Information processing system, information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program

Abstract

To provide an information processing device capable of determining whether different physical addresses correspond to the same mobile terminal.SOLUTION: An information processing device 1 includes: an acquisition unit 13 that acquires a movement history of a mobile terminal for each physical address using a plurality of pieces of observation information including an observation area and an observation time according to the result obtained by observing a signal including the physical address transmitted from the mobile terminal whose physical address can change by at least one of a plurality of sensors; and a determination unit 14 that determines that first and second physical addresses are physical addresses of the same mobile terminal when the movement over time of the mobile terminal indicated by the movement history corresponding to the first physical address and the movement over time of the mobile terminal indicated by the movement history corresponding to the second physical address are continuous.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2A

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing device or the like that determines whether or not multiple physical addresses correspond to the same portable terminal by using the movement history of the portable terminal. [Background technology]

[0002] There is a demand for grasping the number of people and the flow of people in places where many people gather, such as train stations, commercial facilities, tourist spots, etc. By grasping the degree of congestion and the flow of people, it is possible to, for example, carry out promotions according to the flow of people, develop new businesses, and improve the efficiency of operations. In addition, in the event of flood damage such as typhoons, natural disasters such as earthquakes, or the spread of epidemics, it is also possible to take crisis management measures using the results of grasping the degree of congestion and the flow of people.

[0003] One method of measuring the level of congestion and the flow of people is to use cameras to photograph passersby, but this method raises issues regarding the handling of personal information, making it difficult to implement.

[0004] To solve such problems, the degree of congestion and the flow of people are grasped using the MAC (Media Access Control) addresses contained in Wi-Fi (registered trademark) wireless signals transmitted from mobile devices such as smartphones (for example, see Non-Patent Document 1).

[0005] Although a MAC address does not contain personal information, it is possible to track a terminal by continuously detecting the MAC address. To protect privacy against such terminal tracking, a function to randomize (anonymize) by changing the MAC address has been introduced. As such a function is introduced, there is a problem that it becomes impossible to accurately grasp the degree of congestion and the flow of people using the MAC address. Therefore, a system has been developed that estimates whether a plurality of wireless signals including different MAC addresses are transmitted from the same terminal using attributes of wireless signals such as the sequence number and packet length of the wireless signal, and the type of wireless signal (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0006]

Patent Document 1

Non-Patent Documents

[0007]

Non-Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0008] However, there has been a problem that when a plurality of wireless signals each including a different MAC address and transmitted from the same terminal have different attributes, the above estimation cannot be appropriately performed.

[0009] The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide an information processing apparatus or the like that can determine whether a plurality of physical addresses correspond to the same mobile terminal without using the attributes of wireless signals.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0010] To achieve the above object, an information processing apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention uses a plurality of pieces of observation information including an observation region and an observation time corresponding to a result of observation by at least one of a plurality of sensors of a signal including a physical address transmitted from a mobile terminal whose physical address can change, and obtains a movement history of the mobile terminal for each physical address. An acquisition unit, and a determination unit that determines that the first and second physical addresses are physical addresses of the same mobile terminal when the movement over time of the mobile terminal indicated by the movement history corresponding to the first physical address and the movement over time of the mobile terminal indicated by the movement history corresponding to the second physical address are continuous. With such a configuration, it is possible to determine whether two physical addresses correspond to the same mobile terminal according to whether the movements over time indicated by the movement histories corresponding to the two physical addresses are continuous. Therefore, the determination can be made without using the attributes of the wireless signal, and even when wireless signals each including a plurality of physical addresses corresponding to the same mobile terminal have different attributes, the determination can be made appropriately.

[0011] Further, in the information processing apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention, the observation region may be a region corresponding to the radio wave intensity of the signal within the coverage region of the sensor that observed the signal transmitted from the mobile terminal. With such a configuration, the observation region can be made smaller than the coverage region, the position of the mobile terminal can be specified more accurately, and as a result, a more accurate determination can be realized.

[0012] Also, in the information processing apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention, when the signal transmitted from the mobile terminal is observed by a plurality of sensors, the acquisition unit may use the overlapping area of the plurality of observation areas corresponding to the plurality of sensors as the position of the mobile terminal. With such a configuration, it is possible to specify the position of the mobile terminal more accurately, and as a result, it is possible to realize a more accurate determination.

[0013] Also, in the information processing apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention, when at least one of the moving direction and the moving speed is continuous, the determination unit may determine that the time-dependent movement of the mobile terminal indicated by the movement history corresponding to the first physical address and the time-dependent movement of the mobile terminal indicated by the movement history corresponding to the second physical address are continuous. With such a configuration, it is possible to realize a more accurate determination.

[0014] Also, the information processing apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention may further include a terminal movement history acquisition unit that acquires the movement history for each mobile terminal using the movement history for each physical address acquired by the acquisition unit and the determination result by the determination unit. With such a configuration, it becomes possible to know the movement history for each mobile terminal, and using that movement history, for example, it becomes possible to grasp the degree of congestion and the flow of people.

[0015] Also, in the information processing apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention, the mobile terminal and the plurality of sensors are present in a building partitioned into a plurality of spaces, and the acquisition unit may use the observation information of a signal having a radio wave intensity exceeding a predetermined threshold among the signals observed by a sensor arranged in a certain space within the building to acquire the movement history of the mobile terminal in that space.

[0016] With such a configuration, it becomes possible to acquire the movement history of the mobile terminal for each space within the building.

[0017] Further, in the information processing apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention, the mobile terminal and the plurality of sensors are present in a building partitioned into a plurality of spaces, the observation information includes the radio wave intensity of the observed signal, and the acquisition unit determines the space in which the sensor that has observed a signal with a radio wave intensity exceeding a predetermined threshold value is located as the space in which the mobile terminal that has transmitted the signal is located, and may also acquire a movement history using the observation information corresponding to the observation result of that sensor for a signal transmitted from a mobile terminal present in a space different from the sensor.

[0018] With such a configuration, the movement history of the mobile terminal is acquired using the radio wave transmitted from the mobile terminal and passing through the partition. As a result, for example, it is possible to realize the acquisition of a movement history using more sensors, and the acquired movement history becomes finer. Or, for example, it becomes possible to realize the acquisition of a movement history using fewer sensors.

[0019] Further, in the information processing apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention, the mobile terminal and the plurality of sensors are present in a building partitioned into a plurality of spaces, the observation information includes the radio wave intensity of the observed signal, and the storage unit further stores a plurality of pieces of correspondence information associating a plurality of sets of the radio wave intensity and the observation area for the signal transmitted from the mobile terminal with the position of the mobile terminal, and the acquisition unit may specify the position of the mobile terminal using the plurality of sets of the observation area and the radio wave intensity respectively included in the plurality of pieces of observation information including the same observation time and the correspondence information.

[0020] With such a configuration, in order to specify the position of the mobile terminal using the observation results of the plurality of sensors, it is possible to realize a more accurate position specification.

[0021] Further, in the information processing apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention, the mobile terminal and the plurality of sensors are present in a building partitioned into a plurality of floors, and at least one of the plurality of sensors is arranged inside the cage of an elevator installed in the building, and the acquisition unit may also acquire the movement history of the mobile terminal using the observation information corresponding to the observation result of the sensor arranged inside the cage.

[0022] With such a configuration, even when the mobile terminal moves via the elevator, it becomes possible to acquire a movement history corresponding to the movement.

[0023] Further, in the information processing apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention, a terminal movement history acquisition unit that acquires a movement history for each mobile terminal by merging movement histories for each physical address using the determination result by the determination unit, and based on the movement history for each mobile terminal acquired by the terminal movement history acquisition unit, a specifying unit that specifies, for each area, the number of mobile terminals in a plurality of areas obtained by virtually dividing the movement space of the mobile terminal, and the movement of the mobile terminals between adjacent areas for each time, and a prediction unit that predicts, for each area, the number of mobile terminals for each time using the specification result by the specifying unit may be further provided.

[0024] With such a configuration, it is possible to predict the number of mobile terminals present in each area. As a result, it becomes possible to predict the flow of people in a plurality of areas.

[0025] Further, the information processing apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention further includes a determination unit that determines whether there is a deviation exceeding a threshold between a prediction result at a certain time and a specification result at that time, and when it is determined by the determination unit that there is a deviation exceeding the threshold between the prediction result and the specification result, the prediction unit may perform a new prediction.

[0026] With such a configuration, when the prediction result deviates from the reality, it becomes possible to continuously maintain a high state of prediction accuracy by performing a prediction using the latest specification result.

[0027] Further, an information processing system according to an aspect of the present invention includes the above-described information processing apparatus and the plurality of sensors arranged in a building partitioned into a plurality of floors, and the sensors may be arranged at substantially the same planar positions on each floor.

[0028] With such a configuration, for example, it becomes possible to more accurately specify the floor on which the mobile terminal exists.

[0029] Further, an information processing system according to an aspect of the present invention includes the above-described information processing apparatus and the plurality of sensors disposed in a building partitioned into a plurality of floors, and a sensor on a certain floor may be disposed in a space between two adjacent sensors among the plurality of sensors disposed on the floor adjacent to that floor in a plan view.

[0030] With such a configuration, the number of sensors arranged on each floor can be reduced, and the movement history of the portable terminal can be acquired using a smaller number of sensors.

[0031] Further, an information processing method according to an aspect of the present invention includes steps of obtaining a movement history of a portable terminal for each physical address using a plurality of observation information including an observation area and an observation time corresponding to a result of observation of a signal including a physical address transmitted from a portable terminal whose physical address can change by at least one of a plurality of sensors, and determining that the first and second physical addresses are physical addresses of the same portable terminal when the time-dependent movement of the portable terminal indicated by the movement history corresponding to the first physical address and the time-dependent movement of the portable terminal indicated by the movement history corresponding to the second physical address are continuous.

Advantages of the Invention

[0032] According to an information processing apparatus or the like according to an aspect of the present invention, it becomes possible to determine whether two physical addresses correspond to the same portable terminal without using the attributes of wireless signals.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0033]

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Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0034] Hereinafter, an information processing system, an information processing apparatus, and an information processing method according to the present invention will be described using embodiments. In the following embodiments, components and steps denoted by the same reference numerals are the same or corresponding, and repeated descriptions may be omitted. The information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment acquires a movement history for each physical address included in a signal transmitted from a mobile terminal, and determines whether two physical addresses correspond to the same mobile terminal based on whether the temporal movement of the mobile terminal indicated by the movement history is continuous.

[0035] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of an information processing system 100 including an information processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2A is a block diagram showing the configuration of the information processing apparatus 1. The information processing system 100 includes an information processing apparatus 1 and a plurality of sensors 3-1 and 3-2 that observe signals transmitted from the mobile terminal 4. When the sensors 3-1 and 3-2 are not particularly distinguished, they may simply be referred to as sensors 3. The same applies to other components.

[0036] The mobile terminal 4 may be, for example, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a smartwatch, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), or the like. As shown in FIG. 1, the mobile terminal 4 transmits a wireless signal to the access point 2. In the present embodiment, the case where the access point 2 is an access point of a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) and the mobile terminal 4 is a terminal of the wireless LAN will be mainly described. The access point 2 may be, for example, a Wi-Fi router or the like. For the sake of convenience of explanation, FIG. 1 shows only one mobile terminal 4, but usually, a plurality of mobile terminals 4 exist. Also, although the mobile terminal 4 does not move by itself and moves along with the movement of the user who holds the mobile terminal 4, for the sake of convenience of explanation, such movement may sometimes be referred to as the movement of the mobile terminal 4.

