COMMUNICATION CONTROL DEVICE AND COMMUNICATION CONTROL METHOD

Abstract

The aim is to improve the resource utilization efficiency of the entire network. [Solution] The communication control device 1 includes a calculation unit 11 configured to calculate entropy, which is an expected value of the amount of information obtained when communication occurs by each of the multiple communication terminals 2, from the communication occurrence probability of each of the multiple communication terminals 2 calculated based on the communication history of the multiple communication terminals 2; a determination unit 12 configured to determine a code and code length according to the communication occurrence probability of each of the multiple communication terminals 2, where the average code length of the code lengths according to the communication occurrence probability of the multiple communication terminals 2 has the entropy as a lower limit; a first notification unit 14 configured to notify each of the corresponding multiple communication terminals 2 of the determined code and code length; and a setting unit 13 configured to generate allocation information by associating the determined code and code length for each of the multiple communication terminals 2 with a wireless resource.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a communication control device and a communication control method. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, with the increase in the number of communication terminals including IoT terminals, there is a demand for a technology that efficiently encodes communication data transmitted from each communication terminal and improves the resource utilization efficiency of the entire network.For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a device that stores an initial state calculated from the bit sequence of an input data packet, performs arithmetic encoding by applying the concept of its own information content from the frequency of occurrence of each symbol, generates a code string with an optimal code length assigned and a final state, and transmits them.

[0003] The technology described in Patent Document 1 targets the entropy of a single communication terminal, and does not consider reflecting the actual communication pattern of all of the multiple communication terminals. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a communication control system according to a conventional example. As shown in FIG. 7, in the conventional example, the occurrence probability of each of the multiple communication terminals 200 is not individually and in detail evaluated, but the occurrence probability of the communication event in all of the communication terminals 200 is assumed to be the same, and the network is designed based on the entropy of a single communication terminal 200. The communication entropy of each actual communication terminal 200, that is, the entropy which is the expected value of the amount of information of the communication event occurring in the communication terminal 200, cannot be accurately reflected under the uniform assumption, and as a result, the network design is redundant compared to the actual communication pattern.

[0004] In particular, in the allocation of wireless resources, the probability of occurrence of communication events for multiple communication terminals is assumed to be uniform, and wireless resources are allocated equally to each of the multiple communication terminals, which limits the improvement of the overall resource utilization efficiency of the network. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2023-107751 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] According to conventional techniques, radio resources are allocated without taking into consideration the probability of occurrence of a communication event for each of a plurality of communication terminals, which limits the improvement of the overall resource utilization efficiency of the network.

[0007] The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and has an object to improve the resource utilization efficiency of the entire network. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the communication control device of the present invention includes a calculation unit configured to calculate entropy, which is an expected value of the amount of information obtained when communication occurs by each of a plurality of communication terminals, from the communication occurrence probability of each of the plurality of communication terminals calculated based on the communication history of the plurality of communication terminals; a determination unit configured to determine a code and a code length according to the communication occurrence probability of each of the plurality of communication terminals, wherein an average code length of the code lengths according to the communication occurrence probability of the plurality of communication terminals has the entropy as a lower limit; a first notification unit configured to notify each of the corresponding plurality of communication terminals of the determined code and code length; and a setting unit configured to generate allocation information by associating the code and the code length determined for each of the plurality of communication terminals with a radio resource.

[0009] Moreover, the communication control device according to the present invention may further include a second notification unit configured to notify each of the plurality of communication terminals of the generated allocation information.

[0010] In the communication control device according to the present invention, the determination unit may determine the code length by using Huffman coding.

[0011] In addition, the communication control device according to the present invention may further include an acquisition unit configured to acquire the communication history collected in a core network that controls communications of the multiple communication terminals.

