ULID data structure, ULID-based location acquisition method and location-based service system

• US 7,378,956 B2
• Filed: 06/07/2004
• Issued: 05/27/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/24/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
• Original Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
• Inventors: Lee, Jong Hun, Park, Jong Hyun, Nam, Kwang Woo
• Primary Examiner(s): MULLEN, THOMAS J
• Application Number:
  US10/861,936
• Publication Number:
  US 20050140507A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,450 Days
• Field of Search: 340/572.1, 340/572.4, 340/539.13, 340/825.49, 340/426.19, 235/375, 701/207, 701/213, 455/404.2, 455/414.1, 342/450, 342/357.01, 342/357.06, 342/357.09, 342/357.13, 342/357.17, 707/10, 707/100, 709/217
• US Class Current: 340/539.13
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/751 wherein the responder or reflector radiates a coded signal
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/14 Determining absolute distances from a plurality of spaced points of known location

Abstract

The present invention relates to an LBS system in which user location information is obtained using a ULID code of RFID tags attached to various places such as a building, a store, road signs, footway and road, and various LBSs are provided based on the location information. The problems that can be caused when using a conventional GPS and a wireless network are solved. It is easy to immediately obtain location information through a tag and security of private information can be enhanced. The LBS system of the present invention of the present invention includes: a plurality of RFID tags distributed on various places, for wirelessly providing a ULID code of a location; an RFID reader for wirelessly receiving the ULID code from an adjacent RFID tag; a local ULID processor for extracting current location information through a wirelessly received ULID code; and a local LBS application for providing a user with an LBS on the basis of the extracted location information.

Claims

1. A universal location identifier (ULID) code structure embodied in a computer-readable medium, comprising:

a header having version information for identifying a type of ULID code;

data blocks for identifying latitude, longitude and altitude; and

a data block for identifying precision of unsigned integer type so as to identify precision of the latitude, longitude and altitude.

2. The ULID code structure of claim 1, further comprising:

an authentication code data block for authenticating an organization or a person who records a ULID value.

3. The ULID code structure of claim 1, further comprising:

an authentication code data block for authenticating an organization or a person who records a ULID value.

4. The ULID code structure of claim 1, wherein the ULID code is included in a serial number data block of an EPC-256 code.

5. The ULID code structure of claim 1, wherein the ULID code is included in a serial data block of an EPC-256 code.

6. A universal location identifier (ULID) code structure embodied in a computer-readable medium, comprising:

a header having version information for identifying a type of ULID code;

a DB/Mgt ID block for identifying a database including space objects;

a class ID block for identifying an object class or a table in the database; and

an object ID block for identifying an object class or a space object in the object class or the table.

7. The ULID code structure of claim 6, further comprising:

an offset value data block for identifying a specific location in a region of a corresponding space object.

8. The ULID code structure of claim 6, further comprising:

an authentication code data block for authenticating an organization or a person who records a ULID value.

9. The ULID code structure of claim 7, further comprising:

an authentication code data block for authenticating an organization or a person who records a ULID value.

10. The ULID code structure of claim 6, wherein the ULID code is included in a serial number data block of an EPC-256 code.

11. The ULID code structure of claim 7, wherein the ULID code is included in a serial number data block of an EPC-256 code.

12. A universal location identifier (ULID) based location acquisition method comprising:

(a) distributing RFID tags to a plurality of places and storing a ULID code for the corresponding place in each RFID tag;

(b) wirelessly receiving a plurality of ULID codes of the RFID tags though an RFID reader; and

