Sensing system, sensing method, and program

Abstract

This system provides a sensing mechanism capable of sensing the state of living organisms with a simple configuration. [Solution] A biological sensing system using wireless signals comprises a first slave unit and a second slave unit capable of sending and receiving wireless signals to and from each other, an estimation unit that outputs first information related to biological sensing, and a control unit. The first slave unit intercepts the wireless signal that the second slave unit communicates with a wireless master unit to acquire wireless information contained in the wireless signal, the estimation unit outputs first information based on the acquired wireless information, and the control unit performs predetermined control based on the first information output by the estimation unit.

Description

Technical Field

[0006] , , , ,

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a sensing system, a sensing method, and a program for accurately sensing a living body.

Background Art

[0002] As a method for knowing the presence or absence, position, etc. of a person, a method using a wireless signal has been studied. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for estimating the position and state of a person to be detected by analyzing components including a Doppler shift using differential calculation.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] When the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 is applied to Wi-Fi (registered trademark) devices, the sensing range is affected by the arrangement positions of the Wi-Fi master device and the Wi-Fi slave device. Therefore, it is difficult to define the sensing range only with the Wi-Fi slave device.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a sensing system capable of sensing the state of a living body with a simple configuration.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] A sensing system according to one aspect of the present disclosure is a sensing system for sensing a living organism using a wireless signal, comprising: a first slave unit and a second slave unit capable of sending and receiving wireless signals to and from each other; an estimation unit that outputs first information relating to the sensing of the living organism; and a control unit, wherein the first slave unit intercepts a wireless signal that the second slave unit communicates with a wireless master unit to acquire wireless information contained in the wireless signal; the estimation unit outputs the first information based on the acquired wireless information; and the control unit performs predetermined control based on the first information output by the estimation unit.

[0007] These general or specific embodiments may be implemented as a system, integrated circuit, computer program, or recording medium such as a computer-readable CD-ROM, or as any combination of apparatus, system, method, integrated circuit, computer program, and recording medium. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] The sensing system described herein provides a sensing system that can sense the state of a living organism with a simple configuration. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating the overview of the sensing system in Embodiment 1. [Figure 2] Figure 2 shows an example of the configuration of the sensing device in Embodiment 1. [Figure 3] Figure 3 is a flowchart showing an example of a sensing method using the sensing device according to Embodiment 1. [Figure 4] Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating the overview of the sensing system according to Embodiment 2. [Figure 5] Figure 5 shows an example of the configuration of a sensing device according to Embodiment 2. [Figure 6]Figure 6 is a flowchart showing an example of a sensing method using the sensing device according to Embodiment 2. [Figure 7] Figure 7 is a diagram illustrating the overview of the sensing system of the comparative example. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] (Knowledge that forms the basis of this disclosure) Methods utilizing wireless signals are being considered for sensing living organisms. Here, sensing living organisms includes, for example, at least one of the following: detection of the presence or absence of a living organism, positioning, distance measurement, attitude detection, and personal identification.

[0011] In the prior art described in Patent Document 1, the transmitting device that transmits wireless signals and the receiving device that receives wireless signals perform biological sensing on the premise of acquiring CSI (Channel State Information). Figure 7 is a diagram illustrating the overview of a comparative example sensing system. As shown in Figure 7, in the comparative example sensing system, the sensing range 1001 is an elliptical space that includes the space between the wireless base station 11 and the slave unit 14. Therefore, the sensing range 1001 depends on the arrangement of the wireless base station 11 and the slave unit 14, and there is a problem that the sensing range 1001 cannot be defined by the slave unit 14 alone when the position of the wireless base station 11 is unknown.

[0012] The above issues will be explained in more detail. When using CSI for biological sensing in Wi-Fi communication, the slave unit 14 acquires the CSI from the signal from the wireless base station 11 to the slave unit 14. At this time, if a living organism is present in the wireless propagation path between the wireless base station 11 and the slave unit 14, the influence of the living organism (biological components) is superimposed on the CSI, so by analyzing the change in the CSI, it is possible to perform biosensing to estimate the presence or state of the living organism. If the wireless base station 11 and the slave unit 14 are installed in an open space with little wireless reflection, the sensing range becomes an elliptical space with the positions of the wireless base station 11 and the slave unit 14 as the focal point. Therefore, if the positions of the wireless base station 11 and the slave unit 14 are defined, the sensing range can also be defined. However, if, for example, the position of the wireless base station 11 is unknown, the sensing range cannot be clearly defined, and as a result, the accuracy or reliability of the sensing may decrease.

[0013] Therefore, the inventors adopted a configuration in which two slave units are mounted on one device or on two separate devices. This allowed wireless sensing to be performed with one or two sensing devices, and a configuration was found in which the sensing range could be defined using an inexpensive wireless chip.

[0014] A sensing system according to a first aspect of the present disclosure is a sensing system for sensing a living organism using a wireless signal, comprising: a first slave unit and a second slave unit capable of sending and receiving wireless signals to and from each other; an estimation unit that outputs first information relating to the sensing of the living organism; and a control unit, wherein the first slave unit intercepts a wireless signal that the second slave unit communicates with a wireless master unit to acquire wireless information contained in the wireless signal; the estimation unit outputs the first information based on the acquired wireless information; and the control unit performs predetermined control based on the first information output by the estimation unit.

[0015] This allows the first slave unit to intercept communication between the wireless master unit and the second slave unit, acquire wireless information, and output primary information regarding the biological state, enabling high-precision sensing with a simple configuration.

[0016] The sensing system according to the second aspect of the present disclosure is the sensing system according to the first aspect, wherein the first slave unit and the second slave unit are mounted on one device.

[0017] By mounting two slave units on one device, the sensing range can be specified with a single device, so the degree of freedom in installation is high and operation is easy.

[0018] The sensing system according to the third aspect of the present disclosure is the sensing system according to the first aspect or the second aspect, wherein the wireless information includes information transmitted from the second slave unit to the first slave unit and information transmitted from the second slave unit to the first slave unit via the living body.

[0019] By using wireless information based on both direct waves and body-reflected waves, the influence of the living body can be captured more accurately, and the sensing accuracy can be improved.

[0020] The sensing system according to the fourth aspect of the present disclosure is the sensing system according to any one of the first aspect to the third aspect, wherein the first information includes sensing information regarding the state of the living body.

[0021] By including sensing information regarding the state of the living body as the first information, various living body sensing such as positioning and posture determination can be realized, not limited to mere presence detection.

[0022] The sensing system according to the fifth aspect of the present disclosure is the sensing system according to any one of the first aspect to the fourth aspect, wherein the sensing system further includes the wireless master unit, and the wireless master unit can transmit wireless signals to the first slave unit and the second slave unit respectively.

[0023] This allows the wireless base station to transmit signals to each slave unit, thereby enabling connectivity with external networks and expanding the sensing range. Furthermore, it makes it easy to unify the channel settings for each slave unit to the same channel.

