Management System

Abstract

This system provides a configuration that allows for the remote identification of the area where a mobile device was located at a predetermined time. [Solution] During business processing, location area information obtained sequentially through location area information acquisition processing and the acquisition results of equipment information acquisition processing are associated and wirelessly transmitted to the server 10 via access point AP1. At the same time, an area identification list including the acquisition results of equipment information acquisition processing at the time of communication error resolution is wirelessly transmitted to the server 10 via access point AP1. In the server 10, location area information and radio wave strength lists received sequentially from the mobile terminal 20 are associated and stored in the storage unit 12. Based on the comparison result between the area identification list received from the mobile terminal 20 and the equipment list for each divided area generated by the equipment list generation processing, the divided area where the mobile terminal 20 was located at the time of the communication error is identified.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a management system for managing a mobile terminal that wirelessly communicates with a host device via a wireless relay device.

Background Art

[0002] In business formats such as retail stores that require management of products and the like, it is common practice to collect data read from barcodes or wireless tags attached to products and the like using a mobile terminal, and wirelessly communicate the read data and the like from the mobile terminal to a host device via an access point (wireless relay device). In such operations, wireless communication errors may occur due to obstacles, interference, and other factors. If such wireless communication errors occur frequently, they will affect the operations, so it is necessary to quickly resolve such wireless communication errors. In particular, on the administrator side, such as a system headquarters that manages many stores, while receiving claims to resolve wireless communication errors from stores on a daily basis, information necessary for error resolution, such as in which area of the store the wireless communication error occurred, is often unclear. For this reason, on the administrator side, it is necessary to remotely grasp at least in which area of the store the wireless communication error has occurred without relying on reports from the store side.

[0003] In response to such problems, for example, a terminal disclosed in Patent Document 1 below is known. This terminal functions as a terminal that measures its current position using radio waves received from an access point. On the premise that the radio wave quality for each channel is associated with a specific position to be detected and stored in advance, when searching for surrounding access points, if it is determined that the pattern of the measured radio wave quality for each channel is similar to the pattern of the radio wave quality for each channel stored in advance as described above, it is determined that the terminal has reached the specific position to be detected.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

[0005] However, as mentioned above, if the current location is determined based on the radio wave quality pattern for each channel, there is a problem in that the radio wave conditions tend to be unstable during certain times of the day, such as in a store during the day when multiple customers are using tethering on their mobile devices, in which case it is not possible to accurately obtain the radio wave quality for each channel to be compared. Furthermore, since access points have an automatic channel change function to avoid radio wave congestion, there is also a problem in environments where this function is frequently activated, in which case it is not possible to accurately obtain the radio wave quality for each channel to be compared. Not only in the event of a wireless communication error, but also, for example, there is a need for administrators to remotely identify the area where a mobile device was located at the time a certain terminal process was executed.

[0006] The present invention was made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and its objective is to provide a configuration that makes it possible to remotely identify the area where a mobile terminal was located at a predetermined time. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] To achieve the above objective, the present invention A mobile terminal (20) that performs predetermined processing within a predetermined management area (S), A higher-level device (10) that manages the aforementioned mobile terminal, A management system (1) comprising, The aforementioned mobile terminal is Location area information acquisition unit (21) acquires location area information as location area information for the divided area (Sa~Si) in which the mobile terminal is located, among the multiple divided areas (Sa~Si) obtained by dividing the predetermined management area, A communication unit (26) for wirelessly communicating with the above-level device via a predetermined wireless relay device (AP1), The device information acquisition unit (21, 26) acquires device identification information for each of the multiple wireless relay devices (AP1, AP2, APa, APb, APc) that can be detected by the aforementioned communication unit, A control unit (21) that performs the predetermined processing using wireless communication with the higher-level device via the communication unit, Equipped with, The control unit, during the predetermined processing, sequentially associates the location area information acquired by the location area information acquisition unit with the acquisition results of the equipment information acquisition unit and wirelessly transmits this information to the higher-level device via the predetermined wireless relay device, and also wirelessly transmits area identification information, including the acquisition results of the equipment information acquisition unit at predetermined timings when the location area information is not acquired, to the higher-level device via the predetermined wireless relay device. The aforementioned higher-level device is A storage unit (12) stores the location area information and the acquisition results of the device information acquisition unit that have been sequentially received from the mobile terminal, in association with each other. A list generation unit (11) generates a list of equipment information for each divided area, based on the information stored in the memory unit, which lists the equipment identification information of the wireless relay equipment detected by the communication unit, An area identification unit (11) identifies the divided area where the mobile terminal was located at a predetermined timing, based on the comparison result between the acquisition result of the device information acquisition unit included in the area identification information received from the mobile terminal and the device list for each divided area generated by the list generation unit, It is characterized by having the following features. The symbols within the parentheses above indicate the correspondence with the specific means described in the embodiments described later. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] In the mobile terminal of the present invention, assuming that information about the divided area where the mobile terminal is located is acquired as location area information by the location area information acquisition unit from among a plurality of divided areas obtained by dividing a predetermined management area, the control unit sequentially associates the location area information acquired by the location area information acquisition unit with the acquisition results of the device information acquisition unit at predetermined processing times and wirelessly transmits this information to a higher-level device via a predetermined wireless relay device. At the same time, area identification information, including the acquisition results of the device information acquisition unit at predetermined timings when location area information is not acquired, is wirelessly transmitted to the higher-level device via a predetermined wireless relay device. In the higher-level device, the location area information and the acquisition results of the device information acquisition unit received sequentially from the mobile terminal are associated and stored in the storage unit. Based on the comparison result between the acquisition results of the device information acquisition unit included in the area identification information received from the mobile terminal and the device list for each divided area generated by the list generation unit, the divided area where the mobile terminal was located at a predetermined timing is identified by the area identification unit.

[0009] For example, if a predetermined management area is divided into n subdivided areas, the storage unit stores n types of location area information for that predetermined management area, and one or more device identification pieces detected in that subdivided area are associated with each location area information as acquisition results from the device information acquisition unit. Therefore, because different device identification pieces are associated with the location area information, it is possible to identify the subdivided area where the mobile terminal was located at a predetermined time based on the device identification pieces detected by the mobile terminal at a predetermined time, from the associated location area information. For example, if only device identification pieces a and b are associated with location area information a, and only device identification pieces a and b are detected by the mobile terminal, the subdivided area corresponding to location area information a can be identified as the subdivided area where the mobile terminal was located. As a result, a higher-level device that receives area identification information can identify the subdivided area where the mobile terminal was located at a predetermined time, and an administrator managing the higher-level device can remotely identify the area where the mobile terminal was located at a predetermined time.

