Information processing device, information processing method, and program

Abstract

This information processing device comprises: a position information acquisition unit that inputs, to a trained model for outputting position information of a terminal device in accordance with an input of a radio wave arrival direction from the terminal device to a base station device and the distance from the terminal device to the base station device, a radio wave arrival direction from a terminal device to be measured to the base station device and the distance from the terminal device to be measured to the base station device, and acquires position information of the terminal device to be measured from an output of the trained model; and a transmission unit that transmits the position information of the terminal device to be measured acquired by the position information acquisition unit to the terminal device via the base station device.

Description

Information processing device, information processing method, and program

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an information processing device, an information processing method, and a program.

[0002] Conventionally, there is a technique for measuring the position of a terminal device in a network system using a Global Positioning System (GPS). In addition, in recent years, there are techniques for measuring the position of a terminal device in a base station device without using GPS, and techniques for measuring the position of a terminal device from a machine learning model without using GPS.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-119970 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2023-137825

[0004] However, in conventional terminal device position measurement, there are cases where the terminal device cannot be positioned correctly due to positioning errors or abnormalities in the GPS reception signal. Therefore, in conventional terminal device position measurement, there is a demand for an information processing device, an information processing method, and a program that can perform more accurate terminal device position measurement.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above-described circumstances, and provides an information processing device, an information processing method, and a program that are capable of performing highly accurate positioning of a terminal device.

[0006] The information processing device according to the present application includes: a location information acquisition unit that inputs a direction of arrival of radio waves from a terminal device to a base station device and a distance from the terminal device to the base station device into a trained model that outputs location information of the terminal device in response to input of a direction of arrival of radio waves from the terminal device to the base station device and a distance from the terminal device to the base station device, and acquires location information of the terminal device to be measured from the output of the trained model; and a transmission unit that transmits the location information of the terminal device to be measured acquired by the location information acquisition unit to the terminal device via the base station device. The information processing device may be a RAN (Radio Access Network) Intelligent Controller (RIC).

[0007] According to one aspect of the embodiment, the position of a terminal device can be measured with high accuracy without using a GPS.

[0008] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overview of an information processing system according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example configuration of an information processing system according to an embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an information processing device according to an embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a user information storage unit according to an embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a base station information storage unit according to an embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an input / output relationship of an AI model according to an embodiment. FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of an information processing device according to an embodiment. FIG. 8 is a hardware configuration diagram illustrating an example of a computer that realizes the functions of an information processing device.

[0009] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this specification and drawings, components having substantially the same functional configurations are designated by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

[0010] [1. Introduction] First, an overview of an embodiment will be described using Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an overview of an information processing system 1 according to an embodiment. As shown in Fig. 1, the information processing system 1 includes a terminal device 2, a base station device 3, an information processing device 4 on a RAN (Radio Access Network), and an AI (Artificial Intelligence) model 5 constructed in the information processing device 4. Here, the "RAN" acts as a link that organizes communication data received from the terminal device 2 and hands it over to a core network.

[0011] The terminal device 2 communicates with the information processing device 4 via the base station device 3. The information processing device 4, through communication with the terminal device 2, identifies the direction of arrival of radio waves from the terminal device 2 to the base station device 3 and the distance from the terminal device 2 to the base station device 3. This calculation is performed in units of TTI (Transmission Time Interval). For example, when the SCS (subcarrier spacing) is 30 [kHz], the TTI is 0.5 [ms]. Note that the calculations for identifying the direction of arrival of radio waves from the terminal device 2 to the base station device 3 and the distance from the terminal device 2 to the base station device 3 may be performed by an information processing device (not shown) of the base station device 3, rather than by the information processing device 4. Then, the information processing device of the base station device 3 may send the direction of arrival of radio waves from the terminal device 2 to the base station device 3 and the distance from the terminal device 2 to the base station device 3 to the information processing device 4.

[0012] The information processing device 4 inputs the direction of arrival of radio waves from the terminal device 2 to the base station device 3 and the distance from the terminal device 2 to the base station device 3 into the AI ​​model 5, and obtains estimated position information of the terminal device 2 and movement tendency information such as the movement direction and movement speed of the terminal device 2 from the AI ​​model 5. The information processing device 4 then transmits the estimated position information and movement tendency information of the terminal device 2 to the base station device 3. The base station device 3 transmits the position information and movement tendency information to the terminal device 2. Communication of the position information and movement tendency information of the terminal device 2 between the information processing device 4 and the base station device 3, and communication of the position information and movement tendency information between the base station device 3 and the terminal device 2, is performed in TTI units. The position information of the terminal device 2 includes latitude information, longitude information, and altitude information.