[0024] A sensing system according to a sixth aspect of this disclosure is a sensing system according to a fifth aspect, wherein the first slave unit acquires wireless information from the wireless base station and the second slave unit, respectively, and the estimation unit acquires the first information based on a first sensing range corresponding to the first slave unit and the wireless base station and a second sensing range corresponding to the first slave unit and the second slave unit.

[0025] This allows for the acquisition of wireless information from the wireless base station and the second slave unit, and by using the information based on their respective sensing ranges, it is possible to expand the sensing range or improve the sensing accuracy.

[0026] A sensing system according to a seventh aspect of the present disclosure is a sensing system according to any one aspect of the first to sixth aspects, wherein the estimation unit comprises a sensing unit and a condition determination unit, the sensing unit outputs sensing information based on the wireless information, the condition determination unit determines whether the sensing information output by the sensing unit satisfies predetermined conditions, and the first information includes information corresponding to the determination result by the condition determination unit.

[0027] This allows the estimation unit, which includes a sensing unit and a condition determination unit, to flexibly determine information in response to changes in the biological state and perform accurate control based on the determination results.

[0028] A sensing system according to the eighth aspect of this disclosure is a sensing system according to the seventh aspect, wherein the estimation unit has a state change extraction unit that extracts changes in the state of a living organism in an operating state, the sensing unit outputs sequential sensing information which is the sensing information in the operating state, the state change extraction unit extracts the difference between reference sensing information which is the sensing information in a reference state and the sequential sensing information as state change information, and the first information includes the state change information.

[0029] This allows for the extraction of the difference in sensing information between the baseline state and the operating state to obtain state change information, enabling high-precision detection of changes in the biological state and control that responds immediately to movement.

[0030] A sensing method according to a ninth aspect of the present disclosure is a sensing method performed using at least one processor in a biological sensing system comprising a first slave unit and a second slave unit capable of sending and receiving wireless signals to each other, wherein the first slave unit outputs first information relating to the sensing of the biological unit, the first slave unit intercepts a wireless signal being communicated by the second slave unit to a wireless master unit to acquire wireless information contained in the wireless signal, the first slave unit outputs the first information based on the acquired wireless information, and a predetermined control is performed based on the output first information.

[0031] This allows for the acquisition of wireless information using communication between two slave units without the need for a wireless base station, and the output of primary information regarding the biological state, enabling high-precision sensing with a simple configuration.

[0032] The program relating to the tenth aspect of this disclosure is a program that causes at least one computer to execute the sensing method relating to the ninth aspect.

[0033] Furthermore, this disclosure can be implemented not only as a device, but also as an integrated circuit equipped with processing means of such a device, as a method in which the processing means constituting the device are used as steps, as a program that causes a computer to execute those steps, or as information, data, or signals that represent such a program. These programs, information, data, and signals may be distributed via recording media such as CD-ROMs or communication media such as the Internet.

[0034] The embodiments of this disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. The embodiments described below are all preferred examples of the disclosure. The numerical values, shapes, materials, components, arrangement and connection configurations of components, steps, and the order of steps shown in the following embodiments are examples only and are not intended to limit the disclosure. Furthermore, components in the following embodiments that are not described in the independent claims representing the highest-level concepts of this disclosure will be described as any component constituting a more preferred configuration. In this specification and in the drawings, components having substantially the same functional configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals to avoid redundant explanation.

[0035] (Embodiment 1) This embodiment describes a method for sensing a living organism using a MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) system in which both the transmitting antenna and the receiving antenna are multiple. The configuration of this disclosure is also applicable to SIMO (Single-Input Multiple-Output) systems, MISO (Multiple-Input Single-Output) systems, and SISO (Single-Input Single-Output) systems, in which either the transmitting antenna or the receiving antenna is multiple.

[0036] [composition] Figure 1 shows the overall configuration of the sensing system 1 in Embodiment 1.

[0037] Specifically, Figure 1 shows the sensing device 10, wireless master unit 11, slave unit 13, slave unit 14, biological sample 50, the direct wave 23 of the communication from slave unit 13 to slave unit 14, the reflected wave 24 reflected by the biological sample 50, the communication 25 from wireless master unit 11 to slave unit 14, the communication 26 from wireless master unit 11 to slave unit 13, and the sensing ranges 1000 and 1002 of the wireless sensing.

[0038] For example, sensing system 1 includes a sensing device 10. The sensing device 10 is positioned within the range where sensing is to be performed (i.e., the range of the object to be sensed). The sensing device 10 is a wireless device capable of transmitting and receiving wireless signals, by comprising a slave unit 13 or a slave unit 14.

[0039] Although not shown in Figure 1, the sensing device 10 may have functions other than wireless communication, for example, as a functional unit. The sensing device 10 is, for example, a refrigerator. The sensing device 10 is not limited to a refrigerator; it may be a home appliance such as a television or washing machine, or it may be a shared printer in an office, a desk in a shared meeting space, or a mobile terminal such as a smartphone.

[0040] The wireless base station 11 is, for example, a device that has access point functionality. The sensing range 1002 is the space in which the biological organism 50 can be sensed by the sensing device 10 and the wireless base station 11, and is the space that is the target of said sensing.

[0041] Figure 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a sensing device in Embodiment 1. In Figure 2, the sensing device 10 includes a slave unit 13, an antenna unit 113, a slave unit 14, an antenna unit 112, a state change extraction unit 15, a condition determination unit 16, a control unit 17, and a storage unit 18. The slave unit 14 includes a sensing unit 33. The slave unit 13 includes a CSI transmission unit 34. In this embodiment, the slave unit 13 operates as a wireless slave unit to the wireless master unit 11 and operates as a wireless master unit to the slave unit 14. The slave unit 14 is located within the same device (sensing device 10) as the slave unit 13.

[0042] The sensing device 10 is a device capable of wireless communication, for example, via Wi-Fi. The sensing device 10 incorporates a slave unit 13 and a slave unit 14. In the sensing device 10, the slave unit 14 or the slave unit 13 is connected to (joins) the wireless base station 11, and the slave unit 14 or the slave unit 13 and the wireless base station 11 transmit and receive wireless signals. Here, "joining" means the state in which the slave unit 14 or the slave unit 13 is connected to the access point of the wireless base station 11 through the connection procedure in the Wi-Fi network. In Figure 1, the slave unit 13 and the slave unit 14 are shown outside the housing of the sensing device 10 to make the configuration of the sensing device 10 easier to understand, but in reality they may be placed inside the housing of the sensing device 10.

