JP4194910B2 - Positioning method and positioning system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a positioning method and a positioning system, and more specifically, a positioning method for positioning the current position of a mobile communication terminal device with assistance from an assist server, and a positioning system for performing positioning using this positioning method. About.

  Conventionally, mobile communication terminal devices such as mobile phones have been widely used. The improvement of functions and performance of such mobile communication terminal devices is remarkable, and in addition to the call function and e-mail transmission / reception function that are essential functions as a mobile communication terminal device, it has a positioning function that measures the current position of the mobile communication terminal device. Things are appearing.

  As positioning in such mobile communication terminal devices, positioning using GPS (Global Positioning System) performed with the support of a GPS positioning assist server connected to a network (hereinafter referred to as “assist GPS”) has been put into practical use. Yes. In this assist GPS, the GPS positioning assist server always collects GPS satellite information. Then, when there is a request for positioning information from the mobile communication terminal device using the identifier of the base station with which the radio link with the mobile communication terminal device is established as a parameter, the GPS positioning assist server captures the GPS satellite. Information for acquisition, position calculation information for calculating the current position of the mobile communication terminal device, and the like are transmitted to the mobile communication terminal device.

  The mobile communication terminal device that has received the capture information captures the GPS satellite using the capture information and measures the distance to the GPS satellite. Thereafter, the mobile communication terminal apparatus calculates the current position based on the measured distance from the GPS satellite and the position calculation information, or notifies the GPS positioning assist server of the measured distance. Request position calculation. Here, the GPS positioning assist server that has received the request for calculating the current position of the mobile communication terminal device calculates the current position of the mobile communication terminal device based on the measured distance to the GPS satellite and notifies the calculation result. The mobile communication terminal apparatus is notified (see Patent Document 1).

JP 2002-196063 A

  In principle, the above-described conventional assist GPS can quickly and accurately measure the current position for the mobile communication terminal device. However, if the number of GPS satellites actually captured by the mobile communication terminal device is less than the required number, position calculation cannot be performed and positioning by GPS fails. Even if GPS positioning is possible, the calculated current position of the mobile communication terminal device may be worse than the allowable accuracy, resulting in substantial positioning failure. Furthermore, GPS satellites may not be acquired within an allowable time. In the present specification, it is assumed that the GPS positioning fails including both of these three cases, that is, the case where the position cannot be calculated and the case where the calculated position accuracy is less than or equal to the allowable accuracy.

  If the GPS positioning fails as described above, the position of the base station communicating with the mobile communication terminal device, that is, the base station established with the mobile communication terminal device is acquired from the cell identifier positioning server. It is possible to do. When acquiring the position of this base station, first, the mobile communication terminal device uses the identifier of the base station with which the radio link has been established (ie, “cell identifier”) as a parameter to the cell identifier positioning server. The base station position notification request is transmitted. In response to this request, the cell identifier positioning server notifies the mobile communication terminal device of the base station position corresponding to the notified base station identifier.

  By the way, the above-described GPS positioning assist server and the cell identifier positioning server are different. As a result, the GPS positioning and the positioning by the base station identifier are completely independent functions for the mobile communication terminal device.

  For this reason, in the mobile communication terminal device, communication for receiving GPS positioning assistance and communication for positioning based on a base station identifier are set separately. Therefore, when high-accuracy positioning by GPS positioning has failed, it is necessary to set a new communication session in order to perform positioning by the base station identifier. As a result, when the mobile communication terminal apparatus performs positioning with the assistance of the assist server, it takes a long time to perform positioning based on the base station identifier due to failure of GPS positioning.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and a positioning method and positioning capable of quickly obtaining the positioning result of the current position of the mobile communication terminal device with the highest possible accuracy according to the situation at the time of positioning. The purpose is to provide a system.

The positioning method of the present invention is a positioning method for measuring a current position where a mobile communication terminal apparatus exists, wherein the mobile communication terminal apparatus uses an identifier of a base station established with a radio link with the mobile communication terminal apparatus. As a parameter, an assist request that is a request for assist information including capture information for capturing a GPS satellite and position calculation information for calculating the current position of the mobile communication terminal device is transmitted to the assist server. An assist request transmitting step; the assist server that receives the assist request transmits the position information of the base station to the mobile communication terminal device together with the assist information according to the value of the identifier of the base station An information transmission step; wherein the mobile communication terminal device measures a distance to the GPS satellite based on the assist information, and A GPS positioning process for performing GPS positioning to calculate the position of the terminal device; and when the GPS positioning is successful, the mobile communication terminal device uses the GPS positioning result as the positioning result, and when the GPS positioning fails, the position of the base station. A positioning result determination step using the positioning result as a positioning result.

