Wireless communication terminal, wireless communication device, and wireless communication method

• US 9,119,024 B2
• Filed: 02/09/2012
• Issued: 08/25/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/10/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Ando, Kazuhiro, Urabe, Yoshio, Irie, Masataka, Takahashi, Hiroshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Huang, Wen
• Application Number:
  US13/816,040
• Publication Number:
  US 20130143499A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,293 Days
• Field of Search: 455/41.1, 455/41.2, 455/41.3
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

A master device transmits a beacon signal including information related to a proximity wireless communication area in a predetermined cycle by using a transmission power which allows the beacon signal to reach beyond the proximity wireless communication area. When a slave device receives the beacon signal from the master device, the slave device estimates a distance to the master device in accordance with the information of the beacon signal. When a wireless communication terminal is located within the proximity wireless communication area, the slave device is connected to the master device by using a proximity wireless communication.

Claims

1. A wireless communication terminal, comprising:

a beacon receiver configured to, in operation, receive a first beacon signal transmitted from a communication party device by a proximity wireless communication, the first beacon signal including information related to a communicable area of the proximity wireless communication;

a communicable area deciding section configured to, in operation decide a position of the wireless communication terminal by using the first beacon signal; and

a connection controller configured to, in operation use a decided result of the communicable area deciding section, and does not connect the wireless communication terminal to the communication party device using the proximity wireless communication when the beacon receiver receives the first beacon signal and the communicable area deciding section decides that the position of the wireless communication terminal is located outside the communicable area of the proximity wireless communication, and connects the wireless communication terminal to the communication party device using the proximity wireless communication when the beacon receiver receives the first beacon signal and the communicable area deciding section decides that the position of the wireless communication terminal is located inside the communicable area of the proximity wireless communication;

wherein

the beacon receiver configured to, in operation, further receive a second beacon signal transmitted from the communication party device by a short range wireless communication having a communicable area of the short range wireless communication which is wider than the communicable area of the proximity wireless communication,

the communicable area deciding section configured to, in operation, decide the position of the wireless communication terminal by further using the second beacon signal,

the connection controller configured to, in operation, connect the wireless communication terminal to the communication party device by using the short range wireless communication when the position of the wireless communication terminal is located inside the communicable area of the short range wireless communication and outside the communicable area of the proximity wireless communication in accordance with a decided result of the communicable area deciding section,

the second beacon signal includes identifying information for the short range wireless communication,

the first beacon signal includes identifying information for the proximity wireless communication, and

the first beacon signal has a smaller transmission power and a shorter transmission cycle than those of the second beacon signal.

2. The wireless communication terminal according to claim 1, wherein

the communicable area of the proximity wireless communication is an area narrower than an area where the first beacon signal can be received.

3. The wireless communication terminal according to claim 1, wherein

when the beacon receiver receives the first beacon signal and the communicable area deciding section decides that the position of the wireless communication terminal is located within the communicable area of the proximity wireless communication, the connection controller outputs a proximity wireless communication connection request signal to the communication party device.

4. The wireless communication terminal according to claim 1, wherein

the beacon signal includes transmission power information and communicable area definition information of the beacon signal as the information related to the communicable area, and

the communicable area deciding section configured to, in operation, estimate the distance to the communication party device and decide whether the position of the wireless communication terminal is located inside or outside the communicable area by using received signal strength information of the beacon signal, the transmission power information and the communicable area definition information.

5. The wireless communication terminal according to claim 1, wherein

when the position of the wireless communication terminal is located in the proximity of an outside of the communicable area in accordance with the decided result of the communicable area proximity deciding section using the second beacon signal, the connection controller informs the communication party device of a transmission request signal for the first beacon signal.

