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

• US 7,630,738 B2
• Filed: 10/24/2005
• Issued: 12/08/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Hirano, Jun, Aramaki, Takashi, Ohta, Gen-Ichirou
• Primary Examiner(s): Milord; Marceau
• Application Number:
  US11/256,059
• Publication Number:
  US 20060079185A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,506 Days
• Field of Search: 455/562.1, 455/69, 455/107, 455/25, 455/63.4, 455/575.7, 370/335, 342/444, 342/357.03, 342/405, 342/442
• 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 transmitting station which transmits an azimuth designation signal having directivity toward a predetermined reference azimuth, and a plurality of transmitting/receiving stations which can receive said azimuth designation signal transmitted from said transmitting station,

wherein a target transmitting/receiving station, included in said plurality of transmitting/receiving stations, comprises:

a receiving section that receives said azimuth designation signal transmitted from said transmitting station;

an arrival direction obtaining section that obtains an arrival direction of said azimuth designation signal received by said receiving section;

an azimuth designation signal generating section that generates a new azimuth designation signal having directivity in a direction determined by said arrival direction of said azimuth designation signal obtained by said arrival direction obtaining section; and

a transmitting section that transmits said new azimuth designation signal generated by said azimuth designation signal generating section, in such a manner that said new azimuth designation signal has a directivity in a direction designated by said new azimuth designation signal.

2. A radio communication system according to claim 1, wherein said receiving section is constructed so as to receive not only said azimuth designation signal transmitted from said transmitting station but also azimuth designation signal(s) transmitted from one or more transmitting/receiving stations other than said transmitting/receiving station in which said receiving section is included.

3. A radio communication system according to claim 1, wherein said target transmitting/receiving station comprises a reference azimuth specifying section that detects a direction of the directivity of said mew azimuth designation signal generated by said azimuth designation signal generating section as a reference azimuth.

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

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

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

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

said transmitting station and said plurality of transmitting/receiving stations respectively add priority information to said azimuth designation signals and then respectively transmit the resultant signals, and

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

8. A radio communication system according to claim 1, further comprising a priority adding section that adds priority to said azimuth designation signal, said priority being arranged to decrease as the number of consecutive transmissions of said azimuth designation signal through said transmitting/receiving station(s) increases.

9. A radio communication system according to claim 1, wherein said transmitting/receiving station comprises averaging section for averaging said arrival directions obtained by said arrival direction obtaining section, and wherein said azimuth designation signal generating section generates an azimuth designation signal having directivity either in a direction opposite to said averaged arrival direction or in a direction determined by said averaged arrival direction.

10. A radio communication system according to claim 1, wherein said transmitting/receiving station comprises an extracting section that extracts an electric power from said azimuth designation signal.

11. A radio communication system according to claim 1, wherein said transmitting/receiving station comprises a superimposing section that superimposes an electric power on said azimuth designation signal.

12. A radio communication system according to claim 1, wherein said transmitting/receiving station comprises:

a received power measuring unit that respectively measures received power of said plurality of azimuth designation signals received;

a vector generating section that generates a vector having magnitude of said received power and direction of said arrival direction on the basis of said received power and said arrival direction; and

a combined vector generating section that generates a combined vector by combining said vectors respectively generated for said received azimuth designation signals; and

wherein said radio communication system is arranged such that said azimuth designation signal generating section generates said new azimuth designation signal on the basis of the magnitude and the direction of said combined vector.

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

14. An azimuth determining method, using a plurality of transmitting/receiving stations arranged in a given area, for determining an azimuth in one or more of said transmitting/receiving stations, said method comprising:

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

in said transmitting/receiving station, receiving said azimuth designation signal;

obtaining an arrival direction of said azimuth designation signal;

generating a new azimuth designation signal having directivity in a direction determined by said arrival direction;

transmitting said new generated azimuth designation signal; and

specifying said reference azimuth on the basis of said arrival directions of said azimuth designation signals transmitted from said transmitting station and said transmitting/receiving station(s), and determining an azimuth on the basis of said specified reference azimuth.

15. A transmitting/receiving station comprising:

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

an arrival direction obtaining section that obtains an arrival direction of said azimuth designation signal received by said receiving section;

an azimuth designation signal generating section that generates a new azimuth designation signal having directivity in a direction determined by said arrival direction of said azimuth designation signal;

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

a transmitting section that transmits said new azimuth designation signal generated by said azimuth designation signal generating section so as to have directivity in a direction designated by said new azimuth designation signal.

16. A transmitting/receiving station according to claim 15, wherein said receiving section further receives an azimuth designation signal transmitted from transmitting/receiving station(s) other than said transmitting/receiving station in which said receiving section is included, and said arrival direction obtaining section obtains said arrival directions of not only said azimuth designation signal transmitted from said transmitting station but also azimuth designation signal(s) transmitted from said transmitting/receiving station(s) other than said transmitting/receiving station in which said receiving section is included.

17. A transmitting/receiving station according to claim 15, wherein when said transmitting/receiving station handles communication signals other than said azimuth designation signal, said azimuth designation signal and said communication signals are set at different channels from each other.

18. A transmitting/receiving station according to claim 17, wherein said azimuth designation signal and said communication signals are frequency divided from each other.

19. A transmitting/receiving station according to claim 17, wherein said azimuth designation signal and said communication signals are code divided from each other.

20. A transmitting/receiving station according to claim 17, wherein said azimuth designation signal and said communication signals are time divided from each other.

21. A transmitting/receiving station according to claim 17, wherein said azimuth designation signal is assigned to one of sub carriers in OFDM.

22. A transmitting station for transmitting an azimuth designation signal having directivity toward a predetermined reference azimuth, said transmitting station comprising:

an information holding section that holds data indicative of said reference azimuth;

an azimuth designation signal generating section that generates an azimuth designation signal which designates said reference azimuth on the basis of said data indicative of said reference azimuth;

a priority adding section that adds a signal indicative of priority to said azimuth designation signal; and

a transmitting section that transmits said signal indicative of said priority and said azimuth designation signal having directivity in a direction designated by said azimuth designation signal generated by said azimuth designation signal generating section.

23. The transmitting station according to claim 22, wherein said priority includes information by which a receiving station determines whether or not a received signal is an azimuth designation signal from said transmitting station.