  In this positioning method, when a positioning command for the current position of the mobile communication terminal apparatus is given from a user of the mobile communication terminal apparatus or a third party via the network, the mobile communication terminal apparatus Assist information including acquisition information for acquiring a GPS satellite and position calculation information for calculating the current position of the mobile communication terminal device using the identifier of the base station with which the radio link is established as a parameter Assist request, which is a request for, is transmitted to the assist server. When the assist server receives this assist request, in the assist information transmitting step, the assist server transmits information on the position of the base station together with the assist information to the mobile communication terminal device. That is, even if there is no request for notification of the base station position described above, the position of the base station is notified to the mobile communication terminal device in the assist information transmission step.

  Next, in the GPS positioning step, the mobile communication terminal device captures the GPS satellite based on the received assist information, measures the distance to the GPS satellite, and based on the measured distance and position calculation information, GPS positioning is performed to calculate the position. Subsequently, in the positioning result determination step, the mobile communication terminal apparatus uses the GPS positioning result as the positioning result when the GPS positioning succeeds, and sets the position of the base station as the positioning result when the GPS positioning fails.

  Then, the positioning result is notified to the positioning commander. Here, when the positioning commander is a user of the mobile communication terminal device, the positioning result is displayed on the display unit of the mobile communication terminal device. On the other hand, when the positioning commander is a third party via the network, the positioning result is notified to the third party via the network.

Therefore, according to the positioning method of the present invention, a highly accurate positioning result can be obtained when the GPS positioning is successful. On the other hand, even if GPS positioning fails, a positioning result based on the base station identifier can be obtained in the same time as when it succeeds. That is, according to the first positioning method of the present invention, it is possible to quickly obtain the positioning result of the current position of the mobile communication terminal device as highly accurate as possible according to the situation at the time of positioning.

The positioning system of the present invention is a positioning system comprising a mobile communication terminal device connected to a network and an assist server connected to the network, wherein the mobile communication terminal device is directed toward the assist server. Assist information including acquisition information for acquiring a GPS satellite and position calculation information for calculating the current position of the mobile communication terminal device using the identifier of the base station with which the radio link is established as a parameter An assist request means for making an assist request as a request; a distance measuring means for measuring a distance to the GPS satellite based on the capture information received from the assist server via the network; and the distance measurement Position where the current position of the mobile communication terminal device is calculated based on the measurement result by the means and the position calculation information Output means; positioning result determination means for setting the calculation result as a positioning result when the calculation by the position calculation section is successful, and setting the position of the base station as a positioning result when the calculation by the position calculation section fails; Base station position storage means in which the assist server stores position information of each base station of the network; assist information deriving means for deriving the assist information in response to an assist request from the mobile communication terminal apparatus; Assist for notifying the mobile communication terminal device of the position of a base station established with a radio link with the mobile communication terminal device read from the base station location storage unit together with the assist information derived by the assist information deriving unit An information notification means; and a positioning system.

  In this positioning system, when a positioning command for the current position of the mobile communication terminal device is given from a user of the mobile communication terminal device or a third party via a network, the assist requesting means of the mobile communication terminal device Assist information including capture information for capturing a GPS satellite and position calculation information for calculating the current position of the mobile communication terminal device using the identifier of the base station with which the radio link is established as a parameter Assist request, which is a request for, is transmitted to the assist server. When the assist server receives the assist request, the assist information deriving unit of the assist server refers to the storage content of the base station position storage unit and derives the assist information and the position information of the base station. Subsequently, the assist information transmitting means of the assist server transmits the position information of the base station together with the assist information to the mobile communication terminal device.

  In the mobile communication terminal device that has received the assist information and the position information of the base station, the distance measuring means captures the GPS satellite and measures the distance to the GPS satellite based on the assist information capturing information. . Then, the position calculation means calculates the current position from the measured distance and the position calculation information of the assist information. Subsequently, the positioning result determination means of the mobile communication terminal device uses the GPS positioning result as the positioning result when the GPS positioning succeeds, and sets the position of the base station as the positioning result when the GPS positioning fails.

