KR102507279B1 - Method and Apparatus for Guiding Indoor Movement Path Based On Beacon - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing a beacon-based indoor movement path,
Collect marketing information of multiple stores in a certain area, such as a shopping mall or department store, and based on this, extract a visit beacon and a transit beacon located between the visit beacon and the terminal device to form a link, and based on the formed link, the terminal device From the current location of the path to reach the visited beacon through the via beacon, the path with the minimum number of hops is selected and provided to the user, so that the beacon device installed in the store located in the shopping mall, department store, etc. An indoor movement path may be provided.
In addition, by collecting marketing information of multiple stores, extracting stores to be visited by the user based on this, determining the order of visiting the extracted stores, and calculating a route according to the order of visits, the user can enjoy reasonable consumption. It leads to satisfactory shopping, and it can bring about an increase in sales and marketing effect from the point of view of the store.

Description

Method and apparatus for providing a beacon-based indoor movement path {Method and Apparatus for Guiding Indoor Movement Path Based On Beacon}

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing a beacon-based indoor movement path, and more particularly, to collecting marketing information of each store in a certain area, such as a shopping mall or department store, and establishing a link between a plurality of beacons installed in the store in the certain area The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for calculating and providing an optimal movement path for reaching a destination based on the number of hops of a formed link to a user.

The contents described in this part merely provide background information on the present embodiment and do not constitute prior art.

With the development of mobile communication networks and the development of terminal specifications, mobile communication terminals have become essential belongings of modern people beyond the scope of conventional simple communication devices or information providing devices, and are evolving into total entertainment devices.

Such a mobile communication terminal has a function for performing short-range wireless communication such as NFC (Near Field Communication) or Bluetooth as well as a communication function through a mobile communication network.

However, NFC has a short communication distance and requires a separate wireless chip for communication, whereas Bluetooth has a relatively long communication distance and most terminals are equipped with a Bluetooth communication function, so various communication services using this are being developed.

In addition, a service method for providing various types of information to a mobile communication terminal possessed by a user by utilizing a beacon using Bluetooth communication is being developed.

As an example, a beacon device installed in a store transmits a periodic signal using electromagnetic waves or sound to drive a specific application of a nearby mobile communication terminal and provide desired content. A content providing service is being used.

At this time, the services provided by service providers are currently provided through the wired and wireless Internet, such as simple service promotion page service, discount coupon download service at a low price, payment service for goods purchased at a store, and application download service such as game for users. It can provide services in various fields such as public relations, finance, payment, and games.

As the utilization of such a beacon service increases, a beacon device is installed in each store in a shopping mall or a shopping street, and the above-described beacon service is provided through the installed beacon device.

However, since the existing beacon service provided in certain areas such as shopping malls, department stores, and shopping streets was a service that randomly provided the beacon service to the terminal device when the user terminal device went near a specific store, users could indiscriminately Confusion about which beacon service to select and use among the pouring beacon services has increased, and even if the beacon service you want to receive is received, it is not easy to find the location of a store where the beacon service can be used, making it difficult to use the beacon service there was

Accordingly, marketing information of stores located in shopping malls, department stores, etc. is collected, and based on this, recommended stores and marketing information that the user would like to visit are extracted, and the user can use the beacon service provided to the user by using the indoor navigation service. Research on how to induce this is required.

Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1178042 (Name: Location-based service system and method for indoor navigation, 2012.02.02.)

In order to satisfy the above-mentioned needs, the present invention sets the store visit order based on the marketing information for one or more stores collected by the route setting server, and the visit beacon according to the visit order is located between the visit beacon and the terminal device. Extracts a transit beacon that travels, forms a link connecting the visited beacon and the transit beacon, selects a path with the minimum number of hops as the final travel path among the travel paths calculated based on the formed link, and provides it to the user We would like to propose a method and apparatus for doing so.

However, the object of the present invention is not limited to the above object, and other objects not mentioned will be clearly understood from the description below.

A method for providing a moving route of the present invention for achieving the above object is a step of collecting marketing information about one or more stores by a route setting server, and extracting one or more stores to be visited by a user based on the marketing information. , Setting the order of visiting one or more stores to be visited by the user, extracting one or more beacon devices corresponding to the extracted one or more stores as visiting beacons, and calculating the extracted visited beacons and the current location of the terminal device. As a reference, extracting one or more beacon devices located therebetween as transit beacons, forming a link connecting the visited beacon and the one or more transit beacons, and the terminal based on the formed link and the set visit sequence. Calculating one or more routes from the current location of the device to one or more visited beacons via one or more transit beacons, and selecting a route having the minimum number of hops from among the one or more calculated routes as a moving route steps may be included.

At this time, in the collecting step, the beacon service server may receive marketing information about one or more stores received from the beacon service server, and in the step of extracting the one or more stores, a specific beacon device preset as a starting beacon may be received. When the beacon identification information of the corresponding beacon signal is received from the terminal device, the location of the specific beacon device can be estimated as the current location of the terminal device.

In addition, the step of collecting the one or more beacon signals received by the terminal device and the step of selecting a starting beacon among the beacon devices that have transmitted the one or more beacon signals based on the one or more beacon signals received by the terminal device Including, the position of the selected departure beacon can be estimated as the current location of the terminal device, and the step of selecting the departure beacon has the largest received signal strength value among one or more beacon signals received by the terminal device A beacon device that transmits a beacon signal may be selected as a starting beacon.

The path setting server may further include receiving a visit list including information on one or more stores set by the user from the terminal device, and extracting the one or more stores or setting a visit order. The step of extracting or setting the visited list may be further considered, and the forming of the link may form a link by further considering geographical information of the visited beacon and the transit beacon, and the extracted one or more transit beacons and The method may further include setting a weight for each link according to physical distance information between one or more visited beacons, and the selecting may further consider the set weight.

Meanwhile, the moving path providing method may be provided as a computer readable recording medium on which a program for executing the same is recorded, or may be provided as a computer program implemented to execute the same and stored in a computer readable recording medium.

A route setting server according to the present invention for satisfying the above-mentioned needs is a communication module for transmitting and receiving data with a terminal device and one or more stores that a user will visit based on marketing information about one or more stores collected through the communication module. Stores are extracted, a visiting order is set, and one or more beacon devices corresponding to the extracted one or more stores are extracted as visited beacons, and a location located between the extracted visited beacon and the terminal device based on the current location is located therebetween. One or more beacon devices are extracted as transit beacons, a link connecting the visited beacon and the transit beacons is formed, and based on the formed link and the set visit sequence, the current location of the terminal device passes through one or more transit beacons. It may include a control module that calculates one or more routes to reach one or more visited beacons and selects a route having the minimum number of hops as a movement route among the calculated routes.

At this time, the communication module is characterized in that it transmits and receives data with the beacon service server, and the control module can collect the marketing information from the beacon service server through the communication module, and a specific beacon preset as a departure beacon. When the beacon identification information of the beacon signal corresponding to the device is received from the terminal device, the location of the specific beacon device can be estimated as the current location of the terminal device.

