Power control device, power control method, and program

Abstract

A power control device is provided, comprising: a prediction unit that predicts future traffic of a target base station based on at least one of traffic information of at least one of a plurality of peripheral base stations located around a target base station among a plurality of base stations constituting a wireless communication network and terminal location information of a mobile communication terminal located within a coverage area of ​​at least one of the plurality of peripheral base stations; and a control unit that controls power of radio waves to be transmitted by the target base station based on the future traffic of the target base station predicted by the prediction unit. The prediction unit may predict the future traffic of the target base station using a learning model generated by machine learning or the like.

Description

[Technical Field]

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

[0002] Patent Document 1 states that "When CQI information reported from a mobile station is equal to or greater than a threshold, the transmission power for the mobile station is reduced, thereby suppressing transmission power consumption at the base station and reducing interference power with mobile stations in adjacent cells, thereby improving the efficiency of the wireless communication system." [Prior art document] [Patent documents] [Patent Document 1] JP 2014-112935 A Summary of the Invention [Means for solving the problem]

[0003] According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a power control device. The power control device may include a prediction unit that predicts future traffic of a target base station based on at least one of traffic information of at least one of a plurality of peripheral base stations located around a target base station among a plurality of base stations constituting a wireless communication network and terminal location information of a mobile communication terminal located within the coverage area of ​​at least one of the plurality of peripheral base stations. The power control device may include a control unit that controls power of radio waves transmitted by the target base station based on the future traffic of the target base station predicted by the prediction unit.

[0004] In the power control device, the target base station and the neighboring base stations may be capable of transmitting radio waves in at least one frequency band, and in the power control device, the control unit may turn off the radio waves in at least one frequency band transmitted by the target base station when the traffic of the target base station at a future time predicted by the prediction unit is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold.

[0005] In any of the power control devices, the prediction unit may predict an off time when traffic of the target base station at a future point in time will be equal to or less than the predetermined threshold, and the control unit may turn off radio waves of at least one frequency band transmitted by the target base station at a time after the off time.

[0006] In any of the power control devices, the control unit may change radio waves of at least one frequency band transmitted by the target base station from an off state to an on state when the future traffic of the target base station predicted by the prediction unit changes from a state below the predetermined threshold to a state exceeding the predetermined threshold.

[0007] In any of the power control devices, the prediction unit may predict an on time at which the future traffic of the target base station predicted by the prediction unit will change from a state below the predetermined threshold to a state exceeding the predetermined threshold, and the control unit may change radio waves of at least one frequency band transmitted by the target base station from an off state to an on state at a time before the on time.

[0008] In any of the power control devices, the control unit may change the radio waves of at least one frequency band transmitted by the target base station from an off state to an on state, and then, after the traffic moves from any of the plurality of surrounding base stations to the target base station, turn off the radio waves of the at least one frequency band in response to the traffic actually moving from the target base station to any of the plurality of surrounding base stations.

[0009] In any of the power control devices, the control unit may turn off the radio waves of at least one frequency band transmitted by the target base station after changing the radio waves of the at least one frequency band from an off state to an on state, if it determines that the traffic has not moved from any of the multiple surrounding base stations to the target base station.

[0010] In any of the power control devices, the target base station may be capable of transmitting radio waves in a first frequency band and radio waves in a second frequency band having a larger data capacity than the first frequency band. In any of the power control devices, the control unit may turn off radio waves in the second frequency band transmitted by the target base station when traffic at a future time point of the target base station predicted by the prediction unit is equal to or less than the predetermined threshold.

[0011] In any of the power control devices, the prediction unit may input at least one of current traffic information of the surrounding base stations and current location information of the mobile communication terminal, which has been learned using at least one of time-series traffic information of each of the plurality of base stations and time-series location information of mobile communication terminals located within the coverage areas of each of the plurality of base stations, and predict the traffic of the target base station at a future time by inputting at least one of the current traffic information of the surrounding base stations and current location information of the mobile communication terminal into a learning model that outputs the traffic of the target base station at a future time.

[0012] In any of the power control devices, the target base station and the surrounding base stations may cover the same route section of land transportation. In any of the power control devices, the prediction unit may predict future traffic of the target base station by inputting at least one of current traffic information of the surrounding base stations and current location information of the mobile communication terminal to the learning model trained using route location information indicating the location of the land transportation route and base station location information indicating the locations of the plurality of base stations.

[0013] According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a power control method. The power control method may include a prediction step of predicting future traffic of a target base station based on at least one of traffic information of at least one of a plurality of neighboring base stations located around a target base station among a plurality of base stations constituting a wireless communication network and terminal location information of a mobile communication terminal located within a coverage area of ​​at least one of the plurality of neighboring base stations. The power control method may include a control step of controlling power of radio waves transmitted by the target base station based on the future traffic of the target base station predicted in the prediction step.

[0014] According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a program for causing a computer to execute any one of the power control methods.

[0015] The above summary of the invention does not list all of the necessary features of the present invention, and subcombinations of these features may also constitute inventions. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0016] [Figure 1] An example of a system 80 is shown schematically. [Figure 2] An example of a system 80 is shown schematically. [Figure 3] 10 is an explanatory diagram for explaining traffic prediction and radio wave power control of a base station by a power control device 800. FIG. [Figure 4] 10 is an explanatory diagram for explaining traffic prediction and radio wave power control of a base station by a power control device 800. FIG. [Figure 5] 10 is an explanatory diagram for explaining traffic prediction and radio wave power control of a base station by a power control device 800. FIG. [Figure 6] 10 is an explanatory diagram for explaining traffic prediction and radio wave power control of a base station by a power control device 800. FIG. [Figure 7] An example of a system 80 is shown schematically. [Figure 8] 8 shows an example of a functional configuration of a power control device 800. [Figure 9] An example of the flow of processing by the system 80 is shown in outline. [Figure 10] 1 shows an example of a hardware configuration of a computer 1200 that functions as a power control device 800. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0017] The present invention will be described below through embodiments of the invention, but the following embodiments do not limit the scope of the invention according to the claims. Furthermore, not all of the combinations of features described in the embodiments are necessarily essential to the solution of the invention.

[0018] In wireless communications such as mobile communications, if a base station continues to transmit radio waves even when there are no mobile communication terminals in the base station's coverage area, power consumption will be wasted, leading to increased operating costs for wireless communication services. Furthermore, irradiating radio waves into areas where there are no mobile communication terminals will result in a decrease in frequency utilization efficiency.

[0019] The power control device according to this embodiment has a configuration that contributes to solving such problems. For example, the power control device reduces the output of radio waves from a base station in accordance with the usage status of the base station. For example, in cases where the inflow and outflow of traffic is simple, such as a base station covering a single road for vehicles or a base station covering a railway line, the power control device detects the transition of traffic at base stations around a certain base station using AI (artificial intelligence) or the like, and controls the power of that base station.

[0020] Fig. 1 schematically illustrates an example of a system 80. In the example illustrated in Fig. 1, the system 80 includes a power control device 800, a base station 100, a base station 200, and a base station 300. In the example illustrated in Fig. 1, the base station 200 and the base station 300 are located in the vicinity of the base station 100. In the example illustrated in Fig. 1, a case will be described in which the power control device 800 controls the power of the base station 100. In the example illustrated in Fig. 1, the base station 100 may be an example of a target base station, and the base stations 200 and 300 may be examples of neighboring base stations.

[0021] 1, base station 100, base station 200, and base station 300 configure a wireless communication network 90. ​​In the example shown in Fig. 1, base station 100 forms coverage area 10, base station 200 forms coverage area 20, and base station 300 forms coverage area 30. Each of these multiple base stations may provide wireless communication services to mobile communication terminals located within its respective coverage area. Each of these multiple base stations may be capable of transmitting radio waves in at least one frequency band.

[0022] 1, the power control device 800, the base station 100, the base station 200, and the base station 300 are communicably connected via a wireless communication network 90. ​​In the example shown in FIG. 1, the power control device 800 is connected to the wireless communication network 90. ​​In the example shown in FIG. 1, the power control device 800 may be connected to at least one of the base station 100, the base station 200, and the base station 300. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the power control device 800 and the base station 100, the base station 200, and the base station 300 may be communicably connected via any other communication line, not via the wireless communication network 90.

[0023] In the example shown in FIG. 1, a vehicle 91 is located within the coverage area 20 of the base station 200. In the example shown in FIG. 1, a mobile communication terminal 71 is located within the vehicle 91. Multiple mobile communication terminals 71 may be located within the vehicle 91. The mobile communication terminal 71 may be a smartphone, a PC (Personal Computer), a tablet terminal, or the like. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the mobile communication terminal 71 is a smartphone. The mobile communication terminal 71 may be an on-board device such as a navigation device for the vehicle 91, or various measuring devices and control devices related to autonomous driving. In this case, the vehicle 91 itself may be an autonomous driving vehicle, or the like, or the vehicle 91 may communicate wirelessly with the base station 200. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the mobile communication terminal 71 wirelessly communicates with the base station 200, causing traffic from the mobile communication terminal 71 to be generated at the base station 200.

[0024] 1, the vehicle 91 is an automobile, but is not limited to this. The vehicle 91 may be any vehicle for land transportation. For example, the vehicle 91 is a railroad vehicle.

[0025] The power control device 800 predicts future traffic of the target base station based on at least one of traffic information of at least one of a plurality of surrounding base stations located around the target base station and terminal location information of a mobile communication terminal located within the coverage area of ​​at least one of the plurality of surrounding base stations. The power control device 800 controls the power of radio waves transmitted by the target base station based on the predicted future traffic of the target base station. This will be explained below using the example shown in FIG. 1.

[0026] 1, the power control device 800 predicts future traffic of the base station 100 based on at least one of traffic information of at least one of base stations 200 and 300 located around the base station 100 and terminal location information of mobile communication terminals located in at least one of coverage area 20 and coverage area 30. In the example shown in Fig. 1, the power control device 800 controls the power of radio waves transmitted by the base station 100 based on the predicted traffic of the base station 100 at a future time.

