JP7043916B2 - Positioning systems, data processing equipment, data processing methods, programs, communication devices and acoustic receivers - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a positioning system that detects the position of an object moving in an indoor space such as an office or a factory .

In general, as an example of a positioning technique using radio, there is a technique using GPS (Global Positioning System), and it is possible to detect a position outdoors with an accuracy of several meters to several tens of meters. However, since the positioning accuracy is greatly affected by the disturbance indoors, the position cannot be detected well. As a technique for improving the positioning accuracy indoors, a technique using radio signal strength such as Wi-fi (registered trademark) or Bluetooth (registered trademark) has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). ..

In such a technique, a first measurement signal of one moving object k or the like is received by a master station and a plurality of relay stations, and each relay station receives a second measurement signal at the same frequency after a unique delay time that does not overlap. The master station receives the first measurement signal from the moving object and the second measurement signal from the relay station, and measures the arrival time difference to obtain the first measurement signal. The relative time difference between the time received by the master station and the time received by each relay station is calculated, and the position of the moving object is calculated by bicurve navigation. The measurement signal is a radio signal, and radio waves, light, sound, and the like can be used. However, since sound has a slower propagation speed than others, the arrival time of the radio signal can be easily measured.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-3428

However, such a technology has a problem that it cannot be used in a wide space. That is, in order to calculate the position of the moving object, it is necessary to correctly transmit the acoustic signal between the moving object and the master station, between the moving object and the relay station, and between the master station and the relay station. Since the acoustic signal is attenuated according to the distance, the acoustic signal may not be transmitted in a wide space, and the position of the moving object cannot be calculated.

Therefore, it is desired to provide a technology that can solve the problem that the position of a moving object cannot be calculated in a wide space and can detect the position of a moving object in a large indoor space such as an office or a factory . Is done.

In order to solve the above problem, according to a certain viewpoint of the present invention, an acoustic receiver, a communication device from the first communication device constituting the path to the Nth communication device (N is an integer of 3 or more), and a data processing device. The first communication device includes an acoustic signal transmission unit for transmitting a first acoustic signal, and the K (K is an integer of 2 or more and N or less) communication device is An acoustic signal receiving unit that receives the first (K-1) acoustic signal from the first (K-1) communication device, and a K-th relay waiting time after the first (K-1) acoustic signal is received. The first acoustic signal corresponding to at least a part of the first acoustic signal to the Nth acoustic signal is provided with an acoustic signal transmission unit for transmitting the Kth acoustic signal when It is provided with an acoustic signal receiving unit that receives the Mth received signal from the received signal of the above, and a notification unit that notifies the data processing device of the reception time of each of the Mth received signals from the first received signal. The data processing device receives the reception time of each of the signals from the first signal to the L (L is an integer of 3 or more) corresponding to at least a part of the received signal of the M from the received signal of 1. Waiting for relay from the position of the communication device of the transmission source of each of the Lth signals from the first signal and from the communication device of the transmission source of the second signal to the communication device of the transmission source of the Lth signal in the path. The first communication device is based on the size of the space in which the position calculation unit that calculates the position of the sound receiver based on the time and the Nth communication device from the first communication device exists. Provided a positioning system including a determination unit for determining a relay waiting time for each of the Nth communication devices .

Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, a positioning system including an acoustic receiver, a communication device having a first to Nth (N is an integer of 3 or more) constituting a path, and a data processing device. The first communication device is a data processing device in the above, wherein the first communication device includes an acoustic signal transmission unit for transmitting a first acoustic signal, and a K (K is an integer of 2 or more and N or less) communication device is the first. The acoustic signal receiving unit that receives the acoustic signal of (K-1) from the communication device of the (K-1), and the relay waiting time of the Kth after receiving the acoustic signal of the (K-1). A first acoustic signal transmitter, comprising an acoustic signal transmitter for transmitting a Kth acoustic signal when elapsed, the acoustic receiver corresponds to at least a part of the Nth acoustic signal from the first acoustic signal. It includes an acoustic signal receiving unit that receives the Mth received signal from the received signal, and a notification unit that notifies the data processing device of the reception time of each of the Mth received signals from the first received signal. The data processing device receives the reception time of each of the signals from the first signal to the L (L is an integer of 3 or more) corresponding to at least a part of the received signal from the first received signal to the M. Waiting for relay from the position of the communication device of the transmission source of each of the Lth signals from the first signal and from the communication device of the transmission source of the second signal to the communication device of the transmission source of the Lth signal in the path. The first communication device is based on the size of the space in which the position calculation unit that calculates the position of the sound receiver based on the time and the Nth communication device from the first communication device exists. Provides a data processing apparatus comprising a determination unit for determining a relay waiting time for each of the Nth communication devices .

The determination unit may determine the Lth signal from the first signal based on the reception strength of each of the first reception signal and the Mth reception signal.

The determination unit may determine the route based on the evaluation value of the distance between the adjacent communication devices in each of the plurality of candidate routes based on the positions of the first communication device to the Nth communication device. good.

Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, a positioning system including an acoustic receiver, a communication device having a first to Nth (N is an integer of 3 or more) constituting a path, and a data processing device. In the data processing method, the first communication device includes an acoustic signal transmission unit for transmitting a first acoustic signal, and the K (K is an integer of 2 or more and N or less) communication device is the first. The acoustic signal receiving unit that receives the acoustic signal of (K-1) from the communication device of the (K-1), and the relay waiting time of the Kth after receiving the acoustic signal of the (K-1). A first acoustic signal transmitter, comprising an acoustic signal transmitter for transmitting a Kth acoustic signal when elapsed, the acoustic receiver corresponds to at least a part of the Nth acoustic signal from the first acoustic signal. It includes an acoustic signal receiving unit that receives the Mth received signal from the received signal, and a notification unit that notifies the data processing device of the reception time of each of the Mth received signals from the first received signal. In the data processing method, the reception time of each of the signals from the first signal to the L (L is an integer of 3 or more) corresponding to at least a part of the received signal of the M from the received signal of 1 and the first signal. Relay waiting time from the position of the communication device of the transmission source of each of the Lth signals from the signal 1 and the relay waiting time from the communication device of the transmission source of the second signal to the communication device of the transmission source of the Lth signal in the path. Based on the calculation of the position of the acoustic receiver and the size of the space in which the Nth communication device exists from the first communication device, the first communication device to the first communication device. A data processing method is provided, including determining the relay waiting time for each of the N communicators .

Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, the computer includes an acoustic receiver, a communication device from the first communication device constituting the path to the Nth communication device (N is an integer of 3 or more), and a data processing device. A program for functioning as a data processing device in a positioning system, the first communicator includes an acoustic signal transmission unit for transmitting a first acoustic signal, and a K (K is 2 or more and N or less). The communication device (the integer of) receives the acoustic signal receiving unit for receiving the (K-1) th acoustic signal from the (K-1) communication device and the (K-1) th acoustic signal. A sound signal transmission unit for transmitting a K-th acoustic signal when the K-th relay waiting time has elapsed is provided, and the sound receiver comprises the first sound signal to the Nth sound signal. The data processing device is provided with the reception time of each of the acoustic signal receiving unit that receives the Mth received signal from the first received signal corresponding to at least a part thereof and the Mth received signal from the first received signal. The data processing device includes a notification unit for notifying, and the data processing device comprises a first signal corresponding to at least a part of the first received signal to the first L (L is an integer of 3 or more). The reception time of each signal, the position of the communication device of the transmission source of each of the first signal to the Lth signal, and the transmission of the Lth signal from the communication device of the transmission source of the second signal in the path. Based on the relay waiting time to the original communication device, the position calculation unit that calculates the position of the acoustic receiver, and the size of the space where the first communication device to the Nth communication device exists. A program is provided that includes a determination unit that determines the relay waiting time of each of the first communication devices to the Nth communication device .

Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, a communication device, which is an acoustic signal receiving unit that receives a first acoustic signal from another communication device, and a communication device that is a transmission source of acoustic information to be relayed are shown. Based on the relay rule instruction data, the control unit for determining whether or not the first acoustic signal should be relayed, and the first acoustic signal when it is determined that the first acoustic signal should be relayed. A sound signal transmission unit for transmitting a second acoustic signal when a predetermined relay waiting time has elapsed since the signal was received, and the relay waiting time is set to the communication device and the other communication device. A communication device is provided , which is determined based on the size of the space in which the is present .

Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, the acoustic receiver receives the first acoustic signal transmitted by the first communication device, and also receives the first acoustic signal transmitted by the second communication device. The acoustic signal receiving unit that receives the second acoustic signal transmitted by the second communication device when a predetermined relay waiting time has elapsed since the reception of the first acoustic signal, the reception time of the first acoustic signal, and the said. A notification unit for notifying a data processing device that calculates the position of the acoustic receiver of the reception time of the second acoustic signal is provided, and the relay waiting time is the first communication device and the second communication device. An acoustic receiver is provided , which is determined based on the size of the space in which the communication device resides .

As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided a technique capable of detecting the position of an object moving in a wide indoor space such as an office or a factory .

It is a figure which shows the structural example of the positioning system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating an example of a route determination composed of 12 repeaters (repeater A, repeater B, ..., repeater L) in the same space. It is a device layout (top view). It is a sequence diagram which shows the operation example of the positioning system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is an operation explanatory diagram of the route determination which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the operation example of the modulation part which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is operation explanatory drawing of the position calculation part which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the hardware configuration of the data processing apparatus which concerns on this embodiment.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the present specification and the drawings, components having substantially the same functional configuration are designated by the same reference numerals, so that duplicate description will be omitted.

Further, in the present specification and the drawings, a plurality of components having substantially the same functional configuration may be distinguished by adding different numbers after the same reference numerals. However, if it is not necessary to distinguish each of a plurality of components having substantially the same functional configuration, only the same reference numerals are given. Further, similar components of different embodiments may be distinguished by adding different alphabets after the same reference numerals. However, if it is not necessary to distinguish each of the similar components of different embodiments, only the same reference numerals are given.

[1-1. Positioning system configuration]
A configuration example of the positioning system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a positioning system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the positioning system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes an acoustic receiver 30, a plurality of repeaters (repeater A, repeater B, ..., Repeater X), and a server 20. Has. In the following, if each of the plurality of repeaters is not particularly distinguished, any repeater in the plurality of repeaters may be described as "repeater 10". The repeater 10 can function as a communication device. Further, the server 20 can function as a data processing device. Each repeater 10 and the server 20 exchange communication data with each other by wire or wirelessly (for example, via a network) via their respective communication devices. The sound receiver 30 and the server 20 exchange communication data with each other by wire or wirelessly (for example, via a network) via their respective communication devices.

