Positioning device

Abstract

Provided is a positioning apparatus capable of quickly calculating a highly accurate distance measurement result.　This positioning apparatus comprises: an antenna unit having N (N is an integer greater than or equal to 3) antenna elements including a plurality of pairs of antenna elements; a selection unit that selects a pair of antenna elements of which the quality of phase difference is greater than or equal to a predetermined level, on the basis of a phase difference between phases when each pair of antenna elements of the plurality of pairs receives a signal from a device of which the position is being measured; and a distance measuring unit that measures the distance between the antenna unit and the device of which the position is being measured, on the basis of the phase of a signal communicated between one antenna element of the pair of antenna elements selected by the selection unit and the device of which the position is being measured.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a positioning device. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventional positioning devices transmit a transmission signal, receive a composite wave of the reflected wave (direct path reflected wave) that is the transmission signal reflected by a reflector and arrives directly, and the reflected wave (multipath reflected wave) that is the transmission signal reflected by the reflector and then further reflected by other reflecting surfaces and arrives, using two antennas, and calculate (measure) the distance based on the quadrature baseband signal obtained by quadrature detection of the received signal. More specifically, transmission signals of multiple frequencies are transmitted, and distance is measured based on the relationship between the frequency difference between the multiple frequencies and the phase difference between the round-trip transmission signal and the received signal at each frequency (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-012984 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, if distance measurement is performed using multiple antennas based on the relationship between the frequency differences between multiple frequencies and the round-trip phase differences between the transmitted and received signals at each frequency, it becomes possible to select highly accurate distance measurement results. However, it takes time to measure the distance to each of the multiple antennas to determine the round-trip phase differences between multiple frequencies.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a positioning device that can quickly calculate highly accurate distance measurement results. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A positioning device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes an antenna unit having N (N is an integer greater than or equal to 3) antenna elements, including a plurality of pairs of antenna elements; a selection unit that selects a pair of antenna elements having a phase difference quality equal to or greater than a predetermined level based on the phase difference between the phases of the antenna elements of each pair when the antenna elements of each pair receive a signal from the device to be positioned; and a distance measurement unit that measures the distance between the antenna unit and the device to be positioned based on one of the antenna elements of the pair selected by the selection unit and the phase of the signal communicated between the antenna unit and the device to be positioned. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] It is possible to provide a positioning device that can quickly calculate highly accurate distance measurement results. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a positioning device 100 according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an antenna device 110 included in the positioning device 100. FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of phase differences and standard deviations at a plurality of frequencies. [Figure 4] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing executed by a control device of the positioning device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Hereinafter, an embodiment to which the positioning device of the present disclosure is applied will be described.

[0010] <Embodiment> Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a positioning device 100 according to an embodiment. Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an antenna device 110 included in the positioning device 100. Here, an XYZ coordinate system will be used for explanation. The X axis is an example of the first axis, the Y axis is an example of the second axis, and the Z axis is an example of the third axis.

[0011] 1 shows a smartphone 50 in addition to the positioning device 100. The smartphone 50 is an example of a device to be positioned, and the positioning device 100 receives a signal transmitted from the smartphone 50 to determine the azimuth angle and elevation angle of the smartphone 50 relative to the positioning device 100, and measures (measures) the distance between the positioning device 100 and the smartphone 50. The signal transmitted bidirectionally between the positioning device 100 and the smartphone 50 is, for example, a modulated signal obtained by modulating an I / Q signal.

[0012] The positioning device 100 includes an antenna device 110, a communication unit 120, and a control device 130. The antenna device 110 is an example of an antenna unit. The antenna device 110 has a substrate 110A and antenna elements 1 to 5. The substrate 110A is a substrate made of an insulating material. The antenna elements 1 to 5 receive modulated signals transmitted from the smartphone 50. The antenna device 110 is connected to the control device 130 via the communication unit 120.

[0013] Antenna elements 1 to 5 are connected to control device 130. Antenna elements 1 to 5 are, for example, patch antennas that are circular in plan view, and are provided on the surface of substrate 110A on the +Z direction side. Antenna elements 1 to 5 are an example of a plurality of antenna elements.

