JP5166160B2 - Portable terminal position search system and portable terminal position search method using position teaching function - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention uses a position teaching function for searching for a mutual position among a plurality of mobile terminals by using a position teaching function for teaching the position of an article with a mobile terminal to a user who has lost sight of the position of the article (object), for example. The present invention relates to a mobile terminal position search system and a mobile terminal position search method.

  In recent years, many suburban large-scale shopping facilities have been built in various places, and many of these suburban large-scale shopping facilities are equipped with parking lots with a very large site area because many customers visit. . Therefore, some customers who visit this shopping facility by vehicle forget the position of the vehicle parked in the parking lot when they finish their shopping and go home. Therefore, in order to easily find a vehicle even in such a situation, a car finder system has been developed today as a system for assisting in finding the position of a parked vehicle. An example of this car finder system is disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, for example.

In a general car finder system disclosed in these documents, a vehicle key, a mobile phone, or the like is used as a mobile terminal possessed by a user. When a request operation for operating the car finder system is performed on the mobile terminal, an operation signal corresponding to the operation is wirelessly transmitted from the mobile terminal to the vehicle, and when the vehicle receives the operation signal, the vehicle and the portable device The positional relationship between them is determined, and the parking position of the vehicle is displayed on the portable terminal. Therefore, since the user can confirm the parking position of the vehicle by looking at the display position of the mobile terminal, even if the position of the own vehicle is not known in a parking lot with a large site area, It will be possible to discover.
JP 2006-347291 A JP 2007-241472 A

  By the way, in a normal car finder system, it is possible to know only a positional relationship between a key possessed and a vehicle. However, when there are a plurality of keys for one vehicle and the keys are separately owned, the position of the key held by another person cannot be grasped. In this way, if the position of the key lent to another person is not known, it may be assumed that these lent keys are missing.For example, if the rented key is stolen, the vehicle is used with this theft key. Since there is no denying the possibility of being stolen, there was a request to manage the key position.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a terminal position search system and a terminal position search using a position teaching function capable of knowing the position of a mobile terminal other than the mobile terminal that the user owns by using a position teaching function provided in the article. It is to provide a method.

  In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, when a request operation for requesting position teaching of an article is executed on the portable terminal, the positional relationship between the portable terminal and the article is determined, and In the mobile terminal position search system using the position teaching function for teaching the user the position of the article, when the request operation for requesting the position teaching of another mobile terminal is executed on the mobile terminal, the article performs the position teaching function. While searching for the position of the other mobile terminal using the mobile terminal, the mobile terminal transmits position information of the other mobile terminal to the mobile terminal as a search result, and the mobile terminal receives the position information of the other mobile terminal. Based on the above, the gist of the present invention is that it is provided with another mobile terminal position teaching function for teaching the user the position of the other mobile terminal on the mobile terminal.

  According to this configuration, when a request operation for requesting the position teaching of another mobile terminal is executed on the mobile terminal, the article searches for the position of the other mobile terminal using the position teaching function, and the other mobile terminal is used as the search result. The position of the terminal is displayed on the portable terminal, and the position of the other portable terminal is taught to the user. For this reason, since the position of the other portable terminal is notified on the portable terminal to the user possessing the portable terminal, it is possible to teach the user the position of the portable terminal other than the portable terminal possessed by the user. Become. For this reason, it is possible to mutually monitor where the mobile terminal is, and it is possible to make it difficult to cause various problems such as the loss of other mobile terminals.

The gist of the present invention is that the portable terminal is provided with a dedicated operation means that is operated when the execution of the other portable terminal position teaching function is started.
According to this configuration, since the dedicated operation means that is operated when the other portable terminal position teaching function is executed is provided in the portable terminal, the other portable terminal position teaching function can be operated only by operating this operation means. For this reason, the other portable terminal position teaching function can be operated with a simple operation that does not require time and effort to simply operate the operation means.

  In the present invention, the article calculates the position of the portable terminal with respect to the article when a request operation for requesting the position teaching of the other portable terminal is executed on the portable terminal, and the other portable terminal with respect to the article. The position of the other mobile terminal viewed from the mobile terminal is calculated from each position of the mobile terminal and the other mobile terminal with respect to the article, and this position is used as the position of the other mobile terminal. The gist is to let the user teach on the terminal.

  According to this configuration, since the position teaching of the other mobile terminal on the mobile terminal is notified at the position viewed from the mobile terminal possessed by the user, the position of the other mobile terminal is expressed in an easy-to-understand format as viewed from the user. Can be taught to the user.

  In the present invention, the position teaching function is provided with a plurality of antenna elements as receivers in the article, and when the high frequency radio wave transmitted from the mobile terminal is received by the plurality of antenna elements, the antenna elements receive the antenna elements. The gist is to estimate the position of the mobile terminal by estimating the position of the mobile terminal based on the reception parameter of each of the high-frequency radio waves.

  According to this configuration, as a position estimation method, a receiver including a plurality of antenna elements is used to obtain a high position estimation result, and reception parameters (for example, radio waves) received by each of these antenna elements are used. A method of estimating the position using the phase of the waveform) is employed. By the way, this type of antenna requires various conditions such as setting the interval between adjacent antenna elements to, for example, λ / 2 of the received radio wave, but here the received radio wave having a low frequency is adopted. As a result, the antenna elements have to be arranged with a large gap accordingly, which leads to a problem that the receiver (antenna size) becomes larger. However, in this configuration, since a high-frequency signal is used as a reception signal, the interval between adjacent antenna elements can be narrowed, and the receiver can be downsized accordingly.

