Communication control device, communication control method, and recording medium

Abstract

In order to enable more efficient operation of communication resources, this communication control device: receives communication request information which is regarding communication request to a wireless communication base station from a wireless communication terminal which performs wireless communication; derives a trend of the communication request on the basis of a past record of the communication request information; determines, on the basis of the trend, a schedule regarding a cover area which is to be covered by an antenna beam of an antenna in the wireless communication base station; and outputs schedule information, which is regarding the schedule, to the wireless communication base station. The wireless communication base station controls the cover area of the antenna beam in accordance with the schedule information.

Description

Communication control device, communication control method, and recording medium

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a communication control device, a communication control method, and a recording medium.

[0002] Some wireless communication base stations can control the area in which they can transmit and receive wireless communication radio waves. The radio waves emitted from the base station antenna are called antenna beams. A base station can conduct wireless communication with wireless communication terminals located in the area covered by the antenna beam. By controlling the antenna beam, a base station can control the area in which it can transmit and receive wireless communication radio waves. Hereinafter, the area covered by the antenna beam may be referred to as the area covered by the antenna beam. The area covered by the antenna beam may also be referred to as the covered area of ​​the antenna beam, or simply as the covered area.

[0003] Furthermore, for example, Patent Document 1 describes a method for controlling an antenna beam in mobile radio communications.

[0004] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-022618

[0005] By narrowing the coverage area of ​​an antenna beam, a base station can increase the transmission capacity in that coverage area. However, when the coverage area is narrowed, there is a possibility that some wireless communication terminals are not included in the coverage area, or that some coverage areas do not have any wireless communication terminals within the coverage area. As a result, there is a possibility that communication resources cannot be used efficiently. The method described in Patent Document 1 does not take into consideration the possibility that some wireless communication terminals are not included in the coverage area, or that some coverage areas do not have any wireless communication terminals within the coverage area.

[0006] In view of the above-mentioned problems, an object of the present disclosure is to provide a communication control device, a communication control method, and a recording medium that enable more efficient management of communication resources.

[0007] In one aspect of the present disclosure, a communication control device includes a receiving means for receiving communication request information, which is information regarding a communication request from a wireless communication terminal performing wireless communication to a wireless communication base station; a derivation means for deriving a trend of the communication request based on a history of the past communication request information; a determination means for determining a schedule for a cover area, which is an area covered by an antenna beam of an antenna of the wireless communication base station, based on the trend; and an output means for outputting schedule information, which is information regarding the schedule, to the wireless communication base station, and the wireless communication base station controls the cover area of ​​the antenna beam in accordance with the schedule information.

[0008] In another aspect of the present disclosure, a communication control method receives communication request information, which is information regarding a communication request from a wireless communication terminal performing wireless communication to a wireless communication base station, derives a trend of the communication request based on a history of the past communication request information, determines a schedule for a cover area, which is an area covered by an antenna beam of an antenna of the wireless communication base station, based on the trend, outputs schedule information, which is information regarding the schedule, to the wireless communication base station, and the wireless communication base station controls the cover area of ​​the antenna beam in accordance with the schedule information.

[0009] In another aspect of the present disclosure, a communication control program recorded on a computer-readable recording medium causes a computer to realize a receiving function for receiving communication request information, which is information regarding a communication request from a wireless communication terminal performing wireless communication to a wireless communication base station; a derivation function for deriving a trend of the communication request based on a history of the past communication request information; a determination function for determining a schedule for a cover area, which is an area covered by an antenna beam of an antenna of the wireless communication base station, based on the trend; and an output function for outputting schedule information, which is information regarding the schedule, to the wireless communication base station, and the wireless communication base station controls the cover area of ​​the antenna beam in accordance with the schedule information.

[0010] According to the present disclosure, communication resources can be managed more efficiently.

[0011] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example configuration of a communication control device of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example operation flow of a communication control device of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example configuration of a system including a communication control device of the present disclosure. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example configuration of a system including a communication control device of the present disclosure. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example configuration of a system including a communication control device of the present disclosure. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example configuration of a communication control device of the present disclosure. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example schedule of coverage areas of antenna beams. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example operation flow of a wireless communication base station and a communication control device of the present disclosure. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example operation flow of a wireless communication base station and a communication control device of the present disclosure. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example hardware configuration of each embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0012] First Embodiment A first embodiment of the present disclosure will be described.

[0013] A specific example of the communication control device 10 in the first embodiment is a communication control device 20 in a second embodiment, which will be described later.

[0014] First, an example of the configuration of a communication control device 10 will be described with reference to Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the communication control device 10. The communication control device 10 includes a receiving unit 11, a derivation unit 12, a determination unit 13, and an output unit 14.

[0015] The receiving unit 11 receives communication request information, which is information relating to a communication request from a wireless communication terminal that performs wireless communication to a wireless communication base station.

[0016] The derivation unit 12 derives a tendency of communication requests based on a history of past communication request information.

[0017] The determining unit 13 determines a schedule for the coverage area of ​​the antenna beam of the antenna of the wireless communication base station based on the tendency of communication requests. The coverage area is an area covered by the antenna beam of the antenna.

[0018] The output unit 14 outputs the schedule information to the wireless communication base station. The schedule information is information relating to a schedule for the coverage area of ​​the antenna beam. The wireless communication base station controls the coverage area of ​​the antenna beam in accordance with the schedule information.

[0019] Next, a description will be given of an example of the operation flow of the communication control device 10. An example of the operation flow of the communication control device 10 is shown in FIG.

[0020] The receiving unit 11 receives communication request information (step S101).

[0021] The derivation unit 12 derives a tendency of communication requests based on the history of past communication request information (step S102).