[0037] Assume that the wireless signal transmitted by the mobile terminal 4 includes a physical address. The physical address may be, for example, a MAC address, or may be other information that can identify the mobile terminal 4. In this embodiment, the case where the physical address is the MAC address included in the wireless signal of the IEEE802.11 standard will be mainly described. Also, in this embodiment, the case where the mobile terminal 4 whose physical address can change transmits a signal including the physical address will be mainly described. However, even if the mobile terminal 4 includes a terminal whose physical address does not change, the physical address transmitted from that terminal is only not associated with other physical addresses, so there is no particular problem.

[0038] Note that it is also possible to determine whether the physical address can change based on the received signal. For example, a terminal that transmits a signal having a MAC address including a G / L bit of "1" and an I / G bit of "0" is a terminal that transmits a random MAC address. Therefore, when the MAC address included in the wireless signal transmitted by the mobile terminal 4 can change, the G / L bit is "1" and the I / G bit is "0". Therefore, only the wireless signal including such a MAC address may be the processing target by the information processing apparatus 1 according to this embodiment.

[0039] Also, from the perspective of privacy protection, the physical address included in the wireless signal may be anonymized using a one-way hash function or the like and then processed. Even in that case, the physical address itself and the information after the physical address is anonymized by a one-way hash function or the like correspond one-to-one, and since they are substantially the same in terms of the property of identifying the mobile terminal 4, such anonymized information will also be referred to as the physical address.

[0040] The signal including the physical address transmitted from the mobile terminal 4 may be, for example, a probe request or other signal. In the present embodiment, the case where the signal including the physical address is a probe request will be mainly described. It is preferable that the signal including the physical address is repeatedly transmitted from the mobile terminal 4 at regular or irregular intervals.

[0041] The sensor 3 observes a wireless signal including the physical address transmitted from the mobile terminal 4 and acquires the physical address included in the wireless signal. For example, it is assumed that the sensor 3-1 can observe a signal transmitted from the mobile terminal 4 existing within the region A1. This region A1 is referred to as the coverage region of the sensor 3-1. In FIG. 1, the coverage region of the sensor 3 is shown by a broken-line circle, and the coverage region of the access point 2 is shown by a one-dot chain line circle. This sensor 3 is known as a packet sensor, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted. For the packet sensor, refer to, for example, Non-Patent Document 1 above. In the present embodiment, the case where the sensor 3 is fixed, that is, the case where the position of the sensor 3 does not change over time will be mainly described.

[0042] When the sensor 3 observes a signal including the physical address transmitted from the mobile terminal 4, the sensor 3 may transmit the physical address included in the signal and the observation information including the observation region and the observation time to the information processing apparatus 1 via a wired or wireless communication line. The communication line may be, for example, the Internet, an intranet, a public telephone line network, or the like. Further, such information may be transmitted to the information processing apparatus 1 by multi-hop wireless communication between a plurality of sensors 3.

[0043] The observation area is the area where the signal transmitted from the mobile terminal 4 is observed. The observation area may be anything as long as it is information indicating that area. For example, it may be information indicating the coverage area of the sensor 3 (for example, information indicating the boundary around the coverage area by a plurality of points, etc.). When the radius of the coverage area is determined in advance, it may be the position of the sensor 3. When the radius of the coverage area and the position of each sensor 3 are determined in advance, it may be the identifier of the sensor 3. Note that when the observation area is the position or identifier of the sensor 3, in the information processing device 1, the radius of the coverage area, or the position for each sensor 3 and the radius of the coverage area may be stored. Also, the observation area may be, for example, an area having an extent, or may be a pinpoint. In the latter case, for example, a point representing the area may be used as the observation area. That point may be, for example, the position of the sensor 3 or the centroid of the area.

[0044] As described later, the observation area may be an area within the coverage area according to the radio wave intensity of the observed signal. For example, when the radio wave intensity of the observed signal is high, the observation area is an area close to the sensor 3. When the radio wave intensity of the observed signal is low, the observation area may be an annular area far from the sensor 3. The radio wave intensity may be, for example, the received signal strength indicator (RSSI). In this case, in each sensor 3, the observation area may be acquired using the radio wave intensity. Note that, for example, if there is information indicating the coverage area such as the identifier of the sensor 3 and information indicating the radio wave intensity, the observation area according to the radio wave intensity can be specified. Therefore, when the radio wave intensity of the signal is also used for specifying the observation area, the observation area may include, for example, information indicating the coverage area and the radio wave intensity of the signal.

[0045] The observation time may be, for example, the time indicating the observation time point of the signal, or may be the year, month, day, and time indicating the observation time point of the signal. The observation time may be acquired from, for example, the clock unit or the calendar unit.

[0046] The transmission of information from the sensor 3 to the information processing device 1 may or may not be performed in real time. In the former case, the sensor 3 may transmit information such as a physical address to the information processing device 1, for example, every time a signal is observed. On the other hand, in the latter case, the sensor 3 may accumulate information such as a physical address in the sensor 3 and transmit the accumulated information to the information processing device 1 periodically or irregularly in a lump. When the transmission of information to the information processing device 1 is performed in real time, for example, the observation time may not be included in the information transmitted from the sensor 3 to the information processing device 1. This is because the time when the information processing device 1 receives a physical address or the like may be used as the observation time.

[0047] It is preferable that the plurality of sensors 3 are arranged at a density such that the signal is observed by two or more sensors 3 within a period in which the physical addresses included in the signals transmitted from the mobile terminal 4 are the same. For example, when existing in the coverage area of one access point 2, a mobile terminal 4 that does not change the physical address is known. It is preferable that a plurality of sensors 3 that observe signals from such a mobile terminal 4 are arranged in the coverage area of the access point 2. This is because signals including the same physical address can be received by two or more sensors 3 due to such an arrangement of the sensors 3. Also, for example, a mobile terminal 4 that changes the physical address at regular intervals is known. It is preferable that a plurality of sensors 3 that observe signals from such a mobile terminal 4 are arranged in the moving range of the mobile terminal 4 according to the change interval of the physical address.

[0048] As shown in FIG. 1, when the mobile terminal 4 is present in the area A1, the signal transmitted from the mobile terminal 4 is observed by the sensor 3-1. Then, for example, the physical address included in the signal, the observation area indicating the area A1, and the observation time of the signal are transmitted to the information processing apparatus 1. Also, when the mobile terminal 4 moves to the area A2, the signal transmitted from the mobile terminal 4 is observed by the sensor 3-2. Then, for example, the physical address included in the signal, the observation area indicating the area A2, and the observation time of the signal are transmitted to the information processing apparatus 1. In this way, the information processing apparatus 1 can acquire a movement history indicating the movement status for each physical address of the mobile terminal 4, and can use the movement history to perform the association of two physical addresses as described later.

[0049] As shown in FIG. 2A, the information processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a reception unit 11, a storage unit 12, an acquisition unit 13, a determination unit 14, and an output unit 15. In the present embodiment, the case where the information processing apparatus 1 functions as a server that receives information from a plurality of sensors 3 and determines whether two physical addresses correspond to the same mobile terminal 4 will be mainly described. This information processing apparatus 1 is provided for each region, for example, and processing may be performed for each region. This is because it is generally considered that there is no need to associate physical addresses between different regions.

[0050] The reception unit 11 receives from the sensor 3 the physical address included in the signal transmitted from the mobile terminal 4 and the observation information including the observation area and the observation time related to the signal. As will be described later, when the sensor 3 and the information processing device 1 are integrated, the reception unit 11 may directly receive some of the observation information from the integrated sensor 3 and receive other observation information from other sensors 3. The reception unit 11 stores the received observation information in the storage unit 12 in association with the received physical address. Note that, as described above, when the observation time is not received from the sensor 3, the reception unit 11 may receive the observation time, which is the time when the observation area is received, from a clock unit or a calendar unit (not shown), and store in the storage unit 12 the observation information including the observation time and the observation area received from the sensor 3.

[0051] The reception unit 11 may receive, for example, information transmitted via a wired or wireless communication line, or may receive information output from the sensor 3. Note that the reception unit 11 may or may not include a device (for example, a communication device, etc.) for performing reception. Also, the reception unit 11 may be realized by hardware, or may be realized by software such as a driver for driving a predetermined device.

[0052] In the storage unit 12, a plurality of sets of the physical address and the observation information accumulated by the reception unit 11 are stored. Also, in the storage unit 12, for example, a movement history for each physical address described later may be stored, information on the determination result by the determination unit 14 may be stored, or a movement history for each mobile terminal 4 obtained using the determination result may be stored.

[0053] The storage unit 12 is preferably realized by a non-volatile recording medium, but may be realized by a volatile recording medium. The recording medium may be, for example, a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, or the like.

[0054] The acquisition unit 13 acquires the movement history of the mobile terminal 4 for each physical address by using a plurality of pieces of observation information including an observation area and an observation time corresponding to the result of the signal transmitted from the mobile terminal 4 being observed by at least one of the plurality of sensors 3. The movement history corresponding to a certain physical address is information indicating the change in the position of the mobile terminal 4 over time identified by that physical address. The position will usually not be a pinpoint position but will be indicated by an area, but the representative point of the area may be used as the position of the mobile terminal 4. The representative point of the area may be, for example, the central point of the area, the center of gravity of the area, etc. Note that, for example, when the observation area is indicated by a pinpoint point, the position may also be a pinpoint position. The movement history may, for example, have a plurality of sets of the observation area and the observation time for each physical address. Also, the position of the mobile terminal 4 included in the movement history may be generated using a plurality of observation areas as will be described later. The acquired movement history may be stored in the storage unit 12.

[0055] The determination unit 14 determines that the first and second physical addresses are the physical addresses of the same mobile terminal 4 when the movement of the mobile terminal 4 over time indicated by the movement history corresponding to the first physical address and the movement of the mobile terminal 4 over time indicated by the movement history corresponding to the second physical address are continuous. In this case, the first and second physical addresses will be associated as corresponding to the same mobile terminal 4. On the other hand, the determination unit 14 may determine that the first and second physical addresses are the physical addresses of different mobile terminals 4 when the movement of the mobile terminal 4 over time indicated by the movement histories corresponding to the first and second physical addresses is not continuous. Note that the movement of the mobile terminal 4 over time may indicate the change in the temporal position of the mobile terminal 4 as shown by, for example, a plurality of pieces of observation information. That is, the movement of the mobile terminal 4 over time may indicate the position of the mobile terminal 4 with time as a parameter.

[0056] By repeatedly performing such determination regarding two physical addresses for multiple combinations of two physical addresses, it is possible to associate a plurality of physical addresses corresponding to the same mobile terminal 4. Note that associating the first physical address and the second physical address means associating them as physical addresses corresponding to the same mobile terminal 4. Such association may be performed, for example, by generating information including a plurality of physical addresses, or may be performed by assigning information such as the same ID to a plurality of physical addresses.