In the present invention, the position teaching function calculates two parameters of an arrival direction of the radio signal and a distance between the mobile terminal and the article based on a radio signal transmitted from the mobile terminal, The gist is to determine the position of the portable terminal.

  According to this configuration, when calculating the position of the mobile terminal (including other mobile terminals), two parameters of the direction in which the article and the mobile terminal face each other and the distance between the article and the portable device are calculated. Teaching can be taught by these two directions of direction and position. Therefore, the position teaching of the other portable terminal can be performed in more detail, and the functionality of the other portable terminal position teaching function can be increased.

  In the present invention, when a request operation for requesting position teaching for an article is executed on a portable terminal, the positional relationship between the portable terminal and the article is determined, and the position on which the article position is taught to the user on the portable terminal In the portable terminal position search method using the teaching function, when a request operation for requesting the position teaching of another portable terminal is executed on the portable terminal, the article uses the position teaching function to position the other portable terminal. As a result of the search, another mobile terminal position information is transmitted to the mobile terminal, and when the mobile terminal receives the other mobile terminal position information, the other mobile terminal position information The gist is to teach the position to the user on the portable terminal.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the position of portable terminals other than the portable terminal which he owns can be known using the position teaching function with which goods are equipped.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a mobile terminal position search system and a mobile terminal position search method using a position teaching function embodying the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle 1 includes an electronic key system 3 that performs key verification with an electronic key 2 that is used as a vehicle key, and a door lock for a vehicle door (including a seat door and a luggage door). A door lock system 4 for locking and unlocking and an engine system 5 for managing the operating state of the engine are provided. The electronic key 2 is capable of narrow-range wireless communication with the vehicle 1, and transmits an ID code inherent to the electronic key 2 to the vehicle 1 by wireless communication to cause the vehicle 1 to perform key verification. Key. The vehicle 1 corresponds to an article, and the electronic key 2 constitutes a mobile terminal and other mobile terminals.

  The electronic key system 3 includes a key operation free system 6 that does not require individual key operations when the electronic key 2 transmits an ID code. The key operation free system 6 includes a smart entry system as a function that does not require a key operation at the time of door lock locking / unlocking operation. In this smart entry system, the vehicle 1 is provided with a verification ECU 7 that performs key verification (ID verification) with the electronic key 2. The verification ECU 7 includes an out-of-vehicle LF transmitter 8 that transmits a signal in the LF band (about 130 KHz) outside the vehicle, an in-vehicle LF transmitter 9 that transmits a signal in the same LF band in the vehicle, and a low RF band (about 312 MHz). An RF receiver 10 capable of receiving signals is connected. The verification ECU 7 is connected to the door lock system 4 and the engine system 5 via an in-vehicle LAN 11 that is one in-vehicle network.

  The electronic key 2 is provided with a communication control unit 12 that performs overall control of various operations of the electronic key 2. The communication control unit 12 has various devices such as a CPU 13 and a memory 14, and an ID code is registered in the memory 14 as a unique key code of the electronic key 2. The communication control unit 12 is connected to an LF receiver 15 capable of receiving an LF band radio signal and an RF transmitter 16 capable of transmitting a low RF band (about 312 MHz) radio signal. The communication control unit 12 sequentially monitors which type of radio signal is received by the LF receiver 15 and manages the operation of signal transmission from the RF transmitter 16.

  When the vehicle 1 is in a parked state, the verification ECU 7 intermittently transmits the LF band request signal Srq from the vehicle LF transmitter 8 to form the vehicle communication area of the request signal Srq around the vehicle, and the narrow area wireless communication (Hereinafter referred to as smart communication). When the electronic key 2 enters the outside communication area and receives the request signal Srq, the electronic key 2 responds to the request signal Srq, and the ID signal Sid carrying the ID code registered in its own memory 14 is set to low RF. Reply with a band signal. When smart communication is established by receiving the ID signal Sid by the RF receiver 10, the verification ECU 7 compares the ID code registered in its own memory 17 with the ID code of the electronic key 2, so-called smart verification. (External vehicle verification) is performed. The verification ECU 7 permits or executes the door lock locking / unlocking operation by the door lock system 4 when confirming that this external verification is established.

  In addition, the key operation free system 6 has a function that can start and stop an engine (not shown) by a simple switch operation without requiring an actual vehicle key operation at the time of engine start and stop operation. There is a push engine start system. In this one-push engine start system, for example, when the driver enters the vehicle by a courtesy switch (not shown), the verification ECU 7 does not start from the previous LF transmitter 8, but this time the in-vehicle LF transmitter. A request signal Srq is transmitted from 9 to form an in-vehicle communication area throughout the vehicle. When the ID signal Sid returned by the electronic key 2 entering the in-vehicle communication area is received by the RF receiver 10, the verification ECU 7 compares the ID code registered in the electronic key 2 with the ID code of the electronic key 2. Verification, so-called smart verification (in-vehicle verification) is performed. When the verification ECU 7 confirms that the in-vehicle verification has been established, the verification ECU 7 permits the engine start operation by the engine system 5.

