Communication apparatus, device control method, and recording medium

Abstract

To provide a communication device capable of determining whether a radio function can be used or not by using a radio card.SOLUTION: According to the present invention, there is provided a communication apparatus including first and second wireless communication devices, the communication apparatus including a first signal transmission unit connected to the first wireless communication device to transmit and receive an electrical signal, a second signal transmission unit connected to the second wireless communication device to transmit and receive an electrical signal, a storage unit configured to store device information effective as the second wireless communication device, and a transmission unit configured to transmit and receive an electrical signal via the second signal transmission unit. The wireless communication device includes a device information acquisition means for acquiring device information of the second wireless communication device from the second wireless communication device, and a wireless communication determination means for comparing the valid device information stored in the storage means with the device information acquired by using the device information acquisition means and determining validity / invalidity of wireless communication of the first wireless communication device on the basis of the comparison result.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a communication device, a device control program, and a device control method, and can be applied to, for example, a home gateway device equipped with a wireless function. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, when receiving various home communication services, a home gateway device is used to connect to a wide area network (such as the Internet.) This home gateway device is generally loaned to the end user by a business operator such as a communication carrier.

[0003] The home gateway device has a PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) connector as an external interface. Patent Document 1, for example, is an example of controlling a device connected via PCIe.

[0004] In addition to being connected to end-user information devices via a wired connection, the home gateway device can also be connected to each information device wirelessly by using a PCIe interface. For example, by connecting a dedicated PCIe wireless card equipped with a wireless chip to the PCIe connector of the home gateway device, the home gateway device can provide the end user with the wireless function of the PCIe wireless card. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Special Publication No. 2016-532208 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] Generally, home gateway devices are equipped with a system on a chip (SOC). When manufacturing a new home gateway device, an SOC that is available as a component (for example, the latest SOC) is installed in the device.

[0007] However, such a procurable SOC may not support the wireless chip (e.g., an older generation) mounted on the PCIe wireless card, which means that a home gateway device equipped with the procurable SOC must use a different wireless chip.

[0008] As a countermeasure against the above, it is conceivable that home gateway devices could be equipped with a new built-in wireless chip that is compatible with available SOCs.

[0009] However, as mentioned above, the wireless function of the home gateway device provided to the end user is actually provided to the end user as an option in the form of a PCIe wireless card that can be connected to the home gateway device. With conventional home gateway devices, whether the end user can use the wireless function of the home gateway device was determined by whether or not the end user possessed a dedicated PCIe wireless card (whether or not the end user connected a legitimately provided dedicated PCIe wireless card to the PCIe connector of the home gateway device).

[0010] For this reason, home gateway devices equipped with the above-mentioned available SOCs need to determine whether the wireless communication function is enabled or disabled using a built-in wireless chip. However, for those who provide optional wireless services, it is currently more convenient to determine whether the wireless function can be used using the same procedure as before (lending a PCIe wireless card).

[0011] Therefore, there is a demand for a communication device, a device control program, and a device control method that can use a wireless card to determine whether or not a wireless function is available. [Means for solving the problem]

[0012] The first invention of the present invention is a communication apparatus having first and second wireless communication devices, characterized in that it comprises: (1) a first signal transmission means that is physically connected to the first wireless communication device and transmits and receives electrical signals; (2) a second signal transmission means that is physically connected to the second wireless communication device and transmits and receives electrical signals; (3) a storage means that stores valid device information for the second wireless communication device; (4) a device information acquisition means that acquires the device information of the second wireless communication device from the second wireless communication device via the second signal transmission means; and (5) a wireless communication determination means that compares the valid device information stored in the storage means with the device information acquired using the device information acquisition means, and determines whether wireless communication of the first wireless communication device is valid or invalid based on the comparison result.

[0013] The second device control program of the present invention is characterized in that it causes a computer mounted on a communication apparatus having first and second wireless communication devices, a first signal transmission means physically connected to the first wireless communication device and transmitting and receiving electrical signals, a second signal transmission means physically connected to the second wireless communication device and transmitting and receiving electrical signals, and a storage means for storing valid device information for the second wireless communication device to function as: (1) a device information acquisition means for acquiring device information for the second wireless communication device from the second wireless communication device via the second signal transmission means, and (2) a wireless communication determination means for comparing the valid device information stored in the storage means with the device information acquired using the device information acquisition means, and determining whether wireless communication of the first wireless communication device is valid or invalid based on the comparison result.

