JP3527131B2 - Location information providing device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is used in an apparatus for notifying a current position of a mobile unit to the mobile unit. INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is suitable for use in a device that is carried by a person and used to obtain information on the current position and information accompanying it. In particular, it is suitable for use in a device for carrying information on the current position and risk information accompanying it by being carried by a visually impaired person.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a system for providing position information and other guidance information to a mobile station device using wireless technology, a GPS is known.
(Global Satellite Navigation System) is known. This system is a satellite navigation system that consists of a GPS satellite group located in space, a ground base station that controls it, and a user who has a GPS receiver. The GPS satellite group constantly sends signals to the ground. The terrestrial base station comprises a plurality of monitor stations and a main control station. The monitor station is GPS
By observing and receiving the satellite signals, analyzing the received data at the main control station and analyzing the satellite orbit based on its own accurate position, the satellite's accurate orbit position is determined and those data are collected. Is sent back to the satellite.

The GPS satellite converts the data received from the terrestrial base station into necessary message data and transmits it to users such as airplanes, ships and automobiles. A user can measure his / her position and time using a GPS receiver.

[0004]

However, this G
PS cannot be used indoors because it uses radio waves from satellites. In addition, in order to improve the accuracy of position and orientation measurement using a gyro or the like, a device for that purpose is required, which causes the GPS receiver to become large and complicated, resulting in increased cost and personal The problem arises that the convenience of carrying around is impaired.

As a guide information providing system using a wireless technology that can be used indoors, an identification ID is wirelessly transmitted from a transmitter installed indoors or outdoors to a receiver, and the identification ID is received by the receiver. Is converted into guidance information,
There is a radio guidance system that provides guidance information to the user of the receiver (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-275371).

In the above-mentioned prior art, all the transmitters transmit different information depending on the installation location by replacing them with the identification IDs, and therefore the receivers must have the guide information corresponding to the identification IDs of all the transmitters. is there.

Since the memory for holding the guide information is limited, it can be used only within the range prepared in advance. Therefore, every time the receiver is newly installed and the range to be guided is expanded, it corresponds to the identification ID of the transmitter. It has a drawback that it cannot be used unless the memory of the guide information of the receiver is rewritten.
Therefore, when different identification IDs are used among a plurality of service providers who use this conventional system, a user who uses the receiver is a global service that is spread over a plurality of carriers by one receiver. There is a drawback that it is difficult to receive.

Further, in this conventional system, the information on the course direction is obtained by using the identification ID history as a means for introducing the information on the course direction. At that time, the receiver receives the information on all the course directions at the branch point. There is a drawback in that the guide information that must be stored and must be stored in the receiver becomes extremely large, which increases the cost of the receiver.

As a position information system using wireless technology, which can be used indoors and outdoors, and the receiver does not have to have the guide information corresponding to the identification IDs of all transmitters, Japanese Patent Application No.
There is a position information providing device of -192102 (unpublished at the time of application of the present application). This device includes a mobile station device capable of receiving a radio signal, a server device connected to the mobile station device via a communication network, and a database connected to the server device. Means for translating the position identification code notified from the mobile station device into position information, means for accumulating the position information in the database, and providing position information accumulated in the database to the user via the communication network And means for doing so. When the means for adding the position identification code of the device to the position information is used, it is possible to provide information on the current position and information corresponding to the direction (north, east, west, north, etc.) when the current position is used as a reference. However, there is a drawback that it is not possible to provide information on the direction (front, back, left, right, etc.) based on the current traveling direction.

The present invention has been made against such a background, and an object thereof is to provide a position information providing apparatus that can be used indoors and outdoors. It is an object of the present invention to provide a position information providing device capable of providing guidance information globally even if the receiver does not have all the guidance information corresponding to the identification ID of the transmitter. The present invention is
It is an object of the present invention to provide a position information providing service that can adaptively provide information regarding a traveling direction based on the traveling direction of a receiver user.

