KR102141239B1 - System and method for detecting the location of a device based on a mesh network - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a mesh network based location tracking system and an operation method thereof. According to the present invention, an operation method of a mesh network based location tracking system comprises the steps of: receiving, by a server, a first signal and a second signal from at least one node included in a mesh network; and tracking, by the server, a location of a device using the first signal and the second signal received from the at least one node. The first signal is generated by nodes that have received a beacon signal from the device among the at least one node included in the mesh network, based on the beacon signal. The second signal includes one generated from identification information of the nodes.

Description

System and method for detecting the location of a device based on a mesh network}

The present invention relates to a mesh network-based location tracking system and method for tracking a terminal's location, and a method for tracking a location of a device transmitting a beacon using a mesh network.

Current location information tracking mainly uses GPS to locate the user. However, the device for locating a Bluetooth mesh and a beacon is significantly cheaper than GPS, and provides a more accurate location information than GPS in a section where a Bluetooth mesh is built.

Therefore, since the positioning through the GPS system has a problem of high cost and high power consumption, there is a need for a method to locate the user at a lower price.

An object of the present invention is to provide an intelligent networking method that can accurately identify a user's location through communication with a beacon utilizing a Bluetooth mesh technology by attaching a Bluetooth sensor to a street light, a fire hydrant, and an indoor light.

An object of the present invention is to use a Bluetooth mesh-based network to communicate with a beacon to track missing children or the elderly in large buildings or outdoor spaces.

An object of the present invention is to determine the location of a faulty device in real time through communication between a mesh network and a fault determination device.

The present invention has an object to provide a method for locating a user's location at a lower price because it has problems of high cost and high power consumption.

An object of the present invention is to provide more accurate location information than GPS in a space where a Bluetooth mesh is built.

An object of the present invention is to provide a service capable of tracking a location indoors and outdoors using a Bluetooth mesh.

The technical problems to be achieved in the present disclosure are not limited to the technical problems mentioned above, and other technical problems that are not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description below. Will be able to.

The present invention discloses a mesh network based location tracking system and a method for a system to track the location of a device. At this time, the method for tracking the location of the device by the mesh network-based location tracking system includes: a server receiving a first signal and a second signal from at least one node included in the mesh network, and the server receiving the at least And tracking the location of the device using the first signal and the second signal received from any one node. In this case, the first signal is generated by nodes that have received a beacon signal from the device among at least one node included in the mesh network, and the second signal is identification of the nodes. It may correspond to what is generated from information.

The following embodiments correspond to embodiments that can be applied to a mesh network-based location tracking system and a method for tracking the location of the system.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the server checks location information of a node that has received the beacon signal based on the second signal, but the server receives one or more of the second signals corresponding to the respective nodes. When received, the location information corresponding to each node may be checked from the one or more second signals to track the detailed location of the device.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, when tracking the detailed location of the device, the detailed location of the device is determined based on the location information of the node receiving the beacon signal identified from the first signal and the second signal. Can be traced.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, when the server tracks the detailed location of the device, it may be determined using the RSSI value of the first signal.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, when the server tracks the detailed location of the device, the detailed location may be confirmed based on the beacon transmission distance of the device.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the method of the present invention may further include the server allocating the identification information to the nodes.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, when the server allocates the identification information to the nodes, receiving the location information of the nodes from the nodes, and generating the identification information corresponding to the location information Can be assigned.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the node receiving the first signal and the second signal may sequentially transmit the received first signal and the second signal to the next node.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the node may be configured to be included in one or more mesh networks.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the server checks the location information of the node where the error occurred from the second signal of the node where the error occurred in the mesh network, and generates an error generation signal generated based on the location information. Can transmit.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the server may reassign the identification information except for the node in which the error occurred.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, when the server determines the node in which the error occurs, the second signal is requested from the nodes included in the mesh network, and the second signal is received from the nodes. By doing so, it is possible to determine the node where the error occurred.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, when the server determines the node in which the error has occurred, the server receives the second signal at a preset period from nodes included in the mesh network, and the server receives the second signal. Based on the signal, it is possible to determine the node where the error occurred.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, when the server tracks the location of the device, the server may generate location information of the tracked device and transmit the location information to an external device.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the external device may support Bluetooth communication.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the external device receives the location information of the nodes from the nodes, generates the identification information corresponding to the location information, and the external device sends the identification information to the server Can transmit.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the device may transmit the beacon signal every predetermined period.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the device may transmit the beacon signal to at least one or more nodes included in the mesh network.

The features briefly summarized above with respect to the present disclosure are merely illustrative aspects of the detailed description of the present disclosure described below, and do not limit the scope of the present disclosure.

