Terminal device, position acquisition method, and recording medium

Abstract

A terminal device comprises: a receiving unit 13 for receiving, from each of three or more communication devices, radio waves including device identifiers for identifying the communication devices; an intensity acquisition unit 141 for acquiring the radio wave intensity over time for each of the three or more communication devices; a type determination unit 142 for determining whether each of the three or more communication devices is a fixed terminal that is fixed or a mobile terminal that is moving by using the radio wave intensity over time acquired by the intensity acquisition unit 141; a position acquisition unit for acquiring the radio wave intensities of the three or more communication devices determined to be fixed terminals by the type determination unit 142, and acquiring a terminal position, which is information about the position of the terminal device in an indoor space or the like, by using the radio wave intensities of the fixed terminals; and a position output unit for outputting the terminal position acquired by the position acquisition unit. The terminal device can easily acquire the position of the terminal device in an indoor space or the like.

Description

Terminal device, location acquisition method, and recording medium

[0001] The present invention relates to a terminal device or the like that acquires and outputs the position of the terminal device.

[0002] Conventionally, there has been an indoor position detection device capable of detecting the position of an object indoors (see Patent Document 1). Such an indoor position detection device includes a plurality of distance measurement sensors spaced apart indoors and an object detection unit that detects the movement of an object based on detection signals from the distance measurement sensors.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2023-136586

[0004] However, in the conventional technology, it is necessary to install a plurality of distance measuring sensors indoors, and it is not easy to obtain the position of the terminal device indoors.

[0005] The terminal device of the first invention is a terminal device comprising: a receiving unit that receives radio waves including a device identifier that identifies the communication device from each of three or more communication devices; an intensity acquisition unit that acquires a time series of radio wave intensity for each of the three or more communication devices; a type determination unit that uses the time series of radio wave intensity acquired by the intensity acquisition unit to determine whether each of the three or more communication devices is a fixed terminal or a moving mobile terminal; a location acquisition unit that acquires a terminal position, which is location information of the terminal device, using the radio wave intensity of the three or more communication devices that the type determination unit has determined to be fixed terminals; and a location output unit that outputs the terminal position acquired by the location acquisition unit.

[0006] With this configuration, the position of the terminal device indoors or the like can be easily obtained.

[0007] In addition, the terminal device of the second invention is a terminal device in which, compared to the first invention, the location acquisition unit is equipped with an intensity acquisition means that acquires the radio wave intensities of three or more communication devices that the type determination unit has determined to be fixed terminals in association with their device identifiers, a location determination means that determines one or more pieces of location information that satisfy a similarity condition with the radio wave intensities associated with each of the three or more device identifiers acquired by the intensity acquisition means from a location information storage unit that stores three or more pieces of location information having location information of a specific location and radio wave intensities at a specific location for each of the device identifiers of two or more fixed terminals, and a location acquisition means that acquires location information contained in each of the one or more pieces of location information determined by the location determination means and acquires the terminal location using the one or more pieces of location information.

[0008] With this configuration, the position of the terminal device indoors or the like can be easily obtained.

[0009] Furthermore, in the terminal device of the third invention, compared to the second invention, the information about each of the three or more locations in the location information storage unit is information acquired by a location information production device, and the location information production device is a terminal device comprising: a location acceptance unit that accepts location information of a specific location; a receiving unit that receives radio waves including a device identifier that identifies the communication device from each of the three or more communication devices at the specific location; an intensity acquisition unit that acquires a time series of radio wave intensity for each of the three or more communication devices; a type determination unit that uses the time series of radio wave intensity acquired by the intensity acquisition unit to determine whether each of the three or more communication devices is a fixed terminal or a moving mobile terminal; and a storage unit that compiles and stores location information having the device identifier, radio wave intensity, and location information of the specific location for each of the three or more communication devices that the type determination unit has determined to be a fixed terminal.

[0010] With this configuration, the position of the terminal device indoors or the like can be easily obtained.

[0011] Furthermore, compared to the first invention, the terminal device of the fourth invention further includes a movement determination unit that determines whether the terminal device is moving or stationary and acquires a movement determination result, which is the judgment result, and the location acquisition unit is a terminal device that acquires location information using the movement determination result.

[0012] With this configuration, the position of the terminal device indoors or the like can be easily obtained.

[0013] Furthermore, in the terminal device of the fifth invention, in contrast to the fourth invention, the movement determining unit acquires sensor information of the terminal device and acquires a movement determination result using the sensor information.

[0014] With this configuration, the position of the terminal device indoors or the like can be easily obtained.

[0015] In addition, the terminal device of the sixth invention is a terminal device in which, compared to the fourth invention, the movement determination unit uses the time-series radio wave strength of each of three or more communication devices acquired by the strength acquisition unit to determine that the communication devices are stopped if there is no change in the time-series radio wave strength of two or more communication devices, and acquires a movement determination result.

[0016] With this configuration, the position of the terminal device indoors or the like can be easily obtained.

[0017] In addition, the location information production device of the seventh invention is a location information production device that includes a location acceptance unit that accepts location information of a specific location; a receiving unit that receives radio waves including a device identifier that identifies the communication device from each of three or more communication devices at the specific location; an intensity acquisition unit that acquires a time series of radio wave intensity for each of the three or more communication devices; a type determination unit that uses the time series of radio wave intensity acquired by the intensity acquisition unit to determine whether each of the three or more communication devices is a fixed terminal that is a fixed communication device or a mobile terminal that is a moving communication device; and a storage unit that compiles and stores location information having the device identifiers, radio wave intensity, and location information of the specific location for each of the three or more communication devices that the type determination unit has determined to be a fixed terminal.

[0018] With this configuration, it is possible to acquire location information for acquiring the position of a terminal device indoors or the like.

[0019] According to the terminal device of the present invention, the location of the terminal device can be easily obtained.

