KR20140011219A - Method and system for collecting proximity data - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a method for collecting proximity data between mobile terminal users, which includes the steps of: receiving a sound signal transmitted from a sound signal output device of a second mobile terminal by a first mobile terminal; extracting a user identifier of the second mobile terminal from the sound signal received by the first mobile terminal; and forming the proximity data including the user identifier of the second mobile terminal. The proximity data shows that the users of the first and second mobile terminals exist within a preset local distance. [Reference numerals] (110) Sound signal input unit; (120) Sound signal process unit; (130) Sound signal output unit; (140) Memory; (150) Storage unit; (160) Communications unit; (AA) Proximity data management unit

Description

Method and system for collecting proximity data

The present invention relates to proximity data collection methods and systems, and more particularly, to a method and system for acquiring and collecting proximity data for users of a mobile terminal.

As the spread of personal mobile terminals and the Internet is expanding, Social Network Service (SNS) is attracting attention. A social network service is a service that enables users to form a human network on the Web. Especially, as the spread of smart phones that can easily use wireless Internet has been expanded, the social network service is getting more attention.

As social network services become more diverse, methods of measuring the amount of social familiarity by measuring the time, frequency, facing places, etc. of people with mobile terminals in the physical space and extracting information therefrom are being developed. For example, Patent Registration No. 10-1129808 discloses a method for recommending a human network as a frequency and a facing history through a short distance measurement.

However, this conventional technology provides a service based on the location information using the communication with the counterpart terminal or the GPS using the high frequency wireless communication of the mobile terminal. For example, there is a limit to how information can be grasped according to the policies of a conventional mobile communication terminal, a mobile terminal manufacturer, or an operating system provider on a mobile terminal.

- When using GPS, the personal location information of individual users must be sent to the server.

- In short-range wireless communication such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, the hardware address is always included in the wireless communication packet and can be used as the user ID. However, collecting such information is an illegal act that violates the current personal location information law.

- For short-range wireless communication such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, mobile apps implemented on Apple's iOS are not able to turn on and off the hardware, so users have to adjust the power.

In the case of Bluetooth, the function for identifying peripheral devices can be used to locate nearby mobile terminals, but the operating system notifies the user of the operation of perceiving such peripheral devices with a pop-up menu, which inconveniences the user. That is, every five minutes, the notification is delivered directly to the user from the operating system, which causes a lot of inconvenience.

- In case of WiFi, you can receive network name as user ID instead of hardware address, but you can not change the transmission name.

- For Wi-Fi Direct, both Android and iOS prohibited mobile apps from turning on and off the hardware. Therefore, it is troublesome for the user to adjust the power individually.

Therefore, in order to avoid such a restriction, there is a need for a technique capable of providing information indicating that two terminals are close to each other by communicating with nearby mobile terminals without using high-frequency wireless communication hardware.

According to one or more exemplary embodiments of the inventive concept there is provided a proximity data collection method capable of knowing the degree of proximity of users of a mobile terminal without using hardware and / or software for high frequency wireless communication of the mobile terminal, A terminal may be provided.

According to one or more exemplary embodiments of the inventive concept, a server may be provided that collects proximity data to determine the degree of proximity of users of the mobile terminal.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the inventive concept, there is provided a method of collecting proximity data between mobile terminal users, comprising: receiving a sound signal originating from a sound signal output device of a second mobile terminal ; Extracting a user identifier of the second mobile terminal from the sound signal received by the first mobile terminal; And constructing proximity data including a user identifier of the second mobile terminal, wherein the proximity data includes data indicating that a user of the first mobile terminal and a user of the second mobile terminal are within a predetermined distance A method for collecting proximity data is disclosed.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the inventive concept, there is provided a method for a server to collect proximity data between a plurality of terminal users, the method comprising: receiving proximity data from a first mobile terminal; And storing the received proximity data in a DB server communicating with the server or the server, wherein the proximity data includes a user of the first mobile terminal and a user of the second mobile terminal within a predetermined distance Wherein the user identifier of the first mobile terminal comprises a user identifier of the first mobile terminal and a user identifier of the second mobile terminal, wherein the user identifier of the second mobile terminal comprises: The method comprising the steps of: acquiring the proximity data;

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present inventive concept, there is provided a mobile terminal comprising: a first mobile terminal (hereinafter referred to as " first mobile terminal "), A sound signal input device capable of receiving an acoustic signal transmitted from an output device; An acoustic signal processor for processing the received acoustic signal to extract a user identifier of the second mobile terminal; And a proximity data management unit for constructing proximity data including a user identifier of the second mobile terminal, wherein the proximity data indicates that the user of the first mobile terminal and the user of the second mobile terminal exist within a predetermined distance And the data is data representing the mobile terminal.

According to one or more illustrative embodiments of the inventive concept, proximity data may be collected that indicates the proximity of users of the mobile terminal, without using hardware and / or software for high frequency wireless communication of the mobile terminal.