[0027] 1 , the power control device 800 acquires at least one of traffic information of the base station 200 and terminal location information of the mobile communication terminal 71 located within the coverage area 20. For example, the power control device 800 acquires the traffic information of the base station 200 from a core network of the wireless communication network 90. ​​The power control device 800 may acquire the traffic information of the base station 200 by communicating with the base station 200 via any other communication line, without via the core network of the wireless communication network 90.

[0028] The traffic information may be, for example, information related to wireless communication between a base station and a mobile communication terminal. For example, the traffic information includes information on the amount of data transmitted and received, information on the type of communication such as voice communication or packet communication, information on the time period during which communication is performed, information identifying the base station or mobile communication terminal performing communication, and information indicating communication quality such as communication speed, delay, and packet loss. The traffic information may be a KPI (Key Performance Indicator) of the base station that can be acquired in a relatively short time. For example, the traffic information may be information related to handover, information related to cell reselection, etc.

[0029] For example, the power control device 800 acquires terminal location information of the mobile communication terminal 71 located within the coverage area 20 from the core network of the wireless communication network 90. ​​The power control device 800 may acquire the terminal location information of the mobile communication terminal 71 by communicating with the base station 200 via any other communication line, without going through the core network of the wireless communication network 90.

[0030] In this case, the core network and base station 200 of the wireless communication network 90 may acquire terminal location information of the mobile communication terminal 71 using an existing terminal positioning technology. For example, the terminal positioning technology may be a mobile communication terminal positioning technology defined in 3GPP (registered trademark) (Third Generation Partnership Project). For example, the terminal positioning technology may be a terminal positioning technology defined in TS (Technical Specification) 38.305. For example, the terminal location information may be acquired by positioning using a GPS (Global Positioning System) antenna provided in the terminal. The terminal location information may be trace data of the terminal.

[0031] The power control device 800 may store the acquired traffic information and terminal location information.

[0032] 1, the power control device 800 may predict future traffic of the base station 100 based on stored traffic information. For example, the power control device 800 stores time-series information of past traffic that indicates the time periods, the order in which various mobile communication terminals are present at multiple base stations, and the time intervals at which they perform handover.

[0033] For example, the power control device 800 derives a pattern of traffic transitions among multiple base stations based on time-series information of past traffic, and predicts future traffic using this pattern. This makes it possible to predict how much traffic will occur at the base station 100 and how much time will pass after traffic occurs at the base station 200.

[0034] 1, the power control device 800 may predict future traffic of the base station 100 based on stored terminal location information of the mobile communication terminal 71. For example, the power control device 800 stores time-series information on past terminal locations that indicates where, at what time, in what order various mobile communication terminals were located within the coverage areas of multiple base stations, and at what speed and in what direction they moved.

[0035] For example, the terminal location information of the mobile communication terminal 71 may be data collected by an application provided in the mobile communication terminal 71. The terminal location information of the mobile communication terminal 71 may be big data including a plurality of pieces of data collected by an application provided in the mobile communication terminal 71.

[0036] For example, the power control device 800 derives a pattern of the order in which a mobile communication terminal visits multiple base stations and generates traffic based on time-series information of past terminal locations, and predicts future traffic using this pattern. This makes it possible to predict how much traffic will be generated at the base station 100 and how much time will pass after the mobile communication terminal 71 is located in the coverage area 20 of the base station 200.

[0037] Which base station among the multiple base stations constituting the wireless communication network is to be the target base station does not have to be determined in advance by a person, but may be determined autonomously by the power control device 800. In this case, for example, the power control device 800 uses AI that has learned the regularity of traffic transitions and the regularity of mobile communication terminal location transitions using time-series information on past traffic including a history of handovers of various mobile communication terminals to multiple base stations and time-series information on past terminal locations including a history of where various mobile communication terminals were located within the coverage areas of the multiple base stations.

[0038] For example, the AI ​​may learn that traffic occurs, increases, decreases, and disappears regularly under certain conditions, such as a specific region, route section, and time period. The AI ​​may then control the power of radio waves transmitted by a base station so as to minimize the power consumption of the base station in the region, route section, time period, etc., where the regularity is found. In this case, for example, the AI ​​may autonomously select the region, land transportation route, and base station to be targeted for base station power control, and autonomously control the base station power. A human may also decide in advance which of the multiple base stations that make up a wireless communication network will be the target base station.

[0039] As described above, there are two possible cases where power control device 800 predicts future traffic of a target base station based on traffic information of multiple neighboring base stations located around the target base station among multiple base stations, and where it predicts future traffic of the target base station based on terminal location information of mobile communication terminals located within the coverage areas of the multiple neighboring base stations. Hereinafter, unless otherwise specified, only the former case will be described, and the latter case will not be described. However, those skilled in the art will understand that power control by power control device 800 is possible in the latter case as well as in the former case.

[0040] In this embodiment, the "on state" and "off state" of a base station may indicate that the "off state" uses less power to output radio waves than the "on state." For example, the "on state" may be a state in which radio waves are output to a level sufficient to cover the entire coverage area of ​​the base station, and the "off state" may be a state in which radio waves are output but do not cover most of the coverage area of ​​the base station, a state in which radio waves are output but do not cover any of the coverage area of ​​the base station, or a state in which no radio waves are output. The "on state" may be a state in which radio waves are output to a level sufficient to cover the entire coverage area of ​​the base station, and the "off state" may be a state in which radio waves are output to a level sufficient to cover part of the coverage area of ​​the base station. Note that the "on state" may also include a state in which radio waves are output at an output power lower than that sufficient to cover the entire coverage area of ​​the base station.

[0041] If the base station 100 is in an on state, the starting state is assumed. For example, when the predicted future traffic of the base station 100 is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold, the power control device 800 controls the power of radio waves in at least one frequency band transmitted by the base station 100 to be reduced. In this case, the power control device 800 may turn off the radio waves in at least one frequency band transmitted by the base station 100. The threshold may be zero. When the predicted future traffic of the base station 100 is zero, the power control device 800 turns off the radio waves in at least one frequency band transmitted by the base station 100. This makes it possible to reduce the power consumption of the base station in accordance with the predicted amount of traffic generated by the base station.

[0042] The threshold may be the upper limit of traffic that can be covered by radio waves in a specific frequency band transmitted by the base station 100. For example, if the base station 100 is capable of transmitting radio waves of two frequencies, frequency A and frequency B, the threshold is set to the upper limit of traffic that can be covered by radio waves of frequency A. As a result, for example, if the predicted future traffic can be covered by frequency A alone, the radio waves of frequency B can be turned off, thereby reducing power consumption by the amount of frequency B.

[0043] The power control device 800 may predict an off time when the predicted traffic of the base station 100 will be equal to or less than a predetermined threshold. The power control device 800 may control the power of radio waves in at least one frequency band transmitted by the base station 100 to be reduced at a time after the off time.

[0044] The power control device 800 may control the power of radio waves in at least one frequency band transmitted by the base station 100 to be reduced when the predicted traffic of the base station 100 changes from a state exceeding a predetermined threshold to a state below the threshold.

[0045] The power control device 800 may predict an off time when the predicted traffic of the base station 100 will change from a state exceeding a predetermined threshold to a state below the threshold. The power control device 800 may control the power of radio waves in at least one frequency band transmitted by the base station 100 to be reduced at a time after the off time.

[0046] If the base station 100 is in an off state, the starting state is assumed. For example, when the predicted future traffic of the base station 100 exceeds a predetermined threshold, the power control device 800 controls the power of radio waves in at least one frequency band transmitted by the base station 100 so as to increase the power. In this case, the power control device 800 may turn on the radio waves in at least one frequency band transmitted by the base station 100. The threshold may be zero. For example, when the predicted future traffic of the base station 100 exceeds zero, the power control device 800 turns on the radio waves in at least one frequency band transmitted by the base station 100. This allows the base station to prepare to provide wireless communication services, for example, in accordance with the predicted traffic generation amount of the base station.

[0047] The power control device 800 may predict the on-time when the predicted traffic of the base station 100 will exceed a predetermined threshold. The power control device 800 may control the power of radio waves in at least one frequency band transmitted by the base station 100 to be increased at a time before the on-time.

[0048] The power control device 800 may control the power of radio waves in at least one frequency band transmitted by the base station 100 to be increased when the predicted traffic of the base station 100 changes from a state below a predetermined threshold to a state above the threshold.

[0049] The power control device 800 may predict the on-time at which the predicted traffic of the base station 100 will change from a state below a predetermined threshold to a state above the threshold. The power control device 800 may control the power of radio waves in at least one frequency band transmitted by the base station 100 to be increased at a time before the on-time. The power control device 800 may acquire location information of the mobile communication terminal 71 and predict the above-mentioned on-time and off-time based on the acquired location information. For example, the power control device 800 may acquire the moving speed of the mobile communication terminal 71 from the time-series location information of the mobile communication terminal 71 and predict the above-mentioned on-time and off-time using the acquired moving speed.

[0050] Fig. 2 schematically illustrates an example of a system 80. In the example illustrated in Fig. 2, a route 98 passes through an area with no residents or a limited number of residents, such as a mountainous region. In the example illustrated in Fig. 2, a plurality of base stations cover a section 99 of the route 98, which is a single road, and provide wireless communication services to mobile communication terminals 71, vehicles 91, and the like that move along that section. In the example illustrated in Fig. 2, the power control device 800 and the wireless communication network 90 are omitted from the illustration.

[0051] 2, base station 100, base station 200, base station 300, base station 400, and base station 500 are located along route 98. In the example shown in Fig. 2, with base station 100 in the center, base station 200 is located next to base station 100, base station 300 is located further next to base station 200, base station 400 is located next to base station 400 on the opposite side of base station 100, and base station 500 is located further next to base station 400. Base station 100 forms coverage area 10, base station 200 forms coverage area 20, base station 300 forms coverage area 30, base station 400 forms coverage area 40, and base station 500 forms coverage area 50, thereby covering a single road section 99 of route 98.

