Number determination device, number determination method, and program

Abstract

A number determination device is provided that can determine the number of receivers to be placed at each receiving position in a receiving system that identifies the position of a terminal device using radio waves from the terminal device. [Solution] A number determination device 1 that determines the number of receivers to be placed at each receiving position in a receiving system that identifies the position of a terminal device by receiving radio waves from a terminal device 2 at four receiving positions comprises four receiver sets 11-14, each having four receivers, an acquisition unit 30 that acquires the reception status of radio waves from one or more terminal devices 2 for each of the receiver sets 11-14, a determination unit 40 that uses the reception status acquired for each of the receiver sets 11-14 to determine the number of receivers to be placed at each of the four receiving positions so that desired reception is performed at each of the four receiving positions, and an output unit 50 that outputs the result of the determination made by the determination unit 40.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a number determination device for determining the number of receivers to be placed at each receiving position in a receiving system that identifies the position of a terminal device. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, the location of a terminal device has been identified by receiving radio waves transmitted from the terminal device at two or more receiving positions (for example, see Patent Document 1). In addition, by disposing two or more receivers at each receiving position, it is possible to identify the location of the terminal device with higher accuracy. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] International Publication No. 2020 / 080314 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Even if multiple receivers are placed at each receiving position, it is not guaranteed that all of the multiple receivers can reliably receive radio waves from the terminal device every time. For example, if some of the multiple receivers placed at a certain receiving position cannot receive radio waves from the terminal device, the accuracy of the identified location of the terminal device may be reduced accordingly. In addition, it may take a long time to identify the location of the terminal device by repeating reception until all of the multiple receivers placed at a certain receiving position can receive radio waves from the terminal device.

[0005] To avoid this, it is conceivable to place extra receivers at each receiving position in advance, but placing more receivers than necessary results in a correspondingly high cost.

[0006] The present invention has been made in response to the above-mentioned circumstances, and aims to provide a number determination device, etc., that can determine the number of receivers to be placed at each receiving position so that desired reception can be performed at each receiving position. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a number determination method according to one embodiment of the present invention is a number determination method for determining the number of receivers to be placed at each receiving position in a receiving system that identifies the location of a terminal device by receiving radio waves from the terminal device at two or more receiving positions, and includes the steps of placing one or more receiver sets having one or more receivers at positions corresponding to the two or more receiving positions, receiving radio waves from the one or more terminal devices using the one or more receiver sets and acquiring the radio wave reception status for each of the one or more receiver sets, and using the reception status acquired for each of the one or more receiver sets, determining the number of receivers to be placed at each of the two or more receiving positions so that desired reception is performed at each of the two or more receiving positions.

[0008] With this configuration, the number of receivers to be placed at each receiving position can be determined by using the reception status of radio waves from the terminal device by the receiver set. By placing receivers at each receiving position according to the result of the determination, it is possible to perform desired reception at each receiving position.

[0009] In addition, in a number determination method according to one aspect of the present invention, the step of placing one or more receiver sets may include placing one receiver set at each of two or more receiving locations, the step of acquiring the reception status may include acquiring the reception status for each of the two or more receiving locations, and the step of determining the number of receivers may include determining the number of receivers for each of the two or more receiving locations using the reception status.

[0010] With this configuration, the number of receivers for each of two or more receiving positions can be determined with greater accuracy.

[0011] In addition, in a number determination method according to one aspect of the present invention, in the step of placing one or more receiver sets, one receiver set may be placed at a representative position of two or more receiving positions, and in the step of determining the number of receivers, the number of receivers to be placed at each of the two or more receiving positions may be determined using reception conditions obtained using the one receiver set.

[0012] With this configuration, it is possible to obtain the reception conditions for two or more reception positions using one receiver set, so that it becomes easier to obtain the reception conditions for two or more reception positions.

[0013] In the number determination method according to an aspect of the present invention, the representative position of the two or more receiving positions may be the center of gravity of the two or more receiving positions in a planar view.

[0014] Such an arrangement allows a receiver set to be positioned in a location considered optimal with respect to two or more receiving positions.

[0015] In addition, in a number determination method according to one embodiment of the present invention, the reception status may be a value obtained by dividing the sum of the actual number of times that each of one or more receivers in a receiver set receives radio waves from one or more terminal devices by the sum of the ideal number of times that each of the one or more receivers receives radio waves from one or more terminal devices.

[0016] With this configuration, it is possible to obtain the reception status, which is the reception ratio.

[0017] In addition, in a number determination method according to one aspect of the present invention, in the step of determining the number of receivers, the number of receivers may be determined by rounding up the desired number of receptions for each receiving position to an integer.

[0018] With this configuration, the number of receivers can be determined according to the desired number of receptions.

[0019] In addition, a number determination device according to one embodiment of the present invention is a determination device that determines the number of receivers to be placed at each receiving position in a receiving system that identifies the location of a terminal device by receiving radio waves from the terminal device at two or more receiving positions, and is equipped with one or more receiver sets having one or more receivers placed at positions corresponding to the two or more receiving positions, an acquisition unit that acquires the reception status of radio waves from one or more terminal devices for each of the one or more receiver sets, a determination unit that uses the reception status acquired for each of the one or more receiver sets to determine the number of receivers to be placed at each of the two or more receiving positions so that desired reception is performed at each of the two or more receiving positions, and an output unit that outputs the determination result made by the determination unit regarding the number of receivers to be placed at each of the two or more receiving positions. Effect of the Invention

[0020] According to the number determination device and the like according to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to determine the number of receivers to be placed at each receiving position so that desired reception can be performed at each receiving position. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0021] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a number determination device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing an example of a receiving position in the embodiment; [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an example of a receiving position in the embodiment; [Figure 4] A flowchart showing a method for determining the number of pieces according to the embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 13 shows an example of radio wave reception results by a plurality of receivers according to the embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 shows an example of the configuration of a computer system according to the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0022] The number determination device and the number determination method according to the present invention will be described below using embodiments. Note that in the following embodiments, components and steps with the same reference numerals are the same or equivalent, and repeated description may be omitted. The number determination device according to this embodiment determines the number of receivers to be placed at each receiving position using the radio wave reception status acquired for one or more receiver sets placed at positions corresponding to two or more receiving positions in a receiving system that identifies the position of a terminal device.

