JP2017224301A - Positional information server, position provision system, position provision method and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a positional information server which can improve convenience when using pieces of positional information collected in a server.SOLUTION: A positional information server comprises: a first reception part for receiving positional information acquired by a positional information acquisition part on the basis of a start request, from a terminal device having the positional information acquisition part for acquiring the positional information according to the start request; a storage part for associating the received positional information with information indicating whether or not, an application is the one in which use of the positional information is permitted, for each application, and storing the associated information; and an extraction part for, when there is an extraction request of the positional information which satisfies an extraction condition from an application server for providing an application other than the application that has performed the start request, extracting the positional information which satisfies the extraction condition, out of pieces of positional information associated with information indicating that the application is the one in which use of the positional information is permitted.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

  The present invention relates to a position information server, a position providing system, a position providing method, and a computer program.

  Some Web services obtain user information about a user of the 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 position information of its own device to a Web server, and the Web server transmits information related to the position 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 a certain positioning method with the quality of positioning required by the application, and provides positioning data to one or more applications.

  The position information measured by the positioning method selection device is collected in the server. The provider who provides the application can grasp the position of the user terminal using the position information collected on the server.

JP 2011-209298 A

  However, since the position information collected on the server is enormous, there is a problem that handling of the position information becomes complicated. In particular, when the application provider obtains position information at each timing, the position information measured by each user terminal may increase by the number of applications. In this case, there is a problem that the position information collected in the server is further increased.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of such circumstances, and a position information server, a position providing system, a position providing method, and a computer that can improve the convenience when using the position information collected in the server. The challenge is to provide a program.

(1) One aspect of the present invention is based on a startup request of any of a plurality of applications installed in the terminal device from a terminal device including a location information acquisition unit that acquires location information in response to the startup request. Whether the first receiving unit that receives the position information acquired by the position information acquiring unit and the position information received by the first receiving unit are applications for which use of the position information is permitted for each application. The storage unit stores the storage unit that stores information indicating whether or not, and the application server that provides an application other than the application that requested the activation among the plurality of applications installed in the terminal device. When there is a request to extract the position information that satisfies the extraction condition from the position information, the position information is used. There among the location information associated with information indicating that the application is licensed, an extraction unit for extracting the extracted satisfies the position information is the position information server comprising a.
(2) According to one aspect of the present invention, in the location information server of (1), the storage unit stores information indicating a license period during which use of the location information is licensed for each application. When the permission period of the application newly installed in the terminal device is a period before the installation, the storage unit stores position information corresponding to the permission period of the newly installed application. It is a position information server extracted from the position information to be stored.
(3) One aspect of the present invention is based on the activation information of the application received from the terminal device and the permission information licensed to use the position information in the position information server of either (1) or (2). A position information server that determines an application that makes a startup request among applications installed in the terminal device.

(4) According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a location information server of (1) above, a terminal device including a location information acquisition unit that acquires location information in response to an activation request, and an application installed in the terminal device. A position providing system including an application server to provide.

(5) According to one aspect of the present invention, any one of a plurality of applications installed in the terminal device from a terminal device including a position information acquisition unit in which the position information server acquires position information in response to an activation request A first reception step for receiving the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit based on an activation request, and the position information received by the position information server in the first reception step for each application. A storage step of associating and storing information indicating whether or not the application is permitted to be used in the storage unit; and the location information server issues an activation request among a plurality of applications installed in the terminal device. The storage unit stores information from an application server that provides an application other than the performed application. If there is a request to extract the position information that satisfies the extraction condition from the position information, the position information associated with the information indicating that the application is permitted to use the position information. An extraction step for extracting the position information satisfying the extraction condition.

(6) According to one aspect of the present invention, a startup request for any of a plurality of applications installed in the terminal device from a terminal device including a location information acquisition unit that acquires location information in response to the startup request. The first reception function for receiving the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit based on the position information, and the position information received by the first reception function for each application A storage function for associating and storing information indicating whether or not, and an application server that provides an application other than an application that has requested activation among a plurality of applications installed in the terminal device. There is a request for extracting the position information satisfying the extraction condition from the stored position information. An extraction function for extracting the position information satisfying the extraction condition from the position information associated with the information indicating that the application is permitted to use the position information. It is a computer program.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the convenience at the time of utilizing the positional information collected on the server can be improved.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the position provision system in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the terminal device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the other structure of the terminal device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the other structure of the terminal device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process sequence performed in the terminal device which concerns on one 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 which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the procedure of a position information acquisition and transmission process performed in the terminal device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the operation screen for setting the permission setting information which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the positional infomation server which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the corresponding | compatible table which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, a position providing system 1 according to an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a position providing system 1 according to the 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, contractor information server 44, 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 the location information server 30 manages the received location information. The location information server 30 receives identification information (terminal ID) for identifying each terminal device 10 together with the location information. The contractor information server 44 stores user attribute information associated with the terminal ID. The terminal ID is associated with the user ID of the user who is the owner of the terminal device 10. The location information server 30 refers to the contractor information server 44, acquires user attribute information corresponding to the location information received from the terminal device 10 based on the terminal ID, and manages the attribute information in association with the location information.
Further, the position information server 30 stores each position information in association with information indicating whether the application is permitted to use the position information. Thereby, the position information server 30 can manage whether or not use of each position information is permitted for each application. The user can set permission or non-permission of use of location information, a permission period, and the like for each application. A setting value indicating permission or non-permission set by the user is hereinafter referred to as permission setting information. The permission setting information is, for example, a setting value set for each application, and is information indicating whether or not to permit use of the position information. The permission setting information may include a setting value indicating a permission period.

Further, the position information server 30 extracts position information satisfying the extraction condition from the received position information. In the embodiment, the position information server 30 extracts position information satisfying the extraction condition from the position information associated with the information indicating that the use of the position information is permitted from the position information. The location information server 30 provides the extracted location information to the POI server 42 or the application server 50.
The terminal device 10 transmits position information at an arbitrary transmission timing or every predetermined period. The position information includes positioning time, latitude, and longitude. 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. In this specific example, the location information server 30 accumulates location information in time series for each terminal device 10. Further, the location information server 30 stores permission setting information indicating whether or not the application is permitted to use the location information by the user of the terminal device 10 in association with the location information. Here, there are cases where the user wants to notify the position information of the terminal device 10 (for example, his current position) to others other than himself or not. As an example of the case where the user wants to inform the other person of the position information, there is a case where the user waits at a certain place with another person, or a case where the user wants to acquire information on a certain place. In this case, the user can provide the position information of the terminal device 10 to others by permitting the use of the position information. In addition, when the user does not want to notify the location information to others, the user can stop providing the location information by not permitting the use of the location information.
In addition, the user can set permission or non-approval of use of position information for the position information after the present. Further, the user can set the permission or non-approval of the use of the position information retroactively with respect to the past position information. In other words, the permission or non-permission setting of the use of the position information here includes the meaning of whether or not to use the new position information and the meaning of whether or not to use the already registered position information.

