Communication control device, communication control method, and program

Abstract

To allow communication speed to be more appropriately controlled in areas where congestion is predicted.SOLUTION: A communication control device includes an acquisition unit that acquires traffic data on wireless communication, a detection unit that detects the congestion situation of the wireless communication including areas where wireless communication congestion is predicted based on the traffic data, a control unit that sets an upper limit value of communication speed for terminals present in areas where wireless communication is congested during time periods of wireless communication congestion, a learning unit that learns a model using learning data that combines the congestion situation of wireless communication detected in the past and the upper limit value of communication speed set at that time to generate a learned model, and a determination unit that determines the upper limit value of communication speed to be set by inputting the congestion situation detected this time into the learned model.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a communication control device, a communication control method, and a program.

Background Art

[0002] Currently, various wireless communication carriers including MNO (Mobile Network Operator) and MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) are providing various wireless communication services. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for automatically switching a profile according to the communication status of a mobile phone network.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] Since wireless communication uses wireless, which is a finite resource, if a large number of terminals communicate simultaneously in the same area, the communication speed per terminal will decrease. In this regard, it is conceivable to take measures such as predicting the congestion situation of wireless communication in advance and avoiding traffic jams by restricting the communication speed in areas where congestion is predicted in advance. However, there is still no technology that clarifies how the communication speed should be restricted.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to more appropriately control the communication speed in an area where congestion is predicted.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] A communication control device according to an aspect of the present invention includes an acquisition unit that acquires traffic data of wireless communication, a detection unit that detects a congestion situation of wireless communication including an area where congestion of wireless communication is predicted based on the traffic data, and a control unit that sets an upper limit value of a communication speed for terminals existing in an area where wireless communication is congested during a time period when wireless communication is congested. The control unit learns a model with learning data combining a past detected congestion situation of wireless communication and an upper limit value of the communication speed set at that time, and generates a learned model. The control unit includes a determination unit that determines an upper limit value of the communication speed to be set by inputting the currently detected congestion situation into the learned model.

Advantages of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, in an area where congestion is predicted, the communication speed can be more appropriately controlled.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0008]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0009] Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In each figure, those denoted by the same reference numerals have the same or similar configurations.

[0010] <System Configuration> FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the wireless communication system 1 according to the present embodiment. The wireless communication system 1 is a system that provides a wireless communication service to the terminal 10, and includes one or more base stations 20, a core network 30, a communication control device 40, and an NW management system 50. The wireless communication system 1 may be compatible with wireless communication technologies such as 3G, LTE (Long Term Evolution), 5G, and 6G and later defined by 3GPP (registered trademark) (Third Generation Partnership Project).

[0011] The terminal 10 is, for example, a smartphone, a mobile phone, a personal computer, an in-vehicle terminal, an in-vehicle device, a telematics control unit (TCU), or the like. The terminal 10 may be called a UE (User Equipment).

[0012] The base station 20 includes an antenna and forms one or more cells. The base station 20 may be called an NB (NodeB), an eNB (enhanced NodeB), a gNB (gNodeB), or the like.

[0013] The core network 30 is connected to an external network and is a device that performs management of the location where the terminal 10 exists, routing control of data flowing between the terminal 10 and the external network, QoS (Quality of Service) control, management of user contract information, and the like. The core network 30 may be composed of a plurality of physical device groups or may be composed of a plurality of logical function groups. The external network includes the Internet, an enterprise internal network, and the like.

[0014] The communication control device 40 controls the communication speed of the terminal 10 based on the congestion status of the area, the contract information of the user, the load status of the base station 20 and the core network 30, etc. In the example of FIG. 1, the communication control device 40 is illustrated as being separate from the core network 30, but the present embodiment is not limited to this mode. The communication control device 40 may be a device different from the core network 30 or may be a part of the core network 30. Further, when it is a part of the core network 30, the communication control device 40 may be a PGW (Packet data network Gateway) or a UPF (User Plane Function) defined by 3GPP (registered trademark).

[0015] The NW management system 50 monitors the status of the base station 20 and the core network 30 and performs various controls on the base station 20 and the core network 30. The NW management system 50 may manage past and current traffic data, for example, in units of cells, base stations 20, and core networks 30 (more specifically, in units of PGW and UPF).

