KR101237873B1 - Method for mapping network interface in mobile terminal having multi network interface - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a network interface mapping method of a mobile terminal having multiple network interfaces. In the mobile terminal having multiple network interfaces according to the present invention, a network interface is mapped to an application in cooperation with a network resource manager of a communication network. The method includes registering property information for each network interface; Transmitting a network resource request message including resource request information of an application to the network resource manager; Receiving a resource response message including resource allocation information for each network interface from the network resource manager; And a network mapping step of mapping a network interface to the application using the network interface characteristic information and the network interface resource allocation information. Optimize the use of the application by mapping the corresponding network interfaces according to the characteristics of the application.

Multiple network interfaces, applications, network resources, property information

Description

A network interface mapping method of a mobile terminal having multiple network interfaces {METHOD FOR MAPPING NETWORK INTERFACE IN MOBILE TERMINAL HAVING MULTI NETWORK INTERFACE}

The present invention relates to a mobile terminal having multiple network interfaces, and more particularly, to a method of mapping a network interface to an application executed in a mobile terminal having multiple network interfaces.

With the development of communication technology, communication subscribers are not only able to use a communication service in a fixed place but can freely use a communication service while using a mobile terminal. Such mobile terminals provide communication services through various wireless network interfaces such as IS95 CDMA, CDMA 2000, WCDMA, CDMA 1xEV-DO, GSM, GPRS, IEEE 802.11 (a), Bluetooth, and the like.

Thus, the mobile terminal has multiple network interfaces that can utilize multiple networks as described above. However, the conventional mobile terminal having multiple network interfaces is configured to allow a user to manually select a network interface, and thus cannot effectively provide the advantages of multiple networks. In addition, the application executed in the mobile terminal only uses the resources provided by the network passively and cannot be provided as required, which makes it difficult to effectively use the functions of the application.

The present invention has been proposed to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a network interface mapping method for intelligently mapping the multiple network interfaces for each individual application driven in a mobile terminal equipped with multiple network interfaces. .

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be described below and will be appreciated by the practice of the invention. Further, objects and advantages of the present invention can be realized by the means and the combination shown in the appended claims.

In a mobile terminal having multiple network interfaces according to an aspect of the present invention, a method of mapping a network interface to an application in association with a network resource manager of a communication network includes registering characteristic information for each network interface. step; Transmitting a network resource request message including resource request information of an application to the network resource manager; Receiving a resource response message including resource allocation information for each network interface from the network resource manager; And a network mapping step of mapping a network interface to the application using the network interface characteristic information and the network interface resource allocation information.

In addition, according to another aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, a network interface mapping method of a network resource manager of a communication network for an application executed in a mobile terminal having a multiple network interface, the resource request information of the application Receiving a network resource request message from the mobile terminal; Allocating network resources to network interfaces available at the mobile terminal; And transmitting a resource response message including resource allocation information for each network interface to the mobile terminal.

As described above, when the application is driven in a mobile terminal equipped with multiple interfaces, the application can be used in an optimal state by mapping a network interface suitable for the characteristics of the application. In addition, it optimizes the utilization of network resources by allocating the network resources of the level required by the application to the application and providing them in a customized manner.

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: There will be. In the following description, well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail since they would obscure the invention in unnecessary detail. Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a diagram illustrating a communication network according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the communication network 100 includes at least one mobile terminal 110, and the mobile terminal 110 includes at least two communication network interfaces. Each communication network interface of the mobile terminal 110 communicates via an Access Point available within a given coverage area. The mobile terminal 110 is a PDA, a notebook computer, a mobile phone, or the like.

As shown in FIG. 1, an access point of a wireless communication network to which the mobile terminal 110 can connect includes an AMPS base station 120, an IS95 CDMA base station 130, a WCDMA base station 140, a GSM base station 150, WIMAX base station 160, WIFI access point (AP) 170, and the like. The access point of the wireless communication network shown in FIG. 1 is illustrated to illustrate the present invention and is not limited thereto. In addition, as shown in FIG. 1, the mobile terminal 110 may include a wired access network 180 as a communication network to which the mobile terminal 110 may connect. Examples of wired interfaces include RS232 interfaces and USB port interfaces.

The mobile terminal 110 has a plurality of communication network interfaces as described above, and also the network interface selection criteria to be used to select at least one or more communication network interfaces among the plurality of communication network interfaces when an application is run in the terminal. It is provided. The network interface selection criteria are characteristic information for each application and characteristic information for each network interface. Examples thereof are shown in the following [Table 1] and [Table 2].