[0020] 1. Conceptual diagram of information system A including location information production device 1 in embodiment 1. Block diagram of same location information production device 1. Flowchart explaining an example of operation of same location information production device 1. Flowchart explaining an example of simultaneous series intensity acquisition processing. Flowchart explaining an example of same fixed information acquisition processing. Flowchart explaining an example of same type determination processing. Diagram showing a simultaneous series radio wave intensity management table. Diagram showing a same location information management table. Conceptual diagram of information system C in embodiment 2. Block diagram of terminal device 2. Flowchart explaining a first example of operation of terminal device 2. Flowchart explaining an example of same movement determination processing. Flowchart explaining an example of same position estimation processing. Flowchart explaining a second example of operation of terminal device 2. Flowchart explaining a second example of same type determination processing. Block diagram of computer system in the above embodiment.

[0021] Hereinafter, embodiments of a terminal device and the like will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that components with the same reference numerals in the embodiments perform similar operations, and therefore repeated description may be omitted.

[0022] (First Embodiment) In this embodiment, a location information production device will be described. The location information production device is a device that acquires location information of a specific location, which will be described later.

[0023] In this specification, information X being associated with information Y means that information Y can be obtained from information X, or information X can be obtained from information Y, and the method of association is not important. Information X and information Y may be linked, may exist in the same buffer, information X may be included in information Y, or information Y may be included in information X, etc.

[0024] Furthermore, in this specification, selecting or determining information Z means obtaining information Z, obtaining a pointer to information Z, obtaining the ID of information Z, setting a flag on information Z, etc., and it is sufficient if information Z can be accessed.

[0025] 1 is a conceptual diagram of an information system A including a location information production device 1 according to this embodiment. The information system A has the location information production device 1 and three or more communication devices B.

[0026] Each of the three or more communication devices B is a device that transmits radio waves to other devices such as the location information production device 1. The communication device B transmits to the other devices a device identifier that identifies the communication device B. The communication device B is, for example, a Wi-Fi router or a communication device that uses BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy), but the type is not critical.

[0027] 2 is a block diagram of the location information production device 1 according to the present embodiment. The location information production device 1 includes a storage unit 11, a reception unit 12, a receiving unit 13, and a processing unit 14. The reception unit 12 includes a position reception unit 121. The processing unit 14 includes an intensity acquisition unit 141, a type determination unit 142, and an accumulation unit 143.

[0028] The receiving unit 12 receives various instructions and information. The various instructions and information include, for example, position information, which will be described later. The instructions and information can be input using any means, such as a touch panel, a keyboard, a mouse, or a menu screen.

[0029] The position receiving unit 121 receives position information of specific locations. The position receiving unit 121 typically receives position information of three or more specific locations. The position receiving unit 121 receives, for example, position information input by a user. The position receiving unit 121 reads the position information from the storage unit 11, for example.

[0030] The specific location is a specific indoor location, but may also be a specific outdoor location. Here, location information is information that identifies a location indoors or outdoors. The location information is, for example, three-dimensional coordinate values ​​(x, y, z) that indicate a relative indoor or outdoor location, but may also be two-dimensional coordinate values ​​(x, y). The origin of the coordinate values ​​used to identify a relative indoor or outdoor location does not matter. The specific outdoor location is preferably a location where GPS signals are difficult to reach, such as among high-rise buildings or in a forest, but this does not matter. The location information may also be information that allows a person to recognize a location (for example, a character string) or an ID. Such location information may also be, for example, a label such as "living room," "workroom," "conference room," "east side of the library," or "toy section of a department store."

[0031] The location receiving unit 121 may generate a unique ID. Such a unique ID may be considered to be a label and location information.

[0032] The position receiving unit 121 does not need to receive position information. In this case, the position receiving unit 121 is unnecessary.

[0033] The receiving unit 13 receives, at a specific location, radio waves including the device identifiers from each of three or more communication devices B. The receiving unit 13 usually receives radio waves including the device identifiers from each of three or more communication devices B consecutively.

[0034] The device identifier is information that identifies the communication device B. The device identifier is, for example, the ID or name of the communication device B. Reception of radio waves can be considered as reception of information.

[0035] The processing unit 14 performs various types of processing, such as processing performed by an intensity acquisition unit 141, a type determination unit 142, and a storage unit 143.

[0036] The intensity acquisition unit 141 acquires the intensity of radio waves received from each of the three or more communication devices B. The intensity acquisition unit 141 acquires the radio wave intensity in pairs with the device identifier of the communication device B. The intensity acquisition unit 141 acquires radio wave intensity in a time series. The time series radio wave intensity means two or more radio wave intensities that are consecutive in time. It goes without saying that being consecutive in time may include a time interval.

[0037] The type determination unit 142 determines whether each of the three or more communication devices B is a fixed terminal or a mobile terminal, using the time-series radio wave intensity acquired by the intensity acquisition unit 141. A fixed terminal is a communication device that is installed at a fixed location. A mobile terminal is a communication device that is not installed at a fixed location and is mobile.

[0038] The type determination unit 142, for example, acquires the degree of variation of two or more temporally consecutive radio wave intensities in a time series paired with a device identifier, and if the degree of variation is equal to or greater than a threshold, determines that the communication device B identified by the device identifier is a mobile terminal.Furthermore, the type determination unit 142, for example, acquires the degree of variation of two or more temporally consecutive radio wave intensities in a time series paired with a device identifier, and if the degree of variation is equal to or less than a threshold, determines that the communication device B identified by the device identifier is a fixed terminal.

[0039] The degree of variation is information indicating the degree of variation or change in radio wave strength over time, and is, for example, a number based on variance, standard deviation, or difference (for example, the sum of the difference between two consecutive radio wave strengths among three or more consecutive radio wave strengths).

[0040] The type determination unit 142 determines that the communication device B identified by a certain device identifier is a mobile terminal, for example, if the number of radio wave intensities obtained in a specified time period and the number of consecutive radio wave intensities in a time series paired with a certain device identifier is below or less than a threshold value.

[0041] The storage unit 143 configures and stores location information having a device identifier and radio wave intensity of the communication device B that the type determination unit 142 has determined to be a fixed terminal. It is preferable that the storage unit 143 configures and stores location information having a device identifier and radio wave intensity for each of the three or more communication devices B.