[0057] When the movement over time indicated by the movement histories corresponding to two physical addresses is continuous both temporally and spatially (positionally), the determination unit 14 may determine that they are continuous. For example, when the time at the end of the movement history corresponding to the first physical address is earlier than the time at the start of the movement history corresponding to the second physical address, and the time interval between them is smaller than a preset time threshold, it may be determined that the end of the movement history corresponding to the first physical address is temporally continuous with the start of the movement history corresponding to the second physical address. The time threshold is preferably set to a small time interval on the order of the transmission interval of the signal including the physical address. Also, for example, when the distance between the position at the end of the movement history corresponding to the first physical address and the position at the start of the movement history corresponding to the second physical address is smaller than a preset distance threshold, it may be determined that the end of the movement history corresponding to the first physical address is spatially continuous with the start of the movement history corresponding to the second physical address. And when it is determined that the end of the movement history corresponding to the first physical address is continuous both temporally and spatially with the start of the movement history corresponding to the second physical address, the determination unit 14 may determine that the end of the movement history corresponding to the first physical address and the start of the movement history corresponding to the second physical address are continuous. Note that when it is determined that the end of the movement history corresponding to the first physical address and the start of the movement history corresponding to the second physical address are not continuous, it may also be determined whether the start of the movement history corresponding to the first physical address and the end of the movement history corresponding to the second physical address are continuous.

[0058] The determination unit 14 may further determine that when at least one of the moving direction and the moving speed is continuous, the movement of the mobile terminal 4 over time indicated by the movement history corresponding to the first physical address and the movement of the mobile terminal 4 over time indicated by the movement history corresponding to the second physical address are continuous. In this case, it is determined that the end of the movement history corresponding to the first physical address is temporally and spatially continuous with the start of the movement history corresponding to the second physical address, and when it is determined that at least one of the moving direction and the moving speed on the end side of the movement history corresponding to the first physical address and at least one of the moving direction and the moving speed on the start side of the movement history corresponding to the second physical address are continuous, the determination unit 14 may determine that the end of the movement history corresponding to the first physical address and the start of the movement history corresponding to the second physical address are continuous.

[0059] Note that the moving direction being continuous means that the moving direction does not change significantly. Also, the moving speed being continuous means that the moving speed does not change significantly. Therefore, for example, when the degree of change in the moving direction is smaller than the threshold value related to the direction, it may be determined that the moving direction is continuous, and when the degree of change in the moving speed is smaller than the threshold value related to the speed, it may be determined that the moving speed is continuous. Usually, it is considered that the moving direction and the moving speed do not change significantly before and after the position where the physical address changes. The user holding the mobile terminal 4 usually moves along the road, and if there is no bend in the road or the like, it is considered that the change in the moving direction is small. Also, the moving speed such as the walking speed is often substantially constant for each user. Therefore, by looking at the continuity of such moving direction and moving speed, it becomes possible to more accurately determine the continuity of the movement over time according to the movement history.

[0060] When acquiring the moving direction and moving speed, the determination unit 14 may, for example, acquire the moving direction or the like using information close to the end of the movement history. For example, when acquiring the moving direction and moving speed at the start of a certain movement history, the determination unit 14 may use a predetermined number of positions (e.g., observation information) on the start side of the movement history to acquire the moving direction and moving speed. More specifically, the determination unit 14 may, for example, use the first and second positions on the start side to use the direction and speed from the first position to the second position as the moving direction and moving speed. In addition, when the position included in the movement history is a region having a spread, the moving direction and moving speed may be acquired using a representative point (e.g., the center of gravity, etc.) of the region.

[0061] The determination unit 14 may make a determination for only one of the moving direction and the moving speed, or may make determinations for both. Also, when making determinations for both, the determination unit 14 may determine that the movement over time corresponding to both movement histories is continuous only when both are continuous, or may also determine that the movement over time corresponding to both movement histories is continuous even when only one of them is continuous.

[0062] The determination result by the determination unit 14 may be information associating two or more physical addresses corresponding to the same mobile terminal 4 as described above. The information may be a pair of two or more physical addresses to be associated. In the present embodiment, the case where the determination result is such an associated pair of physical addresses will be mainly described. Note that, in the determination result, the order of change of the physical addresses may be shown. For example, when the physical address M101 and the physical address M102 are included in that order in the determination result, it may be shown that the physical address has changed from the physical address M101 to the physical address M102.

[0063] The output unit 15 outputs the determination result. Here, this output may be, for example, transmission via a communication line to a predetermined device, storage in a recording medium, or delivery to other components. When this output is storage in a recording medium, the output unit 15 may store the determination result in the storage unit 12, for example, or store it in another recording medium. Note that the output unit 15 may or may not include a device that performs output (for example, a communication device, etc.). Also, the output unit 15 may be realized by hardware, or may be realized by software such as a driver that drives those devices.

[0064] Note that the processes such as acquisition and determination of the movement history by the information processing apparatus 1 may be real-time processes or batch processes. In the former case, each process is performed in real time according to the movement of the mobile terminal 4, and in the latter case, each process is performed at time intervals such as per day or per week. When real-time processing is performed in the information processing apparatus 1, it is preferable that the transmission of information from the sensor 3 is also in real time. On the other hand, when batch processing is performed in the information processing apparatus 1, the transmission of information from the sensor 3 may be in real time or may be a transmission that aggregates information for a predetermined period.

[0065] Next, the operation of the information processing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 3A. (Step S101) The reception unit 11 determines whether it has received the observation information and the physical address. If it has received the observation information or the like, it proceeds to step S102, and if not, it proceeds to step S103.

[0066] (Step S102) The reception unit 11 associates the received observation information with the physical address and stores it in the storage unit 12. Then, it returns to step S101.

[0067] (Step S103) The determination unit 14 determines whether to perform the determination process. If the determination process is to be performed, the process proceeds to step S104; otherwise, it returns to step S101. Note that the determination unit 14 may, for example, periodically determine whether to perform the determination process. If the processing in the information processing apparatus 1 is real-time processing, the interval at which the determination process is performed may be short, such as every 10 minutes or every 30 minutes. If the processing in the information processing apparatus 1 is batch processing, the interval at which the determination process is performed may be long, such as every day, every week, or every month.

[0068] (Step S104) The acquisition unit 13 acquires the movement history for each physical address using the observation information. The details of this process will be described later with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 3B.

[0069] (Step S105) The determination unit 14 performs the determination process using the movement history. The details of this process will be described later with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 3C.

[0070] (Step S106) The output unit 15 outputs the determination result. Then, it returns to step S101.

[0071] Note that in the flowchart of FIG. 3A, the acquisition of the movement history and the determination may be performed at different timings. For example, the acquisition of the movement history may be performed at a higher frequency than the determination. Also, the order of the processes in the flowchart of FIG. 3A is an example, and if the same result can be obtained, the order of each step may be changed. The same applies to the flowcharts of FIGS. 3B and 3C described later. Also, in the flowchart of FIG. 3A, the process ends due to a power-off or a processing end interrupt.

[0072] FIG. 3B is a flowchart showing the details of the movement history acquisition process (step S104) in the flowchart of FIG. 3A. (Step S201) The acquisition unit 13 sets the counter i to 1.

[0073] (Step S202) The acquisition unit 13 determines whether the observation information corresponding to the i-th physical address is stored in the storage unit 12. If the observation information corresponding to the i-th physical address is stored in the storage unit 12, the process proceeds to step S203; otherwise, the process returns to the flowchart of FIG. 3A.

[0074] (Step S203) The acquisition unit 13 acquires a movement history using the observation information corresponding to the i-th physical address. For example, the acquisition unit 13 may acquire the observation information corresponding to the i-th physical address and obtain the movement history by arranging the acquired observation information in ascending order of the observation time.

[0075] (Step S204) The acquisition unit 13 accumulates the movement history acquired in step S203 in the storage unit 12 in association with the i-th physical address.

[0076] (Step S205) The acquisition unit 13 increments the counter i by 1. Then, the process returns to step S202.

[0077] Note that when the processing in the information processing apparatus 1 is real-time processing, the movement history may be acquired only for a part of a series of movements of the mobile terminal 4. In such a case, the acquisition unit 13 may acquire the movement history using the observation information that was not used in the acquisition of the movement history up to that point in the subsequent acquisition of the movement history, and may add the acquired movement history to the existing movement history.

[0078] FIG. 3C is a flowchart showing details of the determination process (step S105) in the flowchart of FIG. 3A. (Step S301) The determination unit 14 sets the counter i to 1.

[0079] (Step S302) The determination unit 14 determines whether the movement history corresponding to the i-th physical address is stored in the storage unit 12. If the movement history corresponding to the i-th physical address is stored in the storage unit 12, the process proceeds to step S303; otherwise, the process returns to the flowchart of FIG. 3A.

[0080] (Step S303) The determination unit 14 sets the counter j to a value obtained by adding 1 to the value of the counter i.

[0081] (Step S304) The determination unit 14 determines whether the movement history corresponding to the j-th physical address is stored in the storage unit 12. If the movement history corresponding to the j-th physical address is stored in the storage unit 12, the process proceeds to step S305; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S310.

[0082] (Step S305) The determination unit 14 determines whether the movement history corresponding to the i-th physical address and the movement history corresponding to the j-th physical address are temporally continuous. If both are temporally continuous, the process proceeds to step S306; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S309.

[0083] In this case, the determination unit 14 may determine whether the end of the movement history corresponding to the i-th physical address and the start of the movement history corresponding to the j-th physical address are temporally continuous, and whether the start of the movement history corresponding to the i-th physical address and the end of the movement history corresponding to the j-th physical address are temporally continuous. And when one of them is temporally continuous, the determination unit 14 may determine that the movement history corresponding to the i-th physical address and the movement history corresponding to the j-th physical address are temporally continuous.

[0084] (Step S306) The determination unit 14 determines whether the movement history corresponding to the i-th physical address and the movement history corresponding to the j-th physical address are spatially continuous. If both are spatially continuous, the process proceeds to Step S307; otherwise, the process proceeds to Step S309.

[0085] In this case, for example, in Step S305, when it is determined that the end of the movement history corresponding to the i-th physical address and the start of the movement history corresponding to the j-th physical address are temporally continuous, the determination unit 14 may determine only whether the end of the movement history corresponding to the i-th physical address and the start of the movement history corresponding to the j-th physical address are spatially continuous. Also, for example, in Step S305, when it is determined that the start of the movement history corresponding to the i-th physical address and the end of the movement history corresponding to the j-th physical address are temporally continuous, the determination unit 14 may determine only whether the start of the movement history corresponding to the i-th physical address and the end of the movement history corresponding to the j-th physical address are spatially continuous.

[0086] (Step S307) The determination unit 14 determines whether at least one of the movement direction and the movement speed is continuous for the movement history corresponding to the i-th physical address and the movement history corresponding to the j-th physical address. If at least one of the movement direction and the movement speed is continuous, the process proceeds to Step S308; otherwise, the process proceeds to Step S309.

[0087] Also in this case, similar to Step S306, the determination may be made only for the combination of the end and the start of the two movement histories determined to be continuous in Step S305.

[0088] (Step S308) The determination unit 14 determines that the i-th physical address and the j-th physical address are the physical addresses of the same mobile terminal 4. Then, the determination unit 14 may generate information indicating a determination result that pairs the i-th physical address and the j-th physical address. That is, the i-th physical address and the j-th physical address may be associated. In the previous determination results, if at least one of the i-th physical address and the j-th physical address is associated with another physical address, the new determination result and the previous determination results may be merged.

