / B302). , E302). The position information transmission control unit 31 reads the content from the content information storage unit 43 and transmits it to the mobile terminal 90 (steps A303 / B303). Based on the content received from the parent transmitter 10 / slave transmitter 11, the portable terminal 90 provides route guidance by voice or image to the user or displays advertisement information (step E303). The position information transmission control unit 31 and the mobile terminal 90 cancel communication in short-range wireless communication (steps A304 / B304, E304). The portable terminal 90 ends the application (step E305). Thereafter, the parent transmitter 10 / slave transmitter 11 continues the standby operation.

  When the application of the portable terminal 90 is route guidance or the like, the operations from step E302 to E304 are repeated between the parent transmitter 10 / slave transmitter 11 and the portable terminal 90 as the user moves. May be.

  Thus, the operation of the first embodiment of the present invention is completed.

  According to the first embodiment of the present invention, in a location information providing system for updating content of a wireless location information transmitter by short-range wireless communication, even if a large number of wireless location information transmitters are installed, content updating Can be implemented efficiently. The reason is that a wireless location information transmitter (parent transmitter) that acquires content to be distributed from a content distribution server to a subordinate wireless location information transmitter (child transmitter) and wireless location information that acquires content from the parent transmitter Provide a transmitter (child transmitter), provide transmission power control means for both the parent transmitter and the child transmitter, and perform short-range wireless communication only for a certain period of time to distribute content from the parent transmitter to the child transmitter. This is because communication between the parent transmitter and the child transmitter is enabled by setting the output power level high, and the content is distributed to the child transmitter.

  In addition, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, in the location information providing system that updates the content of the wireless location information transmitter by short-range wireless communication, an increase in power consumption associated with content update is suppressed to a low level. Can do. The reason for this is that when the content is distributed from the parent transmitter to the child transmitter, the output power level of the wireless location information transmitter is set high, but the period is only a short time required for content distribution, and not during content distribution. This is because the output power level is set low. Thus, suppressing power consumption is particularly important in a position information providing system that uses a solar cell or the like as a power supply source.

(Second embodiment of the invention)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  In the second embodiment of the present invention, the download of the content for distribution to the parent transmitter 10 is not downloaded from the content distribution server 61 via the network 62 but is performed from the management terminal 50 via short-range wireless communication. It is different from the first embodiment in that it is downloaded using.

  FIG. 8 shows a configuration of a position information providing system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 8, the position information providing system according to the present invention includes a parent transmitter 10 of a wireless position information transmitter, a child transmitter 11 of a wireless position information transmitter, a portable terminal 90, and a management terminal 50. .

  FIG. 9 shows the configuration of the parent transmitter 10. The parent transmitter 10 includes an antenna 21, a radio unit 22, a transmission unit 23, a reception unit 25, a control unit 30, and a storage unit 40.

  The control unit 30 includes a position information transmission control unit 31, a content transmission control unit 32, a transmission power control unit 33, and a distribution content reception control unit. The distribution content reception control unit 34 downloads the distribution content from the management terminal 50 via the transmission unit 23 and the reception unit 25 and stores it in the distribution content storage unit 44. In addition, the content transmitted by the parent transmitter 10 itself among the content for distribution is stored in the content information storage unit 43.

  FIG. 10 shows a configuration example of the management terminal 50. The management terminal 50 includes an antenna 51, a radio unit 52, a transmission / reception unit 53, a control unit 54, a storage unit 55, an input unit 56, and a display unit 57.

  The antenna 51 transmits and receives radio waves based on high frequency signals. The radio unit 52 converts the high frequency signal received by the antenna 51 into a low frequency signal and transmits the signal to the transmission / reception unit 53, converts the signal input from the transmission / reception unit 53 into a high frequency signal, and outputs the signal to the antenna 51. The transmission / reception unit 53 performs demodulation processing or the like on the signal input from the radio unit 52, outputs the obtained data (digital signal) to the control unit 54, and modulates the data input from the control unit 54 Etc., and the signal is output to the wireless unit 52. The input unit 56 and the display unit 57 are each composed of a numeric keypad, a liquid crystal display device, and the like, and are used by an administrator to operate the control unit 54.

