JP2009100210A - Relay device, relay method and relay program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce a communication pause time associated with a relationship with a specific radio wave in a relay device. <P>SOLUTION: A radio LAN access point 1 comprises a radio interface 11 of IEEE802.11b/g standard and a radio interface 12 of IEEE802.11a standard, and provides communication means to corresponding radio slave 21 and radio slave 22 via each interface. When a provision of the communication means in the radio interface 12 is paused, the radio LAN access point 1 provides the communication means to the radio slave 22 via the radio interface 11. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a relay apparatus, a relay method, and a relay program that can dynamically provide a plurality of communication means.

Conventionally, users can use the Internet using various communication means, one of which is a wireless LAN system.
In a wireless LAN, a terminal and an access point (relay device) are connected by radio, and the access point and a public network are connected to allow a user to access the Internet using the terminal.
A feature of the wireless LAN is that it is excellent in various conveniences such as mobility and layout free because it does not require a wired line such as a communication cable.

However, since a wireless LAN uses radio waves as a carrier instead of using wired communication, it is difficult to always ensure a stable communication state, and the communication quality may change depending on the place and environment where it is used.
In particular, when the user's usage area is not constant, such as a public wireless LAN, sometimes it is strongly affected by other radio waves, interferences, weather, etc. In the worst case, communication is impossible It becomes.
Therefore, it is important for the user to know the radio wave condition in advance and use the wireless LAN.

Therefore, Patent Document 1 proposes a wireless communication apparatus that can easily specify a wireless communication state.
Patent Document 2 proposes a mobile communication system capable of searching for connectable access points and selecting and switching dynamically-communication interfaces.

JP 2006-033251 A JP 2006-173776 A

However, the above-described wireless communication apparatus or the like has a problem in terms of convenience and reliability because no measures are taken when communication must be stopped in relation to a specific radio wave.
The reason for this is that, when using the W53 or W56 frequency band in the IEEE802.11a standard for wireless LAN, along with DFS (Dynamic Frequency Selection) control for preventing interference with a predetermined weather radar, This is because the communication line may be forcibly stopped during communication.

For example, as shown in FIG. 8, when the frequency of the weather radar is detected (b2) when the wireless handset is in the normal mode communication state connected to the 802.11a standard interface of the access point (b2), The control unit of the access point must perform control for switching the use channel for the interface (b3).
When switching channels, monitoring for a certain period of time is required, so the line must be disconnected at that interface (b4).
For this reason, communication is stopped for one minute after receiving the communication stop end notification after step b4 (b5) until reconnection is made (b6), during which the user cannot use the wireless LAN. .
This one-minute communication stoppage is particularly troublesome for users who are browsing the Web on the Internet and has been a problem.

  In addition to the above-mentioned problems, wireless communication devices and the like are inventions mainly intended for the terminal side, and each terminal must be provided with means related to the invention, which is troublesome and expensive, and is not reasonable. There was a problem.

  The objective of this invention is providing the relay apparatus which solves the inconvenience and irrationality which are the subject mentioned above by shortening the communication stop time accompanying the relationship with a specific electromagnetic wave.

  In order to achieve the above object, a relay apparatus of the present invention is a relay apparatus that includes a plurality of interfaces and can provide communication means to a plurality of corresponding terminals via each interface, and the relay apparatus of one interface When provision is stopped, a communication means is provided to a corresponding terminal via another interface.

  Further, the relay method of the present invention is a relay method capable of providing predetermined communication means to a plurality of corresponding terminals via a plurality of interfaces, and when the communication means in one interface is stopped, Communication means is provided to the corresponding terminal via the interface.

  Further, the relay program of the present invention is a relay program using a relay device that can provide predetermined communication means to a plurality of corresponding terminals via a plurality of interfaces, and a computer that constitutes the relay device is assigned to one computer. This is a program for causing a corresponding terminal to function as means for providing communication means via another interface when the communication means at the interface is stopped.