[0042] The accumulation unit 143, for example, constructs and accumulates location information including a device identifier, radio wave intensity, and location information of a specific location of a communication device B that the type determination unit 142 has determined to be a fixed terminal. It is preferable that the accumulation unit 143 constructs and accumulates location information including a device identifier, radio wave intensity, and location information of a specific location for each of three or more communication devices B. For example, the accumulation unit 143 accumulates the location information in the storage unit 11, but it may also accumulate the location information in another device. It is preferable that the location information includes location information, but it does not have to include location information. The location information may also be comprised of only a device identifier and radio wave intensity.

[0043] The radio wave intensity stored in the storage unit 143 is usually a representative value of the time series radio wave intensity of the radio wave from the communication device B. The representative value is, for example, a median, an average, a maximum value, or a minimum value.

[0044] The storage unit 11 is preferably a non-volatile recording medium, but may also be a volatile recording medium.

[0045] There is no restriction on the process by which information is stored in the storage unit 11. For example, information may be stored in the storage unit 11 via a recording medium, information transmitted via a communication line or the like may be stored in the storage unit 11, or information input via an input device may be stored in the storage unit 11.

[0046] The receiving unit 12 and the position receiving unit 121 can be realized by a device driver for an input means such as a touch panel or a keyboard, or control software for a menu screen.

[0047] The receiving unit 13 is usually realized by a wireless or wired communication means.

[0048] The processing unit 14, intensity acquisition unit 141, type determination unit 142, and storage unit 143 can usually be realized by a processor, memory, etc. The processing procedures of the processing unit 14, etc. are usually realized by software, and the software is recorded on a recording medium such as a ROM. However, they may also be realized by hardware (dedicated circuit). The processor may be a CPU, MPU, GPU, etc., and the type does not matter.

[0049] Next, an example of the operation of the location information production device 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

[0050] (Step S301) The location receiving unit 121 determines whether or not location information of a specific location has been received. If location information has been received, the process proceeds to step S302, and if not, the process returns to step S301.

[0051] (Step S302) The accumulation unit 143 acquires the location information accepted in step S301.

[0052] (Step S303) The processing unit 14 and the like perform a time-series intensity acquisition process. The time-series intensity acquisition process is a process for acquiring the time-series radio wave intensity of radio waves from each of the three or more communication devices B. An example of the time-series intensity acquisition process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 4.

[0053] (Step S304) The processing unit 14 and the like perform fixed information acquisition processing. Return to step S301. The fixed information acquisition processing is processing for acquiring the strength of radio waves from the fixed terminal at the point identified by the location information accepted in step S301. An example of the fixed information acquisition processing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 5.

[0054] In the flowchart of Figure 3, it is preferable that a user holding the location information production device 1 moves to each of three or more specific locations, and the location information production device 1 accepts location information for each of the three or more specific locations and repeatedly performs the processes from S301 to S304.

[0055] In the flowchart of FIG. 3, the process ends when the power is turned off or an interrupt occurs to end the process.

[0056] Next, an example of the time-series intensity acquisition process in step S303 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

[0057] (Step S401) The receiving unit 13 determines whether or not it has received a radio wave from any of the communication devices B. If it has received a radio wave, the process proceeds to step S402, and if it has not received a radio wave, the process returns to step S401.

[0058] (Step S402) The storage unit 143 acquires the device identifier corresponding to the radio wave received in step S401.

[0059] (Step S403) The intensity acquisition unit 141 acquires the intensity of the radio wave received in step S401.

[0060] (Step S404) The accumulation unit 143 adds the radio wave intensity acquired in step S403 to a buffer (not shown) in association with the device identifier acquired in step S402.

[0061] (Step S405) The accumulation unit 143 determines whether the accumulation condition of the location information is met. If the accumulation condition is met, the process returns to the upper process, and if the accumulation condition is not met, the process returns to step S401. The accumulation condition may be, for example, that a threshold time or more has elapsed since the location information of the specific location was received, or that a threshold or more of radio wave intensity values ​​paired with three or more device identifiers have been accumulated.

[0062] Next, an example of the fixed information acquisition process in step S304 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

[0063] (Step S501) The type determining unit 142 assigns 1 to a counter i.

[0064] (Step S502) The type determination unit 142 determines whether the i-th device identifier exists in a buffer (not shown). If the i-th device identifier exists, the process proceeds to step S503; if the i-th device identifier does not exist, the process returns to the upper level process.

[0065] (Step S503) The type determination unit 142 determines the type of the communication device B identified by the i-th device identifier. An example of such type determination processing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

[0066] (Step S504) If the determination result in step S503 is a "fixed terminal", the process proceeds to step S505, and if it is a "mobile terminal", the process proceeds to step S508.

[0067] (Step S505) The accumulation unit 143 acquires two or more radio wave intensities paired with the i-th device identifier from a buffer (not shown).

[0068] (Step S506) The accumulation unit 143 acquires two or more representative values ​​of radio field strength.

[0069] (Step S507) The accumulation unit 143 accumulates in the storage unit 11 a pair of the i-th device identifier and the representative value of the radio wave intensity acquired in step S506 in association with the location information accepted in step S301.

[0070] (Step S508) The type determination unit 142 increments the counter i by 1. The process returns to step S502.

[0071] In the flowchart of FIG. 5, the accumulation unit 143 may acquire the latest signal strength in step S506 instead of the representative value of two or more signal strengths.

[0072] Next, an example of the type determination process in step S503 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

[0073] (Step S601) The type determination unit 142 acquires two or more radio wave intensities paired with the i-th device identifier in step S502 from a buffer (not shown).

[0074] (Step S602) The type determination unit 142 acquires the degree of variation in the two or more radio wave intensities acquired in step S601.

[0075] (Step S603) The type determination unit 142 determines whether the degree of variation acquired in step S602 is equal to or less than a threshold value. If the degree of variation is equal to or less than the threshold value, the process proceeds to step S604. If the degree of variation is equal to or greater than the threshold value, the process proceeds to step S605.

[0076] (Step S604) The type determination unit 142 determines the type of communication device B as "fixed terminal." The process returns to the upper level process.

