TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates a method and device of location tracking for providing low power consuming geo-fence service by using an indoor/outdoor location information based on solar charging module estimation, in detail, the present invention relates the method and device of location tracking for providing the low-power consuming geo-fence service by selecting a location tracking method according to the indoor/outdoor information decided by operation of the solar charging module.

BACKGROUND ART

Recently, the geo-fence service of location tracking device using the low-power communication have been proposed for the elderly people with dementia to prevent death or injury due to in-home departure and zone departure. In addition, the market for devices for providing such service and communication method targeting elderly people with dementia is expanding to pet and livestock.

In general, the Geo-Fence is a compound word of Geographic and Fence, and refers to a virtual fence installed in a specific geographic area using a location-based service (LBS). The Geo-Fencing is an application program interface (API) that supports the virtual fence on a specific area. The Geo-Fencing is an interface using a Global Positioning System (GPS), which is one of the location tracking technologies, and allows a user to check an access status of virtual fence by designating the virtual fence in the form of a circle or a square in the specific area through the GPS.

However, since the currently used Geo-Fence service is provided using a mobile communication network, a Bluetooth communication, or a Wireless Fidelity (WIFI) communication, the service fee is expensive, or the service is available only in the area where specific communication equipments are installed. Moreover, due to the limitation of the battery capacity of the location tracking device, there have been difficulties in expanding the service.

Accordingly, in order to overcome high cost, tracking distance, and limitation of battery capacity, devices and methods using low power location tracking method and communication method have been proposed.

An effective power consuming Geo-Fence service is needed through combining an advantage of low power communication network, a Soft Ware (SW) platform having compatibility for various data and an effective analysis engine of wearable device such as the location tracking device.

SUMMARY

Technical Problem

It is an object of the present invention to provide a location tracking device for geo-fence service, which has a solar charging module and an energy harvest module for self-power generation and applies a low-power communication method and algorithms.

In addition, it is an object of the present invention relates to a location tracking method capable of providing a geofence service for as long as time by applying a low-power communication method and algorithm using a location tracking device to which a solar charging module and an energy harvest module are applied.

Technical Solution

To solve the above problem and defects, the present invention provides a device of location tracking for providing low power consuming geo-fence service, comprising: a body member; a first bend member and a second bend member; a flexible battery having a predetermined length, inserted into a receiving portion of the first and second band members, and disposed so that the remaining length except for the portion inserted in the receiving portion is located inside the body member; a solar charging module for producing self-power; and a circuit board including at least one of a Wireless Fidelity (WIFI), a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), a Global Positioning System (GPS), a real-time communication, a Ultra Wide Band (UWB), a Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) communication module for obtaining a location tracking data and communication with network and a control unit (MCU) for controlling the location tracking device; wherein the control unit changes the communication module to minimize power consumption of the flexible battery according to a detected operation of solar charging module.

In an embodiment of the present invention, wherein control unit determines the communication module as the LPWAN module when a normal situation is detected, wherein the control unit determines the communication module as the UWB module when an emergency situation is detected.

In an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the control unit determines that the location of the location tracking device is outdoor and the location tracking data is obtained using the GPS module when the solar charging module is a charging operation, wherein the control unit determines that the location of the location tracking device is indoor and the location tracking data is obtained by one of the BLE, the WIFI, and the UWB module other than the GPS module when the solar charging module is a non-charging operation.

In an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the LPWAN communication module transmits the locating tracking data through one of a Sigfox, a Long Range (LoRa), and a Narrow Band-Internet of Things (NB-IoT) communication network using a broadcasting communication method, wherein the real-time communication module transmits the locating tracking data through a Long-term evolution (LTE) Category (Cat.) M1 mobile communication network using a bidirectional communication method.

To solve the above problem and defects, the present invention provides a method of location tracking for providing low power consuming geo-fence service in a location tracking device, comprising: detecting a Vrect value which is a reference value for determining a charging or a non-charging operation of the solar charging module; determining whether the solar charging module is charging operation or non-charging operation based on the detected the Vrect value; determining that a location of the location tracking device is outdoor and a location tracking data is obtained using a Global Positioning System (GPS) module when the solar charging module is in the charging operation; determining that a location of the location tracking device is indoor and a location tracking data is obtained using one of a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), a Wireless Fidelity (WIFI) Sniffing, and an Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) modules other than the GPS module when the solar charging module is in the non-charging operation; and transmitting the location tracking data through a Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) communication module.

In an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the location tracking data is acquired using the GPS module, further comprising: determining whether the location tracking data obtained using the GPS module is stably obtained; and if the location tracking data is not stably obtained using the GPS module, determining the location of the location tracking device is indoor and obtaining the location tracking data using one of the BLE, the WIFI, and the UWB module.

In an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the location tracking data is acquired by one of the BLE, the WIFI, and the UWB module other than the GPS module, further comprising: determining whether location tracking data is stably obtained using the location tracking module used before determining the location of the location tracking device is indoor according to the solar charging module, searching other location tracking module which is most stably obtainable the location tracking data when the location tracking data is not stably obtained using the used location tracking module, and obtaining the location tracking data by the searched location tracking module.

In an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the LPWAN communication module transmits the locating tracking data through one of a Sigfox, a Long Range (LoRa), and a Narrow Band-Internet of Things (NB-IoT) communication network using a broadcasting communication method.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the location tracking device includes status definitions that a Standby Status referring a standby state after the initialization of the location tracking device, a Sensor Sensing Status referring a state that measures a heart rate, a body temperature, and an acceleration, an Emergency Status referring a state of processing when the defined emergency situation is occurred, a Status Analysis referring a state of analyzing and managing information from each status, an Indoors/Outdoors detection referring a state of analyzing whether the location of the location tracking device is indoor or outdoor, an Indoor Status referring a state of processing and managing when the location of the location tracking device is indoor, an Outdoor Status referring a state of processing and managing when the location of the location tracking device is outdoor, an Indoor Interference Status referring a state of checking and observing the change of location data indoor, an Outdoor Interference Status referring a state of checking and observing the change of location data in the outdoor, a Geo-Fencing Control Status referring a state of processing when the user deviates from the geo-fence.

In an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the Vrect value is the reference value determining that the location tracking device is indoor and the reference value determining that the location tracking device is outdoor.

Advantageous Effects

The effect of the present invention is to increase the power supply amount of the location tracking device by producing self-generation power of solar charging module and the energy harvesting module in the location tracking device, thereby providing long time geo-fence service in location tracking device.

That is, the location tracking module can be quickly selected according to the indoor/outdoor location information of the location tracking device to which the solar charging module is applied, thereby reducing power consumption for searching the location tracking module of the location tracking device.

In addition, the flexible battery to be accommodated in the body member, the first band member, and the second band member of the location tracking device can increase the battery size compared to a wearable device in which a general battery is embedded only in the body member.

However, the effects of the present invention are not limited to the above effects, and may be variously extended without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