1 is a schematic illustration of a system for proximity data collection according to an exemplary embodiment of the inventive concept,
Figure 2 is a schematic block diagram of a mobile terminal according to one embodiment;
3 is a diagram schematically illustrating an operation in which a mobile terminal originates a user ID according to an embodiment;
4 is a diagram schematically illustrating an operation in which a mobile terminal receives a user ID according to an embodiment;
5 is a flow diagram illustrating a step in which a mobile terminal receiving a user ID processes proximity data according to an embodiment;
6 is a flow diagram schematically illustrating an operation in which a server receives proximity data according to one embodiment;
7 is a diagram schematically illustrating an operation in which a mobile terminal originates a user ID according to an alternative embodiment,
8 is a diagram illustrating proximity data stored on a server in accordance with one embodiment, and
9 is a flow diagram schematically illustrating an operation in which a server reallocates a user ID according to an embodiment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein but may be embodied in other forms. Rather, the embodiments disclosed herein are provided so that the disclosure can be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

In this specification, when an element is referred to as being on another element, it means that it can be formed directly on the other element, or a third element may be placed therebetween.

Further, when it is mentioned that an element (or component) is operated or executed on another element (or component) ON, the element (or component) Or may be operated or executed in an environment, or through interaction with other elements (or components) either directly or indirectly.

It is to be understood that when an element, component, apparatus, or system is referred to as comprising a program or a component made up of software, it is not explicitly stated that the element, component, (E.g., memory, CPU, etc.) or other programs or software (e.g., drivers necessary to drive an operating system or hardware, etc.)

It is also to be understood that the elements (or components) may be implemented in software, hardware, or any form of software and hardware, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. In the present specification, the singular form includes plural forms unless otherwise specified in the specification. As used herein, the terms "comprises" and / or "comprising" do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other elements.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In describing the specific embodiments below, various specific details have been set forth in order to explain the invention in greater detail and to assist in understanding it. However, those skilled in the art can understand that the present invention can be used without these various specific details. In some cases, it is mentioned in advance that parts of the invention which are commonly known in the description of the invention and which are not highly related to the invention are not described in order to prevent confusion in explaining the invention without cause.

1 is a schematic illustration of a system for proximity data collection according to an exemplary embodiment of the inventive concept.

Referring to FIG. 1, the system may include at least one mobile terminal 10, a network, and a server 30. In the present system, a plurality of mobile terminals 10 can communicate with the server 30 via the network 20.

The mobile terminal 10 may be one of portable mobile terminals, for example, a smart phone, a tablet PC, a notebook computer, or the like. The mobile terminal 10 communicates with the server 30 via a wired and / or wireless network 20.

The network 20 may be, for example, a mobile communication network and / or a wired / wireless data communication network, and the server 30 is a device that receives and manages proximity data from the mobile terminal 10 according to an embodiment.

In this embodiment, the mobile terminal 10 can originate a predetermined identifier. The term "identifier" in the description and claims of the present application represents information identifying a user who uses the mobile terminal with another user, hereinafter referred to as a "user ID " The user ID may be any number that is uniquely assigned to each user. For example, a server 30 for collecting proximity data according to the present invention or a service provider providing a service based on the collected data may assign an arbitrary identifier to each user, . In the case where the user ID is continuously disclosed and the mapping between the specific user and the user ID can be inferred, the server 90 for collecting the proximity information according to the present invention or the service provider providing the service based on the collected information May periodically or non-periodically assign a new identifier to each user, and the assigned identifier may be a user ID.

Each mobile terminal 10 can send out a user ID. In a preferred embodiment, this signal is emitted in a broadcast manner via a sound signal output device (e.g., a speaker) embedded in the mobile terminal 10. [ For example, the signal can be transmitted by including the user ID in a signal having an arbitrary frequency within a frequency band that can be generated by the sound signal output apparatus.

In a specific embodiment, if the acoustic signal output device is, for example, a speaker, the speaker may generate a signal having a frequency in the audible frequency band ("audible frequency signal & . That is, when a frequency band lower than the audible frequency band (approximately 20 Hz to 20 KHz) is referred to as an "ultra low frequency band" and a frequency band higher than the audible frequency is referred to as an "ultrasonic band" Signal ") or a signal having a frequency in the ultrasonic band (" ultrasonic signal "). Accordingly, the mobile terminal 10 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention can transmit the user ID to the outside by loading the user ID in any one of a very low frequency signal, an audible frequency signal, and an ultrasound signal.

In a preferred embodiment, the signal including the user ID is used to avoid confusion with an audio frequency signal (e.g., voice, music sound, etc.) that users may hear in everyday life and / It is preferable that the signal is a signal in a frequency band outside the band, that is, a very low frequency signal or an ultrasonic signal. However, it goes without saying that an audible frequency signal may be used according to the embodiment.

In one embodiment, the mobile terminal 10 can originate a signal including the user ID at all times or at predetermined intervals, or according to preset scheduling. At this time, the calling time according to the predetermined period or the scheduling is not particularly limited to a specific period or time. In an alternative embodiment, it is also possible for the user to manually adjust the on / off of origination.

In such an arrangement, the mobile terminal 10 is free to move in physical space and can intentionally or unintentionally be in close proximity to one or more other mobile terminals 10. For example, it may be assumed that a user having the first mobile terminal M1 meets and talks with a user having the second mobile terminal M2. Or a user having the first mobile terminal M1 is visiting the same booth of a specific exhibition hall with the same interests as the user having the second mobile terminal M2. In such situations, if the first mobile terminal M1 is sending a signal including its own user ID as described above via a sound signal output device (e.g., a speaker), the second mobile terminal M2 may transmit its own sound And can receive this signal through a signal input device (e.g., a microphone). In this case, if the signal is not an audible frequency signal but a very low frequency signal or an ultrasonic signal, the user will be able to talk without being disturbed by the sending / receiving operation of such a signal.

