Quality estimation device, quality estimation method, and program

Abstract

This quality estimation device comprises: a cell configuration history data acquiring unit configured to acquire data which includes information indicating the position of one or more terminals, and which indicates a history of cell configurations selected by the one or more terminals; an estimated-quality request accepting unit configured to receive position-indicating information from a terminal, and to accept a request for estimation of the communication quality at the position; and a quality estimation unit configured to extract the data indicating the history of cell configurations on the basis of the information indicating the positions of the one or more terminals and included in the data indicating the history of cell configurations, and to estimate, on the basis of the extracted data indicating the history of cell configurations, the communication quality at the position of the terminal having requested the estimation of the communication quality.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a quality estimation device, a quality estimation method, and a program.

Background Art

[0002] In cellular wireless communication, communication areas with a multi-band or multi-cell configuration are formed. A single terminal can achieve high-speed communication by simultaneously bundling and using multiple frequency bands, such as carrier aggregation (CA) where it uses cells of multiple bands simultaneously, or dual connectivity (DU). Also, when a terminal recognizes multiple available cells, it selects the cell to be used according to an instruction from the base station and performs a handover.

[0003] In cellular wireless communication, the cell to be used is determined based on various factors such as network congestion and quality report information from the terminal under the control of the base station or the network side. Therefore, even if terminals are used at the same location, the base stations used are often different from each other, and the base station frequently switches during use. Furthermore, the addition or deletion of cells due to CA, DU, etc. occurs dynamically.

[0004] In such an environment, it is difficult for a terminal or user to grasp how much communication quality (throughput) of cellular wireless communication can be obtained. Therefore, in general wireless communication, the communication speed when communicating with a specific base station is estimated based on the received power of a specific signal from the base station (for example, Non-Patent Document 1). Also, as a method for estimating the communication quality at a future moving position in autonomous driving, etc., a heat map is created in advance by simulation or the use of AI, etc., and the radio wave intensity is estimated (for example, Non-Patent Document 2).

Prior Art Documents

Non-Patent Documents

[0005] [Non-Patent Document 1] Rosemarie Miranda Felipe, et. al., "DL Performance Evaluation of a Combined Cell in LTE Network," ICTC 2015, Oct., 2015. [Non-Patent Document 2] Ahmad Idris, et. al., "4G LTE Cellular Network Coverage Planning and Simulation on Mandalay Area with Propagation Model Cost-Hatta," ICoICT2021, Aug., 2021. [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0006] Conventional technologies have a problem in that, in environments where a multi-band or multi-cell communication area is formed and handover or simultaneous use occurs, if cell selection is controlled by a control device other than the terminal, it is difficult to accurately estimate communication quality because how the terminal selects or combines cells at its future moving location will change.

[0007] The disclosed technology aims to improve the accuracy of estimating the communication quality of terminals in wireless communication networks. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The disclosed technology provides information indicating the location of one or more devices. The cell configuration history includes the frequency bands and maximum number of aggregations supported by the one or more terminals, and the history of the combination of base stations and frequency bands selected by the one or more terminals. A cell configuration history data acquisition unit configured to acquire data, A quality calculation unit configured to calculate communication quality for each base station, From the device , the terminal Location information This includes information indicating the frequency bands and maximum number of aggregations supported by the terminal, Estimation of communication quality of request Information to provide An estimated quality request receiving unit configured to receive, and the Cell structure history Data From there, historical data of the cell configuration corresponding to the location of the terminal requesting the estimation of the communication quality, the frequency bands and maximum number of aggregations supported by the terminal. is extracted, and based on the extracted History of the cell configuration data And the communication quality calculated by the quality calculation unit for each base station and a request for estimating communication quality , the above is made for do in the position of the terminal Communication quality A quality estimation device is provided with a quality estimation unit configured to estimate the quality in the terminal.

Effect of the Invention

[0009] The estimation accuracy of the communication quality of a terminal in a wireless communication network can be improved.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0010] [Figure 1] It is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a quality estimation system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] It is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of a quality estimation device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] It is a diagram for explaining the outline of a quality estimation function according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] It is a diagram showing an example of cell configuration history data according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] It is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of quality estimation processing according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] It is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a computer.

