KR20100084931A - Apparatus and method for scheduling of optimal network - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A scheduler device is provided to enable a terminal to automatically select an optimum communications network. CONSTITUTION: A first and a second MAC(Medium Access Control) processing parts(221-1,221-2) calculates the status information of the physical layer of a first and a second communications network. A communication selecting part(222) determines whether a communications network is changed from a current network to a different network from the status information provided from the first and the second MAC processing parts. The communications network selecting part executes a hand-off between communications networks. The status information is the transmission speed of the first and the second heterogeneous communications networks or a transmission bandwidth.

Description

Scheduler device that communicates through an optimal network {Apparatus and method for scheduling of optimal network}

The present invention relates to a scheduler device for automatically selecting an optimal communication network in a terminal. More particularly, the present invention relates to a scheduler device that can be connected to a plurality of heterogeneous communication networks to automatically select an optimal communication network having the largest transmission bandwidth or transmission speed. The present invention relates to a scheduler device for selecting and allowing the terminal to communicate through a communication network.

When a terminal which can be connected to only one communication network receives any service through the communication network, the quality of the service (hereinafter referred to as Quality of Service, QoS) depends on the state of the server and the communication network. Therefore, when the state of the communication network is not good (e.g., when the transmission bandwidth of the communication network is reduced or the transmission rate is small), the QoS is poor. Degradation of QoS means, for example, a phenomenon in which image quality deteriorates or is interrupted in a terminal receiving a stream from a stream server through an IP communication network.

In order to solve this problem, there are terminals that can be connected to different heterogeneous communication networks to receive services. However, in order to switch to a heterogeneous communication network, the user often needs to make a predetermined setting. Information on heterogeneous network conditions cannot always be monitored by the user, so it is not possible to continuously access the optimal network.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is a scheduler device that enables a terminal that can access various heterogeneous communication networks to automatically select an optimal communication network so that a user of the terminal can receive a service through an optimal communication network without knowing the state of the communication network. In providing.

A scheduler device according to the present embodiment is a device mounted on a terminal capable of communicating with N (N is a natural number of two or more) heterogeneous communication networks, N MAC processing unit for calculating the state information of each physical layer of the N communication network; And a communication network selector capable of handing off between communication networks by determining whether to connect to another communication network from an access communication network currently communicating from the state information provided from the N MAC processing units.

The state information may be a transmission speed or transmission bandwidth of each of the N heterogeneous communication networks, and the communication network selecting unit selects a communication network having the largest transmission rate or transmission bandwidth among the N heterogeneous communication networks as a target communication network, and is currently communicating If the access communication network and the target communication network are different, the communication through the target communication network.

The method according to the embodiment of the present invention provides a method of changing a communication network currently being communicated with another communication network from a terminal capable of communicating with N heterogeneous communication networks, the method comprising: calculating state information of a physical layer of the N heterogeneous communication networks; And comparing the status information with the status information of the currently connected access network to hand off the target communication network with the largest transmission rate.

The scheduler device according to the present embodiment is mounted on a terminal capable of accessing a plurality of heterogeneous communication networks so that the terminal can automatically access an optimal communication network. Therefore, the terminal equipped with the device is guaranteed QoS.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art may easily implement the present invention. In the description of the present invention, the names of the elements defined are defined in consideration of functions in the present invention, and should not be understood as meanings that limit the technical elements of the present invention. May be referred to by other names in the art.

In addition, the code added to each component is described for convenience of description, and the contents shown in the drawings in which these codes are described do not limit each component to the range in the drawing. In addition, as long as the functional similarity and identity thereof, even if the modified embodiment is adopted, it can be seen as an equivalent configuration, and even if the embodiment in which the modified part of the configuration is employed, it can be seen as an equivalent configuration.

1 is a diagram illustrating a terminal capable of accessing a plurality of heterogeneous communication networks and a system including the terminal. Referring to FIG. 1, the system includes a server 110, N communication networks 120-1,..., 120 -N, where N is a natural number of two or more, and a terminal 130.

First, the N communication networks 120-1,..., 120 -N may be different heterogeneous communication networks, and may include a wired network and a wireless network. Examples of wireless networks include W-CDMA (Wide CDMA) or HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) based wireless networks, IEEE 802.11x based wireless networks (eg wireless LAN), IEEE 802.16x based on CDMA stack. There is a wireless communication network (eg, the mobile Internet), and an example of the wired network is an IP-based wired communication network (eg, Ethernet) based on TCP / IP.

The server 110 refers to a part of broadcasting media content through the N communication networks. For example, the server 110 may simultaneously broadcast a video stream through a wired network such as Ethernet and a wireless network such as a wireless LAN.

The terminal 130 may be provided with an interface for accessing the N communication networks to receive a stream regarding the same media content through the N communication networks. The terminal 130 may be connected to all of the N communication networks. In the case of a wired network (eg, Ethernet), a communication cable is connected to an Ethernet port of the terminal 130, and an access point (AP) is connected. It means a state that can be connected to a wireless network (for example, a wireless LAN) through.

The terminal 130, including the scheduler device according to the present embodiment, may automatically switch to another communication network when the communication status in the current communication network is not good. That is, the terminal 130 is provided by selecting a wired or wireless network and communicating a stream related to media content that differs only in the header portion defined for the protocol.

Hereinafter, a case in which the terminal can be connected to two communication networks (that is, Ethernet and a wireless LAN network) will be described as an example. However, this is not a limitation and may be connected to three or more communication networks.

2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an IP set-top box which is an example of a terminal including a scheduler device according to the present embodiment. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation process of the scheduler device 220 according to the present embodiment. 2 and 3, the IP set-top box 130 includes communication network interfaces 210-1 and 210-2, a scheduler device 220, a decoder 230, a buffer 240, and a controller 250. .

