JP6537588B1 - Search system and method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To notify a user of the loss of a portable communication device and realize the detection and tracking of the portable communication device or an item attached to the portable communication device or a person possessing the portable communication device in a wide area. SOLUTION: An information terminal 2 and a mobile station 3 performing short range communication with a portable communication device 1, and a tracking server 4 performing wide area communication with the information terminal 2 and the mobile station 3 The state of the short range communication is monitored to determine whether the portable communication device 1 is lost or not. If it is determined that the portable communication device 1 is lost, the tracking server 4 selects the mobile station 3 to be tracked and instructs tracking. Based on the tracking result from the mobile station 3, the tracking server 4 calculates the location area of the mobile communication device 1 and transmits it to the information terminal 1. The position display unit 25 of the information terminal 1 displays the position of the information terminal 1 and the location area of the mobile communication device, so that the user holding the information terminal 2 can easily grasp the position of the mobile communication device 1. [Selected figure] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention prevents the loss of a portable communication device such as a wireless key of a car, and enables the detection and tracking of a portable communication device, an article attached to the portable communication device, or a person possessing the portable communication device. The present invention relates to a search system and method using communication.

  A wireless communication system is known that notifies that an item to be carried has been removed from possession due to loss, misplacement or theft. Such a wireless communication system comprises a transmitter and a portable terminal capable of communicating with the transmitter, and the transmitter is attached to an article. The distance between the transmission device and the portable terminal is detected based on a change in communication status, and the user of the portable terminal is notified that the article has left the hand (for example, Patent Document 1).

  Further, the article management system described in Patent Document 2 associates a transmission device using BLE (Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy) communication with an article, and arranges a terminal capable of communicating with the article at a predetermined position. Based on the availability of BLE communication or information obtained by BLE communication, a position search of an article having an oscillator is performed. Further, it is disclosed that the present invention can be applied to the prevention of wrinkles in a carer.

In Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 described above, the searchable communication range is limited, and since the terminal position is fixed, tracking of lost objects is also a limited range.
On the other hand, systems have been proposed that can track lost or stolen items in a wide area (e.g., Patent Document 3 and Patent Document 4).

  The theft loss prevention system and method described in Patent Document 3 realize the function of searching for the position of the transmitting device immediately after the loss or theft as a measure when the alarm notifying the theft or loss is not noticed, and the lost user Processing for requesting a proxy search to a third party's portable terminal existing in a near area that can communicate with the portable terminal owned by When the transmitter attached to the article enters the communication area of the third party's portable terminal, the user is notified through the management server.

  The lost object detection system described in Patent Document 4 is a system including a plurality of information terminals, a position detection terminal as a transmission device, and a server device, and a user having the information terminal loses an article attached with the position detection terminal. If so, the server is notified of the information. If another user's information terminal by chance happens to find the signal of the transmitting device when it is found that it is a lost item, the information terminal of the specific user associated with the lost item is located at the information terminal of the specific user associated with the lost item. Send information

JP, 2009-213036, A Patent No. 5748921 JP, 2016-167183, A Patent No. 5894309

  According to Patent Documents 3 and 4, although tracking is possible even when the user misses an alarm indicating loss, the information terminal of another user near the oscillation device attached to the lost object is In order to detect an outgoing signal and notify this to the user's terminal via the server, it is necessary to install a dedicated application and always start up in order to discover the originating device, and the information terminal is always on It needs to be in the receiving state. This causes a problem of consuming a large amount of information terminal battery. In addition, since the position of the oscillation device is represented by only the position of the information device, there is a problem that accurate position information can not be presented to the user.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and uses wireless communication that enables discovery and tracking of a portable communication device, an article attached to the portable communication device, or a person carrying the portable communication device in a wide area It is an object of the present invention to provide a search system and search method.

A search system according to the present invention includes a portable communication device, an information terminal performing short range communication with the portable communication device, a mobile station performing short range communication with the portable communication device, tracking in wide area communication with the information terminal and the mobile station A search system comprising a server, wherein the portable communication device comprises a first short range communication circuit communicating with the information terminal and the mobile station, and the information terminal communicates with the portable communication device A short range communication circuit, a first wide range communication circuit communicating with the tracking server, a terminal position acquisition unit for obtaining position information of the information terminal itself, and a loss of the portable communication device using the short range communication And a loss determination unit for notifying the tracking server of lost information including position information at the time of loss, and a location area of the information terminal based on position information of the information terminal itself acquired by the terminal position acquisition unit Said mobile And a position display unit for displaying a location area of the receiver on a map, wherein the mobile station includes a third short range communication circuit for communicating with the portable communication unit, and a second wide area communication circuit for communicating with the tracking server. According to an instruction from the tracking server, the mobile communication device is tracked according to an instruction from the tracking server, and a communication device position acquisition unit which measures a distance to the mobile communication device using short range communication, and position information of the mobile station itself A mobile station position acquisition unit for notifying the tracking server of the position information of the mobile station and the distance information to the portable communication device acquired by the communication device position acquisition unit; An information terminal and a third wide area communication circuit for communicating with the mobile station, and location information of the mobile station registered in advance are updated and held, and based on the lost information of the portable communication device received from the information terminal add a predetermined in One or more mobile stations to track from among the mobile stations selected in the area, the mobile location tracking unit for instructing the tracking processing of the communication device and, from said information received from selected by said mobile station calculates the position of the mobile communication device as the location area, is calculated the a position calculation unit for transmitting the location area of the mobile communication apparatus to the information terminal Rutotomoni, the positioning portion of the tracking server is updated The tracking area is updated based on the location area of the portable communication device, and the selection of the mobile station is reviewed. If the mobile station instructed to perform the tracking process goes out of the tracking area, the movement is performed. It is a review of station selection .

