JP2017096754A - System, method, and program for position estimation - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve reliability of estimation results in position estimation of a terminal device.SOLUTION: A position estimation system makes a terminal device receive radio signals transmitted from a plurality of asynchronous radio transmitters to estimate a position of the terminal device in a real space in which the terminal device is located. A determination unit recognizes, in a target area, a first radio transmitter group chosen out of a plurality of radio transmitter groups comprising transmitters having terminal device position estimation-enabled ranges that overlap with each other, and a second radio transmitter group, of the plurality of radio transmitter groups, having a position estimation-enabled range that overlaps with a position estimation-enabled range based on the first radio transmitter group. The determination unit is configured to perform at least either of a first determination based on radio signals from radio transmitters belonging to the first radio transmitter group and a second determination based on radio signals from radio transmitters belonging to the second radio transmitter group. An estimation unit estimates a position of the terminal device in accordance with a result of the determination performed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a position estimation system, a position estimation method, and a program.

As a position estimation system for estimating the position of a terminal device, a system that uses radio waves from a wireless base station such as a mobile phone or a GPS (Global Positioning System) is known. Although the above position estimation system is suitable for outdoor use, it may not be used in an indoor environment where it is difficult to receive radio waves from a radio base station such as a mobile phone or a GPS satellite.
As a position estimation system for estimating the position of a terminal device indoors, there is a technique of arranging a plurality of wireless transmission devices indoors and detecting the position by a method of detecting a wireless signal from the wireless transmission device (for example, a patent) Reference 1).

JP 2003-230174 A

  However, in an actual environment, an ideal environment in which a radio signal from a radio transmission device can be surely received is rare. According to Patent Document 1, it is assumed that the terminal device can estimate the position of the terminal device using wireless signals from a plurality of wireless transmission devices. What is not possible is simply “ignored” and estimated based on the received radio signal. For this reason, if the radio signal cannot be received, the reliability of the estimated position of the terminal device may be lowered.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and provides a position estimation system, a position estimation method, and a program that increase the reliability of an estimation result obtained by estimating a place where a terminal device exists.

  One aspect of the present invention for solving the above-described problem is that a terminal apparatus receives radio signals transmitted from a plurality of radio transmission apparatuses that are not synchronized, and are signals generated according to a predetermined rule. A position estimation system for estimating the position in the real space where the terminal device exists, and enables the position of the terminal device to be estimated in a target region where the position in the real space is estimated. Position estimation based on a first wireless transmission device group among a plurality of wireless transmission device groups determined to overlap and a first wireless transmission device group among the plurality of wireless transmission device groups And a first determination based on a radio signal from a radio transmission device belonging to the first radio transmission device group. The second wireless transmission device A determination unit that performs determination of at least one of the second determinations based on a radio signal from a wireless transmission device belonging to, and an estimation unit that estimates a position of the terminal device according to a result of the determination performed It is a position estimation system characterized by comprising.

  In the position estimation system described above, the region that allows position estimation based on the second wireless transmission device group includes a region that enables position estimation based on the first wireless transmission device group, and It is characterized by overlapping.

  Further, in the above position estimation system, an area capable of estimating a position based on the first wireless transmission apparatus group and an area capable of estimating a position based on the second wireless transmission apparatus group A storage unit that associates and stores information indicating a relationship, and the determination unit includes the first wireless transmission device group and the second wireless transmission device group in which information is stored in the storage unit; Therefore, the detection results in the remaining wireless transmission device groups are determined except for the wireless transmission device groups that could not be detected stably in the past detection.

  In the position estimation system, the determination unit selects either the first wireless transmission device group or the second wireless transmission device group based on the stability in the past detection, and the selection The determination is made on the basis of a radio signal from a radio transmission device belonging to the group of radio transmission devices.

  In the position estimation system, each of the wireless transmission device belonging to the first wireless transmission device group and the wireless transmission device belonging to the second wireless transmission device group is independent of the other wireless transmission device. A transmission control unit that generates a transmission timing of the radio signal, and a transmission unit that transmits the radio signal in accordance with the transmission timing.

  In the position estimation system, the transmission unit may transmit a radio signal transmitted from a wireless transmission device belonging to the first wireless transmission device group and a wireless transmission device belonging to the second wireless transmission device group. The wireless signal is transmitted according to the transmission timing generated without controlling interference (on the time axis).

  In the position estimation system, the transmission unit includes a wireless transmission device belonging to the first wireless transmission device group and a wireless transmission device belonging to the second wireless transmission device group. In accordance with the same wireless communication standard.

  In the position estimation system, the wireless transmission device belonging to the first wireless transmission device group and the wireless transmission device belonging to the second wireless transmission device group are of different types, and the terminal device is The wireless signal transmitted from the wireless transmitter of the type corresponding to each group is received.

  Further, according to one embodiment of the present invention, a terminal device receives radio signals transmitted from a plurality of radio transmission devices that are not synchronized and are signals generated according to a predetermined rule. A position estimation method in a position estimation system for estimating a position in a real space where the position estimation system estimates a position of a terminal device in a target region where a position in the real space is estimated Based on a first wireless transmission device group of a plurality of wireless transmission device groups determined to overlap with each other and the first wireless transmission device group of the plurality of wireless transmission device groups And a second wireless transmission device group in which a region allowing position estimation overlaps with a region allowing position estimation, and wireless communication from wireless transmission devices belonging to the first wireless transmission device group Based on signal A step of performing at least one of a determination of 1 and a second determination based on a wireless signal from a wireless transmission device belonging to the second wireless transmission device group, and depending on a result of the performed determination And a step of estimating the position of the terminal device.

  Further, according to one embodiment of the present invention, a terminal device receives radio signals transmitted from a plurality of radio transmission devices that are not synchronized and are signals generated according to a predetermined rule. Is a position estimation system that estimates the position in the real space where the position in the real space is estimated, and is defined so that the areas that allow the estimation of the position of the terminal device overlap. A first wireless transmission device group of the plurality of wireless transmission device groups, and a region that enables position estimation based on the first wireless transmission device group among the plurality of wireless transmission device groups; A second wireless transmission device group having overlapping regions capable of estimating a position, and a computer based on a wireless signal from a wireless transmission device belonging to the first wireless transmission device group. Judgment and before Performing a determination of at least one of the second determinations based on a radio signal from a wireless transmission device belonging to the second wireless transmission device group, and determining the position of the terminal device according to the result of the determination performed A program for executing the estimating step.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a position estimation system, a position estimation method, and a program that increase the reliability of an estimation result obtained by estimating a place where a terminal device exists.

It is explanatory drawing which shows the structural example of the position estimation system by embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the structural example of the position estimation system by this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the process which excludes from the object the radio | wireless transmitter 400 which transmitted the beacon whose received signal strength is below a lower limit threshold value by this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing (the 1) which shows the process determined as an area of the wireless transmission apparatus which transmitted the beacon by this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing (the 2) which shows the process determined as an area of the wireless transmission apparatus which transmitted the beacon by this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the process which improves the reliability of the estimation result depending on arrangement | positioning of the wireless transmitter by this embodiment. It is a top view which illustrates the field defined based on the arrangement of the wireless transmission device by this embodiment, and the combination of a plurality of wireless transmission devices. It is explanatory drawing shown about the area | region definition table which defines an area | region based on the combination of the several radio | wireless transmitter by this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the process which acquires the position of a terminal device from the detection result in the remaining group by this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the radio | wireless transmission apparatus by this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the modification of the process which obtains the position of a terminal device from the detection result in the remaining group by this embodiment.