  The control unit 54 includes a distribution content transmission control unit 58. The control unit 54 is composed of, for example, a microcomputer (with a timer function) and operates by program control. The distribution content transmission control unit 58 transmits the content stored in the distribution content storage unit 59 to the parent transmitter 10 via the transmission / reception unit 53 in accordance with an instruction input by the administrator through the input unit 56.

  The storage unit 55 includes a distribution content storage unit 59. FIG. 11 shows the contents of the distribution content storage unit 59. The distribution content storage unit 59 stores and manages contents such as position information and advertisement information for transmitter identifiers of a plurality of transmitters.

  Next, the operation of the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Content acquisition processing]
FIG. 12 shows an operation flow of content acquisition processing. The content acquisition process according to the second embodiment of the present invention is a process in which the parent transmitter 10 downloads content for distribution to the child transmitter 11 from the management terminal 50 by short-range wireless communication. At the timing, the management terminal 50 is moved to the radio wave reachable range 70 of the parent transmitter 10 and implemented.

  The parent transmitter 10 normally continues a standby operation for waiting for content transmission processing to the mobile terminal 90 (step A401). During the standby operation of the main transmitter 10, the output level of the transmission radio wave is set to the output power level (low output) of the output power level storage unit 42 for transmission. This is the radio wave reachable range 70 in FIG. When performing the content acquisition process, the administrator moves the management terminal 50 to the radio wave reachable range 70 of the parent transmitter 10. The distribution content transmission control unit 58 of the management terminal 50 and the distribution content reception control unit 34 of the parent transmitter 10 establish communication in short-range wireless communication (steps D401 and A402). The distribution content transmission control unit 58 transmits the distribution content stored in the distribution content storage unit 59 to the parent transmitter 10 (step D402). The distribution content reception control unit 34 stores the distribution content received from the management terminal 50 in the distribution content storage unit 44 (step A403). The distribution content transmission control unit 58 and the distribution content reception control unit 34 cancel communication in short-range wireless communication (steps D403 and A404). The distribution content reception control unit 34 further stores, in the content information storage unit 43, the content whose transmitter identifier is the own transmitter among the received distribution content (step A405). Thereafter, the parent transmitter 10 continues the standby operation.

  Of the operations of the second embodiment of the present invention, the content distribution process and the content transmission process are the same as those of the first embodiment of the present invention.

  Thus, the operation of the second embodiment of the present invention is completed.

  According to the second embodiment of the present invention, the degree of freedom of installation of the parent transmitter of the wireless position information transmitter can be increased as compared with the first embodiment. The reason is that the network connection between the parent transmitter and the distribution server becomes unnecessary by downloading the content for distribution to the parent transmitter by short-range wireless communication from the management terminal.

  In the first embodiment and the second embodiment of the present invention, information distributed from the content distribution server or the management terminal to the parent transmitter and the child transmitter is transmitted as wireless location information. The location information of the wireless location information transmitter is distributed by distributing the information stored and managed in the output power level storage unit 42 for transmission, the transmission transmission schedule storage unit 45, and the reception schedule storage unit 46. You may make it change the output electric power level at the time of transmission and content delivery, or may change the content delivery schedule between a parent transmitter and a child transmitter.