[0023] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the number determination device 1 according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 are a perspective view and a plan view showing an example of a receiving position, respectively. The number determination device 1 according to the present embodiment includes one or more receiver sets arranged at positions corresponding to two or more receiving positions, an acquisition unit 30, a determination unit 40, and an output unit 50. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the case where the one or more receiver sets are the first to fourth receiver sets 11 to 14 will be mainly described. The number determination device 1 according to the present embodiment is for determining the number of receivers to be arranged at each receiving position in a receiving system that identifies the position of a terminal device 2 by receiving radio waves from a terminal device 2 carried by a user 5 at two or more receiving positions. It is assumed that the two or more receiving positions are determined in advance. The terminal device 2 is preferably a portable device having a communication function, and may be, for example, a terminal device having a communication function such as a smartphone, a mobile phone, a tablet terminal, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a notebook computer, a transceiver, or other equipment.

[0024] Here, the receiving system will be described. It is preferable that the two or more receiving positions are different positions. Also, one or more receivers may be arranged at each receiving position. In the receiving system, the position of the terminal device 2 may be specified based on the strength difference of the radio wave from the terminal device 2 received at each receiving position. The strength of the radio wave may be, for example, a received signal strength indicator (RSSI). When multiple receivers are arranged at each receiving position, the position of the terminal device 2 may be specified using a representative value of the strength of the radio wave received by the receiver. The representative value may be, for example, an average value, a median value, or the like. Note that, from the viewpoint of realizing a more accurate position specification, it is preferable that more receivers are arranged at each receiving position. When multiple receivers are arranged at each receiving position, it is preferable that the multiple receivers have the same performance. For example, it is preferable that the antenna gains of multiple receivers arranged at a certain receiving position are the same. As an example, if a receiver is placed at each of two receiving positions, the reception strength of the radio waves received at each of the two receiving positions and the two receiving positions can be used to identify an Apollonius circle or line corresponding to the difference in reception strength, and the position on the Apollonius circle, line, or within the circle can be identified as the position of terminal device 2, or the position of terminal device 2 can be identified by other methods.

[0025] In addition, in a receiver, when the antenna and the signal processing unit that performs processing such as demodulation on the signal from the antenna are integrated, placing the receiver at a certain receiving position may mean placing the receiver as an integrated unit at the receiving position. On the other hand, in a receiver, when the antenna and the signal processing unit are not integrated but can be placed independently, placing the receiver at a certain receiving position may mean placing the antenna of the receiver at the receiving position.

[0026] Furthermore, the position of the terminal device 2 identified by the receiving system may be, for example, a point-like position, or a linear, planar, or three-dimensional position. The identified position may be, for example, a position on a two-dimensional plane, or a position in three-dimensional space. Note that identification of the position of a wave source using the difference in reception strength of radio waves is already publicly known, and detailed description thereof will be omitted. For an example of a method for identifying the position of such a wave source, see Patent Document 1 above.

[0027] The number determination device 1 according to the present embodiment receives radio waves transmitted from a terminal device 2 carried by a user 5 by one or more receiver sets arranged at positions corresponding to two or more receiving positions of the receiving system, obtains the reception status of the radio waves, and uses the reception status to determine the number of receivers to be arranged at each receiving position. Ideally, the radio waves transmitted from the terminal device 2 should be reliably received at all times by one or more receivers arranged at each receiving position, but in reality, this is not always the case. Reasons why some receivers cannot receive radio waves from the terminal device 2 include, for example, the presence of an obstacle between the terminal device 2 and the receiving position, but also the influence of jamming radio waves transmitted from other devices and the influence of radio wave interference caused by multipath from the terminal device 2 to the receiver. It is difficult to predict the inability to receive radio waves due to the influence of jamming radio waves or interference without receiving the radio waves, so it is preferable to use the number determination device 1 to obtain the reception status based on the actual reception result. In addition, the device transmitting the jamming radio waves may be, for example, another terminal device 2, or it may be another communication device that transmits radio waves of the same frequency as the radio waves transmitted from the terminal device 2, or it may be a device other than a communication device that transmits radio waves of the same frequency as the radio waves transmitted from the terminal device 2 (for example, a microwave oven).

[0028] In addition, the position corresponding to two or more receiving positions of the receiving system may be, for example, each of the two or more receiving positions of the receiving system, or may be a representative position of the two or more receiving positions of the receiving system. In the former case, one receiver set is arranged at one receiving position. The representative position of the two or more receiving positions may be, for example, one representative position, or two or more representative positions. However, the number of representative positions is assumed to be less than the number of the two or more receiving positions. In this embodiment, the case where one receiver set is arranged at each of the two or more receiving positions, particularly the case where the first to fourth receiver sets 11 to 14 are arranged at the first to fourth receiving positions, respectively, is mainly described. As described above, in this embodiment, the case where there are four receiving positions in the receiving system is mainly described, but the number of the receiving positions is not particularly limited as long as it is two or more. That is, the number of receiving positions in the receiving system may be, for example, two or three, or may be five or more. In addition, in this embodiment, the case where the number of receiving positions is equal to the number of receiver sets arranged, as described above, is mainly described. The case where one receiver set is placed at a representative position among two or more receiving positions will be described later.