[0012] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the communication control method of the present invention includes a calculation step of calculating entropy, which is an expected value of the amount of information obtained when communication occurs by each of a plurality of communication terminals, from the communication occurrence probability of each of the plurality of communication terminals calculated based on the communication history of the plurality of communication terminals; a determination step of determining a code and a code length corresponding to the communication occurrence probability of each of the plurality of communication terminals, wherein an average code length of the code lengths corresponding to the communication occurrence probability of the plurality of communication terminals sets the entropy as a lower limit; a first notification step of notifying each of the corresponding plurality of communication terminals of the determined code and code length; and a setting step of generating allocation information by associating the determined code and code length for each of the plurality of communication terminals with a radio resource.

[0013] Moreover, the communication control method according to the present invention may further include a second notification step of notifying each of the plurality of communication terminals of the generated allocation information.

[0014] In the communication control method according to the present invention, the determining step may determine the code length using Huffman coding.

[0015] Moreover, the communication control method according to the present invention may further include an acquisition step of acquiring the communication history collected in a core network that controls communications between the plurality of communication terminals. Effect of the Invention

[0016] According to the present invention, a code and a code length are determined according to a communication occurrence probability of each of a plurality of communication terminals, and the determined code and code length are associated with a wireless resource to generate allocation information, thereby improving resource utilization efficiency of the entire network. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0017] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a communication control system including a communication control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an overview of a communication control system including a communication control device according to the present embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an overview of a communication control system including a communication control device according to the present embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an overview of a communication control system including a communication control device according to this embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the communication control device according to the present embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram showing an overview of the operation of the communication control system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a communication control system according to a conventional example. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0018] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

[0019] [Communication control system configuration] First, an overview of a communication control system including a communication control device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

[0020] The communication control system according to the present embodiment includes a communication control device 1, a communication terminal 2, a base station 3, and a core network 4. As an example, the communication control system is provided in a 5G mobile communication network, but may be a network using a fixed line. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication control device 1 is connected to the core network 4 via a network NW such as a LAN, a WAN, or the Internet.

[0021] The communication terminal 2 is realized as a mobile communication terminal such as a smartphone, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a wearable device, an industrial robot, etc. The communication terminal 2 includes a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM), and the contract profile of the SIM includes identifier information such as an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI). The communication terminal 2 is uniquely identified by the IMSI.

[0022] The communication terminal 2 is also configured as an IoT device to which a terminal IP address that uniquely identifies the terminal is assigned. In this embodiment, there are N communication terminals 2 (N is a positive integer of 2 or more). The communication terminals 2 are connected to an external data network (not shown) from a core network 4 via a base station 3 in which each communication terminal 2 is located.

[0023] The base station 3 is composed of a wireless base station compatible with the 5G system, and relays communication between the communication terminal 2 present in the communication area and the core network 4. The base station 3 is connected to the core network 4 via a network such as a backhaul link. The base station 3 relays data from the communication terminal 2 when the communication terminal 2 communicates using a resource block of the time zone x frequency band of the wireless resources allocated to the communication terminal 2 according to the wireless resource allocation information notified by the communication control device 1.

[0024] The core network 4 provides centralized control, routing, management, and security for communications relayed by the base station 3. The core network 4 includes a User Plane Function (UPF) 40 in the U-plane. The core network 4 includes nodes in the C-plane, such as an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) and Unified Data Management (UDM), not shown. Functional nodes in the U-plane and C-plane other than the UPF 40 that the core network 4 includes are omitted from the illustration.

[0025] The UPF 40 is a user plane function that processes packets between the base station 3 and a data network such as the Internet. The UPF 40 includes a communication interface 40a for communicating with the communication control device 1. The UPF 40 collects communication history of the communication terminal 2 that performs traffic processing.

[0026] [Function block of communication control device] As shown in FIG. 1, the communication control device 1 includes an acquisition unit 10, a calculation unit 11, a determination unit 12, a setting unit 13, a first notification unit 14, a second notification unit 15, and a storage unit 16.