The application here is software that provides a predetermined function when installed in the terminal device 10. This application includes an application installed in the terminal device 10 and an application not installed in the terminal device 10. The permission setting information described above may be set not only for applications installed on the terminal device 10 but also for applications not installed on the terminal device 10.
The application includes an application authenticated by the authentication server 40 and an application that is not authenticated by the authentication server 40. Here, the application authenticated by the authentication server 40 is an application permitted to be used in the terminal device 10 by the authentication server 40. The application that is not authenticated by the authentication server 40 is an application that is not permitted to be used in the terminal device 10 by the authentication server 40. The permission setting information described above is set not only for applications that are permitted to be used in the terminal device 10 by the authentication server 40 but also for applications that are not permitted to be used in the terminal device 10 by the authentication server 40. Also good.

  The permission setting information can be set by various methods. For example, the terminal device 10 may be set for each application. Alternatively, the terminal device 10 may access the location information server 30 and set each of all applications managed by the location information server 30. As a result, the user can set permission setting information for each application on the terminal device 10 as well as access the position information server 30 to set permission setting information. For example, by displaying a list of currently used applications on the terminal device 10, the user can set permission setting information for each application, for each company, or for each type of application while viewing the list. Further, when a new application is installed in the terminal device 10, that fact may be automatically uploaded to the location information server 30 or may be uploaded by a push instruction from the location information server 30. The location information server 30 may request the terminal device 10 to set whether or not to permit the use of location information for a newly installed application.

  In addition, the permission setting information is not limited to information for setting permission or non-permission of use of the position information in the future from the time of setting. The permission setting information may be set retroactively from the time of setting. For example, a permission period indicating a period during which the use of the position information is permitted may be set as the permission setting information.

  The permission setting information can be managed in various ways. For example, the terminal device 10 or the location information server 30 holds permission setting information for which permission or non-license is determined for each application or each user ID. Further, the permission setting information may be held in both the terminal device 10 and the location information server 30.

  The location information server 30 stores the location information and information associated with the permission setting information in its own storage unit, and when the permission setting information is set or changed by the user, the license stored in the storage unit. A part of the setting information may be updated. The update includes a process for registering a set value from a state in which there is no set value and a process for changing the set value to another value.

The location information server 30 transmits the accumulated location information to the POI server 42 and the application server 50. In the embodiment, the location information server 30 selects whether to transmit to the POI server 42 and the application server 50 according to whether or not the use of the location information is permitted. Specifically, the location information server 30 transmits, to the application server 50, location information for which use of location information is permitted in the application provided by the application server 50 among the accumulated location information. On the contrary, the location information server 30 does not transmit to the application server 50 location information that is not permitted to use location information in the application provided by the application server 50 among the accumulated location information.
However, when the terminal device 10 acquires the position information, even if the application is not permitted to use the position information, the use of the position information at that point is permitted as a result of the retroactive change of the permission period thereafter. In the case where the position information server 30 is to be used, the position information server 30 can transmit the position information to the application server 50. That is, the position information server 30 transmits position information corresponding to a license period for which use of the position information is permitted to the application server 50. The permission period during which the location information can be used can be changed at any time.

  Here, the position information server 30 may associate the position information with the permission setting information by itself, or may acquire the position information associated with the terminal device 10 and the permission setting information from the terminal device 10. Hereinafter, the former method is referred to as a server linking method. The latter method is hereinafter referred to as a terminal linking method.

The server linking method will be described. In the case of this method, the position information server 30 holds permission setting information. Here, the permission setting information includes an application ID indicating the application for which the use of the position information is permitted, or the name and type of the application, information indicating the permission period for which the use of the position information is permitted, and the like. The location information server 30 receives location information from the terminal device 10. The position information server 30 refers to the permission setting information, and based on the positioning time included in the received position information, the user of the terminal device 10 that transmitted the position information is permitted to use the position information at the positioning time. Identify the application. The location information server 30 refers to the permission setting information, and based on the information associated with the received location information, the application of which the user of the terminal device 10 that has transmitted the location information is permitted to use the location information. May be specified. The information associated with the position information includes terminal ID, user ID, OS information, web history information, program execution history information, operation history information, charging history information, posture change information, environment information, terminal battery, which will be described later. Contains information such as remaining amount.
The location information server 30 stores permission setting information indicating that use of the location information by the application server 50 that provides the specified application is permitted in the storage unit in association with the location information. Among the permission setting information, permission setting information (permission) indicating that the use of the position information is permitted is set as permission setting information (permission), and permission setting information indicating that the use of the position information is not permitted. (Non-licensed).

The terminal linking method will be described. In the case of this method, the terminal device 10 reads permission setting information from the storage unit. When the permission setting information is stored in the position information server 30, the terminal device 10 may refer to the permission setting information of the position information server 30. The terminal device 10 refers to the permission setting information, and identifies an application that is permitted to use the position information at the positioning time, based on the positioning time included in the position information transmitted to the position information server 30. The terminal device 10 may identify an application that is permitted to use the position information based on the information associated with the position information transmitted to the position information server 30 with reference to the permission setting information.
The terminal device 10 transmits permission setting information (permission) to the position information server 30 in association with the position information. The position information server 30 associates the permission setting information (permission) with the position information received from the terminal device 10 and stores it in its own storage unit. The terminal device 10 may directly transmit the acquired position information to the application server 50 that provides an application for which use of the position information is permitted.

  The application server 50 is a server device corresponding to each of a plurality of applications. A plurality of application programs can be installed in the terminal device 10. In the present embodiment, a case where application programs A to C are installed in the terminal device 10 will be described as an example. In this specific example, the application server 50A is a server device corresponding to the application program A. The application server 50B is a server device corresponding to the application program B. The application server 50C is a server device corresponding to the application program C. The application server 50 receives position information from the terminal device 10 that is permitted to use position information for its own application via the position information server 30. In other words, the application server 50 includes position information associated with permission setting information (permission) indicating permission to use the position information for an application corresponding to itself among the position information stored in the position information server 30. Receive.