[0011]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a plurality of transmitting station devices for autonomously transmitting, as radio signals, codes such as individually assigned identification codes, position information, and information relating to a route from the current position. , And a mobile station device having a function of guiding position information by receiving and decoding this radio signal. Usually, the transmitting station device is fixedly arranged.
As the position information, position information composed of latitude and longitude can be used. The mobile station device has a function of holding the received position information, and a function of calculating a difference vector between the latest received position information held and the position information immediately before the latest position information, which has been calculated. From the difference vector, the approximate current direction of travel of the mobile station device, the function of estimating as one of the directions of predetermined constant angular intervals such as north, south, east, and west, and from the current position based on the estimated direction of travel. The information obtained by comparing and comparing the path information obtained by comparison and comparison with the information about the path direction such as front, rear, left, and right, and the function of comparing the path direction information with the path direction information recorded in advance in the mobile station device. It is characterized by having a function of guiding direction information by voice. At this time, there may be provided a function of switching between a setting for outputting a sound each time a signal from a new transmitting station device is received and a setting for outputting only when necessary.

Further, the mobile station device according to the present invention is provided with stepwise danger level information corresponding to the guide information recorded in advance, and sends out a audible alarm to call attention in accordance with the risk level corresponding to the guide information. be able to.

Due to such features, the present invention can provide direction guidance that is easy for the visually impaired person and the person who visits the land for the first time to understand. Also, since the mobile station device need only have information about a limited number of directions in advance,
The memory capacity of the mobile station device is small, and the cost can be reduced. Further, it can be used globally because it has information about a general route direction as guidance information. Also,
The guide information can be intentionally omitted according to the user's need. Therefore, it is possible to contribute to the customization of the usage pattern by the user himself and to contribute to the reduction of operational stress.

Further, the transmitting station apparatus of the present invention includes a signal of "positional information mode" including information on a fixed course direction for each direction of a predetermined fixed angular interval and the "positional information mode". The signal of "character information mode" consisting of a signal including character string information in addition to the transmission information is transmitted by being distinguished by an individual mode identification code, and the mobile station device of the present invention transmits the transmission signal by the mode identification code. It is possible to identify both the case where a signal of one mode is used and the case where a signal of two modes is used.

Due to such a feature, the present invention can enable the construction of an efficient use environment according to the length of the guide information at each point.

Further, the mobile station apparatus according to the present invention can receive a signal using a single or a plurality of types of antennas.

As a result, according to the present invention, it is possible to use various types of antennas in various places depending on the usage pattern of the user, such as the cane of the visually impaired person and the position of the belt. It is possible to enable reception of various signals.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a basic configuration of an environment in which the position information providing device according to the present invention is used. Reference numeral 20A,
Reference numeral 20B is a transmitting station apparatus, reference numerals 21A and 21B are transmission areas of the transmitting station apparatus, and reference numeral 22 is a mobile station apparatus. With such a configuration, the signal transmitted from the transmission station device 20A is received when the mobile station device 22 is located within the transmission area 21A, and the signal transmitted from the transmission station device 20B is the same as that of the signal transmitted from the transmission station device 20B. , The mobile station device 22 is in the transmission area 21B
Received if located within.

When the mobile station device 22 moves between the transmission areas 21A and 21B, only the signals from the respective transmission station devices 20A or 20B are received in each area.

In this way, the mobile station device 22 of the present invention is
Receives signals from two or more fixed transmitting station devices while moving. Below, in order to simplify the explanation,
An embodiment will be described assuming that there are two transmitting station devices.

Transmitting station device 20 used in the present invention
A and 20B are the identification code and position information of the transmitting station device itself,
A signal carrying information on each path based on the positions of the transmitting station devices 20A and 20B is transmitted autonomously and intermittently. In addition, the transmission station devices 20A and 20B divide the long information signal into a plurality of frames and transmit the signals, and the mobile station device 22 can restore the signals.

2 and 3 are block diagrams of the essential parts of the mobile station device 22 according to the embodiment of the present invention. Reference numerals 1A, 1B,
1C is an antenna, reference numerals 2A and 2B are mobile station devices having different configurations, reference numerals 3A, 3B and 3C are input terminals, reference numerals 4A, 4B and 4C are receiving sections, reference numerals 5A and 5B are power supply sections,
Reference numerals 6A and 6B are memory sections, reference numerals 7A and 7B are data processing sections, reference numerals 8A and 8B are voice synthesizing sections, reference numerals 9A and 9B are interface sections, reference numerals 10A and 10B are voice output buttons, and reference numerals 11A and 11B are interface terminals. , 12A and 12B are earphones, 13A and 13B are volume control knobs, 14A and 14B are antenna control units, and 15A and 15B are output switching buttons.

