Method for determining the relative positions of at least two mobile terminal devices to each other

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for determining the relative positions to each other of at least two mobile terminal devices, such as mobile phones, tablet computers, PDAs, notebooks, subnotebooks, or similar mobile terminal devices, wherein a position query of one mobile terminal device is transmitted to the other mobile terminal device, the relative positions to each other of the two mobile terminal devices are determined on the basis of the current geographic positions of the two mobile terminal devices after the queried mobile terminal device confirms the position query, and a relative distance and a geographic direction to the queried mobile terminal device are displayed at least at the querying mobile terminal device as a position indicator.

Claims

1. A method for determining the relative positions to each other of at least two mobile terminal devices comprising a querying mobile terminal device and at least one other mobile terminal device, the method comprising: receiving, at a database, a relative position query from the querying mobile terminal device in a predefined communications group of mobile terminal devices, the position query requesting relative position of the at least one other mobile terminal device in the predefined communications group; transmitting the relative position query of the querying mobile terminal device to the other mobile terminal devices and requesting confirmation of the relative position query from the other mobile terminal devices; determining current geographic positions of the querying mobile device terminal and the other mobile device terminals for which relative position is requested by the querying mobile terminal and for which confirmation of the relative position query has been received; calculating current relative positions of the querying mobile terminal device with the other mobile terminal devices based on the current geographic positions; generating current relative position indicators of corresponding relative positions among the querying mobile terminal and the other mobile terminals for which confirmation of the relative position query has been received; forwarding corresponding ones of the current relative position indicators to each corresponding one of the querying mobile terminal and the other mobile terminals for which confirmation of the relative position query has been received; and displaying the corresponding current relative position indicators on at least a display of the querying mobile terminal; wherein the terminal devices of all users of the method are included in the database, together with an individual, user-related database associated with each mobile terminal device, wherein the mobile terminal devices are associated with individual communications groups in the database, formed by the users of the database, and wherein position queries are permitted only within each respective communications group; wherein all terminal devices of the users of a common communications group are displayed for selection on each terminal device of each user of the common communications group at the beginning of the position query, the user selects the terminal devices to be queried from the displayed communications group, and after selecting a position query is transmitted to all selected terminal devices to be queried; and wherein the transmitting to all selected terminal devices to be queried is by a single action.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least two mobile terminal devices are included with at least one further mobile terminal device in a database as a common communications group, wherein the user of the querying mobile terminal device can select one or more mobile terminal devices from the communications group for simultaneously transmitting position queries, and relative distances and geographic directions for each confirming mobile terminal device for which mobile device the users have confirmed the position queries are displayed at the queried mobile terminal device after transmitting the position queries to all selected mobile terminal devices on the basis of the relative positions to each other of each confirming mobile terminal device and the querying mobile terminal device.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the relative distances and geographic directions of the mobile terminal devices participating in the position query to each other are displayed at each of the mobile terminal devices participating in the position query for which the users thereof have confirmed the query, based on the current geographic positions of each of the mobile terminal devices participating in the position query.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein based on the relative positions to each other of the mobile terminal devices a position indicator in the form of a relative distance and an opposite geographic direction to the querying mobile terminal device are also displayed at each queried mobile terminal device.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the position query of the querying mobile terminal device is transmitted to the queried mobile terminal device by means of a mobile communications network.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the current geographic positions of the mobile terminal devices participating in the position query are determined by means of a GPS system and/or by means of the mobile communications cells of at least one mobile communications network operator.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the current geographic positions of the mobile terminal devices are transmitted to a database, the database determines the relative positions on the basis of the current geographic positions and transmits the relative positions to the querying mobile terminal device and optionally to the at least one queried mobile terminal device.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the current geographic position of each of the mobile terminal devices participating in the position query, for which the user has confirmed the query, is transmitted to the querying mobile terminal device, and the processor of the querying mobile terminal device calculates the relative positions to each other of each of the mobile terminal devices participating in the position query and the querying mobile terminal device on the basis of the current geographic positions, and displays at the querying mobile terminal device the relative distance and the geographic direction as position indicators for each of the mobile terminal devices participating in the position query.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the position query can be declined by the user of each queried mobile terminal device.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein in addition to the position query, a communications function is provided, by means of which the terminal devices included in the database can communicate with each other for transferring information, text messages, image files, sound files, and/or video files.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the terminal devices are in a common communications group.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile terminal devices include at least one of mobile phones, tablet computers, PDAs, notebooks, and subnotebooks.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 A schematic view of two mobile terminal devices, the relative positions thereof to each other being determined by means of a satellite using a first variant of the method according to the invention,

(2) FIG. 2 An enlarged view of one of the two mobile terminal devices from FIG. 1, position indicators being displayed on the touchscreen thereof, and

(3) FIG. 3 A schematic view of three mobile terminal devices, the position indicators of which are determined by means of a database using a second variant of the method according to the invention.

