KR101472144B1 - Method and system for providing location information - Google Patents

Abstract

There is provided a location information providing system including a data receiving unit for receiving image data photographed from a terminal, a data searching unit for searching map data associated with the received image data, and a data transmitting unit for transmitting the searched map data to the terminal do.

Image data, map data, position information, cell information, coordinate information

Description

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING LOCATION INFORMATION [0002]

The present invention relates to a method and system for providing location information.

Due to the development of communication technologies and the desire of users who desire an environment similar to a PC, specifications of mobile terminals are gradually increasing. Until only a few years ago, the mobile terminal provided a function of transmitting a voice call or transmitting a text message. However, recently, it is possible to provide various functions such as video call, image capture by operating a mounted camera, playing music file, watching satellite / terrestrial DMB broadcasting, playing a built-in game It was.

Meanwhile, the mobile terminal provides a location based service (LBS) that grasps the current location based on the location information acquired through a mobile communication network or a GPS (Global Positioning System) and provides the information to the user. Such a location-based service includes a cell method for locating a location through a base station and a GPS method for locating the location through a GPS satellite.

In the cell method, it is difficult to grasp the exact position because the error range is wide because the position is detected through the base station adjacent to the portable terminal. On the other hand, because it uses repeaters, it is easy to find locations in buildings and underground.

In addition, since the GPS system receives position information from the GPS satellite and grasps the position of the mobile terminal, the error range is smaller than that of the cell system, and it is easy to grasp the accurate position. However, due to the characteristic of the satellite signal, it is almost impossible to use it in a high-rise building or a room where reflection and refraction are good.

Therefore, there is a need to provide a new type of location-based service that combines a cellular system and a GPS system.

An embodiment of the present invention receives image data photographed by a terminal, identifies a landmark that can be tracked from the image data, retrieves map data associated with the identified landmark, and transmits the retrieved map data to the terminal, Provided are a location information providing method and a system capable of easily grasping a current location of a terminal using one image data and providing map data corresponding thereto.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the current position of the terminal is determined using the image data photographed by the terminal, the map data related to the current position is appropriately processed in consideration of the display implementation environment (image size, size) And a method and system for providing location information that can be transmitted to a terminal.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the cell information received from a terminal is transmitted to a location-based server, and the location information associated with the cell information is received. The present invention provides a location information providing method and system for searching map data on a map and transmitting the map data to the terminal, thereby easily grasping the current position of the terminal using the image data and the cell information and providing the map data accordingly.

An embodiment of the present invention identifies a landmark that can be tracked from image data photographed by a terminal, searches coordinate information associated with the identified landmark, and transmits coordinate information to the terminal together with map data associated with the current position The present invention provides a location information providing method and system that can easily display a current location on a terminal.

A location information providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a data receiving unit for receiving image data photographed from a terminal, a data searching unit for searching map data associated with the received image data, And a data transmission unit for transmitting the data.

A location information providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a data receiving unit for receiving image data and cell information photographed from a terminal, transmitting the received cell information to a location-based server, A server communication unit for receiving associated location information, a data retrieval unit for retrieving the received image data and map data associated with the received location information, and a data transmission unit for transmitting the retrieved map data to the terminal.

A method of providing location information according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes receiving image data photographed from a terminal, searching map data associated with the received image data, and transmitting the retrieved map data to the terminal .

A method of providing location information according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes: receiving image data and cell information photographed from a terminal; transmitting the received cell information to a location-based server; Receiving associated location information, retrieving map data associated with the received image data and the received location information, and transmitting the retrieved map data to the terminal.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to easily grasp the current position of the terminal using the image data photographed by the terminal, and to provide the map data of the detected position to the terminal.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the map data associated with the current position is appropriately processed in consideration of the display implementation environment (image size, size) of the terminal, and then transmitted to the terminal, whereby optimal map data .

According to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to easily grasp the current position of the terminal using the image data photographed by the terminal and the cell information of the base station where the terminal is located, and provide map data corresponding thereto.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the current position of the terminal is identified using the image data photographed by the terminal, coordinate information including latitude and longitude, and map data associated with the current position are transmitted to the terminal, So that the current position can be easily displayed.

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited to or limited by the embodiments.

The term " terminal " used in the present invention refers to all devices having mobility, for example, a notebook computer, a cellular phone, a PCS (Personal Communication Service) phone, A PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a PMP (Portable Multimedia Player), and an MP3 player.

Hereinafter, a first embodiment (GPS system) of the present invention will be described with reference to Figs.