Mobile station devices 2A and 2B according to the present invention
Is characterized by receiving a signal using a single antenna or a plurality of antennas. FIG. 2 is a block configuration diagram of a mobile station apparatus 2A using a single antenna, and FIG. 3 shows two antennas. It is a block diagram of a mobile station device 2B used. In FIG. 2, a signal from the transmitting station device 20A or 20B is received by the antenna 1A. In FIG. 3, the signal from the transmitting station device 20A or 20B is transmitted to the antenna 1B.
And it is received by the antenna 1C. The antenna 1B and the antenna 1C may be antennas of the same type or different types, and by attaching to the mobile station device 2B via the input terminals 3B and 3C, it is possible to support various antennas adapted to the usage environment.

Further, a plurality of transmitting station devices 20A or 20
When signals from B and others are received at the same time, the signal from the transmitting station device having a high reception level is transmitted to the antenna control units 14A, 1
4B selected. At this time, by providing a plurality of antennas, it is possible to perform diversity reception and suppress deterioration of signal quality due to attenuation of the received signal level. Further, by using different types of antennas as the plurality of antennas, it is possible to obtain further diversity effect. For example, as a specific example, a built-in inverted F antenna is used for one antenna and a whip antenna is used for another antenna like a mobile phone, so that the distance between the two antennas depends on the space diversity. Even in the case where it is difficult to obtain the effect, the diversity effect can be expected by having two received electric fields having different correlations.

Further, it is possible to support a usage method using only a built-in antenna with an emphasis on portability and a usage method such as using another antenna at the tip of a cane when guiding a pedestrian for the visually impaired. It is possible to use various antennas that are adapted to the usage environment.

Next, the antenna 1A or the antenna 1B,
The signal received by 1C is the antenna control unit 14A.
Alternatively, via 14B, the data processing unit 7A or 7B converts the information into information on the traveling direction with the current position as a reference. The fact that the mobile station devices 2A and 2B are provided with the means for converting the information relating to the path direction and the method thereof are the greatest feature of the present invention, and an embodiment of the method will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 13. This processing means and method are shown in FIG.
Since it is common to the mobile station devices 2A and 2B of FIG. 3, description will be given with reference to FIG. 2 to simplify the description.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a frame structure of a signal transmitted by the transmission station devices 20A and 20B and received by the mobile station device 2A, and is composed of four kinds of information. Reference numeral 30 represents the entire frame,
Reference numeral 31 is an identification code, reference numeral 32 is transmitting station position information, reference numeral 33 is a mode flag, and reference numeral 34 is guide information. The mobile station device 2A that receives this signal is processed by the data processing unit 7 of FIG.
According to A, the transmitting station device 2 from the identification code 31 of FIG.
0A or 20B signal is identified, position information unique to the installation location of the transmission station device 20A or 20B is acquired by the transmission station position information 32, and the position information is used as the current position of the mobile station device 2A. 2 is stored in the memory unit 6A, and whether the received signal information is a "positional information mode" signal or a "character information mode" signal is identified by the mode flag 33, and the corresponding current position is used as a reference. The guide information 34 of FIG. 4 is obtained and analyzed with respect to the information regarding the traveling direction.

Information about the traveling direction is reported to the current traveling direction. FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing an embodiment of a method of detecting a traveling direction. 200 is the previous position information acquisition unit,
Reference numeral 201 is a current position information acquisition unit, 202 is a difference vector calculation unit, 203 is an inner product calculation unit, and 204 is a traveling direction selection unit. Since the flow is as described above, the memory unit 6
The difference vector between the previous position information and the current position information stored in A is calculated by the difference vector calculation unit 202, and the inner product calculation unit 203 calculates the closest one of the directions of predetermined angular intervals such as north, south, east, and west. After finding a direction, the direction selection unit 204 sets the direction as the current direction.

FIG. 6 shows the directions of north, northeast, east, southeast,
It is a figure explaining the function which detects the advancing direction when it is set to the 45 directions of the south, the southwest, the west, and the northwest, and the previous position 61 and transmitting station position information 32 obtained from the memory part 6A.
The difference vector of the current position 60 obtained from is 62. In order to find the closest direction to the direction out of the eight directions, a reference unit vector representing the eight directions is prepared, and the transmitting station devices 20A and 20B have what are in the eight directions corresponding to the reference unit vector. This is notified as guidance information.