  The electronic key system 3 includes a wireless key system 18 that performs door lock locking / unlocking by operating the buttons of the electronic key 2. In this wireless key system 18, when a lock button 19 or an unlock button 20 provided on the electronic key 2 is operated, a wireless signal Swl having a signal content corresponding to each operation button is transmitted in a narrow area wireless communication (wireless communication). Is transmitted from the RF transmitter 16 to the vehicle 1 as a signal in the Chieda RF band. The wireless signal Swl includes an ID code that is a key code of the electronic key 2 and a function code that indicates whether the request to the vehicle 1 is locking or unlocking the door lock.

  When the unlock button 20 is operated with the electronic key 2, an unlocking request is transmitted from the electronic key 2 as a wireless signal Swl as a low RF band signal. When the verification ECU 7 receives this unlocking request by the RF receiver 10, if the ID code in the unlocking request is correct, the verification ECU 7 instructs the door lock system 4 according to the function code instructing the unlocking included in the same unlocking request. Unlock the door lock. When the lock button 19 is operated with the electronic key 2, a lock request is transmitted from the electronic key 2 as a wireless signal Swl as a low RF band signal. When the verification ECU 7 receives this locking request by the RF receiver 10, if the ID code in the locking request is correct, the verification ECU 7 locks the door lock to the door lock system 4 according to the function code instructing the locking included in the same locking request. Let

  The vehicle 1 is provided with a car finder system 21 as a system for teaching a vehicle user having the electronic key 2 about the position (parking position) of the vehicle 1. In this car finder system 21, the vehicle 1 is provided with a car finder ECU 22 as a control unit of the car finder system 21. The car finder ECU 22 is connected to other ECUs such as the verification ECU 7 via the in-vehicle LAN 11 and can exchange data with these ECUs. The car finder ECU 22 is connected to an RF receiver 23 capable of receiving a high RF band (about several GHz) signal and an RF transmitter 24 capable of transmitting a high RF band (about several GHz) signal. ing. A vehicle compass 25 that determines the traveling direction of the vehicle 1 is mounted on the vehicle 1. The vehicle compass 25 outputs compass information to the car finder ECU 22 as information related to the direction that the vehicle 1 takes each time. The RF receiver 23 corresponds to the receiver.

  On the other hand, the electronic key 2 is provided with a car finder button 26 that is operated when the car finder function of the car finder system 21 is operated. The car finder button 26 is a push momentary button, and is connected to the communication control unit 12 via an electrical wiring. The electronic key 2 is provided with an RF transmitter / receiver 27 capable of transmitting and receiving a signal in a high RF band (approximately several GHz) connected to the communication control unit 12. The electronic key 2 is equipped with a key compass 28 that detects the orientation of the electronic key 2. The key compass 28 outputs information related to the orientation taken by the electronic key 2 each time to the communication control unit 12 as compass information. The electronic key 2 is provided with a display unit 29 as a display system for notifying the user of the position of the vehicle 1. The display unit 29 manages the display by the communication control unit 12 and displays the position (direction and distance) of the vehicle 1 viewed from the electronic key 2 on the screen. The car finder function corresponds to the position teaching function, the execution of the car finder function corresponds to the position teaching, and the operation of the car finder button 26 corresponds to the request operation.

  When the communication control unit 12 detects that the car finder button 26 has been operated, the car finder function trigger radio wave Scf is transmitted from the RF transceiver 27 as a notification to the vehicle 1 that the car finder button 26 has been operated. Send with the signal. The RF transceiver 27 includes both a high frequency radio wave transmission circuit capable of transmitting high RF radio waves for the car finder system 21 and a high frequency radio wave reception circuit capable of receiving high RF radio waves for the car finder system 21. Is incorporated, and one operation of transmission / reception can be selectively performed according to a command from the communication control unit 12. As shown in FIG. 2, the car finder function trigger radio wave Scf includes an ID code of the electronic key 2 and a car finder function execution request as a function code for requesting the car finder function to be executed. The position estimation signal used when estimating the position of the key 2 is included. Note that the position estimation signal does not have a specific data content, but is a radio wave used when the vehicle 1 estimates the position of the electronic key 2. The communication area of the wireless communication network (hereinafter referred to as the car finder function communication network) between the vehicle 1 and the electronic key 2 used for the car finder function is wider than the smart communication or the wireless communication, for example, a narrow area communication of several tens of meters. It has become.

  In the vehicle 1, since the receiver of the car finder function trigger radio wave Scf is the RF receiver 23 of the car finder ECU 22, the car finder function trigger radio wave Scf is received by the RF receiver 23. When the car finder ECU 22 receives the car finder function trigger radio wave Scf by the RF receiver 23, the car finder ECU 22 first transfers the ID code included in the trigger radio wave Scf to the verification ECU 7 via the in-vehicle LAN 11. When the verification ECU 7 receives the ID code from the car finder ECU 22, the verification ECU 7 performs ID verification on the ID code. When the ID verification is confirmed, the verification result of the ID verification is confirmed via the in-vehicle LAN 11. Output to.