That is, in the positioning system of the present invention , the mobile communication terminal device can be positioned using the positioning method of the present invention described above. Therefore, according to the positioning system of the present invention, it is possible to quickly obtain the positioning result of the current position of the mobile communication terminal device as highly accurate as possible according to the situation at the time of positioning.

A mobile communication terminal device according to the present invention is a mobile communication terminal device that acquires a current position in cooperation with an assist server connected via a network, and establishes a wireless link with itself toward the assist server. Assist that is a request for assist information including information for capturing a GPS satellite and information for calculating the position for calculating the current position of the mobile communication terminal device, using the identifier of the base station being operated as a parameter Assist request means for making a request; receiving means for receiving the assist information and the position of the base station transmitted from the assist server in response to the assist request; and the capture in the assist information received from the assist server A distance measuring means for measuring a distance to the GPS satellite based on the information for use; a measurement result by the distance measuring means; And position calculation means for calculating a current position of the mobile communication terminal device based on the position calculation information in the assist information received from the assist server; and when the calculation by the position calculation unit is successful, As a result, when the calculation by the position calculation unit fails, the mobile communication terminal comprises: positioning result determining means for using the position of the base station received from the assist server together with the assist information as a positioning result. Device.

In this mobile communication terminal apparatus, when a positioning command for the current position of the mobile communication terminal apparatus is given from a user or a third party via a network, the assist request means establishes a base station with which the wireless link is established. Using the station identifier as a parameter, an assist request that is a request for assist information including capture information for capturing a GPS satellite and position calculation information for calculating the current position of the mobile communication terminal device is directed to the assist server. To send. Subsequently, the receiving means receives the assist information and the base station position information transmitted from the assist server as a response to the assist request.

In the mobile communication terminal device that has received the assist information and the position information of the base station, the distance measuring means captures the GPS satellite and measures the distance to the GPS satellite based on the assist information capturing information. Then, the position calculation means calculates the current position from the measured distance and the position calculation information of the assist information. Subsequently, the positioning result determination means sets the GPS positioning result as the positioning result when the GPS positioning is successful, and sets the position of the base station as the positioning result when the GPS positioning fails.

Therefore, the mobile communication terminal apparatus of the present invention can be employed as a mobile communication terminal apparatus that is a positioning target of the current position in the above-described positioning system of the present invention.

  As described above, according to the positioning method of the present invention, it is possible to quickly obtain the positioning result of the current position of the mobile communication terminal device with the highest possible accuracy according to the situation at the time of positioning.

  Further, according to the positioning system of the present invention, since the positioning of the mobile communication terminal device can be performed using the positioning method of the present invention, the mobile communication terminal device is as accurate as possible according to the situation at the time of positioning. There is an effect that the positioning result of the current position can be quickly obtained.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In these drawings, the same or equivalent elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

FIG. 1 schematically shows a configuration of a positioning system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the positioning system 100 includes (a) mobile phones 10 ₁ and 10 ₂ and (b) base stations 42 ₁ and 42 ₂ that perform wireless communication with the mobile phones 10 ₁ and 10 _2. The network 41 is connected to the mobile phones 10 ₁ and 10 ₂ , and (c) the assist server 50 is connected to the network 41. Here, the number of mobile phones and the number of base stations are generally larger than two, but in FIG. 1, two mobile phones 10 ₁ and 10 ₂ and two base stations 42 ₁ and 42 ₂ are representative. Is shown in

In the present embodiment, the mobile phone 10 _1, upon GPS positioning, has a function of distance measurement and position calculation, the cellular phone 10 _2, upon GPS positioning, it shall have a distance measurement function only ing. Further, the following description will be made assuming that the mobile phone 10 ₁ establishes a radio link with the base station 42 ₁ and the mobile phone 10 ₂ establishes a radio link with the base station 42 ₂ .

FIG. 2 schematically shows an external configuration of the mobile phone 10 _j (j = 1, 2). As shown in FIG. 2, the mobile phone 10 _j gives (a) a mobile phone body 11 _j , (b) a numeric keypad for inputting a telephone number, and various commands such as switching operation modes to the control unit 21. An operation unit 12 having function keys for inputting to _j , and (c) a display unit 13 having a liquid crystal display device that displays operation guidance, operation status, received message, and the like in response to a command from the control unit 21 _j. I have. The mobile phone 10 _{j also} includes (d) a call speaker 14 that reproduces an audio signal sent from a communication partner during a call, and (e) a sound input during sound collection or a sound input during a call. And (f) a guidance speaker 16 for generating a ringtone or a guidance sound in response to a command from the control unit 21 _j . Further, the mobile phone 10 _j includes (g) an antenna 17 for transmitting and receiving radio signals to and from the base station.

