Base station, terminal device, and communication system

Abstract

A base station according to an embodiment includes a determination unit and a control unit. The determination unit determines whether or not a low-latency terminal that performs communication related to low-latency data is present in a basic service set (BSS) thereof. When the low-latency terminal is present in the BSS, the control unit controls to restrict at least one of frame length or transmission opportunity in the communication with a non-low-latency terminal that is not the low-latency terminal present in the BSS.

Description

Base station, terminal device and communication system

[0001] The embodiments relate to a base station, a terminal device, and a communication system.

[0002] In wireless systems (e.g., IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs) that employ CSMA / CA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance) technology, frame collisions and transmission waits occur stochastically, making it difficult to achieve low-latency and low-jitter communications. In particular, when there are a large number of terminals or when the frame time length of packets transmitted at one time is long, the probability that a terminal requiring low latency will have a transmission opportunity decreases, resulting in increased transmission delay and jitter. In an environment where low-latency packets are periodically generated, it may be possible to transmit low-latency packets by securing transmission opportunities in advance using TXOP (transmission opportunity) or the like.

[0003] JP 2018-125744 A Japanese Patent No. 7047719

[0004] However, when low-delay packets are generated aperiodically, it is difficult to guarantee the transmission of low-delay packets simply by securing transmission opportunities in advance.

[0005] The present invention has been made in light of the above circumstances, and its object is to provide a base station, a terminal device, and a communication system that can reduce the amount of delay and jitter of low-delay data.

[0006] In an embodiment, the base station includes a determination unit and a control unit. The determination unit determines whether a low-latency terminal that performs communication related to low-latency data is present in the base station's own BSS (basic service set). If the low-latency terminal is present in the BSS, the control unit controls to limit at least one of a frame length and a transmission opportunity in communication with a non-low-latency terminal that is a terminal other than the low-latency terminal that is present in the BSS.

[0007] According to an embodiment, a terminal device includes an acquisition unit and a control unit. The acquisition unit acquires a notification indicating that a low-latency terminal that performs communication related to low-latency data is present in a basic service set (BSS) of a base station to which the terminal device belongs. The control unit controls data transmission from the terminal device so as to limit at least one of a frame length and a transmission opportunity in communication with the base station.

[0008] In one embodiment, the communication system includes a base station and a terminal device. A frame transmitting side of either the base station or the terminal device simultaneously transmits the frame over multiple links using a multilink function. A frame receiving side of either the base station or the terminal device executes a data extraction process from the first received frame.

[0009] According to the embodiments, it is possible to provide a base station, a terminal device, and a communication system that can reduce the amount of delay and jitter of low-latency data.

[0010] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a communication system according to this embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a base station provided in the communication system according to this embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a terminal device provided in the communication system according to this embodiment. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of a base station provided in the communication system according to this embodiment. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of a non-low latency terminal provided in the communication system according to this embodiment. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram showing a first example of communication restriction processing by the communication system according to this embodiment. FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram showing a second example of communication restriction processing by the communication system according to this embodiment. FIG. 8 is a diagram explaining the effect of the communication restriction method according to this embodiment.

[0011] Each embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. Each embodiment illustrates an apparatus or method for embodying the technical idea of ​​the invention. The drawings are schematic or conceptual. Hereinafter, the same reference numerals are used to designate components having substantially the same functions and configurations. The numbers following the letters that make up the reference numerals are used to refer to elements with the same letters and to distinguish between elements with similar configurations. Similarly, the letters and "hyphen + number" following the numbers that make up the reference numerals are used to refer to elements with the same numbers and to distinguish between elements with similar configurations. When it is not necessary to distinguish between elements indicated by reference numerals containing the same letters or numbers, these elements will be referred to by reference numerals containing only letters or numbers.

[0012] Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a communication system 1 according to this embodiment. As shown in Fig. 1, the communication system 1 includes a base station 10 and a terminal device 20. Note that the base station may be an access point.

[0013] The base station 10 is a type of base station in a wireless LAN (local area network). The base station 10 is wirelessly connected to the terminal devices 20 and configured to communicate wirelessly with the terminal devices 20. The base station 10 aggregates data from the terminal devices 20 and shares data with the terminal devices 20. The base station 10 is configured to communicate by wire or wirelessly with a server (not shown) on a network 50 (NW).