(c) obtaining location information corresponding to each of the received ULID codes from a local ULID database and extracting current location information.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein, in the step (a), a ULID code structure, comprising a header having version information for identifying a type of each of the ULID codes and data blocks for identifying latitude, longitude and altitude, is used as the ULID code to be embedded into the RFID tag.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein, in the step (c), when the ULID code structure, comprising a header having version information for identifying a type of each of the ULID codes, a DB/Mgt ID block for identifying a database including space objects, a class ID block for identifying an object class or a table in the database, and an object ID block for identifying an object class or a space object in the object class or the table, is received, the extracting step comprises the steps of:

connecting to a ULID name service server;

obtaining an IP address of a corresponding ULID-to-location information conversion server or a ULID management server;

connecting to the corresponding ULID-to-location information conversion server or the ULID management server; and

confirming the location information on each of the received ULID codes.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein, in the step (c), when the plurality of ULID codes are received, the extracting step comprises the steps of:

(c-1) filtering the ULID codes by using threshold value of precision distance and auxiliary data of signal strength; and

(c-2) calculating location information of the filtered ULID codes and estimating an optimal current location.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein, in the step (c), 10 when the plurality of ULID codes are received, the extracting step comprises the steps of:

(c-1) filtering the ULID codes by using threshold value of precision distance and auxiliary data of signal strength; and

(c-2) calculating location information of the filtered ULID codes and estimating an optimal current location.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein, in the step (a), a ULID code structure, comprising a header having version information for identifying a type of each of the ULID codes, a DB/Mgt ID block for identifying a database including space objects, a class ID block for identifying an object class or a table in the database and an object ID block for identifying an object class or a space object in the object class or the table, is used as the ULID code to be embedded into the RFID tag.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein, in the step (c), when the ULID code structure, comprising a header having version information for identifying a type of each of the ULID codes, a DB/Mgt ID block for identifying a database including space objects, a class ID block for identifying an object class or a table in the database, and an object ID block for identifying an object class or a space object in the object class or the table, is received, the extracting step comprises the steps of:

connecting to a ULID name service server;

obtaining an IP address of a corresponding ULID-to-location information conversion server or a ULID management server;

connecting to the corresponding ULID-to-location information conversion server or the ULID management server; and

confirming the location information on each of the received ULID codes.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein, in the step (c), when the plurality of ULID codes are received, the extracting step comprises the steps of:

(c-1) filtering the ULID codes by using threshold value of precision distance and auxiliary data of signal strength; and

(c-2) calculating location information of the filtered ULID codes and estimating an optimal current location.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein, in the step (c), when the plurality of ULID codes are received, the extracting step comprises the steps of:

(c-1) filtering the ULID codes by using threshold value of precision distance and auxiliary data of signal strength; and

(c-2) calculating location information of the filtered ULID codes and estimating an optimal current location.

21. The method of claim 12, wherein the step (b) comprises the step of:

obtaining auxiliary data including signal strength information in receiving the ULID code from the RFID tag.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein, in the step (c), when the plurality of ULID codes are received, the extracting step comprises the steps of:

(c-1) filtering the ULID codes by using threshold value of precision distance and auxiliary data of signal strength; and

(c-2) calculating location information of the filtered ULID codes and estimating an optimal current location.

23. The method of claim 12, wherein, in the step (c), when the plurality of ULID codes are received, the extracting step comprises the steps of:

(c-1) filtering the ULID codes by using threshold value of precision distance and auxiliary data of signal strength; and

(c-2) calculating location information of the filtered ULID codes and estimating an optimal current location.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the step (c-1) comprises the steps of:

removing the ULID codes having precision distance larger than precision distance threshold value in the received ULID codes;

determining effective signal traveling distance R through the auxiliary data of signal strength; and

calculating each of distances between the RFID tag and other ULID codes in a ULID list, and removing a corresponding ULID code from the ULID list when all the calculated distances are larger than the effective signal traveling distance R, so that the final ULID list is returned as a filtered ULID list.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the step (c-2) comprises the steps of:

selecting the ULID codes having least precision distance among the received ULID codes;

summing the precision distance m and signal traveling distance r of the RFID tag and defining the result as location precision distance; and

extracting the current location information as location coordinates and the location precision distance.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein, when there are a plurality of ULID codes that have least precision distance, the step (c-2) comprises the steps of:

if the signal strength s is available, extracting location coordinates and location precision distance of the ULID code whose signal strength is largest among the ULID codes having least precision distance as current location information; and

if the signal strength s is not available, extracting location and location precision distance of the ULID code which is nearest to average location coordinates of the ULID codes having least precision distance as current location information.

