JP5515868B2 - Mobile device, and method and program for collecting position information used therefor - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a mobile device, and a location information collection method and program used therefor, and more particularly, to a technology for collecting location information (hereinafter referred to as out-of-service area information) of a location outside a mobile communication service area. .

  In recent years, mobile devices such as mobile phones have rapidly spread. Such a mobile device is a necessity for a user as a communication means and a means for ensuring safety. In addition, there are a wide variety of areas where users use mobile devices. For this reason, telecommunications carriers that provide mobile communication services have increased base stations as appropriate to expand the service area.

  However, in reality, there are many places outside the service area, such as suburban areas such as the sea and mountains, and weak electric field areas such as in buildings and underground even in urban areas. In other words, the telecommunications carrier has grasped rough information about the service area, but detailed information (information on areas where the radio wave environment (service availability) has changed due to weak electric field areas or new buildings, etc.) ) Cannot be grasped and appropriate information management cannot be performed.

  Techniques for dealing with this problem are described in, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2. The mobile devices described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 store the radio wave reception status from the base station and the location information of the own device detected based on the radio signal from the GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite in association with each other. This makes it possible to grasp the actual situation in the service area.

JP 2004-214875 A JP 2009-4957 A

  However, Patent Documents 1 and 2 have a problem that information outside the service area cannot be collected sufficiently. This is because it is difficult to receive a radio signal from a GPS satellite (that is, to acquire position information) in a weak electric field area or the like.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to enable collection of information outside the service area more reliably.

  In order to achieve the above object, a mobile device according to an aspect of the present invention includes a communication unit that performs wireless communication with a base station, and an acquisition unit that acquires at least once the three-dimensional position information of the own device in geography. If the position information is not acquired by the acquisition means in the first area where the wireless communication cannot be performed, the position information is supplemented based on the acceleration generated in the own device and the atmospheric pressure at the current position of the own device. Control means for causing the communication means to transmit the stored position information to the base station in a second area where the wireless communication can be performed.

  A position information collection method according to an aspect of the present invention provides a position information collection method in a mobile device. This collection method acquires at least once the three-dimensional position information of the mobile device in geography, and when the position information cannot be acquired in the first area where wireless communication with a base station is not possible, The position information is complemented and stored based on the acceleration generated in the mobile device and the atmospheric pressure at the current position of the mobile device, and the stored location information is stored in the base station in the second area where the wireless communication can be performed. To send to.

  Further, the location information collection program according to one aspect of the present invention is a program that performs a process of acquiring at least once the three-dimensional location information of the mobile device in the geography and wireless communication with the base station. If the position information cannot be acquired in the first possible area, the position information is supplemented based on the acceleration generated in the mobile device and the atmospheric pressure at the current position of the mobile device, and the wireless communication is stored. In the second area where can be executed, the stored position information is transmitted to the base station.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to more reliably collect out-of-service-area information as compared with Patent Documents 1 and 2 described above.

It is the block diagram which showed the schematic structural example of the moving apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is the block diagram which showed the specific structural example of the mobile apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart figure which showed one example of operation | movement of the moving apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the example of a movement of the moving apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart figure which showed the other operation example of the moving apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is the block diagram which showed one structural example of the positional information acquisition part used for the moving apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is the block diagram which showed the other structural example of the positional information acquisition part used for the mobile apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

  Embodiments of a mobile device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In the drawings, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted as necessary for the sake of clarity.

  As shown in FIG. 1, mobile device 1 according to the present embodiment includes radio communication unit 10, position information acquisition unit 20, and control unit 30.

  Among these, the wireless communication unit 10 performs wireless communication with the base station 2. In addition, the position information acquisition unit 20 acquires the three-dimensional position information (for example, latitude, longitude, and altitude) of the mobile device 1 on the geography at least once.

  On the other hand, the control unit 30 is located outside the service area where wireless communication by the wireless communication unit 10 cannot be performed (that is, outside the cell formed by the base station 2 or the weak electric field area in the cell). If the position information is not acquired by the above, the position information is supplemented based on the acceleration generated in the mobile device 1 and the atmospheric pressure at the current position of the mobile device 1, and the position information obtained thereby is stored in a memory or the like. Thereafter, when the mobile device 1 moves from outside the service area into the service area, the control unit 30 causes the wireless communication unit 10 to transmit the stored location information to the base station 2. The location information received by the base station 2 is provided to the communication carrier as information outside the service area.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, it is possible to supplement the out-of-service-area information when it is difficult to obtain the information and thus reliably collect it. The information outside the service area is represented by three-dimensional position information. For this reason, the communication carrier can manage the service area three-dimensionally and finely, such as in a building, a three-dimensional parking lot, a crossover, and the like. In addition, telecommunications carriers can obtain the latest information outside the service area from many mobile devices, so it is possible to accurately determine the availability of services in areas where the radio wave environment changes over time, such as during building construction or underground. Can manage.