The search method of the present invention uses an information terminal in short range communication with a portable communication device, a mobile station in short range communication with the portable communication device, and a tracking server in wide range communication with the information terminal and the mobile station. A method for searching for a portable communication device, wherein the information terminal monitors the state of short range communication between the information terminal and the portable communication device to determine whether the portable communication device is in a lost state or not, and the lost state If it is determined, the location area of the information terminal itself is acquired, and the location area of the information terminal when the portable communication device is lost is obtained when the portable communication device is lost via wide area communication to the tracking server. And transmit a request for tracking the portable communication device, and transmit, to the position display unit of the information terminal, the location area of the information terminal itself and the location area of the portable communication device on a map Display of the mobile communication device In the tracking server that was asked to mark, it preregistered the held to update the location information of the mobile station is using the lost information of the received the portable communication device, the predetermined said in tracking area Among the mobile stations, a mobile station to be subjected to tracking processing is selected, and tracking processing of the portable communication device is instructed to the selected mobile station via wide area communication, and the mobile station instructed to perform tracking processing is: The mobile communication device is tracked, the distance to the mobile communication device is measured using the short range communication, and the position information of the mobile station itself instructed to perform the tracking process is acquired, and the position of the mobile station is obtained. The information and the measured distance information to the portable communication device are transmitted to the tracking server via wide area communication, and the tracking processing is instructed and the tracking information of the measured mobile station is instructed. The mobile station The tracking server that has received the distance information to the mobile communication device calculates the location area of the mobile communication device, transmits it to the information terminal via wide area communication, and receives the location area of the mobile communication device In the information terminal, the received location area of the mobile communication device is updated and displayed by the position display unit, and the tracking server is configured to display the tracking area based on the updated location area of the mobile communication device. While updating and selecting the mobile station, if the mobile station instructed to perform tracking processing goes out of the tracking area, the mobile station selection is reviewed and the mobile communication device is searched. .

  According to the search system and the search method of the present invention, the mobile communication device is tracked by the mobile station on the wide area communication network capable of acquiring the position information of the mobile communication device with high accuracy using the wireless communication system. Wide area and efficient tracking is possible. Also, in the information terminal, the location area of the mobile communication device calculated by the tracking server and the location area of the information terminal of its own are displayed on the map as needed, so that the position of the mobile communication device can be easily grasped. This enables efficient detection and tracking of a portable communication device, an item attached to the portable communication device, or a person who carries the portable communication device in a wide area.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a search system using wireless communication according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. It is a figure explaining the example of a display of the location area by the position display part of an information terminal in the search system which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the example of the location area | region of the portable communication apparatus which the mobile station measured in the search system which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating another example of the location area | region of the portable communication apparatus which the mobile station measured in the search system which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of application to the keyless system of a motor vehicle in the search system which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure explaining the method to calculate the location area | region of a portable communication apparatus in the search system which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the tracking progress of the portable communication apparatus by the search system which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the location area | region of the portable communication apparatus which the position display part of an information terminal displays in the search system which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the example of a series of processes from loss detection of the portable communication apparatus in an information terminal to a tracking result display in the search system which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the example of tracking control in a tracking server in the search system which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the example of the tracking process in a mobile station in the search system which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure of another example which shows the location area | region of the portable communication apparatus which the position display part of an information terminal displays in the search system which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the tracking progress of the portable communication apparatus by the search system which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a figure which shows another example of the tracking progress of the portable communication apparatus by the search system which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts.

Embodiment 1
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a search system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The present search system uses wireless communication, and includes a portable communication device 1, an information terminal 2, a mobile station 3 and a tracking server 4.
In the figure, a portable communication device 1 is a communication device which accompanies an item to be tracked or is carried by a user, and includes a short range communication circuit 11. The short-range communication circuit 11 communicates between the information terminal 2 carried by the user and the mobile station 3 mounted on a car or the like using a BLE (Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy) communication method or the like. .
The information terminal 2 is configured by a portable terminal such as a smartphone, and is a narrow area communication circuit 21 that communicates with the portable communication device 1 using a BLE communication method or the like, and a wide area communication for communicating with the tracking server 4 by wide area communication. Circuit 22 and an ID necessary for monitoring a state change of the short range communication and determining whether or not the portable communication device 1 is in a lost state, and identifying and communicating the lost portable communication device 1, Terminal position acquisition that acquires the position information of the information terminal itself using the loss determination unit 23 that adds the position information at the time of loss to the loss information having security information and notifies the tracking server 4 and a GPS (Global Positioning System) sensor A position display unit 25 for displaying the area of the information terminal 2 itself and the portable communication device 1 on the display of the information terminal 2 is provided.

