JP2016065792A - Terminal device, position provision system, and position acquisition control program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a terminal device that minimizes power consumption for positioning, and to provide a position provision system and position acquisition control program.SOLUTION: A terminal device (10) has a position information acquisition unit (16) that acquires position information by starting itself up in response to a start-up request, a plurality of applications, and a plurality of position information libraries, each belonging to the applications and being set up to send a start-up request to the position information acquisition unit (16) at its own timing. Any one of the plurality of position information libraries may obtain an authority to send a start-up request to the position information acquisition unit (16) to make the position information acquisition unit (16) acquire position information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a terminal device, a position providing system, and a position acquisition control program.

  Some Web services obtain user information about a user of a service from a user terminal and provide the service using the user information. Among these services, there is a service in which a user terminal transmits location information of its own device to a Web server, and the Web server transmits information related to the location information.

  As a technique for a user terminal to obtain position information of its own device, a terminal device described in Patent Document 1 below is known. One or more applications in the terminal device request positioning data from the positioning method selection device. The positioning method selection device uses one or more positioning methods. At this time, the positioning method selection device compares the quality of positioning data provided by the positioning method with the quality of positioning required by the application, and provides the positioning data to one or more applications.

JP 2011-209298 A

  However, since the positioning method selection device of the terminal device generates positioning data each time it receives a positioning request transmitted from a plurality of applications, it consumes power every time it obtains positioning data. In particular, when the GPS module is activated to receive a radio wave and perform a positioning calculation, a large amount of power is required.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a terminal device, a position providing system, and a position acquisition control program that can suppress power consumption for positioning. And

  (1) In order to solve the above-described problem, a terminal device (10) according to an aspect of the present invention includes a position information acquisition unit (16) that acquires position information by being activated in response to an activation request, and a plurality of information And a plurality of position information libraries that are attached to the respective applications and are set to make an activation request to the position information acquisition unit (16) at their own timing, and the plurality of position information Any one of the position information libraries in the library acquires the authority to make an activation request to the position information acquisition unit (16), and causes the position information acquisition unit (16) to acquire the position information.

  (2) According to one aspect of the present invention, in the terminal device (10) according to (1) described above, out of the plurality of position information libraries, a frequency of activation requests to the position information acquisition unit (16) is high. A configuration may be used in which the set location information library acquires the authority to make a startup request to the location information acquisition unit (16).

  (3) According to one aspect of the present invention, in the terminal device (10) according to (1) described above, among the plurality of position information libraries, the position information acquisition unit (16) makes an activation request to acquire the position information library. A configuration may be used in which the location information library having the largest number of types or items of location information acquires the authority to make a startup request to the location information acquisition unit (16).

  (4) According to one aspect of the present invention, in the terminal device (10) described in (1) above, when the own device is in a power saving operation state, the position information among the plurality of position information libraries. A configuration may be used in which a location information library set with a low frequency of requesting activation to the acquisition unit (16) acquires authority to make an activation request to the location information acquisition unit (16).

  (5) According to one aspect of the present invention, in the terminal device (10) described in (1) above, each of the applications provides position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit based on a user operation. The position information library that is set to permit or prohibit and obtain the authority to make the activation request may output the position information to an application that permits the provision of the position information.

  (6) According to one aspect of the present invention, in the terminal device (10) described in (1) above, the location information library that does not have the authority to make a startup request is a startup request at a timing uniquely set for each. A configuration may be used in which the position information acquired by the position information library having the authority to perform is acquired.

  (7) According to one aspect of the present invention, in the terminal device (10) according to (6), the location information library having the authority to make the activation request is an application in which provision of location information is permitted in advance. A configuration may be used in which the position information is output to the position information library attached to the application, and the position information is not output to the position information library attached to the application for which provision of the position information is prohibited in advance.

  (8) According to one aspect of the present invention, in the terminal device (10) described in (1) above, the terminal device (10) includes a communication unit (14) that detects an identifier of a communication area in which the device can communicate, and the activation request The location information library having the authority to perform the activation request to the location information acquisition unit (16) at the timing when it is determined that the identifier of the communication area detected by the communication unit (14) has changed. May be used.

  (9) According to one aspect of the present invention, in the terminal device (10) described in (1) above, the terminal device (10) has an acceleration sensor (20a) that detects the behavior of the device itself, and has the authority to make the activation request. The information library estimates the movement distance of the own apparatus based on the behavior detected by the acceleration sensor (20a), and sends the position information acquisition unit (16) at a timing when the own apparatus estimates that the predetermined distance has moved. A configuration that activates and acquires position information may be used.

  (10) According to one aspect of the present invention, in the terminal device (10) according to (9) described above, the position information library having the authority to make the activation request is based on the behavior detected by the acceleration sensor (20a). A configuration may be used in which the position information is updated based on the frequency and the frequency at which the position information is updated is changed based on the movement state of the device detected by the acceleration sensor (20a).

  (11) According to one aspect of the present invention, in the terminal device (10) according to (9) described above, the position information library having the authority to make the activation request is based on the behavior detected by the acceleration sensor (20a). A configuration may be used in which the location information is updated based on the frequency and the frequency at which the location information is updated is changed based on the power consumption state of the device itself.

  (12) In order to solve the above-described problem, the position providing system 1 according to one aspect of the present invention includes the terminal device (10) according to any one of (1) to (11) described above and the terminal. A plurality of application servers corresponding to each of a plurality of applications stored in the device (10); and position information transmitted from the terminal device (10); and any one of the plurality of application servers A location information server that transmits location information to the location information server.

  (13) In order to solve the above-described problem, a position acquisition control program according to an aspect of the present invention is attached to a plurality of applications and each application on a computer, and each acquires position information at a unique timing. (16) a plurality of position information libraries set to make an activation request, and any one of the plurality of position information libraries is activated to the position information acquisition unit (16). The authority to perform the request is acquired, and the position information acquisition unit (16) acquires the position information.

  According to the present invention, power consumption for positioning can be suppressed.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the position provision system 1 in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the terminal device 10 which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the other structure of the terminal device 10 which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process sequence performed in the terminal device 10 which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the procedure of the master determination process performed in the terminal device 10 which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process sequence which acquires the positional information in the terminal device 10 which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the terminal device 10 which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the information exchanged in the terminal device which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process sequence which acquires position information in the terminal device 10 which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence which changes the frequency which acquires the positional information in the terminal device 10 which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. In the terminal device 10 which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention, it is a figure which shows the relationship between the position of the terminal device 10, and a predetermined area, (a) is present position P1 of the terminal device 10, (b) is a terminal device. 10 is a movement detection circle C1, which is set for the current position P1, (c) is an estimated position circle C2 that is enlarged by the movement of the terminal device 10, and (d) is a state where the estimated position circle C2 matches the movement detection circle C1. , (E) shows the newly acquired current position P2, and (f) shows the newly set movement detection circle C3. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the terminal device 10 which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence which acquires position information in the terminal device 10 which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention.

[First Embodiment]
Hereinafter, a terminal device, a position providing system, and a position acquisition control program according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a position providing system 1 according to the first embodiment. The location providing system 1 includes a plurality of terminal devices 10A, 10B,..., 10N (hereinafter simply referred to as “terminal device 10” when collectively referred to), a location information server 30, an authentication server 40, a POI (Point Of Interest) server 42 and application servers 50A, 50B,..., 50N (hereinafter simply referred to as “application server 50” when collectively referred to).

  The location providing system 1 transmits the location information of the terminal device 10 from the terminal device 10 to the location information server 30, and provides this location information from the location information server 30 to the application server 50. The terminal device 10 transmits position information at an arbitrary transmission timing or every predetermined period. In the present embodiment, an example in which position information is transmitted at a transmission timing determined in advance in the terminal device 10 will be described. However, the position information transmission timing of the terminal device 10 may be set by the position information server 30.

  The location information server 30 receives and accumulates location information transmitted from the terminal device 10. The location information server 30 accumulates location information in time series for each terminal device 10. When the application authentication process of the terminal device 10 is performed, the location information server 30 may also accumulate identification information (ID) of applications permitted to be used by the terminal device 10. The location information server 30 transmits the accumulated location information to the POI server 42 and the application server 50.

  The application server 50 is a server device corresponding to each of a plurality of applications installed in the terminal device 10. In the present embodiment, a case where applications A to C are installed in the terminal device 10 will be described as an example. The application server 50 receives the position information of the terminal device 10 via the position information server 30.

