JP3753154B2 - Positioning gateway device, terminal location information request processing method and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a positioning gateway device that receives a terminal position information request from a user terminal and returns position information of a designated terminal.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a technique related to a positioning gateway device for knowing the position of an individual possessing a predetermined terminal (such as a portable terminal) has been developed. FIG. 38 is a diagram for explaining a positioning gateway device according to the prior art. Referring to FIG. 38, the conventional system for knowing the position of the terminal 5 has a configuration in which the positioning gateway device 101, the positioning device 4, and the user terminals 106 and 107 are connected by the network a. In FIG. 38, one positioning device and one positioning target terminal and two user terminals are shown, but the number thereof is arbitrary.

  The user terminal 106 is a terminal installed in an application service provider (ASP) or the like, and includes a request transmission unit 1061 that transmits a terminal location information request and a response reception unit 1062 that receives a terminal location information response. The request sending means 1061 accepts input from a user (such as an ASP operator) from a keyboard, mouse, or the like, and sends a terminal location information request for requesting the location information of the designated terminal to the positioning gateway device 101 through the network a. There is a function of transmitting to the positioning gateway device 101. The response receiving unit 1062 has a function of receiving a terminal location information response transmitted from the positioning gateway device 101 and posting the location information of the terminal to the user using a display or a printer. Other user terminals 107 also have request transmission means 1071 and response reception means 1072 having the same functions as the user terminal 106.

  The positioning device 4 receives the positioning request through the network a, measures the position information of the terminal designated by the positioning request, generates a positioning response from the position information, and sends the positioning response to the source of the positioning request through the network a. There is a function to send. For example, the positioning device 4 has a function of measuring the position of the terminal 5. This function can be configured by a known technique as follows.

  GPS (Global Positioning System), which can know the geographical position on the earth by receiving radio waves from a satellite, is a known technique. The terminal 5 includes a GPS receiver and a communication device. The positioning device 4 transmits a positioning request to the terminal 5, and the terminal 5 receives the positioning request from the positioning device 4 through the communication device and is acquired by GPS. The positioning device 4 can know the position of the terminal 5 on the earth by generating a positioning response from the position and transmitting the positioning response to the positioning device 4 through the communication device.

  The positioning device 4 can also know the position of the terminal 5 by the technique described in Patent Document 1. In Patent Document 1, in a cellular telephone service system, a mobile station reports received signal levels from three or more base stations including a communication base station to the communication base station, and each base station radio wave is transmitted to the communication base station. A technique for obtaining current position information of a mobile station by obtaining a propagation loss of the mobile station and obtaining a distance between the mobile station and each base station is disclosed, and a positioning device can be configured by this technique.

  The positioning gateway device 101 receives the terminal location information request from the user terminals 106 and 107 through the network a, generates the location information of the terminal specified in the terminal location information request as a terminal location information response, and requests it through the network a. It has a function to send to the original user terminal. The positioning gateway device 101 having such a function includes a processing unit 102 and a management table 103.

  The management table 103 is a table for managing terminal location information requests received by the positioning gateway device 101 through the network a.

  FIG. 39 is a flowchart showing the operation of the processing means 102. Referring to FIG. 39, when the processing unit 102 receives a terminal location information request through the network a (YES in step S50), the processing unit 102 stores information indicating the content of the terminal location information request in the management table 103, and stores the terminal location information. A positioning request is transmitted to the positioning device 4 that can measure the position of the terminal specified in the information request (step S51). When a positioning response is received from the positioning device 4 (YES in step S52), the management table 103 is searched, the user terminal that is the source of the terminal location information request that is the source of the positioning response is searched, and the positioning is determined. A terminal location information response is generated from the response and transmitted to the user terminal (step S53), and the corresponding terminal location information request information is deleted from the management table 103 (step S54).

  The determination of the user terminal that is the origin from the positioning response in this way means that when the processing means 102 receives a terminal location information request from the user terminal, it generates a unique sequence number, and this sequence A number and information for identifying the user terminal are registered in the management table 103, the sequence number is included in the positioning request and transmitted to the positioning device 4, and the positioning device 4 sends the sequence number included in the positioning request to the positioning response. The processing means 102 can retrieve the information for identifying the corresponding user terminal by searching the management table 103 using the sequence number included in the positioning response.

  A procedure for a user terminal to acquire terminal location information using the positioning gateway device 101 will be described below.

  First, the user of the user terminal 106 designates the target terminal 5 by the request transmission means 1061. Then, the request transmission unit 1061 transmits a terminal location information request regarding the terminal 5 to the positioning gateway device 101.

  When receiving the terminal location information request, the processing means 102 of the positioning gateway device 101 registers it in the management table 103 and transmits a positioning request to the positioning device 4 that can acquire the location information of the terminal 5. When the positioning device 4 receives this positioning request, it returns the position information of the designated terminal 5 to the positioning gateway device 101 as a positioning response. The processing means 102 of the positioning gateway device 101 acquires the location information of the terminal 5 from the positioning response, generates a terminal location information response, and sends it back to the user terminal 106.

  The operation of the positioning gateway device 101 when the user of the user terminal 107 transmits a terminal location information request for acquiring the same location information of the terminal 5 as that of the user of the user terminal 106 simultaneously or successively is as described above. Exactly the same.

  In this way, the positioning gateway device 101 receives the request for the terminal position information from the user terminal, acquires the terminal position information from the positioning device that can acquire the requested terminal position, and uses the acquired position. To the user terminal. Therefore, even if the user of the user terminal does not know the method for measuring the position of the target terminal and the information on the positioning apparatus capable of measuring the position, the user terminal can be notified to the positioning gateway apparatus 101. The terminal position information can be acquired simply by requesting the terminal position information using.

The positioning gateway device 101 can determine the positioning device 4 that can acquire the position information of the terminal 5 by previously storing the terminal 5 and the positioning device 4 that can measure the position information of the terminal in association with each other. it can. When there is only one positioning device, the positioning gateway device 101 and the positioning device 4 do not have to be separate, and can be configured as a single positioning gateway device.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 08-179028

  The conventional technology described above has a problem that it takes positioning costs. The reason is that if there is a request for terminal location information from a user terminal such as an ASP, a positioning request is always issued from the positioning gateway device to the positioning device. Currently, a location information service in which an ASP or the like provides information related to a position of a terminal held by the individual to the individual by the ASP or the like is becoming widespread. For this service, it is necessary to frequently measure the position of the terminal that an individual possesses. If the load regarding this positioning is not small, the cost of transmitting information suitable for the position of the individual increases. Therefore, it is important to solve the problem that the positioning cost is high.

“Purpose of invention”
An object of the present invention made in view of the above problems is to provide a positioning gateway device capable of reducing the positioning cost.

  The positioning gateway device according to the first aspect of the present invention performs a positioning request designating a terminal to the positioning device, and receives from the user terminal based on the positioning response returned from the positioning device as a response to the positioning request. A positioning gateway device that transmits the location information of the terminal specified in the terminal location information request to the requesting user terminal as a terminal location information response, and the subsequent location of the requesting positioning request for another same terminal. It is characterized by comprising processing means that is also used as a positioning request for an information request.

  More specifically, the first positioning gateway device based on the first aspect manages the user terminal that has issued the terminal location information request, the terminal specified in the terminal location information request, and the terminal that is in the positioning request. And the processing means refers to the management table to determine whether there is a requested positioning request for the same terminal as the terminal specified by the received terminal location information request, The request processing unit that makes a positioning request only when it does not exist, and all the user terminals that have requested the terminal location information of the terminal when the positioning device returns a positioning response to the terminal And a response processing unit that transmits a terminal location information response generated from the positioning response to the determined user terminal.

  The positioning gateway device based on the second aspect of the present invention makes a positioning request specifying a terminal to the positioning device and receives it from the user terminal based on the positioning response returned from the positioning device as a response to the positioning request. A positioning gateway device that transmits the location information of the terminal specified in the terminal location information request to the requesting user terminal as a terminal location information response, and waits for multiple terminal location information requests for the same terminal. A processing means for processing with one positioning request is provided.

  More specifically, the first positioning gateway device based on the second aspect is the user terminal that issued the terminal location information request, the terminal specified in the terminal location information request, and whether the terminal location information request is waiting for a positioning request. It has a management table for managing whether the positioning request has been completed, and the processing means periodically refers to the request processing unit that waits for the positioning request for the received terminal location information request and the management table, and the same When it is detected that a plurality of terminal location information requests for a terminal are waiting for a positioning request, one positioning request is made for the plurality of terminal location information requests, and the plurality of terminal location information requests are determined to have been requested for positioning. Refer to the management table for a positioning request determination unit and a user terminal that has requested the terminal location information of the terminal when a positioning response is returned from the positioning device to the terminal. And it was determined, and having a response processing unit that transmits the generated terminal location information response from said positioning response to the user terminal that has the determination.

