JP2012015725A - Wireless transmission device and transmission method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable selection of a communication path (a wireless module) depending on a content to be transmitted and received, in a system of performing communication by switching over a plurality of wireless systems adaptively depending on a wireless environment or the like.SOLUTION: A wireless transmission device has: a plurality of wireless modules 14-1 to 14-n that carries out wireless transmission by systems different from each other; a switch part 207 that switches over the wireless modules to be operated; a content information notification part 203 that outputs information for specifying a content to be transmitted and information associated with the content to be transmitted; and an application recognition part 205 that determines the priorities of the respective wireless modules 14-1 to 14-n based on the information for specifying the content to be transmitted and the information associated with the content to be transmitted, and outputs the determined priority to the switch part 207. The switch part 207 selects any of wireless modules 14-1 to 14-n based on the priority.

Description

  The present invention relates to a wireless communication method for integrating different types of wireless media, and more particularly to a method for recognizing content transmitted and received in different types of wireless communication and selecting a wireless module.

  Conventionally, technologies for integrating different wireless media such as a wireless LAN and a mobile phone, and technologies for selecting a communication path according to a wireless environment, a type of application for transmission / reception in a packet communication technology, and the like are as follows. is there.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a technology for integrating heterogeneous wireless systems having different cell sizes such as a pico cell, a micro cell, and a macro cell using a cognitive base station and a cognitive terminal. The cognitive base station and the cognitive terminal include a switch, a plurality of wireless modules, and a wireless environment recognition unit. The wireless environment recognizing unit recognizes the wireless environment and instructs the switch to which wireless module is a link frame distribution destination based on the recognition result. The link frame is transmitted / received via the designated wireless module.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a wireless system corresponding to a plurality of wireless systems according to the technique of Patent Document 1. The multi-radio network includes a macro cell radio module 14a, a micro cell radio module 14b, and a pico cell radio module 14c, and is connected to the core network via the switch unit 13. The macro cell radio module 14a forms a macro cell that provides the widest communication area. The macro cell is, for example, a cell of a cellular system that provides a mobile phone service. The microcell wireless module 14b forms a microcell that provides a communication area in a narrower range than the macrocell. The microcell is, for example, a cell conforming to “IEEE802.16” or “IEEE802.20”. The pico cell radio module 14c forms a pico cell that provides a communication area in a narrower range than the micro cell. The pico cell is, for example, a cell conforming to “IEEE802.11”. The micro cell and the pico cell are arranged in the macro cell.

  The macro cell radio module 14a, the micro cell radio module 14b, and the pico cell radio module 14c are installed at locations corresponding to the arrangement of each cell. Each wireless module 14a, 14b, 14c is connected to a separately provided switch unit 13 via a communication line. In FIG. 6, other configurations (core network side interface 11 and wireless environment recognition unit 15) included in the cognitive base station are omitted. As shown in FIG. 6, the switch unit 13 accommodates only one macro cell. All the microcells and picocells included in the macro cell are accommodated in the same switch unit 13 as the macro cell. Thereby, one macro cell and all the micro cells and pico cells included in the macro cell are accommodated in the same switch unit 13 and processed in the same link layer.

  FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a wireless system corresponding to a plurality of wireless systems according to the technique of Patent Document 1. In FIG. 7, the base station side device includes a cognitive base station 10, a core network side interface 11, a switch unit 13, radio modules 14-1 to 14-5, and a radio environment recognition unit 15. Consists of nodes with equivalent functions. In the present invention, as wireless modules 14-1 to 14-5 of a plurality of wireless communication systems, IEEE802.11g wireless modules 14-1 and 14-2, IEEE802.11j wireless modules 14-3 and 14-4, And IEEE802.16e wireless module 14-5. Hereinafter, unless otherwise distinguished, they are referred to as “wireless module 14”.

  The IEEE 802.16e wireless module 14-5 forms the first cell that provides the widest communication area. Each of the wireless modules 14-1 and 14-2 of IEEE802.11g and the wireless modules 14-3 and 14-4 of IEEE802.11j are included in the first cell, and are narrower than the first cell. Forming a second cell providing a communication area of Note that the types of wireless communication systems are not limited to those handled in the present invention. For example, a cellular system wireless module 14 that provides a cellular phone service, an IEEE802.20 wireless module 14, or the like may be provided.