  The application server 50 performs predetermined application processing using the tracked location information of the terminal device 10. The tracked position information includes the latest position or past position of the terminal device 10 that is updated arbitrarily or repeatedly at predetermined intervals. This application process may include a process of analyzing a change in the position of the terminal device 10 and determining application information such as advertisement information suitable for the terminal device 10. The application information may be transmitted from the application server 50 to the terminal device 10. Thereby, the application server 50 can display an advertisement or the like suitable for the position of the terminal device 10 on the terminal device 10. The application information corresponds to information based on the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit of the terminal device 10.

  When the terminal device 10 starts communication with the location information server 30, the authentication server 40 performs an authentication process. The authentication process performed by the authentication server 40 may include a terminal authentication process, a user authentication process, or an application authentication process. In the terminal authentication process, the authentication server 40 makes the authentication successful when the terminal ID transmitted from the terminal device 10 matches the terminal ID stored in advance. The authentication server 40 in the user authentication process makes the authentication successful when the user ID transmitted from the terminal device 10 matches the user ID stored in advance. The authentication server 40 in the application authentication process makes the authentication successful when the application ID transmitted from the terminal device 10 matches the application ID stored in advance.

  When the authentication by the authentication server 40 is successful, the authentication server 40 generates a token in the terminal device 10 and transmits it to the terminal device 10. The token transmitted from the authentication server 40 is stored in the terminal device 10. Thereby, the terminal device 10 can perform secure communication with the position information server 30 and the application server 50. Note that the token may be updated at an arbitrary timing. Thereby, the terminal device 10 can perform more secure communication.

  In addition, when the terminal device 10 is a mobile phone, the authentication server 40 may use an IP (Internet Protocol) address and a telephone number in the terminal authentication process. The authentication server 40 receives the IP address and telephone number transmitted from the terminal device 10 via the location information server 30. The authentication server 40 collates the received IP address and telephone number with a valid IP address and telephone number. If the received IP address and telephone number can be verified with a valid IP address and telephone number, the authentication server 40 transmits an authentication result permitting communication to the location information server 30.

The POI server 42 stores POI information. The POI information includes at least the latitude and longitude of a store or the like. The POI server 42 searches for POI information corresponding to the position information in response to a request including the position information of the terminal device 10, the position information server 30, or the application server 50, and returns POI information near the position information. The POI information may include a location ID such as a store, a location name, and a category. As a result, the POI server 42 can search and transmit the location ID, location name, category, etc. corresponding to the position information.
The POI server 42 may search the terminal device 10 using the POI information as a key. As a result, the POI server 42 can extract the terminal device 10 corresponding to the POI information and send it back as a search result. For example, the POI server 42 can search for the terminal device 10 present in a certain store and send back the user ID of the terminal device 10.

  Next, the terminal device 10 according to the first embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the terminal device 10 according to the first embodiment. The terminal device 10 includes a processing unit 12, a communication unit 14, a GPS (Global Positioning System) positioning unit 16, and a storage unit 18. The terminal device 10 is a device that is owned by the user and moves with the user. The terminal device 10 may be a mobile phone or a smartphone, for example.

  The communication unit 14 communicates with the position information server 30. The communication unit 14 is configured by a communication IC chip, for example. The communication unit 14 converts the position information supplied from the processing unit 12 into predetermined communication data and transmits it to the position information server 30. This position information includes positioning time, latitude, and longitude. When performing application authentication, the position information may include an application ID of an application permitted in the terminal device 10. When communication data is received from the position information server 30 or the application server 50, the communication unit 14 performs a predetermined process on the received communication data and outputs it to the processing unit 12.

The position information may include information related to the terminal device 10 such as a user ID, a terminal ID, a terminal model name, and an OS (Operating System) type. Further, the position information may include a positioning method of the position information and a positioning error of the position information measured by the positioning method. Examples of the positioning method include a GPS positioning method, a cell ID method, a Wi-Fi method, and a network positioning method. Furthermore, when the terminal device 10 exists in the Wi-Fi network, the location information may include the ID of the access point of the Wi-Fi network. Further, when the terminal device 10 is communicating by activating the Bluetooth (registered trademark) function, the position information may include an ID as a Bluetooth (registered trademark) terminal.
Furthermore, the position information may include program execution history information related to a program executed by the terminal device 10 at the position indicated by the position information. The program execution history information includes the time when the terminal device 10 executes the program and the name and type of the executed program. The program execution history information includes the time when the program is started and the time when the program is restarted from the sleep state. The programs executed by the terminal device 10 include, for example, a camera program, a mail program, a telephone program, a music playback program (which may include a played music name, etc.), a calculator program, and the like.
Further, the position information may include web history information related to an access history to the web page accessed by the terminal device 10 at the position indicated by the position information and an operation history of the activated web browser. The web history information includes the time when the terminal device 10 accessed a corporate advertisement or a web page such as a home page and the address of the accessed web page.
Further, the position information may include operation history information related to an operation from the user received by the terminal device 10 at the position indicated by the position information. The operation history information includes the time when the terminal device 10 receives an operation and the name and type of the received operation. The operations received by the terminal device 10 include, for example, an operation to turn on the power, an operation to turn off the power, an operation to adjust the speaker volume, and an operation to switch to the power saving mode.
Furthermore, the position information may include posture change information indicating a change in the posture of the terminal device 10 at the position indicated by the position information. The posture change information includes the time when the posture of the terminal device 10 is changed. Note that the change in the attitude of the terminal device 10 is detected by an acceleration sensor or the like to be described later.

  Further, the position information may include environment information acquired by the terminal device 10 at the position indicated by the position information. The environmental information includes sound information collected by the terminal device 10, a communication history of near field communication, and the like. The sound information collected by the terminal device 10 is information on audible sounds and inaudible sounds that are circulated in stores, for example. The communication history of near field communication includes, for example, Bluetooth (registered trademark), the time when infrared communication or the like was performed, and the like.

  Web history information, program execution history information, operation history information, charging history information, posture change information, and environment information are generated by the processing unit 12.

  The communication unit 14 detects an identifier of a communication area in which the own device can communicate. The communication area is a communication area of a base station or a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) to which the device is connected. The base station is a mobile phone network base station. The access point is a parent device in a wireless LAN (Wi-Fi network). The communication area of the base station is specified by an identifier called a cell ID. The communication area of the access point is specified by an identifier called an access point ID. The communication part 14 detects cell ID based on the communication data transmitted / received between base stations. The communication unit 14 detects an access point ID based on communication data transmitted / received to / from the access point.

  The cell ID and the access point ID change in response to the movement of the own device and the change of the base station or access point that is the communication partner. The cell ID changes when entering the communication area of the base station where the position of the own device is different. This change in cell ID is detected by the communication unit 14 based on communication data transmitted / received to / from the base station. The access point ID changes when entering the communication area of an access point with a different position of the own device. This change in the access point ID is detected by the communication unit 14 based on communication data transmitted to and received from the access point. The communication unit 14 functions as a detection unit that detects information that changes as the device moves.

  The GPS positioning unit 16 functions as a position information acquisition unit that acquires position information. The GPS positioning unit 16 specifies the position of the device itself, generates position information, and outputs the position information to the processing unit 12. At this time, the GPS positioning unit 16 receives a GPS signal including the position and time of the GPS satellite from a plurality of GPS satellites. The GPS positioning unit 16 calculates the distance between the plurality of GPS satellites and the terminal device 10, and specifies the position of the own device by triangulation calculation. The specified position and time are supplied from the GPS positioning unit 16 to the processing unit 12 as position information.

  The GPS positioning unit 16 operates in at least two states, a sleep state and a normal operation state. Among these, the sleep state is a state in which standby is performed without performing positioning, and is a state in which power consumption is less than that in the normal operation state. The normal operation state is a state in which positioning is performed, and is a state in which power consumption is higher than that in the sleep state. The GPS positioning unit 16 changes the state according to the activation request from the processing unit 12. Specifically, the GPS positioning unit 16 makes a transition from the sleep state to the normal operation state using the activation request from the processing unit 12 as a trigger. In addition, the GPS positioning unit 16 makes a transition from the normal operation state to the sleep state by using the end of the positioning calculation as a trigger. Here, the activation request is a request that the processing unit 12 outputs to the GPS positioning unit 16, and is a request for execution of processing for specifying the position of the own device and generating position information.