In addition, the control module collects one or more beacon signals received by the terminal device through the communication module, and departs from among the beacon devices transmitting the one or more beacon signals based on the one or more beacon signals received by the terminal device. A beacon is selected, the location of the selected starting beacon can be estimated as the current location of the terminal device, and the terminal device has the largest received signal strength value among one or more beacon signals received A beacon device that transmits a beacon signal may be selected as a starting beacon, and a visit list including information on one or more stores set by the user received through the communication module may be further considered, and the user may visit one or more stores. You can extract the above stores and set the order of visits.

In addition, the control module may form a link by further considering geographic information of the visited beacon and the transit beacon, and further includes a storage module for storing physical distance information between a plurality of beacon devices, and the control module performs the extraction Weights may be set for each link according to physical distance information between one or more transit beacons and one or more visited beacons, and a movement path may be selected by further considering the set weights.

According to the present invention, a link is formed by collecting marketing information of a plurality of stores in a certain area such as a shopping mall, a department store, etc., and extracting a visit beacon and a transit beacon located between the visit beacon and a terminal device based on this, and forming the link Based on this, a beacon device installed in a store located in a shopping mall, department store, etc. It is possible to provide an efficient indoor movement path to the user.

In addition, by collecting marketing information of multiple stores, extracting stores to be visited by the user based on this, determining the order of visiting the extracted stores, and calculating a route according to the order of visits, the user can enjoy reasonable consumption. It leads to satisfactory shopping, and it can bring about an increase in sales and marketing effect from the point of view of the store.

In addition, various effects other than the above effects may be disclosed directly or implicitly in detailed descriptions according to embodiments of the present invention to be described later.

1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a system for providing a movement path according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a beacon service server according to the present invention.
3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of operating a beacon service server according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a terminal device according to the present invention.
5 is a flowchart for explaining a method of operating a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a route setting server according to the present invention.
7 is a flowchart illustrating an operating method of a route setting server according to an embodiment of the present invention.
8 to 10 are exemplary diagrams for explaining various embodiments of a method for providing a movement path according to the present invention.
11 is a diagram illustrating an operating environment in a system for providing a movement path according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In order to clarify the characteristics and advantages of the problem solving means of the present invention, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to specific embodiments of the present invention shown in the accompanying drawings.

However, detailed descriptions of well-known functions or configurations that may obscure the gist of the present invention will be omitted in the following description and accompanying drawings. In addition, it should be noted that the same components are indicated by the same reference numerals throughout the drawings as much as possible.

The terms or words used in the following description and drawings should not be construed as being limited to a common or dictionary meaning, and the inventor may appropriately define the concept of terms for explaining his/her invention in the best way. It should be interpreted as a meaning and concept consistent with the technical idea of the present invention based on the principle that there is. Therefore, the embodiments described in this specification and the configurations shown in the drawings are only one of the most preferred embodiments of the present invention, and do not represent all of the technical ideas of the present invention. It should be understood that there may be equivalents and variations.

In addition, terms including ordinal numbers, such as first and second, are used to describe various components, and are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from other components, and to limit the components. Not used. For example, a second element may be termed a first element, and similarly, a first element may be termed a second element, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

In addition, terms used in this specification are only used to describe specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the present invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In addition, terms such as "include" or "having" described in this specification are intended to designate that there is a feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or combination thereof described in the specification, but one or the other It should be understood that the above does not preclude the possibility of the presence or addition of other features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

In addition, terms such as “unit”, “unit”, and “module” described in the specification refer to a unit that processes at least one function or operation, and may be implemented as hardware or software or a combination of hardware and software. Also, "a or an", "one", "the" and similar related words in the context of describing the invention (particularly in the context of the claims below) Unless indicated or otherwise clearly contradicted by context, both the singular and the plural can be used.

In addition to the above-mentioned terms, specific terms used in the following description are provided to aid understanding of the present invention, and the use of these specific terms may be changed in other forms without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention.

In addition, embodiments within the scope of the present invention include computer-readable media having or conveying computer-executable instructions or data structures stored thereon. Such computer readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer system. By way of example, such computer readable media may be in the form of RAM, ROM, EPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage, or computer executable instructions, computer readable instructions or data structures. physical storage media such as, but not limited to, any other medium that can be used to store or convey any program code means in a computer system and which can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer system. .

In addition, the present invention relates to personal computers, laptop computers, handheld devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, mobile phones, PDAs, pagers It can be implemented in a network computing environment having various types of computer system configurations including (pager) and the like. The invention may also be practiced in distributed system environments where tasks are performed by both local and remote computer systems linked by wired data links, wireless data links, or a combination of wired and wireless data links through a network. In a distributed system environment, program modules may be located in local and remote memory storage devices.

In addition, a service using a beacon technology according to the present invention will be described based on a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) type data communication technology.

While NFC is usable only within a limited range of several tens of cm, the Bluetooth method can operate within a range of several tens of meters, and thus its utilization field is being applied much wider. In particular, in the Bluetooth method, data can be transmitted just by passing by the place where the beacon device is installed, without the need to tag the reader by bringing it close to the reader like NFC, and can read detailed location movement and deliver customized data even within a building.

However, in the present invention, the beacon service is not necessarily limited to BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) or Bluetooth, and Zigbee, UWB (Ultra-WideBand), ANT, Wi-fi, etc., PAN (Personal Area Network) Various short-distance communication technologies are applicable.

Now, a device for providing a movement path in a system for providing a movement path according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

First, the structure of a system for providing a movement path according to an embodiment of the present invention will be briefly described.

1 is a diagram for schematically explaining the structure of a system for providing a movement path according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a system for providing a moving path according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a communication network 100, a beacon service server 200, a terminal device 300, a route setting server 400, and one or more beacon devices 500. It can be configured to include.

Here, the terminal device 300 transmits and receives data through the beacon device 500 and the BLE communication method, but is not limited thereto as described above, and any of various short-range communication technologies of the PAN method can be applied.

Also, the terminal device 300 and the path setting server 400 are linked through the communication network 100 .

Then, with reference to FIG. 1, each component will be schematically described.

First, the communication network 100 serves to transmit data for data transmission and reception between the beacon service server 200, the terminal device 300, and the path setting server 400, and depending on the system implementation method, Ethernet or xDSL (ADSL, VDSL), HFC (Hybrid Fiber Coaxial Cable), FTTC (Fiber to The Curb), FTTH (Fiber To The Home), etc. can be used, or WLAN (Wireless LAN), Wi-Fi ), Wibro, Wimax, High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), and Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A).

In addition, such a communication network 100 includes, for example, a plurality of access networks (not shown) and a core network (not shown), and may include an external network, for example, an Internet network (not shown). Here, the access network (not shown) is an access network that performs wired/wireless communication with the terminal device 300, for example, a plurality of base stations such as BS (Base Station), BTS (Base Transceiver Station), NodeB, and eNodeB, and BSC It can be implemented as a base station controller such as (Base Station Controller) or RNC (Radio Network Controller). In addition, as described above, the digital signal processing unit and the radio signal processing unit integrally implemented in the base station are divided into digital units (hereinafter referred to as DUs) and radio units (hereinafter referred to as RUs), A plurality of RUs (not shown) may be installed in a plurality of areas, and the plurality of RUs (not shown) may be connected to a centralized DU (not shown).