[0014] The terminal device 20 is a wireless terminal typified by a smartphone, a PC (Personal Computer), a tablet terminal, etc. The terminal device 20 is wirelessly connected to the base station 10 and configured to communicate wirelessly with the base station 10. FIG. 1 shows an example in which two terminal devices 20, a low-latency terminal 20-1 and a non-low-latency terminal 20-2, exist (belong) to a BSS (basic service set) formed by the base station 10, but this is not limiting, and there may be multiple low-latency terminals 20-1 and multiple non-low-latency terminals 20-2.

[0015] The low-latency terminal 20-1 is a terminal device that performs communication related to low-latency data. Low-latency data is data that requires low latency and low jitter, such as data in real-time applications. On the other hand, the non-low-latency terminal 20-2 is a terminal other than a low-latency terminal, and is a terminal device that performs communication related to data that does not require low latency or low jitter.

[0016] The wireless communication used in the communication system 1 complies with, for example, the IEEE 802.11 standard. The IEEE 802.11 standard has wireless communication functions based on the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) reference model. In the OSI reference model, wireless communication functions are divided into seven layers (Layer 1: Physical Layer, Layer 2: Data Link Layer, Layer 3: Network Layer, Layer 4: Transport Layer, Layer 5: Session Layer, Layer 6: Presentation Layer, and Layer 7: Application Layer). The data link layer includes a Logical Link Control (LLC) sublayer and a Media Access Control (MAC) sublayer. Frequency bands used in the wireless communication of the communication system 1 include, for example, the 2.4 GHz band, the 5 GHz band, the 6 GHz band, the 45 GHz band, and the 60 GHz band. Multiple channels are assigned to each frequency band.

[0017] Next, an example of the hardware configuration of the base station 10 included in the communication system 1 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to the block diagram shown in Fig. 2. As shown in Fig. 2, the base station 10 includes, for example, a central processing unit (CPU) 11, a read-only memory (ROM) 12, a random access memory (RAM) 13, a wireless communication module 14, and a wired communication module 15.

[0018] The CPU 11 is an integrated circuit capable of executing various programs and controls the overall operation of the base station 10. The ROM 12 is, for example, a non-volatile semiconductor memory and stores programs and control data for controlling the base station 10. The RAM 13 is, for example, a volatile semiconductor memory and is used as a work area for the CPU 11. The wireless communication module 14 is a circuit connected to an antenna and used to send and receive data, etc. via wireless signals, and is used when wirelessly connecting to a terminal device 20. The wired communication module 15 is a circuit used to send and receive data, etc. via wired signals, and is configured to be connectable to a network NW. The antenna may be built into the base station 10 or may be externally connected.

[0019] The base station 10 may have other hardware configurations. For example, the base station 10 may be wirelessly connected to the network 50. In this case, a wireless communication module may be employed instead of the wired communication module 15. The CPU 11 may also be referred to as a "processor."

[0020] Next, an example of the hardware configuration of the terminal device 20 included in the communication system 1 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to the block diagram of Fig. 3. As shown in Fig. 3, the terminal device 20 includes, for example, a CPU 21, a ROM 22, a RAM 23, a wireless communication module 24, a display 25, and a storage 26.

[0021] The CPU 21 is a processing circuit that controls the overall operation of the terminal device 20. The ROM 22 is, for example, a non-volatile semiconductor memory. The ROM 22 stores programs and data for controlling the terminal device 20. The RAM 23 is, for example, a volatile semiconductor memory. The RAM 23 is used as a work area for the CPU 21. The wireless communication module 24 is a circuit connected to an antenna and used to send and receive data via wireless signals. The wireless communication module 24 is used when wirelessly connecting to the base station 10. The display 25 is, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or an EL (Electro-Luminescence) display. The display 25 displays a GUI (Graphical User Interface) corresponding to application software, etc. The storage 26 is a non-volatile storage device. The storage 26 stores system software, etc. of the terminal device 20. The CPU 21 may also be called a "processor."

[0022] Next, an example of the functional configuration of the base station 10 included in the communication system 1 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to the block diagram of Fig. 4. The base station 10 includes a management unit 110, a determination unit 120, a control unit 130, a frame processing unit 140, a radio signal processing unit 150, and a radio signal processing unit 160.