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0011] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as "the present embodiments") will be described with reference to the drawings. The embodiments described below are merely examples, and the embodiments to which the present invention is applied are not limited to the following embodiments.

[0012] <Overview of the Present Embodiment> In this embodiment, a technique for estimating the cell configuration to be used by a terminal and estimating the communication quality (for example, throughput in L3) based on cell configuration history data indicating the actual values of the cell configurations used by the terminal in the past will be described.

[0013] <Overall Configuration of this Embodiment> FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a quality estimation system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The quality estimation system 1 includes a quality estimation device 10 and a terminal 20. The quality estimation device 10 and the terminal 20 are connected to each other so as to be communicable by a wired or wireless communication method.

[0014] The quality estimation device 10 receives cell configuration history data and estimated quality requirement information from the terminal 20 and transmits estimated quality information to the terminal 20. The cell configuration history data is data indicating the history of the cell configurations selected in the terminal 20. The estimated quality requirement information is information that requests the estimation of quality, and includes information such as the position of the terminal to be estimated, the support band indicating the frequency band supported by the terminal, and the maximum aggregation number indicating the maximum number of aggregations supported by the terminal.

[0015] The quality estimation device 10 estimates the quality based on the received above-mentioned information and generates estimated quality information. The estimated quality information is information indicating the estimation result of the communication quality in the position, support band, maximum aggregation number, etc. of the terminal corresponding to the estimated quality requirement information.

[0016] Note that the quality estimation system 1 may include a plurality of terminals 20. In that case, the quality estimation device 10 may estimate the communication quality based on the history of the cell configurations of a terminal 20 different from the terminal 20 that requested the quality estimation.

[0017] <Functional Configuration of Quality Estimation Device> Figure 2 shows an example of the functional configuration of a quality estimation device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The quality estimation device 10 comprises a cell configuration history data acquisition unit 11, a storage unit 12, an estimated quality request reception unit 13, a quality estimation unit 14, a cell configuration history management unit 15, a quality calculation unit 16, and an estimated quality output unit 17.

[0018] The cell configuration history data acquisition unit 11 acquires cell configuration history data from the terminal 20 and stores it in the storage unit 12. The storage unit 12 stores the cell configuration history data. The estimated quality request reception unit 13 receives estimated quality request information from the terminal 20 and accepts the estimated quality request.

[0019] The quality estimation unit 14 obtains cell configuration history data from the cell configuration history management unit 15 and extracts cell configuration history data corresponding to the terminal location, terminal support band, and maximum aggregation number included in the estimated quality requirement information. Based on the extracted cell configuration history data, it calculates the estimated cell configuration. The quality estimation unit 14 also obtains the throughput for each base station included in the estimated cell configuration from the quality calculation unit 16 and calculates the estimated throughput at the terminal location included in the estimated quality requirement information based on the obtained throughput for each base station.

[0020] The cell configuration history management unit 15 acquires the cell configuration history data stored in the storage unit 12 based on instructions from the quality estimation unit 14 and passes it to the quality estimation unit 14. The quality calculation unit 16 calculates the throughput for each base station included in the estimated cell configuration based on instructions from the quality estimation unit 14. The quality calculation unit 16 may, for example, use conventional technology to calculate the throughput for each base station using radio wave propagation simulation, conversion formulas, etc.

[0021] The estimated quality output unit 17 transmits information indicating the quality estimated by the quality estimation unit 14 to the terminal 20 as estimated quality information.

[0022] Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating the overview of the quality estimation function according to an embodiment of the present invention. The overview of the quality estimation function by the quality estimation device 10 is as follows.

[0023] Specifically, the quality estimation device 10 acquires cell configuration history data, extracts cell configuration history data corresponding to the terminal's location, terminal's supported band, and maximum aggregation number, and calculates the estimated cell configuration. The quality estimation device 10 also calculates the throughput for each base station, for example, using conventional technology. Then, the quality estimation device 10 calculates the estimated throughput at the specified terminal location and outputs it as estimated quality information.