[0027] The acquisition unit 10 acquires a communication history collected by the core network 4 that controls communication of a plurality of communication terminals 2. The acquisition unit 10 acquires the communication history of all communication terminals 2 for which traffic processing is performed on the UPF 40. The acquisition unit 10 can acquire a communication history for an arbitrarily set period, such as one month. The communication history is a communication log that records communication events such as the transmission and reception of packets for each IMSI, and in particular, is a communication log that records whether or not packets are transmitted or received.

[0028] The calculation unit 11 calculates entropy, which is an expected value of the amount of information obtained when communication occurs by each of the multiple communication terminals 2, from the communication occurrence probability of each of the multiple communication terminals 2 calculated based on the communication history of the multiple communication terminals 2. The calculation unit 11 calculates the probability of communication occurring for each IMSI from the communication history for each IMSI for one month acquired by the acquisition unit 10. For example, when communication history indicating the number of communications performed for one month for N=100 communication terminals 2 is collected, it is assumed that the communication terminal 2 with IMSI_1 performed communications 10 times / month. In this case, the communication occurrence probability of IMSI_1 is calculated as 10 / 100=0.1. The calculation unit 11 calculates the communication occurrence probability for the other communication terminals 2 in the same manner.

[0029] The calculation unit 11 calculates the sum of the communication occurrence probability for each of the 100 devices, and normalizes the sum so that the sum is 1. For example, if the sum of the communication occurrence probability for the 100 communication terminals 2 is 2.5, the value of the communication occurrence probability for each communication terminal 2 is divided by 2.5. In this case, the communication occurrence probability of IMSI_1 is 0.1 / 2.5=0.04.

[0030] Based on Shannon's source coding theorem, the calculation unit 11 calculates entropy H(S), which is the average information amount of the expected value of the information amount for all events from the probability of each event occurring, using the following equation (1).

number

[0031] In the above equation (1), ρ i indicates a communication occurrence probability that communication occurs at each communication terminal 2, and M indicates the total number of communication terminals 2. Furthermore, an event (communication event) is the presence or absence of communication occurring at each communication terminal 2, and the calculation unit 11 calculates the communication occurrence probability ρ i Based on the self-information of each event, lnρ i Then, we calculate the self-information lnρ i Entropy H(S) is calculated by taking the probability-weighted average of

[0032] The determination unit 12 is configured to determine a code and a code length corresponding to the probability of communication occurrence of each of the multiple communication terminals 2. The determination unit 12 determines the code length such that the average code length of the code lengths corresponding to the probability of communication occurrence of the multiple communication terminals 2 is the lower limit of the entropy. Here, the average code length L bar, which is the probability-weighted average of the code lengths assigned to each event, is expressed by the following formula (2).

number

[0033] In the above equation (2), lρ i indicates the code length for the communication occurrence probability of each communication terminal 2. Furthermore, according to Shannon's source coding theorem, the average code length L bar in the above equation (2) has a relationship with the entropy H(S) in the above equation (1) expressed by the following equation (3).

number

[0034] In the above formula (3), e is an arbitrary value e>0. The above formula (3) indicates that an event, which is a symbol of an information source, can be encoded with an average code length L bar that is very close to the entropy H(S). The decision unit 12 constructs a decision tree using instantaneous codes such as Huffman codes based on the above formulas (2) and (3), and assigns an integer code length to each communication terminal 2 indicating each event according to its communication occurrence probability. An instantaneous code is a code that allows instantaneous identification of the boundaries of symbols from an information source when a sequence of symbols from the information source is encoded and transmitted in time series.

[0035] 2 is a diagram showing a process in which the determination unit 12 determines the code and the code length of an event according to the communication occurrence probability of each communication terminal 2. In FIG. 2, the communication occurrence probability ρ i First, the determination unit 12 determines the communication occurrence probability ρ iNext, ii) 0 and 1 are associated with a pair of events with a low probability of communication occurrence. In FIG. 2, IMSI_3 and IMSI_4 are associated with 0 and 1. Thereafter, the decision unit 12 iii) calculates the sum of the probabilities (0.1+0.2=0.3) for the pair of events of IMSI_3 and IMSI_4, and again calculates the communication occurrence probability ρ i The determination unit 12 repeats i) to iii) and reverses the order of the associated 0s and 1s to obtain a sequence of 0s and 1s, and determines this as the code of each event.

