JP2023124589A - Parking position management system - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a parking position management system that makes it possible to upgrade positional accuracy by avoiding unstable conditions derived from interference between radio waves, and can readily take over information on a parking position independently of the situation of a communication line of a portable information terminal in the stage of identifying the parking position.SOLUTION: All of plural beacon units installed within a parking lot 10 originate the same radio wave (first radio wave α). An application 140, installed in a portable information terminal 40 for use, receives the first radio wave α, and originates a second radio wave β triggered by the reception of the first radio wave. Each of the beacon units 110 includes receiving means capable of receiving the second radio wave β, identifies a parking position on the basis of the reception status of the second radio wave β, and allows a server to store the information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a technique for easily grasping a parking position in a parking lot.

In large-scale multi-storey parking lots, underground parking lots, etc., there are various inventions for notifying the parking position to the user's portable information terminal in order to solve the situation in which the position of the vehicle parked by the user becomes unknown.

For example, in Patent Document 1, after installing a plurality of transmitters for each predetermined area in a parking lot, different radio waves (signals) are transmitted from these transmitters, and the mobile information terminal that receives them has its own communication line. to display and grasp the parking position by receiving information that can identify the parking position (information that identifies the parking position linked to the received radio wave (signal)) from a predetermined server via .

Japanese Patent No. 6424327

However, as in the invention described in Patent Document 1, when each transmitter emits a unique radio wave (signal), there is a problem that the signal received by the portable information terminal cannot be identified due to radio wave interference. there were. There is also a dilemma that the more the transmitter is installed with a finer mesh in order to increase the positional accuracy, the more likely it is to cause interference, and a lot of unnecessary work such as preliminary interference investigation and interference countermeasures occurs.

In addition, in a parking lot, which is not necessarily desirable as a communication environment, information is exchanged with a predetermined server using the communication line on the mobile information terminal side in order to identify the parking position, so depending on the communication status of the communication line There was also the problem of not being able to specify the parking position.

Furthermore, since communication with the server is based on the identification information of the mobile information terminal itself, there is also the problem that the recorded location information cannot be used when the person who parks the vehicle is different from the person who uses the vehicle next. there were.

Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve these problems, and makes it possible to avoid the unstable state due to interference between radio waves and improve the position accuracy, and at the stage of specifying the parking position. An object of the present invention is to provide a parking position management system that does not depend on the condition of a communication line of a portable information terminal and can easily take over the information on the parking position.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides an application installed in a mobile information terminal for use, a plurality of beacon units installed in a parking lot, and a position of each of the plurality of beacon units in the parking lot. a server storing information as to whether the mobile information terminal is installed; and a communication terminal capable of communicating with each of the plurality of beacon units and with the server, wherein the application is the mobile information terminal , the plurality of beacon units all transmit the same radio wave (first radio wave), and the application receives the first radio wave. As a trigger, a signal (second radio wave) including mobile information terminal identification information linked to the mobile information terminal is transmitted from the mobile information terminal, and each of the plurality of beacon units has a receiving means capable of receiving the second radio wave. A parking position is specified based on the reception status of the second radio wave, and the information is stored in the server.

With this configuration, it is possible to avoid an unstable state due to interference between radio waves and improve the position accuracy. In the present invention, location information is not determined by the type of radio waves that are transmitted. The radio waves emitted from the multiple beacon units installed in the parking lot are all the same radio wave (first radio wave), and are used to detect that the mobile information terminal has entered (and is in) the area. Only the presence or absence of is important, and there is no problem even if interference or attenuation between the first radio waves occurs. Also, when the beacon unit side receives the second radio wave transmitted from the mobile information terminal side, by stopping the transmission of the first radio wave from the beacon unit side for a very short time, becomes only the second radio wave, and interference and attenuation can also occur. In addition, since the parking position is determined from the position information of the beacon unit (having receiving means) that received the second radio wave transmitted from the portable information terminal side, the position can be specified simply and clearly. can.

In addition, since the recording of the information accompanying the exchange of the first radio wave and the second radio wave to the server is performed without relying on the communication line of the portable information terminal side of the user, the state of the communication line of the portable information terminal side There is also an advantage that it can be performed without depending on

Further, the application is characterized by continuing to transmit the second radio wave while receiving the first radio wave.

