JP5644044B2 - Location information and peripheral information provision system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for providing a route guidance service or the like using a mobile communication terminal such as a mobile phone having a GPS reception function.

  Mobile phone route guidance services have become widespread and have improved convenience. For example, in the technologies proposed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 and the like, the location information of the terminal acquired by the mobile phone terminal having a GPS reception function by receiving GPS signals transmitted from a plurality of GPS satellites is transmitted to the base station. Via the base station from the map information providing server to receive the map information around the location where the terminal is located and display it on the display screen of the own terminal. The destination can be reached while viewing the map displayed on the display screen.

JP 2002-277277 A JP 2003-028662 A

  In the route guidance service systems described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, the location information of the terminal is obtained by the GPS function provided in the mobile phone terminal, and the obtained location information is sent to the map information providing server on the Internet via the base station. Since the mobile phone terminal is in a mountainous area such as in a national park, it is not possible to communicate with the base station, for example. If it is located, or if it is located in a place where it is difficult to receive GPS signals, there is a problem that the route guidance service cannot be received.

  The service provided by the telecommunications carrier is determined according to the intention of the carrier, and it may take time to improve the service area in a national park or the like because the installation conditions of the base station may be severe due to the influence on the landscape. In addition, if there are some places where you can use a mobile phone on a natural promenade, etc., a tourist information center is installed at these places to provide information, but there is no means to guide visitors walking along the promenade. It was. For this reason, outside the calling area, they only walk around the promenade using paper-based illustration maps issued by information centers.

  An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems and provide a means capable of seamlessly acquiring position information and peripheral information from the GPS and the calling area to the outside of the GPS area or the outside of the calling area.

  The position information and peripheral information providing system of the present invention includes a mobile communication terminal having a mobile communication function for performing communication via a base station, a GPS receiving function, and a short-distance radio communication function, and the mobile communication via the base station. A location information service server that provides information about the location where the terminal is located to the terminal, and installed at a predetermined interval in an area outside the communication range of the base station, and provides information about the installation location and the surrounding location by short-range wireless communication The mobile communication terminal, when the mobile terminal is within the base station communication range and capable of GPS reception, the GPS data acquired by the GPS reception function is sent to the location information service server. Means for requesting peripheral information where the terminal is located by transmitting, and displaying the peripheral information received from the positional information service server on the display unit. Means for requesting base station peripheral information by transmitting the base station data to the location information service server when the terminal is within the base station communication range and GPS reception is impossible, and the location information service Means for displaying the peripheral information of the base station received from the server, and when the own terminal is located outside the base station communication area, accesses the short-range wireless communication device and Means for requesting transmission, and means for displaying information around the installation position received from the short-range wireless communication device on a display unit.

  When the mobile communication terminal used in the position information and peripheral information providing system of the present invention is within the base station communication range and capable of receiving GPS, the GPS data acquired by the GPS reception function is stored in the position information service server. Means for requesting peripheral information where the terminal is located by transmitting, means for displaying the peripheral information received from the position information service server on a display unit; Means for requesting base station peripheral information by transmitting the base station data to the location information service server when reception is impossible, means for displaying the base station peripheral information received from the location information service server; When the own terminal is located outside the base station communication area, the short distance wireless communication device is accessed and the peripheral information where the own terminal is located Means for requesting the signal, characterized in that it comprises, means for displaying on the display unit information on the surrounding the installation position received from the short-range wireless communication device.

  The short-range wireless communication device used in the position information and surrounding information providing system of the present invention includes a storage unit for storing the installation position and information around the installation position provided to the mobile communication terminal, the installation position, and the installation. Means for receiving information around the location from the maintenance terminal by the short-range wireless communication and writing or updating the storage unit, and when receiving the request for providing the peripheral information by the short-range wireless communication from the portable communication terminal, Means for transmitting the installation position stored in the storage unit and information around the installation position to the portable communication terminal by the short-range wireless communication.

