TWI659664B - Electronic device positioning method - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronic device positioning method is suitable for an area having a plurality of wireless network base stations and an electronic device having a wireless network connection function. An electronic device positioning method includes: dividing an area into a plurality of grids, and each grid has position coordinates; setting a corresponding identification code according to the position coordinates of the grid where the wireless network base station is located; and the electronic device detects through the wireless network The wireless network base station obtains an identification code of at least one of the wireless network base stations; and the electronic device calculates an estimated position coordinate of the electronic device at its own position by analyzing the obtained identification code.

Description

Electronic device positioning method

The invention relates to a positioning method for an electronic device, and more particularly to a positioning method for an electronic device through a wireless network.

With the development of science and technology, more and more technical applications require collaboration and information transfer between electronic devices, and the identification of the location of specific devices and the communication between electronic devices are particularly important parts, especially in the physical Internet of Things (IOT) and unmanned factories in Industry 4.0. Traditionally, the positioning method for electronic devices is mainly satellite positioning technology (GPS), which receives information from satellite signals for positioning and tracking, and is mostly used for positioning and tracking within a large map, such as car navigation. However, the current positioning of electronic devices is mainly used for positioning within a small map range. Traditionally, in addition to insufficient accuracy of satellite positioning technology, most occasions used for indoor positioning will not be able to continuously track because they cannot receive signals. .

At present, although some indoor positioning technologies have been developed, each electronic device needs to be under the same system, and the same control host must be used to track and monitor the position of each electronic device. Position information cannot be directly transmitted between electronic devices. inconvenient. In addition, any new electronic devices must be limited to the same system and must be able to communicate with the control host, making communication between the electronic devices inflexible.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, an electronic device positioning method is applicable to a region having a plurality of wireless network base stations and a first electronic device having a wireless network connection function. The method for positioning an electronic device includes: dividing the region. A plurality of grids, and each grid has a position coordinate; an identification code of each of the wireless network base stations is set according to the position coordinates of the grid where the wireless network base station is located, and the identification code is a service setting Identification code (Service Set Identifier; SSID) or extended service setting identification code (ESSID); the first electronic device detects the wireless network base station through a wireless network; the first electronic device obtains the wireless network base station The identification code of at least one; and the first electronic device analyzing the obtained identification code to generate an estimated position coordinate, wherein the estimated position coordinate is used to indicate a position of the first electronic device in the area.

In some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the identification code of the wireless network base station includes at least the position coordinates corresponding to the grid where the wireless network base station is located.

In some preferred embodiments of the present invention, a first part of the identification code is a first axis coordinate of the position coordinate, and a second part of the obtained identification code is a second axis coordinate of the position coordinate. .

In some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the positioning method of the electronic device further includes: the first electronic device determines the detected signal strength value of the wireless network base station; and the first electronic device obtains the wireless network. The identification code of the highest signal strength value in the road base station; and the identification code obtained by the first electronic device analyzing to generate the estimated position coordinates.

In some other preferred embodiments of the present invention, the positioning method for the electronic device further includes: the first electronic device determines the detected signal strength value of the wireless network base station; and the first electronic device obtains the wireless signal. The above three identification codes of the top three signal strength values in the network base station; the first electronic device analyzes the three above identification codes to generate the first three corresponding to the wireless network base station signal strength values. The above-mentioned position coordinates corresponding to the above-mentioned grid; and the above-mentioned corresponding to the above-mentioned first electronic device by a triangle positioning method according to the signal strength values of the first three which have the highest signal strength value of the wireless network base station and the above-mentioned position coordinates. Estimated location coordinates.

In some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the first electronic device has a temporary register, and the positioning method for the electronic device further includes: after the first electronic device generates the estimated position coordinates, storing the estimated position coordinates in the foregoing Register.

In some preferred embodiments of the present invention, a position request signal is sent to the first electronic device through a second electronic device; and when the electronic device receives the position request signal, the estimated position coordinates are returned to The second electronic device.