  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 or may be transmitted from the POI server 42 to the terminal device 10. Thereby, the application server 50 and the POI server 42 can display an advertisement or the like suitable for the position of the terminal device 10 on the terminal device 10. In this example, the application information corresponds to information based on the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit of the terminal device 10.

  The authentication server 40 performs various authentication processes when the terminal device 10 starts communication with the location information server 30. The authentication process performed by the authentication server 40 includes, for example, a terminal authentication process, a user authentication process, or an application authentication process. Specific examples of these authentication processes will be described. 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. Here, the terminal ID is information such as a unique symbol or number for identifying the terminal device 10. 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. Here, the user ID is information such as a unique symbol or number for identifying a user who uses the terminal device 10. 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. Here, the application ID is information such as a unique symbol or number for identifying each application program.

  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 information indicating the latitude and longitude of a store or the like. The POI server 42 receives a request from the terminal device 10, the position information server 30 or the application server 50. This request includes the position information of the terminal device 10. In response to accepting this request, the POI server 42 searches for POI information corresponding to the position information, 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 return a location ID, a location name, a category, and the like corresponding to the position information as a search result.
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.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the terminal device 10 according to the 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 and moved by a 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. When the authentication server 40 performs application authentication, the position information may be associated with the application ID of the application that has been successfully authenticated. 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 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 and the completion of the normal operation. Specifically, the operation state of the GPS positioning unit 16 transitions from the sleep state to the normal operation state with the activation request from the processing unit 12 as a trigger. The operation state of the GPS positioning unit 16 transitions from the normal operation state to the sleep state, triggered by the completion of the positioning calculation. Here, the activation request is a request that is output from the processing unit 12 to the GPS positioning unit 16 and is a command that requests execution of a process 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 application programs A, B, and C. In the present embodiment, each of the plurality of application processing units 120A, 120B, and 120C executes arbitrary application processing. Moreover, although this embodiment demonstrates the example which performs three application programs A, B, and C, it is not restricted to this. The application processing unit 120 only needs to execute two or more application programs at the same time.

  The terminal device 10 may perform an operation for application authentication when the application programs A, B, and C are activated. In this case, when the application program is activated, the terminal device 10 transmits an application ID predetermined for each application program to the authentication server 40. More specifically, the terminal device 10 transmits an application ID indicating the application program A to the authentication server 40 when the application program A 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 program to be activated only when the authentication result is “permitted”.

The processing unit 12 can execute a plurality of application programs A, B, and C at the same time. The processing unit 12 executes an application program with a low priority among the plurality of application programs A, B, and C in the background. Note that the application programs A, B, and C may be set to output an activation request every predetermined period. The predetermined period may be set for each of the application programs A, B, and C. Examples of the predetermined period include 1 minute, 10 minutes, and 1 hour.
In the terminal device 10 of the present embodiment, even if the application program outputs an activation request, any one of the position information acquisition control units 122A, 122B, and 122C outputs the activation request to the GPS positioning unit 16.

  The storage unit 18 stores a position information library attached to each of the application programs A, B, and C. In the embodiment, a position information library A is attached to the application program A. The application program B is attached with a position information library B, and the application program 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.

  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 for each application.

  The position information acquisition control units 122 </ b> A, 122 </ b> B, and 122 </ b> C output activation requests to the GPS positioning unit 16. In the embodiment, the activation request is output from any one of the position information acquisition control units 122A, 122B, and 122C. The position information acquisition control units 122A, 122B, 122C acquire the position information generated by the GPS positioning unit 16 in response to the activation request, and output the acquired position information to the application processing units 120A, 120B, 120C. In the embodiment, the GPS positioning unit 16 outputs the generated position information to any one of the position information acquisition control units 122A, 122B, and 122C that output the activation request. Any one of the position information acquisition control units 122A, 122B, and 122C to which the position information is input may output the position information to another position information acquisition control unit. As a result, each of the application processing units 120A, 120B, and 120C can use the position information generated by the GPS positioning unit 16.

  Here, the position information acquisition control units 122A, 122B, and 122C may output the position information to the application processing unit 120 corresponding to the application that is permitted to use the position information based on the permission setting information. . That is, the position information acquisition control units 122A, 122B, and 122C do not output position information to the application processing unit 120 corresponding to an application that is not permitted to use the position information. The position information acquisition control units 122A, 122B, and 122C may refer to the permission setting information stored in the terminal device 10, or may refer to the permission setting information stored in the position information server 30.

  The application programs A, B, and C are provided with location information libraries A, B, and C, respectively. However, all the location information acquisition control units 122A, 122B, and 122C are not necessarily connected to the GPS positioning unit 16. It is not necessary to output a start request. That is, the processing unit 12 has 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 122A, 122B, and 122C. It only has to exist. The “one position information acquisition control unit 122” is realized by a position information library which is a master described later. “One position information acquisition control unit 122” may be attached as one position information library corresponding to a plurality of applications, as will be described later with reference to FIG.

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 program 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 program 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 program.

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.

  As described above, 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 application program among the plurality of application programs 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. 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. The storage unit 18 may store permission setting information. The permission setting information may include information indicating the date and time when the use of the position information is permitted, information indicating the date and time when the use of the position information is not permitted, and the like.

  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.

Further, the storage unit 18 stores the following information.
The storage unit 18 stores a terminal ID assigned to the terminal device 10.
The storage unit 18 stores a user ID assigned to the user of the terminal device 10.
The storage unit 18 stores web history information related to the access history to the web page accessed by the terminal device 10 at the position indicated by the position information and the 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.

  The storage unit 18 stores 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.

  The storage unit 18 stores 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.

  The storage unit 18 stores charging history information indicating whether or not the terminal device 10 is in the charging mode at the position indicated by the position information. The charging history information includes a time when the terminal device 10 starts charging and a time when charging ends. Further, the charge history information may include the remaining capacity of the terminal device 10 and the ratio of the remaining capacity.

  The storage unit 18 stores posture change information indicating a change in 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.

  The storage unit 18 stores 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 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. The position information acquisition control unit 122 may transmit all or part 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 together with the position information.