[0014] A third aspect of the present invention is an equipment control method used for a communication apparatus having first and second wireless communication devices, a first signal transmission means physically connected to the first wireless communication device and transmitting and receiving electrical signals, a second signal transmission means physically connected to the second wireless communication device and transmitting and receiving electrical signals, and a storage means for storing valid device information for the second wireless communication device, characterized in that (1) a device information acquisition means acquires device information of the second wireless communication device from the second wireless communication device via the second signal transmission means, and (2) a wireless communication determination means compares the valid device information stored in the storage means with the device information acquired using the device information acquisition means, and determines whether wireless communication of the first wireless communication device is valid or invalid based on the comparison result. [Effects of the Invention]

[0015] According to the present invention, it is possible to determine whether or not a wireless function using a wireless card is available. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0016] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a home gateway device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 2] 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing the configuration of the periphery of a home gateway device according to a first embodiment. [Figure 3] 4 is a flowchart showing a characteristic operation (wireless function ON / OFF control) of the home gateway device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a home gateway device according to a second embodiment. [Figure 5] 10 is a flowchart showing characteristic operations (wireless function ON / OFF and power supply control) of a home gateway device according to a second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0017] (A) First embodiment A first embodiment of a communication device, a device control program, and a device control method according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. In the first embodiment, a case where the communication device according to the present invention is a home gateway device is exemplified, but the present invention is not limited to this.

[0018] (A-1) Configuration of the First Embodiment FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of a home gateway device according to the first embodiment.

[0019] In FIG. 1, the home gateway device 2 according to the first embodiment includes a control unit 21, a PCIe interface 22 (22-1, 22-2), a built-in wireless unit 23, a PCIe connector 24, a dedicated PCIe wireless card 25, a memory unit 26, and a wide area communication unit 27.

[0020] The home gateway device 2 relays information exchanged between the upper network NT (see FIG. 2) and the information device 3 (see FIG. 2).

[0021] The upper network NT may be a network such as the Internet. The information device 3 may be a personal computer, a smartphone, a tablet device, a wearable device, a game console, or the like. In this embodiment, the home gateway device 2 and the information device 3 are connected via a wireless local area network (LAN), for example.

[0022] [Wide Area Communications Department] The wide area communication unit 27 is an interface unit that connects to the upper network NT and communicates information with the upper network NT. The wide area communication unit 27 may also have a function as an ONU (optical line terminal device).

[0023] [Built-in wireless unit] The built-in wireless unit 23 wirelessly transmits to the information device 3 and wirelessly receives from the information device 3 via an antenna (not shown). The built-in wireless unit 23 can apply a predetermined wireless communication protocol, and for example, IEEE802.11n / ac / ax or the like may be applied.

[0024] [PCIe connector, dedicated wireless card] The PCIe connector 24 is an interface that connects the dedicated PCIe wireless card 25 to the control unit 21 (SOC).

[0025] The dedicated PCIe wireless card 25 is a PCIe-connected wireless card. The dedicated PCIe wireless card 25 of this embodiment is provided as an option to end users who desire wireless communication services by, for example, a communication carrier that leases the home gateway device 2 to end users.

[0026] However, the dedicated PCIe wireless card 25 does not itself demonstrate a wireless communication function to connect to the information device 3 (it is the built-in wireless unit 23 that actually performs wireless communication). That is, the dedicated PCIe wireless card 25 is used to determine whether the wireless communication function of the built-in wireless unit 23 in the control unit 21 is ON / OFF. Therefore, the control unit 21 (SOC) does not need to be compatible with the dedicated PCIe wireless card 25 (wireless chip) (in other words, the dedicated PCIe wireless card 25 itself does not need to demonstrate a wireless function).

[0027] [Storage] The storage unit 26 stores PCIe device information I of the dedicated PCIe wireless card 25. The PCIe device information I is not particularly limited as long as it is information that can identify the dedicated PCIe wireless card 25, and may be, for example, the model number of the dedicated PCIe wireless card 25 or a unique number for each wireless card.