  The mobile station 3 is a mobile communication device mounted on an automobile etc., and communicates with the narrow area communication circuit 31 communicating with the mobile communication device 1 using the BLE communication method etc., and the tracking server 4 by wide area communication. A communication device that measures the distance to the portable communication device 1 based on the signal strength that attenuates in proportion to the square of the distance or the time required for communication using the wide area communication circuit 32 to perform and short range communication. A position acquisition unit 33, and a mobile station position acquisition unit 34 for notifying the tracking server 4 by combining the position information of the mobile station 3 itself acquired using a GPS sensor and the distance information to the portable communication device 1 There is.

  The tracking server 4 selects a plurality of mobile stations based on the wide area communication circuit 41 communicating with the information terminal 2 and the mobile station 3 and the loss information of the portable communication device 1 received from the information terminal 2 and performs tracking processing thereon And a position calculation unit 43 for calculating the location area of the portable communication device 1 based on the tracking results from the plurality of mobile stations.

  The mobile communication device 1, the information terminal 2, the mobile station 3 and the tracking server 4 are processing units such as CPU (Central Processing Unit) as processing circuits in addition to communication circuits as hardware for executing the respective functions. (Computer), a storage device for exchanging data with an arithmetic processing unit, an input circuit for inputting an external signal to the arithmetic processing unit, an output circuit for outputting a signal from the arithmetic processing unit to the outside, and the like.

  FIG. 2 shows that the position display unit 25 of the information terminal 2 displays the location area 9 of the information terminal 2 itself possessed by the user on the display and the location area 8 of the portable communication device 1 on the map. The location area 9 of the information terminal 2 represents the value (distance) of the accuracy in a circle, centering on the position periodically acquired by the terminal position acquisition unit 24 from the GPS sensor. On the other hand, the location area 8 of the mobile communication device 1 is the location area 9 of the information terminal 2 when the loss determination unit 23 determines that the mobile communication device 1 is in the lost state. Since the user possessing the information terminal has moved after the loss, FIG. 2 shows a situation where the location area 8 of the portable communication device 1 and the location area 9 of the information terminal 2 are separated. By displaying in this manner, the positional relationship between the current user position and the lost portable communication device 1 can be presented including the accuracy.

FIG.3 and FIG.4 is a figure for demonstrating the location area | region of the portable communication apparatus 1 which the mobile station 3 measured. The communication device position acquisition unit 33 of the mobile station 3 has the signal strength of the BLE communication transmitted by the portable communication device captured by the narrow area communication circuit 31 or the narrow area communication circuit 31 of the mobile station 3 and the narrow area of the portable communication device 1 A communication device distance L from the mobile station 3 to the portable communication device 1 is calculated based on the communication time of the signal reciprocating between the communication circuits 11. Therefore, the mobile communication device 1 exists on the circumference of a circle 7 (broken line in the figure) whose radius is the communication device distance L centered on the mobile station 3.
On the other hand, the position of the mobile station 3 itself is obtained from the position information received by the mobile station position acquisition unit 34 by the GPS sensor. The position information of the GPS sensor includes the intentionally added error and the error due to the acquisition state of the satellite in a superimposed form, and the GPS accuracy distance S can be acquired along with the latitude and the longitude. That is, the location area 9 of the mobile station 3 is within a circle 6 whose radius is the GPS accuracy distance S.
Therefore, the location area 8a in which the mobile communication device 1 in consideration of the error included in the GPS sensor exists is an area from the distance L-S to the distance L + S with the mobile station 3 as the center. FIG. 3 shows the case where S <L, where the location area 8a is a donut shaped area with diagonal lines in the figure, FIG. 4 shows the case where S> L, and the location area 8a with diagonal lines in the figure It becomes a circular area.

Next, a method of tracking by the mobile station 3 when the mobile communication device 1 is lost will be described.
FIG. 5 is a view showing an application example of a car to a keyless system in a search system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, wherein a mobile station 3 mounted on three cars is a wireless key as a portable communication device 1 FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the flow of communication and information when tracking The loss determination unit 23 of the smartphone 2a, which is the information terminal 2, determines that the wireless key 1a has been lost, transmits the loss information to the tracking server 4 from the wide area communication circuit 22, and starts tracking. The position tracking unit 42 of the tracking server 4 communicates with the pre-registered mobile station 3 mounted on a car, and creates a database of the ever-changing position of the car. As for the position of the vehicle, the mobile station position acquisition unit 34 receives the position information transmitted from the GPS satellite 5 by the mobile station 3 using the GPS sensor and acquires the position information.
In the figure, GPS signals are indicated by broken lines, wide area communication by alternate long and short dashed lines, and narrow area communication (BLE communication) by solid lines.

