JP5421883B2 - Database management apparatus and database management method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a database management apparatus that holds information for positioning by a communication terminal as a database, and a database management method using the database management apparatus.

  With the improvement in performance of communication terminals such as mobile phones, communication terminals having a positioning function are becoming popular. As a positioning method by a communication terminal, in addition to GPS positioning that performs positioning by receiving radio waves from a GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite, WiFi positioning using a Wi-Fi (registered trademark) (Wireless Fidelity) signal (Wi-Fi) Fi Positioning System (WPS) is known. WiFi positioning is a method in which a communication terminal receives a WiFi signal from an access point that is measured in advance, and calculates position information of the communication terminal based on the WiFi signal.

  Specifically, in a support server that supports WiFi positioning, a database that stores the results of measuring WiFi signals from a plurality of access points for each specific position is constructed in advance. Then, the information related to the WiFi signal from the plurality of access points obtained by the communication terminal is sent to the support server, and the information related to the WiFi signal from the communication terminal is compared with the measurement result stored in the database in the support server. Thus, a method of determining the position of the communication terminal and notifying the communication terminal is used (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2008-5363484 A

  In recent years, communication itself using WiFi signals has been widely performed, and various devices for providing WiFi access points have been developed. Specifically, a WiFi device or the like that is not supposed to be fixedly used, such as a WiFi router that can be carried by the owner, is being developed.

  However, if WiFi positioning is performed using a WiFi signal from a movable WiFi device, the accuracy of WiFi positioning may be reduced. This is because the information related to the strength of the WiFi signal for each position stored in the WiFi positioning support server and used for the support of WiFi positioning is based on the premise that the access point does not move. This is because when the point moves, the reception intensity of the WiFi signal varies even at the same position. As described above, when a WiFi signal from a WiFi device that can be moved is used in WiFi positioning by the communication terminal, the accuracy of WiFi positioning by the communication terminal may be lowered.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, a database management device capable of suppressing the use of a signal from a movable device and realizing highly accurate positioning by a communication terminal, and a database by this database management device The purpose is to provide a management method.

  In order to achieve the above object, a database management apparatus according to the present invention is used for positioning to determine the position of a communication terminal by performing wireless communication with a plurality of access points in a first communication network, and can receive radio waves that can be received at the position. Access point specifying information for specifying an access point to be transmitted is associated with installation area information indicating in which communication area the access point specified by the access point information is provided in the second communication network. Access point information storage means for storing the access point information, communication area information that is transmitted from the communication terminal and identifies the communication area in which the communication terminal is located, and an access point that transmits the radio wave received by the communication terminal Multiple radio wave information including access point identification information Radio wave information receiving means for receiving, movement determination means for determining whether the access point is moving by comparing the communication area information and the installation area information based on the plurality of radio wave information; and Control means for disabling the access point information related to the access point when it is determined that the access point stored in the access point information storage means is moving based on the determination result by the movement determination means And.

  According to the database management apparatus, the communication terminal includes the installation area information indicating the communication area where the access point is provided and the communication area information indicating the position of the communication terminal that has received the radio wave transmitted from the access point. Whether or not the access point is moving is determined by the movement determining means based on the plurality of radio wave information to be transmitted. For this reason, when the access point is moving, use of a signal from the access point can be suppressed. Therefore, high-accuracy positioning by the communication terminal can be realized without using radio waves from a movable access point.

  Here, a position calculation request transmitted from the communication terminal including information related to radio waves from the access point received at the communication terminal is received, and information related to radio waves from the access point from the communication terminal is received. The access point information storage means further comprises position calculation means for comparing the access point information stored in the access point information storage means and calculating the position of the communication terminal and notifying the communication terminal. Stores a flag indicating whether or not the access point is a mobile station in association with the access point information, and the control means determines the radio wave based on a determination result of whether or not the access point is moving. The information storage means changes a flag associated with the access point information, and the position calculation means Among scan point information stored the access point information, can be manner to calculate the position of the communication terminal using only the information flag is not given to indicate that the a mobile station.

  As in the above aspect, the database management device calculates the position of the communication terminal by comparing the information related to the radio wave from the access point from the communication terminal with the access point information stored in the access point information storage means. A position calculation means for notifying the communication terminal, and the position calculation means determines whether or not the access point information can be used based on a flag associated with the access point information stored in the radio wave information storage means. With this configuration, positioning by the communication terminal can be performed with high accuracy without using radio waves from a movable access point.

  Also, a positioning calculation result obtained by the communication terminal using the information from the satellite after capturing the satellite, information for specifying an access point that transmits the radio wave received by the communication terminal, and the access point information Receiving the satellite positioning result information transmitted from the communication terminal including the installation area information indicating in which communication area the access point specified by the communication point is provided in the second communication network, An access point information registration unit that stores the access point information in the access point information storage unit may also be provided.

  Thus, by using the satellite positioning result information as the access point information by the access point information registration means, the access point information stored in the access point information storage means can be increased and the position of the communication terminal can be calculated. Since it can be used, it is possible to further promote higher accuracy of positioning by the communication terminal.

  Further, the access point information may be further associated with information for specifying the radio wave intensity from the access point at the position.

  As described above, by further providing information specifying the radio wave intensity as the access point information, the information related to the access point becomes more detailed, and higher accuracy of positioning by the communication terminal can be further promoted.

  The present invention can be described as an invention of a database management apparatus as described below, in addition to being described as an invention of a database management apparatus as described above. This is substantially the same invention only in different categories, and has the same operations and effects.