  The second positioning gateway device based on the second aspect manages the user terminal that issued the terminal location information request, the terminal specified in the terminal location information request, and whether the terminal location information request is waiting for a positioning request or has been requested for positioning. And the processing means gives the received terminal location information request a condition when it is specified, waits for a positioning request, and the condition is specified. If not, a request processing unit that makes a positioning request and requests a positioning request, and periodically refers to the management table, and a plurality of terminal location information requests for the same terminal satisfy the condition and are waiting for a positioning request. A positioning request determination unit that performs one positioning request for the plurality of terminal location information requests when the presence of the plurality of terminal location information requests is detected, A positioning-requested user terminal that has requested the terminal location information of the terminal when a positioning response is returned from a positioning device to the terminal is determined with reference to the management table, and the determined user And a response processing unit that transmits a terminal location information response generated from the positioning response to the terminal.

  The third positioning gateway device based on the second aspect manages the user terminal that issued the terminal location information request, the terminal specified in the terminal location information request, and whether the terminal location information request is waiting for a positioning request or has been requested for positioning. A management table for performing the processing, and the processing means periodically refers to the management table, a request processing unit that gives a predetermined condition to the received terminal location information request and waits for a positioning request, When it is detected that a plurality of terminal location information requests for the same terminal satisfy the conditions and are waiting for a positioning request, one positioning request is made for the plurality of terminal location information requests, and the plurality of terminal location information requests A positioning request determining unit that has requested positioning, and a positioning request that has requested terminal location information of the terminal when a positioning response is returned from the positioning device to a certain terminal. Of determining the user terminal by referring to said management table, and having a response processing unit that transmits the terminal location information response generated from the positioning response to the user terminal that has the determination.

  The fourth positioning gateway device based on the second aspect manages the user terminal that issued the terminal location information request, the terminal specified in the terminal location information request, and whether the terminal location information request is waiting for a positioning request or has been requested for positioning. And the processing means gives the received terminal location information request a condition when it is specified, waits for a positioning request, and the condition is specified. If not, a request processing unit that assigns a predetermined condition and waits for a positioning request, and periodically refers to the management table, and a plurality of terminal location information requests for the same terminal satisfy the condition and wait for a positioning request. A positioning request determination unit that performs one positioning request for the plurality of terminal location information requests when it is detected that the plurality of terminal location information requests have been requested for positioning, A positioning-requested user terminal that has requested the terminal location information of the terminal when a positioning response is returned from the positioning device to the terminal is determined with reference to the management table, and the determined use A response processing unit that transmits a terminal location information response generated from the positioning response to the user terminal.

"Action"
In the first positioning gateway device based on the first aspect, when a request for terminal location information of the same terminal is issued from a plurality of user terminals substantially simultaneously or in succession, the request processing unit is the first terminal When a position information request is received, a positioning request is issued to the positioning device, and when a remaining terminal position information request is received, a positioning request is not issued if a positioning request is being issued to the terminal. Then, when a positioning response is returned from the positioning device in response to the positioning request, the response processing unit uses the terminal location information response generated from the positioning response for all the requests for the terminal location information of the same terminal. To the user terminal. This reduces the positioning cost.

  In the first positioning gateway device based on the second aspect, when terminal location information requests for the same terminal are issued from a plurality of user terminals substantially simultaneously or in succession, these terminal location information requests are: When the request processing unit temporarily waits for a positioning request and the positioning request determination unit refers to the management table and detects the plurality of terminal location information requests waiting for a positioning request for the same terminal, the plurality of terminals As for the position information request, one positioning request is made, and it is assumed that these positioning requests have been made. When a positioning response to the positioning request is returned from the positioning device, the response processing unit refers to the management table for the user terminal that has requested the terminal location information of the terminal, and sends the response to the plurality of user terminals. A terminal location information response generated from the positioning response is transmitted. This reduces the positioning cost.

  In the second positioning gateway device based on the second aspect, when terminal location information requests for the same terminal are issued from a plurality of user terminals almost simultaneously or in succession, these terminal location information requests If conditions are specified, they are temporarily waited for positioning requests by the request processing unit, the positioning request determining unit refers to the management table, and a plurality of terminal location information requests for the same terminal satisfy the conditions and wait for positioning requests. When it is detected that one of the plurality of terminal location information requests is made, one positioning request is made and the positioning request is made. Then, when a positioning response to the positioning request is returned from the positioning device, the response processing unit refers to the management table for the plurality of user terminals that have requested positioning for the terminal location information of the terminal, The terminal location information response generated from the positioning response is transmitted to the plurality of user terminals. This reduces the positioning cost.

  In the third positioning gateway device based on the second aspect, when a terminal location information request for the same terminal is issued from a plurality of user terminals almost simultaneously or in succession, these terminals are executed by the request processing unit. A predetermined condition is given to the position information request and the positioning request is waited for once. The positioning request determination unit refers to the management table, and a plurality of terminal position information requests for the same terminal satisfy the condition and are waiting for the positioning request. When it is detected that there is a request, one positioning request is made for the plurality of terminal location information requests, and the positioning request is made. Then, when a positioning response to the positioning request is returned from the positioning device, the response processing unit refers to the management table for the plurality of user terminals that have requested positioning for the terminal location information of the terminal, The terminal location information response generated from the positioning response is transmitted to the plurality of user terminals. This reduces the positioning cost.

  In the fourth positioning gateway device based on the second aspect, when a request for terminal location information of the same terminal is issued from a plurality of user terminals almost simultaneously or in succession, if a condition is specified If the condition is assigned, or if the condition is not specified, a predetermined condition is assigned, and the request processing unit temporarily waits for a positioning request, and the positioning request determination unit refers to the management table, When it is detected that the terminal location information request satisfies the condition and is waiting for a positioning request, one positioning request is made for the plurality of terminal location information requests, and the positioning request is made. Then, when a positioning response to the positioning request is returned from the positioning device, the response processing unit refers to the management table for the plurality of user terminals that have requested positioning for the terminal location information of the terminal, The terminal location information response generated from the positioning response is transmitted to the plurality of user terminals. This reduces the positioning cost.

  As described above, according to the present invention, unnecessary positioning requests to the positioning device can be prevented, and the positioning cost can be reduced. The reason is that the requesting positioning request is also used as a positioning request for a subsequent terminal location information request for another same terminal, or a plurality of terminal location information requests are issued for the same terminal, By processing with a positioning request, a plurality of terminal location information requests for the same terminal are processed with one positioning request, and a plurality of terminal location information responses for the same terminal are generated from one positioning response. It is.

  Also, the positioning gateway device of the present invention makes the number of positioning requests the same or less than the number of terminal location information requests. Compared to the case where there is no positioning gateway device and the user terminal individually requests positioning to the positioning device, the effect of reducing the load on the network and the load on the positioning device can be expected due to the decrease in the number of positioning requests flowing through the network. .

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

“First Embodiment”
In the present embodiment, the positioning request being requested in the positioning gateway device is utilized as a positioning request for subsequent terminal location information requests for other same terminals, thereby reducing unnecessary positioning requests and reducing positioning costs. Is. Hereinafter, examples of the present embodiment will be described.

“First Example”
Referring to FIG. 1, in this embodiment, a positioning gateway device 1 is connected to a positioning device 4 and user terminals 6 and 7 through a network a. The terminal 5 is a terminal to be positioned, for example, a mobile phone possessed by an individual. In FIG. 1, one positioning device 4 and terminal 5 and two user terminals 6 and 7 are shown. However, any number of terminals and user terminals to be positioned may be used, and positioning devices are also provided. Any number is fine. The network a may be anything that can exchange information, such as optical communication, infrared communication, telephone exchange network, and the Internet.

  The user terminal 6 is a terminal installed in an ASP or the like, and includes a request transmission unit 61 that transmits a terminal location information request and a response reception unit 62 that receives a terminal location information response. The request sending means 61 accepts designation of a terminal as a positioning target from a user from a keyboard, a mouse or the like, and sends a terminal location information request for requesting location information of the designated terminal to the positioning gateway device 1 through the network a. Has the function of The response receiving unit 62 has a function of receiving a terminal location information response transmitted from the positioning gateway device 1 and posting the location information of the terminal to the user using a display or a printer. The user terminal 7 also includes request transmission means 71 and response reception means 72 having the same functions as the request transmission means 61 and response reception means 62 of the user terminal 6.

  The positioning device 4 receives the positioning request from the positioning gateway device 1 through the network a, measures the position information of the terminal designated by the positioning request, generates a positioning response from the position information, and receives the positioning request through the network a. It has the function to transmit to the positioning gateway device 1 which is the transmission source. In this example, the positioning device 4 has a function of measuring the position of the terminal 5.