The acoustic receiver 30 is a communication device that can be carried by a person, receives an acoustic signal (sound wave) from the repeater, and outputs the repeater detection data to the server 20. The repeater 10 inputs relay rule instruction data from the server 20, receives an acoustic signal from another repeater, and outputs the acoustic signal to the other repeater and the acoustic receiver 30. The server 20 inputs the repeater detection data from the acoustic receiver 30, inputs the repeater position data from the external system, outputs the relay rule instruction data to the repeater 10, and outputs the acoustic receiver position data to the external system. do.

The sound receiver 30 includes a microphone (hereinafter, also referred to as “microphone”) 310, a demodulation unit 320, and a notification unit 330. The microphone 310 inputs an acoustic signal from space, generates first acoustic input data based on the acoustic signal, and outputs the first acoustic input data to the demodulation unit 320. The demodulation unit 320 inputs the first acoustic input data from the microphone 310, demodulates the first acoustic input data, and uses the demodulated data (hereinafter, also referred to as “demodulation data”) as the first demodulation data. Output to the notification unit 330. The notification unit 330 inputs the first demodulation data from the demodulation unit 320, and outputs the first demodulation data to the server 20 as repeater position detection data.

Each repeater 10 includes a microphone 110, a demodulation unit 120, a control unit 130, a modulation unit 140, and a speaker 150. The demodulation unit 120, the control unit 130, and the modulation unit 140 can be realized by executing a program by a processor (for example, a microprocessor or the like). Such a program may be recorded on a recording medium, read from the recording medium by a processor, and executed.

Similar to the microphone 310, the microphone 110 inputs an acoustic signal, generates a second acoustic input data based on the acoustic signal, and outputs the second acoustic input data to the demodulation unit 120. Similar to the demodulation unit 320, the demodulation unit 120 inputs the second acoustic input data from the microphone 310, demodulates the second acoustic input data, and controls the demodulated data (second demodulation data) in the control unit 130. Output to. The control unit 130 inputs the second demodulation data from the demodulation unit 120, outputs the acoustic output data before modulation (hereinafter, also referred to as “modulation data”) to the modulation unit 140, and relay rule instruction data from the server 20. Enter. The modulation unit 140 inputs the modulation data from the control unit 130, modulates the modulation data to generate acoustic output data, and outputs the acoustic output data to the speaker 150. The speaker 150 inputs acoustic output data from the modulation unit 140 and outputs an acoustic signal to the space.

The server 20 includes a routing unit 230, a position calculation unit 210, and a repeater position storage unit 220. The route determination unit 230 inputs the repeater position data from the repeater position storage unit 220, and outputs the relay rule instruction data to the repeater 10 and the position calculation unit 210. The position calculation unit 210 inputs the repeater detection data from the acoustic receiver 30, the relay rule instruction data from the route determination unit 230, inputs the repeater position data from the repeater position storage unit 220, and inputs the repeater position data to the external system. Outputs acoustic receiver position data. The repeater position storage unit 220 inputs repeater position data from an external system, and outputs the repeater position data to the position calculation unit 210 and the routing unit 230.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an example of route determination composed of 12 repeaters (repeater A, repeater B, ..., Repeater L) in the same space. The route determination will be described later. Further, FIG. 3 is a device layout (top view). In the example shown in FIG. 3, the circles with hatches are 12 repeaters (repeater A, repeater B, ..., Repeater L) in the same space, and the white circles are. , Sound receivers (P), which are assumed to be coplanar. Further, the 12 repeaters are arranged in a grid-like position in order to simplify the operation explanation.

The configuration example of the positioning system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention has been described above.

[1-2. Positioning system operation]
FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing an operation example of the positioning system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory diagram of the route determination according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining an operation example of the modulation unit 140 according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is an operation explanatory view of the position calculation unit 210 according to the embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, an operation example of the positioning system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the sequence diagram shown in FIG. 4 and other diagrams as appropriate.

In the following, it is assumed that a person carries the sound receiver 30 and moves in the space where the repeater A, the repeater B, ..., And the repeater L are arranged. The operation of the positioning system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention can be roughly divided into five steps.

Step 1: Setting of repeater position data Step 2: Generation and notification of relay rule instruction data Step 3: Propagation of acoustic signal by repeater Step 4: Notification of repeater detection data Step 5: Position calculation of acoustic receiver

Hereinafter, the operation of the positioning system 1 will be described step by step.

(1-2-1. Step 1: Setting of repeater position data (S1))
First, the repeater position storage unit 220 of the server 20 inputs the repeater position data from the external system and stores it (S1). In this embodiment, it is assumed that the external system manually sets the repeater position data. However, the repeater position data may be detected (eg, automatically) by other methods.

(1-2-2. Step 2: Generation and notification of relay rule instruction data (S2))
Subsequently, when the repeater position data is input from the repeater position storage unit 220, the route determination unit 230 of the server 20 relays the acoustic signal between the repeaters one after another as a rule for each relay route and each repeater. The waiting time (relay waiting time) is determined, and these are notified to the control unit 130 of each repeater and the position calculation unit 210 of the server 20 as relay rule instruction data.

