JP5656584B2 - Position sensing system and method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a position detection technique, and more particularly to a technique for detecting the position of a receiving terminal based on the received electric field strength of a radio wave transmitted from a transmitting terminal.

  In recent years, a technique for accurately detecting the position of a person in a room and using it for managing building facilities has been studied. For example, if the position of a person in the room can be detected accurately, control such as weakening the air conditioning in an area where there is no person, or dimming or turning off the illumination can be performed, and as a result, energy saving can be realized. It can also be used to manage whereabouts of people and work records, to guard against intrusion into dangerous places and confidential areas, to guide destinations in facilities, and to track the location of items such as equipment, tools, and document files.

  A GPS (Global Positioning System) is widely used as a system for detecting the position of such a person or an object. Since this GPS needs to receive radio waves from satellites, it cannot be used in places where radio waves do not reach sufficiently, such as indoors, underground, and behind buildings. In addition, GPS is capable of three-dimensional positioning in principle, but in order to accurately detect the height direction, it is necessary to receive radio waves from above. It is difficult to detect the number of floors.

  Conventionally, as a technique to replace such position detection using GPS, a technique has been proposed in which the received electric field strength of radio waves from a base station such as a base station is measured and the position is detected based on the measurement result (for example, , See Patent Document 1). Specifically, the coordinate position of a base station used in a wireless communication system such as a wireless LAN is registered in advance in the server together with the ID, and the base station receives the base station beacon received by the wireless terminal when detecting the position. Is obtained from the server and the coordinate position of the base station is obtained from the server, and the position of the wireless terminal is determined from this coordinate position information and the received electric field strength of the base station measured by the beacon of the base station. I'm calculating.

JP 2008-306437 A

  In such a conventional technique, in order to detect the position of the wireless terminal with high accuracy, a large number of base stations are required, but the base station that is used in an existing wireless communication system such as a wireless LAN is borrowed. be able to. This is because, among the base stations, the function of periodically transmitting a beacon in order to notify the wireless terminal that is the communication partner of its presence can be used for position detection. For this reason, the equipment cost of a position detection system can be held down.

  At this time, in order to detect the position of the wireless terminal with high accuracy, it is necessary to register and place the accurate coordinate position of the base station in advance. However, if the administrator of the wireless communication system is different from the position detection system, it is difficult to obtain accurate position information of the base station, and further information regarding the relocation, new establishment, and removal of the base station. For this reason, in the prior art, it is necessary to obtain accurate position information of each base station, and there is a problem that the operation cost of the position detection system increases.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a position detection technique capable of automatically updating the position of a base station necessary for calculating the position of a wireless terminal.

In order to achieve such an object, the position detection system according to the present invention receives each radio wave transmitted from each base station, measures the received electric field strength for each radio wave, and is included in the radio wave. A set of a plurality of observation stations that detect the station ID of the transmission source base station and the coordinate position where the base station is installed and the station ID of the base station for each base station. A base station storage device that stores information as station information, an observation station storage device that stores, as observation station information, the coordinate position where the observation station is installed for each observation station, and radio waves transmitted from each base station. Received, measures the received electric field strength for each of these radio waves, detects the station ID of the source base station included in the radio waves, and the received electric field strength and station ID obtained by the wireless terminal ,base Based on the coordinate position of the base station corresponding to the station ID acquired from the storage device, the position calculation device that calculates the coordinate position of the wireless terminal, the received electric field strength and the station ID obtained at each observation station, and the observation Based on the coordinate position of each observation station acquired from the observation station information of the station storage device, the coordinate position of the base station is calculated for each base station, and the obtained coordinate position of the base station and the station of the base station A base station management device that stores a set of IDs as base station information in a base station storage device, and the base station management device calculates a received signal strength of the base station when calculating the coordinate position of the base station. Compare the fluctuation range with the allowable fluctuation range of the received electric field strength. If the fluctuation range exceeds the allowable fluctuation range, the coordinate position for the base station is not calculated and the fluctuation range exceeds the allowable fluctuation range. Calculated for base stations that are not The one in which only a set of the station ID of the coordinate position and the base station has to be saved to the base station memory as said base station information.

  At this time, the radio terminal receives each radio wave transmitted from each base station, measures the received electric field intensity for each radio wave, and detects the station ID of the source base station included in the radio wave. Position to calculate its own coordinate position based on the radio section to be received, the received electric field intensity and station ID obtained by the radio section, and the coordinate position of each base station notified and stored from the base station management section A calculation device may be provided.

  In addition, the position calculation device may sequentially store the calculated coordinate position of the self, and may notify the plurality of coordinate positions collectively to an application device that uses the coordinate position.

  In addition, the radio terminal receives each radio wave transmitted from each base station, measures the received electric field strength for each radio wave, and detects the station ID of the source base station contained in the radio wave. A radio unit that notifies the position calculation device of the received electric field strength and the station ID obtained for each radio wave may be provided.

  Also, some or all of the observation stations transmit a radio wave including the station ID of the observation station, and the radio terminal receives the radio wave transmitted from the observation station and receives the radio wave. When measuring the field strength, detecting the station ID of the transmission source observation station included in the radio wave, and calculating the coordinate position of the wireless terminal by the position calculation device, the base station and observation obtained by the wireless terminal The received electric field strength and station ID related to the station, the coordinate position corresponding to the station ID of the base station acquired from the base station storage device, and the coordinate position corresponding to the station ID of the observation station acquired from the observation station storage device Based on this, the coordinate position of the wireless terminal may be calculated.

