KR20180126408A - Method for locating a user device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention discloses a method for determining a position of a user terminal. The method comprises the following steps of: the user terminal obtaining an image captured of one or more objects by using at least one camera; recognizing the one or more objects from the obtained image; obtaining a position in which the recognized one or more objects are included from a map database; and determining the position of the user terminal based on a position relationship of the one or more objects.

Description

[0001] METHOD FOR LOCATING A USER DEVICE [0002]

The present invention relates to a method for determining the location of a user terminal.

Due to the spread of smart phones, it is important for the convenience of the user and various services of the operators to accurately determine the location of the user. Furthermore, interest in AR (Augmented Reality) is increasing, and if augmented reality is popularized, it will be possible to provide more various services using the location of the user terminal.

In addition, location-based service games such as Pokemon GO! Have been very successful, and it has become essential to accurately determine the user's location.

Currently, the most widely used conventional method is to use GPS satellite signals, and it is utilized in various fields such as a smartphone as well as a navigation system. However, when using GPS satellite signals, it is difficult to acquire a very precise position. Especially, there are various problems such that the position can not be judged in a room where reception of GPS signals is difficult.

In order to overcome this problem, there have been various attempts to use a signal received from a WiFi AP or to specify the position of a user terminal more accurately by using a beacon. However, there is a problem in that the efficiency is greatly deteriorated unless sufficient infrastructure is provided.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a method for determining the location of a user terminal.

The problems to be solved by the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned problems, and other problems which are not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of determining a location of a user terminal, the method comprising: acquiring an image of the at least one object captured by the user terminal using at least one camera; Determining a location of the user terminal based on the positional relationship of the at least one object; determining a position of the at least one object based on the positional relationship of the at least one object; .

In addition, the step of acquiring the photographed image of the at least one object may include acquiring the photographed image at least a portion of the store or landmark stored in the map database, And recognizing the store or the landmark using the obtained at least a part of the photographed image.

In addition, the step of acquiring the photographed image of at least a part of the store may include acquiring the photographed image, at least a part of the signboard of the store stored in the map database, And recognizing a store corresponding to the signboard using at least a part of the taken signboard image.

The step of determining the position may further include obtaining information on at least one position in which the at least one object is included within a predetermined range, and determining at least one of the at least one position based on the positional relationship of the at least one object. Wherein the positional relationship of the one or more objects includes at least one of a distance and a direction between the at least one object.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of determining a location of a user terminal, the method comprising: acquiring a photographed image of a plurality of signboards using at least one camera; Comprising the steps of: recognizing each of the plurality of signboards from an acquired image; determining a plurality of stores each corresponding to the recognized plurality of signboards; obtaining a position of each of the plurality of stores from a map database; And determining the position of the user terminal based on the positional relationship of each of the stores.

Other specific details of the invention are included in the detailed description and drawings.

According to the disclosed embodiments, there is provided a method of specifying a position of a user terminal by recognizing an object capable of acquiring a position in a map database through a camera. Therefore, there is an effect that the position of the user terminal can be specified without an infrastructure installed in advance.

In addition, in the disclosed embodiment, since the GPS signal is not used or is limited or supplementary even if the GPS signal is used, the position of the user terminal can be determined regardless of indoor and outdoor conditions.

The effects of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned effects, and other effects not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

1 is a flow chart illustrating a method for determining a location of a user terminal in accordance with an embodiment.
2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of determining a location of a user terminal by recognizing a signboard of a store according to an embodiment.
3 is a diagram illustrating an example of determining a position of a user terminal using a plurality of objects.
4 is a diagram illustrating another example of determining the location of a user terminal using a plurality of objects.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The advantages and features of the present invention, and the manner of achieving them, will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein, Is provided to fully convey the scope of the present invention to a technician, and the present invention is only defined by the scope of the claims.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of illustrating embodiments and is not intended to be limiting of the present invention. In the present specification, the singular form includes plural forms unless otherwise specified in the specification. The terms " comprises "and / or" comprising "used in the specification do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other elements in addition to the stated element. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification and "and / or" include each and every combination of one or more of the elements mentioned. Although "first "," second "and the like are used to describe various components, it is needless to say that these components are not limited by these terms. These terms are used only to distinguish one component from another. Therefore, it goes without saying that the first component mentioned below may be the second component within the technical scope of the present invention.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein may be used in a sense that is commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. In addition, commonly used predefined terms are not ideally or excessively interpreted unless explicitly defined otherwise.

As used herein, the term "part" or "module" refers to a hardware component, such as a software, FPGA, or ASIC, and a "component" or "module" performs certain roles. However, "part" or " module " is not meant to be limited to software or hardware. A "module " or " module " may be configured to reside on an addressable storage medium and configured to play back one or more processors. Thus, by way of example, "a" or " module " is intended to encompass all types of elements, such as software components, object oriented software components, class components and task components, Microcode, circuitry, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables, as used herein. Or " modules " may be combined with a smaller number of components and "parts " or " modules " Can be further separated.

The terms spatially relative, "below", "beneath", "lower", "above", "upper" And can be used to easily describe a correlation between an element and other elements. Spatially relative terms should be understood in terms of the directions shown in the drawings, including the different directions of components at the time of use or operation. For example, when inverting an element shown in the figures, an element described as "below" or "beneath" of another element may be placed "above" another element . Thus, the exemplary term "below" can include both downward and upward directions. The components can also be oriented in different directions, so that spatially relative terms can be interpreted according to orientation.

As used herein, a user terminal means a computing device comprising at least one processor. By way of example, and not limitation, a user terminal may refer to a personal computer, a notebook, a smart phone, a cell phone, a tablet PC, and the like.

The user terminal may also refer to a user client running in the above-mentioned user terminal.

In various embodiments, the user terminal comprises at least one camera, or is electrically or physically connected to at least one camera.

The user terminal may also refer to an augmented reality device, a wearable device, or a virtual reality device, which may include or be coupled to a computing device as described above.

In the disclosed embodiment, the term "store" is used to encompass all types of commercial facilities equipped with a signboard, a company, an office, and the like, and is not limited to a wholesale or retail store that simply sells goods or food.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a flow chart illustrating a method for determining a location of a user terminal in accordance with an embodiment.

In step S110, the user terminal acquires the captured image of at least one object using at least one camera.

In one embodiment, the object includes a commercial facility such as a store or a landmark such as a building, a sculpture, or the like. In addition, the object may mean at least a part of a landmark such as a commercial facility such as a store, a building, a sculpture, or the like. For example, an object may refer to at least a part of a signboard or signboard of a commercial establishment.

In one embodiment, an object may refer to a store or landmark stored in one or more map databases.

Thus, according to one embodiment, a user terminal obtains a photographed image of at least a portion of a store or landmark stored in a map database.

For example, when the user terminal is a smart phone or an augmented reality device, the user terminal may photograph a surrounding picture or image using a camera connected to the user terminal or a user terminal. For example, the user terminal can receive information about the surroundings in real time by using the camera without photographing or storing the photograph or image.

In step S120, the user terminal recognizes one or more objects from the image obtained in step S110.

In one embodiment, the user terminal recognizes the store or landmark contained in the photographed image using the photographed image of at least a portion of the store or landmark acquired in step S 110, which is stored in the map database.

In one embodiment, the user terminal obtains the photographed image of at least a portion of the signboard of the store stored in the map database, and recognizes a store corresponding to the signboard included in the acquired image.

In step S130, the user terminal obtains, from the map database, the location containing the one or more objects recognized in step S120.

In one embodiment, the user terminal obtains the location containing the one or more objects recognized in step S120, respectively.

In some cases, the object recognized in step S120 may exist at a plurality of locations. For example, if the object recognized in step S120 is a store having multiple points in the nation, the user terminal obtains a plurality of locations in step S130.

In one embodiment, the user terminal may obtain the location of the nearest or nearest store based on GPS information, WiFi AP, beacon and base station information, and the like. If location information such as GPS information, WiFi AP, beacon and base station information can not be obtained, the location of the nearest store or one or more nearby stores may be obtained using the latest acquired information.

In one embodiment, the user terminal recognizes a plurality of objects included in the map database in step S120.

In step S130, the user terminal obtains the position including all of the plurality of objects recognized in step S120 from the map database or the database created using the map database.

For example, a server connected to a user terminal or a user terminal may generate a database representing a positional relationship between objects included in the map database using the map database. For example, a database containing information on neighboring objects, objects located within a predetermined distance from each other, objects located in the same building, and the like may be created in advance and stored in a server or a user terminal.

In step S140, the user terminal determines the position of the user terminal based on the positional relationship of one or more objects.

In the step S130, an example in which one object exists in a plurality of positions has been described. However, it is possible to specify the position when limiting the case where a plurality of objects exist in the same position or a predetermined range.

In addition, the position of the user terminal can be more accurately specified using the positional relationship between the plurality of objects. The positional relationship between the objects includes at least one of a distance and a direction between one or more objects. For example, the positional relationship between the objects may be determined based on whether or not they are located within a predetermined distance from each other, an accurate distance between the objects, a range of approximate distance or distance, proximity, direction (up, down, left, right, Whether they are located in the same building, whether they are located on the same floor, whether they are located on different floors, and the like.

For example, when recognizing signboards of two different stores, information about a place where two stores are located within a predetermined range can be obtained. If there are a plurality of places where two stores are located within a predetermined range, information about the places where two stores are adjacent to each other, whether there are places located on different floors, which stores are on the left, It is possible to accurately determine the position of the user terminal.

One embodiment according to the method shown in Fig. 1 can be described as follows.

The user acquires the surrounding image using the camera of the user terminal. The user terminal recognizes at least one of the store (or the signboard of the store) and the landmark around the user, and determines the location of the user by acquiring the location of the store and the landmark from the map database.

The user terminal can determine the user's position even if only one direction is photographed. However, when there are no or few objects recognized in one direction or because there are many locations including all the objects recognized in one direction, If it is difficult to specify, it may be required to shoot in various directions, or to move the shooting direction of the camera up, down, left, and right. For example, a 360 degree (or less) rotation shot may be required, like a 360 degree shot of a Google Cardboard camera.

The user terminal can recognize a plurality of objects photographed in various directions and acquire information on locations including all the recognized plurality of objects.

According to the present embodiment, when it is difficult to utilize existing location information such as GPS, for example, it is possible to easily determine the location of a user, particularly in a room such as a large shopping mall or a department store.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of determining a location of a user terminal by recognizing a signboard of a store according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a specific embodiment of the method shown in FIG. 1 as a signboard of a store. Even though the contents are omitted in relation to FIG. 2, the contents already explained in connection with FIG. 1 also apply to FIG.

In step S210, the user terminal acquires the photographed image using a plurality of signboards using at least one camera.

In step S220, the user terminal recognizes each of the plurality of signboards from the image obtained in step S210.

In step S230, the user terminal determines a plurality of stores respectively corresponding to the plurality of signboards recognized in step S220.

In step S240, the user terminal obtains the position of each of the plurality of stores recognized in step S230 from the map database.

In step S250, the user terminal determines the location of the user terminal based on the positional relationship of each of the plurality of stores.

3 is a diagram illustrating an example of determining a position of a user terminal using a plurality of objects.

Referring to FIG. 3, an image 300 is shown that is acquired by a user terminal. The user terminal recognizes the signs of "THE BODY SHOP" and "TACO BELL" from image 300. The user terminal searches the map database for a location where "THE BODY SHOP" and "TACO BELL" are located within a predetermined range. Further, the user terminal searches for a place adjacent to " THE BODY SHOP "and" TACO BELL "from the map database and further searches for an adjacent place such that " THE BODY SHOP" and "TACO BELL" Thereby identifying the location 312 of the user terminal on the map 310. [

4 is a diagram illustrating another example of determining the location of a user terminal using a plurality of objects.

