Wireless communication system, communication device, wireless communication method, and program

Abstract

To ensure that good communication quality can be obtained in a wireless communication system in which a base station and a terminal carry out wireless communication, even when the base station changes due to movement or the like of the terminal, the present invention provides a wireless communication system in which a base station and a terminal carry out wireless communication, the wireless communication system comprising a prediction unit that predicts an allowable amount of traffic for the base station and a traffic amount control unit that controls the amount of traffic of the wireless communication on the basis of the allowable amount of traffic for the base station.

Description

Wireless communication system, communication device, wireless communication method, and program

[0001] The present invention relates to a wireless communication system, a communication device, a wireless communication method, and a program.

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art A communication control method is known in which a receiver in a wireless communication system having a plurality of propagation paths predicts movement of an obstacle and controls switching of the propagation paths (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2020-92386

[0004] In a wireless communication system in which base stations and terminals communicate wirelessly, the amount of traffic that each terminal can communicate (allowable traffic amount) varies depending on the communication status of the terminals accommodated by each base station.

[0005] Conventional technologies do not take into account the allowable traffic volume for each base station, so when a terminal moves to a different base station, good communication quality (e.g., delay amount, traffic volume, etc.) may not be obtained.

[0006] The embodiment of the present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and in a wireless communication system in which a base station and a terminal communicate wirelessly, it is possible to obtain good communication quality even when the base station changes due to the terminal moving, etc.

[0007] In order to solve the above problems, a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention is a wireless communication system in which a base station and a terminal perform wireless communication, and includes a prediction unit that predicts the allowable traffic volume of the base station, and a traffic volume control unit that controls the traffic volume of the wireless communication based on the allowable traffic volume of the base station.

[0008] According to the embodiment of the present invention, in a wireless communication system in which a base station and a terminal perform wireless communication, good communication quality can be obtained even when the base station is changed due to the terminal moving or the like.

[0009] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system configuration of a wireless communication system according to an embodiment; FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a wireless communication system according to an embodiment; FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process of the wireless communication system according to an embodiment; FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a method for predicting an allowable traffic volume according to an embodiment; FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a terminal according to an embodiment; FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a base station and a terminal according to an embodiment; FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a traffic volume control process according to an embodiment; FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system configuration of a wireless communication system according to an embodiment; FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a control device and a base station according to an embodiment;

[0010] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The embodiment described below is merely an example, and the embodiment to which the present invention is applied is not limited to the following embodiment.

[0011] <System Configuration> Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the system configuration of a wireless communication system in this embodiment. The wireless communication system 1 is a mobile communication system in which base stations 10a, 10b, ... and a terminal 20 perform wireless communication. The wireless communication system 1 includes, for example, LTE (Long Term Evolution) and / or 5G (5th Generation), but is not limited to these.

[0012] (About the Issues) Wireless communication is used for a variety of purposes, but the factors that are considered important vary depending on the application. For example, when remotely controlling a device while watching a video transmitted wirelessly in real time, low latency is of the utmost importance, so it is desirable to have low-traffic communication to minimize delays. On the other hand, when downloading large files from online storage, which is not real-time, high-volume communication is of the utmost importance, so it is desirable to have high-traffic communication even if it causes some delays.

[0013] However, in the case of mobile communications, the amount of traffic that each terminal can communicate (hereinafter referred to as the allowable traffic amount) differs depending on the communication status of the terminals accommodated by each base station.

[0014] Conventional technologies do not take into account the allowable traffic volume for each base station, so when a terminal changes base stations due to movement of the terminal, etc., good communication quality (e.g., amount of delay or amount of traffic) may not be obtained.

[0015] For example, in FIG. 1 , suppose that the allowable traffic volumes differ between base station 10a and base station 10b. Furthermore, suppose that terminal 20 moves from wireless area 11a, where wireless communication with base station 10a is possible, to wireless area 11b, where wireless communication with base station 10b is possible. In this case, with conventional technology, even if terminal 20 moves from base station 10a to base station 10b, the difference in allowable traffic volume is not taken into consideration. Therefore, with conventional technology, when terminal 20 moves, delays may occur when using an application that requires low latency, or an application that requires high-capacity communication may communicate with less traffic volume than the originally available traffic volume.