[0022] The determination unit 13 determines a schedule for the coverage area of ​​the antenna beam of the antenna of the wireless communication base station based on the tendency of communication requests (step S103).

[0023] The output unit 14 outputs the schedule information to the wireless communication base station (step S104). The wireless communication base station controls the coverage area of ​​the antenna beam in accordance with the schedule information.

[0024] As described above, in the first embodiment of the present disclosure, the communication control device 10 includes a receiving unit 11, a derivation unit 12, a determination unit 13, and an output unit 14. The receiving unit 11 receives communication request information. The communication request information is information regarding a communication request from a wireless communication terminal performing wireless communication to a wireless communication base station. The derivation unit 12 derives a trend of communication requests based on a history of past communication request information. The determination unit 13 determines a schedule for a coverage area of ​​an antenna beam of an antenna of the wireless communication base station based on the trend of communication requests. The coverage area is an area covered by the antenna beam of the antenna. The output unit 14 outputs the schedule information to the wireless communication base station. The schedule information is information regarding a schedule for the coverage area of ​​the antenna beam. The wireless communication base station controls the coverage area of ​​the antenna beam in accordance with the schedule information.

[0025] This allows the communication control device 10 to determine a schedule for the coverage area of ​​the antenna beam according to the tendency of communication requests. As a result, the possibility that the antenna beam can cover an area where wireless communication terminals tend to be present is improved, making it possible to reduce the possibility of wireless communication terminals not being included in the coverage area or of a coverage area where no wireless communication terminals exist. This makes it possible to manage communication resources more efficiently.

[0026] Second Embodiment Next, a communication control device 20 according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure will be described. Note that the communication control device 20 according to the second embodiment is a specific example of the communication control device 10 according to the first embodiment.

[0027] First, FIG. 3 shows an example of the configuration of a system including the communication control device 20. As shown in FIG.

[0028] The communication control device 20 is connected to the wireless communication base station 40. The communication control device 20 and the wireless communication base station 40 are connected by wire or wirelessly.

[0029] The wireless communication base station 40 controls the antenna beam of the antenna 41. The wireless communication base station 40 also performs wireless communication with the wireless communication terminals 50-1 to 50-N via the antenna 41. Hereinafter, the wireless communication terminals 50-1 to 50-N may be referred to as the wireless communication terminal 50 without being distinguished from one another.

[0030] The wireless communication base station 40 controls the antenna beam of the antenna 41 to control the coverage area of ​​the antenna beam. The wireless communication base station 40 can perform wireless communication with the wireless communication terminal 50 located within the coverage area. Any method can be applied to control the antenna beam. For example, the antenna beam may be controlled by beamforming or by controlling a movable antenna.

[0031] The wireless communication base station 40 controls the coverage area of ​​the antenna beam in accordance with the schedule information. The schedule information is information relating to the schedule for the coverage area of ​​the antenna beam of the antenna 41 of the wireless communication base station 40.

[0032] The wireless communication base station 40 is a base station for wireless communication provided by a base station in mobile communication. The base station may be an access point. The wireless communication provided by the wireless communication base station 40 may be, for example, Long Term Evolution (LTE), Generation (5G), local 5G, satellite communication, wireless Local Area Network (LAN), or communication by High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS). The satellite communication may be provided by a geostationary satellite or an orbiting satellite.

[0033] If the wireless communication base station 40 is a base station for satellite communication, the wireless communication base station 40 is included in the satellite 61. Note that hereinafter, an artificial satellite will be simply referred to as a satellite.

[0034] The communication control device 20 outputs the schedule information to the wireless communication base station 40. The schedule information is information relating to a schedule for the coverage area of ​​the antenna beam of the antenna 41 of the wireless communication base station 40.

[0035] The communication control device 20 may be included in the satellite 61 or in the ground station 62. Fig. 4 shows an example of the configuration of a system including the communication control device 20 when the communication control device 20 is included in the ground station 62. Fig. 5 shows an example of the configuration of a system including the communication control device 20 when the communication control device 20 is included in the satellite 61.

[0036] The communication control device 20 can output schedule information for one or two or more wireless communication base stations 40. The two or more wireless communication base stations 40 may include wireless communication base stations 40 of different communication methods. For example, the two or more wireless communication base stations 40 may include a wireless communication base station for terrestrial mobile communication and a wireless communication base station for satellite communication.

[0037] Furthermore, the communication control device 20 may receive information from two or more wireless communication base stations 40 and output schedule information for each of the wireless communication base stations 40. Furthermore, the communication control device 20 may receive information about wireless communication base stations under the control of another communication control device from another communication control device. Then, the communication control device 20 may output schedule information for each of the wireless communication base stations 40 under its control based on information from the wireless communication base station 40 under its control and information from the wireless communication base station under the control of the other communication control device.

[0038] When the communication control device 20 is included in a satellite 61 and there are two or more satellites 61 (wireless communication base stations 40), the communication control device 20 may be included in each of the two or more satellites 61. Each communication control device 20 may output schedule information for the wireless communication base station 40 included in the satellite 61 in which it is included.

[0039] Furthermore, when two or more satellites 61 (wireless communication base stations 40) exist, the communication control device 20 may be included in any one of the two or more satellites 61 (parent satellite). The communication control device 20 may then receive information from a wireless communication base station 40 included in another satellite (child satellite), and output schedule information for the two or more wireless communication base stations 40 based on the received information.

[0040] Furthermore, the communication control device 20 may receive information from wireless communication base stations included in other satellites via the ground station 62 or via inter-satellite communication.

[0041] 6 shows an example of the configuration of the communication control device 20. The communication control device 20 includes a receiving unit 21, a deriving unit 22, a determining unit 23, and an output unit 24.