  When the car finder ECU 22 receives the confirmation result of the ID collation establishment from the collation ECU 7, the car finder function 22 starts executing the car finder function using the car finder function execution request included in the same position estimation request as an instruction, and the electronic The operation for obtaining the current position of the key 2 is entered. At this time, the car finder ECU 22 enters the position estimation signal capturing operation in the trigger radio wave Scf received by the RF receiver 23, and starts key position calculation for determining the current position of the electronic key 2 viewed from the vehicle 1.

  For this key position calculation, first, the car finder ECU 22 is associated with the direction of arrival of the car finder function trigger radio wave Scf, that is, the east, west, north and south as viewed from the vehicle 1 based on the position estimation signal received by the RF receiver 23. The direction (relative direction) of the electronic key 2 that is not present is calculated. The absolute position direction calculation employs a method (adaptive array antenna method) in which an adaptive array antenna is used as the RF receiver 23 which is a radio wave receiver of the car finder system 21. The adaptive array antenna system is a system that uses an array antenna in which a plurality of antenna elements are arranged, and determines the arrival direction of the received radio wave based on the difference between the amplitude and phase of the received radio wave received by each antenna element. Examples of this calculation include a beamformer method, a Capon method, a linear prediction method, a minimum norm method, a MUSIC method, and an ESPRIT method. The received radio wave corresponds to a high-frequency radio wave, and the amplitude and phase of the received radio wave correspond to reception parameters.

  When the car finder ECU 22 determines the relative direction of the electronic key 2 in this way, the east, west, south, and north as viewed from the vehicle 1 are determined based on the relative direction information of the electronic key 2 and the direction information acquired from the vehicle compass 25. The direction (absolute direction) of the associated electronic key 2 is calculated. The car finder ECU 22 also calculates the distance from the vehicle 1 to the electronic key 2 based on the position estimation signal received by the RF receiver 23. This distance calculation employs a calculation method in which a received radio wave received by an adaptive array antenna is calculated by inverse Fourier transform. In this way, the car finder ECU 22 calculates the absolute direction of the electronic key 2 and the distance between the vehicle 1 and the electronic key 2 as the previous key position calculation.

  When the car finder ECU 22 determines the absolute direction of the electronic key 2 and the distance between the vehicle 1 and the electronic key 2 in this way, the estimation result notification Sps is transmitted as RF to notify the electronic key 2 of the absolute direction and distance. A transmission is made from the transmitter 24 toward the vehicle 1. As shown in FIG. 3, the estimation result notification Sps includes an ID code corresponding to the electronic key 2 registered in the vehicle 1 and key position related information as information related to the absolute direction and distance. This estimation result notification Sps is transmitted from the RF transmitter 24 toward the electronic key 2 by a signal in a high RF band of about several GHz, for example. The key position related information includes absolute direction information as information related to the absolute direction and distance information as information related to the distance.

  When the RF control unit 27 receives the estimation result notification Sps transmitted from the RF transmitter 24, the communication control unit 12 first performs ID verification on the ID code included in the estimation result notification Sps. When the communication control unit 12 recognizes that the ID collation is established, the communication control unit 12 subsequently proceeds to reading the key position related information included in the estimation result notification Sps. At this time, the communication control unit 12 determines the direction (relative direction) of the vehicle 1 associated with east, west, south, and north as viewed from the electronic key 2 based on the absolute direction information included in the key position related information of the estimation result notification Sps. calculate. The direction of the vehicle 1 viewed from the electronic key 2 is calculated as a value that is 180 degrees opposite to the absolute direction of the electronic key 2 viewed from the vehicle 1.

  When the communication control unit 12 calculates the relative direction of the vehicle 1 as viewed from the electronic key 2, the communication control unit 12 displays the relative direction on the display unit 29 with an arrow. Further, when reading the key position related information, the communication control unit 12 confirms the distance between the vehicle 1 and the electronic key 2 based on the distance information included in the key position related information of the estimation result notification Sps. The distance is also displayed as a number on the display unit 29. As a result, as shown in FIG. 4, the direction of the vehicle 1 viewed from the electronic key 2 and the distance between the vehicle 1 and the electronic key 2 are displayed on the display unit 29. Even if the position of the vehicle is lost, the owner vehicle 1 can be easily found by the guidance of the display unit 29.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the vehicle 1 uses the car finder system 21 (car finder function) to search for the position of the other key 2b other than the user possessed key 2a, and this other key 2b. The key position search system 30 is provided for notifying the user of the current position of the user on the user possessed key 2a. In this key position search system 30, the electronic key 2 is provided with a key search button 31 that is operated when the key position search system 30 is operated. The key search button 31 is a push momentary button, and is connected to the communication control unit 12 via an electrical wiring. The key position search system 30 corresponds to another mobile terminal position search function, and the key search button 31 corresponds to a dedicated operation means. Further, the user possessed key 2a and the other key 2b constitute a portable terminal and another portable terminal.

  As shown in FIG. 5, when the key search button 31 is operated, the communication control unit 12 sends another key position teaching request notification Rtk from the high RF transceiver 27 as a notification that the operation has been performed. Another key position teaching request transmitting unit 32 is provided for transmitting with a band (about several GHz) signal. The other key position teaching request notification Rtk is a notification requesting the car finder ECU 22 to search the position of the other key 2b and to send the search result to the user possessed key 2a. Further, the communication control unit 12 is provided with another key position display processing unit 33 for displaying the position of the other key 2b on the display unit 29 based on the search result sent from the car finder ECU 22.