  That is, the database management method according to the present invention is used for positioning for determining the position of a communication terminal by performing wireless communication with a plurality of access points in a first communication network, and transmitting an radio wave that can be received at the position. The access point information that associates the access point specifying information for specifying the access point and the installation area information indicating in which communication area the access point specified by the access point information is provided in the second communication network. A database management method by a database management apparatus comprising an access point information storage means for storing, communication area information that is transmitted from the communication terminal by a radio wave information receiving means and identifies a communication area in which the communication terminal is located; and Access to transmit radio waves received by the communication terminal A radio wave information receiving step for receiving a plurality of radio wave information including an access point specifying information for specifying a point; and a movement determining means, based on the plurality of radio wave information, for determining the communication area information and the installation area information. The access point stored in the access point information storage unit is moved by the control unit based on the determination result in the movement determination step by the movement determination step for determining whether the access point is moving by comparison. A control step of disabling access point information related to the access point.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the database management apparatus and database management method which can suppress the utilization of the signal from a movable apparatus and can implement | achieve highly accurate positioning by a communication terminal are provided.

It is a block diagram explaining the structure of the positioning system which concerns on suitable embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the structure of the database stored in DB for positioning. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of a SUPL server, a positional information management apparatus, a user information management apparatus, a base station apparatus, and an access point. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of a communication terminal. It is a figure explaining a WiFi positioning. It is an example of the WiFi position information stored in the position information DB. It is an example of the GPS approximate position information stored in the GPS approximate position information DB. It is an example of the mobile station determination information stored in the mobile station determination DB. It is a sequence diagram explaining the process for communicating between a communication terminal and a SUPL server. It is a sequence diagram explaining the process which concerns on GPS positioning of a communication terminal. It is a sequence diagram explaining the process which concerns on WiFi positioning of a communication terminal. It is a flowchart explaining the process which concerns on a mobile station determination. It is a flowchart explaining the process which concerns on WiFi positioning in a SUPL server. It is a sequence diagram explaining the process which concerns on the WiFi positioning of the communication terminal in the case of not performing GPS positioning. It is a figure explaining the modification of the process which concerns on mobile station determination. It is a figure explaining the modification of the process which concerns on mobile station determination.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description of the drawings, the same elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

<Configuration of positioning system including positioning support system>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a positioning system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a DB included in the approximate position information DB 23 constituting the SUPL (Secure User Plane Location) server 20 constituting the positioning system 1.

  A positioning system 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a SUPL server 20 and a location information management device 30, a user information management device 40, a GW (Gateway) device 50, a communication terminal 60, and a base station device that constitute the positioning support system 10. 70 (70A, 70B, 70C) and WiFi access points (AP) E1, E2. Among these, the positioning support system 10 constituted by the SUPL server 20 and the location information management device 30 is a device that supports the positioning calculation by the communication terminal 60, and the user information management device 40 and the base station device 70 are respectively connected to the communication. It is a device related to communication between the terminal 60 and the positioning support system 10. The SUPL server 20, the location information management device 30, and the user information management device 40 are devices included in the same mobile communication network (first communication network), and the communication terminal 60 is connected to the mobile communication network. It has a function to connect to.

  Further, the communication terminal 60 further has a function of connecting to the WiFi access points E1 and E2 and performing communication via this wireless LAN (Local Area Network) (second communication network). This wireless LAN is a communication network different from the mobile communication network. That is, the communication terminal 60 has a function of connecting to the mobile communication network via the base station 70 and a function of communicating with the wireless LAN via the WiFi access points E1 and E2.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the SUPL server 20, the location information management device 30, the user information management device 40, the base station device 70 (70A to 70C) and the WiFi access points E1 and E2 included in the positioning system 1 are respectively The computer includes a CPU 101, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 102 and a ROM (Read Only Memory) 103, which are main storage devices, a communication module 104 for performing communication, and an auxiliary storage device 105 such as a hard disk. The And the function of each apparatus is exhibited when these components operate. As shown in FIG. 4, the communication terminal 60 includes hardware such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 601, a RAM 602, a ROM 603, an operation unit 604, a wireless communication unit 605, a display 606, and an antenna 607. And the function of the communication terminal 60 is exhibited by these components operating.

  Note that, between the SUPL server 20 and the location information management device 30, between the location information management device 30 and the user information management device 40, and between the user information management device 40 and the SUPL server 20, respectively, via a wired network. Connected. In addition, communication between the communication terminal 60 and the user information management device 40, between the communication terminal 60 and the base station device 70 (70A to 70C), and between the communication terminal 60 and the WiFi access points E1 and E2 are performed by wireless communication. Is exchanged.

  Next, a method for performing positioning by performing communication between the positioning support system 10 and the communication terminal 60 will be described. The positioning method performed by the communication terminal 60 in the present embodiment is GPS (Global Positioning System) positioning and WiFi positioning by a network assist method.

  First, GPS positioning will be described. GPS positioning refers to the position of the receiving terminal (communication terminal 60) (specifically, latitude, longitude and altitude) based on the positional information of the GPS satellite by receiving signals from three or more GPS satellites in the sky. In order to do this, it is necessary to capture a GPS satellite by the communication terminal 60, and this process takes a certain time. For this reason, in the GPS positioning by the network assist method according to the present embodiment, information (GPS assist data) such as the position of the GPS satellite and the approximate position (initial position) information of the communication terminal 60 is transmitted from the positioning support system 10 to the communication terminal. Thus, the processing related to capturing the GPS satellites by the communication terminal 60 and the positioning time are shortened. In the present embodiment, when the communication terminal 60 requests the positioning support system 10 to provide GPS assist data, information indicating the approximate position of the communication terminal 60 and the GPS satellites from which the communication terminal 60 can receive signals. By receiving the position information from the positioning support system 10, GPS positioning is performed by the communication terminal 60 and the position of the communication terminal 60 is obtained.

  Among the GPS assist data sent from the positioning support system 10 to the communication terminal 60, for the GPS satellite position information, an assist data provider (not shown) managing GPS satellite activation information in the positioning support system 10 Information obtained from is used. On the other hand, as the approximate position information of the communication terminal 60, the position information of the base station device that transmits radio waves to the cell that is the communication area in which the communication terminal 60 is located is used. In this case, since the position of the base station apparatus is determined in advance, the position information of the base station apparatus can be stored in advance in the positioning support system 10, and information specifying the cell where the communication terminal 60 is located is communicated. This is because when it is transmitted from the terminal 60, it can be transmitted to the communication terminal 60 based on the information.