Through the present invention, it is possible to provide an intelligent networking method that allows a Bluetooth sensor to be attached to a street light, a fire hydrant, and an indoor light, and accurately identifies a user's location through communication with a device utilizing Bluetooth mesh technology.

According to the present invention, it is possible to track the location of the elderly or the elderly in a large building or an outdoor space through communication between a Bluetooth mesh-based network and a beacon.

Since the present invention has a problem of high cost and high power consumption, positioning through the GPS system has an effect of identifying a user's location at a lower price.

The present invention can locate the node where the error occurs through the mesh network, so it is possible to track the location of the device by providing a stable mesh network.

The present invention has an effect that can provide more accurate location information than GPS in the space where the Bluetooth mesh is built.

The present invention can provide a service capable of tracking a location indoors and outdoors using a Bluetooth mesh.

The effects obtainable in the present disclosure are not limited to the above-mentioned effects, and other effects not mentioned may be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description. will be.

1 is a mesh network-based location tracking system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 corresponds to a configuration diagram of a mesh network-based location tracking system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is an operation flow diagram of a mesh network based location tracking system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a flowchart of a method for a server in a mesh network based location tracking system to track a device's location, according to an embodiment of the invention.
5 may correspond to a flowchart in which a server tracks a location of a device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 corresponds to a diagram of a method for detecting an overlapped mesh network and an error node according to an embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a view corresponding to an embodiment in which a mesh network-based location tracking system is applied to an external space.
8 is a diagram corresponding to an embodiment in which a mesh network-based location tracking system is applied to an indoor space.
9 corresponds to a configuration diagram of a server in a mesh network-based location tracking system, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains can easily carry out the embodiments. However, the present disclosure may be implemented in various different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein.

In describing the embodiments of the present disclosure, when it is determined that a detailed description of a known configuration or function may obscure the subject matter of the present disclosure, detailed description thereof will be omitted. In the drawings, parts irrelevant to the description of the present disclosure are omitted, and similar reference numerals are used for similar parts.

In the present disclosure, when a component is said to be "connected", "coupled" or "connected" with another component, this is not only a direct connection relationship, but also an indirect connection relationship in which another component exists in the middle. It may also include. Also, when a component is said to "include" or "have" another component, this means that other components may be further included, not specifically excluded, unless otherwise stated. .

In the present disclosure, terms such as first and second are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from other components, and do not limit the order or importance of components, etc., unless otherwise specified. Accordingly, within the scope of the present disclosure, the first component in one embodiment may be referred to as a second component in another embodiment, and likewise the second component in one embodiment may be the first component in another embodiment It can also be called.

In the present disclosure, the components that are distinguished from each other are for clarifying each feature, and the components are not necessarily separated. That is, a plurality of components may be integrated to be composed of one hardware or software unit, or one component may be distributed to be composed of a plurality of hardware or software units. Accordingly, such integrated or distributed embodiments are included in the scope of the present disclosure, unless otherwise stated.

In the present disclosure, components described in various embodiments are not necessarily essential components, and some may be optional components. Accordingly, an embodiment consisting of a subset of components described in one embodiment is also included in the scope of the present disclosure. In addition, embodiments including other components in addition to the components described in various embodiments are also included in the scope of the present disclosure.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a mesh network-based location tracking system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention corresponds to a system for confirming the location of a user's device 120 through communication with a beacon utilizing a Bluetooth mesh network technology and a node 110 with a Bluetooth sensor attached to a street light, a fire hydrant, and an indoor light. In this case, the present invention may correspond to a networking method capable of notifying the exact location of the beacon owner 120 by configuring a large-scale network through the Bluetooth mesh 130 and the beacon. As shown in FIG. 1, the present invention forms a mesh network 130 within a certain space and tracks the location of the user's device 120 from nodes 110 included in the mesh network 130 according to an embodiment. can do. In this case, the constant space may correspond to a space having the same size as one city, indoors and outdoors, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the wireless communication used in the present invention is an Ultra Wide Band (UWB), Wi-Fi (WiFi), Bluetooth (Bluetooth), Low Power Bluetooth (BLE, Bluetooth Low Energy), Bluetooth A mesh (Bluetooth mesh), weave ratio (ZigBee), radio frequency communication (Radio Frequency, RF) and infrared communication (Infrared Data Association) may be applicable, but are not limited to the above-described examples.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the location of the device 120 may be determined using the mesh network 130. In the present invention, the device 120 may correspond to an apparatus for transmitting a beacon signal to at least one node 110 included in the mesh network 130. As a non-limiting example, the device 120 may correspond to a device such as a beacon terminal, a smartphone, and the like.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a node 230 having an error may be identified using the mesh network 130.

