JP2024072518A - Information processing device, information processing method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a technology for performing appropriate positioning. [Solution] An information processing device has an acquisition unit that acquires from a first radio device information based on the number of times positioning has been performed using a method that performs positioning based on radio waves from other radio devices before position information of a first radio device is determined using the method, and acquires from the second radio device information based on the number of times positioning has been performed using the method before position information of a second radio device is determined using the method, a control unit that determines which of the first radio device and the second radio device is to be used for positioning based on the information acquired by the acquisition unit, and a positioning unit that performs positioning based on the position information of the radio device determined by the control unit and the angle with the radio device. [Selected Figure] Figure 4

Description

The present disclosure relates to an information processing device, an information processing method, and a program.

In recent years, various technologies have been considered for performing positioning (measuring the current location) indoors, etc., using AoA (Angle of Arrival), AoD (Angle of Departure), etc. (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2021-092578 A

However, the conventional technology has a problem in that it may not be possible to perform proper positioning, for example, in places relatively far from positioning devices that have been installed in advance in facilities, etc.

The purpose of this disclosure is to provide technology that can perform appropriate positioning in consideration of the above-mentioned problems.

In a first aspect of the present disclosure, an information processing device has an acquisition unit that acquires from a first radio device information based on the number of times positioning has been performed using a method that performs positioning based on radio waves from another radio device before position information of a first radio device is determined using the method, and acquires from the second radio device information based on the number of times positioning has been performed using the method before position information of a second radio device is determined using the method, a control unit that determines which of the first radio device and the second radio device is to be used for positioning based on the information acquired by the acquisition unit, and a positioning unit that performs positioning of the target based on the position information of the radio device determined by the control unit and the angle between the radio device and the target.

In addition, in a second aspect of the present disclosure, an information processing method is provided that acquires from a first radio device information based on the number of times positioning has been performed using a method that performs positioning based on radio waves from another radio device before position information of a first radio device is determined using the method, acquires from the second radio device information based on the number of times positioning has been performed using the method before position information of a second radio device is determined using the method, determines which of the first radio device and the second radio device is to be used for positioning based on the acquired information, and performs positioning of the target based on the position information of the determined radio device and the angle between the radio device and the target.

In addition, in a third aspect of the present disclosure, a program is provided that causes a computer to execute a process of acquiring information from a first radio device based on the number of times positioning has been performed using a method that performs positioning based on radio waves from another radio device before position information of a first radio device is determined using the method, acquiring information from the second radio device based on the number of times positioning has been performed using the method before position information of a second radio device is determined using the method, determining which of the first radio device and the second radio device is to be used for positioning based on the acquired information, and performing positioning of the target based on the position information of the determined radio device and the angle between the radio device and the target.

In one aspect, it allows for proper positioning.

1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a positioning system 1 according to an embodiment. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a fixed wireless device 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a computer 100 in the case where a mobile wireless device 10 according to an embodiment is realized by one or more antennas and the computer 100. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of a mobile wireless device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing an example of processing of the positioning system 1 according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a process of the mobile wireless device 10 according to the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of the mobile wireless device 10 according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing an example of processing of the positioning system 1 according to the embodiment. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a positioning system 1 according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a server 30 according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing an example of processing of the positioning system 1 according to the embodiment.

The principles of the present disclosure are described with reference to some exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are set forth for illustrative purposes only, to aid those skilled in the art in understanding and practicing the present disclosure, without implying any limitation on the scope of the present disclosure. The disclosure described herein may be implemented in various ways other than those described below.
In the following description and claims, unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.
(Embodiment 1)
<System Configuration>
A configuration of a positioning system 1 according to an embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the positioning system 1 according to an embodiment. In the example of FIG. 1, the positioning system 1 has fixed wireless devices 20A and 20B (hereinafter, when there is no need to distinguish between them, they will also be simply referred to as "fixed wireless devices 20"). The positioning system 1 also has mobile wireless devices 10A, 10B, 10C, and 10D (hereinafter, when there is no need to distinguish between them, they will also be simply referred to as "mobile wireless devices 10"). The number of fixed wireless devices 20 and mobile wireless devices 10 is not limited to the example of FIG. 1. The fixed wireless devices 20 and mobile wireless devices 10 are examples of "wireless devices". The mobile wireless devices 10 are an example of "information processing devices". The mobile wireless devices 10 are an example of "positioning targets".

The fixed radio 20 is installed, for example, outdoors near the entrance of a building or a tunnel, and transmits positioning radio waves and the position information of the fixed radio 20 to the mobile radio 10. The fixed radio 20 records (sets, registers) the position information of the fixed radio 20 using a satellite positioning system such as GPS (Global Positioning System). The fixed radio 20 may also accept input of the position information of the fixed radio 20 from, for example, an administrator (operator), and record the input position information.

The mobile radio 10 is, for example, a terminal carried by a worker (maintenance worker) to measure the current location of the worker. The mobile radio 10 may be, for example, a smartphone, a tablet, or a dedicated terminal.

