NO312268B1 - Method and system for providing information - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a method and system for integrated and interactive media presentation of sporting events which provides the media, the public and coaches with more information and insight into the performances of the teams and the individual athletes as well as provides more secure judging of rule violations through the digitization of sporting events via sensors that register the exact positions of athletes and objects and via suitable software for data processing and media visualization, more specifically the invention relates to a method for providing information as stated in the introduction to claim 1 as well as a system for carrying out a method for providing information as stated in the introduction to claim 6.

Sports reports on radio, TV and the press attract a lot of attention in all countries. Such reports can be in real time or afterwards. In addition to visual presentations of the sporting events, the reports contain information about key events, such as in football: number of goals, who scored, time of scoring, etc. Some of this data is subject to gambling and betting where large amounts are traded and where the profit among others provide significant income to society, charities and the sport itself. Interactive TV has not yet been introduced in Norway, but it is available on some foreign channels. Here, in football, crowds of employees have been engaged who sit in the stands and note down, manually, match data such as the number of passes, wrong passes, shots etc. These statistics can then be called up by the viewers interactively. Likewise, viewers can interactively choose which of the manually operated cameras they want to watch the match from. They can also choose to watch previous highlights if they enter a match late.

A sport's reputation and support depends, among other things, on whether the enforcement of the rules is fair, such as, for example, the enforcement of the offside rule in football. In order to determine whether an offside is to be ruled, the referee trio must in principle observe two events at the same time: see exactly when a pass comes towards an attacker closer to the goal and see this attacker's position in relation to the positions of the defenders when the ball is played. As the sport develops, the game speeds up, the teams become faster in their collective movements and the passes become longer and more precise. All this requires the trio of judges to make faster decisions with ever smaller margins. Today's high margin of error creates controversies that harm the sport's status and reputation, as well as unfair distribution of income to the teams if such a decision helps to determine the winner. Methods for better judging offside are therefore a high priority in football organisations, and FIFA aims to find a solution to this within the next 10-year period. Another critical assessment is whether the ball has crossed the goal line. This is again based on the referee trio's visual impression, which can be problematic in the case of foul play in the goal area. Similarly, assessment of hands is sometimes difficult.

The invention is intended to enable the production of equipment and software that can be integrated to establish a digitized version of sports events with high precision and where the digital data through suitable processing and presentation gives easy access to significantly more information content and increases the entertainment value in sports reports and provides coaches more complete and significantly faster analysis capabilities of sports events. In what follows, reference is made mainly to football and general sports, but the invention can of course also be used in other areas where it is desirable to retrieve information from objects in motion within a limited area.

The invention will also enable the production of equipment and software to provide improved real-time registration of rule violations, such as for example offside in football.

The invention further intends to enable the production of equipment and software to provide automatic control information to TV cameras placed around the sports arena so that the cameras can follow specified objects, such as the ball in soccer or they can be instructed to follow selected athletes.

In order to provide the above, it is necessary to be able to determine the position of players and ball. Position determinations by mounting equipment on people or objects are known. It is thus known to determine the position of objects using different forms of electromagnetic waves. A well-reputed and forward-looking system is satellite navigation, GPS (Global Positioning System).

Developed and maintained by the US Department of Defense (DOD), this system consists of 24 satellites that orbit the Earth and transmit coded signals that can be picked up by GPS receivers on Earth. By using so-called differential GPS (DGPS) and with suitable signal processing, a position determination can be made with an accuracy of 2-5 meters in azimuth and almost twice that in height. This in itself is impressive as a global accuracy, but it is too imprecise to be used locally to determine offside, or to determine whether a player has made contact with the ball with one leg or the other or with the head or to determine hands or determine whether the ball is in the goal. The inaccuracy is mainly due to ionosphere/troposphere review, deviations in the satellites' orbit parameters (ephemeris) and multipath. Higher precision (down to a few mm) is available but this requires significantly more advanced, energy-demanding, heavier and more expensive receiver/antenna systems that are unsuitable for long-term miniature battery operation and mounting on people and small objects as for the present purpose. 5-7 years ago, even the simplest GPS receivers were too large to be relevant in an application such as the present one. In the last 3-4 years, however, we have witnessed a miniaturization where chip-based production technology opens up new areas of use. This miniaturization has not targeted high-precision receivers, but simpler types are now available in miniature format and at a reasonable price. The GPS/DGPS system requires a clear line of sight between receivers and satellites and therefore cannot be used indoors. DOD has the opportunity to make the GPS signals unavailable in a given threat situation.

