JP2012202853A - Position detection system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance resolution of position detection by a position detection system which receives one of signals transmitted from a plurality of signal transmitters by a receiver and detects the position of the receiver based upon the reception signal.SOLUTION: Positions of overlap areas A0b, A0d where irradiation areas of signals from adjacent signal transmitters (lighting apparatuses 1) overlap with each other can be detected by positively using the overlap areas A0b, A0d and devising signal transmission timing of the plurality of signal transmitters and signal processing on reception signals. Thus, the positions of the overlap areas A0b, A0d can be detected, and the position of a moving body can be detected by decomposing an area where the position detection of the moving body is performed into areas smaller than irradiation areas A00, A01, and A02 of the signals from the respective signal transmitters (lighting apparatuses 1), so that the position can be performed with high resolution.

Description

  The present invention relates to a position detection system that detects the position of a moving body such as a human body.

  As a system for detecting the position of a moving body such as a human body that moves in a room such as a store, an office, or a hotel, for example, the system includes a plurality of signal transmitters and receivers, and the plurality of signal transmitters are placed at predetermined positions in the room. A position detection system is known in which one of the signals transmitted from the plurality of signal transmitters is received by a receiver and the position of the receiver, that is, the position of the moving body is detected based on the received signal. (For example, see Patent Documents 1 and 2).

JP 2010-261896 A JP 2009-222417 A

  By the way, in the conventional position detection system, when the moving body (receiver) moves or stops in any one of the irradiation areas of the signals from the plurality of signal transmitters, the moving body is in the irradiation area. It is possible to detect the position of the moving body, but the position of the moving body cannot be detected with a resolution finer than the irradiation area of the signal from each signal transmitter.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of such a situation, and a position where a receiver receives one of signals transmitted from a plurality of signal transmitters and detects the position of the receiver based on the received signal. An object of the detection system is to realize a system capable of increasing the resolution of position detection.

  The present invention includes a plurality of signal transmitters and a receiver, and transmits a signal including identification information (area ID information of each signal transmitter itself) from the plurality of signal transmitters. It is premised on a position detection system that receives any signal transmitted from a transmitter by the receiver and detects the position of the receiver based on the received signal. In such a position detection system, the plurality of signals The signal transmitter is arranged so that a part of the irradiation area of the signal transmitted from the adjacent signal transmitter overlaps, and includes a transmission control means and a signal processing means. Then, the transmission control means performs signal transmission of the plurality of signal transmitters by shifting the transmission timing by a certain time for each signal transmitter. Further, the signal processing means is configured such that, based on the signal received by the receiver, the reception form of the received signal is a form in which a signal from an adjacent signal transmitter is received at a time interval corresponding to the time difference of the transmission timing. In some cases, the technical feature is that the receiver is configured to recognize that the receiver is located in an overlapping area of the irradiation areas of the signals from the adjacent signal transmitters.

  According to the present invention, in addition to the irradiation area of the signal from each signal transmitter, it is possible to detect the position of the overlapping area where a part of the irradiation area of the signal transmitted from the adjacent signal transmitter overlaps. The resolution of detection can be increased. This will be described below.

  First, in a position detection system including a plurality of signal transmitters and receivers, there are cases in which part of the irradiation area of signals from adjacent signal transmitters overlaps. When a part of the irradiation area overlaps in this way, visible light signals from two or more lighting devices overlap in the overlapping area (since a plurality of signals interfere with each other), resulting in unstable signal reception. The receiver may not be able to receive signals. For this reason, conventionally, the overlapping area of the irradiation areas is made as small as possible by adjusting the directivity angle and the like on the signal transmitter side.

  On the other hand, in the present invention, the overlapping area of such irradiation areas is actively used, and the signal transmission timing of the plurality of signal transmitters and the signal processing of the reception signal are devised to detect the position of the overlapping area. The feature is that the resolution of position detection is enhanced by making it possible.