[0010] The predetermined timing mentioned above is the timing when a communication error occurs during wireless communication with a higher-level device via a predetermined wireless relay device. The control unit may, when the communication error is resolved, wirelessly transmit area identification information to the higher-level device via the predetermined wireless relay device.

[0011] This allows administrators managing higher-level devices to remotely identify the area where a mobile device was located when a communication error occurred.

[0012] The above-mentioned prescribed processing includes a reading process that reads information from a recording medium attached to an item displayed at a specified location within a predetermined management area, and the location area information acquisition unit may acquire location area information based on the reading results of the reading process.

[0013] This allows the location area information to be acquired based on the reading results of the reading process by associating the information recorded on the recording medium of the item according to the specified location with the location area information. Therefore, the location area information can be acquired simply by performing the reading process during the specified processing, without having to perform any separate work for acquiring the location area information.

[0014] Assuming that a specific process performed on a mobile device is associated with one of several divided areas, the location area information acquisition unit may acquire information about the divided area associated with the specific process as location area information when that specific process is performed on the mobile device.

[0015] As a result, for example, when a charger is installed only in the divided area C, the information of the divided area C can be acquired as the location area information in response to the execution of the charging process as a specific process. Also, for example, when the area where a predetermined application can be executed is only the divided area D, the information of the divided area D can be acquired as the location area information in response to the execution of the above-mentioned predetermined application as a specific process. Therefore, simply by executing the specific process as described above, the location area information can be acquired without separately performing operations such as those for acquiring the location area information.

[0016] The device information acquisition unit may acquire the device identification information and the radio wave intensity of each of a plurality of wireless relay devices detectable by the communication unit, and the list generation unit may generate a device list by associating the radio wave intensity averaged for the device identification information for each divided area.

[0017] As a result, for example, even if there are a plurality of divided areas in which only the device identification information a and the device identification information b are detected, the radio wave intensity averaged for the device identification information a and the radio wave intensity averaged for the device identification information b can also be adopted as comparison targets, so that the accuracy of specifying the location area of the mobile terminal can be improved.

[0018] When the list generation unit sets the number of times the same device identification information is stored in the storage unit in units of divided areas as the detection number, the list generation unit may generate a device list by listing the device identification information for which the detection number is equal to or greater than a specified number.

[0019] The device list generated by also listing the device identification information of wireless relay devices temporarily detected by tethering or the like has a low reliability for specifying the location area. Therefore, by listing the device identification information that is equal to or greater than the specified number and excluding the device identification information that is less than the specified number from the list target, the reliability of the generated device list is increased, so that the accuracy of specifying the location area of the mobile terminal can be improved.

[0020] The upper device may include a map information acquisition unit that acquires map information including the names of buildings existing around a predetermined management area, and a determination unit that determines, based on the map information acquired by the map information acquisition unit, whether the device identification information stored in the storage unit as the acquisition result of the device information acquisition unit is the device identification information of a wireless relay device installed in a building existing around the predetermined management area.

[0021] Since device identification information is often set to include the name of a building, the device identification information set to include the name of the building included in the above map information can be presumed to be the device identification information of a wireless relay device installed in a building existing around a predetermined management area. And those positively determined by the above determination unit to be the device identification information of a wireless relay device installed in a building existing around a predetermined management area based on the map information are device identification information that can be constantly detected, so it can be said that the device identification information is highly reliable for specifying the location area. Therefore, by listing the device identification information so as to adopt the device identification information positively determined by the above determination unit, the reliability of the generated device list is enhanced, and thus the accuracy of specifying the location area of the mobile terminal can be improved.

[0022] The above reading process is a process of optically reading an information code displayed on a recording medium. The location area information acquisition unit acquires location area information based on the reading result of the reading process each time one information code is read by the reading process. The control unit may wirelessly communicate with the upper device via a predetermined wireless relay device by associating the location area information with the acquisition result of the device information acquisition unit at the time of reading one information code each time the location area information is acquired in this way.

[0023] The upper device may include a notification unit that notifies the occurrence of a communication error in the divided area specified by the area specifying unit. Thereby, an administrator or the like who receives the notification can easily grasp the divided area where the mobile terminal was located when the communication error occurred.

[0024] Assuming that the area identification result of the area identification unit is stored in the memory unit along with the communication error occurrence time information, the notification unit may, when notifying the occurrence of a communication error, also notify the communication error occurrence time information stored in the memory unit for the segmented area to be notified, or the frequency of communication errors based on said communication error occurrence time information.

[0025] This allows administrators and other personnel who receive notifications to remotely understand not only the segmented area where the mobile device was located when the communication error occurred, but also the time and frequency of communication errors in that segmented area. This makes it easy to grasp the importance and priority of communication error countermeasures. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0026] [Figure 1] This is an explanatory diagram illustrating the management system according to the first embodiment. [Figure 2] This is an explanatory diagram illustrating the association between a product display list created according to prescribed locations and each divided area. [Figure 3] Figure 3(A) is a block diagram illustrating the electrical configuration of a mobile terminal, Figure 3(B) is a block diagram illustrating the electrical configuration of a wireless tag processing unit, and Figure 3(C) is a block diagram illustrating the electrical configuration of an information code reading unit. [Figure 4] This flowchart illustrates the flow of the transmission process, such as a radio wave strength list, performed by the control unit of a mobile terminal in the first embodiment. [Figure 5] Figure 5(A) is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a radio wave strength list created for the divided area Sa, and Figure 5(B) is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of an area identification list created immediately after the communication error was resolved. [Figure 6] Figures 6(A) to 6(C) are explanatory diagrams illustrating the radio wave intensity list stored on the server, and Figure 6(D) is an explanatory diagram illustrating the equipment list generated based on Figures 6(A) to 6(C). [Figure 7] This flowchart illustrates the flow of terminal management processing performed in the server's control unit in the first embodiment. [Figure 8] Figure 8(A) is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example in which the flag "〇" is set for matching device identification information in divided area Sc, and Figure 8(B) is an explanatory diagram illustrating the number of matches counted for each divided area. [Figure 9] This is an illustrative diagram illustrating how information regarding the area where an error occurred is displayed on the management terminal's monitor. [Figure 10] Figure 10(A) is an explanatory diagram illustrating the relationship between the device identification information stored in the database and the averaged radio wave intensity and the number of detected device identification information for the divided area Sa in the second embodiment, and Figure 10(B) is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a device list generated based on the list in Figure 10(A) while considering the number of detected devices. [Figure 11] Figure 11(A) is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state in the fourth embodiment in which information regarding the location of an error, including the frequency of communication errors, is displayed on the monitor of the management terminal, and Figure 11(B) is an explanatory diagram illustrating a modified version of the fourth embodiment in which the location of a divided area where a communication error occurred is further displayed on the monitor of the management terminal using an error map or the like. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0027] [First Embodiment] A first embodiment of the management system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The management system 1 according to this embodiment is configured as a system comprising a server 10 that functions as a higher-level device, and a plurality of mobile terminals 20 that perform predetermined processing within a predetermined management area (hereinafter also referred to as management area S) by wirelessly communicating with the server 10 via an access point AP1 or the like. The server 10 according to this embodiment functions to remotely identify the area where each mobile terminal 20 that is under management was located at a predetermined timing. Also, in Figure 1, for convenience, one of the plurality of management areas managed by the server 10 is shown as an example together with one mobile terminal 20, and the other management areas and other mobile terminals 20 are not shown.