Application classification Continuity requirements Bandwidth requirements Security requirements Voice call Prize Ha medium Stock Trading Program medium Prize Prize Video download Ha medium Ha

Access network Provide bandwidth Coverage (Continuity) Security price WiBro Prize medium Prize Prize 3G wireless Ha Prize Prize Prize WiFi medium Ha Ha Ha cable Prize Prize Ha medium

Table 1 shows characteristic information of each application executed in the mobile terminal 110, and Table 2 shows characteristic information of each communication network that the mobile terminal 110 can use.

When a specific application is executed according to a user's input, the mobile terminal 110 checks the characteristic information of the executed application in the table of [Table 1], and checks the access network corresponding to the checked characteristic information. Check in the table of 2], select a communication network interface that can connect to the corresponding access network, and start communication. For example, when the stock trading program is executed in the mobile terminal 110, the continuity required for the stock trading program is 'medium', the bandwidth is 'up', and the security is 'up'. An access network that satisfies this specific condition is a WiBro network, and thus the mobile terminal 110 selects a WiBro network interface from among a plurality of communication network interfaces to initiate communication.

In addition, the mobile terminal 110 gives priority to each communication network in addition to the characteristic information of each communication network, and in the case where there are a plurality of access networks satisfying the characteristic information of the application executed according to the user's input, the priority is given. You can also choose a higher network interface.

2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the mobile terminal 110 according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of applications (APP-1, ..., APP-N) 210-1, 210-2, ..., 210. -N), an interface selection manager 230, and a plurality of communication modules 270-1, 270-2, ..., 270-N.

Each of the plurality of communication modules 270-1, 270-2,..., 270 -N communicates with a corresponding access network to transmit and receive data. The plurality of communication modules 270-1, 270-2,..., 270 -N are wired communication modules for communicating with a wired network, WCDMA communication modules for communicating with a WCDMA communication network, and the like.

The plurality of applications 210-1, 210-2,..., 210 -N are programs that operate in the mobile terminal 110 and are various applications such as a voice call application and a game application. The plurality of applications 210-1, 210-2,..., 210 -N are driven according to a user's input so that the plurality of communication modules 270-1, 270-2,. The communication network is connected to one of the communication modules.

When at least one or more of the plurality of applications 210-1, 210-2,..., 210 -N are driven, the interface selection manager 230 checks the information of the driven application and checks the information. The communication module selects a communication module to be used by the corresponding application by referring to the network selection criteria table 250 using the information. The network selection criteria table is the same as the examples of Tables 1 and 2.

The interface selection manager 230 selects a communication module having the highest priority among the plurality of communication modules or selects network interface characteristic information when a plurality of network interfaces to be mapped to the driven application are selected, that is, a plurality of communication modules are selected. Among the fields, the communication module having the highest value of the high priority field can be selected. For example, when the priority of the first communication module is 1 and the priority of the second communication module is 2, the first communication module is selected. Alternatively, when a plurality of communication modules are selected, when the bandwidth is set as a priority and the communication module having the largest bandwidth is selected, a communication module having a larger bandwidth that can be provided is selected from the plurality of communication modules.

Hereinafter, a specific operation will be described with reference to FIG. 3. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of mapping a network interface in a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, one of a plurality of applications 210-1, 210-2,..., 210 -N mounted on the mobile terminal 110 is driven according to a user's selection (S301). When the application is driven in the mobile terminal 110, the interface selection manager 230 checks the information of the driven application (S303), and searches the network interface selection table 250 using the checked application information. (S305).

The interface selection manager 230 checks the characteristics of the application in the characteristic information table of the application as shown in Table 1 using the identified application information, and then selects a network interface that satisfies the characteristic of the application. Search in the property information table of the communication network as shown in Table 2].

As such, the interface selection manager 230, which searches the network interface selection table 250 for a network interface satisfying the characteristics of the driven application, selects and maps a communication module corresponding to the searched network interface to the application. (S307).

At this time, in step S305, when there are a plurality of searched network interfaces, the communication module having the highest priority is selected among the plurality of communication modules, or the value of the field having the highest priority among the respective fields of the network interface characteristic information is the highest. The communication module can be selected.