(About the outline | summary of the position estimation system in embodiment of this invention)
An outline of the position estimation system in the embodiment of the present invention will be described.
In the position estimation system according to the embodiment of the present invention, a terminal device receives radio signals transmitted from a plurality of radio transmission devices that are not synchronized and are signals generated according to a predetermined rule. The position in the real space where the terminal device exists is estimated. The position estimation system includes a first wireless transmission device among a plurality of wireless transmission device groups determined so that regions in which a position of a terminal device can be estimated overlap in a target region for estimating a position in real space And a second wireless transmission device group of the plurality of wireless transmission device groups. The position estimation system is based on a first determination based on a wireless signal from a wireless transmission device belonging to the first wireless transmission device group and a wireless signal from a wireless transmission device belonging to the second wireless transmission device group. At least one of the second determinations is performed. The position estimation system estimates the position of the terminal device according to the determination result of the determination unit.

  A position estimation system shown in the following embodiment increases the reliability of an estimation result obtained by estimating a place where a terminal device exists.

(Application example of a method for estimating the position of a terminal device using a radio signal)
There is a method for estimating the position of a terminal device using a radio signal.
In an outdoor environment, it is possible to detect the position of a terminal device that has received the radio wave using radio waves from a wireless base station such as a GPS (Global Positioning System) or a mobile phone, or an access point of a wireless LAN.
On the other hand, in an indoor environment, a signal from a radio base station such as a GPS or a mobile phone may not be received. In an indoor environment, the position of a terminal device that has received the radio wave can be detected using radio waves from a wireless transmission device provided for position detection, an access point of a wireless LAN, or the like.

In the following description, a method of detecting a position using radio waves from a wireless transmission device will be described by taking a configuration using a wireless transmission device provided indoors as an example, but this prevents use in an outdoor environment. It is not a thing.
The wireless transmission device includes a system that manages the timing of transmitting radio waves so that the radio waves to be transmitted do not interfere with each other, and a system that transmits radio waves according to individual timings and does not manage interference of the radio waves transmitted to each other There is. An example of the latter is Bluetooth (registered trademark). In Bluetooth (registered trademark), there is a form that can be used without time synchronization between transmitting stations.

  The position estimation method shown below is not limited to the case where the radio waves transmitted by each wireless transmission device in the same system interfere with each other, as in the latter system, but is also affected by interference from other systems and devices. It also functions effectively. Similarly, it is also effective in the case of a system in which radio waves transmitted by each wireless transmission device in the same system are reduced from interfering with each other like the former system.

  The outline of the present embodiment and the preferred application example have been described above, but a more specific example of the position estimation system will be described below.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention that estimates the position of a terminal device using a radio signal will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration example of a position estimation system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The position estimation system 1 shown in the figure estimates the position of the terminal device 100 in a real space where a plurality of wireless transmission devices (TX) 400 are arranged. The plurality of wireless transmission devices 400 form a plurality of groups (wireless transmission device group). For example, the plurality of groups include a group G11 (first wireless transmission device group) and a group G21 (second wireless transmission device group). Among the plurality of wireless transmission devices 400, the wireless transmission devices 401, 403, and 405 belong to the group G11, and the wireless transmission devices 402, 404, and 406 belong to the group G21.
The terminal device 100 receives signals wirelessly transmitted from the plurality of wireless transmission devices 400 and notifies the management server 200 of the signal reception status. The data indicating the reception status of signals wirelessly transmitted from the plurality of wireless transmission devices 400 includes data indicating received signal strength and data such as identification information for identifying the wireless transmission devices.
The management server 200 receives data indicating the reception status of signals notified from the plurality of wireless transmission devices 400 from the terminal device 100, and estimates the position of the terminal device 100 from the data indicating the reception status of the signals. When the management server 200 estimates the position of the terminal device 100 from the data indicating the reception status of the signal, the management server 200 divides the plurality of wireless transmission devices 400 into the group G11 and the group G21 and estimates the position of the terminal device 100. To implement.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the position estimation system 1 according to the present embodiment. The position estimation system 1 includes a terminal device 100, a management server 200, and equipment 300. The terminal device 100, the management server 200, and the facility 300 are connected via the network 5. The network 5 is the Internet, a LAN, or the like, and may be connected by using either one or a combination of both.
In addition, the position estimation system 1 in the present embodiment may further include a plurality of wireless transmission devices 400. The plurality of wireless transmission devices 400 are divided into a plurality of groups as shown in FIG. For example, the plurality of groups are a group G11 and a group G21. As shown in the figure, the wireless transmission devices 401, 403, and 405 belong to the group G11, and the wireless transmission devices 402, 404, and 406 belong to the group G21.

Each of the wireless transmission devices 400 of the wireless transmission devices 401 to 406 transmits a wireless signal for detecting a position in accordance with a predetermined condition.
For example, each of the wireless transmission devices 401 to 406 may conform to a specification common to each group or may conform to a specification determined for each group. In other words, each of the wireless transmission devices 401 to 406 may conform to a specification common to each group, or may conform to a specification determined for each group. In the embodiment described below, it is assumed that the radio signal transmitted from each radio transmission device in each group has the same output condition. This output condition includes a physical layer standard (including a transmission power level) of the communication protocol, a link layer standard (frame format, etc.), and the like. For example, each of the wireless transmission devices 401 to 406 determines an output condition at least for each group as described above, and for example, the wireless transmission devices in the group comply with the output condition determined for each group. Send a radio signal. A more specific example is shown. For example, the group G11 wireless transmission device and the group G21 wireless transmission device may be of different types in terms of output conditions, device manufacturer, device type, and the like. Or you may arrange | position the space | interval which arrange | positions the wireless transmission apparatus of group G11, and the wireless transmission apparatus of group G21 by a mutually different space | interval for every group.

  The terminal device 100 is a portable information terminal (client) that can communicate with various servers and the like via the network 5, such as a smartphone, a mobile phone, a notebook PC (Personal Computer), a tablet PC, a portable game machine, and the like. Can be applied. Here, the terminal device 100 is demonstrated as what is a smart phone. Although one terminal device 100 is illustrated in this figure, the terminal devices 100 used by a plurality of users are connected to the management server 200 and the facility 300 via the network 5.

  For example, the terminal device 100 can input setting information for making the environment preferred by the user, and transmits the input setting information to the management server 200. The setting information is, for example, environment designation information that designates an environment that the user likes. The management server 200 acquires the setting information transmitted from the terminal device 100 and manages the acquired setting information for each user. As a result, the user can notify the management server 200 of the environment he / she prefers by operating the terminal device 100, and the management server 200 can manage user setting information.

  The management server 200 controls the operating state of the equipment 300 based on the acquired setting information, and adjusts the environment around the user to be the environment preferred by the user. The management server 200 controls the equipment 300 related to the position of the user based on the user identification information for identifying the user, the current position information of the user, the current time, etc. according to the control from the terminal device 100.