  The program of the present invention includes a computer provided in a mobile communication terminal, means for acquiring GPS data by a GPS reception function of the terminal, the terminal is in a base station communication area, and the GPS data is acquired. Means for requesting the peripheral information where the terminal is located by transmitting the acquired GPS data to the position information service server, the periphery where the terminal received from the position information service server is located Means for displaying information on the display unit, and when the terminal is within the base station communication range and GPS reception is impossible, the base station peripheral data by transmitting the base station location data to the location information service server Means for requesting information, means for displaying peripheral information of the base station received from the location information service server, and that the terminal is out of the base station communication range Means for activating the short-range wireless communication function of the terminal, accessing the short-range wireless communication device and requesting transmission of peripheral information, and the short-range wireless communication device received from the short-range wireless communication device It is characterized by functioning as means for displaying the surrounding information on the display unit.

  In addition, the program of the present invention allows a computer provided in the short-range wireless communication device to receive the installation position of the short-range wireless communication device and information about the installation position from the maintenance terminal by short-range wireless communication and write it to the storage unit. Or a means for updating, when receiving a request for providing the installation position and the surrounding information of the installation position from the portable communication terminal by the short-range wireless communication, the information on the installation position and the surroundings of the installation position stored in the storage unit It is made to function as a means to transmit to the said mobile communication terminal by the said short distance radio | wireless communication.

  In the present invention, a beacon device that can provide map content and the like by a short-range wireless communication function is installed without being connected to a network, and a mechanism for distributing map content to a mobile phone having a short-range wireless communication function is provided. In addition to realizing route guidance services outside the calling area as local infrastructure within a certain area (such as within a national park), switching from the carrier's infrastructure can be automatically performed on the same application. Therefore, a seamless location information service can be provided from the calling area to the outside of the calling area.

  In addition, use technology that eliminates the need for operator licenses using short-range wireless communication functions, and build infrastructure that does not depend on carrier infrastructure (lines, servers, etc.) by taking advantage of its features such as low-power communication. Therefore, a local infrastructure that does not incur packet charges can be easily realized.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a position information and peripheral information acquisition system showing an embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, a mobile communication terminal 10 such as a mobile phone used in the present embodiment has a mobile communication function for performing communication via a base station, a GPS reception function, and Bluetooth (registered trademark: A communication function (referred to as BT), and the position information service application according to the present embodiment is installed and configured to be usable.

  In the location information service application of the present embodiment, when the mobile phone 10 can communicate with the mobile phone base station 30, the mobile phone 10, the location information service server 20 provided by the telecommunications carrier during the call range, The base station 30 and the GPS signal received from the GPS satellite 40 by the GPS reception function of the mobile phone 10 constitute a position information and peripheral information acquisition system, and the mobile phone 10 cannot communicate with the mobile phone base station 30. Outside the service area, the mobile phone 10 and the BT beacon device 50 installed at predetermined intervals in the service target area outside the service area and capable of transmitting the peripheral map content and the like by short-range wireless communication, provide location information and peripheral information providing system. Configure.

  The operation of storing the surrounding map content in the BT beacon device 50 (content registration and update) is performed by a tourist information center staff or the like from the maintenance terminal 60 having a short-range wireless communication function by short-range wireless communication. This is done by transmitting the surrounding map content to 50.

  The beacon device 50 such as BT is deployed as a local system in an area managed as a certain area such as a national park, and the user is informed in advance through a pamphlet or a travel guide. It is assumed that The beacon device 50 such as BT stores the location information content around the installation location in the memory part of the device, and the map data to be provided is an illustration map or local map that has been distributed to visitors such as national parks in the past It is an image of the created walking map. The service is provided by a route information platform in which a route on a commercially available city map data used by a provider or the like and a route such as an illustration map are connected and integrated by providing connection points.

  The mobile phone 10 is to be used while the user travels outside the calling area, and in addition to using a normal mobile phone or the like within the calling area, a service provided by a communication carrier using a location information service application is used. Outside the calling area, a service provided by the local tourism department using the beacon device 50 such as BT is used. The service server 20, the base station 30, and the GPS 40 are facilities that are maintained and managed by a communication carrier or the like, and are used on a daily basis in existing general-purpose services. The beacon device 50 such as the BT and the maintenance terminal 60 are installed by a tourism section of a local government having jurisdiction over the area.

