JP2009025209A - Location information system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a position information system capable of obtaining a position in a wider range.
A mobile terminal 1 carried by a user includes an optical receiver 11 that receives an optical signal SL that is transmitted from each of a plurality of lighting fixtures 2 and indicates the position of the source lighting fixture 2, and a GPS satellite. And a GPS positioning unit 12 that performs positioning by receiving GPS signals from the GPS. Moreover, the control part 14 which controls the display part 13 and displays one of the position obtained from the optical signal SL received by the light receiving part 11 and the position obtained by the GPS positioning part 12 is provided. Compared with the case where the portable terminal 1 has only one of the light receiving unit 11 and the GPS positioning unit 12, the position can be obtained in a wider range.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a position information system.

  Conventionally, there has been provided a position information system that obtains a position by positioning using a GPS signal transmitted from a GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite (for example, see Patent Document 1).

There is also provided a position information system that obtains positions by optical signals transmitted by visible light communication from a plurality of lighting fixtures each fixed at a fixed position (mainly indoors) (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
JP 2002-357444 A JP 2005-176257 A

  However, GPS signals generally cannot be received indoors, and optical signals cannot generally be received outdoors. Therefore, a position information system using a GPS signal often cannot obtain a position indoors, and a position information system using an optical signal often cannot obtain a position outdoors.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described reasons, and an object thereof is to provide a position information system capable of obtaining a position in a wider range.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the light source includes a light source, a lighting unit that turns on the light source, an illumination storage unit that stores position information indicating its own position, and an optical signal that includes position information stored in the illumination storage unit. Are transmitted from a plurality of lighting fixtures having a lighting control unit that controls the lighting unit so that light is transmitted as a medium, a GPS positioning unit that performs positioning using a GPS signal transmitted from a GPS satellite, and a lighting fixture. A light receiving unit that receives the received optical signal, and a terminal that obtains the position indicated by the positional information included in the optical signal as information of its own position when the optical signal transmitted from the lighting fixture is received by the optical receiving unit A control unit, and a portable terminal having a notification unit that notifies one of the position information obtained as a result of positioning by the GPS positioning unit and the position information obtained from the optical signal by the control of the terminal control unit. Prepare The features.

  According to the present invention, the position can be obtained in a wider range than when the portable terminal has only one of the GPS positioning unit and the light receiving unit.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the terminal control unit obtains from the optical signal when the position is obtained from both the positioning by the GPS positioning unit and the optical signal received by the optical receiving unit. It is characterized in that the notified position is notified to the notification unit.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the portable terminal has an operation unit that accepts an operation input by a user, and the terminal control unit is positioned by the GPS positioning unit and the light received by the light receiving unit. When the position is obtained from both of the signals, the notifying unit is controlled, and a notification for urging to select which of the position obtained by the GPS positioning unit and the position obtained from the optical signal is adopted is performed. In addition, when one of the above positions is selected by an operation input to the operation unit, the notification unit is controlled to notify the one position.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the terminal control unit uses the GPS positioning unit when the position is obtained from both the positioning by the GPS positioning unit and the optical signal received by the optical receiving unit. It is characterized in that the notifying unit is notified of the position obtained from one of the positioning and the optical signal received by the optical receiving unit, which is shorter in time since the position is obtained.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, the mobile terminal has a storage unit in which the position notified by the notification unit is stored as needed, and the terminal control unit is a GPS positioning unit. When the position cannot be obtained by any of the positioning and the optical signal received by the optical reception unit, the notification unit is notified of the latest position stored in the storage unit.

  According to the present invention, the portable terminal has both a GPS positioning unit that performs positioning using a GPS signal and a light receiving unit that receives an optical signal transmitted from the lighting fixture and indicating the position of the source lighting fixture. Compared to the case where the portable terminal has only one of the GPS positioning unit and the light receiving unit, the position can be obtained in a wider range.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a plurality of (only one is shown in FIG. 1) illuminations that transmit optical signals SL each including a position information that is fixed at a fixed position and that indicates its own position. The apparatus 2 includes a portable terminal 1 that notifies one of a position carried by the user M and obtained by the light signal SL of the lighting apparatus 2 and a position obtained by the GPS signal SG.