  In other words, the GPS positioning unit 16 is in a sleep state during a period of waiting for an input of an activation request output from the processing unit 12. The sleep state is a state of operating with power saving and is canceled by a start request. The GPS positioning unit 16 is activated in response to an activation request input from the processing unit 12. As a result, the GPS positioning unit 16 switches from the sleep state to the normal operation state. The activation request is a command for acquiring position information of the own device. When the GPS positioning unit 16 acquires position information in response to the activation request and outputs it to the processing unit 12, the GPS positioning unit 16 enters a sleep state after a predetermined time.

Note that the position information acquisition unit that acquires the position information may acquire the position information by another method.
The location information acquisition unit may acquire location information by a cell ID (mobile phone base station) method. In the cell ID method, when the terminal device 10 is a mobile phone terminal, the current location of the terminal device 10 is calculated based on radio wave information of three or more mobile phone base stations by applying a communication function as a mobile phone terminal. .
The position information acquisition unit may acquire position information by a Wi-Fi method. In the Wi-Fi scheme, radio waves transmitted from wireless LAN access points around the terminal device 10 are detected, and the location information of the terminal device 10 is acquired from the access point or a predetermined server based on the location information of the access point. .
Furthermore, the position information acquisition unit may acquire position information by a network positioning method. In the network positioning method, position information is acquired by positioning using the cell ID method and the Wi-Fi method.
As described above, the position information acquisition unit is activated from the sleep state in response to the activation request from the processing unit 12 even in a configuration using not only the GPS positioning method but also the cell ID method or the Wi-Fi method. Location information can be acquired.
In the present embodiment, the terminal device 10 gives priority to the positioning method by the GPS positioning unit 16 over the Wi-Fi method and the cell ID method as the position information acquisition method. The terminal device 10 switches to the positioning by the cell ID method or the Wi-Fi method instead of the positioning by the GPS positioning unit 16 in a situation where the GPS positioning unit 16 cannot perform positioning, for example, the terminal device 10 is indoors.

  The processing unit 12 is a software function unit that functions when a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) executes a program stored in a memory. Some or all of these functional units may be hardware functional units such as LSI (Large Scale Integration) and ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit).

  The processing unit 12 includes application processing units 120A, 120B, and 120C (hereinafter simply referred to as “application processing unit 120” when collectively referred to). The application processing units 120A, 120B, and 120C are software function units that function when the CPU executes the applications A, B, and C. In the present embodiment, each of the plurality of application processing units 120A, 120B, and 120C executes arbitrary application processing. In this embodiment, three applications A, B, and C are executed, but any application that executes two or more applications at the same time may be used.

  The terminal device 10 may perform application authentication when starting the applications A, B, and C. The terminal device 10 transmits the application ID to the authentication server 40 when the application is activated. The terminal device 10 receives an authentication result indicating whether application authentication is permitted from the authentication server 40. The terminal device 10 permits the application to be activated only when the authentication result is “permitted”.

The processing unit 12 can execute a plurality of applications A, B, and C at the same time. The processing unit 12 executes an application having a low priority among the plurality of applications A, B, and C in the background. Note that each of the applications A, B, and C may be set to output an activation request for each unique period or each unique timing. A unique predetermined period or a unique timing may be set for each of the applications A, B, and C.
The unique predetermined period may be 1 minute, 10 minutes, 1 hour or the like based on the type of application, for example. Further, the unique predetermined period may be changed so as to be a period specified by the user by accepting a user operation. Further, the unique predetermined period may be automatically changed based on the past positioning history. For example, when setting the next predetermined period, the processing unit 12 calculates the moving distance within the previous predetermined period from the two pieces of position information measured before and after the start of the previous predetermined period. If there is a movement of the own device in a predetermined period or the movement distance is long, the next predetermined period may be changed short.
The unique timing includes a timing at which the cell ID corresponding to the base station with which the device itself communicates and the access point ID of the WiFi access point with which the device can communicate change. The processing unit 12 can determine the arrival of the output timing of the activation request triggered by the change of the cell ID or access point ID. Further, the unique timing may be a timing at which it is estimated that the own device has moved a predetermined distance by detecting the movement of the own device such as an acceleration sensor described later. As will be described later, the predetermined distance may be reset or changed in response to the own device entering a predetermined area. Further, the predetermined distance may be changed so as to be a distance designated by the user upon receiving a user operation.
In the terminal device 10 of the present embodiment, even if the application outputs an activation request, only one position information acquisition control unit 122 outputs the activation request to the GPS positioning unit 16.

In the configuration of FIG. 2, each of the applications A, B, and C has a position information library attached thereto. That is, the location information library A is attached to the application A. The application B is attached with a position information library B, and the application C is attached with a position information library C. In the following description, these position information libraries A, B, and C are collectively referred to as a position information library.
This position information library outputs an activation request to the GPS positioning unit 16. Further, the position information library acquires the position information generated by the GPS positioning unit 16 in response to the activation request, and outputs the acquired position information to the application. Thereby, the application can use the position information generated by the GPS positioning unit 16.
The position information library is software executed by the CPU of the terminal device 10. That is, in the terminal device 10, the CPU executes the position information library. Thereby, the terminal device 10 constitutes position information acquisition control units 122A, 122B, and 122C (hereinafter, simply referred to as “position information acquisition control unit 122” when collectively referred to) as software function units. That is, the processing unit 12 has the position information acquisition control unit 122 corresponding to the application.
Each position information library for realizing the position information acquisition control unit 122 has its own positioning timing and position information transmission timing. Each location information library attached to a plurality of applications differs in the type and frequency of use of the attached application, the date and time of download, the software version, or the like. Therefore, preferable timings are set for the positioning timing and the transmission timing of each position information library.
As will be described later, when the own device is changed by switching between the normal mode and the power saving mode, and the position information library as the master is changed according to the changed operation mode, the positioning timing and transmission timing of the own device are changed. To change.

  Here, each of the applications A, B, and C has a position information library attached thereto, but it is not always necessary that all of the position information libraries output an activation request to the GPS positioning unit 16. That is, the processing unit 12 may include one position information acquisition control unit 122 that acquires position information and makes the position information available to the application processing unit 120 among the plurality of position information acquisition control units 122. That's fine. The “one position information acquisition control unit 122” is realized by a position information library which is a master described later. As will be described later with reference to FIG. 3, “one position information acquisition control unit 122” may be attached as one position acquisition program corresponding to a plurality of applications.

The application processing unit 120 uses position information that is acquired by the GPS positioning unit 16 by one position information acquisition control unit 122.
“Use location information” includes using location information within the terminal device 10. For example, the application processing unit 120 can display the position of its own device on the map based on the position information acquired by the GPS positioning unit 16 by using the position information.
“Using position information” includes using information based on position information acquired by the GPS positioning unit 16. Information based on position information is new information obtained by using position information. The information based on the position information may be information obtained by processing based on the position information in the terminal device 10, or information obtained by processing based on the position information in the application server 50. It may be. For example, the application processing unit 120 may extract advertisement information of a store close to the position of the own device and display the advertisement information as a push advertisement. The application processing unit 120 may receive the advertisement information extracted based on the position information by the application server 50 and display the advertisement information as a push advertisement.

The application processing unit 120 makes the position information acquired by one position information acquisition control unit 122 available. “Making location information available” includes causing a device other than the terminal device 10 to acquire the position information and enabling a device other than the terminal device 10 to process the position information.
For this purpose, the application processing unit 120 permits the use of the position information acquired by the GPS positioning unit 16. At this time, the application processing unit 120 inquires of the user whether to permit transmission of the position information. When the user permits transmission of the position information, the application processing unit 120 generates permission information that permits the use of the position information. The application processing unit 120 transmits the generated permission information to the location information server 30. After receiving the permission information transmitted from the terminal device 10, the location information server 30 can accumulate the position information transmitted from the terminal device 10 and transmit it to the application server 50 or the like thereafter. Accordingly, the application processing unit 120 can cause the application server 50 to analyze the position of the terminal device 10 by using the position information.

  Furthermore, the application processing unit 120 is installed in the terminal device 10 in advance. The application processing unit 120 may be installed in the terminal device 10 as the position information library is supplied to the terminal device 10. Specifically, an application with a location information library is downloaded at the same time and installed in the terminal device 10. Accordingly, the terminal device 10 can include the application processing unit 120 and the position information acquisition control unit 122.