The embodiments or examples shown in the drawings are expressed below in a specific manner. It should be understood that this embodiment or example is not intended to be limiting. Any replacement and modification of the embodiments of the present invention, and any further application of the principles of the present invention, can be completed by those skilled in the art in the field of the present invention with reference to the description of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an electronic device 100 and wireless network base stations AP1, AP2, AP3, and AP4 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 1, the wireless network base stations AP1, AP2, AP3, and AP4 each have identification codes ID1, ID2, ID3, and ID4, and the identification codes ID1, ID2, ID3, and ID4 are stored in their respective memory units (not shown) (In the illustration). In some embodiments, the identification codes ID1, ID2, ID3, and ID4 are Service Set Identifiers (SSIDs) or Extended Function Service Set Identifiers (ESSIDs). The electronic device 100 can obtain the identification codes ID1, ID2, ID3, and ID4 of the wireless network base stations AP1, AP2, AP3, and AP4 respectively through the wireless network. It should be understood that the electronic device 100 can scan for wireless network base stations by detecting wireless network signals. If the electronic device 100 is within the signal range of the wireless network base stations AP1, AP2, AP3, and AP4, the electronic device 100 can obtain the identification codes ID1, ID2, ID3, and ID4.

The positioning method of the electronic device 100 according to the present invention is further described below with reference to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing that the electronic device 100 and the wireless network base stations AP1, AP2, AP3, and AP4 are disposed in an area 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the area 200 is divided into a plurality of grids 202, each grid 202 has a position coordinate, the abscissas are A, B, ..., J, and the ordinates are 1, 2, ..., 8 respectively. Taking the example in FIG. 2, the position coordinate of the grid where the wireless network base station AP1 is located can be expressed as “C8”, and the position coordinate of the grid where the wireless network base station AP2 is located can be expressed as “I7”. The wireless network The position coordinate of the grid where the road base station AP3 is located can be expressed as "C2", and the position coordinate of the grid where the wireless network base station AP4 is located can be expressed as "A2".

In some embodiments of the present invention, the settings of the identification codes ID1, ID2, ID3, and ID4 of the wireless network base stations AP1, AP2, AP3, and AP4 are based on the position coordinates of the grid in which they are located. , The identification code ID1 of the wireless network base station AP1 includes at least "C8", the identification code ID2 of the wireless network base station AP2 includes at least "I7", the identification code ID3 of the wireless network base station AP3 includes at least "C2", and The identification code ID4 of the wireless network base station AP4 includes at least "A2". It should be understood that the identification code of the wireless network base station does not only include position coordinates. The position coordinates can be fixedly set in a specific section of the identification code to identify the power supply device. For example, the position coordinates are fixedly set after specific characters or symbols in the identification code, or characters in a specific order in the identification code (for example, the 5th and 6th characters in the identification code), and others in the identification code. The characters are used to record other information of the wireless network base station, which can be determined according to the actual application situation. Taking the embodiment of FIG. 2 as an example, if the position coordinates are fixedly set to two characters after the second hyphen in the identification code, the identification code ID1 can be set to "S6-3F-C8b", where the second connection The last two characters of the font size are "C8", which indicates its position coordinates. In other words, when an electronic device or other user device wants to judge or obtain the position coordinates of the wireless network base station, it can judge according to the second character after the second hyphen. In other embodiments, other parts of the identification code ID1 may also include other location information, for example, the building code is "S6", the floor is "3F", the area code is "b", etc., without departing from the scope of the present invention. Under the concept, the setting order of the position coordinates in the identification code and the determination method thereof should be included in the embodiment of the present invention.

An embodiment of the method for positioning an electronic device according to the present invention is further described below with reference to FIG. 3 and referring to FIG. 2. In step S302, the electronic device 100 detects a wireless network signal (for example, Wi-Fi) provided by a nearby wireless network base station through a wireless network, and in step S304, obtains the detected signals. The identification code of the wireless network base station. For example, if the wireless network base stations AP1, AP2, AP3, AP4 are close enough to the electronic device 100, it means that the electronic device 100 can receive the wireless network of the wireless network base stations AP1, AP2, AP3, AP4. Signal, in step S304, the electronic device 100 can obtain the identification codes ID1, ID2, ID3, and ID4.