[0043] The wireless base station 11 is capable of transmitting wireless signals via Wi-Fi. Furthermore, the wireless base station 11 has a Wi-Fi access point function and transmits beacon signals and the like using a pre-stored SSID. The wireless base station 11 has the function of receiving connection requests from Wi-Fi client devices and authenticating and managing those connections. Specifically, the wireless base station 11 receives signals transmitted from wireless client devices such as the client unit 13 and client unit 14, and performs communication processing based on the Wi-Fi standard. While Wi-Fi is used as an example of the wireless method in this embodiment, it goes without saying that any wireless system capable of transmitting wireless status, such as RSSI and CSI, can be applied.

[0044] The slave unit 13 has an antenna unit 113 and a CSI transmission unit 34. The slave unit 13 can connect to the wireless base station 11 via the antenna unit 113 and receive wireless signals from the wireless base station 11 via Wi-Fi. The slave unit 13 may also communicate with a slave unit 14 without connecting to the wireless base station 11.

[0045] Furthermore, the slave unit 13 can transmit wireless signals from the CSI transmission unit 34 to the slave unit 14. In other words, communication is possible with the slave unit 13 as a wireless master unit and the slave unit 14 as a wireless slave unit. Specifically, the slave unit 13 transmits either a signal transmitted to the slave unit 14 or a broadcast signal. More specifically, the slave unit 13 transmits predetermined types of packets such as beacon signals, ACK (Acknowledgment), NDP (Null Data Packet), NULL, and data packets. The slave unit 13 is an example of a second slave unit. RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) and CSI are examples of wireless information.

[0046] The antenna unit 113 is a wireless antenna provided on the slave unit 13. The figure shows M antennas, where M is a natural number greater than or equal to 1. In other words, the antenna unit 113 may have one antenna or multiple antennas.

[0047] The CSI transmitter 34 transmits a wireless signal via the antenna unit 113. The wireless signal transmitted by the CSI transmitter 34 includes, for example, predetermined types of packets such as beacon signals, ACK, NDP, NULL, and data packets, and is transmitted toward the wireless base station 11 or the slave unit 14.

[0048] The slave unit 14 has an antenna unit 112 and a sensing unit 33. The slave unit 14 can connect to the wireless base station 11 via the antenna unit 112 and receive Wi-Fi wireless signals from the wireless base station 11. The slave unit 14 may also communicate with the slave unit 13 without connecting to the wireless base station 11.

[0049] The slave unit 14 obtains at least one of the RSSI and CSI from a signal received from either a signal transmitted by the CSI transmission unit 34 in the slave unit 13 toward the wireless base station 11, a signal transmitted toward the slave unit 14, or a broadcast transmission signal. More specifically, when the slave unit 14 receives predetermined types of packets such as beacon signals, ACKs, NDPs, NULLs, and data packets from the slave unit 13 via the antenna unit 112 as the direct wave 23 or reflected wave 24 of the communication, it obtains at least one of the RSSI and CSI.

[0050] Furthermore, for example, the slave unit 14 may intercept radio signals transmitted by the slave unit 13 to the wireless base station 11. Interception means receiving radio signals transmitted for other wireless devices. In this case, the band and channel of radio signals that the slave unit 14 can receive are set to be the same as the band and channel of wireless communication in the slave unit 13 and the wireless base station 11. In other words, the slave unit 14 can receive radio signals transmitted for other wireless devices as long as they are on the same band and channel as the transmitted radio signal. The slave unit 14 is an example of a first slave unit. RSSI and CSI are examples of radio information.

[0051] The antenna unit 112 is a wireless antenna provided on the slave unit 14. Although N antennas are shown in the diagram, N is a natural number greater than or equal to 1. In other words, the antenna unit 112 may have one antenna or multiple antennas.

[0052] The sensing unit 33 extracts biological components from the received signal using at least one of the RSSI and CSI obtained from the direct wave 23 and reflected wave 24 acquired by the antenna unit 112. The sensing unit 33 performs sensing including at least one of the following: detection of the presence or absence of a living organism, positioning, distance measurement, attitude detection, and personal identification, using the MUSIC (Multiple Signal Classification) method, beamformer method, Capon method, and other known methods, and outputs the sensing results as sensing information. The sensing information is information indicating the state of a living organism in the sensing range 1002. The sensing unit is an example of an estimation unit. The sensing information is an example of first information, which is information indicating the state of a living organism.

[0053] The state change extraction unit 15 extracts state changes in the sensing range 1002 between the reference state and the operating state based on the sensing information output by the sensing unit 33. Here, a state change is detected when there is a difference between the reference sensing information obtained in the reference state and the sequential sensing information obtained in the operating state. Specifically, after the sensing device 10 is installed, in a reference state such as an unmanned state or a steady state, the antenna unit 112 acquires reference radio information consisting of at least one of RSSI and CSI, the sensing unit 33 generates reference sensing information based on the reference radio information, and stores the reference sensing information in the storage unit 18. On the other hand, in the operating state, the antenna unit 112 acquires sequential radio information consisting of at least one of RSSI and CSI, the sensing unit 33 generates sequential sensing information, and similarly stores it in the storage unit 18. The state change extraction unit 15 then detects a change in state within the sensing range 1002 based on the difference between the reference sensing information and the sequential sensing information, and outputs the result as state change information. Note that the state change extraction unit 15 is an example of an estimation unit. The state change information is an example of first information.

[0054] The condition determination unit 16 determines whether the sequential sensing information output by the sensing unit 33 or the state change information calculated by the state change extraction unit 15 satisfies predetermined conditions set in advance. The predetermined conditions include, for example, whether, when the sum of the distance between the wireless base station 11 and the living organism 50 and the distance between the slave unit 13 and the living organism within the sensing range 1002 can be obtained based on the sequential sensing information, the sum is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold. This determination result is used to determine the content of the control execution by the control unit 17, which will be described later. For example, if the state change information can be determined by the condition determination unit 16, the condition determination unit 16 may apply predetermined conditions to the state change information to perform the determination. The predetermined conditions used for determination may be one or more. The predetermined conditions may be stored in the storage unit 18 in advance. Furthermore, the predetermined conditions may be set by the user. Specifically, information set by the user may be acquired via the slave unit 13 or slave unit 14, or via the sensing device 10. The condition determination unit 16 is an example of an estimation unit.

[0055] The control unit 17 performs predetermined control based on the determination result of the condition determination unit 16. Specifically, the control unit 17 performs predetermined control, such as starting, stopping, or changing a predetermined operation of the controlled object (home appliance), based on whether the sequential sensing information or state change information satisfies predetermined conditions.

[0056] For example, when controlling the brightness of a home appliance's display, the display can be brightened when the sensing result indicates the presence of a person within the sensing range, and dimmed when no person is present. This reduces unnecessary power consumption when no one is present.

[0057] Furthermore, by configuring the system to only send notifications when a person is within the sensing range, unnecessary notifications can be suppressed.

[0058] The control content of a predetermined control may be determined based on control information stored in the storage unit 18 in advance. The control content of a predetermined control may also be set by the user. The control content set by the user may be transmitted to the sensing device 10 via the wireless base station 11 and then acquired via the slave unit 13 or slave unit 14.