  The cognitive base station 10 is connected to the core network of the wireless communication network via the core network side interface 11. The cognitive base stations 10 are connected to each other via a core network. Further, each cognitive base station 10 can be connected to a network outside a wireless communication network such as the Internet via a core network. The core network side interface 11 transmits and receives IP (Internet Protocol) packets in the present invention as communication data of the network layer with the core network. The switch unit 13 distributes the IP packet input from the core network side interface 11 to each wireless module 14, and outputs the IP packet input from each wireless module 14 to the core network side interface 11.

  The wireless environment recognition unit 15 recognizes the wireless environment, and instructs the switch unit 13 on the distribution destination of the IP packet input from the core network side interface 11 based on the recognition result. The wireless environment recognition unit 15 acquires wireless information from each wireless module 14. Further, wireless information may be obtained from data observed with a sensor antenna (not shown). As radio information, for example, a value of RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator), background noise level, modulation method, amount of data waiting for transmission stored in the transmission buffer, and NACK signal indicating transmission failure are received from the other station. The number of times, the defect rate of radio frames received from the other station, and the like.

  The wireless environment recognition unit 15 determines the communication status of each wireless communication method based on the wireless information. For example, it is determined which wireless communication method is in a good communication state. Further, it is determined which frequency channel of which wireless communication system is in a good communication state. In addition, long-term statistical data and short-term statistical data are used to perform estimation processing for specifying a wireless communication system that may be able to obtain a good communication state in the future and the frequency channel.

  The wireless environment recognition unit 15 instructs the switch unit 13 on the distribution destination of the IP packet input from the core network side interface 11 based on the communication status of each wireless communication method. The distribution destination of the IP packet is one that is in a good communication state at the present time, or one that will obtain a good communication state in the future, and indicates one or a plurality of wireless modules 14. Furthermore, one or a plurality of frequency channels in the wireless module 14 are indicated. Also, the distribution ratio may be determined based on the communication status of each wireless communication method and instructed to the switch unit 13. The switch unit 13 sequentially outputs the IP packets received from the core network side interface 11 to the distribution destination designated by the wireless environment recognition unit 15. When a distribution ratio is instructed from the wireless environment recognition unit 15, the IP packet is distributed to each distribution destination according to the distribution ratio and output.

  As described above, the basic operation is based on the wireless environment information collected by the wireless environment recognition unit 15 of the base station and the terminal unit, the degree of congestion derived from the wireless environment information, the transmittable throughput, and the like, as described in Patent Document 1. In addition, it is assumed that the switch unit 13 selects an optimal communication method and performs communication.

  In addition, in a known technique, a router or a personal computer having a router function is generally used as a device for distributing packets to a plurality of routes. These apparatuses have a function capable of changing a packet delivery route for each application using a port number.

JP 2008-085759 A

  However, Patent Document 1 discloses a mechanism for performing wireless link multiplexing, but does not disclose a specific method for selecting a wireless system. In addition, a router or a router equipped with a router function, which is a well-known technology, has a function that can change the route of sent and received packets according to the application (WEB, MAIL, FTP, etc.) that communicates when selecting the communication route. However, when multiple contents such as TEXT, images, and videos are mixed on one service, such as a WEB service, the contents to be transmitted / received are identified and a communication path (wireless module) is selected. I can't.

  In addition, in a method of performing communication by adaptively switching a plurality of wireless systems, such as cognitive wireless communication, according to a wireless environment or the like, switching methods according to wireless quality have been actively studied. However, regarding switching according to the service that is actually being communicated, the IP layer TOS value (value indicating the quality of service of the IP being transmitted) and the TCP layer port number (communication is performed within the same computer). The number used when recognizing the current program.) Stays at the level. Even in the same port number of the TCP layer, for example, various contents such as text, still images, and moving images are flowing on WEB (port number # 80). A method of identifying them and changing the communication path (wireless module) according to their characteristics has not been proposed.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and in a method of performing communication by adaptively switching a plurality of wireless methods according to a wireless environment or the like, a communication path (wireless module) corresponding to content to be transmitted and received An object of the present invention is to provide a wireless transmission device and a transmission method that can be selected.

  (1) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention takes the following measures. That is, the wireless transmission device of the present invention is a wireless transmission device applied to a heterogeneous wireless communication system that performs wireless communication using a plurality of types of wireless communication methods at the same time, and performs wireless transmission using mutually different methods. A wireless module, a switch unit for switching the wireless module to be operated, a content information notifying unit for outputting information specifying content to be transmitted and information accompanying the content to be transmitted, information specifying the content to be transmitted, and the An application recognition unit that determines a priority of each wireless module based on information attached to content to be transmitted, and outputs the determined priority to the switch unit, and the switch unit sets the priority to the priority. On the basis of this, any one of the wireless modules is selected.