The mobile radio 10 performs positioning using a method of positioning based on radio waves from other radios, such as the fixed radio 20 and other mobile radios 10. In this case, the mobile radio 10 performs positioning based on, for example, positioning radio waves received from other radios and position information of the radio received from the radio.

The method of positioning based on radio waves from other radio devices may be, for example, a method using known indices such as the angle of arrival (AoA), angle of departure (AoD), received signal strength indicator (RSSI), time difference of arrival (TDOA), and time of arrival (TOA) based on radio waves transmitted to or received from other radio devices. It may also be a method of positioning using two or more of the indices. The radio used by the mobile radio device 10 for positioning using this method may be various known radios such as BLE (Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy), UWB (Ultra Wide Band), and wireless LAN (Local Area Network).

The mobile radio 10 may detect the attitude of the mobile radio 10 using a gyro sensor or the like that the mobile radio 10 has, and may further use the detected attitude information to improve the accuracy of positioning.

For example, a case will be described in which the fixed radio 20 is installed near the entrance of a building or tunnel, and multiple workers each carry a mobile radio 10 and move inside (to the back) of the building. In this case, the mobile radio 10 that has been moved to a location relatively far from the entrance where radio waves from the fixed radio 20 or the like do not reach can be positioned using the mobile radio 10 that is relatively close to the entrance and whose position is determined based on radio waves from the fixed radio 20 or the like.

<Configuration of fixed wireless device 20>
The configuration of the fixed wireless device 20 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the fixed wireless device 20 according to the embodiment. In the example of Fig. 2, the fixed wireless device 20 has a location information acquisition unit 21 and a positioning information provision unit 22.

The location information acquisition unit 21 may acquire location information of the fixed radio 20, for example, using a GPS or the like. The location information acquisition unit 21 may also receive location information of the fixed radio 20 from, for example, an administrator (operator), etc. The positioning information provision unit 22 transmits (provides) information (signals) for the mobile radio 10 to perform positioning, for example, by radio waves such as BLE, UWB, wireless LAN, etc. The location information acquisition unit 21 and the positioning information provision unit 22 may be realized by one or more antennas and dedicated circuits such as a microcomputer, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), and an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

<Hardware configuration of the computer 100 of the mobile radio 10 (information processing device)>
Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a computer 100 in the case where the mobile wireless device 10 according to the embodiment is realized by one or more antennas and the computer 100. In the example of Fig. 3, the computer 100 includes a processor 101, a memory 102, and a communication interface 103. These components may be connected by a bus or the like. The memory 102 stores at least a part of a program 104. The communication interface 103 includes an interface required for communication with other network elements.

When the program 104 is executed by the processor 101, the memory 102, and the like in cooperation with each other, the computer 100 performs at least some processing of the embodiments of the present disclosure. The memory 102 may be of any type suitable for a local technology network. The memory 102 may be, as a non-limiting example, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The memory 102 may also be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor-based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory. Although only one memory 102 is shown in the computer 100, there may be several physically different memory modules in the computer 100. The processor 101 may be of any type. The processor 101 may include one or more of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture, as a non-limiting example. The computer 100 may have multiple processors, such as application-specific integrated circuit chips that are time-slaved to a clock that synchronizes the main processor.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software that may be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device.

The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as instructions included in program modules, that execute on a target real or virtual processor device to perform the processes or methods of the present disclosure. Program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or divided among program modules as desired in various embodiments. The machine-executable instructions of the program modules may be executed in local or distributed devices. In distributed devices, the program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

Program codes for carrying out the methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes are provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus. When the program code is executed by the processor or controller, the functions/operations in the flowcharts and/or implementing block diagrams are performed. The program code may be executed entirely on the machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine, or entirely on a remote machine or server.

The program can be stored and supplied to the computer using various types of non-transitory computer-readable media. Non-transitory computer-readable media include various types of tangible recording media. Examples of non-transitory computer-readable media include magnetic recording media, magneto-optical recording media, optical disk media, semiconductor memory, etc. Magnetic recording media include, for example, flexible disks, magnetic tapes, hard disk drives, etc. Magneto-optical recording media include, for example, magneto-optical disks, etc. Optical disk media include, for example, Blu-ray disks, CD (Compact Disc)-ROM (Read Only Memory), CD-R (Recordable), CD-RW (ReWritable), etc. Semiconductor memories include, for example, solid-state drives, mask ROMs, PROMs (Programmable ROMs), EPROMs (Erasable PROMs), flash ROMs, RAMs (Random Access Memory), etc. The program may also be supplied to the computer by various types of temporary computer-readable media. Examples of temporary computer-readable media include electrical signals, optical signals, and electromagnetic waves. The temporary computer-readable medium can provide the program to the computer via a wired communication path, such as an electric wire or optical fiber, or via a wireless communication path.

<Configuration of mobile radio 10 (information processing device)>
The configuration of the mobile radio 10 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the mobile radio 10 according to the embodiment. The mobile radio 10 has an acquisition unit 11, a control unit 12, a positioning unit 13, and a positioning information providing unit 14. Each of these units may be realized by cooperation between one or more programs installed in the mobile radio 10 and hardware such as a processor 101 and a memory 102 of the mobile radio 10. Each of these units may also be realized by a dedicated circuit such as a microcomputer, an FPGA, or an ASIC.