2 corresponds to a configuration diagram of a mesh network-based location tracking system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the mesh network based location tracking system may include a server 210, a gateway 220, one or more nodes 230 and devices 240, and an external device 250. Can.

At this time, the one or more nodes 230 may form a mesh network between the nodes 230 based on the local area network. For example, low-power Bluetooth (BLE) may be used as a local area network. However, the present invention is not limited to this example, and in the present invention, an ultra wide band (UWB), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Bluetooth low energy (BLE), Bluetooth mesh, Wireless communication methods including ZigBee, Radio Frequency (RF) and Infrared Data Association can be used. The one or more nodes 230 included in the mesh network may sequentially transmit the received information. At this time, the Bluetooth mesh may correspond to a communication technology in which a Bluetooth low power sensor is attached to a street light, an indoor light, a building, a fire hydrant, a pole, and the like to form a network.

In the present invention, the node 230 is disposed within a predetermined range of data transmission/reception reference distance or less, and has a feature capable of performing a Bluetooth sensing function. At this time, the node 230 may correspond to a device implemented to perform a Bluetooth sensing function. The sensing function performed by the node 230 may refer to a function of receiving a beacon signal and transmitting and receiving the first signal and the second signal.

In the present invention, the data transmission/reception reference distance may mean a maximum distance that data can be transmitted/received between nodes. At this time, the reason why the nodes should be arranged below the reference distance for data transmission/reception in a certain area is that the nodes must be arranged within a distance capable of forming a mesh network and transmitting a signal. Accordingly, each node may be disposed with a closer distance than the data transmission/reception reference distance.

Also, the node 230 may correspond to a Bluetooth sensor capable of performing a Bluetooth sensing function. When a sensor is attached to the node 230, the node 230 may include a sensor that receives a beacon signal and transmits and receives a first signal and the second signal. That is, a node can be implemented by attaching a sensor to an object or the like.

In the present invention, when the node 230 having the above-described sensing function is implemented, or when the node 230 is implemented by attaching a sensor performing the above-described sensing function to an object or the like, it is arranged at a distance closer than the data transmission/reception reference distance. The node 230 may be implemented by using urban facilities or lighting devices disposed at a distance closer than a data transmission/reception reference distance. At this time, urban facilities include street lights, retaining walls, soundproof walls, traffic lights, fences, benches, trash cans, manholes, telephone poles, mailboxes, road lighting facilities, distribution boxes, milestones, direction guidance signs, tourist guide maps, billboards, bulletin boards, traffic light control boxes, Trash bin, bus platform, telephone booth, sign, fence, road sign, statue, monument, fire alarm, etc. may be included, but is not limited thereto. It can be implemented with each node included in the mesh network. This example is described in more detail in FIG. 7. In addition, as another implementation example of the present invention, the above-described sensor may be attached to a lighting device to be installed or to be installed in a certain space, and this may be implemented as each node included in the mesh network. This example is described in more detail in FIG. 8.

The server 210 may generate identification information for each node 230 forming the mesh network, and allocate identification information for each node 230. Also, the server 210 may receive information from the node 230 and predict and track the location of the device 240. The detailed operation of the server 210 will be described in the following drawings.

Inside the mesh network described above, the device 240 may transmit a beacon signal. At this time, the device 240 may correspond to a beacon sensor and may correspond to an apparatus that generates a beacon signal. According to an embodiment of the present invention, users may carry the device 240 one by one, and transmit location information to a mesh system spread like a mesh.

At this time, the device 240 may transmit a beacon signal periodically or aperiodically. In addition, the period at which the device 240 transmits a beacon signal may be preset or changed. According to an embodiment of the present invention, a beacon signal may be automatically transmitted at a predetermined period in order to track the location of the device 240 holder. Also, the device may correspond to a device supporting short-range communication, such as a smart phone, a smart watch, and a tablet.

In order to transmit the Bluetooth signal to the server, the gateway 220 may serve to convert the form of a communication protocol.

The external device 250 may correspond to an apparatus that performs a Bluetooth function. In this case, as a non-limiting example, a smart phone, a tablet PC, and the like may correspond to this. At this time, the external device 250 may correspond to a device capable of location transmission, such as the device 240. Also, the external device may communicate with a server using the Internet, and may correspond to a device capable of driving a mobile app.