  As described above, according to the relay device of the present invention, it is possible to assign another communication path regardless of the means and configuration on the terminal side, and even in a situation where communication must be stopped. , Convenience and availability can be provided.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.
Here, the wireless LAN access point (relay device) 1 of the present embodiment shown below is realized by processing, means, and functions executed by a computer in accordance with instructions of a program (software). The program sends a command to each component of the computer to perform predetermined processing and functions as shown below. That is, each processing / means in the wireless LAN access point 1 of the present embodiment is realized by specific means in which a program and a computer cooperate.
Note that all or part of the program is provided by, for example, a magnetic disk, optical disk, semiconductor memory, or any other computer-readable recording medium, and the program read from the recording medium is installed in the computer and executed. The The program can also be loaded and executed directly on a computer through a communication line without using a recording medium.

FIG. 1 is a network diagram showing a wireless LAN system including a wireless LAN access point and a wireless slave device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Generally, a wireless LAN access point can be called a relay device, and a wireless slave can be called a terminal.
As shown in FIG. 1, the wireless LAN access point 1 according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of wireless interfaces 11 and 12, and a control unit 13 that relays packets transmitted and received through these wireless interfaces and performs various controls. ing.
The wireless LAN access point 1 and the wireless slaves 21 and 22 are wirelessly connected so that the user can access the Internet 3 via the wireless LAN access point 1 by operating the wireless slaves in a predetermined manner. It has become.

Each of the wireless interfaces 11 and 12 provides communication means to the corresponding wireless slaves 21 and 22 based on the line setting by the control unit 13, and constitutes communication providing means of the present invention.
In this embodiment, the wireless interfaces 11 and 12 are interfaces that operate based on different wireless LAN standards. Specifically, the wireless interface 11 is the IEEE802.11b / g standard, and the wireless interface 12 is the IEEE802.11a. It is a standard interface.
However, the standard of each wireless interface is not fixed as described above, and any standard conforming to the IEEE 802.11 standard such as IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, or the like may be used.
Further, in each of the wireless interfaces 11 and 12, it is possible to set two or more logical lines so that a single wireless interface can provide wireless communication lines to two or more wireless slave units. It is assumed that an SSID function is provided.

The control unit 13 sets operation parameters of the wireless LAN interfaces 11 and 12, and includes the line setting unit of the present invention as one unit.
In particular, in the present embodiment, when communication in the wireless interface 12 is forcibly stopped for a predetermined reason, an operation parameter set in the wireless interface 12 is extracted (setting information extracting unit of the present invention), The extracted operation parameter is set in the wireless interface 11 (alternative line setting means of the present invention).
Typical operation parameters to be set include, for example, SSID (identifier data of the present invention) for associating with a wireless slave unit, encryption methods such as WEP and AES, ciphertext, and the like.

The wireless slaves 21 and 22 are terminals provided with predetermined wireless LAN communication means, and are generally personal computers, PDAs and other wireless LAN terminals.
In addition, it is assumed that a unique identifier (SSID) is assigned to the wireless slave devices 21 and 22 as one data of the setting profile, and one or more wireless LAN access points having the same SSID are set. It is assumed that a roaming function that automatically connects based on detection of an optimal radio wave is provided.

Here, features of the wireless LAN access point according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 2 is a network diagram schematically showing a normal connection form of the wireless LAN access point according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a case where communication is stopped at one interface of the wireless LAN access point shown in FIG. It is the network diagram which showed typically the connection form at the time.
As shown in FIG. 2, the wireless LAN access point 1 according to the present embodiment is normally wirelessly connected to one interface corresponding to one wireless slave unit. However, any one of the interfaces (in this case, the wireless interface) If communication must be stopped in 12), the communication stop time can be minimized by switching to another interface (in this case, the wireless interface 11) as shown in FIG.

In the present embodiment, the case where the frequency bands of W53 and W54 are used in the wireless LAN standard of IEEE802.11a is specifically assumed as the above-mentioned case where communication must be stopped.
In this case, in order to prevent interference with the frequency used for weather radar, dynamic frequency selection (DFS) is obligatory, and a waiting time of 1 minute is required at the start of communication with the execution of the DFS control. Must be provided. Accordingly, communication cannot be started unless at least this waiting time has elapsed.
In addition, when a target weather radar is detected at the start of communication or during communication, the radio channel must be shifted to another frequency channel by DFS control, but the destination channel also requires DFS. In the case of a frequency band channel, radio communication is forcibly interrupted because radar monitoring is performed for one minute after the determination of a new channel.