[0013] The information processing device 4 may also be an RIC, which is an information processing device that estimates various types of information based on the RAN and predetermined computational resources such as AI.

[0014] Conventionally, methods for obtaining location information of a terminal device 2 located within a cell operated by a base station device 3 include a technique for positioning using GPS, a technique for positioning the terminal device at the base station device without using GPS, and a technique for positioning the terminal device 2 from a machine learning model without using GPS. However, these techniques lack accuracy in positioning the terminal device 2, and a new positioning method was needed.

[0015] Therefore, in response to the above problem, the present disclosure provides a means for providing accurate positioning of the location information of a terminal device 2 using a new AI model 5. For example, the direction of radio wave arrival from the terminal device 2 to the base station device 3 and the distance from the terminal device 2 to the base station device 3 are input to the AI ​​model 5. When the radio wave arrival direction and distance are input to the AI ​​model 5, the AI ​​model 5 outputs location information and movement tendency information between the base station device 3 and the terminal device 2. The information processing device 4 outputs the location information and movement tendency information output from the AI ​​model 5 to the base station device 3. The base station device 3 transmits the location information and movement tendency information output from the information processing device 4 to the terminal device 2. The terminal device 2 acquires accurate location information and movement tendency information. In this way, the embodiment provides a solution that allows the terminal device 2 to acquire accurate location information.

[0016] 2. Configuration Example of Information Processing System 1] Fig. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an information processing system 1 according to an embodiment. The information processing system 1 includes a terminal device 10, a base station device 20, and an information processing device 100. The terminal device 10, the base station device 20, and the information processing device 100 are connected to each other via a predetermined network N so as to be able to communicate with each other via wired or wireless communication. Note that the information processing system 1 shown in Fig. 2 may include any number of terminal devices 10, any number of base station devices 20, and any number of information processing devices 100.

[0017] The terminal device 10 is a communication device that wirelessly communicates with the base station device 20 based on the control of the base station device 20. The terminal device 10 is used by a user. The terminal device 10 is, for example, a sensor or camera device with a communication function, a mobile terminal (also called a smart device) such as a mobile phone, a smartphone, or a tablet, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), or a personal computer. The following describes a case where the terminal device 10 is a mobile terminal such as a smartphone or a tablet.

[0018] The base station device 20 is a communication device that operates a cell (not shown) and provides wireless communication services to one or more terminal devices 10 located within the coverage of the cell. The cell is operated according to any wireless communication method, such as LTE (Long Term Evolution) or NR (New Radio).

[0019] The information processing device 100 is an information processing device that measures the position information of the terminal device 10. Specifically, the information processing device 100 acquires the position information and movement tendency information of the terminal device 10 using an AI model 5 (see FIG. 1 ) from the direction of radio waves arriving from the terminal device 10 to the base station device 20 and the distance from the terminal device 10 to the base station device 20. The information processing device 100 then transmits the acquired position information and movement tendency information of the terminal device 10 to the base station device 20. The base station device 20 transmits the position information and movement tendency information of the terminal device 10 to the terminal device 10.

[0020] 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the information processing device 100 according to the embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the information processing device 100 includes a communication control unit 51, a control unit 52, and a storage unit 53.

[0021] The communication control unit 51 controls communication between the information processing device 100 and external devices. The communication control unit 51 transmits, for example, the location information and trend information of the terminal device 10 transmitted by the transmission unit 65 to the base station device 20. The base station device 20 transmits the location information and trend information sent from the information processing device 100 to the terminal device 10.

[0022] The control unit 52 is a controller, such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an MPU (Micro Processing Unit), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), etc. The control unit 52 is realized by executing various programs (corresponding to an example of an information processing program) stored in a storage device inside the information processing device 100, using a storage area such as a RAM as a working area.

[0023] The storage unit 53 includes a user information storage unit 71, a base station information storage unit 72, and an AI model 73. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the user information storage unit 71 according to the embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the user information storage unit 71 stores, for each terminal device ID (terminal identification information) 71-1, location information 71-2, a radio wave arrival direction 71-3, and a distance 71-4 of the terminal to the base station device 20. The terminal device ID 71-1 and location information 71-2 are included in a communication signal sent from the terminal device 10. The location information 71-2 includes movement information, longitude information, and altitude information. The radio wave arrival direction 71-3 is identified by a radio wave arrival direction identification unit 61 based on a communication signal with the terminal device 10. The distance 71-4 of the terminal device 10 to the base station device 20 is identified by a distance identification unit 62 based on a communication signal with the terminal device 10.