[0077] (Step S605) The type determination unit 142 determines the type of communication device B as "mobile terminal", and returns to the upper level processing.

[0078] A specific example of the operation of the location information production device 1 in this embodiment will be described below. Here, the accumulation condition is that a predetermined time (e.g., three minutes) has elapsed since the location information of a specific location was accepted.

[0079] For example, assume that user A is indoors (for example, at home or in a department store that user A frequently visits). Then, user A sends location information (x １ , y １ ) is input.

[0080] Next, the location reception unit 121 of the location information production device 1 receives the location information (x １ , y １ Next, the storage unit 143 receives the received position information (x １ , y １ ) is acquired in a buffer not shown.

[0081] Then, the receiving unit 13 receives radio waves including device identifiers from three or more communication devices B for a predetermined time (for example, three minutes). Then, the storage unit 143 acquires the device identifiers included in the received radio waves. Furthermore, the intensity acquisition unit 141 acquires the intensity of the received radio waves. Next, the storage unit 143 associates the acquired device identifiers with the acquired radio wave intensity and adds the acquired radio wave intensity to a buffer (not shown). As a result, a time-series radio wave intensity management table shown in FIG. 7 is configured in the buffer (not shown). The time-series radio wave intensity management table shown in FIG. 7 includes location information (x １ , y １ ) is a table for a specific location indicated by

[0082] The time-series radio wave strength management table is a table that manages the time-series radio wave strength for each communication device B. The time-series radio wave strength management table is a table that manages two or more records each having an "ID," "device identifier," and "time-series radio wave strength." "ID" is information that identifies a record. "Time-series radio wave strength" is radio wave strength that is continuous over time. "R １１ " "R １２ " "R ２１ " etc. indicates radio wave strength.

[0083] After the management table of FIG. 7 is constructed, the location information (x １ , y １ Since a predetermined time (for example, three minutes) has elapsed since the request was accepted, the accumulation unit 143 determines that the accumulation condition for the location information is met.

[0084] Next, the type determination unit 142 acquires the degree of variation in time-series radio wave intensity of each record in Fig. 7 according to the operation of the flowchart in Fig. 6, and determines whether each communication device B is a fixed terminal or a mobile terminal. Then, the type determination unit 142 determines that the communication devices B identified by the device identifiers "device 1, device 3, device 4, device 6, ..." are fixed terminals, and determines that the communication devices B identified by the device identifiers "device 2, device 5, ..." are mobile terminals.

[0085] Next, the storage unit 143 generates radio wave intensity information by pairing the device identifier of the communication device B, which is a fixed terminal, with the representative value of the radio wave intensity. Then, the storage unit 143 stores each of the plurality of pieces of radio wave intensity information together with the position information (x １ , y １ ) and stores the information. This process creates a record with "ID=1" in the location information management table of FIG. 8. The storage unit 143 may store only the device identifier and radio wave intensity. In this case, each record in FIG. 8 does not have location information. In this case, the location receiving unit 121 does not need to receive location information of a specific location.

[0086] The location information management table is a table for managing location information. The location information management table stores multiple records that correspond to location information and have an "ID," "device identifier," and "signal strength information." The "signal strength information" has a "device identifier" and "signal strength."

[0087] By the above process, the position information (x １ , y １ ) is stored as location information for specific location 1.

[0088] User A holds the location information production device 1 and sends the location information (x ２ , y ２ ) and does the same as above. As a result, the point information production device 1 creates and stores a record for "ID=2" in the point information management table of FIG. 8. Furthermore, user A moves to one or more specific points including specific point 3 with the point information production device 1, and does the same as above. As a result, the point information production device 1 creates and stores a record (not shown) for "ID=3" in the point information management table of FIG. 8.

[0089] As described above, according to this embodiment, it is possible to obtain point information for acquiring the indoor position of a terminal device. In other words, according to this embodiment, it is possible to generate three or more pieces of point information for acquiring the indoor position of a terminal device.

[0090] The processing in this embodiment may be implemented by software. This software may be distributed by software download or the like. Furthermore, this software may be recorded on a recording medium such as a CD-ROM and distributed. This also applies to other embodiments in this specification. The software implementing the location information production device 1 in this embodiment is the following program. That is, this program causes a computer to function as: a location reception unit that receives location information of a specific location; a reception unit that receives radio waves from three or more communication devices at the specific location, each of which includes a device identifier that identifies the communication device; an intensity acquisition unit that acquires a time series of radio wave intensity for each of the three or more communication devices; a type determination unit that uses the time series of radio wave intensity acquired by the intensity acquisition unit to determine whether each of the three or more communication devices is a fixed terminal, i.e., a fixed communication device, or a mobile terminal, i.e., a mobile communication device; and a storage unit that configures and stores location information including the device identifiers and radio wave intensities of each of the three or more communication devices that the type determination unit determines to be a fixed terminal, and the location information of the specific location.

[0091] (Embodiment 2) In this embodiment, we will describe a terminal device that receives radio waves from three or more communication devices B, determines the type of each communication device B using the time-series radio wave strength, and obtains and outputs a terminal position indicating the location of the terminal device indoors using the radio wave strength from only communication devices B whose type is ``fixed terminal.''

[0092] In this embodiment, a terminal device will be described that determines whether the terminal device is moving or stationary, and acquires and outputs the terminal position using the determination result.

[0093] 9 is a conceptual diagram of an information system C according to this embodiment. The information system C comprises one or more terminal devices 2 and three or more communication devices B.

[0094] The terminal device 2 is a terminal capable of acquiring indoor position information. The terminal device 2 may be, for example, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a smartwatch, a so-called personal computer, or the like, and the type of the terminal device 2 is not important.

[0095] 10 is a block diagram of the terminal device 2 in this embodiment. The terminal device 2 includes a storage unit 21, a receiving unit 22, a processing unit 23, and an output unit 24. The storage unit 21 includes a point information storage unit 211. The processing unit 23 includes an intensity acquisition unit 231, a type determination unit 232, a movement determination unit 233, and a position acquisition unit 234. The position acquisition unit 234 includes intensity acquisition means 2341, point determination means 2342, and position acquisition means 2343. The output unit 24 includes a position output unit 241.