  The positioning gateway device 1 receives the terminal location information request from the user terminals 6 and 7 through the network a, generates the location information of the terminal specified in the terminal location information request as a terminal location information response, and this terminal location information It has a function of transmitting a response to the requesting user terminals 6 and 7 through the network a. The positioning gateway device 1 having such a function includes a processing means 2 and a management table 3.

  The management table 3 is a table for storing the terminal identifier requested by the terminal location information request and the information of the user terminal of the transmission source in order to manage the terminal location information request received by the processing means 2. Consists of memory.

  The processing means 2 makes a positioning request designating a terminal to the positioning device 4, and based on the positioning response returned from the positioning device 4 as a response to this positioning request, the terminal location information request received from the user terminals 6 and 7 Is transmitted to the requesting user terminals 6 and 7 as a terminal position information response. In the case of the present embodiment, the processing means 2 includes a request processing unit 8 that processes a terminal location information request and a positioning request, and a response processing unit 9 that processes a positioning response and a terminal location information response.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the processing means 2. When the processing means 2 receives the terminal location information request through the network a (YES in step S1), the request processing unit 8 refers to the management table 3 to determine the positioning request for the terminal currently specified by the request. It is determined whether or not it is performed on the device 4. If a positioning request is not made (NO in step S2), information related to the terminal location information request is registered in the management table 3, and a positioning request for the terminal is transmitted to the positioning device 4 through the network a. (Step S3). If a positioning request is being made (YES in step S2), the terminal location information request is registered in the management table 3 (step S4), and the process is terminated (without sending a positioning request).

  On the other hand, when a positioning response is received from the positioning device 4 through the network a (NO in step S1, YES in step S5), the response processing unit 9 refers to the management table 3 and refers to the terminal indicated by the received positioning response. All the user terminals that have requested positioning are determined, and a terminal location information response generated from the received positioning response is transmitted to the determined user terminal (step S6). Information related to the terminal location information request for the terminal is deleted (step S7).

  Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. Here, a case where the user of the user terminal 6 tries to acquire the position of the terminal 5 while the user of the user terminal 6 tries to acquire the position of the terminal 5 will be described as an example. .

  In the initial state, nothing is stored in the management table 3. First, the user of the user terminal 6 designates the terminal 5 using the request transmission means 61. Then, the request transmission means 61 transmits a terminal location information request regarding the terminal 5 to the positioning gateway device 1 through the network a. FIG. 3 is an example of the terminal location information request at this time. A terminal requesting positioning is designated as “terminal 5”. The terminal designation method may be anything as long as a specific terminal can be identified.

  The request processing unit 8 of the processing unit 2 receives the terminal location information request (YES in step S1), and refers to the management table 3 to determine whether a terminal location information request for the terminal 5 has been made. Since nothing is stored in the management table 3 at this time, it is determined that no terminal location information request has been made to the terminal 5 (NO in step S2), and the information and use of the terminal location information request are stored in the management table 3. The information on the user terminal is stored, and a positioning request regarding the terminal 5 is transmitted to the positioning device 4 (step S3). The state of the management table 3 at this time is shown in FIG. This content means that the user terminal 6 is currently requesting the location information of the terminal 5.

  Next, the user of the user terminal 7 designates the terminal 5 using the request transmission means 71. Then, the request transmission means 71 transmits a terminal location information request regarding the terminal 5 to the positioning gateway device 1 through the network a. The terminal location information request at this time is the same as the example shown in FIG. The request processing unit 8 of the processing unit 2 receives the terminal location information request (YES in step S1), and refers to the management table 3 to determine whether a terminal location information request for the terminal 5 has been made. The contents of the management table 3 at this point are as shown in FIG. 4 as described above, and the user terminal 6 makes a terminal location information request to the terminal 5 (YES in step S2). Information on the terminal location information request received from the user terminal 7 is stored in the management table 3 (step S4). The state of the management table 3 at this time is shown in FIG. This content means that the user terminal 6 and the user terminal 7 are currently requesting the location information of the terminal 5.

  Now, it is assumed that the positioning device 4 measures the position of the terminal 5 and transmits a positioning response to the positioning gateway device 1. FIG. 7 is a configuration example of the positioning response of the positioning device 4 at this time. This means that “the position of the terminal 5 was measured at 07:40:50 on November 30, 2001 as 135 degrees 20 minutes east 35 degrees 10 minutes north latitude”. Of course, this positioning response may be in any format as long as the positioning gateway device 1 can interpret it.

  When receiving the positioning response (NO in step S1, YES in step S5), the response processing unit 9 of the processing means 2 refers to the management table 3 to determine the user terminal that has requested the location information of the terminal 5. The terminal position information response is generated from the positioning response and transmitted to the identified user terminal (step S6). The state of the management table 3 in this case is as shown in FIG. 6, and it is shown that the user terminal 6 and the user terminal 7 are requesting the location information of the terminal 5. The terminal location information response is transmitted to the person terminal 7. FIG. 8 is a configuration example of a terminal location information response. This means that “the position of the terminal 5 was measured at 07:40:50 on November 30, 2001 as 135 degrees 20 minutes east and 3 degrees 10 minutes north latitude”. Of course, this positioning response may be in any format that can be interpreted by the user terminal. Further, the response processing unit 9 deletes information related to the terminal location information request for the two terminals 5 stored in the management table 3 (step S7). As a result, there is no information stored in the management table 3, and the initial state is restored.

  The response receiving means 62 and 72 of the user terminals 6 and 7 that have received the terminal position information response from the positioning gateway device 1 post the position information of the terminal 5 to the users of the respective terminals.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the positioning gateway device 1 sends a request to the positioning device 4 when a second terminal location information request for the terminal comes during processing of the first terminal location information request for a certain terminal. The terminal location information response to the first and second terminal location information requests is created from the positioning response when the positioning response of the corresponding terminal is received from the positioning device 4 without issuing the positioning request of the terminal again. To do. This makes it possible to respond to terminal location information requests that arrive almost simultaneously or in succession while preventing an increase in positioning cost due to an unnecessary positioning request issued to the positioning device. Yes.

  In the present embodiment, whether or not the positioning gateway device 1 is in a positioning request to a certain terminal is determined by storing information related to this request in the management table 3 when the terminal position information request is received. When a terminal location information response corresponding to the request is returned, information on the terminal location information request is deleted from the management table 3, and if a terminal location information request for a certain terminal is stored in the management table 3, a positioning request for the terminal Although it is judged that it is in, other methods may be used. For example, when a terminal location information response corresponding to the terminal location information request is returned, a flag indicating that the response has been completed is added to the terminal location information request stored in the management table 3, and the already processed terminal location information request becomes clear. In other words, if there is a terminal location information request that has not been returned to a certain terminal in the management table 3, a method may be used in which it is determined that a positioning request is being issued to the terminal. Also, another management table for managing the information of the terminal that is currently requesting positioning is provided, and when a positioning request is made to a certain terminal, the terminal identifier of the terminal is stored in the management table, and a positioning response is received. A method may be used in which the terminal identifier of the terminal indicated by the positioning response is deleted from the management table, so that the terminal whose terminal identifier is stored in the table is determined to be in a positioning request. In short, it may be one or more management tables for managing the user terminal that issued the terminal location information request, the terminal specified in the terminal location information request, and the terminal that is requesting positioning.

"Other examples"
In the above embodiment, the positioning response of the terminal 5 obtained by the positioning device 4 and the terminal location information response notified from the positioning gateway device 1 to the user terminals 6 and 7 include the location information of the terminal 5 and the positioning time. However, the positioning time may not be included.

  Moreover, as long as it is the information of the terminal 5 acquirable by the positioning apparatus 4, arbitrary information other than position information may be included. Information other than the position information includes, for example, the moving speed, moving direction, acceleration of the terminal 5, temperature (air temperature) of the place where the terminal 5 exists, humidity, and the like. When the terminal 5 is a car navigation device itself mounted on a vehicle or a terminal connected to the device, the moving speed, the moving direction, and the acceleration can be acquired from the car navigation and transmitted to the positioning device 4 together with the position information. Thus, acquisition by the positioning device 4 is possible. In addition, a semiconductor acceleration sensor can be incorporated in the terminal 5 without using car navigation, and the acceleration and the speed can be obtained from the acceleration. Similarly, a geomagnetic sensor, a temperature sensor, and a humidity sensor are incorporated in the terminal 5 to move the terminal 5 in the moving direction. It is also possible to detect temperature and humidity.