[0016] Therefore, in this embodiment, in a wireless communication system in which a base station and a terminal perform wireless communication, a functional configuration such as that shown in FIG. 2 is provided so that stable communication quality can be obtained even when the base station is changed due to the terminal moving or the like.

[0017] <Functional Configuration> Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the wireless communication system according to this embodiment. As shown in Fig. 2, the wireless communication system 1 has, for example, functional components such as an information acquisition unit 201, a prediction unit 202, a traffic volume control unit 203, and a communication unit 204. Each of these functional components is realized, for example, by a program executed by a computer provided in one or more devices included in the wireless communication system 1.

[0018] In the following description, the term "base station 10" will be used to refer to any base station among the base stations 10a, 10b, .... The number of base stations 10 shown in Fig. 1 is an example, and may be two or more.

[0019] The information acquisition unit 201 executes information acquisition processing to acquire information necessary for predicting the allowable traffic volume of the base station 10. As an example, the information acquisition unit 201 acquires information on the past communication volume and delay time of the base station 10 as information necessary for predicting the allowable traffic volume of the base station 10. This information may be, for example, information held by a device having the information acquisition unit 201, or may be information acquired from an external database or the like. As another example, the information acquisition unit 201 acquires congestion information such as mobile spatial statistics.

[0020] The prediction unit 202 executes a prediction process for predicting the allowable traffic volume of the base station 10. For example, the prediction unit 202 predicts the allowable traffic volume that the base station 10 can communicate with low latency based on the information acquired by the information acquisition unit 201. Note that a specific prediction method will be described later.

[0021] The traffic volume control unit 203 executes a traffic volume control process for controlling the traffic volume of wireless communication between the base station 10 and the terminal 20 based on the allowable traffic volume of the base station 10 predicted by the prediction unit 202. Note that a specific method for controlling the traffic volume will be described later.

[0022] The communication unit 204 executes, for example, a communication process for communicating at a traffic volume controlled by the traffic volume control unit 203 .

[0023] Each of the above functional configurations may be possessed by one device included in the wireless communication system 1 (for example, a base station 10, a terminal 20, or a control device that controls the base station 10, etc.), or may be distributed among multiple devices included in the wireless communication system 1.

[0024] <Processing Flow> Next, the processing flow of the wireless communication method according to this embodiment will be described.

[0025] 3 is a flowchart showing an example of processing performed by the wireless communication system according to this embodiment. This processing shows an overview of processing performed by the wireless communication system 1 having the functional configurations described in FIG.

[0026] In step S301, the information acquisition unit 201 acquires information necessary for predicting the allowable traffic volume that allows wireless communication without delay in the base station 10.

[0027] In step S302 , the prediction unit 202 predicts the allowable traffic volume of the base station 10 based on the information acquired by the information acquisition unit 201 .

[0028] In step S303 , the traffic volume control unit 203 controls the traffic volume of wireless communication between the base station 10 and the terminal 20 based on the allowable traffic volume of the base station 10 predicted by the prediction unit 202 .

[0029] In step S304, the communication unit 204 performs wireless communication under the control of the traffic volume control unit 203.

[0030] (Permissible Traffic Volume Prediction Process) Here, a description will be given of the permissible traffic volume prediction process performed by the prediction unit 202. The following two methods are assumed as a method for predicting the permissible traffic volume according to this embodiment, but the method is not limited to these.

[0031] The first method is a method of prediction based on the past communication volume and delay time of the base station 10. Fig. 4 is a diagram for explaining an example of a method of predicting the allowable traffic volume according to this embodiment.