Hereinafter, the operation of determining the relay rule instruction data in the route determination unit 230 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 3 and 5. First, the route determination unit 230 sets the start point and the end point of the repeater constituting the route (S11). Then, the route determination unit 230 calculates the route and the evaluation value when the evaluation value becomes the minimum, using the sum of the squares of the distances between the repeaters on the route as the evaluation value based on the repeater position data (. S12). As a method for calculating such an evaluation value, a known technique may be used, but in the present embodiment, a case where a dynamic programming method is applied will be described.

For example, as shown in FIG. 2, when the repeater A is the start point and the repeater D is the end point, 10 repeaters excluding A and D are used as the repeaters connected to the repeater A on the route. Become a candidate. Further, 10 repeaters excluding A and D are candidates for the repeaters to be connected further. However, at this time, when the same relay points are directly passed through each other (horizontal line in FIG. 2), the distance is regarded as infinite, and it is preferable that the same relay points are not continuously selected. The evaluation value of each candidate repeater is the minimum value obtained by adding the square of the distance between the two repeaters to the evaluation value of the previous repeater to be connected.

In FIG. 2, the route finally selected by the route determining unit 230 is shown by a line connecting the repeaters (R (AB), R (BC), R (CG), ...). .. First, the route determination unit 230 calculates the evaluation values in B to L as the square value of the distance between each and A. Then, the route determination unit 230 selects the route from B to L that minimizes the cumulative distance squared value to C. Further, the route determination unit 230 selects the route having the minimum cumulative distance squared value to G from B to L.

After that, the route determination unit 230 repeatedly selects the route having the minimum cumulative distance squared value up to the rightmost layer. As a result, the minimum evaluation value from the repeater A to the repeater D is calculated, and at the same time, the connection order (that is, the route) of the repeaters when the minimum evaluation value is satisfied is obtained. In this way, by discovering a path in which the sum of squares of the distances between the repeaters is small, it is possible to minimize the distance attenuation of the acoustic signals between the repeaters. Therefore, the acoustics in step 3 described later can be minimized. It is possible to maintain high quality signal relay.

Next, the route determination unit 230 compares the evaluation value with the product of the total number of repeaters-1 (11 in the example shown in FIG. 3) and the predetermined coefficient (for example, 4.0), and when the evaluation value is small. ("Yes" in S13) determines the detected route as the repeater route (relay route) (S16). Here, the predetermined coefficient is set to 4.0 (= 22) because it is assumed that the acoustic signal can be propagated satisfactorily if the distance between the repeaters is within ² m. It may be appropriately defined according to the characteristics of the acoustic signal, the characteristics of the noise environment, the characteristics of the acoustic processing in the repeater and the acoustic receiver, and the like.

On the other hand, if the evaluation value is not small (“No” in S13), the route determination unit 230 temporarily stores the detected route and the evaluation value as the optimum route candidate (S14). Then, when the new start point and end point can be set (“Yes” in S15), the route determination unit 230 sets the new start point and end point (S11), and applies the dynamic programming method again. And find the appropriate route. When it is impossible to set a new start point and end point (“No” in S15), the optimum route candidate is determined as the repeater route (S16).

Further, the route determination unit 230 determines a waiting time (relay waiting time) when the acoustic signal is relayed by each repeater (S17). By providing a waiting time when each repeater relays an acoustic signal, it is possible to avoid interference of the acoustic signal in another repeater or the acoustic receiver 30. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the routing unit 230 sets the propagation time of the acoustic signal corresponding to the size of the space as the waiting time for transmission as a simple method. For example, if the size of the space is 10 meters, a waiting time of about 29 milliseconds is set.

The size of the space may be measured in any way. For example, when a camera that captures a space is installed, the size of the space may be measured based on the image captured by the camera. Alternatively, after the sound wave is transmitted by a certain repeater, the sound wave is received by another repeater, and the sound wave transmitted from the other repeater is received by the certain repeater as a reply to the sound wave. The size of the space may be measured based on the length of time to. The waiting time may be uniformly determined based on the size of the space regardless of the repeater, and the waiting time of the repeater located near the edge of the space is the waiting time of the repeater located in the center of the space. It may be determined longer than the waiting time.

The device layout diagram of FIG. 3 illustrates the route and waiting time of the repeater. Referring to FIG. 3, an arrow (described as "sound wave (repeater ID)" on the arrow) is shown in the path from the repeater A to the repeater D. In addition, the waiting time (for example, _WB ) is described in parentheses after the symbol (for example, B) of each repeater.

(1-2-3. Step 3: Propagation of acoustic signal by repeater (S3 to S7))
Subsequently, each repeater inputs relay rule instruction data from the route determination unit 230, and relays an acoustic signal between the repeaters based on the relay rule instruction data. The device arrangement of FIG. 3 will be described as an example. The control unit 130 of the repeater A (start point of the relay) outputs the modulation data to the modulation unit 140 of the repeater A based on the relay rule instruction data. In the present embodiment, the modulation data is the header data and the ID of the repeater of the relay source, for example, in the case of the repeater A, the ID corresponding to “A”. Next, the modulation unit 140 of the repeater A converts the modulation data into acoustic output data.