[0028] In this embodiment, assuming that products with predetermined tags are displayed on multiple display shelves within the management area S, a product management business process (hereinafter simply referred to as the business process) is employed, in which data read from the product tags by each mobile terminal 20 is transmitted to the server 10 along with the terminal ID, etc. In this business process, for example, data read from the tags of products to be ordered is transmitted to the server 10 along with the terminal ID, etc. The terminal ID is set so as to be able to identify the mobile terminal 20 and the store or management area S, etc., in which the mobile terminal 20 is used. In this embodiment, the predetermined tags attached to the products are recording media (paper media) on which an information code recording product information, etc., is optically readable is printed. However, the invention is not limited to this, and recording media such as wireless tags on which product information, etc., is recorded in a contactless readable manner may also be used.

[0029] In this embodiment, the management area S illustrated in Figure 1 is divided into nine sub-areas Sa to Si, and an access point AP1 is installed in the central sub-area Se to relay wireless communication between each mobile terminal 20 and the server 10. The radio wave strength and other settings of access point AP1 are configured so that wireless communication can be transmitted from any mobile terminal 20 located in any of the sub-areas. In addition, access point AP1, along with access point AP2 and others located in an adjacent room outside the management area S and having the same SSID, is configured to connect to the server 10 via a predetermined network N connected to the internet. Note that access point AP1 corresponds to an example of a "predetermined wireless relay device" used for wireless communication with the server 10, and access point AP2 and access points APa, APb, APc, etc., described later, may correspond to other examples of "wireless relay devices".

[0030] The display locations for products follow predetermined, specified positions. For example, product A is displayed on a shelf in sectioned area Sa, and product B is displayed on a shelf in sectioned area Sb. Therefore, if a product display list following these specified positions is created as illustrated in Figure 2, when product code "4912122" is read from the tag attached to product a1, it can be recognized as being located in sectioned area Sa. When product code "4923457" is read from the tag attached to product b2, it can be recognized as being located in sectioned area Sb.

[0031] Next, the mobile terminal 20 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. The portable terminal 20 according to this embodiment is configured as a portable information reading terminal that is carried by workers and used in various locations. In addition to functioning as an information code reader that optically reads information codes such as barcodes and two-dimensional codes, it also has the function of reading and writing information stored in wireless tags such as RF tags using radio waves transmitted and received via an antenna, and is configured to perform reading in two ways.

[0032] As shown in Figure 3(A), the mobile terminal 20 mainly consists of a control unit 21 that is in charge of overall control and a storage unit 22 consisting of semiconductor memory, etc., as well as a display unit 23 whose display content is controlled by the control unit 21, an operation unit 24 that outputs operation signals to the control unit 21 according to input operations, an notification unit 25 whose illumination state of the light-emitting unit, the sounding state of the speaker, the sounding state of the buzzer, etc. are controlled by the control unit 21, a communication unit 26 which is configured as a communication interface for wireless or wired communication with external devices such as the server 10 via an access point AP1, etc., and a power supply unit 27 which supplies power from the battery 28 to various electrical components.

[0033] Furthermore, the mobile terminal 20 is equipped with a wireless tag processing unit 30 for reading and writing information from wireless tags, and an information code reading unit 40 for optically reading information codes, and the reading results of each are stored in the storage unit 22.

[0034] First, the wireless tag processing unit 30 will be explained using Figure 3(B). The wireless tag processing unit 30 has the function of wirelessly communicating with multiple wireless tags Tg (see Figure 3(B)) using a predetermined modulation scheme controlled by the control unit 21. It works in cooperation with the antenna 34 and the control unit 21 to communicate with the wireless tags Tg using electromagnetic waves, and reads data stored in the wireless tags Tg or writes data to the wireless tags Tg. This wireless tag processing unit 30 is configured as a circuit that transmits using a known radio wave scheme, and has a transmitting circuit 31, a receiving circuit 32, a matching circuit 33, etc., as schematically shown in Figure 3(B).

[0035] The transmitting circuit 31 consists of a carrier oscillator, an encoding unit, an amplifier, a transmitting unit filter, a modulation unit, etc., and is configured to output a carrier (carrier wave) of a predetermined frequency from the carrier oscillator. The encoding unit is connected to the control unit 21, and encodes the transmission data output from the control unit 21 and outputs it to the modulation unit. The modulation unit is the part that receives the carrier (carrier wave) from the carrier oscillator and the transmission data from the encoding unit. It generates a modulated signal by modulating the carrier (carrier wave) output from the carrier oscillator with an encoded transmission code (modulated signal) output from the encoding unit when a command is transmitted to the communication target, and outputs this to the amplifier. The amplifier amplifies the input signal (modulated signal modulated by the modulation unit) with a predetermined gain and outputs the amplified signal to the transmitting unit filter. The transmitting unit filter filters the amplified signal from the amplifier and outputs the transmitted signal to the antenna 34 via the matching circuit 33. When the transmitted signal is output to the antenna 34 in this way, the transmitted signal is radiated to the outside as transmitted radio waves from the antenna 34.