[0089] (Step S309) The determination unit 14 increments the counter j by 1. Then, it returns to Step S304.

[0090] (Step S310) The determination unit 14 increments the counter i by 1. Then, it returns to Step S302.

[0091] Note that when the processing in the information processing apparatus 1 is real-time processing, the stored movement history may be updated. In such a case, for example, for the side where it is not determined to be continuous with other movement histories among the start and end of each movement history, the processing in FIG. 3C is performed, and for the side where it is determined to be continuous with other movement histories, the processing in FIG. 3C may not be performed.

[0092] Next, the operation of the information processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described using a specific example. In this specific example, it is assumed that batch processing is performed in the information processing apparatus 1. Therefore, the observation information for one day and the like are stored in the information processing apparatus 1, and using this information, processing regarding the observation information for one day is performed at a predetermined time in the middle of the night (in this specific example, 2:00 am).

[0093] Also, in this specific example, as shown in FIG. 4, it is assumed that a plurality of sensors 3 and a plurality of access points 2 are arranged. Further, it is assumed that a certain user is moving as indicated by the arrow in the figure while holding the mobile terminal 4. Here, in FIG. 4, it is assumed that the top in the figure is north. Therefore, the user holding the mobile terminal 4 is moving westward. Also, when the mobile terminal 4 moves from the coverage area of the access point 2-1 to the coverage area of the access point 2-2, it is assumed that the physical address changes from M101 to M103. Note that in FIG. 4, only one mobile terminal 4 is shown, but it is assumed that other mobile terminals 4 held by other users are also moving. Also, in FIG. 4, the coverage area of each sensor 3 is shown by a dashed circle, and the coverage area of each access point 2 is shown by a one-dot chain line circle. Also, in this specific example, in step S307, only the determination of the moving direction is performed.

[0094] When a probe request is transmitted from the mobile terminal 4, each sensor 3 receives the probe request, reads out the MAC address which is the physical address from the probe request, and acquires the observation time from the clock unit or the calendar unit. Also, the sensor 3 reads out the observation area indicating the position of the sensor 3 held therein, and transmits the read physical address and the observation information including the observation time and the observation area to the information processing device 1.

[0095] When the reception unit 11 of the information processing device 1 receives the physical address and the observation information from the sensor 3, it associates them and stores them in the storage unit 12 (steps S101, S102). By repeating the transmission of the observation information and the like from such a sensor 3 and the reception of the observation information and the like in the information processing device 1, in the storage unit 12, as shown in FIG. 5, a set of the physical address and the observation information is accumulated. Note that in FIG. 5, the observation time T1 and the like included in the observation information are assumed to be later times as the numerical values increase. Also, the observation area included in the observation information indicates the coverage area of the sensor 3 that transmitted the observation area.

[0096] After that, when it becomes 2:00 am, the determination unit 14 determines to perform the determination process and instructs the acquisition unit 13 to acquire the movement history (step S103). Upon receiving the instruction, the acquisition unit 13 acquires the movement history using the physical address and the observation information stored in the storage unit 12 (step S104). Specifically, the acquisition unit 13 refers to the information in FIG. 5, acquires the observation information associated with the first physical address M101, and arranges the observation information in ascending order of the observation time to acquire the movement history (steps S201 to S203). As shown in FIG. 6A, the movement history is obtained by arranging the observation time and the observation area in time series. After acquiring the movement history in FIG. 6A, the acquisition unit 13 associates the movement history with the physical address M101 and stores it in the storage unit 12 (step S204). Similarly, as shown in FIGS. 6B and 6C, the acquisition unit 13 also acquires the movement history for the physical addresses M102 and M103 and stores them in the storage unit 12 in association with the physical addresses (steps S202 to S205).

[0097] When the acquisition of the movement history is completed, the determination unit 14 performs the determination process (step S105). Specifically, the determination unit 14 refers to the movement history of the first physical address M101 (FIG. 6A) and the movement history of the second physical address M102 (FIG. 6B), and determines whether the start and end points of both movement histories are temporally continuous. In this case, since both movement histories include the same time period such as T3 to T6, the determination unit 14 determines that the start and end points of both movement histories are not temporally continuous (steps S301 to S305).

[0098] Next, the determination unit 14 refers to the movement history of the first physical address M101 (FIG. 6A) and the movement history of the third physical address M103 (FIG. 6C), and determines whether the start and end of both movement histories are temporally continuous. In this case, it is assumed that the difference between the end time T7 in the movement history of the first physical address M101 and the start time T9 in the movement history of the third physical address M103 is smaller than the threshold value. Then, the determination unit 14 determines that both movement histories are temporally continuous (steps S309, S304, S305).

[0099] Thereafter, the determination unit 14 determines whether the end of the movement history of the first physical address M101 and the start of the movement history of the third physical address M103 are spatially continuous. In this case, since the end region A5 in the movement history of the first physical address M101 and the start region A5 in the movement history of the third physical address M103 match, the determination unit 14 determines that both movement histories are spatially continuous (step S306).

[0100] Thereafter, the determination unit 14 determines whether the movement directions of the end of the movement history of the first physical address M101 and the start of the movement history of the third physical address M103 are continuous. In this case, on the end side in the movement history of the first physical address M101, westward movement from region A2 to region A5 is performed, and on the start side in the movement history of the third physical address M103, westward movement from region A5 to region A6 is also performed. Therefore, the determination unit 14 determines that the movement directions of both movement histories are continuous (step S307).

[0101] The end of the movement history of the first physical address M101 and the start of the movement history of the third physical address M103 are temporally and spatially continuous, and the movement directions are also continuous. Therefore, the determination unit 14 determines that the end of the movement history of the first physical address M101 and the start of the movement history of the third physical address M103 are continuous, and generates information (M101, M103) for associating the two physical addresses (step S308). Also, the determination unit 14 performs the same determination process and the like for other movement histories (steps S302 to S310).

[0102] When the determination process ends, the output unit 15 receives and outputs information indicating the determination result from the determination unit 14 (step S106). By using this output result, it becomes possible to obtain more accurate information regarding the movement of the mobile terminal 4. In this specific example, the case where batch processing is performed has been described, but real-time processing is also substantially the same process, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

[0103] As described above, according to the information processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, even when the physical address of the mobile terminal 4 changes, by determining the continuity of the movement over time corresponding to the physical address, it is possible to determine whether a plurality of physical addresses correspond to the same mobile terminal 4. Also, since the determination is made without using the attributes of the radio signals, even when radio signals each including a plurality of physical addresses corresponding to the same mobile terminal 4 have different attributes, an appropriate determination can be made. Also, when the determination is made using the movement direction and the movement speed as well, a more accurate determination can be made.

[0104] Next, a modification example of the present embodiment will be described. [Identification of the Position of a Mobile Terminal Using a Plurality of Observation Regions] When signals transmitted from the mobile terminal 4 are received by a plurality of sensors 3, the acquisition unit 13 may use the overlapping area of the plurality of observation areas corresponding to the plurality of sensors 3 as the position of the mobile terminal 4. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, assume that a certain signal transmitted from the mobile terminal 4 is observed by both the sensor 3-1 and the sensor 3-2. In this case, from the sensor 3-1, the physical address of the mobile terminal 4, and the observation information including the observation time and the observation area A1 are transmitted, and from the sensor 3-2, the physical address of the mobile terminal 4, and the observation information including the observation time and the observation area A2 are transmitted. Note that by using the physical address and the observation time, the acquisition unit 13 can determine whether the same signal has been received by the plurality of sensors 3-1, 3-2. For example, when the physical addresses of the signals received by the plurality of sensors 3-1, 3-2 are the same and the difference in the observation time is smaller than the threshold value, the acquisition unit 13 may determine that the same signal has been received by the plurality of sensors 3-1, 3-2. And when the acquisition unit 13 determines that the same signal has been received by the plurality of sensors 3, the overlapping area A101 of the plurality of observation areas A1, A2 corresponding to the plurality of sensors 3 may be used as the position of the mobile terminal 4. By doing so, the position of the mobile terminal 4 can be specified in more detail, the position of the mobile terminal 4 in the movement history becomes more accurate, and the accuracy of the determination can be improved. Note that here, the coverage area of the sensor 3 is used as the observation area. Also, when specifying a finer position by having one signal received by a plurality of sensors 3 in this way, it is preferable that the plurality of sensors 3 are arranged so that the coverage areas of the respective sensors 3 overlap. Note that, for example, when the observation area is information indicating a pinpoint point, the overlapping area of the plurality of observation areas corresponding to the plurality of sensors 3 may be the centroid of the plurality of observation areas (this observation area is a pinpoint point) corresponding to the plurality of sensors 3.

[0105] [Observation Area According to Radio Wave Intensity] As described above, the observation area may be an area corresponding to the radio wave intensity of the signal within the coverage area of the sensor that observes the signal transmitted from the mobile terminal 4. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, it is assumed that the coverage area (observation area) A1 of the sensor 3-1 is divided into an area A1-1 with a high radio wave intensity, an area A1-2 with a medium radio wave intensity, and an area A1-3 with a low radio wave intensity. Similarly, it is assumed that the coverage area A2 of the sensor 3-2 is divided into areas A2-1 to A2-3. In this case, a certain signal transmitted from the mobile terminal 4 is observed by both the sensor 3-1 and the sensor 3-2, and the radio wave intensity of the signal acquired by each sensor 3 is compared with a preset threshold value. It is assumed that the radio wave intensity of the signal received by the sensor 3-1 is medium, and the radio wave intensity of the signal received by the sensor 3-2 is determined to be low. Then, in the sensor 3-1, the observation area A1-2 is acquired, and in the sensor 3-2, the observation area A2-3 is acquired. When the physical address and the observation information are transmitted from each sensor 3 to the information processing device 1, the acquisition unit 13 can set the overlapping area A102 of both observation areas A1-2 and A2-3 as the position of the mobile terminal 4. Note that FIG. 8 shows the case where the coverage areas of a plurality of sensors 3 overlap. However, even in the case where the coverage areas do not overlap, by using the observation area corresponding to the radio wave intensity of the observed signal, it becomes possible to specify the more detailed position of the mobile terminal 4 and improve the accuracy of the determination.

[0106] [Acquisition of Movement History for Each Mobile Terminal] In this embodiment, the determination process for associating physical addresses has been described. However, by using the determination result to merge the movement history for each physical address, the movement history for each mobile terminal 4 may be obtained. In this case, as shown in FIG. 2B, the information processing apparatus 1 may further include a terminal movement history acquisition unit 16. The terminal movement history acquisition unit 16 acquires the movement history for each mobile terminal 4 by using the movement history for each physical address acquired by the acquisition unit 13 and the determination result by the determination unit 14. More specifically, the terminal movement history acquisition unit 16 may acquire the movement history corresponding to the mobile terminal 4 by merging the movement histories respectively corresponding to the physical addresses to be associated by using the information for associating the physical addresses that is the determination result. In the case of the above specific example, since the movement histories shown in FIGS. 6A and 6C respectively correspond to the physical addresses M101 and M103 to be associated, the terminal movement history acquisition unit 16 may acquire the movement history of the mobile terminal 4 identified by the physical addresses M101 and M103 by merging both movement histories in chronological order. The acquired movement history of the mobile terminal 4 may be stored in the storage unit 12, for example, or may be output by the output unit 15.