[0023] The management unit 110 manages various information such as terminal management information 111. The terminal management information 111 includes identification information of terminals belonging to its own BSS, TID information, information indicating whether the terminal device is a low-latency terminal or a non-low-latency terminal, the amount of delay and jitter allowed if it is a low-latency terminal, etc. The determination unit 120 refers to the terminal management information 111 stored in the management unit 110 and determines whether the low-latency terminal 20-1 is present in its own BSS.

[0024] When the low-latency terminal 20-1 is present in its own BSS, the control unit 130 controls to limit at least one of the frame length and transmission opportunities in communication with a non-low-latency terminal 20-2 other than the low-latency terminal 20-1 present in the BSS. Here, the frame length includes both the data size of the PPDU (PLCP Protocol Data Unit) and the time length of the frame. The method for limiting the frame length and transmission opportunities will be described later. The frame processing unit 140 designs data from an upper-level application to have the frame length set by the control unit 130 and sends it to at least one of the radio signal processing unit 150 and the radio signal processing unit 160. The frame processing unit 140 also receives radio signals from at least one of the radio signal processing unit 150 and the radio signal processing unit 160 and extracts frames and data.

[0025] It is assumed that the radio signal processing unit 150 and the radio signal processing unit 160 each perform radio communication using different frequency bands. The radio signal processing unit 150 and the radio signal processing unit 160 each transmit the frame input by the frame processing unit 140 to the outside as a radio signal via an antenna. The radio signal processing unit 150 and the radio signal processing unit 160 also each send the radio signal received by the antenna to the frame processing unit 140. Note that when the radio signal processing unit 150 and the radio signal processing unit 160 simultaneously notify multiple terminal devices 20, they may transmit beacon signals or the like by multicast or broadcast.

[0026] Next, an example of the functional configuration of a terminal device related to a non-low latency terminal 20-2 included in the communication system 1 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to the block diagram of Fig. 5. The non-low latency terminal 20-2 includes a management unit 210, an acquisition unit 220, a control unit 230, a frame processing unit 240, a radio signal processing unit 250, and a radio signal processing unit 260.

[0027] The management unit 210 manages information relating to communications between the terminal itself and the base station 10. For example, the management unit 210 includes link management information 211. The link management information 211 is information relating to links used for transmitting data. The acquisition unit 220 acquires from the base station 10 a notification that the low latency terminal 20-1 is present in the BSS of the base station to which the low latency terminal 20-1 belongs.

[0028] The control unit 230 controls data transmission from the device itself so as to limit at least one of the frame length and transmission opportunities in communication with the base station 10. The frame processing unit 240 receives a radio signal from at least one of the radio signal processing unit 250 and the radio signal processing unit 260 and extracts frames and data from the radio signal. The frame processing unit 240 also generates frames for data received from a higher-level application so that the frame length is set by the control unit 230. The frame processing unit 240 also sends frames to at least one of the radio signal processing unit 250 and the radio signal processing unit 260 based on the transmission opportunities set by the control unit 230.

[0029] The radio signal processing units 250 and 260 each transmit radio signals in a different frequency band. Specifically, it is assumed that there is a one-to-one correspondence with the radio signal processing units 150 and 160 of the base station 10. The radio signal processing units 250 and 260 each transmit the frames input by the frame processing unit 240 as radio signals to the base station 10 via an antenna. The radio signal processing units 250 and 260 also send the radio signals received by the antenna to the frame processing unit 240. Note that, as in the case of the base station 10, the radio signal processing units 250 and 260 may each transmit beacon signals or the like by broadcasting.

[0030] Next, a first example of communication restriction processing by the communication system 1 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of Fig. 6. Fig. 6 shows processing in chronological order in the base station 10, the low-latency terminal 20-1 belonging to the BSS of the base station 10, and the non-low-latency terminal 20-2.

[0031] In step SA1, the low-latency terminal 20-1 transmits a communication request for low-latency data to the base station 10. Note that the base station 10 may, for example, take into consideration the traffic situation and, when the traffic is clear, transmit a signal to the low-latency terminal 20-1 to permit communication of low-latency data.

