Group analysis system and group analysis equipment

• US 20080169919A1
• Filed: 12/10/2007
• Published: 07/17/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 01/15/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: SATO, Nobuo, WAKISAKA, Yoshihiro, OHKUBO, Norio, MORIWAKI, Norihiko
• Granted Patent: US 7,656,274 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/524
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/74 Systems using reradiation of electromagnetic waves other than radio waves, e.g. IFF, i.e. identification of friend or foe

Abstract

Face-to-face detection by infrared-ray communication is effective in grasping interaction between persons. However the problem here is that infrared rays have a high directivity and detection fails unless the persons face each other right in front. Sensor signals having a high directivity and sensor signals having a low directivity are obtained from a sensor terminal (TR) carried by a person. Firstly, information on relative position is obtained with a sensor (TRIR) of infrared rays or the like having a high directivity and an initial group is formed at an application server (AS). A feature amount such as sound that has a low directivity and can sense surrounding environmental information is extracted from among the terminals (TRs) belonging to the initial group by personal feature extraction (ASIF), correlation with terminals (TRs) not belonging to a group is obtained, and thereby whether or not those terminals (TRs) belong to an identical group is judged.

Claims

1. A group analysis system comprising a plurality of sensor terminals and a controller connected to said plural sensor terminals,

wherein each of said sensor terminals has a first sensor to detect relative positions and a second sensor to acquire surrounding environmental information, and

wherein said controller has

an input-output unit to acquire sensor signals from said first and second sensors in each of said sensor terminals, and an analyzer to set an initial group of said sensor terminals with said sensor signals from said first sensor, extract the feature quantity of said initial group from said sensor signals of said second sensor received from each of said sensor terminals constituting said initial group, and decide a group to which a sensor terminal not belonging to said initial group belongs by comparing said feature quantity of said initial group with the feature quantity, corresponding to said feature quantity of said initial group, extracted from sensor signals of said second sensor of said sensor terminal not belonging to said initial group.

2. The group analysis system according to claim 1, wherein said first sensor has a high directivity.

3. The group analysis system according to claim 2, wherein:

said first sensor is an infrared-ray sensor; and

said controller carries out face-to-face detection between said sensor terminals with the sensor signals of said infrared-ray sensor when said initial group is decided.

4. The group analysis system according to claim 1, wherein said second sensor is a sensor to detect sound.

5. The group analysis system according to claim 4, wherein said feature quantity of said initial group is the average of sensor signals of said sensor to detect sound received from each of said sensor terminals constituting said initial group.

6. The group analysis system according to claim 1, wherein said sensor terminals and said controller are connected to each other through a network including base stations to carry out radio communication with said sensor terminals.

7. The group analysis system according to claim 6, wherein said sensor terminals and said base stations carry out time adjustment periodically upon request of time correction from said base stations to said sensor terminals.

8. Group analysis equipment to carry out group analysis of a plurality of sensor terminals, said group analysis equipment comprising:

an input-output unit to acquire sensor signals of a first sensor to detect relative positions and sensor signals of a second sensor to acquire surrounding environmental information from each of said sensor terminals; and

an analyzer to set an initial group of said sensor terminals on the basis of said sensor signals of the first sensor, extract the feature quantity of said initial group from said sensor signals of said second sensor received from each of said sensor terminals constituting said initial group, extract a feature quantity, corresponding to said feature quantity of said initial group, from sensor signals of said second sensor of a sensor terminal not belonging to said initial group, and decide a group to which said sensor terminal not belonging to said initial group belongs by comparing said feature quantity of said initial group with the feature quantity corresponding to said feature quantity of said initial group.

9. The group analysis equipment according to claim 8,

wherein said first sensor is an infrared-ray sensor, and

wherein said analyzer carries out face-to-face detection between said sensor terminals with the sensor signals of said infrared-ray sensor when said initial group is decided.

10. The group analysis equipment according to claim 8, wherein said second sensor is a sensor to detect sound.

11. The group analysis equipment according to claim 10, wherein said feature quantity of said initial group is the time series average of sensor signals of said sensor to detect sound received from each of said sensor terminals constituting said initial group.

12. Group analysis equipment to carry out group analysis of a plurality of sensor terminals, said group analysis equipment comprising:

an input-output unit to acquire sensor signals of an infrared-ray sensor and sensor signals of a sensor to acquire surrounding environmental information from each of said sensor terminals; and

a controller to set an initial group of said sensor terminals with the sensor signals of said infrared-ray sensor, extract the feature quantity of said initial group from sensor signals of said sensor to acquire surrounding environmental information received from said sensor terminals constituting said initial group, extract a feature quantity, corresponding to said feature quantity of said initial group, of a sensor terminal not belonging to said initial group, and decide a group to which said sensor terminal not belonging to said initial group belongs by comparing said feature quantity of said initial group with said feature quantity corresponding to said feature quantity of said initial group.

13. The group analysis equipment according to claim 12,

wherein said sensor to acquire said surrounding environmental information is a sensor to detect sound, and

wherein said controller uses, as said feature quantity of said initial group, the time series average of sensor signals of said sensor to detect sound received from each of said sensor terminals constituting said initial group.

14. The group analysis equipment according to claim 13, wherein sensor signals of said sensor to acquire said surrounding environmental information input from said input-output unit are the signals sampled for a shorter period of time than the transmission cycle of said sensor signals transmitted from said sensor terminals.

15. The group analysis equipment according to claim 14, wherein said controller computes the average of feature amounts at the portions where said sampled sensor signals overlap with each other on a temporal axis when said feature quantity of said initial group is extracted.