[0014] Antenna element 1 is disposed at the center of the top surface of substrate 110A, which is square in plan view. Here, as an example, the origin of the XYZ coordinate system is located at the center of the surface of antenna element 1. Antenna element 1 is disposed at the center of four antenna elements 2 to 5 in plan view. Antenna elements 2 and 4 are disposed so that their centers in plan view are located on the X axis, with antenna element 2 located on the +X side of antenna element 1 and antenna element 4 located on the −X side of antenna element 1. Antenna elements 3 and 5 are disposed so that their centers in plan view are located on the Y axis, with antenna element 3 located on the +Y side of antenna element 1 and antenna element 5 located on the −Y side of antenna element 1. The distance between the centers of antenna element 1 and antenna elements 2 to 5 is all equal and is equal to or less than half the wavelength of the signal transmitted from smartphone 50. In addition, the spacing (distance) between antenna elements 2 and 3, the spacing (distance) between antenna elements 3 and 4, the spacing (distance) between antenna elements 4 and 5, and the spacing (distance) between antenna elements 5 and 2 are all equal and are less than half the wavelength of the signal transmitted from smartphone 50.

[0015] Antenna element 1 is an example of a first antenna element. Antenna element 2 is an example of a second antenna element that is a predetermined distance from antenna element 1 in the X direction. Antenna element 3 is an example of a third antenna element that is a predetermined distance from antenna element 1 in the Y direction. The distance between antenna elements 1 and 2 in the X direction is the same as the distance between antenna elements 1 and 3 in the Y direction. An example of a second antenna element that is a predetermined distance from antenna element 1 in the X direction may be antenna element 4. An example of a third antenna element that is a predetermined distance from antenna element 1 in the Y direction may be antenna element 5. Antenna device 110 may include at least three antenna elements. Specifically, in addition to antenna element 1 as the first antenna element, it may include one second antenna element and one third antenna element. However, five antenna elements 1 to 5 are shown in FIG. 1 as an example. Antenna device 110 may have a ground plate that is maintained at ground potential on the surface of substrate 110A on the -Z direction side.

[0016] The communication unit 120 includes, for example, a power amplifier (PA), a low noise amplifier (LNA), an orthogonal modulator (OM), an orthogonal demodulator (ODM), a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), a phase locked loop (PLL), and a codec processing unit. When transmitting a signal to the smartphone 50, the communication unit 120 generates an I / Q signal from a BLE packet signal input from the control device 130 in the codec processing unit, converts the signal to analog through DAC processing, and outputs the I / Q signal as a transmission signal to the OM. The OM modulates the I / Q signal and outputs it to the PA as a modulated signal for transmission. The PA amplifies the transmission signal and outputs it to the antenna device 110. Furthermore, when the communication unit 120 receives a signal from the smartphone 50, it amplifies the received signal input from the antenna device 110 using an LNA and outputs the amplified signal to the ODM. The ODM demodulates the received signal to obtain an I / Q signal, and outputs the I / Q signal to the codec processing unit. The codec processing unit digitally converts the I / Q signal processed by the ODM into a Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy packet signal, and outputs the signal to the control device 130.

[0017] The control device 130 includes a main control unit 131 , a standard deviation calculation unit 132 , a selection unit 133 , an azimuth angle calculation unit 134 , an elevation angle calculation unit 135 , a distance measurement unit 136 , and a memory 137 .

[0018] The main control unit 131, standard deviation calculation unit 132, selection unit 133, azimuth angle calculation unit 134, elevation angle calculation unit 135, distance measurement unit 136, and memory 137 are realized, for example, by a microcomputer (computer) including a CPU (Central Processing Unit), RAM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), an internal bus, etc. The main control unit 131, standard deviation calculation unit 132, selection unit 133, azimuth angle calculation unit 134, elevation angle calculation unit 135, and distance measurement unit 136 are functional blocks representing the functions of a program executed by the microcomputer. Furthermore, memory 137 is a functional representation of the memory of the microcomputer.

[0019] To enable rapid calculation of highly accurate ranging results, the positioning device 100 selects one antenna element to be used when the ranging unit 136 performs ranging in a time-of-arrival (TOA) format before performing ranging calculations. The positioning device 100 calculates the standard deviation of the phase difference when receiving signals of four frequencies (hereinafter referred to as ch1 (channel) 1, ch2, ch3, and ch4) from the smartphone 50 using each pair of four pairs of antenna elements, and selects the antenna element included in the pair with the smallest standard deviation as the one antenna element for ranging.