Here, as shown in FIG. 3, the mobile phone body 11 ₁ includes (i) a control unit 21 ₁ that performs overall control of the entire operation of the mobile phone body 11 ₁ , and (ii) a control unit 21. Under the control of ₁ , it has an antenna 22A for receiving radio waves from GPS satellites, and a GPS receiver 22 for receiving radio waves from GPS satellites. The mobile phone main body 11 ₁ includes (iii) a storage unit 23 configured in a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), and the like (iv) a base station 42 _1. And a wireless transmission / reception unit 24 for performing communication.

The control unit 21 ₁ controls the GPS receiving unit 22 based on the GPS satellite capturing information received from the assist server 50 via the wireless transmission / reception unit 24, and observes radio waves from the GPS satellites. Unit 39, (ii) a distance measurement unit 31 that measures the distance from the GPS satellite based on the observation result of the radio wave from the GPS satellite in the radio wave observation unit 39, and (iii) the measurement result by the distance measurement unit 31 and on the basis of the position calculation information received from the assist server 50 via the wireless transceiver 24, a position calculating unit 32 for calculating a current position of the portable phone 10 _1, the position calculation by (iv) the position calculating unit 32 succeeds were the case, the position calculation result by the position calculating unit 32 as a positioning result, when the position calculation by the position calculator 32 fails, the assist server 50 or via the wireless transceiver 24 The received location of the base station 42 ₁ and a positioning result determining section 33, the positioning result. Further, the control unit 21 ₁ (v) uses the identifier of the base station 42 ₁ as a parameter to send an assist request, which is a request for assist information including acquisition information and position calculation information, via the wireless transmission / reception unit 24. Assist requesting unit 34 for transmitting to.

In the present embodiment, the control unit 21 ₁ has a like central processing unit (CPU) or digital signal processor (DSP), and has a processor that executes a program. The functions of the distance measuring unit 31, the position calculating unit 32, and the positioning result determining unit 33 described above are realized by executing a program executed in the control unit 21 ₁ .

The mobile phone main body 11 _2, as shown in FIG. 4, therein, a control unit 21 ₂ for integrally controlling the entire operation of the portable telephone main body 11 _2. Similarly to the case of the mobile phone main body 11 ₁ described above, the mobile phone main body 11 ₂ includes a GPS reception unit 22, a storage unit 23, and a wireless transmission / reception unit 24 therein.

The control unit 21 ₂ includes (i) a radio wave observation unit 39 and (ii) a distance measurement unit 31 as in the case of the mobile phone body 11 ₁ described above. Further, the control unit 21 ₂ sends a first assist request, which is a request for satellite capture assist information including GPS satellite capture information, using the identifier of the base station 42 ₂ as a parameter via the wireless transmission / reception unit 24. a first assist request section 35 to transmit to the assistant server 50 Te, (iv) the measurement result of the distance measurement section 31 as a parameter, the second assist request a calculation request of the current position of the mobile phone 10 _2, wireless transceiver And (v) when the position calculation by the assist server 50 is successful, the position calculation result is taken as the positioning result, and the position calculation by the assist server 50 has failed. Sometimes, a positioning result determination unit 37 that uses the position of the base station 42 ₁ received from the assist server 50 via the wireless transmission / reception unit 24 as a positioning result; It has.

In the present embodiment, the control unit 21 ₂ includes a central processing unit (CPU), a digital signal processing unit (DSP), and the like, as in the case of the above-described control unit 21 ₁ , and executes a program. It has become. The functions of the distance measuring unit 31, the first assist request unit 35, and the second assist request unit 36 described above are realized by executing a program executed in the control unit 21 ₂ .

As shown in FIG. 5, the assist server 50 includes (i) a control processing device 51 that performs overall control of the overall operation of the assist server 50, (ii) an antenna 52 for receiving radio waves from GPS satellites, (Iii) A storage device 53 for storing various programs and various data and a transmission / reception device 54 for performing communication via the network 41 are provided. The control processor 51 is used, the number and the first mode assist unit for performing positioning assist for those with a position calculation function such as a mobile phone 10 ₁ described above, the position calculation function such as a mobile phone 10 ₂ described above And a second mode assist unit that performs positioning assist for those that do not. Further, the storage device 53 stores identifiers and position information of all base stations connected to the network 41 in association with each other.