[0059] The storage unit 18 stores various parameters used in each block of the sensing device 10, processing results, and condition information indicating predetermined conditions. The storage unit 18 includes, for example, non-volatile memory such as flash memory.

[0060] Furthermore, the sensing device 10 may be equipped with a processor, and the processor may execute a program stored in the memory unit 18 to realize the functions corresponding to each block of the CSI transmission unit 34, slave unit 13, slave unit 14, sensing unit 33, state change extraction unit 15, condition determination unit 16, and control unit 17 through software.

[0061] [Operation] Next, the operation of the sensing device 10 according to Embodiment 1 will be described.

[0062] Figure 3 is a flowchart showing an example of a sensing method using the sensing device according to Embodiment 1.

[0063] First, the slave unit 13 and the slave unit 14 each join the wireless base station 11 (S1000). Specifically, during the join, the slave unit 13 and the slave unit 14 each send a connection request to the access point of the wireless base station 11, and after authentication and connection processing, they become able to communicate on the network. As a result, the slave unit 13 and the wireless base station 11, or the slave unit 14 and the wireless base station 11, become able to communicate.

[0064] Next, if the slave unit 13 and the slave unit 14 are both capable of communicating with the same master unit, the wireless master unit 11, then the slave unit 13 and the slave unit 14 may be slave units that can communicate with each other. In this case, the slave unit 13 operates as a wireless slave when communicating with the wireless master unit 11, and operates as a wireless master when communicating with the slave unit 14. In other words, in this case, the relationship between the slave unit 13 and the slave unit 14 is such that the slave unit 13 operates as a wireless master unit and the slave unit 14 operates as a wireless slave unit. Conversely, the slave unit 13 may operate as a wireless slave unit and the slave unit 14 may operate as a wireless master unit. Furthermore, the slave unit 13 and the slave unit 14, once they are able to communicate with each other, can send and receive signals from each other. Note that either the slave unit 13 or the slave unit 14 may be able to connect to the slave unit 13 without joining the wireless master unit 11. Furthermore, it is possible for both the slave unit 13 and the slave unit 14 to be connected to each other without both of them joining the wireless base station.

[0065] Next, the sensing device 10 performs sensing in the sensing range 1002 (S1100). Specifically, the slave unit 14 receives wireless information (e.g., received information) from the slave unit 13 via the antenna unit 112 and acquires at least one of RSSI and CSI from the received signal. Next, the sensing unit 33 outputs the state of the living organism in the sensing range 1002 as sensing information (sequential sensing information) based on at least one of the acquired RSSI and CSI. The state of the living organism is at least one of the following: detection of the presence or absence of a living organism, positioning, distance measurement, attitude detection, and personal identification.

[0066] The sensing device 10 extracts changes in the state of the living organism within the sensing range 1002 (S1200). Specifically, the state change extraction unit 15 reads reference sensing information, which is pre-stored in the storage unit 18, from the storage unit 18. The reference sensing information is sensing information obtained by sensing the sensing range 1002 in a reference state. The sensing device 10 then calculates the difference between the sequential sensing information output in step S1100 and the reference sensing information, and extracts the state change indicated by that difference as state change information.

[0067] The sensing device 10 refers to the sequential sensing information output in step S1100 or the state change information extracted in step S1200 and performs a condition determination based on predetermined conditions (S1300). Specifically, the condition determination unit 16 uses predetermined conditions stored in the storage unit 18 to determine whether the sequential sensing information or the state change information satisfies the predetermined conditions.

[0068] The condition determination unit 16, for example, when the distance from the sensing device 10 to the living organism within the sensing range 1002 (first information) is obtained as sequential sensing information, determines, based on predetermined conditions, whether the distance indicated by the output sensing information is greater than or equal to a threshold. The condition determination unit 16 may also determine whether the state change extraction unit 15 has extracted that the distance indicated by the output sensing information has changed from a state above the threshold to a state below the threshold. That is, the condition determination unit 16 may determine whether the distance to the living organism has changed from greater than or equal to a threshold to a state below the threshold. For example, when the presence or absence of a living organism within the sensing range 1002 (first information) is obtained as output sensing information, the condition determination unit 16 determines whether the state indicated by the output sensing information indicates the presence of a living organism. The condition determination unit 16 may also determine whether the state change extraction unit 15 has extracted that the state has changed from a state where a living organism is absent to a state where a living organism is present, that is, whether the state has changed from absence to presence.

[0069] The first information is information based on wireless information. Specifically, the first information is information based on at least one of RSSI and CSI. The first information may also be information output by sensing information based on at least one of RSSI and CSI, for example, state change information. Furthermore, the first information is output by the estimation unit realized by the sensing unit 33, state change extraction unit 15, and condition determination unit 16, but it may also be information calculated during the output process, for example, sensing information. In other words, state change information and sensing information are examples of the first information.

[0070] The sensing device 10 performs predetermined control (S1400) based on the result of the condition determination (sensing result) in step S1300. Specifically, the control unit 17 controls the sensing device 10 based on the determination result of the condition determination. For example, in step S1300, if the condition determination unit 16 determines that a living organism is present within the sensing range 1002, the control unit 17 performs predetermined control, in this case the first control. On the other hand, if the condition determination unit 16 determines that no living organism is present within the sensing range 1002, the control unit 17 performs a second control different from the first control.

[0071] Here, an example of the first control is to increase the brightness of the display of a home appliance. An example of the second control is to dim the display or to disable notifications. This enables power-saving operation in response to the presence of a user and suppression of unnecessary notifications. Thus, the second control may be more power-efficient than the first control.

[0072] [Effects, etc.] The sensing system 1 according to this embodiment is a sensing system that senses living organisms using wireless signals. The sensing device 10 includes a slave unit 13 (second slave unit) and a slave unit 14 (first slave unit), a sensing unit 33, a state change extraction unit 15 and a condition determination unit 16 (estimation unit), and a control unit 17. The slave units 13 and 14 can send and receive wireless signals to and from each other. The estimation unit outputs first information related to the sensing of living organisms. The slave unit 14 acquires wireless information contained in the wireless signal by intercepting the wireless signal that the slave unit 13 communicates with the wireless master unit 11. The estimation unit outputs first information based on the acquired wireless information. The control unit 17 performs predetermined control based on the first information output by the estimation unit.

[0073] As a result, the slave unit 14 can intercept communication between the wireless base unit 11 and the slave unit 13, acquire wireless information, and output primary information regarding the biological state, enabling high-precision sensing with a simple configuration.

[0074] In the sensing system 1 according to this embodiment, the slave unit 13 and the slave unit 14 are mounted on a single sensing device 10.

[0075] As a result, by mounting the two sub-units 13 and 14 onto a single sensing device 10, the sensing device 10 alone can determine the sensing range, thus offering greater flexibility in installation and ease of operation.