[0042] The receiving unit 21 receives communication request information. The communication request information is information relating to a communication request from a wireless communication terminal 50-i (i is an integer from 1 to N) to a wireless communication base station 40. The receiving unit 21 receives the communication request information, for example, from the wireless communication base station 40. The receiving unit 21 then stores the communication request information in a storage means (not shown) inside or outside the communication control device 20. The history of the communication request information stored in the storage means may hereinafter be referred to as history information.

[0043] The communication request information includes information about the time when the communication request occurred. The information about the time may be, for example, information indicating the time or information indicating the time period. The communication request information also includes identification information of the wireless communication terminal 50-i that made the communication request.

[0044] The communication request information also includes information about the location of the wireless communication terminal 50-i that made the communication request. The communication request information may also include information about the location of the wireless communication terminal 50-i while the wireless communication terminal 50-i and the wireless communication base station 40 are engaged in some kind of communication. For example, the information about the location of the wireless communication terminal 50-i may be used together with information about the time when the wireless communication terminal 50-i is located at that location to derive the tendency of communication requests. Other information included in the communication request information may also be used to derive the tendency of communication requests. The tendency of communication requests may also be derived by analyzing the behavioral characteristics of each of the wireless communication terminals 50-1 to 50-N.

[0045] The position of the wireless communication terminal 50-i may be measured by the wireless communication terminal 50-i, and information regarding the position of the wireless communication terminal 50-i may be transmitted from the wireless communication terminal 50-i to the communication control device 20. In this case, the wireless communication terminal 50-i may measure the position of the wireless communication terminal 50-i using, for example, a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS).

[0046] Furthermore, the information regarding the location of the wireless communication terminal 50-i may be, for example, information regarding the coverage area of ​​the antenna beam when the wireless communication base station 40 receives the radio waves from the wireless communication terminal 50-i. When the wireless communication base station 40 receives the radio waves from the wireless communication terminal 50-i, the information regarding the area covered by the antenna beam when the wireless communication base station 40 receives the radio waves from the wireless communication terminal 50-i indicates the approximate location of the wireless communication terminal 50-i.

[0047] Furthermore, the information regarding the location of the wireless communication terminal 50-i may be, for example, information based on radio waves from the wireless communication terminal 50-i received by two or more wireless communication base stations 40. For example, when radio waves from the wireless communication terminal 50-i are received by two or more wireless communication base stations 40, it is possible to estimate the location of the wireless communication terminal 50-i based on the reception level, phase, frequency, etc. of the radio waves received at each wireless communication base station 40. The information regarding the location of the wireless communication terminal 50-i may be, for example, information used to estimate the location of the wireless communication terminal 50-i, or may be the result of the location estimation.

[0048] For example, when the wireless communication base station 40 is included in the satellite 61, the information regarding the location of the wireless communication terminal 50-i may be information based on radio waves from the wireless communication terminal 50-i received by the wireless communication base station 40 at two or more locations. For example, the radio waves from the wireless communication terminal 50-i are received by the wireless communication base station 40 at two or more locations as the satellite 61 moves. As in the case where radio waves from the wireless communication terminal 50-i are received by two or more wireless communication base stations 40, the location of the wireless communication terminal 50-i can be estimated based on the reception level, phase, frequency, etc. of the radio waves received at each location.

[0049] The communication request information may also include information about the time when the response from the wireless communication terminal 50-i to the health check from the wireless communication base station 40 no longer reaches the wireless communication base station 40. This time information may be used, for example, to calculate the communication time. For example, the communication time may be the time from the time when the communication request was made to the time when the response from the wireless communication terminal 50-i to the health check no longer reaches the wireless communication base station 40.

[0050] The communication request information may also include information regarding the priority of the wireless communication terminal 50-i. The information regarding the priority of the wireless communication terminal 50-i may be transmitted from the wireless communication terminal 50-i. The priorities of the wireless communication terminals 50-1 to 50-N may be stored in advance in a storage means in association with the identification information of the wireless communication terminals 50-1 to 50-N.

[0051] The communication request information may also include information regarding the priority of data transmitted and received between the wireless communication terminal 50-i and the wireless communication base station 40.

[0052] The communication request information may also include information about the communication service or application used by the wireless communication terminal 50-i. The information about the communication service or application may be used, for example, as information about the priority of data. The information about the communication service or application may also be information about the type of data being exchanged (for example, video data, audio data, etc.).

[0053] The communication request information may also include information regarding the time when the wireless communication terminal 50-i was called. This time information may be used, for example, to calculate the communication time. For example, the communication time may be the time from the time when the wireless communication terminal 50-i was called to the time when the response from the wireless communication terminal 50-i to the health check no longer reaches the wireless communication base station 40.

[0054] The communication request information may also include information regarding the communication method used by the wireless communication terminal 50-i.

[0055] The communication request information may also include information regarding the type of the wireless communication terminal 50-i. The type of the wireless communication terminal 50-i may be, for example, whether it is a terminal carried by a person or a terminal mounted on a machine (for example, a vehicle, a ship, etc.). The information regarding the type of the wireless communication terminal 50-i may be transmitted from the wireless communication terminal 50-i. The information regarding the type of the wireless communication terminals 50-1 to 50-N may be stored in advance in a storage means in association with the identification information of the wireless communication terminals 50-1 to 50-N.

[0056] The communication request information may also include information regarding the communication volume of the wireless communication terminal 50-i. For example, the wireless communication base station 40 may measure the communication volume between the wireless communication terminal 50-i and the wireless communication base station 40, and the receiving unit 21 may receive information regarding the measured communication volume from the wireless communication base station 40.