[0028] [Control Unit] The control unit 21 is a processing unit or device that controls various functions of the home gateway device 2. The hardware configuration of the control unit 21 can be realized by, for example, an SOC. The SOC executes processing programs (for example, device control programs) stored therein, thereby realizing various functions of the home gateway device 2.

[0029] In the first embodiment, the control unit 21 has two PCIe interfaces 22 (22-1, 22-2) as interfaces connecting to the built-in wireless unit 23 and the dedicated PCIe wireless card 25 (the dedicated PCIe wireless card 25 via the PCIe connector 24). Hereinafter, the PCIe interface 22-1 will also be referred to as a "first PCIe interface," and the PCIe interface 22-2 will also be referred to as a "second PCIe interface."

[0030] The control unit 21 of the first embodiment controls ON / OFF of the wireless communication function of the built-in wireless unit 23 depending on whether or not device information acquired from the dedicated PCIe wireless card 25 matches PCIe device information I held in the storage unit 26 at a predetermined timing (for example, when the power is turned ON). Further details of the control unit 21 will be described in the section on operation.

[0031] (A-2) Operation of the First Embodiment Next, the operation of the home gateway device 2 according to the embodiment having the above configuration will be described.

[0032] FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a characteristic operation (wireless function ON / OFF control) of the home gateway device according to the first embodiment.

[0033] <s101> When the home gateway device 2 is powered on, it starts the process of determining whether the wireless function of the built-in wireless unit 23 is on or off.

[0034] <s102> The control unit 21 acquires PCIe device information from the dedicated PCIe wireless card 25 via the second PCIe interface. For example, the control unit 21 acquires the PCIe device information of the dedicated PCIe wireless card 25 by transmitting a command requesting acquisition of PCIe device information to the dedicated PCIe wireless card 25 and receiving a response containing the PCIe device information from the dedicated PCIe wireless card 25. The PCIe device information may be, for example, the model number of the connected dedicated PCIe wireless card 25 or a unique number for each wireless card.

[0035] <s103> The control unit 21 compares the PCIe device information acquired in the above-described step S102 with the PCIe device information I stored in the storage unit 26, and determines whether the two pieces of information match. If the control unit 21 determines that the two pieces of information match, it determines that the dedicated PCIe wireless card 25 is connected, and proceeds to the next step S104. On the other hand, if the control unit 21 determines that the two pieces of information do not match, it determines that the dedicated PCIe wireless card 25 is not connected, and proceeds to step S105, which will be described later.

[0036] Naturally, the disclosure of this embodiment is not limited to the case where the PCIe device information acquired in the above-described step S102 matches the PCIe device information I. For example, the control unit 21 may determine that the dedicated PCIe wireless card 25 is connected based on a partial match between the character strings of the model numbers, which are the two pieces of device information.

[0037] <s104> If it is determined in step S103 above that the dedicated PCIe wireless card 25 is connected, the control unit 21 enables wireless communication by the built-in wireless unit 23 connected to the first PCIe interface (wireless communication function ON).

[0038] <s105> On the other hand, if the control unit 21 determines in the above-mentioned step S103 that the dedicated PCIe wireless card 25 is not connected, it disables wireless communication by the built-in wireless unit 23 connected to the first PCIe interface (wireless communication function OFF).

[0039] (A-3) Effects of the First Embodiment As described above, the first embodiment provides the following advantages.

[0040] The home gateway device 2 uses device information of the dedicated PCIe wireless card (dedicated PCIe wireless card 25) for the determination process and changes whether to perform wireless communication by the built-in wireless unit 23. This makes it possible to switch between enabling and disabling the wireless function of the home gateway device 2 by utilizing an existing dedicated PCIe wireless card.

[0041] (B) Second embodiment A second embodiment of the communication device, device control program, and device control method according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. In the second embodiment, the communication device according to the present invention is also a home gateway device, but is not limited to this.

[0042] (B-1) Configuration of the second embodiment FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a home gateway device according to the second embodiment.