The location information library is downloaded according to the user's permission. When the application is activated, the application processing unit 120 displays a screen for inquiring whether transmission of position information of the own device is permitted. When transmission of location information is permitted based on a user operation, the application processing unit 120 transmits a download request for the location information library.
The location information server 30 transmits a location information library to the terminal device 10 in response to receiving the download request. As a result, the terminal device 10 starts downloading the position information library. When the download is completed, the processing unit 12 attaches the position information library to each application.

The processing unit 12 may attach the downloaded position information library to another application. The processing unit 12 duplicates the downloaded location information library and incorporates it into an application not provided with the location information library. As a result, the processing unit 12 can attach the position information library to an application that does not have the position information library.
The processing unit 12 may update to the latest version of the position information library instead of the old version of the position information library already incorporated in the application. Accordingly, the processing unit 12 can update the position information library of the application to the latest one.

  The position information acquisition control unit 122 makes an activation request to the GPS positioning unit 16. One position information acquisition control unit 122 among the plurality of position information acquisition control units 122A, 122B, and 122C attached to the plurality of application processing units 120A, 120B, and 120C makes an activation request to the GPS positioning unit 16. One position information acquisition control unit 122 that makes an activation request among the plurality of position information acquisition control units 122 is specified in advance. That is, it is specified which of the plurality of applications A, B, and C outputs the activation request from the position information acquisition control unit 122 to the GPS positioning unit 16.

Among the plurality of position information acquisition control units 122, the position information acquisition control unit 122 that has output the activation request is supplied with position information from the GPS positioning unit 16. The position information acquisition control unit 122 notifies the other position information acquisition control unit 122 that the position information is supplied from the GPS positioning unit 16. The other position information acquisition control unit 122 requests position information from the position information acquisition control unit 122 that has output the activation request in response to the notification indicating that the position information has been supplied. The position information acquisition control unit 122 that has output the activation request outputs position information to the other position information acquisition control unit 122 in response to a request from the other position information acquisition control unit 122.
The processing unit 12 receives a user operation, and based on the received user operation, the position information acquisition control unit 122 attached to the application that permits the provision of the position information, or the provision of the position information is prohibited. The position information acquisition control unit 122 attached to the application may be set. When the position information acquisition control unit 122 that has output the activation request receives the request from the other position information acquisition control unit 122, the other position information acquisition control unit 122 attached to the application that is permitted to provide the position information in advance. Output location information only. In addition, the position information acquisition control unit 122 that has output the activation request supplies new position information from the GPS positioning unit 16 when there is another position information acquisition control unit 122 attached to an application for which provision of position information is prohibited. Even if this is done, no notification is sent to the other location information acquisition control unit 122 attached to the application for which provision of location information is prohibited.
Here, the location information acquisition control unit 122 that has output the activation request is the location information acquisition control unit 122 attached to the application specified in advance. The other position information acquisition control unit 122 is a position information acquisition control unit 122 attached to an application other than the application specified in advance. That is, the position information acquisition control unit 122 attached to the application specified in advance outputs the position information to the position information acquisition control unit 122 attached to another application. As a result, the position information acquisition control unit 122 attached to another application can acquire the position information generated by the GPS positioning unit 16 without making an activation request to the GPS positioning unit 16.

Here, the position information acquisition control unit 122 attached to the application specified in advance is also referred to as a position information acquisition control unit 122 having the authority of the master. Further, the position information acquisition control unit 122 attached to an application other than the application specified in advance is also referred to as a position information acquisition control unit 122 that does not have master authority or a slave position information acquisition control unit 122.
In other words, one location information acquisition control unit 122 that outputs an activation request has master authority over the other location information acquisition control unit 122. The other position information acquisition control unit 122 functions as a slave with respect to the master position information acquisition control unit 122. The other position information acquisition control unit 122 does not transmit an activation request to the GPS positioning unit 16. When receiving the notification from the master position information acquisition control unit 122, the other position information acquisition control unit 122 requests the position information from the master position information acquisition control unit 122 and acquires the position information.

  The storage unit 18 is a recording medium that stores various types of information. The storage unit 18 accumulates the position information acquired by the position information acquisition control unit 122. The storage unit 18 stores position information in time series. When performing application authentication, the storage unit 18 may store an application ID of an application permitted to be activated in association with the position information.

  Further, the storage unit 18 stores a position information library as a position acquisition control program for operating the position information acquisition control unit 122. The position acquisition control program is a program that can be read by a computer.

The position information acquisition control unit 122 reads the position information stored in the storage unit 18 and outputs the position information to the communication unit 14 when transmitting the position information to the position information server 30. Accordingly, the position information acquisition control unit 122 causes the communication unit 14 to transmit the position information read from the storage unit 18 to the position information server 30.
Note that the position information acquisition control unit 122 may transmit the position information directly to the application server 50 without using the position information server 30.

The location information acquisition control unit 122 causes the location information server 30 to transmit location information when a predetermined condition is met. The predetermined condition is a transmission timing determined in advance in the terminal device 10. The predetermined condition may be a predetermined period notified from the position information server 30. Thereby, the terminal device 10 can transmit position information to the position information server 30 at a frequency requested by the position information server 30.
The predetermined condition may be a timing set by an application. Thereby, the terminal device 10 can transmit position information to the position information server 30 at a frequency requested by the application.
The predetermined condition may be a predetermined period notified from the application server 50 when the position information is transmitted directly to the application server 50 without using the position information server 30. Thereby, the terminal device 10 can transmit position information to the application server 50 at a frequency requested by the application server 50.

  When the position information acquisition control unit 122 transmits the position information to the position information server 30, all or all of the web history information, the program execution history information, the operation history information, the charging history information, the posture change information, and the environment information are included together with the position information. A part may be transmitted.

  Furthermore, the position information acquisition control unit 122 may store the transmission completion or the transmission failure of the position information as a transmission history every time the position information is read from the storage unit 18 and communicated by the communication unit 14. For example, if the position information acquisition control unit 122 cannot transmit the position information due to the influence of radio waves around the device itself, the position information acquisition control unit 122 stops the transmission of the position information and displays a transmission history indicating that transmission is impossible in association with the position information. The data is stored in the storage unit 18. The position information acquisition control unit 122 refers to the transmission history at the transmission timing, reads out the position information acquired by the GPS positioning unit 16 after the previous transmission timing and the position information that cannot be transmitted from the storage unit 18, and communicates with the communication unit 14. To communicate. Thereby, the position information acquisition control unit 122 can transmit the position information without omission even when a situation where the position information cannot be transmitted occurs.

  FIG. 3 shows another configuration example of the terminal device 10. The terminal device 10 is not limited to the configuration shown in FIG. 2, and may be configured as shown in FIG. The terminal device 10 in FIG. 3 has one position information acquisition control unit 122 for a plurality of application processing units 120A, 120B, and 120C. The position information acquisition control unit 122 is implemented as one position information library corresponding to a plurality of applications.

  The storage unit 18 is a recording medium that stores various types of information. The storage unit 18 accumulates the position information acquired by the position information acquisition control unit 122. The storage unit 18 stores position information in time series. When performing application authentication, the storage unit 18 may store an application ID of an application permitted to be activated in association with the position information.

  Further, the storage unit 18 stores a position information library as a position acquisition control program for operating the position information acquisition control unit 122. The position acquisition control program is a program that can be read by a computer.

  Next, the operation of the terminal device 10 will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart for determining whether to perform master determination processing for determining the location information acquisition control unit 122 having the authority of the master by the terminal device 10 configured as shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of master determination processing.

  First, in step S100 of FIG. 4, the terminal device 10 determines whether or not a plurality of applications are activated simultaneously by the processing unit 12. If a plurality of applications are activated, the process proceeds to step S102. If only one application is activated, the terminal device 10 repeats this determination.

  In step S102, the processing unit 12 performs the master determination process of FIG. This master determination process is described as being performed by the processing unit 12 of each position information acquisition control unit 122. This master determination process is merely an example, and it goes without saying that the position information library as a master may be determined by other processes.

First, in step S200 of FIG. 5, the processing unit 12 determines whether or not the current operation mode of the own apparatus is the power saving mode. This power saving mode is an operation mode in which the positioning interval or number of times by the GPS positioning unit 16 or the interval or number of times of transmission of position information by the communication unit 14 is reduced in order to suppress power consumption of the own device.
At this time, the processing unit 12 refers to the remaining battery level in the own device. The processing unit 12 determines that the power saving mode is set when the remaining battery level is equal to or less than a predetermined value. If so, the process proceeds to step S202; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S204. Note that the processing unit 12 may detect that the power saving mode is set by a user operation.