In addition, a core network (not shown) constituting a mobile network together with an access network (not shown) serves to connect an access network (not shown) and an external network, for example, an Internet network (not shown).

As described above, the core network (not shown) is a network system that performs major functions for mobile communication services such as mobility control and switching between access networks (not shown), and is a network system that performs circuit switching or packet switching. switching) and manages and controls the packet flow within the mobile network. In addition, the core network (not shown) manages inter-frequency mobility and plays a role for interworking with traffic in an access network (not shown) and a core network (not shown) and other networks, for example, an Internet network (not shown). may be This core network (not shown) further includes Serving GateWay (SGW), PDN GateWay (PGW), Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Home Location Register (HLR), Mobile Mobility Entity (MME), and Home Subscriber Server (HSS). It may be configured to include.

In addition, the Internet network (not shown) refers to a common public communication network in which information is exchanged according to the TCP / IP protocol, that is, a public network, and is connected to the terminal device 300 and provided from the terminal device 300 Information may be provided to the route setting server 400 via a core network (not shown) and an access network (not shown), and conversely, information provided to the route setting server 400 may be provided to a core network (not shown) and an access network (not shown). It may be provided to the terminal device 300 through time). However, it is not limited thereto, and the route setting server 400 may be integrally implemented with a core network (not shown).

In addition, in addition to the above-described communication methods, all types of communication methods that are widely known or will be developed in the future may be included.

The beacon service server 200 may manage a plurality of beacon devices, receive a service provision request from the terminal device 300, and provide information corresponding to the service.

In particular, in the present invention, the beacon service server 200 manages a beacon service corresponding to a beacon signal transmitted by a beacon device 500 installed in one or more stores located in a certain area such as a department store or a shopping mall, and such a beacon service may be a service related to an event or marketing such as a discount event at each store.

Therefore, the beacon service server 200 receives marketing information of one or more stores located in department stores, shopping malls, etc. by the terminal device 300, various terminals installed in each store, or a manager of a department store or shopping mall, and stores the input marketing information. there is.

In addition, the marketing information stored in this way can be transmitted to the path setting server 400, and the marketing information transmitted in this way can be a basis for the path setting server 400 to calculate a moving route.

Meanwhile, in the present invention, the beacon service server 200 and the route setting server 400 are separately described, but this is only one embodiment, and the beacon service server 200 and the route setting server 400 are separated Although each server may be implemented, the beacon service server 200 and the path setting server 400 may be implemented as one server.

That is, the functions of the beacon service server 200 and the path setting server 400 may be performed in one server.

The terminal device 300 of the present invention refers to a user's device capable of transmitting and receiving various data via the communication network 100 according to a user's manipulation. The terminal device 300 may perform voice or data communication through the communication network 100, transmit and receive information through the path setting server 400 and the communication network 100, and beacon from the beacon device 200. Information can be received through based communication. For this, the terminal device 300 of the present invention may include a memory for storing programs and protocols for transmitting and receiving and processing beacon signals, and a microprocessor for calculating and controlling various programs by executing them.

The terminal device 300 preferentially accesses an app providing device (not shown) connected to the communication network 100, for example, an app store, receives a beacon signal from the corresponding app store, and displays content corresponding to the beacon signal. You can receive and install service apps. The user terminal device 300 executes such a beacon service app, extracts beacon identification information from the beacon signal, transmits it to the path setting server 400, and transmits it to the path setting server 400 to the corresponding beacon identification information. Mapped content (eg, discount coupons or membership card benefits, etc.) may be received and provided to the user.

In particular, when receiving a beacon signal transmitted by a beacon device, the terminal device 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention may transmit beacon identification information included in the received beacon signal to the path setting server 400.

In addition, based on the information transmitted by the terminal device 300, the path setting server 400 calculates and receives the selected movement path information to provide it to the user.

On the other hand, the terminal device 300 transmits at least one destination information and starting point information input or set at the user's request to the route setting server 400, a store the user wants to visit, a list of products the user wants to shop, etc. A visit list including information about a visit may be transmitted to the route setting server 400 .

The terminal device 300 of the present invention may be implemented in various forms. For example, the terminal device 300 described in this specification is a mobile terminal such as a smart phone, a tablet PC, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable multimedia player (PMP), and an MP3 player. Of course, a fixed terminal such as a smart TV or a desktop computer may be used.

In addition, the terminal device 300 of the present invention has very diverse variations of portable devices according to the trend of convergence of digital devices, so it is impossible to enumerate all of them, but units equivalent to the above-mentioned units are included in the present invention. Any device can be used as the terminal device 300 according to the embodiment of the present invention, as long as it can be used as the terminal device 300 according to the present invention and can download and install the beacon service app according to the present invention.

The route setting server 400 may manage a plurality of beacon devices, receive a service provision request from the terminal device 300, and provide information corresponding to the service.

That is, it can play the same role as the beacon service server 200, which means that the beacon service server 200 and the path setting server 400 can be implemented as one body.

However, it goes without saying that each device may be implemented as two devices, as in the embodiment according to the present invention.

In the present invention, the route setting server 400 may collect marketing information about one or more stores.

At this time, the collected marketing information may receive marketing information for one or more stores received by the beacon service server 200 from the beacon service server 200, and the route setting server 400 may store information on shopping malls, department stores, etc. It is also possible to collect marketing information directly from the manager or each store.

When the route setting server 400 collects marketing information, it extracts one or more stores to be visited by the user based on the collected marketing information. At this time, the route setting server 400 is a beacon device preset as a departure beacon ( 500), when the beacon identification information of the beacon signal corresponding to is received from the terminal device 300, one or more stores to be visited by the user may be extracted based on the collected marketing information.

That is, when it is determined that the terminal device 300 has arrived at the beacon device 500 preset as a departure beacon, the path setting server 400 may extract one or more stores to be visited by the user.

For example, if a beacon device installed at the entrance of a shopping mall or department store is set as a departure beacon, when the terminal device 300 enters the entrance, it receives the beacon signal of the departure beacon and transmits beacon identification information corresponding thereto to the terminal. Since the device 300 will transmit to the route setting server 400, the route setting server 400 receives the beacon identification information, indicating that the terminal device 300 has entered the corresponding entrance, that is, entering the corresponding shopping mall or department store. When it is determined that one or more stores to be visited by the user of the terminal device 300 can be extracted.

In addition, when the beacon signal beacon identification information of the departure beacon is received from the terminal device 300, the location of the departure beacon may be estimated as the current location of the terminal device 300, and subsequent operation may be performed.

However, when the terminal device 300 has already entered a department store, shopping mall, etc., or when a departure beacon is not set, or when the terminal device 300 moves while moving through each floor, the terminal device It is difficult to estimate the current location of (300).