  Hereinafter, specific configuration examples and operation examples of the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 to 7, taking as an example the case where the mobile device 1 functions as a mobile phone.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the mobile device 1 includes a receiver 40, a transmitter 50, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) 60 in addition to the wireless communication unit 10, the position information acquisition unit 20, and the control unit 30. And various operation keys 70.

  The wireless communication unit 10 includes an antenna 11, a duplexer 12, a receiver 13, and a transmitter 14. The antenna 11 is connected to the duplexer 12 and guides a radio signal coming from the base station 2 to the receiver 13, while transmitting a radio signal output from the transmitter 14 to the base station 2. The receiver 13 converts the received radio signal into a baseband signal and outputs it to the control unit 30. The receiver 13 periodically searches for a radio channel used for radio communication with the base station 2 (more specifically, a broadcast radio channel used by the base station 2), and sends the result to the control unit 30. Output. The transmitter 13 converts the baseband signal input from the control unit 30 into a radio signal.

  Moreover, the positional information acquisition part 20 is comprised using the antenna 21 and the GPS receiver 22, as an example. The GPS receiver 22 receives radio signals from a plurality of GPS satellites (not shown) via the antenna 21 at a predetermined period, and based on the received radio signals, the latitude, longitude, and altitude are determined by the mobile device 1. Obtained as position information 101. The position information 101 is output to the control unit 30. In the following description, a radio signal from a GPS satellite received by the GPS receiver 22 is referred to as a GPS signal and may be distinguished from a radio signal from the base station 2 received by the receiver 13.

  The control unit 30 further includes a reception baseband circuit 31, a transmission baseband circuit 32, a memory 33, an acceleration sensor 34, an atmospheric pressure sensor 35, and a control circuit 36.

  Among these, the reception baseband circuit 31 demodulates the baseband signal input from the receiver 13. When the demodulated signal thus obtained is an audio signal, the reception baseband circuit 31 outputs the audio signal to the receiver 40. On the other hand, when the demodulated signal is a signal other than the audio signal (data signal, control signal, etc.), the reception baseband circuit 31 outputs the demodulated signal to the control circuit 36. The transmission baseband circuit 32 modulates the voice signal input from the transmitter 50 and the data signal and control signal generated by the control circuit 36 and outputs the modulated signal to the transmitter 13 as a baseband signal.

  The memory 33 is used as a work area for the control circuit 36, and particularly used as a storage area for the position information 101.

  The acceleration sensor 34 periodically detects the acceleration 102 generated in the mobile device 1 and outputs it to the control circuit 36.

  The atmospheric pressure sensor 35 periodically detects the atmospheric pressure 103 at the current position of the mobile device 1 and outputs it to the control circuit 36.

  Further, the control circuit 36 controls the receiver 13, the GPS receiver 22, the memory 33, the acceleration sensor 34, the atmospheric pressure sensor 35, the LCD 60, and the operation keys 70.

  In operation, when the mobile device 1 is activated, as shown in FIG. 3, the control circuit 36 first controls the receiver 13 and the GPS receiver 22 to start channel search and acquisition of position information 101. (Step S1).

  Now, as indicated by a dotted line in FIG. 4, the mobile device 1 receives GPS signals from within the cell 3 formed by the base station 2 and from outside the cell 3 but from GPS satellites 4_1 to 4_n (n is an integer of 2 or more). Suppose you move to a GPS area that can receive. In this case, the radio channel is not detected as a result of the channel search by the receiver 13. For this reason, the control circuit 36 determines that the mobile device 1 has moved out of the service area (step S2). On the other hand, since the position information 101 is acquired by the GPS receiver 22, the control circuit 36 determines that the mobile device 1 is located in the GPS range (step S 3), and sequentially stores the acquired position information 101 in the memory 33. (Step S4).

