Master station device

Abstract

A wireless repeater system comprises a master station device according to one embodiment of the present invention. The master station device establishes point-to-point communication with a plurality of slave station devices via a relay station. The master station device includes: a setting unit for setting a slave station device ID for identifying any one of the plurality of slave station devices; a control unit for transmitting a communication request signal to the slave station device identified with the slave station device ID set by the setting unit, and permitting communication therewith; and a communication unit for communicating, in accordance with the control by the control unit, with the slave station device identified with the slave station device ID set by the setting unit.

Description

Master station device

[0001] The present invention relates to a master station device that communicates point-to-point with a plurality of slave station devices via a relay station.

[0002] For example, some satellite communication systems use point-to-multipoint (P-MP) wireless communications between a base station and multiple terminal stations via a satellite. Conventionally, however, in order for multiple slave station devices to communicate with multiple master station devices via point-to-point wireless communications, the same number of master station devices as the slave station devices was required, resulting in redundant equipment configurations. In such cases, the same number of master station devices as the slave station devices may be installed within the same base station.

[0003] In order to eliminate the redundant configuration of the master station device, it is conceivable to provide the master station device itself with an aggregation function that enables communication with a plurality of slave station devices (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1).

[0004] Junichi Abe and four others, "Development of Satellite Communication Terminal Station for Disaster Prevention," 2024 Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers General Conference, B-3-25 (2024)

[0005] However, providing a master station with an aggregation function that enables communication with multiple slave station devices increases the circuit size of the master station itself, leading to increased costs.Furthermore, due to constraints on device design and implementation, it may be difficult to add functionality to the master station itself.

[0006] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a master station device that can perform point-to-point communication with multiple slave station devices via a relay station, using a smaller number of devices than multiple slave station devices.

[0007] A master station device according to one embodiment of the present invention is a master station device that communicates point-to-point with a plurality of slave station devices via a relay station, and is characterized by having: a setting unit that sets a slave station device ID that identifies one of the plurality of slave station devices; a control unit that transmits a communication request signal to the slave station device identified by the slave station device ID set by the setting unit and grants communication permission; and a communication unit that communicates with the slave station device identified by the slave station device ID set by the setting unit in accordance with control by the control unit.

[0008] According to the present invention, point-to-point communication can be performed with a plurality of slave station devices via a relay station using a number of devices that is less than the number of slave station devices.

[0009] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a wireless relay system including a master station device according to an embodiment; FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating functions possessed by a master station device according to an embodiment; FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating functions possessed by a modified example of a master station device, and a flowchart showing an example of operation of a wireless relay system; FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating information stored in a database; FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of operation of a master station device; FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of a master station device; FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a wireless relay system of a comparative example; and FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating another configuration of a wireless relay system.

[0010] Before describing a wireless relay system including a master station device according to an embodiment, the background to the invention will be described. Fig. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a wireless relay system 1 as a comparative example.

[0011] As shown in FIG. 8, in a wireless relay system 1, a base station 2 performs point-to-multipoint (P-MP) wireless communication with a plurality of slave station devices 4-1 to 4-N via a satellite 3 that serves as a relay station.

[0012] Specifically, the base station 2 is assigned a base station ID (parent station device ID) of 001, which indicates the base station itself. The child station devices 4-1 to 4-N are assigned terminal station IDs (child station device IDs) of 101 to 10N, respectively.

[0013] The slave station devices 4-1 to 4-N are preset with the master station device ID of the base station 2 with which they communicate. Each of the slave station devices 4-1 to 4-N has a function of starting communication when it receives a communication request addressed to its own slave station device ID from the base station 2 with the master station device ID that has been set.

[0014] The base station 2 manages the slave station equipment IDs of the preset slave station equipment 4-1 to 4-N and has the function of individually requesting communication from each of the slave station equipment 4-1 to 4-N. The base station 2 also has the function of aggregating simultaneous communications with the slave station equipment 4-1 to 4-N, and performs point-to-multipoint (P-MP) communications with multiple slave station equipment such as the slave station equipment 4-1 to 4-N.

[0015] 9 is a diagram illustrating another configuration of a wireless relay system (wireless relay system 1a). The wireless relay system 1a does not include the base station 2 shown in FIG. 8, and has the same number of master station devices 200-1 to 200-N as the slave station devices 4-1 to 4-N.