The acquisition unit 11 acquires various information from a storage device within the device and from an external device. For example, the acquisition unit 11 acquires information from the radio device based on the number of times positioning has been performed using a method that performs positioning based on radio waves from other radio devices before the position information of the radio device is determined using the method. The control unit 12 determines which of the multiple radio devices to use for positioning based on the information acquired by the acquisition unit 11.

The positioning unit 13 performs positioning of the mobile radio 10 (measures the current position) based on the position information of the radio determined by the control unit 12 and the angle between the radio and the mobile radio 10.

The positioning information providing unit 14 uses the position information of the mobile radio device 10 measured by the positioning unit 13 to transmit (provide) information (signals) for other mobile radio devices 10 to perform positioning, for example, via radio waves such as BLE, UWB, and wireless LAN.

<Processing>
Next, an example of the processing of the positioning system 1 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 5 and Fig. 6A. Fig. 5 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing of the positioning system 1 according to the embodiment. Fig. 6A is a diagram showing an example of the processing of the mobile wireless device 10 according to the embodiment. Below, an example will be described in which the mobile wireless device 10D receives radio waves from a plurality of wireless devices including the fixed wireless devices 20A and 20B and the other mobile wireless devices 10A to C, and calculates the angle of each wireless device as seen from the mobile wireless device 10D based on the received radio waves. Note that the mobile wireless device 10D may execute the following processing, for example, at a predetermined cycle (for example, every second).

In steps S101-1 to S101-5, the acquisition unit 11 of the mobile radio 10D receives radio waves for positioning from each of a plurality of radios including the fixed radios 20A and 20B and the other mobile radios 10A to C. Here, the radio waves for positioning may include, for example, identification information of the radio, two-dimensional or three-dimensional position information of the radio, and information indicating the citation rate of the radio's position information. Note that the acquisition unit 11 of the mobile radio 10D may not use, among the received radio waves for positioning, radio waves whose received radio wave strength is equal to or less than a threshold value for subsequent processing.

The citation degree is an index calculated by a radio device based on the number of times that a positioning method based on radio waves from other radio devices has been performed before the position information of a certain radio device is determined by that radio device (the number of mobile radio devices 10 that have been positioned in a chain-like manner using the position information of the fixed radio device 20). As described above, the method of performing positioning based on radio waves from other radio devices includes, for example, a method using at least one of AoA, AoD, RSSI, TDOA, and TOA. Note that the number of times that the fixed radio device 20 has performed positioning using that method is 0. Therefore, the fixed radio device 20 may transmit information indicating that the citation degree is 0. The method of calculating the citation degree for each mobile radio device 10 will be described in step S104 below.

Next, the control unit 12 of the mobile radio 10D determines which of the multiple radios to use for positioning based on the information acquired by the acquisition unit 11 (step S102). Here, the control unit 12 of the mobile radio 10D may determine which radio to use for positioning based on at least one of, for example, the citation rate of each radio, the angle between the mobile radio 10D and each radio, the RSSI with each radio, and the distance between the mobile radio 10D and each radio.

In this case, the mobile radio 10D may, for example, be given a higher priority for determining the radio to be used for positioning the lower the citation rate (the fewer mobile radios 10 that have passed through). This allows the radio that has caused fewer errors in calculating the AoA, etc., to be used preferentially for positioning. This increases the possibility of improving the accuracy of positioning.

In addition, when the mobile radio 10D performs positioning based on the angle (AoA or AoD) with each of the two radios, the mobile radio 10D may determine (select) two radios to use for positioning from among the three or more radios based on the angle between the mobile radio 10D and the two radios. In this case, the mobile radio 10D may, for example, determine a higher priority for determining the radio to be used for positioning the larger the angle between the mobile radio 10D and the two radios. This is thought to increase the possibility of improving the accuracy of positioning, for example.

The mobile radio 10D may also determine that the higher the RSSI, the higher the priority of the radio to be used for positioning. This allows, for example, a radio that is closer to the mobile radio 10D and less affected by obstructions to be used preferentially for positioning.

The mobile radio 10D may also determine that the shorter (smaller, closer) the distance between the mobile radio 10D and each radio is, the higher the priority of the radio to be used for positioning. This allows, for example, a radio that is closer to the mobile radio 10D can be used for positioning with priority.

The mobile radio 10D may also calculate the degree of shielding between the mobile radio 10D and a certain radio based on the strength of the radio wave transmitted from the certain radio, the strength of the radio wave received from the certain radio (RSSI), and the distance between the mobile radio 10D and the certain radio. In this case, the strength of the radio wave transmitted from each radio may be approximately the same, and the value of the strength may be set (registered) in advance in the mobile radio 10D. The acquisition unit 11 of the mobile radio 10D may also receive information indicating the radio wave strength transmitted from each radio from each radio. The mobile radio 10D may also calculate the approximate position of the mobile radio 10D based on the radio wave transmitted from each radio. In this case, for example, the mobile radio 10D may select a predetermined number (e.g., two) of radios in descending order of RSSI, and perform provisional positioning based on the radio wave from the selected radio. The mobile radio 10D may then calculate the distance between the mobile radio 10D and each radio based on the provisionally determined position of the mobile radio 10D and the position information of each radio received from each radio.