“Second Embodiment”
In the present embodiment, a positioning response obtained in the past is stored in a positioning gateway device, and is used to generate a response to a subsequent terminal location information request for another same terminal, whereby a useless positioning request is made. This will reduce the positioning cost. Hereinafter, examples of the present embodiment will be described.

“First Example”
Referring to FIG. 9, in this embodiment, the positioning gateway device 10 is connected to the positioning device 4 and the user terminals 14 and 15 through the network a. The terminal 5 is a terminal that is a positioning target. In FIG. 9, one positioning device 4 and terminal 5 and two user terminals 14 and 15 are shown, but the number of positioning target terminals and user terminals may be any number, and the positioning device is also Any number is fine. The positioning device 4, the terminal 5, and the network a are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  The user terminal 14 includes a request transmitting unit 141 that transmits a terminal location information request and a response receiving unit 142 that receives a terminal location information response. The request sending unit 141 receives a terminal designation and condition from the user from a keyboard, a mouse, etc., generates a terminal location information request based on the designated terminal and condition, and sends it to the positioning gateway device 10 through the network a. Has the function of The response receiving unit 142 is the same as that in the first embodiment. The user terminal 15 includes a request transmission unit 151 and a response reception unit 152 having the same functions as the request transmission unit 141 and the response reception unit 142 of the user terminal 14.

  The positioning gateway device 10 includes a processing means 11, a management table 12, and a storage table 13.

  The management table 12 is a table for storing the terminal identifier requested by the terminal location information request and the information on the user terminal of the transmission source in order to manage the terminal location information request received by the processing means 11. Consists of memory.

  The storage table 13 is a table for storing terminal position information indicated by positioning responses received in the past from the positioning device 4, and is configured by a magnetic disk or a memory.

  The processing means 11 makes a positioning request specifying a terminal to the positioning device 4, and stores the terminal location information indicated by the positioning response returned from the positioning device 4 as a response to this positioning request in the storage table 13. A function of transmitting the position information of the terminal designated by the terminal position information request received from the user terminals 14 and 15 to the requesting user terminals 14 and 15 as a terminal position information response by utilizing the terminal position information Have. The processing means 11 includes a request processing unit 111 that processes a terminal location information request and a positioning request, and a response processing unit 112 that processes a positioning response and a terminal location information response.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the processing means 11. When the terminal location information request is received through the network a (YES in step S11), the request processing unit 111 determines whether a condition is added to the terminal location information request. If a condition is added (YES in step S12), the storage table 13 is searched, and the terminal position information for the same terminal as the received terminal position information request, the terminal position information satisfying the condition To determine if the file has been saved. If there is terminal location information that satisfies the condition (YES in step S13), the response processing unit 112 acquires the terminal location information that satisfies the condition from the storage table 13 and receives the terminal location information request received this time. A terminal position information response to is generated and responded to the user terminal (step S14). If a condition is not added to the received terminal location information request (NO in step S12), or if there is no terminal location information satisfying the above condition in the storage table 13 (NO in step S13), the request The processing unit 111 registers the received information related to the terminal location information request and the information related to the user terminal that is the source of the terminal location information request in the management table 12, and sends the positioning request of the terminal to the positioning device 4. (Step S15).

  On the other hand, when a positioning response is received from the positioning device 4 through the network a (NO in step S11, YES in step S16), the response processing unit 112 stores the terminal location information obtained by this positioning response in the storage table 13 ( Step S17), referring to the management table 12, identifies the user terminal that made the terminal location information request corresponding to the current positioning response, generates a terminal location information response from the current positioning response, and generates the terminal location information response. The information is transmitted to the terminal (step S18), and the processed information on the terminal location information request is deleted from the management table 12 (step S19).

  Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. Here, a case where the user of the user terminal 14 has already acquired the position information for the terminal 5 and then the user of the user terminal 15 makes a request for the position information to the terminal 5 with a condition as an example will be described. To do.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an initial state of the storage table 13, and the terminal 5 has a position of “07:40:50 on Nov. 30, 2001” at “135 degrees 20 minutes east 35 degrees 10 minutes north latitude”. The terminal location information that there is is stored. This is obtained by making a positioning request to the positioning device 4 in order for the positioning gateway device 10 to process the terminal location information request when the user of the user terminal 14 requests the location information for the terminal 5. The terminal position information indicated by the positioning response is stored in the storage table 13 (see step S17).

  Assume that the user of the user terminal 15 requests the location information of the terminal 5 at “07:41 on November 30, 2001”. However, here, it is assumed that a condition that “the past position information from the current time to 5 minutes before may be used as a response” is added.

  The request sending unit 151 receives the designation of the terminal 5 and the condition from a keyboard, a mouse, or the like, generates a terminal location information request based on the designated terminal and condition, and sends it to the positioning gateway device 10 through the network a. An example of the terminal location information request at this time is shown in FIG.

  The request processing unit 111 in the processing means 11 of the positioning gateway device 10 receives the terminal location information request (YES in step S11), and a condition is added to the request (YES in step S12). It is determined whether or not terminal location information satisfying the above condition is stored in the same terminal. In this case, the terminal position information that the position of the terminal 5 “November 30, 2001 07:40:50” is “135 degrees 20 minutes north latitude 35 degrees 10 minutes north” is “positions up to 5 minutes ago” The condition of “information” is satisfied (YES in step S13). For this reason, the request processing unit 111 requests the response processing unit 112 to process the received terminal location information request with the stored positioning response, and the response processing unit 112 asks the user terminal 15 to A terminal location information response is sent and notified as a position of 5, which notifies "November 30, 2001 07:40:50 at 135 degrees 20 minutes east 35 degrees 10 minutes north latitude" (step S14). FIG. 13 shows a configuration example of the terminal location information response at this time.

  As described above, according to the positioning gateway device 10 of the present embodiment, the terminal location information obtained in the past is stored in the storage table 13 and the period of the past positioning response that can be used as a response is specified as a condition to the user. As a result, the number of positioning requests to the positioning device 4 is reduced, and the positioning cost is reduced.

[Another behavior example]
Here, as another example of the operation of the present embodiment, a case will be described in which a condition regarding a terminal position tolerance is specified in the terminal position information request.

  For example, it is assumed that the terminal position information of the terminal 5 is stored in the storage table 13 as shown in FIG. This is because the position of the terminal 5 is “135 degrees 20 minutes north latitude 35 degrees 10 minutes north latitude 35th 10 minutes November 07, 2001, 07:40:50”. Means 5m ". In this state, for example, it is assumed that the user of the user terminal 14 requests the position of the terminal 5 on “Nov. 30, 2001, 07:41” under the condition that the “positional tolerance is 500 m”. The terminal location information request sending means 141 of the user terminal 14 that has received the user designation generates a terminal location information request and sends it to the positioning gateway device 10. FIG. 15 shows a configuration example of this terminal location information request.

  When the request processing unit 111 in the processing means 11 of the positioning gateway device 10 receives the terminal location information request (YES in step S11), a condition is added to the request (YES in step S12). It is determined whether there is position information that satisfies the request. The contents of the storage table 13 at this time are as shown in FIG. 14 as described above, and the positioning response for the same terminal 5 is stored. Therefore, it is further determined whether or not the stored response of the terminal 5 satisfies the condition specified in the request. Examples of this determination method include the following methods.

  For the terminal 5 specified in the terminal position information request, the time included in the terminal position information stored in the storage table 13 is the positioning time, the speed is the moving speed, and the time included in the terminal position information request is the current time. Then, the movement distance moved from the position in the positioning time of the terminal 5 to the present can be found by the equation of movement distance = movement speed × (current time−positioning time). In this case, since the moving speed of the terminal is 10 m / sec, it means that the terminal has moved 100 m from the position “07:40:50 on Nov. 30, 2001”. Next, since the error of the position of “November 30, 2001 07:40:50” is 5 m, the position of “November 30, 2001 07:41” is “November 30, 2001”. The radius is within 5 + 100 = 105 m from the position of “40 minutes 50 seconds”, and the position of “07:40:50 on November 30, 2001” is the condition indicated by the terminal position information request “within an allowable error of 500 m”. It can be determined that

  In other words, if the allowable error specified in the terminal position information request> the error in the past positioning result + the moving distance from the past to the present, it can be determined that the error condition specified in the position information request is satisfied. Therefore, the request processing unit 111 determines that there is a positioning response that satisfies the condition (YES in step S13), requests the response processing unit 112 to process the received terminal location information request with the stored positioning response, and The processing unit 112 acquires the positioning response of the terminal 5 from the storage table 13, generates a terminal location information response, and transmits the response to the user terminal (step S18). FIG. 16 shows a configuration example of the terminal location information response at this time.

  By configuring the positioning gateway device 10 in this manner and using an error as a condition, the number of positioning requests to the positioning device 4 is reduced, and the positioning cost is reduced.

