Wireless communication system

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a wireless communication system that maximizes the performance of the entire system by allocating necessary resources to a terminal. [Solution] The present invention addresses the problem of providing a wireless communication system comprising a management server that manages a wireless communication network which is formed between a wireless base station and a terminal, said wireless communication system being characterized in that the management server comprises: a service level setting means for setting each layer obtained by dividing a coverage range of the wireless communication network into at least two or more areas, and setting a service level that can be provided to the terminal for each layer; a layer determination means for determining a layer to which the terminal belongs on the basis of position information pertaining to the acquired terminal; a level determination means for determining, on the basis of the service level set to the layer to which the terminal belongs and which has been determined by the layer determination means, whether or not a requested service level that is requested of from the acquired terminal is satisfied; and a service control means for, when the level determination means has determined that the requested service level is satisfied, providing the requested service level to the terminal, and, when the level determination means has determined that the requested service level is not satisfied, performing control so as not to provide the requested service level to the terminal.

Description

wireless communication system

[0001] The present invention relates to a wireless communication system, and more particularly to a wireless communication system suitable for determining a required service level of an application of a terminal to maximize the performance of the entire system.

[0002] Terminals within the area of ​​wireless communications such as cellular and Wi-Fi (registered trademark) can use these communications, and the wireless resources available to the terminal are determined according to the terminal's location and the radio wave reception conditions. Meanwhile, the communication quality (communication speed, delay, etc.) required by applications installed on the terminal varies depending on the application. Currently, the wireless resources used by the terminal and the service level required by the application are not always associated with each other. For this reason, if wireless resources that exceed the service level required by an application are allocated, system resources are wasted. Furthermore, if wireless resources that cannot provide the service level required by an application are allocated, the application will not operate normally, causing a disadvantage to the user.

[0003] The 3GPP (registered trademark) standards include the following standards that allow communication parameters to be changed for each application: 3GPP TS 23.107: QoS Concept and Architecture, 3GPP TS 23.207: End-to-end Quality of Service (QoS) concept and architecture.

[0004] In these 3GPP (registered trademark) standards, QoS policies that represent communication quality can be set on an application-by-application basis, making it possible to achieve different QoS for each application. The method for setting QoS policies is defined in 3GPP TS 23.107, and examples of QoS policies that allow communication parameters to be changed for each application include the following: (1) Voice calls: Since delay is important, bandwidth is limited and delay is minimized. (2) Video calls: Since delay and bandwidth are important, bandwidth is secured appropriately and delay is kept within an acceptable range. (3) Data communications: Since bandwidth is important, bandwidth is secured as a priority.

[0005] 3GPP (registered trademark): http: / / www.3GPP.org /

[0006] The 3GPP (registered trademark) standard only defines a communication protocol for realizing end-to-end QoS, but does not define how to optimize the service level required by an application and the radio resources allocated to the terminal as a system.

[0007] The present invention has been devised in light of the above-mentioned background, and aims to provide a wireless communication system that determines the location and wireless conditions of a terminal, and the service level required by the terminal's application, allocates the necessary resources to the terminal, and maximizes the performance of the entire system.

[0008] A wireless communication system according to a first aspect of the present invention is a wireless communication system having a wireless base station, a plurality of terminals that perform wireless communication with the wireless base station, and a management server that manages the wireless communication network formed between the wireless base station and the terminals, wherein the management server comprises: a service level setting means that sets layers by dividing the coverage area of ​​the wireless communication network into at least two or more areas, and sets a service level that can be provided to the terminals for each layer; a layer determination means that determines the layer to which the terminal belongs based on acquired location information of the terminal; a level determination means that determines whether or not a requested service level requested by the acquired terminal is satisfied based on the service level set for the layer to which the terminal belongs determined by the layer determination means; and a service control means that, when it is determined by the level determination means that the requested service level is satisfied, provides the requested service level to the terminal, and, when it is determined by the level determination means that the requested service level is not satisfied, controls not to provide the requested service level to the terminal.

[0009] A wireless communication system according to a second aspect of the present invention is the wireless communication system according to the first aspect of the present invention, characterized in that the wireless base station has the management server built therein.

[0010] A wireless communication system according to a third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the level determination means determines whether or not the required service level is satisfied based on wireless quality data of the wireless communication network.

[0011] A wireless communication system according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the wireless communication system according to the first or second aspect of the present invention, characterized in that the service level setting means expands or reduces the layer based on the determination result by the level determination means.