It is further known to describe, for example in football, a system for mounting radio transmitters on athletes and balls and having a number of radio receivers with direction-sensitive antennas placed around the arena to pick up the transmitted signals. The positions of the athletes and the ball are then determined by calculating the angle from transmitters to receivers. In this context, reference should be made to WO 93/01867. The accuracy of this method is mainly limited by the directivity of the receiver antennas and by the dynamics of the measurements. It is difficult with practical antenna dimensions to achieve better angular accuracy than a couple of degrees. If the system is to be able to provide information in 3 dimensions, even such directivity will be difficult to realize. With baselines in the area of 100-150 metres, even with overdetermination based on several receivers, one will not achieve better 3-dimensional positional uncertainty than the order of 5 metres, which is insufficient for the present purpose for the same reasons as stated above.

It is also known in football to use video recordings for closer analysis of the team's and the individual athlete's performances on the basis of images from a finite number of TV cameras which provide selective zonal coverage of the course of the game. Such video analyzes are manual and therefore time-consuming, even if a computer with suitable and known software is used. As an example, a thorough analysis of a football match, carried out with current technology in the field, will take 7-8 hours for an experienced person. The analysis will only be able to contain the parameters that are available from the video screen, in the limited image sections that are visible at all times. The analysis with known technology will thus not be able to contain important parameters such as running/walking/jogging distance for each individual athlete, how fast he has run, how hard he has shot, collective team movements etc.

Known equipment for controlling TV/video cameras during recording from sporting events is manual. This makes it difficult to have close-up shots while quickly turning the camera after the ball and the progress of the game. It also requires a lot of personnel and a lot of cameras.

The known way of recording offside has the weakness that it is based on the impression of the trio of referees and the judging thus very often becomes imprecise and controversial. In order to determine whether it is offside, the trio of referees must in principle observe two events at the same time: it must be recorded exactly when a player sends the ball towards an attacker closer to the goal and the exact position of this attacker in relation to the positions of the defenders on the other team in which the ball is played .

The time it takes the referee to move his focus of vision from the place where the ball is played to the place where it is to be received is long enough that the relative position between defender and attacker may have changed by more than 5 meters in the meantime. It is also known to use different forms of visual markings to better judge whether a football player is in an offside position when the ball is played against him. Such aids can be transverse markings in the grass or transverse light strips near the ground. These systems do not contribute to a better analysis of the game, nor do they significantly contribute to ensuring the quality of offside judgments, as the main problem for the referee is of a dynamic nature: to assess the simultaneity of touching the ball in one place on the pitch and the momentary position of players in another place on the pitch. For this dynamic, the known visual marking systems help marginally.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a method and system for carrying out the method for integrated and interactive media presentation of sporting events which overcomes the mentioned weaknesses of known equipment, so that position determinations of athletes and balls can be carried out with equipment that has a lower weight and an order of magnitude higher accuracy than known miniature DGPS systems or with known radio-based angle measurement systems and so that the position determinations can be carried out not only outdoors as with known DGPS systems but also in indoor arenas and so that one is not limited by the availability of satellite signals as with GPS and so that the equipment is integrated with software that enables data processing and presentation for match analysis in near real time with access to significantly more parameters in near real time in contrast to today's 7-8 hour processing time and so that corresponding parameters can be integrated and visualized interactively in media such as TV, I internet and analysis program for the coaching team both in real time and afterwards.

The purposes of the present invention are achieved by a method and system of the nature mentioned at the outset, the characteristic features of which appear in claim 1 and claim 6. Further features of the present invention appear in the other independent claims.

In this context, it should be noted that US patent no. 5,815,114 describes a positioning system for locating objects in closed areas using GPS signals. In contrast to the present invention, in this publication GPS signals from satellites are utilized for transmission from fixedly positioned transmitters in a closed area. In the present invention, however, one does not depend on satellites. This results in better accuracy, lower weight/volume and less complexity on sensors and antennas. In the present invention, GPS-like signals are generated in fixed or mobile transmitters within the area where the localization is to be carried out. This difference has been clarified in the new requirements. The increased accuracy thereby achieved makes it meaningful and possible, as needed, to attach not just one but several sensors, thereby locating the individual parts of the athlete's body, with extremities, which are active and decisive for the course of the game and the athlete's performance.

US Patent No. 5,513,814 describes the harvesting of data regarding people moving in the horizontal plane to calculate and display data in real time that can show a game's progress. In the present invention, one must additionally provide data that can be used in a game for judging the game in accordance with the game's rules. In such an assessment, it is essential that the localization is accurate and this is provided by using GPS-like signals. This technology is based on the measurement of time differences between the transmitted signal and the received signal and is fundamentally different from position determination using angle measurement, as described in US patent no. 5,513,814. The accuracy of the position determination in the present invention will be less than 1 dm. Such accuracy will not be possible using other known detection equipment. Angle measuring systems as mentioned in US patent no. 5,513,814 will not have better accuracy than several meters without very complex and unrealistically bulky devices.