[0052] In this case, at least one of base station 100, base station 200, and base station 400 may be an example of a target base station. Of base station 100, base station 200, and base station 400, a base station that is not a target base station may be an example of a neighboring base station. Base station 300 and base station 500 may be examples of neighboring base stations.

[0053] In an area such as the example shown in Fig. 2, a certain pattern may occur in the inflow and outflow of traffic. In the example shown in Fig. 2, because section 99 is a single road section, there are two routes for traffic handing over from outside section 99 to inside section 99. One is a route from the base station 500 side entering section 99 and exiting to the base station 300 side, and the other is a route in the opposite direction, entering section 99 from the base station 300 side and exiting to the base station 500 side. Therefore, a certain regularity may occur in the transition of traffic among the multiple base stations covering section 99.

[0054] 2, consider a case where vehicle 91 moves from the outside of section 99 toward the inside of section 99 from the side of base station 300. For simplicity, the following description will be given using the expression "vehicle 91 communicates wirelessly," including the case where mobile communication terminal 71 located inside vehicle 91 communicates wirelessly.

[0055] In this case, vehicle 91 moves along route 98, and it can be expected that vehicle 91 will move through coverage area 30, coverage area 20, coverage area 10, coverage area 40, and coverage area 50 in that order. Consider the generation and disappearance of traffic caused by vehicle 91 as vehicle 91 moves in this manner.

[0056] First, vehicle 91 hands over to base station 300, causing traffic to occur at base station 300. Next, as vehicle 91 hands over from base station 300 to base station 200, traffic at base station 300 disappears and traffic occurs at base station 200. Next, as vehicle 91 hands over from base station 200 to base station 100, traffic at base station 200 disappears and traffic occurs at base station 100. Next, as vehicle 91 hands over from base station 100 to base station 400, traffic at base station 100 disappears and traffic occurs at base station 400. Finally, as vehicle 91 hands over from base station 400 to base station 500, traffic at base station 400 disappears and traffic occurs at base station 500.

[0057] In the example shown in FIG. 2, the same can be considered for a case where vehicle 92 moves from the outside of section 99 to the inside of section 99 from the side of base station 500.

[0058] In this case, vehicle 92 moves along route 98, and it can be expected that vehicle 92 will move through coverage area 50, coverage area 40, coverage area 10, coverage area 20, and coverage area 30 in that order. Consider the generation and disappearance of traffic by vehicle 92 as vehicle 92 moves in this manner.

[0059] First, when vehicle 92 hands over to base station 500, traffic is generated at base station 500. Next, when vehicle 92 hands over from base station 500 to base station 400, traffic at base station 500 disappears and traffic is generated at base station 400. Next, when vehicle 92 hands over from base station 400 to base station 100, traffic at base station 400 disappears and traffic is generated at base station 100. Next, when vehicle 92 hands over from base station 100 to base station 200, traffic at base station 100 disappears and traffic is generated at base station 200. Finally, when vehicle 92 hands over from base station 200 to base station 300, traffic at base station 200 disappears and traffic is generated at base station 300.

[0060] In the case described above, for example, if the starting state is a state in which no traffic is occurring in section 99, the power control device 800 can predict the future traffic of base station 100 based on the traffic of base station 300 and base station 500, which are base stations covering both ends of the single road section 99 of route 98.

[0061] For example, when there is no traffic occurring at base station 300 and base station 500, the power control device 800 predicts that no traffic will occur in the near future on section 99 of the single road between base station 300 and base station 500. The power control device 800 may predict that there will be zero traffic at base station 100 in the future. In this case, for example, the power control device 800 turns off the radio waves of base station 100. The power control device 800 may further predict that there will be zero traffic at base station 200 and base station 400 in the future. In this case, in addition to turning off the radio waves of base station 100, the power control device 800 may also turn off the radio waves of at least one of base station 200 and base station 400. This makes it possible to reduce the power consumption of the base station in accordance with the predicted amount of traffic generated at the base station.

[0062] Next, consider a case where there is no traffic in section 99 and the power control device 800 has turned off the radio waves of base station 100, base station 200, and base station 400 as the starting state.

[0063] In this case, when traffic occurs in at least one of base station 300 and base station 500, power control device 800 may predict that traffic will occur in the near future on section 99 of the single road sandwiched between base station 300 and base station 500. In this case, for example, power control device 800 predicts that future traffic in base station 100, base station 200, and base station 400 will not be zero. In this case, for example, power control device 800 may turn on the radio waves of base station 100, base station 200, and base station 400. This allows the base station to prepare to provide wireless communication services according to the predicted amount of traffic generation in the base station.

[0064] In the example shown in Fig. 2, the route 98 is a car route, but is not limited to this. The route 98 may be any route as long as it is a land transportation route. For example, the route 98 is a railway route. In this case, the target base station and surrounding base stations included in the multiple base stations cover the same route section of land transportation.

[0065] The power control by the power control device 800 will be described in further detail below, continuing with the example shown in Fig. 2. Figs. 3 to 6 are explanatory diagrams for explaining traffic prediction and power control of radio waves of base stations by the power control device 800. The examples shown in Figs. 3 to 6 show the relationship between the positions of vehicles 91 and 92 in the example shown in Fig. 2 and the control states of the power of radio waves of base station 100, base station 200, base station 300, base station 400, and base station 500.

[0066] 3 to 6, a case will be described in which the base station transmits radio waves in one frequency band, but this is not limiting. The base station may transmit radio waves in multiple frequency bands, and the power control device 800 may perform the control described below on radio waves in at least one of the multiple frequency bands transmitted by the base station.

[0067] 3 to 6, a case will be described in which the power control device 800 turns on base station 300 and base station 500, which are base stations covering both ends of section 99 of a single road of a route 98. By keeping the base stations covering both ends of section 99 of a single road in the on state, the power control device 800 can provide a stable communication service to the communication of the mobile communication terminal 71 and the like when moving from the outside of section 99 to the inside of section 99.

[0068] 3 represents a state in which, among the multiple base stations, base station 500 and base station 300 are in the on state, radio waves from all the remaining base stations are in the off state, and vehicle 92 has moved into coverage area 50 of base station 500 from outside section 99 of a single road. In stage A, traffic is occurring at base station 500, but no traffic is occurring at the other base stations.

[0069] In this case, for example, based on the fact that traffic is occurring at base station 500 and no traffic is occurring at base station 300, the power control device 800 predicts that traffic will occur at base station 400 in the near future but no traffic will occur at base station 100 and base station 200. Based on the prediction, the power control device 800 may change the radio waves of base station 400 from the off state to the on state, while maintaining the radio waves of base station 100 and base station 200 in the off state.

[0070] This allows the vehicle 92 to prepare for handover to the base station 400, while reducing the power consumption of the base station 100 and the base station 200.

[0071] 3, the power control device 800 may change the radio waves of the base station 400, the base station 100, and the base station 200 from the OFF state to the ON state based on the above prediction. In this case, as shown in stage F, all of the multiple base stations are in the ON state.

[0072] This simplifies the control of the radio wave states of the multiple base stations by the power control device 800, while suppressing the power consumption of the multiple base stations to the extent possible. For example, there may be cases where the coverage area 40 of the base station 400, the coverage area 10 of the base station 100, and the coverage area 20 of the base station 200 are relatively small, and the vehicle 92 arrives at these coverage areas in a relatively short time after leaving the coverage area 50 of the base station 500. In such cases, as described above, the power control device 800 can control the multiple base stations to be turned on collectively, thereby enabling stable provision of communication services to the vehicle 92 even when, for example, the moving speed of the vehicle 92 suddenly increases.

[0073] 3 represents a state after stage A in which the vehicle 92 actually moves into the coverage area 40 of the base station 400. In stage B, traffic occurs at the base station 400, but no traffic occurs at the other base stations.

[0074] In this case, for example, based on the fact that traffic is occurring at base station 400 and that traffic is not occurring at base station 500 and base station 300, the power control device 800 predicts that traffic will occur at base station 100 but not at base station 200 in the near future. Based on the prediction, the power control device 800 may change the radio waves of base station 100 from the off state to the on state, while maintaining the radio waves of base station 200 in the off state.

[0075] This allows the vehicle 92 to prepare for handover to the base station 100, while reducing the power consumption of the base station 200.

[0076] 3 represents a state after stage B where the vehicle 92 has actually moved into the coverage area 10 of the base station 100. In stage C, traffic occurs at the base station 100, but no traffic occurs at the other base stations.

[0077] In this case, for example, based on the fact that traffic is occurring at base station 100 and that traffic is not occurring at base station 500 and base station 300, the power control device 800 predicts that traffic will occur at base station 200 but not at base station 400 in the near future. Based on the prediction, the power control device 800 may change the radio waves of base station 200 from off to on, while changing the radio waves of base station 400 from on to off.

[0078] This allows the vehicle 92 to prepare for handover to the base station 200, while reducing the power consumption of the base station 400.

[0079] In addition to the above prediction, the power control device 800 may determine the actual traffic state of the base station 400, and if it is determined that no traffic is actually occurring at the base station 400, may change the radio waves of the base station 400 from ON to OFF. For example, the power control device 800 acquires a KPI that indicates the communication state of the base station 400, and determines the actual traffic of the base station 400 based on the KPI. For example, the power control device 800 determines the actual traffic of the base station 400 based on people flow big data related to the communication state of the base station 400.

[0080] For example, there may be a case where a vehicle different from vehicle 92 is traveling in a line behind vehicle 92, vehicle 92 moves from coverage area 40 of base station 400 to coverage area 10 of base station 100, and the other vehicle stops within coverage area 40 of base station 400. In this case, if base station 400 is turned off based solely on predictions, it is possible that provision of wireless communication service to coverage area 40 will be stopped even though the other vehicle remains within coverage area 40.