  In addition, when calculating the coordinate position of the base station, the base station management device compares the fluctuation range of the received electric field strength with respect to the base station and the allowable fluctuation range of the received electric field strength, and the fluctuation range exceeds the allowable fluctuation range. In such a case, the calculation of the coordinate position regarding the base station may not be performed.

The position detection method according to the present invention includes a plurality of observation stations that each receive radio waves transmitted from each base station, measure the received electric field strength for each radio wave, and are included in the radio waves. An observation step of detecting a station ID of a transmission source base station, and a base station storage device for each base station, a set of a coordinate position where the base station is installed and a station ID of the base station Base station storage step for storing each as base station information, and an observation station storage device for each observation station, and a radio terminal for storing the coordinate position where the observation station is installed as observation station information If, by receiving radio waves that are transmitted from each base station, while measuring the reception field strength for each of these radio wave, and the station ID detection step of detecting a station ID of the source base station included in the radio The position calculation device calculates the coordinate position of the wireless terminal based on the received electric field strength and the station ID obtained by the wireless terminal and the coordinate position of the base station corresponding to the station ID acquired from the base station storage device. Based on the position calculation step, the base station management device based on the received electric field strength and station ID obtained at each observation station, and the coordinate position of each observation station obtained from the observation station information of the observation station storage device, the base station A base station management step of calculating the coordinate position of the base station for each and storing the obtained set of the coordinate position of the base station and the station ID of the base station in the base station storage device as base station information In the base station management step, when calculating the coordinate position of the base station, the fluctuation range of the received electric field strength with respect to the base station is compared with the allowable fluctuation range of the received electric field strength, and the fluctuation range indicates the allowable fluctuation range. If so, Only the set of the coordinate position and the base station ID of the base station obtained by calculating the base station whose fluctuation range does not exceed the allowable fluctuation range without calculating the coordinate position related to the base station is the base station information. Is stored in the base station storage device .

  Further, in the position detection method according to the present invention, the management storage unit of the management apparatus determines, for each of a plurality of base stations, the coordinate position where the base station is installed and the station ID of the base station. A management storage step for storing each as station information, a base station management step for the base station management unit of the management apparatus to read out the base station information of each base station from the management storage unit, and notify the wireless terminal, and a terminal storage for the wireless terminal Unit stores the base station information notified from the base station management unit, and the radio unit of the radio terminal receives the radio wave transmitted from each base station, and transmits the radio wave for each base station. A detection step of measuring the received electric field strength and detecting the station ID of the base station from the radio wave, and the position calculation device of the wireless terminal based on each station ID detected in the detection step is the base station information of the terminal storage unit. Each base station transmits a self-position calculation step that calculates its own coordinate position from the acquired coordinate position of each base station and the received electric field strength of each base station measured in the detection step, and a plurality of observation stations. Each of the received radio waves, and for each base station, the received electric field strength of the radio wave is measured and the station ID of the base station is detected from the radio wave. Is stored as observation station information, and the base station management step obtains the received electric field strength and station ID of each base station from each observation station, and for each base station, the measurement measured at each observation station From the received electric field strength of the base station and the coordinate position of each observation station obtained from the observation station information in the management storage unit, the coordinate position of the base station is calculated, and the coordinate position and the station ID of the base station are calculated. Tube as information It is obtained so as to save the storage unit.

  According to the present invention, the radio wave of each base station is observed at each observation station, its coordinate position is calculated, and is automatically reflected in the base station information. Therefore, the operation for detecting and registering the installation position of the base station can be automated, and the operation cost of the position detection system can be greatly reduced. For this reason, even if the administrator of the wireless communication system to which the base station belongs is different from the position detection system and information regarding the relocation, new installation, or removal of the base station is not available, Base station information can be obtained.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the position detection system concerning 1st Embodiment. It is an example of a structure of base station information. It is a structural example of observation station information. It is a sequence diagram which shows operation | movement of the position detection system concerning 1st Embodiment. It is an example of arrangement | positioning of a base station position and an observation station. It is explanatory drawing which shows the observation result in an observation station. It is explanatory drawing which shows the calculation process of a base station position. It is an example of arrangement | positioning of a base station position and an observation station. It is explanatory drawing which shows the calculation process of a radio | wireless terminal position. It is a sequence diagram which shows operation | movement of the position detection system concerning 2nd Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the position detection system concerning 4th Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the position detection system concerning 6th Embodiment.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[First Embodiment]
First, a position detection system according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a position detection system according to the first embodiment.

  The position detection system 1 measures the received electric field strength of beacons transmitted from a plurality of base stations (hereinafter referred to as base stations) 61 installed in the room 50 with the wireless terminal 10 and based on the measurement results. This is a system for the wireless terminal 10 to calculate its own coordinate position.

  The application device 40 is a device that is connected to the position detection system 1 via the communication line L1 and executes various applications using the coordinate position of the wireless terminal 10 calculated by the position detection system 1. In this application device 40, for example, assuming that the coordinate position of the wireless terminal 10 is a person's coordinate position, and performing indoor environment control such as weakening the cooling / heating in an area where there is no person, dimming or turning off the lighting, the result As a result, energy saving can be realized. Also, security management such as management of whereabouts of people and work records, warning of intrusion into dangerous places and confidential areas, destination guidance in facilities, and tracking of the location of equipment, tools, document files, etc. will result in results. High safety in the facility can be obtained.