Here, the operation of the modulation unit 140 will be described with reference to FIG. In the present embodiment, the upper 3 bits (101) of the modulation data are used as a header part, and the lower 7 bits are used as a payload part. The ID of the repeater of the relay source (corresponding to a maximum of 128 repeaters) is stored in the payload section. A known technique may be applied as the modulation method, but in the present embodiment, the digital amplitude modulation method by OK (on-off keying) is used, and the modulation data of 0.5 milliseconds per bit is converted to 20 kHz. The acoustic output data is obtained by multiplying the carrier data.

Next, the speaker 150 inputs the acoustic output data and transmits the corresponding acoustic signal to the space. Further, the microphone 110 of the other repeater receives the acoustic signal and outputs the corresponding second acoustic input data. After that, the demodulation unit 120 inputs the second acoustic input data and outputs the second demodulation data. As a data demodulation method in the demodulation unit 120, a known technique corresponding to a digital amplitude modulation method can be applied, but in the present embodiment, the demodulation unit 120 squares the second acoustic input data. A second demodulated data is obtained by applying a low-pass filter and determining 0 or 1 by comparison with the threshold value.

Next, the control unit 130 determines whether or not the second demodulated data is an acoustic signal to be relayed based on the relay rule instruction data. For example, in FIG. 3, since the relay from the repeater A to the repeater B is specified by the relay rule instruction data, the control unit 130 of the repeater B has the ID of the repeater A in the second demodulation data. Only when it is included, the acoustic signal is relayed after the waiting time corresponding to the repeater B instructed by the relay rule instruction data, and in other cases, the relay is not performed.

When the control unit 130 determines that the acoustic signal should be relayed, the control unit 130 outputs the modulation data including the ID of its own repeater to the modulation unit 140, the modulation unit 140 outputs the acoustic output data, and the speaker 150 outputs the modulation data. Send an acoustic signal to the space. The acoustic signal transmitted from the speaker 150 of the repeater is also received by the acoustic receiver 30 when the acoustic receiver 30 is present in the vicinity of the repeater.

The acoustic receiver 30 includes a microphone 310 and a demodulation unit 320, whereby first demodulation data including the ID of the repeater that is the source of the acoustic signal can be obtained. Further, the demodulation unit 320 measures the reception intensity based on the first acoustic input data output by the microphone 310. The notification unit 330 detects the repeater ID included in the received acoustic signal, the reception time of the acoustic signal, and the reception intensity based on the first demodulation data from the demodulation unit 320.

As shown in FIG. 3, due to the operation of the repeater described above, the acoustic signal transmitted by the repeater A is the repeater B, C, G, F, E, I, J, K, L, It is propagated in the order of H and D (S3 to S7). Further, the acoustic receiver P receives acoustic signals from the repeaters B, C, G, and F in the vicinity thereof, and obtains a set of (repeater ID, reception time, reception intensity) corresponding to each. This set is in ( _B , TB, _SB ), ( _C , TC, _SC ), ( _G , TG, _SG ), ( _F , TF, _SF ) shown in FIG. Equivalent to. It should be noted that the acoustic receiver P cannot receive an acoustic signal from another distant repeater because the reception intensity is weak.

(1-2-4. Step 4: Step 4: Notification of repeater detection data (S8))
When the acoustic receiver 30 receives an acoustic signal from each repeater, the acoustic receiver 30 notifies the server 20 of a set of (repeater ID, reception time, reception intensity) corresponding to each as repeater detection data (S8).

(1-2-5. Step 5: Step 5: Calculation of position of acoustic receiver (S9))
When the position calculation unit 210 of the server 20 inputs the repeater detection data, the position of the acoustic receiver 30 is based on the repeater position data from the repeater position storage unit 220 and the relay rule instruction data from the routing unit 230. Is specified, and the position information (sound receiver position data) is notified to the external system using the position information of the sound receiver 30 (S9). Hereinafter, the procedure for specifying the position of the acoustic receiver 30 will be described in detail.

First, the position calculation unit 210 determines three repeaters having high reception strength based on the repeater detection data. In FIG. 3, since the distance to the acoustic receiver P is small in the order of the repeaters F, B, G, and C, assuming that a large reception intensity is measured, the repeaters F, B, and G receive. It is determined as three high-strength repeaters.

Next, the position calculation unit 210 calculates the reception time difference _TFB between the repeater F and the repeater B and the reception time difference _TFG between the repeater F and the repeater G, and the reception time difference _TFB and The reception time difference _TFG is replaced with the distance equivalent values d (FP) -d (BP) and (FP) -d (GP), respectively. Note that d (QR) represents the distance from the position Q to the position R. These values are calculated by the following equation (1) using the distance based on the repeater position data, the relay rule instruction data (the route of the repeater and the waiting time for each repeater), and the speed of sound v in the air. can.

Next, the position calculation unit 210 identifies the position of the acoustic receiver 30 based on the position of the repeater and the distance corresponding to the reception time difference obtained by the equation (1). The calculation method will be described with reference to FIG. 7. In FIG. 7, the positions of the three repeaters are B (X _B , Y _B ), F (X _F , Y _F ), G (X _G , Y _G ), and the positions of the acoustic receiver 30 are P (x, y). ), Then the following nonlinear simultaneous equations (2) hold.