  Next, WiFi positioning will be described. With WiFi positioning, the communication terminal 60 receives radio waves from a plurality of WiFi access points, and obtains the position of the communication terminal 60 from the radio waves received by the communication terminal 60. In the present embodiment, a case will be described in which the radio wave intensity from the WiFi access point is further used to perform positioning with higher accuracy. In the WiFi positioning, the intensity of the radio wave from the WiFi access point for each position is measured for each position by a travel survey or the like in advance. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, the intensity of the radio waves from the WiFi access points E1, E2 at each position up to the points P1, P2,... Pn is measured, and this is shown for each position as shown in FIG. Information related to radio waves from WiFi access points is collected and constructed as a database for position calculation.

  An access point identification ID is assigned to each of the WiFi access points E1 and E2 in order to specify an individual. In the present embodiment, an example in which a MAC address (Media Access Control address) is used as an example of an access point identification ID will be described. As shown in FIG. 6, in the position calculation database, for example, at the position specified by the points X1 and Y1 (for example, latitude and longitude can be used as X1 and Y1), WiFi specified by MAC A is used. The radio wave intensity from the access point is level 20, and the radio wave intensity from the WiFi access point specified by MAC B is level 10.

  In WiFi positioning, the communication terminal 60 performs WiFi communication at an arbitrary position, so that the communication terminal 60 calculates the position of the received radio wave from the WiFi access point at that position and the radio wave intensity from the communication terminal 60. To the server (in this embodiment, corresponding to the SUPL server 20), and in the SUPL server 20, the state of the radio wave received by the communication terminal 60 is close to which point stored in the position calculation database. By determining whether or not, the position of the communication terminal 60 is calculated and notified to the communication terminal 60.

  Next, each device included in the positioning system 1 will be described. First, the SUPL server 20 constituting the positioning support system 10 included in the positioning system 1 is a device having the main functions of the positioning support system 10, stores GPS assist data to be transmitted to the communication terminal 60, and stores the communication terminal 60. The assist data is transmitted to the communication terminal 60 based on the request from the communication terminal 60. Furthermore, it has the function to transmit, after calculating the position of the communication terminal 60 based on the request | requirement regarding the WiFi positioning from the communication terminal 60. FIG. Detailed processing according to the present embodiment will be described later.

  Similar to the SUPL server 20, the location information management device 30 that constitutes the positioning support system 10 has a function of performing an authentication process for performing communication related to positioning with the communication terminal 60, and also includes location information in the mobile communication network N1. It has a GMLC (Gateway Mobile Location Center) function for managing such data, and is realized, for example, as an EBSCP (External Business User Service Control Point). Specifically, profile data of a communication network (including mobile communication network N2) different from its own network (mobile communication network N1) is stored, and the data is transmitted to the SUPL server 20 as necessary. To do. Detailed processing according to the present embodiment will be described later.

  The user information management device 40 has a function of storing information (user profile) related to the owner (user) of a communication terminal that performs communication related to positioning with the positioning support system 10, and includes, for example, SUSCP (Specific User Service) Control Point). Then, the information is provided in response to a request from the location information management device 30.

  The communication terminal 60 is used by a user. Specifically, for example, the communication terminal 60 is realized as a device having a communication function such as a mobile phone or a PDA (Personal Digital Assistance). In addition, the communication terminal 60 according to the present embodiment includes a function related to roaming that can perform communication using equipment (for example, the base station device 70) provided by another communication carrier, so that the mobile terminal It has a function of performing communication via the communication network N2. Further, the communication terminal 60 has a function of performing GPS positioning using assist data from the positioning support system 10.

  The base station device 70 is a device included in the mobile communication network, and forms a cell C1 by transmitting radio waves to a specific range. When the communication terminal 60 is in the cell C <b> 1, the communication terminal 60 can perform communication by transmitting and receiving information via the base station device 70. Each cell is given a unique cell ID, and this cell ID makes it possible to distinguish which base station device 70 is a related cell. A plurality of base station devices including this base station device 70 are managed by an SGSN (Serving GPRS Support Node) (not shown) that is located upstream of the base station device in the mobile communication network and controls packet communication. ing.

  Next, the SUPL server 20 and the location information management device 30 included in the positioning support system 10 that is a database management device included in the positioning system 1 and that characterizes the present invention will be described in detail. The SUPL server 20 includes a communication unit (radio wave information receiving unit, position calculation unit) 21, a control unit (movement determination unit, control unit, position calculation unit) 22, and a positioning DB (database) (access point information storage unit). 23. The location information management device 30 includes a communication unit 31, a control unit 32, and a management DB 33.

  Regarding the WiFi positioning, the communication unit 21 of the SUPL server 20 is transmitted from the communication terminal 60 and received by the communication terminal 60 and the cell ID (communication area information specifying the communication area) in which the communication terminal 60 is located. It functions as a radio wave information receiving means for receiving radio wave information including the MAC address (access point specifying information) of the access point that transmits radio waves and the intensity information indicating the strength of the radio waves from this access point. Further, the communication unit 21 has a function of transmitting assist data including approximate position information to the communication terminal 60 based on a positioning information transmission request transmitted from the communication terminal 60 with respect to GPS positioning. A function as a positioning result receiving means for receiving a GPS positioning result by the terminal 60 is also provided. Further, it further has a function of transmitting / receiving information to / from the location information management device 30. Information received by the communication unit 21 is sent to the control unit 22.

  The control unit 22 has a function as a movement determination unit that determines whether the access point is moving based on a plurality of radio wave information regarding WiFi, and stores it in the access point information storage unit based on the determination result. When it is determined that the access point to be moved is moving, the access point has a function as a control unit that disables access point information related to the access point. When there is a position calculation request from the communication terminal 60, the information stored in the position information DB 232 in the positioning DB 23 described later is confirmed, the position of the communication terminal 60 is calculated, and the communication terminal 60 It has a function as a position calculation means to notify.