  Next, the control circuit 36 traces the position information 101 stored in the memory 33 in time series, and determines whether or not the mobile device 1 is moving (step S5). If there is no change in the position information 101, the control circuit 36 determines that the mobile device 1 is not moving. At this time, the control circuit 36 instructs the GPS receiver 22 to set a longer GPS signal reception cycle (step S6). Thereby, the power consumption in the GPS receiver 22 is reduced. Further, the control circuit 36 instructs the receiver 13 to stop the channel search (step S7). Thereby, the power consumption in the receiver 13 is reduced.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S5 that the mobile device 1 is moving, the control circuit 36 returns to step S2 and continues acquiring the channel search and the position information 101. Although not shown, when it is determined that the mobile device 1 is moving after passing through the above steps S6 and S7, the control circuit 36 uses the GPS signal reception cycle of the GPS receiver 22 as a basis. Is instructed to return to the set value, and the receiver 13 is instructed to resume the channel search.

  Further, it is assumed that the mobile device 1 has moved to the weak electric field area 5 (outside the GPS range) in the cell 3 as indicated by a one-dot chain line in FIG. In this case, since the radio channel is not detected as a result of the channel search by the receiver 13, the control circuit 36 determines that the mobile device 1 has moved out of the service area in step S2. Further, since the position information 101 is not acquired by the GPS receiver 22, the control circuit 36 determines that the mobile device 1 is located outside the GPS range in step S3. At this time, the control circuit 36 complements the position information 101 based on the acceleration 102 input from the acceleration sensor 34 and the atmospheric pressure 103 input from the atmospheric pressure sensor 35 (step S8).

  Specifically, first, the control circuit 36 calculates the moving direction and moving distance of the mobile device 1 from the acceleration 102. Taking as an example a case where a sensor that detects acceleration in two axial directions (latitude and longitude directions) is used as the acceleration sensor 34, the control circuit 36 integrates the acceleration detected in the latitude direction by two steps and moves. The relative movement distance in the latitude direction by the machine 1 is calculated. Similarly, the control circuit 36 performs second-order integration on the acceleration detected in the longitude direction, and thereby calculates a relative movement distance in the longitude direction by the mobile device 1. And the control circuit 36 updates the latitude and longitude which the positional information 101 shows using these movement distances.

  Next, the control circuit 36 updates the altitude indicated by the position information 101 according to the atmospheric pressure 103. For example, the control circuit 36 holds the altitude for each atmospheric pressure in advance, and acquires the corresponding altitude every time the atmospheric pressure 103 is input.

  Then, the control circuit 36 proceeds to the above step S4, and stores the position information 101 obtained by the complementation in the memory 33.

  Here, the complementation and storage of the location information 101 is performed periodically while the mobile device 1 is located outside the service area and outside the GPS range. Accordingly, the information outside the service area can be collected as line information composed of a plurality of pieces of position information, not point information composed of one piece of position information.

  Thereafter, when the mobile device 1 leaves the weak electric field area 5 and, as a result of the channel search by the receiver 13, a radio channel used by the base station 2 is detected, the control circuit 36 performs the above step S2. It is determined that the mobile device 1 has moved into the service area. At this time, the control circuit 36 further determines whether or not the position information 101 is stored in the memory 33 (step S9). Since the position information 101 is now stored, the control circuit 36 gives the position information 101 to the transmission baseband circuit 32. Thereby, the position information 101 is transmitted to the base station 2 as information outside the service area (step S10).

  When it is determined in step S9 that the position information 101 is not stored in the memory 33 (that is, when the mobile device 1 stays in the service area), the control circuit 36 proceeds to step S2. Returning, the channel search and the acquisition of the position information 101 are continued.

  Further, the control circuit 36 may execute the process of step S11 shown in FIG. 5 instead of the above step S10. Specifically, the control circuit 36 transmits the model information 104 of the mobile device 1 (for example, the product number of the mobile device 1) to the base station 2 in addition to the position information 101. The model information 104 is stored in the memory 33 in advance.

  In this case, the communication carrier can accurately grasp out-of-service-area information for each model, which differs depending on the characteristics of the wireless communication unit including the antenna (for example, superiority or inferiority of radio wave reception sensitivity).