[0076] In the sensing system 1 according to this embodiment, the wireless information includes information transmitted from the slave unit 13 to the slave unit 14 (direct wave) and information transmitted from the slave unit 13 to the slave unit 14 via the living body (biologically reflected wave).

[0077] This allows for more accurate detection of biological influences and improved sensing accuracy by utilizing wireless information based on both direct waves and bio-reflected waves.

[0078] In the sensing system 1 according to this embodiment, the first information includes sensing information relating to the state of a living organism.

[0079] This allows for the inclusion of sensing information about the biological state as primary information, enabling not only simple presence detection but also diverse biosensing functions such as positioning and posture determination.

[0080] The sensing system 1 according to this embodiment further includes a wireless master unit 11. The wireless master unit 11 is capable of transmitting wireless signals to the slave unit 13 and the slave unit 14, respectively.

[0081] This enables the wireless base station 11 to transmit signals to each slave unit 13 and 14, thereby improving connectivity with external networks and expanding the sensing range. Furthermore, it makes it easy to unify the channel settings for each slave unit 13 and 14 to the same channel.

[0082] In the sensing system 1 according to this embodiment, the estimation unit includes a sensing unit 33 and a condition determination unit 16. The sensing unit 33 outputs sensing information based on wireless information. The condition determination unit 16 determines whether the sensing information output by the sensing unit 33 satisfies predetermined conditions. The first information includes information corresponding to the determination result by the condition determination unit 16.

[0083] As a result, the estimation unit, which includes a sensing unit 33 and a condition determination unit 16, can flexibly determine information in response to changes in the biological state and perform accurate control based on the determination results.

[0084] In the sensing system 1 according to this embodiment, the estimation unit has a state change extraction unit 15 that extracts changes in the state of a living organism in the operating state. The sensing unit 33 outputs sequential sensing information, which is sensing information in the operating state. The state change extraction unit 15 extracts the difference between the reference sensing information, which is sensing information in the reference state, and the sequential sensing information as state change information. The first information includes the state change information.

[0085] This allows for the extraction of the difference in sensing information between the baseline state and the operating state to obtain state change information, enabling high-precision detection of changes in the biological state and control that responds immediately to movement.

[0086] (Modified version of Embodiment 1) In this embodiment, the sensing device 10 performs sensing using radio signals obtained only from the sensing range 1002. However, it may also receive radio information from each of multiple sensing ranges and output first information based on the multiple radio information obtained therefrom. Specifically, the sensing device 10 may receive radio information in the sensing range 1000, receive radio information corresponding to sensing range 1000 and sensing range 1002, and output first information, which is sensing information, based on the radio information corresponding to sensing range 1000 and the radio information corresponding to sensing range 1002.

[0087] In this way, in the sensing system 1, the slave unit 14 acquires wireless information from the wireless master unit 11 and the slave unit 13, respectively. The estimation unit acquires first information based on the sensing range 1000 (first sensing range) corresponding to the slave unit 14 and the wireless master unit 11, and the sensing range 1002 (second sensing range) corresponding to the slave unit 14 and the slave unit 13.

[0088] According to the above configuration, the sensing device 10 can output multiple sensing information based on multiple sensing ranges 1000 and 1002. This makes it possible to increase the amount of sensing information or expand the sensing range compared to sensing information based on a single sensing range, and is expected to improve the accuracy of sensing the living organism 50. Furthermore, by using sensing information based on multiple sensing ranges 1000 and 1002, the accuracy of the determination result of predetermined conditions using the first information is increased, and a sensing device that can achieve more appropriate control can be provided.

[0089] (Embodiment 2) Figure 4 is a diagram showing an overview of the sensing system 2 according to Embodiment 2.

[0090] Specifically, Figure 4 shows the sensing device 12, sensing device 10, wireless base station 11, wireless unit 114, wireless unit 224, direct wave 27 of the communication from wireless base station 11 to sensing device 12, direct wave 28 of the communication from wireless base station 11 to sensing device 10, direct wave 29 from sensing device 12 to sensing device 10, reflected wave 30 from wireless base station 11 to sensing device 10 via biological 50, sensing range 1003 of wireless sensing using wireless base station 11 and sensing device 10, and sensing range 1004 of wireless sensing using sensing device 10 and sensing device 12. Note that in the following description, explanations of parts that overlap with Embodiment 1 will be omitted. Wireless base station 11 is a wireless base station that can connect to a network in the room where sensing device 10 is installed or to an external network.

[0091] Figure 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a sensing device according to Embodiment 2. In Figure 5, the sensing device 10 includes an antenna unit 112, a wireless unit 114, a state change extraction unit 15, a condition determination unit 16, a control unit 17, and a storage unit 18. The wireless unit 114 has a sensing unit 133 and a CSI transmission unit 134. The sensing device 12 includes an antenna unit 212, a wireless unit 224, a state change extraction unit 215, a condition determination unit 216, a control unit 217, and a storage unit 218. The wireless unit 224 has a sensing unit 233 and a CSI transmission unit 234. The wireless master unit 11 is separate from the sensing devices 10 and 12.

[0092] In Embodiment 2, a sensing device 12 is added compared to Embodiment 1. By having sensing device 10 and sensing device 12 each connect to the wireless base station 11, sensing device 10 enables communication with the outside of the sensing system 2.

[0093] In Figures 4 and 5, the wireless unit 114 and the wireless unit 224 are shown as separate components, but they may also be implemented by functionally integrating them into a single wireless chip or wireless module.

[0094] In the sensing system 2 according to Embodiment 2 shown in Figure 5, a CSI transmission unit 134 is added to the configuration of the sensing device 10 according to Embodiment 1 shown in Figure 2. Furthermore, the sensing system 2 adds a sensing device 12, which has the same configuration as the sensing device 10 of Embodiment 2, to the sensing system 1. The sensing device 12 according to Embodiment 2 performs sensing based on at least one of RSSI and CSI obtained from the CSI transmission unit 234 of the sensing device 12, similar to the sensing device 10 of Embodiment 1, and the control unit 217 performs control based on the sensing results obtained by sensing.

[0095] The sensing device 10 comprises an antenna unit 112, a wireless unit 114, a state change extraction unit 15, a condition determination unit 16, a control unit 17, and a storage unit 18. The operation of each functional block will be described later.

[0096] The sensing device 12 includes an antenna unit 212, a wireless unit 224, a state change extraction unit 215, a condition determination unit 216, a control unit 217, and a storage unit 218. The operation of each functional block will be described later.

[0097] The wireless unit 114 connects to the wireless base station 11 via the antenna unit 112 and can send and receive wireless signals via Wi-Fi with the wireless base station 11. Alternatively, the wireless unit 114 may communicate with the wireless unit 224 of the sensing device 12 without connecting to the wireless base station 11. The wireless unit 114 obtains at least one of RSSI and CSI from the signal received from the CSI transmission unit 234 in the wireless unit 224 of the sensing device 12.

