JPH06148305A - Gps receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To track a GPS satellite effectively with a small consumption of a battery by performing control so that the power supply from a power supply at least to a GPS device can be cut when the GPS device cannot track all GPS satellites needed for measurement of a current position after it has started tracking the GPS satellites within a specific amount of time. CONSTITUTION:A positioning time measuring part 4 is provided, a position- measurement time for tracking all GPS satellites needed for the measurement of current position is measured, and a power supply control part 5 sends a power-off signal to a power supply part 3 for cutting off the power supply 3 when the positioning time exceeds a specific value, thus automatically turning off power when total GPSs needed for measuring the current position due to presence of an obstacle, etc., and hence preventing useless consumption of the battery and extending battery life.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to GPS (Global Position
oning system) receiver, and is related to a technique for preventing unnecessary battery consumption.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, it has become possible to measure the position information (latitude, longitude and altitude) indicating the current position of a user by receiving radio waves constantly sent from GPS satellites.

A conventional GPS receiver will be described below. Once the GPS satellite tracking operation is started, the tracking operation is continued until all the GPS satellites necessary for positioning the own position are completely tracked. It measures its position based on the radio signal information from the satellites.

[0004]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]
If there are obstacles around the user, the S receiver cannot track all the GPS satellites necessary for positioning the user's position. Therefore, the battery is wasted even if the GPS satellites are continuously tracked. It was just exhausted.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and is a GP that can effectively track GPS satellites with less battery consumption.
The purpose is to provide an S receiver.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a GPS device for positioning the latitude, longitude and altitude of the current position of a user based on GPS satellite information, and a power source for the GPS device. And a control means for controlling the operation of the device, wherein the control means controls all the GPS satellites necessary for positioning the current position after the GPS device starts tracking the GPS satellites. When the GPS cannot be tracked within a predetermined time, at least GPS from the power supply unit
GP that performs control operation so as to cut off power supply to the device
It is an S receiver.

[0007]

According to the present invention, in the above structure, the control means is G
When the PS device cannot track all the GPS satellites required for positioning such as latitude, longitude and altitude of the current position within a predetermined time, at least the power supply to the GPS device is cut off.

[0008]

(Embodiment 1) An embodiment of a GPS receiver of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a GPS device for positioning the current position (latitude, longitude and altitude) of a user by receiving an electric wave constantly sent from a GPS satellite by an antenna 2, and 3 is a power supply for the entire system. A power supply unit 6 is a control means for controlling the operation of the entire apparatus, and includes a positioning time measurement unit 4 and a power supply control unit 5. 4 receives a signal from the GPS device 1 that tracking of GPS satellites has started and a signal that tracking of all the number of GPS satellites necessary for positioning of the current position of the user has been completed, and positioning by tracking of GPS satellites is performed. The positioning time measuring unit 5 that measures the time required for the positioning, that is, the positioning time measuring unit 5 sends a power-off signal to the power supply unit 3 when the positioning time being measured by the positioning time measuring unit 4 exceeds a predetermined time, and the whole system Is a power supply control unit that cuts off the power supply of.

The operation of the above configuration will be described.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of this embodiment. First, in step A, the user turns on the power of the apparatus. When the user presses a switch (not shown) that starts tracking of GPS satellites to measure the position of the user's own position, the process proceeds to step B, where the GPS device 1 starts tracking the GPS satellites and measures the positioning time. A tracking start signal for starting tracking is sent to the unit 4. The positioning time measurement unit 4 starts measuring time from the time when the tracking start signal is input, moves to step C, and completes tracking of all the GPS satellites necessary for positioning the own position from the GPS device 1. Measure the positioning time until the tracking completion signal is input. Go to step D,
The power supply control unit 5 checks the time being measured by the positioning time measurement unit 4, and if the positioning time is within a predetermined time, the process moves to step E, the GPS device 1 displays the positioning result, and the predetermined time is displayed. If the required number of satellites cannot be tracked even if the number of satellites exceeds the limit, the process proceeds to step F, and the power source control unit 5 outputs a power source off signal to the power source unit 3 to turn off the power source. After that, the user moves to a place where there are few obstacles for GPS satellite tracking,
Start positioning again.

As described above, according to the GPS receiver of this embodiment, the positioning time measuring unit 4 is provided to measure the positioning time for tracking all the GPS satellites of the number necessary for positioning the own position. When the positioning time exceeds a predetermined value, the power control unit 5
By sending a power-off signal to the power supply unit 3 and controlling the power supply 3 to be cut off, when there are obstacles or the like and it is not possible to track all of the GPS satellites necessary for positioning of the own position automatically. Since the power is turned off, it is possible to prevent wasteful consumption of the battery.

In this embodiment, the positioning time measuring unit is G
Although the time until the tracking of the PS satellites is completed is measured, the time elapsed from the start of tracking is measured and the power-off signal is output to the power supply unit 3 when the predetermined time is exceeded. Good.

Further, the power source may be automatically connected again after a lapse of a predetermined time after the power source unit 3 is disconnected, and the GPS satellite tracking may be started again. In this case, the user again operates to start positioning. You don't have to.

Further, it is not always necessary to turn off the power of the entire apparatus, and the power of only the GPS apparatus 1 may be turned off.

[0015]

As is apparent from the above description, the present invention indicates the latitude, longitude, altitude, etc. of the user's current position as G.
GPS device for positioning based on PS satellite information, and the GP
The S device includes a power supply unit that supplies power to the S device, and a control unit that controls the operation of the device. The control unit controls the number of GPS devices required for positioning the current position after the GPS device starts tracking the GPS satellites. When all the GPS satellites cannot be tracked within a predetermined time, the control operation is performed so as to cut off the power supply from the power supply unit to at least the GPS device so that the position of the own position can be improved in a place where an obstacle exists in the vicinity. When attempting positioning, when the positioning time exceeds a predetermined time, the power is automatically turned off to prevent wasteful consumption of the battery and extend the battery life.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a GPS receiver of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment of the GPS receiver of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 GPS device 3 power supply unit 6 control means

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A GPS device for positioning the latitude, longitude, altitude, etc. of a user's current position based on GPS satellite information, a power supply unit for supplying power to the GPS device, and control means for controlling the operation of the device. When the GPS device cannot track all the GPS satellites required for positioning the current position within a predetermined time after the GPS device starts tracking the GPS satellites, the control means can provide at least GPS from the power supply unit.
GP that performs control operation so as to cut off power supply to the device
S receiver.