[0029] Each of the first to fourth receiver sets 11 to 14 has one or more receivers. It is preferable that the first to fourth receiver sets 11 to 14 have the same number of receivers, but this is not necessary. It is preferable that the first to fourth receiver sets 11 to 14 have a larger number of receivers, but since the cost increases as the number of receivers increases, the number of receivers may be determined appropriately. In this embodiment, a case in which the first to fourth receiver sets 11 to 14 each have four receivers will be mainly described. That is, a case in which the first receiver set 11 has four receivers 21a to 21d, the second receiver set 12 has four receivers 22a to 22d, the third receiver set 13 has four receivers 23a to 23d, and the fourth receiver set 14 has four receivers 24a to 24d will be mainly described. Note that when the receivers 21a to 21d are not particularly distinguished from each other, they may be called receivers 21. The same applies to the other receivers. In this embodiment, the case where each of the receiver sets 11-14 has four receivers 21-24 will be mainly described, but the number of receivers included in each of the receiver sets 11-14 may be, for example, one to three, or may be five or more. Furthermore, each of the receivers 21-24 included in the receiver sets 11-14 is capable of acquiring the strength of radio waves from the terminal device 2.

[0030] When multiple receivers 21 of the first receiver set 11 are arranged at a first receiving position, the multiple receivers 21 may be arranged such that the center of gravity of the arrangement positions of the multiple receivers 21 is the first receiving position. The same applies when the receivers 22-24 of the second to fourth receiver sets 12-14 are arranged at the second to fourth receiving positions, respectively.

[0031] Note that the terminal device 2 may or may not be in line of sight to each receiving position. In the latter case, the user 5 may carry the terminal device 2 in, for example, a pocket of clothing or a bag.

[0032] Moreover, the radio wave for identifying the position transmitted from the terminal device 2 may be, for example, a pulse wave transmitted intermittently, or a continuous wave transmitted continuously. Moreover, the radio communication standard for transmitting and receiving the radio wave for identifying the position is not limited. The radio wave for identifying the position of the terminal device 2 may be, for example, communicated by Bluetooth low energy (BLE), Bluetooth basic rate (BR) / enhanced data rate (EDR), wireless LAN (IEEE802.11), IEEE802.15.4 such as ZigBee (registered trademark), or other wireless communication standard. The radio wave for identifying the position transmitted from the terminal device 2 is preferably transmitted and received by short-distance wireless communication such as BLE, Bluetooth BR / EDR, or wireless LAN. Moreover, the radio wave may be used for authenticating the terminal device 2, for example. It is assumed that the receivers 21 to 24 of the first to fourth receiver sets 11 to 14 are capable of receiving radio waves according to the wireless communication standard of the terminal device 2, respectively.

[0033] The frequency of the radio wave transmitted from the terminal device 2 is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, a frequency in the range of 300 MHz to 300 GHz. The terminal device 2 may transmit, for example, a signal for identifying the location by broadcast or by unicast. Broadcast transmission is preferable because it is possible to transmit a signal without specifying a communication partner. In this embodiment, a case where the terminal device 2 transmits a signal for identifying the location by broadcast will be mainly described. It is preferable that the terminal device 2 transmits radio waves without receiving a transmission instruction from the user 5. The terminal device 2 may transmit radio waves in response to, for example, receiving a predetermined beacon or the like. This beacon may be transmitted, for example, in an area that specifies the location of the terminal device 2. As an example, the receiving system may transmit a beacon. In this case, the receiving system may be provided with a transmitting unit that transmits the beacon.

[0034] 2 and 3 show a gate 3 through which a user 5 carrying a terminal device 2 passes. This gate 3 may be, for example, an automatic ticket gate, a gate at the entrance of a building or an event venue, or other gates. It is assumed that first to fourth receiving positions P1 to P4 are set in this gate 3. That is, in the receiving system, the position of the terminal device 2 carried by the user 5 is identified by receiving radio waves from the terminal device 2 using one or more receivers arranged at the first to fourth receiving positions P1 to P4, respectively. Also, for example, authentication may be performed using radio waves from the terminal device 2. That is, the radio waves from the terminal device 2 may be used to identify the position of the terminal device 2 and to authenticate it. As an example, when the position of the terminal device 2 is identified using radio waves transmitted from the terminal device 2 carried by the user 5 passing through the gate 3, and it is confirmed that the terminal device 2 has passed through the gate 3 using the identified position, authentication may be performed using the radio waves, and if the authentication is determined to be valid, the user 5 carrying the terminal device 2 may be allowed to pass through the gate 3.

[0035] In such a case, the first to fourth receiver sets 11 to 14 may be arranged at the first to fourth receiving positions P1 to P4, respectively. For example, when arranging the first receiver set 11 at the first receiving position P1, it is ideal to arrange it so that the position of the center of gravity of the multiple receivers 21 included in the first receiver set 11 is the first receiving position P1. However, in reality, such an ideal arrangement may not be possible due to the influence of the housing of the gate 3, etc. In such a case, for example, the first receiver set 11 may be arranged so that the position of the center of gravity of the multiple receivers 21 is near the first receiving position P1. The same applies to the other receiver sets.