  Specifically, as described above, signal transmission of a plurality of signal transmitters is performed by shifting the transmission timing by a fixed time for each signal transmitter, and the reception form of the received signal received by the receiver is an adjacent signal. When the signal from the transmitter is received at a time interval corresponding to the time difference of the transmission timing, it is recognized that the receiver is located in the overlapping area of the irradiation area of the signal from the adjacent signal transmitter. I am doing so. By adopting such a configuration, it becomes possible to detect the position of the overlapping area of the irradiation area in addition to the irradiation area of the signal from each signal transmitter, thereby detecting the position of the moving object Therefore, the position detection can be performed with finer resolution than the irradiation area of the signal from each signal transmitter, so that the resolution of position detection can be increased.

  In the present invention, a visible light communication system can be cited as an example of a signal transmission system of a signal transmitter. As a specific example in this case, as a plurality of signal transmitters, a plurality of illumination devices having light sources that emit visible light are used, and the light sources of the plurality of illumination devices are controlled to turn on the identification information ( A system in which information including area ID information of each device itself is transmitted as a visible light signal and any one of the visible light signals transmitted from the plurality of signal transmitters is received by the receiver can be given.

  Even in such a system, transmission of visible light signals from a plurality of lighting devices is performed by shifting the transmission timing by a certain time for each lighting device, and the reception form of the received signal received by the receiver is from an adjacent lighting device. When the visible light signal is received at a time interval corresponding to the time difference of the transmission timing, it is recognized that the receiver is located in the overlapping area of the irradiation area of the signal from the adjacent lighting device. do it.

  According to the present invention, in a position detection system in which any one of signals transmitted from a plurality of signal transmitters is received by a receiver and the position of the receiver is detected based on the received signal, the position of the moving body is detected. Since the position to be detected can be resolved by dividing the area to be performed more finely than the irradiation area of the signal from each signal transmitter, position detection with high resolution can be realized.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of an example of the illuminating device and transmission control apparatus which comprise the position detection system of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of an example of the receiver which comprises the position detection system of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of an example of the data processor which comprises the position detection system of this invention. It is a timing chart which shows an example of signal transmission control of lighting equipment. It is a figure which shows an example of the irradiation area | region (a) of the signal from an illuminating device, transmission ID data (b), reception ID data (c), reception data (d), and position detection information (e). It is a figure which shows typically the other example of the position detection system to which this invention is applied.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Embodiment 1]
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the position detection system of this example includes a plurality of lighting devices 1... 1, a transmission control device 1 </ b> A, a receiver 2, and a data processing device 3. Each of these devices will be described below.

-Lighting equipment-
In this example, a case where three lighting devices 1... 1 are arranged on a ceiling in a room such as a store will be described. These three lighting devices 1... 1 are arranged so that each irradiation area (area) is [area A00], [area A01], and [area A02] shown in FIG. . In the following description, the illumination device 1 whose irradiation region is A00 is “A00 illumination device 1”, the illumination device 1 whose irradiation region is A01 is “A01 illumination device 1”, and the illumination device 1 whose irradiation region is A02 is “A02”. It may be referred to as “lighting device 1”.

  And in this example, as shown to Fig.5 (a), it arrange | positions the three illuminating devices 1 ... 1 so that a part of irradiation area | region of the signal from the adjacent illuminating device 1 may overlap. . Specifically, the irradiation area [area A00] of the A00 lighting apparatus 1 and the irradiation area [area A01] of the A01 lighting apparatus 1 partially overlap, and the irradiation area [area A01] and A02 lighting of the A01 lighting apparatus 1 overlap. Each lighting device 1 is arranged so that a part of the irradiation region [region A02] of the device 1 overlaps. Since the [overlapping area A0b] and [overlapping area A0d] of these irradiation areas are used as areas for increasing the resolution of position detection, as will be described later, the areas of the overlapping areas A0b and A0d are relatively large. The area.

  Each lighting device 1 includes a light source 11 that emits visible light, a drive circuit 12, and the like. The light source 11 is, for example, an LED (light emitting diode). The light source 11 is driven to blink by a drive circuit 12. The drive circuit 12 outputs a visible light signal pulsed by blinking the light source 11 at high speed based on 4PPM data (data after waveform shaping) from a modulation data generation unit 103 of the transmission control apparatus 1A described later (data). Send.