[0016] <Hardware Configuration> FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the communication control device 40. The communication control device 40 includes a processor 11 such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a GPU (Graphical Processing Unit), a memory (for example, a storage device 12 such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) or a ROM (Read Only Memory), an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), and / or an SSD (Solid State Drive)), a network IF (Network Interface) 13 for performing wired or wireless communication, an input device 14 for receiving an input operation, and an output device 15 for outputting information. The input device 14 is, for example, a keyboard, a touch panel, a mouse, and / or a microphone, etc. The output device 15 is, for example, a display, a touch panel, and / or a speaker, etc.

[0017] <Functional Block Configuration> FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the functional block configuration of the communication control device 40. The communication control device 40 includes a storage unit 100, an acquisition unit 101, a detection unit 102, and a control unit 103. The storage unit 100 can be realized by using a storage device 12 included in the communication control device 40. Also, the acquisition unit 101, the detection unit 102, and the control unit 103 can be realized by a processor 11 of the communication control device 40 executing a program stored in the storage device 12. Further, the program can be stored in a storage medium. The storage medium storing the program may be a computer-readable non-transitory storage medium (Non-transitory computer readable medium). The non-transitory storage medium is not particularly limited, and for example, it may be a storage medium such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory or a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read-Only Memory).

[0018] The storage unit 100 stores various data acquired by the acquisition unit 101. Also, the storage unit 100 stores, as learning data DL, a combination of the congestion status of wireless communication detected in a past predetermined period (for example, several years) and the upper limit value of the communication speed set at that time (details will be described later).

[0019] The acquisition unit 101 acquires traffic data regarding the congestion status of wireless communication from the base station 20, the core network 30, and / or the NW management system 50.

[0020] The detection unit 102 detects an area where wireless communication congestion is predicted based on the traffic data acquired by the acquisition unit 101. For example, the detection unit 102 may detect, in real time, an area where current congestion is predicted based on the latest traffic data acquired by the acquisition unit 101.

[0021] Further, the detection unit 102 may detect the congestion status of wireless communication including areas and time zones where congestion is predicted based on the traffic data acquired by the acquisition unit 101. That is, the detection unit 102 may detect areas and time zones that are considered likely to be congested in the future from the trends of past and / or latest traffic data. Note that the detection unit 102 may detect not only areas and time zones that are considered likely to be congested in the future, but also areas and time zones where congestion is actually occurring.

[0022] The control unit 103 includes a learning unit 103a and a determination unit 103b, and sets an upper limit of the communication speed for the terminal 10 existing in the congested area during the congested time zone. For example, when the detection unit 102 detects the current congested area in real time, the control unit 103 sets an upper limit of the communication speed for the terminal 10 existing in the congested area during the time zone when the detection unit 102 detects that the congested area is congested. On the other hand, when the detection unit 102 predicts a future congested time zone, the control unit 103 sets an upper limit of the communication speed for the terminal 10 existing in the congested area during the detected congested time zone.

[0023] The learning unit 103a learns a model using learning data DL that combines the congestion status of wireless communication detected in the past predetermined period (for example, several years) and the upper limit value of the communication speed set at that time, and generates a learned model ML.

[0024] The determination unit 103b determines (outputs) the upper limit value of the communication speed to be set by inputting the currently detected congestion status into the learned model ML. In this way, by using the upper limit value of the communication speed set in the past as learning data, it is possible to set an optimal upper limit value of the communication speed according to the congestion status, and efficient operation of wireless resources can be realized.

[0025] <Processing procedure> FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure executed by the communication control device 40. In the following description, it is assumed that the learned model ML for determining the upper limit value of the communication speed has already been generated by the learning unit 103a.

[0026] In step S10, the acquisition unit 101 acquires traffic data from the core network 30 or the NW management system 50. The traffic data may be data representing the change over time, that is, the traffic volume from the past to the present, at a predetermined interval (for example, every minute). The traffic data may be, for example, data indicating the traffic volume (uplink data volume and / or downlink data volume, etc.) for each wireless communication area (for example, cell), data indicating the traffic volume for each base station 20, data indicating the number of terminals 10 present (in the area) in the wireless communication area, data indicating the change over time of the average traffic volume (for example, the average communication speed of uplink data and downlink data) of a plurality of terminals 10 present in the same wireless communication area, and / or data indicating the processing load (CPU usage rate, memory usage rate, etc.) of the base station 20. Note that the uplink data means data flowing from the terminal 10 toward the external network, and the downlink data means data flowing from the external network toward the terminal 10.

