Wireless communication system, wireless communication method, and access point device

Abstract

The present disclosure is a wireless communication system S comprising: an access point device 1; a terminal device 2-3 which periodically transmits an uplink packet to the access point device 1; and terminal devices 2-1 and 2-2 which receive a downlink packet from the access point device 1, the wireless communication system being characterized in that the access point device 1 includes an arrival monitoring unit 12 which monitors the arrival timing of the upstream packet from the terminal device 2-3, an arrival prediction unit 13 which predicts a future arrival timing of the uplink packet from the terminal device 2-3, on the basis of the periodic arrival timing of the uplink packet from the terminal device 2-3, and a transmission control unit 14 which controls the transmission timing of the downlink packet to the terminal devices 2-1, 2-2 so as to avoid the future arrival timing of the uplink packet from the terminal device 2-3.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a wireless communication system using an access point device. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, services using Wi-Fi (registered trademark) are becoming more widespread due to the demand for wireless use. Furthermore, surveillance cameras, environmental sensors, and the like that use wireless connections (e.g., Wi-Fi) instead of wired connections are on the rise. However, in wireless connections (particularly wireless LANs), surveillance cameras, environmental sensors, and the like are more susceptible to the effects of high communication quality and reliability of information provision compared to wired connections (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1). Furthermore, when one access point device in one wireless LAN accommodates a variety of terminal devices ranging from user terminals such as smartphones to surveillance cameras and environmental sensors, the surveillance cameras and environmental sensors are more susceptible to the effects of high communication quality and reliability of information provision due to a sudden increase in the number of connected terminals, etc. [Prior art documents] [Non-patent literature]

[0003] [Non-Patent Document 1] “AT-740 Product Information”, [online], July 27, 2020, Alterplus, [searched September 9, 2020], Internet<URL:http: / / alterplus.jp / products / network / at740 / > [Non-Patent Document 2] IAAli, M. Fleury, and M. Ghanbari, “Distortion-based slice level prioritization for real-time video over QoS-enabled wireless networks”, Advances in Multimedia, Volume 2012, Article ID 319785. [Non-Patent Document 3] Keisuke Wakao, Kenichi Kawamura, and Takatsune Moriyama, "Quality Prediction Technology for Optimal Use of Multiple Wireless Access Systems," NTT Technical Journal, April 2020, pp.11-13. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In order to make surveillance cameras and environmental sensors less susceptible to the effects of high communication quality and reliability of information provision, the techniques disclosed in Non-Patent Documents 2 and 3 can be applied. Non-Patent Document 2 discloses a QoS control method 802.11e as a priority control technique for specific packets, which executes queue control in the MAC layer and sends specific packets preferentially. Non-Patent Document 3 discloses a quality prediction technique as a technique for stabilizing communication quality, which predicts communication quality of multiple wireless sections and predictively switches multiple wireless resources.

[0005] However, in Non-Patent Document 2, in order for the priority control technology of a specific packet to be effective, both the access point device and the terminal device must support the priority control standard. If even one terminal device does not support the priority control standard, the overall optimization of the priority control will be disturbed, and unintended packet collisions will occur. In particular, with an increase in uplink packets from surveillance cameras and environmental sensors, unintended packet collisions will occur between the uplink packets and downlink packets to user terminals such as smartphones, and the bandwidth utilization efficiency of the entire wireless communication system will decrease. And, Non-Patent Document 3 discloses a technology for stabilizing communication quality, but does not disclose a priority control technology for a specific operator or service.

[0006] Therefore, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present disclosure aims to improve bandwidth utilization efficiency in an entire wireless communication system by preventing unintended packet collisions between downstream packets to user terminals such as smartphones in a wireless communication system that uses an access point device, even if any of the terminal devices does not support the priority control standard, and regardless of an increase in upstream packets from surveillance cameras, environmental sensors, etc. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve the above problem, attention is focused on the periodicity of upstream packets from surveillance cameras, environmental sensors, etc. Then, the access point device predicts future arrival timings of upstream packets from the surveillance cameras, environmental sensors, etc. based on the periodic arrival timings of the upstream packets from the surveillance cameras, environmental sensors, etc. Furthermore, the access point device controls the timing of sending downstream packets to user terminals such as smartphones so as to avoid the future arrival timings of upstream packets from the surveillance cameras, environmental sensors, etc.