  For example, the management server 200 identifies the terminal device 100 as a terminal device whose position is to be estimated from the identification information of the terminal device 100 notified from the terminal device 100. The management server 200 estimates the position of the terminal device 100 based on the data notified from the terminal device 100. Details of the method for estimating the position of the terminal device 100 will be described later.

Further, after the position of the identified terminal device 100 is estimated, the position of the user may be specified based on the position estimated as the position of the terminal device 100.
For example, when the management server 200 acquires the setting information and the user's current position information from the terminal device 100 operated by the user, the management server 200 changes the environment of the user's current position to an environment corresponding to the setting information. It requests | requires from the installation 300 relevant to the position which operated the said terminal device 100 so that it may become.
The facility 300 adjusts the environment at the position of the terminal device 100 in accordance with a command from the management server 200. Thereby, the management server 200 can adjust the environment of the position where the user who operated the terminal device 100 is present, and can adjust the environment around the user to be an environment preferred by the user.
Here, the following description will be given on behalf of the air conditioning equipment 310.

  Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 2, the details of the configuration of the terminal device 100, the management server 200, and the facility 300 according to the present embodiment will be described.

(Configuration example of equipment 300)
Hereinafter, a configuration example of the facility 300 will be described.
The facility 300 is controlled from the management server 200 in response to a request from the terminal device 100. A predetermined facility instructed by the request is controlled by the management server 200. The facility 300 includes an air conditioning facility 310, a lighting facility 320, and an entrance / exit management facility 330.

In accordance with control from the management server 200, the air conditioning equipment 310 adjusts the temperature and humidity environment of a predetermined area / room in the target building for each area / room.
The lighting facility 320 adjusts the illuminance of a predetermined area / room in the target building according to the control from the management server 200 for each area / room.
The entrance / exit management facility 330 manages a person who enters and leaves the target building and a predetermined area / room in the building. The entrance / exit management facility 330 manages the entrance / exit of the person as described above, and manages whether or not the person is permitted to enter for each target area / room according to the set schedule information and authority information. . For example, the entrance / exit management facility 330 may control a locking part provided in a door of a predetermined area / room as means for restricting entry into the predetermined area / room. Note that the terminal device 100 may determine the person permitted to enter the predetermined area / room.

(Configuration example of management server 200)
Hereinafter, a configuration example of the management server 200 will be described.
The management server 200 controls each facility including at least one of the air conditioning facility 310, the lighting facility 320, and the entrance / exit management facility 330.
The management server 200 associates the operation history information indicating the history of operation of the equipment 300 with the user identification information for identifying the user who has operated the equipment, and is provided in the server storage unit 230 (operation history information storage unit) provided. To remember.

For example, the management server 200 includes a server communication unit 210, a server control unit 220, and a server storage unit 230.
The server communication unit 210 communicates with external devices via the network 5. For example, the server communication unit 210 is connected to the terminal device 100 and the facility 300 via the network 5 to transmit and receive data.

The server control unit 220 includes an operation information acquisition unit 221, a control information generation unit 222, an equipment control processing unit 223, and a position information processing unit 224.
The operation information acquisition unit 221 acquires the setting information transmitted from the terminal device 100 via the network 5. For example, the operation information acquisition unit 221 acquires operation information as setting information transmitted from the terminal device 100 and information for estimating the position of the terminal device 100, and information for estimating the acquired operation information and position. Is stored in the server storage unit 230. For example, the management server 200 can manage the operation history information of each user for each user by managing the operation information acquired from each of the terminal devices 100 of a plurality of users. Moreover, the management server 200 estimates the position of each terminal device based on the information for estimating the position acquired from each of the terminal devices 100 of a plurality of users. By managing the position of each terminal device obtained by estimation, the position of the terminal device used by each user can be managed for each terminal device or for each user.

  For example, the operation information acquisition unit 221 acquires, from the terminal device 100, operation information including “command for control target equipment”, “user ID”, “date / time information”, and target “facility information”. . Thereby, the management server 200 can specify the user (terminal device 100) who requested the control of the equipment, the time, the equipment to be controlled, and the like. The “user ID” may be replaced with identification information for identifying the terminal device, or identification information for simply identifying the terminal device may be added to the operation information.

  The control information generation unit 222 generates control information for controlling the equipment 300 in response to a request from the terminal device 100 after the operation information acquisition unit 221 acquires the operation information from the terminal device 100. For example, the control information generation unit 222 can manage whether or not the user has requested a change in the environment.

  The facility control processing unit 223 controls the facility 300 based on the control information generated by the control information generation unit 222. The individual control of each facility will be described later.

  The position information processing unit 224 receives from the terminal device 100 information such as the received signal strength of the signal arriving from the wireless transmission device 400 and the identification information of the wireless transmission device 400 included in the signal arriving from the wireless transmission device 400. Acquire and store the acquired information in the server storage unit 230. The position information processing unit 224 estimates the position of the terminal device 100 from the information stored in the server storage unit 230. Furthermore, the position information processing unit 224 performs a process necessary for increasing the reliability of the result of estimating the position of the terminal device 100. Details of processing required to increase the reliability of the result of estimating the position of the terminal device 100 will be described later.

  The server storage unit 230 is configured using a recording medium such as a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a flash ROM, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), or a combination thereof. Stores programs, data, various information, etc. for control. For example, the various types of information stored in the server storage unit 230 include a database (operation history information DB) that stores operation history information, a database (user management information DB) that indicates user occupancy management information, and a wireless transmission device An area definition table including transmitting station position information indicating the position where 400 is arranged is stored.

(Configuration example of terminal device 100)
Hereinafter, a configuration example of the terminal device 100 will be described.
The terminal device 100 includes a terminal communication unit 110, a touch panel 120, a terminal storage unit 130, and a terminal control unit 140.

  The terminal communication unit 110 communicates with external devices via the network 5. For example, the terminal communication unit 110 is connected to the management server 200 and the facility 300 via the network 5 to transmit and receive data.

The touch panel 120 includes a display unit 121 and an input unit 122. The display unit 121 and the input unit 122 are configured to overlap with each other. The display unit 121 includes a liquid crystal display that displays information such as images and characters, an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) display, and the like. The input unit 122 receives an operation input from the user by detecting a contact on the display surface of the display unit 121. For example, the input unit 122 includes a touch sensor that detects contact using a change in capacitance, a change in pressure, a change in electrical resistance, and the like. When receiving the operation input from the user, the input unit 122 supplies an operation input signal corresponding to the received operation input to the terminal control unit 140.
If the terminal device 100 is simply used as a means for detecting the position without operating the terminal device 100 or using the terminal device 100 for the purpose of controlling the control object 300 by the operation, the terminal The device 100 does not have the touch panel 120 as an essential component.

  The terminal storage unit 130 is configured using a recording medium such as a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a flash ROM, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), or a combination thereof, and each unit included in the terminal device 100 is provided. Stores programs, data, various information, etc. for control.

  The terminal control unit 140 includes a display control unit 141, an input reception unit 142, a position information acquisition unit 143, an operation information detection unit 144, a communication control unit 145, and a timer unit 146.