[0043] 4, the home gateway device 2A according to the second embodiment includes a control unit 21A, power supply interfaces 28 (28-1, 28-2), and PCIe power supply units 29 (29-1, 29-2), in addition to the PCIe interfaces 22 (22-1, 22-2), the built-in wireless unit 23, the PCIe connector 24, the dedicated PCIe wireless card 25, the storage unit 26, and the wide-area communication unit 27. Only the configuration unique to the home gateway device 2A according to the second embodiment will be described below.

[0044] [Control unit, power interface, PCIe power supply unit] In the second embodiment, the control unit 21A has two power supply interfaces 28 (28-1, 28-2) as interfaces for connecting to PCIe power supply units 29 (29-1, 29-2). Hereinafter, the power supply interface 28-1 will also be referred to as the "first power supply interface," and the power supply interface 28-2 will also be referred to as the "second power supply interface." Similarly, the PCIe power supply unit 29-1 will also be referred to as the "first PCIe power supply unit," and the PCIe power supply unit 29-2 will also be referred to as the "second PCIe power supply unit."

[0045] The first power interface and the second power interface are, for example, general purpose I / Os (GPIOs) of an SOC.

[0046] The first PCIe power supply unit, PCIe power supply unit 29-1, is a power supply unit for the built-in wireless unit 23, and the second PCIe power supply unit, PCIe power supply unit 29-2, is a power supply unit for the PCIe connector 24.

[0047] The control unit 21A of the second embodiment controls the ON / OFF of the wireless communication function of the built-in wireless unit 23 described in the first embodiment, and also controls the start and stop of power supply from the first and second PCIe power supply units that supply power to the built-in wireless unit 23 and the dedicated PCIe wireless card 25 (PCIe connector 24) via the first and second power supply interfaces. Further details of the control unit 21A will be described in the section on operation.

[0048] (B-2) Operation of the Second Embodiment Next, the operation of the home gateway device 2A according to the second embodiment having the above configuration will be described.

[0049] Fig. 5 is a flowchart showing characteristic operations (wireless function ON / OFF and power supply control) of a home gateway device according to the second embodiment. In Fig. 5, the same or corresponding processes as those in Fig. 3 according to the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals. The same or corresponding processes are the same as those in the first embodiment, and therefore detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0050] <s201> After the above-mentioned step S101, the second PCIe power supply unit starts supplying power to the PCIe connector 24 (dedicated PCIe wireless card 25).

[0051] <s202> After step S102, the control unit 21A sends a signal to stop power supply to the second PCIe power supply unit via the second power supply interface. Upon receiving the signal, the second PCIe power supply unit stops power supply to the PCIe connector 24.

[0052] <s203> When it is determined in step S103 that the dedicated PCIe wireless card 25 is connected, the control unit 21A sends a power supply start signal to the first PCIe power supply unit via the first power supply interface. Upon receiving the power supply start signal, the first PCIe power supply unit starts power supply to the dedicated PCIe wireless card 25.

[0053] <s204> On the other hand, if it is determined in the above-mentioned step S103 that the dedicated PCIe wireless card 25 is not connected, the control unit 21A does not send a signal to start power feeding to the first PCIe power feeding unit.

[0054] As a modified example, after step S101 described above, if power supply to the dedicated PCIe wireless card 25 has started, a signal to stop power supply may be sent to the first PCIe power supply unit via the first power supply interface. Upon receiving the signal to stop power supply, the first PCIe power supply unit stops power supply to the dedicated PCIe wireless card 25.

[0055] (B-3) Effects of the Second Embodiment As described above, the second embodiment provides the following effects in addition to the effects of the first embodiment.

[0056] After the determination process based on the PCIe device information, the home gateway device 2A stops supplying power to the dedicated PCIe wireless card 25 so as not to consume power. Also, when it is determined that the wireless function of the built-in wireless unit 23 is to be disabled (when the unit is not used), the home gateway device 2A stops supplying power to the built-in wireless unit 23.

[0057] As a result, the home gateway device 2A can be operated with reduced power consumption.

[0058] (C) Although various modifications have been mentioned in the first and second embodiments described above, the same can also be applied to the following modifications.

[0059] (C-1) In the first and second embodiments described above, examples have been shown in which the dedicated PCIe wireless card 25 (PCIe information) is used to control the enabling and disabling of communication by the built-in wireless unit 23, but the enabling and disabling of other functions of the home gateway device may also be controlled using PCIe information in a similar manner.