27. The method of claim 12, wherein, in the step (c), when the plurality of ULID codes are received, the extracting step comprises the steps of:

(c-1) filtering the ULID codes by using threshold value of precision distance and auxiliary data of signal strength; and

(c-2) calculating location information of the filtered ULID codes and estimating an optimal current location.

28. A location based service (LBS) system using universal location identifier (ULID), comprising:

a plurality of RFID tags distributed at various places, for wirelessly providing a ULID code of a location;

an RFID reader for wirelessly receiving a plurality of ULID codes from near RFID tags;

a local ULID processor for extracting current location information through wirelessly received ULID codes; and

a local LBS software application for providing a user with an LBS on the basis of the extracted location information,

wherein the RFID reader obtains signal strength information as auxiliary data in receiving the ULID code from each RFID tag.

29. The LBS system of claim 28, wherein the RFID tag stores a ULID code of a ULID code structure, comprising a header having version information for identifying a type of each of the ULID codes, and data blocks for identifying latitude, longitude and altitude.

30. The LBS system of claim 29, wherein, when the plurality of ULID codes are received, the local ULID processor filters the ULID codes by using threshold value of precision distance and auxiliary data of signal strength, calculates location information of the filtered ULID codes, and extracting optimal location information.

31. The LBS system of claim 28, wherein the RFID tag stores a ULID code of a ULID code structure, comprising a header having version information for identifying a type of each of the ULID codes, a DB/Mgt ID block for identifying a database including space objects, a class ID block for identifying an object class or a table in the database, and an object ID block for identifying an object class or a space object in the object class or the table.

32. The LBS system of claim 31, wherein, when the plurality of ULID codes are received, the local ULID processor filters the ULID codes by using threshold value of precision distance and auxiliary data of signal strength, calculates location information of the filtered ULID codes, and extracting optimal location information.

33. The LBS system of claim 28, further comprising:

a local database having any one of a map information database, an LBS contents database and a ULID-to-location information conversion database.

34. The LBS system of claim 33, wherein the local ULID processor obtains location information corresponding to each of the received ULID codes from the local database and extracts culTent location information.

35. The LBS system of claim 34, wherein, when the plurality of ULID codes are received, the local ULID processor filters the ULID codes by using threshold value of precision distance and auxiliary data of signal strength, calculates location information of the filtered ULID codes and extracting optimal location information.

36. The LBS system of claim 33, further comprising:

a ULID-to-location information conversion server for providing location information on a ULID code structure, comprising a header having version information for identifying a type of ULID code, a DB/Mgt ID block for identifying a database including space objects, a class ID block for identifying an object class or a table in the database, and an object ID block for identifying an object class or a space object in the object class or the table, though a network.

37. The LBS system of claim 36, wherein, when the plurality of ULID codes are received, the local ULID processor filters the ULID codes by using threshold value of precision distance and auxiliary data of signal strength, calculates location information of the filtered ULID codes and extracting optimal location information.

38. The LBS system of claim 33, wherein, when the local ULID processor receives the ULID code structure, comprising a header having version information for identifying a type of each of the ULID codes, a class DB/Mgt ID block for identifying a database including space objects, a class ID block for identifying an object class or a table in the database, and an object ID block for identifying object class or a space object in the object class or the table, the local ULID processor connects to the ULID name service server, obtains an IP address of a corresponding ULID-to-location information conversion server, connects to the corresponding ULID-to-location information conversion server, and confirms the location information on the received ULID codes.

39. The LBS system of claim 38, wherein, when the plurality of ULID codes are received, the local ULID processor filters the ULID codes by using threshold value of precision distance and auxiliary data of signal strength, calculates location information of the filtered ULID codes, and extracting optimal location information.