[0016] Here, it is assumed that the slave station devices 4-1 to 4-N and the master station devices 200-1 to 200-N are all devices of the same configuration that can switch between a master station mode in which they function as master station devices and a slave station mode in which they function as slave station devices.

[0017] The master station equipments 200-1 to 200-N are set with master station equipment IDs of 201 to 20N and operate in master station mode. The slave station equipments 4-1 to 4-N are set with slave station equipment IDs of 101 to 10N and operate in slave station mode.

[0018] The master station devices 200-1 to 200-N operating in master station mode manage the slave station device IDs of the preset slave station devices 4-1 to 4-N and have the function of making individual communication requests to each of the slave station devices 4-1 to 4-N. In this case, each master station device 200-1 to 200-N can communicate with one of the associated slave station devices 4-1 to 4-N, but cannot communicate with multiple slave station devices simultaneously. Furthermore, the slave station devices 4-1 to 4-N cannot communicate with any of the other slave station devices 4-1 to 4-N.

[0019] In other words, each of the master station devices 200-1 to 200-N has the function of controlling communication with only one of the associated slave station devices 4-1 to 4-N, but does not have an aggregation function. Therefore, the master station device 200-1 performs point-to-point (PP) communication with the slave station device 4-1, the master station device 200-2 performs point-to-point (PP) communication with the slave station device 4-2, and the master station device 200-N performs point-to-point (PP) communication with the slave station device 4-N, respectively, via the base station 2 (terminal-to-terminal direct communication).

[0020] The communication speed between the master station devices 200-1 to 200-N and the slave station devices 4-1 to 4-N is approximately 100 kbps in both the up and down directions (equivalent to one voice line in G.711).The wireless relay system 1a configures a direct line (hotline / transceiver) that connects the master station devices 200-1 to 200-N and the slave station devices 4-1 to 4-N solely with a predetermined specific communication partner.

[0021] In addition, as shown by the dashed line in Figure 8, the wireless relay system 1a may be configured such that the master station devices 200-1 to 200-N are installed at one master station base (headquarters) and the slave station devices 4-1 to 4-N are installed at respective slave station bases (branch offices).

[0022] In this case, since the master station equipment 200-1 to 200-N and the slave station equipment 4-1 to 4-N do not always communicate with each other, if the same number of master station equipment 200-1 to 200-N as the slave station equipment 4-1 to 4-N at all branch bases is installed at the master station base, the equipment configuration will be redundant and the equipment cost of the master station equipment will increase.

[0023] Furthermore, if the master station devices 200-1 to 200-N are integrated into a single master station device, the circuit scale of the master station device will increase, and the cost of the device will also increase. Furthermore, it may be difficult to integrate the master station devices 200-1 to 200-N into a single master station device due to device design / implementation constraints.

[0024] Next, a wireless relay system 10 including a master station device 20 according to an embodiment will be described. Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the wireless relay system 10 including the master station device 20 according to an embodiment. In the wireless relay system 10, for example, the master station device 20 performs point-to-point communication with slave station devices 4-1 to 4-N via a satellite 3 that serves as a relay station.

[0025] For example, the slave station equipment 4-1 to 4-N are set with slave station equipment IDs 101 to 10N, respectively. The master station equipment 20 is set with a master station equipment ID (201) as the communication partner of the slave station equipment 4-1 to 4-N.

[0026] When the slave station equipment 4-1 is set as the corresponding slave station equipment, the master station equipment 20 sets the corresponding slave station equipment ID to 101 and performs PP communication with the slave station equipment 4-1.

[0027] Furthermore, when communicating with the slave station equipment 4-2, the master station equipment 20 changes the corresponding slave station equipment ID to 102. Thereafter, the master station equipment 20 ends communication with the slave station equipment 4-1 and performs P-P communication with the slave station equipment 4-2.

[0028] Similarly, when the master station equipment 20 communicates with the slave station equipment 4-N, it changes the corresponding slave station equipment ID to 10N. Thereafter, the master station equipment 20 performs P-P communication with the slave station equipment 4-N.