[0020] The five antenna elements 1 to 5 included in the antenna device 110 transmit or receive radio waves in different environments depending on the type or location of metal members present around the antenna device 110, the type or location of members present around the antenna device 110 that may serve as reflective surfaces, and the type or level of noise coming from the surroundings. More specifically, among the antenna elements 1 to 5, there may be antenna elements that are significantly affected by multipath, and antenna elements that are less affected by multipath or that are not affected at all by multipath. Antenna elements that are significantly affected by multipath have low ranging accuracy. Therefore, when performing ranging, the accuracy of ranging can be improved by using antenna elements that are less affected by multipath.

[0021] Furthermore, in TOA ranging, in order to determine the round-trip phase difference for multiple frequencies between the smartphone 50 and the smartphone 50, it is necessary to obtain data from the smartphone 50 indicating the phase when the smartphone 50 receives the signal. Therefore, if ranging is performed using all five antenna elements 1 to 5 and then the most accurate ranging result is selected, it will take a long time to complete all ranging.

[0022] For this reason, as an example, the positioning device 100 places a reference antenna element 1 at the center of the antenna device 110 in a planar view, and then places four antenna elements 2 to 5 at equidistant positions around it, and selects one of the four antenna elements 2 to 5 that is least affected by multipath as the antenna element for distance in ToA format to perform ranging.

[0023] The phase difference may vary depending on the frequency when affected by multipath. For this reason, the positioning device 100 calculates the standard deviation of the phase difference when receiving signals of the four frequencies for each of the four pairs, and selects an antenna element other than antenna element 1 from the two antenna elements included in the pair with the smallest standard deviation as the antenna element for distance in the ToA format. In other words, the positioning device 100 evaluates antenna elements 2 to 5 located around antenna element 1 based on the standard deviation of the phase difference when receiving signals of the four frequencies for each of the four pairs.

[0024] Furthermore, since ranging is performed in ToA format using a single antenna element that is less affected by multipath, ranging can be performed quickly and with high accuracy.

[0025] The main control unit 131 is a processing unit that supervises the control processing of the control device 130, and executes processing other than the processing performed by the standard deviation calculation unit 132, the selection unit 133, the azimuth angle calculation unit 134, the elevation angle calculation unit 135, and the distance measurement unit 136. The azimuth angle calculation unit 134 and the elevation angle calculation unit 135 are examples of an angle calculation unit.

[0026] As an example, the standard deviation calculation unit 132 calculates the phase difference when the antenna device 110 receives signals on ch1, ch2, ch3, and ch4 from the smartphone 50 as received signals. More specifically, as an example, the standard deviation calculation unit 132 calculates the phase difference in each pair when the signals on ch1, ch2, ch3, and ch4 from the smartphone 50 are received as received signals by four pairs of antenna elements included in the antenna device 110.

[0027] Here, the four pairs of antenna elements included in antenna device 110 are antenna elements 1 and 2, antenna elements 1 and 3, antenna elements 1 and 4, and antenna elements 1 and 5, with central antenna element 1 being the common antenna element.

[0028] The phase differences when receiving signals of four frequencies for each of the four pairs are: phase difference 2-1 obtained by subtracting the phase of the signal received at antenna element 1 from the phase of the signal received at antenna element 2; phase difference 3-1 obtained by subtracting the phase of the signal received at antenna element 1 from the phase of the signal received at antenna element 3; phase difference 4-1 obtained by subtracting the phase of the signal received at antenna element 1 from the phase of the signal received at antenna element 4; and phase difference 5-1 obtained by subtracting the phase of the signal received at antenna element 1 from the phase of the signal received at antenna element 5. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the standard deviation calculation unit 132 calculates phase differences 2-1, 3-1, 4-1, and 5-1 for ch1, ch2, ch3, and ch4. In FIG. 3, the phase differences 2-1 for ch1, ch2, ch3, and ch4 are denoted as PD2-1-1, PD2-1-2, PD2-1-3, and PD2-1-4. The same applies to the phase difference 3-1, the phase difference 4-1, and the phase difference 5-1.