[0098] The sensing unit 133 performs sensing based on at least one of the acquired RSSI and CSI, and outputs sensing information based on the sensing results obtained from the sensing. The state change extraction unit 15 extracts state changes in the sensing range 1004 based on the sensing information and uses this as state change information (an example of first information).

[0099] The state change extraction unit 15 extracts state changes in the sensing range 1003 or sensing range 1004 between the reference state and the operating state, based on the sensing information output by the sensing unit 133. Here, a state change is detected when there is a difference between the reference sensing information obtained in the reference state and the sequential sensing information obtained in the operating state. Specifically, after the sensing device 10 is installed, in a reference state such as an unmanned state or a steady state, the antenna unit 112 acquires reference radio information consisting of at least one of RSSI and CSI, the sensing unit 133 generates reference sensing information based on this radio information, and stores the reference sensing information in the storage unit 18. On the other hand, in the operating state, the antenna unit 112 acquires sequential radio information of at least one of RSSI and CSI, the sensing unit 133 generates sequential sensing information, and similarly stores it in the storage unit 18. The state change extraction unit 15 then detects a change in the state of the sensing range 1003 or sensing range 1004 based on the difference between the reference sensing information and the sequential sensing information within the sensing range, and outputs the result as state change information. Note that the state change extraction unit 15 is an example of an estimation unit. The state change information is an example of first information.

[0100] The condition determination unit 16 determines whether the sensing information output by the sensing unit 133 or the state change information calculated by the state change extraction unit 15 satisfies a pre-set condition. The condition determination unit 16 is an example of an estimation unit.

[0101] The control unit 17 performs predetermined control based on the determination result of the condition determination unit 16. Specifically, the control unit 17 performs predetermined control, such as starting, stopping, or changing a predetermined operation of the controlled object (home appliance), based on whether the sensing information calculated by the sensing unit 133 or the state change information calculated by the state change extraction unit 15 satisfies predetermined conditions.

[0102] For example, when controlling the brightness of a home appliance's display, the display can be brightened when the sensing result indicates the presence of a person within the sensing range, and dimmed when no person is present. This reduces unnecessary power consumption when no one is present.

[0103] Furthermore, by configuring the system to only send notifications when a person is within the sensing range, unnecessary notifications can be suppressed.

[0104] Furthermore, by the wireless unit 114 sending and receiving signals with the wireless base station 11, the sensing device 10 can communicate with external networks other than the network between the wireless base station 11 and the sensing device 10.

[0105] The wireless unit 224 joins the wireless base station 11 via the antenna unit 212 and can send and receive Wi-Fi wireless signals with the wireless base station 11. Alternatively, the wireless unit 224 may communicate with the wireless unit 114 of the sensing device 10 without joining the wireless base station 11. Furthermore, the wireless unit 224 can transmit signals from the CSI transmission unit 234 to the wireless unit 114. In other words, the wireless unit 224 may operate as a wireless base station, and the wireless unit 114 may operate as a wireless slave unit. Specifically, the wireless unit 224 transmits either a signal sent to the wireless unit 114 or a broadcast signal. More specifically, the wireless unit 224 transmits predetermined packets such as beacon signals, ACK, NDP, NULL, and data packets from the antenna unit 212. The wireless unit 224 is an example of a first slave unit. At least one of RSSI and CSI is an example of wireless information.

[0106] [Operation] Next, the operation of the sensing device 10 according to Embodiment 2 will be described.

[0107] Figure 6 is a flowchart showing an example of a sensing method using the sensing device according to Embodiment 2.

[0108] First, the wireless unit 114 joins the wireless base station 11 (S2000). Specifically, during the join, the wireless unit 114 sends a connection request to the access point of the wireless base station 11, and after authentication and connection processing, a relationship is established where communication is possible on the network. As a result, the wireless unit 114 and the wireless base station 11 become able to communicate.

[0109] Furthermore, at this time, the wireless unit 224 may join the wireless base station 11. Specifically, in the joining process, the wireless unit 224 sends a connection request to the access point of the wireless base station 11, and after authentication and connection processing, a relationship is established where communication is possible on the network. As a result, the wireless unit 224 and the wireless base station 11 become able to communicate.

[0110] If both the wireless unit 114 and the wireless unit 224 are capable of communicating with the same base unit, the wireless base unit 11, then the wireless unit 114 and the wireless unit 224 may be slave units capable of communicating with each other. In this case, the wireless unit 114 operates as a wireless slave unit when communicating with the wireless base unit 11, and as a wireless base unit when communicating with the wireless unit 224. In other words, in this case, the relationship between the wireless unit 114 and the wireless unit 224 is such that the wireless unit 114 operates as a wireless base unit and the wireless unit 224 operates as a wireless slave unit. Conversely, the wireless unit 114 may operate as a wireless slave unit and the wireless unit 224 may operate as a wireless base unit. Furthermore, the wireless unit 114 and the wireless unit 224, once they are able to communicate with each other, can send and receive signals from each other. Note that either the wireless unit 114 or the wireless unit 224 may be able to connect to each other without joining to the wireless base unit. It is also possible for both the wireless unit 114 and the wireless unit 224 to be connectable to each other without joining to a wireless base station.

[0111] Next, the sensing device 10 receives a signal transmitted from a sensing device 12, which is a separate slave unit from the sensing device 10 (S2100). At this time, the signal received by the sensing device 10 is wireless information from the sensing device 12 (for example, received information). The signal received by the sensing device 10 may also be sensing information obtained from sensing results using wireless information between the wireless master unit 11 and the sensing device 12.

[0112] Next, the sensing device 10 performs sensing in the sensing range 1004 (S2200). Specifically, the radio unit 114 receives radio information (e.g., received information) from the radio unit 224 via the antenna unit 112 and acquires at least one of the RSSI and CSI from the received signal. Next, the sensing unit 133 outputs the state of the living organism in the sensing range 1004 as sensing information (sequential sensing information) based on at least one of the acquired RSSI and CSI. The state of the living organism is at least one of the following: detection of the presence or absence of a living organism, positioning, distance measurement, attitude detection, and personal identification.

[0113] Furthermore, the sensing unit 133 may output the state of the living organism in the sensing range 1003 as sensing information (sequential sensing information) based on at least one of the acquired RSSI and CSI, or it may output sensing information obtained using wireless information in the sensing range 1003 and sensing information obtained using wireless information in the sensing range 1004, combined.

[0114] The sensing device 10 extracts changes in the state of the living organism within the sensing range (at least one of the sensing ranges 1003 and 1004) (S2300). Specifically, the state change extraction unit 15 reads reference sensing information, which is pre-stored in the storage unit 18, from the storage unit 18. The reference sensing information is sensing information obtained by sensing the sensing range in a reference state. Then, the sensing device 10 calculates the difference between the sequential sensing information output in step S2200 and the reference sensing information, and extracts the state change indicated by that difference as state change information.