  It should be noted that, as conditions, both a position information error that can be used for a response and a condition related to positioning time may be specified. In this case, whether or not the position information of the same terminal stored in the storage table 13 satisfies the error condition is determined by “error specified in condition> error in stored position information” or “specified in condition. It can be determined by satisfying the condition when “error ≧ stored position information error” is satisfied.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the terminal location information indicated by the past positioning response obtained by the positioning device 4 is saved, and saved when the user requests the location information of the terminal with conditions. If there is a positioning response satisfying the above condition in the terminal location information, the terminal location information response is generated using the positioning response, thereby reducing the positioning cost.

  When there are a plurality of terminal location information satisfying the condition in the storage table 13, the terminal location information that satisfies the best condition may be used as a response. For example, if the condition is a condition related to the positioning time of the position information, the terminal position information response is performed using the most recent position information. If the condition is related to an error, the terminal is used using the position information with the smallest error. There is a case where a position information response is performed. In this operation, there is an effect that the user can acquire the location information of the terminal that best satisfies the condition.

“Second Example”
In the first embodiment described above, when no condition is added to the terminal location information request, a positioning request is made to the terminal specified in the terminal location information request (NO in step S12 in FIG. 10, step S15). On the other hand, in this embodiment, the positioning gateway device is provided with a default condition storage unit for storing a default condition, and when the condition is not added to the terminal location information request, the specified condition is added. This is handled in the same manner as the terminal location information request to which conditions are originally added.

  FIG. 17 is a diagram showing the configuration of the present embodiment, in which the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 9 denote the same parts, 14 denotes a predetermined condition storage table, and 111A denotes a request processing unit. As an example of the default condition stored in the prescribed condition storage table 14, “all the past positioning responses for the same terminal satisfy all conditions”, “for the same terminal, the positioning responses up to 10 minutes before the current condition satisfy the conditions And “for the same terminal, the positioning response within an error of 1 km satisfies the condition”. The default condition stored in the prescribed condition storage table 14 may be that the positioning gateway device 10 stores a single default condition, or for each user terminal, for each group of user terminals, or for each user. Individual default conditions may be stored and applied.

  FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the operation of the processing means 11 in the positioning gateway device 10 according to this embodiment, and the step S20 is different from the flowchart shown in FIG. That is, when no condition is added to the received terminal location information request (NO in step S12), the request processing unit 111A acquires a default condition from the default condition storage table 14 (step S20), and the default condition is set. It is determined whether there is any terminal location information that satisfies the condition in the storage table 13 (step S13). For example, when the user of the user terminal 14 requests the position of the terminal 5 without conditions at “07:41 on November 30, 2001”, the default condition storage table 14 reads “10 minutes from the present for the same terminal. Assuming that a predetermined condition that “the previous positioning response satisfies the condition” is set, the request processing unit 111A stores the location information of the terminal 5 in the storage table 13 and the positioning time is November 30, 2001. Search for terminal location information after 07:31. Therefore, when the terminal position information as shown in FIG. 11 is stored in the storage table 13, for example, the stored terminal position information is determined as the terminal position information that satisfies the condition.

  Other configurations and operations are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  According to the second embodiment, the number of positioning requests to the positioning device 4 is further reduced compared to the first embodiment, and the positioning cost can be further reduced.

“Third Example”
In the present embodiment, the specification of conditions by the user is eliminated, and processing is performed by uniformly adding specified conditions to the terminal location information request.

  FIG. 19 is a diagram showing the configuration of the present embodiment. The same reference numerals as those in FIG. 9 denote the same parts, 14 denotes a predetermined condition storage table, 111B denotes a request processing unit, and 141B and 151B denote request transmission means. As an example of the default condition stored in the prescribed condition storage table 14, “all the past positioning responses for the same terminal satisfy all conditions”, “for the same terminal, the positioning responses up to 10 minutes before the current condition satisfy the conditions And “for the same terminal, the positioning response within an error of 1 km satisfies the condition”. The default condition stored in the prescribed condition storage table 14 may be that the positioning gateway device 10 stores a single default condition, or for each user terminal, for each group of user terminals, or for each user. Individual default conditions may be stored and applied.

  FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing the operation of the processing means 11 in the positioning gateway device 10 according to the present embodiment, and the step S12B is different from the flowchart shown in FIG. That is, in the case of the present embodiment, the request sending means 141B and 151B of the user terminals 14 and 15 issue the terminal location information request without conditions, so when receiving the terminal location information request (YES in step S11), the request The processing unit 111A acquires a default condition from the default condition storage table 14 (step S12B), and determines whether there is terminal location information that satisfies the condition in the storage table 13 using the default condition (step S13). ). For example, the user of the user terminal 14 requests the position of the terminal 5 at “07:41 on November 30, 2001”, and the default condition storage table 14 indicates that “the same terminal is 10 minutes before the present. Assuming that the default condition “positioning response satisfies the condition” is set, the request processing unit 111B stores the position information of the terminal 5 in the storage table 13 and the positioning time is 07:31 on November 30, 2001. Search for terminal location information after minutes. Therefore, when the terminal position information as shown in FIG. 11 is stored in the storage table 13, for example, the stored terminal position information is determined as the terminal position information that satisfies the condition.

  Other configurations and operations are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  According to the third embodiment, the terminal position information indicated by the past positioning response obtained by the positioning device 4 is stored, and when the user requests the terminal position information, the predetermined condition is uniformly set. If there is a positioning response satisfying the above condition in the stored terminal location information, the location cost is generated by using it to reduce the positioning cost.

“Fourth Example”
In the present embodiment, no conditions are given, and the terminal location information for the same terminal is stored unconditionally.

  FIG. 21 is a diagram showing the configuration of the present embodiment. The same reference numerals as those in FIG. 9 denote the same parts, 15 is a deleting means, 111C is a request processing section, and 141C and 151C are request sending means. The deletion unit 15 monitors whether or not the storage period of the terminal location information stored in the storage table 13 has exceeded a predetermined time, and stores old terminal location information whose storage period has exceeded a predetermined time. Delete from table 13. An example of the predetermined time is 10 minutes.

  FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing the operation of the processing means 11 in the positioning gateway device 10 according to this embodiment, and the step S13C is different from the flowchart shown in FIG. That is, in the case of the present embodiment, when the request processing unit 111C receives a terminal location information request with no condition specified from the request sending means 141C, 151C of the user terminal 14, 15 (YES in step S11), this terminal location It is determined whether or not the terminal location information for the same terminal as the terminal 5 specified in the information request is stored in the storage table 13 (step S13C). For example, assume that the user of the user terminal 14 requests the position of the terminal 5 at “07:41 on November 30, 2001”, and the terminal position information as shown in FIG. In this case, the stored terminal position information is determined as terminal position information for the same terminal. Then, the response processing unit 112 generates a response to the received terminal location information request using the stored terminal location information (step S14).

  On the other hand, the deletion unit 15 periodically checks the storage table 13 and deletes the old terminal location information request from the storage table 13. For example, when deleting an item older than 10 minutes before the current time, if the current time passes 07:50:50 on November 30, 2001, the terminal location information request in FIG. 11 is deleted.

  Note that the request processing unit 111 </ b> C may use the latest positioning time when a plurality of pieces of terminal position information for the same terminal are stored in the storage table 13. Further, when the response processing unit 112 receives a positioning response from the positioning device 4 and stores the terminal position information indicated by the positioning response in the storage table 13, the terminal position information for the same terminal is stored in the storage table 13. If so, it may be deleted, and only the latest terminal location information for the same terminal may be left in the storage table 13.

  Other configurations and operations are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  According to the fourth embodiment, the terminal position information indicated by the past positioning response obtained by the positioning device 4 is stored, and the same as the storage table 13 when the user requests the terminal position information. If the terminal position information about the terminal is stored, the terminal position information response is generated using the terminal position information, thereby reducing the positioning cost.

“Third embodiment”
In the present embodiment, a single positioning request is processed after a plurality of terminal location information requests are issued for the same terminal, thereby reducing useless positioning requests and reducing positioning costs. Hereinafter, examples of the present embodiment will be described.