  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.

The location information acquisition control unit 122 associates information about the terminal device 10 such as a user ID, a terminal ID, a terminal model name, and an OS (Operating System) type with the location information, and sends the location information via the communication unit 14. You may transmit to the server 30. Further, the position information acquisition control unit 122 may transmit the position information in association with the positioning method of the position information and the 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. Further, when the terminal device 10 exists in the Wi-Fi network, the location information acquisition control unit 122 may transmit the location information in association with the ID of the access point of the Wi-Fi network. Furthermore, when the terminal device 10 is communicating by starting the Bluetooth (registered trademark) function, the location information acquisition control unit 122 transmits the location information in association with an ID as a Bluetooth (registered trademark) terminal. Also good. In addition, permission settings may be set for each piece of position information.
Further, 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 transmitted from the location 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. For example, the terminal device 10 may measure the position information in accordance with the push instruction from the position information server 30. Further, the push instruction of the position information server 30 may be performed according to the positioning timing instructed from the application server 50 to 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 application.
The predetermined condition may be a predetermined period transmitted from the application server 50 when the position information is transmitted directly to the application server 50 without going through 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.

Next, an example of associating information indicating whether or not an application is permitted to use position information with position information in a system that employs a terminal association method will be described.
For example, the processing unit 12 associates permission setting information with position information. Note that the position information acquisition control unit 122 having the authority of the master is not limited to the processing unit 12, and the permission setting information may be associated with the position information. The processing unit 12 refers to the permission setting information and associates the application ID indicating the application for which the use of the position information is permitted by the user of the terminal device 10 with the position information acquired during the permission period. The permission period is, for example, a period during which use of location information is permitted by the user. The permission period is set by the user for each application program. The permission period is included in the permission setting information.

  As described above, the GPS positioning unit 16 measures the position information in response to the activation request output from the position information acquisition control unit 122 having the authority of the master. However, in the present embodiment, the processing unit 12 associates application IDs indicating all applications that are permitted to use position information with the position information when the position information is measured. That is, the processing unit 12 is associated with the position information including the application ID indicating the application having the authority of the slave, not limited to the application having the authority of the master that has output the activation request. By receiving the positional information and permission setting information associated in this way, the positional information server 30 writes the following information in the correspondence table 38T.

  For example, it is assumed that the positioning interval of the app A is every 5 minutes, the positioning interval of the app B is 1 hour, and the positioning interval of the app C is 3 hours. Here, when the application A has the master authority, the position information measured at intervals of 5 minutes is written in the correspondence table 38T of the position information server 30. In addition, when the use of the position information is permitted in each of the applications A to C, “◯” is displayed in the columns of “application A”, “application B”, and “application C” in the permission setting information of the correspondence table 38T. Written. Thereby, the position information server 30 can provide the position information measured at intervals of 5 minutes to all of the application servers 50A to 50C of the applications A to C. In addition, the application servers 50B and 50C of the applications B and C can use the position information measured at intervals shorter than the prescribed positioning intervals.

  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.

FIG. 4 shows still another configuration example of the terminal device 10. In the terminal device 10, the position information acquisition unit 160 includes an acceleration sensor 161 in addition to the GPS positioning unit 16 described above. The acceleration sensor 161 changes its physical quantity in accordance with a change in acceleration applied to the terminal device 10 that is its own device. The acceleration sensor 161 may be a semiconductor capacitance sensor.
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 161 is provided. However, the gravity sensor, the gyro sensor, or the geomagnetic sensor may be provided together with the acceleration sensor 161 or instead of the acceleration sensor 161.

  The acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor 161 corresponds to the behavior of the terminal device 10. The position information acquisition unit 160 detects the movement of the own device based on the behavior detected by the acceleration sensor 161. The position information acquisition unit 160 updates the movement amount in response to detecting the movement of the own device. Unlike the actual movement amount of the terminal device 10, this movement amount is a movement amount estimated from the behavior of the terminal device 10. This movement amount is output from the position information acquisition unit 160 to the processing unit 12. Thereby, the processing unit 12 can accumulate in the storage unit 18 the position information of the own device that changes according to the movement amount.

  Note that the position information acquisition unit 160 may detect that the device itself has moved based on a change in physical quantity in the acceleration sensor 161. The position information acquisition unit 160 can cause the position information acquisition control unit 122 to determine the positioning timing in response to detecting that the own apparatus 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 moving state. 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 the positioning timing based on an identifier of a communication area in which the communication unit 14 can communicate. Examples of the identifier of the communication area include a cell ID of a base station or an access point ID in a Wi-Fi network. The position information acquisition control unit 122 can determine that the timing at which it is determined that the identifier of the communication area detected by the communication unit 14 has changed is the positioning timing.

  Next, the operation of the terminal device 10 will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart for determining whether to perform master determination processing for determining the position 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. 5, the terminal device 10 determines whether or not a plurality of application programs are simultaneously activated by the processing unit 12. If a plurality of application programs are activated, the process proceeds to step S102. When only one application program 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. 6, the processing unit 12 determines whether or not the current operation mode of the own apparatus is the power saving mode. 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 program 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 may determine the position information acquisition control unit 122 attached to the application program with the old version as the position information acquisition control unit 122 having the authority of the master. The processing unit 12 may determine the position information acquisition control unit 122 attached to an application program with less information to be acquired 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 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 program 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. The processing unit 12 may detect the position information acquisition control unit 122 attached to the application program having the oldest installation date and the least likely to be deleted as the position information acquisition control unit 122 of the master candidate. Good. Further, the processing unit 12 may detect the position information acquisition control unit 122 attached to the application having the most types of position information to be acquired as the position information acquisition control unit 122 of the master candidate. Further, the processing unit 12 may detect the position information acquisition control unit 122 attached to the application with the highest positioning frequency 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. 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 may receive information indicating the remaining amount of charge together with the location information from the terminal device 10 and may instruct to change the master when the remaining amount of charge falls below a predetermined capacity. .

  In addition, the location information server 30 is attached with a master location information library based on a list that defines the information of the activated application received from the terminal device 10 and permission information that the user has 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.

  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. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure for causing the terminal device 10 to acquire position information by the master position information acquisition control unit 122 and transmitting the acquired position information to the position information server 30.