Next, in step S306, the electronic device 100 determines and compares the detected signal strength values of the wireless network base stations AP1, AP2, AP3, and AP4, thereby estimating the electronic device 100 and the wireless network base stations AP1 and AP1. The relative distance between AP2, AP3, and AP4. In order to simplify the description, in this embodiment, the wireless network base stations AP1, AP2, AP3, and AP4 can be wireless network base stations of the same model and specifications, and the signal strengths sent out are approximately the same. Therefore, the electronic device 100 can The degree of signal attenuation is determined by the signal strength values of the wireless network signals of the wireless network base stations AP1, AP2, AP3, and AP4, and the relative distance is further determined. In other words, the stronger the signal strength value of the wireless network base station detected by the electronic device 100 is, the closer the wireless network base station is to the electronic device 100.

Next, in step S308, the electronic device 100 analyzes the identification code of the highest signal strength value among the wireless network base stations AP1, AP2, AP3, and AP4 to obtain the position coordinates of the closest wireless network base station. According to the embodiment of FIG. 2, since the wireless network base station AP2 is closest to the electronic device 100, among the wireless network signals detected by the electronic device 100, the highest signal strength value is the wireless network base station AP2. In step S308, the electronic device 100 analyzes the identification code ID2 of the wireless network base station AP2 to obtain the position coordinate “I7” of the closest wireless network base station AP2, that is, the wireless network base station AP2 is in the area 200. The abscissa in the middle is "I" and the ordinate is "7".

Finally, in step S310, the electronic device 100 stores the position coordinate "I7" obtained after analysis as its own estimated position coordinate in the temporary register 110, and has a high laying density or poor positioning accuracy on the wireless network base station. When it is too high, the estimated position coordinates can be used for positioning the electronic device 100. In some embodiments, when another electronic device (not shown in the figure) wants to obtain the position of the electronic device 100, the electronic device may directly send a position request signal to the electronic device 100 (for example, via a wireless local area network, Communication interfaces such as Bluetooth, ZigBee, etc.), and the electronic device 100 can return the estimated position coordinate "I7" to the electronic device after receiving the position request signal, and the electronic device can know the approximate position of the electronic device 100 and apply it to other In an application (for example, displaying the position of the electronic device 100 through a display unit for monitoring by a person).

In addition, it should be understood that although the coordinate "I7" used in the above embodiments includes only the abscissa and ordinate, it is not intended to limit the present invention. As the design and definition of the coordinates are different, the identification code may also include Other location information, such as building code, floor, detail, etc. For example, in the embodiment of FIG. 2, if the identification code ID2 is “S6-3F-I7b”, the electronic device 100 can analyze the identification code ID2 to determine that the current building code is “S6” and the floor is “ 3F ", position coordinate" I7 ", and detailed area is" b ". In some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the grid 202 may be divided into more detailed partitions. As shown on the right side of FIG. 2, the grid 202 may be further divided into 5 detailed areas a, b, c, d, and e. , Used to indicate the position of the electronic device or wireless network base station in the grid, respectively. It should be understood that the manner of this detailed section is merely an example and is not intended to limit the present invention.

The following further describes another embodiment of the positioning method of the electronic device according to the present invention with reference to FIG. 4 and referring to FIG. 2. In step S402, the electronic device 100 detects a wireless network signal (for example, Wi-Fi) provided by a nearby wireless network base station through a wireless network, and in step S404, obtains the detected signals. The identification code of the wireless network base station. For example, if the wireless network base stations AP1, AP2, AP3, AP4 are close enough to the electronic device 100, it means that the electronic device 100 can receive the wireless network of the wireless network base stations AP1, AP2, AP3, AP4. Signal, in step S404, the electronic device 100 can obtain the identification codes ID1, ID2, ID3, and ID4.

