This application is based on and claims priority under 35 USC 119 from Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-325064 filed Nov. 30, 2006.
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an information processing device that determines whether a transmission device transmitting radio waves is being carried, an organizational analysis system, a computer readable medium and a method.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, location detecting systems that utilize transmission devices transmitting radio waves have been used to detect the activities of people in an office and record activity logs.
However, in a location detecting system that operates on the assumption that each person always carries his/her transmission device, accurate activity logs cannot be collected, if a person leaves or loses the transmission device, or the power of the transmission device runs out.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing device including a detecting unit that detects an electric field intensity of information received from a portable transmission device that transmits information through radio waves, and a determining unit that determines whether the transmission device is being carried, based on a change in the electric field intensity detected by the detecting unit.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
The following is a description of exemplary embodiments of the present invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The active RFID tags a and b are carried by persons H1 and H2 in the area A. The active RFID tag c is placed in a handbag of a person H3 in the area A. The active RFID tag d is carried by a person H4 in the area B. The active RFID tag e is in a pocket of the jacket of a person H5 in the area B. The active RFID tag f is carried by a person H6 in the area C.
The receivers 2 through 4 are connected to the activity log collection server 1 via a communication line 5. The receiver 2 receives signals transmitted from the active RFID tags a through c. The receiver 3 receives signals transmitted from the active RFID tags d and e. The receiver 4 receives signals transmitted from the active RFID tag f. Each of the receivers sends the received signals to the activity log collection server 1 via the communication line 5. Based on the signals sent from the receivers, the activity log collection server 1 determines which receiver has detected which active RFID tag. By doing so, the activity log collection server 1 detects the location of each active RFID tag.
In
The CPU 11 is connected to the ROM 12, the RAM 13, the HDD 14, the input unit 15, the network interface 16, the audio output unit 17, the display 18, the printer interface 19, the communication unit 20, the rectifier circuit 205, and the voltage (current) measuring circuit 206, via a system bus 21.
In
The transmission device 100 includes an ID holding unit 101, a battery 102, and a transmitting unit 103. The ID holding unit 101 is a rewritable ROM, and holds a unique ID (hereinafter referred to as a tag ID) allotted to each transmission device. The battery 102 supplies power to the ID holding unit 101 and the transmitting unit 103. The transmitting unit 103 includes an oscillation circuit 104, a modulation circuit 105, an output circuit 106, and an antenna 107. The transmitting unit 103 transmits a signal containing the tag ID in predetermined timing. Here, the predetermined timing may be every two or three seconds, every minute, or every hour from 9:00 a.m. till 9:00 p.m.
The oscillation circuit 104 generates signals at a reference frequency in the frequency band in which transmission is to be performed. The oscillation circuit 104 may also generate signals at low frequencies and then multiply the signals, or generate signals at high frequencies and divide the signals. The modulation circuit 105 modulates signals with tag IDs or audio signals by the amplitude shift keying (ASK) method, the frequency shift keying (FSK) method, the phase shift keying (PSK) method, or the like. The output circuit 106 amplifies radio signals to be used for transmitting the modulated radio signals to the antenna 107.
The reception device 200 includes a receiving unit 201, a signal strength detecting unit 204, an ID extracting unit 207, a history storing unit 208, a strength variance determining unit 209, a determination result output unit 210, and a correcting unit 211.
The receiving unit 201 is equivalent to the receivers shown in
The signal strength detecting unit 204 detects the strength of the received signal. The signal strength detecting unit 204 is formed with the rectifier circuit 205 and the voltage (current) measuring circuit 206. The rectifier circuit 205 converts the signal sent from the tuning circuit 202 into a DC voltage or a DC current. The voltage (current) measuring circuit 206 measures the DC voltage or the DC current output from the rectifier circuit 205, so as to measure the signal strength. In this manner, the voltage (current) measuring circuit 206 quantizes the measured DC voltage or DC current in accordance with the circuit mode of the tuning circuit 202, and sets the resultant as the signal strength. The signal strength may be the electric field intensity.