“First Example”
Referring to FIG. 23, in this embodiment, the positioning gateway device 21 is connected to the positioning device 4 and the user terminals 26 and 27 through the network a. The terminal 5 is a terminal that is a positioning target. In FIG. 23, one positioning device 4 and terminal 5 and two user terminals 26 and 27 are shown, but the number of positioning target terminals and user terminals may be any number, and the positioning device is also Any number is fine. The positioning device 4, the terminal 5, and the network a are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  The user terminal 26 includes a request transmitting unit 261 that transmits a terminal location information request and a response receiving unit 262 that receives a terminal location information response. The request sending unit 261 receives a terminal designation and condition from the user from a keyboard, a mouse or the like, generates a terminal location information request based on the designated terminal and condition, and sends it to the positioning gateway device 21 through the network a. It has the function to do. The response receiving unit 262 has a function of receiving a terminal position information response transmitted from the positioning gateway device 21 and posting the terminal position information to the user by a display or a printer. The user terminal 27 also includes a request transmission unit 271 and a response reception unit 272 that have the same functions as the request transmission unit 261 and the response reception unit 262 of the user terminal 26.

  The positioning gateway device 21 includes a processing means 22 and a management table 23.

  The management table 23 stores the terminal identifier requested by the terminal location information request to manage the terminal location information request received by the processing means 22, the information on the user terminal of the transmission source, the condition, and whether the positioning request has been requested. This table stores information indicating whether a positioning request is awaited, and is composed of a magnetic disk and a memory.

  The processing means 22 makes a positioning request designating a terminal to the positioning device 4, and based on the positioning response returned from the positioning device 4 as a response to this positioning request, the terminal location information request received from the user terminals 26 and 27. Is transmitted to the requesting user terminals 26 and 27 as a terminal position information response. The processing means 22 includes a request processing unit 111 that processes a terminal location information request and a positioning request, a response processing unit 112 that processes a positioning response and a terminal location information response, and a positioning request determination unit 223.

  FIG. 24 is a flowchart showing operations of the request processing unit 221 and the response processing unit 222 of the processing unit 22. If the terminal location information request is received through the network a (YES in step S30), the request processing unit 221 registers the content of the received terminal location information request in the management table 23 (step S31), and the terminal location information request has a condition. It is determined whether or not is added. If a condition is added to the terminal location information request (YES in step S32), the request processing unit 221 records a flag indicating “waiting for positioning” in the terminal location information request registered in the management table 23. (Step S33). If the condition is not added (NO in step S32), the request processing unit 221 immediately sends a positioning request for the terminal to the positioning device 4, and responds to the terminal location information request registered in the management table 23. A flag indicating that positioning has been requested is recorded (step S34).

  On the other hand, when a positioning response is received from the positioning device 4 through the network a (NO in step S30, YES in step S35), the response processing unit 222 refers to the management table 23, and terminal location information corresponding to this positioning response A terminal location information response is generated and transmitted to the user terminal that made the request (step S36), and the information related to the processed terminal location information request is deleted from the management table 23 (step S37).

  FIG. 25 is a flowchart showing the operation of the positioning request determination unit 223 of the processing means 22. The positioning request determination unit 223 periodically searches the management table 23 to search for a terminal location information request with a “positioning waiting” flag set (step S41). If there are a plurality of terminal location information requests for the same terminal and the conditions added to them are satisfied (YES in step S42), a positioning request for the terminal relating to the plurality of terminal location information requests Is sent from the management table 23 to delete the flag indicating “positioning waiting” of the terminal position information request and add a flag indicating that positioning has been requested (step S43).

  In addition, when there is a terminal location information request that does not satisfy the condition at the next search timing (NO in step S42, YES in step S44), the positioning request determination unit 223 applies to the terminal specified by the terminal location information request. A positioning request is transmitted, the flag indicating “positioning waiting” in the terminal position information request is deleted from the management table 23, and a flag indicating that positioning is requested is added (step S43).

  Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described using an example. Here, a case where the user of the user terminal 26 requests the position information of the terminal 5 with a condition and then the user of the user terminal 27 requests the position information of the terminal 5 will be described as an example.

  First, the user of the user terminal 26 inputs a request for terminal location information using the request transmission means 261 with a condition that the location information of the terminal 5 is to be acquired by 10 minutes later. Upon receiving this input, the report request transmission means 261 generates a terminal location information request from the input and transmits it to the positioning gateway device 21 via the network a. FIG. 26 is a configuration example of the terminal location information request at this time. FIG. 26 means that the position of the terminal 5 is “Please respond within 10 minutes from 07:40:50 on November 30, 2001”.

  The request processing unit 221 in the processing means 22 of the positioning gateway device 21 receives the terminal location information request (YES in step S30) and registers it in the management table 23 (step S31). Since a condition is attached to the terminal location information request (YES in step S32), a flag indicating “waiting for positioning” is recorded in the terminal location information request registered in the management table 23 (step S33). The contents of the management table 23 in this state are as shown in FIG.

  Next, the user of the user terminal 27 requests the position information of the terminal 5. Here, the user of the user terminal 27 inputs that he wants to acquire the location information of the terminal 5 until 5 minutes later using the request transmission means 271 at “07:42 on November 30, 2001”. And The request sending means 271 receives the input, generates a terminal location information request, and sends it to the positioning gateway device 21.

  The request processing unit 221 in the processing means 22 of the positioning gateway device 22 receives the terminal location information request (YES in step S30) and registers it in the management table 23 (step S31). Since a condition is attached to the terminal location information request (YES in step S32), a flag indicating “waiting for positioning” is recorded in the terminal location information request registered in the management table 23. The contents of the management table 23 in this state are as shown in FIG. In this state, there are two terminal location information requests in the management table 23.

  Now, assume that the positioning request determination unit 223 searches the management table 23 at 07:43 on November 30, 2001 (step S41), and two terminal positions with positioning waiting flags for the terminal 5 are located. An information request is acquired, and since the conditions of the two terminal location information requests are currently satisfied (YES in step S42), one positioning request for the terminal 5 is generated and transmitted to the positioning device 4, The terminal location information management is performed by deleting the “positioning waiting” flag recorded in the two terminal location information requests and adding a flag indicating that the positioning request has been made by the positioning request to the terminal location information request. Store in the table (step S43).

  Now, it is assumed that the positioning device 4 measures the position of the terminal 5 and transmits a positioning response to the positioning gateway device 1. When receiving the positioning response (NO in step S30, YES in step S35), the response processing unit 222 of the processing unit 22 refers to the management table 23 in the state as shown in FIG. The two positioning-requested user terminals that have requested information are identified, a terminal position information response is generated from the positioning response, and is transmitted to the two user terminals 26 and 27 (step S36). And the response process part 222 deletes the information regarding the terminal location information request | requirement with respect to the two terminals 5 stored in the management table 23 (step S37). As a result, there is no information stored in the management table 23, and the initial state is restored.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the positioning device designates a condition regarding timing for positioning by the user, and the positioning request determination unit 223 satisfies the condition and simultaneously satisfies a plurality of terminal location information request conditions. By performing the positioning request for 4, it is possible to perform positioning and respond to satisfy the user's request while reducing the cost by avoiding unnecessary positioning request.

“Second Example”
Compared with the positioning gateway device 21 in the first embodiment, the present embodiment is different in the processing at the time of sending a positioning request in the request processing unit 221 as shown in step S34A in FIG. 29, and the others are the same as in the first embodiment. It is.

  In the present embodiment, the request processing unit 221 sends a positioning request for the terminal specified in the terminal location information request to the positioning device 4 when there is no condition in the received terminal location information request, and the management table 23, and all of the terminal location information requests that satisfy the terminal location information request for the terminal and have not yet requested the positioning and satisfy the conditions are managed as positioning requested in the management table 23 (step S34A). In other words, when a positioning request is made for an unconditional terminal location information request, in addition to the terminal location information request received this time for the terminal, a terminal location information request for the same terminal that satisfies the conditions and still has a positioning request. A positioning request is also made for a terminal location information request that has not been made (waiting for a positioning request). In this way, in the processing of step S36 of the response processing unit 222 when a positioning response to the positioning request is returned from the positioning device 4, the latter terminal location information request is also a positioning target because the positioning request has already been made. . As a result, the number of positioning requests can be reduced, and the positioning cost can be reduced.

“Third Example”
In the first embodiment described above, when no condition is added to the terminal location information request, a positioning request is immediately made to the terminal specified in the terminal location information request (in step S32 in FIG. 24). NO, step S34). On the other hand, in this embodiment, the positioning gateway device is provided with a default condition storage unit for storing a default condition, and when the condition is not added to the terminal location information request, the specified condition is added. This is handled in the same manner as the terminal location information request to which conditions are originally added.

  FIG. 30 is a diagram showing the configuration of the present embodiment, in which the same reference numerals as those in FIG. As an example of the default condition stored in the prescribed condition storage table 24, “the condition is satisfied if the position information can be acquired within one minute from the present” can be cited. The default condition stored in the prescribed condition storage table 14 may be that the positioning gateway device 21 stores a single default condition, or for each user terminal, for each group of user terminals, or for each user. Individual default conditions may be stored and applied.