  On the other hand, when the RF receiver 23 receives the other key position teaching request notification Rtk transmitted from the electronic key 2, the car finder ECU 22 receives the other key position teaching request notification Rtk. 34 is provided. Further, when the car finder ECU 22 receives the other key position teaching request notification Rtk from the electronic key 2, the car finder function is used to detect the position of each key 2a, 2b (the absolute position of the electronic key 2 as viewed from the vehicle 1). A key position calculation unit 35 is provided for calculating a direction and a distance between the vehicle 1 and the electronic key 2. In addition, the car finder ECU 22 is provided with a key position estimation result transmission unit 36 that transmits the position of each key 2a, 2b calculated by the key position calculation unit 35 to the electronic key 2 as a search result.

  In addition, in the memory 17 of the verification ECU 7, an ID code of the other key 2b is registered as an ID code related to the electronic key 2 in addition to the ID code of the user possessed key 2a. Here, the other key 2b refers to a key other than the user possession key 2a possessed by the user who is the main owner of the vehicle 1 among a plurality of electronic keys 2 (vehicle keys) that can be used in the vehicle 1. For example, it is used as a key lent to family members. For example, if the user possessed key 2a is positioned as a master key, the other key 2b is positioned as a sub key. The execution of the system 30 corresponds to the position teaching of the other portable terminal, and the operation of the key search button 31 corresponds to the requested operation of the other portable terminal.

Next, the operation of the key position search system of this example will be described with reference to FIG.
When the user having the user possession key 2a wants to know the position of the other key 2b, the user operates the key search button 31 provided in the user possession key 2a. Upon confirming that the key search button 31 has been operated, the other key position teaching request transmission unit 32 sends another key position teaching request notification Rtk from the high RF transceiver 27 as a notification that the operation has been performed. Send with a signal. Here, the reason why the other key position teaching request notification Rtk is transmitted as a high RF band signal is that the reception frequency of the car finder system 21, that is, the reception frequency of the RF receiver 23 is set to the high RF band. It is.

  The other key position teaching request notification Rtk includes an ID code of the user possessed key 2a and another key position search request as a function code for causing the car finder ECU 22 to search for the other key 2b, as shown in FIG. A position estimation signal is included as a radio wave required when the vehicle 1 estimates the position of the user possessed key 2a. The communication area of wireless communication used in the key position search system 30, that is, the communication range between the vehicle 1 and the user possessed key 2a and the communication range between the vehicle 1 and the other key 2b are defined in the car finder system 21. The communication range is the same (for example, narrow range communication of several tens of meters).

  When the vehicle 1 receives the other key position teaching request notification Rtk by the RF receiver 23, the other key position teaching request acquisition unit 34 transmits the ID code included in the other key position teaching request notification Rtk via the in-vehicle LAN 11. It transfers to collation ECU7 and makes collation ECU7 perform ID collation. When the other key position teaching request acquisition unit 34 receives the confirmation result of the ID verification establishment from the verification ECU 7, the other key position teaching request acquisition unit 34 operates according to the other key position search request included in the same other key position teaching request notification Rtk. The operation state is entered into the execution state of the operation for calculating the position of the other key 2b viewed from the user possessed key 2a.

  At this time, the key position calculation unit 35 enters the search state of the position of the other key 2b by using the car finder system 21 (car finder function) provided in the vehicle. In this case, first, the key position calculation unit 35 transmits a trigger radio wave transmission request notification Rtd from the RF transmitter 24 as a signal in a high RF band as a request for transmitting the car finder function trigger radio wave Scf to the other key 2b. This trigger radio wave transmission request notification Rtd includes an ID code of the other key 2b and a trigger radio wave transmission request as a function code for causing the other key 2b to transmit the car finder function trigger radio wave Scf. The key position calculation unit 35 acquires the ID code of the other key 2b transmitted at this time from the memory 17 of the verification ECU 7.

  When the other key 2b receives the trigger radio wave transmission request notification Rtd, the other key 2b performs ID verification by comparing the ID code included in the trigger radio wave transmission request notification Rtd with the ID code registered in itself. When the other key 2b confirms that the ID collation to be executed at this time is established, the other key 2b operates in accordance with the trigger radio wave transmission request included in the same trigger radio wave transmission request notification Rtd, thereby changing the car finder function trigger radio wave Scf to the high RF The transmitter / receiver 27 transmits a signal in a high RF band. The car finder function trigger radio wave Scf is a radio wave for causing the vehicle 1 to estimate the key position as described above, and has the data structure shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 6, when the vehicle 1 receives the car finder function trigger radio wave Scf transmitted from the other key 2b by the RF receiver 23, the key position calculation unit 35 receives the car finder function trigger radio wave Scf accepted at this time. Is used to estimate the current position of the other key 2b. That is, the key position calculation unit 35 uses the adaptive array antenna method that performs the position calculation using the adaptive array antenna as the reception antenna as described above, and the direction of the other key 2b associated with the east, west, north, and south viewed from the vehicle 1 (Absolute direction) and the distance between the vehicle 1 and the other key 2b are calculated.