[0036] Meanwhile, the response signal received by the antenna 34 is input to the receiving circuit 32 via the matching circuit 33. This receiving circuit 32 is composed of a receiving filter, an amplifier, a demodulation unit, a binarization processing unit, a decoder, etc. The response signal received via the antenna 34 is filtered by the receiving filter, amplified by the amplifier, and the amplified signal is demodulated by the demodulation unit. The demodulated signal waveform is then binarized by the binarization processing unit, decoded by the decoding unit, and the decoded signal is output to the control unit 21 as received data.

[0037] Next, the information code reading unit 40 will be explained using Figure 3(C). The information code reading unit 40 functions to optically read information codes. As shown in Figure 3(C), it is configured to include a light receiving sensor 43, such as a CCD area sensor, an imaging lens 42, and an illumination unit 41, which consists of multiple LEDs and lenses. It works in cooperation with the control unit 21 to image and read the information code C (barcode or two-dimensional code) attached to the object to be read R.

[0038] When reading is performed by the information code reading unit 40, first, illumination light Lf is emitted from the illumination unit 41, which has been commanded by the control unit 21, and this illumination light Lf passes through the reading opening and irradiates the reading target R. Then, the reflected light Lr, which is reflected by the information code C from the illumination light Lf, is taken inside through the reading opening and received by the light receiving sensor 43 through the imaging lens 42. The imaging lens 42, which is positioned between the reading opening and the light receiving sensor 43, is configured to form an image of the information code C on the light receiving sensor 43, and the light receiving sensor 43 outputs a light receiving signal corresponding to this image of the information code C. The light receiving signal output from the light receiving sensor 43 is stored as image data in the storage unit 22 (Figure 3(A)) and is used for decoding processing to obtain the information contained in the information code C. The information code reading unit 40 is also equipped with an amplification circuit to amplify the signal from the light receiving sensor 43 and an AD conversion circuit to convert the amplified signal into a digital signal, but these circuits are not shown in the figure.

[0039] In the mobile terminal 20 configured as described above, during the above business processing, the control unit 21 performs a radio wave strength list transmission process to wirelessly transmit to the server 10 a radio wave strength list created by sequentially acquiring information (device identification information) and the radio wave strength (RSSI) of access points that can be detected as wireless communication targets by the communication unit 26, along with information of the divided area where the mobile terminal 20 is located (hereinafter also referred to as location area information). In this radio wave strength list transmission process, if a communication error occurs via the access point AP1, after the communication error is resolved, the area identification list described later is wirelessly transmitted to the server 10 via the access point AP1.

[0040] The following describes in detail the transmission process of radio wave strength lists and the like performed by the control unit 21 of the mobile terminal 20, with reference to the flowchart illustrated in Figure 4. When the signal strength list transmission process starts in the control unit 21 along with the start of the above business process, the determination process in step S101 in Figure 4 determines whether or not the information code displayed on the product tag has been read by the reading process during the above business process. If one information code displayed on the product tag has been read by the reading process (Yes in S101), the location area information acquisition process shown in step S102 is performed. In this process, the divided area where the mobile terminal 20 is located is identified based on the reading result read from the product tag and the above product display list, and the information of the identified divided area is acquired as location area information. If a product display list has been created as illustrated in Figure 2, and the product code "4912122" has been acquired as the reading result, location area information identifying the divided area Sa is acquired. In this case, it is identified that the mobile terminal 20 is located in the divided area Sa when the information code was read as described above. The control unit 21 that performs the above location area information acquisition process may correspond to an example of a "location area information acquisition unit".

[0041] Next, the device information acquisition process shown in step S103 is performed. In this process, within the divided area identified as described above, the communication unit 26 acquires information (device identification information) and the radio wave strength of each access point that can be detected as a wireless communication target. In this embodiment, the SSID and BSSID are used as the device identification information to be detected. The control unit 21 and communication unit 26 that perform the above device information acquisition process may correspond to an example of a "device information acquisition unit".

[0042] The access points that the communication unit 26 can detect (recognize) as targets for wireless communication may include not only access point AP1 used for wireless communication with server 10, but also other access points. In the example in Figure 1, the mobile terminal 20 in divided area Sa can detect (recognize) access point AP1, access point AP2 located in an adjacent room or other location outside the management area S, and access points APa, APb, and APc installed in other adjacent stores, each of which can be measured for radio wave strength as targets for wireless communication by the communication unit 26. In this case, for divided area Sa, a radio wave strength list is created that associates radio wave strength with device identification information, for example, as illustrated in Figure 5(A). The radio wave strength list may correspond to an example of the "acquisition results of the device information acquisition unit".

[0043] Then, the list transmission process shown in step S104 is performed, and the location area information obtained in step S102 and the radio wave strength list created in step S103 are associated and wirelessly transmitted to the server 10 via access point AP1 along with the terminal ID, etc. In the example in Figure 5(A), the location area information that identifies the divided area Sa and the radio wave strength list, etc. shown in Figure 5(A) are associated and wirelessly transmitted.

[0044] If no communication error occurs during wireless communication with server 10 via access point AP1 (No in S105), and if the predetermined termination operation has not been performed (No in S108), the process from the determination process in step S101 is performed.

[0045] Therefore, each time an information code displayed on a product tag is read, the location information of the segmented area where the reading process took place, along with a radio wave strength list created at that reading location, are associated with it and sequentially transmitted wirelessly to the server 10 via the access point AP1.

[0046] As described above, while performing the above-mentioned business processing by sequentially wirelessly transmitting radio wave strength lists and the like while patrolling each divided area, let's consider the case where a communication error occurs in wireless communication with server 10 via access point AP1 within a certain divided area. If it is determined that a communication error has occurred (Yes in S105), the area identification list creation process shown in step S106 is performed. In this process, since the communication error that occurred was temporary as described above and is resolved after some time, an area identification list is created to include the device identification information and radio wave strength acquired in the same manner as the process in step S103 immediately after the resolution of the communication error. That is, an area identification list is created to include the device identification information and radio wave strength acquired within the divided area where the mobile terminal 20 was located at the time the communication error occurred. In this embodiment, the area identification list created in this way is used to identify the divided area where the mobile terminal 20 was located at the time the communication error occurred (hereinafter also referred to as the area where the error occurred).