The mobile radio 10D may calculate the theoretical value of RSSI with the radio when there is no obstruction, based on the distance between the mobile radio 10D and the radio and the radio wave strength transmitted from the radio. The mobile radio 10D may calculate the degree of obstruction between the mobile radio 10D and the radio based on the calculated theoretical value of RSSI and the strength of the radio wave received from the radio (actual RSSI). In this case, the mobile radio 10D may determine the value of the degree of obstruction to be higher as the ratio between the calculated theoretical value of RSSI and the actual RSSI increases. The mobile radio 10D may determine the priority of determining the radio to be used for positioning to be higher as the degree of obstruction between the mobile radio 10D and the radio decreases. This allows more appropriate positioning, for example, compared to a case where a radio with a strong RSSI is simply used for positioning.

Then, the positioning unit 13 of the mobile radio 10D performs positioning based on the position information of each radio device and the positioning radio waves received from each radio device determined by the control unit 12 (step S103). This allows the mobile radio 10D to perform appropriate positioning even when the positioning range is expanded from time to time, for example, due to tunnel construction work. Also, appropriate positioning can be performed even in cases where it is not possible to install beacons or the like in advance on the facility side (inside the building), such as in the case of a fire brigade.

Here, the mobile radio 10D may, for example, calculate the angle (AoA or AoD) with each radio based on the radio waves from each of the two radios. The mobile radio 10D may then perform two-dimensional or three-dimensional positioning of the mobile radio 10D based on the two-dimensional or three-dimensional position information of each radio and the calculated angles.

The mobile radio 10D may also calculate the distance from each radio based on the RSSI or TOA, for example, based on radio waves from three radios. The mobile radio 10D may then perform two-dimensional or three-dimensional positioning of the mobile radio 10D based on the two-dimensional or three-dimensional position information of each radio and the calculated distances.

The mobile radio 10D may also calculate, for example, the angle (AoA or AoD) with respect to one radio based on radio waves from that radio, and the distance from that radio based on the RSSI or TOA. The mobile radio 10D may then perform two-dimensional positioning of the mobile radio 10D based on the two-dimensional position information of each radio and the calculated angle and distance.

The mobile radio 10D may perform positioning multiple times based on the position information of each radio device and the positioning radio waves received from each of the multiple radio devices determined by the control unit 12. The mobile radio 10D may then add a weight corresponding to the citation rate of the position information of each radio device to each positioning result to calculate the position of the mobile radio 10D. In this case, the mobile radio 10D may determine a larger weight value, for example, the lower the citation rate of the position information of each radio device. The mobile radio 10D may then calculate the average value of the values obtained by multiplying each positioning result by a weight value corresponding to the citation rate of the position information of each radio device, as the position information of the mobile radio 10D.

Next, the control unit 12 of the mobile radio 10D calculates the citation degree of the location information of the mobile radio 10D (step S104). Here, the mobile radio 10D calculates the citation degree of the location information of the mobile radio 10D based on the citation degree of each radio determined by the control unit 12.

(Example of how citation levels are calculated)
When the mobile wireless device 10D performs positioning of the mobile wireless device 10D based on radio waves from only one wireless device, the mobile wireless device 10D may calculate a value obtained by adding 1 to the citation degree obtained from the wireless device as the citation degree of the position information of the mobile wireless device 10D. Note that the mobile wireless device 10D may calculate two-dimensional position information based on radio waves from only one wireless device, for example, based on the angle between the mobile wireless device 10D and the wireless device and the distance between the mobile wireless device 10D and the wireless device.

In addition, when the mobile radio 10D performs positioning of the mobile radio 10D based on radio waves from multiple radios, the mobile radio 10D may calculate the citation degree of the position information of the mobile radio 10D based on the citation degree of each radio acquired from the multiple radios. In this case, the mobile radio 10D may calculate, for example, a value obtained by adding 1 to the highest citation degree among the citation degrees of each radio used for positioning as the citation degree of the position information of the mobile radio 10D. In addition, the mobile radio 10D may calculate, for example, a value obtained by adding 1 to the average citation degree of each radio used for positioning as the citation degree of the position information of the mobile radio 10D.

Then, the positioning information providing unit 14 of the mobile radio 10D transmits (provides) radio waves (signals) for other mobile radios 10 to perform positioning, the signals including the position information of the mobile radio 10D measured by the positioning unit 13 and information indicating the citation degree calculated by the control unit 12 (step S105). This allows the other mobile radios 10 to perform positioning based on the radio waves from the mobile radio 10D.