  The assist server 50 configured as described above constantly observes GPS satellites using the antenna 52, and collects various information related to the GPS satellites. When an assist request is received from a terminal device connected to the network 41, the first mode assist unit 56 or the second mode assist unit 57 operates depending on whether or not the terminal device has a position calculation function. , Positioning assist is performed.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the first mode assist unit 56 includes (i) an assist information deriving unit 61 for deriving assist information in response to an assist request via the transmission / reception device 54, and (ii) an assist information deriving unit. An assist information notifying unit 62 for notifying the assist information derived by 61 to the terminal device that made the assist request via the transmission / reception device 54, the network 41, and the like. Here, when the assist information deriving unit 61 receives an assist request via the transmission / reception device 54, the assist information deriving unit 61 reads out base station position information corresponding to the base station identifier specified as a parameter of the assist request from the storage device 53. Then, the assist information deriving unit 61 derives GPS positioning assist information such as acquisition information and position calculation information for a terminal device having a position calculation function in a cell according to the read base station position. Further, the assist information sending unit 62 sends the base station position information read out in addition to the GPS positioning assist information (that is, the base station identifier (cell identifier) positioning result information) to the terminal device that has made the assist request. Notice.

As shown in FIG. 7, the second mode assist unit 57 receives the first assist request via the transmission / reception device 54 and derives the capture information derivation for deriving the satellite capture assist information including the capture information. And (ii) a position calculation unit 68 that receives the second assist request via the transmission / reception device 54 and calculates the position of the terminal device that has made the second assist request. The second mode assist unit 57, (iii) the positional information of the base station 42 ₂ with capture information in response to the first assistance request, the position calculation result according to the second assistance request, transceiver 54, the network And an assist information notification unit 69 that notifies the terminal device that has made the assist request via 41 or the like.

  When the acquisition information deriving unit 66 receives the first assist request via the transmission / reception device 54, the acquisition information deriving unit 66 receives the base station position information corresponding to the base station identifier designated as the parameter of the first assist request from the storage device 53. read out. Then, the acquisition information deriving unit 66 derives satellite acquisition assist information including acquisition information for a terminal device that does not have a position calculation function in the cell according to the read base station position information.

Next, the positioning operation of the current positions of the mobile phones 10 ₁ and 10 ₂ in the positioning system 100 configured as described above will be described.

First described positioning operation of the current position of the mobile phone 10 ₁ has the position calculation function. Incidentally, the positioning request to start the positioning operation shall be performed by the operation unit 12 of the cellular phone 10 ₁ of the user. In addition, it is assumed that the mobile phone 10 ₁ has acquired the identifier of the base station 42 ₁ that has established a wireless link with itself.

In the positioning of the current position of the mobile phone 10 ₁ , as shown in FIG. 8, when a positioning request is made, first, the assist request unit 34 of the mobile phone 10 ₁ uses the identifier of the base station 42 ₁ as a parameter. request, the wireless transmitting and receiving unit 24, via the base station 42 ₁ and network 41, and transmits toward the assist server 50. When the assist server 50 receives this assist request, the assist information deriving unit 61 of the first mode assist unit 56 of the control processing device 51 is stored in the storage device 53 in association with the identifier of the base station 42 ₁ . The position information of the station 42 ₁ is read out. Subsequently, based on the read position information of the base station 42 ₁ , the assist information deriving unit 61 obtains satellite acquisition information and position calculation information that the mobile phone 10 ₁ needs for GPS positioning as assist information. Derived as The assist information deriving unit 61 sends the assist information derived and position information of the base station 42 ₁ to the assist information notification unit 62. Assisting information notifying unit 62 that has received the position information of the base station 42 ₁ with the assist information transmitting and receiving apparatus 54 via the network 41 and base station 42 _1, the cellular phone assist information and the position information of the base station 42 ₁ 10 Send to ₁

In the mobile phone 10 _{1 that} has received the assist information and the position information of the base station 42 _1, the radio wave observation unit 39 receives the capture information of the assist information, and the position calculation unit 32 receives the position calculation information. Further, the positioning result determination unit 33 receives the position information of the base station 42 ₁ . Upon receiving the acquisition information, the radio wave observation unit 39 controls the GPS reception unit 22 to acquire the GPS satellite and observe the radio wave from the GPS satellite. This observation result is notified from the radio wave observation unit 39 to the distance measurement unit 31. Upon receiving the observation result, the distance measuring unit 31 obtains the distance from the GPS satellite based on the observation result. The distance thus measured is sent to the position calculation unit 32. If the radio wave observation unit 39 cannot capture the GPS satellite within a predetermined time, the distance measurement unit 31 detects a time-out error and notifies the position calculation unit 32 accordingly. .