[0032] In step SA2, when the determination unit 120 of the base station 10 receives a communication request for low-latency data from the low-latency terminal 20-1, it determines that the low-latency terminal 20-1 is present. Note that the determination unit 120 of the base station 10 may refer to terminal management information of the terminals belonging to the BSS, and if there is information indicating that the terminal is a low-latency terminal in a list of terminal devices present in the BSS, it may determine that a low-latency terminal is present in the BSS formed by the base station 10. Note that steps SA1 and SA2 may be performed in any order, and it may be periodically determined whether or not the low-latency terminal 20-1 is present in the BSS.

[0033] In step SA3, the control unit 130 of the base station 10 notifies the non-low latency terminal 20-2 of a communication restriction method to restrict at least one of the frame length and transmission opportunities in communication with the non-low latency terminal 20-2. The communication restriction method may, for example, prohibit the number of frame aggregations or set an upper limit on the number of aggregations to shorten the frame length. Specifically, the frame length can be restricted by setting the frame aggregation to "2," for example. The base station 10 may also adjust the frame length by adjusting the frame payload size or coding rate. That is, by reducing the payload size, the frame length can be restricted to be shorter. Furthermore, by increasing the coding rate, the frame length, particularly the frame time length, can be restricted to be shorter. The base station 10 may also set a maximum transmission and reception rate using policing control to restrict traffic. That is, the base station 10 may restrict the transmission opportunities of the non-low latency terminal 20-2 by bandwidth control for the non-low latency terminal 20-2. Traffic exceeding the maximum transmission / reception rate is discarded or transmitted with a different priority, so that transmission opportunities for the low-delay terminal 20-1 can be ensured.

[0034] In step SA4, the control unit 230 of the non-low latency terminal 20-2 sets at least one of the frame length and the transmission opportunity in accordance with the communication restriction method notified by the base station 10. In step SA5, transmission and reception of low latency data such as RTA is executed between the base station 10 and the low latency terminal 20-1.

[0035] In step SA6, normal data, in other words, non-low latency data, is transmitted and received between the base station 10 and the non-low latency terminal 20-2 in accordance with the communication restriction method set in step SA4. Note that steps SA5 and SA6 can be performed in any order, as long as the terminal device 20 that has acquired a transmission opportunity starts communication.

[0036] Next, a second example of the communication restriction process by the communication system 1 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of Fig. 7. In the first example, the base station 10 determines the communication restriction method, but in the second example, the non-low latency terminal 20-2 determines the communication restriction method. Note that the processes of steps SA1, SA2, and SA4 to SA6 are the same as those in Fig. 6, and therefore will not be described here.

[0037] In step SB1, the control unit 130 of the base station 10 notifies the non-low latency terminal 20-2 that the low latency terminal 20-1 is present in the BSS of the base station 10. As a notification method, the base station 10 may add information indicating the presence of the low latency terminal 20-1 to a beacon frame, for example, and broadcast the beacon frame.

[0038] In step SB2, the control unit 230 of the non-low latency terminal 20-2 determines a communication restriction method. For example, the control unit 230 may adjust the MTU (maximum transmission unit) to reduce the length of the payload section (reduce the data size of the payload section). Alternatively, the MCS (Message Signal Unit) value may be adjusted to increase the coding rate and reduce the data size. Alternatively, depending on the buffer status of data from the upper application, if the buffer is below a threshold, a process may be performed to reduce the probability of securing a transmission opportunity.

[0039] It is also possible to give priority to a method that has a small impact on the throughput of the non-low delay terminal 20-2. For example, if the SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio) of the non-low delay terminal 20-2 is equal to or greater than a threshold, it is considered that there is no problem in setting the coding rate to a relatively high level, and therefore by adjusting the MCS value to be higher, it is possible to reduce the frame time length while minimizing the impact on the throughput of the non-low delay terminal 20-2.

[0040] Furthermore, the base station 10 and the non-low latency terminal 20-2 may change the degree of the communication restriction method for the non-low latency terminal 20-2 depending on the number of low latency terminals 20-1 present in the BSS. That is, the control unit 130 of the base station 10 or the control unit 230 of the non-low latency terminal 20-2 executes processing to shorten the frame length allowed for the non-low latency terminal 20-2 as the number of low latency terminals 20-1 present in the BSS of the base station 10 increases. Alternatively, the control unit 130 of the base station 10 or the control unit 230 of the non-low latency terminal 20-2 executes processing to reduce the transmission opportunities for the non-low latency terminal 20-2 as the number of low latency terminals 20-1 present in the BSS increases.