1 is a diagram illustrating a network connection relationship between a location information providing system, a terminal, and GPS satellites according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The terminal 110 transmits the image data photographed at the current position to the position information providing system 100. The terminal 110 can photograph a landmark of the current position by a user's operation of the camera and transmit the photographed photograph as image data to the position information providing system 100. [

The location information providing system 100 receives the image data and identifies the landmark from the received image data. The landmark is a target that identifies an area where the location can be traced, and is easily visible in the surrounding landscape. For example, Namsan Tower or Building 63 may be used as the landmark. The location information providing system 100 searches map data associated with the identified landmark and transmits the retrieved map data to the terminal 110. [

The terminal 110 receives the map data and receives position information from the GPS satellites 120 to obtain a more accurate position.

The GPS satellite 120 transmits location information including the latitude and longitude associated with the current location of the terminal 110 to the terminal 110. Although one GPS satellite 120 is shown in the figure, two or more GPS satellites may be used to provide an accurate location of the terminal 110. [

The terminal 110 may display the map data associated with the current location using the received map data and the location information. Therefore, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the current position of the terminal can be easily identified using the image data taken by the terminal, and the terminal can promptly display the current position on the screen.

2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a location information providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown, the position information providing system 200 includes a data receiving unit 210, a data searching unit 220, a data transmitting unit 230, an information identifying unit 240, a map database 250, 260).

The data receiving unit 210 receives the image data photographed from the terminal 110. The image data may include a landmark that can be tracked. For example, the landmark may be the Namsan Tower in Seoul, the 63 Building in Yeouido, and the Korea General Trade Center in Gangnam.

The information identifying unit 240 identifies a landmark that can be tracked from the received image data. For example, the information identifying unit 240 may image-process the image data to identify the coordinate information of the landmark.

The map database 250 stores map data corresponding to the coordinate information. The coordinate information may be coordinates related to longitude and latitude. The map data is for a real map that can be identified by a user, such as a photograph.

The data searching unit 220 searches map data associated with the received image data. For example, the data searching unit 220 can search the map database 250 for map data corresponding to the coordinate information of the landmark. In an embodiment of the present invention, the data searching unit 220 may search map data within a certain distance including the identified landmark. For example, the data searching unit 220 can search map data within a radius of 50 m including the landmark.

The data processing unit 260 processes the retrieved map data in consideration of the display implementation environment of the terminal 110. The terminal 110 is different in resolution or size depending on the model and specifications. Accordingly, the data processing unit 260 can process the searched map data in consideration of the resolution and size according to the model or specification of the terminal 110 that has transmitted the image data. For example, the data processing unit 260 may process the optimal map data according to the implementation environment of the terminal 110 by reducing the resolution or reducing the size of the retrieved map data.

The data transmission unit 230 transmits the processed map data to the terminal 110.

The terminal 110 may display the current position using the transmitted map data. In addition, the terminal 110 may display positional information received from the GPS satellites 120 with more accurate map data about the current position, in association with the map data.

3 is a diagram illustrating an example of image data and map data according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the figure, the data receiving unit 210 receives the image data 310 from the terminal 110. Accordingly, the information identifying unit 240 can identify the '63 building' as a landmark that can track the location from the received image data 310. The information identifying unit 240 may notify the data searching unit 220 of the coordinate information of the identified landmark.

The data searching unit 220 can search the map data 320 corresponding to the coordinate information of the landmark. The data searching unit 220 may search the map database 250 for map data 320 within a certain distance including the landmark. The data transmission unit 260 may transmit the retrieved map data directly to the terminal 110 or may transmit the processed map data to the terminal 110 via the data processing unit 260.

The terminal 110 displays the map data 330 transmitted from the data transmission unit 260 on the screen. At this time, the terminal 110 can display map data 330 in which the current position of the terminal 110 is divided into a quadrangular frame by using the location information received from the GPS satellites 120.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a location information providing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The location information providing method may be implemented by the location information providing system 200 of the present invention. Therefore, in the description of FIG. 4, the invention will be understood by referring to FIG. 2 described above together.

In step 410, the terminal 110 photographs the current position and transmits the photographed image data to the position information providing system 200. The terminal 110 can take a picture of the landmark at the current position by a user's camera operation.

In operation 420, the location information providing system 200 receives the image data and identifies a landmark that can be tracked from the image data. The location information providing system 200 may process the image data to identify the coordinate information of the landmark.

In step 430, the location information providing system 200 retrieves map data associated with the identified landmark. The location information providing system 200 can identify the map data corresponding to the coordinate information of the landmark from the map database 250. [

In operation 440, the location information providing system 200 transmits the searched map data to the terminal 110. According to the embodiment, the location information providing system 200 may process the retrieved map data in consideration of the display implementation environment of the terminal 110, and then transmit the processed map data to the terminal 110. [

In step 450, the terminal 110 may receive the map data, receive location information from the GPS satellites 120, and display the current location based on the map data and location information.

Hereinafter, a second embodiment (cell system) of the present invention will be described with reference to Figs. 5 to 7. Fig.