[0107] [Acquisition of Movement History in a Building Having a Plurality of Spaces (When Observation Information of Radio Waves Passing Through Partition Walls is not Used)] In this embodiment, the case where a plurality of sensors 3 and mobile terminals 4 are present outdoors has been mainly described, but this is not necessary. The plurality of sensors 3 and mobile terminals 4 may be present inside a building. In this case, for example, the plurality of sensors 3 and mobile terminals 4 may be present inside a building whose interior is partitioned into a plurality of spaces. This building may be partitioned into a plurality of spaces (for example, each floor) by a partition extending in the horizontal direction (for example, a ceiling or a floor), or may be partitioned into a plurality of spaces (for example, a room or a corridor) by a partition extending in the vertical direction (for example, a partition wall), or may be both. This partition is physical, and when radio waves propagate from one space to an adjacent space, it is assumed that the radio waves are attenuated by passing through the partition. In the following description, the case where the inside of the building is divided into a plurality of floors by a horizontal partition will be mainly described. The building is not particularly limited, but may be, for example, a commercial building with a store, an office building, a factory, etc., or may be a building such as an underground shopping mall or a large ship.

[0108] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing a building partitioned into a plurality of spaces, that is, the first and second floors, by a partition 6. Also, it is assumed that sensors 3-1 to 3-4 are arranged on each floor. In FIG. 9, the display of the access point is omitted. The same applies to FIGS. 10 and 13. In this case, the signal from the mobile terminal 4 present on the first floor is observed by the sensor 3-1 on the first floor and also by the sensor 3-3 on the second floor. Therefore, if the movement history of the mobile terminal 4 is acquired using both signals observed by the sensors 3-1 and 3-3, it would mean that the mobile terminal 4 is present on two floors at the same time, and an inaccurate movement history would be acquired.

[0109] Note that the radio waves transmitted from the mobile terminal 4 are usually greatly attenuated by passing through the partition 6. Therefore, the acquisition unit 13 may acquire the movement history of the mobile terminal 4 in a certain space in the building by using the observation information of signals with radio wave intensity exceeding a predetermined threshold among the signals observed by the sensor 3 arranged in that space. In this case, the observation information of signals with radio wave intensity less than the predetermined threshold may not be used for acquiring the movement history of the mobile terminal 4 in that space. Note that the observation information of signals with radio wave intensity equal to the threshold may, for example, be used for acquiring the movement history, or may not be used. The predetermined threshold may be set, for example, such that the radio wave intensity of the radio waves passing through the partition 6 is less than the threshold. On the other hand, in a certain space, when the mobile terminal 4 exists within the coverage area of the sensor 3, it is preferable that the radio wave intensity corresponding to the observation result of the signal from the mobile terminal 4 by the sensor 3 exceeds the threshold. In this case, for example, in FIG. 9, regarding the signal transmitted from the mobile terminal 4, the observation information corresponding to the observation result by the sensor 3-3 arranged in a space different from the mobile terminal 4 (that is, the second floor) is not used for acquiring the movement history, and the movement history is acquired by using the observation information corresponding to the observation result by the sensor 3-1 arranged in the same space as the mobile terminal 4 (that is, the first floor). Note that in FIG. 9, the intensity of the radio waves transmitted from the mobile terminal 4 is indicated by the thickness of the arrow.

[0110] In this case, for example, in each sensor 3, when a signal with a radio wave intensity below the threshold value is observed, it may not be necessary to transmit observation information corresponding to the observation result to the information processing device 1. Also, for example, each sensor 3 transmits observation information including the radio wave intensity of the observed signal to the information processing device 1 regardless of the radio wave intensity of the observed signal, and the acquisition unit 13 may acquire the movement history of the mobile terminal 4 using only the observation information including the radio wave intensity exceeding the threshold value. By doing so, the acquisition unit 13 can acquire the movement history in each space within the building more accurately. When the building is divided into a plurality of floors, the position and area of the mobile terminal 4 may be, for example, information including the floor number. For example, the position of the mobile terminal 4 may be information including the floor number and the position in the planar direction on that floor. In this case, for example, the observation area corresponding to the observation result of the sensor 3 may include the floor number where the sensor 3 is located, and in the information processing device 1 or the like, the identifier of the sensor 3 and the floor number where the sensor 3 is located may be stored in association with each other.

[0111] As described above, when not using the observation information of the radio wave that has passed through the partition, each sensor 3 receives the signal transmitted from the mobile terminal 4 existing in the space where the sensor 3 is arranged with a stronger radio wave intensity, but has a directivity to receive the signal transmitted from the mobile terminal 4 existing in another space with a weaker radio wave intensity, that is, uses an antenna having directivity in the direction of the space where the sensor 3 is located to observe the signal from the mobile terminal 4.

[0112] In a building partitioned into a plurality of floors, each sensor 3 may be arranged at substantially the same planar position on each floor. In this case, among the sensors 3 that have observed the signal transmitted from the mobile terminal 4, the mobile terminal 4 will be present on the floor where the sensor 3 that has observed the signal with the strongest radio wave intensity exists. Therefore, each sensor 3 transmits observation information including the radio wave intensity of the signal to the information processing apparatus 1, and the acquisition unit 13 may acquire the movement history of the mobile terminal 4 by using the observation information of the plurality of sensors 3 arranged on the same floor as the sensor 3 that has observed the signal with the strongest radio wave intensity for a certain physical address. In this case, the acquisition unit 13 may acquire the movement history of the mobile terminal 4 by using, for example, the observation information acquired by the sensors 3 arranged on the floor where the mobile terminal 4 is present, or may acquire the movement history of the mobile terminal 4 by using only the observation information including the radio wave intensity exceeding the threshold value among the observation information acquired by the sensors 3 arranged on the floor where the mobile terminal 4 is present.

[0113] [Acquisition of Movement History in a Building Having a Plurality of Spaces (When Using Observation Information of Radio Waves Passing Through Partitions)] When a plurality of sensors 3 and a mobile terminal 4 exist inside a building whose interior is partitioned into a plurality of spaces, the movement history of the mobile terminal 4 may be acquired using also the observation information of the radio waves that have passed through the partition 6 and attenuated. In this case, it is preferable that the observation information also includes the radio wave intensity of the observed signal. Then, the acquisition unit 13 of the information processing apparatus 1 may regard the space in which the sensor 3 that has observed a signal with a radio wave intensity exceeding a predetermined threshold exists as the space in which the mobile terminal 4 that has transmitted the signal exists. For example, in FIG. 10, when the observation information transmitted from the sensor 3-1 that has observed the signal transmitted from the mobile terminal 4 includes a radio wave intensity exceeding the threshold, the acquisition unit 13 can determine that the mobile terminal 4 that has transmitted the signal exists in the same space as the sensor 3-1, that is, on the first floor. On the other hand, when the observation information transmitted from the sensor 3-3 that has observed the signal transmitted from the mobile terminal 4 includes a radio wave intensity less than the threshold, the acquisition unit 13 will not determine that the mobile terminal that has transmitted the signal exists in the same space as the sensor 3-3, that is, on the second floor. In this case, for example, although the sensor 3 and the mobile terminal 4 exist in the same space, it cannot be distinguished whether the radio wave intensity is less than the threshold because the distance between the two is far, or whether the two exist in different spaces and there is a partition between the two, so that the radio wave intensity is less than the threshold, only using the fact that the radio wave intensity is less than the threshold. Therefore, the acquisition unit 13 may not use the observation information including a radio wave intensity less than the threshold for specifying the space in which the mobile terminal 4 exists.

[0114] In this case, the acquisition unit 13 may also acquire the movement history by using the observation information corresponding to the observation result of the sensor 3 regarding the signal transmitted from the mobile terminal 4 existing in a space different from the sensor 3. That is, for the mobile terminal 4 with a certain physical address, the acquisition unit 13 uses the observation information including the radio wave intensity exceeding the threshold value to identify the space where the mobile terminal 4 exists, and uses all the observation information regarding the mobile terminal 4 to identify the position in the identified space. For example, in FIG. 10, when the mobile terminal 4 is moving as indicated by the arrow, the acquisition unit 13 can determine that the mobile terminal 4 with a certain physical address exists on the first floor based on the observation information corresponding to the signal of the radio wave intensity exceeding the threshold value of the mobile terminal 4 observed by the sensor 3-1. Further, the acquisition unit 13 can acquire a movement history indicating that the mobile terminal 4 with the physical address has moved in the order of the position corresponding to the sensor 3-1, the position corresponding to the sensor 3-3, and the position corresponding to the sensor 3-2 on the first floor based on the observation information corresponding to the observation results of the sensors 3-1, 3-3, and 3-2. The movement history may have, for example, a plurality of sets of the position of the mobile terminal 4 with a certain physical address and the observation time of the signal from the mobile terminal 4. The position of the mobile terminal 4 may include, for example, information (such as the floor number, etc.) for identifying the space specified as described above and the position in the planar direction (such as the position in the planar direction of the sensor 3-1 or the coverage area of the sensor 3-1, etc.).

[0115] In addition, in the case where the inside of the building is divided into a plurality of spaces by the partition 6 extending in the vertical direction, when the signal of the mobile terminal 4 existing in a certain space is observed by the sensors 3 existing in different spaces, the position of the mobile terminal 4 may be set as the position closest to the sensor 3 that observed the radio wave in the space where the mobile terminal 4 exists (for example, near the partition).

[0116] When the movement history of the mobile terminal 4 is acquired using the observation information of the radio wave that has passed through the partition 6, if the observation area is an area corresponding to the coverage area of the sensor 3 that has observed the signal transmitted from the mobile terminal 4, the coverage area of the sensor 3 may be narrower when the sensor 3 observes a signal transmitted from a mobile terminal 4 existing in a space different from that sensor 3 than when it observes a signal transmitted from a mobile terminal 4 existing in the same space as that sensor 3. For example, FIG. 11 is a perspective plan view showing the arrangement of a plurality of sensors 3 shown in FIG. 10. In FIG. 11, the coverage area of each sensor 3 is shown as a broken-line circular shape. Sensors 3-1 and 3-2 exist in the same space (floor) as the mobile terminal 4, but sensor 3-3 exists in a space different from the mobile terminal 4. Therefore, the coverage areas of sensors 3-1 and 3-2 are wider than the coverage area of sensor 3-3. When a plurality of sensors 3 and mobile terminals 4 exist in a building partitioned into a plurality of floors, the position of the mobile terminal 4 in the plane direction may be specified using such a coverage area.

[0117] In addition, when the movement history of the mobile terminal 4 is acquired using the observation information of the radio wave that has passed through the partition 6 by a plurality of sensors 3 arranged in a building partitioned into a plurality of floors, a sensor 3 on a certain floor may be arranged in the space between two adjacent sensors 3 among the plurality of sensors 3 arranged on the floor adjacent to that floor in plan view. For example, as shown in FIG. 11, the sensor 3-3 on the second floor may exist in the space S1 between two adjacent sensors 3-1 and 3-2 among the plurality of sensors 3 arranged on the first floor, which is the floor adjacent to the second floor, in plan view. By doing so, when the mobile terminal 4 moves on the first floor, the position in the space S1 can be specified using the sensor 3-3 arranged on the second floor, and it is not necessary to separately arrange a sensor 3 in the space S1 on the first floor. As a result, the number of sensors 3 arranged in the building can be reduced as a whole.

