JP2014028684A - Article management system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve positioning accuracy of article positioning indoors (within an article management facility) which has been difficult with GPS, by utilizing a mobile communication system.SOLUTION: An article management system includes: indoor base stations disposed respectively in a plurality of management zones made by dividing the inside of a management facility for managing a plurality of articles into the management zones; management tags attached to articles respectively for transmitting positional registration information by radio communication with the indoor base stations; a position registration device for storing the positional registration information received from the management tags respectively via the indoor base stations; and a user terminal for displaying a current position of each article in the management facility. The position registration device transmits the latest positional registration information of all the management tags to the user terminal in accordance with requests from the user terminal. The user terminal specifies the management zone in which each management tag exists on the basis of the latest positional registration information of all the management tags received from the position registration device, and displays the specified management zone as the current position of each article.

Description

 The present invention relates to an article management system.

  Conventionally, a technology for preventing theft of an article by positioning the article using a GPS (Global Positioning System) or a mobile communication system (such as a mobile phone system or a PHS (Personal Handy-phone System)). Has been developed (see Patent Document 1 below).

JP 2001-146147 A

When using GPS for positioning an article, there is an advantage that high-accuracy position information can be obtained in an environment where radio waves transmitted from GPS satellites can be satisfactorily received. On the other hand, an article moves indoors where radio waves do not reach. There is a disadvantage that positioning becomes impossible in some situations.
Also, when using a mobile communication system for positioning of articles (especially when using location registration information), there is an advantage that positioning of articles can be performed both indoors and outdoors, while positioning errors are large (base station Depending on the size of the cell, an error of about several tens to several hundreds of meters occurs).

 The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and positioning accuracy of an article indoors (inside an article management facility), which is difficult with GPS, is performed using a mobile communication system. An object is to provide an article management system that can be improved.

 In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, as a first solution for the article management system, a management facility for managing a plurality of articles is divided into a plurality of management areas. From each of the indoor base station installed in each, the management tag that is affixed to each of the articles and transmits location registration information by wireless communication with the indoor base station, and the management tag via the indoor base station A location registration device that stores the received location registration information; and a user terminal that displays a current location of each article in the management facility, wherein the location registration device responds to a request from the user terminal. The latest location registration information of all management tags is transmitted to the user terminal, and the user terminal has each management tag based on the latest location registration information of all management tags received from the location registration device. Identify the controlled area that displays the specified management area as the current position of each article adopts a means of.

 Further, in the present invention, as the second solving means relating to the article management system, in the first solving means, each of the management tags has, as the location registration information, identification information of the indoor base station to be a communication partner. And its own identification information is transmitted to the location registration device, and the user terminal stores in advance table data indicating a correspondence relationship between the identification information of the management area and the identification information of the indoor base station, and A means for specifying a management area where each management tag exists based on the latest location registration information of all management tags received from the registration device and the table data is adopted.

 According to the present invention, as the third solving means relating to the article management system, in the first or second solving means, the user terminal is configured such that the current position of the article is a storage location of the article in the management facility. In such a case, a means of displaying a list of articles existing in the storage location as inventory information is adopted.

 In the present invention, as a fourth solving means related to the article management system, in any one of the first to third solving means, the user terminal has the current position of the article in the management facility. If it does not correspond to either the storage location of the article or the regular movement route of the article, a means of displaying a warning message that there is a risk of theft of the article is adopted.

 Further, in the present invention, as a fifth solving means related to the article management system, in the first to fourth solving means, the means that the indoor base station is a femtocell base station is adopted. To do.

 According to the present invention, an article management facility is divided into a plurality of management areas, indoor base stations are installed in each management area, and each management is performed based on the latest location registration information of a management tag attached to each article. Since the management area where the tag exists is specified and the specified management area itself is the current position of each article, positioning of the article indoors (within the management facility), which is difficult with GPS, In using it, it is possible to improve the positioning accuracy.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an article management system according to an embodiment. It is a figure which shows the arrangement | positioning relationship between the management area W and the indoor base station FB in a management facility. It is an example of location registration information of each management tag TG1 to TGN stored in the home memory device HM in a table data format. It is an example of the table data which shows the correspondence of management area ID of the management area W, and base station ID of indoor base station FB. It is an example in which the identification result of the management area W where the management tag TG exists is organized in the form of table data. It is an example of the screen which displayed the specific result of the management area W in which the management tag TG exists as the present position of the article X.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an article management system according to the present embodiment (hereinafter referred to as the present article management system). In FIG. 1, reference numerals FB1 to FB20 denote indoor base stations installed in a management facility for managing a plurality (N) of articles X1 to XN. Hereinafter, when it is not necessary to distinguish each of the indoor base stations FB1 to FB20, they are collectively referred to as the indoor base station FB, and when it is not necessary to distinguish each of the articles X1 to XN, they are collectively referred to as an article X.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the management facility is divided into a plurality of management areas W1 to W20 (in this embodiment, the management facility in plan view of the management facility in a plan view of 5 × 4 in total). One indoor base station FB1 to FB20 is installed in each of the management areas W1 to W20. For example, the indoor base station FB1 is installed in the management area W1, and the indoor base station FB2 is installed in the management area W2. In FIG. 2, reference numerals of the management areas W7 to W9 and W12 to 14 where it is difficult to describe the leader line are omitted. Hereinafter, when it is not necessary to distinguish each of the management areas W1 to W20, they are collectively referred to as a management area W.