It is a figure which shows 1st embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the parent transmitter in the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram of the child transmitter in the first embodiment of the present invention. In 1st embodiment of this invention, it is a figure which shows the content which the memory | storage part of a parent transmitter and a child transmitter memorize | stores. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the content acquisition process in 1st embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the content delivery process in 1st embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the positional infomation transmission process in 1st embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows 2nd embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the parent transmitter in the second embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram of the management terminal in 2nd embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the content which the memory | storage part of a management terminal memorize | stores and manages in 2nd embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the content acquisition process in 2nd embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the content update method in the conventional positional information provision system.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Parent transmitter 11 Child transmitter 12 Radio location information transmitter 21 Antenna 22 Radio unit 23 Transmitter 24 Transmission power amplifier 25 Receiver 26 Network IF unit 30 Control unit 31 Location information transmission control unit 32 Content transmission control unit 33 Transmission power Control unit 34 Distribution content reception control unit 35 Content reception control unit 40 Storage unit 41 Transmitter identifier storage unit 42 Output power level storage unit 43 Content information storage unit 44 Distribution content storage unit 45 Transmission schedule storage unit 46 Reception schedule Storage unit 50 Management terminal 51 Antenna 52 Radio unit 53 Transmission / reception unit 54 Control unit 55 Storage unit 56 Input unit 57 Display unit 58 Distribution content transmission control unit 59 Distribution content storage unit 61 Content distribution server 62 Network 70 Radio wave reach 7 1 Radio wave reach 80 Radio wave reach 81 Radio wave reach 90 Mobile terminal

Claims (12)