[0118] [Acquisition of Movement History in a Building Having a Plurality of Spaces (When Using Corresponding Information)] When a plurality of sensors 3 and a mobile terminal 4 are present inside a building whose interior is partitioned into a plurality of spaces, the position of the mobile terminal 4 may be specified using correspondence information, and the movement history of the mobile terminal 4 may be acquired. The correspondence information is information that associates a plurality of sets of radio wave intensity and observation area regarding a signal transmitted from the mobile terminal 4 with the position of the mobile terminal 4. The correspondence information may be, for example, information having a plurality of sets of radio wave intensity and observation area and the position of the mobile terminal 4. In the present embodiment, this case will be mainly described. The plurality of correspondence information may be stored in the storage unit 12 of the information processing apparatus 1. Depending on the correspondence information, the set of radio wave intensity and observation area associated with the position may be, for example, information according to the observation result or information generated based on the observation result. In the latter case, for example, correspondence information indicating the radio wave intensity in a range may be generated based on the observation result, and the position associated with the plurality of sets of radio wave intensity and observation area may also be a position indicated in a range. Thus, when the movement history is acquired using the correspondence information, it is preferable that the observation information also includes the radio wave intensity of the observed signal.

[0119] The acquisition unit 13 may specify the position of the mobile terminal 4 using a plurality of sets of observation area and radio wave intensity included in a plurality of pieces of observation information corresponding to a certain physical address and including the same observation time, and a plurality of pieces of correspondence information stored in the storage unit 12. More specifically, the acquisition unit 13 specifies correspondence information having a plurality of sets of observation area and radio wave intensity that match the plurality of sets of observation area and radio wave intensity included in a plurality of pieces of observation information corresponding to a certain physical address and including the same observation time, and may set the position included in the correspondence information as the position of the mobile terminal 4 corresponding to the physical address.

[0120] Note that the same observation time may mean, for example, that the observation times exactly match, or that the observation times match within a predetermined error range. Further, when specifying the position of the mobile terminal 4 using the correspondence information, the observation area may be, for example, the position of the sensor 3 or the identifier of the sensor 3. Further, whether or not a plurality of sets of the observation area and the radio wave intensity obtained from the observation information match the plurality of sets of the observation area and the radio wave intensity included in the correspondence information may be determined, for example, by whether or not the plurality of radio wave intensities paired with the plurality of observation areas obtained from the observation information match the plurality of radio wave intensities paired with the plurality of observation areas that match the plurality of observation areas in the correspondence information, respectively.

[0121] Note that the fact that the plurality of radio wave intensities included in the plurality of observation information and the plurality of radio wave intensities included in the correspondence information match may mean, for example, that they exactly match, or that they match within a predetermined error range. Also, whether a plurality of pairs of an observation area and a radio wave intensity match may be determined, for example, using the radio wave intensity values themselves for each observation area, or using the ratio of the radio wave intensities for each observation area. For example, if the plurality of radio wave intensities for each observation area included in the plurality of observation information are (L11, L12, L13), and the plurality of radio wave intensities for the same observation area included in a certain correspondence information are (L21, L22, L23), then in the former case, when the value of │L11 - L21│+│L12 - L22│+│L13 - L23│ is smaller than a predetermined threshold value, it is determined that the two radio wave intensities match, and when not, it may be determined that the two radio wave intensities do not match. In the latter case, when the value of │L11 - L21×(L11 / L21)│+│L12 - L22×(L11 / L21)│+│L13 - L23×(L11 / L21)│ = │L12 - L22×(L11 / L21)│+│L13 - L23×(L11 / L21)│ is smaller than a predetermined threshold value, it is determined that the two radio wave intensities match, and when not, it may be determined that the two radio wave intensities do not match. Note that when the calculated value is equal to the threshold value, for example, it may be determined that they match, or it may be determined that they do not match. Also, here, in the determination of whether the radio wave intensities match, the absolute value of the difference in radio wave intensities is used, but for example, the square of the difference in radio wave intensities may be used, and needless to say, other calculation formulas may be used as long as the same determination can be made as a result.

[0122] The specification of the position of the mobile terminal 4 using the correspondence information will be described more specifically. For example, a plurality of correspondence information shown in FIG. 12 is stored in the storage unit 12, and for the mobile terminal 4 with a certain physical address, three pieces of observation information having an observation time T101 are received by the information processing apparatus 1, and for each piece of observation information, as a pair of an observation area and a radio wave intensity, (A101, L101-1) (A102, L101-2) (A103, L101-3) Assume that it was included. Note that A101 etc. are the observation areas, and L101-1 etc. are the radio wave intensities. Then, the acquisition unit 13 first identifies the correspondence information including the observation areas A101, A102, A103 from the plurality of pieces of correspondence information stored in the storage unit 12. Then, from the identified correspondence information, the correspondence information having radio wave intensities that match the radio wave intensities corresponding to the observation areas A101, A102, A103 included in the observation information is identified. In this case, assume that the radio wave intensities L1, L2, L3 corresponding to the observation areas A101, A102, A103 respectively match the radio wave intensities L101-1, L101-2, L101-3 within the error range. Then, the acquisition unit 13 sets the position of the mobile terminal 4 corresponding to the observation time T101 as the position A51 included in the correspondence information having the radio wave intensities L1, L2, L3. In this way, the position of the mobile terminal 4 can be identified using the correspondence information. Note that, in identifying the position of the mobile terminal 4 using the correspondence information, the observation information of the radio wave that has passed through the partition may be used. In this case, compared with the case where the observation information of the radio wave that has passed through the partition is not used, the position of the mobile terminal 4 can be identified using a smaller number of sensors 3.

[0123] Also, when identifying the position of the mobile terminal using the correspondence information, the number of sets of the observation area and the radio wave intensity included in each piece of correspondence information may be determined in advance. The number determined in advance may be, for example, 2, 3, etc. Then, when the acquisition unit 13 identifies the position of the mobile terminal 4 using the correspondence information, among the plurality of pieces of observation information including the same observation time corresponding to a certain physical address, the number of pieces of observation information determined in advance in descending order of radio wave intensity is identified, and a plurality of sets of the observation area and the radio wave intensity included in the identified plurality of pieces of observation information may be used.

[0124] [Acquisition of Movement History Using Observation Results of Sensors Arranged Inside the Elevator Car] When a plurality of sensors 3 and a mobile terminal 4 are present inside a building whose interior is partitioned into a plurality of floors, and at least one sensor 3 is arranged inside the cage of an elevator installed in the building, the acquisition unit 13 may also acquire the movement history of the mobile terminal 4 by using the observation information corresponding to the observation results by the sensor 3 inside the cage. In this case, for example, the observation information corresponding to the observation results of the signals from the mobile terminal 4 by the sensor 3 arranged inside the cage may include the radio wave intensity of the observed signal, the floor information indicating the stop floor or the passing floor of the cage at the time of observing the signal, and the open / closed state of the door of the cage at the time of observing the signal. The sensor 3 arranged inside the cage may receive, for example, the floor information and the open / closed state of the door from a control device provided in the elevator cage. The floor information may be, for example, information indicating the floor number where the cage is located, and may also be information indicating whether the cage has stopped at that floor number or is passing through that floor number together with the floor number (for example, "stop floor 3" indicating that it has stopped at the 3rd floor, or "passing floor 3" indicating that it is passing through the 3rd floor, etc.). In the present embodiment, the latter case will be mainly described. The acquisition unit 13 may specify the position of the mobile terminal 4 inside and outside the cage by using the radio wave intensity, the floor information, and the open / closed state of the door included in the observation information from the sensor 3 arranged inside the cage. The position inside and outside the cage may be, for example, that the mobile terminal 4 exists inside the cage, or that the mobile terminal 4 exists in the elevator hall outside the cage. In this way, by specifying the position inside and outside the cage, for example, a movement history indicating the entry and exit of the mobile terminal 4 into and out of the elevator cage can be acquired.

[0125] The acquisition unit 13 may identify the position of the mobile terminal 4 by using observation information corresponding to the observation results by the sensor 3 in the cage when the door of the elevator cage is closed, for example. For example, according to the observation information corresponding to the observation results of the sensor 3 arranged in the elevator cage, it is shown by the opening / closing state that the door of the elevator cage is closed, and when the radio wave intensity exceeds the first threshold value, at the time indicated by the observation time included in the observation information, the acquisition unit 13 determines that the mobile terminal 4 corresponding to the observation information exists in the cage on the floor indicated by the floor information included in the observation information (this floor may be a stop floor or a passing floor). The first threshold value is set such that, for example, the radio wave intensity of the signal transmitted from the mobile terminal 4 existing in the elevator hall on the same floor as the cage, which is acquired by the sensor 3 in the cage with the door closed, is less than the first threshold value, and the radio wave intensity of the signal transmitted from the mobile terminal 4 existing in the cage exceeds the first threshold value. Also, for example, according to the observation information corresponding to the observation results of the sensor 3 arranged in the elevator cage, it is shown by the opening / closing state that the door of the elevator cage is closed, and when the radio wave intensity is less than the first threshold value and exceeds the second threshold value, at the time indicated by the observation time included in the observation information, the acquisition unit 13 can identify that the mobile terminal 4 exists in the elevator hall on the floor indicated by the floor information included in the observation information (this floor may be a stop floor or a passing floor). The second threshold value is set such that, for example, the radio wave intensity of the signal transmitted from the mobile terminal 4 existing in the elevator hall on the same floor as the cage, which is acquired by the sensor 3 in the cage with the door closed, exceeds the second threshold value, and the radio wave intensity of the signal transmitted from the mobile terminal 4 existing in a location other than the cage and the elevator hall on the same floor as the cage is less than the second threshold value.

[0126] Further, the acquisition unit 13 may identify the position of the mobile terminal 4 according to, for example, the change in radio wave intensity before and after the opening and closing of the door. For the observation information corresponding to the mobile terminal 4 with a certain physical address, at a certain stop floor, if the radio wave intensity is less than the threshold value when the door is closed, and then when the door is opened and then closed again, the radio wave intensity exceeds the threshold value, then the mobile terminal 4 is present in the elevator hall on the stop floor when the door is initially closed, and then when the door is opened and closed, it is present in the elevator car on the stop floor. That is, it may be determined that the mobile terminal 4 has entered the elevator car at the stop floor. Further, for the observation information corresponding to the mobile terminal 4 with a certain physical address, at a certain stop floor, if the radio wave intensity exceeds the threshold value when the door of the elevator car is closed and then when the door is opened, and then when the door is closed again, the radio wave intensity is less than the threshold value, then the mobile terminal 4 is present in the elevator car on the stop floor when the door is initially closed, and then when the door is opened and closed, it is present in the elevator hall on the stop floor. That is, it may be determined that the mobile terminal 4 has got off the elevator car at the stop floor. The threshold value used in this case may be set such that, for example, the radio wave intensity of the signal transmitted from the mobile terminal 4 present in the elevator hall on the same floor as the car, acquired by the sensor 3 in the closed car, is less than the threshold value, and the radio wave intensity of the signal transmitted from the mobile terminal 4 present in the elevator hall or in the car on the same floor as the car, acquired by the sensor 3 in the open car, exceeds the threshold value.