  In this example, for the light sources 11 of all the lighting devices 1, the visible light signal transmission (data transmission) is not performed simultaneously, but the light source 11 that transmits the visible light signal is selected as described later. The visible light signals are transmitted in a predetermined order.

-Transmission control device-
The transmission control apparatus 1A includes an ID setting unit 101, a control unit 102, a modulation data generation unit 103, a waveform shaping unit 104, a communication permission selector 105, and the like.

  The ID setting unit 101 sets area ID information to be assigned to each lighting device 1 (light source 11). In this example, the area ID information of the A00 lighting device 1 is set to [ID00], the area ID information of the A01 lighting device 1 is set to [ID01], and the area ID information of the A02 lighting device 1 is set to [ID02]. The area ID information set by the ID setting unit 101 is input to the control unit 102.

  The control unit 102 creates optical communication information based on the area ID information set by the ID setting unit 101, and outputs the created optical communication information to the modulation data generation unit 103. Further, the control unit 102 controls the transmission timing of the visible light signal by an operation described later. The optical communication information may include information other than area ID information.

  The modulation data generation unit 103 converts the optical communication information (area ID information) created by the control unit 102 into 4PPM data (hereinafter also referred to as 4PPM data). Since the 4PPM system (Pulse Position Modulation: pulse position modulation) is a known modulation system that modulates a subcarrier, detailed description thereof is omitted.

  The waveform shaping unit 104 shapes the 4PPM data generated by the modulation data generation unit 103 in accordance with the subcarrier timing. The waveform shaping unit 104 is connected to each drive circuit 12 of the lighting devices 1.

  The control unit 102 outputs a select signal for transmission timing to the communication permission selector 105. The communication permission selector 105 transmits a transmission command to the drive circuit 12 of the light source 11 that should transmit a visible light signal among the light sources 11.. Output a signal. Thereby, a visible light signal is transmitted from each lighting device 1. An example of the visible light signal transmission control will be specifically described below.

  First, the control unit 102 of the transmission control device 1A outputs a select signal for selecting the A00 lighting device 1 to the communication permission selector 105 only for a predetermined data transmission time td (for example, about several tens of milliseconds to several hundreds of milliseconds). To do. In addition, while outputting the select signal, the area ID information [ID00] of the A00 lighting device 1 is output to the modulation data generation unit 103. By such processing, as shown in FIG. 4, 4PPM data (area ID information data [ID00]) is sent to the drive circuit 12 of the A01 lighting device 1 only during the data transmission time td, and the drive circuit 12 enters the drive state. Thereby, the signal (ID00) from the light source 11 of the A00 lighting device 1 is transmitted to [area A00] shown in FIG.

  Further, the control unit 102 of the transmission control device 1A performs signal transmission of the A01 lighting device 1 and the A02 lighting device 1 by the same processing as described above. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the signal transmission of the A01 lighting device 1 is performed even for a certain time tp (tp is the same value as the data transmission time td) with respect to the transmission timing of the A00 lighting device 1, The signal (ID01) is transmitted for a predetermined time td to [Area A01] shown in FIG. Further, the signal transmission of the A02 lighting device 1 is performed even for a certain time tp with respect to the transmission timing of the A01 lighting device 1, and the signal (ID02) is sent to the [area A02] shown in FIG. Send only td.

  With such signal transmission control, as shown in FIG. 4, the transmission of visible light signals (data transmission) of each lighting device 1 is shifted by a certain time tp for each lighting device, and [A00 lighting device 1] → [A01 lighting device 1] → [A02 lighting device 1] → [A00 lighting device 1] → [A01 lighting device 1]...

  Here, in this example, in order to increase the resolution of position detection, the overlapping area A0b and the overlapping area A0d shown in FIG. 5A are also used as areas for detecting positions, so that the position of the moving object is detected. As shown in FIG. 5A, the areas are [area A0a], [overlapping area A0b] obtained by removing [overlapping area A0b] from [area A00] of A00 lighting apparatus 1, and [area A01] of A01 lighting apparatus 1. ] To [Area A0e] excluding [Overlapping Area A0d] from [Area A02] from [Area A02] of [Area A1] and [Overlapping Area A0d]. It is divided.