  In such a case, conventionally, the user must wait until the communication stop is released, switch to a wired connection, or connect to another access point, and select one of the correspondences. However, by using the wireless LAN access point 1 according to the present embodiment, it is possible to continue communication smoothly without taking such troublesome measures.

Next, a path switching operation at the start of communication of the wireless LAN access point shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a communication path switching operation procedure at the start of communication of the wireless LAN access point according to the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 5, first, the control unit 13 determines to use an arbitrary channel of the wireless interface 11 according to a predetermined parameter setting (S1).
Next, the control unit 13 determines whether or not the determined channel is a DFS required channel (S2).
That is, it is controlled whether the wireless interface 11 is of the IEEE802.11a standard and the frequency band of the channel to be used corresponds to W53 (5.25 GHz to 5.35 GHz) and W54 (5.47 GHz to 5.725 GHz). The part 13 determines.
This is because, as described above, in such a frequency band, there is a possibility of causing interference with the frequency used in weather radar.

As a result of the determination in step S2, if the used channel is determined to be a DFS required channel (S2: YES), the wireless interface 11 waits for a certain period of time for detection of weather radar (S3).
That is, during this time, the wireless interface 11 is in a communication stop mode, and communication with the wireless slave device 21 is impossible.
During the standby, in the wireless interface 12, the control unit 13 performs line setting by quoting the channel parameters set in the wireless interface 11.
Specifically, the control unit 13 sets the same data as the profile such as the SSID (Service Set Identifier) of the wireless slave device 21 set in the channel of the wireless interface 11 to an arbitrary channel of the wireless interface 12, A so-called multi-SSID is executed (S4).

Here, the control unit 13 determines whether or not a weather radar is detected in the frequency band of the channel used by the wireless interface 11 (S5).
This is because a new channel to be used after the transition needs to consider the interference with the weather radar and shift the channel again when necessary.
When the detection of the target weather radar is not confirmed as a result of step S5 (S5: NO), the control unit 13 continues the radar detection until a predetermined time as a radar monitoring time elapses ( S6: NO).
When this radar detection monitoring time ends (S6: YES), the control unit 13 ends the multi-SSID communication on the wireless interface 12, returns to the wireless interface 11 again, and the original transition destination channel by DFS control. Is selected to start communication (S8).

When the detection of the target weather radar is confirmed as a result of step S5 (S5: YES), the control unit 13 selects another channel and performs monitoring for radar detection again. (S9).
If it is not determined that the channel is required for DFS in step S2 (S2: NO), the control unit 13 does not switch the interface and starts using the wireless interface 11 as it is (S8).

Next, the communication path switching operation during communication of the wireless LAN access point according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram illustrating a communication path switching operation procedure during communication of the wireless LAN access point according to the present embodiment.
It is assumed that the wireless LAN access point 1 is configured in advance in the system shown in FIG. 2, and various line settings shown in FIG.

That is, a wireless slave unit 21 is connected to the wireless interface 11, and a wireless slave unit 22 is connected to the wireless interface 12, and the wireless interface 11 operates according to the IEEE802.11b / g standard and the wireless interface 12 operates according to the IEEE802.11a standard. Assuming that
The setting profiles of the wireless slave device 21 and the wireless interface 11 are both SSID “SSID_BG” and the encryption method is WEP (Wired Equivalent).
Privacy) is used, and communication is performed using 7ch.
On the other hand, in the setting profiles of the wireless slave unit 22 and the wireless interface 12, the SSID is “SSID_A” and the encryption method is AES (Advanced Encryption).
Standard) is used, and communication is performed using 52ch.

As shown in FIG. 6, first, it is assumed that while the wireless slave unit 22 and the wireless interface 12 are connected and communicating (a1), the wireless interface 12 detects the frequency of the weather radar that is the target of the DFS.
When detecting the weather radar, the wireless interface 12 notifies the control unit 13 to that effect (a2).
Upon receiving this notification, the control unit 13 requests the wireless interface 12 to switch the channel (a3), for example, requests to switch the channel in use from 52ch to 56ch.

Here, since it is necessary to check whether or not the meteorological radar that is the target of DFS is detected even at the switching destination 56ch, the radar monitoring must be continued for a certain period of time. Restricts communication on the wireless interface 12.
Specifically, under the control of the control unit 13, the connection between the wireless interface 12 and the wireless slave device 22 is disconnected (a4), and the communication is stopped for one minute.