  The car finder ECU 22 also calculates the current position of the user possessed key 2a in parallel with the position estimation of the other key 2b. That is, when the car finder ECU 22 receives the other key position teaching request notification Rtk transmitted from the user possessing key 2a, the car finder ECU 22 uses the position estimation signal included in the other key position teaching request notification Rtk to use the user possessing key 2a. Is also calculated. Therefore, the car finder ECU 22 determines not only the position of the other key 2b seen from the vehicle 1, but also the direction (absolute direction) of the user possessed key 2a associated with the east, west, south, and north viewed from the vehicle 1, the vehicle 1 and the user possessed. The distance between the keys 2a is calculated.

  Upon confirming that the position estimation of these keys 2a and 2b has been completed, the key position calculation unit 35 uses the position estimation result of each of these keys 2a and 2b to determine the position of the other key 2b as viewed from the user possessed key 2a. Is calculated. In the case of this example, the direction (absolute direction) of the user possessed key 2a viewed from the vehicle 1, the distance between the vehicle 1 and the user possessed key 2a, and the direction (absolute direction) of the other key 2b viewed from the vehicle 1 And the distance between the vehicle 1 and the other key 2b are used to calculate the direction and distance of the other key 2b viewed from the user possessed key 2a. As shown in FIG. 6, if the positional relationship between the vehicle 1 and the user possessed key 2a and the positional relationship between the vehicle 1 and the other key 2b are known on the plane coordinate (XY coordinate), That is, if the three positions of the vehicle 1, the user possessed key 2a, and the other key 2b are known on the plane coordinates, the positional relationship (direction and distance) between the user possessed key 2a and the other key 2b can be known. This is because the direction (absolute direction) of the other key 2b associated with the east, west, north, and south directions seen from the above and the distance between the user possessed key 2a and the other key 2b can be determined.

  When the key position estimation result transmission unit 36 confirms that the calculation of the absolute direction of the other key 2b viewed from the user possessing key 2a and the distance between the user possessing key 2a and the other key 2b has been completed, The estimation result is transmitted from the RF transmitter 24 as a low RF band signal as another key position estimation result notification Rkk. In the other key position estimation result notification Rkk, the other key position display is provided as a function code for displaying the ID code of the user possessed key 2a and the position information of the other key 2b obtained by the key position calculating unit 35 on the user possessed key 2a. The other key position information is included as the request and information regarding the position of the other key 2b obtained by the key position calculation unit 35. The other key position information is information regarding the absolute direction of the other key 2b viewed from the user possessing key 2a and the distance between the user possessing key 2a and the other key 2b. The other key position estimation result notification Rkk corresponds to other portable terminal position information.

  When the user possessed key 2a receives the other key position estimation result notification Rkk by the RF transceiver 27, the other key position display processing unit 33 includes the ID code included in the other key position estimation result notification Rkk received at this time, The ID collation is executed by comparing the ID code registered in the user possession key 2a. When the other key position display processing unit 33 confirms that the ID collation executed at this time is established, the other key position display processing unit 33 operates in accordance with the other key position display request included in the same other key position estimation result notification Rkk, and from the user possessed key 2a. The operation of displaying the position of the other key 2b seen on the display unit 29 is started.

  In this display operation, the other key position display processing unit 33 reads the other key position information included in the same other key position estimation result notification Rkk, and the absolute direction of the other key 2b viewed from the user possessed key 2a and the user possessed The distance between the key 2a and the other key 2b is confirmed. Then, the other key position display processing unit 33 displays the absolute direction of the other key 2b viewed from the user possessed key 2a and the distance between the user possessed key 2a and the other key 2b on the display unit 29. 2b is taught to the user. In the case of this example, the direction of the other key 2b viewed from the user possessed key 2a is displayed on the display unit 29 with an arrow, while the distance from the user possessed key 2a to the other key 2b is displayed numerically on the display unit 29. Therefore, the user can know the position of the other key 2b by checking the arrow and the numerical value displayed on the display unit 29.

  Therefore, in this example, the vehicle 1 is provided with a key position search system 30 that uses the car finder system 21 (car finder function) to search for the position of the other key 2b viewed from the user possessed key 2a and teach the user. Since it is mounted, it becomes possible to teach the position (direction, distance) of the other key 2b to the user who has the user possessing key 2a at hand. Therefore, when a plurality of electronic keys 2 are used for one vehicle 1, there is a significant number of parts in response to a user's request to know the position of another key 2b that is a vehicle key other than the user possessed key 2a. It is possible to respond without an increase.

According to the configuration of the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) Even if a plurality of electronic keys 2 (for example, subkeys) are available for one vehicle 1, if the key position search system 30 is provided in the vehicle 1 as in this example, the electronic keys 2 Since it is possible to teach each other's current position, the user can know the position of the other key 2b with the possessed key 2a. Therefore, for example, if the driver and the passenger carry the electronic key 2, the positions of each other can be known even when they are away from the vehicle 1. For example, if the passenger is a child, if the child has the other key 2b, the key position search system 30 can know the current position of the child even if the child is separated from the parents. It can also prevent children from getting lost.

  (2) The key search button 31 is provided on the electronic key 2 as a dedicated operation button operated when the key position search system 30 is executed. For this reason, since the key position search system 30 can be operated only by operating the key search button 31, the key position search system 30 can be operated by a simple operation that does not require time and effort such as simple button operation.