  The base station 61 is connected to a communication processing device 60 such as a router or a gateway via a communication line L2, and wireless communication for other wireless terminals (not shown) to perform wireless communication via the base station 61. The system is configured. A base station 61 used in a general wireless communication system is for identifying itself as a function for notifying a wireless terminal as a communication partner of its existence based on a wireless communication protocol such as a wireless LAN. It has a function of periodically transmitting a beacon including a station ID consisting of a MAC address or the like as hourly information.

  The position detection system 1 receives a radio wave such as a beacon transmitted from each base station 61, and receives received signal strength indication (RSSI) related to the radio wave and the coordinate position of each base station 61. Based on this, a wireless terminal 10 that calculates its own coordinate position and a management device 30 that notifies the wireless terminal 10 of the coordinate position of each base station 61 via the wireless access point 22 are included.

  In the present embodiment, each radio wave transmitted from each base station 61 is received, the received electric field strength is measured for each radio wave, and the station ID of the transmission source base station included in the radio wave is detected. Base station storage device that stores, for each of the plurality of observation stations 21 and the base station 61, a set of a coordinate position where the base station is installed and a station ID of the base station as base station information of the base station 32 and an observation station storage device 33 for storing the coordinate position where the observation station is installed as observation station information for each observation station 21.

  The radio terminal 10 receives the radio wave transmitted from each base station 61, measures the received electric field strength for each radio wave, and detects the station ID of the transmission source base station included in the radio wave. Then, in the position calculation device 15, the wireless terminal 10 is based on the received electric field strength and the station ID obtained by the wireless terminal 10 and the coordinate position of the base station corresponding to the station ID acquired from the base station storage device 32. The base station management device 34 calculates the received electric field strength and station ID obtained at each observation station 21, and the coordinate position of each observation station 21 obtained from the observation station information in the observation station storage device 33. Based on the above, the coordinate position of the base station is calculated for each base station 61, and the set of the obtained coordinate position of the base station and the station ID of the base station is stored in the base station storage device 32 as base station information. Do Those were Unishi.

[Configuration of management device]
Next, the configuration of the management device 30 used in the position detection system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
The management device 30 includes an information processing device such as a server device, and is connected to each observation station 21 and a wireless access point (hereinafter referred to as wireless AP) 22 via a communication line L1 so as to be able to perform data communication. The observation station 21 is a wireless communication terminal having a function of observing radio waves from the base station 61, and the wireless AP 22 is a general wireless communication terminal for performing wireless data communication with the wireless terminal 10.

  The management device 30 includes a communication processing unit 31, a base station storage device 32, an observation station storage device 33, and a base station management device 34 as main functional units. Some or all of the functional units of the management device 30 may be realized by separate devices, or all these functional units may be realized by one device. In addition, about the function part of the management apparatus 30, it is not limited to these, You may provide the various function parts with which general information processing apparatuses, such as a server apparatus, are provided.

  The communication processing unit 31 includes a dedicated data communication circuit, and has a function of performing data communication with the observation station 21 and the wireless AP 22 via the communication line L1.

The base station storage device 32 includes a storage device such as a hard disk or a semiconductor memory, and has a function of storing base station information used for various processing operations in each functional unit.
FIG. 2 is a configuration example of base station information. Here, for each base station 61, a station ID that is identification information for identifying the base station 61, such as a MAC address of the base station 61, and a three-dimensional coordinate position where the base station 61 is installed are shown. Coordinate values Xm, Ym, and Zm are registered as a set. The coordinate values of these base station information are calculated by the base station management device 34 based on the received electric field strength of the radio wave from each base station 61 measured by the observation station 21 and stored in the base station storage device 32.

The observation station storage device 33 includes a storage device such as a hard disk and a semiconductor memory, and has a function of storing observation station information used for various processing operations in each functional unit.
FIG. 3 is a configuration example of observation station information. Here, for each observation station 21, coordinate values Xm, Ym, and Zm of the observation station 21 are registered. This observation station information is registered in advance by the operator when each observation station 21 is installed. The coordinate system of each device in the room 50 has an X coordinate in the longitudinal direction, a Y coordinate in the short direction, and a Z coordinate in the height direction. The distance (m) measured from the base point P is used.

  The base station management device 34 includes an arithmetic processing unit that performs various arithmetic processes when a microprocessor such as a CPU reads and executes a program stored in a storage unit (not shown). The base station management device 34 reads out base station information of each base station 61 from the base station storage device 32 as a main functional unit, and transmits the base station information of the wireless terminal 10 via the communication processing unit 31, the communication line L1, and the wireless AP 22. A function for notifying the position calculation device 15, a function for obtaining the received electric field strength and station ID of each base station 61 from each observation station 21 via the communication processing unit 31 and the communication line L 1, and a function obtained by each observation station 21. A function for calculating the coordinate position of the base station for each base station 61 based on the received electric field strength and the station ID obtained and the coordinate position of each observation station 21 acquired from the observation station information in the observation station storage device 33; And a function of storing the set of the obtained coordinate position of the base station and the station ID of the base station in the observation station storage device as base station information.

[Configuration of wireless terminal]
Next, with reference to FIG. 1, the structure of the radio | wireless terminal 10 used with the position detection system 1 concerning this Embodiment is demonstrated in detail.
The wireless terminal 10 includes a mobile phone or a portable information terminal having a wireless data communication function, and a mobile wireless communication terminal such as a wireless ID tag, and is connected to the wireless AP 22 via a wireless line so that data communication is possible. It is connected to the management apparatus 30 via the line L1 so that data communication is possible.

  The wireless terminal 10 is provided with a wireless unit 11, an operation input unit 12, a screen display unit 13, and a position calculation device 15 as main functional units. Note that the functional units of the wireless terminal 10 are not limited to these, and various functional units included in a general portable wireless communication terminal such as a mobile phone or a portable information terminal may be provided.