  The received ID data in each area is in the form as shown in FIG. That is, the received ID data that can be received in [area A0a] is [ID00], and the received ID data that can be received in [overlapping area A0b] is [ID00] or [ID01]. Also, the received ID data that can be received in [area A0c] is [ID01], and the received ID data that can be received in [overlapping area A0d] is [ID01] or [ID02]. Furthermore, the received data that can be received in [area A0e] is [ID02].

-Receiver-
Next, the receiver 2 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The receiver 2 is a receiver that receives a visible light signal transmitted by any of the lighting devices 1... 1 described above, and includes a light receiving unit 201, a reception processing unit 202, a waveform shaping unit 203, a demodulation unit 204, and data. A storage unit 205, a modulation unit 206, a communication selector 207, a drive circuit 208, a light source 211, a timer 209, a control unit 210, and the like are provided.

  The light receiving unit 201 includes a light receiving element (for example, a photodiode) 201a, converts the received visible light signal (4PPM data from the lighting device 1 described above) into an electrical signal, and outputs the electrical signal to the reception processing unit 202. The reception processing unit 202 performs a process of removing disturbance noise by filtering the visible light signal (received data) received by the light receiving unit 201, a process of adjusting (amplifying) the gain of the received data, and the like.

  The waveform shaping unit 203 corrects the waveform distortion of the reception data received by the light receiving unit 201 and processed by the reception processing unit 202, processes the received data into data that is easy to demodulate, and outputs the data to the demodulation unit 204. The demodulator 204 demodulates the received data (4PPM data) after waveform shaping. The demodulated received data is input to the control unit 210. The timer 209 measures the elapsed time during the operation of the receiver 2. For example, the elapsed time from when the receiver 2 is turned on is counted.

  The control unit 210 stores the demodulated data demodulated by the demodulation unit 204 in the data storage unit 205 in association with the time measured by the timer 209 (for example, the elapsed time from the switch ON). This data accumulation is performed every time when the receiver 2 is in an operating state (between the switch ON and the switch OFF), and the receiver 2 is carried by a person and is moving or stopped in the room. The reception data stored in the data storage unit 205 in this manner is position data indicating the movement position of the receiver 2, that is, position data indicating the position of the person who has moved in the room.

  Further, when a data transfer request is made by operating an operation input unit (not shown), the control unit 210 reads the received data stored in the data storage unit 205 in response to the data transfer request and sends it to the modulation unit 206. Output. Further, the control unit 210 outputs an optical communication command signal to the communication selector 207 in response to the data transfer request, and the optical communication command signal is output when the data output of the received data stored in the data storage unit 205 is completed. Is OFF (output stop of the optical communication command signal of the communication selector 207).

  The modulation unit 206 converts the received data read from the data storage unit 205 into data of an OOK (On-Off Keying) modulation method (hereinafter also referred to as OOK modulation data). Since the OOK modulation method is a modulation method that is generally used, a detailed description thereof is omitted.

  The communication selector 207 supplies the data (OOK modulated data) modulated by the modulation unit 206 to the drive circuit 208 while the control unit 210 outputs the optical communication command signal. The drive circuit 208 outputs (data transmission) a pulsed visible light signal by rapidly blinking the light source 211 based on the OOK modulation data from the modulation unit 206. This visible light signal can be received by the light receiving unit 301 (see FIG. 3) of the data processing device 3 to be described later.

-Data processing device-
Next, the data processing device 3 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The data processing device 3 is a device that performs data processing on the data (received data) transmitted from the receiver 2, and includes a light receiving unit 301, a reception processing unit 302, a waveform shaping unit 303, a demodulation unit 304, and a data storage unit. 305, a data processing control unit 306, and a display unit 307 such as a liquid crystal display.

  The light receiving unit 301 includes a light receiving element (for example, a photodiode) 301 a, converts the received visible light signal (OOK modulation data from the receiver 2 described above) into an electrical signal, and outputs the electrical signal to the reception processing unit 302.