[0024] <Information relating to this embodiment> Next, information relating to this embodiment will be described.

[0025] Figure 4 shows an example of cell configuration history data according to an embodiment of the present invention. The cell configuration history data includes, as items, location information, the terminal's supported bands, the terminal's maximum aggregation number, and the bands and base station IDs actually used.

[0026] The value of the "Location Information" field indicates the terminal's location when each cell configuration is selected. The "Location Information" field may include information elements such as latitude, longitude, and altitude.

[0027] The value in the "Device Support Bands" field indicates the frequency bands supported by the device when each cell configuration is selected. The "Device Support Bands" field, for example, has an information element that lists the frequency bands supported by the device (Band 1, Band 3, Band 42, etc.), with a value of "○" for supported frequency bands and "-" for unsupported frequency bands. For example, the second entry in Figure 4 indicates that Band 1 and Band 42 are supported, but Band 3 is not.

[0028] The value for the item "Maximum number of aggregations per device" indicates the maximum number of aggregations that the device can support when each cell configuration is selected.

[0029] The item "Actual Band Used and Base Station ID" shows the combination of band and base station as the selected cell configuration. For example, the first entry in Figure 4 shows that Band 1 was selected for communication with base station ID "101" and Band 3 was selected for communication with base station ID "23".

[0030] <Operation related to this embodiment> Next, the operation of the quality estimation device 10 will be described with reference to the drawings. The cell configuration history data acquisition unit 11 acquires cell configuration history data from the terminal 20 and stores it in the storage unit 12. The storage unit 12 stores the cell configuration history data. Note that the terminal 20 may acquire the cell configuration history data each time it selects a cell configuration, upon notification from the terminal 20, or it may acquire the cell configuration history data for the period between cycles at predetermined intervals, such as once a day.

[0031] Figure 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the quality estimation process according to an embodiment of the present invention. The estimated quality request receiving unit 13 receives estimated quality request information including the terminal location, the terminal's support band, and the maximum number of aggregations (step S101).

[0032] The quality estimation unit 14 extracts cell configuration history data D1 via the cell configuration history management unit 15 based on the location of the terminal included in the estimated quality requirement information (step S102). For example, the quality estimation unit 14 may use a predetermined threshold R [m] to extract as cell configuration history data D1 the cell configuration history indicating the location of a terminal that is within a radius R [m] or less from the terminal's location.

[0033] Next, the quality estimation unit 14 further extracts cell configuration history data D2 from the extracted cell configuration history data D1, corresponding to the terminal's support band and maximum aggregation number (step S103). For example, the quality estimation unit 14 may extract the history of cell configurations with the same terminal support band and maximum aggregation number as cell configuration history data D2.

[0034] Next, the quality estimation unit 14 calculates the frequency of occurrence for each combination of band and base station actually used from the extracted cell configuration history data D2, and calculates the frequency of occurrence f of the top n patterns. i Extract (i=1,2,···,n) (Step S104).

[0035] Next, the quality calculation unit 16 calculates the throughput at the terminal location for each base station included in the top n patterns (step S105). For example, for each base station ID appearing in the top n patterns, the quality calculation unit 16 calculates the throughput at the terminal location included in the estimated quality requirement information using data such as base station location and transmission power, radio wave propagation estimation, and conversion formulas. The calculated throughput for each base station is then calculated as T j Let (j=1, ..., number of base stations).

[0036] The quality estimation unit 14 calculates the estimated throughput at the terminal location based on the throughput of the top n patterns calculated for each base station (step S106). For example, the estimated throughput is calculated by the following formula (1).

[0037] Σ n ((T x +T y +···)×f i )...Equation (1) Note that the above (T x +T y The part marked with +···) consists of terms equal to the number of cell aggregations.

[0038] The estimated quality output unit 17 outputs the calculated throughput as estimated quality information (step S107).

[0039] The throughput in the above-described embodiment is merely one example of information indicating communication quality, and other information may also be used. For example, the information indicating communication quality may be the received power, etc.

[0040] <Hardware Configuration> Finally, the hardware configuration of the quality estimation device 10 according to this embodiment will be described. The quality estimation device 10 according to this embodiment is realized, for example, by the hardware configuration of the computer 500 shown in Figure 6.