5 is a diagram illustrating a network connection relationship between a location information providing system, a base station, a terminal, and a location-based server according to another embodiment of the present invention.

The base station 530 serves as an interface between the terminal 520 and the exchange located in the selected cell. There is one base station 530 in one cell and the communicating base station 530 can be changed in accordance with the movement of the terminal 520. [ The base station 530 provides mobile communication services to the terminal 520 through communication with the terminal 520 and may provide its own cell information to the terminal 520. [ The cell information may include a base station identifier associated with the base station 530.

The terminal 520 can photograph the landmark for the current position by the user's camera operation. The terminal 520 transmits the cell information of the base station 530, which is currently in communication with the photographed image data, to the location information providing system 500. Here, the image data may be a photograph including the photographed landmark.

The location information providing system 500 receives the image data and the cell information from the terminal 520, and transmits the cell information to the location-based server 510. The location information providing system 500 can identify the landmark from the image data and retrieve the map data associated with the identified landmark.

The location-based server 510 receives the cell information, searches the location information associated with the cell information, and transmits the retrieved location information to the location information providing system 500. The location-based server 510 is a server for providing a location based service (LBS) and can determine the location of the base station 530 from the base station identifier included in the cell information. The location based server 510 may store the location information of the base station corresponding to the base station identifier in the base station database and may retrieve location information associated with the base station 530 from the base station database.

The location information providing system 500 may receive the location information and search map data associated with the image data by considering the received location information. In addition, the location information providing system 500 may retrieve coordinate information associated with the identified landmark from a coordinate database. The location information providing system 500 transmits the searched map data and the searched coordinate information to the terminal 520.

The terminal 520 receives the map data and the coordinate information, and can obtain a more accurate position from the coordinate information. Accordingly, the terminal 520 can display the map data associated with the current position using the coordinate information.

6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a location information providing system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

As shown, the position information providing system 600 includes a data receiving unit 610, a server communication unit 620, a data searching unit 630, a data transmitting unit 640, an information identifying unit 650, (660), and a coordinate database (670).

The data receiving unit 610 receives the image data and cell information photographed from the terminal 520. The image data may include a landmark that can be tracked. The cell information may include a base station identifier associated with a base station 530 that is in communication with the terminal 520. The information identifying unit 650 identifies a landmark that can be tracked from the received image data.

The server communication unit 620 transmits the received cell information to the location based server 510 and receives location information associated with the cell information from the location based server 510. The location information is information on the location of the base station 530.

The data searching unit 630 searches map data associated with the received image data and the received location information. Although not shown, the location information providing system 600 may include a map database for storing map data. Accordingly, the data searching unit 630 can search the map data within a certain distance of the map data corresponding to the identified landmark and the location information.

The coordinate database 670 stores coordinate information. The coordinate information may include coordinates associated with latitude and longitude. The coordinate information may be used when the terminal 520 grasps a more accurate current position.

The coordinate information searching unit 660 searches the coordinate database 670 for coordinate information associated with the identified landmark. For example, the coordinate information searching unit 660 may search for (37 ° 31 'N, 127 ° 6' E) as coordinate information for the identified landmark.

The data transmitting unit 640 transmits the searched map data and the searched coordinate information to the terminal 520. Although not shown, the location information providing system 600 may process the optimum map data according to the display implementation environment of the terminal 520 and transmit the processed map data to the terminal 520.

The terminal 520 may display the current position using the transmitted map data and coordinate information (see FIG. 3). Here, the terminal 520 can obtain a more accurate current position using the coordinate information, and display the map data on the grasped current position on the screen. In other words, the terminal 520 can grasp the more accurate current position through the coordinate information without receiving the positional information from the GPS satellites 120.

7 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a location information providing method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

The location information providing method may be implemented by the location information providing system 600 of the present invention. Therefore, in the description of FIG. 7, the invention will be understood by referring to FIG. 6 described above together.

In step 710, the terminal 520 photographs the landmark for the current location, and transmits the photographed image data and the cell information received from the base station 530 to the location information providing system 600. The cell information may include a base station identifier associated with the base station 530.

In operation 720, the location information providing system 600 receives the image data and the cell information, and transmits the cell information to the location-based server 510.

In step 730, the location based server 510 may receive the cell information and retrieve location information associated with the cell information. The location-based server 510 can retrieve the location information of the base station 530 corresponding to the base station identifier included in the cell information from the pre-established base station database. The location-based server 510 transmits the searched location information to the location information providing system 600.

In operation 740, the location information providing system 600 searches map data associated with the image data and the location information. The location information providing system 600 can identify a landmark that can be tracked from the image data, and retrieve map data associated with the identified landmark and the location information.

At step 750, the location information providing system 600 retrieves the coordinate information associated with the identified landmark from the coordinate database 670.