The ID extracting unit 207 extracts ID information from the signal received from the receiving unit 201. Here, the ID information contains the above described tag ID and area ID. The history storing unit 208 is formed with the HDD 14, and stores history data including the ID information extracted by the ID extracting unit 207 and the signal strength detected by the signal strength detecting unit 204.
The strength variance determining unit 209 determines whether the subject person is carrying the transmission device 100, depending on the variance in the signal strength detected by the signal strength detecting unit 204. The determination result output unit 210 outputs the result of the determination by the strength variance determining unit 209. The correcting unit 211 corrects the history data stored in the history storing unit 208.
The ID extracting unit 207, the strength variance determining unit 209, and the correcting unit 211 are embodied by the CPU 11 reading a predetermined program from the HDD 14 into the RAM 13. The determination result output unit 210 is formed with at least one of the following components: the network interface 16, the display 18, the printer interface 19, and the communication unit 20.
The ID extracting unit 207 extracts the area ID and the tag ID from the signal received from the receiving unit 201 (step S14). The ID extracting unit 207 then stores the area ID and the tag ID in the history storing unit 208 (step S15). The signal strength detecting unit 204 detects the strength of the signal received from the receiving unit 201, and stores the detected signal strength in the history storing unit 208 (step S16). The area ID, the tag ID, and the signal strength that are stored in the history storing unit 208 are associated with the reception time at which the signal is received from the transmission device 100, and are managed as history data.
Referring back to
First, the strength variance determining unit 209 extracts history records having successive reception times from the history data for each tag ID (step S21). The strength variance determining unit 209 then determines whether all the area IDs contained in the history records are identical (step S22). If not all the area IDs are identical, the subject person is carrying the active RFID tag while moving, and the strength variance determining unit 109 determines that the active RFID tag is carried (step S25).
If all the area IDs are determined to be identical in step S22, the strength variance determining unit 209 determines whether the variance in the signal strength shown in the history records is equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold value (step S23). If the signal strength variance is equal to or lower than the threshold value, the strength variance determining unit 209 determines that the subject person is not carrying the active RFID (step S24). If the signal strength variance exceeds the threshold value, the strength variance determining unit 109 determines that the subject person is carrying the active RFID tag (step S25).
The determination result output unit 210 then receives the result of the determination by the strength variance determining unit 209, and outputs the determination result (step S26). This operation then comes to an end. The output of the determination result may be displayed on the display 18 or printed out by a printer.
The determining procedure of step S23 is now described in greater detail.
The active RFID tag a and the active RFID tag b are carried by the persons H1 and H2, respectively. The body of each person functions as the earth and an antenna (see
Meanwhile, the active RFID tag c is left in a handbag (see
The strength variance determining unit 209 calculates the variance in the signal strength of each active RFID tag, based on the signal strength values shown in
The signal strength variance of each of the active RFID tags a and b is greater than the threshold value “2”. Accordingly, the strength variance determining unit 209 determines that the active RFID tags a and b are being carried, but the active RFID tag c is not being carried. Based on this determination result, the manager or the person H3 can be notified or alarmed that the active RFID tag c is not being carried. Also, the carrying rate can be calculated as the location measurement precision, and the data as to the tag not being carried can be omitted from the location measurement data.
In the first exemplary embodiment, the determination result output unit 210 outputs the results of the determinations made by the strength variance determining unit 209 determining whether the transmission device is being carried. In this exemplary embodiment, the result of the determination of whether the transmission device is being carried is stored in the history storing unit 208.
The strength variance determining operation of
As described above, since the results of determinations of whether the transmission device is being carried are added to the history data, the correcting unit 211 may delete the history of each transmission device that is not being carried, or delete the history of each transmission device that is being carried, so as to leave only the necessary information for history data analysis. Particularly, the results showing that the transmission device is not being carried during late night hours (from 0:00 at midnight to 6:00 a.m., for example) may be deleted from the history data, as the users often leave the transmission devices in the areas. In this manner, more accurate history data analysis can be carried out.
Since the results of determinations of whether the transmission device is being carried are added to the history data, a complementary function of calculating the transmission device carrying rate or non-carrying rate can be provided in the history data analysis.
