SPACE RECOGNITION METHOD AND SYSTEM BASED ON ENVIRONMENT INFORMATION

• US 20130079030A1
• Filed: 08/29/2012
• Published: 03/28/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
• Original Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
• Inventors: JANG, Min Su, KIM, Jae Hong, KANG, SANG SEUNG, SOHN, JOO CHAN
• Granted Patent: US 8,989,771 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0036 of measured values, i.e. measurement on mobile and position calculation on base station
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/02521 using a radio-map
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0263 by combining or switching between positions derived from two or more separate positioning systems

Abstract

A space recognition system obtains available RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) information for a plurality of fixing devices in the vicinity of a user device in the wireless sensor network environment, collects environment information in a space where the user device is located, and collects environment information in a plurality of spaces in which the fixing devices are respectively located. The system combines the RSSI information and the environment information and performs a recognition function on the combined environment information to recognize the space in which a user having the user device is located.

Claims

1. A method of recognizing a space in which a user having a user device is located in an indoor environment having a wireless sensor network, the method comprising:

obtaining available RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) information for a plurality of fixing devices in the vicinity of the user device in the wireless sensor network environment;

collecting environment information in the space;

collecting environment information in a plurality of spaces in which the fixing devices are respectively located;

combining the RSSI information and the environment information collected in the space and the environment information collected from the fixing devices; and

performing a recognition function on the combined environment information to recognize the space in which the user is located.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said collecting environment information in the space comprises obtaining environment data including at least one of a temperature, humidity, intensity of illumination, and noise in the space.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said collecting environment information in a plurality of spaces in which the fixing devices are respectively located comprises:

obtaining, by the neighbor fixing devices, environment data in the respective spaces in which the neighbor fixing devices are located;

extracting, by the neighbor fixing devices, feature information from the obtained environment data;

generating, by the neighbor fixing devices, environment pattern information on the basis of the extracted feature information; and

transmitting, by the neighbor fixing devices, the generated pattern information to the user device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said collecting environment information in the space comprises:

extracting feature information from the collected environment information; and

generating environment pattern information on the basis of the extracted feature information.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said obtaining available RSSI information for a plurality of fixing devices in the vicinity of the user device comprises:

extracting feature information from the obtained RSSI information; and

generating pattern information on the RSSI information on the basis of the extracted feature information.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising determining a predetermined number of candidate fixing devices from among the plurality of neighbor fixing devices from which the RSSI information has been obtained.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said combining the RSSI information and the environment information comprises:

combining the environment pattern information and the RSSI pattern information collected from the candidate fixing devices; and

wherein said performing a recognition function on the combined environment information comprises;

performing a recognition function on the combined pattern information;

selecting one of the fixing devices having an highest result value; and

determining a space, in which the selected fixing device is located, as the space in which the user is located.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

collecting motion sensing data in the space in which the user is located; and

generating at least one of a motion, posture, and direction of the user device on the basis of the motion sensing data.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

determining whether the motion information is within a predetermined range;

performing said collecting the environment information and said obtaining the RSSI information when the motion information is below the predetermined range; and

maintaining information on a previously recognized space when the motion information exceeds the predetermined range.

10. A user device for recognizing a space where the user device is located, comprising:

a wireless communication unit configured to obtain RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) information for a plurality of fixing devices in the vicinity of the user device, and receive environment information obtained from the neighbor fixing devices;

an environment sensor unit configured to collect environment information in the space; and

a processing unit configured to perform a recognition function on the RSSI information and environment information to recognize position information on the space.

11. The user device of claim 10, wherein the environment sensor unit obtains environment data including at least one of a temperature, humidity, intensity of illumination, and noise in the space.

12. The user device of claim 10, wherein the wireless communication unit configured to obtain the environment data from the environment sensor unit, extract feature information from the obtained environment data, generate pattern information on environment information on the basis of the extracted feature information, and transmit the generated pattern information to the user device.

13. The user device of claim 10, wherein the processing unit is further configured to extract feature information from the collected environment information, and generate pattern information on environment information on the basis of the extracted feature information.

14. The user device of claim 10, wherein the processing unit is further configured to extract feature information from the obtained RSSI information, and generate pattern information on the RSSIs on the basis of the extracted feature information.

15. The user device of claim 10, wherein the processing unit is further configured to determine a predetermined number of candidate fixing devices from among the neighbor fixing devices from which the RSSI information has been obtained.

16. The user device of claim 15, wherein the processing unit is further configured to combine environment pattern information and RSSI pattern information obtained from the candidate fixing devices, perform a recognition function on the combined pattern information, select one of the fixing devices having an highest result value, and determine a space, in which the selected fixing device is located, as the space in which the user is located.

17. The user device of claim 10, further comprising a motion sensor unit, the motion sensor unit includes at least one inertia sensor configured to collect motion sensing data in the space in which the user is located, and extract motion information including at least one of a motion, posture, and direction of the user device on the basis of the motion sensing data.

18. The user device of claim 17, wherein the processing unit is further configured to:

determine whether the motion information is within a predetermined range;

perform collecting the environment information and obtaining the RSSI information when the motion information is below the predetermined range; and

maintain information on a previously recognized space when the motion information exceeds the predetermined range.

19. A system for recognizing a space in which a user is located, comprising:

one or more relay fixing devices, wherein each relay fixing devices is configured to obtain environment information in a fixed space in which the relay fixing devices is installed;

a base fixing device configured to perform wireless communication with the relay fixing devices to receive the environment information from the relay fixing devices; and

a user device belong to the user, wherein the user device is configured to perform wireless communication with the relay and base fixing devices, collect the environment information from the relay and base fixing devices, checking RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) information of the relay fixing devices and base fixing device to determine one or more candidate fixing devices, collect environment information from the candidate fixing devices, and perform a recognition function on the environment information and the RSSI information to recognize the space in which a user is located.

20. The space recognition system of claim 19, wherein the base fixing device is further configured to store the environment information from the relay fixing device, and transmit the environment information to the user device in response to a request of the user device;

and

the base fixing device is further configured to combine the environment information from the relay fixing device and the RSSI information from the user device and perform a recognition function on the combined information to determine a space, in which a fixing device having an highest result value is located, as an estimated space in which the user is located.