In operation 760, the location information providing system 600 transmits the retrieved map data and the retrieved coordinate information to the terminal 520. According to the embodiment, the location information providing system 600 may process the retrieved map data according to the display implementation environment of the terminal 520, and then transmit the processed map data to the terminal 520.

In step 770, the terminal 520 may receive the map data and the coordinate information, and may display the current position based on the map data and the coordinate information.

Further, embodiments of the present invention include a computer readable medium having program instructions for performing various computer implemented operations. The computer-readable medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, and the like, alone or in combination. The program instructions recorded on the medium may be those specially designed and constructed for the present invention or may be available to those skilled in the art of computer software. Examples of computer-readable media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks and magnetic tape; optical media such as CD-ROMs and DVDs; magnetic media such as floppy disks; Magneto-optical media, and hardware devices specifically configured to store and execute program instructions such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. Examples of program instructions include machine language code such as those produced by a compiler, as well as high-level language code that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be practical exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be determined by the equivalents of the claims and the claims.

1 is a diagram illustrating a network connection relationship between a location information providing system, a terminal, and GPS satellites according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a location information providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a diagram illustrating an example of image data and map data according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a location information providing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a diagram illustrating a network connection relationship between a location information providing system, a base station, a terminal, and a location-based server according to another embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a location information providing system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a location information providing method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Description of the Related Art

200: Location information providing system

210: Data receiving unit

220:

230: Data transfer unit

240: Information identification unit

250: map database

260: Data processing unit

Claims (17)

A data receiving unit for receiving image data photographed from a terminal; A data retrieval unit for retrieving map data associated with the received image data; A data processing unit for processing the retrieved map data in consideration of a display implementation environment of the terminal; And A data transmission unit for transmitting the processed map data to the terminal, The location information providing system comprising: The method according to claim 1, An information identifying unit for identifying a landmark that can be tracked from the received video data, Further comprising: Wherein the data retrieval unit retrieves, And searches the map data including the identified landmark. 3. The method of claim 2, Wherein the data retrieval unit retrieves, And searches map data within a certain distance including the identified landmark. The method according to claim 1, Map database to store map data Further comprising: Wherein the data retrieval unit retrieves, And retrieves map data associated with the image data from the map database. delete A data receiving unit for receiving image data and cell information photographed from the terminal; A server communication unit for transmitting the received cell information to a location based server and receiving location information associated with the cell information from the location based server; A data retrieval unit for retrieving the received image data and map data associated with the received location information; A data processing unit for processing the retrieved map data in consideration of a display implementation environment of the terminal; And A data transmission unit for transmitting the processed map data to the terminal, The location information providing system comprising: The method according to claim 6, An information identifying unit for identifying a landmark that can be tracked from the received video data, Further comprising: Wherein the data retrieval unit retrieves, And searches the map data associated with the received location information from map data within a certain distance including the identified landmark. The method according to claim 6, An information identifying unit for identifying a landmark that can be tracked from the received image data; A coordinate database for storing coordinate information; And A coordinate information search unit for searching coordinate information associated with the identified landmark from the coordinate database; Further comprising: Wherein the data transfer unit comprises: And transmits the retrieved coordinate information together with the retrieved map data to the terminal. The method according to claim 6, Wherein the cell information includes a base station identifier, The location- And searches the location information of the base station associated with the base station identifier based on the received cell information. Receiving image data photographed from a terminal; Retrieving map data associated with the received image data; Processing the retrieved map data in consideration of a display implementation environment of the terminal; And Transmitting the processed map data to the terminal The location information providing method comprising: 11. The method of claim 10, Identifying a landmark that can be tracked from the received video data Further comprising: The step of searching map data includes: Searching for map data within a certain distance including the identified landmark The location information providing method comprising: 11. The method of claim 10, Storing the map data in the map database Further comprising: The step of searching map data includes: Retrieving map data associated with the image data from the map database The location information providing method comprising: delete Receiving image data and cell information photographed from a terminal; Transmitting the received cell information to a location based server; Receiving location information associated with the cell information from the location-based server; Retrieving the received video data and map data associated with the received location information; Processing the retrieved map data in consideration of a display implementation environment of the terminal; And Transmitting the processed map data to the terminal The location information providing method comprising: 15. The method of claim 14, Identifying a landmark that can be tracked from the received video data Further comprising: The step of searching map data includes: Searching for map data associated with the received location information from map data within a certain distance including the identified landmark The location information providing method comprising: 15. The method of claim 14, Identifying a landmark that can be tracked from the received video data; And Retrieving coordinate information associated with the identified landmark from a coordinate database where the coordinate information is stored Further comprising: Wherein the transmitting the retrieved map data to the terminal comprises: And transmitting the searched coordinate information to the terminal together with the searched map data And the location information. A computer-readable recording medium recording a program for performing the method according to any one of claims 10 to 12 and 14 to 16.

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