In the first exemplary embodiment, the determination result output unit 210 outputs the results of determinations made by the strength variance determining unit 209 determining whether the transmission device is being carried. In this exemplary embodiment, on the other hand, the results of determinations of whether the transmission device is being carried and signals containing the tag IDs corresponding to the results are transmitted to a remote terminal.
The remote terminal 300 may be a portable telephone device, for example, and include a determination result receiving unit 301, a control mode determining unit 302, a control unit 303, and a warning unit 304. The determination result receiving unit 301 receives the results of determinations of whether the transmission device is being carried and signals containing the corresponding tag IDs from the determination result transmitting unit 212. The control mode determining unit 302 determines the control mode in which the remote terminal 300 is to be controlled, based on the determination results contained in the received signals. The control unit 303 performs a control operation in the control mode determined for the remote terminal 300. The warning unit 304 issues warnings under the control of the control unit 303. The results of determinations of whether the transmission device is being carried and the signals containing the corresponding tag IDs function as the information notifying that the transmission device should be carried.
The table information defines the results of determinations of whether the transmission device is being carried, the tag IDs corresponding to the determination results, and the control modes for the remote terminal 300. In a case where the determination result for the tag ID “c” is “carried”, the vibrator 406 is activated to vibrate the remote terminal 300. In a case where the determination result for the tag ID “c” is “not carried”, the speaker 405 sounds a warning tone. In a case where the determination result for the tag ID “a” or “b” is “carried”, a control operation is not performed for the remote terminal 300. In a case where the determination result for the tag ID “a” or “b” is “not carried”, the speaker 405 sounds a buzzer tone. In this manner, when the transmission device is being carried by a person, an unnecessary ringing tone is not sounded, so as not to make other people uncomfortable. When the transmission device is not being carried by a person, a ringing tone or a buzzer tone is sounded to prompt the person to carry the transmission device.
The table information shown in
Based on the tag ID and the result of the determination of whether the transmission device is being carried, and the table information shown in
In this exemplary embodiment, the transmission device 100 and the remote terminal 300 are structures independent of each other. However, it is possible to integrally form the transmission device 100 and the remote terminal 300. In such a case, the transmission device 100 includes all the functional blocks of the transmission device 100 and the remote terminal 300 shown in
In the second exemplary embodiment, the results of determinations of whether the transmission device is being carried are added to the history data to be stored in the history storing unit 208. In this exemplary embodiment, on the other hand, the history data is used for analyzing the attendance rate of the employees of a company or the likes.
The analyzing unit 213 analyzes the history data stored in the history storing unit 208, and obtains the analysis results. The analysis results are stored in the history storing unit 208. The correcting unit 211 and the analyzing unit 213 are embodied by the CPU 11 reading a predetermined program from the HDD 14 into the RAM 13. The other functional blocks of the reception device 200 of this exemplary embodiment are the same as the functional blocks of each reception device 200 of
In
The column “Detected (Unvaried)” shows the numbers of kinds of the tag IDs recorded as “not carried” in the column of history data determination results. In the column “Undetected”, the numbers of tag ID kinds of active RFID tags with which the reception device 200 cannot detect radio signals are recorded. In the column “Attendance rate”, the values each obtained by dividing the sum of the values in the corresponding cells in the columns “Detected (Varied)” and “Detected (Unvaried)” by the population parameter (389 in this example) are recorded. In the column “Corrected attendance rate”, the values each obtained by dividing the value in the corresponding cell of the column “Detected (Varied)” by the value obtained by subtracting the value in the corresponding cell of the “Detected (Unvaried)” from the population parameter (389) are recorded.
Those values in the columns “Detected (Varied)”, “Detected (Unvaried)”, “Undetected”, “Attendance rate”, and “Corrected attendance rate” are recorded by the analyzing unit 213. The calculations necessary to record the values in the columns “Attendance rate” and “Corrected attendance rate” are also performed by the analyzing unit 213. The results of analysis by the analyzing unit 213 shown in
In
In
As described above, in the fourth exemplary embodiment, the analyzing unit 213 analyzes organizational activities, based on the history data stored as the organizational activity history. Based on the values recorded in the columns “Detected (Varied)”, “Detected (Unvaried)”, and “Undetected”, the analyzing unit 213 calculates the operating rates with respect to organizational activities, such as attendance rates.