In the next step S202, the processing unit 12 determines the position information acquisition control unit 122 attached to the application corresponding to the power saving mode as the position information acquisition control unit 122 having the authority of the master. At this time, the processing unit 12 refers to the attribute information of the application stored in advance in the storage unit 18 and selects the position information acquisition control unit 122 attached to the application corresponding to the power saving mode. The application corresponding to the power saving mode is an application that decreases the positioning interval or number of times or the transmission interval or number of position information.
In addition, the processing unit 12 downloads, for example, an application from the position information server 30 and data of a priority list for shifting the application to the power saving mode, and refers to the list to acquire position information acquisition control having the authority of the master. The part 122 may be selected. At this time, the processing unit 12 identifies the currently activated application and determines whether or not a plurality of applications are activated. When a plurality of applications are activated, the processing unit 12 refers to the list stored in the storage unit 18 and compares the priorities of the activated applications. As a result of the comparison, the processing unit 12 selects the position information acquisition control unit 122 attached to the application with the highest priority as the position information acquisition control unit 122 having the authority of the master. Thereby, the frequency of positioning and transmission of position information can be suppressed in the power saving mode.
Further, in the power saving mode, the processing unit 12 does not have the position information acquisition control unit 122 attached to the application, but a position information library dedicated to the power saving mode that operates independently of the application and has a master authority. The information acquisition control unit 122 may be selected. Thereby, the battery consumption of the terminal device 10 can be suppressed without depending on the running application, because the application has shifted to the power saving mode. The position information acquisition control unit 122 corresponding to the position information library independent of the application may be implemented as one position information library corresponding to a plurality of applications, for example, as shown in FIG. .
Furthermore, when selecting the location information acquisition control unit 122 attached to the application corresponding to the power saving mode, the processing unit 12 gives the master the authority to the location information acquisition control unit 122 attached to the old version application. The position information acquisition control unit 122 may be determined. Further, the processing unit 12 may determine the position information acquisition control unit 122 attached to an application with less information to be acquired as the position information acquisition control unit 122 having the authority of the master. The information acquired by the application includes position information. As described above, this position information includes web history information, program execution history information, operation history information, charging history information, posture change information, and environment information. The processing unit 12 may select the position information acquisition control unit 122 having the authority of the master by determining the amount of any information included in the position information or the amount of all information included in the position information. .
In step S202, the processing unit 12 determines a position information acquisition control unit 122 other than the position information acquisition control unit 122 having the authority of the master as the slave position information acquisition control unit 122.

In step S204, the processing unit 12 detects the position information acquisition control unit 122 that matches a predetermined master determination condition. As the predetermined master determination condition, a condition for setting the position information library as the position information acquisition control unit 122 having the authority of the master is set in advance. The predetermined master determination condition may be the position information acquisition control unit 122 attached to an application that frequently makes a start request to the GPS positioning unit 16 among a plurality of applications. In this case, the processing unit 12 refers to data including a history of application activation times. The processing unit 12 detects an application having the largest number of activations. Thus, the processing unit 12 detects the position information acquisition control unit 122 attached to the application with the largest number of activations as the position information acquisition control unit 122 of the master candidate.
The predetermined master determination condition may be the position information acquisition control unit 122 attached to the application activated first among the plurality of applications. In this case, the processing unit 12 refers to data including a history of application activation times. The processing unit 12 detects an application having the oldest activation time among currently activated applications. The position information acquisition control unit 122 attached to the application with the oldest start time is detected as the master candidate position information acquisition control unit 122.
The predetermined master determination condition may be a position information library having the latest version among a plurality of position information libraries. In this case, the processing unit 12 refers to the version information of each position information library attached to a plurality of applications. The processing unit 12 detects the position information library of the latest version information from the version information of the position information library. The processing unit 12 detects the position information acquisition control unit 122 corresponding to the position information library of the latest version information as the position information acquisition control unit 122 of the master candidate.

Note that the predetermined master determination conditions may include other conditions.
Another master determination condition may be to select a position information library attached to an application that is permitted to measure or transmit position information based on a user operation. For example, an application that uses location information or an application that makes location information available is installed in the terminal device 10. When these applications are installed or when these applications are activated, the processing unit 12 causes the display of the terminal device 10 to display a message that permits positioning or transmission of position information under the control of the applications. When positioning or transmission of position information is permitted by accepting a user operation, the processing unit 12 registers in the storage unit 18 that the application is permitted to position or transmit position information. Thereafter, when the processing unit 12 selects a location information library having the authority of the master, whether or not there is an application permitted to measure or transmit the location information with reference to the information registered in the storage unit 18. Determine. When there is an application for which positioning or transmission of position information is permitted, the processing unit 12 can select a position information library attached to the application as a position information library as a master.
The processing unit 12 may detect, as the master candidate position information acquisition control unit 122, the position information acquisition control unit 122 attached to an application having the oldest installation date and time that has a low possibility of being deleted.
In addition, the processing unit 12 selects the position information acquisition control unit 122 attached to the application having the most types or items of position information to be acquired by the GPS positioning unit 16 as the position information acquisition control unit 122 having the authority of the master. Also good. As described above, the position information acquired by the application includes web history information, program execution history information, operation history information, charging history information, posture change information, and environment information. The processing unit 12 may determine the amount of any information included in the position information, or the amount of all information included in the position information, and serve as the master candidate position information acquisition control unit 122.
Further, the processing unit 12 may detect the position information acquisition control unit 122 attached to the application having the highest frequency (positioning frequency) to be measured by the GPS positioning unit 16 as the position information acquisition control unit 122 of the master candidate.

In step S206, the processing unit 12 determines the position information acquisition control unit 122 corresponding to the predetermined master determination condition detected in step S204 as the position information acquisition control unit 122 having the authority of the master. The processing unit 12 determines the position information acquisition control unit 122 other than the position information acquisition control unit 122 having the authority of the master as the position information acquisition control unit 122 having the authority of the slave.
The position information acquisition control unit 122 having the master authority changes the position information positioning timing and the position information transmission timing of the own apparatus. Thereby, positioning and transmission of position information are executed according to the positioning timing and transmission timing uniquely set in any one of the plurality of position information libraries.

  When a plurality of master candidate position information acquisition control units 122 are detected, the processing unit 12 determines that the position information acquisition control unit 122 that has a large number that matches a predetermined master determination condition The information acquisition control unit 122 may determine the information.

In this embodiment, the location information acquisition controller 122 may be determined by the location information server 30 having the authority of the master. The location information server 30 receives from the terminal device 10 a list that defines information about the running application and permission information that the user has permitted to use the location information. The location information server 30 can determine, with reference to the received list, the location information library that is permitted to use the location information and that belongs to the active application among the active applications. The position information server 30 notifies the terminal device 10 of the application to which the determined master position information library is attached. Thereby, the terminal device 10 can set the position information library attached to the application determined by the position information server 30 as a master.
Note that the location information server 30 allows the information on the running application and the user to use the location information from the terminal device 10 periodically, at a fixed date and time, or when a change occurs in the previously transmitted list. A list defining permission information may be received. As a result, the location information server 30 can notify the terminal device 10 of the next master without delay even when there is a change in the permission information that the application or the user that has been permitted to use the location information changes. .

  Further, the location information server 30 is attached with a location information library as a master based on the list of the application information that is received from the terminal device 10 and the permission information that the user is permitted to use the location information. A list may be created that defines the ranking of the applications that are running. As a result, when the application to which the master location information library is attached is deleted, the terminal device 10 can determine the location information library attached to the next rank application as the master.

  The position information acquisition control unit 122 having the authority of the slave has a unique positioning timing, and even if the position information acquisition control unit 122 that acquired the authority of the master at the unique timing requests the position information. Good. Accordingly, the position information acquisition control unit 122 having the authority of the slave can supply the position information to the application to which the position information acquisition control unit 122 is attached at a timing desirable for the application.

  As described above, the processing unit 12 can determine any one of the plurality of position information acquisition control units 122 as the position information acquisition control unit 122 having the authority of the master.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for causing the GPS positioning unit 16 to acquire position information by the master position information acquisition control unit 122 in the terminal device 10. This process is repeated, for example, every predetermined period.