[0081] As described above, by determining the actual traffic state and confirming that no traffic is actually occurring before turning off the radio waves of the base station, it is possible to prevent such a situation and provide a stable wireless communication service while suppressing power consumption due to unnecessary radio wave irradiation. In this way, when turning off the radio waves of a base station from the on state, the power control device 800 may determine the actual traffic state of the base station, and if no traffic is actually occurring at the base station, may change the radio waves of the base station from the on state to the off state. This is not limited to this example, and may be the same in other examples of this embodiment.

[0082] 3 represents a state after stage C where the vehicle 92 has actually moved into the coverage area 20 of the base station 200. In stage D, traffic is occurring at the base station 200, but no traffic is occurring at the other base stations.

[0083] In this case, for example, based on the fact that traffic is occurring at base station 200 and that traffic is not occurring at base stations 500 and 300, the power control device 800 predicts that traffic will occur at base station 300 in the near future but that traffic will not occur at base stations 100 and 400. Based on the prediction, the power control device 800 may change the radio wave of base station 100 from the on state to the off state while maintaining the radio wave of base station 400 in the off state.

[0084] This makes it possible to reduce power consumption of the base station 100 that no longer needs to cover traffic as the vehicle 92 has already passed by.

[0085] 3 represents a state after stage D where the vehicle 92 has actually moved into the coverage area 30 of the base station 300. In stage E, traffic is occurring at the base station 300, but no traffic is occurring at the other base stations.

[0086] In this case, the power control device 800 predicts that no traffic will occur in the base stations 100 and 400 in the near future, for example, based on the fact that traffic is occurring in the base station 300 and no traffic is occurring in the base station 500.

[0087] The power control device 800 may make the above prediction further based on time-series information on traffic occurrence at a plurality of base stations. For example, the power control device 800 may make the above prediction further based on traffic information at least in any one of stages A to D up to stage E. Based on the above prediction, the power control device 800 may change the radio wave of the base station 100 from on to off while maintaining the radio wave of the base station 400 in off state.

[0088] This makes it possible to reduce power consumption of the base station 100 that no longer needs to cover traffic as the vehicle 92 has already passed by.

[0089] For example, consider a case where, after stage F in Fig. 3, vehicle 92 moves from coverage area 40 of base station 400 toward base station 300 and then moves out of section 99 from the base station 300 side. In this case, all radio waves from base station 100 to base station 500 are in the ON state. Stage G in Fig. 4 is, for example, a state where another vehicle 92 subsequently enters section 99 from the base station 500 side.

[0090] 4 shows a state in which all radio waves from base station 100 to base station 500 are on, and vehicle 92 moves from outside single-road section 99 into coverage area 50 of base station 500. In stage G, traffic is occurring at base station 500, but no traffic is occurring at other base stations.

[0091] In this case, for example, based on the fact that traffic is occurring at base station 500 and no traffic is occurring at base station 300, the power control device 800 predicts that traffic will occur at base station 400 in the near future but no traffic will occur at base station 100 or 200. Based on the prediction, the power control device 800 may turn off the radio waves of base station 100 and base station 200 while keeping the radio waves of base station 400 on.

[0092] This makes it possible to reduce power consumption of base stations 100 and 200 while preparing for handover of vehicle 92 to base station 400. The reason why power control device 800 does not turn off radio waves from base station 300 is to prepare for the case where another vehicle or the like enters from the side of base station 300 opposite base station 500 on section 99 of the single road.

[0093] 4 represents a state after stage G in which the vehicle 92 actually moves into the coverage area 40 of the base station 400. In stage H, traffic occurs at the base station 400, but no traffic occurs at the other base stations.

[0094] In this case, for example, based on the fact that traffic is occurring at base station 400 and that traffic is not occurring at base station 500 and base station 300, the power control device 800 predicts that traffic will occur at base station 100 but not at base station 200 in the near future. Based on the prediction, the power control device 800 may change the radio waves of base station 100 from the off state to the on state, while maintaining the radio waves of base station 200 in the off state.

[0095] This allows the vehicle 92 to prepare for handover to the base station 100, while reducing the power consumption of the base station 200.

[0096] 4 represents a state after stage H when the vehicle 92 actually moves into the coverage area 10 of the base station 100. In stage I, traffic occurs at the base station 100, but no traffic occurs at the other base stations.

[0097] In this case, for example, based on the fact that traffic is occurring at base station 100 and that traffic is not occurring at base station 500 and base station 300, the power control device 800 predicts that traffic will occur at base station 200 but not at base station 400 in the near future. Based on the prediction, the power control device 800 may change the radio waves of base station 200 from off to on, while changing the radio waves of base station 400 from on to off.

[0098] This makes it possible to prepare for the vehicle 92 to hand over to the base station 100, while suppressing power consumption at the base station 400 that no longer needs to cover traffic as the vehicle 92 has already passed by.

[0099] In this case, the power control device 800 may determine whether the vehicle 92 has actually moved from the base station 100 to the base station 200. If the determination result is YES, the power control device 800 may change the radio waves of the base station 400 from ON to OFF, and if the determination result is NO, the power control device 800 may maintain the radio waves of the base station 400 in ON state.

[0100] The power control device 800 can control the power of the radio waves of the base station on a safer basis by turning off the radio waves of the base station 400 not only based on the prediction result but also after the vehicle 92 has actually moved to the base station 200 located further ahead. For example, even if the vehicle 92 for some reason turns back along the route 98 to return to the base station 400 before handing over to the base station 200, the radio waves of the base station 400 remain turned on, so that the wireless communication service can be provided to the vehicle 91.

[0101] In this case, the power control device 800 may determine that the vehicle 92 has actually moved from the base station 100 to the base station 200 by acquiring information indicating that the vehicle 92 has handed over to the base station 200. The power control device 800 may determine that the vehicle 92 has actually moved from the base station 100 to the base station 200 by acquiring information indicating that the vehicle 92 is no longer within the range of the base station 100.

[0102] The power control device 800 may acquire a KPI that indicates the communication state of the base station 100, and determine that the vehicle 92 is not present at the base station 100, thereby determining that the vehicle 92 has actually moved from the base station 100 to the base station 200. The power control device 800 may acquire location information of the vehicle 92 from people flow big data, and determine that the vehicle 92 has moved from the coverage area 10 of the base station 100 to the coverage area 20 of the base station 200, thereby determining that the vehicle 92 has actually moved from the base station 100 to the base station 200.

[0103] As described above, after changing the radio waves of at least one frequency band transmitted by a target base station from an off state to an on state, power control device 800 may turn off the radio waves of at least one frequency band in response to the traffic moving from one of multiple surrounding base stations to the target base station and the traffic actually moving from the target base station to one of multiple surrounding base stations. Here, the movement of traffic from one base station A to another base station B may indicate that a mobile communication terminal generating the traffic changes from a state in which it is located at base station A to a state in which it is located at another base station B by handing over.

[0104] 4 represents a state after Phase I in which the vehicle 92 actually moves into the coverage area 20 of the base station 200. In Phase J, traffic occurs at the base station 200, but no traffic occurs at the other base stations.

[0105] In this case, for example, based on the fact that traffic is occurring at base station 200 and that traffic is not occurring at base stations 500 and 300, the power control device 800 predicts that traffic will occur at base station 300 in the near future but that traffic will not occur at base stations 100 and 400. Based on the prediction, the power control device 800 may change the radio wave of base station 100 from the on state to the off state while maintaining the radio wave of base station 400 in the off state.

[0106] This makes it possible to reduce power consumption of the base station 100 that no longer needs to cover traffic as the vehicle 92 has already passed by.

[0107] Even in this case, the power control device 800 may determine whether or not the vehicle 92 has actually moved from the base station 200 to the base station 300. If the determination result is YES, the power control device 800 may change the radio waves of the base station 100 from ON to OFF, and if the determination result is NO, the power control device 800 may maintain the radio waves of the base station 100 in ON state.

[0108] The power control device 800 can control the power of the radio waves of the base station on a safer basis by turning off the radio waves of the base station 100 not only based on the prediction result but also after the vehicle 92 has actually moved to the base station 300 located further ahead. For example, even if the vehicle 92 for some reason turns back along the route 98 to return to the base station 100 before handing over to the base station 300, the radio waves of the base station 100 remain turned on, so that the wireless communication service can be provided to the vehicle 91.

[0109] 4 represents a state after stage J where the vehicle 92 actually moves into the coverage area 30 of the base station 300. At stage K, traffic occurs at the base station 300, but no traffic occurs at the other base stations.

[0110] In this case, the power control device 800 predicts that no traffic will occur in the base stations 100 and 400 in the near future, for example, based on the fact that traffic is occurring in the base station 300 and no traffic is occurring in the base station 500.

[0111] The power control device 800 may make the above prediction further based on time-series information on traffic occurrence in multiple base stations. For example, the power control device 800 may make the above prediction further based on traffic information in at least one of stages G to J up to stage K.

[0112] This enables more accurate traffic prediction because it can be determined that the traffic generated at the base station 300 is traffic generated by the vehicle 92, and not traffic caused by other vehicles entering from outside the route 98. Based on the prediction, the power control device 800 may change the radio waves of the base station 100 from on to off, while maintaining the radio waves of the base station 400 in off state.

[0113] This makes it possible to reduce power consumption of the base station 200 that no longer needs to cover traffic as the vehicle 92 has already passed by.

[0114] Even in this case, the power control device 800 may determine whether the vehicle 92 has actually moved from the base station 300 to outside the single-road section 99. If the determination result is YES, the power control device 800 may change the radio waves of the base station 200 from the ON state to the OFF state, to the state shown in stage L. If the determination result is NO, the power control device 800 may maintain the radio waves of the base station 200 in the ON state.

[0115] By having power control device 800 turn off the radio waves of base station 200 not only based on the prediction result but also after vehicle 92 has actually moved out of section 99, which is located further ahead, power control of the radio waves of the base station based on a safer side becomes possible. For example, even if vehicle 92 for some reason turns back along route 98 and returns to base station 200 before moving out of section 99, radio waves of base station 200 remain on, so wireless communication service can be provided to vehicle 91.