The present invention utilizes the best of today's most modern positioning technology (DGPS), but replaces the satellites with a number of local permanently mounted transmitters at the sports arena. The transmitters send "GPS-like signals that are picked up by receivers, which work on the same principle as GPS receivers, at athletes and objects. These mobile devices contain one or more such receivers, each integrated with its radio transmitter that reports the position back to a central unit in the arena, where a processor in each permanently mounted transmitter and a miniature processor integrated in each mobile unit communicate via radio transmitter-receiver with a more powerful processor in a central unit. The central unit's data processor has software that can, among other things, calculate a more exact position out from the received information from the network of stationary transmitters and mobile receivers. This way of improving positional accuracy corresponds in principle to a so-called inverse GPS in a standard DGPS system. The permanently mounted GPS-like transmitters will simultaneously be able to function as reference stations and make redundant thus the use of additional reference stations to achieve DGPS quality.In the description above r it is assumed that the transmitter units for GPS-like signals are permanently mounted and the receiver units for the same signals are mounted on athletes and objects. However, the described application of the invention's GPS-like technology in a sports context is also applicable with the reverse principle, i.e. that transmitter units for GPS-like signals are mounted on athletes and objects and receiver units for the same signals are permanently mounted on the sports arena.

The described network of transmitters and receivers is operated in a similar way to a GPS system, but instead of the normal GPS band around 1.5 GHz, the system according to the invention operates in the part of the GHz band that is free on a global basis (e.g. e.g. 2.4 GHz) with transmission below 100 mW. The same band is used in the necessary radio communication in the network consisting of the central unit and the fixed and mobile units. By using this higher frequency band, the antenna dimensions are also reduced, which is important especially for the mobile devices where weight and dimensions must be minimized without impairing the accuracy and integrity to a significant extent. Furthermore, conflict with the GPS satellites' signals in the 1.5 GHz band is avoided.

A number of advantages are achieved with the described system: By using fundamental GPS-like technology in transmitters/receivers, the most accurate of the known positioning technologies is utilized, and this is made even more accurate by removing its most significant sources of error due to signal passage in the ionosphere /troposphere as well as uncertainty in determining satellite orbit parameters. The multipath error is also greatly reduced, because the percentage difference between direct and reflected signal paths is now far greater and therefore far easier to eliminate in software. Furthermore, the signal/noise ratio is improved and close to optimal geometry is ensured in determining the intersection point for the distances from the various GPS-like transmitters to the receivers (equivalent to a low DOP value in GPS terminology). This achieves dynamic decimeter precision with simple receivers that work according to the GPS principle, which is 20 to 50 times better than with other known systems of approximately the same size and for similar purposes. Decimeter accuracy is otherwise only seen in equipment based on 2-frequency technology, which is energy-intensive, heavy and expensive. The embodiment according to the invention uses miniaturized receiver equipment that weighs less than a few tens of grams, which is less than 10% of a 2-frequency receiver and will cost in the region of 5% of a 2-frequency receiver. It is a prerequisite to achieve this dynamic accuracy that the positions can be sampled with a minimum of up to 20 Hz in the case of fast movements such as a football.

With such accurate and at the same time light equipment, several units can be mounted on each athlete to cover the need for information from the different body parts. In football, for example, 3-5 devices can be mounted on each athlete, one on each leg (to register which leg the athlete has shot with), one in the head region (to see if the athlete has the head) and possibly one on each arm ( to register hands). In addition, a corresponding piece of equipment is mounted on the ball. All reporting signals to the central unit can be encrypted to prevent pirate eavesdropping in the arena. The signal strength is so low that the signals cannot be picked up at a distance greater than a few hundred meters from the arena. The size of the emitted power is also so small that there is no radiation hazard for performers or spectators. In comparison, the required transmitter power is 1-10% of a mobile phone.

As the distances between transmitters and receivers are far smaller than in a traditional GPS system, the signal/noise ratio is also better than in a traditional GPS system, even if the transmitted power is significantly lower. This, and the higher frequency, simplifies the antenna design. The necessary antennas for both the GPS-like signals and for the radio signals can be integrated into the athletes' clothing and/or protective equipment and/or other sports equipment. The equipment is built into the ball, and the antenna(s) are extended and fixed over the inside of the ball in a suitable way.

No other known technology is accurate enough that such a detailed registration of body movements and ball can be made as described here for the invention. However, this accuracy is necessary for the equipment to be able to report, for example, offside and hands.