[0036] The acquisition unit 30 acquires the reception status of radio waves from one or more terminal devices 2 for one or more receiver sets arranged at positions corresponding to two or more receiving positions. When one receiver set is arranged at each of two or more receiving positions, the acquisition unit 30 may acquire the reception status for each of the two or more receiving positions. That is, the reception status may be acquired for each receiver set. In this embodiment, a case will be mainly described where the acquisition unit 30 acquires the reception status of radio waves from the terminal devices 2 for each of the four receiver sets 11 to 14.

[0037] The reception status may be, for example, a value obtained by dividing the total number of actual receptions of radio waves from one or more terminal devices 2 at each of one or more receivers in one receiver set by the total number of ideal receptions of radio waves from the one or more terminal devices 2 at each of the one or more receivers. That is, the reception status may be, for example, a reception ratio by one or more receivers in a receiver set. The reception ratio may be indicated by a real number from 0 to 1, for example. Also, whether or not a certain radio wave has been received may be determined, for example, by whether or not the radio wave has been demodulated. The acquisition unit 30 may acquire the reception status of one receiver set according to, for example, the reception result of the radio waves transmitted from one terminal device 2 at the one receiver set. The signal transmitted from the terminal device 2 used to acquire the reception status may be, for example, a dedicated signal used to acquire the reception status, or may not be. In the former case, for example, one or more users 5 carrying a terminal device 2 that transmits the dedicated signal may be present within an area whose location is identified by the receiving system. Then, the reception status may be acquired using the dedicated signal transmitted from the terminal device 2. For example, the dedicated signal may be transmitted from an application installed in the terminal device 2 such as a smartphone for identifying the location of the terminal device 2, authenticating the terminal device 2, or the like. In this case, for example, the transmission interval of the signal may be determined in advance. On the other hand, when the reception status is acquired without using a dedicated signal, for example, the reception status may be acquired using a general-purpose signal transmitted from a terminal device 2 carried by one or more users 5 present in an area in which the location is identified by the receiving system. However, it is preferable that the signal used to acquire the reception status is a signal of the same communication standard as the communication standard of the signal used to identify the location of the terminal device 2. For example, when the location is identified using a BLE signal in the receiving system, the reception status of the BLE signal may be acquired by the acquisition unit 30.

[0038] The acquisition unit 30 may acquire the reception result of the signal from the terminal device 2 for each of the four receivers 21a to 21d included in the first receiver set 11, for example. For example, when a BLE signal is transmitted from the terminal device 2, the BLE signal is a pulse signal of 0.4 ms, so the acquisition unit 30 may acquire a set of the reception time, reception strength, and terminal identifier of the sender of the BLE signal for each of the four receivers 21a to 21d. The reception strength may be, for example, RSSI. The terminal identifier may be, for example, a physical address such as a MAC address included in the header of the received signal or other addresses, or may be a terminal identifier included in the payload of the received signal. In the latter case, for example, a user identifier may be used as the terminal identifier. As an example, the acquisition unit 30 may acquire the reception status using the reception result of a signal whose reception strength exceeds a threshold. In this way, for example, it is possible to reduce the possibility of acquiring the reception status using a reflected wave. In addition, when acquiring the reception status for the first receiver set 11, the acquisition unit 30 may only use the reception result of the same terminal identifier. In this way, it is possible to identify which receiver 21 has received a signal transmitted from one terminal device 2, and the reception status can be acquired using the identification result. When acquiring the reception status using a dedicated signal transmitted from the terminal device 2, the acquisition unit 30 may determine whether or not a signal has been received, for example, using the transmission interval of the dedicated signal. On the other hand, when acquiring the reception status using a general-purpose signal transmitted from the terminal device 2, the acquisition unit 30 may, for example, assume that a signal is periodically transmitted from the terminal device 2 and identify the transmission interval. In this case, for example, the minimum transmission interval of signals having the same terminal identifier in the reception result may be identified as the transmission interval of the signal. In addition, when there is a predetermined rule for the transmission interval of the general-purpose signal, for example, when there is a rule such as TP (ms) × K for the transmission interval of the signal, the acquisition unit 30 may identify a transmission interval that conforms to the rule. Here, TP is a predetermined time interval, and K may be an integer equal to or greater than 1.Also, since the terminal device 2 may change the transmission interval within a predetermined range, in such a case, it may be determined whether the transmission intervals match while allowing an error within a predetermined range. Then, for example, when a signal cannot be received at the transmission interval at a specific time point for all of the four receivers 21a to 21d, it may be determined that no reception has been made for all of the four receivers 21a to 21d at that time point. Also, for example, at a time point when at least one receiver 21 among the four receivers 21a to 21d has received a signal but the other receivers 21 have not received a signal, only the receiver 21 that has received the signal may be determined as having received the signal, and the other receivers 21 may be determined as not having received the signal. The same may be done when acquiring reception results for the other second to fourth receiver sets 12 to 14. Furthermore, when the acquisition unit 30 acquires the reception results for the first to fourth receiver sets 11 to 14, for example, the reception results may be acquired for all receiver sets using radio waves transmitted from the same terminal device 2, or for at least some receiver sets, the reception results may be acquired using radio waves transmitted from different terminal devices 2. In the latter case, as an example, the first to fourth receiver sets 11 to 14 may acquire the reception results using radio waves transmitted from the first to fourth terminal devices 2, respectively. In this way, the source of the radio waves when acquiring the reception results may be different for each receiver set. Note that, when the terminal device 2 transmits continuous radio waves, the acquisition unit 30 may acquire the presence or absence of reception for each receiver at a predetermined time interval, for example.