  More specifically, each luminaire 2 includes a light source 20, a lighting unit 21 that turns on the light source 20, and a storage unit that includes a nonvolatile memory and stores position information indicating the position of itself (that is, the luminaire 2). 22 and a control unit 23 that controls the lighting unit 21 so that an optical signal SL including, for example, a microcomputer and including position information stored in the storage unit 22 is transmitted using the light from the light source 20 as a medium. For example, a discharge lamp or a light emitting diode can be used as the light source 20, and a known inverter circuit or DC power supply circuit can be used as the lighting unit 21, for example. A plurality of sets of the light source 20 and the lighting unit 21 may be used. The light from the light source 20 becomes an optical signal SL by frequency modulation using a carrier wave having a frequency that is so high that it cannot be recognized by human eyes. For example, when a discharge lamp as the light source 20 and an inverter circuit as the lighting unit 21 are used in combination, the above frequency modulation can be realized by controlling the frequency of AC power supplied from the inverter circuit to the discharge lamp. The optical signal SL can be received in the range ZL irradiated with the light from the light source 20. The optical signal SL is, for example, a 15-byte signal composed of a start code, position information, an error detection code, and a termination code in accordance with NMEA0183, which is a standard established by the National Marine Electronics Association. It is transmitted at a transmission rate of 9600 bps.

  The portable terminal 1 receives the optical signal SL transmitted from the lighting fixture 2 and the GPS signal SG from three or more GPS satellites GS (only one is shown in FIG. 2). A GPS positioning unit 12 that obtains a position by positioning, a display unit 13 as a notification unit including, for example, a liquid crystal panel and a drive circuit for driving the liquid crystal panel, and a microcomputer, for example, and controls the display unit 13 to receive a light receiving unit. 11 for notifying one of the position obtained from the received optical signal SL (that is, the position indicated by the position information in the optical signal SL) and the position obtained by positioning by the GPS positioning unit 12. With. The light receiving unit 11 includes a light receiving element 11a that converts incident light of the lighting fixture 2 into an electrical signal, an amplifier circuit 11b that amplifies the output of the light receiving element 11a, and a BPF (Band that removes noise from the output of the amplifier circuit 11b. Pass Filter) 11c and a demodulation circuit 11d that obtains a digital signal by demodulating the output of the BPF 11c and inputs the digital signal to the control unit 14. For example, a photodiode can be used as the light receiving element 11a. Since the GPS positioning unit 12 can be realized by a known technique, a detailed description thereof is omitted.

  The position obtained from the optical signal SL or the GPS signal SG is obtained, for example, in the form of a combination of numerical values of latitude, longitude, and altitude. Furthermore, the mobile terminal 1 includes a storage unit 15 in which a plurality of map data, each of which is data used for displaying a map and having different map ranges, are stored in advance in association with positions. The control unit 14 of the portable terminal 1 obtains map data indicating a map associated with the position to be notified by the display unit 13 (that is, including the position) from the storage unit 15 and displays the map data using the map data. The unit 13 is controlled to display the map and perform notification by displaying the position to be notified as, for example, a mark on the map. Furthermore, the mobile terminal 1 includes an operation unit 16 that receives an operation input by the user M, and the storage unit 15 stores a plurality of types of map data having different map scales. The control unit 14 changes the scale of the map displayed on the display unit 13 by changing the map data to be used in accordance with the operation input received by the operation unit 16. The operation unit 16 includes, for example, a plurality of push button switches and a touch panel.

  In the portable terminal 1, the storage unit 15 stores place name text data that is text data indicating the place name and is associated with the position, and the control unit 14 controls the display unit 13. You may make it display a place name. Further, for example, a voice notification unit (not shown) that includes a speaker and a drive circuit that drives the speaker and outputs a voice is provided in the mobile terminal 1, and each storage unit 15 has voice data indicating a place name corresponding to a position. While storing the place name voice data which is the attached voice data, the control unit 14 may control the voice notification unit to notify the place name corresponding to the position by voice. When a mobile phone is used as the mobile terminal 1, a voice notification unit can be used for calling.

  The expression of the position obtained from the optical signal SL may be an expression different from the expression of the position (latitude, longitude, altitude) obtained from the GPS signal SG. For example, the expression of the position obtained from the optical signal SL may be an expression using the floor instead of the altitude in the expression of the position obtained from the GPS signal SG, or an expression using a unique coordinate system for each building, If the expression by the identification code assigned to each lighting fixture 2 is used, the data amount of the optical signal SL is reduced and the time required for transmission / reception of the optical signal SL is shortened as compared with the case where the expression common to the GPS signal SG is used. In addition, the reliability of transmission / reception of the optical signal SL can be improved. However, when the representation of the position obtained from the optical signal SL is different from the representation of the position obtained from the GPS signal SG, the above-described various data such as map data and place name text data used for notification are changed to GPS. It is necessary to correspond to both the representation of the position obtained from the signal SG and the representation of the position obtained from the optical signal SL.