  Moreover, the control part 22 has a function which acquires the approximate position information stored in GPS approximate position information DB231 in DB23 for positioning based on the positioning information transmission request transmitted from the communication terminal 60 regarding GPS positioning. Further, the control unit 22 has a function of updating approximate position information stored in an approximate position information DB 23 described later based on positioning result information indicating the result of GPS positioning transmitted from the communication terminal 60. The update of the approximate position information by the control unit 22 is not limited to the rewriting of the approximate position information when the communication terminal 60 succeeds in GPS positioning, but when the approximate position information is determined to be defective because the GPS positioning has failed. Initialization of approximate position information is also included. The update of the approximate position information by the control unit 22 will be described later.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the positioning DB 23 stores three databases: a GPS approximate position information DB 231, a position information DB 232, and a mobile station determination DB 233. Among these, the GPS approximate position information DB 231 is used for GPS positioning, and the position information DB 232 and the mobile station determination DB 233 are used for WiFi positioning.

  The GPS approximate position information DB 231 functions as approximate position information storage means for storing information on base stations related to the cell in association with the cell ID of the cell. FIG. 4 is an example of approximate position information stored in the approximate position information DB 23. Among the information shown in FIG. 4, MCC (Mobile Country Code), MNC (Mobile Network Code, operator code (for example, determined for each communication carrier)), and cell ID are predetermined. is there. The positioning information transmission request transmitted from the communication terminal 60 also includes the above MCC, MNC, and cell ID as information for specifying the cell where the communication terminal 60 is located. Also, Lat (Latitude (Y), latitude), Lon (Longitude (X), longitude), Alt (Altitude, altitude from the WGS84 ellipsoid used as a reference for GPS positioning), Unc (Uncertainty (k), latitude / longitude Unc-Alt (Uncertainty Altitude (k), altitude uncertainty) indicates the approximate position information stored corresponding to the cell ID. The uncertainty indicates the accuracy based on the calculation method of the approximate position information, the size (width) of the cell corresponding to the cell ID, the GPS positioning result using the approximate position information, and the like.

  Next, the position information DB 232 will be described. As shown in FIG. 6, the position information DB 232 includes a WiFi access point that transmits a receivable radio wave at a position specified by the points X1 and Y1 (for example, latitude and longitude can be used as X1 and Y1). The radio wave intensity from the WiFi access point is stored in association with the position.

  In the position information DB 232, information obtained by the above-described advance traveling survey is stored by the administrator of the position information DB 232. Moreover, when the WiFi radio wave information transmitted from the communication terminal 60 is acquired after the GPS positioning by the communication terminal 60, the result can also be stored in the position information DB 232 as new information. This process will be described later.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the mobile station determination DB 233 has a MAC address that identifies an access point, a mobile station determination for the access point, and a cell in which the communication terminal 60 that has received a radio wave from the access point is located. Are stored in association with the MAC address. Each of the cell histories is used as installation information indicating the installation area of the access point specified by the MAC address. Note that the number of histories of this cell can be arbitrarily determined by the administrator of the SUPL server 20 or the like.

  In the mobile station determination DB 233 shown in FIG. 8, for each of the three access points of the MAC addresses A to C, four cell IDs in the communication terminal 60 included in the radio wave information from the communication terminal 60 are shown. ing. Note that the communication terminals 60 that transmit the history shown in this table may not be the same communication terminal but may be different communication terminals.

  In the case of the table shown in FIG. 8, communication terminals 60 that have received radio waves from an access point identified by MAC B (hereinafter referred to as “MAC B”; the same applies to MAC A and MAC C) are all recorded in histories 1 to 4. In this case, it is considered that MAC B is not moving. As for MAC C, it is presumed that the access point does not move as in MAC B. On the other hand, the cell in which the communication terminal 60 that has received the radio wave from the MAC A is located is the cell A in the history 1 and 2, the cell B in the history 3, and the cell D in the history 4. From this, it is considered that MAC A is movable (that is, a mobile station). Based on this result, MAC A is given a flag of mobile station determination ON, while MAC B and MAC C are given a flag of mobile station determination OFF. This flag is updated by periodically checking the history by the control unit 22. Further, the criteria for determining mobile station determination are changed as appropriate. The operation of the mobile station determination DB 233 will be described later.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the position information management device 30 included in the positioning support system 10 will be described. The communication unit 31 of the location information management device 30 performs a communication process with the user information management device 40, thereby performing authentication processing of the communication terminal 60 that transmits a connection request to the SUPL server 20, and a SUPL server. A function of transmitting position information (position information specified by MCC and MNC, position information of SGSN, etc.) stored in the position information management apparatus 30 to the SUPL server 20 by performing communication with the position information management apparatus 30. Have.

  The control unit 32 has a function of performing an authentication process related to the communication terminal 60 based on a request from the SUPL server 20. The information included in the approximate location information transmission request transmitted from the communication terminal 60 and transmitted from the SUPL server 20 to the location information management device 30 includes the above-described MCC, MNC, and cell ID. It is included as information related to the serving cell. Similarly, information (SGSN IP address) for specifying the SGSN that controls the base station apparatus 70 related to the cell where the communication terminal 60 is located is included.

The management DB 33 stores information related to determination of approximate position information to be transmitted to the communication terminal 60 regarding GPS positioning. The management DB 33 stores MCC, MNC, SGSN IP address, and location information (Lat, Lon, Alt, Unc, Unc-Alt) in association with each other. In addition, the position information may be stored in association with MCC and MNC.
In the positioning system 1 according to the present invention, when each device functions as described above, the communication terminal 60 transmits approximate position information to the communication terminal 60 when the communication terminal 60 requests GPS positioning. The approximate position information is updated based on the GPS positioning result. When the communication terminal 60 requests position calculation regarding the WiFi positioning, the position of the communication terminal 60 is calculated based on the radio wave information from the access point received from the communication terminal 60 and notified to the communication terminal 60. .