[0036] As shown in FIG. 2, for the event of the occurrence or non-occurrence of communication by each of IMSI_1 to IMSI_4, the code c is determined as 101 for IMSI_1, 11 for IMSI_2, 100 for IMSI_3, and 0 for IMSI_4. In addition, by determining the code c for each event, the code length lρ i are determined to be 3 bits, 2 bits, 3 bits, and 1 bit, respectively. In this way, the deeper an event is in the decision tree, the longer the code length becomes.

[0037] 3 is a diagram for explaining the event code determined by the determination unit 12 according to the communication occurrence probability of each communication terminal 2, that is, the instantaneous code that satisfies the relationship of the above formulas (2) and (3). As shown in FIG. 3, when a time series signal "011110100101" is transmitted, the boundary of each code word of each communication terminal 2 (IMSI_1 to IMSI_4) can be immediately identified at the time of reception. For example, at the time when the code word "0" of IMSI_4 is received, the boundary of the code word of IMSI_4 can be determined. In this embodiment, the instantaneous code determined for each communication terminal 2 is used as identification information that uniquely identifies each communication terminal 2.

[0038] The setting unit 13 generates allocation information by associating the code and code length determined for each of the multiple communication terminals 2 with the wireless resources. Specifically, the setting unit 13 assigns the code and code length of each communication terminal 2 to resource blocks constituting the wireless resources. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the allocation information generated by the setting unit 13. FIG. 4 shows a two-dimensional plane in which the wireless resources are defined by a time axis and a frequency axis. As shown in FIG. 4, the wireless resources are further divided into a time period t k and frequency band f k The total code length determined for multiple communication terminals 2 is L tot = k, and the radio resources are variable resources allowing dynamic allocation.

[0039] The setting unit 13 sequentially assigns codes of the code lengths determined for IMSI_1 to IMSI_n to resource blocks of radio resources, and generates assignment information that associates the time period t and frequency band f with the code and code length of the IMSI of each communication terminal 2, i.e., the instantaneous code. In this way, the setting unit 13 specifies which resource blocks each communication terminal 2 can use in the radio resources shared by the multiple communication terminals 2. The assignment information generated by the setting unit 13 is stored in the storage unit 16.

[0040] The first notification unit 14 notifies each of the corresponding communication terminals 2 of the code and code length determined by the determination unit 12. The first notification unit 14 notifies the code of the determined code length from the base station 3 to each communication terminal 2 via the core network 4. The notification includes the IMSI of each communication terminal 2, and information on the code and code length, and for example, a notification addressed to IMSI_1 includes 3-bit information "101".

[0041] The second notification unit 15 notifies each of the multiple communication terminals 2 of the allocation information generated by the setting unit 13. The second notification unit 15 notifies all communication terminals 2 of the allocation information by broadcasting it via the core network 4 and the base station 3. The allocation information is information in which the resource blocks of the wireless resources shown in Fig. 4 are associated with codes of the code length determined by the determination unit 12 and allocated to each communication terminal 2.

[0042] The storage unit 16 stores the allocation information generated by the setting unit 13. The storage unit 16 further stores the code of the code length determined by the determination unit 12 and the IMSI of each communication terminal 2 in association with each other.

[0043] [Hardware configuration of communication control device] Next, an example of a hardware configuration for realizing the communication control device 1 having the above-mentioned functions will be described with reference to FIG.

[0044] 5, the communication control device 1 can be realized by, for example, a computer including a processor 102, a main memory device 103, a communication interface 104, an auxiliary memory device 105, and an input / output (I / O) 106, which are connected via a bus 101, and a program that controls these hardware resources. The communication control device 1 can also include a display device 107 connected via the bus 101.