The mobile station device 2A calculates the inner product of the difference vector and the reference unit vector in the eight directions in all eight directions. Since the reference unit vector has the same length in the inner product calculation, the magnitude of the value of the inner product depends on the magnitude of the value of the cosine of the angle between the reference unit vector and the difference vector. The smaller the angle between the vectors, that is, the closer the difference vector is to the reference unit vector, the larger the value of the inner product. Therefore, the inner product with the differential vector in eight directions is calculated, and the direction having the largest inner product value is the direction closest to the difference vector, and the direction is the current traveling direction of the mobile station device 2A. To do.

In FIG. 6, since the inner product of the reference unit vector and the difference vector in the northeast direction is the largest, that is, the angle between the two vectors is the smallest, the current traveling direction of the mobile station device 2A is the northeast direction (63). ).

The area of the guide information included in the signals transmitted from the transmitting station devices 20A and 20B is composed of information corresponding to the direction of the above-mentioned predetermined constant angle interval.

A method of analyzing the information regarding the traveling direction in the "positional information mode" will be described with reference to an example in which the directions at constant angular intervals are the eight directions. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an embodiment in the case of eight directions of guidance information in the position information mode. FIG. 7 shows that the area of the guide information 34 in FIG. 4 is evenly divided and allocated to each of the eight directions, and is used as an area for information regarding the course direction of each direction. A signal including information about each route direction is analyzed using a “route information table” stored in advance in the memory unit 6A of the mobile station device 2A. FIG. 8 shows an example of the "route information table", and the "route information table" has signal bits, information about the corresponding route direction, and risk information. In the example of FIG. 8, there are signal bits corresponding to the information about the traveling direction for each of the eight directions,
The signal bits in each direction are arranged clockwise from the north as shown in Fig. 4.
The area of the guidance information 34 is satisfied.

The mode flag 33 shown in FIG. 4 is set to the mobile station device 2A.
When identifying the information of the signal received by the mobile station apparatus 2 as the “character information mode”, the data processing unit 7A of the mobile station device 2A treats the guide information 34 of FIG. 4 as the character information and processes the character string information as it is as the guide information. . This guide information is mainly guide information indicating what is at the current position of the mobile station device 2A. Also, by including special characters that are not required in the guide information in the character string information, information about the course direction is expressed as in the position information mode.

FIG. 9 shows an embodiment in which special character is included in the character string information to express the information about the route information. In the area of the guide information 34 in FIG. Area of character guidance information 51 to be processed (“9-9 of Hikarinoumi, Yokosuka City”), fixed course information 52 (“@AB”) that is composed of a character string of three characters starting with a fixed information start flag 54 of special characters ) And the character guidance information 53 (“Research and Development Center”) area continue. That is, the stored information is recognized as it is as a character string, and when the special character fixed information start flag 54 is present in the middle, the next character indicates the route direction information 55, and the next character is the fixed information. Reference numeral 56 indicates that the character guide information is returned to the character guide information from the next character and the character string is guided as it is. In FIG. 9, the character of the fixed form information start flag in the fixed form route information 52 is “@”. The character "A" next to "@" is the route direction information 55, and the mobile station device 2A
A certain direction of the fixed form information 56 represented by the next character is shown by the "path direction table" for the character information mode stored in the memory unit 6A.

FIG. 10 shows an example of the route direction table. In FIG. 10, "A" indicates the next character in the northeast, east, southwest directions based on the current position, which is the fixed form information 56. It is shown that. The course directions in the course direction table are represented by using the previously defined directions (8 directions in the example) at regular intervals. As in the case of the "positional information mode", the fixed form information 56 is the "route information table" for the character information mode stored in the memory unit 6A of the mobile station device 2A.
Represents the direction in the course direction information 55 and its degree of danger. FIG. 11 shows an example of the route information table. In FIG. 11, “B” indicates that there is a “pedestrian crossing with a signal” in the direction of the route direction information 55. That is, there are pedestrian crossings in the northeast, east, and southwest directions.
It is possible to represent a plurality of fixed form information by simultaneously including a plurality of fixed form route information in the guide information area. Further, in the character information mode, the guide information regarding the route can be expressed as the route character guide information 102 without changing the general character information.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example when the route character guidance information is included in the character information mode. 12
Is the next fixed form information start flag 103 (“%”) of the character guidance information 101 (“9 of 9 of Hikarinoumi, Yokosuka City”) in that embodiment.
The direction information 104 indicated by the next character
It indicates that there is the irregular route information 105 (“Research and Development Center”) in the direction of (“C”), the route flag guide information 102 is ended by the end flag 106, and the character guide information 107 starts again from the next character. Is starting. These character codes are for explanation of this embodiment,
It goes without saying that which character code is actually used is merely a design requirement. When the course direction table of FIG. 10 is used, the course direction information 104 indicates north, which means that the R & D center is in the north direction. Similar to the fixed route information 52, by including a plurality of route guide information 102 at the same time, it is possible to represent a plurality of irregular route information. Further, the start of the fixed route information and the route guidance information are identified by the fixed information start flags 54 and 103, so that it is possible to transmit and receive as information together with the fixed route information.

