KR20230121420A - Implementation method of a UWB-based location tracker that provides distance measurement and SOS information sharing - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a UWB-based location tracking method that provides functions of measuring distance and sharing SOS information.
In the present invention, when a node in a position where communication is possible operates in a tag mode in a preset time slot, a message for measuring a distance between nodes is transmitted to neighboring nodes, and then a final message is sent when a response message is received from each neighboring node. terminating a process for measuring a distance between nodes by transmitting to each neighboring node; measuring a distance between neighboring nodes using transmission/reception times of received response messages when the process for measuring the distance between respective nodes is terminated; and transmitting an additional message including the measured distance information and additional information to the neighboring nodes after measuring the distance between the nodes.

Description

Implementation method of a UWB-based location tracker that provides distance measurement and SOS information sharing}

The present invention provides a safety management system capable of being rescued by other members in an emergency situation of a field member even in an environment where communication infrastructure is difficult to install or there is no communication infrastructure due to a disaster such as fire, so that the field member in danger can be quickly rescued. A method for implementing a UWB-based location tracker for on-site rescue personnel to share distance information and SOS information with each other for rescue.

A technology for measuring relative distance information using UWB (Ultra-Wideband) communication is currently being developed, and mainly measures distance information between a fixed anchor and a moving tag to provide information on the tag's moving path. is used for a purpose.

In this method of operation, anchors operate in synchronization with a fixed number of anchors in time at a fixed location, and the tag is manufactured to be easily portable and worn on a device or person to measure the relative distance to the anchor and store or monitor data. do.

The location tracker for field crews currently on the market is a motion detection sensor that sounds an alarm if there is no movement of the crew. uses a method of measuring distance information by measuring wireless signal sensitivity with a receiver, but it is a rescue method in which it is difficult for nearby crew members to acquire distance information and SOS information from an emergency crew member.

The present invention has been devised to solve the conventional problems, and is a UWB node for sharing distance information between itself and other location trackers as well as distance information between all location trackers and SOS information of emergency personnel using a UWB-based location tracker. It's about implementation.

In the present invention, when there is a member in an emergency situation among field crews rescuing victims in a situation where communication infrastructure does not exist or in an environment where there is no communication infrastructure due to various disasters including fire, other field crews around are in an emergency It is related to the implementation of a UWB-based location tracker to rescue.

Since the portable location tracker that measures the distance through UWB communication is used by field personnel, it must be operated as a node that is an equal concept between each other without a fixed anchor.

While the basic operation of the node applies the UWB-based distance measurement method as it is, it operates as a tag in the time slot allocated based on the node ID and as an anchor in other time slots to perform basic distance measurement of UWB and to transmit additional messages. It has a structure that transmits additional information such as its own distance information and SOS through

The object of the present invention is not limited to the object mentioned above, and other objects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description below.

In order to achieve the above object, in the UWB-based location tracking method for providing a distance measurement and SOS information sharing function according to an embodiment of the present invention, when a node at a communicable location operates in a tag mode in a preset time slot, After transmitting a message for measuring the distance between nodes to neighboring nodes, when a response message is received from each neighboring node, transmitting a final message to each neighboring node to terminate the process for measuring the distance between nodes; measuring a distance between neighboring nodes using transmission/reception times of received response messages when the process for measuring the distance between respective nodes is terminated; and transmitting an additional message including the measured distance information and additional information to the neighboring nodes after measuring the distance between the nodes.

The step of measuring the distance between nodes may include generating a message for measuring the distance between nodes; Transmitting the generated message for measuring the inter-node distance to communicable nodes; and transmitting a final message to nodes capable of communicating when all response messages are received from nodes that have received the message for measuring the distance between nodes.

The additional message includes a function code field including type information of transmitted messages, a measurement distance information field including distance information to each node, an initialization field for synchronizing location information of nodes, and SOS information. Include an SOS field that contains

A UWB-based location tracker providing distance measurement and SOS information sharing functions according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a node function control unit operating in an anchor or tag mode in a preset slot according to ID information of a preset node; When a node operates as a tag by the node function control unit, a Poll message is transmitted to a communicable peripheral node, and a Final a message is sent to each node when a response message is received from the peripheral nodes operating in the anchor mode. a node distance detection unit that transmits data to neighboring nodes; and an additional message processing unit that terminates an anchor operation after transferring an additional message including distance information between neighboring nodes detected through the node distance detector 120 and SOS setting information to each neighboring node.

When a node operates in the anchor mode by the node function control unit, when a poll message is received from a node operating in the tag mode within a preset slot, a message response for transmitting a response message to the node operating in the tag mode includes wealth

Preferably, the node function control unit stores ID information of connectable nodes and synchronizes time slots based on an ID having the lowest rank among the stored node ID information.