  The mobile phone 10 is a general-purpose terminal capable of communication such as BT via a serial interface, and has an out-of-service detection function for detecting that the mobile phone 10 is out of the service area or out of the GPS service area while executing the location information service application of the present embodiment. When the outside of the communication area is detected, access to the BT beacon device 50 is automatically started, communication is established, and when the current position is recognized from the point where the outside of the communication area is detected and the information of the BT beacon device 50, the BT beacon device 50 The area map stored in is displayed and switched.

  The BT beacon device 50 is a small-scale server that can communicate by low-power radio using BT, can store content such as map information, and covers a radius range of about 10 m. The BT beacon device 50 is installed along the promenade at intervals of 20 m, for example, and the route usage and other services are provided only by the low-power wireless NW by BT without using the Internet. A tourist information service can be provided without incurring a usage fee. Further, in a place where electricity is not communicated, a utilization interface such as a solar cell is provided as a power source for the BT beacon device 50.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the mobile communication terminal used in the present embodiment.

  A mobile communication terminal 10 according to the present embodiment includes a communication circuit unit 110 having a mobile communication function for performing communication via a base station 30, a GPS receiving circuit unit 112 for acquiring position information of the terminal, and short-range wireless communication means. As a BT (Bluetooth: registered trademark) communication circuit unit 114.

  The operation of the mobile communication terminal 10 is controlled by the CPU 101 reading out and executing various programs stored in the ROM 102. The CPU 101 is connected to the communication circuit unit 110, the GPS reception circuit unit 112, the BT communication circuit unit 114, the ROM 102, the RAM 103, the sound processing unit 104, the display control unit 107, and the operation unit 109 via the bus 100. To control the operation. The ROM 102 is a memory that stores a program executed by the CPU 101 and data associated therewith, and the RAM 103 is a memory that provides a temporary storage area and a work area for data to be used by the CPU 101.

  The communication circuit unit 110 is a block that performs transmission / reception processing of a mobile phone, and is connected to a mobile phone base station wirelessly via an antenna 111 in order to obtain service information from a call or the service server 20. The audio processing unit 104 converts the analog audio signal input from the microphone 106 into digital data and sends it to the bus 100, converts the digital data input from the bus 100 into an analog audio signal, and outputs the analog audio signal to the speaker 105. .

  The GPS receiving circuit unit 112 is a block that receives radio waves from a GPS satellite via the GPS antenna 113 in order to obtain latitude and longitude as current location information. In this embodiment, the GPS signal data received by the GPS receiving circuit unit 112 is sent to the location information service server 20, and the location information service server 20 determines the location (latitude / longitude information) of the mobile communication terminal 10 based on the GPS data. However, a method of calculating the position (latitude / longitude information) in the mobile communication terminal 10 and transmitting the calculated position data to the position information service server 20 may be used.

  The BT communication circuit unit 114 is a short-range wireless communication unit using BT, and is a block that performs wireless communication with the BT beacon device 50 of the present embodiment via the BT antenna 115. The display control unit 107 is a block that performs display control of the display unit 108 including, for example, a liquid crystal display. The operation unit 109 is a block that includes a numeric keypad and various operation keys and receives user input instructions.

  The bus 100 is connected to the CPU 101, the communication circuit unit 110, the GPS reception circuit unit 112, the BT communication circuit unit 114, the ROM 102, the RAM 103, the sound processing unit 104, the display control unit 107, and the operation unit 109. It provides a transfer path for control signals to blocks and a transfer path for data between these arbitrary blocks.

  FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the BT beacon device used in this embodiment.

  The operation of the entire BT beacon device is controlled by the CPU 201. CPU 201, via bus 200, ROM 202, RAM 203, BT communication circuit unit 204, current location information of the BT beacon device and current location information and peripheral information storage unit 206 that stores map information and guidance information around the BT beacon device, Connected and controls the operation of each of these blocks.