<Positioning method (data management method) by positioning system including positioning support system>
Next, regarding the positioning method by the positioning system 1 including the positioning support system 10 (data management method by the positioning support system 10), the sequence diagrams shown in FIGS. 9 to 11 and the flowcharts shown in FIGS. explain. FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram for explaining processing for performing communication between the communication terminal 60 and the SUPL server 20. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram for explaining processing related to GPS positioning by the communication terminal 60 and the SUPL server 50 and updating of the DB after GPS positioning. FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram for explaining processing related to WiFi positioning by the communication terminal 60. FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating details of the process shown in FIG. FIG. 13 is a flowchart for explaining details of the processing shown in FIG.

  9 to 13, the communication terminal 60 first performs GPS positioning, and then uses the GPS positioning result to update the location information DB and the mobile station determination DB for WiFi positioning. explain. Thereafter, a method in which the communication terminal 60 performs WiFi positioning using the position information DB will be described.

  First, processing for performing communication between the communication terminal 60 and the SUPL server 20 will be described with reference to FIG. When performing GPS positioning in the communication terminal 60, it is necessary to provide a communication path between the communication terminal 60 and the SUPL server 20 that transmits GPS assist data for GPS positioning to the communication terminal 60. For this reason, the communication terminal 60 transmits a connection request for providing a communication path with the SUPL server 20 to the SGSN (not shown) via the base station device 70. This connection request is transmitted when the user of the communication terminal 60 operates the communication terminal 60. The SGSN performs a TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) connection establishment process between the communication terminal 60 and the SUPL server based on the request from the communication terminal 60 (S01).

  In addition, when the TCP connection establishment process is performed (S01), information related to the communication terminal 60 transmitted from the communication terminal 60 is transmitted to the user information management device 40. Here, the information transmitted to the user information management device 40 includes the source IP address, source port number, and SGSN IP address of the communication terminal 60. These pieces of information are also transmitted to the SUPL server 20 when the above TCP connection is established. When the user information management apparatus 40 acquires these pieces of information, the user information stored in the user information management apparatus 40 is updated (S02). Information related to the serving cell of the communication terminal 60 is stored in the user information management device 40.

  Subsequently, a process of establishing a TLS (Transport Layer Security) tunnel used for transmission / reception of information related to positioning is performed between the communication terminal 60 and the SUPL server 20 via the TCP connection created by the above process. (S03). With the above processing, a communication path for performing communication related to positioning between the communication terminal 60 and the SUPL server 20 is provided, and preparation for transmission / reception of information is completed.

  Next, processing related to GPS positioning in the communication terminal 60 will be described with reference to FIG. When a TLS tunnel is established by the above processing (S03), a positioning start request (ULP_SUPL-START) is transmitted from the communication terminal 60 to the SUPL server 20 (S11). Here, in the positioning start request transmitted from the communication terminal 60 to the SUPL server 20, the session ID (identifier assigned in common with respect to the process related to one GPS positioning) and the cell where the communication terminal 60 is located are included. And a cell ID to be specified. When the communication unit 21 of the SUPL server 20 receives this positioning start request, the cell ID of the cell in which the communication terminal 60 is located is sent to the control unit 22 by sending information identifying the communication terminal 60 and the cell ID. Is held (S12). The cell ID of the communication terminal 60 is used as information indicating a position where an access point on the WiFi side described later is provided. Thereafter, a positioning start response (ULP_SUPL-RESPONSE) corresponding to the positioning start request is transmitted from the communication unit 21 to the communication terminal 60 (S13). This positioning request response includes a session ID and information indicating the positioning method (“SET-Based-A-GPS” for specifying the network assist method). In addition, between the reception of the positioning start request (S11) and the transmission of the positioning start response (S13), the control unit 22 of the SUPL server 20 also performs authentication processing for providing approximate position information, which will be described later. Done.

  Next, the communication terminal 60, based on the positioning method (network assist method) designated in the positioning start response (S13) from the SUPL server 20, provides a request for providing assist data (ULP_SUPL-POS-INT) including approximate position information. ) Is transmitted to the SUPL server 20 (S14). This provision request includes a session ID and location information.

  When the communication unit 21 of the SUPL server 20 receives the approximate position information provision request from the communication terminal 60, the communication unit 21 is notified to the control unit 22, and the approximate position information to be transmitted to the communication terminal 60 is transmitted by the control unit 22. Obtained (S25). In the control unit 22, an inquiry is made to the user information management device 50 and the position information management device 40 in order to acquire information to be transmitted to the communication terminal 60. The approximate position information acquired by the control unit 22 by the above process includes a response (ULP_SUPL-POS (RRLP_Measure-Position-) including the approximate position information together with the route information of the GPS satellite acquired by a process different from the above process. Request)) is transmitted to the communication terminal 60 (S16). Here, as the session ID and GPS assist data, approximate position information (latitude, longitude, altitude, latitude / longitude uncertainty, altitude uncertainty), GPS satellite route information (ephemeris, almanac), Is transmitted to the communication terminal 60.

  Subsequently, in the communication terminal 60, GPS positioning is performed based on such information (S17), and the position of the communication terminal 60 is calculated by performing calculation in the communication terminal 60. Specifically, the communication terminal 60 captures three or more GPS satellites using GPS route information transmitted from the SUPL server 20 as GPS assist data during GPS positioning, and these satellites. The terminal is positioned using the signal transmitted from the mobile station and the approximate position information.

  Here, if the signals from three or more GPS satellites can be correctly received and the approximate position information is more accurate information, the GPS positioning is successful, and the latitude, longitude, altitude, and error radius of the communication terminal 60 are obtained. Can be obtained. Here, the error radius indicates whether the latitude, longitude, and altitude obtained as a result of the positioning calculation by the communication terminal 60 are accurate, and the uncertainty of the approximate position information transmitted from the SUPL server 20; Calculated based on the GPS signal reception accuracy and the like. However, if the number of GPS satellites that could receive the signal is small, or if the approximate position information is extremely inaccurate, GPS positioning may fail. As a case where the communication terminal 60 fails to capture three or more GPS satellites, for example, there is a case where positioning is performed indoors.