[0039] As an example, when receiving radio waves transmitted from a specific terminal device 2 by the first receiver set 11 and checking whether or not the radio waves have been received 10 times at a predetermined transmission interval, this corresponds to receiving the radio waves 10 times using four receivers 21, so the ideal number of receptions is "40" (=4×10). On the other hand, if the radio waves transmitted from the specific terminal device 2 are actually received only 32 times by the four receivers 21, the reception status is "0.8" (=32 / 40). The acquisition unit 30 may repeat such processing for each receiver set. The transmission interval of the radio waves is not particularly limited, but may be, for example, about 20 milliseconds to 10 seconds.

[0040] It is considered that the reception conditions may change depending on the number of terminal devices 2 present within the area where the location is identified by the receiving system. For example, it is considered that the greater the number of terminal devices 2 present within the area where the location is identified by the receiving system, the greater the influence of jamming radio waves, and the higher the possibility that radio waves from the terminal devices 2 cannot be received. Therefore, it is preferable to obtain the reception conditions in a situation where the reception conditions are worse, for example, in a situation where the reception rate is lower.

[0041] The determination unit 40 uses the reception status acquired for each of the one or more receiver sets to determine the number of receivers to be placed at each of the two or more reception positions so that desired reception is performed at each of the two or more reception positions. For example, the determination unit 40 may use the reception status acquired for each of the four receiver sets, i.e., the first to fourth receiver sets 11 to 14, to determine the number of receivers to be placed at each of the four reception positions so that desired reception is performed at each of the four reception positions. Note that, when determining the number of receivers for a certain reception position, the reception status acquired by the receiver set placed at that reception position may be used. The desired reception may be, for example, the desired number of receptions at which radio waves transmitted from the terminal device 2 can be received at one reception time point. Multiple receptions at one reception time point can be realized, for example, by placing multiple receivers at one reception position. For example, if it is desired to receive radio waves from the terminal device 2 twice at one reception time point at each reception position of the reception system, the desired number of receptions is "2". For example, in a receiving system, when it is desired to receive radio waves transmitted from the terminal device 2 a predetermined number of times at multiple reception time points, the result of dividing the predetermined number by the number of reception time points becomes the number of receptions at one reception time point. When the calculation result of the number of receptions at one reception time point is not an integer, for example, the calculation result may be rounded up to an integer, or the non-integer number of receptions may be used as is. As an example, when it is desired to receive radio waves transmitted from the terminal device 2 six times at three reception time points, the number of receptions at one reception time point is two. In this case, the desired number of receptions that radio waves can be received at one reception time point may be "2".

[0042] Ideally, this desired number of receptions can be achieved by using the same number of receivers as the number of receptions. On the other hand, in reality, as described above, some of the multiple receivers may not be able to receive radio waves. Therefore, it is necessary to arrange more receivers than the desired number of receptions at each reception position. For example, if half of the multiple receivers cannot receive radio waves, the desired number of receptions can be achieved by arranging receivers twice the desired number of receptions. Therefore, for example, the determination unit 40 may determine the number of receivers for each reception position by dividing the desired number of receptions by the reception status acquired by the acquisition unit 30 and rounding up the result to an integer. More specifically, the determination unit 40 may determine the number of receivers for each reception position by the following formula. Note that the desired number of receptions may be predetermined for each of the multiple reception positions, for example. The desired number of receptions may be the same for all reception positions, as an example. The reception status may also be a reception ratio. Also, the ceiling in the following formula is a ceiling function. Number of receivers = ceiling (desired number of receptions / reception status)

[0043] As an example, if the reception condition at a certain receiving position is "0.8" and the desired number of receptions is "2", the number of receivers at that receiving position may be determined to be "3" using the above formula.

[0044] As described above, it is preferable to obtain the reception status when the reception status is poor, for example, when the reception ratio is low. However, it may not be possible to obtain such a reception status. Therefore, the determination unit 40 may, for example, multiply the reception status obtained by the acquisition unit 30 by a predetermined coefficient smaller than 1, and use the result as the reception status to be substituted into the above formula. Note that the coefficient is preferably a value close to 1, such as 0.8 or 0.9. As an example, the coefficient may be determined according to a change in the reception status over time.

[0045] The output unit 50 outputs the determination result by the determination unit 40 regarding the number of receivers to be placed at each of the four receiving positions. That is, the number of receivers to be placed at each receiving position determined by the determination unit 40 is output by the output unit 50. Using this output determination result, the receivers may be placed at each receiving position in the receiving system.

[0046] Here, this output may be, for example, a display on a display device (such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display), a transmission to a specified device via a communication line, a printing by a printer, storage on a recording medium, or a transfer to another component. The output unit 50 may or may not include a device that performs the output (such as a display device, a communication device, or a printer). The output unit 50 may be realized by hardware, or may be realized by software such as a driver that drives those devices.

[0047] Next, the number determination method according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart in Fig. 4. Here, a case where the first to fourth reception positions exist in the reception system will be described. Also, it is assumed that the desired number of receptions is set for each of the four reception positions.

[0048] (Step S101) First to fourth receiver sets 11 to 14 are arranged at first to fourth receiving positions, respectively, of the receiving system.