When the input reception unit 142 acquires the operation input signal supplied from the input unit 122 to the terminal control unit 140, the input reception unit 142 supplies operation information indicating the operation content to each unit included in the terminal control unit 140 according to the acquired operation input signal. .
Based on the operation input signal acquired by the input reception unit 142 from the input unit 122, the operation information detection unit 144 detects an operation element selected and operated by the user, and generates operation information.
The timer unit 146 functions as a so-called clock and generates time information. For example, the time information is used as information for managing when the terminal device 100 receives a wireless signal from the wireless transmission device 400.
The communication control unit 145 transmits operation information corresponding to the operation detected by the operation information detection unit 144 or information used for estimating the position of the terminal device 100 acquired by the position information acquisition unit 143 to the management server 200. . For example, the information used for estimating the position of the terminal device 100 is included in the received signal strength of the signal arriving from the wireless transmission device 400 detected by the position information acquisition unit 143 and the signal arriving from the wireless transmission device 400. In addition, information such as identification information of the wireless transmission device 400 is included.

  The display control unit 141 controls display on the display unit 121. For example, the display control unit 141 causes the display unit 121 to display an operation input screen for input from the input unit 122 so that the environment desired by the user is specified as the environment around the user. The display control unit 141 displays an image including a plurality of different colors on the display unit.

  Hereinafter, a method for estimating the position of the terminal device 100 in the position estimation system 1 configured as described above will be described.

(Regarding the position estimation of the terminal device 100 in the position estimation system 1)
In order to estimate the position of the terminal device 100, the position estimation system 1 shown in the present embodiment performs the following processing in an appropriate combination.

When the received signal strength is detected as a signal having a lower threshold than the lower limit threshold among the beacons received by the terminal device 100 within a predetermined period, the wireless transmission device that has transmitted the beacon is excluded from the target.
-When the wireless transmission device that transmitted the beacon having the strongest received signal strength among the beacons received by the terminal device 100 for each predetermined period matches N times consecutively, the beacon is transmitted. It is determined as the area of the wireless transmission device.
When a beacon whose received signal strength is equal to or greater than the upper threshold is detected M times (for example, once) from the same wireless transmission device, it is determined as the area of the wireless transmission device that transmitted the beacon.
-When there is no beacon reception continuously, the beacon received after that is determined as the area of the wireless transmission device that has transmitted the beacon.
Hereinafter, the details of the above processing will be described in order.

(When the received signal strength is detected as a signal equal to or lower than the lower limit threshold, the process of removing the wireless transmission device that transmitted the beacon from the target)
With reference to FIG. 3, when a received signal strength is detected as a signal having a lower limit threshold value or less among beacons received by terminal apparatus 100 within a predetermined period, radio transmission apparatus 400 that has transmitted the beacon is targeted. The processing to be removed from will be described. This figure is an explanatory diagram showing processing to exclude a wireless transmission device 400 that has transmitted a beacon whose received signal strength is equal to or lower than a lower limit threshold among beacons received by the terminal device 100 within a predetermined period.
When receiving a wireless signal from the wireless transmission device 400, if the received signal strength is low, it cannot be received stably, or the accuracy of estimating the position is affected by the influence of noise. Therefore, a signal level that facilitates the process of estimating the position is determined in the target range in which the position of the terminal device 100 is detected. For example, a lower threshold is set such that the wireless transmission device 400 that has transmitted a beacon having a signal level that facilitates the process of estimating the position remains, and the number of wireless transmission devices to be subjected to estimation processing is limited.
Note that the lower threshold value of the received signal strength can be determined in advance. For example, the lower limit threshold value of the received signal strength may be a uniform value regardless of the individual wireless transmission device 400. Alternatively, the lower threshold value of the received signal strength may be determined for each wireless transmission device 400 or each group.
When the determination of the received signal strength is limited to a specific channel, a lower limit threshold may be set according to the received signal strength of the channel.

(When the wireless transmission device that has transmitted the beacon with the strongest received signal strength matches N times consecutively, it is determined as the area of the wireless transmission device that has transmitted the beacon)
Referring to FIG. 4, when the wireless transmission device that has transmitted the beacon with the strongest received signal strength matches N times consecutively, the process of determining the area of wireless transmission device 400 that has transmitted the beacon. explain. The figure is an explanatory view showing a process of determining as an area of the wireless transmission device 400 that transmitted the beacon when the wireless transmission device that transmitted the beacon having the highest received signal strength matches N times continuously. It is.
When the position of the terminal device 100 is strictly calculated, it is necessary to perform a calculation process for three-point position measurement based on signals from at least three wireless transmission devices 400. Since the calculation includes calculation processing of the function, the calculation processing load increases as the number of target wireless transmission devices 400 and the number of terminal devices 100 increase.
On the other hand, if the application does not require a precise calculation of the position of the terminal device 100, it is possible to reduce the processing load by performing a simple determination.
For example, when repeatedly performing the process which detects the position of the terminal device 100, the beacon of the strongest received signal strength is extracted from the received beacons for every detection cycle which repeats the detection. When the wireless transmission device 400 that transmitted the extracted beacon repeatedly matches, it is determined that the terminal device 100 exists in the area of the wireless transmission device 400 that transmitted the beacon.
As described above, by performing the determination processing based on the received signal strength, the wireless transmission device 400 that has transmitted the beacon can be identified from the beacons received by the terminal device 100, and the processing load is reduced. be able to.
Note that the number N of times the extracted beacons are repeatedly matched can be set to an arbitrary natural number in advance, and is set to a value that does not lower the extraction rate.

(Processing for determining the area of the wireless transmission device 400 that transmitted the beacon when a beacon whose received signal strength is equal to or greater than the upper threshold is detected M times as being from the same wireless transmission device)
Referring to FIG. 5, when a beacon whose received signal strength is equal to or greater than the upper threshold is detected M times as being from the same wireless transmission device, a process for determining the area of wireless transmission device 400 that transmitted the beacon will be described. To do. The figure is an explanatory diagram showing a process of determining as an area of the wireless transmission device 400 that transmitted the beacon when a beacon whose received signal strength is equal to or greater than the upper threshold is detected M times as being from the same wireless transmission device. is there.

Assuming that the target environment is an ideal environment in which the amount of attenuation increases with distance, the received signal strength increases as the distance from the beacon decreases. Furthermore, when the beacon transmission power is set to the same value, the wireless transmission device 400 having a shorter distance has a higher received signal strength. In the figure, the range drawn with a broken-line circle indicates the relative magnitude of the received signal strength.
Using such a tendency, when a beacon whose received signal strength is equal to or greater than the upper limit threshold is detected M times, it is determined as an area of the wireless transmission device 400 that has transmitted the beacon. In the figure, a range drawn with a solid circle indicates a range that can be determined as an area of the wireless transmission device 400 when a wireless signal from the wireless transmission device 400 is received.
For example, the reception signal strength from a wireless transmission device arranged in the vicinity is determined with a certain threshold, and a region where the reception signal strength is larger than the threshold is determined for each wireless transmission device 400. The predetermined threshold value is set to the above-described upper limit threshold value so that the areas of the wireless transmission devices determined as described above do not overlap. By setting the upper limit threshold in this way, if a radio signal (beacon) having a received signal strength exceeding the upper limit threshold is received, the radio transmission apparatus that has transmitted the radio signal can be uniquely identified. Furthermore, protection against false detection is determined on the condition that M detections are continuously detected. Thereby, when a beacon having a received signal strength equal to or greater than the upper threshold is detected M times as being from the same wireless transmission device, it can be determined that the terminal device 100 is located in the vicinity of the wireless transmission device. .

