Positioning system and positioning method

• US 8,106,818 B2
• Filed: 12/31/2009
• Issued: 01/31/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation), Polaris Wireless Incorporated
• Original Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation), Polaris Wireless Incorporated
• Inventors: Bhattacharya, Tarun Kumar, El-Sallabi, Hassan Mohamed, Gordon, Scot Douglas, Oda, Yasuhiro, Shen, Jiyun
• Primary Examiner(s): Tarcza, Thomas
• Assistant Examiner(s): MCGUE, FRANK J
• Application Number:
  US12/651,019
• Publication Number:
  US 20110156952A1
• Time in Patent Office: 761 Days
• Field of Search: 342/357.31, 342/357.29
• US Class Current: 342/357.31
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/015 between indoor and outdoor environments
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/02521 using a radio-map

Abstract

It is an object of the present invention to perform positioning at the proper positioning time and positioning precision in response to a requirement with respect to positioning. A positioning server 10 comprises a first positioning component 12 that performs positioning of a cellular terminal 20 by a hybrid algorithm 1, in which indoor/outdoor determination is performed on the basis of reception state information indicating the reception state at the cellular terminal 20, and in which an end condition is determined on the basis of the result of the indoor/outdoor determination; and a second positioning component 13 that performs positioning of the cellular terminal 20 by a hybrid algorithm 2, in which the approximate position of the cellular terminal 20 is calculated on the basis of reception state information indicating the reception state at the cellular terminal 20, and in which whether or not to end the positioning of the cellular terminal 20 is decided on the basis of the precision of the approximated position.

Claims

1. A positioning system for estimating the position of a receiver that has a wireless communication function and a receiving function for signals used in GPS positioning, the system comprising:

first positioning means for estimating the position of the receiver by a first positioning method;

second positioning means for estimating the position of the receiver by a second positioning method;

requirement information input means for inputting requirement information indicating a requirement with respect to estimation of the position of the receiver; and

positioning method determination means for determining whether to execute the first or second positioning method on the basis of the requirement information inputted by the requirement information input means, and causing the first positioning means or the second positioning means to execute the estimation of the position of the receiver by the determined positioning method,

wherein the first positioning means comprises;

first reception state information acquisition means for acquiring reception state information indicating the reception state of a radio wave by the wireless communication function in the receiver;

first position estimation means for estimating the position of the receiver on the basis of the reception state information acquired by the first reception state information acquisition means, and performing GPS positioning of the receiver on the basis of the reception state of a signal used in GPS positioning and received by the receiver;

first end decision means for deciding whether or not to end the estimation of the position of the receiver by the first position estimation means on the basis of a specific end condition, and if it is decided not to end, causing the first position estimation means to estimate the position of the receiver also on the basis of new reception state information acquired by the first reception state information acquisition means at a different timing from that of the reception state information used to estimate the position by the first position estimation means, and deciding whether or not to end the position estimation by the first position estimation means also on the basis of whether or not GPS positioning by the first position estimation means has been ended;

first indoor/outdoor determination means for determining whether the receiver is indoors or outdoors on the basis of the reception state information acquired by the first reception state information acquisition means; and

first end condition determination means for determining the specific end condition on the basis of the result of determination by the first indoor/outdoor determination means,

and the second positioning means comprises;

second reception state information acquisition means for acquiring reception state information indicating the reception state of the radio wave by the wireless communication function in the receiver;

second approximate position estimation means for estimating an approximate position of the receiver on the basis of the reception state information acquired by the second reception state information acquisition means, and calculating the precision of the approximate position;

second end decision means for deciding whether or not to end the estimation of the position of the receiver on the basis of the precision calculated by the second approximate position estimation means, and if it is decided to end, ending the estimation of the position of the receiver by using the approximate position estimated by the second approximate position estimation means as the position of the receiver;

second indoor/outdoor determination means for determining whether the receiver is indoors or outdoors on the basis of the reception state information acquired by the second reception state information acquisition means; and

second positioning control means for controlling the execution of GPS positioning of the receiver on the basis of the result of decision by the second end decision means and the result of determination by the second indoor/outdoor determination means.

2. The positioning system according to claim 1, wherein the first end condition determination means determines the specific end condition also on the basis of the requirement information inputted by the requirement information input means.

3. The positioning system according to claim 1, wherein the first end condition determination means acquires environment information indicating the environment in which the receiver is placed, and determines the specific end condition also on the basis of the environment information.