  In FIG. 2, symbols CL1 to CL20 indicate communication areas (cells) of the indoor base stations FB1 to FB20. In this way, each of the indoor base stations FB1 to FB20 has cells CL1 to CL20 having a size capable of covering the management areas W1 to W20 that the local station is responsible for. Hereinafter, when it is not necessary to distinguish each of the cells CL1 to CL20, they are collectively referred to as a cell CL.

  The indoor base station FB is a femtocell base station in which a narrow area cell (so-called femtocell) having a radius of about several meters to several tens of meters is a communicable area. As is well known, femtocell base stations cannot be covered by outdoor base stations (such as a macrocell base station with a cell radius of several kilometers to several tens of kilometers or a microcell base station with a cell radius of several hundred meters to several kilometers). In addition, the indoor radio wave insensitive area can be covered, and the user can arbitrarily determine the installation location.

  Therefore, as in this embodiment, the indoor base station FB that is installed by the user (in this case, the manager of the management facility) to cover the management area W of a relatively narrow area divided by himself / herself is the femtocell base. The station is optimal. Of course, when the size of the management area W cannot be covered by the femtocell base station, a base station having a cell larger than the femtocell base station (for example, a nanocell base station or a picocell base station) is selected. You may use as indoor base station FB.

  Although the femtocell base station can arbitrarily determine the installation location, the femtocell base station cannot be directly connected to a mobile communication network managed and operated by an existing mobile communication operator. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1, each of the indoor base stations FB1 to FB20 needs to be connected to a fixed communication network N1 such as a broadband line network, an IP network, or a public line network. The fixed communication network N1 is connected to a mobile communication network N2 such as a mobile phone network or a PHS network via a gateway device GW. That is, each of the indoor base stations FB1 to FB20 can access the mobile communication network N2 via the fixed communication network N1 and the gateway device GW.

  The mobile communication network N2 includes a plurality (n) of outdoor base stations MB1 to MBn having wide-area cells such as a macro cell base station and a micro cell base station, and each mobile station (a mobile phone terminal or a PHS terminal not shown). And a home memory device HM (location registration device) that stores location registration information of a management tag TG (described later). Hereinafter, when it is not necessary to distinguish each of the outdoor base stations MB1 to MBn, they are collectively referred to as an outdoor base station MB.

  Management tags TG1 to TGN for performing wireless communication with the indoor base station FB selected as a communication partner are attached to the articles X1 to XN, respectively. Hereinafter, when it is not necessary to distinguish each of the management tags TG1 to TGN, they are collectively referred to as a management tag TG. These management tags TG1 to TGN have the same wireless communication function (excluding unnecessary call functions) as other mobile stations (mobile terminals such as mobile phone terminals (not shown) or PHS terminals). Of course, the location registration function is also included.

  In other words, each of the management tags TG1 to TGN, at the time of position registration, positions the identification information (hereinafter referred to as base station ID) of the indoor base station FB that is a communication partner and its own identification information (hereinafter referred to as tag ID). As registration information, the location registration information is transmitted to the home memory device HM via the indoor base station FB of the communication partner. In addition, when the article X exists outside the management facility, the management tag TG attached thereto selects the outdoor base station MB as a communication partner. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the article X exists in the management facility. Will be described.

  The fixed communication network N1 includes a user terminal PC that searches and displays the current positions of the articles X1 to XN in the management facility based on the position registration information of the management tags TG1 to TGN stored in the home memory device HM. It is connected. The user terminal PC is, for example, a personal computer that is provided in a management room where a manager in a management facility is resident and used by the manager. The user terminal PC requests the home memory device HM to transmit the latest location registration information of all stored management tags TG.