[0057] The receiving unit 21 may delete communication request information that satisfies a predetermined condition from the communication request information stored in the storage means. For example, among the communication request information related to the wireless communication terminal 50-i, communication request information related to a communication request from an unusual location may be deleted from the history information. For example, if the wireless communication terminal 50-i that normally makes communication requests near area A makes a communication request from area B that is at least a predetermined distance away from area A, the wireless communication terminal 50-i is behaving unusually. Therefore, the receiving unit 21 may delete information related to the communication request of the wireless communication terminal 50-i from area B from the history information.

[0058] Furthermore, when information is shared among two or more communication control devices, the receiving unit 21 may pass communication request information to the other communication control devices and delete the communication request information passed to the other communication control devices from the storage means directly connected to the receiving unit 21. Then, the necessary communication request information may be received from the other communication control devices at the necessary timing and stored in the storage means directly connected to the receiving unit 21.

[0059] The derivation unit 22 derives the tendency of communication requests based on the history of past communication request information. Specifically, the derivation unit 22 may derive the tendency of communication requests by using a derivation model that derives the tendency of communication requests from the history of past communication request information.

[0060] The derived model may be generated by artificial intelligence, for example, machine learning. The derived model is generated at a predetermined timing, such as at predetermined intervals or when a command to generate a derived model is issued. The derived model is generated, for example, by a learning device external or internal to the communication control device 20.

[0061] The derivation unit 22 derives the trend of communication requests using the history information stored in the storage means at predetermined intervals, at predetermined timing such as when an instruction to derive a trend is given, etc. The trend of communication requests may be the trend of communication requests of each of the wireless communication terminals 50-1 to 50-N, or may be the trend of a group of some or all of the wireless communication terminals 50-1 to 50-N.

[0062] The derivation unit 22 derives time periods and areas where there is a certain tendency. For example, the derivation unit 22 may derive time periods and areas where communication requests tend to be made for each of the wireless communication terminals 50-1 to 50-N. Furthermore, the derivation unit 22 may derive time periods and areas where there tends to be a predetermined number or more of wireless communication terminals 50. Furthermore, the derivation unit 22 may derive time periods and areas where wireless communication terminals 50 that tend to have a higher communication volume per predetermined time than a predetermined volume tend to communicate. Note that the information about the time periods may include information such as the month and the day of the week.

[0063] Furthermore, the derivation unit 22 may exclude some wireless communication terminals from the targets for deriving the tendency, depending on the communication method used in the wireless communication terminal or the type of the wireless communication terminal.

[0064] The determination unit 23 determines a schedule for the coverage area of ​​the antenna beam of the antenna 41 of the wireless communication base station 40 based on the tendency derived by the derivation unit 22 .

[0065] An example of a schedule for the coverage area of ​​an antenna beam is shown in Figure 7. The example in Figure 7 is an example of a schedule when the antenna 41 is a multi-beam antenna, but the antenna 41 may have only one antenna beam. Note that a multi-beam antenna is an antenna that can radiate two or more antenna beams.

[0066] In the schedule shown in Figure 7, the area covered by the antenna beam changes at times t1 and t2. Two or more antenna beams may cover the same area in the same time period. Also, there may be a time period in which an area is not covered by any of the antenna beams.

[0067] For example, the determination unit 23 may determine a schedule based on a time period and an area in which communication requests tend to be made from at least one of the wireless communication terminals 50-1 to 50-N, so that the area becomes a coverage area during the time period. The determination unit 23 may determine a schedule so that the area becomes a coverage area during at least a portion of the time period.

[0068] Furthermore, the determination unit 23 may determine a schedule, for example, based on a time period and area in which there tends to be a predetermined number or more of wireless communication terminals, so that the area is given priority over other areas as a coverage area during that time period.

[0069] Furthermore, the determination unit 23 may determine the schedule based on a time period and an area in which a wireless communication terminal with a large amount of communication traffic tends to communicate, so that the area becomes a coverage area more frequently than other areas in the time period. Note that a wireless communication terminal with a large amount of communication traffic is a wireless communication terminal that tends to have a communication traffic volume per predetermined time period that is greater than a predetermined amount.

[0070] FIG. 8 shows another example of a schedule for the coverage areas of antenna beams. During a certain time period, the antenna 41 may cover areas A, B, and C in a time-division manner within the time period. For example, as shown in FIG. 8 , the determination unit 23 may determine a schedule such that area A becomes a coverage area more frequently than areas B and C. To increase the frequency with which a certain area becomes a coverage area, the determination unit 23 may increase the number of times that the area becomes a coverage area or may increase the time that the area becomes a coverage area. Furthermore, to increase the frequency with which a certain area becomes a coverage area, if the antenna 41 is a multi-beam antenna, the determination unit 23 may increase the number of antenna beams that cover the area.

[0071] In addition, the determination unit 23 may determine a schedule based on the time period and area in which wireless communication terminals that tend to have communication times longer than a predetermined time tend to communicate, so that the area becomes a covered area more frequently than other areas during that time period.

[0072] Furthermore, the determination unit 23 may determine a schedule based on the time period and area in which high-priority wireless communication terminals tend to communicate, so that the area is given priority over other areas as a coverage area during that time period.

[0073] Furthermore, the determination unit 23 may determine a schedule based on a time period and area in which high-priority data tends to be transmitted and received, so that the area is given priority over other areas as a coverage area during that time period.

[0074] The determination unit 23 may, for example, periodically determine the schedule for the coverage area of ​​the antenna beam of the antenna 41 of the wireless communication base station 40. Furthermore, the determination unit 23 may also determine the schedule for the coverage area of ​​the antenna beam of the antenna 41 of the wireless communication base station 40 when instructed to determine the schedule by the ground station 62 or the like.