[0096] Various types of information are stored in the storage unit 21. The various types of information include, for example, location information, which will be described later.

[0097] Three or more pieces of spot information are stored in the spot information storage unit 211. It is preferable that the three or more pieces of spot information in the spot information storage unit 211 are information accumulated by the spot information production device 1.

[0098] Each of the three or more pieces of point information in the point information storage unit 211 has, for example, location information of a specific point, a device identifier, and radio wave intensity. It is preferable that three or more pieces of radio wave intensity information correspond to each of the three or more pieces of location information. The radio wave intensity information has a device identifier and radio wave intensity. The three or more pieces of radio wave intensity information may form a radio wave intensity vector. The radio wave intensity vector is a vector using radio wave intensity information, and has, for example, a structure of (radio wave intensity of device identifier 1, radio wave intensity of device identifier 2, radio wave intensity of device identifier 3, ..., radio wave intensity of device identifier n). The point information storage unit 211 stores, for example, a point information management table having the structure shown in FIG. 8.

[0099] The terminal device 2 does not necessarily have to have the location information storage unit 211. In such a case, the terminal device 2 refers to the location information storage unit 211 of an external device (not shown) and acquires the terminal position, which will be described later.

[0100] The receiving unit 22 receives radio waves including a device identifier that identifies the communication device B from each of the three or more communication devices B. The receiving unit 22 typically performs the same function as the receiving unit 13 described above. The receiving unit 22 typically receives radio waves including a device identifier from each of the three or more communication devices B. The receiving unit 22 typically receives radio waves continuously.

[0101] The processing unit 23 performs various types of processing, such as processing performed by an intensity acquisition unit 231, a type determination unit 232, a movement determination unit 233, and a position acquisition unit 234.

[0102] The intensity acquisition unit 231 acquires time-series radio wave intensity for each of the three or more communication devices B. The intensity acquisition unit 231 acquires radio wave intensity based on the radio waves received by the receiving unit 22. The intensity acquisition unit 231 performs the same function as the intensity acquisition unit 141 described above.

[0103] The type determination unit 232 determines whether each of the three or more communication devices B is a fixed terminal or a mobile terminal, using the time-series radio wave intensity acquired by the intensity acquisition unit 231. The type determination unit 232 performs the same function as the type determination unit 142 described above.

[0104] The movement determination unit 233 determines whether the terminal device 2 is moving or stopped, and acquires a movement determination result that is the result of the determination. The movement determination result is, for example, "moving" or "stopped."

[0105] The movement determination unit 233 acquires, for example, sensor information of the terminal device 2 and acquires a movement determination result using the sensor information. The sensor information is, for example, acceleration measured by a gyro and time-series position information.

[0106] For example, if the acceleration measured by the gyro is "0" or less than a threshold, the movement determination unit 233 obtains the movement determination result as "stopped." For example, if the acceleration measured by the gyro is equal to or greater than the threshold, the movement determination unit 233 obtains the movement determination result as "moving."

[0107] The movement determination unit 233, for example, uses the time-series radio wave strength of each of three or more communication devices B acquired by the strength acquisition unit 231 to determine that one or more communication devices B is stopped if there is no change in the time-series radio wave strength of one or more communication devices B, and acquires the movement determination result of ``stopped.''

[0108] The location acquisition unit 234 acquires the radio wave strength of three or more communication devices B that the type determination unit 232 has determined to be fixed terminals, and uses the radio wave strength of the fixed terminals to acquire the terminal location, which is the location information of the terminal device 2 indoors.

[0109] The location acquisition unit 234 acquires, for example, the radio wave intensity of three or more communication devices B that the type determination unit 232 has determined to be fixed terminals, and uses the three or more radio wave intensities to refer to three or more pieces of location information in the location information storage unit 211 and acquires the terminal location using the fingerprint method.

[0110] It is preferable that the location acquisition unit 234 acquires location information using the movement determination result. For example, it is preferable that the location acquisition unit 234 acquires the terminal location only when the movement determination result is "stopped."

[0111] The location acquisition unit 234 may acquire the terminal location using location information including the device identifier only when the device identifier corresponding to the radio waves received by the receiving unit 22 is included in the location information in the location information storage unit 211. This is because the location information in the location information storage unit 211 is location information of a fixed terminal.

[0112] The intensity acquisition unit 2341 acquires the radio wave intensity of three or more communication devices that the type determination unit 232 has determined to be fixed terminals, in association with the device identifiers.

[0113] The location determination unit 2342 determines, from the location information in the location information storage unit 211, one or more pieces of location information that satisfy the radio wave intensity and similarity condition associated with each of the three or more device identifiers acquired by the intensity acquisition unit 2341.

[0114] The point determination means 2342, for example, acquires a first radio wave intensity vector, which is a vector whose elements are the radio wave intensities paired with each of the three or more device identifiers contained in the point information. The point determination means 2342 also acquires a second radio wave intensity vector, which is a vector whose elements are the radio wave intensities corresponding to each of the three or more device identifiers acquired by the intensity acquisition means 2341. The point determination means 2342, for example, acquires the similarity between the two radio wave intensity vectors, and if the similarity is equal to or greater than a threshold, acquires point information corresponding to the first radio wave intensity vector.

[0115] The position acquisition means 2343 acquires the position information contained in the one or more pieces of position information determined by the position determination means 2342, and acquires the terminal position using the one or more pieces of position information.

[0116] The output unit 24 outputs various types of information, such as the terminal position and an indoor map.

[0117] Here, output is a concept that includes displaying on a display, projection using a projector, printing on a printer, sound output, transmission to an external device, storage on a recording medium, and delivery of processing results to other processing devices or other programs.

[0118] The position output unit 241 outputs the terminal position acquired by the position acquisition unit 234. The position output unit 241 displays, for example, on an indoor map, a design that clearly indicates the position identified by the terminal position.

[0119] The storage unit 21 and the location information storage unit 211 are preferably non-volatile recording media, but may also be realized as volatile recording media.