[0116] In the example shown in Fig. 5, a modified example of steps I and J in Fig. 4 will be described. Steps G and H in Fig. 5 are common to steps G and H in Fig. 4. In the example shown in Fig. 5, after step H, the process proceeds to step Ix.

[0117] 5 shows an example in which, after stage H in Fig. 5, contrary to the prediction by the power control device 800, the vehicle 92 does not move from the coverage area 40 of the base station 400 to the coverage area 10 of the base station 100, but instead turns back along the route 98. In this case, if no measures are taken, the power control device 800 will continue to wait for the vehicle 92 to move with the base station 100 in the on state, which will result in a waste of power consumed by the base station 100.

[0118] In this case, the power control device 800 may determine whether the vehicle 92 has actually moved from the base station 400 to the base station 100. If the determination result is NO, the power control device 800 may turn off the radio waves of the base station 100. Stage Jx in FIG. 5 shows a state in which the power control device 800 has turned off the radio waves of the base station 100 based on the determination result in stage Ix. Note that if the determination result in stage Ix is YES, the power control device 800 may perform control following stage I and subsequent stages in the example shown in FIG. 4.

[0119] The power control device 800 makes the determination in stage Ix by determining whether or not traffic due to the vehicle 92 occurs at the base station 100 within a predetermined waiting time after traffic due to the vehicle 92 occurs at the base station 400. For example, if traffic due to the vehicle 92 does not occur at the base station 100, the power control device 800 outputs a determination result of NO.

[0120] The power control device 800 may predict the departure time at which the vehicle 92 will hand over from the base station 400 to the base station 100, and then hand over to the base station 200 and depart from the base station 100, and make the above-mentioned determination based on the predicted departure time. For example, the power control device 800 makes the determination in stage Ix by determining whether traffic due to the vehicle 92 has occurred at the base station 100 until a predetermined waiting time has elapsed after the departure time. For example, the power control device 800 outputs a determination result of NO if traffic due to the vehicle 92 has not occurred at the base station 100 until a predetermined waiting time has elapsed after the departure time.

[0121] The power control device 800 makes the determination in stage Ix by, for example, determining whether the vehicle 92 will hand over to the base station 500 again after having handed over from the base station 500 to the base station 400. For example, if the vehicle 92 hands over to the base station 500 again after having handed over from the base station 500 to the base station 400, the power control device 800 outputs a determination result of NO.

[0122] As described above, if the power control device 800 determines that traffic has not moved from one of multiple surrounding base stations to the target base station after changing the radio waves of at least one frequency band transmitted by the target base station from an off state to an on state, the power control device 800 may turn off the radio waves of at least one frequency band.

[0123] Stage M in Fig. 6 represents a state in which, among multiple base stations, base station 500 and base station 300 are in the on state, radio waves from all remaining base stations are in the off state, vehicle 92 moves from outside single-road section 99 into coverage area 50 of base station 500, and vehicle 91 moves into coverage area 30 of base station 300. Here, stage L in Fig. 4 and stage M in Fig. 6 do not mean consecutive stages. In stage M, traffic occurs at base station 500 and base station 300, and no traffic occurs at the remaining base stations.

[0124] In this case, for example, based on the fact that traffic is occurring at the base stations 500 and 300, the power control device 800 predicts that traffic will occur at the base stations 400 and 200 in the near future, but that no traffic will occur at the base station 100. Based on the prediction, the power control device 800 may change the radio waves of the base stations 400 and 200 from the off state to the on state, while maintaining the radio waves of the base station 100 in the off state.

[0125] This allows the vehicle 92 to prepare for handover to the base station 400, and the vehicle 91 to prepare for handover to the base station 200, while suppressing power consumption of the base station 100.

[0126] 6 represents a state after stage M in which vehicle 92 has actually moved into coverage area 40 of base station 400 and vehicle 91 has actually moved into coverage area 20 of base station 200. In stage N, traffic occurs at base station 400 and base station 200, but no traffic occurs at the remaining base stations.

[0127] In this case, the power control device 800 predicts that traffic will occur in the base station 100 in the near future, for example, based on the fact that traffic is occurring in the base stations 400 and 200 and that traffic is not occurring in the base stations 500 and 300. Based on the prediction, the power control device 800 may change the radio wave of the base station 100 from an off state to an on state.

[0128] This allows the vehicles 92 and 91 to prepare for handover to the base station 100.

[0129] 6 represents a state after stage N in which vehicle 92 and vehicle 91 have actually moved into coverage area 40 of base station 100. In stage O, traffic from vehicle 91 and vehicle 92 occurs at base station 100, but no traffic occurs at other base stations.

[0130] In this case, for example, the power control device 800 predicts that traffic will occur in the near future at base station 400 and base station 200, based on the fact that traffic from vehicle 91 and vehicle 92 is occurring at base station 100, and no traffic is occurring at base station 500 and base station 300. Based on the above prediction, the power control device 800 does not need to change the state of radio waves at any of the base stations.

[0131] 6 represents a state after stage O in which vehicle 92 has actually moved into coverage area 20 of base station 200 and vehicle 91 has actually moved into coverage area 40 of base station 400. In stage P, traffic occurs at base station 200 and base station 400, but no traffic occurs at the remaining base stations.

[0132] In this case, for example, based on the fact that traffic is occurring at base stations 200 and 400 and that traffic is not occurring at base stations 500 and 300, the power control device 800 predicts that traffic will occur at base stations 300 and 500 in the near future, but that traffic will not occur at base station 100. Based on the prediction, the power control device 800 may change the radio wave of base station 100 from an on state to an off state.

[0133] This makes it possible to reduce power consumption of the base station 100, which no longer needs to cover traffic as the vehicles 92 and 91 have already passed by.

[0134] 6 represents a state after stage P in which vehicle 92 has actually moved into coverage area 30 of base station 300 and vehicle 91 has actually moved into coverage area 50 of base station 500. In stage P, traffic occurs at base station 300 and base station 500, but no traffic occurs at the remaining base stations.

[0135] In this case, for example, based on the fact that traffic is occurring at base station 300 and base station 500 and no traffic is occurring at base station 100, base station 200, and base station 400, the power control device 800 predicts that no traffic will occur at base station 100, base station 200, and base station 400 in the near future. Based on the prediction, the power control device 800 may change the radio waves of base station 200 and base station 400 from the on state to the off state while maintaining the radio waves of base station 100 in the off state.

[0136] This makes it possible to reduce power consumption in the base stations 100, 200, and 400, which no longer need to cover traffic as the vehicles 92 and 91 have already passed by.

[0137] 6 represents a state in which, after stage Q, vehicle 92 and vehicle 91 have moved outside of section 99 of the single road. As shown in stage R, when no mobile communication terminal or the like is located in section 99 of the single road, power control device 800 may turn on the radio waves of base stations that cover at least both ends of section 99, among the multiple base stations that cover section 99 of the single road, while turning off the radio waves of the remaining base stations.

[0138] This reduces the power consumption of wireless communication and cuts the operating costs of wireless communication services.

[0139] FIG. 7 schematically illustrates an example of the system 80. In the example illustrated in FIG. 7, a route 98 passes through a residential area, such as a residential area on the outskirts of a city. In the example illustrated in FIG. 7, the route 98 is a relatively large road with a lot of traffic. For example, the route 98 may be a trunk road. The route 98 may be a national highway. The route 98 may be a prefectural road. The route 98 does not have to be a national expressway (highway).

[0140] In the example shown in Fig. 7, during the daytime, cars travel almost continuously on route 98. However, during the nighttime, a group of cars, which is formed when many cars stop at a red light, travels back and forth at more or less regular intervals. Therefore, especially during late-night hours, the traffic formed by the group of cars may transition between multiple base stations with a certain regularity.

[0141] When vehicles are not in a group, the amount of traffic generated is considered to be relatively small. However, when vehicles are in a group, the amount of traffic generated becomes relatively large. In such a case, for example, when a group of vehicles are simultaneously within the range of a single base station, the amount of traffic generated at the base station may become so large that it may not be able to accommodate the traffic. To deal with such a situation, for example, a method may be used in which radio waves in a capacity band that can accommodate large traffic are superimposed on radio waves in a coverage band. However, when a group of vehicles is not within the range of the base station, the communication load on the base station is relatively small. Therefore, if the base station continues to transmit radio waves in the capacity band even in such a state, power consumption by the base station will be wasted.

[0142] In the example shown in FIG. 7, the base station 100 can transmit radio waves in a coverage band and radio waves in a capacity band. The coverage band may be a relatively low frequency band or a band with a narrow frequency bandwidth. The capacity band may be a band with a larger data capacity than the coverage band. For example, it may be a TDD (Time Division Duplex) wideband band or a 5G (5th generation) frequency band. The coverage band may be an example of a first frequency band, and the capacity band may be an example of a second frequency band.

[0143] 7, base station 200 and base station 300 may also be capable of transmitting radio waves in the coverage band and radio waves in the capacity band, similar to base station 100. For simplicity, in the example shown in Fig. 7, coverage area 12 of the coverage band and coverage area 14 of the capacity band are illustrated only for base station 100.

[0144] 7, base station 100, base station 200, and base station 300 are located along route 98. In the example shown in Fig. 7, base station 100 is located in the center, base station 200 is located next to base station 100, and base station 300 is located next to base station 100 on the opposite side. Base station 100 forms at least one of coverage area 12 of the coverage band and coverage area 14 of the capacity band, base station 200 forms coverage area 20, and base station 300 forms coverage area 30, thereby covering section 99 of route 98.

[0145] In the example shown in FIG. 7, there are residents near a route 98. If the radio waves of the base station 100 were completely turned off, it would be impossible to provide wireless communication services to the residents, which is undesirable. Therefore, for example, the power control device 800 maintains the provision of wireless communication services to the residents using radio waves in at least one frequency band among the radio waves in multiple frequency bands transmitted by the target base station. Then, the power consumption of the target base station is reduced by controlling the power of radio waves in the remaining frequency bands according to the traffic prediction results.