Subsequently, the position calculating unit 32 based on the position calculation information received on the measured distance and above, and calculates the current position of the portable telephone 10 _1. Then, the position calculation unit 32 can capture only the GPS satellites less than the required number and can only measure the distance to the GPS satellites less than the required number, or can calculate the position because a time-out error has occurred. If there is not, the fact is notified, and if the position can be calculated, the position calculation result and its accuracy are notified to the positioning result determination unit 33.

The positioning result determination unit 33 that has received the position calculation result sets the position of the base station 42 ₁ received _{first as} the positioning result when the position calculation result is “position calculation could not be performed”. Further, the positioning result determining section 33, when the accuracy of the position calculation result is lower than the allowable precision, the position of the base station 42 ₁ and the positioning result. In addition, when the accuracy in the position calculation result is higher than the allowable accuracy, the positioning result determination unit 33 sets the position calculation result as the positioning result.

When the positioning result is determined in this way, the control unit 21 ₁ displays the positioning result on the display unit 13 to inform the user of the positioning result.

Next, a description will be given mobile telephone 10 ₂ of positioning operation of the current position does not have the position calculation function. Incidentally, the positioning request to start the positioning operation shall be performed by the user of the operation unit 12 of the cellular phone 10 _2. Further, it is assumed that the mobile phone 10 ₂ has acquired the identifier of the base station 42 ₂ with which a radio link has been established.

In the positioning of the current position of the mobile phone 10 ₂ , as shown in FIG. 9, when a positioning request is made, first, the first assist request unit 35 of the mobile phone 10 ₂ uses the identifier of the base station 42 ₂ as a parameter. the first assistance request to the radio transmitting and receiving unit 24, via the base station 42 ₂ and network 41, and transmits toward the assist server 50. When receiving the assistance request assist server 50, capturing information deriving section 66 of the second mode assist portion 57 of the control processor 51 is stored in the storage device 53 in correspondence with the identifier of the base station 42 ₂ The position information of the base station 42 ₂ is read out. Subsequently, capture information deriving unit 66 based on the read location information of the base station 42 _2, derives the satellite capture assist information including the capture information required for the cellular phone 10 ₂ distance measure To do. Then, the capturing information deriving section 66, together with the satellite capture assist information derived sends the location information of the base station 42 ₂ to the assist information notification unit 69. Upon receiving these pieces of information, the assist information notification unit 69 sends the position information of the base station 42 ₂ to the mobile phone 10 ₂ along with the satellite capture assist information via the transmission / reception device 54, the network 41, and the base station 42 _2. Send.

In the mobile phone 10 _{2 that} has received the satellite capture assist information and the position information of the base station 42 ₂ , the radio wave observation unit 39 receives the capture information. Further, the positioning result determination unit 37 receives the position information of the base station 42 _2. Upon receiving the acquisition information, the radio wave observation unit 39 controls the GPS reception unit 22 to acquire the GPS satellite and observe the radio wave from the GPS satellite. This observation result is notified from the radio wave observation unit 39 to the distance measurement unit 31. Upon receiving the observation result, the distance measuring unit 31 obtains the distance from the GPS satellite based on the observation result. The distance thus measured is sent to the second assist request unit 36. Second assist request section 36 that has received the distance measurement result, the second assistance request to the distance measurement result to a parameter, the wireless transceiver unit 24, via the base station 42 ₂ and network 41, toward the assist server 50 To send. When the GPS satellite cannot be captured by the radio wave observation unit 39 within a predetermined time, the distance measurement unit 31 detects a time-out error and notifies the positioning result determination unit 37 to that effect. Yes.