On the other hand, the control unit 13 sets a multi-SSID for the wireless interface 11 and secures an alternative line (a5).
Specifically, the control unit 13 refers to the parameters (SSID = SSID_A, encryption method = AES) set in 52ch of the wireless interface 12 that was communicating, and sets the same setting for the predetermined channel of the wireless interface 11. Do.
As described above, since another line (SSID = SSID_BG) is already set for the wireless interface 11 in 7ch, a plurality of line settings can be made using the same channel (7ch) of the same interface (wireless interface 11). Will be done.
As a result, as shown in FIG. 3, the wireless slave unit 22 is connected to the wireless interface 11 (a6), and waits for the end of the radar monitoring time (1 minute stop time) that is obligated with the DFS control. Without being wirelessly available.

When the radar monitoring time elapses, the control unit 13 notifies the wireless interface 12 of a predetermined communication stop end notification (a7) and notifies the wireless interface 11 that the multi-SSID is canceled ( a8).
As a result, as shown in FIG. 4, the SSID_A line of the wireless interface 11 that was in communication is disconnected (a9), and the roaming function automatically connects to the 56ch of the wireless interface 12 (a10). Thus, communication is started in the switching destination channel based on the original DFS.

Next, state transition at each interface of the wireless LAN access point according to the present embodiment will be supplementarily described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the state transition in each interface of the wireless LAN access point according to the present embodiment in time series.
That is, (2-1) shown in FIG. 7 represents the state of the wireless interface at the normal time, and corresponds to the connection form shown in FIG.
Here, in the wireless interface 11, communication is performed using 7ch in which the SSID is set to “SSID_BG” and the encryption method is set to WEP, and the SSID is set to “SSID_A” and the encryption method is set to AES in the wireless interface 12. In this state, communication is performed using 52 channels.

Further, (2-2) shown in FIG. 7 represents a state in which the wireless interface is switched due to communication stoppage in the wireless interface 12, and corresponds to the connection form shown in FIG.
Here, in the wireless interface 11, multi-SSID is executed, and the wireless interface 11 provides a line to the wireless slave unit 21 and also provides a line to the wireless slave unit 22.
Specifically, in channel 7 of the wireless interface 11, both a line with an SSID of “SSID_BD” and a line with an SSID of “SSID_A” are set, and the wireless handset 22 is in a state in which it can temporarily communicate through the wireless interface 11. Become.

(2-3) shown in FIG. 7 represents the state of each interface when the communication stop in the wireless interface 12 is restored, and corresponds to the connection form shown in FIG.
Here, by disconnecting the “SSID_A” line of the wireless interface 11, the “SSID_A” line is automatically connected at 56 ch of the wireless interface 12 that is the original switching destination of DFS by the roaming function provided by the wireless slave unit. Communication is performed.

As described above, according to the wireless LAN access point 1 of the present embodiment, communication is performed by dynamically switching to another wireless interface 11 even when the communication of the wireless interface 12 is stopped. .
In particular, in the present embodiment, it is assumed that communication based on the IEEE802.11a standard is forcibly stopped with DFS control in relation to specific radio waves (such as weather radar).
Specifically, the control unit 13 refers to the SSID set for the wireless interface 12 whose communication has been stopped, and performs the same SSID setting (including multi-SSID setting) for the other wireless interface 11. Thus, automatic switching using the roaming function of the wireless slave unit 22 can be performed.

For this reason, not only the original communication stop time associated with the DFS control is shortened, but also the interface is smoothly switched.
For example, with HTTP access or the like, the user can continue to operate as usual without interruption of the session.

In addition, after the elapse of the communication stop time related to the DFS control, by switching again to the original wireless interface 12, communication can be performed using the original transition channel associated with the DFS execution.
Specifically, the control unit 13 uses the roaming function of the wireless slave device 22 by disconnecting the line of the wireless interface 11 where the multi-SSID setting is performed and enabling the original wireless interface 12. Automatic switching will be possible.
Therefore, communication according to the original wireless LAN standard becomes possible, and communication can be performed on the original transition channel without impairing the DFS function.
Thereby, it is possible to simplify the improvement of the apparatus without impairing the convenience of the user.