Further, for example, the value of M may be set to 1 to reduce protection against erroneous detection. Thereby, if a beacon whose received signal strength is equal to or higher than the upper limit threshold value is detected once, it can be determined that the area is not the area of another wireless transmission apparatus 400 but the area of the wireless transmission apparatus 400.
If the transmission power of each beacon is not uniform, the upper threshold value may be corrected so that there is no difference between the reference value and the transmission power value of each beacon.

(If no beacon is received continuously, the area is determined as the area of the wireless transmission device 400 that transmitted the beacon received thereafter)
A description will be given of a process in which a beacon is not received continuously for a predetermined period of time, and then the beacon is received and determined as the area of the wireless transmission device 400 that has transmitted the beacon. This case can be realized by a process similar to the above-described process of “when a beacon whose received signal strength is equal to or greater than the upper limit threshold is detected M times from the same wireless transmission device”.

(Process to increase the reliability of the estimation result of estimating the location where the terminal device 100 exists)
Hereinafter, a process for increasing the reliability of the estimation result of estimating the location where the terminal device 100 exists will be described.
As described above, the management server 200 estimates the position of the terminal device 100 based on the data notified from the terminal device 100. The estimation accuracy depends on the quality of information indicated by data notified from the terminal device 100. For example, even if the terminal device 100 can notify the management server 200 of information extracted from the received wireless signal, the terminal device 100 cannot improve the case where it is difficult to extract information from the received wireless signal.
Therefore, the management server 200 performs the following processing in order to improve the environment in the range in which the position of the terminal device 100 is detected. In the processing shown below, for example, when the propagation state of a radio signal from a specific wireless transmission device 400 to the terminal device 100 is inferior to the propagation state of a wireless signal from another wireless transmission device 400 to the terminal device 100, It can be specified that the estimation accuracy is increased.

With reference to FIG. 6, processing for improving the reliability of the estimation result depending on the arrangement of the wireless transmission devices will be described. This figure is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing for improving the reliability of the estimation result depending on the arrangement of the wireless transmission devices.
It is assumed that a beacon ID of identification information that can be uniquely identified is assigned to each wireless transmission device.

  The terminal device 100 receives a signal transmitted by each wireless transmission device, and identifies a signal that exceeds a preset lower threshold of received signal strength. The terminal device 100 extracts the beacon ID included in the signal from the identified signal. The terminal device 100 notifies the management server 200 of the extracted beacon ID.

The server control unit 220 of the management server 200 extracts the beacon ID notified from the terminal device 100 (step S10).
The server control unit 220 detects the position of the target region for each group of the wireless transmission device 400 using the extracted beacon ID (step S20).

The server control unit 220 determines whether or not there are a plurality of groups whose positions have been detected among the groups with overlapping regions (step S30).
When it is determined by the determination in step S30 that there are not a plurality of groups whose positions have been detected among the groups with overlapping regions (step S30: No), the process proceeds to step S60.

  When it is determined by the determination in step S <b> 30 that there are a plurality of groups whose positions can be detected among the overlapping groups (step S <b> 30: Yes), the server control unit 220 refers to the server storage unit 230. Then, information on the group in which the terminal device 100 could not be stably detected in the past detection cycle is acquired from the group whose position was detected in the current detection cycle, and the group is excluded from the evaluation target (step S40). . For example, the group treated as having been unable to be detected stably in the past detection cycle may include one of a group with a high overdetection rate and a group with a high undetection rate. A group with a high overdetection rate is a group that outputs a result of detection even though the terminal device 100 does not actually exist. A group with a high undetected rate is a group that outputs a result of not detecting even though the terminal device 100 actually exists.

  Through the above processing, groups that cannot be detected stably in the past detection cycle are excluded from the evaluation targets, and the evaluation targets of the current detection cycle are the above remaining groups. The server control unit 220 obtains the position of the terminal device 100 from the detection result in the remaining group (step S50).

  The server control unit 220 records the detection result and the evaluation result in the server storage unit 230 (step S60). The server control unit 220 outputs the obtained position via, for example, the server communication unit 210 (step S70).

  The reliability of the estimation result obtained by estimating the location where the terminal device 100 exists can be increased by the procedure described above. It supplements about "overdetection" and "non-detection" shown in said step S40.

(About over detection)
There are the following cases where overdetection may occur.
The first case is a case where the transmission signal level is higher than other wireless transmission devices and the balance between the wireless transmission devices is broken. For example, such a phenomenon may be eliminated by removing the wireless transmission device 400 detected with a relatively high signal reception intensity from the evaluation target.
In the second case, since the detection rate of other areas adjacent to this area is low, the other area is a true area even though the other area is a true area. May not be detected. Due to the undetected influence that has occurred in other areas adjacent to the book area, the book area adjacent to the other area that is the true area is erroneously determined to be the true area. This is a case where the region is overdetected. For example, such a phenomenon may be solved by increasing the detection rate of other adjacent areas.

(About undetected)
There are the following cases where undetected cases may occur.
The first case is a case where multipath occurs before the terminal device 100 receives the signal output from the wireless transmission device 400. In such a case, the degree of influence due to multipath differs depending on the relationship between the position where the wireless transmission device 400 is installed and the surrounding environment. If neither the position of the wireless transmission device 400 nor the position of the wireless transmission device 400 provided around the position is changed, the degree of occurrence of multipath does not change. For example, in the case of being affected by such multipath, there occurs a situation in which the detection probability varies greatly even if the position of the terminal device 100 slightly changes. Such an event occurs because the propagation characteristics from the wireless transmission device 400 to the terminal device 100 are caused by the relationship between the position where the wireless transmission device 400 is installed and the environment around the position. It may be resolved by changing the position where the 400 is installed or by changing the environment around the position.

The second case is due to the influence from other systems that use the same frequency domain. In such a case, the frequency domain of the signal transmitted by the wireless transmission device 400 is due to the same frequency domain used by other systems. Such a case may be resolved by changing the position where the other system is provided or by preventing the terminal device 100 from receiving a signal from the other system.

  As described above, when it is difficult to change the surrounding environment where the wireless transmission device 400 is installed, it is necessary to review the position of the wireless transmission device 400.

  In addition to the above, in an environment where a person moves, the propagation characteristics change due to the movement of the person. For this reason, the performance as studied on the desk may not be obtained at the actual site. As described above, it is necessary to change the position of the wireless transmission device 400 installed in a place susceptible to human influence so that the influence can be reduced.

  Therefore, in the position estimation system 1 according to the present embodiment, after the wireless transmission device 400 is installed, the detection performance is evaluated, and one method for eliminating the decrease in detection performance due to the detection position is exemplified.