  The home memory device HM transmits the latest location registration information of all stored management tags TG to the user terminal PC in response to a request from the user terminal PC, while the user terminal PC receives from the home memory device HM. Based on the latest location registration information of all the management tags TG, the management area W where each management tag TG exists is specified, and the specified management area W is displayed as the current position of each article X. Note that the home memory device HM and the user terminal PC do not directly exchange location registration information, but via a management server (a server that manages the mobile communication system) connected to the mobile communication network N1. You may do it.

Hereinafter, an operation of the article management system configured as described above will be described.
<Location registration operation by management tag TG>
First, when the article X is carried into the management facility, the management tag TG attached to the article X measures the electric field strength (received signal strength: RSSI) of the signals received from the several indoor base stations FB in the vicinity. Then, the indoor base station FB having the highest received signal strength is selected as the communication partner. Then, the management tag TG uses the base station ID of the indoor base station FB to be the communication partner and its own tag ID as the location registration information, and the location registration information to the home memory device HM via the indoor base station FB of the communication partner. Send.

  Also, the management tag TG monitors the received signal strength of the indoor base station FB selected as the communication partner, and the received signal strength is at an acceptable level (minimum for ensuring communication quality) by moving the article X in the management facility. ), The received signal strengths of some surrounding indoor base stations FB are measured again, and the indoor base station FB with the highest received signal strength is selected as a new communication partner. Then, the management tag TG uses the base station ID of the indoor base station FB to be a new communication partner and its own tag ID as location registration information, and uses the location registration information as the home via the indoor base station FB of the new communication partner. Transmit to the memory device HM.

  In this way, every time the management tag TG moves the article X in the management facility, in other words, every time the received signal strength of the indoor base station FB selected as the communication partner falls below the allowable level, the position registration operation is performed. By performing (transmission of new location registration information), the latest location registration information of each of the management tags TG1 to TGN is always stored in the home memory device HM. The home memory device HM overwrites and saves the location registration information received from each of the management tags TG1 to TGN in the form of table data as shown in FIG.

  In the following, for convenience of explanation, the base station IDs of the indoor base stations FB1 to FB20 are “FB1” to “FB20” that are the same as the symbols, and the tag IDs of the management tags TG1 to TGN are also “TG1” that is the same as the symbols. To “TGN”. Note that the “location registration area” in FIG. 3 is information used on the mobile communication system side when calling each management tag TG.

  In general, when a femtocell base station is used, the address of the installation location (here, the address of the management facility) is set as the “location registration area”. For example, when one management tag TG is called from the mobile communication system side, call signals are transmitted from all the indoor base stations FB1 to FB20 installed in the “location registration area”. However, the “location registration area” information is not used for specifying the current position of the article X described below.

<Identification operation of current position of article X by user terminal PC>
The user terminal PC requests the home memory device HM to transmit the latest location registration information of all the management tags TG at a predetermined cycle (which can be arbitrarily set by the user). In response to a request from the user terminal PC, the home memory device HM transmits the latest location registration information of all stored management tags TG to the user terminal PC.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the user terminal PC stores in advance table data indicating the correspondence between the identification information of the management area W (hereinafter referred to as management area ID) and the base station ID of the indoor base station FB. Based on the latest location registration information of all the management tags TG received from the home memory device HM and the table data, the management area W where each management tag TG exists is specified. Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, the management area IDs of the management areas W1 to W20 are assumed to be “W1” to “W20”, which are the same as the reference numerals.

  That is, in the table data of FIG. 4, for example, the management area ID “W1” of the management area W1 is associated with the base station ID “FB1” of the indoor base station FB1 installed in the management area W1, and the management area W2 The management area ID “W2” is associated with the base station ID “FB2” of the indoor base station FB2 installed in the management area W2.

  Here, when it is found from the location registration information received from the home memory device HM, for example, that the indoor base station FB4 is selected as the communication partner of the management tags TG1 to TG5 (see FIG. 3), the management tags TG1 to TG1. TG5 (that is, articles X1 to X5) exists in the management area W4 where the indoor base station FB4 is installed from the table data of FIG. 4 (in other words, exists in the cell CL4 of the indoor base station FB4). Can be guessed. That is, in this case, the user terminal PC specifies the management area W4 as the management area W where the management tags TG1 to TG5 exist based on the location registration information received from the home memory device HM and the table data of FIG.

  The user terminal PC identifies the management area W where the management tag TG exists as described above for all the management tags TG1 to TGN, and as shown in FIG. 5, the identification result of the management area W where the management tag TG exists. Are arranged in the form of table data indicating the correspondence relationship between the management tag ID of the management tag TG, the name of the article X, and the current position (management area ID). In FIG. 5, for convenience of explanation, “name of article X” corresponding to the management tag ID of each management tag TG is “X1” to “XN”, which is the same as the code of article X.