Therefore, the route setting server 400 needs another method to determine the current location of the terminal device 300, and the terminal device 300 continues to beacon from one or more beacon devices 500 around the terminal device 300 while moving. The signal will be received, and the beacon identification information included in the received beacon signal will be transmitted to the path setting server 400, which can be used.

That is, when the terminal device 300 transmits beacon identification information corresponding to one or more received beacon signals to the route setting server 400 in real time, the route setting server 400 transmits the beacon identification information corresponding to the beacon signal. Based on the identification information, a starting beacon is selected from among the beacon devices 500 that have transmitted one or more beacon signals, and the location of the selected starting beacon can be estimated as the current location of the terminal device 300. .

If the beacon identification information corresponding to the beacon signal transmitted by the terminal device 300 to the path setting server 400 is two or more, the beacon signal having the largest received signal strength value among the two or more beacon signals is transmitted. The beacon device 500 may be selected as a starting beacon.

In addition, the location of the selected starting beacon may be estimated as the current location of the terminal device 300 .

When the terminal device 300 receives the beacon signal, the value of the received signal strength is high means that the beacon device 500 that transmitted the corresponding beacon signal and the terminal device 300 are that close, and therefore, the received signal strength is the highest. This is because estimating the beacon device 500 that has transmitted a beacon signal having a large value as the current location of the terminal device 300 can be said to be the least error estimation method.

After extracting one or more stores to be visited by the user based on the collected marketing information, the route setting server 400 may then set a visiting order of the extracted stores, ie, a visiting order of one or more stores to be visited by the user.

At this time, the route setting server 400 may extract one or more stores based on the marketing information and set the order of visits. A visit list including information on one or more stores may be received, one or more stores to be visited by the user may be extracted based on the received visit list, and an order of visits may be set.

Here, the visit list refers to a list including information on one or more stores that the user will visit. could be the name of

That is, the user can create list information with store names such as 'A Store', 'B Store', and 'C Store', and list information with product names such as 'Cosmetics', 'Snacks', and 'T-shirt'. can create

When the route setting server 400 receives the visit list including information such as store names or product names, the route setting server 400 considers the visit list together with the collected marketing information and stores the store corresponding to the store name. Alternatively, stores to be visited by the user may be limited to stores that sell products included in the list, and an order of visits may be set accordingly.

When one or more stores are extracted and the visit order is set, the path setting server 400 extracts one or more beacon devices 500 corresponding to the one or more extracted stores as visited beacons.

One or more beacon devices 500 corresponding to the store may be beacon devices 500 installed inside and outside the extracted store.

Based on the extracted visit beacon and the current location of the terminal device 300, the route setting server extracted as a beacon via one or more beacon devices 500 located between them is a link connecting the visited beacon and the one or more via beacons. can form

Here, the current location can estimate the location of the starting beacon as the current location of the terminal device 300 as described above.

In addition, the visiting beacon refers to a beacon device 500 corresponding to a store to be visited by a user, and a transit beacon refers to a beacon device 500 located on a path taken to visit the store.

Further, when forming a link between the visited beacon and the transit beacon, the link may be formed by further considering geographic information of the visited beacon and the transit beacon.

For example, if there is an obstacle such as a wall between visited beacon A and beacon via B, a link cannot be formed between visited beacon A and beacon via B because a path cannot actually be formed from visited beacon A to beacon via B. can

That is, a link can be formed by further considering actual geographic information such as a shopping mall in which a visit beacon and a transit beacon are installed, or information about a walking path that a person can walk, such as a corridor.

Based on the link thus formed, one or more routes are calculated from the current location of the terminal device 300 to one or more visited beacons via one or more via beacons, and among the calculated routes, one or more paths having the minimum number of hops A route can be selected as a movement route.

However, when selecting a moving path, if the path is selected with only the number of hops, the actually selected moving path may not be the shortest path because the actual physical distance is long even though the number of hops is small.

Therefore, in order to select an actual shortest path, weights may be set for each link formed according to physical distance information between one or more transit beacons and one or more visited beacons, and a movement path may be selected by further considering the set weights.

For example, the longer the physical distance is, the higher the weight is, and the weight according to the physical distance of each link in the one or more calculated travel paths is added with the number of hops of the travel path, and the travel path with the lowest result value is the actual shortest path. , and can be selected and transmitted to the terminal device 300.

The route setting server 400 according to an embodiment of the present invention has the same configuration as a conventional web server or network server in terms of hardware. However, software includes program modules implemented through languages such as C, C++, Java, Visual Basic, and Visual C.

Meanwhile, the memory mounted in each device of the present invention stores information within the device. In one implementation, the memory is a computer readable medium. In one implementation, the memory may be a volatile memory unit, and in another implementation, the memory may be a non-volatile memory unit. In one implementation, the storage device is a computer readable medium. In various different implementations, the storage device may include, for example, a hard disk device, an optical disk device, or some other mass storage device.

In addition, the term '~ module' used in the embodiments of the present invention means a software component, and '~ module' performs certain roles. As an example, '~ module' includes components such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components, and task components, processes, functions, properties, procedures, sub It includes routines, segments of program code, drivers, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables. In addition, the functions provided within the components and '~modules' may be combined into a smaller number of components and '~modules' or further separated into additional components and '~modules'.

Although this specification and figures describe exemplary device configurations, implementations of the subject matter and functional operations described herein may be implemented in other types of digital electronic circuitry, or may be implemented in other types of digital electronic circuitry, or may include the structures disclosed herein and their structural equivalents. It may be implemented as computer software, firmware, or hardware, or a combination of one or more of them. Implementations of the subject matter described herein relate to one or more computer program products, that is to say computer program instructions encoded on a tangible program storage medium for execution by or for controlling the operation of an apparatus according to the present invention. It can be implemented as more than one module. A computer readable medium may be a machine readable storage device, a machine readable storage substrate, a memory device, a composition of matter that affects a machine readable propagating signal, or a combination of one or more of these.

The beacon device 500 refers to a device that periodically transmits a beacon signal for a normal beacon service. In this case, the beacon signal may include beacon identification information such as identification information or location information assigned to the beacon device 500, and such beacon identification information becomes a criterion for the terminal device 300 to receive the beacon service.

In the above, the structure of the system for providing a movement path according to an embodiment of the present invention has been schematically described.

Hereinafter, the configuration and operating method of the beacon service server 200 according to the present invention will be described during the implementation of the system.

Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of the beacon service server 200, Figure 3 is a flow chart for explaining the operating method of the beacon service server 200 according to the present invention.

First, referring to FIG. 2 , the beacon service server 200 according to the present invention may include a communication module 210, a storage module 230, a user interface module 250, and a control module 270.

The communication module 210 is for communicating with the route setting server 400, and the communication network for the communication module 210 to perform its function includes WLAN (Wireless LAN), Wi-Fi, Wibro, It is preferable to use a wireless communication method such as Wimax or HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access), but is not limited thereto, and depending on the system implementation method, Ethernet, xDSL (ADSL, VDSL), HFC (Hybrid A wired communication method such as Fiber Coaxial Cable, Fiber to The Curb (FTTC), or Fiber To The Home (FTTH) may be used.