[0127] For example, as shown in FIG. 13, assume that a user having the mobile terminal 4 gets into the elevator car 7 on the first floor and gets off the elevator car 7 on the second floor. According to the movement of this mobile terminal 4, assume that the following observation information is acquired by the sensor 3-1 arranged in the elevator car 7 and transmitted to the information processing device 1. (Observation time, floor information, opening / closing state, radio wave intensity, observation area) (T201, stop floor 1, closed, L201, A201) (T202, Stop stage 1, Open, L202, A201) (T203, Stop stage 1, Closed, L203, A201) (T204, Stop stage 2, Closed, L204, A201) (T205, Stop stage 2, Open, L205, A201) (T206, Stop stage 2, Closed, L206, A201)

[0128] Note that it is assumed that the observation area A201 is the identifier of the sensor 3-1 arranged in the elevator car 7. Also, it is assumed that the radio wave intensities L202, L203, L204, L205 exceed the threshold value, and the radio wave intensities L201, L206 are less than the threshold value. In this case, the acquisition unit 13 may set the position of the mobile terminal 4 at the observation time T201 as the elevator hall on the 1st floor which is the stop floor, and set the position of the mobile terminal 4 at the observation time T203 as inside the elevator car 7 on the 1st floor which is the stop floor. Also, the acquisition unit 13 may set the position of the mobile terminal 4 at the observation time T204 as inside the elevator car 7 on the 2nd floor which is the stop floor, and set the position of the mobile terminal 4 at the observation time T206 as the elevator hall on the 2nd floor which is the stop floor.

[0129] In this way, by using the sensor 3 arranged in the elevator car, it becomes possible to acquire the movement history regarding the movement of the mobile terminal 4 via the elevator, that is, the movement of the mobile terminal 4 regarding getting on and off the elevator. Note that in FIG. 13, when the elevator car 7 exists on each floor, for example, each car 7 on each floor may be included in the coverage area of one access point, and in the movement of the mobile terminal 4 via the elevator car 7, the physical address of the mobile terminal 4 may not change.

[0130] In the above description, the case where the observation information according to the observation results of the signals from the mobile terminal 4 by the sensor 3 arranged in the elevator car includes the floor information and the opening / closing state of the door has been described, but this is not necessary. The observation information according to the observation results of the sensor 3 in the elevator car may not include the floor information and the opening / closing state of the door. Note that the radio wave intensity may or may not be included in the observation information. In the former case, the observation information of the radio wave intensity exceeding a predetermined threshold may be used for acquiring the movement history of the mobile terminal 4. In the latter case, only the observation information according to the observation results of the signals of the radio wave intensity exceeding a predetermined threshold may be transmitted to the information processing apparatus 1. This threshold may be set such that, for example, the radio wave intensity of the signal transmitted from the mobile terminal 4 existing outside the car, which is acquired by the sensor 3 in the car with the door closed, is less than the threshold, and the radio wave intensity of the signal transmitted from the mobile terminal 4 existing in the car, which is acquired by the sensor 3 in the car, exceeds the threshold. Even in this case, the acquisition unit 13 can acquire the movement history of the mobile terminal 4 by using, for the mobile terminal 4 with a certain physical address, the observation information acquired by other sensors 3 before and after the observation time included in the observation information from the sensor 3 in the elevator car, that is, the observation information including the observation time before and after the observation time included in the observation information from the sensor 3 in the car. For example, when the observation information according to the observation results of the sensors 3 on different floors (for example, the sensor 3-2 on the first floor and the sensor 3-3 on the second floor, etc.) is acquired before and after the observation information according to the observation results of the sensor 3-1 in the car 7 shown in FIG. 13, the acquisition unit 13 can acquire the movement history indicating that the mobile terminal 4 existed in the elevator car 7 at the observation time included in the observation information according to the observation results of the sensor 3-1 in the car 7. For example, the acquisition unit 13 can acquire the movement history indicating the movement of the mobile terminal 4 from the first floor → elevator car → second floor.On the one hand, for example, when the observation information before and after the observation information according to the observation result by the sensor 3-1 in the cage 7 is both according to the observation result by the sensor 3 (for example, the sensor 3-2 on the first floor) on the same floor, the acquisition unit 13 can acquire a movement history indicating that the mobile terminal 4 was not in the cage but was in the elevator hall at the observation time included in the observation information according to the observation result by the sensor 3-1 in the cage 7. For example, the acquisition unit 13 can acquire a movement history indicating the movement of the mobile terminal 4 from the first first area → the elevator hall on the first floor → the second movement on the first floor. Note that the first and second areas on the first floor may be, for example, the same area or different areas.

[0131] [Prediction of Movement] The information processing device 1 may predict the movement of the mobile terminal 4 using the movement history for each mobile terminal 4. In this case, as shown in FIG. 2C, the information processing device 1 may further include a terminal movement history acquisition unit 16, a specifying unit 17, a prediction unit 18, and a determination unit 19. Note that the terminal movement history acquisition unit 16 is the same as the terminal movement history acquisition unit 16 shown in FIG. 2B, and the description thereof is omitted.

[0132] Based on the movement history of each mobile terminal 4 acquired by the terminal movement history acquisition unit 16, the specific unit 17 specifies the number of mobile terminals 4 for each area in a plurality of areas obtained by virtually dividing the movement space of the mobile terminal 4, and the movement of the mobile terminal 4 between adjacent areas for each time. This area may be, for example, an area determined independently of the coverage area of each sensor 3, or at least a part of the plurality of coverage areas corresponding to the plurality of sensors 3. In the latter case, for example, the movement space of the mobile terminal 4 can be covered from the plurality of coverage areas corresponding to the plurality of sensors 3, and a plurality of coverage areas with less overlap may be selected as the plurality of areas. Since the area is virtual, there is usually no partition or the like at the boundary between the areas in the real space. In the present embodiment, the case where each area is determined independently of the coverage area will be mainly described. Note that the information indicating the position of the boundary of each area may be stored, for example, in the storage unit 12.

[0133] By using the movement history of each mobile terminal 4, the specific unit 17 can identify in which area each mobile terminal 4 is present at each time. For example, if the movement history indicates that a certain mobile terminal 4 is present in area A1 within the first area at time T1 and in area A2 within the second area at time T2, assuming that the mobile terminal 4 moves at a constant speed from area A1 to area A2, the specific unit 17 can identify the time point when the mobile terminal 4 passes through the boundary between the first area and the second area. Therefore, the specific unit 17 can identify the number of mobile terminals 4 in each area for each time (e.g., every 1 minute, every 5 minutes, every 10 minutes, etc.) and the movement of mobile terminals 4 between adjacent areas. Identifying the movement of mobile terminals 4 between areas may mean identifying the number of mobile terminals 4 that have moved from the first area to the second area and the number of mobile terminals 4 that have moved from the second area to the first area when the first area and the second area are adjacent. Also, the specific unit 17 may identify the movement of mobile terminals 4 between an area and areas other than adjacent areas. For example, when a plurality of areas are set along a road, a mobile terminal 4 that has moved from a store facing the road to the road or a mobile terminal 4 that has moved from the road to a store facing the road is a mobile terminal 4 that has moved between an area and areas other than adjacent areas for a certain area. Note that the number of mobile terminals 4 present in each area may be, for example, the number of mobile terminals 4 present in each area at a pinpoint time point for each predetermined time interval, and the number of mobile terminals 4 that have moved between areas may be, for example, the number of mobile terminals 4 that have moved during a period having a predetermined temporal length.

[0134] For example, as shown in FIG. 14, areas AR1 to AR3 are set along a road. In a case where, for example, every five minutes such as from 10:00 to 10:05, the number of mobile terminals 4 in each area and the movement of the mobile terminals 4 between areas are specified. During the period from 10:00 to 10:05, for area AR2, the respective numbers of the mobile terminals 4 moving in the directions of arrows M1 to M6 in FIG. 14 are specified as N1 to N6, and when the number of the mobile terminals 4 present in area AR2 at 10:00 is specified as N0, the number of the mobile terminals 4 present in area AR2 at 10:05 is N0+(N1+N4+N5)-(N2+N3+N6). Therefore, the specifying unit 17 can specify the number of the mobile terminals 4 in each area for each time (for example, every five minutes) by specifying the movement of the mobile terminals 4 between areas during each period (for example, from 10:00 to 10:05).

[0135] The predicting unit 18 predicts the number of the mobile terminals 4 for each area for each time using the specifying result by the specifying unit 17. This prediction may be performed, for example, by directly predicting the number of the mobile terminals 4 for each area, or may be performed by predicting the movement of the mobile terminals 4 between adjacent areas and calculating the number of the mobile terminals 4 for each area using the prediction result. Further, this prediction may be performed, for example, by extrapolating the number in the future direction of the time axis for the past specifying results, may be performed by prediction using the result of machine learning such as a neural network, or may be performed by other methods. Note that methods for predicting the flow of people and the like are already known, and a detailed description thereof is omitted. The prediction result by the predicting unit 18 may be output, for example, by the output unit 15.

[0136] When the determination unit 19 determines that there is a deviation exceeding the threshold between the prediction result and the specific result, the prediction unit 18 makes a new prediction. The new prediction may be a prediction using a more recent specific result than the previous prediction. For example, when the prediction unit 18 sequentially makes predictions after 10:00 using the specific results from 9:00 to 10:00, and when the determination unit 19 determines that there is a deviation exceeding the threshold between the predicted result at 10:30 predicted in this way and the specific result specified by the specifying unit 17 at 10:30, the prediction after 10:30 may be newly re-predicted using the specific results from 9:30 to 10:30. By doing so, more accurate predictions can be made.

[0137] The determination unit 19 determines whether there is a deviation exceeding the threshold between the prediction result at a certain time and the specific result at that time. For example, the determination unit 19 may determine based on whether the sum of the squares of the differences between the predicted result and the specific result of the number of mobile terminals 4 for each area at a certain time, calculated for all areas, exceeds a predetermined threshold. If the sum result exceeds the threshold, it is determined that there is a deviation exceeding the threshold between the prediction result and the specific result. If the sum result does not exceed the threshold, it may be determined that there is no deviation exceeding the threshold between the prediction result and the specific result. For example, when the prediction unit 18 always makes predictions using the latest specific results, this determination process by the determination unit 19 may not be performed. In this case, for example, the information processing apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 2C may not include the determination unit 19.

[0138] [Other Modification Examples] Also, in the present embodiment, at least one of the moving direction and the moving vector may be calculated in the movement history for each physical address or the movement history for each mobile terminal 4. Then, using the calculation result, the movement history may be changed to more detailed information. Changing the movement history to more detailed information may be, for example, making the time interval in the movement history finer, or making the range of the area included in the movement history narrower. This process may be performed, for example, by a process such as interpolation using the movement history and at least one of the moving direction and the moving vector. Also, at least one of the calculated moving direction and the moving vector may be added to the movement history. These processes may be performed, for example, by the acquisition unit 13.

[0139] Also, in the present embodiment, the case where the physical address is the MAC address included in the wireless signal of the IEEE802.11 standard has been mainly described, but the physical address may be the MAC address of other standards. For example, the physical address may be the MAC address of Bluetooth (registered trademark).