A specific example will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 7 is a plan view illustrating an area defined based on the arrangement of the wireless transmission devices 400 and the combination of the plurality of wireless transmission devices 400. The example shown in the figure schematically shows a case where the wireless transmission device 400 is arranged on the top of the same floor of a building. As shown in the figure, the wireless transmission device 400 is arranged at a position corresponding to a lattice point in a state where the floor is viewed in plan.
In the first row, each wireless transmission device 400 in which the identification information of BID4, BID7, and BID8 is assigned to the grid points in the range from the first column on the left side of the figure to the third column on the right side of the figure. It is provided in order. In the second row, each wireless transmission device 400 to which the identification information of BID5 is assigned to the grid point corresponding to the first column on the left side of the figure is displayed on the grid point corresponding to the third column on the right side of the figure. Each wireless transmission device 400 to which identification information of BID1 is assigned is provided in order. In the third row, each wireless transmission device 400 in which the identification information of BID6, BID3, and BID2 is assigned to the grid points in the range from the first column on the left side of the figure to the third column on the right side of the figure. It is provided in order.
Note that the relationship between a combination of a plurality of wireless transmission devices 400, grouping indicating the combination, and an area determined so as to correspond to the group will be described later.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an area definition table that defines an area based on a combination of a plurality of wireless transmission devices 400.
The area definition table shown in the figure includes items of “area number”, “group number”, “beacon ID”, “stability”, and “overlap”. For example, it is assumed that the area definition table is stored in the server storage unit 230.

The “area number” indicates identification information for identifying a polygon whose apex is the paired wireless transmission device 400. In the “area number” item, identification information for identifying a polygon whose apex is the wireless transmission device 400 in the set is written, and the written identification information is held.

The “group number” indicates identification information that identifies a set of wireless transmission devices 400 that form a polygon identified by the area number. In the item “group number”, identification information for identifying a set of wireless transmission devices 400 forming a polygon identified by the same area number is written, and the written identification information is held.

The “beacon ID” is identification information for identifying the wireless transmission device 400, and indicates the wireless transmission device 400 included in the set identified by the group number. In the item “beacon ID”, identification information for identifying the wireless transmission device 400 included in the set identified by the group number is written, and the written identification information is held.

“Stability” indicates the possibility of stable identification when identifying a position using a set of wireless transmission devices 400. For example, it shows that it can identify stably, so that the value of stability is large. In the “stability” item, data indicating the possibility of being able to be identified stably when the position is identified using the set of the wireless transmission device 400 is written, and the written data is held.

“Overlap” indicates whether or not the area overlaps with another area designated as an area different from the designation of the area. In the “overlap” item, data indicating whether or not the area overlaps with another area designated as an area different from the designation of the area is written, and the written data is retained. Is done. For example, the data indicating whether or not the specified other area overlaps with the area includes data indicating the presence or absence of the overlapping area or data for identifying the overlapping area.

 As shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, the detection target range is defined so as to be divided into areas and include areas where the areas overlap.

For example, the region Z1 indicates a triangle having the BID1, BID3, and BID5 wireless transmission devices 400 forming the group G11 as vertices.
A region Z2 shows a triangle having apexes of BID2, BID4, and BID6 wireless transmission devices 400 forming group G21.
A region Z3 shows a triangle having apexes of the wireless transmission devices 400 of BID1, BID3, and BID7 that form the group G12.
A region Z4 indicates a triangle having the BID2, BID4, and BID8 wireless transmission devices 400 forming the group G22 as vertices.

 For example, the region Z1 includes a region that overlaps either the region Z2 or the region Z4. The region Z3 includes a region that overlaps either the region Z2 or the region Z4. Alternatively, the region Z2 includes a region that overlaps either the region Z1 or the region Z3. The region Z4 includes a region that overlaps either the region Z1 or the region Z3.

Assuming the case where the terminal device 100 is located at the position P1 within the target region defined as described above, processing in that case will be described. Each wireless transmission device 400 is provided at a position corresponding to the transmission power of each wireless transmission device 400 so that the terminal device 100 can detect a signal from each wireless transmission device 400 shown in FIG.
In an environment where the condition that the received signal strength changes according to the distance between each wireless transmission device 400 and the terminal device 100 can be applied, the received signal strength detected by the terminal device 100 at the position P1 is expressed by Equation (1). The order is as shown.

f (3)> f (1)> f (5)> f (2)> f (6)> f (7)> f (8)> (4)
... (1)

  In the above equation (1), f (m) represents the received signal strength of the wireless transmission device 400 whose beacon ID is BIDm.

Here, based on the magnitude of the received signal strength, when selecting the wireless transmission device 400 in descending order of the received signal strength, the wireless transmission device 400 with the beacon ID BID3 can be selected from the received signal strength f (3).
According to the area definition table, it can be seen that the group including the wireless transmission device 400 whose beacon ID is BID3 is the group G11. In this way, the position can be detected by the wireless transmission devices 400 of BID1, BID3, and BID5 included in the group G11.

  However, the position detection by the group G11 using the wireless transmission devices 400 of BID1, BID3, and BID5 is stored in the area definition table as having relatively low stability. For example, it is assumed that there is an environment in which a multipath is easily formed around the BID3 wireless transmission device 400, and the stability of the received signal strength from the BID3 wireless transmission device 400 is low.

In such a case, a group that is defined without including any of the wireless transmission devices 400 included in the group G11 is selected based on the magnitude of the received signal strength.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of processing for obtaining the position of the terminal device 100 from the detection result in the remaining group. The procedure shown in the figure is that the position information processing unit 224 of the server control unit 220 excludes the group G11 except the group G11 when the wireless transmission device 400 included in the group G11 is excluded from the target. The case where the position of the terminal device 100 is obtained from the detection result in the remaining group is shown.

In the case of the above equation (1), the received signal strength f (2) is selected by excluding the wireless transmission device 400 included in the group G11. The position information processing unit 224 selects the wireless transmission device 400 whose beacon ID is BID2 from the received signal strength f (2), and selects the group including the selected wireless transmission device 400 as the group with the highest likelihood (Step). Sa61).
The position information processing unit 224 refers to the area definition table in the server storage unit 230 and identifies that the group including the wireless transmission device 400 whose beacon ID is BID2 is the group G21. In this way, the position information processing unit 224 detects the position by the wireless transmission devices 400 of BID2, BID4, and BID6 included in the group G21, and sets the detection result for the group as the position of the terminal device 100. (Step Sa62).

(Configuration example of wireless transmission device 400)
A configuration example of the wireless transmission device 400 will be described with reference to FIG. The figure is a block diagram showing a wireless transmission device 400.
For example, the above-described wireless transmission device belonging to the first group and the wireless transmission device belonging to the second group each include the following functional units.

The wireless transmission device 400 that represents the wireless transmission devices of each group will be described as an example.
The wireless transmission device 400 includes a transmission unit 410, a transmission control unit 420, a storage unit 430, and a power supply unit 440.

  The storage unit 430 stores a beacon ID that is predetermined identification information of the wireless transmission device 400. The beacon ID is read from the storage unit 430 under the control of the transmission control unit 420, modulated by the transmission unit 410, converted into a high frequency signal, and transmitted as a radio wave from the antenna. As described above, the transmission unit 410 transmits a radio signal according to the transmission timing generated by the transmission control unit 420.

The transmission control unit 420 generates wireless signal transmission timings independently of each other for the other wireless transmission devices 400, and controls transmission from the transmission unit 410 according to the generated transmission timings.
The power of the wireless transmission device 400 is supplied from the power supply unit 440. The power supply unit 440 supplies power obtained from a commercial power supply, a built-in battery, a solar battery, and the like to each functional unit in the wireless transmission device 400.
The configuration of the other wireless transmission devices can be the same as that of the wireless transmission device 400 except for the stored data stored in the storage unit 430.