In the present invention, the external device 250 may receive tracked location information of the device 240 generated from the server 210. Also, the external device 250 may receive location information of the nodes 230 from the nodes 230, generate identification information corresponding to the location information, and transmit the identification information to the server.

3 is an operation flow diagram of a mesh network based location tracking system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, the first node 232, the second node 234, and the third node 236 may form a mesh network. Also, the device 240 existing in the mesh network area may transmit a beacon signal to the nodes 232, 234, and 236 included in the mesh network. At this time, for some reason, such as a distance or a transliteration region, some nodes 232 and 236 included in the mesh network may receive a beacon signal. As an example according to FIG. 3, nodes receiving a beacon signal may correspond to the first node 232 and the third node 236.

Each of the nodes 232 and 236 receiving the beacon signal may generate a first signal and a second signal. At this time, in the present invention, the first signal corresponds to a signal generated by the nodes 232 and 236 receiving the beacon signal from the device 240 among at least one node included in the mesh network based on the beacon signal. Can be. That is, the first signal may correspond to a signal including information generated by the nodes 232 and 236 receiving the beacon signal based on the beacon signal. Further, in the present invention, the second signal may correspond to information generated from identification information of nodes. According to an example of the present invention, each node may be assigned identification information from a server, and will be described in more detail in FIG. 4 below.

Thereafter, the first and second signals of the first node 232 and the first and second signals of the third node 236 may be transmitted to the server 210. In this case, as an example, according to the method of transmitting information of the mesh network, the first node 232 may transmit the generated first signal and second signal to the second node 234. Also, the second node 234 may sequentially transmit the first signal and the second signal of the received first node 232 to the server 210. At this time, as an example, the situation in which the generated information is transmitted only from the first node 232 and the second node 234 and is transmitted from the second node 234 to the server 210 has been described. One or more nodes included in the mesh network may transmit information to the server 210 by repeatedly transmitting the received information to another node. Also, as another example, the third node 236 included in the mesh network may directly transmit the first signal and the second signal of the generated third node to the server 210.

The server 210 may determine the location of the device 240 based on the first and second signals for the first node 232 and the first and second signals for the third node 236. . In this case, the first signal and the second signal generated by each node may be received from a larger number of nodes than the above-described example, and the first signal and the second signal may also be received from one node.

4 is a flowchart of a method for a server in a mesh network based location tracking system to track a device's location, according to an embodiment of the invention.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, first, the server 210 may allocate identification information to the nodes 230 included in the mesh network. (S410) However, the corresponding step is initially performed when constructing the network. It may be performed several times, or the first time, and it may not be necessary to repeat the step in order to track the position later. Further, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the external device 250 may also allocate identification information to the nodes 230 included in the mesh network.

For example, when the server 210 allocates identification information to the nodes 230, the location information of the nodes 230 may be received from the nodes 230. In addition, the server 210 may generate identification information corresponding to the location information of the nodes for each node 230 and allocate identification information for each node 230.

Further, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the external device 250 may receive the location information of the nodes 230 from the nodes 230 and generate the identification information corresponding to the location information. Thereafter, the external device 250 allocates identification information generated for each node 230, and the external device 250 can transmit the identification information to the server 210. In more detail, the external device 250 may update the location information of the failed node 230 through the administrator mode using a barcode or a QR code to add the new node 230 to the existing mesh network.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, when a Bluetooth sensor is attached to a street light, or when a mesh network is implemented with a street light having a Bluetooth sensing function, the server receives an address for each street light and identification information corresponding to each address You can create it and assign it to each streetlight.

Thereafter, the server 210 may receive the first signal and the second signal from at least one node 230 included in the mesh network. (S420) More specifically, the server 210 is a device The first signal and the second signal generated by the nodes 230 that have received the beacon signal from 240 may be received.

In this case, the first signal may correspond to a signal generated by the nodes 230 receiving the beacon signal based on the beacon signal, as described above with reference to FIG. 2. According to an example of the present invention, the first signal is the identifier of the device 240, the time at which the device 240 transmitted the beacon signal to the node 230, the time at which the node 230 received the beacon signal, the node RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) and the like, but is not limited thereto.

Further, the second signal may correspond to information generated based on the identification information of the nodes generated in step S410 described above. In this case, as an example, identification information for the corresponding node and the second signal may be generated with numerical information such as 2, but is not limited thereto. At this time, when the node of the present invention is implemented or attached to the street light, the number of the road name address assigned to the street light may correspond to the identification information for the node, and the second signal also includes the number of the road name address assigned to the street light. Can.

In addition, the server 210 may track the location of the device using the first signal and the second signal received from at least one of the nodes 230 (S430). According to an embodiment, the server 210 may correspond to a flowchart for tracking the location of the device 240.

