JP4803890B2 - Information processing apparatus and portable terminal - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a system for collecting and providing regional information, and in particular, at an event venue, collects specific data transmitted from a wireless portable terminal possessed by a visitor in each region, and based on the data. The present invention relates to a system that generates information on congestion states in a plurality of areas and provides the information to each mobile terminal in a venue as information on each area.
[0002]
[Prior art]
A system for storing information on congestion status for each event venue input by a person in a database and providing the congestion information to each wireless portable terminal upon request is known.
[0003]
A system for calculating the number of people waiting for an event or the waiting time from the number of people passing through a fixed gate or the time required to pass between two fixed gates is known. However, in the system, since the number of people who have passed through the gate may be different from the actual number of people waiting in a predetermined area of the event, the actual number of people waiting cannot be accurately grasped in real time.
[0004]
Also, each PHS mobile terminal in the PHS base station area transmits an ID to the base station, and each mobile terminal responds to the request from the base station in the base station area or in another base station area. Systems that provide information about congestion status are known. However, in that system, when a large number of mobile terminals exceeding the maximum number of channels come into one base station area to transmit ID and acquire information on the congestion status, the base station and the mobile terminal It becomes difficult to connect because the traffic between them reaches the limit, it becomes impossible to grasp the congestion situation in each base station area accurately in real time, and other calls from the mobile terminal through the general public telephone line network It becomes difficult to access homepages and send / receive e-mails via the Internet.
[0005]
On the other hand, portable information processing devices that communicate with nearby information processing apparatuses in accordance with a near field communication standard such as the Bluetooth standard have been developed. In the Bluetooth standard, the 2.4 GHz band (2.402 to 2.480 GHz) called ISM band is used, and power classes 1 to 3 (1 mW, 2.5 mW, 100 mW) are specified. Short-range communication in the range of about 10 m to about 100 m is possible. The standard uses GFSK modulation and frequency hopping.
[0006]
Further, for example, communication is performed using a spectrum direct spreading method (DBPSK modulation, DQPSK modulation) or a frequency hopping method (GFSK modulation) of a used frequency 2.4 GHz band (2.40 to 2.497 GHz) in accordance with the IEEE 802.11 specification (standard). There is a portable (mobile) terminal having a wireless communication function for communicating with another information processing apparatus via a wireless LAN base station.
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
When the number of mobile terminals or people existing in a small area with a radius of about 5 to 10 m is obtained by transmitting an identifier from each mobile terminal to the base station using the Bluetooth standard or wireless LAN, the maximum channel of the base station When the number of mobile terminals exceeding the number comes into the base station and tries to acquire information on the congestion status via the same base station, as in the case of the above-described PHS base station, The communication traffic between these mobile terminals reaches the limit, making it difficult for the base station and the mobile terminal to receive the necessary information. In particular, the base station may collect all the identifiers of the mobile terminals existing in the area. become unable.
[0008]
For example, when using a base station and a mobile terminal compliant with the Bluetooth standard, the communication area is set to a radius of 5 m, and a large number of people with mobile terminals are waiting for an event within a radius of 0.3 m. Assuming that, there are about 280 people in the communication area. In this case, even if 7 channels are secured per piconet, 40 or more piconets are required. In that case, short transmission / reception of only identifiers at a fixed interval is possible, but when many people perform communication for information access in order to know the congestion status of the event and other events using the same mobile terminal, Communication traffic reaches the limit, making connection with the base station difficult. If access to event information from a mobile device is interrupted for a while, the possibility of being able to connect increases. However, during that time, the identifier cannot be transmitted from the mobile device, so the number of mobile devices in the communication area of the base station Cannot be accurately counted in real time. In addition, in the case of using a Bluetooth standard portable terminal in such a form, in reality, the correspondence with 20 piconets is the limit. However, the maximum of 20 devices is limited to 140 people and cannot support the number of mobile terminals waiting for the event.