  First, in step S300, the master position information acquisition control unit 122 determines whether or not the positioning timing has come. The positioning timing is a timing for acquiring the position information of the own device. The positioning timing is a time interval set in advance in the own apparatus. The positioning timing may be a time interval specified by the position information server 30.

  In the next step S <b> 302, the master position information acquisition control unit 122 outputs an activation request to the GPS positioning unit 16. Thereby, the GPS positioning part 16 receives a GPS signal, performs a triangulation calculation, and pinpoints the position of an own apparatus. The GPS positioning unit 16 acquires the specified position as position information. The position information acquired by the GPS positioning unit 16 is supplied to the position information acquisition control unit 122 having the authority of the master. The position information acquisition control unit 122 having the authority of the master accumulates the supplied position information in the storage unit 18 together with the positioning time.

  In the next step S304, the position information acquisition control unit 122 having the authority of the master notifies the position information acquisition control unit 122 having the authority of the slave that the position information has been acquired in step S302.

  In the next step S306, the position information acquisition control unit 122 having the authority of the master determines whether or not the request is received from the position information acquisition control unit 122 having the authority of the slave. When the request is received (step S306: YES), the position information acquisition control unit 122 having the authority of the master stores the position information accumulated in step S302 in the position information acquisition control unit 122 having the authority of the slave that transmitted the request. Is output (step S308). The position information acquisition control unit 122 having the authority of the master outputs the position information to the position information acquisition control unit 122 having the authority of all the slaves that output the request. After the notification in step S304, if there is no request from the position information acquisition control unit 122 having the authority of the slave and a predetermined time has elapsed, the process may be timed out and the process proceeds to step S310.

In step S <b> 310, the position information acquisition control unit 122 having the authority of the master determines whether it is the transmission timing of the position information to the position information server 30. The transmission timing of the position information is when a predetermined time has elapsed from the previous transmission timing. The predetermined time is a time determined in advance in the own apparatus. The predetermined time may be a time interval requested by the location information server 30.
When the transmission timing of the positional information is reached (step S310: YES), the positional information acquisition control unit 122 having the authority of the master reads the positional information that has not been transmitted to the positional information server 30 from the storage unit 18, and the positional information server 30 (step S312). If it is not the transmission timing, the position information acquisition control unit 122 having the authority of the master returns the process to step S300.

Next, an operation screen for setting permission setting information will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation screen for setting permission setting information.
The operation screen may be a screen displayed on the terminal device 10 when the terminal device 10 accesses the location information server 30, and is displayed on the terminal device 10 when the terminal device 10 accesses a predetermined address. It may be a screen.
As shown in FIG. 8, on the operation screen for setting permission setting information, “all application permission” B1, “permission” B2, and “non-permission” B3 are displayed. “Permission” B2 and “Non-Permission” B3 are provided for each application. For example, an application installed in the terminal device 10 is displayed on the operation screen for setting the permission setting information. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and on the operation screen for setting the permission setting information, an installable application that is not yet installed in the terminal device 10 may be displayed.

  The “all application permission” B1 is an operation unit that receives an operation for permitting the use of position information for all applications displayed on the operation screen. When "all application permission" B1 is instructed, a setting for permitting the use of the position information for all applications displayed on the operation screen for setting permission setting information is accepted.

The “permission” B2 is an operation unit that receives an operation for permitting the use of position information for the associated application. When “permission” B2 is instructed, a setting for permitting the use of the position information for the associated application is accepted.
The “non-permission” B3 is an operation unit that receives an operation for not permitting use of position information for the associated application. When “non-permitted” B3 is instructed, a setting not to permit the use of the position information for the associated application is accepted.

The applications associated with “permitted” B2 and “non-permitted” B3 are applications displayed on the left side of the respective operation screens of “permitted” B2 and “unlicensed” B3. In the illustrated example, the use of position information is permitted for the application A, and the use of position information is not permitted for the applications B and C. In the “permitted” B2 and the “non-permitted” B3, the character display color is lighter than the background color. On the other hand, the display mode that is not set is determined and displayed, and the character color is darker than the background color.
In addition, the operation screen for setting permission setting information can be set for each type of information transmitted to the external device when the permission is granted, for the purpose of transmitting information to the external device, and for each type of application. It is described that there is.

  Next, the configuration of the location information server 30 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the location information server 30 according to the embodiment. The location information server 30 includes a processing unit 32, a first communication unit 34, a second communication unit 36, and a storage unit 38.

The first communication unit 34 includes a reception unit and a transmission unit that communicate with the terminal device 10. The first communication unit 34 receives position information from the terminal device 10. Further, the first communication unit 34 receives permission setting information from the terminal device 10.
The second communication unit 36 includes a reception unit and a transmission unit that communicate with the application server 50. The second communication unit 36 transmits the position information to the application server 50 that provides an application whose use is permitted by the user.

The storage unit 38 stores position information received from the terminal device 10. Here, an example of the correspondence table 38T stored in the storage unit 38 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the correspondence table 38T stored in the storage unit 38. As illustrated in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 10, the correspondence table 38T includes a user ID, permission setting information, position information, web history information, program execution history information, operation history information, charging history information, posture change information, It is a table that associates environmental information.
The user ID, position information, web history information, program execution history information, operation history information, charging history information, attitude change information, and environment information are information received from the terminal device 10. The permission setting information is information received from the terminal device 10 in the case of the terminal association method, and is information associated with the position information server 30 in the case of the server association method.

Details of the permission setting information and the position information associated with the user ID in the correspondence table 38T will be described.
The permission setting information includes a column for each application ID. The permission setting information may be composed of only a column of applications installed in the terminal device 10, or may include a column of all applications recognized by the location information server 30. That is, the permission setting information may include a column of applications that are not installed in the terminal device 10. Each row of the permission setting information stores information indicating whether or not the use is permitted by the user for each position information. In the drawing, the permission setting information (permission) is indicated by “◯”, which indicates that the use of the position information is permitted by the user. The permission setting information (non-permitted) is indicated by “-”, and indicates that the use of the position information is not permitted by the user.
The position information includes a column indicating latitude and longitude, and a column indicating positioning time.