[0049] (Step S102) The four receivers 21 included in the first receiver set 11 arranged at the first receiving position each receive the radio waves transmitted from the terminal device 2. Then, the acquisition unit 30 acquires the reception status in the first receiver set 11 according to the reception result. Similarly, the four receivers 22-24 included in the second to fourth receiver sets 12-14 arranged at the second to fourth receiving positions each receive the radio waves transmitted from the terminal device 2. Similarly, the acquisition unit 30 also acquires the reception status in the second to fourth receiver sets 12-14.

[0050] (Step S103) The determination unit 40 determines the number of receivers for the first receiving position using the receiving status of the first receiver set 11 acquired by the acquisition unit 30 and the desired number of receptions. In the same manner, the determination unit 40 determines the numbers of receivers at the second to fourth receiving positions.

[0051] (Step S104) The output unit 50 outputs the numbers of receivers at the first to fourth receiving positions determined by the determination unit 40. Then, the process of determining the number of receivers to be placed at each receiving position ends.

[0052] Next, the operation of the number determination device 1 and the number determination method according to the present embodiment will be described using a concrete example. In this concrete example, it is assumed that the reception conditions are acquired using the first to fourth receiver sets 11 to 14, respectively.

[0053] First, the first to fourth receiver sets 11-14 are arranged at the first to fourth receiving positions P1-P4 shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, respectively (step S101). Next, in a situation where a plurality of users 5 are carrying terminal devices 2 and passing through the gate 3, the plurality of receivers 21-24 included in the first to fourth receiver sets 11-14 receive radio waves from the terminal devices 2. Then, the acquisition unit 30 acquires reception results for each of the receivers 21-24 at ten points of time of a predetermined transmission interval. For example, for the four receivers 21a-21d included in the first receiver set 11, as shown in Fig. 5, the reception results indicating whether or not radio waves from a specific terminal device 2 could be received at each of the times T1-T10 of the predetermined transmission interval are acquired, and the reception status is acquired based on the reception results. In this case, ideally, radio waves can be received 40 times, but if the acquired reception result indicates that radio waves are received only 32 times, the acquisition unit 30 may acquire 0.8 (=32 / 40) as the reception status of the first receiving position P1. The acquisition unit 30 similarly acquires the reception status of each of the second to fourth receiver sets 12 to 14 (step S102). Then, the acquisition unit 30 passes the reception status of the first to fourth receiver sets 11 to 14 to the determination unit 40.

[0054] Upon receiving the reception states of the first to fourth receiver sets 11-14, the determination unit 40 determines the number of receivers using the above-mentioned formula for calculating the number of receivers, and passes it to the output unit 50 (step S103). For example, if the reception state of the first receiver set 11 is 0.8, and the desired number of receptions corresponding to the first receiving position where the first receiver set 11 is located is 2, the determination unit 40 may determine the number of receivers at the first receiving position P1 to be 3 (=ceiling(2 / 0.8)).

[0055] When the numbers of receivers at the first through fourth receiving positions P1 through P4 are received, the output unit 50 outputs them (step S104). This output allows the administrator of the receiving system to know the number of receivers to be placed at the first through fourth receiving positions P1 through P4, and it is then sufficient to place receivers at each receiving position according to the determined number.

[0056] As described above, according to the number determination device 1 and the number determination method of this embodiment, by using the reception conditions acquired using multiple receiver sets, it is possible to determine the number of receivers to be placed at each receiving position of the receiving system that identifies the position of the terminal device 2. Then, by placing the number of receivers according to the determination result at each receiving position, it becomes possible to realize the desired reception at each receiving position of the receiving system. Also, by placing multiple receiver sets at multiple receiving positions, respectively, it becomes possible to acquire the reception conditions for each receiving position, and it becomes possible to determine the number with higher accuracy.

[0057] In the present embodiment, the case where a receiver set is disposed at each of two or more receiving positions in a receiving system has been mainly described, but this is not necessarily the case. As described above, a receiver set may be disposed at a position corresponding to two or more receiving positions, for example, a representative position of two or more receiving positions. The number of representative positions of two or more receiving positions may be, for example, one or two or more, but it is preferable that the number of representative positions is less than the number of receiving positions. When there is one representative position of two or more receiving positions, for example, the representative position may be the center of gravity of two or more receiving positions in a planar view. Also, for example, one representative position may be any of two or more receiving positions. In this case, the receiving position where the reception situation is expected to be the worst may be the representative position. As an example, it is expected that the reception situation of radio waves is poor at a receiving position where there is a metal wall nearby. Therefore, such a receiving position where there is a metal wall nearby may be the representative position. Furthermore, when there are two or more representative positions for two or more receiving positions, for example, the two or more receiving positions in the receiving system may be allocated to the same number of receiving position sets as the representative positions, and one representative position may be set for each receiving position set including one or more receiving positions. In this case, the representative position may be, for example, the center of gravity of one or more receiving positions included in the receiving position set in a planar view. Furthermore, the representative position may be, for example, any one of the one or more receiving positions included in the receiving position set.