In the assist server 50 that has received the second assist request, the position calculation unit 68 uses the mobile phone 10 ₂ based on the notified distance and the position calculation information obtained by the assist server 50 by observation of radio waves from GPS satellites. The current position of is calculated. Then, the position calculation unit 68 can only capture less than the required number of GPS satellites, and can only measure the distance between the GPS satellites less than the required number, so if the position calculation could not be performed, to that effect, When the position can be calculated, the calculated position and its accuracy are sent to the assist information notification unit 69 as a position calculation result. Upon receiving the position calculation result, the assist information notification unit 69 transmits the position calculation result to the mobile phone 10 ₂ via the transmission / reception device 54, the network 41, and the base station 42 ₂ .

In the mobile phone 10 ₂ , the positioning result determination unit 37 receives the position calculation result from the assist server 50. That is, the positioning result determination unit 37 receives the position calculation result or the fact that the above-described timeout error has occurred as the GPS positioning result. Then, the positioning result determining section 37, when receiving the effect that a time-out error occurs, the positioning result of the position of the base station 42 _2, which has received earlier. The position calculation result received from the assist server 50 in the case of a "could not position calculation" is positioning result the position of the base station 42 _2, which has received earlier. Further, the positioning result determining section 37, when the accuracy of the position calculation result is lower than the allowable precision, the position of the base station 42 ₂ and the positioning result. In addition, when the accuracy in the position calculation result is higher than the allowable accuracy, the positioning result determination unit 37 sets the position calculation result as the positioning result.

When the positioning result is determined in this way, the control unit 21 ₂ displays the positioning result on the display unit 13 to inform the user of the positioning result.

As described above, in the positioning system 100 of the present embodiment, when the cellular phone 10 _first positioning with position calculation function, the assist server 50 includes a capture information for GPS positioning and position detection information and the like When the assist information is transmitted, the position information of the base station 42 ₁ is also transmitted. If the GPS positioning in the mobile phone 10 ₁ fails, the mobile phone 10 ₁ uses the position of the base station 42 ₁ received earlier as the positioning result. Also, when the GPS positioning of the cellular phone 10 ₁ has succeeded, the GPS positioning result and the positioning result.

Further, when positioning the mobile phone 10 ₂ having no position calculation function, the assist server 50 also transmits the position information of the base station 42 ₂ when transmitting the satellite capture assist information including the GPS satellite capture information. Send. When the GPS positioning based on the distance measured by the mobile phone 10 ₂ fails, the mobile phone 10 ₂ automatically sets the position of the base station 42 ₂ as the positioning result. When the GPS positioning is successful, the GPS positioning result is set as the positioning result.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to quickly obtain the positioning result of the current position of the mobile phones 10 ₁ , 10 ₂ as highly accurate as possible according to the situation at the time of positioning.

In the above embodiment, the user of the mobile phones 10 ₁ and 10 ₂ makes a positioning request to the mobile phones 10 ₁ and 10 ₂ . On the other hand, a positioning request to the mobile phones 10 ₁ and 10 ₂ may be made by a third party via the network 41. In this case, the mobile phones 10 ₁ and 10 ₂ may transmit the obtained positioning results to the third party via the network 41. If the positioning request to the mobile phone 10 ₂ by a third party via the network 41 is via the assist server 50, the assist server 50 sends the positioning result to the third phone instead of the mobile phone 10 ₂ . You may make it transmit toward a person.

In the above embodiment, the antenna 22A for receiving radio waves from the GPS satellites in the mobile phones 10 ₁ and 10 ₂ is housed in the mobile phone body 11, but can also be disposed outside the mobile phone body 11. .

  Further, in the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to the positioning of the current position of the mobile phone. However, it is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to mobile communication terminal devices other than the mobile phone.

  As described above, the positioning method and positioning system of the present invention are useful for positioning of the current position of the mobile communication terminal device, and in particular, combined use of GPS positioning of the current position of the mobile communication terminal device and positioning by the base station identifier. At times, it is suitable for promptly obtaining the positioning result of the current position of the mobile communication terminal device as highly accurate as possible according to the situation at the time of positioning.