  A ROM 202 is a memory that stores a program executed by the CPU 201 and data associated therewith, and a RAM 203 is a memory that provides a temporary storage area and a work area for data to be used by the CPU 201. The BT communication circuit unit 204 is a short-range wireless communication unit similar to the BT communication circuit unit 114 provided in the mobile communication terminal 10, and between the BT communication circuit unit 114 of the mobile terminal 10 via the BT antenna 205, Alternatively, it is a block that performs short-range wireless communication by BT with the BT communication circuit of the maintenance terminal 60.

  4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mobile communication terminal 10 in the present embodiment, FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the location information service server 20 in the present embodiment, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the BT beacon device 50 in the present embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement. The operation of this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS.

  A user uses a location information service on a daily basis using the mobile communication terminal 10. This mechanism is a location information application service provided by a communication carrier. For example, a route guidance application is downloaded from the service server 20. (S1) When the location information service is used, this route guidance application is launched (S2). It is assumed that this application is provided by a third-party provider, and that the provider provides one corresponding to the method of each mobile phone company.

  When the communication circuit unit 110 is within a communication range (S3, Yes) in which communication with the base station 30 is possible and the GPS signal can be received by the GPS reception circuit unit 112 (S4, Yes), the GPS reception circuit The route data (related map information and attribute information) of the terminal 10 is requested by transmitting the GPS data received by the unit 112 to the service server 20 via the base station 30 (S5). The route information provided from the server 20 via the base station 30 is received (S6), and the route information is displayed on the display unit 108 of the terminal 10 (S7).

  If the GPS signal cannot be received in S4 (S4, No), the base station 30 is registered by transmitting the data of the base station 30 being registered to the service server 20 via the base station 30. The map information and attribute information related to the request are requested (S8), and the map information and attribute information provided from the service server 20 via the base station 30 in response to this request are received (S9). Is displayed on the display unit 108 of the terminal 10 (S10).

  On the other hand, in S3, when the mobile communication terminal 10 is out of the calling range (S3, No), the communication to the base station 30 is automatically stopped on the same application triggered by the detection of the outside of the calling range, and the BT communication circuit unit 114. Is started (S11), and the search for the BT beacon device 50 is started (S12).

  When the first beacon device 50 such as BT is detected, a message such as “Do you want to switch to a service outside the service area?” Is displayed on the mobile phone 10 and the user can select whether or not to receive the service outside the service area. When the user selects “OK”, the cellular phone 10 establishes communication with the BT beacon device 50 by the BT communication circuit unit 114, and the installation location of the BT beacon device 50 from the BT beacon device 50. The peripheral position information content is received (S13), and the positional information content around the installation location is displayed on the display unit 108 of the terminal 10 (S10). At this time, switching from the location information service provided by the service server 20 is performed seamlessly.

  Since the BT beacon device 50 uses a BT having low directivity, it is possible to use the service while moving. For example, the BT beacon device 50 is continuously switched to the next BT beacon device 50 installed every 20 m. The provision of route information can be performed on the mobile phone 10. The beacon device 50 such as BT supports simultaneous connection to 8 mobile terminals, and can be adjusted so that interference with adjacent areas does not occur by controlling the transmission power according to the situation of the installation location. It is.

  Further, since the location information content provided by the beacon device 50 such as BT has a hybrid relationship with a format different from that provided by the service server 20, a continuous location information service is provided. In areas such as national parks, there are many areas outside the calling area, but there are scattered places within the calling area. Conventionally, spots in the calling area were introduced by a paper guide map at a tourist information center or the like, but information on the calling area can be provided to the mobile phone 10 in advance by the beacon device 50 such as BT. When the mobile phone 10 enters the calling area again, it is detected that the mobile phone 10 is within the service area, and the location information application service provided by the communication server provided by the service server 20 is seamlessly provided.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the service server 20 of the present embodiment operates when a route information (related map information, attribute information) request with GPS data added is received from the mobile phone 10 (Yes in S21). Calculates the latitude / longitude where the mobile phone 10 is located from the GPS data, generates route information of the mobile phone 10 based on the latitude / longitude information, and provides it to the mobile phone 10 via the base station (S22). ). When a peripheral information request to which data of the base station 30 is added is received from the mobile phone 10 (S23, Yes), peripheral information such as a peripheral map of the base station 30 is generated and the mobile phone is connected via the base station. 10 (S24).