[0047] For example, in the example shown in Figure 1, if a communication error temporarily occurs in mobile terminal 20 located within divided area Sco, the signal strength at access points AP2 and APc tends to be higher, while the signal strength at access points APa and APb tends to be lower, compared to within divided area Sa. In this case, for example, an area identification list like the one illustrated in Figure 5(B) is created. Note that the area identification list may correspond to an example of the "acquisition results of the device information acquisition unit included in the area identification information."

[0048] Next, the area identification list transmission process shown in step S107 is performed, and the area identification list created as described above is wirelessly transmitted to the server 10 via access point AP1 along with the terminal ID, etc. Thus, when a communication error is resolved, unlike the radio wave strength list, an area identification list (device identification information and radio wave strength) that does not include location area information is transmitted to the server 10. Then, if the predetermined termination operation has not been performed after the transmission of the area identification list etc. as described above (No in S108), the processing from the determination process in step S101 is performed.

[0049] The area identification lists transmitted from each mobile terminal 20 are used by the server 10 to identify the segmented area (the area where the mobile terminal 20 was located at the time of the communication error), as described later. The area identification lists are not limited to being created to include device identification information and signal strength acquired immediately after the communication error is resolved. For example, they may be created to include device identification information and signal strength acquired at a predetermined time after the communication error is resolved, or, assuming that device identification information and signal strength are acquired sequentially at predetermined time intervals, they may be created to include device identification information and signal strength acquired at a predetermined time before the communication error occurred. The timing immediately after the communication error is resolved, the timing after a predetermined time has elapsed after the communication error is resolved, and the timing at a predetermined time before the communication error occurred may be examples of "predetermined timings in which location area information is not acquired."

[0050] Next, the server 10 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. The server 10 according to this embodiment functions as a higher-level device for managing each mobile terminal 20 and is installed at the head office or other location that manages each store. As shown in Figure 1, the server 10 mainly comprises a storage unit 12, a display unit 13, a communication unit 14, and a control unit 11 that comprehensively controls these. The control unit 11 is mainly composed of a microcontroller and has a CPU, system bus, input / output interface, etc., and functions as an information processing device together with the storage unit 12. The storage unit 12 is composed of known semiconductor memory such as ROM, RAM, and non-volatile memory. The storage unit 12 has predetermined application programs and databases for executing terminal management processing, which will be described later, pre-stored in the storage unit 12 for use by the control unit 11. The display unit 13 is configured as, for example, an LCD monitor, and its display content is controlled by the control unit 11. The communication unit 14 is controlled by the control unit 11 and is configured to communicate with external devices such as mobile terminals 20 via the internet or the like.

[0051] In the server 10 configured in this way, terminal management processing performed by the control unit 11 stores the radio wave strength list and location area information received sequentially from each mobile terminal 20 in the database of the storage unit 12 in units of management area S. Based on this storage result and the received area identification list, the system identifies and notifies the area where the mobile terminal 20 was located at the time of the error (the divided area where it was located at the time of the communication error) at the time the area identification list was transmitted.

[0052] Specifically, in the terminal management process of this embodiment, assuming that multiple radio wave strength lists are stored for each subdivided area of ​​each management area S, for the management area corresponding to the received area identification list, a process is performed to generate a device list by averaging the radio wave strength of each radio wave strength list detected within a predetermined period for each subdivided area identified from the location area information and associating it with device identification information. For example, if the database of the storage unit 12 has radio wave strength lists as exemplified in Figures 6(A) to (C) stored for one subdivided area of ​​the management area S of the store exemplified in Figure 1, the device list exemplified in Figure 6(D) is generated by averaging the radio wave strength for each device identification information. In addition, device lists are generated individually for each of the other subdivided areas of the same management area S.

[0053] Then, the divided area of ​​the device list that most closely resembles the area identification list among the multiple device lists generated in this way is reported as the error location area to be identified using the area identification list. This is because the detected device identification information and the radio wave intensity associated with the device identification information tend to be greater or lesser for each divided area, so by averaging them, it is possible to estimate the divided area of ​​the device list that most closely resembles the area identification list as the error location area based on the comparison result between the standard device list and the area identification list.

[0054] The terminal management process performed by the control unit 11 of server 10 will be described in detail below with reference to the flowchart illustrated in Figure 7. When terminal management processing is started in the control unit 11, the determination process in step S201 in Figure 7 determines whether or not a radio wave strength list, location area information, terminal ID, etc. have been received from any of the mobile terminals 20. If the radio wave strength list, etc. has been received from any of the mobile terminals 20 via the communication unit 14 (Yes in S201), the list storage process shown in step S202 is performed. In this process, the radio wave strength list, location area information, terminal ID, etc. received as described above are stored in the database of the storage unit 12. In this way, the radio wave strength list, etc. is stored, or if the radio wave strength list, etc. has not been received (No in S201), the determination process in step S203 determines whether or not an area identification list, etc. has been received from any of the mobile terminals 20. If the area identification list, etc. has not been received (No in S203), the process from step S201 is repeated. Through this repeated process, the radio wave strength list and location area information, etc. are sequentially stored in the database of the storage unit 12.

[0055] Then, as described above, when the area identification list, etc., is received from the mobile terminal 20 after the temporary communication error has been resolved (Yes in S203), the device list generation process shown in step S204 is performed. In this process, for the management area corresponding to the received area identification list, a device list is generated for each divided area as described above. If the area identification list, etc., is received from the mobile terminal 20 that experienced a communication error within the management area S in Figure 1, nine device lists will be generated because the management area S is divided into nine divided areas Sa to Si. The control unit 11 that performs the above device list generation process may correspond to an example of a "list generation unit".

[0056] Next, the error location area identification process shown in step S205 is performed. In this process, the divided area of ​​the device list that most closely resembles the area identification list among the multiple device lists generated as described above is identified as the error location area. Specifically, the number of device identification information where the difference in radio wave intensity is less than or equal to a predetermined value (for example, 5 dBm) is counted as the number of matches, and the divided area with the highest number of matches is identified as the error location area.

[0057] For example, when the equipment list exemplified in Figure 8(A) is compared to the area identification list exemplified in Figure 5(B), a flag "〇" is set for four equipment identification information, and the number of these flags becomes the number of matches. Since the management area S is divided into nine sub-areas Sa to Si, if nine matches are counted as exemplified in Figure 8(B), the sub-area Sa with the highest number of matches is identified as the area where the error occurred. The control unit 11 that performs the above error location area identification process may correspond to an example of an "area identification unit".