[0041] For example, if there is only one low-latency terminal 20-1, the base station 10 can assume that there are few opportunities in the BSS where low-latency data communication is required, and therefore the base station 10 can alternately set periods in which frame aggregation related to data communication of the non-low-latency terminal 20-2 is prohibited and periods in which frame aggregation is performed. Alternatively, the amount by which the MTU is reduced can be reduced, or in the case of policing control, the upper limit of the bandwidth can be set large. This ensures the throughput of the non-low-latency terminal 20-2.

[0042] On the other hand, if there are, for example, five low-latency terminals 20-1, the base station 10 sets the frame aggregation number for data communication with non-low-latency terminals 20-2 to "2" or prohibits frame aggregation, thereby limiting the frame length. Furthermore, the base station 10 may significantly reduce the MTU value to further shorten the frame length, or in the case of policing control, simply set a small upper limit for the bandwidth. Furthermore, these communication restriction methods may be combined. This allows appropriate control of traffic between low-latency data and non-low-latency data even when there are a large number of low-latency terminals 20-1.

[0043] Next, an example of the effect of the communication restriction method according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 8. Fig. 8(a) shows a frame sequence of a communication system 1 according to a conventional method in which no communication restriction is set, and in which the low-latency terminal 20-1 and the non-low-latency terminal 20-2 are given equal transmission opportunities. On the other hand, Fig. 8(b) and Fig. 8(c) show frame sequences of the communication system 1 when the communication restriction method according to this embodiment is applied.

[0044] 8A shows an example in which a transmission opportunity is given to the non-low delay terminal 20-2, and data with a long frame length, i.e., large data size (frame 1), is transmitted. If the non-low delay terminal 20-2 has the transmission right, the period until frame 1 is transmitted becomes the transmission waiting time Ta for the low delay terminal 20-1. Therefore, the low delay terminal 20-1 is not given an opportunity to transmit a frame related to low delay data (denoted as LL in the figure).

[0045] On the other hand, FIG. 8(b) shows an example in which the length of the frame 81 of the non-low latency terminal 20-2 is set to a threshold or less. FIG. 8(b) shows an example in which the length of the frame 81 is set to one-third or less compared to the length of the frame 81 in FIG. 8(a), and three frames 81 (frame 1, frame 2, frame 3) are transmitted. In this case, by shortening the length of each frame, the average transmission waiting time Tb becomes significantly shorter than the transmission waiting time Ta. Furthermore, after the non-low latency terminal 20-2 transmits frame 1, the low latency terminal 20-1 can transmit low latency data 82 if it can secure a transmission opportunity. Therefore, the shorter the frame length, the more opportunities there are to acquire a transmission right per unit time, allowing for efficient transmission and reception of low latency data.

[0046] 8(c) shows an example in which the non-low latency terminal 20-2 is controlled to reduce the frame length and also to reduce transmission opportunities. As a result, the frame transmission interval Tc of the non-low latency terminal 20-2 becomes longer, making it easier for the low latency terminal 20-1 to obtain more transmission opportunities during the transmission interval Tc, and allowing it to transmit and receive more low latency data 82.

[0047] Note that the communication restriction process shown in Figures 6 and 7 above assumes a single link. However, if multilinks are available, the frame transmitter transmits the same frame over multiple links, and the frame receiver executes data extraction processing from the first-received frame. Specifically, for example, if base station 10 is the frame transmitter, it transmits low-latency data to low-latency terminal 20-1 over multilinks from radio signal processing unit 150 and radio signal processing unit 160, respectively. Low-latency terminal 20-1, which is the frame receiver, attempts to receive low-latency data using radio signal processing unit 250 and radio signal processing unit 260, respectively. Low-latency terminal 20-1 executes data extraction processing from the frame that has been received first and whose data has been correctly decoded. In this way, delays can be further reduced by using multilinks to execute data extraction processing using the frame that arrived first.

