Position estimation of a wireless terminal in a structure using base station signal information

• US 8,700,058 B2
• Filed: 02/27/2012
• Issued: 04/15/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/18/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Rekimoto, Junichi
• Primary Examiner(s): MATHARU, MANPREET S
• Application Number:
  US13/405,974
• Publication Number:
  US 20120157126A1
• Time in Patent Office: 778 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456.1, 455/456.6, 455/457, 455/456.2, 455/456.3, 455/456.5, 340/539.2, 340/539.13, 340/525
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0018 Transmission from mobile station to base station
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/02521 using a radio-map
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/10 Scheduling measurement reports ; Arrangements for measurement reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/33 for indoor environments, e.g. buildings
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 60/00 Affiliation to network, e.g. registration; Terminating affiliation with the network, e.g. de-registration
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

Wireless terminals are provided that comprise, for example, a wireless signal receiving portion that receives a wireless signal transmitted from a base station; a measurement portion that performs signal intensity measurement of the wireless signal; and an information transmitting portion that transmits pieces of measurement information acquired by the signal intensity measurement, and at least one piece of base station identification information that indicates a base station of a transmission source of the wireless signal and that is associated with each of the pieces of measurement information. The wireless terminals may also comprise, for example, an input portion for specifying information on a section of a building structure; an information acquisition portion for acquiring and transmitting measurement information to a position estimation server; a display screen generation portion; a display portion; and a registration request portion for transmitting registration request information to a position estimation server.

Claims

1. A wireless terminal comprising:

circuitry configured to

receive a wireless signal transmitted from a base station;

perform signal intensity measurement of the received wireless signal;

accept user input operations indicating section information for identifying one section of a building structure, and structure information for identifying the building structure; and

transmit measurement information acquired by the signal intensity measurement of the received wireless signal, base station identification information that indicates a base station of a transmission source of the wireless signal, the section information, and the structure information, wherein the measurement information is associated with the base station identification information, the section information and the structure information;

wherein the circuitry is configured to perform the signal intensity measurement of the received wireless signal in response to acceptance of the user input operations, and transmit the acquired measurement information after acceptance of the user input operations.

2. The wireless terminal of claim 1,

wherein the circuitry is further configured to

generate one or more display screens;

collect input from a user, the collection of input comprising causing the circuitry to generate the one or more display screens; and

transmit to a position estimation server the registration request information comprising one or more of a section, a structure name, signal intensity information, and estimated distance information;

wherein the wireless terminal further comprises a display configured to display the one or more display screens generated by the circuitry.

3. The wireless terminal of claim 2, wherein the one or more display screens comprise a section information registration screen for registering information comprising section information with the position estimation server, and a guidance screen.

4. The wireless terminal of claim 3, wherein the section information registration screen comprises an interface for inputting a structure name associated with the wireless terminal'"'"'s location, and a section associated with the wireless terminal'"'"'s location, the section comprising a floor or a room.

5. The wireless terminal of claim 2, wherein the display comprises at least one of:

a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) display device, a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) device, an Organic Light Emitting Display (OLED) device, and a lamp.

6. The wireless terminal of claim 2, wherein the circuitry periodically transmits measurement information, or transmits the measurement information based on user operation of the circuitry configured to collect input from the user.

7. The wireless terminal of claim 1, wherein the circuitry comprises one or more of:

a wireless communication function defined by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE);

a Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) communication function defined by IEEE; and

a communication function associated with Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX).

8. The wireless terminal of claim 1, wherein the circuitry communicates information comprising at least one of:

electronic mail, audio data, visual data, and program code.

9. The wireless terminal of claim 1, wherein the wireless terminal is one of:

a mobile phone, a personal computer, a home video processing device, a personal handyphone system, a mobile music playback device, a mobile video processing device, a personal digital assistant, a home game console, a mobile game console, and a household electrical appliance.

10. A method for estimating the position of a wireless terminal comprising:

receiving a wireless signal transmitted from a base station;

measuring signal intensity of the received wireless signal;

accepting user input operations indicating section information for identifying one section of a building structure, and structure information for identifying the building structure; and

transmitting the measured signal intensity, base station identification information indicating a base station of a transmission source of the wireless signal, the section information, and the structure information, wherein the measured signal intensity is associated with the base station identification information, the section information and the structure information;

wherein the measuring step is performed in response to acceptance of the user input operations in the accepting step, and the measured signal intensity is transmitted after the user input operations are accepted.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having executable instructions stored thereon, the executable instructions causing a computer to perform steps comprising:

receiving a wireless signal transmitted from a base station;

measuring signal intensity of the received wireless signal;

accepting user input operations indicating section information for identifying one section of a building structure, and structure information for identifying the building structure; and

transmitting the measured signal intensity, base station identification information indicating a base station of a transmission source of the wireless signal, the section information, and the structure information, wherein measured signal intensity is associated with the base station identification information, the section information and the structure information;

wherein the measuring step is performed in response to acceptance of the user input operations in the accepting step, and the measured signal intensity is transmitted after the user input operations are accepted.