[0115] The sensing device 10 refers to the sequential sensing information output in step S2200 or the state change information extracted in step S2300 and performs a condition determination under predetermined conditions (S2400). Specifically, the condition determination unit 16 uses predetermined conditions stored in the storage unit 18 to determine whether the sequential sensing information or the state change information satisfies the predetermined conditions.

[0116] The condition determination unit 16, for example, when the sensing device 10 provides sequential sensing information, specifically the distance to the living organism within the sensing ranges 1003 and 1004 (first information), determines, based on predetermined conditions, whether the distance indicated by the output sensing information is greater than or equal to a threshold. The condition determination unit 16 may also determine whether the state change extraction unit 15 has extracted that the distance indicated by the output sequential sensing information has changed from a state above the threshold to a state below the threshold. That is, the condition determination unit 16 may determine whether the distance to the living organism has changed from greater than or equal to a threshold to a state below the threshold. For example, when the output sensing information provides the presence or absence of a living organism within the sensing ranges 1003 and 1004 (first information), the condition determination unit 16 determines whether the state indicated by the output sensing information indicates the presence of a living organism. The condition determination unit 16 may also determine whether the state change extraction unit 15 has extracted that the state has changed from a state where the living organism is absent to a state where the living organism is present, that is, whether the state has changed from absence to presence.

[0117] The sensing device 10 performs predetermined control (S2500) based on the result of the condition determination in step S2400. Specifically, the control unit 17 controls the sensing device 10 based on the result of the condition determination. For example, in step S2400, if a living organism is present in both sensing ranges 1003 and 1004, the condition determination unit 16 determines that a person is present in the overlapping range of sensing ranges 1003 and 1004 by performing an overlay calculation of the determination results, since the sensing result in sensing range 1003 is "present" and the sensing result in sensing range 1004 is "present". If it is determined that a living organism is present in the overlapping range, the control unit 17 may perform predetermined control, in this case a third control. On the other hand, if the condition determination unit 16 determines that no living organism is present, the control unit 17 may perform a fourth control different from the third control.

[0118] In the above embodiment 2, the sensing unit 133 of the wireless unit 114 received a wireless signal from the CSI transmission unit 234 and performed sensing based on the wireless signal from the CSI transmission unit 234. However, conversely, the sensing unit 233 of the wireless unit 224 may receive a wireless signal from the CSI transmission unit 134 and perform sensing based on the said wireless signal from the CSI transmission unit 134.

[0119] Here, the sensing device 10 may be controlled based on either the sensing result of the wireless unit 114 or the sensing result of the wireless unit 224, or it may be controlled using both the sensing result of the wireless unit 114 and the sensing result of the wireless unit 224.

[0120] [effect] The sensing system 2 according to this embodiment includes a wireless unit 114 capable of transmitting wireless signals via Wi-Fi, a wireless unit 224 that receives wireless signals transmitted from the wireless unit 114 and acquires at least one of RSSI and CSI from the received wireless signals, an estimation unit that senses the biological body 50 based on at least one of RSSI and CSI and outputs sensing information or state change information, and a control unit 17 that performs predetermined control based on the determination result of the sensing information or state change information under predetermined conditions.

[0121] According to the above configuration, the sensing device 10 can output multiple sensing information based on multiple sensing ranges 1003 and 1004. This makes it possible to increase the amount of sensing information or expand the sensing range compared to sensing information based on a single sensing range, and is expected to improve the accuracy of sensing the biological organism 50. Furthermore, by using sensing information based on multiple sensing ranges 1003 and 1004, the accuracy of the determination result of predetermined conditions using the first information is increased, and a sensing device that can achieve more appropriate control can be provided.

[0122] (Modified version of Embodiment 2) In this embodiment, the sensing device 10 performs sensing using wireless signals obtained from sensing range 1003 and sensing range 1004, respectively. However, sensing may also be performed using wireless signals obtained from sensing range 1005 (see Figure 4) between the wireless base station 11 and the wireless unit 224 of the sensing device 12. For example, the sensing device 10 may output wireless information in sensing range 1005 from the sensing unit 233, transmit it to the wireless unit 114 via the antenna unit 212, and output it as first information.

[0123] With the above configuration, the sensing device 10 can output sensing information based on three or more sensing ranges 1003 to 1005. Compared to sensing information based on one or two sensing ranges, this allows for an increase in the amount of sensing information or an expansion of the sensing range, which is expected to improve the accuracy of sensing the biological organism 50. Furthermore, the sensing information based on multiple sensing ranges 1003 to 1005 improves the accuracy of the determination results of predetermined conditions using the first information, providing a sensing device that enables more appropriate control.

[0124] (Other embodiments) In the above embodiments 1 and 2, the control unit 17 can perform control based on both of the multiple pieces of first information obtained from at least two sensing ranges. In embodiment 1, the multiple pieces of first information include information as a first sensing result obtained from sensing based on a wireless signal obtained from sensing range 1000, and information as a second sensing result obtained from sensing based on a wireless signal obtained from sensing range 1002. In embodiment 2, the multiple pieces of first information include information as a first sensing result obtained from sensing based on a wireless signal obtained from sensing range 1003, and information as a second sensing result obtained from sensing based on a wireless signal obtained from sensing range 1004. Furthermore, in a modified example of embodiment 2, the multiple pieces of first information include information as a first sensing result obtained from sensing based on a wireless signal obtained from sensing range 1003, information as a second sensing result obtained from sensing based on a wireless signal obtained from sensing range 1004, and information as a third sensing result obtained from sensing based on a wireless signal obtained from sensing range 1005.

[0125] For example, the control unit 17 executes a first control when (i) one of the multiple pieces of first information satisfies a predetermined condition and the other pieces of first information also satisfy a predetermined condition. Alternatively, for example, the control unit 17 executes a second control when one piece of first information satisfies a predetermined condition and the other pieces of first information do not satisfy a predetermined condition. Alternatively, for example, the control unit 17 may be configured to execute a third control when one piece of first information does not satisfy a predetermined condition and the other pieces of first information satisfy a predetermined condition. In this way, by combining multiple pieces of first information to make a decision, the options for control operations increase, and appropriate control according to the scene can be achieved.

[0126] The following description is based on the configuration of Embodiment 1. When applying to the configuration of Embodiment 2, the description can be explained by substituting sensing range 1000 with sensing range 1003 and sensing range 1002 with sensing range 1004.

[0127] For example, if one piece of first information satisfies a predetermined condition, the control unit 17 can determine that a living organism 50 is present in the sensing range 1002, and if another piece of first information satisfies a predetermined condition, the control unit 17 can determine that a living organism 50 is present in the sensing range 1000.