The positions are sampled at an optional rate up to at least 20 Hz. In order to reduce the amount of data transmitted to the central unit, software can be added to the mobile units' integrated processor which, based on the change in position from the last sample, assesses the need to report the position to the central unit. If, for example, the athlete is standing still, it will not be reported as often as when he is running.

Software is installed on the central unit to perform a number of necessary functions. In the first step, the position data must be read. These are received via radio signals from the GPS-like fixed transmitters and the mobile receivers in a radio receiver on the central unit. The radio receiver can be connected to, for example, the central unit's RS-232 input. The software for position reading can be written in a known protocol format such as Testpoint or LabView. In the next step, the position accuracy can be sharpened, for example, by using known software similar to that used in inverse DGPS calculation. However, the position-sharpening calculation can also be done in the data processor of the mobile devices. For use in football, for example, it is necessary to determine whether the athlete has touched the ball, and with which part of the body he has touched the ball. This can be determined in software by looking at the instantaneous proximity between the ball and body part as well as the ball's acceleration. This can be done exclusively in software as indicated, or in combination with input to the central unit from sensors that register and report speed change/acceleration on the ball. The same type of radio transmitters and frequency bands can be used as for determining the position.

In what follows, the invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings, where: Fig. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of the system according to the present invention.

With reference to Fig. 1, the system is shown as an example in use for football without this limiting its use in other sports. The principle operation of the method according to the invention is the same.

The main elements of the equipment are a number (for example 4) of transmitters 1 which transmit GPS-like signals in the 2.4 GHz band. The transmitters have antennas 2 which are permanently installed at precisely measured positions in the arena. Furthermore, a number of mobile units 3 with receivers 13 for the GPS-like signals are mounted on athletes and balls. For example, 3 such receivers 13 with antennas 4 and batteries 5 can be mounted on each athlete and one on the ball. The transmitter 6 with an antenna 7 in the mobile unit 3 can be a radio transmitter-receiver for approximately the same frequency band as mentioned above and be connected to a miniature data processor 8.

When using radio transceivers, two-way communication can be carried out between the fixed units 1, the mobile units 3 and a central unit 20 so that the data from the mobile unit 3 is processed in the data processor 8 to derive, for example, position parameters before this data is forwarded to the central unit 20 and possibly signals are sent from the central unit 20 to the mobile units 3 for obtaining such and further information. Subsequent correction of position data from the mobile units 3 and position data from the fixed units 1 can be carried out in a data processor 11 in the central unit 20. The antennas 4 and 7 can optionally be combined into one.

The central unit 20 is arranged in a suitable place in the arena for receiving GPS-like data (positions and other relevant parameters) from the fixed and mobile units 3 via their integrated radio transceivers or transmitter 6. The central unit 20 receives this data by means of a multi-channel radio transmitter-receiver 9 via an antenna 10. The central unit 20's radio transmitter-receiver 9 can have outputs that are connected to suitable data inputs 12, for example RS-232 input, on the central unit, possibly via multiplexers after which the data is read into the data processor 11 for further data processing, storage and presentation.

From the central unit 20, processed data, in the form of statistics, visualizations, etc., can go to media such as TV 14 for integration into TV reports visualized in a suitable form and superimposed on the TV images. With interactive TV, the various statistics and visualizations can be done interactively by the viewer.

Furthermore, the central unit 20 can send corresponding or similar data to the Internet 15, where suitable visualization and statistics can be made available.

Furthermore, the data from the central unit 20 can be retrieved as basic parameters for an analysis program 21 which visualizes the desired parameters for the coaching team/players.

Furthermore, the data from the central unit, with the help of suitable dedicated software, can form the basis for a digital visual presentation of players and ball in a 3-dimensional environment that can provide total coverage of the course of the match over the entire arena, and with optional viewing angles, in contrast to current technology where a finite number of TV cameras only provides zonal coverage.

Furthermore, the data from the central unit can, with the help of suitable dedicated software, form the basis for simulating alternative battle sequences based on any recorded real battle situation.

Furthermore, the central unit, using suitable dedicated software via a radio transmitter-receiver 16, can provide control information to deployed cameras 17 with radio transmitter/receiver 18, camera sight and servo control 19 so that the cameras can be controlled automatically using position data to track selected events, people or objects. In football, in most cases you will follow the ball as it is the center of the game. Criteria for zoom and interactive selection of which camera you want the image from (if there are several) can be embedded in the software. With interactive TV, such camera selection can be made interactively by the viewers.