[0029] The standard deviation calculation unit 132 calculates the standard deviation of the phase differences in ch1, ch2, ch3, and ch4 for the phase differences 2-1, 3-1, 4-1, and 5-1, respectively. In Fig. 3, the standard deviations of the phase differences 2-1, 3-1, 4-1, and 5-1 are denoted as SD2-1, SD3-1, SD4-1, and SD5-1.

[0030] The selection unit 133 selects the pair with the smallest standard deviation of the phase difference calculated by the standard deviation calculation unit 132, and further selects an antenna element other than antenna element 1 from the two antenna elements included in the selected pair. The smallest standard deviation of the phase difference among the four pairs means that the influence of multipath is smallest, and that the quality of the phase difference among the four pairs is the highest. Here, the quality of the phase difference means that the influence of multipath is small and that the phase difference is a phase difference that leads to more accurate ranging. The smallest standard deviation of the phase difference among the four pairs is an example of the quality of the phase difference being at or above a predetermined level.

[0031] Here, a description will be given of an embodiment in which a pair of antenna elements with the smallest standard deviation of phase difference is selected from a plurality of pairs, but the method of selecting a pair with a phase difference quality equal to or higher than a predetermined level is not limited to this. For example, a pair of antenna elements with a phase difference standard deviation equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold may be selected from a plurality of pairs. If there are a plurality of pairs of antenna elements with a phase difference standard deviation equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold, for example, the pair with the smallest phase difference standard deviation may be selected. Selecting a pair of antenna elements with a phase difference standard deviation equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold is also an example of selecting a pair with a phase difference quality equal to or higher than a predetermined level.

[0032] The azimuth angle calculation unit 134 calculates an azimuth angle representing the position of the smartphone 50 based on the signal extracted by the communication unit 120 from the modulated signal received by the antenna elements 1 to 5. The calculation method will be described in detail later.

[0033] The azimuth angle calculation unit 134 calculates the azimuth angle of the smartphone 50 relative to the antenna device 110, using the pair selected by the selection unit 133 (the pair with the smallest standard deviation of the phase difference) and one of the remaining three pairs. When the pair selected by the selection unit 133 includes antenna element 2 or 4 (second antenna element), one of the remaining three pairs is the pair with the smaller standard deviation of the phase difference calculated by the standard deviation calculation unit 132 out of two pairs including antenna element 3 or 5 (third antenna element). When the pair selected by the selection unit 133 includes antenna element 3 or 5 (third antenna element), one of the remaining three pairs is the pair with the smaller standard deviation of the phase difference calculated by the standard deviation calculation unit 132 out of two pairs including antenna element 2 or 4 (second antenna element).

[0034] The azimuth angle calculation unit 134 calculates the azimuth angle using a pair of a first antenna element and a second antenna element and a pair of a first antenna element and a third antenna element. In other words, the azimuth angle calculation unit 134 calculates the azimuth angle using one each of the first antenna element, the second antenna element, and the third antenna element, from the ratio between a first phase difference between the phases of signals received by the pair of the first antenna element and the second antenna element in the first axial direction and a second phase difference between the phases of signals received by the pair of the first antenna element and the third antenna element. The distance between the first antenna element and the second antenna element in the first axial direction (an example of a predetermined distance) is equal to the distance between the first antenna element and the third antenna element in the second axial direction (an example of a predetermined distance).

[0035] The elevation angle calculation unit 135 calculates the elevation angle representing the position of the smartphone 50 based on the azimuth angle calculated by the azimuth angle calculation unit 134 and the first phase difference or the second phase difference. The calculation method will be described in detail later.

[0036] The distance measurement unit 136 uses one of the two antenna elements included in one pair (the pair with the smallest standard deviation of the phase difference) selected by the selection unit 133 to measure the distance between the antenna device 110 and the smartphone 50 based on the phase of the signal communicated between the one antenna element and the smartphone 50. One of the two antenna elements included in one pair selected by the selection unit 133 is an antenna element other than the first antenna element, and is the second antenna element or the third antenna element. For example, if the two antenna elements included in one pair selected by the selection unit 133 are antenna elements 1 and 2, the antenna element used for distance measurement is antenna element 2. Also, if the two antenna elements included in one pair selected by the selection unit 133 are antenna elements 1 and 3, the antenna element used for distance measurement is antenna element 3. Although antenna element 1 may be used for distance measurement, antenna element 1 is an antenna element used as a reference when calculating the phase difference and is not an antenna element to be evaluated. Therefore, any one of antenna elements 2 to 5 to be evaluated is used for distance measurement. The antenna element used by the distance measurement unit 136 for distance measurement is called a TOA antenna element.