  (3) Since the position teaching of the other key 2b in the user possessed key 2a is taught by the direction of the other key 2b viewed from the user possessed key 2a, the position of the other key 2b is expressed in an easy-to-understand format as viewed from the user. Can be taught to the user. Further, this position teaching is taught by two items: the direction of the other key 2b viewed from the user possessing key 2a and the distance from the user possessing key 2a to the other key 2b. For this reason, since it becomes possible to tell a user the position of the other key 2b in more detail, the user can grasp | ascertain the position of the other key 2b more easily.

  (4) An adaptive array antenna was used as the antenna of the RF receiver 23, and a radio wave having a high frequency was adopted as a reception radio wave received by the antenna at this time. Therefore, this type of adaptive array antenna requires a plurality of antenna elements, and the arrangement interval between adjacent antenna elements requires λ / 2 of radio waves, but if a received radio wave having a high frequency is used, Since the arrangement interval between adjacent antenna elements can be reduced, the size of the RF receiver 23 does not need to be increased.

  (5) The car finder function trigger radio wave Scf is transmitted from the electronic key 2 so that the vehicle 1 receives the car finder function trigger radio wave Scf, and the vehicle 1 obtains the radio wave arrival direction based on the car finder function trigger radio wave Scf. Then, the position of the electronic key 2 is estimated, the position estimation result is returned to the electronic key 2, and the positional relationship between the vehicle 1 and the electronic key 2 is obtained by causing the electronic key 2 to determine the mutual positional relationship. . Therefore, since the calculation of position estimation is performed on the vehicle 1 side, this type of calculation function (including the antenna) does not have to be mounted on the electronic key 2. For this reason, the parts structure of the electronic key 2 can be simplified, and various problems such as an increase in the size of the electronic key 2 do not occur.

  (6) The car finder function uses the adaptive array antenna type RF receiver 23, the vehicle compass 25, and the key compass 28, and based on various information acquired from these components, the vehicle 1 viewed from the electronic key 2 This is a method for determining the direction and distance. By the way, it is possible to calculate the position of the vehicle 1 or the electronic key 2 using, for example, GPS (Global Positioning System), but GPS has a drawback that it is easily affected by a large building such as a building. There is a problem that fine position calculation accuracy cannot be secured. However, if an indexing method such as this example is used, this type of compass formula has a higher position calculation accuracy than the GPS formula, so the direction and distance of the vehicle 1 viewed from the electronic key 2 can be accurately determined. Can be calculated.

  (7) Since the car finder function trigger radio wave Scf and the estimation result notification Sps are transmitted by signals of the same frequency of about several GHz, for example, although the vehicle 1 has been able to execute position estimation, the estimation result is sent to the electronic key 2 It is possible to make it difficult to create a situation where it cannot be communicated to.

Note that the embodiment is not limited to the configuration described so far, and may be modified as follows.
The operation means is not necessarily limited to a dedicated button. For example, when the car finder button 26 is pressed and held, the operation of the key position search system 30 is executed, so that the car finder button 26 is moved to the key position search system 30. It may be shared with the start button.

  When the position teaching of the other key 2b is performed on the screen display, the notification is not necessarily performed using both the arrow and the distance, but may be performed using only one of them. Further, the position teaching of the other key 2b is not necessarily limited to the screen display, and may be a voice notification, for example.

The position teaching of the other key 2b is not necessarily limited to the display of the arrow and the distance, and for example, the positional relationship between the user possessed key 2a and the other key 2b may be displayed on a map.
The position teaching of the other key 2b is not limited to notifying the positional relationship between the user possessed key 2a and the other key 2b, but the positional relationship between the vehicle 1 and the other key 2b is displayed on the user possessed key 2a, for example. It may be displayed and notified to the user.

  The car finder function uses an adaptive array antenna type RF receiver 23, a vehicle compass 25, and a key compass 28, and based on various information acquired from these components, the direction of the vehicle 1 viewed from the electronic key 2 and It is not limited to the method for determining the distance. For example, if the vehicle 1 is equipped with a GPS, the positional relationship between the vehicle 1 and the electronic key 2 may be determined based on vehicle position information acquired from the GPS.

  In the case of the vehicle finder function using the vehicle GPS, for example, the vehicle GPS information (vehicle position information) is registered in the electronic key 2 when getting off (for example, when the engine is off), and the position teaching request operation is performed with the key 2. In this case, a method of displaying this information on the key may be used.

  -The position display of the vehicle 1 of the electronic key 2 is not necessarily limited to the arrow. For example, the vehicle 1 calculates the position (direction and distance) of the electronic key 2 and creates map data representing the positional relationship between the vehicle 1 and the electronic key 2 while calculating the current position of the vehicle 1 from an in-vehicle GPS or the like. To do. The vehicle 1 may transmit the map data to the electronic key 2 and a map based on the map data may be displayed on the display unit 29 of the electronic key 2.

The electronic key 2 may be of a type that sends key position information to the vehicle 1 and notifies the vehicle 1 of the key position if, for example, a GPS is mounted.
The RF receiver 10 of the electronic key system 3 and the RF receiver 23 of the car finder system 21 may be integrated into one.

  The communication area between the electronic key system 3 and the car finder system 21 is not limited to being different from each other, and they may take the same area. Needless to say, various signal frequencies can be used.