By configuring in this way, it is possible to follow the movement after entering the parking lot without interruption and accurately.

Also, the present position in the parking lot is determined as the position of the beacon unit provided with the receiving means receiving the second radio wave having the strongest intensity.

With this configuration, the position can be specified by simply following one radio wave transmitted from the portable information terminal. If there are multiple portable information terminals that use the system and move at the same time in the same parking lot, the number of types of second radio waves will increase, which may cause radio wave interference. Since there are far fewer than the number, radio interference is extremely unlikely to be a problem.

Further, based on information from walking state detection means (or movement state detection means) provided in the portable information terminal, movement in the parking lot is movement in a riding state or movement in a walking state. It is characterized by determining whether In addition, the position where the movement in the riding state is switched to the movement in the walking state is specified as the parking position. If there is a gap between the final position of movement in the riding state and the initial position of movement in the walking state, it is possible to specify the middle position as the parking position.

Further, the application has a function of outputting information including the mobile information terminal identification information by some means, and is characterized in that the output information including the mobile information terminal identification information can be delivered to another mobile information terminal. and

With this configuration, even if the person who used the vehicle last and the person who will use it next are different (for example, if another member of the family is driving, a rental car installed in the parking lot) can be positioned without problems. Information can be passed on. For example, there is a method in which identification information is displayed on a two-dimensional bar code, and the person taking over takes a picture of it and copies the information.

Further, the plurality of beacon units and the communication terminal are connected by wire through a daisy chain, and power is also supplied through the connection.

By configuring in this way, it is possible to install the optimum beacon unit according to the size and shape of the parking lot, and to install it at low cost.

Further, the timing at which the application starts receiving the first radio wave or the timing at which the receiving means first receives the second radio wave is defined as the entering time, and the timing at which the application stops receiving the first radio wave or the reception. The timing at which the means finally received the second radio wave is used as the time of leaving the parking lot to manage entering and exiting the parking lot.

In this way, it becomes possible not only to manage parking positions, but also to manage parking fees and availability of parking spaces.

It should be noted that the term "vehicle" as used herein is not limited to automobiles, and is a concept that includes two-wheeled vehicles and bicycles.

By applying the present invention, it is possible to avoid an unstable state due to interference between radio waves and improve the position accuracy, and at the stage of specifying the parking position, it is possible to achieve Furthermore, it is possible to provide a parking position management system that can easily take over information on parking positions.

1 is a schematic diagram of an example in which a parking position management system, which is an example of an embodiment of the present invention, is installed in a parking lot; FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of a beacon unit; FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram conceptually showing the relationship between a mobile information terminal and applications; 1 is a conceptual diagram showing the flow of operation of a parking position management system, (a) showing a state in which a vehicle is about to enter a parking lot where a first radio wave is being transmitted, and (b) showing a state in which the vehicle is entering the first 1 is a diagram showing a state in which the vehicle has entered a parking lot where radio waves are being transmitted. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing a state in which a second radio wave is transmitted from a form information terminal possessed by a user, in which (a) is a state in which the user is moving in a parking lot in a vehicle; It is the figure which showed the state which is moving on foot. FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing exchange of information between a communication terminal and a beacon unit;

Hereinafter, a parking position management system 100, which is an example of an embodiment of the present invention, will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In order to facilitate understanding of the drawings, it should be noted that the sizes and dimensions of various parts are exaggerated, and that some parts do not necessarily match the actual product. In addition, each drawing is viewed in the direction of the reference numerals, and is expressed as up, down, left, right, front, and back based on the direction.

<Configuration of parking position management system>
A parking position management system 100 shown as an example of an embodiment of the present invention includes an application 140 installed and used in a mobile information terminal 40, a plurality of beacon units 110 installed in a parking lot 10, and the plurality of beacon units. 110 can communicate with each of the plurality of beacon units 110, and can communicate with the server 130 that stores information about where in the parking lot 10 each of the beacon units 110 is installed. and a communication terminal 120 (see FIG. 1).