On the other hand, the second mobile terminal M2 receiving the signal of the first mobile terminal M1 can extract the user ID of the first mobile terminal M1 from this signal, Quot; proximity data "according to the invention.

For purposes of the present description, the term "proximity data" as used in the description and claims of the present application is data indicating that users of mobile terminals are within a predetermined distance, for example, ID and proximity time information.

In the present embodiment, the "proximity time information" may include a time (reception time) at which a user of the two mobile terminals first receives a signal within a predetermined distance, and additionally, End time) and / or a time interval (approximate duration) from the reception time to the end time.

Also, in one embodiment, the proximity data may further include data for physical locations in which the two mobile terminals are proximate. In this case, the physical location may be measured by a conventional location measurement method using, for example, a GPS or a wireless access point (AP), but the scope of the present invention is not limited to such existing location measurement methods.

In the present embodiment, the second mobile terminal M2 extracting the user ID of the first mobile terminal M1 receives proximity data including its own user ID, the user ID of the first mobile terminal M1, To the server 30.

The server 30 can receive and store proximity data generated between a plurality of mobile terminals 10 and analyze and process proximity data as needed to generate information related to a social network service.

For example, the server 30 uses the proximity data received from the plurality of mobile terminals 10 to infer proximity between users of the respective mobile terminals 10, and constructs data indicating proximity between the users And can be stored and managed.

That is, the server 30 uses at least one of the proximity data received from the first mobile terminal and the proximity data received from the second mobile terminal to infer the proximity between the user of the first mobile terminal and the user of the second mobile terminal , And data indicating proximity to these users can be constructed and stored and managed.

The server 30 also receives proximity data (referred to as 'first proximity data') received from the first mobile terminal, proximity data (referred to as 'second proximity data') received from the second mobile terminal, Proximity between users of these mobile terminals can be inferred by using proximity data (referred to as 'third proximity data') received from the mobile terminal, and data representing proximity can be constructed and stored and managed. For example, where the first proximity data is data indicative of proximity between the first mobile terminal and the second mobile terminal, the second proximity data indicates proximity between the second mobile terminal and the third mobile terminal, the third proximity data Assuming that the first mobile terminal and the second mobile terminal represent proximity between the third mobile terminal and the second mobile terminal, the server 30 uses the first proximity data, the second proximity data, and the third proximity data, The proximity of the first mobile terminal and the third mobile terminal can be determined by determining whether or not the first mobile terminal and the third mobile terminal exist within a predetermined short distance.

For example, in a space close to each other, the first mobile terminal, the second mobile terminal, and the third mobile terminal coexist, but for some reason the first mobile terminal may transmit a wireless communication signal broadcast from the third mobile terminal (Including the user ID of the second mobile terminal) is not received from the first mobile terminal and the broadcasting wireless communication signal (the signal includes the user ID of the second mobile terminal) is received from the second mobile terminal, The server 30 indicates that proximity data between the second mobile terminal and the third mobile terminal can be used to approximate proximity between the first mobile terminal and the third mobile terminal.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, although the server 30 has been described, it is also possible that each mobile terminal collects and manages proximity data instead of transmitting proximity data to the server 30 It is possible. That is, each of the mobile terminals may acquire, store, and manage proximity data, infer proximity between users, or may be used for applications using proximity data.

For example, when the embodiment of FIG. 1 is implemented without the server 30, each mobile terminal can perform the operations of steps S602 to S604 in FIG. 6, respectively.

In the present embodiment, when the second mobile terminal M2 extracts the user ID of the first mobile terminal M1 and when the first mobile terminal M1 extracts the user ID of the second mobile terminal M2 The proximity data has the same meaning. That is, in order to collect the proximity data, the directionality of which one to transmit and which to receive does not matter much.

In the present embodiment, if the user of the first mobile terminal M1 and the user of the second mobile terminal M2 are in a state where the user ID of the first mobile terminal M1 is extracted by the second mobile terminal M2 and vice versa It can be inferred that it is in the vicinity. At the same time, when the third mobile terminal M3 extracts the user ID of the second mobile terminal M2 and vice versa, the fact that the user of the second mobile terminal M1 is close to the user of the third mobile terminal M3 Can be inferred. In this case, it can be inferred that the user of the first mobile terminal Ml and the user of the third mobile terminal M3 are very close to each other, although not given or received the actual user ID.

Thus, whether the user of the first mobile terminal M1 and the user of the third mobile terminal M3 are close or not, respectively, with or without the actual user ID can be determined, for example, by the server 30 will be.

Hereinafter, the mobile terminal 10 according to the embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 2 to FIG.

2 is a schematic functional block diagram of a mobile terminal according to one embodiment. 2, the mobile terminal 10 includes a sound signal input unit 110, a sound signal processing unit 120, a sound signal output unit 130, a memory 140, a storage unit 150, and a communication unit 160, . ≪ / RTI >

For purposes of the present description, the term "acoustic signal" used in the description and claims of the present specification means a signal covering an audio frequency signal, a very low frequency signal, and an ultrasonic signal, The term "sound wave signal" shall be used in the same sense as it is.

The acoustic signal input unit 110 is a device for receiving an acoustic signal including an audible frequency signal such as a human voice or music sound, and may be a microphone, for example. The sound signal output unit 130 is a device for outputting a sound signal and may be, for example, a speaker.