  As described above, the wireless transmission device determines the priority of each wireless module based on the information specifying the content to be transmitted and the information accompanying the content to be transmitted, and based on the determined priority, Since the module is selected, each content can be identified, and a communication path (wireless module) having a quality required for the content can be selected. As a result, the user can receive the service through the optimum communication path (wireless module), and the system side can level the transmitted / received packets, and an effect such as congestion reduction can be expected.

  (2) Further, in the wireless transmission device of the present invention, the application recognition unit has a table in which the wireless module selection requirement is associated with the priority order of the wireless module to be selected, based on the table The priority is determined.

  In this way, the wireless transmission device determines the priority based on the table that associates the wireless module selection requirements with the priority order of the wireless modules to be selected, so that each of immediacy, quality, throughput, etc. It is possible to identify content having different requirements and select a communication path (wireless module) having a quality required for the content. As a result, the user can receive the service through the optimum communication path (wireless module), and the system side can level the transmitted / received packets, and an effect such as congestion reduction can be expected.

  (3) In the wireless transmission device of the present invention, the switch unit selects any one of the wireless modules for each packet based on a recognition result of the wireless environment and the priority.

  Thus, since the switch unit selects one of the wireless modules for each packet based on the recognition result and priority of the wireless environment, even if the wireless transmission device is a wireless module with a high priority of selection. If it is determined that the performance of the second or lower priority order is better according to the wireless environment and the degree of congestion, the wireless module can be selected based on the wireless environment and the degree of congestion. Furthermore, for communications that require low content in terms of immediacy, speed, and cost, the switch unit communicates only with the specified wireless module even in an environment where communication with other wireless modules is possible. It is possible to have a mode to perform. Thereby, for example, when there is a wireless module with a low cost and a narrow wireless area, the user desires this wireless module, so that the cost is reduced only when the user enters the limited wireless area. You can communicate with.

  (4) A transmission method of the present invention is applied to a heterogeneous wireless communication system that performs wireless communication using a plurality of types of wireless communication methods at the same time, and a plurality of wireless modules that perform wireless transmission using mutually different methods. A switch unit for switching the radio module to be operated, and a method for transmitting the radio module, wherein the priority of each radio module is determined based on information specifying content to be transmitted and information accompanying the content to be transmitted. Determining at least a degree, and outputting the determined priority to the switch unit; and selecting at least one of the wireless modules based on the priority in the switch unit, To do.

  As described above, the wireless transmission device determines the priority of each wireless module based on the information specifying the content to be transmitted and the information accompanying the content to be transmitted, and based on the determined priority, Since the module is selected, each content can be identified, and a communication path (wireless module) having a quality required for the content can be selected. As a result, the user can receive the service through the optimum communication path (wireless module), and the system side can level the transmitted / received packets, and an effect such as congestion reduction can be expected.

  There are various types of content such as text, still images, streaming files, and download (upload) files among the contents transmitted and received between the client and the server. Some of these contents require immediacy, while others require quality and sufficient throughput. In the present invention, a method of identifying these and selecting a communication path (wireless module) having a quality required for content is shown. According to the present invention, a user can receive a service through an optimal communication path (wireless module), and the system side can level transmitted / received packets, and an effect such as congestion reduction can be expected. Furthermore, in the present invention, the communication path (wireless module) can be switched in consideration of user needs such as a usage fee (cost).

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the cognitive terminal of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the control mechanism of the radio | wireless module selection method of this invention. It is a table | surface which shows an example of the selection reference value conversion table | surface of this invention. It is a table | surface which shows an example of the radio | wireless module selection determination of this invention. It is a sequence chart which shows the operation | movement of the radio | wireless module selection method of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the radio | wireless system corresponding to the multiple radio system which concerns on the technique of patent document 1. FIG. FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a wireless system corresponding to a plurality of wireless systems according to the technique of Patent Document 1.