  In FIG. 5, based on the lost information from the smartphone 2a, the tracking server 4 instructs the mobile stations 3a, 3b, 3c of the three cars to perform tracking. The wide area communication circuit 41 of the tracking server 4 instructs the mobile stations 3a, 3b and 3c of the three cars to perform tracking via the wide area communication circuit 32 respectively provided. The instructed mobile stations 3a, 3b, 3c communicate with the short range communication circuit 11 of the wireless key 1a by BLE communication via the short range communication circuit 31 respectively provided, and track the wireless key 1a. If the tracking is successful, the communication device position acquisition unit 33 calculates the distance to the wireless key 1a. The mobile station 3 that has calculated the distance of the wireless key 1a transmits the tracking result including the calculated distance together with the position information obtained by the mobile station position acquisition unit 34 by the GPS signal at that time to the tracking server 4. The tracking server 4 integrates the tracking results in the position calculation unit 43 to calculate the position, and transmits the location area of the portable communication device 1 to the smartphone 2a.

FIG. 6 is a view for explaining a method of calculating the location area of the portable communication device, in which the position calculation unit 43 of the tracking server 4 performs overlaying processing of tracking results by the three mobile stations 3a, 3b and 3c, It is the figure shown about the method of position calculation.
The communication device distance L from each of the mobile stations 3a, 3b, 3c to the wireless key 1a is indicated by a circle 7 of a broken line. Also, the accuracy distance S of GPS is different for each mobile station. Based on the communication distance L and the GPS accuracy distance S, the location area 8a of the wireless key 1a is calculated for each of the mobile stations 3a, 3b and 3c. The location area 8a of the wireless key 1a of the mobile station 3a is a hatched portion shown in a donut shape centered on the mobile station 3a, and the location area 8a of the wireless key 1a of the mobile stations 3b and 3c is the mobile stations 3b and 3c. It is a circle-shaped part shown by oblique lines centered on. An area obtained by superimposing the existing areas 8a is an existing area 8 indicated by a double circle. Thus, the accuracy of the location area 8 of the wireless key 1a can be improved from the tracking information of a plurality of mobile stations.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the tracking process of the mobile communication device using the search system according to the first embodiment. (A) in the figure shows the positional relationship immediately after it is determined that the user possessing the smartphone 2a in the location area 9 has lost the wireless key 1a. At this time, since the location area 8 of the wireless key 1a is the location area 9 of the smartphone 2a, it is displayed in proximity. The mobile stations 3a, 3b, 3c instructed by the tracking server 4 start tracking of the wireless key 1a by BLE communication. Immediately after the start of tracking, there may be cases where communication with the short-range communication circuit 11 of the wireless key 1a is not possible or the signal may be very small. Moreover, although the actual position of the wireless key 1a is not displayed on the smart phone 2a, it is displayed here for convenience. When the wireless key 1a is stolen or the like, it is assumed that it moves from (a) to (b) in the figure. The mobile stations 3a, 3b, 3c continue tracking until communication with the short range communication circuit 11 of the wireless key 1a becomes possible. In (b) in the figure, the mobile station 3c can capture the signal of the wireless key 1a. (C) in the figure shows a situation where tracking by a plurality of mobile stations 3a, 3b, 3c is successful. Thus, it can be seen that the location area is changed and detailed due to the change in the positional relationship between the mobile stations 3a, 3b, 3c and the radio key 1a.
As described above, FIG. 7 corresponds to the screen displayed on the smartphone 2a, but the wireless key 1a shown in (b) and (c) during tracking is the relationship between the actual wireless key 1a and the location area For convenience of illustration.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the location area 8 of the wireless key 1a transmitted to the smartphone 2a by the tracking server 4 when the tracking is successful in (c) of FIG. In this example, the transmitted location area 8 and the location area 9 of the smartphone 2a are simultaneously displayed on the map. The communication device distance L from the mobile stations 3a, 3b, 3c to the wireless key 1a is indicated by a broken line, and the calculated location area 8 of the wireless key 1a is shown.
As described above, by continuously sending the tracking instruction from the smartphone 2a to the mobile stations 3a, 3b, 3c via the tracking server 4, it is possible to track even if the lost wireless key 1a moves. Furthermore, since the positional relationship with the user possessing the smartphone 2a is displayed on the map, it becomes possible to reliably track and discover the wireless key 1a.

Next, a processing flow for tracking the lost mobile communication device 1 using the search system using wireless communication according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 9A, 9B, and 9C.
FIG. 9A shows a flowchart of processing performed by the information terminal 2. When the user launches the application of the information terminal 2, first, the short range communication circuit 21 starts communication processing with the portable communication device 1 in step ST 1. In step ST2, the loss determination unit 23 monitors the short-range communication state, and determines whether the portable communication device 1 is in the lost state. As a method of loss determination, the communication with the short range communication circuit 11 of the portable communication device 1 is interrupted and it becomes a disconnection state, or the strength of the signal transmitted by the short range communication circuit 11 of the portable communication device 1 is constant. There is a method of detecting the point of time when the value becomes lower than the value. The lost state is accurately determined by these determination methods.
If it is determined in step ST2 that it has been lost, the user is notified to the user using the vibration, sound function, etc. of the information terminal 2 and, in the subsequent step ST3, the terminal position acquisition unit 24 determines the position information of the information terminal 2 when lost. get. The position information at this time is used as loss information of the mobile communication device 1. Acquisition of position information is performed by a GPS sensor. The position information acquired by the GPS sensor includes position accuracy in addition to latitude and longitude. The terminal position acquisition unit 24 transmits the loss information to the tracking server 4 from the wide area communication circuit 22, and requests tracking. At the same time, in step ST4, the position display unit 25 displays the respective areas where the information terminal 2 and the portable communication device 1 are located. FIG. 7A is an example in which the location areas of the mobile communication device 1 and the information terminal 2 immediately after losing are displayed on the screen of the information terminal 2 as a map.