  Hereinafter, an operation in which the control unit 14 of the mobile terminal 1 selects a position to be notified on the display unit 13 or the voice notification unit will be described.

  The control unit 14 determines whether or not the position is obtained from the optical signal SL and whether or not the position is obtained from the GPS signal SG when starting the notification of the position or updating the notified position. The determination as to whether or not the position is obtained from the optical signal SL is a determination as to whether or not the optical signal SL is received by the optical receiving unit 11, and this determination is output from, for example, the demodulation circuit 11d. This is performed by detecting whether the digital signal includes a specific pattern (for example, the start code described above) that is included in common to all the optical signals SL.

  When the position is obtained only from one of the optical signal SL and the GPS signal SG, the control unit 14 causes the display unit 13 to notify the position obtained from the one.

  In addition, when the position is obtained from both the optical signal SL and the GPS signal SG, the control unit 14 controls the display unit 13 and the like to notify the position by the optical signal SL or the GPS signal SG. Notification that prompts selection is performed. When the operation unit 16 receives an operation input designating one of the light signal SL and the GPS signal SG, the display unit 13 or the like is notified of the position obtained from the one.

  By the way, the map data associated with the position obtained from the optical signal SL may be different from the map data associated with the position obtained from the GPS signal SG. For example, the map data associated with the position obtained from the optical signal SL is assumed to indicate a map in which a passage in a building, a store, etc. are drawn, that is, an indoor map, and is associated with a position obtained from the GPS signal SG. It is assumed that the map data indicates a map on which a passage or a store in the building is not drawn, that is, an outdoor map. In this case, the notification that prompts the selection when the position is obtained by both the light signal SL and the GPS signal SG causes the user to select whether to display an indoor map or an outdoor map. That is, when it is selected to display an indoor map, the position obtained by the optical signal SL is notified using the indoor map as shown in FIG. 3A, and the outdoor map is displayed. When it is selected, the position obtained by the GPS signal SG is notified using an outdoor map as shown in FIG.

  Further, the control unit 14 stores the notified position in the storage unit 15 every time the position is notified. If the position cannot be obtained from either the optical signal SL or the GPS signal SG, the position notified most recently is obtained from the storage unit 15 and is notified to the display unit 13 or the like.

  According to the said structure, compared with the case where the portable terminal 1 has only one of the light receiving part 11 and the GPS positioning part 12, when the portable terminal 1 is provided with both the light receiving part 11 and the GPS positioning part 12, The position can be obtained in a wider range.

  Note that the position obtained from the optical signal SL is generally more accurate than the position obtained from the GPS signal SG. Therefore, when the position is obtained from both the optical signal SL and the GPS signal SG, The control unit 14 of the terminal 1 preferentially notifies the position obtained from the optical signal SL without performing the operation of prompting the selection by the display unit 13 or the like or the operation of receiving the selection operation input in the operation unit 16. May be. In addition, the fact that the position is obtained from the optical signal SL means that there is a high possibility that the user is indoors. Therefore, especially when the indoor map and the outdoor map are used separately as described above, the indoor map is used. It is desirable that the position obtained from the optical signal SL is preferentially notified as described above so that the notification of the position using is continued.

  Here, for example, when moving from indoor to outdoor, the position can be obtained from both the optical signal SL and the GPS signal SG from the state where the position is obtained only from the optical signal SL (P1 in FIG. 2) ( The state of reception changes as shown in FIG. 2 (P2), where the position can be obtained only from the GPS signal SG (P3 of FIG. 2). Often to do. Of the optical signal SL and the GPS signal SG, the one that changes from the unusable state to the usable state with the above movement improves the reception state with the passage of time. If the state changes from an available state to an unusable state with the passage of time, the reception state becomes worse as time passes. That is, among the optical signal SL and the GPS signal SG, those that have been available for a long time have a high possibility that the reception state will deteriorate after both the optical signal SL and the GPS signal SG can be received. Therefore, in the case where the position is obtained from both the optical signal SL and the GPS signal SG, it is highly possible that the reception state is improved in the above-described way out of the optical signal SL and the GPS signal SG. One that becomes available later may be used. Specifically, the control unit 14 of the mobile terminal 1 indicates whether the position is obtained from either the optical signal SL or the GPS signal SG when the position is obtained from only one of the optical signal SL and the GPS signal SG. When the information is stored in the storage unit 15 and the position is obtained from both the optical signal SL and the GPS signal SG, the other one different from the one shown in the information stored in the storage unit 15, that is, The position obtained from one of the light signal SL and the GPS signal SG, which has a shorter time since the position is obtained, is notified to the display unit 13 or the like.