[0009]
A main object of the present invention is to realize a system that accurately collects information from each wireless portable terminal and provides information to each wireless portable terminal in a relatively narrow area.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
  According to one feature of the present invention, the information processing apparatus is connected to the first radio communication base station and the second radio communication base station via a network. The information processing device is periodicPredeterminedAn identifier from a mobile terminal present in the communication area of the first base station via its first base station during the periodAlong with data representing the number of users and their companionsReceive and its periodicPredeterminedCount the number of identifiers received during the period, count the number of mobile terminals present in the communication area based on the counted number of identifiers, and count the number of mobile terminals countedAnd data representing the number of accompanying personsCalculating means for calculating the congestion state based on the information, and means for providing the calculated information indicating the congestion state to the portable terminal via the second wireless communication base station when accessed from the portable terminal. ing.
[0011]
  In an embodiment of the present invention, the first radio communication base station transmits a control signal for controlling a transmission interval of the identifier of the mobile terminal to the mobile terminal..
[0012]
  According to still another feature of the present invention, the mobile terminal transmits an identifier to the first radio communication base station.Along with data representing the number of users and their companionsAre transmitted and received between the first wireless communication unit and the second wireless communication base station, transmitted by a plurality of portable terminals, and periodically transmitted by the first wireless communication base station.PredeterminedThe number of mobile devices counted based on the number of identifiers received in the periodAnd data representing the number of accompanying usersAnd a second wireless communication unit that receives information representing the congestion state calculated based on the second wireless communication base station.
[0014]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
  FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a system for collecting information from each wireless portable terminal and providing information to each wireless portable terminal in one relatively narrow area according to the present invention. Therefore, the in-area information collection and provision server 50, at least one first radio communication base station 20, 21... In one communication area, and a second radio communication base station 30 covering the communication area, Is provided. The plurality of base stations 20, 21... And the server 50 are connected via a LAN (local area network) 72. When there are a plurality of base stations 30 in one area, the plurality of base stations 30 are connected to each other via a network 72 such as a LAN or a telephone line network. The base stations 20 and 21 and the server 50 on the LAN 72 and the base station 30 on the network 74 are further connected to each other via a network 70 such as a LAN, a telephone line network and / or the Internet. Alternatively, the networks 70, 72 and 74 may be configured to form one LAN. However, the base station 20 and the base station 30 may be arranged at the same position or may be arranged at positions separated from each other in the same communication area. Since the base stations 20 and 30 basically have the same functions, the following will be mainly described.TheThe base station 20 will be described.
[0015]
The base station 20 forms a communication path 3 for transmitting and receiving an RF signal (radio wave) between each of the plurality of mobile terminals 10, 11,. The base station 30 forms a communication path 4 for transmitting / receiving another RF signal to / from each of the plurality of mobile terminals 10, 11,. The portable terminals 10, 11,... 1n transmit an RF signal including only the identifier (ID) assigned to the self-portable terminal and data related thereto to the base station 20 via the communication path 3, and another communication path. 4, various information can be transmitted to and received from another base station 30. The mobile terminals 10, 11,..., 1n communicate via the base station 30 via the communication path 4 and further via a general public telephone network, access to a home page via the Internet, and transmission / reception of e-mails. You may be able to do it.
[0016]
The in-area information collection and provision server 50 receives individual identifiers transmitted from the individual portable terminals 10-1n in the area of the base station 20, stores them in the storage device, counts the number of the identifiers, and thereby The number of mobile terminals 10 to 1n in the area is determined and stored. On the communication path 3, since only the identifier and the data related thereto are basically transmitted from the mobile terminals 10 to 1n to the base station 20, the amount of data transmitted and received is small. In the area information collection and provision server 50, since people waiting for an event rarely move greatly in a short time, each mobile terminal 10-1n periodically, for example, at intervals of 2-3 minutes It is sufficient to obtain data about each identifier. Therefore, the communication traffic of the communication path 3 hardly reaches the limit, and the communication state of the communication path 3 of the base station 20 is kept good.
[0017]
On the other hand, each of the mobile terminals 10 to 1n can access the in-area information collection and provision server 50 via the base station 30 via the communication path 4 and receive the information stored therein. The communication path 4 of the base station 30 can be connected after waiting for a while even if the access from the mobile terminals 10 to 1n is concentrated and the communication traffic reaches the limit and the connection from the mobile terminal to the server 50 becomes difficult. become.