4. The positioning system according to claim 1,

wherein the first reception state information acquisition means acquires strength information indicating the reception strength corresponding to an emission source of the radio wave as the reception state information, and

the first position estimation means estimates the position of the receiver by storing in advance information indicating the relation between the position and reception strength of the radio wave corresponding to an emission source of the radio wave, and by comparing the strength information acquired by the first reception state information acquisition means with the information stored in advance.

5. The positioning system according to claim 1,

wherein the first end condition determination means determines a threshold of positioning result error and/or an elapsed time of positioning as the specific end condition.

6. The positioning system according to claim 1, further comprising emission source positioning means for acquiring information indicating the size of a communication area of an emission source of the radio wave received by the receiver, estimating the position of the receiver on the basis of the size of the communication area, and deciding whether or not to cause the first positioning means or second positioning means to execute the estimation of the position of the receiver.

7. The positioning system according to claim 1, wherein the second positioning control means controls the execution of positioning that estimates the position of the receiver on the basis of the result of decision by the second end decision means and the result of determination by the second indoor/outdoor determination means and also on the basis of new reception state information acquired by the second reception state information acquisition means, at a timing that differs from that of the reception state information used to estimate the approximate position by the second approximate position estimation means.

8. The positioning system according to claim 7,

wherein the reception state information acquisition means acquires strength information indicating the reception strength corresponding to an emission source of the radio wave as the reception state information, and

the estimation of the approximate position by the approximate position estimation means and the estimation of the position of the receiver which uses the reception state information and the execution of which is controlled by the positioning control means, are carried out by a method in which the position of the receiver is estimated by storing in advance information indicating the relation between the position and reception strength of the radio wave corresponding to the emission source of the radio wave, and by comparing the strength information acquired by the reception state information acquisition means with the information stored in advance.

9. A positioning method for estimating the position of a receiver that has a wireless communication function and a receiving function for signals used in GPS positioning, the method comprising:

a first positioning step of estimating the position of the receiver by a first positioning method;

a second positioning step of estimating the position of the receiver by a second positioning method;

a requirement information input step of inputting requirement information indicating a requirement with respect to estimation of the position of the receiver; and

a positioning method determination step of determining whether to execute the first or second positioning method on the basis of the requirement information inputted in the requirement information input step, and executing the estimation of the position of the receiver by the determined positioning method in the first positioning step or the second positioning step,

wherein the first positioning step comprises;

a first reception state information acquisition step of acquiring reception state information indicating the reception state of a radio wave by the wireless communication function in the receiver;

a first position estimation step of estimating the position of the receiver on the basis of the reception state information acquired in the first reception state information acquisition step, and performing GPS positioning of the receiver on the basis of the reception state of a signal used in GPS positioning and received by the receiver;

a first end decision step of deciding whether or not to end the estimation of the position of the receiver in the first position estimation step on the basis of a specific end condition, and if it is decided not to end, estimating the position of the receiver in the first position estimation step also on the basis of new reception state information acquired in the first reception state information acquisition step at a different timing from that of the reception state information used to estimate the position in the first position estimation step, and deciding whether or not to end the position estimation in the first position estimation step also on the basis of whether or not GPS positioning in the first position estimation step has been ended;

a first indoor/outdoor determination step of determining whether the receiver is indoors or outdoors on the basis of the reception state information acquired in the first reception state information acquisition step; and

a first end condition determination step of determining the specific end condition on the basis of the result of determination in the first indoor/outdoor determination step,

and the second positioning step comprises;

a second reception state information acquisition step of acquiring reception state information indicating the reception state of the radio wave by the wireless communication function in the receiver;

a second approximate position estimation step of estimating an approximate position of the receiver on the basis of the reception state information acquired in the second reception state information acquisition step, and calculating the precision of the approximate position;

a second end decision step of deciding whether or not to end the estimation of the position of the receiver on the basis of the precision calculated in the second approximate position estimation step, and if it is decided to end, ending the estimation of the position of the receiver by using the approximate position estimated in the second approximate position estimation step as the position of the receiver;

a second indoor/outdoor determination step of determining whether the receiver is indoors or outdoors on the basis of the reception state information acquired in the second reception state information acquisition step; and

a second positioning control step of controlling the execution of GPS positioning of the receiver on the basis of the result of decision in the second end decision step and the result of determination in the second indoor/outdoor determination step.