[0058] As an example, when the first to fourth receiving positions P1 to P4 are present at the positions shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, and the receiving conditions are acquired using one receiver set, one receiver set may be placed at one representative position P11 shown in FIG. 3. Ideally, in the real space, it is preferable that the center of gravity of the first to fourth receiving positions P1 to P4 is the representative position P11, but if a receiver set is actually placed at such a position, it may become an obstacle to the passage of the user 5. Therefore, as described above, the representative position P11 may be the center of gravity of the first to fourth receiving positions P1 to P4 in a planar view. In this case, the vertical position of the representative position P11 may be, for example, the height of the floor surface, the height of the ceiling, or a height between them that does not become an obstacle to the passage of the user 5. In this case, the number determination device 1 may be provided with only one receiver set. The acquisition unit 30 may acquire the reception status for the one receiver set, and the determination unit 40 may use the reception status acquired using the one receiver set to determine the number of receivers to be placed at each of the two or more reception positions. For example, the determination unit 40 may use the reception status acquired using one receiver set to determine the number of receivers to be placed at each of the first to fourth reception positions P1 to P4. If the desired number of receptions at each reception position is the same, the number of receivers to be placed at each of the first to fourth reception positions P1 to P4 is determined to be the same. On the other hand, if the desired number of receptions at each reception position is not the same, the number of receivers to be placed at each of the first to fourth reception positions P1 to P4 does not have to be determined to be the same. If there are multiple representative positions, the number acquisition device 1 may include the same number of receiver sets as the representative positions. The determination unit 40 may use the reception status acquired using a certain receiver set to determine the number of receivers for one or more reception positions included in the reception position set corresponding to the representative position where the receiver set is placed, for example. Such processing may be performed, for example, the number of times corresponding to the number of representative positions.

[0059] In this way, by determining the number of receivers to be placed at each receiving position using fewer receiver sets than the number of receiving positions (two or more), it is possible to more easily determine the number of receivers to be placed at each receiving position compared to placing a receiver set at each of two or more receiving positions.

[0060] In the present embodiment, two or more receiver sets are arranged at two or more receiving positions in the receiving system, respectively, and the receiving statuses for the two or more receiving positions are acquired collectively. However, this is not necessarily the case. For example, the receiving statuses for the two or more receiving positions may be acquired in order by arranging one receiver set at the two or more receiving positions in order. More specifically, in the step of arranging the receiver set, one receiver set may be arranged at one receiving position. In addition, in the step of acquiring the radio wave receiving status, the radio wave receiving status may be acquired for the one receiver set. Then, the above-mentioned step of arranging the receiver set and the step of acquiring the radio wave receiving status may be repeated for each of the two or more receiving positions, thereby acquiring the radio wave receiving status for each of the two or more receiving positions. That is, in the step of arranging the receiver set, one receiver set may be arranged at each of the two or more receiving positions in order. In addition, in the step of acquiring the radio wave receiving status, the radio wave receiving status for each of the two or more receiving positions may be acquired using one receiver set arranged at the two or more receiving positions in order in this way. In this way, it is possible to obtain the radio wave reception status for each of two or more receiving positions using one receiver set. Note that the same thing can also be done using multiple receiver sets, the number of which is less than the number of receiving positions.

[0061] In addition, in the above embodiments, each process or function may be realized by centralized processing in a single device or a single system, or may be realized by distributed processing in multiple devices or multiple systems.

[0062] In addition, in the above embodiments, the transfer of information between each component may be performed, for example, by one component outputting information and the other component receiving information if the two components transferring the information are physically different, or, if the two components transferring the information are physically the same, by shifting from a processing phase corresponding to one component to a processing phase corresponding to the other component.

[0063] In the above embodiment, information related to the processing executed by each component, for example, information accepted, acquired, selected, generated, transmitted, or received by each component, and information such as thresholds, formulas, addresses, and settings such as the desired number of receptions used by each component in processing, may be temporarily or long-term stored in a recording medium (not shown) even if not specified in the above description. Furthermore, each component or a storage unit (not shown) may store information in the recording medium (not shown). Furthermore, each component or a reading unit (not shown) may read information from the recording medium (not shown).

[0064] In the above embodiment, if the information used by each component, for example, the threshold value, address, desired number of receptions, and other setting values ​​used by each component in processing, may be changed by the user, the user may be able to change the information as appropriate, even if not specified in the above description. If the information is changeable by the user, the change may be realized, for example, by a reception unit (not shown) that receives a change instruction from the user, and a change unit (not shown) that changes the information in response to the change instruction. The reception unit (not shown) may receive the change instruction from an input device, may receive information transmitted via a communication line, or may receive information read from a predetermined recording medium.

[0065] In addition, in the above embodiment, when two or more components included in the quantity determination device 1 have a communication device, an input device, etc., the two or more components may have a physically single device, or may have separate devices.

[0066] In the above embodiment, each component may be configured by dedicated hardware, or a component that can be realized by software may be realized by executing a program. For example, each component may be realized by a program execution unit such as a CPU reading and executing a software program recorded on a recording medium such as a hard disk or a semiconductor memory. During execution, the program execution unit may execute the program while accessing a storage unit or a recording medium. The software for realizing the number determination device 1 in the above embodiment is a program as follows. That is, this program may be a program for determining the number of receivers to be placed at each receiving position in a receiving system that identifies the position of a terminal device by receiving radio waves from the terminal device at two or more receiving positions, and may cause a computer to execute the steps of acquiring the reception status of radio waves from one or more terminal devices for one or more receiver sets having one or more receivers that are placed at positions corresponding to the two or more receiving positions, determining the number of receivers to be placed at each of the two or more receiving positions so that desired reception is performed at each of the two or more receiving positions using the reception status acquired for each of the one or more receiver sets, and outputting the determination result regarding the number of receivers to be placed at each of the two or more receiving positions.

[0067] In addition, in the above program, the steps of acquiring information and outputting information do not include processing that is performed only by hardware, such as processing performed by a communication device or display device in the step of outputting information.

[0068] This program may be executed by being downloaded from a server or the like, or may be executed by reading out a program recorded on a predetermined recording medium (for example, an optical disk such as a CD-ROM, a magnetic disk, a semiconductor memory, etc.). This program may be used as a program constituting a program product.