  The reception processing unit 302 performs a process of removing disturbance noise by performing a filtering process on the reception data (OOK modulation data) received by the light receiving unit 301, a process of adjusting (amplifying) the gain of the reception data, and the like. The waveform shaping unit 303 corrects the waveform distortion of the reception data received by the light receiving unit 301 and processed by the reception processing unit 302, processes the received data into data that is easy to demodulate, and outputs the data to the demodulation unit 304. The demodulator 304 demodulates the reception data (OOK modulation data) after waveform shaping.

  The data processing control unit 306 accumulates the reception data demodulated by the demodulation unit 304 in the data accumulation unit 305. In addition, the data processing control unit 306 recognizes the reception form (see FIG. 5D) of the reception data (position data received by the receiver 2) stored in the data storage unit 305, and sets the reception form of the reception signal. Based on the areas [area A0a], [overlapping area A0b], [area A0c], [overlapping area A0d], and [area A0e] shown in FIG. ) Is located. The data processing will be described below.

  First, when the signal transmission of each lighting device 1 is performed at the transmission timing shown in FIG. 4, for example, when the receiver 2 is located in the overlapping area A0b in FIG. 5A, the signal (ID00) from the A00 lighting device 1 And the signal (ID01) from the A01 lighting device 1 are alternately received at a time interval corresponding to the time difference tp of the transmission timing described above, and therefore, in such a reception mode, it is located in the overlapping area A0b. . Using such points, the region where the receiver 2 is located is recognized based on the following criteria (S1) to (S3).

  (S1) Received data (signal form) indicating that the receiver 2 has received the signal (ID00) from the A00 lighting device 1 and the signal (ID01) from the A01 lighting device 1, and these two receptions When the signal reception interval is a time interval corresponding to the time difference tp of the transmission timing between the A00 lighting device 1 and the A01 lighting device 1, the receiver 2 enters the [overlapping area A0b] shown in FIG. Recognize that it is located.

  (S2) Received data (signal form) indicating that the receiver 2 has received the signal (ID01) from the A01 lighting device 1 and the signal (ID02) from the A02 lighting device 1, and these two receptions When the signal reception interval is a time interval corresponding to the transmission time difference tp between the A01 lighting device 1 and the A02 lighting device 1, the receiver 2 enters the [overlapping area A0d] shown in FIG. Recognize that it is located.

  (S3) In cases other than (S1) and (S2) above, based on the area ID information (ID00, ID01, or ID02) of the received signal received by the receiver 2, the area where the receiver 2 is located ( A0a, A0c, or A0e) is recognized.

  Note that the “time interval in which the time interval of the received signal corresponds to the time difference tp of the transmission timing” includes, in addition to the case where the time interval of the received signal is equal to the time difference tp of the transmission timing, [time interval of received signal = transmission The case of timing time difference tp ± reception deviation time is also included.

  The data processing control unit 306 performs predetermined processing (for example, conversion processing to image data) on the above detection processing result and displays the result on the screen of the display unit 307.

<Description of operation>
(Signal reception)
First, the example at the time of receiving the visible light signal which the said illuminating device 1 transmits with the receiver 2 is demonstrated with reference to FIGS.

  First, in this example, as shown in FIG. 4, the transmission (data transmission) of the visible light signals of the lighting devices 1. Device] → [A01 lighting device] → [A02 lighting device] → [A00 lighting device] → [A01 lighting device]...

  As shown in FIG. 5A, after a person carries the receiver 2 and moves in the direction of the arrow in the drawing and enters the irradiation area A0a of the A00 lighting apparatus 1, the irradiation area A00 of the A00 lighting apparatus 1 After entering the overlapping region A0b where the irradiation region A01 of the A01 lighting device 1 overlaps, and then passing through the lighting region A0c of the A01 lighting device 1 in a short time (passing without receiving the transmission signal of the A01 lighting device 1) When the irradiation area A01 of the A01 lighting apparatus 1 and the irradiation area A02 of the A02 lighting apparatus 1 enter the overlapping area A0d and then enter the irradiation area A0e of the A02 lighting apparatus 1, the data storage unit of the receiver 2 In 205, received data (position data) as shown in FIG.