[0027] Further, the acquisition unit 101 may acquire data regarding the regional attributes of the wireless communication area (hereinafter referred to as "regional attribute data"). Examples of the regional attributes include, for example, an area around a station, a residential area, an area where a shopping center exists, an area with many companies, an area where a festival is held, and the like. In addition, the acquisition unit 101 may acquire weather prediction data, event schedule data, and / or people flow prediction data. The weather prediction data may be, for example, a weather forecast. The event schedule data indicates the date and time and location of an event to be held in the future. The people flow prediction data is data that predicts how the flow of people changes over time.

[0028] In step S11, the detection unit 102 detects the congestion status of wireless communication including the area where congestion is predicted and the time zone where congestion is predicted from the traffic data and the like acquired in step S10.

[0029] For example, the detection unit 102 may detect a wireless communication area where the traffic volume from a predetermined period before (not particularly limited, for example, 10 minutes before) to the present is equal to or greater than a first threshold value as an area where congestion is predicted. For example, the detection unit 102 may detect a wireless communication area where the average communication speed of each terminal 10 of all terminals 10 located in the same wireless communication area is equal to or less than a second threshold value as a congested area. The unit of the congested area detected by the detection unit 102 may be a cell unit, or a unit including a plurality of cells (for example, a prefecture unit and / or a city unit, etc.). Further, when the traffic volume from a predetermined period before to the present exceeds a third threshold value, the detection unit 102 may detect a subsequent predetermined time zone (for example, from the present to after 〇× hours) as a time zone where congestion is predicted.

[0030] In addition, the detection unit 102 may detect the area where congestion is predicted and the time zone where congestion is predicted based on the regional attribute data and traffic data of the wireless communication area acquired by the acquisition unit 101. For example, assume that the traffic volume from 17:00 to 19:00 in the cell where the shopping center A exists is twice that from 14:00 to 15:00. In this case, since the detection unit 102 knows that the shopping center A exists in area A and considering the current (15:00) traffic volume in area A, the traffic volume between 17:00 and 19:00 in the evening exceeds a predetermined threshold value, the detection unit 102 may make a judgment such that area A corresponds to an area where congestion is predicted between 17:00 and 19:00.

[0031] Further, the detection unit 102 may estimate an area where congestion is predicted and a time period when congestion is predicted based on at least one of the weather prediction data, event holding prediction data, and crowd flow prediction data acquired by the acquisition unit 101 and the traffic data. For example, if the traffic volume in area A is always less than a predetermined threshold, but considering that an event will be held from 17:00 to 18:00, the detection unit 102 may determine that area A from 17:00 to 18:00 corresponds to an area where congestion is predicted. Also, assume that the traffic volume in area A is always less than a predetermined threshold, but according to the crowd flow prediction data, the number of people is expected to increase in area A between 9:00 p.m. on December 31 and 3:00 a.m. on January 1. In this case, the detection unit 102 may determine that area A from 9:00 p.m. on December 31 to 3:00 a.m. on January 1 corresponds to an area where congestion is predicted.

[0032] Further, the detection unit 102 may detect the degree of congestion (congestion level) in the area where congestion is predicted at multiple levels for each congested area. For example, assume that when the traffic volume is equal to or greater than A and less than B, the degree of congestion is "1", when the traffic volume is equal to or greater than B and less than C, the degree of congestion is "2", when the traffic volume is equal to or greater than C and less than D, the degree of congestion is "3", and when the traffic volume is equal to or greater than D, the degree of congestion is "4". In this case, when the traffic volume in area A is equal to or greater than B and less than C, the detection unit 102 may determine that area A is an area where congestion is predicted and the degree of congestion is "2".

[0033] Further, the detection unit 102 may display the estimated congested area on a display or the like using a color map or the like. For convenience of explanation, the area where congestion is predicted may be referred to as a "congested area", and the time period when congestion is predicted may be referred to as a "congested time period".

[0034] In step S12, while the current time falls within the congestion time zone estimated in step S11, the control unit 103 sets an upper limit on the communication speed for the terminal 10 present in the area where congestion is predicted as estimated in step S11. When setting the upper limit on the communication speed, the determination unit 103b of the control unit 103 inputs the currently detected congestion situation into the learned model ML generated by the learning unit 103a to determine the upper limit value of the communication speed to be set.

[0035] For example, when the detection unit 102 predicts that the overlapping time zone in the congestion area A is from 10:00 to 12:00, the determination unit 103b of the control unit 103 uses the learned model ML to determine the optimal upper limit value of the communication speed according to the congestion situation for the terminal 10 present in the congestion area A between 10:00 and 12:00.