The acoustic signal processing unit 120 may process the acoustic signal input from the acoustic signal input unit 110 and / or process the acoustic data to be output to the acoustic signal output unit 130, ), Digital-to-analog converters (DA converters), digital signal processors (DSPs), compressors, decompressors, and the like.

In one embodiment, the sound signal processing unit 120 may further include a modulation function for loading the user ID of the mobile terminal 10 into one of a very low frequency signal, an acoustic wave signal, or an ultrasonic signal of a predetermined frequency. In another embodiment, the acoustic signal processing unit 120 may further include a demodulating function for demodulating a very low frequency signal, an acoustic wave signal, or an ultrasonic signal of a predetermined frequency including a user ID.

The memory 140 may be implemented as a volatile storage device such as a random access memory (RAM) and may include an operating system (OS), application program, data, ).

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a program constituting proximity data (hereinafter referred to as a proximity data management unit) may be loaded into the memory 140 and operated. For example, the proximity data management unit may be stored in the storage unit 150 and loaded into the memory 140 under the control of a CPU (central processing unit) (not shown).

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the proximity data management unit configures the proximity data including the user ID output from the sound signal input unit 110 and the user ID of the mobile terminal 10. [ In addition, the proximity data management unit may configure the proximity data to further include proximity information in addition to the user IDs.

The proximity data management unit may further perform operations such as storing proximity data in the storage unit 150 of the mobile terminal 10 and managing (deleting, modifying, and adding) the stored proximity data . This management operation may be implemented as an option of the proximity data management unit if necessary.

Although the above-described proximity data management unit is described as being loaded into the memory 140 and operated, it is also possible that the proximity data management unit is configured differently. For example, it may be included as one component of the acoustic signal processing unit 120. Alternatively, the proximity data management unit may be configured as a separate functional block composed of separate hardware and / or software.

The storage unit 150 may be implemented as a nonvolatile storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a flash memory, and may store various types of sound data such as a user ID of a mobile terminal, a voice file, and the like. Additionally, the storage unit 150 may include a schedule for sending proximity data regarding the mobile terminal 10 and / or signals including a user ID.

The communication module 160 refers to a function module collectively referred to as hardware and / or software responsible for communication with an external device. According to one embodiment, the communication module 160 may be responsible for communicating with the server 30, which may include, for example, hardware for communication using wireless Internet communications and / / RTI > and / or software.

2, the mobile terminal 10 may further include various functional units implemented with various hardware and / or software, but the description thereof does not obscure the gist of the present invention It will be omitted here.

Also, the mobile terminal 10 shown in FIG. 2 and described above is illustrative and may be implemented in other ways. For example, hardware and / or a part of software constituting the terminal 10 may be implemented in a server (e.g., a cloud server), and a mobile terminal may be implemented other than components implemented in such a server, A distributed implementation of a server-client that amplifies and outputs an output signal.

3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an operation in which a mobile terminal originates a user ID according to an embodiment.

3, the acoustic signal processing unit 120 may include a digital modulation unit 121, a digital signal processing unit (DSP) 123, and a codec 125, and may include a sound signal output unit 130, May include an amplifier 131 and a speaker 133. However, this structure of the acoustic signal processing unit 120 and the acoustic signal output unit 130 is only an exemplary embodiment, and it is possible to implement the acoustic signal processing unit and the acoustic signal output unit with different hardware and / or software structures according to the embodiment Of course it is.

Referring to FIG. 3, the digital modulator 121 modulates a user ID, which is digital data, into an analog signal. That is, for example, a signal to be modulated (that is, a baseband signal) may be modulated by an amplitude shift keying (ASK), a frequency shift keying (FSK), or a phase shift keying And may be modulated by one of various modulation schemes. In this case, one of a very low frequency signal, an audible frequency signal, and an ultrasonic signal may be used as a carrier wave.

The DSP 123 processes sound data such as music files stored in the storage unit 150, for example, and the CODEC 125 converts the processed sound data into analog signals. The process of processing digital sound data is well known and will not be described herein.

According to the embodiment, the digital modulation unit 121, the DSP 123, and the codec 125 may be integrated into one unit. In addition to the components, compression, error correction, Hardware and / or software functions for error detection, encryption, and the like may be added.

Alternatively, a part of the hardware and / or software constituting the present mobile terminal may be implemented in a server (e.g., a cloud server), and the mobile terminal may be implemented with components other than those implemented in the server, And a server-client in which the server-client is amplified and output.

Also, in an alternative embodiment, in order to distinguish each signal from a plurality of mobile terminals 10 at the same time, the sound signal processing unit 120 may include a function unit for multiplexing, such as frequency division, time division, . For example, in the case of frequency division multiplexing, different frequencies may be assigned to each mobile terminal, so that a signal transmitted from each terminal can be identified. In the case of time division multiplexing, a different time is allocated to each mobile terminal so that a signal can be identified . For example, the signal of each mobile terminal can be discriminated by making the phases different from each other or the amplitudes of the signals of each mobile terminal, and by combining two or more elements of the above-mentioned frequency, time, phase and amplitude, . ≪ / RTI > However, it is to be understood that the present invention concept is not limited to a particular technique or multiplexing scheme, as well as other techniques for identifying signals of mobile terminals.