[0029] 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating functions of the master station device 20 according to one embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the master station device 20 includes, for example, a communication device 21 and a communication processing unit 22. It is assumed that the master station device 20 and the slave station devices 4-1 to 4-N are all devices with the same configuration that are switchable between a master station mode in which they function as master station devices and a slave station mode in which they function as slave station devices.

[0030] The communication device 21 transmits a signal to the satellite 3 via the communication processing unit 22 and communicates with one of the slave station devices 4-1 to 4-N.

[0031] The communication processing unit 22 includes, for example, a database 220 , a transmission / reception circuit 221 , a communication unit 222 , a setting unit 223 , and a control unit 224 .

[0032] The database 220 holds, for example, information associating a master station device ID with each slave station device ID (see FIG. 5, which will be described later).

[0033] The transmission / reception circuit 221 transmits and receives signals to and from any of the associated slave station devices 4-1 to 4-N via the satellite 3.

[0034] The communication unit 222 performs communication between the communication device 21 and the transmission / reception circuit 221 .

[0035] The setting unit 223 sets, in the control unit 224, a slave station equipment ID that identifies one of the slave station equipment 4-1 to 4-N with which the master station equipment 20 is to communicate. Note that the setting unit 223 is not limited to being provided within the master station equipment 20, and may be configured by a setting tool such as an external maintenance console.

[0036] The control unit 224 controls each unit constituting the master station equipment 20. For example, the control unit 224 controls the master station equipment 20 to enter master station mode so as to transmit a communication request signal to one of the slave station equipment 4-1 to 4-N identified by the slave station equipment ID set by the setting unit 223 and permit communication. For example, the control unit 224 outputs a communication request signal to the transmission / reception circuit 221. The control unit 224 also permits the communication unit 222 to communicate with one of the slave station equipment 4-1 to 4-N identified by the slave station equipment ID.

[0037] For example, if the slave station equipment ID set by the setting unit 223 is different from the slave station equipment ID of one of the slave station equipment 4-1 to 4-N with which the communication unit 222 is communicating, the control unit 224 stops the communication of one of the slave station equipment 4-1 to 4-N with which the communication unit 222 is communicating, and transmits a communication request signal to one of the slave station equipment 4-1 to 4-N identified by the slave station equipment ID set by the setting unit 223, and grants communication permission.

[0038] That is, the communication unit 222 communicates with the slave station equipment identified by the slave station equipment ID set by the setting unit 223, under the control of the control unit 224. Furthermore, the transmission / reception circuit 221 superimposes, for example, a communication request signal generated by the control unit 224 on a communication signal output by the communication unit 222, and transmits and receives signals to and from any of the slave station equipment 4-1 to 4-N associated by the slave station equipment ID.

[0039] Next, a description will be given of an example of operation of the wireless relay system 10. Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of operation of the wireless relay system 10. In the process of S100, the master station device 20 transmits a communication request signal to one of the slave station devices 4-1 to 4-N identified by the set slave station device ID.

[0040] In the process of S102, the parent station device 20 determines whether or not to change the child station device ID of the communication partner, and if not (S102: No), repeats the process of S102, and if it is to be changed (S102: Yes), proceeds to the process of S104.

[0041] In the process of S104, the master station equipment 20 performs setting to change the slave station equipment ID so as to specify the slave station equipment with which it will communicate.

[0042] In the processing of S106, the master station device 20 stops the communication request signal to one of the slave station devices 4-1 to 4-N identified by the slave station device ID before the setting change, and sends a communication request signal to one of the slave station devices 4-1 to 4-N identified by the slave station device ID after the setting change (switching).

[0043] Next, a configuration example of a modified example (parent station device 20a) of the parent station device 20 will be described. Fig. 4 is a functional block diagram illustrating the functions of the modified example (parent station device 20a) of the parent station device 20. In Fig. 4, components that are substantially the same as those shown in Fig. 2 are assigned the same reference numerals.

[0044] 4, the master station device 20a includes, for example, a communication device 21 and a communication processing unit 22a. It is assumed that the master station device 20a and the slave station devices 4-1 to 4-N are all devices with the same configuration that can switch between a master station mode operation in which they function as master station devices and a slave station mode operation in which they function as slave station devices.