  Further, the position information acquisition unit 20 is not limited to that shown in FIG. 2, and may be configured as shown in FIG. 6 or FIG.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, the position information acquisition unit 20 can be configured using the control circuit 36, the LCD 60, and the operation keys 70. When the mobile device 1 is activated, the control circuit 36 performs a display on the LCD 60 to prompt the user to input position information (for example, input fields for latitude, longitude, and altitude, latitude, longitude, and altitude). Display a 3D map etc. for selection). Further, the control circuit 36 treats the position information input via the operation key 70 in the same manner as the position information 101 acquired by the GPS receiver 22 shown in FIG. Specifically, the control circuit 36 periodically updates the position information input via the operation key 70 using the acceleration 102 and the atmospheric pressure 103, thereby complementing the position information 101.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the position information acquisition unit 20 can be configured using an antenna 23 and a Bluetooth communication unit 24. The Bluetooth communication unit 24 performs wireless communication conforming to the Bluetooth system via the antenna 23, and thus receives the position information 101 from another mobile device 6 having a GPS function indicated by a dotted line in FIG. Note that various short-range wireless communication schemes can be applied to the communication unit 24 in addition to the Bluetooth scheme.

  Although not shown, the control circuit 36 uses the location information 101 (that is, the latest service area) stored in the above step S4 as the service area map previously obtained from the communication carrier (preliminarily downloaded from the mobile communication network). It may be updated using external information). Here, the service area map corresponds to service area information grasped by the communication carrier, and specifically shows whether or not wireless communication can be executed at each position on the map data. Thereby, the user can have the latest service area map.

  Further, the control circuit 36 transmits the updated service area map to the other mobile devices 6 via the Bluetooth communication unit 24 shown in FIG. 7, and thus the latest service area map is transmitted between the mobile devices (that is, the user Can also be shared between each other).

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and it is apparent that various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art based on the description of the scope of the claims.

  For example, each process shown in the above embodiment can be provided as a program for causing a mobile device to execute. In this case, it is preferable to store the program in a storage medium such as a memory so that the processor in the mobile device can execute it. Alternatively, the program may be provided as a plug-in to firmware incorporated in an existing mobile device. Needless to say, the present invention can be applied not only to mobile phones but also to various mobile communication devices.

(Appendix 1)
A communication means for performing wireless communication with a base station;
Acquisition means for acquiring the three-dimensional position information of the own machine at least once in geography;
If the position information is not acquired by the acquisition means in the first area where the wireless communication cannot be performed, the position information is complemented based on the acceleration generated in the own device and the atmospheric pressure at the current position of the own device. Storing in a second area where the wireless communication can be performed, a control unit that causes the communication unit to transmit the stored position information to the base station;
Mobile machine equipped with.

(Appendix 2) In Appendix 1,
The mobile unit characterized in that the control unit causes the communication unit to transmit model information of the own unit to the base station in addition to the stored position information.

(Appendix 3) In Appendix 1 or 2,
The mobile device according to claim 1, wherein the control means periodically performs the complementing and storing while the state where the position information is not acquired in the first area continues.

(Appendix 4) In any one of Appendices 1-3,
The location information includes latitude, longitude, and altitude,
The control means calculates the moving direction and moving distance of the aircraft from the acceleration, updates the latitude and longitude using the moving direction and moving distance, and updates the altitude according to the atmospheric pressure. The featured mobile equipment.

(Appendix 5) In any one of Appendices 1-4,
The mobile device characterized in that the acquisition means receives a radio signal from a plurality of GPS (Global Positioning System) satellites and acquires the position information based on the radio signal.

(Appendix 6) In Appendix 5,
The mobile unit according to claim 1, wherein when the position information does not change in the first area, the control unit instructs the acquisition unit to lengthen a reception cycle of the radio signal.

(Appendix 7) In any one of Appendices 1-4,
The mobile device according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition means causes the user to input the position information when the mobile device is activated.

(Appendix 8) In any one of Appendices 1-4,
The mobile device characterized in that the acquisition means wirelessly receives the position information from another mobile device.

(Appendix 9) In any one of Appendices 1-8,
The mobile unit according to claim 1, wherein the control unit instructs the communication unit to stop searching for a radio channel when the position information does not change in the first area.

(Appendix 10) In any one of Appendices 1-9,
The control unit updates the service area information indicating whether or not wireless communication with the base station can be performed, which is stored in advance by the own device, using the stored position information.

(Appendix 11) In Appendix 10,
A mobile device characterized by further comprising a transmission means for wirelessly transmitting the updated service area information to another mobile device.

(Appendix 12)
A method for collecting location information in a mobile device,
Obtaining at least once the three-dimensional position information of the mobile device in geography,
If the position information cannot be acquired in the first area where wireless communication with the base station cannot be performed, the position information is supplemented based on the acceleration generated in the mobile device and the atmospheric pressure at the current position of the mobile device. Remember with
Transmitting the stored location information to the base station in a second area where the wireless communication can be performed;
A method for collecting location information.