As described above, the user ID and the sound data modulated respectively by the analog signals are transmitted to the sound signal output unit 130. In the illustrated embodiment, the acoustic signal output unit 130 may include an amplifier 131 and a speaker 133.

The amplifier 131 amplifies the received analog signal and transmits the amplified analog signal to the speaker 133. The speaker 133 transmits the amplified analog signal to the outside of the mobile terminal 10. [

In the above embodiment, the user ID and the sound data are simultaneously processed and transmitted on the assumption that the user is listening to music, for example. However, the user may not hear anything through the speaker. In this situation, the acoustic data is not processed and only the user ID will be processed through the digital modulation section 121 and sent out through the speaker 133. [

4 is a diagram schematically illustrating an operation in which a mobile terminal receives a user ID according to an embodiment.

4, the sound signal input unit 110 may be implemented as a microphone (microphone), and the sound signal processing unit 120 may include a digital demodulation unit 122, a digital signal processing unit (DSP) 123, A codec 125, and the like. However, this structure of the sound signal output unit 110 and the sound signal processing unit 120 is only an exemplary embodiment, and it is possible to implement the sound signal input unit and the sound signal processing unit with different hardware and / or software structures according to the embodiment Of course it is. Alternatively, the form of the server-client may be such that a part of the hardware and / or software included in the present mobile terminal is implemented in the server and the mobile terminal is implemented with a component other than the component implemented in the server.

The sound signal input unit 110 is connected to the other party's mobile terminal 10 (for example, M1 in FIG. 1) within a predetermined distance from the mobile terminal 10 having the sound signal input unit 110 And can receive a signal transmitted from the speaker 133.

The digital demodulation unit 122 demodulates the received signal to extract a user ID. The demodulation scheme may be determined corresponding to the modulation scheme by the digital modulation unit 121 of FIG.

The codec 125 and the DSP 123 may extract the audio data if necessary, if the audio data is included in the received signal. However, the extraction of the acoustic data is not directly related to the concept of the present invention, so the description thereof will be omitted.

The origination and reception of the user ID described above with reference to Figs. 3 and 4 are exemplified based on the configuration of the acoustic signal processing unit 120 shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Fig. Therefore, according to the embodiment, the mobile terminal 10 may include a sound signal processing unit 120 having a structure different from that shown in FIG. 3 or 4, so that a user ID is combined with sound data to generate an acoustic signal Different ways of sending and receiving can be used.

For example, a method for transmitting predetermined information through a sound wave signal is disclosed in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2011-0029370. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present inventive concept is not limited to any particular manner of transmitting a user ID on an acoustic signal.

5 is a flow diagram illustrating a step in which a mobile terminal receiving a user ID from an adjacent mobile terminal processes proximity data according to an embodiment. For purposes of the present description, it is assumed that a second mobile terminal 10 (M2) within a predetermined distance from the first mobile terminal 10 (M1) transmits a signal.

In step S501, the second mobile terminal M2 processes the sound signal received through the sound signal input unit 110 in the sound signal processing unit 120. [ For example, as described with reference to FIG. 4, the received signal can be demodulated by the digital demodulator 122 to extract a signal excluding the carrier wave.

Then, in step S502, the second mobile terminal M2 determines whether or not there is a user ID in the signal extracted by the demodulation. In step S503, if the user ID does not exist, the mobile terminal M2 If the user ID exists (i.e., the extracted signal is a user ID or a signal including the user ID), the process proceeds to step S504. In step S504, the extracted user ID is included The proximity data may be configured and transmitted to the server 30 in step S505.

At this time, the proximity data may include, for example, the user ID of the user (i.e., of the second mobile terminal M2), the user ID of the extracted first mobile terminal M1, and proximity time information. Here, the proximity time information may include a time (hereinafter, referred to as "reception time") at which the mobile terminal M2 receives a signal including the user ID from the mobile terminal M1.

Further, in one embodiment, the proximity time information may further include a time at which the second mobile terminal M2 does not receive the sound signal of the first mobile terminal M1 (hereinafter, "end time") . At this time, the end time is a time at which the first mobile terminal Ml receives a signal including the user ID from the first mobile terminal Ml at all times or at predetermined intervals, The time when the intensity of the signal is less than a preset threshold value or when the second mobile terminal M2 does not receive any acoustic signal can be defined as the end time.

In an alternative embodiment, the proximity data may further include a proximity duration in which the two mobile terminals M1, M2 continue to be in proximity until they are out of a predetermined distance. In this case, the proximity duration may be defined as a proximity duration, for example, a time interval from the reception time to the end time after measuring the reception time and the end time, respectively.

Also, in the above embodiments, the second mobile terminal M1 receiving the sound signal of the first mobile terminal M1 may transmit (i) the reception time and the end time to the server 30 at different times, (ii) transmitting the reception time and the end time to the server 30 at the same time, (iii) transmitting the reception time and the proximity duration to the server 30 at different times, or (iv) To the server 30 at the same time.

In the case (i) or (iii) in which the reception time and the end time (or proximity duration) are sent at different times, for example, when the second mobile terminal M2 first receives the signal of the first mobile terminal M1 The proximity data including the reception time is transmitted to the server 30 and when the first mobile terminal M1 is later moved away from the signal of the first mobile terminal M1, Time) may be transmitted to the server 30.

