JP2009188439A - Congestion avoiding method for multicasting or broadcasting service, base station controller, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a base station controller equipped with a congestion avoiding function, and a congestion avoiding method for multicasting or broadcasting service and a program. <P>SOLUTION: The base station controller 41 includes a transfer suppressing means (call processing control unit 112) which estimates the band use state of at least a downstream section on the basis of a resource use state (resource information) in the controller, and suppresses transfer of data to be multicasted or broadcasted when congestion is predicted. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a congestion avoidance method, a base station control device, and a program for a multicast or broadcast service, and in particular, a base station control device that multicasts or broadcasts multimedia data via a subordinate base station, and the multicast or broadcast service. The present invention relates to a congestion avoidance method and a program.

  A multimedia multicast / broadcast service in a conventional mobile communication system will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 1, multicast routers 31 and 32 duplicate the multicast / broadcast service traffic distributed from the content server 10 and the multicast / broadcast distribution server 20, and the network to which the mobile terminal 60 requesting the service belongs, the base station controller 41. , 42 to forward traffic. The base station controllers 41 and 42 duplicate the multicast / broadcast service traffic and forward the traffic to the base stations 51 to 53 accommodating the cell to which the mobile terminal 60 requesting the service belongs. The base stations 51 to 53 transmit to a cell accommodating multicast / broadcast service traffic.

  In Patent Document 1, a multicast management apparatus that receives multicast routing information from a router and manages bandwidth of each group, a usable bandwidth of each section, and a busy state, in a control system different from the above-described multicast network forwarding system A configuration is disclosed that includes a bandwidth management device that manages bandwidth and performs bandwidth acceptance determination and bandwidth management.

JP2003-258882A

  However, the multimedia multicast / broadcast service in the conventional mobile communication system has the following problems.

  The first problem is that each mobile terminal that is assumed to receive traffic needs to transmit with a sufficiently large transmission power so that a predetermined reception quality can be ensured, and the radio band is increased compared to other traffic. Occupied and congestion is likely to occur.

  Further, if the transmission rate of multicast / broadcast service traffic is kept low in order to solve the above problems, there is a secondary problem that it is not possible to cope with transfer of a relatively large capacity content such as multimedia content.

  Further, Patent Document 1 performs bandwidth management in the above-described multicast network, and cannot guarantee avoidance of congestion in the downstream section. In particular, the situation unique to the mobile communication system in which the transmission power must be increased in the wireless section is not considered at all.

  The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances described above, and the object of the present invention is to provide a multicast or broadcast service congestion avoidance method, a base station control device, and a program in consideration of circumstances specific to the mobile communication system. Is to provide.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a base station control apparatus that multicasts or broadcasts multimedia data via a subordinate base station, and at least a bandwidth of a downstream section based on a resource usage situation inside the apparatus. A base station control device is provided that includes a transfer suppression unit that estimates the usage status and, when congestion is expected, suppresses transfer of data to be multicast or broadcast.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a congestion avoidance method for a multicast or broadcast service in a downstream section of a base station controller that multicasts or broadcasts multimedia data via a subordinate base station. Multicast or broadcast service in which the device transfer suppression means estimates the bandwidth usage status of at least the downstream section based on the resource usage information status within the device itself, and suppresses multicast data transfer when congestion is expected A congestion avoidance method is provided.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program to be executed by a computer constituting a base station control device that multicasts or broadcasts multimedia data via a subordinate base station, and the resource usage information status inside the device Based on the above, a program for causing the computer to function as a transfer suppression means for suppressing the transfer of data to be multicast or broadcasted is provided at least when the bandwidth usage situation in the downstream section is estimated and congestion is expected. The

  According to the present invention, it is possible to take appropriate traffic suppression measures and avoid the occurrence of congestion. The reason is that the base station controller is provided with means for suppressing the transfer of data to be multicast or broadcast based on the estimated bandwidth usage of the downstream section.

  Next, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  First, referring to FIG. 1 again, a mobile communication system to which the base station control apparatus according to the present invention is applied will be described.

  Referring to FIG. 1, a content server 10, a multicast / broadcast distribution server 20, a multicast router network in which multicast routers 31 and 32 are arranged, a base station controller 41 that receives multicast service traffic from the multicast router 32, Forty-two or less mobile communication systems are shown.

  The content server 10 is a server that accumulates and manages multimedia content to be distributed. The multicast / broadcast distribution server 20 is a server that controls distribution of multimedia contents stored and managed in the content server 10 for the mobile communication network / mobile terminal 60.

  The multicast router network is a network composed of routers corresponding to multicast and router equivalent devices. The multicast routers 31 and 32 are routers corresponding to multicast and router equivalent devices.