The node function control unit operates to receive only messages for a certain period of time (slot) during an initial operation.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, in situations where communication infrastructure does not exist due to various disasters including fire or in the field of disaster safety and military without communication infrastructure, such as distance information between field crews and SOS for rescue request in emergency situations. There is an effect of providing a location tracking method for sharing information.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, distance information between each other is measured while performing a function of a node operating as a tag or an anchor according to an assigned time slot and its own node ID, and the measured distance information and additional information such as SOS It has the effect of sharing information with all nodes by transmitting it to other nodes.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a UWB-based location tracker that provides distance measurement and SOS information sharing functions according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a flowchart illustrating a method for tracking a location based on UWB that provides functions for measuring distance and sharing SOS information according to an embodiment of the present invention;
3A is a reference diagram illustrating an example of acquiring N-to-N distance information in a conventional UWB-based node;
3B is a reference diagram illustrating an example of acquiring N-to-N distance information in a UWB-based node according to an embodiment of the present invention;
4A is a reference diagram for explaining a time slot structure transmitted and received by 4 UWB-based nodes in an embodiment of the present invention;
4B is a reference diagram for explaining a time slot structure transmitted and received by 8 UWB-based nodes in an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a signal flow diagram for explaining a method of measuring a relative distance between nodes and sharing information between nodes in an embodiment of the present invention.
6A is a diagram of a packet structure for setting an SOS in an information sharing message structure of an additional message according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6B is a diagram of a packet structure for SOS cancellation among information sharing message structures of an additional message in an embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a reference diagram for explaining a UWB-based node configuration for sharing distance information and SOS information according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Advantages and features of the present invention, and methods of achieving them, will become clear with reference to the detailed description of the following embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but will be implemented in various different forms, only these embodiments make the disclosure of the present invention complete, and common knowledge in the art to which the present invention belongs. It is provided to fully inform the holder of the scope of the invention, and the present invention is only defined by the scope of the claims. Meanwhile, terms used in this specification are for describing the embodiments and are not intended to limit the present invention. In this specification, singular forms also include plural forms unless specifically stated otherwise in a phrase. As used herein, "comprises" and/or "comprising" means that a stated component, step, operation, and/or element is the presence of one or more other components, steps, operations, and/or elements. or do not rule out additions.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a UWB-based location tracker that provides distance measurement and SOS information sharing functions according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the UWB-based location tracker 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a node function control unit 110, a node distance detection unit 120, and an additional message processing unit 130.

The node function control unit 110 operates the tracker as an anchor or a tag in a preset slot according to ID information of a preset node. On the other hand, the node function control unit 110 receives ID information of nodes that are other connectable trackers.

and synchronize the time slots of each tracker based on the ID of the lowest rank among the stored node ID information.

Also, the node function control unit 110 operates to receive only messages for a certain period of time (slot) during an initial operation.

When a node is operated as a tag by the node function control unit 110, the node distance detection unit 120 transmits a poll message to communicable neighboring nodes, and then receives a response message from the neighboring nodes. a Sends a message to each neighboring node.

The additional message processing unit 130 transfers an additional message including distance information between each neighboring node detected through the node distance detection unit 120 and SOS setting information to each neighboring node operating in the anchor mode, and then terminates the tag mode. .

On the other hand, the message response unit 140, when a node operates as a tag by the node function control unit 110, receives a poll message from a node operating as a tag mode node within a preset slot, the tag mode Sends a response message to the node operating as

Hereinafter, a UWB-based location tracking method that provides distance measurement and SOS information sharing functions according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 2 .

A message for measuring the distance between nodes is generated (S100).

The generated message for measuring the distance between nodes is transmitted to communicable nodes (S200).

All response messages are received from nodes that have received the message for measuring the distance between nodes (S300).

Thereafter, a final message is transmitted to nodes capable of communicating with each other (S400).

When the process for measuring the distance between each node is completed, the distance between each neighboring node is measured using the transmission/reception time of the received response messages (S500).

After measuring the distance between the nodes, an additional message including the measured distance information and additional information is transmitted to the neighboring nodes (S600). Here, the additional message includes a function code field including type information of transmitted messages, a measurement distance information field including distance information to each node, an initialization field for synchronizing location information of nodes, and an SOS Contains an SOS setting field containing information.

The current location tracking technology uses GPS-based location tracking technology outdoors to determine the location of other personnel, and consists of a field crew's wireless transmitter and control system's wireless receiver in shaded areas or indoors where GPS signals do not reach. There is a high probability of error in measurement as the distance between each other is measured by measuring the strength of the wireless signal with location tracking technology, and the SOS signal of the field crew is at the level of an alarm sound or operating a wireless transmitter.