[0120] There is no restriction on the process by which information is stored in the storage unit 21 etc. For example, information may be stored in the storage unit 21 etc. via a recording medium, information transmitted via a communication line etc. may be stored in the storage unit 21 etc., or information input via an input device may be stored in the storage unit 21 etc.

[0121] The receiving unit 22 is usually realized by a wireless or wired communication means.

[0122] The processing unit 23, intensity acquisition unit 231, type determination unit 232, movement determination unit 233, position acquisition unit 234, intensity acquisition means 2341, point determination means 2342, and position acquisition means 2343 can typically be realized by a processor, memory, or the like. The processing procedures of the processing unit 23, etc. are typically realized by software, and the software is recorded on a recording medium such as a ROM. However, they may also be realized by hardware (dedicated circuitry). The processor may be a CPU, MPU, GPU, or the like, and the type does not matter.

[0123] The output unit 24 and the position output unit 241 can be realized by, for example, driver software for an output device such as a display or a speaker, or driver software for an output device and the output device.

[0124] Next, a first operation example of the terminal device 2 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

[0125] (Step S1101) The movement determining unit 233 determines whether the terminal device 2 is moving or stopped. An example of such movement determining processing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

[0126] (Step S1102) If the determination result in step S1101 is "stopped", the process proceeds to step S1103, and if it is "moving", the process returns to step S1101.

[0127] (Step S1103) The intensity acquisition unit 2341 performs a time-series intensity acquisition process. An example of the time-series intensity acquisition process has been described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

[0128] (Step S1104) The type determination unit 232, the location determination unit 2342, etc. perform fixed information acquisition processing. An example of the fixed information acquisition processing has been described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

[0129] (Step S1105) The location acquisition unit 2343 performs location estimation processing to acquire the terminal location. An example of the location estimation processing will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

[0130] (Step S1106) The position output unit 241 outputs the terminal position acquired in step S1105. The process returns to step S1101.

[0131] In the flowchart of FIG. 11, the process ends when the power is turned off or an interrupt occurs to end the process.

[0132] Next, an example of the movement determination process in step S1101 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

[0133] (Step S1201) The movement determining unit 233 acquires a sensor value (for example, acceleration) of the terminal device 2 and temporarily stores the sensor value in a buffer (not shown).

[0134] (Step S1202) The movement determination unit 233 determines whether or not to perform a movement determination using the sensor values ​​in a buffer (not shown). If a movement determination is to be performed, the process proceeds to step S1203, and if a movement determination is not to be performed, the process returns to step S1201. Note that the movement determination unit 233 may always perform a movement determination, or may perform a movement determination after, for example, a predetermined number of sensor values ​​or more have been accumulated in the buffer, or after a predetermined time has elapsed since the sensor values ​​were acquired.

[0135] (Step S1203) The movement determination unit 233 uses one or more sensor values ​​in a buffer (not shown) to determine whether the terminal device 2 is moving or stopped. If it is stopped, the process proceeds to step S1204, and if it is moving, the process proceeds to step S1205.

[0136] (Step S1204) The movement determination unit 233 determines that the movement is "stopped." The process proceeds to step S1206.

[0137] (Step S1205) The movement determining unit 233 determines that the movement determination result is "on the move."

[0138] (Step S1206) The movement determination unit 233 clears a buffer (not shown) and returns to the upper level processing.

[0139] Next, an example of the position estimation process in step S1105 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

[0140] (Step S1301) The location acquisition unit 2343 acquires three or more pieces of radio wave intensity information (pairs of device identifier and radio wave intensity) of the terminal device 2.

[0141] (Step S1302) The location acquisition unit 2343 vectorizes three or more pieces of radio wave intensity information to acquire a radio wave intensity vector. The radio wave intensity vector is, for example, (radio wave intensity of device identifier 1, radio wave intensity of device identifier 2, radio wave intensity of device identifier 3, ..., radio wave intensity of device identifier n).

[0142] (Step S1303) The position obtaining unit 2343 assigns 1 to the counter i.

[0143] (Step S1304) The position acquisition unit 2343 determines whether or not the i-th point information exists in the point information storage unit 211. If the i-th point information exists, the process proceeds to step S1305; if not, the process proceeds to step S1309.

[0144] (Step S1305) The position acquiring unit 2343 acquires the i-th radio wave intensity vector included in the i-th point information from the point information storage unit 211.

[0145] (Step S1306) The position acquisition unit 2343 acquires the similarity between the radio wave intensity vector acquired in step S1302 and the i-th radio wave intensity vector acquired in step S1305. Next, the position acquisition unit 2343 determines whether the similarity satisfies a similarity condition (for example, whether the similarity is equal to or greater than a threshold). If the similarity satisfies the similarity condition, the process proceeds to step S1307; if not, the process proceeds to step S1308.

[0146] (Step S1307) The location obtaining unit 2343 obtains the location information and the similarity included in the i-th point information, and stores them in a buffer (not shown).

[0147] (Step S1308) The position acquisition unit 2343 increments the counter i by 1. The process returns to step S1304.

[0148] (Step S1309) The location acquisition unit 2343 uses three or more sets of location information and similarity accumulated in a buffer (not shown) to acquire a terminal location that identifies the location of the terminal device 2. The process returns to the upper level process.

[0149] Next, a second operation example of the terminal device 2 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

[0150] (Step S1401) The intensity acquisition unit 2341 performs a time-series intensity acquisition process. An example of the time-series intensity acquisition process has been described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

[0151] (Step S1402) The location determination unit 2342 performs fixed information acquisition processing. An example of the fixed information acquisition processing has been described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

[0152] (Step S1403) The location acquisition unit 2343 performs location estimation processing to acquire the terminal location. An example of the location estimation processing has been described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

[0153] (Step S1404) The location output unit 241 outputs the terminal location acquired in step S1403. The process returns to step S1401.

[0154] In the flowchart of FIG. 14, the process ends when the power is turned off or an interrupt occurs to end the process.

[0155] Next, a second example of the type determination process in the fixed information acquisition process in step S1402 in the flowchart of Fig. 14 will be described using the flowchart of Fig. 15. Note that the first example of the type determination process was described using the flowchart of Fig. 6.