  Since the base stations 51 to 53 and the mobile terminal 60 are devices well known to those skilled in the art, description thereof is omitted.

  Subsequently, the detailed configuration of the base station control devices 41 and 42 shown in FIG. 1 will be described as a first embodiment of the present invention.

[First embodiment]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of the base station control apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown a configuration of a base station control device 41 including line termination units 101 and 102, a control unit 110, and a plurality of protocol processing units 121 to 123. In addition, the base station control apparatus 42 can also be provided with the congestion prevention function of this invention mentioned later by setting it as the structure similar to the base station control apparatus 41. FIG.

  The line termination unit (first line termination unit) 101 has a function of transmitting resource information to the control unit 110 in addition to a function of terminating a line with a base station. The line termination unit (second line termination unit) 102 has a function of terminating a line with the multicast router network.

  The protocol processing units 121 to 123 are processing means that perform a protocol process unique to the mobile communication system and have a function of transmitting resource information to the control unit 110. Although FIG. 2 illustrates a configuration in which the function is divided into three protocol processing units, the number of protocol processing units can be changed as appropriate according to the protocol processing function division method.

  Here, the resource information is information available to the protocol processing units 121 to 123 and the line termination unit 101 such as a line identifier usage rate, a bandwidth (transmission capability) usage amount, and a buffer usage amount.

  The control unit 110 includes a device control unit 111 and a call processing control unit 112, and controls the entire base station control device. Although FIG. 2 shows an example of the control unit configured by the device control unit 111 and the call processing control unit 112, the configuration of the control unit 110 can be changed as appropriate.

  The apparatus control unit 111 includes operational control functions (system management, failure monitoring, maintenance, apparatus control monitoring function, etc.) of the base station control apparatus 41. The call processing control unit 112 includes control / management of an inter-device control channel, user call control / management functions, and the like. Each function of the control unit can be realized by a program that causes a computer to execute an operation described later.

  An arrow line from the line termination unit 101 and the protocol processing units 121 to 123 in FIG. 2 to the call processing control unit 112 represents the flow of “resource information”. In addition to the resource information (resource usage status information) received from the protocol processing units 121 to 123 and the line termination unit 101, the call processing control unit 112 takes into account its own resource information managed by the call processing control unit 112. Then, a resource usage ratio rr for estimating the band usage status in the mobile communication system (inside the base station controller, between the base station controller and the base station, and in the radio section) is calculated.

  When the resource usage rate rr exceeds a predetermined value, the call processing control unit 112 estimates that there is a high possibility that congestion will occur, and the resource usage rate rr to the line termination unit 101 and the protocol processing units 121 to 123 is estimated. Give the suppression instruction according to. An arrow line from the call processing control unit 112 to the line termination unit 101 and the protocol processing units 121 to 123 in FIG. 2 represents a “suppression instruction” instructed from the call processing control unit 112.

  Examples of the “suppression instruction” include an average transmission speed, a transfer stop time, a service to be suppressed, and the like. FIG. 3 is a table showing the average transmission rate applied according to the resource usage rate rr, and a lower average transmission rate is applied as the resource usage rate rr increases. FIG. 4 is a table showing the data transfer stop time applied according to the resource usage rate rr, and a longer data transfer stop time is applied as the resource usage rate rr increases. Similarly, a service to be suppressed is preferentially subjected to transfer suppression / buffering from a service with a low real-time transfer request. Moreover, it is good also as giving the suppression instruction | indication which combined the average transmission speed, the transfer stop time, the service of suppression object, etc.

  The operation of the base station control apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing an operation sequence of each internal part of the base station control apparatus of the present embodiment. Referring to FIG. 5, the protocol processing units 121 to 123 and the line termination unit 101 transmit resource information to the call processing control unit 112 at a predetermined transmission timing. In the example of FIG. 5, the resource information is transmitted in the order of the protocol processing units 121, 122, 123, and the line termination unit 101, but actually, the order is not limited to the order of FIG. 5, Each unit transmits resource information at a predetermined transmission timing.

  The call processing control unit 112 calculates the resource usage ratio information rr based on the resource information, and determines whether or not to issue a data transfer suppression instruction (step S001). For example, when the resource usage ratio information rr is less than the threshold value TH1 in FIG. 3, the call processing control unit 112 does not issue a data transfer suppression instruction.

  On the other hand, if the resource usage ratio information rr exceeds a predetermined value and there is a concern about congestion, the call processing control unit 112 provides the multicast / broadcast service to the protocol processing units 121, 122, 123 and the line termination unit 101. Instructs to suppress traffic forwarding. For example, when the resource usage ratio information rr is equal to or greater than the threshold value TH1 in FIG. 3, the call processing control unit 112 gives an instruction to lower the average transmission rate to ATS1.

