Patent ID: 7920874

Claim:
A position estimating system comprising: a target terminal that wirelessly transmits a position estimation request; a plurality of reference terminals disposed at specific positions to measure reception signal levels of wirelessly transmitted signals from the target terminal; and a position estimating server that estimates the position of the target terminal based upon the reception signal levels measured in correspondence to at least some of the reference terminals, wherein the plurality of reference terminals each include a reception signal level utilization OK/NG judgment unit that makes a judgment as to whether or not the reception signal level that has been measured at the respective reference terminal is to be used in position estimation based upon an index indicating the level of reliability of the reception signal, and only transmits the measured reception signal level to the position estimating server if the reception signal level utilization OK/NG judgment unit determines that the level of reliability is high, wherein, at the reception signal level utilization OK/NG judgment unit, various threshold values are set in advance, each in correspondence to a specific distance to the target terminal, and wherein, when information indicating a previously estimated position of the target terminal is obtained, the reception signal level utilization OK/NG judgment unit calculates the distance to the target terminal, selects a threshold value based upon the distance thus calculated, compares the index with the selected threshold value, and determines that the reception signal level value that has been measured can be utilized for position estimation if the index is greater than the threshold value.