[0128] In this case, if one piece of first information satisfies a predetermined condition and the other piece of first information satisfies a predetermined condition, the control unit 17 may determine that a living organism 50 is present in the region where sensing range 1000 and sensing range 1002 overlap.

[0129] If one piece of first information satisfies a predetermined condition, and the other piece of first information does not satisfy a predetermined condition, the control unit 17 can determine that a living organism 50 is present in a specific area within the sensing range 1002, and that a living organism 50 is not present in the sensing range 1000. Therefore, the control unit 17 may determine that a living organism 50 is present in an area of ​​the sensing range 1002 that is different from the sensing range 1000.

[0130] If one piece of first information does not satisfy the predetermined conditions, and the other piece of first information satisfies the predetermined conditions, the control unit 17 can determine that a living organism 50 is present in a specific area within the sensing range 1000, and that a living organism 50 is not present in the sensing range 1002. Therefore, the control unit 17 may determine that a living organism 50 is present in an area of ​​the sensing range 1000 that is different from the sensing range 1002.

[0131] Furthermore, the control unit 17 may determine that a living organism 50 is present within the combined area of ​​sensing range 1000 and sensing range 1002 if one piece of first information satisfies a predetermined condition, or if another piece of first information satisfies a predetermined condition.

[0132] In this way, the control unit 17 can more precisely identify the region where the living organism 50 exists based on whether one piece of first information satisfies a predetermined condition and whether the other piece of first information satisfies a predetermined condition, thereby enabling flexible control of the controlled object in response to the presence of the living organism 50.

[0133] In this embodiment, the sensing range 1000 may be dynamically changed by changing the installation position of the wireless base station 11. This allows for flexible adjustment of the sensing range according to the user's environment and needs.

[0134] Furthermore, the control unit 17 may assign weights to one piece of first information and other pieces of first information according to their respective reliability and importance. By determining the control operation of the controlled object based on the results of this weighting, the control unit 17 can achieve more accurate and adaptive control.

[0135] As described above, the sensing device 10 according to Embodiment 2 includes a wireless unit 114 capable of sending and receiving wireless signals via Wi-Fi with a wireless base station 11 connected to an external network.

[0136] With the above configuration, the wireless sensing device alone can join nearby Wi-Fi access points, define its sensing range, and utilize the sensing results.

[0137] In each of the above embodiments, each component may be implemented by dedicated hardware or by executing a software program suitable for each component. Each component may also be implemented by a program execution unit such as a CPU or processor reading and executing a software program recorded on a recording medium such as a hard disk or semiconductor memory.

[0138] Furthermore, this disclosure can be implemented not only as a sensing device equipped with such characteristic components, but also as a sensing method in which the characteristic components included in the sensing device are used as steps. It can also be implemented as a computer program that causes a computer to execute each of the characteristic steps included in such a method. And it goes without saying that such a computer program can be distributed via a computer-readable non-temporary recording medium such as a CD-ROM or via a communication network such as the Internet. [Industrial applicability]

[0139] This disclosure can be used in sensing devices and sensing methods that estimate the distance and position of living organisms using wireless signals, and in particular in measuring instruments that measure the distance and position of living organisms, home appliances that perform control according to the distance and position of living organisms, and monitoring devices that detect the intrusion of living organisms. [Explanation of symbols]

[0140] 1, 2 Sensing Systems 10 Sensing device 11 Wireless access point 12 Sensing device 13, 14 Sub-unit 15, 215 State change extraction unit 16, 216 Condition judgment section 17, 217, 227 Control Unit 18, 218 Memory section 21 Communication from wireless base station 11 to slave unit 14 22 Reflected waves from the wireless base station 11 to the slave unit 14 via the living organism 50 23 Direct wave from sub-unit 13 to sub-unit 14 24 Reflected waves from the sub-unit 13 to the sub-unit 14 via the living organism 50 25 Communication from wireless base station 11 to slave unit 14 26 Communication from wireless base station 11 to slave unit 13 27 Communication from wireless base station 11 to wireless unit 224 28 Communication from wireless base station 11 to wireless unit 114 29 Direct wave from radio unit 224 to radio unit 114 30 Reflected waves from the radio unit 224 to the radio unit 114 via the living organism 50 33, 133, 233 Sensing Unit 34, 134, 234 CSI Transmitters 50 living organisms 112, 113, 212 Antenna section 114, 224 Wireless Section 1000, 1001, 1002, 1003, 1004, 1005 Sensing range

Claims

1. In a sensing system that uses wireless signals to sense living organisms, A first slave unit and a second slave unit capable of sending and receiving wireless signals to each other, An estimation unit that outputs first information related to the sensing of the biological organism, It has a control unit and The first slave unit intercepts the wireless signal that the second slave unit communicates with the wireless base unit, thereby acquiring the wireless information contained in the wireless signal. The estimation unit outputs the first information based on the acquired wireless information. The control unit performs predetermined control based on the first information output by the estimation unit. Sensing system.

2. The first and second slave units are mounted in a single device. The sensing system according to claim 1.

3. The wireless information includes information transmitted from the second slave unit to the first slave unit and information transmitted from the second slave unit to the first slave unit via the living organism. The sensing system according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The first information includes sensing information relating to the state of the living organism. The sensing system according to claim 1 or 2.

5. The sensing system further includes the wireless base station, The wireless base station is capable of transmitting wireless signals to the first slave unit and the second slave unit, respectively. The sensing system according to claim 1 or 2.

6. The first slave unit acquires wireless information from the wireless base unit and the second slave unit, respectively. The estimation unit acquires the first information based on a first sensing range corresponding to the first slave unit and the wireless base station, and a second sensing range corresponding to the first slave unit and the second slave unit. The sensing system according to claim 5.

7. The estimation unit comprises a sensing unit and a condition determination unit. The sensing unit outputs sensing information based on the wireless information, The condition determination unit determines whether the sensing information output by the sensing unit satisfies predetermined conditions. The first information includes information corresponding to the determination result by the condition determination unit. The sensing system according to claim 1 or 2.

8. The estimation unit includes a state change extraction unit that extracts changes in the state of the living organism during operation. The sensing unit outputs sequential sensing information, which is the sensing information in the operating state. The state change extraction unit extracts the difference between the reference sensing information, which is the sensing information in the reference state, and the sequential sensing information as state change information. The first information includes the state change information. The sensing system according to claim 7.

9. A sensing system for a living organism comprising a first slave unit and a second slave unit capable of sending and receiving wireless signals to each other, and a sensing method performed using at least one processor, wherein The system outputs first information related to the sensing of the aforementioned biological organism. The first slave unit intercepts the wireless signal that the second slave unit communicates with the wireless base unit, thereby acquiring the wireless information contained in the wireless signal. Based on the acquired wireless information, the first information is output. A predetermined control is performed based on the output first information. Sensing method.

10. A program that causes at least one computer to execute the sensing method described in claim 9.

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