[0045] The processor 102 is realized by a CPU, a GPU, an FPGA, an ASIC, or the like.

[0046] The main memory device 103 stores in advance programs for the processor 102 to perform various controls and calculations. The processor 102 and the main memory device 103 realize the functions of the communication control device 1, such as the acquisition unit 10, the calculation unit 11, the determination unit 12, the setting unit 13, the first notification unit 14, and the second notification unit 15 shown in FIG.

[0047] The communication interface 104 is an interface circuit for network connection between the communication control device 1 and various external electronic devices.

[0048] The auxiliary storage device 105 is composed of a readable / writable storage medium and a drive for reading and writing various information such as programs and data from and to the storage medium. The auxiliary storage device 105 can use a semiconductor memory such as a hard disk or a flash memory as the storage medium.

[0049] The auxiliary storage device 105 has a program storage area for storing the communication control program executed by the communication control device 1. The auxiliary storage device 105 realizes the storage unit 16 described in FIG. 1. The auxiliary storage device 105 also has an area for storing the IMSI of the communication terminal 2 to be controlled. Furthermore, the auxiliary storage device 105 may have, for example, a backup area for backing up the above-mentioned data and programs.

[0050] The input / output I / O 106 is an input / output device that inputs signals from an external device and outputs signals to an external device.

[0051] The display device 107 is configured by an organic EL display, a liquid crystal display, or the like.

[0052] [Operation of communication control device] Next, the operation of the communication control device 1 having the above-mentioned configuration will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of FIG.

[0053] 6 is an operation sequence showing an overview of the operation of a communication control system including a communication control device 1. First, the UPF 40 collects communication histories of multiple communication terminals 2 to be controlled (step S1). Next, the acquisition unit 10 of the communication control device 1 acquires the communication histories from the UPF via the network NW (step S2). The acquisition unit 10 can acquire the communication histories of each communication terminal 2 for a preset period, for example, one month, from the UPF 40.

[0054] Next, the calculation unit 11 uses the above formula (1) to calculate the entropy H(S), which is the average information amount of the expected value of the information amount, for all events of the multiple communication terminals 2, from the communication occurrence probability, which is the occurrence probability of an event related to whether or not communication occurs by each communication terminal 2 (step S3).

[0055] Next, the determination unit 12 determines a code and a code length according to the communication occurrence probability of each of the multiple communication terminals 2 (step S4). The determination unit 12 constructs a decision tree using an instantaneous code such as a Huffman code based on the above formulas (2) and (3), and determines a code and a code length for each event. Next, the first notification unit 14 notifies each corresponding communication terminal 2 of the code and the code length of each event determined in step S4 (step S5). Each communication terminal 2 stores the notified code and code length in its own memory.

[0056] Next, the setting unit 13 generates allocation information that associates the code and code length for each event determined in step S4 with a wireless resource (step S6). The generated allocation information is stored in the storage unit 16. Next, the second notification unit 15 notifies the multiple communication terminals 2 to be controlled of the allocation information generated in step S5 (step S7). The second notification unit 15 notifies all of the multiple communication terminals 2 of the allocation information by broadcast. Upon receiving the allocation information, each communication terminal 2 stores it in its own memory.

[0057] Thereafter, each communication terminal 2 compares the allocation information notified in step S7 with the code and code length of its own terminal notified in step S5 to identify the resource blocks allocated to its own terminal (step S8). Next, each communication terminal 2 performs communication based on the allocation information of the resource blocks identified in step S8 (step S9). Each communication terminal 2 encodes data within the allocated resource blocks, appropriately modulates and maps the data. The mapped data is transmitted through the specified resource blocks. Each of the multiple communication terminals 2 to be controlled performs steps S8 and S9.