  The wireless unit 11 includes a dedicated wireless circuit, a function of performing wireless data communication with the wireless AP 22 via a wireless line, a function of receiving radio waves such as a beacon from the base station 61, and the radio wave for each base station 61. Has a function of measuring the received electric field strength and a function of detecting the station ID of the base station 61 from the radio wave. The wireless unit 11 is provided with a function of performing wireless data communication with the base station 61, and the communication processing device 60 and further a communication network (not shown) and data connected thereto via the communication line L2. A function for performing communication may be provided.

The operation input unit 12 includes operation input devices such as operation buttons, operation switches, cursor keys, and a touch panel, and has a function of detecting a user operation input.
The screen display unit 13 includes a screen display device such as an LCD, and has a function of displaying data output from each functional unit on the screen.

  The position calculation device 15 includes an arithmetic processing unit that performs various arithmetic processes by executing a program read from an internal storage unit (not shown) of the position calculation device 15 by a microprocessor such as a CPU. The position calculation device 15 has, as main functions, a function of saving the base station information from the management device 30 received by the wireless unit 11 in the internal storage unit, and an internal storage unit based on each station ID detected by the wireless unit 11. It has a function of calculating its own coordinate position from the coordinate position of each base station 61 acquired from the base station information and the received electric field strength of each base station 61 measured by the wireless unit 11.

[Operation of First Embodiment]
Next, the operation of the position detection system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram illustrating an operation of the position detection system according to the first embodiment.

  The observation station 21 receives the radio wave transmitted from each base station 61 in response to the arrival of the observation timing, measures the received electric field strength of the radio wave for each base station 61 (step 100), and The station ID of the base station 61 is detected (step 101). The observation timing at each observation station 21 may be measured by the clock function of each observation station 21, and the management apparatus 30 instructs each observation station 21 based on the result measured by the clock function of the management apparatus 30. Also good.

  Thereafter, the management device 30 acquires, as observation results, the received electric field strength and station ID of each base station 61 from each observation station 21 via the communication processing unit 31 and the communication line L1 by the base station management device 34 ( Step 102), and save in the base station storage device 32 (Step 103).

  Subsequently, the base station management device 34 acquires the observation result of each base station 61 observed by each observation station 21 from the base station storage device 32, and the observation station information of each observation station 21 from the observation station information of the observation station storage device 33. Get the coordinate position. Then, for each base station 61, the base station management device 34 calculates the coordinate position of the base station 61 from the received electric field strength included in the observation result of the base station 61 and the coordinate position of each observation station 21 ( (Step 104) The obtained coordinate position is stored in the base station information of the base station storage device 32 together with the station ID included in the observation result of the base station 61 (Step 105).

  In this way, the base station management device 34 calculates the coordinate position of each base station 61 and then compares the coordinate positions of these base stations 61 with the previously calculated coordinate position. It is confirmed whether or not the range has changed (step 106). This allowable position error range is a value indicating an allowable range of error with respect to the coordinate position of each base station 61, and is composed of the distance between the previously notified coordinate position and the new coordinate position, and the coordinate value difference on each coordinate axis. . The value of the position error allowable range may be set in advance in the storage unit () based on the position detection accuracy required for the position detection system.

  Here, if the change in all coordinate positions is smaller than the allowable position error range (step 106: NO), the difference between the previously notified coordinate position and the new coordinate position is within the allowable range. There is no need to update information. For this reason, the base station management apparatus 34 does not notify the base station information to the wireless terminal 10 and ends a series of processes.

On the other hand, if any of the coordinate positions has changed by more than the position error allowable range (step 106: YES), the base station management device 34 uses the base station information indicating the newly calculated coordinate position of each base station 61 as the base station information. The data is read from the station storage device 32, notified from the communication processing unit 31 to the wireless terminal 10 via the communication line L1 and the wireless AP 22 (step 107), and a series of processing ends.
The wireless terminal 10 receives the base station information notified from the management device 30 via the wireless unit 11, and stores it in the internal storage unit by the position calculation device 15 (step 108).

  Thereafter, in the wireless terminal 10, when a position confirmation operation by the user is detected by the operation input unit 12, the position calculation device 15 controls the wireless unit 11 to receive the received electric field intensity of the radio wave for each base station 61. Is measured (step 110), and the station ID of the base station 61 is detected from the radio wave (step 111).

  Subsequently, the position calculation device 15 acquires the coordinate position of each base station 61 from the base station information in the internal storage unit based on each station ID detected by the wireless unit 11, and the coordinate position of the base station 61 and the wireless unit 11 The own coordinate position is calculated from the measured received field strength of each base station 61 (step 112), and the own coordinate position is displayed on the screen display unit 13 and presented to the user (step 113).

[Calculation method of base station position]
Next, a base station position calculation method will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is an example of arrangement of base station positions and observation stations. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing observation results at the observation station. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a process of calculating a base station position.

In FIG. 5, base stations A1 to A7 and observation stations M1 to M5 are installed in a room 50, and a wireless terminal T is present. In FIG. 6, for each combination of the observation station 21 and the base station 61, the station ID of the base station 61 and the received electrolytic strength (RSSI) are registered as a pair.
Here, the coordinate positions of the observation stations M1, M2, and M3 are (Xm1, Ym1, Zm1), (Xm2, Ym2, Zm2), and (Xm3, Ym3, Zm3), and the observation stations M1, M2, and M3 are observed. Assuming that the received electric field strength (RSSI) of the base station A2 is Ra1, Ra2, Ra3, respectively, and the coordinate position (Xa2, Ya2, Za2) of the base station A2 is calculated based on the weighted average method. explain.