A plurality of beacon units 110 are connected to the communication unit 120 in a daisy chain connection 118 . Although FIG. 1 shows two daisy chains 118 installed in the parking lot 10, one daisy chain or three or more daisy chains may be installed. It can be freely changed according to the scale and shape of the parking lot. Similarly, although one communication terminal 120 is not installed in FIG. 1, two or more may be installed. Each of the plurality of beacon units 110 has identification information (beacon unit ID) that does not overlap with other beacon units for identifying each unit.

Communication terminal 120 is connected to server 130 via the Internet or Ethernet and is configured to be communicable.

The server 130 has at least storage means, means for exchanging information with the outside, and means for recording the exchanged information in the storage means (not shown).

As shown in FIG. 2, the beacon unit 110 includes a transmitter 113 that transmits a radio wave (first radio wave) and a receiver that can receive the radio wave (second radio wave) transmitted from the morphological information terminal 40 ( 114 and a control unit 111 that controls the transmitter 113 and receiver 114 and exchanges information with the communication unit 120 via a daisy chain connection 118 . Incidentally, the daisy chain connection 118 enables power supply and information transmission simply by connecting in a rosary-like manner via the connector 112 .

A dedicated application is installed in advance in a mobile information terminal (such as a smart phone) 40 carried by the user 20 . As shown in FIG. 3, this application 140 can be used by a transmitter 42 and a receiver 43 (for example, a Bluetooth (registered trademark) radio wave transmission/reception function) provided in the mobile information terminal 40, as well as the status of the mobile information terminal. Walking state detection means or movement state detection means 44 (for example, an acceleration sensor is used) that can detect whether there is (for example, whether the owner is walking or moving in a vehicle) (things) and configured to be able to use these functions. Naturally, it is possible to exchange information by connecting to the Internet using a communication line provided in the portable information terminal 40 .

In addition, the server 130 stores position information about where in the parking lot 10 each of the plurality of beacon units 110 is installed (position information associated with the beacon unit ID). This positional information is not limited as long as the position in the parking lot 10 can be specified to some extent, for example, a symbol or mark indicating a certain area in the parking lot 10, or a number attached to the parking space.

<Actions and functions of the parking position management system>
Next, a procedure for identifying the parking position of the vehicle 30 in the parking lot 10 and allowing the user 10 to know it will be described.

As shown in FIG. 4A, a user 20 possessing a portable information terminal 40 with a dedicated application 140 installed is about to enter a parking lot 10 in which the parking position management system 100 is installed. A plurality of beacon units 110 installed in the parking lot 10 all transmit the same first radio wave α.

When the vehicle 30 enters the parking lot 10, the mobile information terminal 40 receives the first radio wave α (see FIG. 4(b)).

Upon receiving the first radio wave α, the mobile information terminal 40 starts transmitting the second radio wave β according to the command of the installed application 140 (see FIG. 5A). Although the first radio wave α transmitted from the beacon unit 110 side is not shown in FIG. 5, the first radio wave α is basically always transmitted. Also, the transmission of the second radio wave β is continuously performed while the first radio wave α is being received.

Further, the second radio wave β transmitted from the mobile information terminal 40 includes identification information (AA) for specifying the installed application 140, identification information for specifying the mobile information terminal 40 (BBB... · BBB), and identification information (C) for determining whether the person is traveling by vehicle or walking.

Since all the beacon units 110 are equipped with a receiver 114 capable of receiving the second radio wave β, the beacon unit 110 receiving the second radio wave β has its radio wave intensity and the identification information (AA) ( BBB...BBB) (C) is received.

As shown in FIG. 5(b), when the user 20 gets out of the vehicle 30 and is walking, the identification information (C) for determining whether the user 20 is moving by vehicle or walking. Although the content changes to a state indicating walking, the second radio wave β continues to be transmitted, and the beacon unit 110 side continues to receive the second radio wave β.

As shown in FIG. 6, the communication means 120 to which the plurality of beacon units 110 are connected receives the second radio wave β together with the inquiry number (DDDDDDD) for each beacon unit 110 at predetermined intervals. Inquiries are made in sequence as to whether or not there are any.