[0024] Returning to Fig. 3, the control unit 52 has a radio wave arrival direction identification unit 61, a distance identification unit 62, a location information acquisition unit 63, a movement tendency information acquisition unit 64, and a transmission unit 65, and realizes or executes the information processing functions described below. Note that the internal configuration of the control unit 52 is not limited to the configuration shown in Fig. 3, and other configurations may be used as long as they perform the information processing described below.

[0025] The radio wave arrival direction identifying unit 61 identifies the radio wave arrival direction of the terminal device 10 (see FIG. 2 ) to the base station device 20 (see FIG. 2 ) through communication between the terminal device 10 and the base station device 20. For example, the radio wave arrival direction identifying unit 61 receives communication signals from the terminal device 10 in all angular directions and identifies the angle with the strongest signal strength as the radio wave arrival direction.

[0026] The distance determination unit 62 determines the distance from the terminal device 10 to the base station device 20 by communication with the terminal device 10 via the base station device 20. For example, the distance determination unit 62 calculates the distance from the terminal device 10 to the base station device 20 from the location information of the terminal device 10 and the location information of the base station device 20.

[0027] The location information acquisition unit 63 inputs the radio wave arrival direction of the terminal device 10 to be measured at the base station device 20 and the distance from the terminal device 10 to be measured to the base station device 20 to the AI ​​model 73. Then, the location information acquisition unit 63 acquires the location information of the terminal device 10 to be measured from the output of the AI ​​model 73. The AI ​​model 73 is a trained model that is trained using the radio wave arrival direction and the distance from the terminal device 10 to the base station device 20, and outputs movement tendency information including the location information, movement direction, movement speed, etc. of the terminal device 10. The AI ​​model 73 may be trained using other parameters in addition to the radio wave arrival direction and the distance from the terminal device 10 to the base station device 20.

[0028] The movement tendency information acquisition unit 64 acquires movement tendency information of the terminal device 10 to be measured, which is output according to the radio wave arrival direction and distance of the terminal device 10 to be measured, which are input to the AI ​​model 73 by the position information acquisition unit 63. The movement tendency information is used in the application program of the terminal device 10, but the AI ​​model 73 may not output the movement tendency information.

[0029] The transmitter 65 acquires the terminal device ID 71-1 from the user information storage unit 71. Then, the transmitter 65 instructs the communication control unit 51 to transmit the terminal device ID and the base station ID in the location information of the base station device 20 stored in the base station information storage unit 72 corresponding to the location information of the terminal device 10 acquired from the AI ​​model 73. The transmitter 65 also instructs the communication control unit 51 to transmit the location information and movement tendency information of the terminal device 10 acquired from the AI ​​model 73 to the base station device 20 corresponding to the location information acquired from the AI ​​model 73 of the terminal device 10. The base station device 20 receives the terminal device ID, the base station ID, the location information and movement tendency information of the terminal device 10 from the information processing device 100, and transmits them to the terminal device 10.

[0030] 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of a base station information storage unit 81 according to the embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, the base station information storage unit 81 stores, for each base station ID 81-1, position information 81-2 of the base station device 20 and the like. The base station position information 81-2 includes latitude information, longitude information, and altitude information. Because the base station is a fixed station, the position information of the base station device 20 is fixed. Every time a base station device 20 is added or removed, the base station ID 81-1 and the position information 81-2 of the base station device 20 and the like are stored in or deleted from the base station information storage unit 81.

[0031] 6 is a diagram showing the input / output relationship of the AI ​​model 73 according to the embodiment. As shown in Fig. 6, a specified radio wave arrival direction 91 and a distance 92 from the terminal device 10 (see Fig. 2) to the base station device 20 (see Fig. 2) are input to the AI ​​model 73. Furthermore, based on the radio wave arrival direction 91 and the distance 92 from the terminal device 10 to the base station device 20, the AI ​​model 73 outputs position information 93 of the terminal device 10 and movement tendency information 94 including the movement direction, movement speed, etc. of the terminal device 10.

[0032] 4. Operation of Information Processing Apparatus 100 FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the information processing apparatus 100 according to the embodiment.

[0033] As shown in Figure 7, the control unit 52 detects the terminal device ID and location information of the terminal device 10, and determines the direction in which radio waves arrive from the terminal device 10 to the base station device 20 and the distance from the terminal device 10 to the base station device 20 (step S1).