[0032] The information acquisition unit 201 acquires, for example, data 401 of traffic volume and delay time of past communications, as shown in Fig. 4. This data may be information held by a device having the information acquisition unit 201, or may be information acquired from an external database or the like.

[0033] The prediction unit 202 sets the traffic volume immediately before exceeding the set delay time threshold 402 from the data 401 of traffic volumes and delay times of past communications as the allowable traffic volume.

[0034] The second method is a method of making predictions based on the congestion status around the base station 10. The information acquisition unit 201 acquires congestion information such as mobile spatial statistics. This congestion information includes, for example, information such as the radio resources of the base station 10 and the number of terminals accommodated by the base station 10.

[0035] The prediction unit 202 predicts the allowable traffic volume per terminal 20 by dividing the radio resources of the base station 10 by the number of terminals accommodated by the base station 10 using, for example, the following equation (1).

[0036] If there is overlap in the areas of the base stations 10, the calculation may be performed by allocating resources equally to the overlapping base stations and allocating resources according to the resources.

[0037] <Examples> [Example 1] In Example 1, an example will be described in which the terminal 20 has a traffic volume control unit 203. Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the terminal according to Example 1. In the example of Fig. 5, the terminal 20 has a computer configuration, and executes a predetermined program on the computer to realize each of the functional configurations described in Fig. 2.

[0038] Specifically, the terminal 20 includes an information acquisition unit 201, a prediction unit 202, a traffic volume control unit 203, and a communication unit 204. The terminal (communication device) 20 shown in Fig. 5 is an example of the communication device according to this embodiment.

[0039] Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the functional configuration of a base station and a terminal according to Example 1. As illustrated in Fig. 8, the information acquisition unit 201 and the prediction unit 202 may be included in the base station 10. In this case, a traffic volume control unit 203 of the terminal 20 acquires a prediction result of the allowable traffic volume of the base station 10 from the base station 10, and controls the traffic volume of wireless communication with the base station 10 based on the acquired prediction result.

[0040] The processing of the wireless communication system 1 according to the first embodiment may be the same as the processing of the wireless communication system 1 described with reference to Fig. 3. The method for predicting the allowable traffic volume according to the first embodiment may be the method for predicting the allowable traffic volume described with reference to Fig. 4 and formula (1).

[0041] Here, a description will be given of a traffic volume control process according to Example 1. Fig. 7 is a diagram for explaining the traffic volume control process according to Example 1. This diagram shows an example of a usage traffic volume 701 of the terminal 20 before control by the traffic volume control unit 203 of the terminal 20 and a usage traffic volume 702 of the terminal 20 after control.

[0042] When the usage traffic volume 701 of the terminal 20 exceeds the allowable traffic volume 403 predicted by the prediction unit 202, the traffic volume control unit 203 controls the usage traffic volume 702 of the terminal 20 so as not to exceed the allowable traffic volume 403. As a result, according to the first embodiment, in the wireless communication system 1 in which the base station 10 and the terminal 20 perform wireless communication, good communication quality can be obtained when the base station 10 is changed due to movement of the terminal 20, etc.

[0043] 1, assume that a terminal 20 moves from a wireless area 11a where wireless communication with a base station 10a is possible to a wireless area 11b where wireless communication with a base station 10b is possible to a wireless area 11b. If the allowable traffic volume decreases due to this movement, the terminal 20 performs communication with lower traffic volume, for example, to reduce the occurrence of delays. If the allowable traffic volume increases due to this movement, the terminal 20 performs communication with a larger traffic volume, for example, within the range of the allowable traffic volume.

[0044] [Example 2] In Example 2, an example will be described in which the base station 10 has a traffic volume control unit 203. Fig. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a base station according to Example 2. In the example of Fig. 8, the base station 10 has a computer configuration, and the computer executes a predetermined program to realize each of the functional configurations described in Fig. 2.

[0045] Specifically, the base station 10 includes an information acquisition unit 201, a prediction unit 202, a traffic volume control unit 203, and a communication unit 204. The base station (communication device) 10 shown in Fig. 8 is an example of a communication device according to this embodiment.