Note that the transmission unit 410 conforms to the wireless communication standard in which the wireless transmission device 400 belonging to the first group and the wireless transmission device 400 belonging to the second group have the same communication physical layer and link layer standards. Shall.
In addition, the transmission timings of the radio signals transmitted by the wireless transmission device 400 belonging to the first group and the wireless transmission device 400 belonging to the second group are generated without controlling interference on the time axis. Also good. The transmission unit 410 may transmit a radio signal according to the transmission timing generated as described above.

  As described above, according to the position estimation system, the position estimation system 1 shown in the present embodiment can increase the reliability of the estimation result obtained by estimating the location where the terminal device exists.

(Modification)
With reference to FIG. 11, a modified example of the process for obtaining the position of the terminal device 100 from the detection result in the remaining group will be described. This figure is a flowchart showing the procedure of a modified example of the process for obtaining the position of the terminal device 100 from the detection result in the remaining group. This figure corresponds to FIG. 9 described above.

In the above-described embodiment shown in FIG. 9, after removing a specific group of wireless transmission devices 400 from the target, the wireless transmission device 400 is selected based on the received signal strength, and the group including the selected wireless transmission device 400 is selected most. The group with the highest likelihood was selected.
In this modification, after the wireless transmission device 400 of a specific group is excluded from the target, a group with the highest stability of the latest received signal strength is selected from the remaining groups.

As in the case of the above formula (1), a case will be described in which, after the wireless transmission device 400 included in the group G11 is removed, a group with the highest stability of the latest received signal strength is selected from the remaining groups. To do.
For example, by referring to the area definition table, it is detected that the area of the group G11 overlaps with another area designated as an area of a group different from the group G11. For example, the position information processing unit 224 extracts the group G21 and the group 22 as a group different from the group G11 by referring to the area definition table stored in the server storage unit 230. The position information processing unit 224 calculates the stability of the nearby received signal strength for each of the extracted group G21 and group 22. The position information processing unit 224 selects a group whose stability satisfies a predetermined condition based on the calculated stability (step Sb61).

In any group, when it is determined that the stability of the group satisfies a predetermined condition, the position information processing unit 224 selects a group having a wide area that overlaps the area Z1. For example, according to the example shown in FIG. 3, the group G21 is selected. In this way, the position information processing unit 224 detects the presence of the terminal device 100 based on the information from the wireless transmission devices 400 of BID2, BID4, and BID6 included in the group G21, and the result calculated from the information of the group To the position of the terminal device 100.
On the other hand, when it is determined that the stability of any group does not satisfy the predetermined condition and it is determined that the stability of only one group satisfies the predetermined condition, the position information processing unit 224 A group determined to satisfy the condition is selected as a determination result. In this way, the position information processing unit 224 detects the position by each wireless transmission device 400 included in the selected group, and sets the detection result of the group as the position of the terminal device 100 (step Sb62).

  As described above, according to the position estimation system 1 shown in the modification of the present embodiment, the reliability of the estimation result obtained by estimating the location where the terminal device is present can be increased.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described above, but each device of the position estimation system 1 in FIG. 1 has a computer system therein. A series of processes related to the above-described process is stored in a computer-readable storage medium in the form of a program, and the above-described process is performed by the computer reading and executing this program. Here, the computer-readable storage medium refers to a magnetic disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, a semiconductor memory, and the like. Alternatively, the computer program may be distributed to the computer via a communication line, and the computer that has received the distribution may execute the program. The “computer system” here includes an OS and the like.

  Then, all or some of the processes in the wireless transmission device 400, the terminal device 100, the management server 200, and the facility 300 in the position estimation system 1 are performed by a central processing unit such as a CPU in a main memory such as a ROM or a RAM. It is realized by reading the above program into the apparatus and executing information processing and arithmetic processing. Of course, each processing unit constituting the facility operation support system 2 may be realized by dedicated hardware.

Here, the correspondence relationship between the present invention and the above embodiment will be supplementarily described.
In the above embodiment, the position estimation system in the present invention corresponds to the position estimation system 1, the terminal apparatus corresponds to the terminal apparatus 100, and the first radio transmission apparatus group corresponds to the first group (for example, group G21). The second wireless transmission device group corresponds to the second group (for example, group G22). The determination unit corresponds to the position information processing unit 224, and the estimation unit corresponds to the position information processing unit 224. The storage unit corresponds to the server storage unit 230. The wireless transmission device corresponds to the wireless transmission device 400, and the transmission unit corresponds to the transmission unit 410.

As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, the position estimation system 1 of this invention is not limited only to the above-mentioned example of illustration, A various change can be added within the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention. Of course.
For example, in the above description, the case where it is difficult for the terminal device 100 to receive a signal from one wireless transmission device 400 identified by BID3 has been described as an example. This can be applied when it is difficult for the terminal device 100 to receive a signal from the device 400.
For example, when it is difficult for the terminal device 100 to receive signals from the two wireless transmission devices 400 identified by BID3 and BID5, the signals from the two wireless transmission devices 400 included in the group G11 are processed. It becomes difficult. However, instead of processing for the region Z1, processing using another region is still performed based on the technique shown in the above embodiment. Therefore, also in the above case, the method described in the above embodiment can be applied.
Although the case where the above two wireless transmission devices 400 belong to the same group has been illustrated, if the wireless transmission device 400 belongs to a different group, the method shown in the present embodiment is substantially the target of processing. It can be handled as equivalent to the case where the signal of one wireless transmission device 400 belonging to the group to be received cannot be received.
Further, when the power output from the wireless transmission device 400 is configured to be uniform, a signal from the wireless transmission device 400 that is relatively far from the terminal device 100 is a wireless signal that is relatively close to the terminal device 100. The degree of interference with the signal from the transmitter 400 is reduced. Thereby, it is preferable that the groups set so that the regions overlap each other have different distances from the region whose position is to be detected to the wireless transmission device 400.

  The terminal device 100 has been described as being able to receive signals from each wireless transmission device 400. However, when the types (specifications) of the wireless transmission device of the group G11 and the wireless transmission device of the group G21 are different, this is described. Instead of this, a terminal device 100 of a type corresponding to each group may be used. At that time, if the terminal device 100 cannot receive signals from the group G11 wireless transmission device and the group G21 wireless transmission device, the terminal device 100 corresponding to the group wireless transmission device may be used together, 100 may be provided with a plurality of reception systems for receiving signals from the wireless transmission devices for each group. Further, when it is difficult for the terminal device 100 to receive any of the signals from the group G11 wireless transmission device and the group G21 wireless transmission device, the terminal device 100 corresponding to the group wireless transmission device is set as described above. You may make it use together. In addition, when using together the terminal device 100 corresponding to the radio | wireless transmitter of a group, it is made to connect and move the corresponding terminal devices 100 together so that the corresponding terminal devices 100 may move together. May be.