[0018]
Thus, by separating the communication path between the portable terminals 10-1n and the server 50 into the transmission path 3 for identifier and the communication path 4 for area information, the server 50 can communicate with the communication path 4 of the base station 30. Without being affected by the increase in traffic, the identifier can be reliably acquired from each of the mobile terminals 10 to 1n via the base station 20, and the congestion situation in the area can be grasped almost in real time.
[0019]
For example, a Bluetooth standard or a wireless LAN standard may be applied as a short-range wireless communication standard for communication between the base station 20 and the mobile terminals 10 to 1n in a distance range of about 20 m × 30 m. When adopting the Bluetooth standard, if one base station 20 is provided with one piconet that uses one frequency hopping pattern, one piconet can secure 7 time-division channels, and if 40 piconets with different hopping patterns are prepared, One module can handle a total of 280 mobile terminals. The transmission interval of identifiers in one channel is at most about 2 seconds, and 14 seconds are required for 7 people. Therefore, when waiting for an event or the like, it is sufficient to transmit the identifier about every 3 minutes. Even if a base station 21 having a module that uses a different frequency channel is provided at the same location as the base station 20 or at a different location in the same region away from the base station 20, or a short distance of the base station 20 You may provide the base station 21 which has the module according to another near field communication standard different from both the communication standard and the communication standard of the base station 30.
[0020]
On the other hand, for communication between the base station 30 that transmits and receives information such as area information and the mobile terminals 10 to 1n, for example, the PHS standard for short-range communication may be used. Alternatively, a wireless LAN standard or a mobile communication network standard such as a cellular phone (PDC) may be used for the communication.
[0021]
FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the mobile terminal 10. The portable terminal 10 includes a wireless communication processing unit 11, a wireless communication processing unit 12, a data processing unit 13, a control unit 15, a memory 15, a sound processing unit 16 connected to the speaker SP and the microphone MC, and an input unit 17 such as operation keys. And a display unit 18. The wireless communication processing unit 11 and the wireless communication processing unit 12 are modules with different communication standards. The wireless communication processing unit 11 is preferably a mobile phone communication module such as a short-range communication PHS, and may be a short-range wireless communication module such as a wireless LAN. The wireless communication processing unit 12 is preferably a short-range wireless communication module such as a Bluetooth standard, and may be a wireless LAN standard module. The wireless communication processing unit 12 may be provided with two or more frequency channels. Alternatively, the mobile terminal 10 may be provided with two or more wireless communication processing units 12 (modules) that use different frequency channels. In that case, one frequency channel (f1) of the wireless communication processing unit 12 communicates with the base station 20 of the same frequency channel, and the other frequency channel (f2) communicates with the base station 21 of the same frequency channel. Can be configured. In addition, the mobile terminal 10 may include another wireless communication processing unit (not shown) that complies with another short-range wireless communication standard different from any communication standard of the wireless communication processing unit 11 and the wireless communication processing unit 12. . In that case, the other communication processing unit can be configured to communicate with the base station 21 according to the same communication standard.
[0022]
The wireless communication processing unit 12 of the mobile terminal 10 responds to a periodic request from the base station 20 on a predetermined time division multiplexing channel on a predetermined frequency division multiplexing channel, and sends a response including an identifier to the base station 20. Send to. The base station 20 disconnects (ends) the communication immediately after transmitting the request. The wireless communication processing unit 12 disconnects (ends) the communication immediately after transmitting the response. Alternatively, the wireless communication processing unit 12 of the mobile terminal 10 may periodically transmit an identifier and short data related thereto to the base station 20 regardless of the request of the base station 20. When the base station 20 detects that the communication traffic on the communication path 3 has increased, the base station 20 may send a control signal instructing the mobile terminal 10 to increase the identifier transmission interval. Further, the mobile terminal 10 may operate according to communication traffic on the communication path 3 to change the identifier transmission interval. The portable terminal 10 adds wireless data to the identifier by adding personal data such as the number of the portable terminal user (that is, the owner) and the accompanying person, the age, gender, etc. of the portable terminal 10 to the identifier. It may be transmitted from the unit 12 to the base station 20. The personal data is input by the user of the portable terminal 10 by operating the input unit 17 when entering or before entering the event venue, and the data is processed by the data processing unit 13 and stored in the memory 15 in advance. Has been.