[0008] Specifically, the present disclosure provides a wireless communication system comprising an access point device, a terminal device that periodically transmits upstream packets to the access point device, and another terminal device that receives downstream packets from the access point device, wherein the access point device comprises an arrival monitoring unit that monitors the arrival timing of upstream packets from the terminal device, an arrival prediction unit that predicts future arrival timing of upstream packets from the terminal device based on the periodic arrival timing of the upstream packets from the terminal device, and a transmission control unit that controls the transmission timing of downstream packets to the other terminal device so as to avoid the future arrival timing of the upstream packets from the terminal device.

[0009] The present disclosure also relates to a wireless communication method in a wireless communication system including an access point device, a terminal device that periodically transmits uplink packets to the access point device, and another terminal device that receives downlink packets from the access point device, wherein the access point device sequentially executes an arrival monitoring step of monitoring the arrival timing of uplink packets from the terminal device, an arrival prediction step of predicting the future arrival timing of uplink packets from the terminal device based on the periodic arrival timing of the uplink packets from the terminal device, and a transmission control step of controlling the transmission timing of downlink packets to the other terminal device so as to avoid the future arrival timing of the uplink packets from the terminal device.

[0010] The present disclosure also relates to an access point device in a wireless communication system including an access point device, a terminal device that periodically transmits upstream packets to the access point device, and another terminal device that receives downstream packets from the access point device, the access point device comprising: an arrival monitoring unit that monitors the arrival timing of the upstream packets from the terminal device; an arrival prediction unit that predicts the future arrival timing of the upstream packets from the terminal device based on the periodic arrival timing of the upstream packets from the terminal device; and a transmission control unit that controls the transmission timing of the downstream packets to the other terminal device so as to avoid the future arrival timing of the upstream packets from the terminal device.

[0011] According to these configurations, it is possible to execute priority control for upstream packets from security cameras and environmental sensors, etc., compared with downstream packets to user terminals such as smartphones. It is also possible to prevent packet collisions between upstream packets from security cameras and environmental sensors, etc., and downstream packets to user terminals such as smartphones. This makes it possible to improve bandwidth utilization efficiency in the entire wireless communication system. Furthermore, it is possible to realize the invention of the present disclosure by using software control of the access point device, without modifying / depending on the wireless communication method and priority control standard of the access point device and terminal device.

[0012] The present disclosure also relates to a wireless communication system characterized in that the arrival prediction unit sets a time width of the future arrival timing of the upstream packet from the terminal device based on fluctuations in the arrival timing of the upstream packet from the terminal device, and the transmission control unit controls the transmission timing of the downlink packet to the other terminal device so as to avoid the time width of the future arrival timing of the upstream packet from the terminal device.

[0013] With this configuration, it is possible to further take into account fluctuations in the arrival timing of upstream packets from surveillance cameras, environmental sensors, etc., and control the timing of sending downstream packets to user terminals such as smartphones during a period excluding such fluctuations.

[0014] The present disclosure also relates to a wireless communication system characterized in that the arrival prediction unit predicts multiple future arrival timings of uplink packets from the terminal device based on the periodic arrival timings of the uplink packets from the terminal device, and the transmission control unit controls the transmission timing of downlink packets to the other terminal device so as to avoid adjacent future arrival timings of the uplink packets from the terminal device.

[0015] With this configuration, the timing of sending downstream packets to a user terminal such as a smartphone can be controlled in a period approximately equal to the interval between the arrival timing of upstream packets from surveillance cameras, environmental sensors, etc., while also taking into consideration the interval between the arrival timing of upstream packets.

[0016] The present disclosure also relates to a wireless communication system, characterized in that the access point device is equipped with a buffer unit that performs priority transmission of downlink packets to the other terminal device depending on the operator to which the other terminal device belongs or the service used by the other terminal device.