[0048] According to the present embodiment described above, the base station determines whether a low-latency terminal is present in its own BSS. If a low-latency terminal is present in the BSS, the base station determines a communication restriction method that restricts at least one of the frame length and transmission opportunities in communication with non-low-latency terminals, and controls communication between the base station and the non-low-latency terminal according to the communication restriction method. This reduces the average waiting time of low-latency terminals caused by frames created by non-low-latency terminals. Furthermore, by limiting the maximum time of the average waiting time, the amount of jitter related to delay can be reduced. Furthermore, by restricting the number of transmission opportunities for non-low-latency terminals to be reduced, the probability that low-latency terminals will secure transmission opportunities can be improved, and the average delay of low-latency terminals can be reduced.

[0049] In the above-described embodiments, the CPU 11 of the base station 10 and the CPU 21 of the terminal device 20 may each be another circuit (or processor). For example, the base station 10 and the terminal device 20 may each include an MPU (Micro Processing Unit) or the like instead of a CPU. Each of the processes described in each embodiment may be realized by dedicated hardware. The processes of the base station 10 and the terminal device 20 may be a mixture of processes executed by software and processes executed by hardware, or may be only one of them.

[0050] In the above embodiment, the flowcharts used to explain the operations are merely examples. The order of the operations described in the embodiment may be changed to the extent possible, or other processes may be added. A wireless communication standard other than the IEEE 802.11 standard may be used as the wireless communication standard.

[0051] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made in the implementation stage without departing from the spirit of the invention. Furthermore, the embodiments may be implemented in appropriate combinations, in which case the combined effects can be obtained. Furthermore, the above-described embodiments include various inventions, and various inventions can be extracted by combining selected elements from the disclosed elements. For example, if the problem can be solved and the desired effect can be obtained even if some elements are deleted from all elements shown in the embodiments, the configuration from which these elements are deleted can be extracted as an invention.

[0052] DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Communication system 10...Base station 11, 21...CPU 12, 22...ROM 13, 23...RAM 14, 24...Wireless communication module 15...Wired communication module 20...Terminal device 20-1...Low latency terminal 20-2...Non-low latency terminal 25...Display 26...Storage 81...Frame 82...Low latency data 110, 210...Management unit 111...Terminal management information 120...Determination unit 130, 230...Control unit 140, 240...Frame processing unit 150, 160, 250, 260...Wireless signal processing unit 220...Acquisition unit

Claims

1. A base station comprising: a determination unit that determines whether a low-latency terminal, which is a terminal that performs communication related to low-latency data, is present in its own BSS (basic service set); and a control unit that, when the low-latency terminal is present in the BSS, controls to limit at least one of the frame length and transmission opportunities in communication with a non-low-latency terminal, which is a terminal other than the low-latency terminal, that is present in the BSS.

2. The base station according to claim 1, wherein the control unit limits the length of the frame by at least one of a first process of prohibiting aggregation of the frame or setting an upper limit on the number of aggregations, a second process of adjusting the payload size in the frame, and a third process of setting a high coding rate.

3. The base station according to claim 2, wherein the control unit limits the length of the frame by one of the first, second and third processes that has the least impact on the throughput of the non-low latency terminal.

4. The base station according to claim 1, wherein the control unit limits transmission opportunities for the non-low latency terminals by bandwidth control for the non-low latency terminals.

5. The base station according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the frame length allowed for the non-low latency terminals to be shorter the greater the number of low latency terminals present in the BSS, or controls the transmission opportunities for the non-low latency terminals to be reduced the greater the number of low latency terminals present in the BSS.

6. The base station according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the frame length allowed for the non-low latency terminal to be shorter the smaller the amount of delay allowed for the low latency terminal, or controls the transmission opportunities for the non-low latency terminal to be reduced the smaller the amount of delay allowed for the low latency terminal.

7. A terminal device comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires notification that a low-latency terminal that communicates low-latency data is present in the BSS (basic service set) of the base station to which the terminal device belongs; and a control unit that controls data transmission from the terminal device so as to limit at least one of the frame length and transmission opportunities in communication with the base station.

8. A communications system including the base station according to claim 1 and the terminal device according to claim 7, wherein the frame transmitting side of either said base station or said terminal device simultaneously transmits said frames over multiple links using a multi-link function, and the frame receiving side of either said base station or said terminal device executes data extraction processing from the frame that was received first.

Images