[0037] The distance measurement unit 136 transmits signals of frequencies ch1 to ch4 from the TOA antenna element to the smartphone 50, and receives the signals of frequencies ch1 to ch4 from the smartphone 50 at the TOA antenna element. The distance measurement unit 136 acquires data indicating the phase of the signals of each frequency when received by the smartphone 50 from the smartphone 50 via BLE communication or the like.

[0038] The distance measurement unit 136 calculates the total phase (round-trip phase) for each frequency between the phase when the TOA antenna element receives the signal of each frequency and the phase when the smartphone 50 receives the signal of each frequency, and measures the distance between the antenna device 110 and the smartphone 50 based on the relationship between the multiple frequencies and the round-trip phase at each frequency.

[0039] The memory 137 stores programs, data, etc. required for the standard deviation calculation unit 132, the selection unit 133, the azimuth angle calculation unit 134, the elevation angle calculation unit 135, and the distance measurement unit 136 to execute the above-mentioned processes and the processes described below.

[0040] Next, we will explain how to calculate the azimuth and elevation angles. The distance between antenna elements 1 and 2 in the X direction (the distance between their centers) is assumed to be dx. The distance between antenna elements 1 and 4 in the X direction is also dx. The distance between antenna elements 1 and 3 in the Y direction (the distance between their centers) is assumed to be dy. The distance between antenna elements 1 and 5 in the Y direction is also dy.

[0041] If the phase difference between the signals received by the first antenna element and the second antenna element is βx, the phase difference between the signals received by the first antenna element and the third antenna element is βy, and the wavelength of the signals is λ, the phase differences βx and βy can be expressed by the following equations (1) and (2). The phase difference βx is an example of a first phase difference, and the phase difference βy is an example of a second phase difference.

[0042]

number

[0043]

number

[0044] By summarizing equations (1) and (2) with respect to the azimuth angle φ and the elevation angle θ, the following equations (3) to (6) are obtained.

[0045]

number

[0046]

number

[0047]

number

[0048]

number

[0049] From equations (1) and (2), the ratio of βy to βx is expressed by the following equation (7).

[0050]

number

[0051] Here, since dx=dy, equation (8) can be obtained from equation (7), and this can be further transformed into equation (9) to find the azimuth angle φ.

[0052]

number

[0053]

number

[0054] Then, by using the azimuth angle φ calculated by equation (9), the elevation angle θ can be calculated from either equation (3) or equation (5). When calculating the elevation angle θ from equation (3), the phase difference βx can be used, and when calculating the elevation angle θ from equation (5), the phase difference βy can be used.

[0055] <Flowchart> FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of processing executed by the control device 130.

[0056] When the process starts, the standard deviation calculation unit 132 calculates the phase difference (phase difference 2-1, phase difference 3-1, phase difference 4-1, and phase difference 5-1) for each pair when signals on ch1 to ch4 from the smartphone 50 are received as reception signals by four pairs of antenna elements included in the antenna device 110 (step S1). As a premise for step S1, the main control unit 131 communicates with the smartphone 50 to cause the smartphone 50 to transmit the signals on ch1 to ch4, which are received as reception signals by the antenna device 110, and stores the phases of the reception signals at the time of reception in the memory 137. In step S1, the standard deviation calculation unit 132 reads out data on the phases when the signals on ch1 to ch4 are received as reception signals by the four pairs of antenna elements from the memory 137, and calculates the phase difference for each pair.

[0057] The standard deviation calculation unit 132 calculates the standard deviations (SD2-1, SD3-1, SD4-1, and SD5-1) of the phase differences in ch1, ch2, ch3, and ch4 for the phase differences 2-1, 3-1, 4-1, and 5-1, respectively (step S2).

[0058] The selection unit 133 selects the pair with the smallest standard deviation of the phase difference calculated by the standard deviation calculation unit 132, and further selects an antenna element other than antenna element 1 from the two antenna elements included in the selected pair (step S3).