  The protocol processing units 121, 122, 123 and the line terminating unit 101 that have received the suppression instruction buffer multicast / broadcast service traffic and suppress forwarding according to the contents (step S002).

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to suppress the traffic transfer and prevent the occurrence of congestion according to the use state of the network resource.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, since the traffic transfer suppression instruction is dynamically and stepwise, the multimedia multicast / broadcast transfer rate can be minimized.

  In addition, in this embodiment, since the mechanism for suppressing traffic forwarding is closed in the base station control device, the advantage that no load is applied to other devices and the traffic forwarding can be suppressed by quickly following the network usage status. The advantage of being able to recover is also realized.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a description will be given of a second embodiment of the present invention in which the suppressed portion of the base station control device functions as a traffic transfer suppressing means. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of the base station control apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 6, the basic configuration of the base station control device 41 is the same as that of the first embodiment described above, but the arrow lines representing the flow of “resource information” and “suppression instruction” are different.

  In this embodiment, the protocol processing units 121, 122, 123 and the line termination unit 101 individually determine whether or not the possibility of occurrence of congestion has increased based on the available resource information, and transfer them themselves. Perform suppression action.

  In the second embodiment of the present invention described above, in addition to the effects of the first embodiment described above, it is possible to quickly determine transfer suppression and to reduce the load on the call processing control unit 112. It has become. The reason is that the to-be-suppressed part of the base station control device is configured to individually determine the transfer suppression.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and further modifications and replacements are possible without departing from the basic technical idea of the present invention. -Adjustments can be made.

  For example, the resource information and the suppression instruction exemplified in the above-described embodiment are merely examples, and the optimum information can be selected according to the system and service request as long as those skilled in the art can make. . As for the calculation of the resource usage rate, it is possible to combine the above-mentioned resource information in various combinations and calculate the optimal combination according to the system and service request.

It is a figure showing the structure of the mobile communication system with which the base station control apparatus which concerns on 1st Example of this invention is applied. It is a block diagram showing the detailed structure of the base station control apparatus which concerns on 1st Example of this invention. It is an example of the table showing the average transmission rate applied according to a resource usage rate. It is an example of the table showing the data transfer stop time applied according to a resource usage rate. It is a sequence diagram showing the internal operation | movement sequence of the base station control apparatus which concerns on 1st Example of this invention. It is a block diagram showing the detailed structure of the base station control apparatus which concerns on 2nd Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Content server 20 Multicast / broadcast delivery server 31, 32 Multicast router 41, 42 Base station control apparatus 51, 52, 53 Base station 60 Mobile terminal 101 Line termination part (1st line termination part)
102 Line termination (second line termination)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 110 Control part 111 Apparatus control part 112 Call processing control part 121-123 Protocol processing part

Claims (7)

A base station controller for multicasting or broadcasting multimedia data via a subordinate base station,
Based on the resource usage status inside the device, at least the bandwidth usage status of the downstream section is estimated, and when congestion is expected, it is provided with a transfer suppression means for suppressing the transfer of data to be multicast or broadcast,
A base station control device. As the transfer suppression means,
A first line termination unit for terminating a line with a base station;
A plurality of stages of protocol processing units for executing predetermined protocol processing on multimedia data transferred from a second line termination unit that terminates a line with the network side;
Based on the resource usage status information transmitted from the protocol processing unit and the first line termination unit, the bandwidth usage status of its own device or downstream section is estimated, and when congestion is expected, the protocol processing unit And a control unit that instructs the first line termination unit to suppress transfer of multicast or broadcast data,
The base station control apparatus according to claim 1. The resource usage status information includes at least one of a usage rate of a line identifier, a bandwidth usage amount, and a buffer usage amount;
The base station control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein The control unit instructs to suppress transfer of data to be multicast or broadcast by at least one of an average transmission speed, a transfer stop time, and a suppression target service;
The base station control device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein The control unit calculates a resource usage rate in the downstream section based on the resource usage status information, and strengthens the suppression content of data transfer according to the height of the resource usage rate,
The base station control device according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein A multicast or broadcast service congestion avoidance method in a downstream section of a base station controller that multicasts or broadcasts multimedia data via a subordinate base station,
The transfer suppression means of the base station control device estimates the bandwidth usage status of at least the downstream section based on the resource usage information status within its own device, and suppresses multicast data transfer when congestion is expected ,
A congestion avoidance method for multicast or broadcast services. A program to be executed by a computer constituting a base station controller that multicasts or broadcasts multimedia data via a subordinate base station,
Based on the resource usage information status inside the device, the bandwidth usage status of at least the downstream section is estimated, and when congestion is expected, the computer functions as a transfer suppression unit that suppresses multicast or broadcast data transfer Program to let you.

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