[0075] Furthermore, the determination unit 23 may determine a schedule for the coverage area of ​​the antenna beam of the antenna 41 of the wireless communication base station 40, for example, when there is a difference between the tendency derived by the derivation unit 22 and the actual situation. By the determination unit 23 determining (rescheduling) the schedule when there is a difference between the derived tendency and the actual situation, the schedule can be updated to be more appropriate.

[0076] The determination unit 23 may determine the schedule, for example, when the wireless communication base station 40 receives a connection request from a new wireless communication terminal (a wireless communication terminal whose history information is not stored in the storage means). Furthermore, the determination unit 23 may determine the schedule, for example, when the wireless communication base station 40 receives a connection request from a wireless communication terminal that is a high-priority wireless communication terminal that does not normally communicate in the area covered by the antenna beam of the antenna 41. Furthermore, the determination unit 23 may determine the schedule when the number of wireless communication terminals in the area covered by the antenna beam of the antenna 41 is equal to or greater than a predetermined number (there is a possibility that congestion is occurring in the area).

[0077] When determining the schedule, the determination unit 23 may change the schedule determined based on the trend of communication requests in accordance with the actual situation. Furthermore, the determination unit 23 may determine the schedule based on a trend derived from history information updated in accordance with the actual situation. For example, when the wireless communication base station 40 receives a connection request from a wireless communication terminal that does not normally communicate in the area covered by the antenna beam of the antenna 41 and has a high priority, the determination unit 23 may determine the schedule so that the area in which the wireless communication terminal is located becomes a covered area with priority over other areas.

[0078] Furthermore, when the number of wireless communication terminals in an area covered by the antenna beam of the antenna 41 is equal to or greater than a predetermined number, the determination unit 23 may determine a schedule so that the area becomes a covered area more frequently. When the number of wireless communication terminals in an area covered by the antenna beam of the antenna 41 is equal to or greater than a predetermined number, this may be, for example, when congestion is likely occurring in the area. Furthermore, when a communication request is transmitted from the wireless communication terminal 50-i to the wireless communication base station 40 while the number of wireless communication terminals in the area covered by the antenna beam of the antenna 41 is equal to or greater than a predetermined number, the determination unit 23 may prompt the wireless communication terminal 50-i to connect to another wireless communication base station. Furthermore, in this case, the determination unit 23 may prompt the wireless communication terminal 50-i to connect to a wireless communication base station under another communication control device.

[0079] Furthermore, when the receiving unit 21 receives a request from another wireless communication system, the determining unit 23 may determine a schedule for the coverage area of ​​the antenna beam of the antenna 41 of the wireless communication base station 40. The other wireless communication system may be a system of a communication method different from that of the wireless communication base station 40, such as a terrestrial mobile communication system. The other wireless communication system may also be a system of the same communication method as that of the wireless communication base station 40 (satellite communication in this embodiment).

[0080] For example, when congestion occurs in another wireless communication system, the other wireless communication system may transmit a request to the communication control device 20 to direct a satellite communication antenna beam toward the area where congestion occurs. In such a case, the determination unit 23 may determine a schedule. At this time, the request from the other wireless communication system may include, for example, information about an area (e.g., a congested area) that is desired to be covered by the satellite communication antenna beam. Furthermore, the request from the other wireless communication system may include, for example, information about a time period during which the area is desired to be covered by the satellite communication antenna beam.

[0081] The determination unit 23 may determine the schedule in consideration of requests from other wireless communication systems. For example, the determination unit 23 may determine the schedule in response to the request so that the antenna beam of the antenna 41 covers a requested area in a requested time period.

[0082] As described above, the determination unit 23 determines a schedule for the coverage area of ​​the antenna beam of the antenna 41 of the wireless communication base station 40 based on the tendency derived by the derivation unit 22 .

[0083] Narrowing the coverage area of ​​the antenna beam can increase the transmission capacity in that coverage area. However, narrowing the coverage area can result in the occurrence of wireless communication terminals that are not within the coverage area or coverage areas where no wireless communication terminals exist. As a result, communication resources cannot be used efficiently. The communication control device 20 of this embodiment determines a schedule for the coverage area of ​​the antenna beam of the antenna 41 based on communication request trends. This reduces the possibility of the occurrence of wireless communication terminals that are not within the coverage area or coverage areas where no wireless communication terminals exist.

[0084] Note that the wireless communication base station 40 cannot receive a communication request from an area not covered by the antenna beam of the antenna 41. Therefore, if the coverage area of ​​the antenna beam is narrow, there is a possibility that a communication request that the wireless communication base station 40 cannot receive will occur.

[0085] In order to reduce the occurrence of communication requests that the wireless communication base station 40 cannot receive, the antenna 41 of the wireless communication base station 40 may be capable of emitting a wide-area antenna beam and a narrow-area antenna beam. In this case, the communication request may be received by the wide-area antenna beam of the wireless communication base station 40. Furthermore, the schedule determined by the communication control device 20 may be a schedule for the coverage area of ​​the narrow-area antenna beam of the wireless communication base station 40. In this case, the wireless communication base station 40 controls the narrow-band antenna beam in accordance with the schedule information.

[0086] A wide-area antenna beam covers a wider area than a narrow-area antenna beam. For example, a wide-area antenna beam may cover the entire area that can be covered by a narrow-area antenna beam, or may cover a part of the area that can be covered by a narrow-area antenna beam. Note that, because a wide-area antenna beam is an antenna beam for receiving communication requests, the transmission capacity of the wide-area antenna beam may be small.

[0087] In this way, by using a wide-area antenna beam, it is possible to further reduce the number of wireless communication terminals 50 that cannot communicate.

[0088] The output unit 24 outputs the schedule information to the wireless communication base station 40. The schedule information is information relating to a schedule for the coverage area of ​​the antenna beam of the antenna 41 of the wireless communication base station 40.