[0012] According to the present inventions 1 to 4 configured as described above, it is possible to realize a wireless communication system that determines the location and wireless conditions of a terminal, and the service level required by the terminal's application, allocates the necessary resources to the terminal, and maximizes the performance of the entire system.

[0013] By managing data on multiple terminals, including the terminal location, the network conditions at that location, and the service level required by the terminal, on a management server, it is possible to provide optimal services throughout the system.

[0014] FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a wireless communication system to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of area map management in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of multi-layer setting of area map management in FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an application layer table of a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an application example of layers of a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an application table of layers of a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram of a management server in the wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a processing flowchart of the management server in the wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram showing a modified example of a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an application example of layers of a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0015] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0016] First, a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and 4. FIG.

[0017] Fig. 1 is a configuration diagram of a wireless communication system to which the present invention is applied. Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram of area map management, which is a characteristic of the present invention in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram of multi-layer setting. Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an application layer table of a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the following explanation, a case where a local 5G network is used will be described as an example of a wireless communication network.

[0018] Local 5G refers to a self-operated 5G network built by companies or local governments for use within a limited area. 5G networks have three characteristics: high speed, large capacity, ultra-low latency, and multiple simultaneous connections. Because local 5G networks are self-operated, they allow for flexible area construction. Usable frequencies are selected from Sub6 (4.6-4.9 GHz band) and millimeter wave (28.2-29.1 GHz band) allocated for local 5G. The inventors have invented a wireless communication system that effectively utilizes these available frequency bands to determine the terminal's location, wireless conditions, and the service level required by the terminal's application, allocates the necessary resources to the terminal, and maximizes overall system performance.

[0019] As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the wireless communication system 100 includes a management server 1, a wireless base station 2, a local 5G area 3 of a local 5G network as a wireless communication network, a terminal 4, a terminal 5, and an area map 6. The wireless communication system 100 in Figure 1 shows a minimum configuration, and although many terminals are actually connected within the local 5G area 3, these are omitted for the sake of explanation. For example, wireless communication is performed in wireless communication environments requiring different service levels, such as IoT, which wirelessly connects all kinds of things and people, wireless communication that simultaneously connects many devices such as cameras and sensors, and remote wireless communication for remotely operating devices (e.g., robots) with low latency.

[0020] The management server 1 performs area management for multiple terminals 4, 5, etc. connected to a wireless base station 2 and located within a local 5G area 3.

[0021] The wireless base station 2 manages connections of multiple terminals 4 and 5 within, for example, a local 5G area 3. The wireless base station 2 may be installed in the center of the local 5G area 3, or may be installed on the roof of a building or in an indoor location where it will not cause any obstructions by adjusting the radiation angle of the base station antenna.

[0022] The local 5G area 3 is managed by dividing the area covered by the local 5G area 3, which is managed on the management server 1 as shown in Figure 2, into sections and managing them in those units. This is called area map management. The service level that can be provided in each area of ​​the area map in Figure 2 varies depending on the network congestion situation, the required service level, the network situation, etc. Here, the service level refers to the level of communication quality required by applications on terminals 4 and 5. The area map has a layered structure based on the network situation and the service level provided, and these layers are dynamically applied to each terminal 4 and 5. This is defined as a multi-layered area map, and is shown in Figure 3. In the example of Figure 3, layer α is a local 5G high-quality network and indicates a high service level layer. Layer β is a local 5G medium-quality network and indicates a medium service level layer. Layer γ is a local 5G low-quality network and indicates a low service level layer. The service level that can be provided is determined by the position of terminals 4 and 5 on the area map, depending on the requested service level from terminals 4 and 5, the network congestion situation, and the network situation, and the layer to be applied is determined as shown in Figure 4.

[0023] Specifically, when terminals 4 and 5 are located in a high service level area and their requested service levels are high, layer α is applied. When terminals 4 and 5 are located in a medium service level area and their requested service levels are high, the requested service levels are not met and therefore not provided. In other words, no layer is applied. Similarly, when terminals 4 and 5 are located in a low service level area and their requested service levels are high, the requested service levels are not met and therefore no layer is applied. When terminals 4 and 5 are located in a high service level area and their requested service levels are medium, layer β is applied to avoid allocating unnecessary resources. When terminals 4 and 5 are located in a medium service level area and their requested service levels are medium, the requested service levels are met and therefore layer β is applied. When terminals 4 and 5 are located in a low service level area and their requested service levels are medium, the requested service levels are met and therefore no layer is applied. When the required service level of terminals 4 and 5 is low, the required service level is satisfied regardless of whether terminals 4 and 5 are in a high service level area, a medium service level area, or a low service level area, so layer γ is applied.