The car finder system 21 is not limited to having one function belonging to the electronic key system 3, and may be a system independent of the electronic key system 3, for example.
The position estimation (position calculation according to the adaptive array antenna system) is not necessarily performed on the vehicle 1 side, and may be performed on the electronic key 2 side. That is, an adaptive array antenna may be incorporated in the electronic key 2, the position of the vehicle 1 may be estimated based on radio waves received from the vehicle 1, and the estimation result may be taught to the user with an arrow or the like.

The position estimation is not necessarily performed using a position estimation signal, and may be performed using an ID code or a function code radio wave.
The portable terminal is not limited to the electronic key 2 (essentially key parts), and for example, a mobile phone or a portable personal computer may be used.

-The teaching form of the vehicle position is not necessarily limited to an arrow, but may be a vehicle position displayed on a map screen, for example.
The vehicle position display (arrow and distance display) on the display unit 29 may be automatically deleted after being displayed for a certain time, for example, or may be a predetermined operation such as pressing the car finder button 26, for example. It may be deleted when the operation is performed.

  -Position teaching does not necessarily display both the direction and the distance, but only one of them needs to be displayed. Further, the position teaching is not necessarily limited to the screen display, and for example, voice notification may be employed.

The car finder system 21 is not necessarily applied to the vehicle 1 but can be applied to various devices and apparatuses that require verification during use.
Next, technical ideas that can be grasped from the above-described embodiment and other examples will be described below together with their effects.

  (1) In any one of Claims 1-5, the said portable terminal is a terminal of key positioning with respect to articles | goods. According to this configuration, since it is not necessary to prepare separate parts for the key required when using the article and the terminal for the position teaching function, the number of parts can be reduced.

  (2) In any one of claims 1 to 5 and the technical idea (1), the position teaching function is a high-frequency signal (a radio wave or data received by one of the article and the mobile terminal from the other). The positional relationship of each other is determined by estimating the other position using According to this configuration, since a high-frequency signal is used as a radio signal used for position estimation, a large amount of data can be transmitted.

The block diagram which shows schematic structure of the car finder system in one Embodiment. The data conceptual diagram which shows the data structure of a car finder function trigger electric wave. The data conceptual diagram which shows the data structure of an estimation result notification. The schematic diagram which shows the electronic key which displayed the vehicle position on the screen. The block diagram which shows schematic structure of a key position search system. Explanatory drawing which shows the specific operation | movement content of a key position search system.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vehicle as goods, 2 ... Electronic key which comprises portable terminal and other portable terminal, 2a ... User possession key which comprises portable terminal and other portable terminal, 2b ... Other key which comprises portable terminal and other portable terminal, 23 ... RF receiver as receiver, 30 ... Key position search system as other portable terminal position teaching function, 31 ... Key search button as dedicated operation means, Rkk ... Other key position estimation as other portable terminal position information Result notification.

Claims (6)

When a request operation for requesting position teaching for an article is executed on a portable terminal, a positional relationship between the portable terminal and the article is determined, and a position teaching function for teaching the user the article position on the portable terminal is used. Mobile terminal location search system
When a request operation for requesting position teaching of another mobile terminal is executed on the mobile terminal, the article searches for the position of the other mobile terminal using the position teaching function, and the search result is the other mobile terminal. The position information is transmitted to the portable terminal, and when the portable terminal receives the position information of the other portable terminal, the position of the other portable terminal is taught to the user on the portable terminal based on the position information of the other portable terminal. A portable terminal position search system using a position teaching function, characterized by comprising a portable terminal position teaching function.   2. The portable terminal using the position teaching function according to claim 1, wherein the portable terminal is provided with a dedicated operation means that is operated when the execution of the other portable terminal position teaching function is started. Location search system.   The article calculates a position of the portable terminal with respect to the article and a position of the other portable terminal with respect to the article when a request operation for requesting a position teaching of the other portable terminal is executed on the portable terminal. Then, the position of the other mobile terminal viewed from the mobile terminal is calculated from the positions of the mobile terminal and the other mobile terminal with respect to the article, and this is used as the position of the other mobile terminal on the mobile terminal. The mobile terminal position search system using the position teaching function according to claim 1, wherein the position teaching function is used.   In the position teaching function, a plurality of antenna elements are provided as receivers in the article, and when the high-frequency radio wave transmitted from the mobile terminal is received by the plurality of antenna elements, each of the high-frequency waves received by the antenna elements is received. The mobile terminal position using the position teaching function according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the position of the mobile terminal is estimated based on reception parameters of radio waves and the position is determined. Search system. The position teaching function calculates two parameters of an arrival direction of the radio signal and a distance between the mobile terminal and the article based on a radio signal transmitted from the mobile terminal, The mobile terminal position search system using the position teaching function according to claim 1, wherein a position is determined. When a request operation for requesting position teaching for an article is executed on a portable terminal, a positional relationship between the portable terminal and the article is determined, and a position teaching function for teaching the user the article position on the portable terminal is used. In the mobile terminal location search method,
When a request operation for requesting position teaching of another mobile terminal is executed on the mobile terminal, the article searches for the position of the other mobile terminal using the position teaching function, and the search result is the other mobile terminal. Transmitting position information to the mobile terminal, and when the mobile terminal receives the position information of the other mobile terminal, teaching the user of the position of the other mobile terminal on the mobile terminal based on the position information of the other mobile terminal A mobile terminal position search method using a position teaching function characterized by:

Images