[0036] Also, when the detection unit 102 detects the congestion area in real time, the control unit 103 sets an upper limit on the communication speed for the terminal 10 present in the congestion area while the area is detected as being congested by the detection unit 102. For example, while the detection unit 102 determines that area B corresponds to the congestion area, the determination unit 103b of the control unit 103 repeatedly performs processes such as using the learned model ML to determine the optimal upper limit value of the communication speed according to the congestion situation for the terminal 10 present in area B. After that, when the detection unit 102 determines that area B no longer corresponds to the congestion area, the control unit 103 cancels the setting of the upper limit on the communication speed.

[0037] The upper limit value of the communication speed determined by the determination unit 103b of the control unit 103 can vary at any time according to the learned model ML, but it may be set to a value lower than the communication speed in an uncongested area (for example, about 75 Mbps to 100 Mbps in the case of LTE), such as in the range of 1 Mbps to 10 Mbps.

[0038] In addition, the determination unit 103b of the control unit 103 may change the upper limit value of the communication speed to be determined according to the degree of congestion in the congested area. For example, the upper limit value of the communication speed corresponding to the congestion level "1" is determined within the range of 10 Mbps to 8 Mbps, the upper limit value of the communication speed corresponding to the congestion level "2" is determined within the range of 8 Mbps to 5 Mbps, and the upper limit value of the communication speed corresponding to the congestion level "3" is determined within the range of 5 Mbps to 1 Mbps.

[0039] In addition, the determination unit 103b of the control unit 103 may change the upper limit value of the communication speed to be determined according to the regional attribute of the area where the terminal 10 exists during the congested time period for the terminal 10 existing in the congested area. For example, the determination unit 103b of the control unit 103 may change the upper limit value of the communication speed to be determined according to the regional attribute, such as the area around the station, the area where the shopping mall exists, the area where the concert is held, the area where the beer festival is held, etc. As an example, since it is expected that there are many users watching videos around the station, the determination unit 103b of the control unit 103 determines the upper limit value of the communication speed to a value of 10 Mbps or less. Since it is expected that the number of users at the beer festival venue is large but the data usage per user is not large, the determination unit 103b of the control unit 103 determines the upper limit value of the communication speed to a value of 5 Mbps or less. In this way, the upper limit value of the communication speed to be determined may be changed according to the regional attribute.

[0040] In addition, the determination unit 103b of the control unit 103 may change the upper limit value of the communication speed to be determined according to the type of data received or transmitted by the terminal 10 during the congested time period for the terminal 10 existing in the congested area. That is, the upper limit value of the communication speed determined for each terminal 10 may be changed according to the content of the data to be communicated. Examples of data types include, for example, video data, music data, web data, SNS data, and data of a specific application.

[0041] For example, for a video with medium picture quality, the data volume is 5 Mbytes per minute. Therefore, theoretically, a communication speed of 83 kbps is sufficient. Thus, the determination unit 103b of the control unit 103 may determine the upper limit value of the communication speed within a range of 3 Mbps or less for the terminal 10 of a user who is watching a medium-quality video. On the other hand, for the terminal 10 of a user who is conducting a video conference with a large number of people, the upper limit value of the communication speed may be determined within a range of 10 Mbps or less so that the video conference is stable. Also, for the terminal 10 of a user who is simply browsing the web, the upper limit value of the communication speed may be determined within a range of 1 Mbps or less. Further, for the terminal 10 of a user who is using a map application, the upper limit value of the communication speed may be determined within a range of 3 Mbps or less so that the map is updated smoothly.

[0042] Also, the determination unit 103b of the control unit 103 may change the upper limit value of the communication speed determined according to the communication carrier with which the terminal 10 contracts during the congestion time period for the terminal 10 existing in the congestion area. Here, assume that there are a plurality of communication carriers A and B using the same wireless communication system 1. In this case, the determination unit 103b of the control unit 103 may determine the upper limit value of the communication speed within a range of 1 Mbps or less for the terminal 10 of a user who has contracted with communication carrier A, and may determine the upper limit value of the communication speed within a range of 5 Mbps or less for the terminal 10 of a user who has contracted with communication carrier B.

[0043] The decision unit 103b of the control unit 103 may arbitrarily combine the communication speed control methods described above. For example, for the terminal 10 of a user who has a contract with communication carrier A and is watching a video with medium image quality, the decision unit 103b of the control unit 103 determines the upper limit value of the communication speed within a range of 3 Mbps or less. For the terminal 10 of a user who has a contract with communication carrier B and is watching a video with medium image quality, it may also be determined so that the upper limit value of the communication speed is within a range of 10 Mbps or less. Further, for the terminal 10 of a user who has a contract with communication carrier A and whose data type is web browsing, the control unit 103 determines the upper limit value of the communication speed within a range of 1 Mbps or less. For the terminal 10 of a user who has a contract with communication carrier B and whose data type is web browsing, it may also be determined so that the upper limit value of the communication speed is within a range of 2 Mbps or less.