[0024] For example, as shown in Fig. 5, when terminal 4 is located in an area to which layer α belongs and terminal 5 is located in an area to which layer β belongs, terminal 4 requests a high service level and terminal 5 requests a medium service level. Since the requested service levels can be provided for the locations of terminals 4 and 5, it is possible to apply layer α to terminal 4 and layer β to terminal 5, as shown in Fig. 6. In Fig. 6, terminal 4 requests a high service level and terminal 5 requests a medium service level.

[0025] The terminals 4 and 5 include wireless communication terminals owned by people, automated guided vehicles with wireless communication capabilities, robots with wireless communication capabilities, etc. The terminals 4 and 5 are not limited to mobile objects; they also include fixed objects. Here, the automated guided vehicles and robots may move not only in physical space, but also in virtual space, or in simulated communication environments where physical space and virtual space are combined. The communication partner may also be a cybernetic avatar that performs remote communication control.

[0026] The area map 6 has areas obtained by dividing the coverage area of ​​the wireless communication network into predetermined sections, and has a multi-layer structure in which area maps are superimposed.

[0027] Fig. 7 is a configuration diagram of a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 7, the wireless communication system 100 includes a management server 1, a wireless base station 2, a terminal 4, a terminal 5, and a terminal 7. The management server 1 is connected to a communication partner 9 via a communication network 8 such as the Internet or a dedicated line. Here, thick arrows indicate data traffic, and thin arrows indicate control information and control instructions. The operation of the wireless communication system 100 will be described below.

[0028] First, the wireless base station 2 receives location information, wireless quality data, and a requested service level of the terminal application from the terminal 4. Next, the wireless base station 2 transmits the received terminal location information, wireless quality data, and requested service level to the management server 1. The management server 1 instructs the wireless base station 2 on the layer to be applied based on at least the terminal location information and requested service level. The wireless base station 2 transmits the applied layer instruction from the management server 1 to the terminal 4 and provides the requested service level. Here, the applied layer may be changed taking into account the current communication network status as wireless quality data, such as communication speed, throughput, and received signal strength.

[0029] As shown in FIG. 8, the management server 1 includes a level setting unit 11, a layer determining unit 12, a level determining unit 13, and a service control unit 14.

[0030] The service level setting unit 11 sets layers, for example, layers α, β, and γ in FIG. 3, which divide the coverage area of ​​the wireless communication network into at least two or more areas, and sets the service level that can be provided to the terminals 4 and 5 for each of the layers α, β, and γ. Layer α indicates a local 5G high-quality network with a high service level. Layer β indicates a local 5G medium-quality network with a medium service level. Layer γ indicates a local 5G low-quality network with a low service level. For example, the service level setting unit 11 may set the service levels of the layers α, β, and γ according to the required service level of the local 5G network, such as high-speed, large-capacity wireless communication, ultra-low latency wireless communication, and wireless communication with multiple simultaneous connections. In FIG. 3, the service levels are divided into three levels, but any number of levels may be used. The service level setting unit 11 may also be configured to expand or reduce the layers based on the determination result by the level determination unit 13. For example, if there are an increasing number of terminals 4, 5, etc. within a local 5G area that require low service levels for simultaneous multiple connections, the wireless communication network may be optimized by reducing layers α and β and expanding layer γ.

[0031] The layer determination unit 12 determines the layer to which the terminals 4 and 5 belong based on the acquired location information of the terminals 4 and 5. The layer determination unit 12 may also determine whether a required service level is satisfied based on wireless quality data of the wireless communication network.

[0032] The level determination unit 13 determines whether or not the requested service level requested by the acquired terminal 4, 5 is satisfied based on the service level set for the layer to which the terminal 4, 5 belongs, as determined by the layer determination unit 12.

[0033] When the level determination unit 13 determines that the requested service level is met, the service control unit 14 provides the requested service level to the terminal 4, 5, and when the level determination unit 13 determines that the requested service level is not met, the service control unit 14 controls so as not to provide the requested service level to the terminal 4, 5.

[0034] The management server 1 described above shows a characteristic configuration of the present invention, and also controls the overall management of the network, but since this is similar to a known configuration, a description thereof will be omitted.