In the example of FIG. 6A, mobile radios 10A and 10B perform positioning based on radio waves from fixed radios 20A and 20B, and mobile radio 10C performs positioning based on radio waves from fixed radios 20A and mobile radio 10A. Mobile radio 10D receives positioning radio waves with radio wave strengths equal to or greater than a threshold only from mobile radios 10A, 10B, and 10C. In this case, the mobile radio 10 calculates the citation degree of the location information of the mobile radio 10 by adding 1 to the highest citation degree of the radios used for positioning, for example. This section describes a specific example.

In this case, the fixed radios 20A and 20B may notify the citation degree of the fixed radios 20A and 20B as 0. The mobile radios 10A and 10B may notify the citation degree of the mobile radios 10A and 10B as 1. The mobile radio 10C may notify the citation degree of the mobile radio 10C as 2, which is the value obtained by adding 1 to the maximum citation degree of 0 of the fixed radio 20A used for positioning and the citation degree of 1 of the mobile radio 10A used for positioning. The mobile radio 10D may use the two mobile radios 10A and 10B, which have citation degrees of 1, 1, and 2, in descending order of citation degree, for positioning. Then, the mobile radio 10D may notify the citation level of the mobile radio 10D as 2, which is the value obtained by adding 1 to the maximum citation level of 1 between the citation level of 1 of the mobile radio 10A used for positioning and the citation level of 1 of the mobile radio 10A.

(Example of moving the mobile wireless device 10 to a position where the positioning accuracy is improved, or determining the direction from the current position)
The mobile radio 10 may move the mobile radio 10 to a position (point) where the positioning accuracy is improved, or from the current position in the direction of the position, based on a display to the user or a command to control the movement. In this case, the control unit 12 of the mobile radio 10 may determine a position where the positioning accuracy is improved, or a direction from the current position to a position where the positioning accuracy is improved, based on at least one of the citation degree of each radio and the angle of the mobile radio 10 with respect to each radio. In this case, the control unit 12 of the mobile radio 10 may calculate the suitability of positioning for each position within a predetermined range (for example, within a radius of 10 m) from the mobile radio 10. Here, the control unit 12 of the mobile radio 10 may determine a higher value of the suitability of positioning for each position, for example, the closer the position is to a radio with a lower citation degree, or the larger the angle between the two radios used for positioning and the mobile radio 10. Then, the control unit 12 of the mobile wireless device 10 may determine, for example, the position having the highest suitability for positioning among the positions as the optimum position.

The control unit 12 of the mobile radio 10 may then cause the mobile radio 10 to notify information indicating the direction and distance to the determined optimal position via a speaker or display. This allows, for example, the user of the mobile radio 10 to improve the positioning accuracy of the mobile radio 10 by moving to the notified position. FIG. 6B is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of the mobile radio 10 according to the embodiment. In the example of FIG. 6B, the mobile radio 10 displays, on a display screen 651, a figure (arrow) 661 indicating the direction to the optimal position as seen from the mobile radio 10, a distance 662 from the mobile radio 10 to the optimal position, and a message 663 encouraging the user to move.

The mobile radio 10 may also move to a position (point) where the positioning accuracy is improved based on the reception history of the positioning radio waves at each position. In this case, the control unit 12 may record the reception strength of the positioning radio waves from each radio, the citation rate of each radio, and the angle of the mobile radio 10 relative to each radio as the history of the received radio waves at each position, in association with each position of the mobile radio 10 that was positioned at each time point. The control unit 12 may then refer to the history of the received radio waves at each position and determine a position among the positions where the positioning accuracy is improved based on at least one of the citation rate of each radio whose reception strength of the positioning radio waves is equal to or greater than a threshold and the angle of the mobile radio 10 relative to each radio whose reception strength of the positioning radio waves is equal to or greater than a threshold.

In addition, when the mobile radio 10 cannot receive the positioning radio waves with sufficient strength, the mobile radio 10 may be moved to a position (point) where the positioning accuracy is improved. In this case, the control unit 12 may record the reception strength of the positioning radio waves from each radio, the citation rate of each radio, and the angle of the mobile radio 10 relative to each radio as a history of the received radio waves at each position, in association with each position of the mobile radio 10 that was positioned at each time point. Then, the control unit 12 may determine, for example, whether the number of radios whose positioning radio waves received by the mobile radio 10 are equal to or greater than a threshold value is less than a specific number (e.g., 2). If the number of radio devices is less than a specific number, the control unit 12 may refer to the history of radio waves received at each location, and determine the location among the locations where the positioning accuracy is improved based on at least one of the availability of each radio device whose positioning radio wave reception strength is equal to or greater than a threshold and the angle of the mobile radio device 10 relative to each radio device whose positioning radio wave reception strength is equal to or greater than a threshold.

The mobile radio 10 may also be mounted on a moving body such as an autonomous robot that moves on the ground using wheels or legs, or a drone (unmanned aerial vehicle) or balloon that moves by flying, and the moving body may be autonomously moved to a position where the positioning accuracy is improved, or from the current position toward that position. In this case, the control unit 12 of the mobile radio 10 may determine a position where the positioning accuracy is improved based on the citation rate of each radio and the angle between each radio and the mobile radio 10, as described above. The control unit 12 of the mobile radio 10 may then transmit a command to the moving body to move to the determined position.