[0023]
The wireless communication processing unit 11 of the mobile terminal 10 is used for communication with the base station 30.
By operating the input unit 17, the user accesses the server 50 via the wireless communication processing unit 11, the base station 30, and the network 70, accesses various information stored therein, and stores the information. It can be received and displayed on the display unit 18 of the mobile terminal 10. Further, the user can make a call with another portable terminal in the venue via the base station 30 by using the voice processing unit 16 and the wireless communication processing unit 11 of the portable terminal 10, and a telephone line network. It is also possible to make a call with other telephones outside the venue via 70.
[0024]
FIG. 3 shows in more detail the configuration of the in-area information collection and provision server 50 connected to the base station 20 having the configuration of FIG. 1 via the LAN. The information collection and provision server 50 includes an in-area information storage unit 5, an in-area information storage unit 6, an information processing unit 7, and a mobile terminal user information registration unit 8. These means 5, 6, 7 and 8 are connected to each other via a LAN 72. The server 50 may further be connected to the in-area number counting means 9 provided at, for example, the entrance and / or exit of the event area via the LAN 72. The area number counting means 9 is for counting or estimating the number of people currently staying in the event area (that is, the total number of people waiting for the event and those who are not standing). Includes a transit counter.
[0025]
The in-area information storage unit 5 in FIG. 3 stores the identifiers collected from the mobile terminals 10 to 1n in the area of the base station 20 and further counts the identifiers obtained by counting by the in-area information processing unit 7. That is, the number of mobile terminals 10 to 1n is stored.
[0026]
The in-area information storage means 6 is a database of various area information. At least the identifier (ID) of the mobile terminals 10 to 1n in the area and the time when the mobile terminals 10 to 1n have entered the area of the base station 20. The time taken out from the area is recorded, and the information processed by the information processing means 7 is also stored in a form that can be browsed by the mobile terminals 10 to 1n. The in-area information storage unit 6 may store other information related to each event and provide the information to the mobile terminals 10 to 1n.
[0027]
The storage means 6 further stores personal data such as the identifier of the mobile terminal, the number of users of the mobile terminal and its accompanying persons, the age and sex of each person, and the like. The personal data may be registered by the portable terminal user information registration unit 8 and stored in the storage unit 6 via the network 72. The mobile terminal user information registration unit 8 may be installed at an arbitrary position, for example, at the first entrance of a plurality of event venues, and is connected to the other units 5 to 7 of the server 50 via the network 72. Yes.
[0028]
The registration unit 8 may receive the identifier and personal data from the mobile terminals 10 to 1n via, for example, a base station (not shown) provided at the entrance of the first venue other than the base station 20. Alternatively, the registration unit 8 may receive and process personal data transmitted from the mobile terminals 10 to 1n added to the identifier via the base station 20. Based on this data, information such as the number of people in each age group in the venue and the waiting time for each event can be obtained. The event organizer can manage the event more effectively based on the information.
[0029]
The information processing means 6 periodically counts identifiers in the area in a predetermined period to determine the number of mobile terminals in the area, and estimates in the area based on the number of mobile terminals in the area and reference data regarding the number of people. The number of passing people, the number of people waiting to participate, and the expected waiting time are calculated from the number of people and stored in the in-area information storage means 6. The user operates the portable terminals 10 to 1n to access the storage unit 6 to acquire information such as the estimated number of waiting for event participation and the expected waiting time stored therein, and displays the information on the display unit 18. can do.
[0030]
4 shows a configuration in which a plurality of communication areas 1 to 3 having the same configuration as in FIG. 1 are provided and the areas are connected via a network 80 such as a LAN. You may comprise. The communication area has the same configuration as in FIG. Communication areas 2 and 3 are provided with in-area information collection and provision servers 51 and 52, first base stations 22 and 23, and second base stations 31 and 32, respectively. The servers 50, 51 and 52 include a network interface (not shown) for connecting to the network 80 in addition to the configuration of FIG. In FIG. 4, the mobile terminal 10 in the area 1 can access the server 52 in the area 3 via the server 50 in the area 1 and acquire the area information (congestion information) in the area 3. Thereby, the mobile terminal 10 in the area 1 can know the congestion status of events in the other area 3. As a result, the visitors can efficiently travel through a plurality of event venues, and the visitors can be efficiently distributed to each event. In addition, you may comprise so that the one registration means 8 of the information collection and provision server 50 of FIG. 3 may be shared via the network 70 by each information collection and provision server 50-52 of the some areas 1-3.