In step ST5, the loss information is transmitted to the tracking server 4 to request tracking of the mobile communication device 1. The tracking server 4 that has received the request controls the tracking process of the portable communication device 1 according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 9B (referred to as tracking control). In step ST6, the tracking result is received, and the location areas of the mobile communication device 1 and the information terminal 2 are updated and displayed on a map. For example, in FIG. 7B, the mobile station 3c can capture the portable communication device, and the location area 8a becomes the updated location area of the portable communication device 1.
If the tracking is continued in step ST7, the updated location area of the portable communication device is replaced as lost information, and the process returns to step ST5. If the tracking is completed or if the tracking result can not be received, the processing ends if it is desired to stop the tracking.
During the tracking process, if there is a change in the position of the information terminal 2, the map display is updated to make it easy to grasp the positional relationship between the user and the portable communication device to be tracked.
FIG. 8 shows an example in which the tracking result is displayed on a map.

  FIG. 9B shows a flowchart that is processing of tracking control performed by the tracking server 4. When the tracking server 4 receives the lost information from the information terminal 2, the tracking server 4 starts tracking control of the mobile communication device 1. The tracking server 4 holds the position information of the mobile station 3 registered in advance in the database and sequentially updates it. First, in step ST51, based on the information of the location area included in the lost information of the mobile communication device 1, the position tracking unit 42 extracts the mobile stations in the peripheral area from the database. Further, in step ST52, the tracking process is instructed to the selected one or more mobile stations 3 by wide area communication. The mobile station 3 having received the tracking process tracks the mobile communication device 1 according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 9C. In step ST53, the position calculation unit 43 summarizes the tracking results received from one or more mobile stations 3, calculates the location area of the portable communication device 1, and transmits the result to the information terminal 2.

  FIG. 9C shows a flowchart of processing performed by the mobile station 3. When the mobile station 3 receives the tracking instruction including the information of the portable communication device 1 to be tracked from the tracking server 4, the mobile station 3 starts the tracking process of the target portable communication device 1. The portable communication device 1 in the lost state intermittently transmits a signal that can be captured so that another communication device can discover and communicate. In step ST 521, in order to capture the signal of the portable communication device 1, the communication device position acquisition unit 33 starts scanning of the signal using the short range communication circuit 31. Step ST522 determines whether the signal of the target portable communication device 1 has been captured. When the short range communication circuit 31 captures a signal, the communication device position acquisition unit 33 determines the distance between the mobile station 3 and the portable communication device 1 using the signal strength of the short range communication signal and the communication time in step ST523. Calculate Next, in step ST524, the mobile station position acquisition unit 34 acquires position information of the mobile station 3 using a GPS sensor. The position information includes latitude, longitude and position accuracy. In addition to this, the distance with the portable communication device 1 acquired by the communication device position acquisition unit 33 is transmitted from the wide area communication circuit 32 to the tracking server 4 by wide area communication, and the series of tracking processing is ended.

  In FIG. 9B, even when a plurality of mobile stations are selected, even one of them can capture the signal of the mobile communication device 1, and if the distance of the mobile communication device is received from the mobile station, The tracking server 4 calculates the position of the mobile communication device 1.

  As shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 9A, 9B, and 9C described above, the information terminal 2, the tracking server 4, and the mobile station 3 cooperate with each other to reliably and efficiently track the target portable communication device 1. It is possible to provide tracking results to the user in an easy-to-understand manner.

Although FIG. 7 shows an example in which a plurality of mobile stations 3a, 3b and 3c are selected in step ST51 of FIG. 9B and tracking of the portable communication device 1 succeeds, the signal of the portable communication device 1 is captured. If it can not be done or if the mobile station leaves the area to be tracked, etc., the selection of the mobile station may be repeated as appropriate.
FIG. 10 is an example different from FIG. 8 in which the tracking of the mobile communication device 1 is successful, and is a diagram showing the location area 8 of the wireless key 1a transmitted by the tracking server 4 to the smartphone 2a. FIG. 10 shows an example in which the mobile communication device 1 was successfully tracked by three mobile stations including the newly selected mobile station 3 d because the mobile station 3 c in FIG. 7 went out of the tracking area of the mobile communication device 1. There is.
As the tracking area, a predetermined range may be determined in advance from the position information when the portable communication device to be tracked is lost.

  In addition, even if the position information of the mobile communication device 1 can be obtained with high accuracy, if the user position is far from the mobile communication device 1, the mobile communication device may move to secure the mobile communication device and be lost again. . In such a case, even if the position information of the mobile communication device 1 is obtained, it may be possible to input from the user's information terminal so as to continue tracking.