[0059] The azimuth angle calculation unit 134 calculates the azimuth angle of the smartphone 50 relative to the antenna device 110 using the pair selected by the selection unit 133 and one of the remaining three pairs (step S4).

[0060] The elevation angle calculation unit 135 calculates an elevation angle that indicates the position of the smartphone 50 based on the azimuth angle calculated by the azimuth angle calculation unit 134 and the first phase difference or the second phase difference (step S5).

[0061] The distance measurement unit 136 measures the distance between the antenna device 110 and the smartphone 50 using an antenna element (TOA antenna element) other than antenna element 1 of the two antenna elements included in one pair selected by the selection unit 133 in step S3 (step S6).

[0062] This completes the series of processes (end).

[0063] <Effects> The positioning device 100 includes an antenna device 110 having N (N is an integer equal to or greater than 3) antenna elements including a plurality of pairs of antenna elements; a selection unit 133 that selects a pair of antenna elements having a phase difference quality equal to or greater than a predetermined level based on the phase difference between the antenna elements of each pair when the antenna elements of each pair receive a signal from a device to be positioned (e.g., a smartphone 50); and a ranging unit 136 that measures the distance between the antenna device 110 and the device to be positioned based on one of the pair of antenna elements selected by the selection unit 133 and the phase of a signal communicated between the antenna device 110 and the device to be positioned. Therefore, ranging can be performed using one of the two antenna elements included in the pair of antenna elements having a phase difference quality equal to or greater than the predetermined level. A pair having a phase difference quality equal to or greater than the predetermined level is a pair that is less affected by multipath.

[0064] Therefore, it is possible to provide a positioning device 100 that can quickly calculate highly accurate distance measurement results.

[0065] The positioning device 100 further includes an angle calculation unit (for example, an azimuth angle calculation unit 134 and an elevation angle calculation unit 135) that calculates an angle representing the direction in which the target device (for example, smartphone 50) is located relative to the antenna device 110, based on the phase difference between the phases when antenna elements of at least one pair of the plurality of pairs receive a signal from the target device. This makes it possible to provide a positioning device 100 that can quickly calculate highly accurate distance measurement results and calculate the angle (for example, azimuth angle and elevation angle) of the target device relative to the antenna device 110. Furthermore, if the pair selected by the selection unit 133 is used to calculate the angle, the angle can also be calculated with high accuracy.

[0066] The N antenna elements include a plurality of antenna elements arranged at equal intervals along the first axis and the second axis, and the angle calculation unit (for example, the azimuth angle calculation unit 134) calculates the azimuth angle of the target device relative to the antenna device 110 based on a ratio between a first phase difference between the phases of a first antenna element among the plurality of antenna elements and a second antenna element at a predetermined distance from the first antenna element in the first axis direction when the first antenna element among the plurality of antenna elements and a third antenna element at a distance equal to the predetermined distance from the first antenna element in the second axis direction when the first antenna element among the plurality of antenna elements receives a signal from the target device (for example, a smartphone 50). This makes it possible to provide a positioning device 100 that can quickly calculate highly accurate distance measurement results and can calculate the azimuth angle of the target device relative to the antenna device 110 using the first antenna element, the second antenna element, and the third antenna element.

[0067] Furthermore, the angle calculation unit (for example, elevation angle calculation unit 135) calculates the elevation angle of the device to be positioned (for example, smartphone 50) relative to antenna device 110 based on the azimuth angle and the first phase difference or the second phase difference. This makes it possible to provide positioning device 100 that can quickly calculate highly accurate distance measurement results and can calculate the elevation angle of the device to be positioned relative to antenna device 110 based on the azimuth angle and the first phase difference or the second phase difference.

[0068] Furthermore, the selection unit 133 calculates the standard deviation of multiple phase differences between the phases at multiple frequencies when the antenna elements of each pair of the multiple pairs receive signals of multiple frequencies from the device to be positioned (for example, smartphone 50), and selects from the multiple pairs a pair of antenna elements whose standard deviation quality is at or above a predetermined level. Therefore, based on the standard deviation of the phase differences, a pair of antenna elements whose phase difference quality is at or above a predetermined level can be selected. Therefore, a positioning device 100 can be provided that can quickly calculate highly accurate ranging results using a pair of antenna elements whose phase difference quality is at or above a predetermined level, selected based on the standard deviation of the phase differences.

