Location storage device, wireless terminal, location storage system, location registration method, location update method and program

• US 8,145,255 B2
• Filed: 10/09/2007
• Issued: 03/27/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/19/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Rekimoto, Junichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Mai, Lam T
• Application Number:
  US12/445,872
• Publication Number:
  US 20100317390A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,631 Days
• Field of Search: 455524-528, 370326-350
• US Class Current: 455/524
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0036 of measured values, i.e. measurement on mobile and position calculation on base station
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0242 Determining the position of transmitters to be subsequently used in positioning G01S5/0289 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/02524 Creating or updating the radio-map
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/003 locating network equipment

Abstract

It is characterized by including a storage section (214) in which location information of a base station (30) that performs wireless communication with a wireless terminal (40) and base station identification information uniquely assigned to each base station are registered in association with each other, a receiving section for receiving signal strength information in which a signal strength of a signal received by the wireless terminal from each base station or information obtained from the signal strength and the base station identification information of the base station that transmitted the signal are associated with each other, a registration judging section (222) judging, by referring to the base station identification information registered in the storage section, whether or not the base station identification information included in the signal strength information received by the receiving section is registered in the storage section in association with the location information, and a registering section (226) for registering in the storage section in association with each other the base station identification information judged by the registration judging section as not registered in the storage section and predetermined location information dependent on the location of the wireless terminal.

Claims

1. A location storage device comprising:

a storage section in which location information of a base station that performs wireless communication with a wireless terminal and base station identification information assigned to each base station are registered in association with each other;

a receiving section for receiving signal strength information in which a signal strength of a signal received by the wireless terminal from the base station or information obtained from the signal strength and the base station identification information of the base station that transmitted the signal are associated with each other;

a registration judging section for judging, by referring to the base station identification information registered in the storage section, whether or not the base station identification information included in the signal strength information received by the receiving section is registered in the storage section in association with the location information; and

a registering section for registering in the storage section in association with each other the base station identification information judged by the registration judging section as not registered in the storage section and predetermined location information dependent on the location of the wireless terminal.

2. The location storage device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a location estimating section for estimating the location of the wireless terminal based on the signal strength information and the location information of the base station that is registered in the storage section, wherein

the registering section registers in the storage section in association with each other the base station identification information judged by the registration judging section as not registered in the storage section and the location information indicating the location of the wireless terminal estimated by the location estimating section.

3. The location storage device according to claim 1, wherein:

the receiving section further receives terminal location information indicating the location of the wireless terminal; and

the registering section registers in the storage section in association with each other the base station identification information judged by the registration judging section as not registered in the storage section and the terminal location information received by the receiving section.

4. The location storage device according to claim 1, wherein:

the receiving section receives the signal strength information at one or two or more time points accumulated in the wireless terminal.

5. A location storage device comprising:

a storage section in which location information of a base station that performs wireless communication with a wireless terminal and base station identification information assigned to each base station are registered in association with each other;

a receiving section for receiving signal strength information in which a signal strength of a signal received by the wireless terminal from the base station or information obtained from the signal strength and the base station identification information of the base station that transmitted the signal are associated with each other;

a base station information judging section for performing, on the location information of the base station registered in the storage section, a judgment relating to a predetermined condition which is based on the distance between the wireless terminal and the base station that is estimated from the signal strength information; and

an updating section for updating the location information of the base station based on the judgment result of the base station information judging section.

6. The location storage device according to claim 5, wherein:

the base station information judging section comprises

an inter-base-station-distance calculating section for calculating the distance between a first base station and a second base station that perform wireless communication with the wireless terminal based on the location information of the first base station and the second base station registered in the storage section;

an estimated distance adding section for adding up the distance between the wireless terminal and the first base station and the distance between the wireless terminal and the second base station that are estimated from the signal strength information; and

a condition judging section for judging that the condition is not satisfied when there is a difference between the distance calculated by the inter-base-station-distance calculating section and the distance calculated by the estimated distance adding section.

7. The location storage device according to claim 6, wherein:

the condition judging section judges that the condition is not satisfied when the distance calculated by the inter-base-station-distance calculating section is longer than the distance calculated by the estimated distance adding section by a set boundary value or more.

8. The location storage device according to claim 6, wherein:

the updating section updates the location information of the base station registered in the storage section so that the distance between the first base station and the second base station is within the range of the distance between the location indicated by the location information of the first base station and the location indicated by the location information of the second base station that are registered in the storage section and a distance that is a sum of the distance between the wireless terminal and the first base station and the distance between the wireless terminal and the second base station.

9. The location storage device according to claim 5, wherein:

the receiving section further receives terminal location information indicating the location of the wireless terminal; and

the base station information judging section further includes

a registration distance calculating section for calculating the distance between the location indicated by the terminal location information received by the receiving section and the location indicated by the location information of a certain base station registered in the storage section, and

a condition judging section for judging that the condition is not satisfied when there is a difference between the distance calculated by the registration distance calculating section and the distance between the wireless terminal and the certain base station estimated based on the signal strength corresponding to the certain base station.

10. The location storage device according to claim 9, wherein:

the condition judging section judges that the condition is not satisfied when the distance calculated by the registration distance calculating section is shorter than the distance between the wireless terminal and the certain base station estimated based on the signal strength corresponding to the certain base station.

11. The location storage device according to claim 10, wherein:

the updating section updates the location information of the base station registered in the storage section so that the distance between the certain base station and the wireless terminal is within the range of the distance between the location indicated by the terminal location information received by the receiving section and the location indicated by the location information of the certain base station registered in the storage section and the distance between the wireless terminal and the certain base station estimated based on the signal strength information.