[0045] The communication processing unit 22 a includes, for example, a database 220 , a transmission / reception circuit 221 , a communication unit 222 , a setting unit 223 , a control unit 224 a , and a NW tap (detection unit) 225 .

[0046] Here, the database 220 further stores information that associates the slave station equipment ID with the slave station equipment address for each slave station equipment, as shown in Fig. 5. In other words, the communication processing unit 22 stores correspondence information that indicates the correspondence between the slave station equipment ID of each of the slave station equipment 4-1 to 4-N and the address of each of the slave station equipment 4-1 to 4-N.

[0047] In addition to the functions of the control unit 224 described above, if the slave station equipment ID set by the setting unit 223 differs from the slave station equipment ID of any of the slave station equipment 4-1 to 4-N with which the communication unit 222 is communicating, the control unit 224a stops communication of any of the slave station equipment 4-1 to 4-N with which the communication unit 222 is communicating, based on the correspondence information stored in the database 220, and transmits a communication request signal to any of the slave station equipment 4-1 to 4-N identified by the slave station equipment ID set by the setting unit 223, and grants communication permission.

[0048] The NW tap 225 is a detection unit that, when the master station device 20a is set to a master station mode in which it functions as a master station device, detects (monitors) the address of one of the slave station devices 4-1 to 4-N, which is the destination, contained in the transmission signal output by the communication unit 222, without affecting the transmission signal.The NW tap 225 then outputs the detected address to the control unit 224a (and the setting unit 223).

[0049] In this case, if the address of any of the slave station devices 4-1 to 4-N detected by the NW tap 225 differs from the address of any of the slave station devices 4-1 to 4-N with which the communication unit 222 is communicating, the control unit 224a stops the communication of any of the slave station devices 4-1 to 4-N with which the communication processing unit 222 is communicating, and transmits a communication request signal to any of the slave station devices 4-1 to 4-N identified by the address of any of the slave station devices 4-1 to 4-N detected by the NW tap 225, and grants communication permission.

[0050] At this time, the setting unit 223 may set the slave station equipment ID based on the address of any one of the slave station equipments 4-1 to 4-N.

[0051] The address of the slave station device referenced by the control unit 224a is preferably detected from a signal that triggers the start of communication. For example, the NW tap 225 detects the destination (dst) IP address of a signal (INVITE in the case of VoIP) at the start of communication.

[0052] Next, an example of the operation of the master station device 20a will be described. Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the master station device 20a. In the process of S200, the master station device 20a sends a communication request signal to one of the slave station devices 4-1 to 4-N identified by the set slave station device ID.

[0053] In the process of S202, the parent station device 20a determines whether the address of the child station device in the transmission signal at the time of communication initiation has been changed to another address stored in the database 220, and if it has not been changed (S202: No), it repeats the process of S202, and if it has been changed (S202: Yes), it proceeds to the process of S204.

[0054] In the processing of S204, the parent station device 20a performs a setting to autonomously change the child station device ID that identifies the child station device with which communication is to be performed to the child station device ID corresponding to the address detected by the NW tap 225 by checking the database 220.

[0055] In the processing of S206, the master station device 20a stops the communication request signal to one of the slave station devices 4-1 to 4-N identified by the slave station device ID before the setting change, and sends a communication request signal to one of the slave station devices 4-1 to 4-N identified by the slave station device ID after the setting change (switching).

[0056] Although the above description has been given using an example in which there is one master station device 20 or master station device 20a, there may be multiple master station devices 20 or master station devices 20a. In this case, the number of master station devices 20 or master station devices 20a is less than the number of slave station devices 4-1 to 4-N.

[0057] In this way, the master station device 20 (master station device 20a) transmits a communication request signal and grants communication to one of the slave station devices 4-1 to 4-N identified by the slave station device ID set by a setting unit that sets the slave station device ID that identifies one of the slave station devices 4-1 to 4-N. Therefore, point-to-point communication with multiple slave station devices can be performed via a relay station with fewer slave station devices than multiple slave station devices.

[0058] The functions of the parent station device 20, the parent station device 20a, and the child station devices 4-1 to 4-N may be partially or entirely configured by hardware such as a programmable logic device (PLD) or a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or may be configured as a program executed by a processor such as a CPU.