[0156] (Step S1501) The type determination unit 232 acquires the device identifier of communication device B, the type of which is to be determined.

[0157] (Step S1502) The type determination unit 232 determines whether the device identifier acquired in step S1501 exists in any of the location information stored in the location information storage unit 211. If the device identifier exists in any of the location information, the process proceeds to step S1503; if the device identifier does not exist, the process proceeds to step S1504.

[0158] (Step S1503) The type determination unit 232 determines the type as "fixed terminal." The process returns to the upper level process.

[0159] (Step S1504) The type determination unit 232 determines the type as "mobile terminal." The process returns to the upper level process.

[0160] A specific example of the operation of the terminal device 2 in this embodiment will be described below.

[0161] Assume that user B, holding his / her terminal device 2, enters an indoor location identified by a location identifier (P). The receiving unit 22 of the terminal device 2 then transmits a location information request having the location identifier (P) to an external device (not shown) and receives the location information management table shown in Fig. 8 from the external device. The processing unit 23 then temporarily stores the location information management table in the location information storage unit 211.

[0162] Then, the terminal device 2 operates as follows, in accordance with the processes from steps S1103 to S1106 in FIG. 11 or the processes in the flowchart in FIG.

[0163] That is, the intensity acquisition means 2341 performs the time-series intensity acquisition process described using the flowchart of FIG. 4, acquires the radio wave intensity of each of three or more communication devices B at point X where the terminal device 2 is located, and constructs a time-series radio wave intensity management table having the structure shown in FIG. 7.

[0164] Next, the strength acquisition means 2341 performs a time-series strength acquisition process to acquire the time-series radio wave strength of each communication device B that can receive radio waves at point X, and creates a time-series radio wave strength management table with the structure shown in Figure 7.

[0165] Next, the type determination unit 142 refers to the time-series radio wave intensity management table and determines whether each communication device B is a "fixed terminal" or a "mobile terminal" by the type determination process described using the flowchart of Figure 4.

[0166] Next, the location determination means 2342 acquires the radio wave strength of "Device 1," "Device 3," "Device 4," "Device 6," ..., which are determined to be fixed terminals. Then, the location determination means 2342 acquires the radio wave strength vector "(Radio wave strength of Device 1, Radio wave strength of Device 3, Radio wave strength of Device 4, Radio wave strength of Device 6, ...) = (P1, P3, P4, P6, ...)." Note that the radio wave strength of communication device B acquired by the location determination means 2342 here may be a representative value of two or more radio wave strengths, or may be a single radio wave strength such as the most recent radio wave strength of communication device B.

[0167] Next, the location acquisition unit 2343 performs the location estimation process described using the flowchart in FIG. 13, and calculates the similarity between the radio wave intensity vector at point X and the radio wave intensity vector (vector configured by radio wave intensity information) of each record in FIG. 8. Next, the location acquisition unit 2343 calculates the similarity between the radio wave intensity vector at point X and the radio wave intensity vector of each record in FIG. 8 (for example, the radio wave intensity vector (S) of "ID=1" in FIG. 8) that satisfies the similarity condition "similarity>=threshold value". １１ , S １２ , S １３ , ...), the radio wave intensity vector (S ２１ , S ２２ , S ２３ Next, the location acquisition unit 2343 determines a pair of location information and similarity (for example, "(x １ , y １ ), D.S. １ " "(x ２ , y ２ ), D.S. ２ Next, the position acquisition unit 2343 acquires the indoor position of point X (x １ ×DS １ / Sum of similarities + x ２ ×DS ２ / Sum of similarities +..., y １ ×DS １ / Sum of similarities + y ２ ×DS ２ / sum of similarities + ...). The sum of similarities is calculated by "DS １ +DS ２ +...".

[0168] Next, the position output unit 241 outputs the indoor or outdoor map stored in the storage unit 21, and places a pattern on the map at the position indicated by the position information (terminal position) acquired by the position acquisition means 2343.

[0169] As described above, according to this embodiment, the position of the terminal device 2 indoors or outdoors can be easily acquired.

[0170] The processing in this embodiment may be implemented by software. This software may be distributed by software download or the like. Furthermore, this software may be recorded on a recording medium such as a CD-ROM and distributed. This also applies to other embodiments in this specification. The software implementing the terminal device 2 in this embodiment is the following program. That is, this program causes a computer to function as a receiver that receives radio waves from three or more communication devices, each of which includes a device identifier that identifies the communication device; an intensity acquirer that acquires a time series of radio wave intensity for each of the three or more communication devices; a type determiner that uses the time series of radio wave intensity acquired by the intensity acquirer to determine whether each of the three or more communication devices is a fixed terminal or a mobile terminal; a location acquirer that acquires a terminal location, which is location information for the terminal device, using the radio wave intensity of the three or more communication devices that the type determiner determines to be fixed terminals; and a location outputter that outputs the terminal location acquired by the location acquirer.

[0171] Furthermore, reference numeral 1 in Fig. 1 or reference numeral 2 in Fig. 9 indicates the appearance of a computer that executes the programs described in this specification to realize the location information production device 1, terminal device 2, etc., of the various embodiments described above. The above-described embodiments can be realized by computer hardware and a computer program executed thereon. Reference numeral 1 in Fig. 1 or reference numeral 2 in Fig. 9 is an overview diagram of this computer system 300, and Fig. 16 is a block diagram of the system 300.

[0172] 16, the computer 301 includes, in addition to a CD-ROM drive 3012, an MPU 3013, a bus 3014 connected to the CD-ROM drive 3012 etc., a ROM 3015 for storing programs such as a boot-up program, a RAM 3016 connected to the MPU 3013 for temporarily storing instructions for application programs and providing temporary storage space, and a hard disk 3017 for storing application programs, system programs, and data. Although not shown here, the computer 301 may further include a network card for providing connection to a LAN.