In particular, in the present invention, marketing information of each store may be transmitted to the route setting server 400 through the communication module 210 .

The storage module 230 is a device for storing data, includes a main storage device and an auxiliary storage device, and stores application programs required for the functional operation of the beacon service server 200 . This storage module 230 may largely include a program area and a data area. Here, when the beacon service server 200 activates each function in response to a user's request, the corresponding application programs are executed under the control of the control module 390 to provide each function.

In particular, in the present invention, the storage module 230 may store marketing information of each store collected through the user interface module 250 .

The user interface module 250 is a device that receives a user's request or outputs information according to the user's request in order to provide the user with the information requested by the user.

The user interface module 250 may be connected to a device for receiving a user's request through a wired/wireless communication network, and may be connected to the device through a wired cable or the like.

In particular, in the present invention, marketing information for each store may be received from a manager of each store or a shopping mall or department store through the user interface module 250 .

The control module 270 may be a process device that drives an operating system (OS) and each component.

Referring to FIG. 3, looking at the operation process of the beacon service server 200 generally controlled by the control module 270, the beacon service server 200 transmits marketing information for each store through the user interface module 250. After receiving the input (S101), the inputted one or more marketing information may be transmitted to the route setting server 400 (S103).

In the above, the configuration and operating method of the beacon service server 200 according to the present invention during the implementation of the system have been described.

Hereinafter, the configuration and operating method of the terminal device 300 according to the present invention will be described.

Figure 4 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of the terminal device 300, Figure 5 is a flow chart for explaining the operating method of the terminal device 300 according to the present invention.

First, referring to FIG. 4, a terminal device 300 according to the present invention may be composed of an input module 310, an output module 330, a storage module 350, a communication module 370, and a control module 390. there is.

The input module 310 receives various information such as numbers and text information, and transfers input signals related to setting various functions and controlling functions of the terminal device 300 to the control module 390 . Also, the input module 310 may include at least one of a keypad and a touchpad that generate an input signal according to a user's touch or manipulation. At this time, the input module 310 is configured in the form of a single touch panel (or touch screen) together with the output module 330 to simultaneously perform input and display functions. In addition, the input module 310 may use any type of input means that may be developed in the future, in addition to input devices such as a keyboard, keypad, mouse, joystick, and the like. In particular, the input module 310 according to the present invention detects input information input from a user and transfers it to the control module 390 .

In particular, in the present invention, the terminal device 300 may input a user's request signal for setting destination information or a visit list through the input module 310 .

The output module 330 displays information about a series of operation states and operation results that occur while the terminal device 300 performs functions. Also, the output module 330 may display the menu of the terminal device 300 and user data input by the user. Here, the output module 390 is a liquid crystal display (LCD), a thin film transistor LCD (TFT-LCD), a light emitting diode (LED), an organic light emitting diode (OLED, Organic LED), active matrix OLED (AMOLED), Retina Display, flexible display, and 3D display. At this time, when the output module 330 is configured in the form of a touch screen, the output module 330 may perform some or all of the functions of the input module 310 .

In particular, in the present invention, the selected final movement route received from the route setting server 400 may be provided to the user through the output module 330 .

The storage module 350 is a device for storing data, includes a main storage device and an auxiliary storage device, and stores application programs necessary for the functional operation of the terminal device 300 . This storage module 350 may largely include a program area and a data area. Here, when the terminal device 300 activates each function in response to a user's request, the corresponding application programs are executed under the control of the control module 390 to provide each function.

The communication module 370 is for transmitting and receiving data with the route setting server 400 through the communication network 100 .

In addition, the communication module 370 includes an RF transmitting unit for up-converting and amplifying the frequency of a transmitted signal, an RF receiving unit for low-noise amplifying a received signal and down-converting the frequency, and a communication protocol according to a specific communication method. data processing means; and the like. The communication module 370 may include at least one of a wireless communication module (not shown) and a wired communication module (not shown). And, the wireless communication module is a component for transmitting and receiving data according to a wireless communication method, and when the terminal device 300 uses wireless communication, any one of a wireless network communication module, a wireless LAN communication module, and a wireless fan communication module is used. Thus, data may be transmitted and received with the beacon service server 400.

Here, the communication module 370 includes a first communication module 371 and a second communication module 373 .

The first communication module 371 receives a signal transmitted from the beacon device 200 . As described above, the first communication module 371 performs communication in a Personal Area Network (PAN) method including Bluetooth.

The second communication module 373 communicates with the path setting server 400 through the communication network 100 . As described above, the second communication module 373 uses wireless communication methods such as WLAN (Wireless LAN), Wi-Fi, Wibro, Wimax, and HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access). use

The control module 390 may be a process device that drives an operating system (OS) and each component.

Therefore, the control module 390 of the terminal device 300 controls the signal received through the input module 310 to be transmitted to the path setting server 400 through the communication module 370, and the communication module 370 The beacon signal received through the path setting server 400 and received information transmitted through the output module 330 can be controlled to be exposed, and such information or data can be controlled to be stored in the storage module 350.

In particular, in the present invention, the control module 390 controls the overall operation process of the terminal device 300 according to one embodiment different from the present invention. Referring to FIG. 5, the control module 390 Looking at the overall operation process of the terminal device 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention to control over, when a beacon signal is received from the beacon device 500 selected as the departure beacon (S201), the received beacon signal Beacon identification information may be transmitted to the route setting server 400 (S203).

At this time, user setting information set by the user's request, such as a visit list, may be transmitted together to the path setting server 400 (S205).

In addition, the route setting server 400 may receive the selected movement route and provide it to the user (S207).

As described above, the operation of the terminal device 300 according to the above-described embodiment may be implemented by being controlled by the control module 390 of the terminal device 300 .

In the above, the configuration and operation method of the terminal device 300 according to the present invention has been described.

Hereinafter, the configuration and operating method of the route setting server 400 according to the present invention will be described.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of the route setting server 400 according to the present invention, and Fig. 7 explains the operation process of the route setting server 400 according to one embodiment and another embodiment of the present invention. It is a flow chart for

Referring to FIG. 6 , the route setting server 400 may include a communication module 410 , a storage module 430 , and a control module 450 .

The communication module 410 is for communicating with the terminal device 300 and the beacon service server 200, and the communication network for the communication module 410 to perform functions is WLAN (Wireless LAN), Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi) , It is preferable to use a wireless communication method such as Wibro, Wimax, HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access), but is not limited thereto, and depending on the system implementation method, Ethernet, xDSL (ADSL, A wired communication method such as VDSL), Hybrid Fiber Coaxial Cable (HFC), Fiber to The Curb (FTTC), or Fiber To The Home (FTTH) may be used.

In particular, in the present invention, the beacon service server 200 may receive input marketing information from the beacon service server 200 through the communication module 410 .

In addition, in the present invention, beacon identification information included in the beacon signal received by the terminal device 300 from the terminal device 300 through the communication module 410, departure point, destination setting information, visit list, etc. can be received, The selected movement path information may be transmitted to the terminal device 300 .