First, the server 210 may check the location of the node that has received the beacon. (S510) At this time, the server 210 may check the node that has received the beacon signal based on the second signal. That is, the server 210 can grasp the identification information for the node 230 from the second signal, and through this, it is possible to check which node the node receiving the beacon information corresponds to.

In addition, the server 210 may check the location of the node that has received the beacon signal based on the second signal. That is, the server 210 not only can identify the identification information for the node 230 from the second signal, but also checks the location information of the node 230 corresponding to the identification information and receives the beacon signal ( 230).

Then, the server 210 may check the detailed location of the device 240 (S520).

At this time, when the server 210 receives at least one second signal corresponding to each node 230, the server 210 checks location information corresponding to each node 230 from one or more second signals. Thus, the detailed location of the device 240 can be tracked. For example, when a node is implemented or attached to a street lamp or a pole installed in one city, the server 210 may receive identification information such as how many nodes have received a beacon signal from one or more nodes. . If it is assumed that the node receiving the beacon signal is the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th node, the server 210 determines the location of each node through the identification information of the node, and from the location information of the nodes 2, 3, 4 You can track the location of your device.

In addition, as an example of the present invention, the server 210 may track the location of the device 240 based on the location of the node 230 receiving the first signal and the beacon signal.

For example, when the server 210 tracks the location of the device 240, the device uses the beacon transmission distance information of the device based on the location of the node 230 receiving the beacon signal confirmed by the above-described method. The location of 240 can be predicted. At this time, the beacon transmission distance information of the device may correspond to predetermined information, or may correspond to information previously stored in the server 210. In addition, the beacon transmission distance information may correspond to information obtained from the first signal, and is not limited to the above-described example.

As another example, when the server 210 tracks the location of the device 240, the detailed location of the device 240 may be confirmed based on the received signal strength indicator (RSSI) information of the node. That is, detailed location information of the device 240 may be checked based on RSSI information of each node.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the server 210 may generate location information based on the location of the tracked device 240 and transmit the location information to the external device 250. At this time, the external device may correspond to an electronic device capable of communication such as a smart phone or tablet, but is not limited to the above-described example.

The node 230 receiving the beacon may transmit the first signal and the second signal without transmission to the error node in case the first signal and the second signal are not transmitted to the error node. For example, the node 230 receiving the beacon may transmit the first signal and the second signal to the node 230 other than the error node. That is, the node 230 that has received the beacon may sequentially transmit and transmit signals to other nodes due to the characteristics of the mesh network. In this case, it is irrespective of whether the mesh network contains an error node. In addition, in this case, it is irrespective of whether or not the mesh networks are overlapped.

In addition, according to another embodiment of the present invention, even if an error occurs in the node 230 included in the mesh network, in order to stably transmit and receive the first signal and the second signal, the mesh network is as shown in FIG. It can be implemented overlapping. That is, the node 230 may be configured to be overlapped and included in one or more mesh networks. As illustrated in FIG. 6, when an error node occurs in the mesh network, the node receiving the beacon may transmit the first signal and the second signal to a mesh network other than the mesh network including the error node. In this case, since several networks are overlapped for each node, a signal may be transmitted as described above.

More specifically, referring to FIG. 6, FIG. 6 corresponds to a diagram for a method of detecting an overlapped mesh network and an error node according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the case of FIG. 6, three network networks represented by A, B, and C correspond to separate mesh networks, and 610 nodes, 620 nodes, and 630 nodes overlap the A mesh network, the B mesh network, and the C mesh network. Included. At this time, the 610 node may correspond to a node in which an error has occurred. At this time, the node in which the error occurs cannot correspond to a node that cannot receive a beacon signal and cannot generate and transmit a first signal and a second signal. In addition, in addition to this, the node having an error may correspond to a node that cannot transmit/receive a signal to be transmitted from other nodes included in the mesh network and cannot receive a signal from a server. At this time, according to an embodiment of the present invention, when the mesh network is overlapped, 620 nodes and 630 nodes are also included in other networks, even if the 610 node cannot relay or transmit signals from other nodes. As such, 620 nodes and 630 nodes may relay and transmit signals to other nodes included in the A, B, or C mesh network. In addition, in FIG. 6, a case where three A, B, and C mesh networks are overlapped is not limited thereto, and one or more mesh networks may be implemented by overlapping nodes.

In addition, in order for the mesh network-based location tracking system of the present invention to stably track the location of the device, errors of nodes included in the mesh network may be detected.