The controller 250 is a part of the central processing unit of the terminal 130 to control the overall operation of the terminal 130. Depending on the type of terminal 130 may be implemented by a micom, a microprocessor, or the like.

The communication network interfaces 210-1 and 210-2 refer to Ethernet interfaces 210-1 and wireless LAN interfaces 210-2, which are known as parts providing an interface for connecting to a communication network.

The scheduler 220 receives the stream provided through the communication network interfaces 210-1 and 210-2, monitors the transmission bandwidth and the transmission speed of each communication network, and the communication status of the currently connected communication network is higher than that of other communication networks. If it is not good, it is a part that automatically hands off to another network. Handoff generally refers to changing a channel when a terminal moves from one cell to another cell in the wireless communication field. Here, the handoff is defined as changing from one communication network to another.

The scheduler device 220 performing the above-described function includes a media access control (MAC) processor 221-1 and 221-2 and a communication network selector 222.

The MAC processing units 221-1 and 221-2 process data and headers of the physical layer according to the communication protocol of each communication network in the streams input through the communication network interfaces 210-1 and 210-2. The transmission bandwidth and the transmission rate of the physical layer for the calculated (S31), and provides to the network selection unit 222. In this case, the stream is provided through different communication networks in the same server as described above.

The MAC processing units 221-1 and 221-2 are provided corresponding to the plurality of communication network interfaces 210-1 and 210-2 provided in the terminal 130. Hereinafter, the MAC processing unit processing the stream provided through the Ethernet interface 210-1 may include a first MAC processing unit 221-1 and a MAC processing unit processing the stream provided through the WLAN interface 210-2. 2 MAC processing unit 221-2.

Various methods may be used for the first MAC processor 221-1 and the second MAC processor 221-2 to calculate a transmission bandwidth and a transmission speed of each communication network. For example, a dummy packet may be used. After transmitting to the same server connected through each communication network at predetermined intervals, the transmission bandwidth and the transmission speed of each communication network can be calculated by calculating the number of dummy packets that are echoed and returned. Thereafter, the first MAC processor 221-1 and the second MAC processor 221-2 provide the calculated transmission bandwidth and transmission rate to the communication network selector 222, respectively.

The communication network selecting unit 222 selects an optimal communication network by using a transmission bandwidth or a transmission speed, which is information on a physical layer of each communication network provided by the first MAC processing unit 221-1 and the second MAC processing unit 221-2. It is determined (S32).

The method of determining an optimal communication network by the communication network selecting unit 222 includes a transmission bandwidth or transmission speed of a communication network (referred to as an access communication network) to which a terminal is currently connected and receiving a stream, and a transmission bandwidth or transmission of other communication networks. The speed is compared to compare whether there is a communication network having a transmission bandwidth or transmission rate larger than that of the access communication network (S33).

The communication network selector 222 performs a handoff between communication networks so that the terminal 130 communicates with the communication network when there is a communication network having a full bandwidth or transmission speed than that of the access communication network (S34). For example, if the transmission bandwidth or transmission rate provided by the second MAC processing unit 221-2 is greater while communicating via Ethernet through the first MAC processing unit 221-1, the communication may be performed through the wireless LAN. The data provided through the second MAC processing unit 221-2 is selected.

The communication network selector 222 may be performed by a processor such as a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or the like according to software or program code coded to perform all the functions described above. The design, development and implementation of the code will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the description of the present invention.

The decoder 230 receives the data processed by the header portion from the communication network selector 222 of the scheduler 220 and decodes the data to be provided to another device (for example, a display device).

The buffer 240 is a memory that stores a part of a stream to prevent the stream from being disconnected when handoff is performed from one communication network to another. For example, a real-time video stream is provided through a communication network that is currently in communication, and when handing off to another communication network, the video stream is stored for a predetermined period and then provided to the decoder 230, thereby providing Ensure continuity This continuity is particularly important in real-time applications.

Although described in detail with respect to the present embodiment as described above, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains, the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention defined in the appended claims It may be modified in various ways.

1 is a diagram illustrating a terminal capable of accessing a plurality of heterogeneous communication networks and a system including the terminal.

2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an IP set-top box which is an example of a terminal including a scheduler device according to the present embodiment.

3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation process of the scheduler apparatus according to the present embodiment.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

110: server 120-1: Ethernet

120-2: WLAN 130: terminal

220: scheduler device 221: MAC processing unit

222: communication network selection unit

Claims (5)

A device mounted on a terminal capable of communicating with N heterogeneous communication networks, N MAC processing units for calculating state information of each physical layer of the N communication networks; And And a communication network selector for handoff between communication networks by determining whether to connect to another communication network from the currently connected access communication network based on the state information provided from the N MAC processing units. Scheduler device. Wherein N is a natural number of 2 or more. The method of claim 1, The status information is a scheduler device, characterized in that the transmission speed or transmission bandwidth of each of the N heterogeneous communication networks. The method of claim 2, The communication network selecting unit selects a communication network having the largest transmission rate or transmission bandwidth among the N heterogeneous communication networks as a target communication network, and communicates with the target communication network if the target communication network is different from the currently connected communication network. Scheduler device. In the method for changing the communication network currently in communication from the terminal capable of communicating with the N heterogeneous networks, to another communication network, Calculating state information of physical layers of the N heterogeneous communication networks; And And comparing the status information with the status information of the currently connected access network to the target communication network having the largest transmission rate. Wherein N is a natural number of 2 or more. The method of claim 4, wherein The target communication network is characterized in that the communication network having the highest transmission speed for more than a predetermined time of the N heterogeneous communication network.

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