In the case of (ii) or (iv) in which the reception time and the end time (or proximity duration) are simultaneously sent to the server, for example, when the second mobile terminal M2 first receives the signal of the first mobile terminal M1 It is only necessary to store the reception time only without transmitting the proximity data to the server 30 and to transmit the proximity data to the server 30 at a later time when the first mobile terminal M1 is distant and no longer receives the signal of the first mobile terminal M1, It is possible to transmit proximity data including both the time (or proximity duration) to the server 30.

In addition, the proximity data may further include data on a logical location that gives a meaning to a physical location or physical location when two mobile terminals are close to each other. The physical location may be measured, for example, by a GPS or a location measurement method using a wireless access point (AP) or the like. That is, the logical location is data given a certain meaning so as to be reflected in the calculation of intimacy through various map services or a pre-inputted location database based on the physical location. For example, the "location of Yangjae-dong *** in Seocho-gu, Seoul" is physical location data, but the aT convention center located in Yangjae-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul is a place for trade fairs or conferences or exhibitions.

In one embodiment, the physical location may be a physical location at the receiving time of the terminal (in the example, the second mobile terminal) that received the acoustic signal.

In one embodiment, the logical location data may be logical location data having some meaning assigned to the physical location derived from the physical location at the reception time of the terminal (in this example, the second mobile terminal in the example) receiving the acoustic signal have.

In an alternative embodiment, the physical location may be the physical location at the receiving time of the terminal (in this example, the first mobile terminal) that originated the acoustic signal. In this case, the first mobile terminal may also include position information as well as its user ID in the sound signal, the second mobile terminal may receive the sound signal of the first mobile terminal and extract the sound signal of the user of the first mobile terminal ID and location information can be extracted. Also, in the same manner, the first mobile terminal can include not only its own user ID but also logical position data in the sound signal, and the second mobile terminal can receive the sound signal of the first mobile terminal, The user ID and the logical location data of the terminal can be extracted.

Although the embodiment of FIG. 5 described above is configured to include the step S505 in which the mobile terminal transmits the proximity data to the server, the step S505 is optional and the step S505 may not be included.

That is, it is also possible to configure the mobile terminal to directly store and manage the proximity data. For example, after the mobile terminal performs steps S501 to S503 and generates proximity data including the user ID extracted in step S504, the mobile terminal directly stores and manages the operation (for example, (Operations S602 to S604 as in step 6).

6 is a flow diagram schematically illustrating an operation in which a server receives proximity data according to one embodiment.

In step S601, the server 30 receives the proximity data from the mobile terminal 10. [

In step S602, the server 30 determines whether or not the same data as the received proximity data is already stored in the database (DB) of the server 30. [ The reason for performing this step is that the signal transmitted from the second mobile terminal M2 is transmitted to the first mobile terminal M2 at the same time that the second mobile terminal M2 receives the signal transmitted from the first mobile terminal M1, M1 may be received. That is, in this case, each mobile terminal M1 and M2 generates proximity data of the same content to each other and transmits it to the server 30, so that the server 30 does not store the same data in step S602 Can be performed.

In step S603, if the same data as the received proximity data exists in the DB, the received proximity data is not added to the DB (S603_Y). However, if the same proximity data is not stored in the DB, the received proximity data is added to the DB (S604).

7 is a schematic diagram illustrating an operation in which a mobile terminal originates a user ID according to an alternative embodiment;

7 shows an exemplary method of allowing the server 30 to transmit the proximity data to the server 30 only from one of the mobile terminals M1 and M2 which are close to each other so that the server 30 does not receive the same data redundantly.

The first mobile terminal M1 first receives a signal transmitted from the first mobile terminal M1 and at the same time the first mobile terminal M1 receives a signal transmitted from the second mobile terminal M2 I suppose.

In this case, in step S701, the first mobile terminal M1 extracts the user ID from the signal received from the second mobile terminal M2 and, after extracting the user ID of the user from the signal received from the second mobile terminal M2, You can compare priorities.

Here, the priority order can be determined according to a preset reference. For example, when the user ID is an identifier made up of numbers or characters such as a telephone number, a MAC address, or an arbitrary number given from the server 30, the priority can be determined according to the size of numerals and alphabetical order. For example, when a phone number is used as an identifier, it is assumed that a phone number of the first terminal M 1 is 010-100-1234 and a phone number of the second terminal M 2 is 010 -100-1235, the second terminal M2 has a higher priority because the number of the second terminal M2 is larger.

As a result of comparing the user ID of the user with the received user ID and judging the priority, if the priority of the user ID of the user is larger (step S702_Y), the mobile terminal with a higher priority constitutes proximity data (Step S705), transmits it to the server 30 (step S704), and if the priority of its user ID is small, it does not send proximity data to the server 30 (step S702_N).

However, in an alternative embodiment of steps S702, S703, and S704, a terminal with a small priority may be set to transmit proximity data to the server 30. [

Meanwhile, the embodiment of FIG. 7 is configured to include steps S701, S702, S703, and S704, but may alternatively be configured to include S701, S702, and S703 without including S704. In this case, instead of step S705, the mobile terminal may perform an operation of storing and managing the proximity data.

8 is a diagram illustrating proximity data stored on a server in accordance with one embodiment.

