MOBILE TERMINAL DEVICE AND POSITIONING METHOD
First Claim
1. A mobile terminal device capable of selectively performing a plurality of different positioning methods for acquiring location information of the mobile terminal device in a repeated manner,the mobile terminal device comprising:
- a positioning timing base unit for giving a positioning timing base signal to be a basis for specifying a timing of performing each positioning operation, when the positioning operation is performed in the repeated manner;
a positioning result holding unit for at least temporarily holding positioning data corresponding to a result of the each positioning operation;
an A-GPS positioning unit for performing an A-GPS positioning operation at the timing in synchronization with the positioning timing base signal given by the positioning timing base unit, the A-GPS positioning operation including an assist information acquiring process for acquiring GPS assist information including outline location information of the mobile terminal device in communication with a base transceiver station, and a positioning operation process by use of the GPS assist information acquired by the assist information acquiring process;
an autonomous GPS positioning unit for performing an autonomous GPS positioning operation without using the GPS assist information at the timing in synchronization with the positioning timing base signal given by the positioning timing base unit;
an environment estimating unit for estimating whether or not the mobile terminal device is currently located in an indoor environment or in an outdoor environment; and
an autonomous GPS positioning regulating unit for regulating implementation of the autonomous GPS positioning operation by the autonomous GPS positioning unit to cause the A-GPS positioning unit to perform the assist information acquiring process of the A-GPS positioning operation, when the environment estimating unit estimates that the mobile terminal device is currently located in the indoor environment, and at a time after the estimation, when the positioning timing base unit gives the positioning timing base signal.
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Accused Products
Abstract
There are provided a mobile terminal device and a positioning method, in which power saving is enabled. When an environment estimating unit determines that the mobile terminal device is currently located in an indoor environment, an autonomous GPS positioning regulating unit thereof regulates implementation of an autonomous positioning operation by an autonomous GPS positioning unit to enable the suppression of wasteful power consumption caused by the implementation of the autonomous GPS positioning operation that has no possibility of being successful at a current time. In the meanwhile, an assist information acquiring processing unit of an A-GPS positioning unit is made to perform an assist information acquiring process that is a former process of the A-GPS positioning operation. When the location accuracy of outline location information acquired has a good result of a level 3 or higher, the outline location information is provided as a positioning result.
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Citations
5 Claims
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1. A mobile terminal device capable of selectively performing a plurality of different positioning methods for acquiring location information of the mobile terminal device in a repeated manner,
the mobile terminal device comprising: -
a positioning timing base unit for giving a positioning timing base signal to be a basis for specifying a timing of performing each positioning operation, when the positioning operation is performed in the repeated manner; a positioning result holding unit for at least temporarily holding positioning data corresponding to a result of the each positioning operation; an A-GPS positioning unit for performing an A-GPS positioning operation at the timing in synchronization with the positioning timing base signal given by the positioning timing base unit, the A-GPS positioning operation including an assist information acquiring process for acquiring GPS assist information including outline location information of the mobile terminal device in communication with a base transceiver station, and a positioning operation process by use of the GPS assist information acquired by the assist information acquiring process; an autonomous GPS positioning unit for performing an autonomous GPS positioning operation without using the GPS assist information at the timing in synchronization with the positioning timing base signal given by the positioning timing base unit; an environment estimating unit for estimating whether or not the mobile terminal device is currently located in an indoor environment or in an outdoor environment; and an autonomous GPS positioning regulating unit for regulating implementation of the autonomous GPS positioning operation by the autonomous GPS positioning unit to cause the A-GPS positioning unit to perform the assist information acquiring process of the A-GPS positioning operation, when the environment estimating unit estimates that the mobile terminal device is currently located in the indoor environment, and at a time after the estimation, when the positioning timing base unit gives the positioning timing base signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A positioning method for selectively performing a plurality of different positioning methods for acquiring location information of a mobile terminal device in a repeated manner to acquire positioning data corresponding to a result of each positioning operation, the positioning method comprising the steps of:
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generating a positioning timing base signal to be a basis for specifying a timing of performing the each positioning operation, when the positioning operation is performed in the repeated manner; performing an A-GPS positioning operation including an assist information acquiring process for acquiring GPS assist information including outline location information of the mobile terminal device in communication with a base transceiver station, and a positioning operation process by use of the GPS assist information acquired by the assist information acquiring process; performing an autonomous GPS positioning operation without using the GPS assist information at the timing in synchronization with the positioning timing base signal generated; estimating whether or not the mobile terminal device is currently located in an indoor environment or in an outdoor environment; and regulating implementation of the step of performing the autonomous GPS positioning operation, while performing the A-GPS positioning operation at the timing in synchronization with the positioning timing base signal, when the step of estimating estimates that the mobile terminal device is currently located in the indoor environment, and at a time after the step of estimating, when the positioning timing base signal is given.
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Specification