[0058] In this way, once the area where the error occurred is identified, the notification process shown in step S206 is performed, and information regarding the area where the error occurred is notified to the administrator or other person who manages each store remotely. Specifically, for example, information about the store and divided area where the communication error occurred, the time the error occurred, the terminal ID of the mobile terminal 20, etc., are transmitted via the communication unit 14 to the administrator's management terminal 50 for notification as information regarding the area where the error occurred. The control unit 11 and communication unit 14 that perform the above notification process may correspond to an example of a "notification unit" that notifies of the occurrence of a communication error in a divided area identified by the "area identification unit".

[0059] Upon receiving the information regarding the location of the error as described above, the management terminal 50 displays this information on its monitor 51, as illustrated in Figure 9. This allows administrators and others who receive the notification to easily determine, even remotely, the divided area where the mobile terminal 20 was located at the time of the communication error, as well as the time of the error. The management terminal 50 may display the information regarding the location of the error on its monitor 51 at the time of receipt, or it may display it on its monitor 51 at a time corresponding to a predetermined operation by the administrator or others after receipt.

[0060] As described above, in the mobile terminal 20 of the management system 1 according to this embodiment, assuming that information of the divided area (Sa~Si) where the mobile terminal 20 is located is acquired as location area information by location area information acquisition processing, the control unit 21 and the communication unit 26 sequentially associate the location area information acquired by location area information acquisition processing with the acquisition results of equipment information acquisition processing during business processing (predetermined processing) and wirelessly transmit this information to the server 10 via access point AP1 (predetermined wireless relay device). At the same time, an area identification list including the acquisition results of equipment information acquisition processing at the timing of communication error resolution is wirelessly transmitted to the server 10 via access point AP1. In the server 10, the location area information and radio wave strength list received sequentially from the mobile terminal 20 are associated and stored in the storage unit 12. Based on the comparison result between the area identification list received from the mobile terminal 20 and the equipment list for each divided area generated by the equipment list generation processing, the divided area where the mobile terminal 20 was located at the time of the communication error is identified.

[0061] For example, if a predetermined management area is divided into n subdivided areas, the storage unit 12 of the server 10 stores n types of location area information for that predetermined management area, and associates one or more device identification pieces detected in that subdivided area with each piece of location area information as a result of the device information acquisition process. Therefore, because the device identification pieces associated with the location area information are different, the subdivided area where the mobile terminal 20 is located at the time of the communication error can be identified from the associated location area information based on the device identification pieces detected at the time of resolving the communication error in the mobile terminal 20. For example, if only device identification pieces a and b are associated with location area information a, and only device identification pieces a and b are detected in the mobile terminal 20, the subdivided area corresponding to location area information a can be identified as the subdivided area where the mobile terminal is located. As a result, when the server 10 receives area identification information, it can identify the divided area where the mobile terminal 20 was located when a communication error occurred on the mobile terminal 20, and the administrator managing the server 10 can remotely identify the area where the mobile terminal 20 was located when the communication error occurred.

[0062] In particular, the business process (predetermined process) in this embodiment includes a reading process that reads information from a recording medium attached to a product (article) displayed at a predetermined location within the management area S, and in the location area information acquisition process, location area information is acquired based on the reading result of the reading process. More specifically, the reading process is a process of optically reading an information code displayed on a product tag (recording medium), and in the location area information acquisition process, each time an information code is read by the reading process, location area information is acquired based on the reading result of that reading process, and each time location area information is acquired in this way, the location area information and the acquisition result of the equipment information acquisition process at the time of reading one information code are associated and wirelessly transmitted to the server 10 via the access point AP1.

[0063] This allows the location area information to be obtained based on the reading results during the reading process by associating the information recorded on the product tag according to the specified location with the location area information. Therefore, the location area information can be obtained simply by performing the reading process during the specified processing, without having to perform any separate work for obtaining the location area information.

[0064] Furthermore, in the device information acquisition process in this embodiment, the device identification information and radio wave strength of each of the multiple access points (wireless relay devices) detectable by the communication unit 26 are acquired, and in the device list generation process, a device list is generated by associating the averaged radio wave strength with the device identification information for each divided area.

[0065] As a result, even if there are multiple segmented areas where only device identification information a and device identification information b are detected, the averaged signal strength for device identification information a and the averaged signal strength for device identification information b can also be used as comparison targets, thereby improving the accuracy of identifying the location area of ​​the mobile terminal.

[0066] As a first modification of this embodiment, the mobile terminal 20 is not limited to wirelessly transmitting an area identification list (area identification information) to the server 10 in the event of a communication error. Instead, it may create an area identification list (area identification information) and wirelessly transmit it to the server 10 at a predetermined timing when the area where the mobile terminal 20 was located should be remotely identified, for example, at the timing when a predetermined terminal process is executed. This allows an administrator managing the server 10 to remotely identify the area where the mobile terminal 20 was located at the predetermined timing.

[0067] As a second modification of this embodiment, assuming that a specific process performed on the mobile terminal 20 is associated with only one of a plurality of divided areas, the location area information acquisition process may acquire information of the divided area associated with the specific process as location area information when the mobile terminal 20 performs the specific process.

[0068] This allows, for example, if chargers are installed only in divided area Sc, information about divided area Sc can be acquired as location area information when a charging process is performed as a specific process. Also, for example, if the area where a specific application such as a time and attendance application can be run is only divided area Sd, information about divided area Sd can be acquired as location area information when the specified application is run as a specific process. Therefore, location area information can be acquired simply by performing the specific processes described above, without having to perform any separate work for acquiring location area information. Furthermore, in the location area information acquisition process, the divided area where the mobile terminal 20 is located may be identified based on the reception results of beacons transmitted from beacon transmitters arranged according to the specified locations.

[0069] As a third modification of this embodiment, in the radio wave strength list transmission process performed by the control unit 21, the determination process in step S101 is not limited to making a positive determination (Yes in S101) each time an information code is optically read, but may also make a positive determination each time a predetermined number of wireless tags are read by contactless communication. Even in this case, each wireless tag is recorded with a tag product code, etc., as illustrated in Figure 2, so that the location area information can be acquired in the location area information acquisition process described above. Furthermore, in order to prevent unnecessary wireless transmission of radio wave strength lists, etc., to the server 10, the determination process in step S101 may include a process such that a positive determination is not made until a predetermined time (e.g., 1 minute) has elapsed since the previous positive determination. Furthermore, in order to prevent unnecessary wireless transmission of radio wave strength lists, etc., to the server 10, if the same location area information is acquired consecutively for a predetermined number of times (e.g., 5 times) or more, the list transmission process may be temporarily suspended until different location area information is acquired.