In addition, when the strength of the positioning radio waves received from a radio device determined to be used for positioning is equal to or lower than a threshold value, the control unit 12 of the mobile radio device 10 may move the mobile radio device 10 in the direction from the mobile radio device 10 toward the radio device. This can improve, for example, the positioning accuracy of the mobile radio device 10. It can also improve the positioning accuracy of other radio devices that perform positioning using the radio waves from the mobile radio device 10.

In this case, the positioning unit 13 of the mobile radio 10 may, for example, first determine whether the strength of the positioning radio waves received from each radio determined to be used for positioning is equal to or less than a threshold. If there is a radio whose strength is equal to or less than the threshold, the positioning unit 13 of the mobile radio 10 may calculate the angle (AoA or AoD) between the mobile radio 10 and the radio based on the positioning radio waves from that radio. Then, the control unit 12 of the mobile radio 10 may transmit a command to the autonomous mobile robot equipped with the mobile radio 10 to move in the direction from the mobile radio 10 to that radio based on the calculated angle. Then, the control unit 12 of the mobile radio 10 may transmit a command to stop moving to the autonomous mobile robot equipped with the mobile radio 10 when the strength of the positioning radio waves received from that radio exceeds the threshold.

(Example of displaying positioning accuracy)
The mobile radio 10 may notify the user of the accuracy of the positioning. This allows the user to grasp the accuracy of the position information of the mobile radio 10, for example. In this case, the control unit 12 of the mobile radio 10 may perform a notification according to the citation degree of the position information of the mobile radio 10 calculated in step S104. In this case, the control unit 12 of the mobile radio 10 may cause the light-emitting device to emit light in a color closer to green among the colors from green to red, as the citation degree of the position information of the mobile radio 10 is lower. This is because the lower the citation degree of the mobile radio 10, the lower the citation degree of each radio determined in the process of step S102, and therefore the positioning accuracy of the mobile radio 10 is considered to be higher. In addition, the control unit 12 of the mobile radio 10 may cause the light-emitting device to emit light in a color closer to red among the colors from green to red, as the citation degree of the position information of the mobile radio 10 is higher.

(Example of angle calculation using other radios)
In the example of Fig. 5, an example was described in which the mobile wireless device 10D calculates the angle between the mobile wireless device 10D and each wireless device based on radio waves transmitted from the other wireless devices. In the following, with reference to Fig. 7, an example will be described in which the other wireless devices calculate the angle between the wireless device and the mobile wireless device 10D based on radio waves transmitted from the mobile wireless device 10D and notify the mobile wireless device 10D of information indicating the calculated angle.

Figure 7 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing of the positioning system 1 according to the embodiment. Below, an example is described in which the mobile radio 10D transmits radio waves to multiple radios and acquires information indicating the angle of the mobile radio 10D as seen from each radio, the information being calculated by each radio based on the radio waves. Note that the mobile radio 10D may execute the following processing, for example, at a predetermined cycle (e.g., every second).

In steps S201-1 to S201-5, the acquisition unit 11 of the mobile radio device 10D transmits radio waves for positioning to each of the multiple radio devices including the fixed radio devices 20A and 20B and the other mobile radio devices 10A to C. Here, the radio waves for positioning may include, for example, identification information of the mobile radio device 10D.

Next, each radio (fixed radios 20A and 20B and other mobile radios 10A-C) calculates (estimates, measures) the direction from its own radio to the mobile radio 10D based on the positioning radio waves (steps S202-1 to 5). Here, each radio may calculate the angle (direction, bearing) from its own radio to the mobile radio 10D, for example, by AoA or AoD. Also, each radio may calculate the distance from the mobile radio 10D to its own radio, for example, based on the positioning radio waves, based on RSSI or TOA. Note that each radio may not use radio waves for positioning that have a received radio wave strength below a threshold in the processing after step S202.

Next, each wireless device (fixed wireless devices 20A and 20B and other mobile wireless devices 10A to C) transmits a notification of the calculated direction, etc. to the mobile wireless device 10D (steps S203-1 to 5). As a result, the acquisition unit 11 of the mobile wireless device 10D receives the notification from each of the multiple wireless devices. Here, the notification may include, for example, identification information of the mobile wireless device 10D, identification information of the wireless device, two-dimensional or three-dimensional position information of the wireless device, information indicating the direction from the wireless device to the mobile wireless device 10D, etc., and information indicating the citation degree of the wireless device's position information. Note that the acquisition unit 11 of the mobile wireless device 10D may not use, among the received notifications, notifications in which the received radio wave strength is below a threshold value for subsequent processing.

Then, the control unit 12 of the mobile radio 10D determines which of the multiple radios to use for positioning based on the information indicating the citation rate of the position information of each radio acquired by the acquisition unit 11 (step S204). Note that the process of step S204 may be the same as the process of step S102 in FIG. 5.

Then, the positioning unit 13 of the mobile radio 10D performs positioning based on the position information of each radio received from each radio determined by the control unit 12 and the direction from each radio to the mobile radio 10D (step S205). Next, the control unit 12 of the mobile radio 10D calculates the citation rate of the position information of the mobile radio 10D (step S206). Note that the processing of step S206 may be the same as the processing of step S104 in FIG. 5.

