JP2008122160A - Portable terminal, server, simple navigation system, simple navigation method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an approximate present position of a user by using a cell ID method and a geomagnetic sensor, and to acquire necessary information therefrom. <P>SOLUTION: A cellphone 100 acquires cell ID information based on base station information, and detects an absolute direction by means of the geomagnetic sensor to transmit acquired information to a simple navigation server 200. The navigation server 200 retrieves specific area information based on the detected two pieces of information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for obtaining a user's approximate current position using a cell ID method and a geomagnetic sensor and obtaining necessary information therefrom in a mobile phone simple navigation system.

  Currently, a system using position information that is widely used needs to prepare a mobile terminal with a built-in GPS.

  In recent years, mobile terminals with built-in GPS have been in increasing demand for crime prevention and are becoming more popular. However, in order to prioritize other functions, many terminals do not have a GPS function.

  It goes without saying that even if the terminal is not equipped with a GPS function, it is more convenient if a certain amount of position information can be grasped.

  As information for grasping position information, there is a cell ID (base station) system in which positioning is performed using a base station ID and electric field strength.

Here, a sensor for detecting movement and direction is built in the PHS terminal, and the accuracy of position detection within the same radio base station area is improved by data obtained from the sensor, and the PHS terminal does not move by the output of the sensor. However, when moving in the radio base station area, it is regarded as an error due to fluctuations in the electric field strength and the PHS terminal is located at the previous measurement position. A technique has been proposed that improves the accuracy of position detection within the base station area and eliminates position detection errors due to fluctuations in electric field strength (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2000-050345 A

  However, in the above-described conventional cell ID (base station) system, the range is limited to some extent, but data beyond that cannot be acquired.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems. The purpose is to use a cell ID system and a geomagnetic sensor to grasp the approximate current position of the user and obtain necessary information from the user. Even if you don't have a terminal, you can get the information you need from the current location.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the present invention detects a current position specifying information based on base station information and determines a specific area by combining two detected elements by detecting an absolute direction using a geomagnetic sensor. To provide a portable terminal.

  Further, the present invention provides a means for acquiring cell ID information based on base station information, a means for detecting absolute azimuth by a geomagnetic sensor, a transmission means for transmitting the obtained information to a server, and two detections in the server. Provided is a portable terminal including means for receiving specific area information searched based on information.

  The present invention also provides a server that acquires cell ID information based on base station information and absolute azimuth information based on geomagnetic sensors from a mobile terminal, and transmits specific area information searched based on the two detected information to the mobile terminal. To do.

  Further, according to the present invention, the mobile terminal acquires cell ID information based on base station information, further detects an absolute direction by a geomagnetic sensor, transmits the obtained information to a server, and the server detects two pieces of detected information. A simple navigation system for searching for specific area information based on the above is provided.

  Further, according to the present invention, the mobile terminal acquires cell ID information based on base station information, further detects an absolute direction by a geomagnetic sensor, transmits the obtained information to a server, and the server detects two pieces of detected information. A simple navigation method for searching for specific area information based on the above is provided.

  According to the present invention, by using a cell ID method and a geomagnetic sensor, a user's rough current position is grasped, and necessary information is obtained from the user's current position. Even if you do not have a portable terminal, you can get the necessary information from the current location.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the common part in each figure.

  First, in FIG. 1, the principal part of the portable terminal in this Embodiment is shown. The cellular phone 100 includes a transmission / reception unit 10, a data processing unit 11, a control unit 12, an orientation sensor 13, a display unit 14, and a key operation unit 15.

  Here, the transmission / reception unit 10 performs wireless communication with the public network to transmit and receive audio. The data processing unit 11 performs processing such as encoding / decoding of transmitted / received data. The control unit 12 includes a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, and the like, and controls various operations.

  The direction sensor 13 is an electronic geomagnetic sensor and outputs an absolute direction.

  The display unit 14 displays input characters, search results, position / navigation information, and the like. The key operation unit 15 receives key inputs from various keys.

  FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the server 200, which includes a transmission / reception unit 20 connected to the Internet network 300, a data processing unit 21, and a control unit 22. The control unit 22 includes a data search unit 23, a map database. 24, a guide information database 25 is connected.

  The transmission / reception unit 20 constitutes transmission / reception means for communicating with the mobile phone 100 through the Internet network 300, and the data processing unit 21 performs encoding / decoding processing of transmission / reception data. The control unit 22 passes necessary data from the received data to the data search unit, and the data search unit performs data search using the map DB 24 and the additional information DB 25. The map DB 24 stores map data, and the additional information DB 25 stores data other than map information.

  The above is the configuration of the present embodiment, but the transmission / reception unit 10, the data processing unit 11, and the control unit 12 of FIG. 1 and the transmission / reception unit 20, the data processing unit 21 and the control unit 22 of FIG. Further, since it is not directly related to the present invention, its detailed configuration is omitted.

  Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

  A user who needs information on a route guide or a direction to go from now on uses the mobile terminal 100 to access the simple navigation server 200. At this time, the cell ID is acquired using a procedure conforming to “Cell ID based positioning method 44” standardized by 3GPP, or a procedure similar thereto. At that time, the user searches the portable terminal 100 in a direction where information is necessary. The azimuth sensor 13 senses the direction directed by the user with a geomagnetic sensor and detects the acquired absolute azimuth. The obtained azimuth data and cell ID are transmitted to the server 200.

  The server 200 passes the cell ID and direction data received by the transmission / reception unit 20 to the data search unit 23 via the data processing unit 21 and the control unit 22. The data search unit 23 uses the map DB 24 and the guide information DB 25 to search for necessary data, and transmits the acquired result to the mobile terminal 100 via the Internet network 300. The mobile terminal 100 displays map information and additional information (guidance) data on the display unit 14 based on the received data.

  As shown in FIG. 3, if the cell ID acquired by the user 1 is “A” and the direction detected by the direction sensor 13 is “N”, the information in [Range a] is returned to the user. In the past, it was only possible to provide data in the base station, but it is also possible to obtain information about the direction the user wants to know.

  For example, it is useful as a guide when viewing a distant view, and not only the information within the range of the cell ID but also the view (mountain name, etc.) that is visible by obtaining information that points the user's terminal It is possible to obtain information on.

  In general, the distance between each base station is set within a cell radius of about 500 m within a cell radius in an indoor / underground shopping area and about 500 m to 2,000 m outside of an urban area. When the server searches for a road that matches the indicated direction and transmits information, the user can obtain information narrowed down to some extent.

  In addition, there are many cases where similar information is obtained by using a terminal with a built-in GPS function in combination with a direction sensor, but there is a problem that it is easily influenced by an error in the direction of the terminal to which the user points. However, when obtaining information in that direction as in the present embodiment, this problem can be solved by combining the cell ID and the direction sensor.

  For example, in FIG. 3, when the position of the user 2 is measured by the GPS function or the like and the search is performed using the point as a starting point, if the direction E is indicated by an error in the direction toward the user, the [range c] is The search range becomes out of the search range. However, even if there is an error in the direction in which the user is directed, if a search is performed based on the range of the cell ID information “B”, [range b] is targeted, and the direction in which the user is directed (user It can be said that this is a method that compensates for errors due to operation and is less affected by errors.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, by combining the geomagnetic sensor, it is possible to tilt the portable terminal and acquire data in the direction in which the terminal is directed. Therefore, by combining the cell ID method and the geomagnetic sensor, it is possible to obtain rough position information using only existing systems and functions, and to easily obtain the current position information on a mobile terminal that does not have a GPS function. Understand and use navigation services.

The following examples can be considered as other embodiments of the present invention.
(1) If PHS employing a microcell system (recently nanocell system) is used, position information with higher accuracy can be obtained. If position information with high accuracy can be obtained, it can also be used as navigation using a map application or the like without a GPS function.

  (2) If a wireless LAN installed in an underground shopping area is utilized, it is possible to realize a location information service with reduced costs by using the present invention instead of a GPS system that cannot be used in an underground shopping mall. In addition, in a place where a wireless LAN base station is installed in a narrow area such as in a company office, a scene used for route guidance of a building, a conference room, etc. on the site can be considered.

  Each of the above-described embodiments is a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, a process for realizing the functions of each device may be performed by causing each device to read and execute a program for realizing the functions of the mobile terminal 100 and the simple navigation server 200. Further, the program is transmitted to another computer system by a transmission wave via a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM or a magneto-optical disk, or via a transmission medium such as the Internet or a telephone line. Also good.

  The present invention is widely applicable to wireless mobile terminals such as mobile phones, PHS, and PDAs.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the portable terminal in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the simple navigation server in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the case where the position of the user in embodiment of this invention is measured by a GPS function etc., and it searches from the point.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Transmission / reception part 11 Data processing part 12 Control part 13 Direction sensor 14 Display part 15 Key operation part 20 Transmission / reception part 21 Data processing part 22 Control part 22
23 Data Search Unit 24 Map Database 25 Guidance Information Database 100 Mobile Phone 200 Simple Navigation Server 300 Internet Network

Claims (6)

Detect current location information based on base station information,
By detecting the absolute direction by the geomagnetic sensor,
A portable terminal characterized in that a specific area is determined by combining two detected elements. Means for acquiring cell ID information based on base station information;
Means for detecting an absolute bearing by a geomagnetic sensor;
A transmission means for transmitting the obtained information to the server;
A portable terminal comprising means for receiving specific area information searched based on two pieces of detected information in the server.   A server characterized in that cell ID information based on base station information and absolute azimuth information based on geomagnetic sensors are acquired from a mobile terminal, and specific area information searched based on two pieces of detected information is transmitted to the mobile terminal. The mobile terminal acquires the cell ID information based on the base station information, further detects the absolute direction by the geomagnetic sensor, and transmits the obtained information to the server.
A simple navigation system, wherein the server searches for specific area information based on two pieces of detected information. The mobile terminal acquires the cell ID information based on the base station information, further detects the absolute direction by the geomagnetic sensor, and transmits the obtained information to the server.
A simple navigation method, wherein the server searches for specific area information based on two pieces of detected information.   A program for causing a computer to realize the function according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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