Distribution content storage means for storing distribution content;
A distribution content reception control unit that receives the distribution content from a content distribution server via a network and stores the distribution content in the distribution content storage unit;
First transmission power control means for controlling the transmission power level of wireless communication;
The transmission power level of the wireless communication is switched to a transmission power level communicable with the second wireless position information transmitter by the first transmission power control means, and the distribution content stored in the distribution content storage means is changed. Among them, the content of the second wireless location information transmitter is transmitted to the second wireless location information transmitter by the wireless communication, and after the transmission of the content is finished, the transmission power level of the wireless communication is changed to before switching. A first wireless location information transmitter having content transmission control means for returning to a transmission power level;
Content information storage means for storing the content;
Second transmission power control means for controlling the transmission power level of the wireless communication;
The transmission power level of the wireless communication is switched to a transmission power level communicable with the first wireless position information transmitter by the second transmission power control means, and transmitted from the first wireless position information transmitter. Content receiving control means for receiving content, storing the content in the content information storage means, and returning the transmission power level of the wireless communication to the transmission power level before switching after the reception of the content is completed. A content update system comprising a location information transmitter. A management terminal having distribution content transmission control means for transmitting the distribution content to the first wireless location information transmitter by wireless communication;
Distribution content storage means for storing the distribution content;
A distribution content reception control unit that receives the distribution content from the management terminal by the wireless communication and stores the distribution content in the distribution content storage unit;
First transmission power control means for controlling the transmission power level of the wireless communication;
The transmission power level of the wireless communication is switched to a transmission power level communicable with the second wireless position information transmitter by the first transmission power control means, and the distribution content stored in the distribution content storage means is changed. Among them, the content of the second wireless location information transmitter is transmitted to the second wireless location information transmitter by the wireless communication, and after the transmission of the content is finished, the transmission power level of the wireless communication is changed to before switching. The first wireless location information transmitter having content transmission control means for returning to a transmission power level;
Content information storage means for storing the content;
Second transmission power control means for controlling the transmission power level of the wireless communication;
The transmission power level of the wireless communication is switched to a transmission power level communicable with the first wireless position information transmitter by the second transmission power control means, and transmitted from the first wireless position information transmitter. Content receiving control means for receiving content, storing the content in the content information storage means, and returning the transmission power level of the wireless communication to the transmission power level before switching after the reception of the content is completed. A content update system comprising a location information transmitter. The first wireless position information transmitter further includes transmission schedule storage means for storing a transmission start time for starting transmission of the content in the second wireless position information transmitter, and the first wireless position information transmitter The content transmission control means of the information transmitter sets the transmission power level of the wireless communication to the second wireless position information transmitter by the first transmission power control means at the transmission start time stored in the transmission schedule. Switch to a transmission power level communicable with, and transmit the content of the second wireless location information transmitter to the second wireless location information transmitter by the wireless communication,
The second wireless location information transmitter further includes a reception schedule storage means for storing a reception start time for starting reception of the content from the first wireless location information transmitter,
The content reception control means of the second wireless location information transmitter sets the transmission power level of the wireless communication by the second transmission power control means at the reception start time stored in the reception schedule. 3. The content according to claim 1, wherein the content transmitted from the first wireless location information transmitter is received by switching to a transmission power level communicable with the other wireless location information transmitter. 4. Update system. The content update system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a communication system of the wireless communication is Bluetooth. The content update system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a communication system of the wireless communication is a wireless LAN. The content update system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a communication method of the wireless communication is ZigBee. A distribution content reception control step in which the first wireless location information transmitter receives the distribution content from the content distribution server via the network and stores it in the distribution content storage means;
Transmission power at which the first wireless position information transmitter can communicate the transmission power level of the wireless communication with the second wireless position information transmitter by first transmission power control means for controlling the transmission power level of wireless communication. Among the distribution contents stored in the distribution content storage means, the content of the second wireless location information transmitter is transmitted to the second wireless location information transmitter by the wireless communication, A content transmission control step for returning the transmission power level of the wireless communication to the transmission power level before switching after the transmission of the content;
The second wireless position information transmitter can communicate the transmission power level of the wireless communication with the first wireless position information transmitter by second transmission power control means for controlling the transmission power level of the wireless communication. Switch to the transmission power level, receive the content transmitted from the first wireless location information transmitter, store it in the content information storage means, and switch the transmission power level of the wireless communication after receiving the content A content reception control step of returning to a previous transmission power level. A distribution content transmission control step in which the management terminal transmits the distribution content to the first wireless location information transmitter by wireless communication;
A delivery content reception control step in which the first wireless location information transmitter receives the delivery content from the management terminal by the wireless communication and stores it in a delivery content storage unit;
Transmission power at which the first wireless position information transmitter can communicate the transmission power level of the wireless communication with the second wireless position information transmitter by first transmission power control means for controlling the transmission power level of wireless communication. Among the distribution contents stored in the distribution content storage means, the content of the second wireless location information transmitter is transmitted to the second wireless location information transmitter by the wireless communication, A content transmission control step for returning the transmission power level of the wireless communication to the transmission power level before switching after the transmission of the content;
The second wireless position information transmitter can communicate the transmission power level of the wireless communication with the first wireless position information transmitter by second transmission power control means for controlling the transmission power level of the wireless communication. Switch to the transmission power level, receive the content transmitted from the first wireless location information transmitter, store it in the content information storage means, and switch the transmission power level of the wireless communication after receiving the content A content reception control step of returning to a previous transmission power level. In the content transmission control step of the first wireless location information transmitter, the transmission stored in a transmission schedule storage means for storing a transmission start time for starting transmission of the content in the second wireless location information transmitter. At the start time, the transmission power level of the wireless communication is switched to a transmission power level communicable with the second wireless position information transmitter by the first transmission power control means, and the second wireless position information transmitter Transmitting content to the second wireless location information transmitter by the wireless communication;
In the content reception control step of the second wireless location information transmitter, the reception start time stored in a reception schedule for storing a reception start time for starting reception of the content from the first wireless location information transmitter Then, the second transmission power control means switches the transmission power level of the wireless communication to a transmission power level communicable with the first wireless position information transmitter, and is transmitted from the first wireless position information transmitter. 9. The content updating method according to claim 7, wherein the content is received. The content update method according to claim 7, wherein a communication method of the wireless communication is Bluetooth. The content update method according to claim 7, wherein a communication method of the wireless communication is a wireless LAN. The content update method according to claim 7, wherein a communication method of the wireless communication is ZigBee.

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