  Then, the user terminal PC displays the identification result of the management area W where the management tag TG exists as the current position of the article X based on the table data of FIG. At this time, the user terminal PC displays the current position of the article X superimposed on the floor plan of the management facility as shown in FIG. In FIG. 6, as an example, the management area W11 is the north gate entrance / exit area, the management area W17 is the east gate entrance, the management area W3 is the west gate entrance, the management area W10 is the south gate entrance, W4 and W5 are the storage location A for the item X, the management areas W14, W15, W19 and W20 are the storage location B for the item X, and the management zones W11, W12, W7, W8 and W9 are the normal travel routes for the item X. .

  As shown in FIG. 6, based on the table data in FIG. 5, the management area W4 (storage location A) is displayed as the current position of the articles X1 to X5, and the management area W11 (north gate entrance) is displayed from the articles X6 to X6. The management area W12 is displayed as the current position of the article X9, the management area W7 is displayed as the current position of the articles X10 and X11, and the management area W3 is displayed as the current position of the article XN.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the management tag of the article X is divided into a plurality of management areas W, the indoor base station FB is installed in each management area W, and the management tag attached to each article X The management area W where each management tag TG exists is specified based on the latest location registration information of the TG, and the specified management area W itself is the current position of each article X. When positioning the article X in the management facility) using the mobile communication system, it is possible to improve positioning accuracy.

  The article management system can be applied to article inventory management (Ware-house Management). As described above, when the present article management system is applied to inventory management of an article, if the current position of the article X corresponds to the storage location of the article X in the management facility on the user terminal PC, the article present in the storage location A function of displaying a list of X as inventory information may be provided.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the user terminal PC specifies that the current position of the articles X1 to X5 (management tags TG1 to TG5) is the management area W4, and this management area W4 corresponds to the storage location A. A list of articles X1 to X5 existing in the management area W4 is displayed as inventory information. Thereby, the user (administrator of the management facility) can easily check the inventory information of the article X placed in the storage location A.

  The article management system can also be applied to prevent theft of articles. As described above, when the present article management system is also applied to prevent theft of articles, the current position of the article X is set to the user terminal PC in either the storage location of the article X in the management facility or the regular movement route of the article X. If not applicable, a function of displaying a warning message indicating that there is a risk of theft of goods may be provided.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the user terminal PC specifies that the current position of the article XN (management tag TGN) is the management area W3, and this management area W3 is the storage location A or B of the article X or the regular movement route. If none of the above applies, a warning message indicating that the article XN may be stolen is displayed. Thereby, the user can confirm the state of the article XN by going to the management area W3, and can cope with the case where there is a possibility of theft.

  FB (FB1 to FB20) ... Indoor base station, W (W1 to W20) ... Management area, TG (TG1 to TGN) ... Management tag, X (X1 to XN) ... Article, N1 ... Fixed communication network, GW ... Gateway device , N2 ... mobile communication network, MB (MB1 to MBn) ... outdoor base station, HM ... home memory device (location registration device), PC ... user terminal

Claims (5)

A management facility for managing a plurality of articles is divided into a plurality of management areas, and an indoor base station installed in each of the management areas;
A management tag that is affixed to each of the articles and transmits location registration information by wireless communication with the indoor base station,
A location registration device that stores the location registration information received from each of the management tags via the indoor base station;
A user terminal that displays the current position of each article in the management facility,
The location registration device transmits the latest location registration information of all management tags to the user terminal in response to a request from the user terminal,
The user terminal specifies a management area where each management tag exists based on the latest position registration information of all management tags received from the position registration device, and displays the specified management area as the current position of each article. An article management system characterized by the above. Each of the management tags transmits, as the location registration information, identification information of the indoor base station to be a communication partner and its own identification information to the location registration device,
The user terminal stores in advance table data indicating a correspondence relationship between the identification information of the management area and the identification information of the indoor base station, and the latest location registration information of all management tags received from the location registration device 2. The article management system according to claim 1, wherein a management area where each management tag exists is specified based on the table data.   The said user terminal displays the list | wrist of the articles | goods which exist in the said storage place as inventory information, when the present position of the said article corresponds to the storage place of the said article in the said management facility, or characterized by the above-mentioned. Item management system according to 2.   The user terminal displays a warning message that there is a risk of article theft if the current position of the article does not correspond to either the storage location of the article or the regular movement route of the article in the management facility. The article management system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.   The article management system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the indoor base station is a femtocell base station.

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