Of the equation (2), other than (x, y) have already been measured, and the position P (x, y) of the acoustic receiver 30 can be specified by finding the solution of the simultaneous equations of the equation (2). The solution of the above simultaneous equations can be obtained by using a known technique, but in the present embodiment, it is calculated by using the Newton-Raphson method. Although detailed explanation of the calculation method is omitted, the initial value of (x, y) is given, the approximate solution and error of (x, y) are calculated, and the calculation of the approximate solution is repeated until the error converges. , (X, y) can be obtained. By the above operation, the position of the acoustic receiver 30 can be calculated.

The operation example of the positioning system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention has been described above.

[1-3. effect]
According to the embodiment of the present invention, the server 20 determines the relay path and the relay waiting time of the acoustic signal based on the position information of the repeater group, and the repeater group propagates the acoustic signal accordingly. Then, the acoustic receiver 30 receives the acoustic signal from the repeater group, and notifies the server 20 of the set of the repeater ID, the reception time, and the reception intensity. The server 20 selects three repeaters having high reception strength in the acoustic receiver 30, and calculates the position of the acoustic receiver 30 using the position information and the reception time. Since the time information in the repeater and the server 20 is not used in the calculation of the position, it is not necessary to synchronize the time between the devices.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, the acoustic signal propagates one after another through the repeaters arranged in the space, and the acoustic receiver 30 receives the acoustic signal from a plurality of repeaters in the vicinity, so that the server 20 can perform the server 20. The position of the sound receiver 30 is detected. Therefore, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the problem that the position cannot be detected in a wide space as in the prior art is solved, and the position of an object moving in a wide indoor space such as an office or a factory can be detected. can.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described above.

<2. Hardware configuration example>
Subsequently, a hardware configuration example of the data processing device according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of the data processing device according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 8, the data processing device includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 901, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 902, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 903, a host bus 904, a bridge 905, and an external bus. It includes a 906, an interface 907, an input device 908, an output device 909, a storage device 910, and a communication device 911.

The CPU 901 functions as an arithmetic processing device and a control device, and controls the overall operation in the data processing device according to various programs. Further, the CPU 901 may be a microprocessor. The ROM 902 stores programs, calculation parameters, and the like used by the CPU 901. The RAM 903 temporarily stores a program used in the execution of the CPU 901, parameters that appropriately change in the execution, and the like. These are connected to each other by a host bus 904 composed of a CPU bus or the like.

The host bus 904 is connected to an external bus 906 such as a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect / Interface) bus via a bridge 905. It is not always necessary to separately configure the host bus 904, the bridge 905, and the external bus 906, and these functions may be implemented in one bus.

The input device 908 includes input means for the user to input information such as a mouse, keyboard, touch panel, buttons, microphones, switches and levers, and an input control circuit that generates an input signal based on the input by the user and outputs the input signal to the CPU 901. It is composed of etc. By operating the input device 908, the user who operates the data processing device can input various data to the data processing device and instruct the processing operation.

The output device 909 includes, for example, a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) display device, a liquid crystal display (LCD) device, an OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) device, a display device such as a lamp, and an audio output device such as a speaker.

The storage device 910 is a device for storing data. The storage device 910 may include a storage medium, a recording device for recording data on the storage medium, a reading device for reading data from the storage medium, a deleting device for deleting data recorded on the storage medium, and the like. The storage device 910 is composed of, for example, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive). The storage device 910 drives a hard disk and stores programs and various data executed by the CPU 901.

The communication device 911 is a communication interface composed of, for example, a communication device for connecting to a network. Further, the communication device 911 may support either wireless communication or wired communication.

The hardware configuration example of the data processing apparatus according to this embodiment has been described above.

<3. Summary>
According to the present embodiment, there is provided a positioning system including an acoustic receiver, a communication device from a first communication device constituting a path to a Nth (N is an integer of 3 or more), and a data processing device. The first communication device includes an acoustic signal transmission unit for transmitting a first acoustic signal, and the K (K is an integer of 2 or more and N or less) communication device is the sound of the first (K-1). When the acoustic signal receiving unit that receives the signal from the (K-1) th communication device and the Kth relay waiting time elapses after the reception of the (K-1) th acoustic signal, the K-th relay wait time elapses. It is provided with an acoustic signal transmission unit for transmitting the acoustic signal of.

The acoustic receiver includes an acoustic signal receiving unit that receives an M reception signal from a first reception signal corresponding to at least a part of the Nth acoustic signal from the first acoustic signal, and the first reception. A notification unit for notifying the data processing device of the reception time of each of the Mth received signals from the signal is provided.

The data processing device receives the reception time of each of the signals from the first signal to the L (L is an integer of 3 or more) corresponding to at least a part of the received signal of the M from the received signal of the first, and the first signal. Relay waiting time from the position of the communication device of the transmission source of each of the Lth signals from the signal 1 and the relay waiting time from the communication device of the transmission source of the second signal to the communication device of the transmission source of the Lth signal in the path. A position calculation unit for calculating the position of the sound receiver is provided based on the above.

According to such a configuration, it becomes possible to provide a technique capable of detecting the position of an object moving in a large indoor space such as an office or a factory .

<4. Modification example>
Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, the present invention is not limited to these examples. It is clear that a person having ordinary knowledge in the field of technology to which the present invention belongs can come up with various modifications or modifications within the scope of the technical ideas described in the claims. , These are also naturally understood to belong to the technical scope of the present invention.