[0146] 7, the power control device 800 acquires traffic information of at least one of the base station 200 and the base station 300. The power control device 800 may predict future traffic of the base station 100 based on the acquired traffic information. In the example shown in Fig. 7, a group of vehicles 93 and a group of vehicles 94 are moving from the outside of the section 99 to the inside of the section 99. As a result, traffic due to the group of vehicles 93 is generated at the base station 200, and traffic due to the group of vehicles 94 is generated at the base station 300.

[0147] For example, based on traffic information about traffic generated at base station 200 by vehicle group 93 and traffic information about traffic generated at base station 300 by vehicle group 94, power control device 800 predicts that in the near future, traffic volume generated at base station 100 will be equal to the combined volume of traffic from vehicle group 93 and vehicle group 94. Power control device 800 may compare the predicted future traffic volume with a predetermined threshold. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 7 , the predetermined threshold value is the upper limit of traffic volume that can be accommodated by coverage area 12 of the coverage band.

[0148] The power control device 800 may control the power of radio waves in the capacity band to be reduced when the predicted future traffic is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold. In this case, the power control device 800 may turn off the radio waves in the capacity band. This allows, for example, the provision of wireless communication services to residents within the coverage area of ​​the base station by the coverage band to be maintained, while turning on the radio waves in the capacity band only when the predicted future traffic cannot be accommodated by the coverage band alone, and turning off the radio waves in the capacity band only when the predicted future traffic can be accommodated by the coverage band alone. This allows the power consumption of the base station to be reduced.

[0149] When the base station 100 starts communication with the coverage band radio waves and the capacity band radio waves turned on, there may be cases where a resident's mobile communication terminal is communicating in the capacity band. In such a case, the power control device 800 may maintain the capacity band radio waves in the on state regardless of future traffic of the base station 100. This allows stable wireless communication services to be provided to the resident.

[0150] In such a case, the power control device 800 may hand over the resident's mobile communication terminal from the capacity band to the coverage band before turning off the radio waves of the capacity band, and then turn off the capacity band after the handover is complete. This makes it possible to turn off the radio waves of the capacity band while reducing the impact on the wireless communication services provided to the resident.

[0151] Fig. 8 shows an example of the functional configuration of a power control device 800. In the example shown in Fig. 8, the power control device 800 includes an acquisition unit 810, a storage unit 820, a prediction unit 830, and a control unit 840. It is not essential that the power control device 800 include all of these units. The power control device 800 may further include other units not shown in Fig. 8.

[0152] The acquisition unit 810 acquires various information. For example, the acquisition unit 810 acquires traffic information for each of the multiple base stations included in the system 80. For example, the acquisition unit 810 acquires terminal location information for the mobile communication terminal 71 located within the coverage area of ​​each of the multiple base stations included in the system 80. The acquisition unit 810 may acquire terminal location information for the mobile communication terminal 71 mounted on a vehicle located within the coverage area of ​​each of the multiple base stations included in the system 80. For example, the acquisition unit 810 acquires time-series information on past traffic, including a history of handovers of various mobile communication terminals to multiple base stations. For example, the acquisition unit 810 acquires time-series information on past terminal locations, including a history of where various mobile communication terminals were located within the coverage area of ​​each of the multiple base stations. For example, the acquisition unit 810 acquires various learning data. The acquisition unit 810 may acquire various learning models. The acquisition unit 810 may acquire various types of learning data and learning models from devices external to the power control device 800.

[0153] The storage unit 820 stores various types of information. The storage unit 820 may store various types of information acquired by the acquisition unit 810. For example, the storage unit 820 stores various types of learning data. For example, the storage unit 820 stores various types of learning models. The storage unit 820 may store various types of learning data and learning models acquired by the acquisition unit 810.

[0154] The prediction unit 830 predicts future traffic of the target base station based on at least one of traffic information of at least one of a plurality of peripheral base stations located in the vicinity of the target base station and terminal location information of mobile communication terminals located within the coverage area of ​​at least one of the plurality of peripheral base stations. The prediction unit 830 may predict future traffic of the target base station based on traffic information of at least one of a plurality of peripheral base stations located in the vicinity of the target base station. The prediction unit 830 may predict future traffic of the target base station based on terminal location information of mobile communication terminals located within the coverage area of ​​at least one of the plurality of peripheral base stations located in the vicinity of the target base station. The prediction unit 830 may predict future traffic of the target base station based on traffic information of at least one of a plurality of peripheral base stations located in the vicinity of the target base station and terminal location information of mobile communication terminals located within the coverage area of ​​at least one of the plurality of peripheral base stations.

[0155] The prediction unit 830 may predict an off-time at which the traffic of the target base station will be equal to or less than a predetermined threshold. The prediction unit 830 may also predict an off-time at which the predicted traffic of the target base station will change from a state in which it exceeds a predetermined threshold to a state in which it is equal to or less than the threshold.

[0156] The prediction unit 830 may predict the on-time when the traffic of the target base station exceeds a predetermined threshold. The prediction unit 830 may also predict the on-time when the traffic of the predicted base station 100 changes from a state equal to or less than a predetermined threshold to a state exceeding the threshold.

[0157] The prediction unit 830 may predict future traffic of the target base station using a learning model. For example, the learning model used by the prediction unit 830 may be a learning model trained using at least one of time-series traffic information of each of a plurality of base stations and time-series location information of mobile communication terminals located within the coverage areas of each of the plurality of base stations. The learning model may be a learning model that receives as input at least one of current traffic information of neighboring base stations and current location information of mobile communication terminals located within the coverage areas of the neighboring base stations, and outputs future traffic of the target base station. The prediction unit 830 may predict future traffic of the target base station by inputting at least one of current traffic information of neighboring base stations and current location information of mobile communication terminals into the learning model.

[0158] The prediction unit 830 may predict future traffic of the target base station by inputting current traffic information of neighboring base stations into the learning model. The prediction unit 830 may predict future traffic of the target base station by inputting current location information of mobile communication terminals located within the coverage areas of the neighboring base stations into the learning model. The prediction unit 830 may predict future traffic of the target base station by inputting current traffic information of neighboring base stations and current location information of mobile communication terminals located within the coverage areas of the neighboring base stations into the learning model.

[0159] The prediction unit 830 may predict a future location of a mobile communication terminal located within the coverage area of ​​the target base station. The prediction unit 830 may predict a future location of a mobile communication terminal located within the coverage area of ​​the target base station using a learning model.

[0160] For example, the learning model used by the prediction unit 830 may be a learning model trained using at least one of time-series traffic information of each of the multiple base stations and time-series location information of mobile communication terminals located within the coverage areas of each of the multiple base stations. The learning model may be a learning model that receives as input at least one of current traffic information of neighboring base stations and current location information of mobile communication terminals located within the coverage areas of the neighboring base stations, and outputs the location at a future time of a mobile communication terminal located within the coverage area of ​​the target base station. The prediction unit 830 may predict the location at a future time of a mobile communication terminal located within the coverage area of ​​the target base station by inputting at least one of the current traffic information of the neighboring base stations and current location information of mobile communication terminals located within the coverage area of ​​the neighboring base station into the learning model.

[0161] The prediction unit 830 may predict the future location of a mobile communication terminal located within the coverage area of ​​a target base station by inputting current traffic information of neighboring base stations into the learning model. The prediction unit 830 may predict the future location of a mobile communication terminal located within the coverage area of ​​a target base station by inputting current location information of the mobile communication terminal within the coverage area of ​​the neighboring base station into the learning model. The prediction unit 830 may predict the future location of a mobile communication terminal located within the coverage area of ​​a target base station by inputting current traffic information of the neighboring base stations and current location information of the mobile communication terminal within the coverage area of ​​the neighboring base station into the learning model.

[0162] The prediction unit 830 may predict future traffic of the target base station and future locations of mobile communication terminals located within the coverage area of ​​the target base station. The prediction unit 830 may use a learning model to predict future traffic of the target base station and future locations of mobile communication terminals located within the coverage area of ​​the target base station.

[0163] For example, the learning model used by the prediction unit 830 may be a learning model trained using at least one of time-series traffic information of each of the multiple base stations and time-series location information of mobile communication terminals located within the coverage areas of each of the multiple base stations. The learning model may be a learning model that receives at least one of current traffic information of neighboring base stations and current location information of mobile communication terminals located within the coverage areas of the neighboring base stations as input, and outputs future traffic of the target base station and future locations of mobile communication terminals located within the coverage area of ​​the target base station. The prediction unit 830 may predict future traffic of the target base station and future locations of mobile communication terminals located within the coverage area of ​​the target base station by inputting at least one of current traffic information of neighboring base stations and current location information of mobile communication terminals located within the coverage area of ​​the neighboring base station into the learning model.

[0164] The prediction unit 830 may predict future traffic of the target base station and future locations of mobile communication terminals located within the coverage area of ​​the target base station by inputting current traffic information of neighboring base stations into the learning model. The prediction unit 830 may predict future traffic of the target base station and future locations of mobile communication terminals located within the coverage area of ​​the target base station by inputting current location information of mobile communication terminals within the coverage area of ​​the neighboring base station into the learning model. The prediction unit 830 may predict future traffic of the target base station and future locations of mobile communication terminals located within the coverage area of ​​the target base station by inputting current traffic information of neighboring base stations and current location information of mobile communication terminals within the coverage area of ​​the neighboring base station into the learning model.

[0165] The learning model may be a learning model trained using route location information indicating the location of land transportation routes and base station location information indicating the locations of multiple base stations. In this case, the prediction unit 830 may predict future traffic of the target base station by inputting at least one of current traffic information of surrounding base stations and current location information of the mobile communication terminal into the learning model. In this case, the prediction unit 830 may predict future traffic of the target base station by further inputting at least one of information indicating the locations of the target base station and surrounding base stations or information indicating the locations of land transportation routes covered by the target base station into the learning model.

[0166] The prediction unit 830 may further predict the future location of the mobile communication terminal within the coverage area of ​​the target base station based on terminal location information of the mobile communication terminal located within the coverage area of ​​at least one of multiple surrounding base stations located around the target base station.