As such, the mobile terminal 110 according to the present invention allocates an optimal network interface according to the requirements of an application driven in the mobile terminal 110 so that a user can enjoy various applications in an optimal state.

Meanwhile, in the exemplary embodiment referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, the mapping of one network interface to one application has been described, but the present invention is not limited thereto. By mapping a network interface to each of a plurality of session flows executed in each application, a plurality of network interfaces may be mapped to one application. Here, the flow may be defined as consecutive IP packets. That is, a flow defines a set of specific packets that a sender wants to distinguish among flows of IP packets transmitted from a specific sender to a receiver.

To this end, the mobile terminal 110 includes, as the network selection criterion information, the session flow list of the application and the flow-specific characteristic information (for example, bandwidth, continuity request information, etc.) as well as the characteristic information of the application. When the flow is generated at the same time, a different communication network interface is mapped to each session flow by using the session flow list, the flow-specific property information, and the communication network property information. Here, the flow information is a source and destination address, a port number, and the like.

Accordingly, even when none of the available communication networks satisfy the required bandwidth of the application when an application requiring a large bandwidth is executed, the required bandwidth is satisfied by mapping different communication network interfaces for each session flow.

4 is a diagram illustrating a communication network according to another embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4, the communication network according to the present embodiment is connected to a mobile terminal 410 having a plurality of communication network interfaces and each communication network interface of the mobile terminal 410 to provide a communication service. A plurality of wireless access points (APs) 420-1, 420-1, ..., 420-N, a wired access network 430, and the wireless access points 420-1, 420-1. 420-N) and a network resource manager 470 for allocating network resources of the core network 450 to the mobile terminal 410 and the core network 430 connected to the wired access network 430. ).

Here, the access points 420-1, 420-1, ..., 420-N are AMPS base stations, IS95 CDMA base stations, WCDMA base stations and the like as described with reference to FIG. The core network 450 includes a core network corresponding to each access point, and a backbone network (eg, an IMS (IP Multimedia System), an Internet network) to which the core network corresponding to each access point is integrated. A network node such as a router, and the network nodes such as the router are monitored by the network resource manager 470 to monitor the use of the resource (eg, bandwidth, storage, and CPU capacity), and the mobile terminal 410. Resource usage is reserved.

The network resource manager 470 is connected to the core network 450 and monitors network resources of the core network 450 as described above, and requests required resource information required by a specific application executed in the mobile terminal 410. When a resource allocation request message including a request message is received from the mobile terminal 410, a network resource required by the application is allocated from the available network resources of the core network 450, and a response message regarding this is received. Transmits to the mobile terminal 410.

In this case, the network resource manager 470 virtualizes available network resources of network nodes such as a router of the core network 450, and a network interface to which the corresponding application currently connects the network resources required by the application of the mobile terminal 410. Assign separately. Here, virtualization means splitting a resource of a network node into a predetermined unit and assigning a custom combination of the split resources, such as lambda distribution of optical communication.

For example, the network resource manager 470, when the network resource required by the application of the mobile terminal 410, specifically, when the required bandwidth is 20M, when the application approaches the destination through the first network interface that can be connected currently It allocates 25M as an available network resource by virtualizing the resources of the network node to pass through, and allocates 30M as an available network resource by virtualizing the resource of the network node to pass through when approaching the destination through the second network interface.

In addition, in allocating network resources for each communication network interface to the mobile terminal 410, the network resource manager 470 may use available resource values of network nodes that must pass through a destination when allocating network resources for each network interface. Determines the minimum network resource value among the allocated resources. For example, assuming that there are two nodes via which the application of the mobile terminal 410 connects to the destination via the first network interface, 10M bandwidth is available at the first node and 15M bandwidth is available at the second node. In this case, the network resource manager 470 determines '10M' as network resource allocation information. This is because the minimum available resource on the path becomes the maximum available resource on the path to the destination.

When the network resource manager 470 allocates network resources required by an application of the mobile terminal 410 for each network interface, the network resource manager 470 not only transmits the information of the allocated network resources to the mobile terminal 410, but also each network node. The reservation message including the allocation information is transmitted to each network node so that each network node reserves available resources for the application of the mobile terminal 410. In this case, the reservation message includes identification information such as a mobile IP and a flow ID of the mobile terminal 410 so that the network nodes can identify the mobile terminal 410.