[0035] As shown in Fig. 9, the management method by the management server 1 includes a service level setting step 101, a layer determination step 102, a level determination step 103, and a service control step 104. The service level setting step 101, the layer determination step 102, the level determination step 103, and the service control step 104 are realized by software in place of the hardware shown in Fig. 8. Each processing step will be described below according to the processing flow shown in Fig. 9.

[0036] In the service level setting step 101, layers, for example layers α, β, and γ, are set by dividing the coverage area of ​​the local 5G area 3 of the local 5G network into at least two or more areas, and a service level that can be provided to the terminals 4 and 5 is set for each of the set layers α, β, and γ. The provided service level is set as a high service level, a medium service level, a low service level, or the like, as described above.

[0037] In the layer determination step 102, the layer to which the terminal 4, 5 belongs is determined based on the location information of the terminal 4, 5 that has issued the connection request.

[0038] The level determination step 103 determines whether the requested service level requested by the acquired terminal 4 or 5 is satisfied based on the service level set for the layer to which the terminal 4 or 5 belongs, for example, layers α, β, and γ, as determined in the layer determination step 102.

[0039] In the service control step 104, when it is determined in the level determination step 102 that the requested service level is satisfied, the requested service level is provided to the terminal 4, 5, and when it is determined in the level determination step 103 that the requested service level is not satisfied, the requested service level is not provided to the terminal 4, 5.

[0040] 10 shows the configuration of a wireless communication system 100a in which the management server 1 of FIG. 8 is built into a wireless base station 2a. The management server 1 built into the wireless base station 2a performs the same operations as described above. That is, the management server 1 receives location information, wireless quality data, and a requested service level of an application of the terminal 4 from the terminal 4. The management server 1 determines the layer to be applied from at least the location information and requested service level of the terminal 4, transmits an instruction for the determined applied layer to the terminal 4, and provides the requested service level. The other configuration is the same as that of FIG. 7, so a description thereof will be omitted.

[0041] <Example of use in which the effects of the invention are most effectively utilized> The intended user of the present invention is a business operator that provides a remote control service for robots. Remote control requires low-latency communication and high-quality video. With the present invention, it is possible to provide optimal services even when multiple terminals are present within the same network. For example, as shown in FIG. 11 , even if a terminal 7 requesting a service level of layer β moves into the area, if the management server 1 determines that the network is congested, the applicable layer is set to layer γ, thereby optimizing the system as a whole.

[0042] In the above embodiment, area management of a local 5G network has been described as a wireless communication network, but this is not limited thereto. The present invention can also be applied to wireless communication networks such as cellular and Wi-Fi (registered trademark). The present invention may also be applied by extending it to a wireless communication network that combines a local 5G network, a public 5G network, and other networks. In the above embodiment, the wireless base station 2 has been described as a local 5G base station, but this is not limited thereto. For example, the present invention can also be applied to wireless access points such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark).

[0043] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Management server 2, 2a Wireless base station 3 Local 5G area 4, 5, 7 Terminal 6 Area map 8 Communication network 9 Communication partner 11 Service level setting unit 12 Layer determination unit 13 Level determination unit 14 Service control unit 100, 100a Wireless communication system 101 Service level setting step 102 Layer determination step 103 Level determination step 104 Service control step α, β, γ Layer

Claims

1. A wireless communication system having a wireless base station, a plurality of terminals that perform wireless communication with the wireless base station, and a management server that manages the wireless communication network formed between the wireless base station and the terminals, wherein the management server comprises: a service level setting means that sets layers by dividing the coverage area of ​​the wireless communication network into at least two or more areas and sets a service level that can be provided to the terminals for each layer; a layer determination means that determines the layer to which the terminal belongs based on acquired location information of the terminal; a level determination means that determines whether or not a requested service level requested by the acquired terminal is satisfied based on the service level set for the layer to which the terminal belongs as determined by the layer determination means; and a service control means that, when it is determined by the level determination means that the requested service level is satisfied, provides the requested service level to the terminal, and, when it is determined by the level determination means that the requested service level is not satisfied, controls not to provide the requested service level to the terminal.

2. The wireless communication system according to claim 1, wherein said wireless base station has said management server built-in.

3. A wireless communication system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said level determining means determines whether said requested service level is met based on wireless quality data of said wireless communication network.

4. A wireless communication system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said service level setting means expands or reduces said layer based on the result of determination by said level determination means.

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