  In this specification, the WEB service will be described as an example. Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a cognitive terminal of the present invention. In the present invention, in order to realize switching according to content, in addition to the configuration shown in Patent Document 1 (FIG. 7), as shown in FIG. 1, content information is notified inside the client (OS) 201 as shown in FIG. The content information notifying unit 203 is newly included, and an application recognizing unit 205 that generates performance (priority value) required for the line required by the content based on information from the content information notifying unit 203 is newly added. (The newly added functional block is the shaded area in FIG. 1). In this specification, the radio module selection control of the cognitive terminal is described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the cognitive base station 10 can perform the same radio module selection control. Hereinafter, the wireless module selection control will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control mechanism of the wireless module selection method of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the client (OS) 201 includes an application 301, which includes a content information notification unit 203. Here, the operation of the content information notification unit 203 will be described. The content information notification unit 203 is implemented as a part of the function of the client (OS) 201, and has a function of notifying the application recognition unit 205 of the content transmitted by a browser or the like and the type of content for which an acquisition request is made. . The content that is actually notified to the application recognizing unit 205 includes Source Port (source port number), Destination Port (destination port number), Source IP Address (source IP address), Destination IP Address (destination IP address), Protocol (Protocol number) and Extension (content extension).

  Based on the above information, the application recognition unit 205 determines what content information is stored in the data portion for each packet in communication of an arbitrary IP address, an arbitrary port number, an arbitrary protocol number, and an arbitrary content extension. You will be able to know clearly. The application recognition unit 205 converts the extension (extension) included in the notified information into priority (priority), and notifies the switch unit 207 of the converted information.

  Hereinafter, the application recognition unit 205 will be further described. The application recognition unit 205 converts the wireless module 14 to be prioritized at the time of communication from the content type (Extension) to the priority value form for the packet received from the content information notification unit 203 and notifies the switch unit 207 of the notification. Although it has the function to perform, the example of conversion from Extension to a priority value is shown in FIG.

  FIG. 3 is a table showing an example of the selection reference value conversion table of the present invention. Note that the extension-to-priority conversion rule can be changed by the terminal provider or the user. This is to enable future changes to new services and user needs. In FIG. 3, when a combination of immediacy, communication speed, and cost is used as a selection criterion as a selection criterion for the wireless module 14, the application recognition unit 205 assigns each content (extension of notification from the content information notification unit 203) to which priority. A corresponding example of mapping to a value is shown. Note that the selection reference value conversion table of FIG. 3 is created so that the user or the provider of the terminal can make additional corrections according to the wireless environment information obtained from the wireless module 14, the definition of new content, changes in usage scenes, and the like.

  Returning to FIG. 2, the application 301 sends an HTTP GET signal to the switch unit 207. Inside the switch unit 207 is a switching control unit 303. The switching control unit 303 selects a distribution module based on notification information from the application recognition unit 205, a signal from the application 301, and wireless environment information such as RSSI from the wireless environment recognition unit 15.

  Hereinafter, a method of wireless module switching control of the switching control unit 303 of the switch unit 207 will be further described. Conventionally, the wireless module 14 is switched in accordance with the wireless environment or the situation of congestion in the wireless section. However, in the present invention, by selecting the content of the application 301, a line that produces immediacy and throughput is always selected. For content that does not need to be performed, it is not necessary to select a wireless system with the best communication environment (quality). As a result, traffic can be distributed, so that it is possible to level the traffic between the wireless modules 14 as a whole system and to reduce the user's use cost. (Generally, the wireless module 14 having a good communication environment is often the same for others, and priority is given to only the wireless environment, which causes congestion.) A switching determination example will be shown below. The switching determination is made so that the terminal provider or the user can change it. As a result, it is possible to flexibly cope with new additions of services and changes in usage methods.

  FIG. 4 is a table showing an example of the wireless module selection determination of the present invention. The switching control unit 303 basically follows FIG. 4 when performing transmission radio module selection determination for a packet that has received a priority notification. When it is determined that the wireless module 14 with the second priority or the third priority has better conditions for immediacy and speed than the wireless module 14 with the higher priority, the wireless module 14 is to comply with it.

  Further, in the present invention, the switch unit 207 can know the presence / absence of immediacy and whether the user gives priority to cost in each packet. Using this information, for example, when a packet having a low immediacy, speed, and cost is selected for a certain packet, the switching control unit 303 is wireless, as in the priority 8 packet of FIG. Even in a state where the modules 14-A and 14-B can transmit and receive, it is possible to perform control so that only the wireless module 14-C transmits and receives. That is, in FIG. 4, since the radio module 14-C has low immediacy, it may be determined that communication is not performed for a certain period until the radio module 14-C becomes ready for transmission / reception. Thereby, for example, when there is a wireless module 14 with a low cost and a narrow wireless area, only when the user enters the limited wireless area because the user desires the wireless module 14. Communication can be performed at low cost. Returning to FIG. 2, when the switch unit 207 determines to select a wireless module, the selected wireless module 14 (wireless module 14-1 in FIG. 2) transmits a data packet to the WEB server 305.