Meanwhile, the mobile terminal 410 includes all the configurations and functions of the mobile terminal 110 described with reference to FIG. 2, and in addition, the interface selection management unit 230 may be required by the corresponding application when a specific application is executed or A resource allocation request message including a request resource information requested by a user may be transmitted through one of a plurality of communication modules 270-1, 270-2, ..., 270-N. 470).

The interface selection manager 230 of the mobile terminal 410 receives a response message including network resource information for each network interface allocated from the network resource manager 470 as a response to the resource allocation request message. As described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, a final network interface is selected using network resource information included in the response message among the selected network interfaces.

For example, the interface selection manager 230 of the mobile terminal 410 may use the first communication module 270-1 and the second communication module 270-2 by using the characteristic information of the application and the characteristic information for each network interface. After selecting, network resource information corresponding to the first communication module 270-1 included in the response message received from the network resource manager 470 and network resource corresponding to the second communication module 270-2. The information is compared to select a communication module with a large amount of available resources.

The application of the mobile terminal 410 connects to the core network 450 through the finally selected network interface, that is, the communication module, and the session flow from the application is transmitted to the destination through the resource reserved network node of the core network 450, Flows received from the destination are likewise received by the mobile terminal 410 via the resource reserved network node.

5 is a signal flow diagram for network interface mapping of a mobile terminal in the communication network of FIG.

Referring to FIG. 5, the mobile terminal 410 executes a specific application according to a user's input (S501). The application executed in the mobile terminal 410 requests the network interface selection to the interface selection management unit 230, so that the interface selection management unit 230 receives a plurality of communication modules 270-1, 270-1, ..., In step S502, a resource allocation request message for requesting network resource allocation is transmitted to the network resource manager 470 through any one of 270-N). In this case, the resource allocation request message includes information on network resources requested by the application, network interface information available at the mobile terminal 410, destination information, and identification information of the mobile terminal 410.

The network resource manager 470 receiving the resource allocation request, based on the monitoring result of the available resources of the network nodes on the path to the destination for each network interface available in the mobile terminal 410, the network for each available network interface The resource is virtualized and allocated (S507). Here, virtualization means splitting resources (bandwidth, storage space, CPU capacity, etc.) of a network node into predetermined units and allocating the split resources as appropriate combinations, such as lambda distribution of optical communication.

In allocating network resources for each network interface to the mobile terminal 410, the network resource manager 470 assigns a network resource for each network interface, and the minimum of the available resource values of the network nodes that must pass through the destination. Determine the network resource value of the allocated resource. For example, assuming that there are two nodes via which the application of the mobile terminal 410 connects to the destination via the first network interface, 10M bandwidth is available at the first node and 15M bandwidth is available at the second node. In this case, the network resource manager 470 determines '10M' as network resource allocation information.

The network resource manager 470 assigning network resources for each network interface of the mobile terminal 410 transmits a resource allocation response message including the network resource allocation information to the mobile terminal 410 (S509).

In addition, the network resource manager 470 transmits a resource reservation request message to corresponding network nodes of the core network 450 in order to reserve the use of network resources allocated to the mobile terminal 410 (S511). The resource reservation request message includes identification information such as a mobile IP, a flow ID, a source address, a destination address, and the like of the mobile terminal 410 so that network nodes can identify the mobile terminal 410.

After allocating network resources for each network interface as described above, the interface selection manager 230 of the mobile terminal 410 finally selects a network interface to be mapped to the application (S513). In detail, the interface selection manager 230 of the mobile terminal 410 primarily selects a plurality of network interfaces to be mapped to the application using the characteristic information of the application and the characteristic information for each network interface, and requests the resource allocation. As a response to the message, the final network interface is selected from among the plurality of network interfaces using resource allocation information for each network interface included in the resource allocation response message received from the network resource manager 470.

For example, the interface selection manager 230 of the mobile terminal 410 may use the first communication module 270-1 and the second communication module 270-2 by using the characteristic information of the application and the characteristic information for each network interface. After selecting, network resource information corresponding to the first communication module 270-1 included in the response message received from the network resource manager 470 and network resource corresponding to the second communication module 270-2. The information is compared to select a communication module with a large amount of available resources.

Finally, when the network interface is selected, the session flow of the application of the mobile terminal 410 is transmitted and received using a network resource reserved in advance through a communication module corresponding to the selected network interface (S515).