[0034] Next, the control unit 52 stores the detected terminal device ID and the identified radio wave arrival direction and distance in the user information storage unit 71 (step S2). Next, the control unit 52 inputs the identified radio wave arrival direction and distance into the AI ​​model 73 (step S3).

[0035] Next, the control unit 52 acquires the location information and movement tendency information from the AI ​​model 73 (step S4). Then, the control unit 52 transmits the location information, movement tendency information, etc. to the base station device 20. The base station device 20 transmits the location information, movement tendency information, etc. to the terminal device 2 (step S5).

[0036] Although the information processing device 100 of the embodiment has been described as being related to a wireless network system using a RAN, the information processing device 100 of the embodiment can be applied to various wireless network systems. For example, the information processing device 100 of the embodiment can also be applied to a Wi-Fi network.

[0037] [5. Effects] Therefore, according to the information processing device 100 of the embodiment of the present disclosure, by using a trained model that takes into account the relationship between the terminal device 10 and the base station device 20, it is possible to perform accurate positioning of the terminal device 10.

[0038] Furthermore, the information processing device 100 according to the embodiment can determine the position of the terminal device 10 with high accuracy, and can similarly acquire high-accuracy movement tendency information of the terminal device 10. This allows the user to accurately know the movement tendency of the terminal device 10. Furthermore, the terminal device 10 can use the movement tendency information in various ways in application programs.

[0039] Furthermore, the information processing apparatus 100 according to the embodiment transmits the location information to the base station apparatus 20 and the terminal apparatus 10 in TTI units, and therefore can transmit the location information quickly.

[0040] Furthermore, in the information processing apparatus 100 according to the embodiment, the location information includes latitude information, longitude information, and altitude information, so that the terminal device 10 can use a GPS application program.

[0041] Furthermore, the information processing device 100 of the embodiment sends the acquired location information together with the terminal's identification information and the identification information of the base station device 20 corresponding to the acquired location information of the terminal device 10, so that the location information can be delivered to the terminal device 10.

[0042] According to the information processing device 100 of the embodiment, the information processing device 100 is constructed on the RAN, so that the accurate location of the terminal device 10 can be obtained before the terminal device 10 is connected to the core network. As a result, the core network can accurately use the terminal device 10.

[0043] [6. Hardware Configuration] The information processing device 100 according to the embodiment described above is realized by a computer 1000 having a configuration as shown in Fig. 8, for example. Fig. 8 is a hardware configuration diagram showing an example of a computer that realizes the functions of the information processing device 100. The computer 1000 includes a CPU 1100, a RAM 1200, a ROM 1300, a HDD 1400, a communication interface (I / F) 1500, an input / output interface (I / F) 1600, and a media interface (I / F) 1700.

[0044] The CPU 1100 operates and controls each unit based on programs stored in the ROM 1300 or the HDD 1400. The ROM 1300 stores a boot program executed by the CPU 1100 when the computer 1000 starts up, programs that depend on the hardware of the computer 1000, and the like.

[0045] The HDD 1400 stores programs executed by the CPU 1100, data used by such programs, etc. The communication interface 1500 receives data from other devices via a predetermined communication network and sends it to the CPU 1100, and transmits data generated by the CPU 1100 to other devices via the predetermined communication network.

[0046] The CPU 1100 controls output devices such as a display and a printer, and input devices such as a keyboard and a mouse, via the input / output interface 1600. The CPU 1100 acquires data from the input devices via the input / output interface 1600. The CPU 1100 also outputs generated data to the output devices via the input / output interface 1600.

[0047] Media interface 1700 reads a program or data stored in recording medium 1800 and provides it to CPU 1100 via RAM 1200. CPU 1100 loads the program or data from recording medium 1800 onto RAM 1200 via media interface 1700 and executes the loaded program. Recording medium 1800 is, for example, an optical recording medium such as a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) or a PD (Phase Change Rewritable Disc), a magneto-optical recording medium such as an MO (Magneto-Optical Disc), a tape medium, a magnetic recording medium, or a semiconductor memory.

[0048] For example, when the computer 1000 functions as the information processing device 100 according to the embodiment, the CPU 1100 of the computer 1000 executes programs loaded onto the RAM 1200 to realize the functions of the control unit 150. The CPU 1100 of the computer 1000 reads and executes these programs from the recording medium 1800, but as another example, the CPU 1100 may obtain these programs from another device via a predetermined communication network.