[0140] Also, in the present embodiment, the case where the sensor 3 does not move according to the passage of time has been mainly described, but it may be otherwise. The sensor 3 may be movable, that is, may move according to the passage of time. The movable sensor 3 may be, for example, a movable device such as a smartphone or a tablet terminal. For example, a previously registered movable device may function as the sensor 3. In this case, since the position of the sensor 3 can change, it is preferable that the current position of the sensor 3 acquired by a current position acquisition unit such as GPS is transmitted to the information processing device 1 together with the physical address and the like.

[0141] Also, in the present embodiment, the case where the observation information and the like acquired by the sensor 3 are transmitted to the information processing device 1 via the communication line has been mainly described, but the method by which the observation information and the like are input to the information processing device 1 is not limited. For example, the observation information and the like may be input to the information processing device 1 via a recording medium or the like.

[0142] Also, in this embodiment, the case where the information processing apparatus 1 and the sensor 3 are separate devices has been mainly described, but this is not necessary. Any of the sensors 3 may have the functions of the information processing apparatus 1. In this case, the plurality of sensors 3 include a parent sensor 3 and a child sensor 3, and the parent sensor 3 may have each component of the information processing apparatus 1. In this case, the physical address or the like obtained from the signal observed by the child sensor 3 is transmitted to the parent sensor 3. The transmission may be performed by multi-hop wireless communication between the plurality of sensors 3, or may be performed via another communication line. Then, the parent sensor 3 may perform the same processing as the information processing apparatus 1 of this embodiment using the observation result of the child sensor 3 and the observation result of the parent sensor 3.

[0143] Also, in the above embodiment, each process or each function may be realized by being centrally processed by a single device or a single system, or may be realized by being distributedly processed by a plurality of devices or a plurality of systems.

[0144] Also, in the above embodiment, the transfer of information performed between each component may be, for example, when the two components that transfer the information are physically different, by the output of the information by one component and the reception of the information by the other component, or when the two components that transfer the information are physically the same, by moving from the processing phase corresponding to one component to the processing phase corresponding to the other component.

[0145] Also, in the above-described embodiment, information related to the processing executed by each component, for example, information received, acquired, selected, generated, transmitted, or received by each component, and information such as thresholds, mathematical formulas, addresses, etc. used by each component in the processing may be temporarily or permanently stored in a recording medium not shown, even if not specified in the above description. Also, the accumulation of information on the recording medium not shown may be performed by each component or an accumulation unit not shown. Also, the reading of information from the recording medium not shown may be performed by each component or a reading unit not shown.

[0146] Also, in the above-described embodiment, when information used by each component or the like, for example, information such as thresholds, addresses, and various setting values used by each component in the processing may be changed by the user, even if not specified in the above description, the user may appropriately be able to change such information, or not. When the user can change such information, 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 of the change instruction by the reception unit not shown may be, for example, reception from an input device, reception of information transmitted via a communication line, or reception of information read from a predetermined recording medium.

[0147] Also, in the above-described embodiment, when two or more components included in the information processing apparatus 1 have a communication device, an input device, etc., the two or more components may physically have a single device or may have separate devices.

[0148] Also, in the above embodiment, each component may be configured by dedicated hardware, or components that can be realized by software may be realized by executing a program. For example, each component can 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. At the time of its execution, the program execution unit may execute the program while accessing a storage unit or a recording medium. Note that the software that realizes the information processing apparatus 1 in the above embodiment is the following program. That is, this program causes a computer to use a plurality of pieces of observation information including an observation region and an observation time corresponding to a result of observation of a signal including a physical address transmitted from a mobile terminal whose physical address can change by at least one of a plurality of sensors, and to obtain a movement history of the mobile terminal for each physical address, and when the movement over time of the mobile terminal indicated by the movement history corresponding to the first physical address and the movement over time of the mobile terminal indicated by the movement history corresponding to the second physical address are continuous, it functions as a determination unit that determines that the first and second physical addresses are physical addresses of the same mobile terminal.

[0149] Note that in the above program, the functions realized by the above program do not include functions that can only be realized by hardware. For example, functions that can only be realized by hardware such as a modem or an interface card in an acquisition unit that acquires information, a reception unit that receives information, an output unit that outputs information, etc. are not included in the functions realized by the above program at least.

[0150] Also, this program may be executed by being downloaded from a server or the like, or may be executed by reading 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.). Also, this program may be used as a program constituting a program product.

[0151] Also, the computer that executes this program may be singular or plural. That is, centralized processing may be performed, or distributed processing may be performed.

[0152] FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a computer system 900 that executes the above program to realize the information processing apparatus 1 according to the above embodiment. The above embodiment can be realized by computer hardware and a computer program executed thereon.

[0153] In FIG. 15, the computer system 900 includes an MPU (Micro Processing Unit) 911, a ROM 912 such as a boot-up program and other programs, an application program, a system program, and a flash memory or the like in which data is stored, and is connected to the MPU 911 to temporarily store instructions of the application program and provide a temporary storage space. It also includes a RAM 913, a wireless communication module 915, and a bus 916 that interconnects the MPU 911, the ROM 912, etc. Instead of the wireless communication module 915, a wired communication module may be provided. Also, an input / output device such as a touch panel may be provided, or instead of the touch panel, a display and an input device such as a mouse or a keyboard may be provided.

[0154] The program that causes the computer system 900 to execute the functions of the information processing apparatus 1 according to the above embodiment may be stored in the ROM 912 via the wireless communication module 915. The program is loaded into the RAM 913 during execution. Note that the program may be loaded directly from a network.

[0155] The program does not necessarily include an operating system (OS) that causes the computer system 900 to execute the functions of the information processing apparatus 1 according to the above-described embodiment, or a third-party program or the like. The program may include only a portion of instructions that call appropriate functions and modules in a controlled manner so as to obtain a desired result. How the computer system 900 operates is well-known, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0156] Further, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible, and it goes without saying that they are also included in the scope of the present invention.

Industrial Applicability

[0157] As described above, according to the information processing apparatus and the like according to an aspect of the present invention, an effect that it is possible to determine whether different physical addresses correspond to the same mobile terminal is obtained, and for example, it is useful as an apparatus or the like that acquires information on the degree of congestion and the flow of people using the physical addresses included in the transmitted signals.

Explanation of Signs

[0158] 1 Information processing apparatus 3 Sensor 4 Mobile terminal 11 Reception unit 12 Storage unit 13 Acquisition unit 14 Determination unit 15 Output unit 16 Terminal movement history acquisition unit 17 Identification unit 18 Prediction unit 19 Judgment unit

Claims

1. An acquisition unit that acquires a movement history of a mobile terminal for each physical address using a plurality of observation information including an observation area and an observation time according to a result of observation by at least one of a plurality of sensors of a signal including the physical address transmitted from the mobile terminal whose physical address can change; A determination unit that determines that the first and second physical addresses are physical addresses of the same mobile terminal when the movement of the mobile terminal over time indicated by the movement history corresponding to the first physical address and the movement of the mobile terminal over time indicated by the movement history corresponding to the second physical address are continuous. An information processing apparatus comprising:

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the observation area is an area corresponding to the radio wave intensity of the signal within the coverage area of the sensor that observed the signal transmitted from the mobile terminal.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein when the signal transmitted from the mobile terminal is observed by a plurality of the sensors, the acquisition unit sets an overlapping area of the plurality of observation areas corresponding to the plurality of sensors as the position of the mobile terminal.

4. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the determination unit determines that the movement of the mobile terminal over time indicated by the movement history corresponding to the first physical address and the movement of the mobile terminal over time indicated by the movement history corresponding to the second physical address are continuous when at least one of the movement direction and the movement speed is continuous.

5. The mobile terminal and the plurality of sensors are present in a building partitioned into a plurality of spaces, The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the acquisition unit acquires a movement history of the mobile terminal in the space using observation information of a signal having a radio wave intensity exceeding a predetermined threshold among the signals observed by the sensor disposed in a certain space in the building.

6. The mobile terminal and the plurality of sensors are present in a building partitioned into a plurality of spaces, The observation information also includes the radio wave intensity of the observed signal, The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the acquisition unit sets the space in which the sensor that observed the signal having a radio wave intensity exceeding a predetermined threshold is present as the space in which the mobile terminal that transmitted the signal is present, and also uses the observation information according to the observation result by the sensor regarding the signal transmitted from the mobile terminal present in a space different from the sensor to acquire the movement history.

7. The mobile terminal and the plurality of sensors are present in a building partitioned into a plurality of spaces, The observation information also includes the radio wave intensity of the observed signal, The apparatus further includes a storage unit that stores a plurality of pieces of correspondence information associating a plurality of pairs of the radio wave intensity related to the signal transmitted from the mobile terminal and the observation area with the position of the mobile terminal, The acquisition unit specifies the position of the mobile terminal by using a plurality of pairs of the observation area and the radio wave intensity respectively included in a plurality of pieces of observation information including the same observation time and the correspondence information, according to any one of claims 4 to 6.

8. The mobile terminal and the plurality of sensors are present in a building partitioned into a plurality of floors, At least one of the plurality of sensors is disposed in a cage of an elevator installed in the building, The acquisition unit acquires the movement history of the mobile terminal by using the observation information corresponding to the observation result by the sensor disposed in the cage, according to any one of claims 4 to 7.

9. A terminal movement history acquisition unit that acquires the movement history for each mobile terminal by merging the movement history for each physical address using the determination result by the determination unit; Based on the movement history for each mobile terminal acquired by the terminal movement history acquisition unit, a specific unit that specifies, for each area, the number of mobile terminals in a plurality of areas obtained by virtually dividing the movement space of the mobile terminal and the movement of the mobile terminal between adjacent areas for each time; The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 4 to 8, further comprising a prediction unit that predicts, for each area, the number of mobile terminals for each time by using the specification result by the specific unit.

10. The apparatus further includes a determination unit that determines whether there is a deviation exceeding a threshold between the prediction result at a certain time and the specification result at the same time, When the determination unit determines that there is a deviation exceeding the threshold between the prediction result and the specification result, the prediction unit makes a new prediction, according to claim 9.

11. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 5 to 10, And the plurality of sensors disposed in a building partitioned into a plurality of floors, The sensors are disposed at substantially the same planar position on each floor. An information processing system.

12. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 5 to 10, And the plurality of sensors disposed in a building partitioned into a plurality of floors, The sensor on a certain floor is an information processing system that is arranged, in a plan view, in a space between two adjacent sensors among the plurality of sensors arranged on the floor adjacent to the said floor.

13. A step of obtaining a movement history of a mobile terminal for each physical address, using a plurality of observation information including an observation area and an observation time according to a result of observation of a signal including a physical address transmitted from a mobile terminal whose physical address can change, by at least one of a plurality of sensors; An information processing method comprising: a step of determining that the first and second physical addresses are physical addresses of the same mobile terminal when the movement of the mobile terminal over time indicated by the movement history corresponding to the first physical address and the movement of the mobile terminal over time indicated by the movement history corresponding to the second physical address are continuous.

14. A computer, An acquisition unit that obtains a movement history of a mobile terminal for each physical address, using a plurality of observation information including an observation area and an observation time according to a result of observation of a signal including a physical address transmitted from a mobile terminal whose physical address can change, by at least one of a plurality of sensors; A program for causing the computer to function as a determination unit that determines that the first and second physical addresses are physical addresses of the same mobile terminal when the movement of the mobile terminal over time indicated by the movement history corresponding to the first physical address and the movement of the mobile terminal over time indicated by the movement history corresponding to the second physical address are continuous.

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