[0044] Also, the control unit 103 may instruct the core network 30 or the base station 20 corresponding to the congested area to set the upper limit of the communication speed. For example, the control unit 103 may control the communication speed of the terminal 10 existing in the congested area to be equal to or lower than the upper limit value by transmitting the identifier of the cell constituting the congested area and the upper limit value of the communication speed to the core network 30 or the base station 20.

[0045] According to the embodiment described above, in an area where congestion is predicted, the communication speed can be more appropriately controlled.

[0046] The embodiment described above is for facilitating the understanding of the present invention and is not for limiting and interpreting the present invention. The flowcharts, sequences, each element included in the embodiment, and their arrangements, materials, conditions, shapes, sizes, etc. described in the embodiment are not limited to those exemplified and can be appropriately changed. Also, it is possible to partially substitute or combine the configurations shown in different embodiments.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0047] 1…Wireless communication system, 10…Terminal, 11…Processor, 12…Memory device, 13…Network IF, 14…Input device, 15…Output device, 20…Base station, 30…Core network, 40…Communication control device, 50…NW management system, 100…Memory unit, 101…Acquisition unit, 102…Detection unit, 103…Control unit, 103a…Learning unit, 103b…Decision unit, DL…Learning data, ML…Trained model

Claims

1. An acquisition unit that acquires traffic data of wireless communication; A detection unit that detects the congestion status of the wireless communication including an area where congestion of the wireless communication is predicted based on the traffic data; A control unit that sets an upper limit value of the communication speed for a terminal existing in an area where the wireless communication is congested during a time period when the wireless communication is congested, comprising: The control unit: A learning unit that learns a model with learning data combining the congestion status of wireless communication detected in the past and the upper limit value of the communication speed set at that time, and generates a learned model; A determination unit that determines the upper limit value of the communication speed to be set by inputting the congestion status detected this time into the learned model. A communication control device.

2. The detection unit detects the congestion status of the wireless communication including a time period when congestion is predicted together with an area where congestion of the wireless communication is predicted based on the traffic data. The communication control device according to claim 1.

3. The acquisition unit acquires data related to regional attributes, The detection unit detects the congestion status of the wireless communication including an area where congestion of the wireless communication is predicted and a time period when congestion of the wireless communication is predicted based on the data related to regional attributes acquired by the acquisition unit and the traffic data. The communication control device according to claim 2.

4. The determination unit changes the upper limit value of the communication speed to be determined according to the regional attributes of the area where the terminal exists for the terminal during a time period when the wireless communication is congested. The communication control device according to claim 1.

5. The determination unit changes the upper limit value of the communication speed to be determined according to the data type of data received or transmitted by the terminal for the terminal during a time period when the wireless communication is congested. The communication control device according to claim 1.

6. The determination unit changes the upper limit value of the communication speed according to the communication carrier with which the terminal contracts for the terminal during a time period when the wireless communication is congested. The communication control device according to claim 1.

7. An acquisition step of acquiring traffic data of wireless communication; A detection step of detecting the congestion status of the wireless communication including an area where congestion of the wireless communication is predicted based on the traffic data; A control step of setting an upper limit value of the communication speed for a terminal existing in an area where the wireless communication is congested during a time period when the wireless communication is congested, including: The control step further a learning step of training a model with learning data combining a past detected congestion situation of wireless communication and an upper limit value of the communication speed set at that time, and generating a trained model; a determination step of determining the upper limit value of the communication speed to be set by inputting the currently detected congestion situation into the trained model; A communication control method executed by a communication control device, including the above.

8. An acquisition step of acquiring traffic data of wireless communication; a detection step of detecting a congestion situation of the wireless communication including an area where congestion of the wireless communication is predicted based on the traffic data; a control step of setting an upper limit value of the communication speed for terminals existing in an area where the wireless communication is congested during a time period when the wireless communication is congested, including the above; The control step further a learning step of training a model with learning data combining a past detected congestion situation of wireless communication and an upper limit value of the communication speed set at that time, and generating a trained model; a determination step of determining the upper limit value of the communication speed to be set by inputting the currently detected congestion situation into the trained model; A program for causing a computer to execute, including the above.

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