The server 210 may determine the nodes having an error in the mesh network, and transmit a recovery request signal for nodes in need of the error. At this time, the server 210 may check the location information of the node where the error occurred from the second signal of the node where the error occurred in the mesh network, and transmit the generated error signal based on the location information.

Also, as another example, the server 210 may reconfigure the mesh network by determining nodes having an error and reassigning identification information excluding nodes having an error.

In this case, when the server 210 determines a node in which an error has occurred, a second signal may be requested from at least one node 230 included in the mesh network. Then, the server 210 may check the identification information based on the second signal received from the nodes, and determine the nodes having an error. As another example, when the server 210 determines a node in which an error has occurred, the server 210 may receive a second signal from the nodes 230 at a predetermined cycle. At this time, the server 210 may check identification information based on the second signal and determine nodes in which an error has occurred. That is, the nodes 230 that did not transmit the second signal to the server 210 would not transmit the second signal due to an error, and the server 210 transmitted the second signal using the second signal. By checking the identification information of the nodes, nodes that have not transmitted the second signal can be identified.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, when a node determines a node in which an error occurs, as described above, in order to stably detect an error and a situation in which an error occurs, overlapping as shown in FIG. 6 You can configure the network environment.

7 is a diagram corresponding to an embodiment in which a mesh network-based location tracking system is applied to an external space. In this case, FIG. 7 may correspond to a diagram of an embodiment in which it is assumed that the node 230 is attached or implemented on a street light. In more detail, FIG. 7 corresponds to a diagram illustrating an example in which the above-described sensor is attached to a street light and implemented with each node 220 included in the mesh network.

At this time, the street lights in the city are installed in the city at intervals sufficient to transmit and receive information based on the near-field communication network, so that the data transmission/reception reference distance can be satisfied. In addition, since each streetlight has a unique streetlight address, identification information of each node may be allocated by utilizing the streetlight address. In addition, since several street lights installed in the city can be used, a mesh network can be formed throughout the city to track the location of a user who has a device with a beacon function.

At this time, the server or an external device may allocate identification information, which is a street light ID number such as 1, 2, 3, and the like, to the street light corresponding to the node 230, and connect to the Bluetooth mesh. At this time, the server can identify the failed node based on the Bluetooth mesh between the street lights. The streetlight ID number corresponding to the failed node may be transmitted through the mesh network and transmitted to the server through the gateway. In this case, as an example, the server may use a server of a bus stop already implemented, but is not limited thereto.

Based on the Bluetooth mesh implemented as described above, the location of a user (eg, a small child, an elderly person, etc.) having a device may be estimated. At this time, the user's location may be estimated based on the identification number of the street light corresponding to each node 230 and the location of the street light.

8 is a diagram corresponding to an embodiment in which a mesh network-based location tracking system is applied to an indoor space. At this time, FIG. 8 may correspond to a diagram for an embodiment in the case where it is assumed that the node is attached or implemented to lighting installed in a certain space such as a department store. In more detail, FIG. 8 may correspond to a diagram showing an example in which the above-described sensor is attached to a lighting device to be installed or installed in a certain space and implemented as each node included in the mesh network.

At this time, the lighting devices within a certain space may be installed in a certain space at intervals sufficient to transmit and receive information based on a short-range communication network, so that a data transmission/reception reference distance may be satisfied. In addition, since a unique address can be set or identified for each lighting device, identification information of each node may be allocated using the same. In addition, since several lighting devices installed in a certain space can be used, a mesh network can be formed over a certain space to track the location of a user who has a device with a beacon function. The constant space may correspond to an indoor space of a building, may correspond to a history of a department store, a train, a train, a space such as a school, an apartment, a house, a museum, a gymnasium, etc., and is not limited to the above-described example. Further, the constant space may correspond to an outdoor space, may correspond to a space such as an amusement park, a zoo, a festival space, a field study experience place, etc., and is not limited to the above-described example.

At this time, the server or the external device may allocate identification information such as No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 to the lighting device corresponding to the node, and connect with a Bluetooth mesh. At this time, the server may identify the failed node based on the Bluetooth mesh between the lighting devices. The lighting device ID number corresponding to the failed node may be transmitted through the mesh network and transmitted to the server through the gateway. In this case, as an example, the server may use a server of a central control room of a department store, which is already implemented, but is not limited thereto.

Based on the Bluetooth mesh implemented as described above, the location of a user (eg, a small child, an elderly person, etc.) having a device may be estimated. At this time, based on the identification number of the lighting device corresponding to each node and the position of the lighting device, the user's location may be estimated.