6. A wireless communication device, comprising:

a beacon generator configured to, in operation, generate a first beacon signal including information related to a communicable area of a proximity wireless communication;

a beacon transmitter configured to, in operation, transmit the first beacon signal in a first cycle by using a transmission power which reaches beyond the communicable area;

a signal receiver configured to, in operation, receive a proximity wireless communication connection request signal for requesting a connection of the proximity wireless communication from a communication party terminal which has received the first beacon signal; and

a connection controller configured to, in operation, use the proximity wireless communication connection request signal, and does not connect the communication party terminal using the proximity wireless communication to the wireless communication device when the communication party terminal receives the first beacon signal and, a position of the communication party terminal is located outside the communicable area of the proximity wireless communication, and connects the communication party terminal to the wireless communication device when the communication party terminal receives the first beacon signal and the position of the communication party terminal is located inside the communicable area of the proximity wireless communication;

wherein

the beacon generator configured to, in operation, further generate a second beacon signal for a short range wireless communication having a communicable area of the short range wireless communication which is wider than the communicable area of the proximity wireless communication,

the beacon transmitter configured to, in operation, further transmit the second beacon signal in a second cycle,

the first beacon signal is transmitted when a transmission request signal for the first beacon signal is received from the communication party terminal which has received the second beacon signal,

the second beacon signal includes identifying information for the short range wireless communication,

the first beacon signal includes identifying information for the proximity wireless communication, and

the beacon transmitter transmits the first beacon signal by using a smaller transmission power and a shorter transmission cycle than those of the second beacon signal.

7. The wireless communication device according to claim 6, wherein

the beacon generator configured to, in operation, generate the first beacon signal including transmission power information and communicable area definition information of the first beacon signal as the information related to the communicable area.

8. The wireless communication device according to claim 6, further comprising

a communicable area deciding section configured to, in operation, estimate a distance to the communication party terminal by using the proximity wireless communication connection request signal and outputs position information of the communication party terminal.

9. A wireless communication method in a wireless communication terminal capable of performing a proximity wireless communication and a short range wireless communication having a communicable area wider than that of the proximity wireless communication, the wireless communication method comprising:

a step of receiving a second beacon signal for the short range wireless communication;

a step of connecting the wireless communication terminal to a communication party device which has transmitted the second beacon signal by using the short range wireless communication in accordance with a reception of the second beacon signal;

a step of deciding a position of the wireless communication terminal by using the second beacon signal or a communication signal of the short range wireless communication as a second decided result;

a step of informing the communication party device of a transmission request signal for a first beacon signal when the second decided result indicates the position of the wireless communication terminal is located in a proximity of the communicable area;

a step of receiving the first beacon signal for the proximity wireless communication transmitted from the communication party device, the first beacon signal including information related to the communicable area of the proximity wireless communication;

a step of deciding the position of the wireless communication terminal by using the first beacon signal as a first decided result; and

a step of using the first decided result of the position of the wireless communication terminal, and not connecting the wireless communication terminal to the communication party device using the proximity wireless communication when the wireless communication terminal receives the first beacon signal and, the first decided result indicates the position of the wireless communication terminal is located outside the communicable area of the proximity wireless communication, and connecting the wireless communication terminal to the communication party device by using the proximity wireless communication when the wireless communication terminal receives the first beacon signal and the first decided result indicates the position of the wireless communication terminal is located inside the communicable area of the proximity wireless communication.

10. A wireless communication method in a wireless communication device capable of performing a proximity wireless communication and a short range wireless communication having a communicable area wider than that of the proximity wireless communication, the wireless communication method comprising:

a step of generating a second beacon signal for the short range wireless communication;

a step of transmitting the second bacon signal in a second cycle;

a step of connecting a communication party terminal which has received the second beacon signal by using the short range wireless communication;

a step of generating a first beacon signal including information related to the communicable area of the proximity wireless communication;

a step of transmitting the first beacon signal in a first cycle when a transmission request signal for the first beacon signal is received from the communication party terminal which has received the second beacon signal;

a step of receiving a proximity wireless communication connection request signal for requesting for a connection to the proximity wireless communication from the communication party terminal which has received the first beacon signal; and

a step of using the proximity wireless communication connection request signal, not connecting the communication party terminal using the proximity wireless communication to the wireless communication device when the communication party terminal can receive the first beacon signal, but a position of the communication party terminal is located outside the communicable area of the proximity wireless communication, and connecting the communication party terminal to the wireless communication device by using the proximity wireless communication when the communication party terminal can receive the first beacon signal and the position of the communication party terminal is located inside the communicable area of the proximity wireless communication.