  In addition, instead of storing all the various data used for location notification such as map data, place name text data, place name audio data in the storage unit 15, the storage unit 15 has a storage unit storing the various types of data described above. A server (not shown) connected to the public network is provided, and communication between the server via the base station and the public network is performed by transmitting and receiving radio signals to and from the base station of the mobile phone, for example. A communication unit (not shown) may be provided in the portable terminal 1, and the control unit 14 may control the communication unit at an appropriate timing to download necessary data from the storage unit of the server. When a mobile phone having a data communication function is used as the mobile terminal 1, a data communication device can be used as the communication unit. In this case, the control unit 14 may download the advertisement data previously associated with the downloaded map data and the like, and control the display unit 13 to perform the advertisement together with the position notification. Good. The advertisement by the display unit 13 is performed, for example, in such a manner that a mark indicating the position of a nearby store is displayed on a map and text indicating information such as an open date or a featured product regarding the store is displayed. Or you may make it obtain said various data with the optical signal SL from the lighting fixture 2. FIG.

It is a block diagram which shows embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows operation | movement same as the above. (A) (b) shows the example of the position alerting | reporting made by each display part, (a) shows the example of the alerting | reporting of the position obtained from the optical signal, (b) is the position obtained from the GPS signal. An example of the notification will be shown.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Portable terminal 2 Lighting fixture 11 Light receiving part 12 GPS positioning part 13 Display part (notification part in a claim)
14 Control unit (terminal control unit in claims)
20 light source 21 lighting unit 22 storage unit (illumination storage unit in claims)
23 control unit (lighting control unit in claims)
GS GPS satellite SG GPS signal SL Optical signal

Claims (5)

Each of the light source, the lighting unit that turns on the light source, the illumination storage unit that stores the position information indicating the position of the light source, and the optical signal including the position information stored in the illumination storage unit are transmitted using the light of the light source as a medium. A plurality of lighting fixtures having a lighting control unit for controlling the lighting unit,
A GPS positioning unit that performs positioning using a GPS signal transmitted from a GPS satellite, a light receiving unit that receives an optical signal transmitted from a lighting fixture, and an optical signal that is transmitted from the lighting fixture is received by the optical receiving unit A terminal control unit that obtains the position indicated in the position information included in the optical signal as its own position information, and a position obtained from the position information and the optical signal obtained as a result of positioning by the GPS positioning unit A position information system comprising: a portable terminal having a notification unit that notifies one of the information in accordance with the control of the terminal control unit.   When the position is obtained from both the positioning by the GPS positioning unit and the optical signal received by the light receiving unit, the terminal control unit causes the notifying unit to notify the position obtained from the optical signal. The position information system according to claim 1. The mobile terminal has an operation unit that accepts an operation input by a user,
When the position is obtained from both the positioning by the GPS positioning unit and the optical signal received by the optical receiving unit, the terminal control unit controls the notification unit, and from the position and the optical signal obtained by the GPS positioning unit Notifying which of the obtained positions is to be selected is performed, and when one of the above positions is selected by an operation input to the operation section, the notification section is controlled to notify the one position. The position information system according to claim 1, wherein:   The terminal control unit, when the position is obtained from both the positioning by the GPS positioning unit and the optical signal received by the optical receiving unit, among the positioning by the GPS positioning unit and the optical signal received by the optical receiving unit The position information system according to claim 1, wherein a position obtained from one of the shorter times after the position is obtained is notified to the notification unit. The portable terminal has a storage unit in which the position notified by the notification unit is stored as needed,
The terminal control unit causes the notification unit to notify the latest position stored in the storage unit when the position cannot be obtained by any of the positioning by the GPS positioning unit and the optical signal received by the light receiving unit. The position information system according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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