First, the corrected received electric field strength Rai ′ (= Rai−Gi) is obtained by subtracting and correcting the received gain Gi at each observation station M1, M2, M3 from the received electric field strength Rai (i = 1, 2, 3). ). The reception gains of the observation stations M1, M2, and M3 may be registered in the observation station storage device 33 in advance.
Subsequently, the obtained corrected received electric field strength Rai ′ is converted from a decibel value (dB) to a corrected received electric field strength Pai (= 10 Rai ′ / 10) indicated by a true value (W).

Next, the reception intensity ratio Cai (= Pai / ΣPai) regarding the obtained corrected reception electric field intensity Pai is calculated.
Based on the received intensity ratio Cai and the coordinate position (Xmi, Ymi, Zmi) of the observation station Mi, the coordinate position Xa2 (= ΣXmiCai), Ya2 (= ΣYmiCai), Za2 (= ΣZmiCai) of the base station A2 is obtained. Calculate it.

[Calculation method of wireless terminal position]
Next, a method for calculating the wireless terminal position will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. FIG. 8 is an example of arrangement of base station positions and observation stations. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a process of calculating the wireless terminal position.

In FIG. 8, base stations A1 to A7 and observation stations M1 to M5 are installed in a room 50, and a wireless terminal T is present.
Here, the coordinate positions of the base stations A1, A3, A5 are (Xa1, Ya1, Za1), (Xa3, Ya3, Za3), (Xa5, Ya5, Za5), and these base stations A1 observed by the wireless terminal T , A3, A5 received field strengths (RSSI) are Rt1, Rt3, Rt5, respectively, and the coordinate position (Xt, Yt, Zt) of the wireless terminal T is calculated based on the weighted average method. explain.

  First, the received electric field strength Rti (i = 1, 3, 5) is converted from a decibel value (dB) to a corrected received electric field strength Pti (= 10 Rti ′ / 10) indicated by a true value (W).

Next, the reception intensity ratio Cti (= Pti / ΣPti) relating to the obtained corrected reception electric field intensity Pti is calculated.
Based on the received intensity ratio Cti and the coordinate position (Xai, Yai, Zai) of the base station Ai, the coordinate position Xt (= ΣXaiCti), Yt (= ΣYaiCti), Zt (= ΣZaiCt) of the wireless terminal T is obtained. Calculate it.

[Effect of the first embodiment]
As described above, the present embodiment receives the radio waves transmitted from the respective base stations 61, measures the received electric field strength for each of these radio waves, and transmits the transmission source base station included in the radio waves. A plurality of observation stations 21 for detecting a station ID are provided, and each observation obtained from the observation field information in the observation station storage device 33 and the received electric field strength and station ID obtained at each observation station 21 in the base station management device 34. Based on the coordinate position of the station 21, the coordinate position of the base station is calculated for each base station 61, and the set of the obtained coordinate position of the base station and the station ID of the base station is used as base station information. The data is stored in the station storage device 32.

Thereby, the radio wave of each base station 61 is observed by each observation station 21, the coordinate position is calculated, and it is automatically reflected with respect to base station information.
Therefore, the operation for detecting and registering the installation position of the base station 61 can be automated, and the operation cost of the position detection system can be greatly reduced. For this reason, the latest installation status of each base station 61 can be obtained even if information on the relocation, new installation, and removal of the base station 61 is not available, such that the administrator of the wireless communication system to which the base station 61 belongs is different from the position detection system. Base station information corresponding to

  In the present embodiment, the management device 30 compares the newly calculated new coordinate position of each base station 61 with the previously notified coordinate position, and any one of the coordinate positions has changed by more than the allowable position error range. In this case, the new coordinate position is notified to the position calculation device 15 of the wireless terminal 10, and when the change of all coordinate positions is smaller than the allowable position error range, the new coordinate position is sent to the position calculation device 15 of the wireless terminal 10. Since the notification is not made, the processing load on the wireless terminal 10 related to the update of the base station information can be minimized. In particular, when the wireless terminal 10 is composed of a wireless ID tag, only a battery with a very small capacity is mounted, and battery consumption becomes a problem. By implementing such a configuration, battery consumption is suppressed. It is possible to realize a long life.

Moreover, in this Embodiment, when the base station management apparatus 34 of the management apparatus 30 acquires an observation result from each observation station 21, you may make it determine whether the recalculation of a base station position is required.
Specifically, when the base station management apparatus 34 obtains the observation results from each observation station 21, the newly received electrolysis intensity included in the observation results and the previous reception electrolysis used for the previous base station position calculation. If any of the received electric field strengths has changed by more than the allowable error range, the base station position is newly calculated based on the new received electrolytic strength, and all changes in the received electrolytic strength are strong. If the error is smaller than the allowable range, the new base station position is not recalculated.

  Thereby, the processing burden in the management apparatus 30 can be reduced. Further, similarly to the above, it is possible to minimize the processing burden on the wireless terminal 10 for updating the base station information. In particular, when the wireless terminal 10 is composed of a wireless ID tag, only a battery with a very small capacity is mounted, and battery consumption becomes a problem. By implementing such a configuration, battery consumption is suppressed. It is possible to realize a long life.

  In the present embodiment, the own coordinate position calculated by the position calculation device 15 of the wireless terminal 10 may be notified from the wireless unit 11 to the application device 40 via the wireless AP 22. Thereby, various applications can be executed by the application device 40 using the coordinate position of the wireless terminal 10.