1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a positioning system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows schematically the external appearance structure of the mobile telephone of FIG. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a mobile phone having the position calculation function of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a mobile phone that does not have the position calculation function of FIG. 1. It is a functional block diagram of the assist server of FIG. FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of a first mode assist unit in FIG. 5. FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of a second mode assist unit in FIG. 5. It is a sequence diagram for explaining a positioning operation of the current position of a mobile phone having a position calculation function. It is a sequence diagram for explaining a positioning operation of the current position of a mobile phone that does not have a position calculation function.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ₁ ... Mobile phone (mobile communication terminal device), 10 ₂ ... Mobile phone, 11 ₁ , 11 ₂ ... Mobile phone body, 12 ... Operation part, 13 ... Display part, 14 ... Speaker for call, 15 ... Microphone, 16 ... Speaker for guidance, 17 ... Antenna, 21 ₁ , 21 ₂ ... Control part, 22 ... GPS receiving part, 22A ... Antenna for GPS, 23 ... Storage part, 24 ... Radio transmitting / receiving part (receiving means) , 31 ... Distance measuring part (Distance measuring means), 32 ... position calculating section (position calculating means), 33 ... positioning result determining section (positioning result determining means), 34 ... assist requesting section (assist requesting means), 35 ... first assist requesting section, 36 ... second assist requesting unit, 37 ... positioning result determining unit, 39 ... radio wave observation section, 41 ... network, 42 _1, 42 ₂ ... base station, 50 ... assist server, 51 ... control processor, 52 ... antenna, 5 ... Storage device (base station position storage means) 54 ... Transmission / reception device 56 ... First mode assist unit 57 ... Second mode assist unit 61 ... Assist information deriving unit (assist information deriving unit) 62 ... Assist information notification Unit (assist information notifying unit), 66... Capturing information deriving unit (capturing information deriving unit), 68 ... Position calculating unit, 69... Assist information notifying unit, 100.

Claims (3)

A positioning method for measuring a current position where a mobile communication terminal device exists,
The mobile communication terminal apparatus uses the identifier of a base station that has established a radio link with the mobile communication terminal apparatus as a parameter to calculate acquisition information for acquiring a GPS satellite and the current position of the mobile communication terminal apparatus An assist request transmitting step of transmitting an assist request, which is a request for assist information including position calculation information for the purpose, to the assist server;
The assist server that has received the assist request transmits the position information of the base station to the mobile communication terminal device together with the assist information according to the value of the identifier of the base station;
A GPS positioning step in which the mobile communication terminal device performs GPS positioning to measure a distance from the GPS satellite based on the assist information and calculate a position of the mobile communication terminal device;
A positioning method comprising: a positioning result determining step in which the mobile communication terminal device uses a GPS positioning result as a positioning result when the GPS positioning succeeds, and uses a position of the base station as a positioning result when the GPS positioning fails. A positioning system comprising a mobile communication terminal connected to a network and an assist server connected to the network,
The mobile communication terminal device
To the assist server, using the identifier of the base station with which the radio link is established with itself as a parameter, acquisition information for acquiring a GPS satellite and position calculation for calculating the current position of the mobile communication terminal device Assist request means for making an assist request which is a request for assist information including information for use;
Distance measuring means for measuring a distance to the GPS satellite based on the acquisition information received from the assist server via the network;
Position calculation means for calculating a current position of the mobile communication terminal device based on a measurement result by the distance measurement means and the position calculation information;
Positioning result determining means for setting the calculation result as a positioning result when the calculation by the position calculation unit is successful, and setting the position of the base station as a positioning result when the calculation by the position calculation unit fails.
The assist server
Base station location storage means for storing location information of each base station of the network;
Assist information deriving means for deriving the assist information in response to an assist request from the mobile communication terminal device;
Along with the assist information derived by the assist information deriving means, the mobile communication terminal apparatus is notified of the position of a base station established with a radio link with the mobile communication terminal apparatus read from the base station position storage means And an assist information notifying means for performing positioning. A mobile communication terminal device that acquires its current position in cooperation with an assist server connected via a network,
Information for capturing GPS satellites and a position for calculating the current position of the mobile communication terminal device using the identifier of the base station with which the wireless link is established as a parameter toward the assist server Assist request means for making an assist request, which is a request for assist information including calculation information;
Receiving means for receiving the assist information and the position of the base station transmitted from the assist server via the network in response to the assist request;
Distance measuring means for measuring a distance to the GPS satellite based on the capturing information in the assist information received from the assist server;
Position calculation means for calculating the current position of the mobile communication terminal device based on the measurement result by the distance measurement means and the position calculation information in the assist information received from the assist server;
When the calculation by the position calculation unit is successful, the calculation result is a positioning result, and when the calculation by the position calculation unit is unsuccessful, the positioning result is the positioning result received from the assist server together with the assist information. A mobile communication terminal device comprising: determining means;

Images