  After GPS positioning by the communication terminal 60, positioning result information (ULP_SUPL-POS (RRLP_Measure-Position-Response)) is transmitted from the communication terminal 60 to the SUPL server 20 and received by the communication unit 21 of the SUPL server 20. (S18).

  At this time, the positioning result information transmitted from the communication terminal 60 to the SUPL server 20 includes a session ID and a positioning result (latitude, longitude, altitude, error radius) when the GPS positioning is successful in the communication terminal 60. And WiFi positioning data are included. Here, the WiFi positioning data is the strength of the radio wave received by the communication terminal 60 at the time of GPS positioning, and the MAC address of the access point that transmitted the radio wave. When positioning fails, a session ID and an error code indicating positioning failure are included.

  Next, in the SUPL server 20, the approximate position information stored in the GPS approximate position information DB 231 is updated by the control unit 22 based on the positioning result information transmitted from the communication terminal 60 (S19). Here, when it is determined that the positioning is successful, the approximate position information stored in the approximate position information DB 231 is updated based on the approximate position information and the positioning result information transmitted to the communication terminal 60. To do. As an updating method when updating the approximate position information based on the positioning result information from the communication terminal 60, the position based on the approximate position information transmitted to the communication terminal 60, the position based on the positioning result information from the communication terminal 60, Various methods can be used, such as a method of using the middle point as new approximate position information, and a method of using an average value of results measured in the past in the same cell as new approximate position information. Note that when the positioning result information from the communication terminal 60 indicates positioning failure, the approximate position information is not updated.

  Furthermore, in the SUPL server 20, the control unit 22 updates the DB related to WiFi positioning based on the positioning result information transmitted from the communication terminal 60 (S20). Here, when the GPS positioning is successful, the control unit 22, the position (latitude, longitude) of the communication terminal 60 transmitted from the communication terminal 60, the WiFi positioning data, and the cell in which the communication terminal 60 is held in the control unit 22 in advance (S 12). The location information DB 232 is updated using the cell ID. Specifically, information on one point and information on received radio waves at that point are added to the table shown in FIG.

  Next, the control unit 22 updates the mobile station determination DB 232. The update of the mobile station determination DB 232 is performed based on the flowchart shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 12, first, the mobile station determination DB is updated (S101). Here, for example, when the communication terminal 60 located in the cell A has received radio waves from the MAC A and the MAC B, the history of the cell A is 1 for the MAC A and the MAC B in the table shown in FIG. (Previous history can be deleted along with DB update). Next, it is confirmed whether there is a change in the serving cell in the control unit 22 (S102). Here, it is determined whether the information of the cell newly added as the history as information indicating the position of the access point specified by the MAC address is changed with respect to the information of other cells accumulated as the history in the past. Is done. Here, when there is no change compared with the past history, the update of the mobile station determination DB is terminated. On the other hand, if the cell is different from the past history, it is determined that this access point is a mobile station, and the mobile station determination flag is changed to ON (S103). Thereby, the update of the DB related to the WiFi positioning using the information specifying the cell in which the communication terminal 60 is located is completed.

  Thereafter, a notification (ULP_SUPL-END) indicating that a series of processing related to positioning has been completed is transmitted from the communication unit 21 of the SUPL server 20 to the communication terminal 60 (S21), so that the GPS positioning by the communication terminal 60 is performed. Such processing is terminated.

  Next, a case where the communication terminal 60 performs WiFi positioning will be described with reference to FIG. The communication terminal 60 that performs the WiFi positioning may be a communication terminal 60 that is different from the communication terminal 60 that performs the GPS positioning described above.

  First, in the communication terminal 60, WiFi communication is performed when the user operates the communication terminal 60 (S31). Here, the radio wave from the access point and the intensity of the radio wave are measured.

  Next, the reception result, that is, the MAC address of the access point that transmits the radio wave received by the communication terminal 60 and the radio wave intensity from the access point are transmitted from the communication terminal 60 to the SUPL server 20. A WiFi positioning request from the server 20, that is, a position calculation request is transmitted (S32).

  When the communication unit 21 of the SUPL server 20 receives a calculation request from the communication terminal 60, the request is sent to the control unit 22, and the control unit 22 calculates the position of the communication terminal 60 ( S33). Specifically, the location information DB 232 is referred to, and a point that is pattern-matched with the WiFi positioning result from the communication terminal 60 is selected. Before that, the information of which access point is used according to the flowchart shown in FIG. A determination is made as to whether or not it is acceptable.

  As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 13, first, the WiFi positioning result from the communication terminal 60 is classified for each MAC address, and the mobile station determination DB of one MAC address (for example, MAC A) is referred to (S201). . Here, it is confirmed whether or not the mobile station determination flag is ON (S202). If the mobile station determination flag is ON, the access point specified by this MAC address is not subject to search. That is, it is determined that the access point should not be used for calculating the position of the communication terminal 60 (S203). On the other hand, when the mobile station determination flag is OFF, it is determined that the access point specified by this MAC address is a search target, that is, an access point to be used for calculating the position of the communication terminal 60 (S204). ).

  Next, it is determined whether the above processing is necessary for other MAC addresses (S205). If it is necessary to determine whether another MAC address is a search target, the same processing is performed again. (S201 to S203) are performed. In addition, when the determination as to whether or not all the MAC addresses included in the positioning result from the communication terminal 60 are to be searched is completed, the control unit 22 determines whether or not to search. The position information DB 232 is searched using the determination result (S206), and then the position of the communication terminal 60 is calculated using pattern matching (S207). Thereby, the position calculation by the control unit 22 is performed.

  Thereafter, returning to FIG. 11, the position information of the communication terminal 60 calculated by the control unit 22 is transmitted from the communication unit 21 of the SUPL server 20 to the communication terminal 60 (S34), and the process related to WiFi positioning is completed. To do.