  FIG. 31 is a flowchart showing the operation of the processing means 22 in the positioning gateway device 21 in the present embodiment, and the step S34B is different from the flowchart shown in FIG. That is, when no condition is added to the received terminal location information request (NO in step S32), the request processing unit 221A acquires a default condition from the default condition storage table 24 and stores the terminal stored in the management table 23 The condition is given to the position information request, and the terminal position information request is changed to the “positioning wait” state by setting a flag indicating that the terminal is waiting for positioning (step S34B). This means that an unconditional terminal location information request is treated as a terminal location information request to which a predetermined condition is applied.

  Other configurations and operations are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  According to the third embodiment, in order to temporarily wait for a positioning request by giving a predetermined condition to a terminal position information request without a condition, the positioning request is immediately issued when there is no condition. Compared to the above, there is a possibility that the number of positioning requests to the positioning device 4 may be further reduced, and the positioning cost can be further reduced.

“Fourth Example”
In the present embodiment, the specification of conditions by the user is eliminated, and processing is performed by uniformly adding specified conditions to the terminal location information request.

  FIG. 32 is a diagram showing the configuration of this embodiment. The same reference numerals as those in FIG. 23 denote the same parts, 24 denotes a predetermined condition storage table, 221B denotes a request processing unit, and 261B and 271B denote request transmission means. As an example of the default condition stored in the prescribed condition storage table 24, “the condition is satisfied if the position information can be acquired within one minute from the present” can be cited. As the default conditions stored in the prescribed condition storage table 24, the positioning gateway device 21 may store a single default condition, or store individual default conditions for each user terminal and each user. You may apply it.

  FIG. 33 is a flowchart showing the operations of the request processing unit 221 and the response processing unit 222 in the processing means 22 of the positioning gateway device 21 in this embodiment, and the step S35 is different from the flowchart shown in FIG. . In other words, in the case of the present embodiment, the request sending means 261A, 271A of the user terminals 26, 27 issue a terminal location information request without any conditions. Therefore, when the terminal location information request is received (YES in step S30), the request The processing unit 221B registers the received terminal location information request in the management table 23 (step S31), then acquires a default condition from the default condition storage table 24, and stores the request in the terminal location information request stored in the management table 23. By assigning the condition and setting a flag indicating that the terminal is waiting for positioning in the terminal location information request, the terminal position information request is changed to the “waiting for positioning” state (step S35). This means that terminal location information requests from user terminals are treated as terminal location information requests to which predetermined conditions are uniformly applied.

  Other configurations and operations are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  According to the fourth embodiment, since a predetermined condition is given to the terminal location information request and a positioning request is waited for once, as compared with the first embodiment in which a positioning request is immediately issued when there is no condition. There is a possibility that the number of positioning requests to the positioning device 4 may be further reduced, and the positioning cost can be further reduced.

"Fifth Example"
Compared with the positioning gateway device 21 in the first embodiment, the present embodiment is different in the processing at the time of sending a positioning request in the request processing unit 221 as shown in step S36A in FIG. 34, and the others are the same as in the first embodiment. It is.

  In this embodiment, when the response processing unit 222 receives a positioning response from the positioning device 4 (NO in step S30, YES in step S35), the response processing unit 222 searches the management table 23 and determines a positioning request for the terminal indicated by the received positioning response. Terminal position information requests that have already been received, and terminal position information requests that are waiting for positioning for the terminal, and the position information obtained from the received positioning response satisfies the conditions added to the request, In response to the terminal location information request, a terminal location information response is generated from the received positioning response and transmitted (step S36A). When the positioning response is received, if the location information obtained from the positioning response satisfies the condition of the terminal location information request in the positioning waiting state as well as the request for the location information of the positioning requested, the location information By generating a terminal location information response from the response, there is an effect that the number of positioning requests to the positioning device can be reduced and the positioning cost can be reduced.

  Although this embodiment is a modification of the first embodiment, similar modifications can be made to the second to fourth embodiments.

“Sixth Example”
In this embodiment, no positioning is given, and the positioning cost is reduced by issuing a positioning request once when a plurality of pieces of terminal position information are accumulated for the same terminal.

  FIG. 35 is a diagram showing the configuration of the present embodiment. The same reference numerals as in FIG. 23 denote the same parts, 221C is a request processing unit, 222A is a response processing unit, 223A is a positioning request determination unit, and 261A and 271A are request transmissions. Means.

  FIG. 36 is a flowchart showing the operations of the request processing unit 221C and the response processing unit 222A of the processing unit 22. When the terminal location information request is received through the network a (YES in step S30), the request processing unit 221 registers the content of the received terminal location information request in the management table 23 (step S31), and then the registered terminal A flag indicating “waiting for positioning” is recorded in the position information request (step S33). In this embodiment, there is no opportunity for the request processing unit 221C to issue a positioning request.

  On the other hand, if a positioning response from the positioning device 4 is received through the network a (NO in step S30, YES in step S35), the response processing unit 222A refers to the management table 23 and responds to the terminal indicated by the positioning response. Information on the terminal location information request that has been processed from the management table 23 is determined by determining the user terminal that has made the terminal location information request, generating and transmitting a terminal location information response to the determined user terminal (step S36). Is deleted (step S37). Here, the response processing unit 222A determines that all the user terminals that have requested the terminal location information of the terminal indicated by the positioning response and have requested the positioning as user terminals that return the response. Alternatively, all the user terminals that have requested the terminal location information of the terminal and that have been requested for positioning and are waiting for a positioning request may be determined as user terminals that return a response.

  FIG. 37 is a flowchart showing the operation of the positioning request determination unit 223A of the processing means 22. The positioning request determination unit 223A periodically searches the management table 23 to search for a terminal location information request for which the “waiting for positioning” flag is set (step S41). If there are a plurality of terminal location information requests waiting for positioning for the same terminal (YES in step S42A), one positioning request for the terminal relating to the plurality of terminal location information requests is transmitted and managed. The flag indicating “positioning waiting” in the terminal position information request is deleted from the table 23, and a flag indicating that positioning has been requested is added (step S43).

  In addition, the positioning request determination unit 223A determines that there is a terminal location information request in which the time waiting for the positioning request at the next search timing exceeds a predetermined time (for example, 1 minute) (NO in step S42). YES in step S44A), a positioning request for the terminal specified by the terminal location information request is transmitted, the flag indicating “positioning waiting” of the terminal location information request is deleted from the management table 23, and the positioning request is completed Is added (step S43).

  As described above, in this embodiment, if a plurality of terminal location information requests are generated within a predetermined time for the same terminal, a positioning request is issued only once for a plurality of terminal location information requests, thereby reducing positioning costs. Can do. In addition, for a terminal location information request whose positioning request waiting time exceeds a predetermined time, a positioning request is made when it is determined, so the response time for the user terminal is maintained within a predetermined time. Is possible.

  Although the present invention has been described with reference to some embodiments and examples, the present invention is not limited to the above examples, and various other additions and modifications are possible. For example, in each of the embodiments described above, the position of the terminal is used as an example of the position information. However, any terminal information that can be acquired by the positioning device, such as speed, moving direction, acceleration, temperature, and humidity, may be used. . The management method of the terminal location information request using the management table is a method that can grasp the relationship between the terminal location information request and the conditions applied thereto, the terminal identifier, the requesting user terminal, the processing status of the terminal location information request, and the like. For example, another method may be used.

  The positioning gateway device of the present invention can be realized by a computer and a positioning gateway device program, as well as hardware functions. The positioning gateway device program is provided by being recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a magnetic disk or a semiconductor memory, read by the computer when the computer is started up, and the computer is controlled by controlling the operation of the computer. It is made to function as a positioning gateway device of each example in each embodiment mentioned above.