The search system according to the first embodiment described above uses wireless communication to determine the loss of the portable communication device, requests the tracking server to track the portable communication device, and determines the location area of the user and the location of the portable communication device. An information terminal for displaying an area on a screen, a mobile station for tracking a portable communication device to be tracked, and a tracking server for instructing tracking, a signal from the portable communication device to be tracked, and a portable communication device Because it has a mobile station that acquires its own location information and sends it to the tracking server, it effectively tracks lost mobile communication devices and presents users with location areas that take into account the accuracy of location information. It is possible to
Further, since the loss determination unit of the information terminal has a function of intermittently detecting the communication intensity during communication by BLE, it is possible to constantly monitor the loss condition.
The terminal position acquisition unit of the information terminal continuously acquires the position information of the information terminal output by the GPS sensor, and the position information at the time when the loss determination unit determines that it is lost is the location area of the portable communication device at the time of loss This provides efficient tracking because it provides the tracking server with missing information.
The position display unit of the information terminal displays the lost position of the portable communication device or the position of the tracking result on the map as a location area considering the accuracy of the GPS, and simultaneously displays the information terminal position, ie, the location area of the user on the map Since the display is updated if there is a change in position, it is easy to grasp the positional relationship between the user and the portable communication device.

  In addition, since the position tracking unit of the tracking server regularly communicates with the mobile station and holds the position information of the mobile station in the database, the mobile station which properly selects and tracks a plurality of mobile stations to be requested for tracking It is possible to reduce unnecessary communication and tracking processing of invalid mobile stations for tracking.

As in the first embodiment, by using a portable terminal such as a smartphone, it is not necessary to separately prepare a dedicated information terminal, and the introduction cost can be suppressed.
Also, by mounting the mobile station in the car as described above, the power of the mobile station is supplied from the vehicle, so the problem of battery consumption which becomes a problem when tracking a mobile communication device with a mobile terminal such as a smartphone is greatly reduced. Ru. In general, there are many vehicles, such as parked vehicles and mobile vehicles, and it can be expected that the opportunity to find a portable communication device is high.
Furthermore, by sharing with a wireless key system of a car such as a keyless system of a car, it is possible to reduce the cost and the work required to introduce a wireless communication system for loss prevention and tracking.

Second Embodiment
Although the mobile communication device 1 is tracked by selecting the plurality of mobile stations 3 in the above-described first embodiment, a method of tracking by one mobile station will be described in this embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the tracking process of the mobile communication device 1 in the search system according to the second embodiment. (A) in the figure shows the positional relationship immediately after it is determined that the user possessing the smartphone 2a in the location area 9 has lost the wireless key 1a. At this time, since the location area 8 of the wireless key 1a is the location area 9 of the smartphone 2a, it is displayed in proximity.
The tracking server 4 designates the mobile station 3a closest to the location area 8 of the wireless key 1a. The mobile station 3a starts tracking of the wireless key 1a by BLE communication. The actual position of the wireless key 1a is not displayed on the smartphone 2a, but is displayed here for convenience.
In (b) in the figure, the mobile station 3a is not communicable with the short-range communication circuit 11 of the wireless key 1a, but tracking is continued, and in (c) in the figure, the mobile station 3a succeeds in tracking. .
Although the accuracy is lower than the first embodiment, the location area 8a of the wireless key 1a at a certain time can be specified.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing another example of the tracking process of the mobile communication device 1 in the search system according to the second embodiment. (A) in the figure shows the positional relationship immediately after it is determined that the user possessing the smartphone 2a in the location area 9 has lost the wireless key 1a. At this time, since the location area 8 of the wireless key 1a is the location area 9 of the smartphone 2a, it is displayed in proximity.
The tracking server 4 designates the mobile station 3a closest to the location area 8 of the wireless key 1a. The mobile station 3a starts tracking of the wireless key 1a by BLE communication. The actual position of the wireless key 1a is not displayed on the smartphone 2a, but is displayed here for convenience.
In (b) of the figure, the mobile station 3a becomes communicable with the short-range communication circuit 11 of the wireless key 1a and succeeds in tracking. However, as shown by (c) in the figure, when the mobile station 3a moves away from the tracking area thereafter, the tracking of the wireless key 1a can not be continued. In that case, the traveling direction of the mobile station is also grasped by the tracking server 4, and the candidate of the mobile station 3 which is directed to or close to the location area 8a of the wireless key 1a tracked in (b) in the figure is selected. As indicated by (c) in the figure, by instructing the mobile station 3b to move to the location area 8a after a predetermined time has elapsed, the location of the updated wireless key 1a after a predetermined time has elapsed from (b) in the figure. The area 8a can be identified.

  As described above, even if multiple mobile stations can not be selected simultaneously, if the location area 8a of the wireless key 1a tracked by one mobile station is specified for each time and another mobile station is sequentially tracked, wireless The tracking of the key 1a is possible.

Third Embodiment
In the first and second embodiments, the search system of the portable communication device attached to the article or the portable communication device itself has been described, but in the third embodiment, the present invention is applied to tracking of a person carrying the portable communication device 1 or tracking of animals. An example will be described.
The person tracking system also uses wireless communication, and its configuration is similar to that of the search system of the first and second embodiments.