12. The location storage device according to claim 5, wherein:

the receiving section receives the signal strength information at one or two or more time points accumulated in the wireless terminal.

13. A wireless terminal for performing wireless communication with a plurality of base stations, the wireless terminal comprising:

a measuring section for measuring signal strengths of signals received from the plurality of the base stations;

a history information storage section for storing a history of signal strength information, at one or two or more time points, in which the signal strengths measured by the measuring section or information obtained from the signal strengths and base station identification information assigned to each of the base stations are associated with each other;

a transmitting section for transmitting the history of the signal strength information stored in the history information storage section to a location storage device capable of estimating the location of the wireless terminal based on the signal strength information;

a base station information storage section in which base station information in which location information of the plurality of the base stations and the base station identification information are associated with each other is registered; and

a location estimating section for estimating the location of the wireless terminal based on the base station information registered in the base station information storage section and the signal strength information.

14. The wireless terminal according to claim 13, wherein:

the history information storage section has further registered therein a history of terminal location information indicating the location of the wireless terminal at one or two or more time points; and

the transmitting section transmits to the location storage device the histories of the signal strength information and the terminal location information.

15. The wireless terminal according to claim 13, further comprising:

an information updating section for updating base station information registered in the base station information storage section to base station information registered in a storage section of the location storage device and in which location information of the plurality of the base stations and the base station identification information assigned to each of the base stations are associated with each other.

16. A location storage system comprising a wireless terminal that performs wireless communication with a plurality of base stations and a location storage device in which locations of the plurality of the base stations are registered, wherein:

the wireless terminal includes

a measuring section for measuring signal strengths of signals received from the plurality of the base stations; and

a transmitting section for transmitting to the location storage device signal strength information, at one or two or more time points, in which the signal strengths measured by the measuring section or information obtained from the signal strengths and base station identification information assigned to each of the base stations are associated with each other, and

the location storage device includes

a storage section in which location information of the base station and the base station identification information are registered in association with each other;

a receiving section for receiving the signal strength information from the wireless terminal;

a registration judging section for judging, by referring to the base station identification information registered in the storage section, whether or not the base station identification information included in the signal strength information received by the receiving section is registered in the storage section; and

a registering section for registering in the storage section in association with each other the base station identification information judged by the registration judging section as not registered in the storage section and predetermined location information dependent on the location of the wireless terminal.

17. A location storage system comprising a wireless terminal that performs wireless communication with a plurality of base stations and a location storage device in which locations of the plurality of the base stations are registered, wherein:

the wireless terminal includes

a measuring section for measuring signal strengths of signals received from the plurality of the base stations; and

a transmitting section for transmitting to the location storage device signal strength information, at one or two or more time points, in which the signal strengths measured by the measuring section or information obtained from the signal strengths and base station identification information assigned to each of the base stations are associated with each other, and

the location storage device includes

a storage section in which location information of the base station and the base station identification information are registered in association with each other;

a receiving section for receiving the signal strength information from the wireless terminal;

a base station information judging section for performing on the location information of the base station registered in the storage section, a judgment relating to a predetermined condition which is based on the distance between the wireless terminal and the base station that is estimated from the signal strength information; and

an updating section for updating the location information of the base station based on the judgment result of the base station information judging section.

18. A location registration method performed by a computer, the method comprising the steps of:

registering, by the computer, in a storage medium in association with each other location information of a base station that performs wireless communication with a wireless terminal and base station identification information assigned to each base station;

receiving signal strength information in which a signal strength of a signal received by the wireless terminal from the base station or information obtained from the signal strength and the base station identification information of the base station that transmitted the signal are associated with each other;

judging, by referring to the base station identification information registered in the storage medium, whether or not the base station identification information included in the received signal strength information is registered in the storage medium; and

registering in the storage medium in association with each other the base station identification information judged as not registered in the storage medium and predetermined location information dependent on the location of the wireless terminal.

19. A location update method performed by a computer, the method comprising the steps of:

registering, by the computer, in a storage medium in association with each other location information of a base station that performs wireless communication with a wireless terminal and base station identification information assigned to each base station;

receiving signal strength information in which a signal strength of a signal received by the wireless terminal from the base station or information obtained from the signal strength and the base station identification information of the base station that transmitted the signal are associated with each other;

performing, on the location information of the base station registered in the storage medium, a judgment relating to a predetermined condition which is based on the distance between the wireless terminal and the base station that is estimated from the signal strength information; and

updating the location information of the base station based on the judgment result for the predetermined condition.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to function as a location storage device, the location storage device comprising:

a receiving section for receiving signal strength information in which a signal strength of a signal received by a wireless terminal from a base station that performs wireless communication with the wireless terminal or information obtained from the signal strength and base station identification information of the base station that transmitted the signal are associated with each other;

a registration judging section for judging, by referring to the base station identification information registered in a storage medium in association with location information of the base station, whether or not the base station identification information included in the signal strength information received by the receiving section is registered in the storage medium; and

a registering section for registering in the storage medium in association with each other the base station identification information judged by the registration judging section as not registered in the storage medium and predetermined location information dependent on the location of the wireless terminal.

21. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to function as a location storage device, the location storage device comprising:

a receiving section for receiving signal strength information in which a signal strength of a signal received by a wireless terminal from a base station that performs wireless communication with the wireless terminal or information obtained from the signal strength and base station identification information of the base station that transmitted the signal are associated with each other;

a base station information judging section for performing, on location information of the base station registered in a storage medium in association with the base station identification information of the base station, a judgment relating to a predetermined condition which is based on the distance between the wireless terminal and the base station that is obtained from the signal strength information; and

an updating section for updating the location information of the base station based on the judgment result of the base station information judging section.