9 is a configuration diagram for a server in a mesh network-based location tracking system, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the server 210 may include a reception unit 910, a transmission unit, a location tracking unit, an identification information allocation unit, an error determination unit, and the like.

In this case, the receiver 910 may receive the first signal and the second signal from at least one node included in the mesh network. Also, the receiver 910 may receive location information of nodes from the nodes.

The location tracking unit 920 may track the location of the device using the first signal and the second signal received from at least one node. At this time, the location tracking unit 920 checks the location information of the node receiving the beacon signal based on the second signal, and tracks the detailed location of the device based on the location information of the node receiving the first signal and the beacon signal. can do. In addition, the location tracking unit 920 may generate location information based on the location of the tracked device.

The identification information allocator 930 may allocate identification information to nodes. At this time, when the identification information allocation unit 930 allocates the identification information to the nodes, the identification information corresponding to the location information of the nodes received by the reception unit 910 may be generated and allocated.

The error determination unit 940 may check the location information of the node where the error occurred from the second signal of the node where the error occurred in the mesh network, and transmit an error generation signal generated based on the location information.

The error determination unit 940 may determine the node having an error in the mesh network, and re-allocate the identification information except for the node having an error. At this time, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the error determination unit 940 may determine whether an error of the corresponding node has occurred according to whether the second signal is transmitted. More specifically, the error determination unit 940 may request the second signal from nodes included in the mesh network, and determine the node in which the error occurs based on the second signal received from the nodes. In another example, the error determination unit 940, the server receives the second signal from a node included in the mesh network at a predetermined cycle, and the server is the node where the error occurs based on the second signal. Can decide.

The transmitter 950 may transmit the generated location information to an external device.

Exemplary methods of the present disclosure are expressed as a series of operations for clarity of description, but are not intended to limit the order in which the steps are performed, and each step may be performed simultaneously or in a different order if necessary. In order to implement the method according to the present disclosure, the steps illustrated may include other steps in addition, other steps may be included in addition to the other steps, or other additional steps may be included in addition to some steps.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure are not intended to list all possible combinations, but are intended to describe representative aspects of the present disclosure, and the items described in various embodiments may be applied independently or in combination of two or more.

In addition, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof. For implementation by hardware, one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), Digital Signal Processing Devices (DSPDs), Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), Universal It can be implemented by a processor (general processor), a controller, a microcontroller, a microprocessor.

The scope of the present disclosure includes software or machine-executable instructions (eg, operating systems, applications, firmware, programs, etc.) that cause an operation according to the method of various embodiments to be executed on a device or computer, and such software or Instructions include a non-transitory computer-readable medium that is stored and executable on a device or computer.

110: node
120: device
130: mesh network
210: server
220: gateway
230: node
240: device
250: external device
910: receiver
920: location tracking
930: identification information judgment unit
940: error determination unit
950: transmitter

Claims (25)