[0089] The schedule information includes, for example, information regarding the time at which the coverage area of ​​the antenna beam is changed. The schedule information also includes information regarding the area covered by the antenna beam. The information regarding the area covered by the antenna beam may include, for example, area identification information indicating the area. In this case, the information regarding the area indicated by the area identification information may be stored in advance in a storage means inside or outside the wireless communication base station 40. The information regarding the area covered by the antenna beam may include information regarding the latitude and longitude of the area. The information regarding the area covered by the antenna beam may also include information regarding the width of the antenna beam. The wireless communication base station 40 may control the direction of the antenna beam of the antenna 41, or may control the direction and width, according to the schedule information.

[0090] Next, an example of the operation flow of the wireless communication base station 40 and the communication control device 20 of this embodiment will be described. Examples of the wireless communication base station 40 and the communication control device 20 are shown in Fig. 9 and Fig. 10.

[0091] When the wireless communication base station 40 receives a communication request from the wireless communication terminal 50 (step S201 in FIG. 9), the wireless communication base station 40 transmits communication request information to the communication control device 20 (step S202). Furthermore, the wireless communication base station 40 may transmit communication request information including information related to wireless communication while wireless communication is being performed with the wireless communication terminal 50 or when wireless communication with the wireless communication terminal 50 has ended.

[0092] When the communication control device 20 receives the communication request information, it stores the communication request information in the storage means (step S203).

[0093] The communication control device 20 also derives a trend of communication requests based on the history information at a predetermined timing (step S204). The communication control device 20 also determines a schedule for the antenna beam of the antenna 41 at a predetermined timing based on the derived trend (step S205). Note that the timing for deriving the trend and the timing for determining the schedule may be the same or different. The communication control device 20 then transmits the schedule information to the wireless communication base station 40 (step S206).

[0094] The wireless communication base station 40 controls the antenna beam of the antenna 41 in accordance with the schedule information (step S207).

[0095] As described above, in the second embodiment of the present disclosure, the communication control device 20 includes a receiving unit 21, a derivation unit 22, a determination unit 23, and an output unit 24. The receiving unit 21 receives communication request information. The communication request information is information regarding a communication request from a wireless communication terminal performing wireless communication to a wireless communication base station. The derivation unit 22 derives a trend of communication requests based on a history of past communication request information. The determination unit 23 determines a schedule for a coverage area of ​​an antenna beam of an antenna of the wireless communication base station based on the trend of communication requests. The coverage area is an area covered by the antenna beam of the antenna. The output unit 24 outputs the schedule information to the wireless communication base station. The schedule information is information regarding a schedule for a coverage area of ​​the antenna beam. The wireless communication base station controls the coverage area of ​​the antenna beam in accordance with the schedule information.

[0096] This allows the communication control device 20 to determine a schedule for the coverage area of ​​the antenna beam according to the tendency of communication requests. As a result, the possibility that the antenna beam can cover an area where wireless communication terminals tend to be present is improved, making it possible to reduce the possibility of wireless communication terminals not being included in the coverage area or of a coverage area where no wireless communication terminals exist. This makes it possible to manage communication resources more efficiently.

[0097] Furthermore, the communication request may be received by a wide-area antenna beam of the wireless communication base station. Furthermore, the determined schedule may be a schedule for a coverage area of ​​a narrow-area antenna beam of the wireless communication base station. Furthermore, the wireless communication base station may control a narrow-band antenna beam in accordance with the schedule information. This makes it possible to further reduce wireless communication terminals that cannot communicate.

[0098] [Hardware Configuration Example] An example of the configuration of hardware resources for implementing the communication control device (10, 20) in each of the above-described embodiments of the present disclosure using one information processing device (computer) will be described. Note that the communication control device may be physically or functionally implemented using at least two information processing devices. Also, the communication control device may be implemented as a dedicated device. Also, only some of the functions of the communication control device may be implemented using an information processing device.

[0099] 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of an information processing device 90 that can realize the communication control device according to each embodiment of the present disclosure. The information processing device 90 includes a communication interface 91, an input / output interface 92, a computing device 93, a storage device 94, a nonvolatile storage device 95, and a drive device 96.

[0100] 1 can be realized by a communication interface 91 and a computing device 93. Also, the derivation unit 12 and the determination unit 13 can be realized by the computing device 93.

[0101] The communication interface 91 is a communication means for the communication control device of each embodiment to communicate with an external device via a wired or / and wireless connection. When the communication control device is realized using at least two information processing devices, the devices may be connected to each other via the communication interface 91 so as to be able to communicate with each other.

[0102] The input / output interface 92 is a man-machine interface including a keyboard as an example of an input device and a display as an output device.

[0103] The arithmetic unit 93 is realized by a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, or other arithmetic processing device, and a plurality of electric circuits. The arithmetic unit 93 is capable of, for example, reading various programs stored in a nonvolatile storage device 95 into the storage device 94 and executing processing in accordance with the read programs.

[0104] The storage device 94 is a memory device such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) that can be accessed by the arithmetic device 93, and stores programs, various data, etc. The storage device 94 may be a volatile memory device.

[0105] The nonvolatile storage device 95 is a nonvolatile storage device such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) or a flash memory, and is capable of storing various programs, data, and the like.

[0106] The drive device 96 is, for example, a device that processes reading and writing of data from and to a recording medium 97, which will be described later.

[0107] The recording medium 97 is any recording medium capable of recording data, such as an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, or a semiconductor flash memory.

[0108] Each embodiment of the present disclosure may be realized, for example, by configuring a communication control device using an information processing device 90 illustrated in FIG. 11 and supplying a program capable of realizing the functions described in each of the above embodiments to this communication control device.