As described above, the mobile terminal 410 actively maps the network interface to the corresponding application according to the characteristics of the application executed in the mobile terminal 410 and the available network resources, thereby supporting individual applications in an optimal state. Optimize the use of network resources on a custom basis.

4 and 5 illustrate that one network interface is mapped to an application, but as described in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 3, the network interface is mapped to each session flow of the application. Can be. As described above, after mapping a plurality of network interfaces to each session flow by using the characteristic information of each session flow and the characteristic information of each network interface, the final network interface using the network resource information received from the network resource manager 470. Can be mapped.

The method of the present invention as described above may be embodied as a program and stored in a computer-readable recording medium (such as a CD-ROM, a RAM, a ROM, a floppy disk, a hard disk, or a magneto-optical disk).

While the specification contains many features, such features should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention or the scope of the claims. In addition, the features described in the individual embodiments herein may be combined and implemented in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features described herein in a single embodiment may be implemented in various embodiments individually or in a suitable subcombination.

It is to be understood that, although the operations have been described in a particular order in the figures, it should be understood that such operations are performed in a particular order as shown, or that a series of sequential orders, or all described operations, . In some circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. It should also be understood that the division of various system components in the above embodiments does not require such distinction in all embodiments. The above-described program components and systems can generally be implemented as a single software product or as a package in multiple software products.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. The present invention is not limited to the drawings.

The following drawings, which are attached to this specification, illustrate preferred embodiments of the present invention, and together with the detailed description of the present invention serve to further understand the technical spirit of the present invention, the present invention includes matters described in such drawings. It should not be construed as limited to.

1 is a diagram illustrating a communication network according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of mapping a network interface in a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a diagram illustrating a communication network according to another embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a signal flow diagram for network interface mapping of a mobile terminal in the communication network of FIG.

Claims (10)

delete In a mobile terminal having multiple network interfaces, in a method of mapping a network interface to an application in cooperation with a network resource manager of a communication network, Registering characteristic information for each network interface; Transmitting a network resource request message including resource request information of an application to the network resource manager; Receiving a resource response message including resource allocation information for each network interface from the network resource manager; And And a network mapping step of mapping a network interface to the application using the network interface characteristic information and the network interface resource allocation information. The network mapping step, Selecting a plurality of network interfaces corresponding to the characteristics of the application using the characteristic information for each network interface; And And mapping one of the selected plurality of network interfaces to the application using the resource allocation information for each network interface. In a mobile terminal having multiple network interfaces, in a method of mapping a network interface to an application in cooperation with a network resource manager of a communication network, Registering characteristic information for each network interface; Transmitting a network resource request message including resource request information of an application to the network resource manager; Receiving a resource response message including resource allocation information for each network interface from the network resource manager; And And a network mapping step of mapping a network interface to the application using the network interface characteristic information and the network interface resource allocation information. The network mapping step, For each of a plurality of session flows simultaneously executed in the application, selecting a plurality of network interfaces corresponding to the characteristics of each session flow using the characteristic information for each network interface; And And mapping one of the selected plurality of network interfaces to each session flow using the resource allocation information for each network interface. The method according to claim 2 or 3, The network mapping step, The network interface mapping method, characterized in that for mapping the network interface to which the most network resources are allocated with reference to the resource allocation information for each network interface. A network interface mapping method of a network resource manager of a communication network for an application executed in a mobile terminal having multiple network interfaces, Receiving a network resource request message including resource request information of the application from the mobile terminal; Allocating network resources to network interfaces available at the mobile terminal; And And transmitting a resource response message including resource allocation information for each allocated network interface to the mobile terminal. 6. The method of claim 5, Allocating the network resource, Identifying available network resources of each network node existing on a path passing through to a destination for each network interface available at the mobile terminal; And And allocating the identified network resource to each network interface, and allocating the smallest resource among the available resources of the network nodes existing on the path through the destination as the network resource. 6. The method of claim 5, Allocating the network resource, A network interface mapping method characterized by dividing network resources of network nodes of a communication network into virtual predetermined units and allocating network resources based on the units. 8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, And transmitting the reservation message of the allocated resource to the network nodes of the communication network. 6. The method of claim 5, Allocating the network resource, And assigning a network resource equal to or greater than the resource request information to a network interface available to the mobile terminal. 9. The method of claim 8, The reservation message, Network interface mapping method comprising any one of a mobile IP and a session flow ID of the mobile terminal.

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