[0031]
The number of portable terminals obtained via the short-range wireless communication path 3 is not necessarily the same as the actual number of persons, and the actual number of persons is smaller unless each person has one portable terminal. On the other hand, the intra-area information processing means 7 can more accurately estimate the actual number of people in each area from the number of mobile terminal users of the personal data described above and their accompanying persons. The in-area information processing means 7 can also estimate the actual number of people in each area from the number of mobile terminals and reference data. The intra-area information processing means 7 further calculates the expected waiting time of each event based on the number of people and stores it in the intra-area information storage means 6. At that time, for example, the number of people passing through the unit per unit time and the number of participants in the event at the entrance are collected using the in-area number counting means 9 provided at the entrance of the event area, for example, and past statistical data is referred to. Thus, a more accurate expected waiting time can be obtained and provided.
[0032]
The embodiments described above are merely given as typical examples, and variations and variations thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Those skilled in the art will depart from the principles of the present invention and the scope of the invention described in the claims. Obviously, various modifications of the above-described embodiment can be made.
[0033]
(Supplementary Note 1) An information providing system including an information processing apparatus connected to a first wireless communication base station and a second wireless communication base station via a network,
The information processing apparatus receives an identifier from a portable terminal existing within a predetermined range of the first wireless communication base station via the first wireless communication base station, and processes the identifier to generate information Stored in a storage device,
The information processing apparatus further transmits the information stored in the storage device to the portable terminal via the second wireless communication base station;
An information provision system characterized by
(Supplementary note 2) The information providing system according to supplementary note 1, wherein a communication standard of the first wireless communication base station is different from a communication standard of the second wireless communication base station.
(Supplementary note 3) The information providing system according to supplementary note 1, wherein the information represents an expected waiting time.
(Supplementary note 4) The information providing system according to supplementary note 1, wherein the information represents the number of portable terminals existing within the predetermined range.
(Supplementary note 5) The information providing system according to supplementary note 1, wherein the information represents an estimated number of people staying within the predetermined range.
(Supplementary Note 6) The information processing apparatus receives a request from the mobile terminal via the second wireless communication base station, and transmits the information to the mobile terminal in response to the request. The information providing system according to appendix 1, characterized by:
(Additional remark 7) The said information processing apparatus receives a request | requirement from the said portable terminal via the said 2nd radio | wireless communication base station, and responds to the said request | requirement with another information different from the said information to the said portable terminal. Is to send,
The information providing system according to appendix 1, wherein the different information is generated by processing an identifier of another portable terminal outside the predetermined range.
(Supplementary Note 8) The information processing apparatus receives a request from the mobile terminal via the second wireless communication base station, and responds to the request with the information from another information processing apparatus via a network. The system for providing information according to appendix 1, wherein different information is received and transmitted to the portable terminal.
(Supplementary note 9) The information provision according to supplementary note 1, wherein the first wireless communication base station transmits a control signal for controlling a transmission interval of the identifier of the portable terminal to the portable terminal. system.
(Supplementary note 10) The information providing system according to supplementary note 1, wherein the first wireless communication base station conforms to a near field communication standard.
(Additional remark 11) The said information processing apparatus produces | generates the said information based on the said identifier received in the periodic predetermined period, The information provision system of Additional remark 1 characterized by the above-mentioned.
(Additional remark 12) The said information processing apparatus transmits the data regarding a user and its accompanying person with an identifier from the portable terminal which exists in the predetermined | prescribed range of the said 1st wireless communication base station via the said 1st wireless communication base station. The information providing system according to appendix 1, wherein the information providing system is received and stored in the storage device.
(Supplementary note 13) The information providing system according to supplementary note 1, further comprising a person counting means for counting the number of persons within the predetermined range of the first base station.
(Supplementary note 14) The information providing system according to supplementary note 1, further comprising means for registering data relating to a user of the portable terminal.
(Supplementary note 15) The information providing system according to supplementary note 1, wherein a plurality of the first wireless communication base stations are provided in one area.