  After such data storage in the receiver 2, an operation input unit (not shown) of the receiver 2 is operated, and the received data stored in the data storage unit 205 is transmitted to the data processing device 3 by visible light communication. Send in. In the data processing device 3, data received from the receiver 2 is stored in the data storage unit 305 to perform data processing.

(Data processing)
Data processing of received data executed by the data processing device 3 will be described.

  First, the received data in FIG. 5D is obtained by receiving the signal (ID00) from the A00 lighting device 1 once after the receiver 2 receives the signal (ID00) from the A00 lighting device 1 in [overlapping area A0b]. And the signal (ID01) from the A01 lighting device 1 are received at a time interval corresponding to the time difference tp of the transmission timing. Further, after receiving the signal (ID01) from the A01 lighting device 1 and the signal (ID02) from the A02 lighting device 1 with the time difference tp of the transmission timing in the [overlapping area A0d], the signal from the A02 lighting device 1 ( ID02) is received once.

  Here, as described above, the data processing device 3 is configured to perform data processing (region determination) according to the determination criteria (S1) to (S3) to recognize the region where the receiver 2 (person) is located. When the data processing is performed on the reception data (position data) of FIG. 5D according to the determination criteria (S1) to (S3), the processing result is in the form shown in FIG. That is, [area A0a: with position detection] → [overlapping area A0b: with position detection] → [area A0c: without position detection] → [overlapping area A0d: with position detection] → [overlapping area A0e: with position detection] This is position detection information (flow line information).

  Then, the position detection information (position detection information shown in FIG. 5E) processed by the data processing device 3 in this way is output to the display unit 307, and the position detection information is displayed on the display unit 307 by graphic display or the like. Is displayed. Note that the position detection information processed by the data processing device 3 may be output to an external device (such as a personal computer).

  As described above, according to the position detection system of this example, as shown in FIG. 5, the area for detecting the position of the moving object (person) is defined as [area A0a], [overlapping area A0b], [area A0c]. ], [Overlapping area A0d], and [area A0e], and the positions of [overlapping area A0b] and [overlapping area A0d] can be detected, so that the irradiation area of the visible light signal from each lighting device 1 ( Position detection can be performed with finer resolution than A00, A01, A02).

[Embodiment 2]
Another example of the position detection system of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  In this example, the present invention is applied to the position detection of the space areas D00, D01, D02 of the upper, middle, and lower three shelves C00, C01, C02 arranged in a store or the like.

  The A00 illumination device 1, the A01 illumination device 1, and the A02 illumination device 1 are installed on the shelves C00, C01, and C02, respectively. The structure of each lighting device 1 and the transmission timing of a visible light signal are basically the same as those in [Embodiment 1]. Also in this example, the receiver 2 and the data processing device 3 are provided, and the configurations and operations of the receiver 2 and the data processing device 3 are basically the same as those in the above-described [Embodiment 1].

  In this example, the visible light signal (ID00) from the A00 illumination device 1 installed on the upper shelf C00 is irradiated to the space region D00, and the visible light signal (ID01) from the A01 illumination device 1 installed on the middle shelf C01. Is irradiated to the space region D01. Furthermore, the visible light signal (ID02) from the A02 lighting device 1 installed on the lower shelf C02 is irradiated to the space region D02.

  Further, in this example, there is a space overlap region D0a in which the irradiation region of the visible light signal (ID00) from the A00 lighting device 1 and the irradiation region of the visible light signal (ID01) from the A01 lighting device 1 partially overlap. ing. In addition, there is a space overlap region D0b where a part of the irradiation region of the visible light signal (ID01) from the A01 lighting device 1 and the irradiation region of the visible light signal (ID02) from the A02 lighting device 1 overlap. Further, there is a space overlap region D0c where a part of the irradiation region of the visible light signal from the three lighting devices 1.

  In this example, when the user carrying the receiver 2 is positioned in front of the shelves C00 to C02, the above-described [spatial area] is based on the reception form of the reception signal (position data) received by the receiver 2. The receiver 2 is located in any of the areas DA00], [Spatial overlap area D0a], [Spatial area D01], [Spatial overlap area D0b], [Spatial area D02], and [Spatial overlap area D0c]. Can be detected.