Then, the positioning information providing unit 14 of the mobile radio 10D transmits (provides) radio waves (signals) for the other mobile radio 10 to perform positioning, including the position information of the mobile radio 10D measured by the positioning unit 13 and information indicating the citation degree calculated by the control unit 12 (step S207). Here, when the mobile radio 10D receives radio waves for positioning from the other mobile radio 10, it may calculate the direction from the mobile radio 10D to the other mobile radio 10, as in the process of step S202. Then, the mobile radio 10D may transmit a notification to the other mobile radio 10D, including the position information of the mobile radio 10D and information indicating the calculated direction, as in the process of step S203.

(Embodiment 2)
In the above-mentioned embodiment 1, an example in which the mobile wireless device 10 measures the position of the device itself has been described. In the following, an example in which an external device measures the position of a wireless tag will be described. In the following, differences from the above-mentioned embodiment 1 will be mainly described.
<System Configuration>
The configuration of the positioning system 1 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 8. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the positioning system 1 according to the embodiment. In the example of FIG. 8, the positioning system 1 differs from the example of FIG. 1 in that it has a server 30 and wireless tags 40A, 40B, 40C, and 40D (hereinafter, when there is no need to distinguish between them, they will also be simply referred to as "wireless tags 40"). Note that the number of servers 30 and wireless tags 40 is not limited to the example of FIG. 8. Note that the server 30 is an example of an "information processing device". Also, the wireless tags 40 are an example of a "positioning target".
In the example of Fig. 8, the server 30, the mobile radio 10, and the fixed radio 20 are connected so as to be able to communicate with each other via a network N. Examples of the network N include, for example, the Internet, a mobile communication system, a wireless LAN (Local Area Network), a LAN, and a short-range wireless communication such as BLE (Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy). Examples of the mobile communication system include, for example, a fifth generation mobile communication system (5G), a local 5G, Beyond 5G (6G), a fourth generation mobile communication system (4G), LTE (Long Term Evolution), a third generation mobile communication system (3G), and the like.
The server 30 is a server that manages the positions of the wireless tags 40. The server 30 may be installed in the same facility as the site where the fixed wireless devices 20 are installed, or may be installed in a management center, or may be a server on the cloud, for example.
The wireless tag 40 may be attached to, for example, an article or the like. The wireless tag 40 may also be provided on, for example, a robot, a vehicle, a drone, or the like that moves autonomously in a factory, a work site, or the like. The wireless tag 40 transmits radio waves for positioning to the fixed wireless device 20 and the mobile wireless device 10.

<Configuration of Server 30>
The configuration of the server 30 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 9. Fig. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the server 30 according to the embodiment. The server 30 has an acquisition unit 11, a control unit 12, and a positioning unit 13. Each of these units may be realized by cooperation between one or more programs installed in the server 30 and hardware such as a processor 101 and a memory 102 of the server 30. Each of these units may also be realized by a dedicated circuit such as a microcomputer, an FPGA, or an ASIC.

The acquisition unit 11, control unit 12, and positioning unit 13 in FIG. 9 may be the same as the acquisition unit 11, control unit 12, and positioning unit 13 in FIG. 4. The positioning unit 13 of the server 30 performs positioning of the wireless tag 40 (measures the current position) based on the position information of the wireless device determined by the control unit 12 and the angle between the wireless device and the wireless tag 40.

<Processing>
An example of the processing of the positioning system 1 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 10. Fig. 10 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing of the positioning system 1 according to the embodiment. In the following, an example will be described in which the wireless tag 40 transmits radio waves to a plurality of wireless devices including the fixed wireless device 20 and another mobile wireless device 10, and the server 30 performs positioning of the wireless tag 40 based on information acquired from the plurality of wireless devices. Note that the server 30 may execute the following processing, for example, at a predetermined cycle (for example, every second) or the like.

In steps S301-1 to S301-6, the wireless tag 40 transmits radio waves for positioning to each of the multiple wireless devices, including the fixed wireless devices 20A and 20B and the other mobile wireless devices 10A to D. Here, the radio waves for positioning may include, for example, identification information of the wireless tag 40.

Next, each wireless device (fixed wireless devices 20A and 20B and other mobile wireless devices 10A-D) calculates (estimates, measures) the direction from the wireless device to the wireless tag 40 based on the positioning radio waves (steps S302-1 to S302-6). Here, each wireless device may calculate the direction to the wireless tag 40 by a process similar to that of step S202 in FIG. 7.

Next, each radio (fixed radios 20A and 20B and other mobile radios 10A-D) transmits a notification of the calculated direction, etc. to the server 30 (steps S303-1 to 6). As a result, the acquisition unit 11 of the server 30 receives the notification from each of the multiple radios. Here, the notification may include, for example, identification information of the radio tag 40, identification information of the radio, two-dimensional or three-dimensional position information of the radio, information indicating the direction from the radio to the radio tag 40, etc., the citation degree of the radio's position information, and information indicating the received radio wave strength of the positioning radio waves. Note that the acquisition unit 11 of the server 30 may not use, among the received notifications, notifications in which the received radio wave strength of the positioning radio waves included in the notification is below a threshold value for subsequent processing.