8, the proximity data 800 may be stored and managed in a separate DB server (not shown) communicating with the server 30 or the storage means within the server 30. [

In the illustrated embodiment, the proximity data may include the user ID and proximity time information of each of the two mobile terminals 10 in close proximity to each other. Also, proximity data as shown can be stored for each user ID. For example, for the user ID 1, the user ID of the counterpart mobile terminal close to the user in the time order and the corresponding proximity time information are stored, and similarly, the user ID of the counterpart terminal and the corresponding proximity Time information can be stored.

In one embodiment, the proximity time information may include the first time that two mobile terminals 10 meet within a predetermined distance. For example, the proximity time information may include the time at which the mobile terminal received the sound signal including the user ID from another mobile terminal in proximity thereto (i.e., the "reception time").

The proximity time information may also include a time when the two mobile terminals can no longer receive the acoustic signal due to the deviation from the predetermined distance (i.e., the "end time").

Also, as shown in the figure, the proximity time information may further include a proximity duration which is a time interval between the reception time and the end time. In one embodiment, the proximity duration may be calculated at either the mobile terminal 10 or the server 30. [ That is, if the mobile terminal 10 calculates the proximity duration and transmits it to the server 30 together with the reception time, the server 30 may store the reception time and the proximity duration in the DB. However, if the server 30 receives the proximity data including the reception time and the end time from the mobile terminal 10, the proximity duration can be calculated from the reception time and the reception time and stored in the DB.

Proximity data 800 may further include data and logical location data for the physical locations in which the two mobile terminals are located. The physical position is a position when measuring the proximity time, and can be measured by a conventional position measurement method using a GPS or a wireless access point (AP). It is noted that the logical location data may be data having some meaning based on the physical location.

In this way, the server 30 receives and stores proximity data generated between a plurality of mobile terminals 10, and analyzes and processes proximity data as needed to generate information related to a social network service.

9 is a flow diagram schematically illustrating an operation in which a server reallocates a user ID according to an embodiment.

The server 30 according to the embodiment of the present invention may reassign the user ID and transmit the reassigned user ID to the corresponding mobile terminals. For example, the server 30 may analyze proximity data for users of the mobile terminals M1, M2, M3, ... to determine whether proximity between users is high. For example, if the proximity between the mobile terminal M1 and the user of the mobile terminal M2 is high, the server 30 may be configured so that the user ID of the mobile terminal M1 and the user ID of the mobile terminal M2 do not interfere with each other The user ID can be reassigned. This is to ensure that the mobile terminals M1 and M2 do not interfere with each other when extracting the user ID from the sound data.

9, the server 30 receives and stores proximity data from the mobile terminals M1, M2, and M3 (S801). Thereafter, the server 30 analyzes the stored proximity data (S803), extracts the users of the mobile terminal with high proximity, and reassigns the user IDs to the extracted users. For example, if the user ID of the mobile terminal M1 is '011011', the user ID of the mobile terminal M2 is '011010', and the proximity of these users is high, Quot; 101011 " to " 101011 ".

Thereafter, the server 30 transmits the reassigned user ID to the corresponding mobile terminal (S805). After reassigning the user ID, the mobile terminal then broadcasts by including the reassigned user ID in the sound data. This results in less crosstalk between users with high proximity to each other.

In addition, the server 30 according to the embodiment of the present invention may determine the modulation scheme reflecting the degree of proximity between users when modulating the user ID, and transmit the modulation information to the corresponding mobile terminal. Here, the modulation information includes not only the kind of modulation (frequency modulation, amplitude modulation, phase modulation, and a mixture thereof) but also information on which frequency, which amplitude, or phase .

For example, assuming that the mobile terminal M1 and the mobile terminal M2 modulate the user ID in a frequency modulation manner, when the user of the mobile terminal M1 and the user of the mobile user M2 are close to each other , The carrier frequency at the time of modulating the user ID of the mobile terminal M1 and the carrier frequency at the time of modulating the user ID of the mobile terminal M2 are modulated using frequencies far apart from each other. That is, the server 30 refers to the proximity data of each mobile user, and modulates the mobile terminal so as to select the type, frequency, amplitude, and phase of the modulation so that the users of the mobile terminal, And transmit the modulation information to the corresponding mobile terminal. The corresponding mobile terminal can modulate its own user ID into a sound signal based on the modulation information received from the server 30. [

The methods according to the one or more methods of the present invention described above can be provided in the form of a storage medium recorded with a computer-readable program for carrying out these methods.

While the present invention has been described with reference to the particular embodiments and drawings, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. This is possible. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be determined by the equivalents of the claims, as well as the claims.

10: mobile terminal 20: network
30: a server 110: a sound signal input unit
120: Acoustic signal processing unit 130: Acoustic signal output unit
140: memory 150:
160: Communication module

Claims (27)