For example, in the above, the case where digital amplitude modulation and OK (on-off keying) are used as the modulation method of the acoustic signal has been described, but other known modulation methods may be used. Further, in the above description, a method in which the frequency of the carrier wave is 20 kHz, the modulation data is 10 bits, and the switching is performed every 0.5 milliseconds has been described, but these may also be changed as appropriate. Further, as the demodulation method, the case where the acoustic input signal is squared, a low-pass filter is applied to the demodulation method, and the binary value is determined has been described. However, if the method corresponds to the modulation method to be adopted, another method is used. May be done.

In the above, the position calculation unit 210 of the server 20 formulates a nonlinear simultaneous equation based on the position information of the three repeaters and the reception time of the corresponding acoustic signal, and calculates the position of the acoustic receiver by the Newton-Raphson method. I explained the case of doing. For the solution of the above-mentioned nonlinear simultaneous equations, other known techniques may be applied regardless of the Newton-Raphson method. For example, as described above, in FIG. 7, the difference in the distance between the line segment BP and the line segment FP and the difference in the distance between the line segment GP and the line segment FP are known by measurement. The position P of the receiver is the intersection of two hyperbolas, the solution of which is known as hyperbolic navigation.

In the above, the case where the position calculation unit 210 of the server 20 determines three repeaters having a large reception intensity of the acoustic signal and calculates the position of the acoustic receiver based on the three repeaters has been described. However, the same effect as described above can be enjoyed even if the three repeaters received in chronological order are determined regardless of the reception strength of the acoustic signal.

In the above, the case where the position calculation unit 210 of the server 20 determines three repeaters and calculates the position of the acoustic receiver based on the three repeaters has been described. However, the number of repeaters to be determined is not limited to three, and may be three or more.

In the above, the case where the repeater and the acoustic receiver are present on the same plane has been described as an example, but the present embodiment can be applied even when the repeater and the acoustic receiver are not on the same plane. At this time, P (x, y, z) is specified as the position of the acoustic receiver. Since there are three unknowns, x, y, and z, three simultaneous equations are required to specify the position of the acoustic receiver. That is, in the above, if three repeaters were determined, it was sufficient to specify the position P (x, y) of the acoustic receiver, but to specify P (x, y, z). Needs to determine four repeaters.

In the above, the case where the relay route is determined by the route determination unit 230 of the server 20 by using the dynamic programming method has been described. That is, the sum of the squares of the distances between repeaters on the route was used as the evaluation value, and the route when this was the minimum was obtained by dynamic programming. The determination of such a route is not limited to dynamic programming, and other known techniques may be used. Further, in the above, the evaluation value is the sum of the squares of the distances between repeaters, but other suitable evaluation values may be defined and used. For example, as the evaluation value, the sum of the distances between repeaters and the sum of the logarithms of the distances between repeaters may be applied.

In the above, the case where there is only one acoustic receiver in the space has been described, but a plurality of acoustic receivers may coexist at the same time.

In the above, as shown in FIG. 3, the case where 12 repeaters are arranged in a grid pattern has been described, but the number of repeaters is not limited to this, and the arrangement of each repeater is at an arbitrary position. good.

1 Positioning system 10 Repeater 110 Microphone 120 Demodulation unit 130 Control unit 140 Modulation unit 150 Speaker 20 Server 210 Position calculation unit 220 Repeater Position storage unit 230 Route determination unit 30 Sound receiver 310 Microphone 320 Demodulation unit 330 Notification unit

Claims (8)