(1) In addition, the position estimation system 1 shown in this embodiment is a signal generated according to a predetermined rule, and transmits radio signals transmitted from a plurality of radio transmission apparatuses that are not synchronized to the terminal apparatus 100. Is received and the position in the real space where the terminal device 100 exists is estimated.
The position estimation system 1 includes a plurality of groups (radio transmission apparatus groups) that are defined so that areas in which the position of a terminal apparatus can be estimated overlap in a target area where a position in real space is estimated. A first group (first wireless transmission device group) and a region that allows position estimation based on the first group and a region that allows position estimation overlap among the plurality of groups. 2 groups (second wireless transmission device group).
The determination unit includes at least a first determination based on a wireless signal from a wireless transmission device belonging to the first group and a second determination based on a wireless signal from a wireless transmission device belonging to the second group. Either determination is performed.
The estimation unit estimates the position of the terminal device 100 according to the determination result of the determination unit.

(2) In the position estimation system 1 according to the above-described embodiment, the region that allows position estimation based on the second group overlaps with the region that allows position estimation based on the first group. Like that.
Such a position estimation system 1 is configured such that an area that enables position estimation based on the second group overlaps with an area that enables position estimation based on the first group. . Thereby, the position estimation system 1 can select one of the regions and perform the position estimation of the terminal device 100.

(3) In addition, the position estimation system 1 according to the above-described embodiment has a relationship between a region where the position can be estimated based on the first group and a region where the position can be estimated based on the second group. And a server storage unit 230 that stores information associated with each other in association with each other.
In the remaining groups, except for the group that could not be stably detected in the past detection from the first group and the second group whose information is stored in the server storage unit 230, the determination unit The detection result is determined.
With such a position estimation system 1, there is information indicating the relationship between a region that allows position estimation based on the first group and a region that allows position estimation based on the second group. It is associated. The position estimation system 1 excludes a group that cannot be stably detected in the past detection from the first group and the second group in which the above-described information is stored in the server storage unit 230. The detection result in the remaining group is determined. Thereby, the position estimation system 1 can determine the detection result in the remaining group and can estimate the position of the terminal device 100.

(4) In addition, the determination unit in the position estimation system 1 of the above embodiment selects either the first group or the second group based on the stability in the past detection, and sets the selected group as the selected group. The determination is made based on a wireless signal from the wireless transmission device 400 to which it belongs.
In such a position estimation system 1, the determination unit selects either the first group or the second group based on the stability in the past detection, and the wireless transmission device belonging to the selected group By determining based on the wireless signal from 400, a group with high stability can be selected. Thereby, the position estimation system 1 can select a group with higher stability, and can estimate the position of the terminal device 100 based on the selected group.

1 position estimation system,
100 terminal device, 140 terminal control unit,
200 management server, 210 server communication unit, 220 server control unit,
230 server storage unit,
300 equipment, 310 air conditioning equipment, 320 lighting equipment, 330 entrance / exit management equipment,
400 Wireless transmission device

Claims (10)

The terminal device receives radio signals transmitted from a plurality of radio transmission devices that are not synchronized, and is a signal generated according to a defined rule, and is in a real space where the terminal device exists. A position estimation system for estimating a position,
A first wireless transmission device group among a plurality of wireless transmission device groups determined so that regions where the position of a terminal device can be estimated overlap in a target region where a position in real space is estimated;
Of the plurality of wireless transmission device groups, a second wireless transmission device group in which a region capable of estimating a position based on the first wireless transmission device group overlaps a region capable of estimating a position;
A first determination based on a wireless signal from a wireless transmission device belonging to the first wireless transmission device group, and a second determination based on a wireless signal from a wireless transmission device belonging to the second wireless transmission device group A determination unit that performs at least one of the determinations;
A position estimation system comprising: an estimation unit configured to estimate a position of the terminal device according to a result of the determination performed. The region that enables estimation of the position based on the second wireless transmission device group is:
The position estimation system according to claim 1, wherein the position estimation system overlaps with an area in which position estimation is possible based on the first wireless transmission device group. Associating information indicating a relationship between a region allowing position estimation based on the first wireless transmission device group and a region enabling position estimation based on the second wireless transmission device group A storage unit for storing,
The determination unit
Among the first wireless transmission device group and the second wireless transmission device group whose information is stored in the storage unit, a wireless transmission device group that could not be detected stably in the past detection The position estimation system according to claim 1, wherein a detection result in the remaining wireless transmission device group is determined. The determination unit
Based on the stability in the past detection, one of the first wireless transmission device group and the second wireless transmission device group is selected, and the wireless signal from the wireless transmission device belonging to the selected wireless transmission device group The position estimation system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the position estimation system is determined based on: Each of the wireless transmission device belonging to the first wireless transmission device group and the wireless transmission device belonging to the second wireless transmission device group,
A transmission control unit that generates transmission timings of wireless signals independently of each other with respect to other wireless transmission devices;
The position estimation system according to claim 1, further comprising: a transmission unit that transmits the wireless signal according to the transmission timing. The transmitter is
The transmission generated without controlling interference on the time axis of radio signals transmitted by the radio transmission devices belonging to the first radio transmission device group and the radio transmission devices belonging to the second radio transmission device group, respectively. The position estimation system according to claim 5, wherein the wireless signal is transmitted according to timing. The transmitter is
The wireless transmission device belonging to the first wireless transmission device group and the wireless transmission device belonging to the second wireless transmission device group shall conform to the wireless communication standard having the same communication physical layer and link layer standards. The position estimation system according to claim 5 or 6, wherein The wireless transmission device belonging to the first wireless transmission device group and the wireless transmission device belonging to the second wireless transmission device group are of different types,
The terminal device
The position estimation system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein a radio signal transmitted from a radio transmission apparatus of a type corresponding to each group is received. The terminal device receives radio signals transmitted from a plurality of radio transmission devices that are not synchronized, and is a signal generated according to a defined rule, and is in a real space where the terminal device exists. A position estimation method in a position estimation system for estimating a position, comprising:
The position estimation system includes:
A first wireless transmission device group among a plurality of wireless transmission device groups determined so that regions where the position of a terminal device can be estimated overlap in a target region where a position in real space is estimated;
Of the plurality of wireless transmission device groups, a region that allows position estimation based on the first wireless transmission device group and a second wireless transmission device group in which regions that allow position estimation overlap. Has
A first determination based on a wireless signal from a wireless transmission device belonging to the first wireless transmission device group, and a second determination based on a wireless signal from a wireless transmission device belonging to the second wireless transmission device group Performing at least one of the determinations of:
Estimating the position of the terminal device in accordance with the result of the determination performed. The terminal device receives radio signals transmitted from a plurality of radio transmission devices that are not synchronized, and is a signal generated according to a defined rule, and is in a real space where the terminal device exists. A position estimation system for estimating a position,
A first wireless transmission device group among a plurality of wireless transmission device groups determined so that regions where the position of a terminal device can be estimated overlap in a target region where a position in real space is estimated;
Of the plurality of wireless transmission device groups, a second wireless transmission device group in which a region capable of estimating a position based on the first wireless transmission device group overlaps a region capable of estimating a position;
In the computer of the position estimation system comprising
A first determination based on a wireless signal from a wireless transmission device belonging to the first wireless transmission device group, and a second determination based on a wireless signal from a wireless transmission device belonging to the second wireless transmission device group Performing at least one of the determinations of:
And a step of estimating the position of the terminal device according to the result of the performed determination.

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