[0041] The computer 500 shown in Figure 6 includes an input device 501, a display device 502, an external interface 503, a communication interface 504, a processor 505, and a memory device 506. Each of these hardware components is connected to the others via a bus 507 for communication.

[0042] The input device 501 is, for example, a keyboard, mouse, or touch panel. The display device 502 is, for example, a display. Note that the computer 500 does not necessarily have to have at least one of the input device 501 and the display device 502.

[0043] External I / F 503 is an interface to external devices such as recording media 503a. Examples of recording media 503a include CD (Compact Disc), DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), SD memory card (Secure Digital memory card), and USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory card.

[0044] The communication interface 504 is an interface for data communication with other devices, equipment, systems, etc. The processor 505 is, for example, a CPU or other type of arithmetic unit. The memory device 506 is, for example, a storage device such as an HDD, SSD, RAM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), or flash memory.

[0045] The quality estimation apparatus 10 according to this embodiment can perform the various processes described above by having the hardware configuration of the computer 500 shown in Figure 6. Note that the hardware configuration of the computer 500 shown in Figure 6 is just one example, and the computer 500 may have other hardware configurations. For example, the computer 500 may have multiple processors 505 or multiple memory devices 506.

[0046] The quality estimation device 10 according to this embodiment is realized by reading a program that causes the computer 500 to perform each of the above-described processes, and then executing the processes specified in the program. The program may be recorded on a recording medium 503a or the like, or it may be provided via a network.

[0047] According to the quality estimation device 10 of this embodiment, the communication quality at a specified location is estimated based on the history of the cell configuration selected by the terminal 20, and output to the terminal 20. As a result, the terminal 20 can obtain the communication quality estimation result based on the estimated cell configuration, even if it is unknown how the cell configuration will be controlled at the terminal's future location. In other words, the accuracy of estimating the communication quality of a terminal in a wireless communication network can be improved.

[0048] (Summary of the embodiments) This specification includes at least the quality estimation apparatus, quality estimation method, and program described in the following sections. (Section 1) A cell configuration history data acquisition unit is configured to acquire data that includes information indicating the location of one or more terminals and shows the history of cell configurations selected by the one or more terminals. An estimated quality request receiving unit is configured to receive location information from a terminal and accept a request to estimate the communication quality at the said location, The system includes a quality estimation unit configured to extract data indicating the cell configuration history based on information indicating the location of one or more terminals included in the data indicating the cell configuration history, and to estimate the communication quality at the location of the terminal that requested the estimation of communication quality based on the extracted data indicating the cell configuration history. Quality estimation device. (Section 2) The data showing the history of the cell configuration includes the history of which combination of base station and frequency band was selected as the cell configuration. The system further comprises a quality calculation unit configured to calculate the communication quality for each base station, The quality estimation unit is configured to estimate the communication quality at the location of the terminal that requested the communication quality estimation, based on the calculated communication quality for each base station. The quality estimation apparatus described in paragraph 1. (Section 3) The data showing the history of the cell configuration includes a history showing the frequency bands and maximum number of aggregations supported by the one or more terminals. The estimated quality request receiving unit is configured to receive information indicating the frequency band and maximum aggregation number supported by the terminal that requested the estimation of communication quality. The quality estimation unit is configured to extract data indicating the history of the cell configuration based on information indicating the frequency band and maximum aggregation number supported by the terminal that requested the estimation of communication quality, and to estimate the communication quality at the location of the terminal that requested the estimation of communication quality based on the extracted data indicating the history of the cell configuration. A quality estimation apparatus as described in paragraph 1 or 2. (Section 4) The quality estimation unit is configured to extract data indicating the history of cell configurations that occur frequently from the data indicating the history of cell configurations, based on information indicating the location of one or more terminals included in the data indicating the history of cell configurations, and to estimate the quality of communication at the location of the terminal that requested the estimation of communication quality based on the extracted data indicating the history of cell configurations. A quality estimation apparatus as described in any one of paragraphs 1 to 3. (Section 5) A quality estimation method performed by a computer, The steps include obtaining data that includes information indicating the location of one or more terminals and that shows the history of cell configurations selected by the one or more terminals, The steps include receiving location information from a terminal and accepting a request to estimate the communication quality at the said location, The method comprises the steps of: extracting data indicating the cell configuration history based on information indicating the location of one or more terminals included in the data indicating the cell configuration history; and estimating the communication quality at the location of the terminal that requested the estimation of communication quality based on the extracted data indicating the cell configuration history. Quality estimation method. (Section 6) A program for causing a computer to function as a component of the quality estimation apparatus described in any one of paragraphs 1 through 4.