[0069] Furthermore, the selector 133 selects, from among the plurality of pairs, a pair of antenna elements with the smallest standard deviation or a pair of antenna elements with a standard deviation equal to or less than a predetermined threshold. This allows for the selection of a pair of antenna elements with the smallest standard deviation or a standard deviation equal to or less than a predetermined threshold and with a phase difference quality equal to or greater than a predetermined level. This makes it possible to provide a positioning device 100 that can quickly calculate highly accurate ranging results using a pair of antenna elements with the smallest standard deviation or a standard deviation equal to or less than a predetermined threshold and with a phase difference quality equal to or greater than a predetermined level.

[0070] In the above, we have described a configuration in which the azimuth angle calculation unit 134 and the elevation angle calculation unit 135 of the control device 130 calculate the azimuth angle and the elevation angle, and the distance measurement unit 136 measures the distance, but the control device 130 may be configured not to have the azimuth angle calculation unit 134 and the elevation angle calculation unit 135, and the distance measurement unit 136 may measure the distance.

[0071] The above describes a positioning device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. However, the present disclosure is not limited to the specifically disclosed embodiment, and various modifications and variations are possible without departing from the scope of the claims.

[0072] This international application claims priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2022-172420, filed on October 27, 2022, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. [Explanation of symbols]

[0073] 1 to 5 antenna elements (antenna element 1 is an example of a first antenna element, antenna elements 2 and 4 are examples of a second antenna element, and antenna elements 3 and 5 are examples of a fourth antenna element) 50 Smartphone (an example of a positioning target device) 100 Positioning device 110 Antenna device (an example of an antenna unit) 120 Communications Department 130 Control device 131 Main control unit 132 Standard deviation calculation section 133 Selection Section 134 Azimuth angle calculation unit (an example of an angle calculation unit) 135 Elevation angle calculation unit (an example of an angle calculation unit) 136 Ranging section 137 memory

Claims

1. an antenna unit having N (N is an integer of 3 or more) antenna elements including a plurality of pairs of antenna elements; a selector that selects a pair of antenna elements having a quality of a phase difference equal to or higher than a predetermined level based on a phase difference between phases when the antenna elements of each pair receive a signal from the device to be positioned, among the plurality of pairs; a distance measurement unit that measures the distance between the antenna unit and the device to be positioned based on a phase of a signal communicated between the antenna element of the pair selected by the selection unit and the device to be positioned; Including, the selection unit calculates, for each of the plurality of pairs, a phase difference between phases when the antenna elements of the pair receive signals of a plurality of frequencies from the device to be positioned, thereby calculating a plurality of phase differences for the plurality of frequencies for each of the pairs, and also calculates a standard deviation of the plurality of phase differences for each of the pairs, and selects, from the plurality of pairs, antenna elements of a pair whose quality of the standard deviation is equal to or higher than a predetermined level; The multi-frequency signal is a signal of a plurality of different frequencies. Positioning device.

2. 2. The positioning device according to claim 1, further comprising an angle calculation unit that calculates an angle representing a direction in which the device to be positioned is located relative to the antenna unit, based on a phase difference between phases when signals are received from the device to be positioned by antenna elements of at least one pair among the plurality of pairs.

3. The N antenna elements include a plurality of antenna elements equally spaced along a first axis and a second axis, 3. The positioning device according to claim 2, wherein the angle calculation unit calculates the azimuth angle of the target device relative to the antenna unit based on a ratio between a first phase difference between phases when a first antenna element among the plurality of antenna elements and a second antenna element at a predetermined distance from the first antenna element in the first axial direction receive a signal from the target device, and a second phase difference between phases when the first antenna element among the plurality of antenna elements and a third antenna element at a distance equal to the predetermined distance from the first antenna element in the second axial direction receive a signal from the target device.

4. The positioning device according to claim 3 , wherein the angle calculation unit calculates an elevation angle of the device to be positioned relative to the antenna unit based on the azimuth angle and the first phase difference or the second phase difference.

5. The positioning device according to claim 1 , wherein the selection unit selects, from the plurality of pairs, a pair of antenna elements for which the standard deviation is smallest, or a pair of antenna elements for which the standard deviation is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value.

Images