(Supplementary Note 16) The identifier is received in the predetermined range only through the first radio communication base station, and the information is received only through the second radio communication base station. The information providing system according to attachment 1, wherein the information providing system is characterized.
(Supplementary Note 17) a first wireless communication unit that transmits an identifier to a first wireless communication base station existing within a predetermined range;
A second wireless communication unit that transmits and receives to and from the second wireless communication base station and receives information generated based on the identifier from the second wireless communication base station;
A mobile terminal with
(Supplementary note 18) The mobile terminal according to supplementary note 17, wherein a communication standard of the first wireless communication unit is different from a communication standard of the second wireless communication unit.
(Supplementary note 19) The mobile terminal according to supplementary note 16, wherein the information represents an expected waiting time.
(Supplementary note 20) The portable terminal according to supplementary note 17, wherein the information represents the number of portable terminals that exist within the predetermined distance range.
(Supplementary note 21) The mobile terminal according to supplementary note 16, wherein the information represents an estimated number of people staying within the predetermined distance range.
(Supplementary note 22) The supplementary note 17, wherein another information generated by processing an identifier of another portable terminal outside the predetermined range is received from the second radio communication base station. Mobile devices.
(Supplementary note 23) The mobile terminal according to supplementary note 17, wherein the first wireless communication unit transmits the identifier at a predetermined interval.
(Additional remark 24) The said 1st radio | wireless communication part changes the transmission interval of the said identifier according to the control signal received from the said 1st radio | wireless communication base station, The additional remark 17 characterized by the above-mentioned. Mobile device.
(Supplementary note 25) The mobile terminal according to supplementary note 17, wherein the first wireless communication unit conforms to a near field communication standard.
(Additional remark 26) The said 1st radio | wireless communication part transmits the data regarding a user and its companion with the said identifier to the said 1st radio | wireless communication base station, The portable of Additional remark 17 characterized by the above-mentioned. Terminal.
(Supplementary note 27) The supplementary note 17 is characterized in that the identifier is transmitted only by the first wireless communication unit, and the information related to the identifier is received only by the second wireless communication unit. The portable terminal described.
[0034]
【The invention's effect】
The present invention has the effect of realizing a system that collects information from a mobile terminal and provides various information to the mobile terminal in a relatively narrow area due to the above-described features.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a system for collecting information from each mobile terminal and providing information to each mobile terminal in a relatively narrow area according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 shows a configuration of a mobile terminal.
FIG. 3 shows in more detail the configuration of the in-area information collection and provision server connected via the LAN with the first base station having the configuration of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 shows a configuration when a plurality of communication areas 1 to 3 similar to those in FIG. 1 are provided and the areas are connected by a network such as a LAN.
[Explanation of symbols]
10, 11, ..., 1n portable terminal
20, 21 First wireless communication base station
30 Second wireless communication base station
50 Area information collection and provision server
70 network
72 LAN
74 network

Claims (3)

An information processing apparatus connected to a first radio communication base station and a second radio communication base station via a network,
Data representing the number of users and their companions is received together with identifiers from portable terminals existing in the communication area of the first wireless communication base station via the first wireless communication base station during a periodic predetermined period. , Counting the number of identifiers received in the periodic predetermined period, counting the number of portable terminals present in the communication area based on the counted number of identifiers, and counting the number of portable terminals and Calculation means for calculating a congestion state based on data representing the number of accompanying persons ;
Means for providing information indicating the calculated congestion state to the portable terminal via the second wireless communication base station when accessed from the portable terminal;
An information processing apparatus comprising: 2. The information processing according to claim 1, wherein the transmission interval of the identifier of the mobile terminal is controlled by a control signal transmitted from the first wireless communication base station and corresponding to communication traffic. apparatus. A first wireless communication unit that transmits data representing the number of users and their accompanying persons together with an identifier to a first wireless communication base station existing within a communication range;
Mobiles counted based on the number of identifiers transmitted / received to / from the second wireless communication base station, transmitted by a plurality of portable terminals, and received by the first wireless communication base station in a periodic predetermined period A second wireless communication unit that receives from the second wireless communication base station information representing a congestion state calculated based on data representing the number of terminals and the number of accompanying users ;
A portable terminal comprising:

Images