[0017] According to this configuration, priority control can be executed in units of a specific business operator or service (units of surveillance cameras and environmental sensors, etc., and user terminals, such as smartphones). Effect of the Invention

[0018] In this way, in a wireless communication system using an access point device, even if any of the terminal devices does not support the priority control standard, the present disclosure can improve bandwidth utilization efficiency throughout the entire wireless communication system by preventing unintended packet collisions between downstream packets to user terminals such as smartphones, regardless of an increase in upstream packets from surveillance cameras, environmental sensors, etc. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0019] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a wireless communication system according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating processing of the wireless communication system according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 3] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a wireless communication system according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating processing of a wireless communication system according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0020] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiments described below are examples of the present disclosure, and the present disclosure is not limited to the following embodiments.

[0021] (Wireless communication system according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure) The configuration of a wireless communication system according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure is shown in Fig. 1. The processing of the wireless communication system according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure is shown in Fig. 2. The wireless communication system S includes an access point device 1, terminal devices 2-1, 2-2, and 2-3, and a control server 3.

[0022] The access point device 1 includes a transmitting / receiving unit 11, an arrival monitoring unit 12, an arrival prediction unit 13, a transmission control unit 14, and a buffer unit 15, and can also be realized by a computer and the priority control program shown in Fig. 2. The priority control program shown in Fig. 2 can be recorded on a recording medium, or can be provided via a network.

[0023] The terminal devices 2-1 and 2-2 are user terminals such as smartphones, and mainly receive downstream packets from the access point device 1. The terminal device 2-3 is a surveillance camera, an environmental sensor, or the like, and mainly transmits upstream packets to the access point device 1 periodically.

[0024] The control server 3 distributes a control policy, which will be described below, to the arrival monitor 12, the arrival predictor 13, the transmission controller 14, and the buffer 15 of the access point device 1.

[0025] The transceiver 11 periodically receives an upstream packet U-3 from a terminal device 2-3 (such as a surveillance camera or an environmental sensor) and periodically transmits the upstream packet to a higher-level device of the access point device 1. Then, it receives a downstream packet from the higher-level device of the access point device 1 and transmits downstream packets D-1 and D-2 to the terminal devices 2-1 and 2-2 (user terminals such as smartphones). Here, the wireless communication method (such as Wi-Fi) is not particularly limited, and the detailed standard of Wi-Fi (such as a / b / g / n / ac / ax) is also not particularly limited.

[0026] The arrival monitoring unit 12 monitors the arrival timing, IP address, port number, etc. of an upstream packet U-3 from a terminal device 2-3 (such as a monitoring camera or an environmental sensor).

[0027] The arrival prediction unit 13 predicts a future arrival timing t of the upstream packet U-3 from the terminal device 2-3 (such as a surveillance camera and an environmental sensor) based on the periodic arrival timing of the upstream packet U-3 from the terminal device 2-3 (such as a surveillance camera and an environmental sensor). k , t k+1 Predict.

[0028] The transmission control unit 14 determines the future arrival timing t of an upstream packet U-3 from the terminal device 2-3 (such as a surveillance camera or an environmental sensor). k , t k+1 In order to avoid this, the timing t k <t<t k+1 The buffer unit 15 controls the sending timing t k <t<t k+1 Based on this, queuing / buffering / packet discard is performed for downstream packets D-1 and D-2 to terminal devices 2-1 and 2-2 (user terminals such as smartphones).

[0029] That is, the upstream packet U-3 from the terminal device 2-3 (monitoring camera and environmental sensor, etc.) can be prioritized compared with the downstream packets D-1 and D-2 to the terminal devices 2-1 and 2-2 (user terminals such as smartphones). Then, packet collision between the upstream packet U-3 from the terminal device 2-3 (monitoring camera and environmental sensor, etc.) and the downstream packets D-1 and D-2 to the terminal devices 2-1 and 2-2 (user terminals such as smartphones) can be prevented. Thus, the bandwidth utilization efficiency of the entire wireless communication system S can be improved. Furthermore, the invention of the present disclosure can be realized using software control of the access point device 1 without modifying / depending on the wireless communication method and priority control standard of the access point device 1 and the terminal devices 2-1, 2-2, and 2-3.

[0030] The arrival prediction unit 13 predicts a time width t of the future arrival timing of the upstream packet U-3 from the terminal device 2-3 (such as a surveillance camera and an environmental sensor) based on a fluctuation Δt of the arrival timing of the upstream packet U-3 from the terminal device 2-3 (such as a surveillance camera and an environmental sensor). k -Δt / 2≦t≦t k +Δt / 2, t k+1 -Δt / 2≦t≦t k+1 You may also set +Δt / 2.