  First, in step S300, the position information acquisition control unit 122 determines whether an application installed in the terminal device 10 is activated. If the application is running, go to the following process. If the application is not running, the following processing is not performed.

  In the next step S <b> 302, the position information acquisition control unit 122 acquires the communication area ID from the communication unit 14. The position information acquisition control unit 122 outputs a request to the communication unit 14 and acquires a cell ID or an access point ID as the communication area ID from the communication unit 14. The location information acquisition control unit 122 stores the acquired cell ID or access point ID in the storage unit 18. The communication area ID may be one of a cell ID and an access point ID. The communication area ID may be both a cell ID and an access point ID.

  In the next step S304, the location information acquisition control unit 122 determines whether the cell ID or access point ID acquired in step S302 has changed from the cell ID or access point ID acquired in the past. At this time, the position information acquisition control unit 122 compares the cell ID or access point ID stored in the storage unit 18 in step S302 in the previous process with the cell ID or access point ID acquired in the current step S302. . The position information acquisition control unit 122 determines that the cell ID or the access point ID has changed when both cell IDs or access point IDs are different. If the cell ID or access point ID has changed, the process proceeds to step S306, and if the cell ID or access point ID has not changed, the process ends.

  In step S306, the position information acquisition control unit 122 outputs an activation command to the GPS positioning unit 16 to perform GPS positioning. Accordingly, the position information acquisition control unit 122 causes the GPS positioning unit 16 to acquire position information. The position information acquisition control unit 122 accumulates the position information acquired by the GPS positioning unit 16 in the storage unit 18.

  As described above, according to the terminal device 10 according to the first embodiment, the timing for starting the GPS positioning unit 16 is determined based on the information detected by the detection unit (step S304). When it is determined that it is time to activate the GPS positioning unit 16, the position information acquisition control unit 122 activates the GPS positioning unit 16 to acquire position information. Thereby, according to the terminal device 10, the GPS positioning part 16 is not started at an application original timing, and the consumption of the electric power for positioning can be suppressed.

  In the terminal device 10 according to the first embodiment, the detection unit is a communication unit 14 that detects an identifier of a communication area in which the own device can communicate. According to this terminal device 10, the position information acquisition control unit 122 activates the GPS positioning unit 16 and acquires position information at a timing when it is determined that the identifier of the communication area detected by the communication unit 14 has changed. be able to. Thereby, according to the terminal device 10, positioning by the GPS positioning unit 16 can be avoided unless the own device moves and the identifier of the communication area is changed, and power consumption for positioning can be suppressed.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, the terminal device 10 according to the second embodiment will be described. In addition, the same part in 1st Embodiment as 2nd Embodiment attaches the same code | symbol, and abbreviate | omits the detailed description.

  FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the terminal device 10 according to the second embodiment. The terminal device 10 according to the second embodiment is different from the terminal device 10 according to the first embodiment in that it includes a sensor unit 20. The terminal device 10 according to the second embodiment will be described with respect to a case where a location information library is attached to each application. However, as shown in FIG. 3, one location information library corresponds to a plurality of applications. It may be a configuration.

The sensor unit 20 detects information that changes as the device moves. The sensor unit 20 detects the amount of movement of the terminal device 10 as information that changes as the device moves. In the second embodiment, the information that changes according to the movement of the own device includes the movement amount of the terminal device 10 in addition to the ID of the communication area described in the first embodiment.
The sensor unit 20 includes an acceleration sensor unit 20a and a movement detection unit 20b.
The acceleration sensor unit 20a changes in physical quantity in accordance with a change in acceleration applied to the terminal device 10 as its own device. The acceleration sensor unit 20a may be a semiconductor capacitance sensor. The physical quantity in the acceleration sensor unit 20 a corresponds to the behavior of the terminal device 10.
The terminal device 10 may include a gravity sensor, a gyro sensor, or a geomagnetic sensor in order to detect the behavior of the device itself. In the present embodiment, it is described that only the acceleration sensor unit 20a is provided. However, the gravity sensor, the gyro sensor, or the geomagnetic sensor is provided together with the acceleration sensor unit 20a or in place of the acceleration sensor unit 20a. Also good. By using the geomagnetic sensor, it can be detected that the higher the frequency of the change in the direction detected by the geomagnetic sensor, the higher the possibility that the terminal apparatus 10 is not in a stationary state and the higher the possibility of moving.

  The movement detection unit 20b detects a physical quantity in the acceleration sensor unit 20a. The movement detection unit 20b detects whether or not the own apparatus has moved based on the behavior of the terminal apparatus 10 corresponding to the detected physical quantity. The movement detection unit 20b updates the movement amount of the terminal apparatus 10 in response to detecting that the own apparatus has moved. This movement amount is output from the movement detection unit 20b to the position information acquisition control unit 122.

  The movement detection unit 20b generates a movement detection signal when detecting movement of a predetermined distance. The movement detection unit 20b outputs the generated movement detection signal to the processing unit 12. The movement detection signal indicates the timing at which it is determined to measure the position information of the own device. The movement detection unit 20b is supplied with a predetermined distance from the position information acquisition control unit 122 in advance.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing information exchanged in the terminal device 10.
When the GPS positioning unit 16 acquires position information, the position information is supplied to the movement detection unit 20b. Furthermore, a physical quantity indicating the behavior of the terminal device 10 is supplied from the acceleration sensor unit 20a to the movement detection unit 20b. Further, a predetermined distance is supplied from the position information acquisition control unit 122 to the movement detection unit 20b.

The movement detection unit 20b resets the movement amount updated based on the behavior of the terminal device 10 at the timing when the position information is supplied from the GPS positioning unit 16. After resetting the movement amount, the movement detection unit 20b updates the movement amount based on the behavior of the terminal device 10, and determines whether or not the movement amount has reached a predetermined distance.
The movement detection unit 20b outputs a movement detection signal to the position information acquisition control unit 122 when the movement amount reaches a predetermined distance.

  The position information acquisition control unit 122 determines whether the cell ID or the access point ID detected by the communication unit 14 has been changed and a movement detection signal has been input. The position information acquisition control unit 122 outputs an activation request to the GPS positioning unit 16 when it is determined that the cell ID or access point ID detected by the communication unit 14 has been changed and a movement detection signal has been input.

The movement detection unit 20b may detect that the own device has moved based on a change in physical quantity in the acceleration sensor unit 20a. The movement detection unit 20b can cause the position information acquisition control unit 122 to determine the positioning timing in response to detecting that the own device has moved. For example, the position information acquisition control unit 122 can determine that it is the positioning timing when the own apparatus is in a state of moving without stopping. The position information acquisition control unit 122 can determine that it is the positioning timing when the movement distance per unit time or the movement distance from the predetermined position exceeds a predetermined distance (for example, 100 meters). .
Further, the position information acquisition control unit 122 may determine whether the moving unit of the own device is a car, a train, a bicycle, or a walk as the moving state, and may change the positioning frequency based on the determination result. For this purpose, the storage unit 18 stores the moving distance and positioning frequency per unit time in correspondence with the moving means (train, car, bicycle, walking). This positioning frequency is increased as the moving speed is higher. For example, the moving speed is train>automobile>bicycle> walking position, and positioning frequency during train movement> positioning frequency during car movement> positioning frequency during bicycle movement> positioning frequency during walking movement. The position information acquisition control unit 122 estimates a movement distance per predetermined time based on the movement detection result of the own apparatus by the movement detection unit 20b, and determines a moving unit corresponding to the estimated movement distance. The position information acquisition control unit 122 causes the GPS positioning unit 16 to perform positioning at a positioning frequency corresponding to the determined moving means.

  The operation of the position information acquisition control unit 122 is as shown in FIG. FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure in which the position information acquisition control unit 122 causes the GPS positioning unit 16 to perform positioning.

  First, in step S400, the position information acquisition control unit 122 determines whether an application installed in the terminal device 10 is activated. If the application is running, go to the following process. If the application is not running, the following processing is not performed.

  Next, the position information acquisition control unit 122 causes the communication unit 14 to start detecting the communication area of the terminal device 10 (S402). Thereby, the position information acquisition control unit 122 acquires the cell ID or the access point ID from the communication unit 14.