[0069] Furthermore, the program may be executed by a single computer or a plurality of computers. That is, the program may be executed by centralized processing or distributed processing.

[0070] 6 is a diagram showing an example of a computer system 900 that executes the above program to realize the number determination device 1 according to the above embodiment. The above embodiment can be realized by computer hardware and a computer program executed thereon.

[0071] 6, the computer system 900 includes an MPU (Micro Processing Unit) 911, a ROM 912 such as a flash memory in which programs such as a boot-up program, application programs, system programs, and data are stored, a RAM 913 connected to the MPU 911 to temporarily store instructions of application programs and provide a temporary storage space, a touch panel 914, a wired or wireless communication module 915, and a bus 916 connecting the MPU 911, the ROM 912, and the like. The computer system 900 may include a plurality of communication modules 915 corresponding to the first to fourth receiver sets 11 to 14, for example, or the communication module 915 may be connected to the first to fourth receiver sets 11 to 14 via a wired or wireless communication line. The computer system 900 may include a display and an input device such as a mouse or a keyboard instead of the touch panel 914. The computer system 900 may further include other recording media such as a hard disk.

[0072] A program for causing the computer system 900 to execute the functions of the number determination device 1 according to the above embodiment may be stored in the ROM 912 via the communication module 915. The program is loaded into the RAM 913 when executed. The program may also be loaded directly from the network.

[0073] The program does not necessarily include an operating system (OS) or a third party program that causes the computer system 900 to execute the functions of the number determination device 1 according to the above embodiment. The program may include only an instruction portion that calls appropriate functions or modules in a controlled manner to achieve a desired result. How the computer system 900 operates is well known, and a detailed description will be omitted.

[0074] The above-mentioned embodiments are merely examples for specifically implementing the present invention, and are not intended to limit the technical scope of the present invention. The technical scope of the present invention is indicated by the claims, not by the description of the embodiments, and is intended to include modifications within the literal scope of the claims and the scope of equivalent meanings. [Explanation of symbols]

[0075] 1 Piece counting device 2 Terminal Device 11 First Receiver Set 12 Second Receiver Set 13 Third Receiver Set 14 4th Receiver Set 21, 21a-21d, 22, 22a-22d, 23, 23a-23d, 24, 24a-24d Receiver 30 Acquisition Department 40 Decision Section 50 Output section

Claims

1. A method for determining the number of receivers to be placed at each receiving position in a receiving system that identifies a position of a terminal device by receiving radio waves from the terminal device at two or more receiving positions, comprising the steps of: disposing one or more receiver sets, each having one or more receivers, at locations corresponding to the two or more receiving locations; receiving radio waves from one or more terminal devices using the one or more receiver sets, and acquiring a radio wave reception status for each of the one or more receiver sets; and using the reception conditions obtained for each of the one or more receiver sets, determining the number of receivers to be placed at each of the two or more receiving positions so that desired reception is achieved at each of the two or more receiving positions.

2. The step of disposing one or more receiver sets includes disposing one receiver set at each of the two or more receiving locations; In the step of acquiring the reception status, a reception status is acquired for each of the two or more reception positions; 2. The number determining method according to claim 1, wherein in the step of determining the number of receivers, the number of receivers is determined for each of the two or more receiving positions using a receiving condition.

3. In the step of disposing one or more receiver sets, one receiver set is disposed at a representative position of the two or more receiving positions; 2. The number determination method according to claim 1, wherein in the step of determining the number of receivers, the number of receivers to be placed at each of the two or more receiving positions is determined using a receiving condition acquired using the one receiver set.

4. The method for determining the number according to claim 3 , wherein the representative position of the two or more receiving positions is a center of gravity of the two or more receiving positions in a planar view.

5. A method for determining the number of receivers according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the reception status is a value obtained by dividing the sum of the actual number of receptions at each of one or more receivers in a receiver set regarding radio waves from the one or more terminal devices by the sum of the ideal number of receptions at each of the one or more receivers regarding radio waves from the one or more terminal devices.

6. 6. The number determining method according to claim 5, wherein in the step of determining the number of receivers, for each receiving position, a desired number of receptions is divided by the receiving situation, and the result is rounded up to an integer, and the result is determined as the number of receivers.

7. A number determination device for determining the number of receivers to be disposed at each receiving position in a receiving system that identifies a position of a terminal device by receiving radio waves from the terminal device at two or more receiving positions, comprising: one or more receiver sets, each having one or more receivers, positioned at locations corresponding to the two or more receiving locations; an acquisition unit that acquires radio wave reception conditions from one or more terminal devices for each of the one or more receiver sets; a determination unit that determines the number of receivers to be placed at each of the two or more receiving positions using the reception conditions acquired for each of the one or more receiver sets so that desired reception is performed at each of the two or more receiving positions; and an output unit that outputs a result of the determination made by said determination unit regarding the number of receivers to be placed at each of said two or more receiving positions.

8. A program for determining the number of receivers to be placed at each receiving position in a receiving system that identifies a position of a terminal device by receiving radio waves from the terminal device at two or more receiving positions, comprising: On the computer, acquiring a reception status of radio waves from one or more terminal devices for each of one or more receiver sets, each of which has one or more receivers and is arranged at a position corresponding to the two or more reception positions; determining a number of receivers to be placed at each of the two or more receiving positions using the reception conditions acquired for each of the one or more receiver sets so that desired reception is performed at each of the two or more receiving positions; and outputting a decision result regarding the number of receivers to be placed at each of the two or more receiving positions.

Images