  Further, the operation of the BT beacon device 50 according to the present embodiment is performed in advance using a maintenance terminal 60 capable of communicating with the BT beacon device 50 by a tourist information center staff or the like as shown in FIG. Every 50, new content / installation (location) ID or updated content writing processing is performed, and these pieces of information are stored in the current location information / peripheral information storage unit 206 of the BT beacon device 50 (S31, S32). . When the peripheral information request is received from the BT communication circuit unit 114 of the mobile phone 10, short-range wireless communication is established with the mobile phone 10 and the location information content around the installation location of the beacon device 50 such as the BT is carried by the mobile phone 10. It transmits to the telephone 10 (S33, S34).

  According to this embodiment, for example, in order to perform navigation by displaying a map even in a non-calling zone scattered in a national park or the like, a surrounding area map content or the like is transmitted to an area outside the calling range by short-range wireless communication such as BT. The beacon device 50 to be provided is installed at a predetermined interval (about 20 m), and the surrounding map information can be obtained by a mobile communication terminal having a short-range wireless communication function without depending on the line service provided by the communication carrier. In this way, by switching to the location information service by the BT beacon device 50 from the time of entering the area outside the base station NW area, switching from the location information service that is normally used can be performed seamlessly. .

  In addition, the content provided from the BT beacon device 50 is stored in each beacon device independently, and the staff of the tourist information center or the like performs a maintenance terminal such as a BT-compatible mobile phone to replace or rewrite the content. 60 can be easily implemented locally, so if you store the surrounding maps in BT beacon devices installed at predetermined intervals and provide the stored map information, the map will change as you move Route guidance is possible.

  In particular, when it is detected that the mobile communication terminal 10 has entered the outside of the communication range, the infrastructure used for the route guidance service is automatically transmitted from the communication carrier line equipment to the beacon device such as BT installed by the local government tourism section on the same application. Since it is switched, a seamless navigation service can be provided. It can also provide information on areas within the calling area that are scattered within the area.

  Furthermore, since the BT beacon device 50 is not connected to the network, it can be flexibly adapted to relocation, and does not require equipment such as a communication carrier or ISP, and it is not necessary to obtain a license for use. Local government tourism departments can start up services relatively easily according to local policies. In addition, since it does not go through the Internet, there is no need for packet communication fees, and if you have a mobile phone that supports BT, you can receive the service free of charge.

It is the schematic of the positional information and surrounding information acquisition system which shows embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram of the portable communication terminal used by embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram of a BT beacon device used in an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the portable communication terminal 10 in this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the location information service server 20 in this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the BT beacon apparatus 50 in this embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Mobile communication terminal 20 Location information service server 30 Mobile phone base station 40 GPS satellite 50 Near field communication apparatus (BT beacon apparatus)
60 Maintenance terminal 100, 200 Bus 101, 201 CPU
102, 202 ROM
103, 203 RAM
104 Audio processing unit 105 Speaker 106 Microphone 107 Display processing unit 108 Display unit 109 Operation unit 110 Communication circuit unit 111 Antenna 112 GPS reception circuit unit 113 GPS antenna 114, 204 BT circuit unit 115, 205 BT antenna 206 Current location information / peripheral information storage Part

Claims (7)