  Next, the position information acquisition control unit 122 causes the movement detection unit 20b to detect the movement of the terminal device 10 (S404). At this time, the position information acquisition control unit 122 outputs the predetermined distance to the movement detection unit 20b. Accordingly, the position information acquisition control unit 122 causes the movement detection unit 20b to start detection of a predetermined distance.

  Next, the location information acquisition control unit 122 determines whether or not the cell ID or access point ID acquired in step S402 has changed from the cell ID or access point ID acquired in the past (S406). At this time, the position information acquisition control unit 122 compares the cell ID or access point ID detected in the past and stored in the storage unit 18 with the cell ID or access point ID acquired this time. The position information acquisition control unit 122 determines that the cell ID or the access point ID has changed when both cell IDs or access point IDs are different. If the cell ID or the access point ID has changed, the process proceeds to step S408. If the cell ID or the access point ID has not changed, this determination is repeated.

  Next, the position information acquisition control unit 122 determines whether or not the terminal device 10 has moved a predetermined distance (S408). The position information acquisition control unit 122 determines that the terminal device 10 has moved a predetermined distance when the movement detection signal is output from the movement detection unit 20b. If the terminal device 10 has moved a predetermined distance, the process proceeds to step S410.

Next, the position information acquisition control unit 122 outputs an activation command to the GPS positioning unit 16 to perform GPS positioning (S410). Accordingly, the position information acquisition control unit 122 causes the GPS positioning unit 16 to acquire position information. The position information acquisition control unit 122 acquires the position information acquired by the GPS positioning unit 16 and accumulates it in the storage unit 18.
The position information acquired by the GPS positioning unit 16 is also output to the movement detection unit 20b. Thereby, the movement detection unit 20b resets the movement amount.

  As described above, according to the terminal device 10 according to the second embodiment, the timing for starting the GPS positioning unit 16 based on the information detected by the sensor unit 20 that detects the behavior of the own device as the detection unit. Is determined (step S408). Thereby, according to the terminal device 10, when the own device moves a predetermined distance, the GPS positioning unit 16 can acquire the position information. Therefore, according to the terminal device 10 according to the second embodiment, the GPS positioning unit 16 is not activated at an application-specific timing, and power consumption for positioning can be suppressed.

  According to the terminal device 10 according to the second embodiment, the position information is not acquired when the terminal device 10 is stationary or the movement amount is small. Thereby, according to the terminal device 10, when the terminal device 10 is stationary or there is little movement, starting the GPS positioning part 16 can be suppressed, and the consumption of the electric power for positioning can be suppressed.

  In addition, when the movement of the terminal device 10 is small, the movement detection unit 20b may output a movement detection signal to the position information acquisition control unit 122 using a predetermined time as a trigger. The predetermined time is counted by using the GPS positioning unit 16 as a trigger and a trigger. Accordingly, the position information acquisition control unit 122 can cause the GPS positioning unit 16 to acquire the position information when a predetermined time has elapsed, and can accumulate the position information even when the terminal device 10 moves little.

  The position information acquisition control unit 122 in the terminal device 10 according to the second embodiment may update the position information based on the behavior acquired by the acceleration sensor unit 20a when present in an area within a predetermined distance. . In addition, the position information acquisition control unit 122 changes the frequency at which the position information is updated based on the behavior acquired by the acceleration sensor unit 20a based on the movement state of the own device detected by the acceleration sensor unit 20a.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a processing procedure for changing the frequency at which position information is acquired by setting an area of a predetermined distance. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating the setting process of the position of the terminal device 10 and the area of the predetermined distance.

  In the situation where the current position P1 of the terminal device 10 is acquired as shown in FIG. 11A, the position information acquisition control unit 122 sets a predetermined distance from the center of the current position P1 as shown in FIG. A movement detection circle C1 having a radius is set (S500).

Each time the behavior is detected from the acceleration sensor unit 20a, the position information acquisition control unit 122 expands the radius of the estimated position circle C2 corresponding to the amount of movement, as shown in FIG. The operation of the position information acquisition control unit 122 corresponds to the movement of the position information acquisition control unit 122 based on the behavior of the terminal device 10. Thereafter, by detecting the behavior of the terminal device 10 multiple times by the acceleration sensor unit 20a, the estimated position circle C2 coincides with the movement detection circle C1, as shown in FIG. 11 (d).
As described above, the position information acquisition control unit 122 sets the movement detection circle C1 (predetermined area), and the terminal device 10 exists in the predetermined area during the period until the estimated position circle C2 coincides with the movement detection circle C1. Then, it determines (S502: YES).
In addition, although the movement amount based on the behavior of the terminal device 10 simply accumulates the behavior, it may be accumulated including the direction. The position information acquisition control unit 122 may integrate the movement amount for each movement direction based on the three-axis physical amount detected by the acceleration sensor unit 20a. Thereby, the terminal device 10 can detect the movement of the terminal device 10 with high accuracy.

  The position information acquisition control unit 122 changes the frequency of acquiring the position information when the terminal device 10 exists in the predetermined area (S504). At this time, the position information acquisition control unit 122 refers to the behavior detected by the acceleration sensor unit 20a to determine whether the terminal device 10 is in a moving state or a stationary state. When the terminal device 10 is in the moving state, the position information acquisition control unit 122 updates the position of the terminal device 10 based on the behavior detected by the acceleration sensor unit 20a and stores it in the storage unit 18. Thereby, the position information acquisition control unit 122 increases the frequency of acquiring the position information. The position information acquisition control unit 122 does not update the position of the terminal device 10 when the terminal device 10 is in a stationary state.

In step S504, the position information acquisition control unit 122 may change the frequency of acquiring the position information based on the power consumption state of the terminal device 10. This power consumption state includes the remaining power of the storage battery built in the terminal device 10, whether charging is in progress, and whether it is in the power saving mode.
When the remaining power of the storage battery is higher than a predetermined value, the position information acquisition control unit 122 updates the position of the terminal device 10 based on the behavior detected by the acceleration sensor unit 20a and stores it in the storage unit 18. . Thereby, the position information acquisition control unit 122 increases the frequency of acquiring the position information.
When the remaining power of the storage battery is higher than a predetermined value and the storage battery is being charged, the position information acquisition control unit 122 does not change the current positioning frequency, or the remaining power of the storage battery is lower than the predetermined value and The current positioning frequency is set higher than the positioning frequency when the storage battery is not being charged. Further, when the remaining power of the storage battery is lower than the predetermined value and the storage battery is not being charged, the position information acquisition control unit 122 has a case where the remaining power of the storage battery is higher than the predetermined value and the storage battery is being charged. Make the current positioning frequency lower than the positioning frequency. For example, if the positioning frequency when the remaining power of the storage battery is higher than a predetermined value and the storage battery is being charged is 100%, the remaining power of the storage battery is lower than the predetermined value and the storage battery is not being charged, Change the positioning frequency to 50%.
The position information acquisition control unit 122 does not update the position of the terminal device 10 when the operation mode of the terminal device 10 is a power saving mode that suppresses power consumption. Thereby, the position information acquisition control unit 122 does not increase the frequency of acquiring the position information.

  Next, the position information acquisition control unit 122 determines whether the GPS positioning unit 16 acquires position information. When the cell ID or the access point ID changes and the estimated position circle C2 matches the movement detection circle C1 as shown in FIG. 11D, the position information acquisition control unit 122 receives a movement detection signal from the movement detection unit 20b. Is output. The position information acquisition control unit 122 outputs an activation request to the GPS positioning unit 16 when the movement detection signal output from the movement detection unit 20b is input (S506: YES). Accordingly, the position information acquisition control unit 122 causes the GPS positioning unit 16 to acquire position information (S508).

  As a result of performing the GPS positioning, the position information acquisition control unit 122 obtains a new current position P2 as shown in FIG. The position information acquisition control unit 122 sets a new movement detection circle C3 (predetermined area) around the new current position P2 (S500).

  According to the terminal device 10 according to the second embodiment, the position information acquisition control unit 122 sets an area of a predetermined distance around the own device, and the acceleration sensor unit when the own device exists in the area. The frequency of updating the position information is changed based on the movement state of the own apparatus detected by 20a. Thereby, according to the terminal device 10, the frequency which acquires position information in the area of predetermined distance can be made low, and the power consumption for acquiring position information can be suppressed.