Then, the control unit 12 of the server 30 determines, from among the multiple radios, multiple radios to be used for positioning based on the information indicating the citation rate of the location information of each radio acquired by the acquisition unit 11 (step S304). Note that the process of step S304 may be the same as the process of step S102 in FIG. 5.

Then, the positioning unit 13 of the server 30 performs positioning of the wireless tag 40 based on the position information of each wireless device received from each wireless device determined by the control unit 12 and the direction from each wireless device to the wireless tag 40 (step S305). Next, the control unit 12 of the server 30 outputs the position information of the wireless tag 40 (step S306). Here, the server 30 may, for example, display the position information of the wireless tag 40 determined in step S305 on a display device. This allows, for example, a maintenance worker at a monitoring center to monitor the positions of items to which wireless tags are affixed.

<Modification>
The mobile radio 10 may be a device contained in one housing, but the mobile radio 10 of the present disclosure is not limited to this. Each part of the mobile radio 10 (e.g., the control unit 12) may be realized by cloud computing consisting of one or more computers. In this case, the mobile radio 10 may communicate with an external server, for example, via a wireless LAN or a mobile communication network such as 5G. Such a mobile radio 10 is also included as an example of the "information processing device" of the present disclosure.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be modified as appropriate without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

1 Positioning system 10 Mobile radio 11 Acquisition unit 12 Control unit 13 Positioning unit 14 Positioning information provision unit 20 Fixed radio 21 Position information acquisition unit 22 Positioning information provision unit

Claims (10)

acquiring information from the first wireless device based on the number of times that positioning has been performed by a method for positioning based on radio waves of another wireless device until location information of the first wireless device is determined by the method;
an acquisition unit that acquires information based on the number of times positioning has been performed by the method until location information of the second wireless device is determined by the method from the second wireless device;
a control unit that determines which of the first radio device and the second radio device is to be used for positioning based on the information acquired by the acquisition unit;
a positioning unit that performs positioning of the object based on position information of the wireless device determined by the control unit and an angle between the wireless device and the object;
An information processing device having the above configuration. the control unit increases a priority of determining a wireless device to be used for positioning as the wireless device is determined to be lower in accordance with the method, the lower the number of times that positioning has been performed using the method until the position information of each wireless device is determined by the wireless device.
The information processing device according to claim 1 . The method is a method for performing positioning based on radio waves from a plurality of wireless devices,
the acquiring unit acquires, from the third radio device, information indicating the number of times positioning has been performed by the method until position information of the third radio device is determined by the third radio device by the method;
the control unit determines a plurality of radio devices to be used for positioning from among the first radio device, the second radio device, and the third radio device, based on the information acquired by the acquisition unit and angles between the two radio devices and the positioning target calculated based on radio waves for positioning.
3. The information processing device according to claim 1 or 2. the control unit increases the priority of determining the wireless device to be used for positioning as the angle increases,
The information processing device according to claim 3 . the control unit determines at least one of a position to which the positioning target is moved and a direction to which the positioning target is moved, based on at least one of a number of times that positioning has been performed by the method for each of the first radio device, the second radio device, and the third radio device, and an angle of the positioning target for each of the first radio device, the second radio device, and the third radio device.
The information processing device according to claim 4. the positioning unit performs positioning based on the position information of each of the plurality of wireless devices determined by the control unit and the positioning radio waves received from each of the wireless devices, and calculates the position of the object to be positioned by adding a weight to each positioning result according to the number of times positioning has been performed using the method until the position information of each wireless device is determined by the wireless device using the method.
3. The information processing device according to claim 1 or 2. the control unit, when the strength of the radio wave for positioning received from the determined wireless device is equal to or less than a threshold, moves the positioning object in a direction toward the wireless device determined by the control unit.
3. The information processing device according to claim 1 or 2. the control unit performs notification based on the number of times that positioning has been performed using the method until the determined position information of the wireless device is determined.
3. The information processing device according to claim 1 or 2. acquiring information from the first wireless device based on the number of times that positioning has been performed by a method for positioning based on radio waves of another wireless device until location information of the first wireless device is determined by the method;
acquiring information from the second wireless device based on the number of times positioning has been performed by the method until the position information of the second wireless device is determined by the method;
determining a radio device to be used for positioning from among the first radio device and the second radio device based on the acquired information;
performing positioning of the target based on the determined position information of the wireless device and an angle between the wireless device and the target;
Information processing methods. acquiring information from the first wireless device based on the number of times that positioning has been performed by a method for positioning based on radio waves of another wireless device until location information of the first wireless device is determined by the method;
acquiring information from the second wireless device based on the number of times positioning has been performed by the method until the position information of the second wireless device is determined by the method;
determining a radio device to be used for positioning from among the first radio device and the second radio device based on the acquired information;
performing positioning of the target based on the determined position information of the wireless device and an angle between the wireless device and the target;
A program that causes a computer to carry out processing.

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