In this case, notification may be made every time the coordinate position is calculated, but the calculated coordinate position is sequentially stored in the internal storage unit of the position calculation device 15 and the plurality of coordinate positions are collectively stored in the application device 40. You may make it notify. Thereby, the frequency | count of radio | wireless transmission of the coordinate position in the radio | wireless terminal 10 can be reduced, suppression of battery consumption and also lifetime improvement are realizable.
When the wireless terminal 10 has a wired communication function, for example, when the wireless terminal 10 is connected to the communication line L1, the management device 30, or the application device 40, the saved coordinate position is used as the application. You may make it notify to the apparatus 40. FIG. At this time, the base station information may be notified from the base station storage device 32 of the management device 30 to the wireless terminal 10.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, with reference to FIG. 10, the position detection system 1 concerning the 2nd Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing the operation of the position detection system according to the second embodiment, and the same or equivalent parts as those in FIG. 4 are given the same reference numerals.

  In the first embodiment, the case where base station information including the base station position calculated by the management apparatus 30 is notified from the management apparatus 30 to the wireless terminal 10 has been described as an example. In the present embodiment, a case will be described in which base station information is notified from the management apparatus 30 to the wireless terminal 10 in response to a request from the wireless terminal 10 at the time of self-position calculation.

  In the present embodiment, the position calculation device 15 of the wireless terminal 10 has a function of notifying the management device 30 of a base station information request including each station ID detected by the wireless unit 11 during self-location calculation. In response to this, the wireless unit 11 has a function of calculating its own position based on the base station information from the management device 30 received.

Further, the base station management device 34 of the management device 30 changes the base station information of the station ID included in the base station information request in response to the base station information request from the wireless terminal 10 received by the communication processing unit 31. It has a function of searching from the storage device 32 and a function of notifying the base station information obtained by this search from the communication processing unit 31 to the requesting wireless terminal 10.
Note that the other configuration according to the present embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

[Operation of Second Embodiment]
Next, the operation of the position detection system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  The observation station 21 receives the radio wave transmitted from each base station 61 in response to the arrival of the observation timing, measures the received electric field strength of the radio wave for each base station 61 (step 100), and The station ID of the base station 61 is detected (step 101). The observation timing at each observation station 21 may be measured by the clock function of each observation station 21, and the management apparatus 30 instructs each observation station 21 based on the result measured by the clock function of the management apparatus 30. Also good.

  Thereafter, the management device 30 acquires, as observation results, the received electric field strength and station ID of each base station 61 from each observation station 21 via the communication processing unit 31 and the communication line L1 by the base station management device 34 ( Step 102), and save in the base station storage device 32 (Step 103).

  Subsequently, the base station management device 34 acquires the observation result of each base station 61 observed by each observation station 21 from the base station storage device 32, and the observation station information of each observation station 21 from the observation station information of the observation station storage device 33. Get the coordinate position. Then, for each base station 61, the base station management device 34 calculates the coordinate position of the base station 61 from the received electric field strength included in the observation result of the base station 61 and the coordinate position of each observation station 21 ( (Step 104) The obtained coordinate position is stored in the base station information of the base station storage device 32 together with the station ID included in the observation result of the base station 61 (Step 105).

On the other hand, in the wireless terminal 10, when a position confirmation operation by the user is detected by the operation input unit 12, the position calculation device 15 controls the wireless unit 11 to set the received electric field strength of the radio wave for each base station 61. While measuring (step 110), the station ID of the base station 61 is detected from the radio wave (step 111).
Here, the location calculation device 15 notifies the management device 30 of the base station information request including the detected station ID from the wireless unit 11 (step 200).

In response to the base station information request from the wireless terminal 10 received by the communication processing unit 31, the base station management device 34 of the management device 30 stores the base station information of the station ID included in the base station information request as a base station storage device. Search from 32 (step 201).
Then, the base station management device 34 notifies the base station information obtained by the search from the communication processing unit 31 to the requesting wireless terminal 10 (step 202).

  The position calculation device 15 of the wireless terminal 10 acquires the coordinate position of each base station 61 from the base station information from the management device 30 received by the wireless unit 11 and measures the coordinate position of the base station 61 and the wireless unit 11. The own coordinate position is calculated from the received electric field strength of each base station 61 (step 112), and the own coordinate position is displayed on the screen display unit 13 and presented to the user (step 113).

[Effect of the second embodiment]
As described above, in the present embodiment, the position calculation device 15 of the wireless terminal 10 notifies the management device 30 of the base station information request including each station ID detected by the wireless unit 11 during the self-position calculation. In response to the base station information request from the wireless terminal 10, the base station management device 34 searches for base station information of the station ID included in the base station information request from the base station storage device 32 and transmits the request source wireless Since the position calculation device 15 of the wireless terminal 10 notifies the terminal 10 and calculates the self-location based on the base station information received from the management device 30 in response thereto, the base stations related to all the base stations 61 The self-position can be calculated based on the latest base station position without holding the information in the internal storage unit.

[Third Embodiment]
Next, a position detection system 1 according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.
In the first and second embodiments, the observation station 21 has been described as an example in which only observation of radio waves such as a beacon transmitted from the base station 61 is performed. However, the observation station 21 is similar to the base station 61. Thus, radio waves such as a beacon used for position calculation of the wireless terminal 10 may be transmitted.