In both the position information mode and the character information mode, the guide information 34 regarding the route is represented by the direction of the fixed interval defined previously, and the traveling direction 63 of the mobile station apparatus 2A estimated by the flow shown in FIG. And the information regarding the route according to the traveling direction 63 is shown. Using the example of FIG. 6, the current traveling direction 63 of the mobile station device 2A is northeast, and in the case of the embodiment (FIG. 10A) showing the fixed form information in the character information mode, northeast, east, southwest. It is read that there is a pedestrian crossing with a signal, but this direction is converted into an expression of a direction according to the traveling direction in the data processing unit 7A of the mobile station device 2A. In other words, "there is a pedestrian crossing with signals at the front, right front, and rear." FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an embodiment for obtaining information on a route based on the traveling direction from the information on the traveling direction and the traveling direction.

Since the information used in the position information mode is prepared by focusing on the expected fixed-form information, there is an advantage that the signal frame can be short and the signal error between transmission and reception can be reduced.

On the other hand, the information used in the character information mode has an advantage that the information signal is treated as character information and thus the information signal becomes long, but unique information that cannot be routinely prepared can be expressed. In the present invention, by selectively using these two modes, it is possible to flexibly use them according to the place, purpose, service target, and the like.

As described above, the data processing unit 7A shown in FIG. 2 processes the information about the current position and the traveling direction, and the voice synthesizing unit 8A converts it to voice information and outputs the voice from the earphone 12A. The output timing of voice is controlled by the state of the output switching button 15A stored in the data processing unit 7A. When the output switching button 15A is in the "always mode", the transmitting station device 20A
Alternatively, each time the signal from 20B is received, the information of the processed signal is output as a voice, and the output switching button 15
When A is in "button mode", voice output button 10A
Each time the button is pressed, the latest information processed is output as a voice. The user's comfort is enhanced by having a function to switch between the case where constant guidance is required and the case where guidance is provided when necessary.

The voice synthesizing unit 8A applies the information on the current position and the traveling direction processed by the data processing unit 7A to a typical colloquial style to make a sentence and outputs it as a voice from the earphone 12A.

Further, the order of outputting as voice is advanced according to the degree of danger, and at the same time, a sounding sound according to the degree of danger is emitted. For example, in the "front of the R & D center", "toilet (no danger)" in the "front", "pedestrian crossing with signal (somewhat dangerous)" and "bus stop (no danger)" in the "front left" On the other hand, using the colloquial sentence "... has ...", considering the order, "(Slight warning sound) There is a pedestrian crossing with a signal and a bus stop on the left front (warning sound without danger). There is a toilet in the front. This is in front of the R & D center entrance. "

The mobile station device 2A can be connected to a computer via the interface terminal 11A shown in FIG. 2 and can change the settings relating to the mobile station device 2A using a "setting program" recorded in the computer. The settings that can be changed are "Reception frequency", "Average reception cycle", "Intermittent reception cycle (non-reception time)", "Synthetic voice intonation", "Reading speed", and "Position information mode". / Switching of character information mode ”etc.

As described above, the position information providing apparatus according to the present invention can be used seamlessly indoors and outdoors by the fact that the transmitting station apparatus can be installed in any place and the standard information and the irregular information regarding the route direction are prepared. it can. Furthermore, since the mobile station apparatus prepares only the fixed information and the standard colloquialized sentences, the load on the memory of the mobile station apparatus is small, and it has the advantage that it can be used in other places as it is. In addition, by using the previous position information and the current position information to guide the direction of travel such as "front, rear, left, right" with respect to the current traveling direction, a position that enables user-friendly guidance An information provision device can be realized, and route information guidance for pedestrians who are vulnerable to traffic, especially visually impaired people, etc. can be provided as a general-purpose system, and it has the effect of realizing services with extremely high social contribution. .