  Moreover, according to this terminal device 10, when the own apparatus exists in the area of predetermined distance, the frequency which acquires positional information is changed based on the power consumption state of an own apparatus. Thereby, according to the terminal device 10, the frequency which updates a positional information based on a power consumption state can be made low, and the power consumption for acquiring a positional information can be suppressed.

[Third Embodiment]
Next, the terminal device 10 according to the third embodiment will be described. Note that the same parts in the third embodiment as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the terminal device 10 according to the third embodiment. The terminal device 10 according to the third embodiment is different from the terminal device 10 according to the first embodiment in that an audible sound detection unit 22 is provided.
The audible sound detection unit 22 is a sensor that detects audible sounds around the device itself.
The audible sound detection unit 22 is configured by a microphone. The audible sound detection unit 22 detects surrounding audible sound based on the output of the microphone and outputs the detected audible sound to the position information acquisition control unit 122. The position information acquisition control unit 122 performs voice recognition processing on the audible sound, and determines whether the recognized voice includes information for specifying an area. For this purpose, the storage unit 18 stores in advance a voice-area database in which areas and information for specifying positions are associated with each other. The position information acquisition control unit 122 determines whether or not the voice obtained by the voice recognition process matches the information specifying the position with reference to the voice-area database. As a result of the determination, the position information acquisition control unit 122 detects that the terminal device 10 has entered the area corresponding to the information specifying the position when the voice matches the information specifying the position.

  When the position information acquisition control unit 122 detects that the terminal device 10 has entered a predetermined area, the position information acquisition control unit 122 decreases the frequency with which the GPS positioning unit 16 acquires the position information. For example, the position information acquisition control unit 122 does not output an activation request to the GPS positioning unit 16 even when the movement amount of the terminal device 10 exceeds a predetermined distance when it exists in a predetermined area.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an operation procedure of the position information acquisition control unit 122 in the terminal device 10 according to the third embodiment.
When the application is activated (S600: YES), the terminal device 10 is detected by the audible sound detection unit 22 (S602). The audible sound detection unit 22 outputs the sound detected by the microphone to the position information acquisition control unit 122.
The position information acquisition control unit 122 determines whether the terminal device 10 has entered a predetermined area based on the audible sound detected by the audible sound detection unit 22 (S604). When it is determined that the terminal device 10 has entered a predetermined area (S604: YES), the position information acquisition control unit 122 outputs an activation request to the GPS positioning unit 16. Accordingly, the position information acquisition control unit 122 causes the GPS positioning unit 16 to acquire position information (S608).

As described above, according to the terminal device 10 according to the third embodiment, when the terminal device 10 moves to a predetermined area, the frequency of acquiring position information by the GPS positioning unit 16 can be suppressed. The power consumption for acquiring the position information can be suppressed.
When the terminal device 10 moves to a predetermined area, reception of GPS radio waves by the GPS positioning unit 16 of the terminal device 10 may be poor. Therefore, the terminal device 10 may not receive GPS radio waves even if the GPS positioning unit 16 is activated, and power may be wasted. Therefore, according to the terminal device 10 according to the third embodiment, when the device itself enters a predetermined area, the frequency of starting the GPS positioning unit 16 can be suppressed, and useless power can be suppressed.

  In the terminal device 10 according to the third embodiment, a case where a location information library is attached to each application will be described. However, as shown in FIG. 3, one location information library corresponds to a plurality of applications. It may be a configuration. Moreover, the terminal device 10 according to the third embodiment includes the sensor unit 20 as in the terminal device 10 of the second embodiment, the ID of the communication area is changed, and the movement amount is a predetermined distance. In this case, the position information may be acquired by the GPS positioning unit 16.

As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was explained in full detail with reference to drawings, the specific structure is not restricted to this embodiment, The design change etc. of the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention are included.
The present invention can be implemented as, for example, a terminal device, a position providing system, and a position information acquisition control program.

Further, a computer program for realizing the functions of the terminal device 10 described above may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded on the recording medium may be read into a computer system and executed. . Here, the “computer system” may include an OS and hardware such as peripheral devices.
“Computer-readable recording medium” refers to a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, a writable nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory, a portable medium such as a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), and a built-in computer system. A storage device such as a hard disk.

Further, the “computer-readable recording medium” means a volatile memory (for example, DRAM (Dynamic DRAM) in a computer system that becomes a server or a client when a program is transmitted through a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line. Random Access Memory)), etc., which hold programs for a certain period of time.
The program may be transmitted from a computer system storing the program in a storage device or the like to another computer system via a transmission medium or by a transmission wave in the transmission medium. Here, the “transmission medium” for transmitting the program refers to a medium having a function of transmitting information, such as a network (communication network) such as the Internet or a communication line (communication line) such as a telephone line.
The program may be for realizing a part of the functions described above.
Furthermore, what can implement | achieve the function mentioned above in combination with the program already recorded on the computer system, and what is called a difference file (difference program) may be sufficient.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Position provision system 10, 10A, 10B, ..., 10N ... Terminal device, 12 ... Processing part, 14 ... Communication part, 16 ... GPS positioning part, 18 ... Memory | storage part, 20 ... Sensor part, 20a ... Acceleration Sensor unit, 20b ... movement detection unit, 22 ... audible sound detection unit, 30 ... location information server, 40 ... authentication server, 42 ... POI server, 50, 50A, 50B, ..., 50N ... application server, 120, 120A , 120B, 120C ... application processing unit, 122, 122A, 122B, 122C ... position information acquisition control unit

Claims (13)

A position information acquisition unit that acquires position information by starting in response to the start request;
Multiple applications,
A plurality of position information libraries attached to each of the applications, each set to make an activation request to the position information acquisition unit at a unique timing;
A terminal device in which any one of the plurality of position information libraries acquires an authority to make an activation request to the position information acquisition unit, and causes the position information acquisition unit to acquire position information.   The position information library set with a high frequency of making a start request to the position information acquisition unit among the plurality of position information libraries acquires an authority to make a start request to the position information acquisition unit. Terminal equipment.   Among the plurality of position information libraries, the position information library having the most types or items of position information to be acquired by making a start request to the position information acquisition unit acquires the authority to make a start request to the position information acquisition unit. The terminal device according to claim 1.   When the own apparatus is in a power saving operation state, a position information library set with a low frequency of making a request for activation to the position information acquisition unit is activated to the position information acquisition unit among the plurality of position information libraries. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein an authority to make a request is acquired. Each of the applications is set to permit or prohibit provision of location information acquired by the location information acquisition unit based on a user operation,
The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the position information library that has acquired the authority to perform the activation request outputs the position information to an application that permits provision of the position information.   The position information library that does not have the authority to perform the activation request acquires the position information acquired by the position information library that has the authority to perform the activation request at a timing uniquely set for each of the position information libraries. Terminal device.   The location information library having the authority to perform the activation request outputs the location information to the location information library attached to the application for which provision of location information is permitted in advance, and is attached to the application for which provision of location information is prohibited in advance. The terminal device according to claim 6, wherein position information is not output to the position information library. A communication unit that detects an identifier of a communication area in which the device can communicate;
The position information library having the authority to perform the activation request makes an activation request to the position information acquisition unit at a timing when it is determined that the identifier of the communication area detected by the communication unit has changed. The terminal device described. It has an acceleration sensor that detects the behavior of its own device,
The position information library having the authority to make the activation request estimates the moving distance of the own apparatus based on the behavior detected by the acceleration sensor, and the position information is estimated at the timing when the own apparatus has moved a predetermined distance. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition unit is activated to acquire position information.   The position information library having the authority to make the activation request updates the position information based on the behavior detected by the acceleration sensor, and acquires the position information based on the movement state of the own device detected by the acceleration sensor. The terminal device according to claim 9, wherein the frequency of updating is changed. The location information library having the authority to make the activation request is:
Updating the position information based on the behavior detected by the acceleration sensor;
The terminal device according to claim 9, wherein a frequency at which the position information is updated is changed based on a power consumption state of the own device. A terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 11;
A plurality of application servers corresponding to each of a plurality of applications stored in the terminal device;
A position information server that receives the position information transmitted from the terminal device, and transmits the position information to any one of the plurality of application servers;
A position providing system. On the computer,
Multiple applications,
A plurality of position information libraries attached to each application, each set to make a start request to the position information acquisition unit at a unique timing,
Any one of the plurality of position information libraries acquires an authority to make an activation request to the position information acquisition unit, and causes the position information acquisition unit to acquire position information;
A program for position acquisition control.

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