[0167] The above learning model may be a learning model that the acquisition unit 810 acquires from an external device and stores in the storage unit 820. The power control device 800 may generate the learning model. In this case, the power control device 800 may further include a learning model generation unit, and the learning model generated by the learning model generation unit may be stored in the storage unit 820.

[0168] The control unit 840 controls the power of radio waves transmitted by the target base station based on the future traffic of the target base station predicted by the prediction unit 830. For example, when the future traffic of the target base station predicted by the prediction unit 830 is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold, the control unit 840 may control the power of radio waves in at least one frequency band transmitted by the target base station to be reduced. In this case, the power control device 800 may turn off the radio waves in at least one frequency band transmitted by the base station 100.

[0169] The threshold value may be zero. When the future traffic of the target base station predicted by the prediction unit 830 is zero, the control unit 840 may turn off radio waves in at least one frequency band transmitted by the target base station. This makes it possible to reduce the power consumption of the base station according to the prediction of the amount of traffic generated by the base station.

[0170] The control unit 840 may control the power of radio waves in at least one frequency band transmitted by the target base station to be reduced when the traffic of the target base station predicted by the prediction unit 830 changes from a state exceeding a predetermined threshold to a state below the threshold.

[0171] The control unit 840 may perform control so that the power of radio waves in at least one frequency band transmitted by the target base station is reduced at a time after the off time predicted by the prediction unit 830. In this case, the control unit 840 may turn off the radio waves in at least one frequency band transmitted by the target base station.

[0172] The control unit 840 may perform control so that the power of radio waves in at least one frequency band transmitted by the target base station is increased when the future traffic of the target base station predicted by the prediction unit 830 exceeds a predetermined threshold. In this case, the control unit 840 may turn on the radio waves in at least one frequency band transmitted by the target base station.

[0173] The threshold value may be 0. When the future traffic of the target base station predicted by the prediction unit 830 exceeds zero, the control unit 840 may turn on radio waves of at least one frequency band transmitted by the base station 100. This allows the base station to prepare to provide wireless communication services, for example, in accordance with the prediction of the traffic generation amount of the base station.

[0174] When the traffic of the target base station predicted by the prediction unit 830 changes from a state below a predetermined threshold to a state exceeding the threshold, the control unit 840 may control the power of radio waves in at least one frequency band transmitted by the target base station to change from a low state to a high state. In this case, the control unit 840 may change the power of radio waves in at least one frequency band transmitted by the target base station from an off state to an on state.

[0175] The control unit 840 may perform control so that the power of radio waves in at least one frequency band transmitted by the target base station is increased at a time before the on time predicted by the prediction unit 830.

[0176] After changing the radio waves of at least one frequency band transmitted by the target base station from an off state to an on state, the control unit 840 may turn off the radio waves of at least one frequency band in response to traffic moving from one of multiple surrounding base stations to the target base station and traffic actually moving from the target base station to one of multiple surrounding base stations.

[0177] If the control unit 840 determines that traffic has not moved from any of multiple surrounding base stations to the target base station after changing the radio waves of at least one frequency band transmitted by the target base station from an off state to an on state, the control unit 840 may turn off the radio waves of at least one frequency band.

[0178] The control unit 840 may control the power of radio waves in the capacity band to be reduced when the future traffic predicted by the prediction unit 830 is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold. In this case, the power control device 800 may turn off the radio waves in the capacity band. This makes it possible, for example, to maintain the provision of wireless communication services to residents within the coverage area of ​​the base station using the coverage band, while turning on the radio waves in the capacity band only when the predicted future traffic cannot be accommodated by the coverage band alone, and turning off the radio waves in the capacity band only when the predicted future traffic can be accommodated by the coverage band alone. This makes it possible to reduce the power consumption of the base station.

[0179] The control unit 840 may control the power of radio waves transmitted by the target base station based on the future traffic of the target base station predicted by the prediction unit 830 and the future location of the mobile communication terminal within the coverage area of ​​the target base station. For example, when the future location of the mobile communication terminal predicted by the prediction unit 830 is within a predetermined distance from the target base station within the coverage area of ​​the target base station, the control unit 840 controls the power of radio waves of at least one frequency band transmitted by the target base station to within a range of radio wave power according to the predetermined distance.

[0180] As a result, for example, when a mobile communication terminal is located only at a relatively short distance from a target base station, the power can be reduced to the power of radio waves necessary to cover the area up to that distance, but less than the power required to cover the entire coverage area of ​​the target base station, thereby reducing the power consumption of the target base station.

[0181] Some or all of the above-described processing by the acquisition unit 810, the storage unit 820, the prediction unit 830, and the control unit 840 may be executed by AI included in the power control device 800. For example, the AI ​​causes the acquisition unit 810 to acquire time-series information on past traffic including a history of handovers of various mobile communication terminals to multiple base stations and time-series information on past terminal locations including a history of where various mobile communication terminals were located in the coverage areas of the multiple base stations, and stores the information in the storage unit 820.

[0182] Based on this information, the AI ​​may learn the regularity of traffic transitions and the regularity of transitions in the locations of mobile communication terminals. For example, the AI ​​may learn that traffic occurs, increases, decreases, and disappears regularly under certain conditions, such as a specific area, route section, or time of day. The AI ​​may control the power of radio waves transmitted by a base station in the area, route section, time of day, or other conditions where the regularity is found, so as to minimize the power consumption of the base station.

[0183] In this case, for example, the AI ​​will autonomously select the target areas for base station power control, the target land transportation routes, the target base stations, etc., and autonomously control the power of the base stations. In this case, it is not necessarily necessary for the operator to specify the various targets.

[0184] 9 shows an example of a processing flow by the power control device 800. In step (sometimes abbreviated as S) 102, the acquisition unit 810 acquires at least one of traffic information of a plurality of base stations and terminal location information of a mobile communication terminal.

[0185] In S104, the storage unit 820 stores at least one of the traffic information of the plurality of base stations and the terminal location information of the mobile communication terminal acquired by the acquisition unit 810 in S102.

[0186] In S106, the prediction unit 830 predicts the traffic of the target base station at a future time point based on at least one of the traffic information of the multiple base stations and the terminal location information of the mobile communication terminal stored in the memory unit 820 in S104, and at least one of the traffic information and terminal location information of at least one of the multiple surrounding base stations.

[0187] In S108, it is determined whether the future traffic of the target base station predicted by the prediction unit 830 in S106 is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold. This determination may be made by the control unit 840. If the determination result is YES, the process proceeds to S110. If the determination result is NO, the process returns to S102, and the processes from S102 to S108 are repeated.

[0188] In S110, the control unit 840 turns off radio waves of at least one frequency band of the target base station.

[0189] 10 schematically illustrates an example of the hardware configuration of a computer 1200 that functions as the power control device 800. A program installed on the computer 1200 can cause the computer 1200 to function as one or more "parts" of an apparatus according to the present embodiment, or can cause the computer 1200 to perform operations associated with the apparatus according to the present embodiment or one or more "parts" thereof, and / or can cause the computer 1200 to perform a process according to the present embodiment or steps of the process. Such a program can be executed by the CPU 1212 to cause the computer 1200 to perform specific operations associated with some or all of the blocks in the flowcharts and block diagrams described herein.

[0190] The computer 1200 according to this embodiment includes a CPU 1212, a RAM 1214, and a graphics controller 1216, which are interconnected by a host controller 1210. The computer 1200 also includes input / output units such as a communications interface 1222, a storage device 1224, a DVD drive, and an IC card drive, which are connected to the host controller 1210 via an input / output controller 1220. The DVD drive may be a DVD-ROM drive, a DVD-RAM drive, or the like. The storage device 1224 may be a hard disk drive, a solid-state drive, or the like. The computer 1200 also includes a ROM 1230 and legacy input / output units such as a keyboard, which are connected to the input / output controller 1220 via an input / output chip 1240.

[0191] The CPU 1212 operates according to programs stored in the ROM 1230 and the RAM 1214, thereby controlling each unit. The graphics controller 1216 acquires image data generated by the CPU 1212 into a frame buffer or the like provided in the RAM 1214 or into the graphics controller itself, and causes the image data to be displayed on the display device 1218.

[0192] The communication interface 1222 communicates with other electronic devices via a network. The storage device 1224 stores programs and data used by the CPU 1212 in the computer 1200. The DVD drive reads programs or data from a DVD-ROM or the like and provides them to the storage device 1224. The IC card drive reads programs and data from an IC card and / or writes programs and data to an IC card.

[0193] The ROM 1230 stores therein a boot program or the like that is executed by the computer 1200 upon activation, and / or programs that depend on the hardware of the computer 1200. The input / output chip 1240 may also connect various input / output units to the input / output controller 1220 via a USB port, a parallel port, a serial port, a keyboard port, a mouse port, etc.

[0194] The programs are provided by a computer-readable storage medium such as a DVD-ROM or an IC card. The programs are read from the computer-readable storage medium, installed in the storage device 1224, RAM 1214, or ROM 1230, which are also examples of computer-readable storage media, and executed by the CPU 1212. Information processing described in these programs is read by the computer 1200, and causes cooperation between the programs and the various types of hardware resources described above. An apparatus or method may be configured by implementing operations or processing of information in accordance with the use of the computer 1200.

[0195] For example, when communication is performed between the computer 1200 and an external device, the CPU 1212 may execute a communication program loaded into the RAM 1214 and instruct the communication interface 1222 to perform communication processing based on the processing described in the communication program. Under the control of the CPU 1212, the communication interface 1222 reads transmission data stored in a transmission buffer area provided in the RAM 1214, the storage device 1224, a DVD-ROM, or a recording medium such as an IC card, and transmits the read transmission data to the network, or writes reception data received from the network to a reception buffer area or the like provided on the recording medium.

[0196] Furthermore, the CPU 1212 may cause all or a necessary portion of a file or database stored in an external recording medium such as the storage device 1224, a DVD drive (DVD-ROM), an IC card, etc. to be read into the RAM 1214, and may perform various types of processing on the data on the RAM 1214. The CPU 1212 may then write back the processed data to the external recording medium.