40. The LBS system of claim 33, wherein, when the plurality of ULID codes are received, the local ULID processor filters the ULID codes by using threshold value of precision distance and auxiliary data of signal strength, calculates location information of the filtered ULID codes, and extracting optimal location information.

41. The LBS system of claim 33, wherein, when the plurality of ULID codes are received, the local ULID processor filters the ULID codes by using threshold value of precision distance and auxiliary data of signal strength, calculates location information of the filtered ULID codes, and extracting optimal location information.

42. The LBS system of claim 28, further comprising:

an external LBS server for providing an external user with the LBS though wire and wireless Internet on the basis of acquired location information, and providing the corresponding LBS contents though wireless Internet at the request of the local LBS application.

43. The LBS system of claim 42, wherein, when the plurality of ULID codes are received, the local ULID processor filters the ULID codes by using threshold value of precision distance and auxiliary data of signal strength, calculates location information of the filtered ULID codes, and extracting optimal location information.

44. The LBS system of claim 42, wherein the LBS system provides a self-location informing service by the steps of:

transmitting the current location information acquired through the local ULID processor from the local LBS application to an external LBS server; and

informing an external user of the location though wire and wireless Internet on the basis of the location information at the external LBS server.

45. The LBS system of claim 42, wherein the LBS system provides a map searching service of current location by the steps of:

requesting the local ULID processor to provide location information at the local LBS application;

receiving the current location information from the local ULID processor at the local LBS application;

providing the external LBS server with the location information at the local LBS application;

receiving corresponding map contents from the external LBS server; and

providing a user with the map searching service at the local LBS application.

46. The LBS system of claim 42, wherein, when an external user requests the LBS system to provide location information, the LBS system provides the location information by the steps of:

requesting the local ULID processor to provide the location information at the external LBS server;

transmitting the ULID codes of RFID tags collected through an RFID reader and auxiliary data to the external LBS server at the local ULID processor; and

calculating optimal current location by using the ULID codes and the auxiliary data and providing the external user with a location information searching service regarding a terminal user at the external LBS server.

47. The LBS system of claim 46, wherein the local ULID processor transmits the ULID codes by the steps of:

filtering the ULID codes; and

transmitting the filtered ULID codes and auxiliary data to the external LBS server.

48. The LBS system of claim 28, wherein, when the plurality of ULID codes are received, the local ULID processor filters the ULID codes by using threshold value of precision distance and auxiliary data of signal strength, calculates location information of the filtered ULID codes and extracting optimal location information.

49. The LBS system of claim 48, wherein the local ULID processor filters the received ULID codes by the steps of:

removing the ULID codes that have precision distance larger than precision distance threshold value in the received ULID codes;

determining effective signal traveling distance R of the RFID tags though the auxiliary data of signal strength; and

calculating each of distances between the RFID tags and other ULID codes in a ULID list, and removing a corresponding ULID code from the ULID list when all the calculated distances are larger than the effective signal traveling distance R, so that the final ULID list is returned as a filtered ULID list.

50. The LBS system of claim 48, wherein the local ULID processor extracts the optimal location information by the steps of:

selecting the ULID code having least precision distance among the received ULID codes;

summing the precision distance m and signal traveling distance r of the RFID tags and defining the result as location precision distance; and

extracting the current location information as location coordinates and the location precision distance.

51. The LBS system of claim 50, wherein, when there are a plurality of ULID codes that have least precision distance, the local ULID processor extracts the optimal location information by the steps of:

if the signal strength s is available, extracting location coordinates and location precision distance of the ULID code whose signal strength is largest among the ULID codes having least precision distance as current location information; and

if the signal strength s is not available, extracting location coordinates and location precision distance of the ULID code which is nearest to average location coordinates of the ULID codes having least precision distance as current location information.

52. The LBS system of claim 28, wherein, when the plurality of ULID codes are received, the local ULID processor filters the ULID codes by using threshold value of precision distance and auxiliary data of signal strength, calculates location information of the filtered ULID codes and extracting optimal location information.