It is a block diagram of the 1st Example in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart showing operation | movement of the processing means 2 of the 1st Example in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the terminal location information request | requirement used by the 1st Example in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the state of the management table used by the 1st Example in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the positioning request | requirement used in the 1st Example in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the state of the management table used by the 1st Example in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the positioning response used in the 1st Example in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the terminal location information response used in the 1st Example in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the 1st Example in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the process means of the 1st Example in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the state of the preservation | save table used in the 1st Example in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the terminal location information request | requirement used by the 1st Example in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the terminal location information response used in the 1st Example in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the state of the terminal location information management table used in the 1st Example in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the terminal location information request | requirement used by the 1st Example in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the terminal location information response used in the 1st Example in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the 2nd Example in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the process means of the 2nd Example in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the 3rd Example in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the process means of the 3rd Example in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the 4th example in a 2nd embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the process means of the 4th Example in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the 1st Example in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the request | requirement process part of the 1st Example in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention, and a response process part. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the positioning request | requirement determination part of the 1st Example in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the terminal location information request | requirement used by the 1st Example in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the state of the management table used by the 1st Example in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the state of the management table used by the 1st Example in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the request | requirement process part of the 2nd Example in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention, and a response process part. It is a block diagram of the 3rd Example in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the request | requirement process part and response process part of the 3rd Example in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the 4th example in the 3rd embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the request | requirement process part and response process part of the 4th Example in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the request | requirement process part of the 5th Example in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention, and a response process part. It is a block diagram of the 6th Example in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the request | requirement process part and response process part of the 6th Example in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the positioning request | requirement determination part of the 6th Example in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the structure of the positioning gateway apparatus by a prior art. It is a flowchart showing operation | movement of the positioning gateway apparatus by a prior art.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Positioning gateway apparatus 2 ... Processing means 3 ... Management table 4 ... Positioning apparatus 5 ... Terminal 6 ... User terminal 7 ... User terminal 8 ... Request processing part 9 ... Response processing part 10 ... Positioning gateway apparatus 11 ... Processing means 12 ... management table 13 ... storage table 14 ... user terminal 15 ... user terminal 16 ... default condition storage table 17 ... deletion means 21 ... positioning gateway device 22 ... processing means 23 ... management table 24 ... default condition storage table 26 ... user Terminal 27 ... User terminal 61 ... Request sending means 62 ... Response receiving means 71 ... Request sending means 72 ... Response receiving means 101 ... Positioning gateway device 102 ... Processing means 103 ... Management table 106 ... User terminal 107 ... User terminal 111 Request processing unit 111A ... Request processing unit 111B ... Request processing unit 111C ... Request processing unit 112 ... Response processing unit 141 Request sending means 141B ... Request sending means 141C ... Request sending means 142 ... Response receiving means 151 ... Request sending means 151B ... Request sending means 151C ... Request sending means 152 ... Response receiving means 221 ... Request processing section 221A ... Request processing section 221B ... Request processing unit 221C ... Request processing unit 222 ... Response processing unit 222A ... Response processing unit 223 ... Positioning request determination unit 223A ... Positioning request determination unit 261 ... Request transmission unit 261A ... Request transmission unit 262 ... Response reception unit 271 ... Request transmission unit 271A ... Request sending means 272 ... Response receiving means 1061 ... Request sending means 1062 ... Response receiving means 1071 ... Request sending means 1072 ... Response receiving means a ... Network

Claims (16)

Based on the positioning response returned from the positioning device as a response to the positioning request by making a positioning request specifying the terminal to the positioning device, the terminal location information specified by the terminal location information request received from the user terminal is A positioning gateway device that transmits to a requesting user terminal as a position information response, and includes a processing means for processing a single positioning request after waiting for a plurality of terminal position information requests to be issued for the same terminal apparatus. A user terminal that has issued a terminal location information request, a terminal specified by the terminal location information request, and a management table for managing whether the terminal location information request is waiting for a positioning request or has been requested for positioning, and the processing means Periodically refers to the management table and the request processing unit that waits for the received terminal location information request, and detects that a plurality of terminal location information requests are waiting for the positioning request for the same terminal. Sometimes, one positioning request is made for the plurality of terminal location information requests, and a positioning request determining unit that determines that the plurality of terminal location information requests are requested for positioning, and a positioning response for a certain terminal are returned from the positioning device. The user terminal that has requested the terminal location information of the terminal is determined with reference to the management table, and is generated from the positioning response for the determined user terminal. Positioning gateway device according to claim 1, further comprising a response processing unit that transmits the terminal location information response. The positioning request determination unit detects a terminal location information request for which a time for waiting for a positioning request exceeds a predetermined time, performs a positioning response corresponding to the detected terminal location information request, and transmits the terminal location information The positioning gateway device according to claim 2, wherein the request is a positioning request. The response processing unit is a user terminal that has requested the terminal position information of the terminal when a positioning response is returned from the positioning device to a certain terminal, and all the user terminals that have been requested for positioning are displayed. 4. The positioning gateway device according to claim 2, wherein the determination is made with reference to the management table. The response processing unit manages all the user terminals that have requested positioning and are waiting for positioning requests that have requested the terminal location information of the terminal when a positioning response is returned from the positioning device to a certain terminal. 4. The positioning gateway device according to claim 2, wherein the positioning gateway device is determined with reference to a table. A user terminal that has issued a terminal location information request, a terminal specified by the terminal location information request, and a management table for managing whether the terminal location information request is waiting for a positioning request or has been requested for positioning, and the processing means If a condition is specified for the received terminal location information request, the condition is added to wait for a positioning request, and if the condition is not specified, a positioning request is made and a positioning request is made. The request processing unit periodically refers to the management table, and when it is detected that a plurality of terminal location information requests for the same terminal satisfy the condition and are waiting for a positioning request, the plurality of terminal location information requests A positioning request determination unit that makes a positioning request for a plurality of terminal location information requests, and a positioning response for a certain terminal is returned from the positioning device. The terminal position information response generated from the positioning response to the determined user terminal is determined with reference to the management table. The positioning gateway device according to claim 1, further comprising a response processing unit for transmitting. The request processing unit, when making a positioning request for a terminal location information request for which no condition is specified, refers to the management table, satisfies the condition for the same terminal as the terminal that has made the positioning request, and waits for a positioning request. The positioning gateway device according to claim 6, wherein the other terminal location information request is a positioning request. A user terminal that has issued a terminal location information request, a terminal specified by the terminal location information request, and a management table for managing whether the terminal location information request is waiting for a positioning request or has been requested for positioning, and the processing means A request processing unit that gives a predetermined condition to a received terminal location information request and waits for a positioning request, and periodically refers to the management table, and a plurality of terminal location information requests for the same terminal satisfy the condition. A positioning request determination unit that performs one positioning request for the plurality of terminal location information requests when it is detected that a positioning request is waiting, and determines that the plurality of terminal location information requests have been requested for positioning, and the positioning Refer to the management table to determine the user terminal that has requested the positioning of the terminal that has requested the terminal location information of the terminal when a positioning response is returned from the apparatus to the terminal. Positioning gateway device according to claim 1, further comprising a response processing unit that transmits the terminal location information response generated from the positioning response to the user terminal that has the determination. A user terminal that has issued a terminal location information request, a terminal specified by the terminal location information request, and a management table for managing whether the terminal location information request is waiting for a positioning request or has been requested for positioning, and the processing means If a condition is specified for the received terminal location information request, that condition is added to wait for a positioning request, and if no condition is specified, a default condition is assigned to wait for a positioning request. The request processing unit and the management table are periodically referred to, and when it is detected that a plurality of terminal location information requests for the same terminal satisfy a condition and are waiting for a positioning request, the plurality of terminal locations One positioning request is made for the information request, and a positioning request determining unit for making positioning requests for these plurality of terminal location information requests, and a positioning response for a certain terminal from the positioning device are returned. The terminal location information response generated from the positioning response to the determined user terminal is determined with reference to the management table, and the positioning requested user terminal that has requested the terminal location information of the terminal The positioning gateway device according to claim 1, further comprising: a response processing unit that transmits The response processing unit is a terminal location information request waiting for a positioning request for the same terminal as the terminal indicated by the positioning response, and manages the terminal location information request that satisfies the terminal location information indicated by the positioning response The positioning gateway device according to any one of claims 6 to 9, wherein the positioning gateway device searches from the table and transmits a terminal location information response generated from the positioning response in response to the searched terminal location information request. The positioning gateway device according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the predetermined condition is commonly set for all user terminals. The positioning gateway device according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the predetermined condition is set for each user terminal, for each group of user terminals, or for each user. The positioning request determination unit detects a terminal location information request that currently satisfies the condition but does not satisfy the condition at the next reference timing, performs a positioning response corresponding to the detected terminal location information request, and The positioning gateway device according to any one of claims 5 to 12, wherein the positioning request is an information request. The positioning gateway device according to any one of claims 6 to 13, wherein the condition includes an allowable error in positioning time. Based on the positioning response returned from the positioning device as a response to the positioning request by making a positioning request specifying the terminal to the positioning device, the terminal location information specified in the terminal location information request received from the user terminal is A terminal location information request processing method in a positioning gateway device that transmits a location information response to a requesting user terminal, and processes a single positioning request after waiting for a plurality of terminal location information requests to be issued for the same terminal. A terminal location information request processing method. Based on the positioning response returned from the positioning device as a response to the positioning request by making a positioning request specifying the terminal to the positioning device, the terminal location information specified in the terminal location information request received from the user terminal is A program for causing a computer constituting a positioning gateway apparatus to transmit to a requesting user terminal as a position information response to execute a step of processing with one positioning request after waiting for a plurality of terminal position information requests for the same terminal to be issued .

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