Next, in step S406, the electronic device 100 determines and compares the detected signal strength values of the wireless network base stations AP1, AP2, AP3, and AP4, thereby estimating the electronic device 100 and the wireless network base stations AP1 and AP1. The relative distance between AP2, AP3, and AP4. In order to simplify the description, in this embodiment, the wireless network base stations AP1, AP2, AP3, and AP4 can be wireless network base stations of the same model and specifications, and the signal strengths sent out are approximately the same. Therefore, the electronic device 100 can The degree of signal attenuation is determined by the signal strength values of the wireless network signals of the wireless network base stations AP1, AP2, AP3, and AP4, and the relative distance is further determined. In other words, the stronger the signal strength value of the wireless network base station detected by the electronic device 100 is, the closer the wireless network base station is to the electronic device 100.

Next, in step S408, the electronic device 100 analyzes the identification codes of the first three of the wireless network base stations AP1, AP2, AP3, and AP4 with the highest signal strength values to obtain the positions of the three wireless network base stations closest to each other. coordinate. According to the embodiment of FIG. 2, the distance between the wireless network base station and the electronic device 100 is from wireless network base stations AP2, AP1, AP3, and AP4 in that order. The wireless network detected by the electronic device 100 Among the signals, the first three of the highest signal strength values are the wireless network base stations AP2, AP1, AP3, so in step S408, the electronic device 100 will analyze the identification codes ID1, of the wireless network base stations AP1, AP2, AP3. ID2 and ID3 to obtain the position coordinate "C8" of the wireless network base station AP1, the position coordinate "I7" of the wireless network base station AP2, and the position coordinate "C2" of the wireless network base station AP3.

Next, in step S410, the electronic device 100 then according to the signal strength values of the first three (wireless network base stations AP2, AP1, AP3) and the position coordinates ("C8", "I7", "C2") calculates the estimated position coordinates of the electronic device 100 using the triangulation method. When the laying density of the wireless network base station is not high or the positioning accuracy is high, the estimated position coordinates can be calculated by the triangular positioning method, so that the estimated position coordinates of the electronic device 100 are closer to the actual position coordinates. It should be understood that, in some embodiments, the electronic device 100 may pre-store related information such as the power, signal / distance attenuation rate of each wireless base station, and after the electronic device 100 obtains the signal strength value of the wireless network base station, it may borrow This information is used to estimate the distance between the electronic device 100 and the wireless network base station. Therefore, after the electronic device 100 obtains the signal strength values of the first three of the wireless network base station signal strength values and their corresponding position coordinates, the electronic device 100 can calculate the estimated position coordinates of the electronic device 100 using the triangle positioning method.

Finally, in step S412, the electronic device 100 stores the estimated position coordinates in the register 110 for use as a positioning device of the electronic device 100. In some embodiments, when another electronic device (not shown in the figure) wants to obtain the position of the electronic device 100, the electronic device may directly send a position request signal to the electronic device 100 (for example, via a wireless local area network, Communication interfaces such as Bluetooth, ZigBee, etc.), and the electronic device 100 can return the estimated position coordinates to the electronic device after receiving the position request signal, and the electronic device can know the approximate location of the electronic device 100 and apply it to other applications (For example, the position of the electronic device 100 is displayed through a display unit for personnel monitoring).

The present invention uses the identification code of the wireless network base station, such as a Service Set Identifier (SSID) or an Extended Function Service Set Identification (ESSID), to identify the position coordinates, compared with the traditional need to The location information is accessed via the control host of each device or base station, making it easier to read and determine location information. In addition, even if each network base station needs to set a password to restrict users' access to their wireless network for security reasons, the user's electronic device can still detect the network base station's identification code and use this to determine the location. Will be affected by access restrictions to affect the positioning of the electronic device, and also more flexible in the application of device positioning. Furthermore, any electronic device that needs to be tracked and located can obtain its own location information through the method of the present invention and store it in a temporary register. Therefore, the related tracking management system or device can directly request the location information from the electronic device. , Without having to go through complicated data exchange or authentication procedures, it also makes it easier and faster to transfer location information between electronic devices.