Hereinafter, tracking in the case where the person holding the mobile communication device 1 is missing will be described according to the flowcharts of FIGS. 9A, 9B, and 9C.
When the guardian launches the application of the information terminal 2, the short range communication circuit 21 starts communication processing with the portable communication device 1 (step ST1). The loss determination unit 23 monitors the short-range communication state, and determines whether the portable communication device 1 is in a range that can be recognized by the guardian (step ST2). As an example of a method of determining whether or not it is within the range that can be recognized by the guardian, the communication with the short-range communication circuit 11 of the portable communication device 1 is interrupted and it becomes disconnected. There is a method of detecting a point in time when the strength of the signal transmitted by the short range communication circuit 11 becomes a predetermined value or less.

  If it is determined that it is not within the range that can be recognized by the guardian, the guardian is notified that the person possessing the portable communication device 1 is missing, and the terminal position acquisition unit 24 determines the information when missing The position information of the terminal 2 is acquired (step ST3). The position information at this time is set as missing information of the person who holds the mobile communication device 1. Acquisition of position information is performed by a GPS sensor. The terminal position acquisition unit 24 transmits the missing information from the wide area communication circuit 22 to the tracking server 4 and requests tracking. At the same time, the position display unit 25 displays the location areas of the guardian (the information terminal 2) and the person to be traced (the portable communication device 1).

The missing information is transmitted to the tracking server 4 to request tracking of the mobile communication device 1 (step ST5). The tracking server 4 receiving the request controls the tracking process of the portable communication device 1 according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 9B. When the information terminal 2 receives the tracking result, the location areas of the mobile communication device 1 and the information terminal 2 are updated and displayed on the map (step ST6).
When the tracking is to be continued, the updated location area of the mobile communication device is replaced as missing information, and the tracking server 4 is requested to track the mobile communication device 1 (step ST5). If the tracking result can not be received or if it is desired to stop the tracking, the processing is ended.
The processing in the flowchart of FIG. 9B performed by the tracking server 4 and the processing in the flowchart of FIG. 9C performed by the mobile station 3 are the same as in the first and second embodiments, and thus the description will be omitted.

  As described above, in the search system according to the third embodiment of the present invention, tracking can be performed even when the person holding the mobile communication device 1 is missing. Further, similar to the effect of the first embodiment, it is possible to efficiently track while easily grasping the positional relationship between the user (the guardian) and the portable communication device (the care recipient).

  For example, even when the cared person leaves the parent by having the person such as the cared person protected by the parent carry the portable communication device 1 and the parent carrying the information terminal 2, It will be possible, and it will be possible to prevent caries and caries tracking of the care recipient. In this case, the tracking server 4 stores in advance the features of the person who holds the portable communication device 1. The characteristics of the person are gender, height, walking speed and the like. In addition, it is preferable that the portable communication device 1 to be possessed have functions such as vibration and light blinking, and it is also desirable to store predetermined voice or music. If the tracking is successful, the care recipient can be alerted by vibration, flashing light, sound, or the surrounding people can be asked for help.

  In the present invention, within the scope of the invention, the respective embodiments can be combined, or appropriately modified or omitted.

1 Mobile communication device, 1a wireless key, 2 information terminal, 2a smartphone,
3 mobile stations, 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d mobile stations (cars),
4 tracking server, 5 GPS satellites, 6 GPS accurate distance S, circle with radius,
7 A circle whose radius is the communication distance L, 8, 8a Mobile communication device location area,
9 information terminal location area,
11 short range communication circuits, 21 short range communication circuits, 22 wide range communication circuits,
23 loss judgment unit 24 terminal position acquisition unit 25 position display unit
31 short-range communication circuit, 32 wide-area communication circuit, 33 communication device position acquisition unit,
34 mobile station position acquisition unit, 41 wide area communication circuit, 42 position tracking unit,
43 Position Calculator.

Claims (11)