In the method of the server of the mesh network-based location tracking system to track the location of the device,
The server receiving a first signal and a second signal from a plurality of nodes included in the mesh network; And
The server comprises tracking the location of the device using the first signal and the second signal received from the plurality of nodes.
The first signal is generated by nodes receiving a beacon signal from the device among a plurality of nodes included in the mesh network based on the beacon signal, and the time at which the device transmitted the beacon signal to the node and the node It includes the time of receiving the beacon signal,
The second signal is a location tracking method, characterized in that generated from the identification information of the nodes. ◈ Claim 2 was abandoned when payment of the registration fee was set.◈ The method of claim 1
The server checks the location information of the node that has received the beacon signal based on the second signal,
A method for tracking a location of a device by tracking location information corresponding to each node from the second signal. ◈ Claim 3 was abandoned when payment of the registration fee was set.◈ The method of claim 2
When tracking the detailed location of the device,
And tracking the detailed location of the device based on the location information of a node that has received the beacon signal identified from the first signal and the second signal. ◈ Claim 4 was abandoned when payment of the set registration fee was made.◈ The method of claim 2
When the server tracks the detailed location of the device, the location tracking method is determined using the RSSI value of the first signal. ◈ Claim 5 was abandoned when payment of the set registration fee was made.◈ The method of claim 2
When the server tracks the detailed location of the device, the location tracking method to check based on the beacon transmission distance of the device. ◈ Claim 6 was abandoned when payment of the set registration fee was made.◈ The method of claim 1
And the server allocating the identification information to the nodes. ◈ Claim 7 was abandoned when payment of the set registration fee was made.◈ The method of claim 6,
When the server allocates the identification information to the nodes,
Location tracking method characterized in that the location information of the nodes is received from the nodes, and the identification information corresponding to the location information is generated and allocated. ◈ Claim 8 was abandoned when payment of the set registration fee was made.◈ The method of claim 1
The node receiving the first signal and the second signal, the position tracking method characterized in that the first signal and the second signal are sequentially transmitted to the next node. ◈ Claim 9 was abandoned when payment of the set registration fee was made.◈ The method of claim 1
The node is configured to be nested and included in one or more mesh networks. ◈ Claim 10 was abandoned when payment of the set registration fee was made.◈ According to claim 1,
The server identifies the location information of the node where the error occurred from the second signal of the node where the error occurred in the mesh network, and transmits an error occurrence signal generated based on the location information. ◈ Claim 11 was abandoned when payment of the set registration fee was made.◈ The method of claim 10
The server, except for the node where the error occurred, the location tracking method, characterized in that for re-assigning the identification information. ◈ Claim 12 was abandoned when payment of the set registration fee was made.◈ The method of claim 10
When the server determines the node where the error occurred,
Location request method for requesting the second signal to the nodes included in the mesh network, and determining the node in which the error occurred based on the second signal received from the nodes. ◈ Claim 13 was abandoned when payment of the set registration fee was made.◈ The method of claim 10
When the server determines the node where the error occurred,
The server receives the second signal at a predetermined period from nodes included in the mesh network, and the server determines the node where the error occurs based on the second signal. ◈ Claim 14 was abandoned when payment of the set registration fee was made.◈ According to claim 1,
When the server tracks the location of the device, the server generates location information of the tracked device, and transmits the location information to an external device. ◈ Claim 15 was abandoned when payment of the set registration fee was made.◈ The method of claim 14
The external device transmits/receives the location information of the tracked device, and generates the identification information and assigns it to the nodes. ◈ Claim 16 was abandoned when payment of the set registration fee was made.◈ The method of claim 14
The external device receives the location information of the nodes from the nodes, generates the identification information corresponding to the location information,
And the external device transmits the identification information to the server. ◈ Claim 17 was abandoned when payment of the set registration fee was made.◈ The method of claim 1
The device is a location tracking method, characterized in that for transmitting the beacon signal every predetermined period. ◈ Claim 18 was abandoned when payment of the set registration fee was made.◈ The method of claim 1
And the device transmits the beacon signal to at least one or more nodes included in the mesh network. ◈ Claim 19 was abandoned when payment of the set registration fee was made.◈ According to claim 1,
Ultra Wide Band (UWB), Wi-Fi (WiFi), Bluetooth (Bluetooth), Low-Power Bluetooth (BLE, Bluetooth Low Energy), Bluetooth Mesh Bluetooth mesh), Weave (ZigBee), Radio Frequency Communication (RF, Radio Frequency) ) And infrared communication (Infrared Data Association) based on at least one wireless communication method, location tracking method. ◈ Claim 20 was abandoned when payment of the set registration fee was made.◈ According to claim 1,
At least one of the nodes included in the mesh network is a position tracking method, characterized in that it comprises a sensor for receiving and transmitting and receiving the first signal and the second signal. ◈ Claim 21 was abandoned when payment of the set registration fee was made.◈ The method of claim 20,
The node is a location tracking method characterized in that the sensor is attached to the city facilities arranged at a distance closer than the reference distance of data transmission and reception. ◈ Claim 22 was abandoned when payment of the set registration fee was made.◈ The method of claim 20,
The node is a location tracking method characterized in that the sensor is attached to the lighting devices arranged at a distance closer than the reference distance of data transmission and reception. ◈ Claim 23 was abandoned when payment of the set registration fee was made.◈ In the mesh network-based location tracking system for tracking the location of the device,
A plurality of nodes included in the mesh network;
A device that transmits a beacon signal to the nodes; And
Server;
The server receives the first signal and the second signal from the nodes,
Tracking the location of the device using the first signal and the second signal,
The first signal is generated by nodes receiving a beacon signal from the device among a plurality of nodes included in the mesh network based on the beacon signal, and the time at which the device transmitted the beacon signal to the node and the node It includes the time of receiving the beacon signal,
And the second signal is generated from identification information of the nodes. ◈ Claim 24 was abandoned when payment of the set registration fee was made.◈ The method of claim 23
The server checks the location information of the node that has received the beacon signal based on the second signal,
A location tracking system that tracks a detailed location of the device by identifying location information corresponding to each node from the second signal. ◈ Claim 25 was abandoned when payment of the set registration fee was made.◈ The method of claim 23
The server identifies the location information of the node where the error occurred from the second signal of the node where the error occurred in the mesh network, and transmits an error generation signal generated based on the location information.

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