[0070] [Second Embodiment] Next, the management system according to this second embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. In this second embodiment, the main difference from the first embodiment is that when generating the device list, device identification information with a high number of detections is listed, while device identification information with a low number of detections is not listed. Therefore, components that are substantially the same as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and their descriptions are omitted.

[0071] In the device list generation process of the first embodiment described above, it is assumed that wireless relay devices such as access point AP1 are constantly detected without moving, and the device identification information of all detected wireless relay devices is listed to generate a device list. However, for example, if a terminal using tethering by a customer moves within or near the management area S, the device identification information of that terminal may also be acquired by the device information acquisition process described above. Device identification information of wireless relay devices detected in this way has low reproducibility, and the device list generated by listing this device identification information also has low reliability in identifying the location area.

[0072] Therefore, in the device list generation process in this embodiment, assuming that the radio wave intensity list transmitted from the mobile terminal 20 and stored in the server 10's database may contain device identification information with low reproducibility, the device list is generated for each divided area by listing device identification information with a high number of detections and not listing device identification information with a low number of detections. In other words, in the device list generation process, when the number of times the same device identification information is stored in the storage unit 12 for each divided area is defined as the number of detections, the device list is generated by listing device identification information whose number of detections is equal to or greater than a predetermined number.

[0073] The number of detections is calculated per divided area based on the number of device identification information entries stored in the database of the storage unit 12. For example, if a radio wave strength list and location area information are received and stored 50 times from a mobile terminal 20 for a divided area Sa, the number of detections shown in Figure 10(A) is calculated for each device identification information entry. As can be seen from Figure 10(A), device identification information entries whose installation location does not change are detected almost every time, while the number of detections for device identification information entries performing tethering, etc., decreases.

[0074] Therefore, as shown in the example device list in Figure 10(B), a device list is generated based on the list in Figure 10(A), listing device identification information that exceeds a specified number, and excluding device identification information that falls below a specified number. This increases the reliability of the generated device list, thereby improving the accuracy of identifying the location area of ​​the mobile terminal 20.

[0075] As a variation of this embodiment, in order to further improve the reliability of the generated device list, in environments where there are many types of detected device identification information, for example, even if the number of detected device identification information exceeds a specified number, the device list may be generated in such a way that device identification information that has not been detected for a predetermined period (for example, several days) is excluded from the list.

[0076] [Third Embodiment] Next, the management system according to this third embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. This third embodiment differs from the second embodiment and others in that it uses map information of the surrounding area of ​​the management area S to determine highly reliable device identification information for identifying the location area. Therefore, components that are substantially the same as those in the second embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and their descriptions are omitted.

[0077] In this embodiment, the server 10 performs a map information acquisition process for each management area S, which includes the names of buildings surrounding the management area S. The control unit 11 then uses this acquired map information to determine highly reliable device identification information for identifying the location area. As the map information acquisition process, for example, a process of acquiring the map information from a map information publishing site such as Google Maps via the communication unit 14 can be employed. The control unit 11 and communication unit 14 that perform the map information acquisition process may correspond to an example of a "map information acquisition unit" that acquires map information including the names of buildings surrounding the management area S.

[0078] Since device identification information is often configured to include the name of a building, device identification information configured to include the name of a building included in the map information can be presumed to be the device identification information of a wireless relay device installed in a building located around the management area S. For example, in the example in Figure 6(D), if the name of storeA is included in the map information and the device identification information (SSID) includes "storeA", then this device identification information can be presumed to be the device identification information of a wireless relay device installed in a building located around the management area S.

[0079] Therefore, in the server 10 of this embodiment, the control unit 11 performs a determination process based on map information acquired through the map information acquisition process to determine whether the device identification information stored in the storage unit 12 as a result of the device information acquisition process is device identification information of wireless relay equipment installed in buildings surrounding the management area S. Device identification information that is determined to be device identification information of wireless relay equipment installed in buildings surrounding the management area S based on the map information is device identification information that can be detected at all times, and can therefore be said to be highly reliable for identifying the location area.

[0080] As a result, by listing the device identification information so that it adopts the device identification information that has been judged positively by the above judgment process, the reliability of the generated device list is increased, thereby improving the accuracy of identifying the location area of ​​the mobile terminal 20. In particular, even in environments where there are many types of device identification information to be detected, the accuracy of identifying the location area of ​​the mobile terminal 20 can be improved by identifying highly reliable device identification information as described above.

[0081] Furthermore, in environments where many types of device identification information are detected, it may be possible to identify the segmented area (location area) where the communication error occurred based solely on the type of device identification information detected at the time of the communication error, without considering radio wave strength or the number of detections. Even in such cases, by identifying highly reliable device identification information as described above, the accuracy of identifying the location area of ​​the mobile terminal 20 can be improved. The control unit 11 that performs the above determination process may correspond to an example of a "determination unit".

[0082] [Fourth Embodiment] Next, the management system according to this fourth embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. In this fourth embodiment, the main difference from the first embodiment and others is that when notifying of the occurrence of a communication error, other information such as the frequency of communication errors is also notified. Therefore, components that are substantially the same as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and their descriptions are omitted.

[0083] In this embodiment, assuming that the result of the error location area identification process (S205) is stored in the storage unit 12 along with the communication error occurrence time information, the notification process (S206) notifies the occurrence of a communication error and the time of the communication error, and also notifies the frequency of communication errors for the target divided area based on the communication error occurrence time information stored in the storage unit 12. As the frequency of communication errors, for example, the number of times a communication error occurred within a predetermined period can be used, and the more frequent the communication error occurrence in a divided area (the more communication errors that occur), the more it can be recognized that prompt communication error countermeasures are desired for that divided area.

[0084] In this embodiment, the management terminal 50 receives notifications such as the occurrence of a communication error as described above, and displays them on the monitor 51 of the management terminal 50, as illustrated in Figure 11(A).