[0031] The transmission control unit 14 determines the time width t k -Δt / 2≦t≦t k +Δt / 2, t k+1 -Δt / 2≦t≦t k+1 +Δt / 2, the timing of sending downstream packets D-1 and D-2 to the terminal devices 2-1 and 2-2 (user terminals such as smartphones) is t k +Δt / 2 <t<t k+1 -Δt / 2(period Δξ=t k+1 -t k The buffer unit 15 may control the sending timing t k +Δt / 2 <t<t k+1 -Δt / 2(period Δξ=t k+1 -tk 2, the buffer unit 15 may perform queuing / buffering / packet discarding for the downlink packets D-1 and D-2 to the terminal devices 2-1 and 2-2 (user terminals such as smartphones) based on the arrival timing of the downlink packets D-1 and D-2 to the terminal devices 2-1 and 2-2 (user terminals such as smartphones) in accordance with the time width t k -Δt / 2≦t≦t k +Δt / 2, and after a waiting time, the transmission timing t k +Δt / 2 <t<t k+1 -Δt / 2(period Δξ=t k+1 -t k -Δt).

[0032] That is, by further considering the fluctuation of the arrival timing of the upstream packet U-3 from the terminal device 2-3 (such as a surveillance camera and an environmental sensor), the timing of sending the downstream packets D-1 and D-2 to the terminal devices 2-1 and 2-2 (such as a smartphone or other user terminal) can be controlled in a period excluding the fluctuation. Then, by further considering the interval of the arrival timing of the upstream packet U-3 from the terminal device 2-3 (such as a surveillance camera and an environmental sensor), the timing of sending the downstream packets D-1 and D-2 to the terminal devices 2-1 and 2-2 (such as a smartphone or other user terminal) can be controlled in a period approximately equal to the interval.

[0033] (Wireless communication system according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure) The configuration of a wireless communication system according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure is shown in Fig. 3. The processing of the wireless communication system according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure is shown in Fig. 4. Below, differences between the second embodiment of the present disclosure and the first embodiment of the present disclosure will be mainly described.

[0034] Let us assume that the business operator to which terminal device 2-1 (user terminal such as a smartphone) belongs or the service used by terminal device 2-1 is #1. Let us assume that the business operator to which terminal device 2-2 (user terminal such as a smartphone) belongs or the service used by terminal device 2-2 is #2. Let us assume that the business operator to which terminal device 2-3 (surveillance camera, environmental sensor, etc.) belongs or the service used by terminal device 2-3 is #3.

[0035] The access point device 1 includes virtual processing units 16-1, 16-2, and 16-3 corresponding to the terminal devices 2-1, 2-2, and 2-3, and can also be realized by a computer and the priority control program shown in Fig. 4. The priority control program shown in Fig. 4 can be recorded on a recording medium or provided via a network.

[0036] The control server 3 distributes a control policy, which will be described below, to the arrival monitor 12, the arrival predictor 13, the transmission controller 14, and the buffer 15 of the access point device 1.

[0037] The virtual processing units 16-1, 16-2, and 16-3 are VMs or containers, and execute individual APP processing for businesses / services #1, #2, and #3.

[0038] The buffer unit 15 performs priority transmission of downstream packets D-1, D-2 to the terminal devices 2-1, 2-2 (user terminals such as smartphones) depending on the service provider to which the terminal devices 2-1, 2-2 belong or the service used by the terminal devices 2-1, 2-2.

[0039] The priority of downstream communication is set to medium for terminal device 2-1 (user terminal such as a smartphone). The priority of downstream communication is set to the highest for terminal device 2-2 (user terminal such as a smartphone). The priority of downstream communication is set to the lowest for terminal device 2-3 (surveillance camera, environmental sensor, etc.).

[0040] In the first embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the buffer unit 15 buffers downlink packets D-1 and D-2 to the terminal devices 2-1 and 2-2 (user terminals such as smartphones) for a time period t k -Δt / 2≦t≦t k +Δt / 2 in this order, and the above transmission timing t k +Δt / 2 <t<t k+1 Send them out in this order at -Δt / 2.