[0059] For example, the master station device 20, the master station device 20a, and the slave station devices 4-1 to 4-N can each be realized using a computer and a program, and the program can be recorded on a storage medium or provided over a network.

[0060] 7 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the master station device 20a. As shown in Fig. 7, the master station device 20a has, for example, an input unit 50, an output unit 51, a communication unit 52, a CPU 53, a memory 54, and an HDD 55 connected via a bus 56, and functions as a computer. The master station device 20a is also capable of inputting and outputting data to and from a computer-readable storage medium 57.

[0061] The input unit 50 is, for example, a keyboard and a mouse. The output unit 51 is, for example, a display device such as a display that outputs images. The communication unit 52 is, for example, a wired or wireless network interface, and may have a function as an output unit that outputs data to the outside.

[0062] As described above, the CPU 53 controls each component of the parent station device 20a and performs predetermined processing, etc. The memory 54 and HDD 55 are storage units that store data, etc.

[0063] The storage medium 57 is capable of storing programs for executing the functions of the master station device 20a, etc. The architecture constituting the master station device 20a is not limited to the example shown in FIG.

[0064] The functions performed by the components described herein may be implemented in circuitry or processing circuitry, including general purpose processors, application specific processors, integrated circuits, ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits), a CPU (a Central Processing Unit), conventional circuits, and / or combinations thereof, programmed to perform the described functions.

[0065] A processor includes transistors and other circuits and is considered to be circuitry or processing circuitry. A processor may be a programmed processor that executes programs stored in memory.

[0066] In this specification, a circuitry, unit, or means is hardware that is programmed to realize or performs the described functions, which may be any hardware disclosed herein or any hardware known to be programmed to realize or perform the described functions.

[0067] If the hardware is a processor considered to be a type of circuitry, the circuitry, means, or unit is a combination of the hardware and software used to configure the hardware and / or processor.

[0068] 10...wireless relay system, 3...satellite, 4-1 to 4-N...slave station devices, 20, 20a...master station devices, 21...communication devices, 22, 22a...communication processing units, 50...input unit, 51...output unit, 52...communication unit, 53...CPU, 54...memory, 55...HDD, 56...bus, 57...storage medium, 220...database, 221...transmitting / receiving circuit, 222...communication unit, 223...setting unit, 224, 224a...control unit, 225...network tap (detection unit)

Claims

1. A master station device that communicates point-to-point with multiple slave station devices via a relay station, comprising: a setting unit that sets a slave station device ID that identifies one of the multiple slave station devices; a control unit that transmits a communication request signal to the slave station device identified by the slave station device ID set by the setting unit and grants communication; and a communication unit that communicates with the slave station device identified by the slave station device ID set by the setting unit in accordance with the control of the control unit.

2. The master station device according to claim 1, wherein, when the slave station device ID set by the setting unit differs from the slave station device ID of the slave station device with which the communication unit is communicating, the control unit stops communication with the slave station device with which the communication unit is communicating, and transmits a communication request signal to the slave station device identified by the slave station device ID set by the setting unit and grants communication permission.

3. A master station device according to claim 2, further comprising: a database that stores correspondence information indicating the correspondence between the slave station device ID of each of the plurality of slave station devices and the addresses of each of the plurality of slave station devices; and wherein, when the slave station device ID set by the setting unit differs from the slave station device ID of the slave station device with which the communication unit is communicating, the control unit stops communication with the slave station device with which the communication unit is communicating based on the correspondence information stored in the database, and transmits a communication request signal to the slave station device identified by the slave station device ID set by the setting unit, and grants communication permission.

4. The master station device according to claim 3, wherein each of the master station device and the slave station device is switchable between a master station mode in which they function as master station devices and a slave station mode in which they function as slave station devices, and has a detection unit that, when set to the master station mode in which they function as master station devices, detects the address of the slave station device that is the destination included in a transmission signal without affecting the transmission signal, and wherein, when the address of the slave station device with which the communication unit is communicating is different from the address of the slave station device detected by the detection unit, the control unit stops communication with the slave station device with which the communication unit is communicating, and transmits a communication request signal to the slave station device identified by the address of the slave station device detected by the detection unit, and grants communication permission.

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