[0049] Although some of the embodiments of the present application have been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, these are merely examples, and the present invention can be implemented in other forms that include the embodiments described in the Disclosure of the Invention section and that have undergone various modifications and improvements based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art.

[0050] [7. Other] Furthermore, among the processes described in the above embodiments and modifications, all or part of the processes described as being performed automatically can be performed manually, or all or part of the processes described as being performed manually can be performed automatically using known methods. In addition, the information including the processing procedures, specific names, various data, and parameters shown in the above documents and drawings can be changed as desired unless otherwise specified. For example, the various information shown in each drawing is not limited to the information shown in the drawings.

[0051] Furthermore, the components of each device shown in the figure are conceptual functional components and do not necessarily have to be physically configured as shown in the figure. In other words, the specific form of distribution and integration of each device is not limited to that shown in the figure, and all or part of them can be functionally or physically distributed and integrated in any unit depending on various loads, usage conditions, etc.

[0052] Furthermore, the information processing device 100 described above may be realized by multiple server computers, and depending on the function, the configuration can be flexibly changed, such as by calling an external platform using an API (Application Programming Interface) or network computing.

[0053] Furthermore, the above-described embodiments and modifications can be combined as appropriate within the scope of not causing any contradiction in the processing content.

[0054] Furthermore, the above-mentioned "section, module, unit" can be read as "means" or "circuit", etc. For example, an extraction section can be read as extraction means or extraction circuit.

[0055] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Information processing system 2, 10 Terminal device 3, 20 Base station device 4 Information processing device 5, 73 AI model 51 Communication control unit 52 Control unit 53 Storage unit 61 Radio wave arrival direction identification unit 62 Distance identification unit 63 Location information acquisition unit 64 Movement tendency information acquisition unit 71 User information storage unit 81 Base station information storage unit 100 Information processing device

Claims

1. An information processing device having: a location information acquisition unit that inputs the direction of radio wave arrival at a base station device of a terminal device to be measured and the distance from the terminal device to the base station device into a trained model that outputs location information of the terminal device in response to input of the direction of radio wave arrival at a base station device of the terminal device and the distance from the terminal device to the base station device, and acquires location information of the terminal device to be measured from the output of the trained model; and a transmission unit that transmits the location information of the terminal device to be measured acquired by the location information acquisition unit to the terminal device via the base station device.

2. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the trained model outputs movement tendency information of the terminal device in response to input of the radio wave arrival direction and the distance, the location information acquisition unit inputs the radio wave arrival direction and the distance of the terminal device to be measured into the trained model to acquire the movement tendency information of the terminal device to be measured, and the transmission unit transmits the movement tendency information acquired by the movement tendency information acquisition unit to the terminal device to be measured via the base station device.

3. The information processing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the location information acquisition unit acquires the location information in TTI units, and the transmission unit transmits the location information acquired by the location information acquisition unit in TTI units.

4. The information processing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the location information includes latitude information, longitude information, and altitude information.

5. An information processing device as described in claim 1 or 2, comprising: a user information storage unit that stores identification information of the terminal device and location information of the terminal device in association with each other; and a base station device information storage unit that stores identification information of the base station device and location information of the base station device in association with each other; wherein the transmission unit transmits the location information of the terminal device acquired by the location information acquisition unit in association with the identification information of the terminal device stored in the user information storage unit and the identification information of the base station device stored in the base station device information storage unit that corresponds to the acquired location information of the terminal device.

6. The information processing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the information processing device is constructed on a RAN (Radio Access Network).

7. An information processing method realized by a program executed by an information processing device, comprising: an acquisition step of inputting the direction of arrival of radio waves from a terminal device to a base station device and the distance from the terminal device to the base station device into a trained model that outputs location information of the terminal device in response to input of the direction of arrival of radio waves from the terminal device to a base station device and the distance from the terminal device to the base station device, and acquiring location information of the terminal device to be measured from the output of the trained model; and a transmission step of transmitting the acquired location information of the terminal device to the terminal device to be measured via the base station device.

8. A program that causes a computer to execute a location information acquisition procedure in which the direction of radio waves arriving at a base station device for a terminal device to be measured and the distance from the terminal device to the base station device are input into a trained model that outputs location information of the terminal device in response to input of the direction of radio waves arriving at a base station device for the terminal device and the distance from the terminal device to the base station device, and the location information of the terminal device to be measured is acquired from the output of the trained model, and a transmission procedure in which the location information of the terminal device to be measured acquired by the location information acquisition procedure is transmitted to the terminal device via the base station device.

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