In this example, during a certain period of time past 11:00, the signal strength detecting unit 204 detects a tag x1 and a tag x2 held by members of a division X, a tag y4 held by a member of a division Y, and a tag z2 held by a member of a division Z at the same time in the same conference area. Around 17:00, the signal strength detecting unit 204 also detects the tag y4 held by a member of the division Y and a tag z1 held by a member of the division Z at the same time in the same conference area.
Based on the history data (the signal strength list in this case) stored in the history storing unit 208, the analyzing unit 213 determines that there was a communication such as a meeting among the division X, the division Y, and the division Z sometime past 11:00, and there was another communication such as a meeting between the division Y and the division Z around 17:00. The analyzing unit 213 can also check the times at which the signal strengths were detected, so as to estimate the duration of time in which each communication such as a meeting was held. Here, the analyzing unit 213 estimates that the former meeting was held for one hour from 11:00 till 12:00, and the latter was held for one and a half hours from 16:00 till 17:30.
Based on the history data, the analyzing unit 213 calculates the communication amount (a one-hour communication being 1 in this example) among the divisions, so as to obtain the results of communication amount calculations. The analyzing unit 213 further adds up the signal strengths of the active RFID tags of each division in all the conference areas, so as to analyze the communication amounts among the divisions.
However, the signal strength of the tag y4 past 11:00 is fixed at 214, and does not vary at all. In other words, the signal strength variance is equal to or less than the predetermined threshold value. Therefore, the strength variance determining unit 209 determines that the tag y4 is not being carried. Accordingly, the analyzing unit 213 corrects the results of communication amount calculations, as shown in
As shown in
Here, time data is simply used as the communication amounts among the divisions. However, to grasp the tendency in communication among the members from various angles, weights may be added to the communication amounts, or the communication amount with respect to each individual, instead of each division, may be counted.
In this exemplary embodiment, the attendance rates of the employees are analyzed based on the history data, and the communication amounts of the divisions in a conference area are analyzed. However, this exemplary embodiment may be applied to other situations. For example, a control unit that controls the in-house power source may read history data from the history storing unit 208 to extract the area ID with which the determination result is “carried”. The control unit then activates only the power source of the corresponding area. By doing so, only the facilities in the area in which at least a person is located are energized, and a power-saving effect can be achieved.
In the first through fourth exemplary embodiments, the detecting unit is formed with the receiving unit 201 and the signal strength detecting unit 204, and the determining unit is formed with the strength variance determining unit 209, for example. The receiving unit is formed with the history storing unit 208, the correcting unit is formed with the correcting unit 211, and the analyzing unit is formed with the analyzing unit 213, for example. The notifying unit is formed with the determination result output unit 210 or the determination result transmitting unit 212, for example. The deciding unit is formed with the control mode determining unit 302, and the executing unit is formed with the control unit 303, for example. The first circuit is formed with the toning circuit 202, the second circuit is formed with the rectifier circuit 205, and the third circuit is formed with the voltage (current) measuring circuit 206, for example.
The respective functional blocks of the ID extracting unit 207, the strength variance determining unit 209, the correcting unit 211, and the analyzing unit 213 of the reception device 200 are embodied by the CPU 11 reading a predetermined program from the HDD 14 into the RAM 13 and executing the predetermined program. However, those functional blocks may be embodied by executing a predetermined program that is read from a storage medium and stored in the RAM 13. The history data to be stored in the history storing unit 208 and the results of analysis by the analyzing unit 213 may be stored in a storage medium.
In the first through fourth exemplary embodiments, the reception device 200 is a computer. However, the reception device 200 may be a portable telephone device, a mobile terminal, or a base station, as long as it has the hardware structure shown in
In the first through fourth exemplary embodiments, the strength variance determining unit 209 determines whether the transmission device is being carried, and can determine when the transmission device is not being carried. Alternatively, the strength variance determining unit 209 may determine whether the transmission device is not being carried, so that it can determine when the transmission device is being carried.
Although a few exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these exemplary embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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