In order to solve this problem, it is possible to request SOS rescue to nearby field crews in a dangerous situation, all distance information between field crews must be displayed on all location trackers, and SOS rescue signals are transmitted to other smart devices and control systems. should be composed

As such, as shown in FIG. 3A, when distance measurement is performed with an existing UWB device, only distance information between its own measurement device M1 and other measurement devices M0, M3, and M4 can be known. Acquiring distance information between different devices is a difficult structure.

On the other hand, the UWB-based location trackers M0 to M3 in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 3B, transmit additional messages such as their own distance information and SOS rescue signal in addition to 1:N relative distance measurement information. organize to share information.

4A shows a time slot structure of a UWB node. A node M0 having an ID corresponding to a corresponding slot operates in tag mode, and other nodes M1 to M3 operate in anchor mode. The initially operating node operates only to receive messages for a certain period of time and synchronizes the time slot based on the node with the lowest ID among the nodes operating in the slot. All other nodes also synchronize time slots based on the node with the lowest ID among the nodes participating in the same slot.

Since this method does not need to set a standard for a specific node, it is possible to freely configure the node, and by updating the time reference node at regular intervals, time synchronization is performed based on the node with the next lower ID even if the reference node fails or loses. There are advantages to doing so.

4A shows message exchange time slots for measuring the distance between nodes in a network consisting of 4 nodes M0 to M3, and FIG. 4B shows the distance between nodes in a network consisting of 8 nodes M0 to M7. It shows message exchange time slots for measurement. It can be seen that as the number of nodes increases, the slot time increases and the distance measurement time period also increases.

5 illustrates a message transmission method for measuring a relative distance between nodes and sharing an additional message.

For example, when node 0 (M0) among the four nodes (M0 to M3) operates in tag mode, it first transmits a poll message to other nodes 1 to 3 (M1 to M3) operating in anchor mode.

Thereafter, other nodes 1 to 3 (M1 to M3) operating in anchor mode deliver a response message to node 0 (M0) operating in tag mode.

Then, node 0 (M0) operating in tag mode and receiving the Response message transfers the final message to other nodes 1 to 3 (M1 to M3) connected to it, and the measurement of the relative distance between nodes is completed, and the final message Afterwards, by transmitting the distance information measured by itself and additional message information such as SOS to other nodes 1 to 3 (M1 to M3), it can share its own information with all other nodes. In this embodiment, only the operation up to node 1 (M1) is described, but it is preferable to sequentially cycle the operation up to the connected node 3 (M3).

6a and 6b illustrate an additional message structure for sharing information between nodes.

The additional message includes a function code field including type information of transmitted messages, a measurement distance information field including distance information to each node, an initialization field for synchronizing location information of nodes, and SOS information. Include an SOS setting field to include. Each measurement distance information field includes the distance to each node in each meter field. And, the SOS setting field is set to SET SOS as shown in FIG. 6A when an emergency situation is reported, and set to NOT SOS as shown in FIG. 6B when it is not an SOS situation.

With this information sharing, the field crew can obtain N-to-N relative distance information between all other field crew members, and can spread their emergency situation to other crew members with the SOS sharing function.

By adding wireless communication functions such as BLE to these UWB-based location trackers, they can connect with smart devices and control systems, and can share their acquired N-to-N relative distance information and SOS information.

Smart devices and control systems have the advantage of being able to identify distance information and share SOS information of all members involved even if they are connected to one device among the members by wireless communication.

7 is a reference diagram for explaining an operation example of a UWB-based location tracking method that provides distance measurement and SOS information sharing functions according to an embodiment of the present invention.

That is, as shown in FIG. 7, when one of the on-site crew members M2 is in an emergency situation to rescue the victim, distance information and SOS between the crew members are provided through the UWB-based location trackers M0, M1, and M3. By sharing information, other crews can quickly rescue the emergency crew. In this embodiment, it is described as using four trackers, but it is not limited thereto.

In the above, the configuration of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, but this is only an example, and various modifications and changes within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention to those skilled in the art to which the present invention belongs Of course this is possible. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention should not be limited to the above-described embodiments, but should be defined by the description of the claims below.

Claims (1)

When a node in a position where communication is possible operates in tag mode in a preset time slot, a message for measuring the distance between nodes is transmitted to neighboring nodes, and when a response message is received from each neighboring node, a final message is sent to each neighboring node. Ending the process for measuring the distance between nodes by transmitting to the nodes;
measuring a distance between neighboring nodes using transmission/reception times of received response messages when the process for measuring the distance between respective nodes is terminated; and
and transmitting an additional message including the measured distance information and additional information to the neighboring nodes after measuring the distance between the nodes.