[0173] A program that causes computer system 300 to execute the functions of terminal device 2 and the like in the above-described embodiment may be stored on CD-ROM 3101, inserted into CD-ROM drive 3012, and then transferred to hard disk 3017. Alternatively, the program may be transmitted to computer 301 via a network (not shown) and stored on hard disk 3017. The program is loaded into RAM 3016 when executed. The program may also be loaded directly from CD-ROM 3101 or the network.

[0174] The program does not necessarily include an operating system (OS) or a third-party program that causes the computer 301 to execute the functions of the terminal device 2 of the above-described embodiment. The program only needs to include instructions that call appropriate functions (modules) in a controlled manner to achieve the desired results. How the computer system 300 operates is well known, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0175] In addition, in the above program, the steps of transmitting information and receiving information do not include processing performed by hardware, such as processing performed by a modem or interface card in the transmission step (processing that can only be performed by hardware).

[0176] The computer that executes the program may be a single computer or a plurality of computers, that is, it may perform centralized processing or distributed processing.

[0177] Furthermore, in each of the above embodiments, it goes without saying that two or more communication means present in one device may be physically realized by one medium.

[0178] Furthermore, in each of the above embodiments, each process may be realized by centralized processing in a single device, or may be realized by distributed processing in a plurality of devices.

[0179] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible, and it goes without saying that these modifications are also included within the scope of the present invention.

[0180] As described above, the terminal device 2 according to the present invention has the effect of easily acquiring the location of the terminal, and is useful as a terminal device or the like.

Claims

1. A receiving unit that receives radio waves including device identifiers for identifying the communication devices from each of three or more communication devices; an intensity acquisition unit that acquires time-series radio wave intensities for each of the three or more communication devices; using the time-series radio wave intensities of the three or more communication devices acquired by the intensity acquisition unit, when there is no change in the time-series radio wave intensities of two or more communication devices, it is determined that the terminal device is in a stopped state, and a movement determination unit that acquires a movement determination result, which is a determination result as to whether the terminal device is in a moving state or a stopped state; a type determination unit that determines whether each of the three or more communication devices is a fixed terminal that is fixed or a moving terminal that is moving, using the time-series radio wave intensities acquired by the intensity acquisition unit; a position acquisition unit that acquires a terminal position, which is the position information of the terminal device, using the radio wave intensities of the three or more communication devices determined by the type determination unit to be fixed terminals; and a position output unit that outputs the terminal position acquired by the position acquisition unit. The position acquisition unit acquires the terminal position using the movement determination result. A terminal device.

2. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the position acquisition unit acquires the terminal position only when the movement determination result is "stopped".

3. The position acquisition unit includes intensity acquisition means for acquiring the radio wave intensities of the three or more communication devices determined by the type determination unit to be fixed terminals in association with the device identifiers; location information storage for storing three or more location information including the location information of a specific location and the radio wave intensities at the specific location for each of two or three or more fixed terminal device identifiers, location determination means for determining one or two or more location information that satisfies a similar condition to the radio wave intensities associated with each of the three or more device identifiers acquired by the intensity acquisition means; and position acquisition means for acquiring the location information included in each of the one or more location information determined by the location determination means and using the one or more location information to acquire the terminal position. The terminal device according to claim 1 or claim 2.

4. Each of the three or more pieces of location information in the location information storage unit is information acquired by a location information production device. The location information production device includes a position reception unit that receives position information of a specific location, a reception unit that receives, at the specific location, radio waves including device identifiers for identifying the communication devices from three or more communication devices, an intensity acquisition unit that acquires time-series radio wave intensities for each of the three or more communication devices, a type determination unit that determines, using the time-series radio wave intensities acquired by the intensity acquisition unit, whether each of the three or more communication devices is a fixed terminal that is fixed or a mobile terminal that is moving, and an accumulation unit that constructs and accumulates location information having the device identifiers, radio wave intensities, and the position information of the specific location of each of the three or more communication devices determined by the type determination unit to be a fixed terminal. The terminal device according to claim 3.

5. A position acquisition method in a terminal device including a reception unit, an intensity acquisition unit, a movement determination unit, a type determination unit, a position acquisition unit, and a position output unit, the method including: a reception step in which the reception unit receives radio waves including device identifiers for identifying the communication devices from three or more communication devices; an intensity acquisition step in which the intensity acquisition unit acquires time-series radio wave intensities for each of the three or more communication devices; a movement determination step in which the movement determination unit uses the time-series radio wave intensities of the three or more communication devices acquired by the intensity acquisition unit to determine that the terminal device is stopped when there is no change in the time-series radio wave intensities of two or more communication devices, and obtains a movement determination result that is a determination result as to whether the terminal device is moving or stopped; a type determination step in which the type determination unit determines, using the time-series radio wave intensities acquired by the intensity acquisition unit, whether each of the three or more communication devices is a fixed terminal that is fixed or a mobile terminal that is moving; a position acquisition step in which the position acquisition unit acquires a terminal position that is the position information of the terminal device, using the radio wave intensities of the three or more communication devices determined by the type determination unit to be fixed terminals; and a position output step in which the position output unit outputs the terminal position acquired by the position acquisition unit. The position acquisition unit acquires the terminal position using the movement determination result.

6. A program for causing a computer to function as a receiving unit that receives radio waves including device identifiers for identifying the communication devices from each of three or more communication devices, an intensity acquisition unit that acquires time-series radio wave intensities for each of the three or more communication devices, a movement determination unit that uses the time-series radio wave intensities of the three or more communication devices acquired by the intensity acquisition unit to determine that the terminal device is stopped when there is no change in the time-series radio wave intensities of two or more communication devices, and obtains a movement determination result that is a determination result as to whether the terminal device is moving or stopped, a type determination unit that uses the time-series radio wave intensities acquired by the intensity acquisition unit to determine whether each of the three or more communication devices is a fixed terminal that is fixed or a mobile terminal that is moving, a position acquisition unit that acquires a terminal position that is the position information of the terminal device using the radio wave intensities of the three or more communication devices determined by the type determination unit to be fixed terminals, and a position output unit that outputs the terminal position acquired by the position acquisition unit, wherein the position acquisition unit acquires the terminal position using the movement determination result, and a recording medium recording the program for causing the computer to function.

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