The storage module 430 is a device for storing data, includes a main storage device and an auxiliary storage device, and stores application programs required for the function operation of the route setting server 400 . This storage module 430 may largely include a program area and a data area. Here, when the route setting server 400 activates each function in response to a user's request, the corresponding application programs are executed under the control of the control module 450 to provide each function.

In particular, in the present invention, the storage module 430 may store marketing information received from the beacon service server 200 or directly input by the path setting server 400 in the form of a marketing collection information DB 431, and stored in each store. Information about the corresponding beacon device 500 may be stored in the form of a beacon information DB 433 .

Here, the beacon information DB 433 may map and store location information, identification information, and various information about the store corresponding to the beacon device 500 of the beacon device 500 corresponding to each store, and such store information includes a brand , store name, type of product sold, business hours, event information such as a discount event, stock information of a product sold, location information of the corresponding store, and the like may be included.

Using the information stored in the beacon information DB 433, the route setting server 400 extracts at least one store to be visited by the user, and between the visit beacon corresponding to the extracted store and the visit beacon and the terminal device 300. You can extract transit beacons in .

Also, the storage module 430 may store physical distance information between the plurality of beacon devices 300 in the form of a physical distance information DB 435 .

When selecting a movement path, this physical distance information may be used to add weights to the calculated movement paths.

The control module 450 may be a process device that drives an operating system (OS) and each component.

Referring to FIG. 7, looking at an embodiment of the operation process of the route setting server 400 generally controlled by the control module 450, the route setting server 400 collects marketing information for one or more stores (S301 ).

At this time, the marketing information may be collected from the manager of a shopping mall or each store by the route setting server 400, but the beacon service server 200 transmits marketing information about one or more stores input by the beacon service server 200. It can also be received and collected from.

And when receiving beacon identification information corresponding to the beacon signal transmitted from the beacon device 500 selected as the departure beacon from the terminal device 300 (S303), one or more stores that the user will visit based on the collected marketing information It is possible to extract and set the order of visiting the extracted stores (S305 to S307).

Here, the departure beacon means the beacon device 500 that is the starting point of the movement path calculated by the route setting server 400, and sets the beacon device 500 installed at the entrance of a shopping mall, department store, etc. as a departure beacon, When the terminal device 300 approaches the departure beacon and the terminal device 300 receives a beacon signal from the departure beacon, the terminal device 300 transmits identification information corresponding to the received beacon signal to the route setting server 400. When received from the terminal device 300, one or more stores to be visited by the user and a visiting order may be extracted.

In addition, without setting a departure beacon in advance, the route setting server 400 collects beacon identification information corresponding to one or more beacon signals received while the terminal device 300 is moving in real time, and the collected beacon identification information A starting beacon can be selected from among the beacon devices 500 that have transmitted one or more beacon signals as a reference. Among the beacon signals received by the terminal device 300, the beacon signal having the largest received signal strength value is the terminal device 300 and the beacon signal. Since it can be assumed that the signal is transmitted from the nearest beacon device 500, the beacon device 500 that transmits the beacon signal having the largest received signal strength value may be selected as the starting beacon.

And since the departure beacon will be around the terminal device 300, the location of the departure beacon can be estimated as the current location of the terminal device 300.

In addition, the path setting server 400 may receive a visit list including information on one or more stores set by the user from the terminal device 300, and further consider the information included in the received visit list to allow the user It is possible to extract and set one or more stores to visit and the order of visits.

When the route setting server 400 extracts one or more stores and sets a visiting order in the above-described method, one or more beacon devices 500 corresponding to the extracted one or more stores are extracted as visiting beacons, and the extracted visited beacons And one or more beacon devices 500 located between them based on the current location of the terminal device 300 may be extracted as via beacons (S309 to S311).

Here, the visit beacon refers to the beacon device 500 corresponding to the store that the user should visit according to the collected marketing information, and the transit beacon is on the path that the user must go through to reach the store corresponding to the visit beacon. It may mean the located beacon device 500.

In addition, the current location of the terminal device 300 can estimate the location of the departure beacon as the current location of the terminal device 300. The method for selecting a departure beacon is to set a specific beacon device as a departure beacon in advance, or The path setting server 400 collects the beacon identification information included in the one or more beacon signals received by 300 from the terminal device 300, and the one or more beacons are based on the beacon identification information included in the collected beacon signals. A starting beacon may be selected from beacon devices that have transmitted signals.

At this time, the beacon device 500 corresponding to the beacon identification information having the largest received signal strength value among the beacon identification information included in the one or more beacon signals received by the terminal device 300, that is, the terminal with the highest strength The beacon device 500 that transmits the beacon signal received by the device 300 may be selected as the starting beacon.

If one or more visited beacons and one or more transit beacons are extracted through steps S309 to S311, a link connecting the extracted one or more visited beacons and one or more transit beacons may be formed (S313).

At this time, a link may be formed by further considering geographic information of the visited beacon and the transit beacon.

That is, a link may be formed based on an actual user's travel route by referring to internal indoor map information of shopping malls, department stores, etc. in which visit beacons and transit beacons are installed.

For example, if there is an obstacle such as a wall between Visit A beacon and Via B beacon, so that the user cannot move from Visit A beacon to Via B beacon in real life, then no link is formed between Visit A beacon and Via B beacon. don't

Then, based on the formed link, one or more paths to reach one or more visited beacons from the current location of the terminal device 300 via one or more transit beacons are calculated (S315), and among the calculated paths, the smallest hop ) number is selected as the movement path (S317), and the selected movement route information can be transmitted to the terminal device 300 (S319).

When selecting a moving path based on the calculated path, a weight is set for each link according to the extracted physical distance information between one or more visited beacons and one or more transit beacons, and the moving path can be selected by further considering the set weight. .

Even if the number of hops is small, if the physical distance between beacon devices is actually long, since the selected travel path may not be the shortest travel path, it may be necessary to reflect actual physical distance information.

Therefore, the control module 450 of the route setting information 400 sets a weight for each link formed based on the physical distance information stored in the storage module 430, and applies a larger weight as the actual physical distance increases. When the total number of hops of the movement path and the weight set for each link are added, the path that becomes the minimum is selected as the movement path and transmitted to the terminal device 300 .

As described above, the overall operation process of the route setting server 400 may be controlled and implemented by the control module 450 of the route setting server 400 .

The configuration and operation method of the route setting server 400 according to the present invention has been described above.

Hereinafter, various embodiments according to the method for providing a movement path according to the present invention will be described.

8 to 10 are exemplary diagrams for explaining various embodiments according to the method for providing a movement path according to the present invention.

8 shows information about one or more stores extracted based on the marketing information collected by the path setting server 400 and information about a set visit order transmitted to the terminal device 300 and displayed.

Referring to FIG. 8, the route setting server 400 extracts one or more stores based on the collected marketing information, and in FIGS. this was extracted

In addition, in FIG. 8 (a), the order of visits is set based on the event end point, and the A store where the event ends at 12:00 is set as the first visited store, and the B store where the event ends at 15:00 is the second visited store. , and store C, where the event ends on the same day, is set as the third visited store.