A positioning system including an acoustic receiver, a communication device having a first to Nth (N is an integer of 3 or more) constituting a route, and a data processing device.
The first communication device is
It is equipped with an acoustic signal transmission unit that transmits a first acoustic signal.
The communication device of the Kth (K is an integer of 2 or more and N or less) is
An acoustic signal receiving unit that receives the (K-1) th acoustic signal from the (K-1) communication device, and
A sound signal transmission unit for transmitting the K-th acoustic signal when the K-th relay waiting time has elapsed since the reception of the (K-1) th-acoustic signal is provided.
The acoustic receiver is
An acoustic signal receiving unit that receives an M received signal from a first received signal corresponding to at least a part of the Nth acoustic signal from the first acoustic signal.
A notification unit for notifying the data processing device of the reception time of each of the first received signals to the M third received signal is provided.
The data processing device is
The reception time of each of the first signal to the L (L is an integer of 3 or more) corresponding to at least a part of the first received signal from the first received signal, and the first signal from the first signal. The above is based on the position of the communication device of the transmission source of each of the L signals and the relay waiting time from the communication device of the transmission source of the second signal to the communication device of the transmission source of the L signal in the path. A position calculation unit that calculates the position of the sound receiver , and
A determination unit that determines the relay waiting time of each of the first communication device to the Nth communication device based on the size of the space in which the first communication device to the Nth communication device exists.
A positioning system. A data processing device in a positioning system having an acoustic receiver, a communication device having a first to Nth (N is an integer of 3 or more) constituting a route, and a data processing device.
The first communication device is
It is equipped with an acoustic signal transmission unit that transmits a first acoustic signal.
The communication device of the Kth (K is an integer of 2 or more and N or less) is
An acoustic signal receiving unit that receives the (K-1) th acoustic signal from the (K-1) communication device, and
A sound signal transmission unit for transmitting the K-th acoustic signal when the K-th relay waiting time has elapsed since the reception of the (K-1) th-acoustic signal is provided.
The acoustic receiver is
An acoustic signal receiving unit that receives an M received signal from a first received signal corresponding to at least a part of the Nth acoustic signal from the first acoustic signal.
A notification unit for notifying the data processing device of the reception time of each of the first received signals to the M third received signal is provided.
The data processing device is
The reception time of each of the first signal to the L (L is an integer of 3 or more) corresponding to at least a part of the first received signal to the M received signal, and the first signal to the above. Based on the position of the communication device of the transmission source of each of the Lth signals and the relay waiting time from the communication device of the transmission source of the second signal to the communication device of the transmission source of the Lth signal in the path. A position calculation unit that calculates the position of the sound receiver , and
A determination unit that determines the relay waiting time of each of the first communication device to the Nth communication device based on the size of the space in which the first communication device to the Nth communication device exists.
A data processing device. The determination unit determines the Lth signal from the first signal based on the reception strength of each of the first received signal and the Mth received signal .
The data processing apparatus according to claim 2. The determination unit determines the route based on the evaluation value of the distance between the adjacent communication devices in each of the plurality of candidate routes from the first communication device to the Nth communication device .
The data processing apparatus according to claim 2. A data processing method in a positioning system including an acoustic receiver, a communication device having a first to Nth (N is an integer of 3 or more) constituting a route, and a data processing device.
The first communication device is
It is equipped with an acoustic signal transmission unit that transmits a first acoustic signal.
The communication device of the Kth (K is an integer of 2 or more and N or less) is
An acoustic signal receiving unit that receives the (K-1) th acoustic signal from the (K-1) communication device, and
A sound signal transmission unit for transmitting the K-th acoustic signal when the K-th relay waiting time has elapsed since the reception of the (K-1) th-acoustic signal is provided.
The acoustic receiver is
An acoustic signal receiving unit that receives an M received signal from a first received signal corresponding to at least a part of the Nth acoustic signal from the first acoustic signal.
A notification unit for notifying the data processing device of the reception time of each of the first received signals to the M third received signal is provided.
The data processing method is
The reception time of each of the first signal to the L (L is an integer of 3 or more) corresponding to at least a part of the first received signal from the first received signal, and the first signal from the first signal. The above is based on the position of the communication device of the transmission source of each of the L signals and the relay waiting time from the communication device of the transmission source of the second signal to the communication device of the transmission source of the L signal in the path. Calculating the position of the sound receiver and
Based on the size of the space in which the first communication device to the Nth communication device exists, the relay waiting time of each of the first communication device to the Nth communication device is determined.
Data processing methods, including. Computer,
It is a program for functioning as a data processing device in a positioning system having an acoustic receiver, a communication device from the first communication device constituting the route to the Nth (N is an integer of 3 or more), and a data processing device. hand,
The first communication device is
It is equipped with an acoustic signal transmission unit that transmits a first acoustic signal.
The communication device of the Kth (K is an integer of 2 or more and N or less) is
An acoustic signal receiving unit that receives the (K-1) th acoustic signal from the (K-1) communication device, and
A sound signal transmission unit for transmitting the K-th acoustic signal when the K-th relay waiting time has elapsed since the reception of the (K-1) th-acoustic signal is provided.
The acoustic receiver is
An acoustic signal receiving unit that receives an M received signal from a first received signal corresponding to at least a part of the Nth acoustic signal from the first acoustic signal.
A notification unit for notifying the data processing device of the reception time of each of the first received signals to the M third received signal is provided.
The data processing device is
The reception time of each of the first signal to the L (L is an integer of 3 or more) corresponding to at least a part of the first received signal from the first received signal, and the first signal from the first signal. The above is based on the position of the communication device of the transmission source of each of the L signals and the relay waiting time from the communication device of the transmission source of the second signal to the communication device of the transmission source of the L signal in the path. A position calculation unit that calculates the position of the sound receiver , and
A determination unit that determines the relay waiting time of each of the first communication device to the Nth communication device based on the size of the space in which the first communication device to the Nth communication device exists.
The program. It ’s a communication device,
An acoustic signal receiver that receives the first acoustic signal from another communication device,
A control unit that determines whether or not to relay the first acoustic signal based on the relay rule instruction data indicating the communication device of the transmission source of the acoustic information to be relayed.
When it is determined that the first acoustic signal should be relayed, the acoustic signal for transmitting the second acoustic signal is transmitted when a predetermined relay waiting time has elapsed since the first acoustic signal was received. With the transmitter
Equipped with
The relay waiting time is determined based on the size of the space in which the communication device and the other communication device exist.
Communication device. It ’s an acoustic receiver,
When a predetermined relay waiting time has elapsed since the first acoustic signal transmitted by the first communication device was received and the first acoustic signal was received by the second communication device, the second communication device was received. An acoustic signal receiver that receives the second acoustic signal transmitted by the communication device, and
A notification unit that notifies a data processing device that calculates the position of the acoustic receiver of the reception time of the first acoustic signal and the reception time of the second acoustic signal.
Equipped with
The relay waiting time is determined based on the size of the space in which the first communication device and the second communication device exist.
Acoustic receiver.

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