[0085] As a result, administrators who receive notifications can remotely understand not only the segmented area where the mobile terminal 20 was located at the time of the communication error and the time the communication error occurred, but also the frequency of communication errors in that segmented area. This makes it easy to understand the importance and priority of communication error countermeasures.

[0086] As a variation of this embodiment, the management terminal 50 that receives notification of a communication error may, for example as illustrated in Figure 11(B), display on the monitor 51 the location of the divided area where the communication error occurred within the management area, along with information regarding the area where the error occurred, including the frequency of communication errors, by using an error map or the like.

[0087] Furthermore, in the notification process (S206) described above, when notifying the occurrence of a communication error and the time of the communication error, the frequency of communication errors based on the communication error time information stored in the storage unit 12 for other divided areas within the same management area as the divided area being notified may also be notified. In this case, the management terminal 50 that receives notification of the occurrence of a communication error may display on the monitor 51 the communication error frequency for the other divided areas, distinguishing them from the divided area being notified, along with information about the area where the error occurred at the time of the error, including the frequency of communication errors.

[0088] The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and may be further embodied as follows, for example. (1) The prescribed processing performed using the mobile terminal 20 during the above-mentioned radio wave strength list transmission processing is not limited to product management business processing (business processing) that transmits read data read from product tags to the server 10 along with the terminal ID, etc., but may also be other business processing that can be performed on the mobile terminal 20.

[0089] (2) In the error location area identification process (S205) described above, the number of device identification information items in which the difference in radio wave intensity is less than or equal to a predetermined value is counted as the number of matches to identify the device list that is most similar to the area identification list from among the multiple device lists created. Alternatively, the device list that is most similar to the area identification list may be identified from among the multiple device lists created by further considering other indicators that show trends in radio wave intensity (for example, the ratio of radio wave intensity or the order of radio wave intensity). [Explanation of Symbols]

[0090] 1 Management System 10. Server (Higher-level device) 11 Control Unit (List Generation Unit, Area Identification Unit, Notification Unit) 12 Storage section 14. Communications Department (News Department) 20 Mobile devices 21 Control Unit (Location Area Information Acquisition Unit, Equipment Information Acquisition Unit) 22 Memory section 26 Communication Department (Device Information Acquisition Department) AP, AP1, AP2, APa, APb: Access points (wireless relay devices) S Management Area Sa~Si divided area

Claims

1. A mobile terminal that performs a predetermined process within a designated management area, A higher-level device that manages the aforementioned mobile terminal, A management system comprising, The aforementioned mobile terminal is A location area information acquisition unit acquires information of the division area where the mobile terminal is located, from among multiple division areas obtained by dividing the predetermined management area, as location area information. A communication unit for wirelessly communicating with the above-level device via a predetermined wireless relay device, A device information acquisition unit that acquires device identification information for each of a plurality of wireless relay devices that can be detected by the aforementioned communication unit, A control unit that performs the predetermined processing using wireless communication with the higher-level device via the communication unit, Equipped with, The control unit, during the predetermined processing, sequentially associates the location area information acquired by the location area information acquisition unit with the acquisition results of the equipment information acquisition unit and wirelessly transmits this information to the higher-level device via the predetermined wireless relay device, and also wirelessly transmits area identification information, including the acquisition results of the equipment information acquisition unit at predetermined timings when the location area information is not acquired, to the higher-level device via the predetermined wireless relay device. The aforementioned higher-level device is A storage unit that stores the location area information received sequentially from the mobile terminal and the acquisition results from the device information acquisition unit in association with each other, A list generation unit generates a list of equipment information for each divided area that was detected by the communication unit, based on the information stored in the storage unit, An area identification unit identifies the divided area where the mobile terminal was located at a predetermined timing, based on the comparison result between the acquisition result of the device information acquisition unit included in the area identification information received from the mobile terminal and the device list for each divided area generated by the list generation unit, A management system characterized by having the following features.

2. The predetermined timing is the timing at which a communication error occurs in wireless communication with the host device via the predetermined wireless relay device, The management system according to claim 1, characterized in that the control unit wirelessly transmits the area identification information to the higher-level device via the predetermined wireless relay device when the communication error is resolved.

3. The aforementioned predetermined process includes a reading process in which information is read from a recording medium attached to an item displayed at a designated location within the predetermined management area. The management system according to claim 1, characterized in that the location area information acquisition unit acquires the location area information based on the reading results of the reading process.

4. A specific process performed on the aforementioned mobile terminal is associated with one of the plurality of divided areas. The management system according to claim 1, characterized in that the location area information acquisition unit acquires information of a divided area associated with a specific process when the specific process is performed on the mobile terminal, as the location area information.

5. The aforementioned device information acquisition unit acquires the device identification information and radio wave strength of each of the multiple wireless relay devices that can be detected by the communication unit. The management system according to claim 1, characterized in that the list generation unit generates the device list by associating the averaged radio wave intensity with the device identification information for each divided area.

6. The management system according to claim 1, characterized in that the list generation unit generates the device list by listing the device identification information for which the number of detected devices is equal to or greater than a predetermined number, when the number of devices with the same device identification information stored in the storage unit for each divided area is defined as the detection number.

7. The aforementioned higher-level device is A map information acquisition unit that acquires map information including the names of buildings located around the predetermined management area, A determination unit determines, based on the map information acquired by the map information acquisition unit, whether the device identification information stored in the storage unit as a result of acquisition by the device information acquisition unit is device identification information of wireless relay equipment installed in buildings surrounding the predetermined management area, The management system according to claim 1, characterized by comprising:

8. The aforementioned reading process is a process of optically reading the information code displayed on the recording medium, The location area information acquisition unit acquires the location area information based on the reading result of the reading process each time an information code is read by the reading process. The management system according to claim 3, characterized in that each time the location area information is acquired by the location area information acquisition unit, the control unit associates the location area information acquired by the location area information acquisition unit with the acquisition result of the device information acquisition unit when reading one information code, and wirelessly transmits this information to the higher-level device via the predetermined wireless relay device.

9. The management system according to claim 2, wherein the higher-level device includes a notification unit that notifies of the occurrence of the communication error in the divided area identified by the area identification unit.

10. The storage unit stores the identification result of the area identification unit along with the communication error occurrence time information. The management system according to claim 9, characterized in that when the notification unit notifies of the occurrence of the communication error, it also notifies the communication error occurrence time information stored in the storage unit for the segmented area to be notified, or the frequency of communication errors based on the communication error occurrence time information.

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