The processing unit 32 is a software function unit that functions when a processor such as a CPU executes a program stored in a memory. Some or all of these functional units may be hardware functional units such as an LSI or an ASIC.
The processing unit 32 includes an extraction unit 321 and an authentication unit 322. The authentication unit 322 determines whether or not the application server 50 that requests the position information is a valid application server 50. The legitimate application server 50 is a server that is permitted to acquire position information. For example, the authentication unit 322 cooperates with the authentication server 40 and determines that the application server 50 authenticated by the authentication server 40 is a valid application server 50. The authentication unit 322 may determine whether or not the application server 50 is a legitimate application server 50 by executing a process similar to the authentication process executed by the authentication server 40. The authentication as to whether or not the application server 50 is legitimate may be authentication based on a combination of an ID and a password, or may be authentication using an IP address.

  The extraction unit 321 extracts position information satisfying the extraction condition from the storage unit 38. The extraction condition can be arbitrarily set by the position information server 30 or the application server 50. When set by the application server 50, the second communication unit 36 receives information for setting the extraction condition. The extraction unit 321 extracts position information that satisfies the extraction condition set by the information received by the second communication unit 36. The second communication unit 36 transmits the position information extracted based on the extraction condition set by the application server 50 to the application server 50 that has transmitted the extraction condition.

For example, when an application is set as the extraction condition, the extraction unit 321 extracts position information associated with the application set as the extraction condition from the position information associated with the permission setting information (permission). . More specifically, the extraction unit 321 refers to the correspondence table 38T and associates the application set with “o” indicating that the use of the position information is permitted among the applications set as the extraction condition. The obtained position information is extracted. As a result, the extraction unit 321 can extract the position information corresponding to the set application, which is permitted to be used, and transmit the extracted position information to the application server 50. Therefore, the application server 50 can only acquire and display position information about its own application from among the position information that the user has permitted use.
However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the extraction unit 321 may refer to the permission setting information and extract an application that is permitted to use the position information from among the applications set as the extraction condition. For example, the extraction unit 321 extracts the position information measured within the period permitted for use in the permission setting information based on the positioning time included in the position information in the correspondence table 38T.

  The extraction unit 321 refers to the user attribute information associated with the user ID based on the user ID indicating the user permitted to use the application set as the extraction condition, and permits the use of the set application. You may extract the user's attribute. As a result, it is possible to extract the attributes of a user who is permitted to use a specific application.

For example, when the user attribute is set as the extraction condition, the extraction unit 321 refers to the user attribute information associated with the user ID, and the user ID of the user that satisfies the user attribute set as the extraction condition The associated position information is extracted. More specifically, the extraction unit 321 searches the user ID associated with the set user attribute with reference to the correspondence table 38T, and the position information associated with the user ID obtained by the search. To extract. Note that user attribute information associated with the user ID may be stored in the storage unit 38 or may be stored in an external server. The user's attribute information includes, for example, age, gender, preference, area where they live, area where they often go out, and the like. Thereby, the extraction part 321 can extract the positional information which shows the position where the user who has the set attribute existed.
Here, the extracting unit 321 refers to the correspondence table 38T and associates with permission setting information (permission) among the position information associated with the user ID of the user who satisfies the user attribute set as the extraction condition. The obtained position information may be extracted.

For example, when time or a period is set as the extraction condition, the extraction unit 321 refers to the positioning time included in the position information and extracts the position information measured at the time or period set as the extraction condition. More specifically, the extracting unit 321 refers to the correspondence table 38T and extracts position information including positioning time that matches the set time or time. Matching the time may be a case where it matches the set time, and includes a case where the time is included in a predetermined period including the set time. Matching the time means a case where the time is included within a set time, for example, from 12:00 to 13:00. Thereby, the extraction part 321 can extract the positional information which shows the position where the terminal device 10 existed in the set time or period.
Here, the extraction unit 321 refers to the correspondence table 38T, and extracts position information associated with the permission setting information (permission) from the position information measured at the time or period set as the extraction condition. May be.
In addition, the extraction unit 321 refers to the user attribute information associated with the terminal ID based on the terminal ID indicating the terminal device 10 that has transmitted the position information at the set time or time, and sets the set time or time. The attribute of the user of the terminal device 10 that has transmitted the position information may be extracted. Thereby, the attribute of the user of the terminal device 10 that transmitted the position information at a specific time or time can be extracted.

For example, when a place is set as an extraction condition, the extraction unit 321 refers to map data and extracts position information corresponding to a predetermined range including the place set as the extraction condition. More specifically, the extraction unit 321 refers to the correspondence table 38T and extracts the position information of latitude and longitude included within a predetermined radius centered on the latitude and longitude of the place set as the extraction condition. . Examples of places set as extraction conditions include facilities such as stations and landmarks, mountains, rivers, seas, and the like. The map data may be stored in the storage unit 38 or may be stored in an external server. Thereby, the extraction part 321 can extract the positional information which shows the position of the terminal device 10 which existed around the set place or the set place.
Here, the extraction unit 321 refers to the correspondence table 38T, and extracts position information associated with permission setting information (permission) among position information corresponding to a predetermined range including a place set as an extraction condition. It may be extracted.
Further, the extraction unit 321 refers to the user attribute information associated with the terminal ID based on the terminal ID indicating the terminal device 10 existing at the set location, and determines the attribute of the user existing at the set location. It may be extracted. Thereby, the attribute of the user who existed in the specific place can be extracted.

For example, when the facility category is set as the extraction condition, the extraction unit 321 refers to the map data and extracts position information corresponding to a predetermined range including the location of the facility of the category set as the extraction condition. . More specifically, the extraction unit 321 refers to the correspondence table 38T, and obtains position information of latitude and longitude included in a predetermined radius centered on the latitude and longitude of the facility of the category set as the extraction condition. Extract. It is assumed that there are a plurality of facilities of the category set as the extraction condition. The extraction unit 321 extracts position information included in a predetermined range centered on at least one of the facilities. The categories set as extraction conditions include, for example, restaurants, convenience stores, bookstores, parking lots, supermarkets, nurseries, schools, and the like. The facility category includes a store name, a parking lot name, and the like. Thereby, the extraction part 321 can extract the positional information which shows the position of the terminal device 10 which existed in the facility of the set category. For example, when a convenience store is set as a category, the extraction unit 321 can extract position information indicating the position of the terminal device 10 existing in a convenience store with a different store name.
Here, the extraction unit 321 refers to the correspondence table 38T, and is associated with permission setting information (permission) among position information corresponding to a predetermined range including the location of the facility of the category set as the extraction condition. The position information may be extracted.
Further, the extraction unit 321 exists in the facility of the set category with reference to the user attribute information associated with the terminal ID based on the terminal ID indicating the terminal device 10 existing in the facility of the set category. User attributes may be extracted. Thereby, the attribute of the user who existed in the facility of the specific category can be extracted.