[0049] Although this embodiment has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this specific embodiment, and various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the gist of the present invention as described in the claims. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0050] 1. Quality Estimation System 10 Quality estimation device 11. Cell configuration history data acquisition unit 12 Storage section 13 Estimated Quality Requirements Reception Department 14 Quality estimation part 15. Cell Configuration History Management Department 16 Quality calculation section 17 Estimated Quality Output Unit 20 devices 500 Computers 501 Input device 502 Display device 503 External I / F 503a Recording medium 504 Communication I / F 505 Processor 506 Memory Device 507 Bus

Claims

1. A cell configuration history data acquisition unit is configured to acquire cell configuration history data including information indicating the location of one or more terminals, the frequency bands and maximum number of aggregations supported by the one or more terminals, and a history of the combination of base stations and frequency bands selected by the one or more terminals. A quality calculation unit configured to calculate communication quality for each base station, A communication quality estimation request receiving unit is configured to receive information from a terminal, including information indicating the location of the terminal and information indicating the frequency bands and maximum aggregation number supported by the terminal, and to request an estimation of communication quality. A quality estimation unit is configured to extract historical cell configuration data from the historical cell configuration data corresponding to the location of the terminal requesting the estimation of communication quality, the frequency band and maximum aggregation number supported by the terminal, and to estimate the communication quality at the location of the terminal requesting the estimation of communication quality based on the extracted historical cell configuration data and the communication quality calculated by the quality calculation unit for each base station. Equipped with, Quality estimation device.

2. The quality estimation unit estimates the cell configuration selected by the terminal requesting the estimation of communication quality based on the extracted cell configuration history data, The quality calculation unit calculates the communication quality for each base station included in the estimated cell configuration. The quality estimation apparatus according to claim 1.

3. The aforementioned quality estimation unit, From the cell configuration history data acquired by the cell configuration history data acquisition unit, the first cell configuration history data corresponding to the location of the terminal requesting the estimation of communication quality is extracted. From the historical data of the first cell configuration, historical data of a second cell configuration corresponding to the frequency band and maximum aggregation number supported by the terminal requesting the estimation of communication quality is extracted. The quality estimation apparatus according to claim 1.

4. The quality estimation unit extracts data indicating the history of frequently occurring cell configurations from the extracted cell configuration history data, and estimates the communication quality at the location of the terminal requesting the communication quality estimation based on the extracted data and the communication quality calculated by the quality calculation unit for each base station. The quality estimation apparatus according to claim 1.

5. A quality estimation method performed by a computer, A step of acquiring cell configuration history data, which includes information indicating the location of one or more terminals, the frequency bands and maximum number of aggregations supported by the one or more terminals, and a history of the combination of base stations and frequency bands selected by the one or more terminals. The process includes receiving information from a terminal that includes information indicating the location of the terminal and information indicating the frequency bands and maximum aggregation number supported by the terminal, and requesting an estimation of the communication quality. The steps include extracting from the historical data of the cell configuration the historical data of the cell configuration that corresponds to the location of the terminal requesting the estimation of the communication quality, the frequency band supported by the terminal, and the maximum number of aggregations, The steps include: calculating the communication quality for each base station based on the extracted historical data of the cell configuration; The method includes the step of estimating the communication quality at the location of the terminal requesting the estimation of the communication quality, based on the extracted cell configuration history data and the communication quality for each base station. Quality estimation method.

6. A program for causing a computer to function as a component in the quality estimation apparatus described in any one of claims 1 to 4.

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