In the present embodiment, some or all of the observation stations 21 have a function of transmitting radio waves such as a beacon including the station ID of the observation station.
The wireless unit 11 of the wireless terminal 10 receives the radio wave transmitted from the observation station 21, measures the received electric field strength of the radio wave, and transmits the station ID of the transmission source observation station included in the radio wave. It has a function to detect.

  Further, when calculating the coordinate position of the wireless terminal 10, the position calculation device 15 acquired from the base station storage device 32 and the received electric field strength and station ID regarding the base station 61 and the observation station 21 obtained by the wireless terminal 10. A function of calculating the coordinate position of the wireless terminal 10 based on the coordinate position corresponding to the station ID of the base station and the coordinate position corresponding to the station ID of the observation station acquired from the observation station storage device 33; ing.

  In this case, as the observation station 21, based on a wireless communication protocol such as a wireless LAN, as a function for notifying the wireless terminal that is the communication partner of its existence, as an hourly information for identifying itself, a MAC address or the like What is necessary is just to provide the function to transmit periodically the beacon containing station ID which consists of. Therefore, although the function of performing data transmission is not essential, it may be provided, and specifically, a general radio base station similar to the base station 61 may be used.

Thereby, in the radio | wireless part 11 of the radio | wireless terminal 10, the radio wave from the observation station 21 can be observed similarly to the radio wave from the base station 61, and it can utilize for position calculation.
Therefore, according to the present embodiment, when the number of installed base stations 61 is small, the observation station 21 can supplement the function of the base station 61. In particular, the location calculation accuracy of the wireless terminal 10 can be increased by installing the observation station 21 in a place where the installation density of the base stations 61 is low in the room 50.

[Fourth Embodiment]
Next, with reference to FIG. 11, the position detection system 1 concerning the 4th Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the position detection system according to the fourth embodiment, and the same or equivalent parts as those in FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals.
In the first to third embodiments, the case where the position calculation device 15 is mounted on the wireless terminal 10 has been described as an example. However, the position calculation device 15 is realized by a separate device independent of the wireless terminal 10. Also good.

In the present embodiment, the position calculation device 15 is connected to the communication line L1, and is connected to the wireless terminal 10 via the wireless AP 22 so as to be able to perform data communication. The position calculation device 15 may be provided in the management device 30.
Further, the radio unit 11 of the radio terminal 10 receives radio waves transmitted from the respective base stations 61, measures the received electric field strength for each of these radio waves, and transmits the source base station included in the radio waves The station ID is detected, and the received electric field strength and station ID obtained for each radio wave are notified to the position calculation device 15.

  As a result, it is possible to reduce the processing load on the wireless terminal 10 and to extend the battery life. When a plurality of wireless terminals 10 are managed by the position detection system 1, position calculations that have been individually executed by these wireless terminals 10 can be consolidated into one position calculation device 15. The efficiency of processing in the entire system 1 and further energy saving can be realized.

[Fifth Embodiment]
Next, a position detection system 1 according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described.
In the first and second embodiments, the case where the position coordinates of the base station 61 are calculated based on the observation result of the radio wave from the base station 61 observed by the observation station 21 has been described. Whether or not the position coordinates of the base station 61 can be calculated may be determined according to the variation in the received electric field strength of the 61.

In recent years, small wireless base stations that can be carried with laptop computers, so-called mobile access points, have been used. Since such a radio base station has a function of transmitting radio waves such as a beacon in the same manner as the base station 61, this radio wave is observed by the radio terminal 10 and further by the observation station 21, and the base station 61 is fixed. May be considered as installed.
Since the mobile access point changes its position, the fluctuation range of the received electric field strength is large, and the received electric field strength is not stable like a fixed radio base station. For this reason, it becomes a calculation error of the coordinate position of the wireless terminal 10.

  In the present embodiment, when the base station management device 34 calculates the position coordinates of these base stations 61 based on the received electric field strength of radio waves from each base station 61 acquired from the observation station 21 (step of FIG. 4). 104) For each base station 61, by comparing the fluctuation range of the received electric field strength stored in the base station storage unit 32 with the allowable fluctuation range of the received electric field strength set in the storage unit in advance, It has a function of determining whether or not position coordinates relating to the base station 61 need to be calculated.

  Therefore, for a given base station 61, when the fluctuation range of the received electric field intensity in a certain period is larger than the allowable fluctuation range, and the base station 61 may be a mobile access point, the position of the base station 61 It is determined that the calculation of the coordinates is unnecessary, and the position coordinates regarding the base station 61 are not calculated. Thereby, it is possible to avoid erroneous registration of the mobile access point as the base station 61 used for the position calculation of the wireless terminal 10 and to improve the position calculation accuracy.

[Sixth Embodiment]
Next, with reference to FIG. 12, a position detection system 1 according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a position detection system according to the sixth embodiment.

  In the first and second embodiments, the case where the base station 61 is connected to a wireless communication system separate from the position detection system 1 has been described as an example. However, the base station 61 is common to the position detection system 1. May be connected.

  In FIG. 12, the base station 61 is commonly connected to the communication line L1 of the position detection system 1, and the communication processing device 60 is also connected to the communication line L1. Even in this configuration, the first and second embodiments can be applied. In this case, all the base stations 61 are connected to the communication line L1, but only a part thereof may be connected to the communication line L1. Further, the wireless unit 11 of the wireless terminal 10 is provided with a function of performing wireless data communication with the base station 61, and the communication processing device 60 and further a communication network (not shown) connected to the communication terminal 60 via the communication line L1. And a function of performing data communication with the device.

