Radio communication system, mobile terminal unit thereof, and azimuth determining method

• US 6,731,955 B2
• Filed: 09/27/2002
• Issued: 05/04/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Hirano, Jun, Aramaki, Takashi, Ohta, Gen-Ichirou
• Primary Examiner(s): Chin, Vivian
• Assistant Examiner(s): Milord, Marceau
• Application Number:
  US10/239,925
• Publication Number:
  US 20030054776A1
• Time in Patent Office: 585 Days
• Field of Search: 455/107, 455/69, 455/25, 455/562.1, 455/560, 455/568.7, 455/106, 342/405, 342/357.03, 342/350, 342/357.01, 342/357.02, 342/450, 342/357.08, 342/352, 342/442, 342/443, 342/444
• US Class Current: 455/562.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 3/14 Systems for determining direction or deviation from predetermined direction aerial arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern H01Q3/00; combinations of different interacting aerial units for giving a desired directional characteristic H01Q21/29; aerials or aerial systems providing at least two radiation patterns H01Q25/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/3833 Hand-held transceivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

Disclosed are a mobile station unit which can obtain azimuth information with a simple construction and a radio communication system including the mobile terminal unit. According to the present invention, in a terminal station, an arrival direction obtaining section 203 obtains an arrival direction of a received azimuth designation signal from a reference station or another terminal station using an arithmetic operation or the like. A transmitting direction forming section 204 determines the direction opposite to the arrival direction obtained by the arrival direction obtaining section 203 as a transmitting direction. A reference azimuth detecting section 207 detects the transmitting direction determined by the transmitting direction forming section 204 as a reference azimuth. An azimuth designation signal generating section 205 generates an azimuth designation signal so as to radiate radio waves having directivity in the transmitting direction determined by the transmitting direction forming section 204.

Claims

1. A radio communication system comprising a reference station which transmits an azimuth designation signal having directivity toward a predetermined reference azimuth, and a plurality of terminal stations which can receive said azimuth designation signal transmitted from said reference station, wherein

a target terminal station, included in said plurality of terminal stations, comprises receiving means which receives the azimuth designation signal transmitted from the reference station, arrival direction obtaining means which obtains an arrival direction of the azimuth designation signal received by said receiving means, azimuth designation signal generating means which generates a new azimuth designation signal having directivity in the direction opposite to the arrival direction of the azimuth designation signal obtained by said arrival direction obtaining means, and transmitting means which allows the azimuth designation signal generated by said azimuth designation signal generating means to have directivity in a direction designated by the azimuth designation signal and then transmits the signal.

2. A radio communication system according to claim 1, wherein the receiving means is constructed so as to receive the azimuth designation signals transmitted from the reference station and another terminal station.

3. A radio communication system according to claim 1, wherein the target terminal station comprises reference azimuth specifying means which detects a direction of the directivity of the azimuth designation signal generated by the azimuth designation signal generating means as a reference azimuth.

4. A radio communication system according to claim 1, wherein the reference azimuth is set in the longitudinal direction of a service area of the radio communication system.

5. A radio communication system according to claim 1, wherein the reference station is installed along a road and the reference azimuth is set in a direction along said road.

6. A radio communication system according to claim 1, further comprising means which detects a reference plane to be referred when a communicating direction is determined.

7. A radio communication system according to claim 1, wherein

each of the reference station and the plurality of terminal stations adds priority information to the azimuth designation signal and then transmits the resultant signal, and

the azimuth designation signal generating means weights the plurality of received azimuth designation signals in accordance with the priority information to determine a transmitting direction of the azimuth designation signal.

8. A radio communication system according to claim 1, further comprising priority adding means which adds priority to the azimuth designation signal, the priority decreasing each time transmission is performed.

9. A radio communication system according to claim 1, wherein

the terminal station comprises averaging means which averages the arrival directions obtained by the arrival direction obtaining means, and

the azimuth designation signal generating means generates an azimuth designation signal having directivity in the direction opposite to the averaged arrival direction.

10. A radio communication system according to claim 1, wherein the terminal station comprises means which extracts an electric power from the azimuth designation signal.

11. A radio communication system according to claim 1, wherein the terminal station comprises means which superimposes an electric power on the azimuth designation signal.

12. A radio communication system according to claim 1, comprising a charging management unit comprising a management table which holds communicating situations of the plurality of terminal stations, and a charge determining section which determines a charge for each terminal station with reference to said management table in accordance with the communicating situation of the corresponding terminal station.

13. An azimuth determining method for determining an azimuth in a terminal station, comprising the steps of:

in a reference station, transmitting an azimuth designation signal so as to have directivity toward a predetermined reference azimuth; and

in said terminal station, receiving said azimuth designation signal, obtaining an arrival direction of the azimuth designation signal, generating a new azimuth designation signal having directivity in the direction opposite to said obtained arrival direction, transmitting said new generated azimuth designation signal, specifying a reference azimuth on the basis of the arrival directions of the azimuth designation signals transmitted from the reference station and the terminal station, and determining an azimuth on the basis of the specified reference azimuth.

14. A mobile terminal unit comprising:

receiving means which receives an azimuth designation signal, which is transmitted from a reference station so as to have directivity in a previously set reference azimuth;

arrival direction obtaining means which obtains an arrival direction of said azimuth designation signal received by said receiving means;

azimuth designation signal generating means which generates a new azimuth designation signal having directivity in the direction opposite to the arrival direction of the azimuth designation signal;

reference azimuth specifying means which detects the direction of the directivity of the new azimuth designation signal generated by said azimuth designation signal generating means as a reference azimuth; and

transmitting means which transmits the azimuth designation signal generated by the azimuth designation signal generating means so as to have directivity in a direction designated by the azimuth designation signal.

15. A mobile terminal unit according to claim 14, wherein the receiving means receives an azimuth designation signal transmitted from another mobile terminal unit, and the arrival direction obtaining means obtains the arrival directions of the azimuth designation signal transmitted from the reference station and the azimuth designation signal transmitted from the other mobile terminal unit.