[0058] As described above, the communication control device 1 according to the present embodiment determines a code and a code length according to the communication occurrence probability of each of the multiple communication terminals 2, and generates allocation information by associating the determined code and code length with the wireless resources. This makes it possible to improve resource utilization efficiency throughout the network. In particular, in contrast to the conventional technology in which the entropy based on the communication occurrence probability is treated as uniform and wireless resources are allocated equally to each communication terminal 2, the communication control device 1 according to the present embodiment takes into account the communication occurrence probability that differs for each communication terminal 2, and therefore is highly effective in reducing the number of frequency bands in the allocation of wireless resources.

[0059] In the embodiment described above, the communication control system is described as a system conforming to the 5G standard, but the communication standard may be 3G, 4G / LTE, 6G, etc. In addition, the communication control system is not limited to a mobile communication network, and may be a network using a fixed line as described above. In this case, the communication history may be collected via a wireless router or a wireless access point.

[0060] In the embodiment described above, the determination unit 12 determines the code length using Huffman coding. However, the code length may be determined using coding such as Shannon-Fano coding or arithmetic coding.

[0061] The above describes the embodiments of the communication control device and communication control method of the present invention. However, the present invention is not limited to the described embodiments, and various modifications that may be envisioned by a person skilled in the art can be made within the scope of the invention described in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0062] 1...communication control device, 10...acquisition unit, 11...calculation unit, 12...determination unit, 13...setting unit, 14...first notification unit, 15...second notification unit, 16...memory unit, 2...communication terminal, 3...base station, 4...core network, 40...UPF, 101...bus, 102...processor, 103...main memory device, 40a, 104...communication interface, 105...auxiliary memory device, 106...input / output I / O, 107...display device, NW...network.

Claims

1. A calculation unit configured to calculate an entropy, which is an expected value of an amount of information obtained when communication occurs by each of a plurality of communication terminals, from a communication occurrence probability of each of the plurality of communication terminals calculated based on a communication history of the plurality of communication terminals; A determination unit configured to determine a code and a code length according to the communication occurrence probability of each of the plurality of communication terminals, wherein an average code length of the code lengths according to the communication occurrence probability of the plurality of communication terminals is set to a lower limit of the entropy; a first notification unit configured to notify each of the plurality of corresponding communication terminals of the determined code and code length; a setting unit configured to generate allocation information by associating the code and the code length determined for each of the plurality of communication terminals with a radio resource; A communication control device comprising:

2. 2. The communication control device according to claim 1, The communication device further includes a second notification unit configured to notify each of the plurality of communication terminals of the generated allocation information. A communication control device comprising:

3. 2. The communication control device according to claim 1, The determination unit determines the code length using Huffman coding. A communication control device comprising:

4. 2. The communication control device according to claim 1, The communication device further includes an acquisition unit configured to acquire the communication history collected in a core network that controls communication between the plurality of communication terminals. A communication control device comprising:

5. a calculation step of calculating an entropy, which is an expected value of an amount of information obtained when communication occurs by each of the plurality of communication terminals, from a communication occurrence probability of each of the plurality of communication terminals calculated based on a communication history of the plurality of communication terminals; A determination step of determining a code and a code length according to the communication occurrence probability of each of the plurality of communication terminals, wherein an average code length of the code lengths according to the communication occurrence probability of the plurality of communication terminals is set to a lower limit of the entropy; a first notification step of notifying each of the plurality of corresponding communication terminals of the determined code and the determined code length; a setting step of generating allocation information by associating the code and the code length determined for each of the plurality of communication terminals with a radio resource; A communication control method comprising:

6. 6. The communication control method according to claim 5, Further, a second notification step of notifying each of the plurality of communication terminals of the generated allocation information is provided. A communication control method comprising:

7. 6. The communication control method according to claim 5, The determining step determines the code length using Huffman coding. A communication control method comprising:

8. 6. The communication control method according to claim 5, The method further includes an acquisition step of acquiring the communication history collected in a core network that controls communications between the plurality of communication terminals. A communication control method comprising:

Images