  Further, according to such a position detection system 1, the base station 61 can be controlled from the management device 30. Therefore, instead of the observation station 21, the base station 61 whose installation position is known among the base stations 61 may be used to observe the radio waves of other base stations 61. Thereby, the installation number of the observation station 21 can be reduced, and installation cost can be reduced.

[Extended embodiment]
The present invention has been described above with reference to the embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. Various changes that can be understood by those skilled in the art can be made to the configuration and details of the present invention within the scope of the present invention.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Position detection system, 10 ... Wireless terminal, 11 ... Wireless part, 12 ... Operation input part, 13 ... Screen display part, 14 ... Terminal memory | storage part, 15 ... Position calculation apparatus, 21 ... Observation station, 22 ... Wireless AP, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 30 ... Management apparatus, 31 ... Communication processing part, 32 ... Base station storage apparatus, 33 ... Observation station storage apparatus, 34 ... Base station management apparatus, 40 ... Application apparatus, 50 ... Room, 60 ... Communication processing apparatus, 61 ... Base Station, L1, L2 ... communication line.

Claims (6)

A plurality of observation stations that receive radio waves transmitted from each base station, measure the received electric field strength for each of these radio waves, and detect the station ID of the transmission source base station included in the radio waves,
For each base station, a base station storage device that stores a set of a coordinate position where the base station is installed and a base station ID of the base station as base station information of the base station, and
For each observation station, an observation station storage device that stores the coordinate position where the observation station is installed as observation station information;
A radio terminal that receives radio waves transmitted from each of the base stations, measures a received electric field strength for each of the radio waves, and detects a station ID of a transmission source base station included in the radio waves;
The coordinate position of the wireless terminal is calculated based on the received field strength and the station ID obtained by the wireless terminal, and the coordinate position of the base station corresponding to the station ID acquired from the base station storage device. A position calculator;
Based on the received electric field strength and the station ID obtained at each observation station, and the coordinate position of each observation station obtained from the observation station information of the observation station storage device, for each base station A base station management device that calculates the coordinate position of the base station, and stores the obtained set of the coordinate position of the base station and the base station ID of the base station as the base station information in the base station storage device;
Equipped with a,
When calculating the coordinate position of the base station, the base station management device compares the fluctuation range of the received electric field strength with respect to the base station and the allowable fluctuation range of the received electric field strength, and the fluctuation width exceeds the allowable fluctuation range. If the coordinate position for the base station is not calculated, the set of the coordinate position obtained by calculating the base station whose fluctuation range does not exceed the allowable fluctuation range and the station ID of the base station Is stored as the base station information in the base station storage device . The position detection system according to claim 1,
The wireless terminal is
A radio unit that receives each radio wave transmitted from each base station, measures the received electric field strength for each radio wave, and detects the station ID of the transmission source base station included in the radio wave;
Calculates its own coordinate position based on the received electric field intensity and the station ID obtained by the radio unit, and the coordinate position of each base station notified and stored from the base station management unit A position detection system comprising: the position calculation device. The position detection system according to claim 2,
The position calculation system stores the calculated coordinate position sequentially, and notifies the application apparatus using the coordinate position collectively of the plurality of coordinate positions. The position detection system according to claim 1,
The wireless terminal receives each radio wave transmitted from each base station, measures the received electric field intensity for each radio wave, and detects the station ID of the transmission source base station included in the radio wave. A position detection system comprising a wireless unit that notifies the position calculation device of the received electric field strength and the station ID obtained for each radio wave. In the position detection system according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
Some or all of the observation stations transmit radio waves including the station ID of the observation station,
The wireless terminal receives the radio wave transmitted from the observation station, measures the received electric field strength of the radio wave, detects the station ID of the transmission source observation station included in the radio wave,
The position calculation device, when calculating the coordinate position of the wireless terminal, obtained from the base station storage device, the received field strength and the station ID related to the base station and the observation station obtained by the wireless terminal The coordinate position of the wireless terminal is calculated based on the coordinate position corresponding to the station ID of the base station and the coordinate position corresponding to the station ID of the observation station acquired from the observation station storage device. Position detection system. A plurality of observation stations receive radio waves transmitted from the respective base stations, measure the received electric field strength for each radio wave, and detect the station ID of the transmission source base station included in the radio waves. An observation step;
A base station storage device that stores, for each base station, a set of a coordinate position where the base station is installed and a station ID of the base station as base station information of the base station;
The observation station storage device stores, for each observation station, a coordinate position where the observation station is installed as observation station information;
Wireless terminal receives the radio waves transmitted from the respective base stations, as well as measuring the received field strength for each of these radio wave, a station ID to detect a station ID of the source base station included in the radio A detection step ;
Based on the received electric field strength and the station ID obtained by the wireless terminal, and the coordinate position of the base station corresponding to the station ID acquired from the base station storage device, the position calculating device A position calculation step for calculating a coordinate position;
Based on the received electric field strength and the station ID obtained by each observation station, and the coordinate position of each observation station acquired from the observation station information of the observation station storage device, the base station management device, A base that calculates the coordinate position of the base station for each base station, and stores the obtained set of the coordinate position of the base station and the station ID of the base station in the base station storage device as the base station information Station management steps;
Equipped with a,
In the base station management step, when calculating the coordinate position of the base station, the fluctuation range of the received electric field strength related to the base station is compared with the allowable fluctuation range of the received electric field strength, and the fluctuation range exceeds the allowable fluctuation range. If the coordinate position for the base station is not calculated, the set of the coordinate position obtained by calculating the base station whose fluctuation range does not exceed the allowable fluctuation range and the station ID of the base station Only in the base station storage device as the base station information .

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