[0041] In the second embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the buffer unit 15 buffers downlink packets D-1 and D-2 to the terminal devices 2-1 and 2-2 (user terminals such as smartphones) for a time period t k -Δt / 2≦t≦t k +Δt / 2 in this order, and based on the priority of downstream communication, the above transmission timing t k +Δt / 2 <t<t k+1 Send them out in reverse order at -Δt / 2.

[0042] In other words, priority control can be executed for each specific business operator or service (for example, for surveillance cameras and environmental sensors, and for user terminals such as smartphones). [Industrial Applicability]

[0043] The wireless communication system, wireless communication method, and access point device of the present disclosure can accommodate surveillance cameras, environmental sensors, and user terminals such as smartphones. [Explanation of symbols]

[0044] S: Wireless communication system 1: Access point device 2-1, 2-2, 2-3: Terminal device 3: Control server 11: Transmitter / receiver 12: Arrival monitoring department 13: Arrival prediction section 14: Transmission control section 15: Buffer section 16-1, 16-2, 16-3: Virtual processing section U-3: Upstream packet D-1, D-2: Downstream packets

Claims

1. An access point device; a terminal device that periodically transmits upstream packets to the access point device; Another terminal device that receives downlink packets from the access point device; A wireless communication system comprising: The access point device is an arrival monitoring unit that monitors the arrival timing, IP address, and port number of an upstream packet from the terminal device; an arrival prediction unit that predicts future arrival timings of upstream packets from a corresponding terminal device that periodically transmits upstream packets based on the periodic arrival timings of the IP address and port number obtained by the arrival monitoring unit; a transmission control unit that controls a transmission timing of a downstream packet to a terminal device other than the corresponding terminal device based on a prediction result of the arrival prediction unit so as to avoid a future arrival timing of an upstream packet from the corresponding terminal device; A wireless communication system comprising:

2. the arrival prediction unit sets a time width of a future arrival timing of an uplink packet from the corresponding terminal device based on a fluctuation in the arrival timing of the uplink packet from the corresponding terminal device; The transmission control unit controls the timing of sending out downstream packets to the other terminal device so as to avoid a time width of a future arrival timing of an upstream packet from the corresponding terminal device.

2. The wireless communication system according to claim 1 .

3. the arrival prediction unit predicts a plurality of future arrival timings of upstream packets from the corresponding terminal device based on periodic arrival timings of the upstream packets from the corresponding terminal device; The transmission control unit controls the timing of sending out downstream packets to the other terminal devices so as to avoid adjacent arrival timings of upstream packets from the corresponding terminal device in the future.

2. The wireless communication system according to claim 1 .

4. The access point device is a buffer unit that executes preferential transmission of downstream packets to the other terminal device in accordance with a carrier to which the other terminal device belongs or a service used by the other terminal device; 2. The wireless communication system according to claim 1, comprising:

5. An access point device; a terminal device that periodically transmits upstream packets to the access point device; Another terminal device that receives downlink packets from the access point device; A wireless communication method in a wireless communication system comprising: The access point device is an arrival monitoring step of monitoring the arrival timing, IP address, and port number of an upstream packet from the terminal device; an arrival prediction step of predicting future arrival timings of upstream packets from a corresponding terminal device that periodically transmits upstream packets based on the periodic arrival timings of the IP address and port number obtained in the arrival monitoring step; a transmission control step of controlling a transmission timing of a downstream packet to other terminal devices other than the corresponding terminal device based on a prediction result of the arrival prediction step so as to avoid a future arrival timing of an upstream packet from the corresponding terminal device; A wireless communication method comprising the steps of:

6. An access point device; a terminal device that periodically transmits upstream packets to the access point device; Another terminal device that receives downlink packets from the access point device; The access point device is provided in a wireless communication system comprising: The access point device is an arrival monitoring unit that monitors the arrival timing, IP address, and port number of an upstream packet from the terminal device; an arrival prediction unit that predicts future arrival timings of upstream packets from a corresponding terminal device that periodically transmits upstream packets based on the periodic arrival timings of the IP address and port number obtained by the arrival monitoring unit; a transmission control unit that controls a transmission timing of a downstream packet to a terminal device other than the corresponding terminal device based on a prediction result of the arrival prediction unit so as to avoid a future arrival timing of an upstream packet from the corresponding terminal device; An access point device comprising:

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