A mobile communication terminal having a mobile communication function for performing communication via a base station, a GPS reception function, and a short-range wireless communication function, and information about the location where the terminal is located are provided to the mobile communication terminal via the base station and positional information server, becomes the information around installation position and the installation position of a plurality of short-range wireless communication apparatus that provides a short-range wireless communication,
The mobile communication terminal is located by transmitting GPS data acquired by the GPS reception function to the location information service server when the mobile terminal is within the base station communication range and capable of receiving GPS. Means for requesting peripheral information; means for displaying the peripheral information received from the location information service server; and when the terminal is within the base station communication range and cannot receive GPS, Means for requesting base station peripheral information by transmitting to the location information service server; means for displaying peripheral information of the base station received from the location information service server; and the terminal is located outside the base station communication range A means for accessing the short-range wireless communication device and requesting transmission of peripheral information where the terminal is located; and the short-range wireless communication And means for displaying the installation location neighborhood information received from the device on the display unit,
Equipped with a,
The plurality of short-range wireless communication devices are controlled in transmission power so that the respective short-range wireless communication areas do not overlap each other, and a plurality of existing information provided by the location information service server is integrated by a connection point. Position information and peripheral information providing system characterized by being provided in a form .   The short-range wireless communication device includes a storage unit that stores information about the installation position and the vicinity of the installation position provided to the mobile communication terminal, and maintains the installation position and information about the installation position by the short-range wireless communication. Means for receiving from the terminal and writing or updating to the storage unit; and when receiving the peripheral information provision request from the mobile communication terminal by the short-range wireless communication, the installation position stored in the storage unit and the The position information and surrounding information providing system according to claim 1, further comprising means for transmitting information around the installation position to the portable communication terminal by the short-range wireless communication.   The position information and peripheral information providing system according to claim 1, further comprising a Bluetooth (registered trademark) communication unit as the short-range wireless communication unit.   4. The mobile communication terminal used in the position information and peripheral information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the GPS reception is performed when the mobile terminal is within a base station communication range and GPS reception is possible. 5. Means for requesting peripheral information where the terminal is located by transmitting GPS data acquired by the function to the positional information service server; and means for displaying the peripheral information received from the positional information service server on a display unit And a means for requesting base station peripheral information by transmitting the base station data to the location information service server when the terminal is within the base station communication range and GPS reception is not possible, from the location information service server Means for displaying the received peripheral information of the base station, and when the terminal is located outside the base station communication range, the short-range wireless communication device is accessed. And a means for requesting transmission of surrounding information where the terminal is located, and a means for displaying information about the installation position received from the short-range wireless communication device on a display unit. A characteristic mobile communication terminal.   The short-range wireless communication device used in the position information and peripheral information providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the installation position provided to the mobile communication terminal and information around the installation position A storage unit that stores information about the installation position and the surroundings of the installation position from the maintenance terminal by the short-range wireless communication, and writes or updates the information to the storage unit, and the short-range wireless from the portable communication terminal Means for transmitting the installation position stored in the storage unit and information about the installation position to the portable communication terminal by the short-range wireless communication when the request for providing the peripheral information is received by communication. A short-range wireless communication device. Means for acquiring GPS data by means of a GPS reception function possessed by the terminal of the computer provided in the portable communication terminal, the acquisition when the terminal is within a base station communication area and the GPS data is acquired; Means for requesting the peripheral information where the terminal is located by transmitting the GPS data to the position information service server, and displaying the peripheral information where the terminal is located received from the position information service server on the display unit Means for requesting peripheral information of the base station by transmitting position data of the base station to the position information service server when the terminal is within the base station communication range and the GPS reception is impossible; Means for displaying the peripheral information of the base station received from the location information service server; a short message the terminal has when it is out of the base station communication range Start away wireless communication function, the short-range wireless communication regions transmission power so as not to overlap with the wireless communication area of the other short-range wireless communication device is controlled, a plurality of existing provided by the location information server Means for requesting transmission of peripheral information by accessing a short-range wireless communication device that integrally provides the information of the connection point at the connection point, and the peripheral where the short-range wireless communication device received from the short-range wireless communication device is located A program for causing information to be displayed on a display unit. The transmission power is controlled so that the short-range wireless communication area does not overlap with the wireless communication areas of other short-range wireless communication devices, and a plurality of existing information provided by the location information service server is integrated by a connection point. Means for receiving the computer installed in the short-range wireless communication device provided by the short-range wireless communication device and information about the location of the short-range wireless communication device from the maintenance terminal by short-range wireless communication and writing or updating the information in the storage unit When receiving a request for providing the installation position and the surrounding information about the installation position from the mobile communication terminal by the short-range wireless communication, the short-range wireless communication device stores the installation position and the information around the installation position stored in the storage unit. A program for functioning as means for transmitting to the mobile communication terminal by communication.

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