[0060] (C-2) In the first and second embodiments described above, the explanation is given on the assumption that the built-in wireless unit 23 functions normally, but as a modified example, when the built-in wireless unit 23 has failed and the control unit 21 (SOC) is compatible with the dedicated PCIe wireless card 25, the wireless function of the dedicated PCIe wireless card 25 may be enabled. Furthermore, when the control unit 21 (SOC) is not compatible with the dedicated PCIe wireless card 25, another wireless card compatible with the wireless chip may be made available for use.

[0061] (C-3) In the above-described first and second embodiments, the device information is described based on the model number of the dedicated PCIe wireless card 25 or a unique number for each wireless card. However, different information may be used as appropriate within the scope that does not impair the effects of the present invention. For example, the device information may be information about available wireless communication standards, a list of commands that can be accepted via PCIe, or the version of the wireless device. In the above-described S103, the device information may be compared based on their inclusion relationship or magnitude relationship. [Explanation of symbols]

[0062] 2, 2A...home gateway device, 3...information equipment, 21, 21A...control unit, 22 (22-1, 22-2)...PCIe interface, 23...built-in wireless unit, 24...PCIe connector, 25...dedicated PCIe wireless card, 26...memory unit, 27...wide area communication unit, 28 (28-1, 28-2)...power supply interface, 29 (29-1, 29-2)...PCIe power supply unit, I...PCIe device information, NT...upper network.

Claims

1. 1. A communication apparatus having first and second wireless communication devices, a first signal transmission means that is physically connected to the first wireless communication device and that transmits and receives electrical signals; a second signal transmission means that is physically connected to the second wireless communication device and transmits and receives electrical signals; a storage means for storing device information valid as the second wireless communication device; a device information acquiring means for acquiring device information of the second wireless communication device from the second wireless communication device via the second signal transmitting means; a wireless communication determination means for comparing the valid device information stored in the storage means with the device information acquired by the device information acquisition means, and determining whether wireless communication of the first wireless communication device is valid or invalid based on the comparison result; A communication device comprising:

2. The communication apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the second wireless communication device is disposed so as to be removable from outside the housing.

3. 2. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the second wireless communication device is disposed outside the housing, and the first wireless communication device is disposed inside the housing.

4. 2. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the first and second signal transmission means are connected to the first and second wireless communication devices, respectively, via PCIe connections.

5. a first power supply means for supplying power to the first wireless communication device; a second power supply means for supplying power to the second wireless communication device; a power supply control means for stopping power supply to the second wireless communication device via the second power supply means after acquiring the device information using the device information acquisition means, and for starting power supply to the first wireless communication device via the first power supply means when the wireless communication determination means determines that wireless communication of the first wireless communication device is valid; 5. The communication device according to claim 1, further comprising:

6. a computer mounted on a communication apparatus having first and second wireless communication devices, a first signal transmission means physically connected to the first wireless communication device and transmitting and receiving electrical signals, a second signal transmission means physically connected to the second wireless communication device and transmitting and receiving electrical signals, and a storage means for storing device information valid for the second wireless communication device; a device information acquiring means for acquiring device information of the second wireless communication device from the second wireless communication device via the second signal transmitting means; a wireless communication determination means for comparing the valid device information stored in the storage means with the device information acquired by the device information acquisition means, and determining whether wireless communication of the first wireless communication device is valid or invalid based on the comparison result; A device control program characterized by causing the device to function as follows.

7. 1. A device control method for use in a communication apparatus having first and second wireless communication devices, a first signal transmission means that is physically connected to the first wireless communication device and transmits and receives electrical signals, a second signal transmission means that is physically connected to the second wireless communication device and transmits and receives electrical signals, and a storage means that stores device information that is valid for the second wireless communication device, the device information acquisition means acquires device information of the second wireless communication device from the second wireless communication device via the second signal transmission means; The wireless communication determination means compares the valid device information stored in the storage means with the device information acquired by the device information acquisition means, and determines whether wireless communication of the first wireless communication device is valid or invalid based on the comparison result. The device control method is characterized by the above.

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