<Effects of this embodiment>
According to the positioning management system 10 (database management apparatus) and the database management method (database management method) by the positioning system 1 including the positioning support system 10 according to the embodiment, the installation area information indicating the communication area where the access point is provided. And the control unit 22 of the SUPL server 20 based on a plurality of radio wave information transmitted from the communication terminal 60 including communication area information indicating the position of the communication terminal 60 that has received the radio wave transmitted from the access point. It is then determined whether the access point is moving. For this reason, when the access point is moving, use of a signal from the access point can be suppressed. Therefore, highly accurate positioning by the communication terminal 60 can be realized without using radio waves from a movable access point.

  Further, in the positioning support system 10 described above, in the SUPL server 20, the information related to the radio wave from the access point from the communication terminal 60 is compared with the position information stored in the position information DB, as in the above-described aspect. Thus, the control unit 22 has a function of calculating and notifying the position of the communication terminal 60, and based on a flag (mobile station determination ON / OFF) given in association with the MAC address in the mobile station determination DB 233. The access point information specified by the MAC address is determined to be usable or not. Therefore, since it is determined whether or not each access point is movable and whether or not it can be used, positioning by the communication terminal 60 can be performed with high accuracy without using radio waves from the movable access point.

  In the positioning support system 10 described above, in the processing related to GPS positioning by the communication terminal 60, information related to the received radio wave from the WiFi access point is transmitted to the SUPL server 20 and the in-service cell is notified. Therefore, in the position information DB 233, these pieces of information can be registered as access point information and can be used for position calculation in WiFi positioning by the communication terminal 60. Therefore, higher accuracy of positioning by the communication terminal 60 is further promoted. be able to.

  Further, in the above embodiment, by further providing information specifying the radio wave intensity as the access point information, the information related to the access point becomes more detailed, and the accuracy of positioning by the communication terminal 60 can be further promoted.

<Modification>
As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described, the positioning system 1 containing the positioning assistance system 10 which concerns on this invention can perform a various change.

  For example, the functions related to the SUPL server 20 and the position information management device 30 included in the positioning support system 10 may be included in one device, or each function is distributed to different devices. It may be. In the above-described embodiment, the case where the communication terminal 60 acquires assist data from the SUPL server 20 to perform GPS positioning, and further performs the positioning calculation process for calculating the current position of the communication terminal 60 from the positioning data. About the positioning calculation process calculated to the present position of the communication terminal 60, it can also be set as the aspect performed with the apparatus different from the communication terminal 60. FIG.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the aspect in which the SUPL server 20 provides the approximate position information related to the GPS positioning and performs the position calculation of the WiFi positioning has been described. However, the database management apparatus and the database management method according to the above embodiment can also be applied to a database in an apparatus that performs only WiFi positioning calculation. In this case, as shown in the sequence diagram of FIG. 14, the WiFi communication is first performed when the user operates the communication terminal 60 in the communication terminal 60 (S41). Next, the positioning result, that is, the MAC address of the access point that transmits the radio wave received by the communication terminal 60, the radio wave intensity from the access point, and the cell ID that identifies the cell where the communication terminal 60 is located are communicated. By transmitting from the terminal 60 to the SUPL server 20, a WiFi positioning request by the SUPL server 20, that is, a request for position calculation is transmitted (S42). Then, the communication unit 21 of the SUPL server 20 receives the request from the communication terminal 60. When one calculation request is received, it is sent to the control unit 22. Here, as a process different from the above embodiment, the control unit 22 uses the above information for the mobile station determination DB 233, that is, the ID of the cell in which the communication terminal 60 is located, the radio wave received by the communication terminal 60. The mobile station determination flag is changed in the same manner as in the flowchart shown in FIG. 12 (S43).

  Thereafter, the control unit 22 calculates the position of the communication terminal 60 (S44). At this time, the mobile station determination DB 233 is referred to the user position information DB 232 to determine whether or not the mobile station is a mobile station before selecting a point that matches the WiFi positioning result from the communication terminal 60. Similarly to the above, the determination is made according to the flowchart shown in FIG. Then, the position information of the communication terminal 60 calculated by the control unit 22 is transmitted from the communication unit 21 of the SUPL server 20 to the communication terminal 60 (S45), and the process related to the WiFi positioning ends.

  As described above, even in the device that performs the position calculation related to the WiFi positioning, after performing the mobile station determination, the access point that is considered to be moving is determined based on the result, as in the above embodiment. Since the information related to this access point can be disabled, the accuracy of WiFi positioning by the communication terminal 60 can be improved.

  The mobile station determination for determining whether the access point is moving is not limited to the configuration for determining whether there is a change in the cell ID compared to other histories as described in the above embodiment, Changes can be made. As an example of this, a configuration will be described in which a plurality of adjacent levels and a plurality of thresholds are provided to determine whether or not the access point has moved.

  15 and 16 are diagrams illustrating an example of the above mobile station determination method. FIG. 15A is a diagram showing the pre-requisite cell arrangement, and FIG. 15B is a table showing the mutual positional relationship of the cells shown in FIG. 15A. These are the figures explaining the setting of a threshold value. FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a mobile station determination DB using the conditions shown in FIG.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 15A, consider a situation in which cells adjacent to cell A are cells B, C, and D, and cell E is adjacent to cell B and cell D. Here, when the cell adjacent to the cell is adjacent level 1 (closest cell) and the cell adjacent to the adjacent level 1 cell is adjacent level 2 (second closest cell), As shown in FIG. 15B, the cells at the adjacent level 1 with respect to the cell A are the cells B, C, and D, and the cell at the adjacent level 2 with respect to the cell A is the cell E. Similarly, cells of adjacent level 1 with respect to cell B are cells A, D, and E, and cells of adjacent level 2 with respect to cell B are cell C. Using the relationship as described above, for example, when the history of a specific access point in the mobile station determination DB includes only a cell of the adjacent level 1, it is determined that the access point is moving. Standards can be established, such as not.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 15C, a plurality of parameters for setting a threshold value can be set. For example, the number of histories for finding the difference is set to 4 or more (whether there is a difference in the cell in the past 4 histories), and the evaluation period is set to the cell in the past 1 day (the history within the past 1 day). There is a method of setting whether there is a difference. Furthermore, the number (quality) of access points determined as mobile stations may be changed by switching these as AND conditions and OR conditions (Other 1). Further, as shown in FIG. 15B above, it is possible to switch whether or not to determine that the cell of the adjacent level 1 is not determined as a mobile station (Other 2).