[0197] Various types of information, such as various types of programs, data, tables, and databases, may be stored on the recording medium and may undergo information processing. The CPU 1212 may perform various types of processing on data read from the RAM 1214, including various types of operations, information processing, conditional judgment, conditional branching, unconditional branching, information search / replacement, etc., as described throughout this disclosure and specified by the instruction sequences of the programs, and write the results back to the RAM 1214. The CPU 1212 may also search for information in a file, database, etc. on the recording medium. For example, if multiple entries, each having an attribute value of a first attribute associated with an attribute value of a second attribute, are stored on the recording medium, the CPU 1212 may search for an entry whose attribute value of the first attribute matches a specified condition from among the multiple entries, read the attribute value of the second attribute stored in the entry, and thereby obtain the attribute value of the second attribute associated with the first attribute that satisfies a predetermined condition.

[0198] The above-described programs or software modules may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium on or near the computer 1200. A recording medium such as a hard disk or RAM provided in a server system connected to a dedicated communication network or the Internet can also be used as a computer-readable storage medium, thereby providing the programs to the computer 1200 via the network.

[0199] The blocks in the flowcharts and block diagrams in the present embodiments may represent stages of a process in which an operation is performed or "parts" of an apparatus responsible for performing the operation. Particular stages and "parts" may be implemented by dedicated circuitry, programmable circuitry provided with computer-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium, and / or a processor provided with computer-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium. The dedicated circuitry may include digital and / or analog hardware circuits, including integrated circuits (ICs) and / or discrete circuits. The programmable circuitry may include reconfigurable hardware circuits, such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and programmable logic arrays (PLAs), including AND, OR, XOR, NAND, NOR, and other logical operations, flip-flops, registers, and memory elements.

[0200] A computer-readable storage medium may include any tangible device capable of storing instructions that are executed by an appropriate device, such that a computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon comprises an article of manufacture, including instructions that can be executed to create means for performing the operations specified in the flowcharts or block diagrams. Examples of computer-readable storage media may include electronic storage media, magnetic storage media, optical storage media, electromagnetic storage media, semiconductor storage media, etc. More specific examples of computer-readable storage media may include floppy disks, diskettes, hard disks, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), static random access memory (SRAM), compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital versatile disc (DVD), Blu-ray disc, memory stick, integrated circuit card, etc.

[0201] The computer readable instructions may include either assembler instructions, instruction set architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine-dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state-setting data, or source or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including object-oriented programming languages ​​such as Smalltalk®, JAVA®, C++, etc., and conventional procedural programming languages ​​such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages.

[0202] Computer-readable instructions may be provided to a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or another programmable data processing device, or a programmable circuit, either locally or via a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN) such as the Internet, so that the processor of the programmable data processing device, such as a computer, or the programmable circuit executes the computer-readable instructions to generate means for performing the operations specified in the flowcharts or block diagrams. Here, the computer may be a personal computer (PC), a tablet computer, a smartphone, a workstation, a server computer, a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or the like, or may be a computer system in which multiple computers are connected. Such a computer system in which multiple computers are connected is also called a distributed computing system, and is a broad definition of computers. In a distributed computing system, multiple computers collectively execute a program by each executing a portion of the program and passing data between the computers as needed during program execution.

[0203] Examples of processors include computer processors, central processing units, processing units, microprocessors, digital signal processors, controllers, microcontrollers, etc. A computer may have one or more processors. In a multiprocessor system with multiple processors, each processor executes a portion of a program and passes data between processors as needed during program execution, allowing the multiple processors to collectively execute the program. For example, in multitasking, each of the multiple processors may execute a portion of each task in small chunks by switching tasks at time slice intervals. In this case, which portion of a program each processor executes changes dynamically. Which portion of a program each of the multiple processors executes may also be statically determined by multiprocessor-aware programming.

[0204] The invention according to this embodiment can, for example, reduce the power consumption of wireless communication and realize a communication infrastructure with reduced operating costs. Furthermore, since unnecessary radio waves are not transmitted, the possibility of interference with other communications can be reduced. Furthermore, the frequency utilization efficiency of wireless communication can be improved. Therefore, it can contribute to the achievement of at least one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Goal 7 "Affordable and clean energy," Goal 9 "Industry, innovation and infrastructure," and Goal 11 "Sustainable cities and communities."

[0205] Although the present invention has been described above using the embodiments, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and improvements can be made to the above embodiments. It is clear from the claims that such modifications and improvements can also be included within the technical scope of the present invention.

[0206] It should be noted that the execution order of each process, such as operations, procedures, steps, and stages, in the devices, systems, programs, and methods shown in the claims, specifications, and drawings is not specifically stated as "before," "prior to," etc., and that the processes can be performed in any order unless the output of a previous process is used in a later process. Even if the operational flow in the claims, specifications, and drawings is described using "first," "next," etc. for convenience, this does not mean that the processes must be performed in this order. [Explanation of symbols]

[0207] 10 coverage area, 12 coverage area of ​​coverage band, 14 coverage area of ​​capacity band, 20 coverage area, 30 coverage area, 40 coverage area, 50 coverage area, 71 mobile communication terminal, 80 system, 90 wireless communication network, 91 vehicle, 92 vehicle, 93 group of vehicles, 94 group of vehicles, 98 route, 99 section, 100 base station, 200 base station, 300 base station, 400 base station, 500 base station, 800 power control device, 810 acquisition unit, 820 memory unit, 830 prediction unit, 840 control unit, 1200 computer, 1210 host controller, 1212 CPU, 1214 RAM, 1216 graphics controller, 1218 display device, 1220 input / output controller, 1222 Communication interface, 1224 storage device, 1230 ROM, 1240 input / output chip

Claims

1. a prediction unit that predicts future traffic of a target base station based on at least one of traffic information of at least one of a plurality of peripheral base stations located around the target base station among a plurality of base stations that constitute a wireless communication network and terminal location information of a mobile communication terminal located within a coverage area of ​​at least one of the plurality of peripheral base stations; a control unit that controls the power of radio waves transmitted by the target base station based on the traffic of the target base station at a future time point predicted by the prediction unit; Equipped with The prediction unit inputs at least one of current traffic information of the surrounding base stations and current location information of the mobile communication terminal, which is learned using at least one of time-series traffic information of each of the plurality of base stations and time-series location information of mobile communication terminals located within the coverage areas of each of the plurality of base stations, and predicts traffic of the target base station at a future time by inputting at least one of current traffic information of the surrounding base stations and current location information of the mobile communication terminal into a learning model that outputs traffic of the target base station at a future time.

2. the target base station and the surrounding base stations are capable of transmitting radio waves in at least one frequency band, 2. The power control device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit turns off radio waves in at least one frequency band transmitted by the target base station when traffic at a future time point of the target base station predicted by the prediction unit is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold.

3. 3. The power control device according to claim 2, wherein the prediction unit predicts an off time at which future traffic of the target base station will be equal to or less than the predetermined threshold, and the control unit turns off radio waves of at least one frequency band transmitted by the target base station at a time after the off time.

4. 4. The power control device according to claim 3, wherein the control unit changes radio waves in at least one frequency band transmitted by the target base station from an off state to an on state when future traffic of the target base station predicted by the prediction unit changes from a state equal to or less than the predetermined threshold to a state exceeding the predetermined threshold.

5. 5. The power control device according to claim 4, wherein the prediction unit predicts an on time at which future traffic of the target base station predicted by the prediction unit will change from a state below the predetermined threshold to a state exceeding the predetermined threshold, and the control unit changes radio waves of at least one frequency band transmitted by the target base station from an off state to an on state at a time before the on time.

6. 5. The power control device according to claim 4, wherein after the control unit changes radio waves of at least one frequency band transmitted by the target base station from an off state to an on state, the control unit turns off the radio waves of the at least one frequency band in response to the traffic moving from one of the plurality of surrounding base stations to the target base station and the traffic actually moving from the target base station to one of the plurality of surrounding base stations.

7. 5. The power control device according to claim 4, wherein the control unit turns off radio waves in at least one frequency band transmitted by the target base station when it determines that the traffic has not moved from any of the plurality of surrounding base stations to the target base station after changing the radio waves in at least one frequency band transmitted by the target base station from an off state to an on state.

8. the target base station is capable of transmitting radio waves in a first frequency band and radio waves in a second frequency band having a larger data capacity than the first frequency band; 3. The power control device according to claim 2, wherein the control unit turns off radio waves in the second frequency band transmitted by the target base station when traffic at a future time point predicted by the prediction unit is equal to or less than the predetermined threshold.

9. The target base station and the surrounding base station cover the same route section of land transportation, 9. The power control device according to claim 1, wherein the prediction unit predicts traffic at a future time of the target base station by inputting at least one of current traffic information of the surrounding base stations and current location information of the mobile communication terminal into the learning model, which is trained using route location information indicating the location of the land transportation route and base station location information indicating the locations of the plurality of base stations.

10. a prediction step of predicting future traffic of a target base station based on at least one of traffic information of at least one of a plurality of peripheral base stations located around the target base station among a plurality of base stations constituting a wireless communication network and terminal location information of a mobile communication terminal located within a coverage area of ​​at least one of the plurality of peripheral base stations; a control step of controlling the power of radio waves transmitted by the target base station based on the traffic of the target base station at a future time point predicted in the prediction step; Equipped with the prediction step includes a step of predicting traffic at a future time point of the target base station by inputting at least one of current traffic information of the surrounding base stations and current location information of the mobile communication terminal into a learning model that inputs at least one of current traffic information of the surrounding base stations and current location information of the mobile communication terminal, the learning model having learned using at least one of time-series traffic information of each of the plurality of base stations and time-series location information of mobile communication terminals located within the coverage areas of each of the plurality of base stations, and outputs traffic at a future time point of the target base station.

11. A program for causing a computer to execute the power control method according to claim 10.

Images