[0109] In this case, the embodiment can be realized by having the arithmetic unit 93 execute a program supplied to the communication control device. Also, it is possible to configure some, but not all, of the functions of the communication control device in the information processing unit 90.

[0110] Furthermore, the communication control device may be configured so that the program is recorded on a recording medium 97 and is stored in the nonvolatile storage device 95 as appropriate when the communication control device is shipped or when it is in operation. In this case, the program may be supplied by installing it in the communication control device using an appropriate tool during the manufacturing stage before shipping or during operation. The program may also be supplied by a general procedure such as downloading it from an external source via a communication line such as the Internet.

[0111] Some or all of the above-described embodiments can be described as, but are not limited to, the following supplementary notes.

[0112] (Supplementary Note 1) A communication control device comprising: a receiving means for receiving communication request information, which is information relating to a communication request from a wireless communication terminal that performs wireless communication to a wireless communication base station; a derivation means for deriving a tendency of the communication request based on a history of the past communication request information; a determination means for determining a schedule for a cover area, which is an area covered by an antenna beam of an antenna of the wireless communication base station, based on the tendency; and an output means for outputting schedule information, which is information relating to the schedule, to the wireless communication base station; and the wireless communication base station controls the cover area of ​​the antenna beam in accordance with the schedule information.

[0113] (Supplementary Note 2) The communication control device according to Supplementary Note 1, wherein the communication request is received by a wide-area antenna beam of the wireless communication base station, the schedule is a schedule for a coverage area of ​​a narrow-area antenna beam of the wireless communication base station, and the wireless communication base station controls a narrow-band antenna beam in accordance with the schedule information.

[0114] (Supplementary Note 3) The communication control device according to Supplementary Note 1 or Supplementary Note 2, wherein the derivation means derives the tendency of the communication requests using a derivation model that derives the tendency of the communication requests from a history of the communication request information, and the derivation model is generated by machine learning.

[0115] (Supplementary Note 4) The communication control device according to any one of Supplementary Note 1 to Supplementary Note 3, wherein the communication request information includes information relating to a location of the wireless communication terminal that has made the communication request.

[0116] (Supplementary Note 5) The communication control device according to Supplementary Note 4, wherein the communication request information includes information relating to a time when the communication request occurred.

[0117] (Supplementary Note 6) The communication control device according to Supplementary Note 5, wherein the deriving means derives a time period and an area in which the communication request tends to be made from the wireless communication terminal.

[0118] (Supplementary Note 7) The communication control device according to Supplementary Note 6, wherein the determining means determines the schedule based on a time period and an area in which the communication request from the wireless communication terminal tends to be made, so that the area becomes the coverage area of ​​the antenna beam during the time period.

[0119] (Supplementary Note 8) The communication control device according to any one of Supplementary Note 5 to Supplementary Note 7, wherein the deriving means derives a time period and an area in which a predetermined number or more of the wireless communication terminals tend to be present.

[0120] (Supplementary Note 9) The communication control device according to Supplementary Note 8, wherein the determining means determines the schedule based on a time period and an area in which a predetermined number or more of the wireless communication terminals tend to be present, so that the area becomes the covered area in priority over other areas during the time period.

[0121] (Supplementary Note 10) The communication control device according to any one of Supplementary Note 5 to Supplementary Note 9, wherein the derivation means derives a time period and an area in which the wireless communication terminal, in which the amount of communication per predetermined time tends to be higher than a predetermined amount, tends to communicate.

[0122] (Supplementary Note 11) The communication control device according to any one of Supplementary Note 5 to Supplementary Note 10, wherein the determining means determines the schedule based on a time period and an area in which the wireless communication terminal tends to communicate, the amount of communication per predetermined time period being higher than a predetermined amount, so that the area becomes the covered area more frequently than other areas during the time period.

[0123] (Supplementary Note 12) The communication control device according to any one of Supplementary Note 5 to Supplementary Note 11, wherein the determining means determines the schedule based on a time period and an area in which the wireless communication terminal tends to communicate during a time period longer than a predetermined time, so that the area becomes the covered area more frequently than other areas during the time period.

[0124] (Supplementary Note 13) The communication control device according to any one of Supplementary Note 5 to Supplementary Note 12, wherein the determining means determines the schedule based on a time period and an area in which a wireless communication terminal with a high priority tends to communicate, so that the area becomes the covered area in priority over other areas during the time period.

[0125] (Supplementary Note 14) The communication control device according to any one of Supplementary Note 5 to Supplementary Note 13, wherein the determining means determines the schedule based on a time period and an area in which high-priority data tends to be transmitted and received, so that the area becomes the covered area in preference to other areas in the time period.

[0126] (Supplementary Note 15) The communication control device according to any one of Supplementary Note 1 to Supplementary Note 14, wherein the determination unit determines the schedule when there is a difference between the tendency and an actual situation.

[0127] (Supplementary Note 16) A communication control method comprising: receiving communication request information, which is information relating to a communication request from a wireless communication terminal performing wireless communication to a wireless communication base station; deriving a trend of the communication request based on a history of the past communication request information; determining a schedule for a cover area, which is an area covered by an antenna beam of an antenna of the wireless communication base station, based on the trend; outputting schedule information, which is information relating to the schedule, to the wireless communication base station; and the wireless communication base station controlling the cover area of ​​the antenna beam in accordance with the schedule information.

[0128] (Supplementary Note 17) A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a communication control program that causes a computer to realize: a receiving function that receives communication request information, which is information regarding a communication request from a wireless communication terminal that performs wireless communication to a wireless communication base station; a derivation function that derives a tendency of the communication request based on a history of the past communication request information; a determination function that determines a schedule for a cover area, which is an area covered by an antenna beam of an antenna of the wireless communication base station, based on the tendency; and an output function that outputs schedule information, which is information regarding the schedule, to the wireless communication base station; and the wireless communication base station controls the cover area of ​​the antenna beam in accordance with the schedule information.