  FIG. 5 is a sequence chart showing the operation of the wireless module selection method of the present invention. The content information notification unit 203 installed in the client (OS) 201 notifies the application recognition unit 205 of information on content that the application 301 desires to transmit or acquire content (step S101). The application recognition unit 205 recognizes the type of content, determines the priority of the wireless module 14 requested to the switch unit 207 (step S102), converts the result into a priority value, and notifies the switch unit 207 ( Step S103). The switch unit 207 performs selection determination of the wireless module 14 in consideration of information notified from the application recognition unit 205 and wireless environment information such as wireless quality and the degree of congestion in the wireless section (step S104).

  Here, an example of radio module selection is shown. When considering the WEB service, if the content cannot be displayed correctly, such as an html page that forms the framework of the screen, other contents such as images, videos, and icons on the WEB page will be affected. Some of them are important content, such as streaming video, and some are required to be real-time, such as video streaming. By selecting the wireless module 14 according to the user needs for each content, convenience for the user is enhanced.

  From this, for example, when selecting the wireless module 14 from the user's viewpoint, the switch unit 207 may stabilize the wireless quality even if the usage cost is high for the content (html page) that requires immediacy. For the streaming file, the wireless module 14 that can further secure the necessary bandwidth is selected. In addition, even if the switch unit 207 requires a short time in terms of processing time when the radio band is wide and the radio quality is good, the immediacy of the download file or the like that does not require immediacy. In addition to user convenience, it is possible to realize communication that does not impose a burden on the network by making a choice to use the wireless module 14 with a narrow bandwidth and poor quality so as not to compress the content bandwidth that needs to be It becomes.

  In addition to the user convenience priority, the wireless module 14 switching may have different viewpoints depending on the situation, such as user cost priority, network load leveling priority, etc. It is desirable to make this decision logic (priority) changeable. Returning to FIG. 5, based on the selection determination result, the switch unit 207 selects either the wireless module 14-A or 14-B that transmits the data packet (step S105). The data packet is transmitted to the WEB Server 305 by the selected wireless module 14 (Steps S106-A and S106-B).

  According to the present invention, it is possible to construct a system that enables transmission / reception of content in accordance with content characteristics. As a result, traffic leveling (congestion avoidance) can be achieved for the system, and congestion is unlikely to occur for the user, and communication can be realized as cheaply as possible according to the user's request.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Cognitive base station 11 Core network side interface 13 Switch part 14, 14-1 to 14-5, 14-n, 14-A, 14-B Radio module 14a Macrocell radio module 14b Microcell radio module 14c Picocell radio module 15 Radio Environment recognition unit 100 Cognitive terminal 203 Content information notification unit 205 Application recognition unit 207 Switch unit 301 Application 303 Switching control unit

Claims (4)

A wireless transmission device applied to a heterogeneous wireless communication system that performs wireless communication using a plurality of types of wireless communication methods simultaneously,
A plurality of wireless modules that perform wireless transmission in different ways;
A switch unit for switching the wireless module to be operated;
A content information notifying unit for outputting information for specifying content to be transmitted and information accompanying the content to be transmitted;
An application recognizing unit that determines the priority of each wireless module based on information specifying the content to be transmitted and information accompanying the content to be transmitted, and outputs the determined priority to the switch unit; ,
The wireless transmission device, wherein the switch unit selects any one of the wireless modules based on the priority.   The application recognition unit includes a table in which selection requirements for the wireless module and priority orders of wireless modules to be selected are associated with each other, and the priority is determined based on the table. Item 2. The wireless transmission device according to Item 1.   The radio transmission apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the switch unit selects any one of the radio modules for each packet based on a recognition result of a radio environment and the priority. Applied to a heterogeneous wireless communication system that performs wireless communication using a plurality of types of wireless communication methods at the same time, a plurality of wireless modules that perform wireless transmission using mutually different methods, and a switch unit that switches the wireless modules to be operated, A transmission method for a wireless transmission device comprising:
Determining the priority of each wireless module based on information identifying the content to be transmitted and information associated with the content to be transmitted, and outputting the determined priority to the switch unit;
And a step of selecting at least one of the wireless modules based on the priority in the switch unit.

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