8 (b) sets the order of visits based on the order of the greatest benefits of the event, setting store A with a 40% discount as the first store to visit, and store B with a 30% discount as the second store to visit, , store C, which presents a coupon of 10,000 won when signing up for membership, is set as the third visited store.

As shown in FIG. 8, when visiting stores are extracted and the order of visits is set, the path setting server 400 extracts visited beacons and transit beacons to form a link, calculates a path based on the formed link, and calculates one or more of the calculated paths. A movement route may be selected based on the number of hops among routes, and the selected movement route may be transmitted to the terminal device 300 .

This will be examined in detail through FIGS. 9 to 10 .

Referring first to FIG. 9, four beacon devices A, B, C, and D are extracted as visiting beacons based on marketing information, and beacon devices 1 to 4 between the beacon devices and B, C, and D beacon devices was extracted with a diesel beacon.

And, if the set visit order is 'A-D-B-C', while visiting the store in the order of 'A-D-B-C', the movement path having the minimum number of hops is 'A-2-D-B-C', 'A-1-D-B-C' , three movement paths of 'A-3-D-B-C' are calculated.

Accordingly, the route setting server 400 may transmit all or part of the three calculated movement routes to the terminal device 300 .

In addition, a weight value according to physical distance information between each beacon device may be set, and a movement path having a smaller total result obtained by summing the number of hops and the weight value may be selected and transmitted to the terminal device 300 in consideration of the set weight value.

And, if the path of 'A-2-3-D-B-C' has more hops than the calculated three paths, but the total result value of adding the weight and the number of hops is smaller than the calculated three paths, 'A- 2-3-D-B-C' may be selected and transmitted to the terminal device 300.

In addition, a link connecting the A, B, C, and D beacon devices and beacon devices 1 to 4 is formed. It can be formed considering geographic information.

That is, in FIG. 6, although the link between the 3rd beacon and the 4th beacon is formed, the link between the 4th beacon and the D beacon is not formed. Since the user cannot walk from the location where the 4th beacon is installed to the location where the D beacon is installed, the link between the 4th beacon and the D beacon may not be formed.

10 is a diagram for explaining a link formed by further considering actual geographic information.

Referring to FIG. 10, the asterisk indicates the current location of the terminal device 300.

Then, since the beacon device 200 closest to the terminal device 300 is the A beacon device, and therefore, the received signal strength value of the beacon signal received from the A beacon device is the largest, the A beacon device is the starting beacon. can be set

In addition, the beacon device A may be a preset starting beacon.

In addition, the visited beacons extracted by the visit list are A, B, C, and D beacon devices 200, and the beacon devices 200 located between the visited beacons and the terminal device 300 and extracted as transit beacons are 1 to 100 beacons. It is the number 6 beacon device.

In addition, it is assumed that the store corresponding to the D beacon device closest to the elevator is set as the last visited store so that the user can move on the elevator 930 after shopping, and the visit order is set to 'A-B-C-D'.

Then, among the paths that can visit B and C from the beacon device A and go to the beacon device D, the paths with the minimum number of hops are 'A-1-B-4-C-6-D' and 'A-2-B' Two paths of -4-C-6-D' can be calculated, and all or part of the two paths can be selected as a movement path and transmitted to the terminal device 300.

In addition, as a result of adding the weights according to the physical distance information among the two routes, the sum of the weights of the movement routes of 'A-1-B-4-C-6-D' is '12' and 'A- If the sum of the weights of the movement paths of '2-B-4-C-6-D' is '10', the terminal device 300 selects the movement path of 'A-2-B-4-C-6-D' can be provided to

On the other hand, if the link is not formed from the A beacon device to the B beacon device, there is an escalator 910 between the A beacon device and the B beacon device, so that the actual user can move directly on foot between the A beacon device and the B beacon device. Because there is no path.

That is, actual geographic information between the A beacon device and the B beacon device is further considered.

In the above, various embodiments according to the method for providing a movement path of the present invention have been looked at.

11 is a diagram illustrating an operating environment of a device for providing a movement route in a movement route providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 11 and the following discussion are intended to provide a brief, general description of a suitable computing environment in which the present invention may be implemented.

Although not required, the invention may be described in terms of computer executable instructions, such as program modules being executed by a computer system.

Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Computer-executable instructions, associated data structures, and program modules represent examples of program code means for carrying out the inventive acts disclosed herein.

Referring to FIG. 11 , an exemplary computing system embodying the present invention couples a processing unit 11, a system memory 12, and various system components including the system memory 12 to the processing unit 11. It includes a computing device of the type that includes a system bus (10).

Processing unit 11 may execute computer-executable instructions designed to implement features of the invention.

System bus 10 may be any of several types of bus structures including a local bus, a peripheral bus, and a memory bus or memory controller using any of a variety of bus architectures. The system memory 12 includes a read only memory (ROM) 12a and a random access memory (RAM) 12b.

A basic input/output system (BIOS) 13a containing basic routines that help transfer information between components within a computing system, such as during startup, may be typically stored in ROM 12a.

The computing system may include storage means, for example a hard disk drive 15 that reads information from or writes information to a hard hard disk, reads information from or writes information to a magnetic disk. a magnetic disk drive 16 for recording, and an optical disk drive 17 for reading information from or writing information to an optical disk such as, for example, a CD-ROM or other optical media. .

The hard disk drive 15, magnetic disk drive 16, and optical disk drive 17 are connected to the system by a hard disk drive interface 18, a magnetic disk drive-interface 19, and an optical drive interface 20, respectively. connected to the bus 10.

In addition, the computing system may further include an external memory 21 as a storage means. The external memory 21 may be connected to the system bus 10 through an input/output interface 24 .

The drives described above and associated computer readable media read and written by the drives provide non-volatile storage of computer executable instructions, data structures, program modules and other data.

The exemplary environment described herein exemplifies a hard disk 15, a magnetic disk 16, and an optical disk 17, but other than magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, DVDs, Bernoulli cartridges, and RAM. Other types of computer readable media for storing data may be used, including ROMs, ROMs, and the like.

comprising an operating system (13b), one or more application programs (13c), other program modules (13d), and one or more program modules including program data (13c), which are loaded and executed by the processing unit (11). The program code means may be stored in the hard disk 15, magnetic disk 16, optical disk 17, ROM 12a or RAM 12b.

In addition, the computing system may receive commands and information from the user through other input devices 22 such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a microphone, a joy stick, a game pad, a scanner, and the like. These input devices 22 may be connected to the processing unit 11 through an input/output interface 24 connected to the system bus 10 .

The input/output interface 24 is a very common interface such as, for example, a serial port interface, a PS/2 interface, a parallel port interface, a USB interface, an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394 interface (i.e., a FireWire interface). Any of a variety of different interfaces can be logically represented, or even a combination of different interfaces can be logically represented.

In addition, the computing system to which the present invention is applied may further include a display device 26 such as a monitor or LCD or an audio device 27 such as a speaker or microphone, which is provided through a video/audio interface 25. It is connected to the system bus 10.