The beacon unit 110 receiving the second radio wave β is associated with the inquiry number (DDDDDDDD), identification information (beacon unit ID) for identifying its own beacon unit, and other information (portable information terminal Identification information for identification (BBB...BBB), received radio wave intensity (EEEEE), and identification information (C) for determining whether the vehicle is moving by vehicle or walking) are returned as return data to the communication means 120. to answer.

The communication means 120 which received these information conveys the information to the server 130, and the said server 130 records it.

In such a flow, the information related to the second radio wave β is continuously recorded in the server.

If there is one beacon unit 110 receiving the second radio wave β, the position of that beacon unit 110 is identified as the current position.

When there are a plurality of beacon units 110 receiving the second radio wave β, the position of the beacon unit 110 with the strongest reception intensity among the plurality of beacon units 110 is specified as the current position.

A "parking position" is specified as a position where the state of moving in a vehicle is switched to a state of walking.

If there is a gap between the last position at which it can be determined that the vehicle is moving and the first position at which it can be determined that the user is walking, the middle position is specified as the "parking position."

Even when the location of the vehicle 30 once parked is changed, it is possible to specify the position by tracing the same process.

Finally, when the communication line of the mobile information terminal 40 is ready for communication, the application 140 communicates with the server 130 and displays the specified parking position on the application screen. This may be done automatically or by the user 20's operation.

As described above, the parking position management system 100 shown as an example of the embodiment of the present invention includes the application 140 installed and used in the mobile information terminal 40, the plurality of beacon units 110 installed in the parking lot 10, and the A server 130 storing information about where each of the plurality of beacon units 110 is installed in the parking lot 10, and capable of communicating with each of the plurality of beacon units 110, and the server and a communication terminal 120 capable of communicating with 130, wherein the application 140 can communicate with the server 130 as necessary via the communication line of the mobile information terminal 40, and the plurality of beacon units 110 are: All the same radio waves (first radio wave α) are transmitted, and the application 140 generates a signal (second radio wave β) is transmitted from the mobile information terminal 40, and each of the plurality of beacon units 110 is provided with a receiver (receiving means) 114 capable of receiving the second radio wave β, and the reception status of the second radio wave β. , and the information is stored in the server 130 .

With this configuration, it is possible to avoid an unstable state due to interference between radio waves and improve the position accuracy. In the present invention, location information is not determined by the type of radio waves that are transmitted. All the radio waves transmitted from the plurality of beacon units 110 installed in the parking lot are the same radio wave (first radio wave α), and it is detected that the portable information terminal 40 has entered (or is in) the area. Therefore, only the presence or absence of signals is important, and there is no problem even if interference or attenuation between the first radio waves α occurs. Further, when the beacon unit 110 receives the second radio wave β transmitted from the mobile information terminal 40 side, the transmission of the first radio wave α from the beacon unit 110 is stopped for a very short period of time. Only the second radio wave β is present in , and interference and attenuation can also occur. In addition, since the parking position is determined from the position information of the beacon unit 110 (having receiving means) that receives the second radio wave β transmitted from the portable information terminal 40 side, the position can be specified simply and clearly. It can be carried out.

Further, the recording of the information accompanying the exchange of the first radio wave α and the second radio wave β in the server 130 is performed without relying on the communication line of the portable information terminal 40 on the user side. There is also an advantage that it can be performed without depending on the state of the communication line.

Further, since the application 140 continues to transmit the second radio wave β while receiving the first radio wave α, the movement after entering the parking lot 10 can be followed accurately without interruption. It's becoming

Also, the position of the beacon unit 110 receiving the second radio wave β having the highest intensity is determined to be the current position within the parking lot 10 . That is, the position can be specified only by following one radio wave (second radio wave β) transmitted from the portable information terminal 40 side. If there are a plurality of portable information terminals 40 moving simultaneously using the system in the same parking lot 10, the number of types of the second radio waves β increases, which may cause radio wave interference. is much less than the number of beacon units 110, radio interference is very unlikely to be a problem.