A method for gathering proximity data between mobile terminal users,
The first mobile terminal receiving an acoustic signal originating from the acoustic signal output device of the second mobile terminal;
Extracting a user identifier of the second mobile terminal from the sound signal received by the first mobile terminal; And
And constructing proximity data including a user identifier of the second mobile terminal,
And the proximity data is data indicating that a user of the first mobile terminal and a user of a second mobile terminal exist within a predetermined short distance. The method of claim 1,
Determining whether a user identifier of a second mobile terminal is included in the sound signal received from the second mobile terminal,
Wherein the step of extracting the user identifier of the second mobile terminal is performed when the acoustic signal includes the user identifier of the second mobile terminal. The method of claim 1,
Characterized in that the acoustic signal is one of a very low frequency signal, an audible frequency signal, and an ultrasonic signal. The method of claim 1,
Wherein the proximity data further comprises a user identifier of the first mobile terminal and time information in which the first and second mobile terminals are proximate (hereinafter "proximity time information"). 5. The method of claim 4,
And the first mobile terminal sending the proximity data to the server. ≪ Desc / Clms Page number 21 > 5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the proximity time information comprises a reception time at which the first mobile terminal received the acoustic signal of the second mobile terminal. The method according to claim 6,
Wherein the proximity time information includes a time at which the first mobile terminal no longer receives the acoustic signal of the second mobile terminal (hereinafter "end time"). The method of claim 7, wherein
Wherein the end time is a time when the strength of the sound signal received from the second mobile terminal is less than a preset threshold or when no sound signal is received from the second mobile terminal, How to collect. The method according to claim 6,
Wherein the proximity time information further includes a proximity duration and the proximity duration is from the reception time to a time when the first mobile terminal no longer receives the acoustic signal of the second mobile terminal ≪ / RTI > wherein the proximity data is a time interval of the proximity data. The method of claim 1,
Wherein the proximity data further comprises data about a physical location where the first or second mobile terminal is located when users of the first and second mobile terminals are in proximity. The method of claim 1,
Wherein the proximity data further includes data on a logical location where a predetermined meaning is given to a physical location where the first or second mobile terminal is located when users of the first and second mobile terminals are close to each other A method for collecting proximity data. A method for a server to collect proximity data between mobile terminal users,
The server receiving first proximity data from a first mobile terminal; And
And storing the first proximity data in a DB server communicating with the server or the server,
Wherein the first proximity data includes data indicating that a user of the first mobile terminal and a user of the second mobile terminal are within a predetermined distance and includes a user identifier of the first mobile terminal and a user identifier of the second mobile terminal and,
And the user identifier of the second mobile terminal is included in an acoustic signal transmitted from the second mobile terminal and received by the first mobile terminal. 13. The method of claim 12,
Wherein the step of storing the first proximity data comprises:
Determining whether the same data as the first proximity data is already stored in the DB server communicating with the server or the server; And
If the same proximity data is present in the server or the DB server, the first proximity data is not stored in the DB, and if the proximity data is not in the server or the DB server, And storing the proximity data. ≪ Desc / Clms Page number 21 > 13. The method of claim 12,
Wherein the first proximity data further comprises time information in which the first and second mobile terminals are proximate (hereinafter "proximity time information"). 15. The method of claim 14,
Wherein the proximity time information includes a time at which the first mobile terminal received the acoustic signal of the second mobile terminal (hereinafter "reception time"). The method of claim 15,
Wherein the proximity time information includes a time at which the first mobile terminal no longer receives the acoustic signal of the second mobile terminal (hereinafter "end time"). The method of claim 15,
Wherein the proximity time information further includes a proximity duration and the proximity duration is from the reception time to a time when the first mobile terminal no longer receives the acoustic signal of the second mobile terminal ≪ / RTI > wherein the proximity data is a time interval of the proximity data. 13. The method of claim 12,
Wherein the first proximity data further comprises data on a physical location where the first or second mobile terminal is located when users of the first and second mobile terminals are in proximity, Way. 13. The method of claim 12,
Wherein the first proximity data further comprises data for a logical location mapped to a physical location where the first or second mobile terminal is located when users of the first and second mobile terminals are in proximity. How to collect data. 13. The method of claim 12,
The server also receives from the third mobile terminal second proximity data indicating that the user of the second mobile terminal and the user of the third mobile terminal are within a predetermined short distance,
The server determines whether the user of the first mobile terminal and the user of the third mobile terminal exist within a predetermined short distance by using the first proximity data, the second proximity data, and the third proximity data. And collecting proximity data. In a mobile terminal,
A sound signal input device capable of receiving an acoustic signal transmitted from a sound signal output device of another mobile terminal (hereinafter referred to as "second mobile terminal") existing within a predetermined distance from the mobile terminal (hereinafter referred to as "first mobile terminal");
An acoustic signal processor for processing the received acoustic signal to extract a user identifier of the second mobile terminal; And
And a proximity data management unit that configures proximity data including a user identifier of the second mobile terminal,
And the proximity data is data indicating that a user of the first mobile terminal and a user of the second mobile terminal exist within a predetermined short distance. 22. The method of claim 21,
Wherein the acoustic signal is one of a very low frequency signal, an audible frequency signal, and an ultrasonic signal,
Wherein the acoustic signal output device is a speaker and the acoustic signal input device is a microphone. 22. The method of claim 21,
Wherein the proximity data further comprises a user identifier of the first mobile terminal and time information in which the first and second mobile terminals are in proximity (hereinafter "proximity time information"). 22. The method of claim 21,
And a communication module capable of transmitting the proximity data to a server. 24. The method of claim 23,
Wherein the proximity time information includes a time (hereinafter referred to as "reception time") at which the first mobile terminal received the sound signal of the second mobile terminal. The method of claim 25,
Wherein the proximity data further comprises data for a physical location at which the first or second mobile terminal is located at the nearest time. The method of claim 25,
Wherein the proximity data further comprises data on a logical location where a predetermined meaning is given to a physical location where the first or second mobile terminal is located at the near time.

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