  When performing mobile station determination using the above-described threshold, the mobile station determination DB 233 supports the reception time of the information with respect to the information of the serving cell transmitted from the communication terminal 60, as shown in FIG. Store with attachments. Then, using the threshold setting based on these pieces of information, mobile station determination can be performed for each access point specified by the MAC address. For example, in FIG. 16, only one cell B is included in the history of MAC A (history 3), which is a cell at the adjacent level 1 with respect to cell A according to FIG. Therefore, MAC A is not determined as a mobile station. In the history of MAC B, since the histories 1 to 4 are within one day and are moving between cells A, D, and E, it is determined that the mobile station is a mobile station. On the other hand, in the MAC C history, cell movement is confirmed, but it is determined that this is not a mobile station because the interval of each history is more than one day (MAC address reassignment and access). There is a possibility that a history of cell movement may be obtained for reasons other than that the access point is a mobile station, such as relocation of points). In this way, it is possible to more specifically determine whether the access point is a mobile station by variously changing the threshold setting for determining whether the access point is a mobile station. Even if there is an abnormality in the transmission status of the mobile phone, it is possible to more accurately determine whether the access point is a mobile station by changing the threshold setting.

  Moreover, although the said embodiment demonstrated using a cell as a communication area in which the communication terminal 60 exists, the communication area which concerns on this invention is not limited to a cell. For example, even when the area managed by the SGSN that controls the packet communication and is located upstream of the base station device that manages the cell is regarded as the communication area, the positioning support similar to the above embodiment can be performed, and the SGSN The approximate position information can be updated in the same manner as in the above embodiment.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, it can apply also to the state which is roaming out from a mobile communication network like the case where the communication terminal 60 is used overseas, for example. In this case, communication is performed by providing a GW (Gateway) device that connects different communication networks between the communication network to which the communication terminal 60 is connected and the communication network in which the SUPL server 20 is provided. However, in general, since it is rare to grasp information related to the arrangement of communication areas (cells) in other communication networks, it is determined whether or not the mobile station is based on the adjacent level of the cell shown in the above modification. This determination can be made only when the information related to the communication area in the communication network to which the communication terminal 60 is connected is held on the SUPL server 20 side.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Positioning system, 10 ... Positioning support system, 20 ... SUPL server, 30 ... Location information management device, 40 ... User information management device, 60 ... Communication terminal, 70 ... Base station device

Claims (5)

Access point specifying information for specifying an access point for transmitting a radio wave receivable at a position, which is used for positioning to obtain a position of a communication terminal by performing wireless communication with a plurality of access points in a first communication network; and the access Access point information storage means for storing the access point information associated with the installation area information indicating in which communication area the access point specified by the point specification information is provided in the second communication network;
A plurality of radio waves transmitted from the communication terminal and including communication area information for specifying a communication area in which the communication terminal is located and access point specifying information for specifying an access point for transmitting a radio wave received by the communication terminal Radio wave information receiving means for receiving information;
A movement determining means for determining whether the access point is moving by comparing the communication area information and the installation area information based on the plurality of radio wave information;
Based on the determination result by said movement determining means, wherein when the access point is stored in the access point information storing means is determined to be moving, and not use the access point information which the access point Control means to
A database management apparatus comprising: Receiving a position calculation request transmitted from the communication terminal including information related to radio waves from the access point received at the communication terminal, and information related to radio waves from the access point from the communication terminal; Comparing with the access point information stored in the point information storage means, further comprising a position calculation means for calculating the position of the communication terminal and notifying the communication terminal;
The access point information storage means stores a flag indicating whether or not the access point is a mobile station in association with the access point information,
The control means changes a flag associated with the access point information in the access point information storage means based on a determination result of whether the access point is moving,
The position calculating means calculates the position of the communication terminal using only the information to which the flag indicating the mobile station is not given among the access point information stored in the access point information storing means. The database management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: A positioning calculation result by the communication terminal using the information from the satellite is subjected to positioning to capture satellite, and information identifying the access point that transmits radio waves to the communication terminal receives the included communications Receive satellite positioning result information sent from the terminal,
Access point information registration means for storing the communication area information and the satellite positioning result information from the communication terminal as the access point information in the access point information storage means,
The access point information registering unit stores the satellite positioning result information as the access point specifying information in the access point information, and the satellite positioning result information as the installation area information corresponding to the access point. The database management apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the communication area information transmitted in advance from the transmitted communication terminal is stored . The database management device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the access point information is further associated with information for specifying a radio wave intensity from the access point at the position. Access point specifying information for specifying an access point for transmitting a radio wave receivable at a position, which is used for positioning to obtain a position of a communication terminal by performing wireless communication with a plurality of access points in a first communication network; and the access the access point identified by the point specification information comprises an access point information storage means for storing the installation area information indicating whether provided in any communication area in the second communication network, the access point information is correlated with A database management method by a database management device,
Communication area information that is transmitted from the communication terminal by the radio wave information receiving means and identifies a communication area in which the communication terminal is located; access point identification information that identifies an access point that transmits the radio wave received by the communication terminal; A radio wave information receiving step for receiving a plurality of radio wave information including,
A movement determination step of determining whether the access point is moving by comparing the communication area information and the installation area information based on the plurality of radio wave information by movement determination means;
When the control means determines that the access point stored in the access point information storage means is moving based on the determination result in the movement determination step, the access point information related to the access point is used. A control step that is disabled,
A database management method comprising:

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