Claims (11)

1. Procedure for providing information, which can be used in a game for judging the game in accordance with the rules of the game, and/or to increase the benefit of viewers and observers from, for example, reports by adding statistics and/or visualizations of events on, for example, a sports arena, characterized by that in a local positioning system consisting of at least 3 transmitter units (1) GPS-like signals are generated and sent, that the GPS-like signals are received by mobile devices (3), where at least one mobile device (3) is mounted on athletes and/or sports equipment, or that the mobile devices generate and send GPS-like signals, which are received by at least 3 permanently located receivers, that the GPS-like signals are processed in data processors (11) in the mobile units (3) or the fixed-located units in order to provide, in a manner known per se, positional parameters for the parts of the athletes' body with extremities that are relevant, and that the provided position parameters are sent from the mobile units (3) or the permanently located receivers to a central unit (20) where a data processor (11) carries out further data processing, storage, management and/or presentation. 2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the central unit (20) sends the position of the mobile units (3) in the form of control signals to a servo control (19) in one or more cameras (17) for automatic tracking of objects such as the ball in soccer. 3. Method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the parameters from the data processor (11) in the central unit (20) are used for real-time and/or post-time integration in TV reports for visualization in a suitable form and/or overlay on a TV image (14) in a suitable manner possibly in an interactive environment, and/or the data is further processed for presentation on the Internet (15) and/or the data is further processed in analysis software (21) for presentation in a suitable form to coaching teams/players, and/or processed data is sent in real time in a suitable form, for example as an audio signal, to the referee as an aid in determining rule violations such as offside in football. 4. Method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the parameters from the data processor (11) in the central unit (20) are used for visualization in a suitable form of players and ball in a 3-dimensional environment for total coverage of the course of the match over the entire arena, and with optional viewing angles. 5. Method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the parameters from the data processor (11) in the central unit (20) are used by means of suitable software for simulation and visualization in a suitable form of alternative combat courses based on any combat situation. 6. System for carrying out a procedure for providing information, which can be used in a game for judging the game in accordance with the rules of the game, and/or for increasing the benefit of viewers and observers from the reports by adding statistics and/or visualizations of events on example a sports arena characterized by that a local positioning system consisting of at least 3 transmitter units (1) has been arranged for the generation and transmission of GPS-like signals, that mobile units (3) are arranged for receiving the GPS-like signals, with at least one mobile unit (3) being mounted on athletes and/or sports equipment, or that the mobile units are arranged to send GPS-like signals, which is received by at least 3 permanently located receivers, that the mobile units (3) or the fixed-located units contain a data processor (8) to process the GPS-like signals in a manner known per se to provide positional parameters for the parts of the athletes' body with extremities that are relevant, and that a central unit (20) is arranged with a data processor (11) where the position parameters sent from the mobile units (3)) or the permanently located receivers are subjected to further data processing, storage, management and/or presentation. 7. System according to claim 6, characterized in that each mobile unit (3) with receivers for GPS-like signals has a receiver antenna (4), and a radio transmitter-receiver (6) with a transmitter antenna (7), and that the data processor (8 ) in the mobile unit (3) is arranged for processing the GPS-like signals so that data strings with, among other things, position reports can be sent to the central unit (20) radio receiver (9) with a frequency dependent on the speed and acceleration of the mobile units (3) and that this frequency can be selected from 0 to a minimum of 20 Hz by means of an intelligent software embedded in each mobile unit's (3) data processor. 8. System according to claims 6-7, characterized in that the central unit's (20) data processor (11) is arranged to collect, process, store and present the incoming digital data in such a way and in such a format that they are compatible with television media (14) for real-time and/or post-time integration in TV reports visualized in a suitable form and superimposed on the TV images in a suitable way, and for real-time transmission to the referee in a suitable way to determine rule violations such as offside in football. 9. System according to claims 6-8, characterized in that the data processor (11) of the central unit (20) processes said data in such a way and in such a format that the central unit (20) via a radio transceiver (16) connected to the data processor (11) ) communicates the position coordinates of objects to a servo control (19) via radio transmitter-receiver (18) on strategically placed TV cameras (17) for automatic tracking of objects such as the ball in soccer. 10. System according to claims 6-9, characterized in that the batteries (5) which supply the mobile unit (3) with energy are supplied with charging energy by utilizing movement energy from the athletes' body movements. 11. System according to claims 6-10, characterized in that the mobile units (3) are designed to be built into athletes' suits and sports equipment such as shoes/boots, shin guards, helmets and other protective equipment, and/or that they are built into special straps or strips attached to or around body parts such as legs and/or arms and/or head region, and/or that they are built into sports objects such as ball, puck, golf club, ice hockey stick, bandy stick, skis, poles, skates, or the like.