(Appendix 13) In Appendix 12,
In addition to the stored position information, model information of the mobile device is transmitted to the base station.

(Appendix 14) In Appendix 12 or 13,
The position information collecting method, wherein the complementation and storage are periodically performed while the position information cannot be acquired in the first area.

(Supplementary Note 15) In any one of Supplementary Notes 12 to 14,
As the position information, the latitude, longitude, and altitude are acquired,
While calculating the moving direction and moving distance of the mobile device from the acceleration, update the latitude and longitude using the moving direction and moving distance,
A method of collecting position information, wherein the altitude is updated according to the atmospheric pressure.

(Supplementary Note 16) In any one of Supplementary Notes 12 to 15,
A method of collecting position information, wherein the position information is acquired based on radio signals received from a plurality of GPS (Global Positioning System) satellites.

(Appendix 17) In Appendix 16,
The position information collecting method, wherein when the position information does not change in the first area, a long reception period of the radio signal is set.

(Supplementary Note 18) In any one of Supplementary Notes 12 to 15,
A location information collecting method, wherein a user inputs the location information when the mobile device is activated.

(Supplementary note 19) In any one of Supplementary notes 12 to 15,
A method of collecting position information, wherein the position information is wirelessly received from another mobile device.

(Supplementary note 20) In any one of Supplementary notes 12 to 19,
A location information collection method, comprising: stopping search for a radio channel used for radio communication with the base station when the location information does not change in the first area.

(Supplementary note 21) In any one of Supplementary notes 1 to 20,
Using the stored location information, service area information indicating whether or not wireless communication with the base station can be performed, which is stored in advance in the mobile device, is updated.

(Appendix 22) In Appendix 21,
A location information collection method, wherein the updated service area information is wirelessly transmitted to another mobile device.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Mobile device 2 Base station 3 Cell 4_1-4_n GPS satellite 5 Weak electric field area 6 Other mobile device 10 Wireless communication part 11, 21, 23 Antenna 12 Duplexer 13 Receiver 14 Transmitter 20 Position information acquisition part 22 GPS receiver 23 Bluetooth communication unit 30 Control unit 31 Reception baseband circuit 32 Transmission baseband circuit 33 Memory 34 Acceleration sensor 35 Barometric pressure sensor 36 Control circuit 40 Handset 50 Transmitter 60 LCD
70 Operation keys 101 Position information 102 Acceleration 103 Atmospheric pressure 104 Model information

Claims (6)

A communication means for performing wireless communication with a base station;
Acquisition means for acquiring the three-dimensional position information of the own machine at least once in geography;
If the position information is not acquired by the acquisition means in the first area where the wireless communication cannot be performed, the position information is complemented based on the acceleration generated in the own device and the atmospheric pressure at the current position of the own device. Storing, and in a second area where the wireless communication can be performed, the communication means includes control means for transmitting the stored position information to the base station ,
The acquisition means causes the user to input the position information when the own device is activated.
Mobile machine. In claim 1,
The mobile unit characterized in that the control unit causes the communication unit to transmit model information of the own unit to the base station in addition to the stored position information. In claim 1 or 2,
The mobile device according to claim 1, wherein the control means periodically performs the complementing and storing while the state where the position information is not acquired in the first area continues. In any one of Claims 1-3,
The location information includes latitude, longitude, and altitude,
The control means calculates the moving direction and moving distance of the aircraft from the acceleration, updates the latitude and longitude using the moving direction and moving distance, and updates the altitude according to the atmospheric pressure. The featured mobile equipment. A method for collecting location information in a mobile device,
Obtaining at least once the three-dimensional position information of the mobile device in geography,
If the position information cannot be acquired in the first area where wireless communication with the base station cannot be performed, the position information is supplemented based on the acceleration generated in the mobile device and the atmospheric pressure at the current position of the mobile device. Remember with
In the second area where the wireless communication can be performed, the stored location information is transmitted to the base station ,
When the mobile device is activated, the user is allowed to input the location information to obtain the location information.
A method for collecting location information. On the mobile
A process of acquiring at least once the three-dimensional position information of the mobile device in geography;
If the position information cannot be acquired in the first area where wireless communication with the base station cannot be performed, the position information is supplemented based on the acceleration generated in the mobile device and the atmospheric pressure at the current position of the mobile device. , Remembering process,
A process of transmitting the stored location information to the base station in a second area where the wireless communication can be performed;
When the mobile device is activated, a process for causing the user to input the position information and acquiring the position information;
Program for collecting location information to execute.

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