The method of the present invention, or a specific form or part thereof, may exist in the form of a code. The code may be contained in physical media, such as a floppy disk, CD-ROM, hard disk, or any other machine-readable (such as computer-readable) storage medium, or is not limited to an external form of computer program product. When the code is loaded and executed by a machine, such as a computer, the machine becomes a device for participating in the invention. The code can also be transmitted through some transmission media, such as wires or cables, fiber optics, or any transmission type. Where the code is received, loaded, and executed by a machine, such as a computer, the machine becomes used to participate in the Invented device. When implemented in a general-purpose processing unit, the code in combination with the processing unit provides a unique device that operates similar to an application-specific logic circuit.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it should be understood that the above disclosure is not intended to limit the embodiments of the present invention. Instead, it encompasses multiple variations and similar configurations (as will be apparent to those skilled in the art). In addition, the scope of patent application attached should be interpreted in the broadest sense to include all the above-mentioned changes and similar configurations.

100‧‧‧ electronic device

110‧‧‧Register

200‧‧‧ area

202‧‧‧Grid

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8‧‧‧ ordinate

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J‧‧‧ abscissa

a, b, c, d, e‧‧‧ details

AP2, AP1, AP3, AP4‧‧‧ wireless network base station

ID1, ID2, ID3, ID4‧‧‧ identification code

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a wireless network base station and an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing that an electronic device and a wireless network base station are disposed in an area according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 shows an operation flow of the electronic device positioning method according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 shows an operation flow of the electronic device positioning method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (6)

An electronic device positioning method is applicable to an area having a plurality of wireless network base stations and a first electronic device having a wireless network connection function. The electronic device positioning method includes: dividing the area into a plurality of grids, and The grid has a position coordinate; an identification code of each of the wireless network base stations is set according to the position coordinates of the grid where the wireless network base station is located, and the identification code is a service set identifier (Service Set Identifier; SSID) or extended service setting identification code (ESSID), the identification code of the wireless network base station at least includes the position coordinates corresponding to the grid where the wireless network base station is located; the first electronic device passes the wireless network Detecting the wireless network base station; the first electronic device obtaining the identification code of at least one of the wireless network base stations; and the first electronic device analyzing the obtained identification code to generate an estimated position coordinate, The estimated position coordinates are used to indicate that the first electronic device is in the area. In the position. The electronic device positioning method according to item 1 of the scope of patent application, wherein a first part of one of the identification codes is a first axis coordinate of the position coordinates, and a second part of one of the obtained identification codes is one of the position coordinates. Coordinates of the second axis. The electronic device positioning method according to item 1 of the scope of patent application, further comprising: the first electronic device determining the detected signal strength value of the wireless network base station; the first electronic device obtaining the wireless network base station The identification code of the highest signal strength value; and the first electronic device analyzes the obtained identification code to generate the estimated position coordinates. The electronic device positioning method according to item 1 of the scope of patent application, further comprising: the first electronic device determining the detected signal strength value of the wireless network base station; the first electronic device obtaining the wireless network base station The above three identification codes of the first three with the highest signal strength value; the first electronic device parses the three above obtained identification codes to generate the grid corresponding to the first three with the highest signal strength value of the wireless network base station Corresponding to the above-mentioned position coordinates; and calculating the estimated position coordinates corresponding to the first electronic device by a triangular positioning method based on the signal strength values of the first three which have the highest signal strength value of the wireless network base station and the above-mentioned position coordinates. The electronic device positioning method according to item 1 of the scope of patent application, wherein the first electronic device has a temporary register, and the electronic device positioning method further includes: after the first electronic device generates the estimated position coordinates, the estimated position is The coordinates are stored in the above register. The electronic device positioning method according to item 1 of the scope of patent application, further comprising: sending a position request signal to the first electronic device through a second electronic device; and when the electronic device receives the position request signal, the estimation is performed. The position coordinates are transmitted back to the second electronic device.