[0046]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It can be used indoors or outdoors, and the receiver can identify the transmitter I
A position where the guide information can be provided globally without having all the guide information corresponding to D, and information regarding the traveling direction can be adaptively provided at any time based on the traveling direction of the receiver user. Information provision service can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a basic configuration of an environment in which a position information providing device according to the present invention is used.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a main part of a mobile station device using a single antenna.

FIG. 3 is a block configuration diagram of a main part of a mobile station device using two antennas.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a frame structure of a signal received by a mobile station device.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of a method for detecting a traveling direction.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a function of detecting a traveling direction.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of guidance information in eight directions in a position information mode.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a route information table in a position information mode.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an embodiment when the fixed course information is included in the character information mode.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a route direction table in a character information mode.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a route information table in a character information mode.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example in which route character guidance information is included in the character information mode.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of obtaining information on a route based on the traveling direction from information on the traveling direction and the traveling direction.

[Explanation of symbols]

1A, 1B, 1C Antennas 2A, 2B, 22 Mobile station devices 3A, 3B, 3C Input terminals 4A, 4B, 4C Receivers 5A, 5B Power supplies 6A, 6B Memory units 7A, 7B Data processing units 8A, 8B Speech synthesizer 9A, 9B Interface section 10A, 10B Audio output button 11A, 11B Interface terminal 12A, 12B Earphones 13A, 13B Volume adjustment knob 14A, 14B Antenna control section 15A, 15B Output switching button 20A, 20B Transmitting station apparatus 21A, 21B Transmitting station apparatus Transmission area 30 whole frame 31 identification code 32 transmission station position information 33 mode flag 34 guide information 40 guide information 41 to 48 in position information mode regions 50 and 100 in each direction of guide information region in position information mode guide in character information mode Information 51 , 53, 101, 107 Character guidance information 52 Fixed track information 54, 103 Fixed information start flags 55, 104 Path direction information 56 Fixed information 60 Current position 61 Previous position 62 Difference vector 63 Travel direction 102 Path character guide information 105 Unfixed path Information 106 End flag 200 Previous position information acquisition unit 201 Current position information acquisition unit 202 Difference vector calculation unit 203 Inner product calculation unit 204 Travel direction selection unit

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Tatsuo Furuno 3-19-2 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Nihon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (56) Reference Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-225365 (JP, A) Kaihei 9-90014 (JP, A) JP-A-8-149568 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G01C 21/00-21/36 G08G 1/005 G01S 5/00-5/14 H04B 7/26

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of transmitting station devices having means for autonomously notifying position information of its own station, and a mobile station device having means for receiving position information notified by the transmitting station devices, The mobile station device holds memory information for holding position information notified and received from the plurality of transmitting station devices, and information on a traveling direction based on the current position according to the received position information held in the memory device. Calculating means for calculating a difference vector between the previous position information and the latest position information, with the latest position information held in the memory means as the current position information. A position information providing device, characterized in that it comprises means for determining a traveling direction according to the difference vector. 2. The position information providing device according to claim 1, wherein the transmitting station device includes means for notifying position information of the own station including latitude and longitude as the position information to be notified. 3. The means for determining the traveling direction calculates the inner product of the difference vector and the reference unit vector, and means for holding reference unit vector information indicating a direction at a predetermined constant angular interval. The position information providing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a means and a means for determining a direction of the reference vector having a maximum value of the inner product as a traveling direction. 4. The position information mode signal indicating the guide information consisting of the information of the fixed course direction corresponding to each direction of the predetermined fixed intervals, and the information of this fixed course direction. In addition to the means for transmitting a character information mode signal indicating guidance information including character string information together with a mode identification code for identifying these modes, the mobile station device detects the mode identification code. The position information providing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a unit and a unit that analyzes the guide information transmitted from the transmitting station device according to the mode detected by the detecting unit and notifies the user of the guide information. 5. The mobile station device corresponds to a unit that stores in advance the stepwise risk information corresponding to the guide information as a table in the memory means, and the stepwise risk information stored in the table. 5. The position information providing apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising means for emitting a warning sound to call attention. 6. The means for notifying the user is a means for notifying each time a signal from a new transmitting station device is received, a means for notifying in accordance with a user's request, and switching between these two means in accordance with an operation input. The position information providing apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising: