KR20230095249A - Method and system for indoor positioning - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an indoor positioning method and system, and the indoor positioning method according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises the steps of: allowing first positioning posts, which are reference posts positioned outdoors, to receive a global positioning system (GPS) signal; allowing the first positioning posts to calculate a first position information using the received GPS signal; transmitting the calculated first position information and a first positioning signal between the first positioning posts and a second positioning posts; allowing the second positioning posts to receive the first position information and the first positioning signal from the first positioning posts; and positioning the second position information of the second positioning posts based on the received first position information and the first positioning signal. Embodiments of the present invention can operate the positioning system independently regardless of a server.

Description

Indoor positioning method and system {METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR INDOOR POSITIONING}

The present invention relates to an indoor positioning method and system.

Systems used for radio positioning include Global Positioning System (GPS) and Assisted GPS (AGPS). The positioning techniques include a technique using time of arrival (TOA), a technique using time difference of arrival (TDOA), a technique using angle of arrival (AOA), and a technique using signal strength (RSS: Received Signal Strength) and the like.

GPS, which is mainly used for these various positioning techniques, is currently a navigation service using 24 satellites. GPS is highly accurate, easy to use, and has the pinnacle of being usable regardless of time, place, and weather conditions, and has a function that can simultaneously provide 10 types of information about a moving user's 3D location, speed, attitude, and time. there is. Positioning using GPS, which has many advantages, is useful outdoors where GPS satellite signals can be easily received. However, in an environment where GPS satellite signals cannot be directly received, such as indoors, the GPS signal is weak and cannot be received, or even if the reflected GPS signal is received, the positioning method based on arrival time causes distance deviation due to reflection. Because of this, accurate positioning cannot be performed.

In a network-based wireless positioning system using mobile communication network signals, the cell identification (Cell ID) method, the method using time-based measurement values, the time-of-arrival and the difference, and the method using the angle of arrival and signal strength are used to determine the communication of the user's mobile terminal. Positioning is possible in all areas where is possible. However, even with this method, the error is very large in apartment-density areas or urban areas.

In order to solve this problem, various positioning methods are used indoors. Various indoor positioning systems currently developed use infrared signals, ultrasonic signals, and RF signals.

For example, in a method for performing indoor positioning by a Wi-Fi based indoor positioning system, a positioning terminal measures signal strength from a plurality of access points (APs) to the positioning terminal. In the indoor positioning method, the distance between the AP and the positioning terminal is calculated using the received signal strength by using the fact that the received signal strength decreases in proportion to the distance. In this indoor positioning method using Wi-Fi, the installation location information of the AP must be databased. Therefore, if the location information of the Wi-Fi AP stored in the database is changed, a positioning error is caused.

In addition, all pre-installed APs use wired power. If wired power is not supplied to the building where indoor positioning is to be performed, power supply to the Wi-Fi AP is cut off, so that the positioning terminal cannot receive signals from the AP, making positioning impossible. This problem applies not only to indoor positioning systems using Wi-Fi, but also to various indoor positioning systems described above. That is, since all of the pre-installed transmission and reception systems for indoor positioning are operated by wired power, there is a problem in that all these systems become useless when the power is turned off.

Recently, there was an accident in which a firefighter lost his life due to a fire in a building. If a firefighter becomes isolated or lost during a firefight, the thick smoke from the fire makes them unable to locate themselves. In this case, it is possible to rescue an isolated firefighter by constructing a network of locators and transmitting the firefighter's location to the situation room. Firefighters can rescue firefighters from dangerous situations at any time by receiving health status information such as coral level or heart rate as well as location recognition service and continuously monitoring their condition in the control room.

In particular, when such a fire accident occurs in a building, since the power supply in the building is cut off in many cases, the positioning system that operates with wired power cannot operate at all.

Embodiments of the present invention are intended to provide an indoor positioning method and system for effectively performing indoor positioning in an indoor environment where wired power is cut off or an indoor environment without a pre-installed positioning system.

However, the problem to be solved by the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be expanded in various ways even in an environment within a range that does not deviate from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, an indoor positioning method performed by an indoor positioning system includes receiving GPS (Global Positioning System) signals by first positioning posts that are reference posts located outdoors; calculating first location information by the first positioning posts using the received GPS signal; transmitting the calculated first location information and a first positioning signal between the first positioning posts and the second positioning posts; receiving, by second positioning posts, the first location information and a first positioning signal from the first positioning posts; and locating, by the second positioning posts, second position information of the second positioning posts based on the received first position information and the first positioning signal.

The first positioning signal may vary according to any one positioning method among an active badge method, an active bats method, a cricket method, and an indoor wireless communication network method.

In the calculating of the first location information, when the GPS signal is not received, the first location information may be calculated or designated from a pre-stored electronic map.

In the calculating of the first location information, when the GPS signal is not received, a virtual first location centered on the first positioning posts may be calculated or designated as the first location information.

The method may include measuring a first altitude with a barometer equipped with the first positioning posts; And the second positioning posts set the measured first altitude as an absolute altitude, and use the altitude information of the first positioning posts and the relative altitude, which is an altitude difference between the first positioning posts and the second positioning posts, The method may further include calculating second heights of the second positioning posts.

The method further comprises switching from a search mode to a beacon mode to transmit the positioning second position information and a second positioning signal when the second positioning posts measure second position information in a search mode. can do.

The method may further include receiving, by third positioning posts, the positioning second position information and the second positioning signal from the second positioning posts; and positioning, by the third positioning posts, third position information of the third positioning posts based on the received second position information and the second positioning signal.

In the method, the second positioning posts and the third positioning posts transmit signals to calculate their own positions and distances from the first positioning posts, which are reference posts, and use a time difference between signals returned. The method may further include calculating a distance between the position of and the first positioning posts.

In the method, when the second positioning posts are moved from the positioning second position information, the beacon mode is switched to a search mode, and the second positioning based on the received first position information and the first positioning signal. The method may further include locating second location information of posts.

The method may further include positioning the second positioning posts while periodically changing a search mode and a beacon mode.

The method may further include transmitting position information or altitude information of each post to a control center, and displaying the position information or altitude information of each post at the control center.

The method may include receiving location information, altitude information, or floor number information of points where positioning posts to be currently measured are located; and calculating location information, altitude information, or floor number information of other positioning posts located at neighboring points by using the input location information, altitude information, or floor number information.

Meanwhile, according to another embodiment of the present invention, in an indoor positioning system, a reference post located outdoors, receiving a Global Positioning System (GPS) signal, calculating first position information using the received GPS signal, , first positioning posts that transmit the calculated first position information and a first positioning signal between first positioning posts and second positioning posts; and receiving the first position information and first positioning signals from the first positioning posts, and positioning second position information of second positioning posts based on the received first position information and first positioning signals. An indoor positioning system may be provided, including second positioning posts for positioning.

The first positioning signal may vary according to any one positioning method among an active badge method, an active bats method, a cricket method, and an indoor wireless communication network method.

The first positioning posts may calculate or designate first location information from a pre-stored electronic map when the GPS signal is not received.

When the GPS signal is not received, the first positioning posts may calculate or designate a virtual first position centered on the first positioning posts as first position information.

The first positioning posts measure a first altitude with a barometer, the second positioning posts set the measured first altitude as an absolute altitude, and the altitude information of the first positioning posts and the first positioning posts and second altitudes of the second positioning posts may be calculated using a relative altitude, which is an altitude difference between the second positioning posts.

When positioning second position information in search mode, the second positioning posts may switch from search mode to beacon mode to transmit the positioned second position information and second positioning signals.

The system receives the second location information and a second positioning signal from the second positioning posts, and obtains third location information of third positioning posts based on the second location information and the second positioning signal. Third positioning posts for positioning may be further included.

The second positioning posts and the third positioning posts transmit signals to calculate distances between their positions and the first positioning posts, which are reference posts, and use a time difference between signals returned to calculate their positions and the distances between their positions and the first positioning posts. A distance between the first positioning posts may be calculated.

When the second positioning posts are moved from the positioning second position information, the beacon mode is switched from the search mode to the second positioning posts based on the received first position information and the first positioning signal. 2 Location information can be determined.

The second positioning posts may perform positioning while periodically changing the search mode and the beacon mode.

A control center receiving position information or altitude information of each post may be further included, and the control center may display the position information or altitude information of each post.

The disclosed technology may have the following effects. However, it does not mean that a specific embodiment must include all of the following effects or only the following effects, so it should not be understood that the scope of rights of the disclosed technology is limited thereby.

Embodiments of the present invention can effectively perform indoor positioning in an indoor environment where wired power is cut off or an indoor environment without a pre-installed positioning system.

Embodiments of the present invention can be driven by a battery without wired power, and installation of relay posts can also be arbitrarily installed and operated according to the geographical features to be located.

In one embodiment of the present invention, when a user arbitrarily inputs a location, location information located using the reference post information may display relative location information relative to the reference post, not absolute location information.

Embodiments of the present invention may transmit their own information by assigning a specific ID when transmitting their own location information in a beacon mode.

Embodiments of the present invention can transmit signals with a time difference so that there is no signal crosstalk between relay posts when a plurality of relay posts transmit their own beacon signals and signals such as ultrasonic waves when operating in a beacon mode.

In one embodiment of the present invention, when the repeater operates in a beacon mode, the beacon signal may be a wireless signal such as WiFI, BT, or UWB, and the positioning post of the point to be located uses the search mode to use the strength of the beacon signal. The distance may be measured or the distance may be measured using an ultrasonic signal transmitted from a repeater in a beacon mode. In addition, by using UWB, which has recently been commercialized, it is possible to measure distance in a 2-way ranging method, which is a type of AoA, ToA, TDoA, and ToA method.

One embodiment of the present invention is capable of independently operating the positioning system regardless of the server.

Embodiments of the present invention can be operated with a battery and can be used in an environment where it is difficult to use indoor or outdoor wired power.

1 is a diagram illustrating an indoor positioning operation performed by an indoor positioning system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a diagram illustrating an indoor positioning method of other modules that have not received a GPS signal based on a module that has received a GPS signal according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a diagram illustrating an indoor positioning method using an electronic map according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a diagram illustrating an indoor positioning method using a virtual location according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a diagram illustrating an indoor positioning method using an absolute altitude and a relative altitude according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a diagram illustrating a method of displaying information in a control center according to an embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a configuration diagram of a positioning post device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
8 is a diagram showing an example of a distance calculation method between positioning posts in a cricket method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
9 is a diagram illustrating an example of an indoor positioning method using ToA according to an embodiment of the present invention.
10 is a diagram illustrating an example of an indoor positioning method using two-way ranging according to an embodiment of the present invention.
11 is a diagram showing an example of an indoor positioning method using one's own position and the other party's direction indoors according to an embodiment of the present invention.
12 is a diagram illustrating an indoor positioning method using an altitude display method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
13 is a diagram showing an example of an emergency propagation method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Since the present invention can apply various transformations and have various embodiments, specific embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the detailed description. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, and it can be understood to include all conversions, equivalents, or substitutes included in the technical spirit and scope of the present invention. In describing the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of related known technologies may obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description will be omitted.

Terms such as first and second may be used to describe various components, but the components are not limited by the terms. Terms are only used to distinguish one component from another.

Terms used in the present invention are only used to describe specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the present invention. The terms used in the present invention have been selected from general terms that are currently widely used as much as possible while considering the functions in the present invention, but they may vary depending on the intention of a person skilled in the art, case law, or the emergence of new technologies. In addition, in a specific case, there is also a term arbitrarily selected by the applicant, and in this case, the meaning will be described in detail in the description of the invention. Therefore, the term used in the present invention should be defined based on the meaning of the term and the overall content of the present invention, not simply the name of the term.

Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In the present invention, terms such as "comprise" or "having" are intended to designate that there is a feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or combination thereof described in the specification, but one or more other features It should be understood that the presence or addition of numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof is not precluded.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, and in the description with reference to the accompanying drawings, the same or corresponding components are given the same reference numerals and overlapping descriptions thereof will be omitted. do.

1 is a diagram illustrating an indoor positioning operation performed by an indoor positioning system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

When precise positioning is to be performed inside a place as shown in FIG. 1, indoor positioning by GPS is impossible because GPS reception is not available indoors. Therefore, positioning must be performed using a known indoor positioning method. However, in the case of indoor positioning using, for example, a WIFI AP, the AP must be pre-installed. Positioning is possible inside the building based on the information of the previously installed AP.

However, if all the power sources in the building are turned off and all of the pre-installed APs are turned off, the pre-installed APs become useless. Therefore, an indoor positioning system according to an embodiment of the present invention is intended to effectively perform indoor positioning in such an emergency situation. Although such an existing infrastructure has been established, there are cases where it is not possible to use the existing infrastructure due to lack of power, but indoor positioning is impossible in a newly constructed building or underground because there is no existing infrastructure.

An embodiment of the present invention is intended to provide a method for effectively performing indoor positioning in such various environments.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the indoor positioning system may include a first positioning post, a second positioning post, and a third positioning post as reference posts. Here, the first positioning post includes first positioning posts A, B, and C (101 to 103), the second positioning post includes second positioning posts D, E, and F (104 to 106), and the third positioning post includes second positioning posts D, E, and F (104 to 106). Positioning posts may include third positioning posts G, H, and I (107 to 109). The indoor positioning system may include positioning posts J, K, L, and M (110 to 113) as additional positioning posts. However, not all illustrated components are essential components. An indoor positioning system may be implemented with more components than those shown, or an indoor positioning system may be implemented with fewer components.

Hereinafter, detailed configuration and operation of each component of the indoor positioning system of FIG. 1 will be described.

First, first positioning posts A, B, and C (101 to 103) are built in areas outside buildings where accurate positioning can be performed by acquiring GPS information and the like. Since the first positioning posts A, B, and C (101 to 103) are equipped with a GPS function, it is possible to obtain accurate location information by GPS. That is, when the first positioning posts A, B, and C (101 to 103) are installed outside a building or near a window where GPS reception is possible, they receive GPS signals and measure their positions. The first positioning posts A, B, and C (101 to 103) may receive GPS signals and calculate their positions based on the GPS signals.

After obtaining their location information in this way, the first positioning posts A, B, and C (101 to 103) are provided with the first positioning posts A, B, and C (101 to 103) so that other positioning posts that cannot find their positions because they cannot receive GPS signals can calculate their positions. Transmits positioning signal. At this time, the first positioning signal to be transmitted is used in various positioning methods such as various wireless communication methods such as Active Badge, Active Bats, Cricket, or 2 way ranging. The transmitted signal varies accordingly. As described above, the indoor positioning system according to an embodiment of the present invention is not limited to a specific positioning method and may use various indoor positioning methods, and may use infrared signals, ultrasonic signals, and RF signals. The types include Active Badge using infrared signals, Active Bats using only ultrasonic signals, Cricket using ultrasonic signals and RF signals, or indoor wireless communication networks such as wireless LAN, Bluetooth, and UWB. A positioning method using may be included.

Further, the second positioning posts D, E, and F (104 to 106) receive the first location information and the first positioning signal from the first positioning posts A, B, and C (101 to 103), and use them to receive the second positioning signals. The second location information of the positioning posts D, E, and F (104 to 106) may be located.

Thereafter, the third positioning posts G, H, and I (107 to 109) receive the second location information and the second positioning signal from the second positioning posts D, E, and F (104 to 106), and use them to The third location information of the three positioning posts G, H, and I (107 to 109) can be located. In addition, positioning posts J, K, L, and M (110 to 113), which are additional positioning posts, may also position themselves using the same positioning method.

2 is a diagram illustrating an indoor positioning method of other modules that have not received a GPS signal based on a module that has received a GPS signal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In step S101, first positioning posts serving as reference posts receive GPS signals.

In step S102, the first positioning post calculates first location information based on the GPS signal.

In step S103, the first positioning post transmits its own first location information (eg, location/altitude, etc.) and a first positioning signal.

In step S104, other second positioning posts unable to position themselves due to a lack of GPS reception receive first position information and signals for first positioning transmitted from the first positioning posts that are reference posts.

In step S105, the second positioning posts receiving the signal transmitted from the reference post position their own second position information based on the first position information of the first positioning post that is the reference post and the transmission signal for first positioning.

3 is a diagram illustrating an indoor positioning method using an electronic map according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In step S201, the first positioning posts A, B, and C (101 to 103) receive positions and altitude information of the first positioning posts A, B, and C (101 to 103) serving as reference posts on the electronic map. .

In step S202, the first positioning posts A, B, and C (101 to 103) transmit their information (eg, position/altitude, etc.) and signals for first positioning.

As shown in FIG. 3, if the GPS signal is weak and positioning by GPS is difficult, position or altitude information of the first positioning posts A, B, and C (101 to 103) can be input if there is an electronic map. That is, the current locations of the first positioning posts A, B, and C (101 to 103) can be found from the electronic map. The location information found in this way is input to each of the first positioning posts A, B, and C (101 to 103). Here, it is assumed that the reference post is the position of the first positioning posts A, B, and C (101 to 103), and the positions of the first positioning posts A, B, and C (101 to 103) are input, but the positions of the posts at different positions If the location can be known through an electronic map or the like, location information can be input to other posts in addition to the first positioning posts A, B, and C (101 to 103).

4 is a diagram illustrating an indoor positioning method using a virtual location according to an embodiment of the present invention. In other words, if the current location is unknown because there is no electronic map, etc., it is a method of designating a random virtual location and then calculating or positioning the location of another point based on this.

In step S301, the first positioning post A receives a virtual position input and an altitude input (eg, 0m, 0m) from the first positioning post A.

In step S302, the first positioning posts B and C receive information relative to the position of A from the first positioning posts B and C (for example, altitude, (x, y distance), or distance and direction).

In step S303, the first positioning posts A, B, and C (101 to 103) transmit a first positioning transmission signal when the position/altitude information of the first positioning posts A, B, and C (101 to 103) is input. .

In step S304, the second positioning posts D, E, and F (104 to 106) calculate their relative positions with respect to the first positioning posts A, B, and C (101 to 103), and then store the calculated relative positions. .

In step S305, when the second positioning posts D, E, and F (104 to 106) acquire their position/altitude information, they switch from the search mode to the beacon mode to transmit second position information and a transmission signal for second positioning. do.

As shown in FIG. 4, when positioning by GPS is difficult and there is no electronic map in the first positioning posts A, B, and C (101 to 103), which are reference posts, the first positioning posts A, B, and C (101 to 103) to set the virtual location as a reference point. The other posts indicate relative coordinates relative to the first positioning posts A, B, and C (101 to 103), which are reference posts, as their own coordinates. When the position of each post is determined in this way, each post transmits its own information, and the control center receives these signals and displays the position of several positioning posts. Here, the control center may be a user terminal (eg, a mobile phone, etc.) connected to the first positioning posts A, B, and C (101 to 103). In this case, on the screen of the control center, it is possible to display the positions of other posts centered on the reference post instead of displaying the position of each post based on absolute coordinates.

5 is a diagram illustrating an indoor positioning method using an absolute altitude and a relative altitude according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In step S401, when the positions/altitudes of the first positioning posts A, B, and C (101 to 103), which are reference posts, are determined, a transmission signal for first positioning is determined. send out

In step S402, the second positioning posts D, E, and F (104 to 106) measure and store their positions with respect to the first positioning posts A, B, and C (101 to 103).

In step S403, the second positioning posts D, E, and F (104 to 106) store absolute positions and absolute altitude values through the positions and altitudes recorded in the second positioning posts D, E, and F (104 to 106), , At the same time, relative positions and relative altitudes relative to the first positioning posts A, B, and C (101 to 103), which are reference posts, are displayed.

In step S404, when the second positioning posts D, E, and F (104 to 106) acquire their own position/altitude information, they switch from the search mode to the beacon mode to obtain the second position/altitude information and the transmission signal for second positioning. send out

In step S405, when the second positioning posts D, E, and F (104 to 106) need to continuously move after acquiring their positions, the search mode/beacon mode can be simultaneously performed.

As shown in FIG. 5 , in order to obtain information on altitude, first, the first positioning posts A, B, and C (101 to 103) measure the altitude of the first positioning posts A, B, and C (101 to 103). do Altitude measurement, for example, measures altitude with a barometer. The altitude measured by the barometer is measured by the pressure of the air, so errors may occur due to the temperature of the surrounding air. Therefore, based on the altitude measured by the barometer, the altitude at the relay post other than the reference post can be expressed as the relative altitude, which is the altitude difference from the reference post, in addition to the absolute altitude by the self-rometer. That is, the relay post may mark the altitude of the relay point as both an absolute altitude and a relative altitude relative to the reference post. If the relay post knows the altitude of the reference post, it can calculate the altitude of the point to be measured using the relative altitude. For example, there is a building, the entrance is located on the 3rd floor, and the reference post is installed at the entrance on the 3rd floor. If it is 3 meters, the height position of the positioning post can be calculated as the height of the positioning post = 3 floors + 10m/3m = 6.3. Therefore, it can be seen that the positioning post is on the 6th floor.

Meanwhile, since the second positioning posts D, E, and F (104 to 106), which are relay posts, are located indoors, GPS reception is impossible, making it impossible to accurately measure their own positions. In addition, in a situation where power is not supplied due to a power outage in the building, it is impossible to measure one's own position at points D, E, and F with relay posts alone because other positioning reference points such as WiFI APs cannot be used. In this situation, position measurement at points D, E, and F is possible based on the first positioning signals transmitted from the first positioning posts A, B, and C (101 to 103), which are reference posts. At this time, the position measurement method that can be used may be various as described above.

Information on positioning at the points of the second positioning posts D, E, and F (104 to 106) based on the first positioning signals transmitted from the first positioning posts A, B, and C (101 to 103), which are reference posts. may be stored in the second positioning posts D, E, and F (104 to 106), respectively. Also, the second positioning posts D, E, and F (104 to 106) may remain in the search mode or switch to the beacon mode. In some cases, the second positioning posts D, E, and F (104 to 106) may alternately perform a search mode and a beacon mode.

On the other hand, since the third positioning posts G, H, and I (107 to 109) are located indoors, it is impossible to obtain their own location information by GPS. Also, information transmitted from the first positioning posts A, B, and C (101 to 103), which are reference posts, is inaccurate or impossible to receive due to the large distance. However, information from the second positioning posts D, E, and F (104 to 106), which acquire their position information by using the information of the first positioning posts A, B, and C (101 to 103), which are reference posts, cannot be received. possible. That is, the location information and altitude information of the third positioning posts G, H, and I (107 to 109) can be calculated using the information of the second positioning posts D, E, and F (104 to 106). The altitude information may calculate the relative altitude based on the absolute altitude and difference information from the second positioning posts D, E, and F (104 to 106) from the information measured by the user. Using this method, the location information of the remaining posts J, K, L, and M can be calculated, and the altitude information can also measure and calculate absolute and relative altitude values. These posts are not already installed and are useful in fire sites, new buildings, environments where infrastructure installed underground cannot be used, or where infrastructure for positioning is not established. Of course, if there is a pre-installed post in a specific place, positioning can be performed at any place in the room using that post.

6 is a diagram illustrating a method of displaying information in a control center according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In step S501, the reference post and positioning posts transmit information on the reference post and positioning posts to the control center.

In step S502, the control center displays information of all posts to the control center.

As shown in FIG. 6, it is possible to measure the position and altitude of a measurement object in the vicinity of the posts by utilizing the information from the newly constructed posts A to M. All of this information is transmitted to the control center through a wireless communication system (eg, WiFI, BT, Cellular, etc.), and the information of each post is displayed on the control center. The control center can also be a mobile phone. You can display and manage the information of all posts by installing related apps on your mobile phone.

Using this newly built indoor positioning system, positioning is possible at any point around the positioning post, and the altitude of the current measurement point can be known using the absolute and relative altitude values. That is, in the case of a high-rise building, information on which floor the measurement point is on can use the absolute altitude measured through the barometer, but since the ground height of the measurement point cannot be known, it is impossible to know which floor in the high-rise building it is on. However, if the relative altitude is measured using the altitude information of the reference point, it is possible to know which floor section the user is on, although not exactly. Even if you know the altitude, the reason why you don't know the number of floors in the building at the location you want to measure is because the height between floors is different for each building.

When using a barometer to measure altitude within a building, it is difficult to accurately know the number of floors within the building at the point of measurement. If the number of floors at the point currently being measured is known, the information on the number of floors is entered in the installed post. As a method of inputting information, input the information using various communication means such as WiFI and Bluetooth. That is, the user inputs location information, altitude information, and information on the number of floors in a building to the post using his/her user terminal (eg, control equipment). At this time, the control device may be a device such as a mobile phone connected to the positioning posts. If you input information you know for sure like this, based on this, the location altitude information measured from surrounding points becomes very accurate.

Meanwhile, various methods may be used for obtaining location information between posts. For example, 1) Active Badge using infrared signals, 2) Active Bats using only ultrasonic signals, 3) Cricket using ultrasonic signals and RF signals, or 4) Wireless LAN, A positioning system using an indoor wireless communication network such as Bluetooth or UWB may be included. In addition, various indoor positioning methods may be applied to an embodiment of the present invention. An embodiment of the present invention is not limited to a specific indoor positioning method, and all of these various indoor positioning methods can be used depending on the purpose of use.

Among them, the cricket method using ultrasonic signals and RF signals such as WiFi/BT is effective in a general environment. However, in one embodiment of the present invention, an active badge, an active bat, and a wireless communication network can also be used depending on the environment. In particular, with the development of positioning technology using UWB, very accurate positioning became possible.

7 is a configuration diagram of a positioning post device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 7 , the positioning post device 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a GPS receiving unit 210, an altitude measurement unit 220, a status display unit 230, other sensor units 240, information It includes a storage unit 250, a control unit 260, a battery 270, a mode selection unit 280, a wireless communication unit 290, a positioning signal transmitter 300, and a positioning signal receiver 310. However, not all illustrated components are essential components. The positioning post device 200 may be implemented with more components than those shown, or the positioning post device 200 may be implemented with fewer components.

Hereinafter, detailed configuration and operation of each component of the positioning post device 200 of FIG. 7 will be described.

First, the positioning post device 200 can be installed in a fixed location or moved by carrying it.

The GPS receiver 210 measures its position from positioning satellites. Types of positioning satellites include GPS (USA), GLONASS (Russia), GALILEO (EU), and Beidu (China).

The altitude measuring unit 220 measures the current altitude. Since there is a large error in altitude measurement, if a specific reference post is set as the reference post, other posts display the absolute altitude indicating their altitude and the relative altitude indicating the difference in altitude from the reference post.

The status display unit 230 may display the current status of the positioning post device 200 . For example, the status display unit 230 may display whether or not GPS reception is possible. The status display unit 230 may display whether it is a location search mode or a beacon mode. The status display unit 230 may display various information such as location information, altitude information, and temperature/humidity information.

The other sensor unit 240 may include various sensor module units such as a geomagnetic sensor, a gyro sensor, temperature, humidity, CO ₂ , and other harmful gases in addition to the altitude sensor.

The information storage unit 250 may store at least one piece of information such as location, altitude, temperature, and harmful gas. The information storage unit 250 may store various information such as current location, altitude, temperature, and harmful gas.

The controller 260 may control each component of the positioning post device 200 . The controller 260 may perform location calculation using GPS, location calculation using ultrasonic waves, and location and various sensor control using RF sensitivity.

The battery 270 may supply power to each component of the positioning post device 200 for operation in an environment where wired power is not available.

The mode selector 280 may operate by selecting a search mode or a beacon mode. After the positioning post device 200 is installed, the mode selector 280 first performs a GPS search to obtain location information, and when GPS search is impossible, various methods (eg, active badge, active bat, cricket, and other indoor wireless communication networks) etc.) to search for the current location, and when the location search is finished, it is possible to select whether to continue in the search mode or switch to the beacon mode.

For example, in the search mode state, the search mode indicator blinks when it is in operation to calculate the location, and when the search is completed and the location calculation is completed, the search mode indicator stops blinking and the search mode indicator may be turned on or off. . In this state, if the position needs to be corrected through the continuous search mode, the current position can be periodically updated while leaving the search mode as it is. In addition, when switching from the search mode completion state (eg, the search mode indicator is always on) to the beacon mode, the positioning signal serving as a reference so that positioning post devices 200 in other locations can find their positions. can be given by broadcasting.

The wireless communication unit 290 may mutually exchange current location information and other sensor information with other modules and report them to the master module. The wireless communication unit 290 may be equipped with a microphone and a speaker and may serve to broadcast or transmit a voice signal. The wireless communication unit 290 is provided with an emergency button, so that an emergency voice channel can be connected or an emergency message can be transmitted by pressing the emergency button in an emergency situation. The wireless communication unit 290 may display an emergency to the control center.

As described above, various methods such as active badge, active bat, cricket, and other indoor wireless communication networks can be used for positioning. Among them, cricket using RF and ultrasonic signals will be described as an example. When the positioning post device 200 operates in the beacon mode, it notifies its location information through the wireless communication unit 290, and the positioning signal transmitter 300 transmits the RF beacon signal and the RF beacon signal so that other positioning post devices can determine their location. Ultrasonic signals can be broadcast simultaneously. When the RF signal and the ultrasonic signal are transmitted in this way, the positioning signal transmission unit 300 recognizes that other positioning post devices do not transmit signals so as not to cause a collision with signals transmitted by other positioning post devices, and then transmits its own signal. send out At this time, after another positioning post device transmits a signal for positioning. It is preferable to transmit a signal for self-positioning after a certain period of time. The waiting time for signal transmission can be set differently according to the size of the indoor space. For reference, ultrasonic waves travel at about 340 meters per second at about 20 degrees Celsius, so it takes 0.294 seconds to travel about 100 meters. However, since the reception range is determined according to the transmission output, waiting time after receiving other signals can be determined according to circumstances. At this time, RF signals (mainly using BT or WiFi signals) propagate at a speed of 3*10^8m/sec and ultrasonic waves propagate at 340m/sec, so even if it is assumed that the transmission time and reception time of the RF signal are the same time Since ultrasound is relatively very slow, there is no large error in distance conversion.

As described above, the signal receiver 310 for positioning receives the RF signal and the ultrasonic signal transmitted from the signal transmitter 300 for positioning. Here, the ultrasonic signal arrives very late compared to the RF signal. Therefore, after the positioning signal receiving unit 310 receives the RF signal, if the time difference in receiving the ultrasonic signal is divided by the speed of sound, the distance between the other positioning post device that has transmitted the positioning signal and itself that has received the positioning signal can be calculated. can be calculated

8 is a diagram showing an example of a distance calculation method between positioning posts in a cricket method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 8, assuming that T00 and T01 are the same, after receiving the RF signal in the positioning signal receiver 310, the ultrasonic signal is received at the time difference T (T02 - T01) at the speed of sound (340 m/sec) When multiplied by , the distance between the positioning signal transmitter 300 and the positioning signal receiver 310 is obtained.

Expressing the distance conversion equation in more detail, the distance between the positioning signal transmitter 300 and the positioning signal receiver 310 is L [m], the measured time is T [s], the sound speed is V [m/s], Temperature can be expressed as t[C], L = ( T * V ) [m]. Here, V= 331.5 + 0.6*t [m/s].

9 is a diagram illustrating an example of an indoor positioning method using ToA according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As a method of indoor positioning, an embodiment of the present invention has been described based on a cricket method that simultaneously uses RF and ultrasonic signals. However, there are various methods such as active badge, wireless indoor communication (WiFI, BT, UWB), and PDR.

As the RF-based indoor positioning method described above, there are a method using temporal characteristics such as ToA, which means the arrival time of a signal, and TDoA, which means the difference between arriving signals, and a method using signal strength (RSS). The indoor positioning method using the ToA method is shown in FIG. 9 . The location of point D can be known based on the signals received from the three transmitters.

In such a positioning method using ToA, accurate positioning is possible only when three transmitter positions {(x1, y1), (x2, y2), (x3, y3)} are known.

This method of measuring the distance can be known by the time of arrival (ToA) of the radio wave, but the distance can also be known by the TWR (Two-way Ranging) method.

10 is a diagram illustrating an example of an indoor positioning method using two-way ranging according to an embodiment of the present invention.

및 두 장치 사이의 거리를 하기 [수학식 1]과 같이 추정할 수 있다. 10 shows an operation method of a Two Way Ranging (TWR) algorithm. When node A transmits a positioning message to node B, node B transmits a response message to the message received from node A. When node A receives a response message from node B after sending a positioning message, it can know the round-trip time of the positioning message and the response time of node B, and the arrival time of the signal using the two values.

And the distance between the two devices can be estimated as shown in [Equation 1].

As described above, the distance between two points can be measured by various methods such as the cricket method and the TWR method. In addition, in the case of using a WiFi signal indoors, indoor positioning may be performed by converting a distance through a propagation model of a radio wave with a RSS (Received Signal Strength) value of the WiFi radio signal.

11 is a diagram showing an example of an indoor positioning method using one's own position and the other party's direction indoors according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 11, if it is possible to measure the distance between one's own position and the other party's place indoors and know in which direction, that is, if the distance from A to B is known, the position of B is on the circumference of A-1 make an existence

However, if the direction of B is known, if it is in the east direction (90 degrees direction) as shown in FIG. 11, the position of B can be determined as a point on the circumference of A-1. At this time, if the distance between A-C and B-C is known, the location of C becomes the points C1 and C2. Here, if the size of the room at the location of A is limited to area E, the location of C can be determined as C1. In this way, the location of D can be determined as D1 if the distance between A-D and B-D is known and limited to E area. Of course, if you know the distance between A-D, B-D, and C-D, you can determine the location of D even without displaying E area.

In such a situation where many people are scattered in an indoor space such as a large exhibition hall and you do not know your exact location coordinates and other people's coordinates, even if you only know the direction where the second person or other positioning post is, the second person or other positioning post is located. Positioning can be done by specifying only the direction in which the post is located and the approximate size of the indoor space.

12 is a diagram illustrating an indoor positioning method using an altitude display method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 12, in step S601, indoor positioning post A receives its own altitude information at the location of A.

In step S602, the indoor positioning post A receives the height between floors.

In step S603, indoor positioning post A receives altimeter information of points B, C, and D.

In step S604, the indoor positioning post A may use the received altimeter information of points B, C, and D to calculate the altitude difference between points B, C, and D from point A, that is, relative altitude.

In step S604, the indoor positioning post A may display the estimated positions of points B, C, and D using the calculated relative altitudes. For example, the indoor positioning post A can know which floors B, C, and D are on at a construction site by using the input height between floors and the relative height.

When calculating the locations of B, C, and D around point A in FIG. 12, a method of searching for locations of B, C, and D by arbitrarily determining a positioning area E may also be applied. However, if it is possible to obtain an electronic map of a specific area, the locations of C and D can be easily found by marking the locations of A or A and B on the electronic map.

13 is a diagram showing an example of an emergency propagation method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In step S701, in case of emergency, the user presses the emergency button of the positioning post.

In step S702, the positioning post in an emergency situation makes voice connection with the control center via other positioning posts or directly.

In step S703, when voice connection with the control center is not established, an emergency message is transmitted through the data communication network.

In step S704, an emergency situation such as an alarm is transmitted to the control center that has received the emergency message.

When the position of each positioning post is determined in this way, the position of each positioning post becomes a table in the control center. Such a positioning post may be fixed in one place, but it is also possible for a user to carry and move it. If these positioning posts form a network, they can communicate with each other and continuously transmit their location to the control center. In addition, when a specific button is pressed in an emergency situation, an emergency situation can be transmitted to the control center by voice or a specific signal, so that the user can inform the emergency situation.

On the other hand, the positioning post device according to an embodiment of the present invention may be a mobile location information receiving device that can be installed and operated in any place at any time as both a GPS location information receiver and a relay post installed outdoors and indoors can be moved. In addition, the indoor positioning system may be a system that can be freely operated in an area to be located regardless of a server. That is, when a reference post installed in an arbitrary area where GPS reception is possible receives a GPS signal and accurately locates itself, it switches from a search mode to a beacon mode and transmits its location information. Of course, instead of unconditionally transmitting its own location information, it can transmit its own information when a terminal to be located requests location information. The positioning post at the point to be positioned determines the position of the positioning post based on the signal transmitted from the relay post whose position is determined using wireless signals such as WiFI/BT or UWB, and the signal strength or propagation of the signal transmitted from the relay post. You can measure your position by calculating the position of the positioning post using the arrival time. Therefore, it is possible to operate the positioning system independently regardless of the server.

An embodiment of the present invention first starts by providing specific indoor location information, such as wireless signal strength or reach, based on indoor location information measured outdoors or indoors where GPS signals can be received (for example, by a window). It relates to a system and method for positioning using If it is difficult to position yourself by receiving a signal from a relay post because the relay post that receives the GPS signal and knows its exact location is far away, a third, A fourth relay post can be built. After the third and fourth relay posts measure the location of the third and fourth relay posts using the search mode, the third and fourth relay posts also switch to the beacon mode to obtain their location information. A positioning post that wishes to perform positioning at another location by transmitting the positioning post can position its own position based on signals transmitted from the third and fourth relay posts.

An embodiment of the present invention is a system for measuring a location at an indoor location to be measured based on location information of a terminal installed outside or capable of obtaining location information using GPS, rather than relaying GPS satellite signals internally. It is about. That is, positioning posts that have difficulty receiving indoor GPS signals can not receive GPS signals using distance and direction information from the reference post for which position information has been obtained using GPS, even if they are positioning posts whose position information is unknown. Accurate location information can be obtained. By transmitting the positional information obtained in this way to other positioning posts, the other positioning posts can sequentially identify and store their own positional information. A positioning post device according to an embodiment of the present invention is a device that can be operated with a battery and can be used in an environment where it is difficult to use indoor or outdoor wired power.

An embodiment of the present invention relates to a system capable of being driven by a battery without a wired power source and capable of installing and operating a relay post arbitrarily according to a geographical feature to be located.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the position of the reference post, which is the first reference, can be determined by locating its exact position in search mode using a GPS signal, or by inputting an arbitrary position to a reference post or relay post. . In this way, when the user arbitrarily inputs a location, the location information positioned using the information of the reference post displays relative location information relative to the reference post, not absolute location information. In this case, if the information is entered arbitrarily and the relay post is switched from the search mode to the beacon mode, the input location information is transmitted.

An embodiment of the present invention transmits its own information by assigning a specific ID when transmitting its own location information in a beacon mode.

An embodiment of the present invention transmits signals with a time difference so that there is no signal crosstalk between relay posts when a plurality of relay posts transmit their own beacon signals and signals such as ultrasonic waves when operating in a beacon mode. In a method of transmitting signals with a time difference, signals may be transmitted in the order in which location information is registered. In addition, the CSMA/CA communication method, which is mainly used in WiFI, can be used.

In one embodiment of the present invention, when the repeater operates in a beacon mode, the beacon signal may be a wireless signal such as WiFI, BT, or UWB, and the positioning post of the point to be located uses the search mode to use the strength of the beacon signal. It is also possible to measure the distance to a location to be measured by measuring the distance with the radio signal or by measuring the arrival time of a wireless signal using UWB or an ultrasonic signal transmitted from a repeater in a beacon mode.

When using the UWB signal, the terminal to measure the distance can transmit a radio signal to the positioning post for a beacon and measure the return time to calculate the distance. As such, a representative method of measuring distance is the two-way ranging technique described in FIG. 10 .

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described above, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, and is common in the technical field belonging to the disclosure without departing from the gist of the present invention claimed in the claims. Of course, various modifications are possible by those with knowledge of, and these modifications should not be individually understood from the technical spirit or prospect of the present invention.

101 to 103: first positioning posts A, B, C
104 to 106: second positioning posts D, E, F
107 to 109: third positioning posts G, H, I
200: positioning post device
210: GPS receiver
220: altitude measurement unit
230: status display unit
240: other sensor unit
250: information storage unit
260: control unit
270: battery
280: mode selection unit
290: wireless communication unit
300: signal transmitter for positioning
310: signal receiving unit for positioning

Claims (23)

In the indoor positioning method performed by the indoor positioning system,
receiving GPS (Global Positioning System) signals by first positioning posts that are reference posts located outdoors;
calculating first location information by the first positioning posts using the received GPS signal;
transmitting the calculated first location information and a first positioning signal between the first positioning posts and the second positioning posts;
receiving, by second positioning posts, the first location information and a first positioning signal from the first positioning posts; and
and locating, by the second positioning posts, second position information of the second positioning posts based on the received first position information and the first positioning signal. According to claim 1,
The first signal for positioning,
An indoor positioning method that varies depending on any one positioning method among an active badge method, an active bats method, a cricket method, and an indoor wireless communication network method. According to claim 1,
The step of calculating the first location information,
When the GPS signal is not received, the indoor positioning method of calculating or specifying first location information from a pre-stored electronic map. According to claim 1,
The step of calculating the first location information,
and calculating or designating a virtual first location centered on the first positioning posts as first location information when the GPS signal is not received. According to claim 1,
measuring a first altitude with a barometer equipped with the first positioning posts; and
The second positioning posts set the measured first altitude as an absolute altitude, and use the altitude information of the first positioning posts and the relative altitude, which is an altitude difference between the first positioning posts and the second positioning posts, The indoor positioning method further comprising calculating a second altitude of the second positioning posts. According to claim 1,
When the second positioning posts measure the second position information in the search mode, switching from the search mode to the beacon mode to transmit the positioned second position information and a second positioning signal. method. According to claim 6,
receiving, by third positioning posts, the positioning second location information and the second positioning signal from the second positioning posts; and
and locating third position information of the third positioning posts based on the received second position information and the second positioning signal by the third positioning posts. According to claim 7,
The second positioning posts and the third positioning posts transmit signals to calculate distances between their positions and the first positioning posts, which are reference posts, and use a time difference between signals returned to calculate their positions and the distances between their positions and the first positioning posts. The indoor positioning method further comprising calculating a distance between the first positioning posts. According to claim 1,
When the second positioning posts are moved from the positioning second position information, the beacon mode is switched from the search mode to the second positioning posts of the second positioning posts based on the received first position information and the first positioning signal. An indoor positioning method, further comprising positioning the position information. According to claim 9,
and performing positioning while periodically changing a search mode and a beacon mode by the second positioning posts. According to claim 1,
The indoor positioning method further comprising transmitting position information or altitude information of each post to a control center, and displaying the position information or altitude information of each post at the control center. According to claim 1,
receiving location information, altitude information, or floor number information of points where positioning posts to be currently measured are located; and
The indoor positioning method further comprising calculating location information, altitude information, or floor number information of other positioning posts located in a neighboring point by using the input location information, altitude information, or floor number information. In the indoor positioning system,
It is a reference post located outdoors, receives a Global Positioning System (GPS) signal, calculates first location information using the received GPS signal, and calculates first location information and first positioning posts and second location information. first positioning posts that transmit signals for first positioning between positioning posts; and
Receiving the first location information and first positioning signals from the first positioning posts, and positioning second location information of second positioning posts based on the received first location information and first positioning signals An indoor positioning system comprising second positioning posts. According to claim 13,
The first signal for positioning,
An indoor positioning system that varies according to one of the positioning methods among the Active Badge method, the Active Bats method, the Cricket method, and the indoor wireless communication network method. According to claim 13,
The first positioning posts,
When the GPS signal is not received, the indoor positioning system calculates or designates first location information from a pre-stored electronic map. According to claim 13,
The first positioning posts,
When the GPS signal is not received, the indoor positioning system calculates or designates a virtual first position centered on the first positioning posts as first position information. According to claim 13,
The first positioning posts measure a first altitude with a barometer provided,
The second positioning posts set the measured first altitude as an absolute altitude, and use the altitude information of the first positioning posts and the relative altitude, which is an altitude difference between the first positioning posts and the second positioning posts, An indoor positioning system that calculates a second altitude of second positioning posts. According to claim 13,
The second positioning posts,
When the second position information is determined in the search mode, the indoor positioning system switches from the search mode to the beacon mode to transmit the positioned second position information and the second positioning signal. According to claim 18,
A third device for receiving the second location information and a second positioning signal from the second positioning posts and positioning the third location information of the third positioning posts based on the second location information and the second positioning signal An indoor positioning system, further comprising positioning posts. According to claim 19,
The second positioning posts and the third positioning posts transmit signals to calculate distances between their positions and the first positioning posts, which are reference posts, and use a time difference between signals returned to calculate their positions and the distances between their positions and the first positioning posts. An indoor positioning system for calculating a distance between first positioning posts. According to claim 13,
The second positioning posts,
positioning second position information of the second positioning posts based on the received first position information and a first positioning signal by switching from a beacon mode to a search mode when movement is performed in the positioning second position information; indoor positioning system. According to claim 21,
The indoor positioning system, wherein the second positioning posts perform positioning while periodically changing a search mode and a beacon mode. According to claim 13,
An indoor positioning system, further comprising a control center receiving location information or altitude information of respective posts, wherein the control center displays the location information or altitude information of respective posts.

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