  For example, when the area ID information of the received signal received by the receiver 2 is [ID00], it can be detected that the receiver 2 is located in the [space area D00]. In this case, it is possible to recognize that the user has purchased the product displayed on the shelf C00 in the upper stage with a posture in which the user is standing.

  In addition, when the area ID information of the received signal received by the receiver 2 is [ID00] and [ID01], it can be detected that the receiver 2 is located in the [space overlap area D0a]. In this case, it is possible to recognize that the user has purchased / submitted merchandise displayed on the middle shelf C01 with the user leaning slightly.

  Further, when the area ID information of the received signal received by the receiver 2 is [ID01] and [ID02], it can be detected that the receiver 2 is located in [the spatial overlap area D0b]. In this case, it is possible to recognize that the user has purchased / submitted merchandise displayed on the lower shelf C02 in a squatting state.

  In this example as well, the position detection process for each of the spatial regions D00, D01, D0a, D02, D0b, and D0c may be performed based on the same determination criteria as those in [Embodiment 1].

-Other embodiments-
In the above example, the position detection system using three signal transmitters has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the position detection system using two or four or more signal transmitters is used. It is also applicable when building Further, the overlapping area where a part of the irradiation area of the signal from the signal transmitter overlaps may be an overlapping area where a part of the irradiation area of the signal from three or more signal transmitters overlaps.

  In the above example, the light source of the lighting device is an LED, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, a discharge lamp such as a fluorescent lamp, an organic EL, an inorganic EL, or the like that can emit visible light. Various other light sources may be used as the light source of the illuminator. Further, the light source of the receiver may be another light source such as an organic EL or an inorganic EL.

  In the above example, an example in which the present invention is applied to a position detection system using visible light communication using a lighting device as a signal transmitter has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, an infrared communication method or wireless communication It is applicable to a position detection system that employs a communication method.

  The present invention can be used in a position detection system that detects the position of a moving body such as a human body. More specifically, the receiver receives any of signals transmitted from a plurality of signal transmitters and receives the received signal. Can be effectively used in a position detection system that detects the position of the receiver based on the above.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Illumination equipment 11 Light source 12 Drive circuit 1A Transmission control apparatus (transmission control means)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 ID setting part 102 Control part 103 Modulation data generation part 105 Communication permission selector 2 Receiver 201 Light receiving part 204 Demodulation part 205 Data storage part 206 Modulation part 208 Drive circuit 210 Control part 211 Light source 3 Data processing device (signal processing means)
301 Light Receiving Unit 304 Demodulating Unit 305 Data Storage Unit 306 Data Processing Control Unit

Claims (2)

A plurality of signal transmitters and a receiver, each of the plurality of signal transmitters transmits a signal including identification information, and any of the signals transmitted from the plurality of signal transmitters is transmitted by the receiver; In a position detection system that receives and detects the position of a receiver based on the received signal,
The plurality of signal transmitters are arranged so that a part of an irradiation area of a signal transmitted from an adjacent signal transmitter overlaps,
Transmission control means for performing signal transmission of the plurality of signal transmitters by shifting transmission timing by a fixed time for each signal transmitter;
Based on the signal received by the receiver, if the reception form of the received signal is a form in which signals from adjacent signal transmitters are received at a time interval corresponding to the time difference of the transmission timing, A position detection system comprising: signal processing means for recognizing that a receiver is located in an overlapping area of irradiation areas of signals from matching signal transmitters. The position detection system according to claim 1.
The plurality of signal transmitters are a plurality of lighting devices having a light source that emits visible light, and information including identification information of each lighting device is controlled by turning on the light sources of the plurality of lighting devices as a visible light signal. Configured to transmit and receive any of the visible light signals transmitted from the plurality of lighting devices at the receiver,
The visible light signals of the plurality of lighting devices are sequentially performed at regular time intervals for each lighting device, and the reception form of the received signals received by the receiver is the transmission timing of the visible light signals from adjacent lighting devices. A position detection system for recognizing that a receiver is located in an overlapping area of irradiation areas of signals from adjacent lighting devices when the reception is performed at a time interval corresponding to the time difference.

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