Mobile communication device,
An information terminal that performs short range communication with the mobile communication device;
A mobile station performing short range communication with the mobile communication device;
A search system comprising: the information terminal and a tracking server that performs wide area communication with the mobile station,
The portable communication device is
The information terminal and a first short range communication circuit in communication with the mobile station;
The information terminal is
A second short range communication circuit in communication with the portable communication device;
A first wide area communication circuit in communication with the tracking server;
A terminal position acquisition unit that acquires position information of the information terminal itself;
A loss determination unit that determines that the mobile communication device has been lost using short range communication, and notifies the tracking server of lost information including position information at the time of loss;
The location area of the information terminal according to the location information of the information terminal acquired by the terminal location acquisition unit and a location display unit for displaying the location area of the portable communication device on a map,
The mobile station
A third short range communication circuit in communication with the portable communication device;
A second wide area communication circuit in communication with the tracking server;
A communication device position acquisition unit that tracks the mobile communication device according to an instruction from the tracking server and measures a distance to the mobile communication device using short-range communication;
A mobile station position acquisition unit for acquiring the position information of the mobile station itself, and notifying the tracking server of the position information of the mobile station and the distance information to the portable communication device acquired by the communication device position acquisition unit; Equipped with
The tracking server is
A third wide area communication circuit communicating with the information terminal and the mobile station;
The location information of the mobile station registered in advance is updated and held, and tracking is performed from among the mobile stations in the tracking area predetermined based on the loss information of the portable communication device received from the information terminal A position tracking unit that selects one or more mobile stations to perform the command and instructs a tracking process of the mobile communication device;
The position of the mobile communication device from information received from the selected by said mobile station is calculated as the location area, the calculated location area of the mobile communication device has a position calculation unit for transmitting to the information terminal Rutotomoni,
The location tracking unit of the tracking server
The tracking area is updated based on the updated location area of the mobile communication device, and the selection of the mobile station is reviewed.
3. A search system characterized by reviewing selection of the mobile station when the mobile station instructed to perform tracking processing goes out of the tracking area . The first short range communication circuit of the portable communication device, the second short range communication circuit of the information terminal, and the third short range communication circuit of the mobile station are communication circuits according to the BLE communication standard,
The loss determination unit of the information terminal determines whether the short-range communication with the portable communication device has shifted from the connected state to the disconnected state or the signal strength received by the second narrow-range communication circuit from the portable communication device is constant. The search system according to claim 1, characterized in that it is determined that the portable communication device has been lost if it has become less than or equal to a value. The terminal position acquisition unit of the information terminal
The location area of the information terminal is updated from position information continuously acquired by a GPS sensor held by the information terminal,
The first wide area communication circuit of the information terminal includes loss information including position information in which the location area of the information terminal acquired when the loss determination unit of the information terminal determines that it is lost is the location area of the portable communication device The search system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the search system transmits the request to the tracking server via the network and requests the tracking. The position display unit of the information terminal is
Displaying the location area of the information terminal according to the location information of the information terminal itself acquired by the terminal location acquisition unit, and the location area of the portable communication device transmitted from the tracking server;
The search system according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the display is updated according to a change in position of the location area of the information terminal and the location area of the portable communication device. The communication device position acquisition unit of the mobile station
Communicate with the portable communication device through the third short range communication circuit,
The distance between the mobile station itself and the mobile communication device is calculated using the signal strength of the short-range communication between the mobile station and the mobile communication device or the time for which the short-range communication signal reciprocates,
The mobile station position acquisition unit of the mobile station acquires position information of the mobile station by a GPS sensor provided in the mobile station,
The distance between the mobile station itself and the portable communication device calculated by the communication device position acquisition unit and the position information of the mobile station acquired by the mobile station position acquisition unit are tracked via the second wide area communication circuit The search system according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , characterized by transmitting to a server. The search system according to any one of claims 1 to 5 , wherein the information terminal is a portable terminal. The search system according to any one of claims 1 to 6 , wherein the mobile station is mounted on a car. The search system according to any one of claims 1 to 7 , wherein the portable communication device is a wireless key for a car. An information terminal that performs short range communication with a mobile communication device;
A mobile station performing short range communication with the mobile communication device;
Using the information terminal and a tracking server that performs wide area communication with the mobile station;
A method of searching for the mobile communication device, comprising
In the information terminal,
Monitoring the state of short-range communication between the information terminal and the portable communication device to determine whether the portable communication device is in a lost state;
If it is determined to be in the lost state, the location area of the information terminal itself is obtained,
The tracking server transmits, via wide area communication, lost information including information in which the location area of the information terminal at the time of loss of the portable communication device is the lost position of the portable communication device, and tracking of the portable communication device Send a request,
The location area of the information terminal itself and the location area of the portable communication device are displayed on a map on the position display unit of the information terminal;
In the tracking server requested to track the mobile communication device,
A movement for performing tracking processing from among the mobile stations in a predetermined tracking area by updating and holding the pre-registered position information of the mobile station and using the received loss information of the mobile communication device Select a station and instruct the selected mobile station to follow the tracking process of the portable communication device via wide area communication,
At the mobile station instructed to perform tracking processing,
The mobile communication device is tracked, and the distance to the mobile communication device is measured using short range communication,
The position information of the mobile station itself instructed to perform the tracking process is acquired, and the position information of the mobile station and the measured distance information to the portable communication device are transmitted to the tracking server via wide area communication. ,
The tracking server receives position information of the mobile station instructed to perform tracking processing and distance information from the mobile station to the mobile communication device instructed to perform tracking processing,
Calculating the location area of the portable communication device and transmitting it to the information terminal via wide area communication;
In the information terminal that has received the location area of the portable communication device,
Updating and displaying the received location area of the portable communication device on the position display unit;
At the tracking server
Based on the updated location area of the mobile communication device, the tracking area is updated, and the selection of the mobile station is reviewed.
A search method characterized in that the selection of the mobile station is reviewed when the mobile station instructed to perform the tracking process goes out of the tracking area . The search method according to claim 9, wherein the short range communication between the mobile communication device and the information terminal and the short range communication between the mobile communication device and the mobile station use BLE communication. In the tracking server, a plurality of mobile stations performing tracking processing are selected,
The location area of the portable communication device is calculated using positional information of the plurality of mobile stations instructed to perform tracking processing and distance information from the plurality of mobile stations instructed to perform tracking processing to the portable communication device The search method according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that:

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