  Therefore, according to the wireless LAN access point 1 according to the present embodiment, high reliability, convenience, and availability can be realized and provided to the user.

The relay apparatus according to the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment. However, the relay apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention. It goes without saying that it is possible.
For example, in this embodiment, the alternative line setting means of the present invention is realized by switching the interface in one wireless LAN access point, but a plurality of wireless LAN access points having the same SSID and encryption method are arranged. The same effect can also be achieved.
The reason is that a general wireless slave unit has a function (roaming function) that can automatically select and switch the access point with the best radio wave condition, so it is generated by setting a multi-SSID on another interface. This is because the connection is automatically switched to the connected line to perform communication.

Further, according to the present invention, when the wireless interface 12 needs to be stopped by the DFS function, the SSID and the encryption newly set by the wireless interface 11 during the grace period (10 seconds) until the communication is stopped. The corresponding wireless slave unit is automatically connected to the corresponding wireless slave unit 11 by setting the notified SSID and encryption as its own profile. May be.
Thereby, the setting change on the wireless slave unit side is required, but the same effect as that of the present embodiment can be obtained, and the variation of the system can be increased.

  The present invention can be suitably used for a wireless LAN access point having a plurality of wireless interfaces.

1 is a network diagram illustrating a wireless LAN system including a wireless LAN access point and a wireless slave device according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is the network figure which showed typically the normal connection form of the wireless LAN access point which concerns on this embodiment. It is the network figure which showed typically the connection form when communication is stopped in one interface of the wireless LAN access point which concerns on this embodiment. It is the network figure which showed typically the connection form when one interface of the wireless LAN access point which relates to this execution form returns from communication stop 5 is a flowchart showing a communication path switching operation procedure at the start of communication of the wireless LAN access point according to the present embodiment. It is the sequence diagram which showed the switching operation | movement procedure of the communication path during communication of the wireless LAN access point which concerns on this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which represented the state transition in each interface of the wireless LAN access point which concerns on this embodiment in time series. It is a sequence diagram for demonstrating the malfunction in the conventional wireless LAN access point.

Explanation of symbols

1 Wireless LAN access point 11 Wireless interface (IEEE802.11b / g standard)
12 Wireless interface (IEEE802.11a standard)
13 Control unit 21, 22 Wireless cordless handset

Claims (9)

A relay device comprising a plurality of interfaces and capable of providing communication means to a plurality of corresponding terminals via each interface,
A relay device, which provides communication means to a corresponding terminal via another interface when provision of communication means at one interface is stopped. Line setting means for setting predetermined line setting information for each interface;
Communication providing means for providing a communication means to a corresponding terminal via an interface in which line setting information is set;
A setting information extracting means for extracting line setting information set in the one interface when provision of communication means in the one interface is stopped according to a predetermined condition;
An alternative line setting means for setting the line setting information extracted by the setting information extracting means to another interface,
The communication providing means includes
The relay apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a communication unit is provided to a corresponding terminal via the other interface. The alternative line setting means includes
The line setting information extracted by the setting information extracting means is set in another interface together with other line setting information,
The communication providing means includes
3. The relay apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a communication unit is provided to two or more corresponding terminals via the other interface in which two or more line setting information is set. The setting information extraction means includes
When the standard of the target interface is IEEE 802.11a and the provision of communication means in the interface is stopped in response to detection of a predetermined frequency, the line setting information set in the interface The relay device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the relay device is extracted.   5. The relay apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the line setting information includes predetermined identifier data that associates an interface with a terminal. The communication providing means includes
When the stop of the provision of the communication means in the one interface is released, the provision of the communication means based on the alternative line setting means in the other interface is stopped and communicated to the corresponding terminal via the one interface The relay apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a means.   The relay apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the interface is a wireless LAN interface corresponding to one or more standards of IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, and IEEE 802.11g. A relay method for providing a predetermined communication means to a plurality of corresponding terminals via a plurality of interfaces,
A relay method for providing communication means to a corresponding terminal via another interface when communication means in one interface is stopped. A relay program using a relay device capable of providing predetermined communication means to a plurality of corresponding terminals via a plurality of interfaces,
A computer constituting the relay device;
A relay program for functioning as a means for providing communication means to a corresponding terminal via another interface when communication means in one interface is stopped.

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