For example, when a website is set as the extraction condition, the extraction unit 321 refers to the web history information and extracts, for example, position information indicating the position of the terminal device 10 that has accessed the website set as the extraction condition. To do. More specifically, the extraction unit 321 refers to the correspondence table 38T and extracts position information associated with web history information indicating the access history to the set website. Thereby, the positional information which shows the position of the terminal device 10 which accessed the specific website can be extracted with the website information.
Here, the extraction unit 321 refers to the correspondence table 38T, and accesses the website set as the extraction condition based on the permission setting information of the application or the application server 50 that is permitted to use the position information. Position information indicating ten positions may be extracted.
Further, the extraction unit 321 refers to the attribute information of the user associated with the terminal ID based on the terminal ID indicating the terminal device 10 that has accessed the set website, and the user who has accessed the set website Attributes may be extracted. Thereby, the attribute of the user who accessed the specific website can be extracted.

For example, when the type or name of the program is set as the extraction condition, the extraction unit 321 refers to the program execution history information and determines the position where the terminal device 10 has executed the program of the type or name set as the extraction condition. The position information shown is extracted. More specifically, the extraction unit 321 refers to the correspondence table 38T and extracts position information associated with program execution history information indicating the set program. Thereby, the positional information which shows the position of the terminal device 10 which performed the specific program is extractable.
Here, the extraction unit 321 refers to the correspondence table 38T and corresponds to permission setting information (permission) among the position information indicating the position where the terminal device 10 has executed the program of the type or name set as the extraction condition. The attached position information may be extracted.
Further, the extraction unit 321 refers to the attribute information of the user associated with the terminal ID based on the terminal ID indicating the terminal device 10 that has executed the set program, and determines the attribute of the user who has executed the set program. It may be extracted. Thereby, the attribute of the user who executed the specific program can be extracted.

For example, when the type or name of the operation by the user is set as the extraction condition, the extraction unit 321 refers to the operation history information, and the terminal device 10 accepts the operation of the type or name set as the extraction condition from the user. Position information indicating the selected position is extracted. Specifically, the extracting unit 321 refers to the correspondence table 38T and extracts position information associated with operation history information indicating the set operation. Thereby, it is possible to extract position information indicating a position where a specific operation is input to the terminal device 10.
Here, the extraction unit 321 refers to the correspondence table 38T, and the permission setting information (permission) among the position information indicating the position where the terminal device 10 has received the operation of the type or name set as the extraction condition from the user. You may extract the positional information matched with.
Further, the extracting unit 321 refers to the user attribute information associated with the terminal ID based on the terminal ID indicating the terminal device 10 that has received the set operation, and determines the attribute of the user who has input the set operation. It may be extracted. Thereby, the attribute of the user who input a specific operation can be extracted.

For example, when the charging condition is set as the extraction condition, the extraction unit 321 refers to the charging history information and extracts position information indicating the position where the terminal device 10 was in the charging state. More specifically, the extracting unit 321 refers to the correspondence table 38T and extracts position information including the positioning time from the time when charging is started to the time when it is ended. Thereby, the positional information which shows the position where the terminal device 10 was charged can be extracted.
Here, the extraction unit 321 refers to the correspondence table 38T and extracts position information associated with permission setting information (permission) from position information indicating a position where the terminal device 10 is in the charged state. Also good.
Further, the extraction unit 321 refers to the user attribute information associated with the terminal ID based on the terminal ID indicating the terminal device 10 in the charged state, and determines the user attribute of the terminal device 10 in the charged state. It may be extracted. Thereby, the attribute of the user who is charging can be extracted.

For example, when a change in posture is set as the extraction condition, the extraction unit 321 refers to the posture change information and extracts position information indicating a position where the posture of the terminal device 10 has changed. Specifically, the extraction unit 321 refers to the correspondence table 38T and extracts position information associated with the posture change information. Thereby, the positional information which shows the position where the attitude | position of the terminal device 10 changed can be extracted. When the posture change information indicates how the posture has changed, the extraction unit 321 includes position information indicating a position where the posture of the terminal device 10 satisfies the posture change condition set as the extraction condition. It may be extracted. Further, the extraction unit 321 may determine the state of the user based on the posture change information. For example, the extraction unit 321 determines whether the user is moving or the user is traveling based on a time-series change indicated by the posture change information. When the user condition is set as the extraction condition, the extraction unit 321 extracts position information associated with the posture change information indicating that the user is traveling.
Here, the extraction unit 321 refers to the correspondence table 38T, and extracts position information associated with permission setting information (permission) from position information indicating a position where the attitude of the terminal device 10 has changed. Good.
Further, the extraction unit 321 refers to the user attribute information associated with the terminal ID based on the terminal ID associated with the posture change information, and extracts the user attribute of the terminal device 10 whose posture has changed. Also good. Thereby, it is possible to extract the attributes of the user who is moving or jogging.

For example, when any one of the environmental conditions is set as the extraction condition, the extraction unit 321 refers to the environmental information and extracts position information indicating a position that satisfies the environmental condition set as the extraction condition. More specifically, the extracting unit 321 refers to the correspondence table 38T and extracts position information associated with environment information that satisfies the set environment conditions. Thereby, it is possible to extract position information indicating the position of the terminal device 10 that is likely to exist in the set environmental condition. For example, in a predetermined facility, an audible sound or an inaudible sound including identification information indicating a place is output. The terminal device 10 present in this facility extracts identification information from the collected audible or inaudible sound and outputs it to the position information server 30. As described above, when it is desired to grasp the position of the facility that outputs the audible sound or the inaudible sound including the identification information indicating the location, it is set as the extraction condition that the terminal device 10 has received the identification information indicating the location. Thereby, the extraction part 321 can extract the positional information which shows the position of the plant | facility which satisfy | fills extraction conditions.
Here, the extraction unit 321 refers to the correspondence table 38T, and among the position information indicating the position where the terminal apparatus 10 has acquired the environment information that satisfies the environment conditions set as the extraction condition, You may extract the positional information matched.
Further, the extraction unit 321 refers to the attribute information of the user associated with the terminal ID based on the terminal ID indicating the terminal device 10 that exists in the environment that satisfies the environment condition, and the user of the user that exists in the environment that satisfies the environment condition. Attributes may be extracted. Thereby, the attribute of the user who existed in the environment which satisfy | fills environmental conditions can be extracted.