SYSTEM DESCRIPTION

(4) FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of two mobile terminal devices 10 and 12, for example two so-called smartphones. The two terminal devices 10 and 12 communicate with each other in a conventional manner by means of the mobile communications network, not shown in further detail.

(5) Both terminal devices 10 and 12 are equipped with a software program working according to a first variant of the method according to the invention.

(6) FIG. 2 shows the front side of the terminal device 10 equipped with a touchscreen. The lower region of the touchscreen 14 displays a plurality of buttons 16, 18, and 20, labeled with various labels Find, ADD+, and Settings.

(7) The user of the terminal device 10 uses the terminal device 10 to send a specific position query to the terminal device 12 of the other user. This is done by actuating the button 16 labeled Find on the touchscreen 14 of the terminal device 10. As soon as the user activates the button 16 Find, a list not shown in further details opens, in which all active communications groups in which the user is included as a member are displayed. After selecting a communications group, a further list opens in which all participants of the communications group are displayed. The user can then select the participants to which the user wishes to send a position query.

(8) After selecting, the terminal device 10 sends a position query to all previously selected terminal devices when activated by the user. In the present case, the user has selected only the terminal device 12.

(9) The terminal device 12 had previously been set up in the Settings so that position queries from the terminal device 10 are always accepted.

(10) As soon as the position query from the terminal device 10 is received by the terminal device 12, and the GPS function in the terminal device 12 is activated, the terminal device 12 transmits to the terminal device 10 the geographic position of the terminal device 12 transmitted by a satellite 22. The GPS function can optionally also be activated automatically as soon as a position query is received by the terminal device 12.

(11) The terminal device 10, the GPS function of which is also activated, receives the current geographic position transmitted from the terminal device 12. The current geographic position of the terminal device 12 is compared by the processor of the terminal device 10 with the current geographic position of the same, and the relative positions of the two terminal devices 10 and 12 to each other are determined.

(12) In the next step, the terminal device 10 displays on the touchscreen 14 thereof in a distance field 24 a distance value from the other terminal device 12, and displays in a stylized compass rose a directional arrow 26 for indicating the compass heading in which the terminal device 12 is located.

(13) The position indicator displayed on the touchscreen 14 are then updated at regular time intervals, so that the user of the terminal device 10 can follow the updated position indicators.

(14) In a refinement, not shown in further detail, of the present first variant of the method according to the invention, the current geographic position of the querying terminal device 10 is also transmitted reciprocally to the queried terminal device 12, the processor of which in turn calculates position indicators using the current geographic positions of the two terminal devices 10 and 12 and displays said position indicators in the same form of a relative distance and a compass heading on the touchscreen 14 of the queried terminal device 12.

(15) FIG. 3 shows a schematic view of three terminal devices 10, 12, and 30 communicating with each other by means of a mobile communications tower 32. The geographic positions of the terminal devices 10, 12, and 30 are determined and transmitted in a conventional manner by means of the mobile communications cells.

(16) The three terminal devices 10, 12, and 30 are included in a database 34 in which the terminal devices 10, 12, and 30 are associated with a common communications group.

(17) In a first step, the user of the terminal device 10 then selects a plurality of members of the communications group by selecting the mobile phone numbers of the terminal devices 12 and 30 associated with the communications group associated with the terminal devices 10, 12, and 30. After selecting the terminal devices to be queried, in the present case after selecting the terminal devices 12 and 30, the user of the terminal device 10 actuates to send the position queries to the selected terminal devices 12 and 30.

(18) The position queries are forwarded to the database 34, in which the current geographic positions captured by the mobile communications cells are queried.

(19) After the geographic positions of the terminal devices 10, 12, and 30 are captured by the database 34, said database calculates the current relative positions of the terminal devices 10, 12, and 30 to each other and forwards the corresponding relative position indicators to each terminal device 10, 12, and 30 in the form of distances and compass headings.

(20) The users of the terminal devices 10, 12, and 30 can then see on the touchscreens of the terminal devices 10, 12, and 30 thereof the distance information and the compass heading of the other terminal devices 10, 12, and 30 as position indicators. Here again, the position indicators are continuously updated. The users are then guided to a common meeting point by means of the continuously updating position indicators.

(21) If a further user of a further terminal device (not shown) is to be accepted into the communications group, then each user can select a further user from the database by means of the button 18 (ADD+) by providing the mobile phone number of the new member of the group.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

(22) 10 Terminal device 12 Terminal device 14 Touchscreen 16 Button Find 18 Button ADD+ 20 Button Settings 22 Satellite 24 Distance field 26 Directional arrow 30 Terminal device 32 Mobile communications tower 34 Database