[0129] Furthermore, some or all of the configurations described in Supplementary Notes 2 to 15, which are dependent on Supplementary Note 1, may also be dependent on Supplementary Notes 16 and 17 in the same dependent relationship as Supplementary Notes 2 to 15. Furthermore, not limited to Supplementary Notes 1, 16, and 17, some or all of the configurations described as Supplements may be made dependent on various hardware, software, various recording means for recording software, or systems, within the scope of each of the above-mentioned embodiments.

[0130] Although the present disclosure has been described above with reference to the embodiments, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments. Various modifications that can be understood by those skilled in the art can be made to the configuration and details of the present disclosure within the scope of the present disclosure. Furthermore, each embodiment can be combined with other embodiments as appropriate.

[0131] This application claims priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2024-082130, filed May 20, 2024, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

[0132] 10, 20 Communication control device 11, 21 Receiving unit 12, 22 Derivation unit 13, 23 Determination unit 14, 24 Output unit 40 Wireless communication base station 41 Antenna 50, 50-i Wireless communication terminal 61 Satellite 62 Ground station 90 Information processing device 91 Communication interface 92 Input / output interface 93 Arithmetic unit 94 Storage device 95 Non-volatile storage device 96 Drive device 97 Recording medium

Claims

1. A communication control device comprising: a receiving means for receiving communication request information, which is information relating to a communication request from a wireless communication terminal performing wireless communication to a wireless communication base station; a derivation means for deriving a trend of the communication request based on a history of the past communication request information; a determination means for determining a schedule for a cover area, which is an area covered by an antenna beam of an antenna of the wireless communication base station, based on the trend; and an output means for outputting schedule information, which is information relating to the schedule, to the wireless communication base station; wherein the wireless communication base station controls the cover area of ​​the antenna beam in accordance with the schedule information.

2. The communication control device according to claim 1, wherein the communication request is received by a wide-area antenna beam of the wireless communication base station, the schedule is a schedule for an area covered by a narrow-area antenna beam of the wireless communication base station, and the wireless communication base station controls the narrow-band antenna beam in accordance with the schedule information.

3. The communication control device according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the derivation means derives the tendency of the communication requests using a derivation model that derives the tendency of the communication requests from the history of the communication request information, and the derivation model is generated by machine learning.

4. The communication control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the communication request information includes information relating to the location of the wireless communication terminal that has made the communication request.

5. The communication control device according to claim 4, wherein the communication request information includes information relating to the time when the communication request occurred.

6. The communication control device according to claim 5, wherein said deriving means derives time periods and areas in which said communication requests tend to be made from said wireless communication terminals.

7. The communication control device according to claim 6, wherein the determining means determines the schedule based on the time period and area in which the communication requests from the wireless communication terminal tend to be made, so that the area becomes the coverage area of ​​the antenna beam during that time period.

8. The communication control device according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the derivation means derives time periods and areas in which a predetermined number or more of the wireless communication terminals tend to be present.

9. The communication control device according to claim 8, wherein the determining means determines the schedule based on a time period and area where a predetermined number or more of the wireless communication terminals tend to be present, so that the area becomes the covered area in priority over other areas during that time period.

10. A communication control device according to any one of claims 5 to 9, wherein the derivation means derives time periods and areas in which the wireless communication terminals that tend to have a higher communication volume per predetermined time than a predetermined volume tend to communicate.

11. A communication control device as described in any one of claims 5 to 10, wherein the determination means determines the schedule based on a time period and area in which the wireless communication terminal tends to communicate, with a communication volume per predetermined time period that tends to be higher than a predetermined volume, so that the area becomes the cover area more frequently than other areas during that time period.

12. A communication control device as described in any one of claims 5 to 11, wherein the determination means determines the schedule based on time periods and areas in which the wireless communication terminals that tend to have communication times longer than a predetermined time tend to communicate, so that the area becomes the cover area more frequently than other areas during the time period.

13. A communication control device according to any one of claims 5 to 12, wherein the determination means determines the schedule based on a time period and area in which high-priority wireless communication terminals tend to communicate, so that the area in question is given priority over other areas as the cover area during that time period.

14. A communication control device according to any one of claims 5 to 13, wherein the determination means determines the schedule based on a time period and area in which high-priority data tends to be transmitted and received, so that the area in question is given priority over other areas as the covered area during that time period.

15. A communication control device according to any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein the determination means determines the schedule when there is a difference between the trend and the actual situation.

16. A communication control method comprising: receiving communication request information, which is information relating to a communication request from a wireless communication terminal performing wireless communication to a wireless communication base station; deriving a trend of the communication request based on a history of the past communication request information; determining a schedule for a cover area, which is an area covered by an antenna beam of an antenna of the wireless communication base station, based on the trend; outputting schedule information, which is information relating to the schedule, to the wireless communication base station; and the wireless communication base station controlling the cover area of ​​the antenna beam in accordance with the schedule information.

17. A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a communication control program that causes a computer to implement the following: a receiving function for receiving communication request information, which is information regarding a communication request from a wireless communication terminal that performs wireless communication to a wireless communication base station; a derivation function for deriving a trend of the communication request based on a history of the past communication request information; a determination function for determining a schedule for a cover area, which is an area covered by an antenna beam of an antenna of the wireless communication base station, based on the trend; and an output function for outputting schedule information, which is information regarding the schedule, to the wireless communication base station; and the wireless communication base station controls the cover area of ​​the antenna beam in accordance with the schedule information.

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