Other peripheral output devices (not shown) such as, for example, speakers and printers may also be connected to the computer system. The video/audio interface unit 25 may include a High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), a Graphics Device Interface (GDI), and the like.

Further, a computing system implementing the present invention is connectable to a network, such as, for example, an office-wide or enterprise-wide computer network, a home network, an intranet, and/or the Internet.

The computer system may exchange data with external sources, such as, for example, remote computer systems, remote applications, and/or remote databases over such networks.

To this end, the computing system to which the present invention is applied includes a network interface 28 for receiving data from and/or transmitting data to external sources.

In the present invention, such a computing system may transmit and receive information to and from a device located in a remote location through a network interface 28 .

For example, when the computing system means the terminal device 300, information may be transmitted and received with the beacon device 500 or the route setting server 400 through the network interface 28. On the other hand, when the computing system refers to the beacon device 500 or the route setting server 400, information may be transmitted and received with the terminal device 300 through the network interface 28.

Network interface 28 may be represented by a logical combination of one or more software and/or hardware modules, such as, for example, a network interface card and a corresponding Network Driver Interface Specification (“NDIS”) stack.

Similarly, the computer system receives data from or transmits data to an external source via the input/output interface 24. I/O interface 24 may be connected to a modem 23 (eg, a standard modem, cable modem, or digital subscriber line ("DSL") modem) through which an external source may be connected. It may receive data from and/or transmit data to an external source.

Although Fig. 11 shows an operating environment suitable for the present invention, the principles of the present invention may be employed in any system capable of implementing the principles of the present invention, with suitable modifications if necessary. The environment depicted in Figure 11 is illustrative only and does not represent even a small part of the wide variety of environments in which the principles of the present invention may be implemented.

In addition, various information generated during execution of a process for validating a beacon signal in the beacon service system of the present invention may be stored and accessed in any computer readable medium related to a computing system.

For example, some of these program modules and some of the associated program data may be stored in system memory 12 by operating system 13b, application programs 13c, program modules 13d, and/or program data. (13e).

Additionally, when a mass storage device such as a hard disk is connected to the computing system, these program modules and related program data may be stored in the mass storage device. In a network environment, program modules or parts thereof related to the present invention may be stored in a remote computer system connected through the modem 23 or the network interface 25 of the input/output interface 24.

Execution of these modules may be performed in a distributed environment as described above.

As set forth above, while this specification contains many specific implementation details, they should not be construed as limiting as to the scope of any invention or claimables, but rather as may be specific to a particular embodiment of a particular invention. It should be understood as a description of the features. Certain features that are described in this specification in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment.

Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments individually or in any suitable subcombination. Further, while features may operate in particular combinations and are initially depicted as such claimed, one or more features from a claimed combination may in some cases be excluded from that combination, and the claimed combination is a subcombination. or sub-combination variations.

Similarly, while actions are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, it should not be construed as requiring that those actions be performed in the specific order shown or in the sequential order, or that all depicted actions must be performed to obtain desired results.

In certain cases, multitasking and parallel processing can be advantageous. Further, the separation of various system components in the embodiments described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all embodiments, and the program components and systems described may generally be integrated together into a single software product or packaged into multiple software products. You have to understand that you can.

Specific embodiments of the subject matter described herein have been described. Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims. For example, the actions recited in the claims can be performed in a different order and still achieve desirable results. As an example, the processes depicted in the accompanying drawings do not necessarily require the particular depicted order or sequential order in order to obtain desirable results. In certain implementations, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous.

The present description presents the best mode of the invention and provides examples to illustrate the invention and to enable those skilled in the art to make and use the invention. The specification thus prepared does not limit the invention to the specific terms presented. Therefore, although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the above-described examples, a person skilled in the art may make alterations, changes, and modifications to the present examples without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be determined by the described embodiments, but by the claims.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing a beacon-based indoor movement path, and more particularly, to collecting marketing information of each store in a certain area, such as a shopping mall or department store, and establishing a link between a plurality of beacons installed in the store in the certain area A method and apparatus for calculating a movement path to reach a destination based on the number of hops of a formed link and providing the calculated path to a user.

According to the present invention, marketing information of a plurality of stores in a certain area such as a shopping mall, department store, etc. is collected, and based on this, a visit beacon and a transit beacon located between the visit beacon and a terminal device are extracted to form a link, and the formed link Based on this, a beacon device installed in a store located in a shopping mall, department store, etc. It is possible to provide an efficient indoor movement path to the user.

In addition, by collecting marketing information of multiple stores, extracting stores to be visited by the user based on this, determining the order of visiting the extracted stores, and calculating a route according to the order of visits, the user can enjoy reasonable consumption. It leads to satisfactory shopping, and it can bring about an increase in sales and marketing effect from the point of view of the store.

Therefore, the present invention can contribute to the development of the beacon service industry and the indoor navigation industry through the indoor movement route providing method, and has industrial applicability because it is not only commercially available or commercially viable, but also realistically and clearly practicable. .

100: communication network 200: beacon service server 300: terminal device
400: route setting server 500: beacon device

Claims (18)

collecting marketing information about one or more stores by a route setting server;
extracting one or more stores to be visited by the user based on the marketing information;
setting a visiting order of one or more stores to be visited by the user;
extracting one or more beacon devices corresponding to the extracted one or more stores as visited beacons;
Selecting a beacon device that transmits a beacon signal having the largest received signal strength value among one or more beacon signals received by the terminal device as a starting beacon;
estimating the location of the selected starting beacon as the current location of the terminal device;
Extracting one or more beacon devices located between the extracted visited beacon and the current location of the terminal device as a via beacon;
Forming a link connecting the visited beacon and the one or more transit beacons;
setting a weight for each of the links according to physical distance information between the extracted one or more transit beacons and the one or more visited beacons;
calculating one or more routes to reach the one or more visited beacons via the one or more via beacons from the current location of the terminal device based on the formed link and the set visit sequence; and
selecting, as a movement path, a path having a minimum value among result values obtained by adding the number of hops and a weight value set according to the physical distance information from among the one or more calculated paths;
A method for providing a movement path comprising: delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete A communication module for transmitting and receiving data with a terminal device; and
a storage module for storing physical distance information between the extracted one or more transit beacons and one or more visited beacons; and
Based on the marketing information about the one or more stores collected through the communication module, one or more stores to be visited by the user are extracted, a visiting order is set, and one or more beacon devices corresponding to the extracted one or more stores are visited by a beacon. , and a beacon device that transmits a beacon signal having the largest received signal strength value among one or more beacon signals received by the terminal device is selected as a starting beacon, and the location of the selected starting beacon is determined as the current position of the terminal device. location, extracts one or more beacon devices located between the extracted visited beacon and the current location of the terminal device as a via beacon, and forms a link connecting the visited beacon and the via beacon, Based on the formed link and the set visit sequence, one or more routes to reach the one or more visited beacons from the current location of the terminal device via the one or more via beacons are calculated, and among the one or more calculated routes, the physical a control module that selects a path having a minimum value among values obtained by adding the number of hops and a weight value set according to distance information as a movement path;
A routing server that includes a . delete delete delete delete delete delete delete

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