  Based on the extracted information, the extraction unit 321 may execute an analysis process for analyzing the behavior of the user who owns the terminal device 10.

  Note that the extraction unit 321 of the processing unit 32 is not limited to transmitting position information to the application server 50 in response to a request from the application server 50. For example, the application server 50 may specify a future period or date / time to the position information server 30 and request the position information measured during the specified period or date / time. When the period or date specified by the application server 50 elapses, the position information server 30 extracts the position information, user ID, and the like measured during the specified period or date and transmits them to the application server 50.

Next, an example of associating position information with permission setting information in a system that employs a server association method will be described.
For example, based on the permission setting information stored in the storage unit 38, the processing unit 32 determines whether there is an application that permits the use of the position information measured within the permission period. When the processing unit 32 determines that there is an application that permits the use of position information, the processing unit 32 associates permission setting information (permission).
For example, it is assumed that the positioning time of the position information P1 is included in the permission period of the application A and not included in the permission periods of the applications B and C. In this case, based on the permission setting information, the processing unit 32 sets “◯” in the column of application A and “B” in the columns of applications B and C among the columns of permission setting information corresponding to the position information P1 in the correspondence table 38T. Write “-” respectively. In the permission setting information, when the permission period is changed, the processing unit 32 rewrites the permission setting information in the correspondence table 38T based on the changed permission setting information.

  In the above description, the example in which the permission setting information is information indicating permission or non-permission of use of the position information has been described, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the permission setting information may include information indicating whether or not to permit use of at least one of web history information, program execution history information, operation history information, charging history information, posture change information, and environment information. Each user can also set whether or not to permit the use of each piece of information. Further, the user can set permission or non-permission of use of these pieces of information for each application. When these usages are permitted, the extraction unit 321 of the location information server 30 can extract the location information using the usage-licensed information.

  As described above, according to the position information server 30, a set of position information stored for each user without the application and the application server 50 having been permitted to use the position information individually storing and managing the position information. Can be used in common by a plurality of applications and the application server 50. This makes it possible to improve the efficiency of management of location information and reduce the server capacity.

  Further, according to the location information server 30, as long as the location information usage permission period is included, the application and the application server 50 can use location information within that period. Thereby, information other than the position information item set by the application and the application server 50 and information other than the positioning timing can be acquired.

  Further, according to the position information server 30, when information that is permitted to be used by a plurality of applications is associated with one position information, one position information is commonly used for the plurality of applications. be able to. This makes it possible to improve the efficiency of management of location information and reduce the server capacity.

  Further, according to the position information server 30, the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit 160 based on the activation request determined according to the relationship between a plurality of applications that can be used in the terminal device 10 is stored. In other words, the position information server 30 can manage whether or not to permit the use of each position information for the position information measured when it is the positioning timing of another application but not its own positioning timing. Thereby, the application server 50 or the like can use not only the position information measured at the positioning timing of its own application but also the position information measured at a timing other than the positioning timing of its own application.

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 location information server.

Further, a computer program for realizing the functions of the terminal device 10 and the location information server 30 described above is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded on the recording medium is read into a computer system and executed. You may do it. 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, 160 ... Position information acquisition part, 161 ... Acceleration sensor, 18 ... Storage unit, 30 ... Location information server, 40 ... Authentication server, 42 ... POI server, 50, 50A, 50B, ..., 50N ... Application server, 120, 120A, 120B, 120B ... Application processing unit, 122, 122A , 122B, 122C ... position information acquisition control unit, 32 ... processing unit, 321 ... extraction unit, 34 ... first communication unit, 36 ... second communication unit, 38 ... storage unit

Claims (6)

Location information acquired by the location information acquisition unit based on a startup request of any of a plurality of applications installed in the terminal device from a terminal device including a location information acquisition unit that acquires location information in response to the startup request A first receiving unit for receiving
A storage unit that stores the position information received by the first reception unit in association with information indicating whether the application is permitted to use the position information for each application;
An extraction request for the location information that satisfies an extraction condition from the location information stored in the storage unit, from an application server that provides an application other than the application that made the activation request among a plurality of applications installed in the terminal device If there is, an extraction unit that extracts the position information that satisfies the extraction condition from the position information associated with the information indicating that the application is permitted to use the position information;
A location information server comprising: The storage unit stores, for each application, information indicating a license period during which use of location information is licensed,
The extraction unit, when the permission period of the application newly installed in the terminal device is a period before the installation, the position information corresponding to the permission period of the newly installed application, Extracting from the position information stored in the storage unit,
The location information server according to claim 1. Based on the activation information of the application received from the terminal device and the permission information licensed to use the location information, the application that performs the activation request among the applications installed in the terminal device is determined.
The location information server according to claim 1 or 2. The location information server according to claim 1;
A terminal device including a position information acquisition unit that acquires position information in response to an activation request;
An application server for providing an application installed in the terminal device;
A position providing system comprising: From the terminal device provided with a location information acquisition unit that acquires location information in response to an activation request, the location information acquisition unit based on the activation request of any of a plurality of applications installed in the terminal device. A first receiving step of receiving the acquired position information;
The location information server stores the location information received in the first reception step in a storage unit in association with information indicating whether the location information is an application permitted to use the location information for each application. A memory step to
The location information server satisfies an extraction condition from the location information stored in the storage unit from an application server that provides an application other than an application that has requested activation among a plurality of applications installed in the terminal device When there is a request for extracting the position information, the position information satisfying the extraction condition is extracted from position information associated with information indicating that the application is permitted to use the position information. An extraction step;
A position providing method including: On the computer,
Location information acquired by the location information acquisition unit based on a startup request of any of a plurality of applications installed in the terminal device from a terminal device including a location information acquisition unit that acquires location information in response to the startup request A first receiving function for receiving
A storage function for storing the position information received by the first reception function in association with information indicating whether the application is permitted to use the position information for each application;
An extraction request for the location information that satisfies an extraction condition from the location information stored in the storage function, from an application server that provides an application other than the application that made the activation request among a plurality of applications installed in the terminal device An extraction function for extracting the position information that satisfies the extraction condition from the position information associated with the information indicating that the application is permitted to use the position information;
Computer program for realizing.

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