In one embodiment, the user terminal can recognize landmarks as well as signage of stores.

4, the user terminal obtains the image 400 and recognizes the signboard 402 and the landmark 404 included in the image 400. As shown in FIG.

From the image 400, the user terminal can recognize the signboard 402 of the Korea Asset Management Corporation and the Kyobo Tower, which is the landmark 404.

Based on the Naver map, the Korea Asset Management Corporation searches 50 sites nationwide. However, since Kyobo Tower is one in the whole country, user terminal is located near the Seoul Regional Headquarters of Korea Asset Management Corporation on Gangnam Street.

In addition, there is only one Kyobo Tower, but the exact location of the user terminal can not be known due to the nature of the landmark, which is a high building. However, according to the image (400), the sign of the Korea Asset Management Corporation can be seen on the right side, and the Kyobo Tower can be seen on the left side, so that the user terminal can be specified as being located on Gangnam highway.

Accordingly, the user terminal can specify the position of the user terminal by utilizing the positional relationship between the plurality of objects.

Referring to the map 410 shown in FIG. 4, the location of the Seoul Regional Headquarters 412 of the Korea Asset Management Corporation, which corresponds to the billboard 402, can be specified. In addition, the location of the Kyobo Tower 414, which is the landmark 404, can be specified.

The user terminal can specify the location 416 of the user terminal using the positional relationship of each object displayed on the map 410. [

Further, the user terminal may acquire the position of a plurality of objects, and may determine the position of the user terminal using a position measurement method known to those skilled in the art, such as triangulation.

In one embodiment, in the case of obtaining an image including roads as shown in FIG. 4, the user terminal can utilize not only signboards and landmarks but also milestones (signs) of roads to determine the location of the user terminals.

In the disclosed embodiment, an object that a user terminal can obtain from an image includes all sorts of objects that can specify a location from one or more map databases.

The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the embodiments of the present invention may be embodied directly in hardware, in software modules executed in hardware, or in a combination of both. The software module may be a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), a flash memory, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD- May reside in any form of computer readable recording medium known in the art to which the invention pertains.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be practical exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, You will understand. Therefore, it should be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative in all aspects and not restrictive.

Claims (5)

A method for determining a location of a user terminal,
The user terminal obtaining at least one captured image of at least one object using at least one camera;
Recognizing the one or more objects from the acquired image;
Obtaining a location including the recognized one or more objects from a map database; And
Determining a position of the user terminal based on a positional relationship of the one or more objects; / RTI > The method according to claim 1,
Wherein acquiring the photographed image of the at least one object comprises:
Acquiring a photographed image of at least a portion of the store or landmark stored in the map database,
Wherein recognizing the one or more objects comprises:
And recognizing the store or landmark using the acquired at least a portion of the photographed image. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein acquiring the photographed image of at least a portion of the store comprises:
Wherein at least a portion of the signboard of the store stored in the map database comprises a captured image,
The step of recognizing the store,
And recognizing at least a portion of the obtained signboard using a photographed image to store corresponding to the signboard. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the step of determining the position comprises:
Obtaining information about at least one location in which the one or more objects are contained within a predetermined range; And
Determining one of at least one position based on a positional relationship of the at least one object, wherein the positional relationship of the at least one object includes at least one of a distance and a direction between the at least one object; / RTI > A method for determining a location of a user terminal,
The user terminal acquiring a photographed image of a plurality of signboards using at least one camera;
Recognizing each of the plurality of signboards from the obtained image;
Determining a plurality of stores corresponding to the recognized plurality of signs, respectively;
Obtaining positions of each of the plurality of stores from a map database; And
Determining a location of the user terminal based on a positional relationship of each of the plurality of stores; / RTI >

Images