Furthermore, based on the information from the walking state detection means (or movement state detection means) 44 provided in the portable information terminal 40, the movement in the parking lot 10 is determined whether the movement is in the riding state or in the walking state. It is judged whether it is the movement of In addition, the position where the movement in the riding state is switched to the movement in the walking state is specified as the parking position. In the unlikely event that there is a gap between the final position of movement in the riding state and the initial position of movement in the walking state, it is possible to specify the middle position as the parking position. It is possible to grasp the parking position.

Further, the application 140 has a function of outputting information including the mobile information terminal identification information by some means, and can pass the output information including the mobile information terminal identification information to another mobile information terminal. , even if the person who used the vehicle last and the person who uses it next are different (for example, if another member of the family is driving, a rental car installed in the parking lot, etc.), location information can be handed over without problems. For example, there is a method in which identification information is displayed on a two-dimensional bar code, and the person taking over takes a picture of it and copies the information.

In addition, the plurality of beacon units 110 and the communication terminal 120 are wired 118 through a daisy chain, and power is also supplied through the connection. Accordingly, it is possible to install the optimum beacon unit 110 and to install it at low cost.

Further, the timing at which the application 140 starts receiving the first radio wave α or the timing at which the beacon unit 110 first receives the second radio wave β is defined as the parking time, and the application 140 receives the first radio wave α. It is also possible to manage entering and exiting the parking lot 10 by setting the timing when the beacon unit 110 last receives the second radio wave β as the timing of leaving the parking lot. In addition, it is possible to manage parking fees and the availability of parking spaces.

<Other configuration examples>
The server 130 may be installed on the cloud.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Parking lot 20... User 30... Vehicle 40... Personal digital assistant 100... Parking position management system 110... Beacon unit 111... Control part 112... Connector 113. ... transmitter 114 ... receiver (receiving means)
118 Daisy chain connection 120 Communication terminal 130 Server 140 Application α First radio wave β Second radio wave

Claims (9)

An application installed and used on a mobile information terminal,
Multiple beacon units installed in the parking lot,
a server that stores information about where each of the plurality of beacon units is installed in the parking lot;
a communication terminal communicable with each of the plurality of beacon units and communicable with the server;
The application can communicate with the server as necessary via the communication line of the portable information terminal,
The plurality of beacon units all transmit the same radio wave (first radio wave),
The application, triggered by the reception of the first radio wave, transmits a radio wave (second radio wave) including the mobile information terminal identification information linked to the mobile information terminal from the mobile information terminal,
each of the plurality of beacon units has a receiving means capable of receiving the second radio wave;
A parking position management system, wherein a parking position is specified based on the reception status of the second radio wave, and the information is stored in the server. In claim 1,
The parking position management system, wherein the application continues to transmit the second radio wave while receiving the first radio wave. In claim 1 or 2,
A parking position management system, wherein the position of the beacon unit having the receiving means receiving the second radio wave of the highest intensity is determined as the current position in the parking lot. In claim 3,
Furthermore, based on information from a walking state detection means provided in the portable information terminal, it is determined whether the movement in the parking lot is the movement in the riding state or the movement in the walking state. Parking position management system. In claim 4,
A parking position management system characterized by identifying a position where movement in a riding state is switched to movement in a walking state as a parking position. In claim 5,
A parking position management system characterized by identifying an intermediate position as a parking position when there is a gap between the final position of movement in a riding state and the initial position of movement in a walking state. In any one of claims 1 to 6,
The application is characterized in that it has a function of outputting information including the mobile information terminal identification information by some means, and can pass the output information including the mobile information terminal identification information to another mobile information terminal. parking position management system. In any one of claims 1 to 7,
A parking position management system, wherein the plurality of beacon units and the communication terminal are connected by wire through a daisy chain, and power is also supplied through the connection. In any one of claims 1-8,
The timing at which the application starts receiving the first radio wave or the timing at which the receiving means first receives the second radio wave is set as the entering time,
Parking position management, characterized in that entry/exit of the parking lot is managed with the timing at which the application ceases to receive the first radio wave or the timing at which the receiving means finally receives the second radio wave as the time of leaving the parking lot. system.

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