[0046] The process of the wireless communication system 1 according to the second embodiment is similar to the process of the wireless communication system 1 described with reference to Fig. 3. The method for predicting the allowable traffic volume according to the second embodiment can be the traffic volume prediction method described with reference to Fig. 4 and formula (1).

[0047] Here, a traffic volume control process according to Example 2 will be described. Fig. 9 is a diagram for explaining the traffic volume control process according to Example 2. This diagram shows an example of an allowable traffic volume 902 before control of terminal A by the traffic volume control unit 203 of the base station 10, an allowable traffic volume 903 after control, and an allowable traffic volume 912 before control of terminal B, and an allowable traffic volume 914 after control. Here, terminal A and terminal B are assumed to be terminals 20 connected to the same base station 10, for example.

[0048] 9, between times t1 and t2, the traffic volume 901 used by terminal A before control exceeds the allowable traffic volume 902 of the base station 10. In this case, the traffic volume control unit 203 of the base station 10 controls the traffic volumes of other terminals 20 so that the traffic volume does not exceed the allowable traffic volume of the entire base station 10.

[0049] For example, the traffic volume control unit 203 reduces the post-control allowable traffic volume 914 of the other terminal B between times t1 and t2, as shown in FIG. 9. As a result, the traffic volume control unit 203 can increase the post-control allowable traffic volume 903 of the terminal A between times t1 and t2, as shown in FIG. 9. The other terminal B that reduces the post-control allowable traffic volume 914 may be, for example, a terminal 20 that uses a small amount of traffic between times t1 and t2, or a terminal 20 that is transferring a large file and is not affected much by temporarily reducing the allowable traffic volume. The other terminal 20 that reduces the allowable traffic volume between times t1 and t2 may be multiple terminals 20.

[0050] As a result, in the second embodiment, in the wireless communication system 1 in which the base station 10 and the terminal A perform wireless communication, good communication quality can be obtained even when the base station 10 changes due to the movement of the terminal A, etc.

[0051] [Example 3] <System Configuration> Fig. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system configuration of a wireless communication system according to Example 3. The wireless communication system 1 according to Example 3 includes a control device (communication device) 30 capable of coordinating between a base station 10a and another base station 10b, and an example will be described in which the control device 30 has a traffic volume control unit 203. Note that the control device 30 is assumed to be, for example, an MME (Mobility Management Entity) in LTE, or an AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function) or SMF (Session Management Function) in 5G, but is not limited thereto.

[0052] <Functional Configuration> Fig. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of the functional configuration of a control device and a base station according to Example 3. In the example of Fig. 11, the control device 30 has a computer configuration, and by executing a predetermined program on the computer, realizes the information acquisition unit 201, the prediction unit 202, the traffic volume control unit 203, and the like described in Fig. 2. Furthermore, the base station 10 has a computer configuration, and by executing a predetermined program on the computer, realizes the communication unit 204 described in Fig. 2.

[0053] <Processing Flow> Fig. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing in the wireless communication system according to Example 3. This processing illustrates an example of processing executed by the wireless communication system 1 having the functional configurations described in Fig. 11, for example.

[0054] In step S1201, the information acquisition unit 201 of the control device 30 acquires information necessary for predicting the allowable traffic volume for wireless communication without delay in the base station 10.

[0055] In step S1202, the prediction unit 202 of the control device 30 predicts the allowable traffic volume of each of the base stations 10a, 10b, ... based on the information acquired by the information acquisition unit 201. Note that the traffic volume prediction method may be, for example, the traffic volume prediction method described in FIG. 4 and equation (1).

[0056] In step S1203, the traffic volume control unit 203 controls the traffic volume of wireless communication between the base station 10 and the terminal 20 based on the allowable traffic volumes of the base stations 10a, 10b, . . . predicted by the prediction unit 202.

[0057] 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a traffic volume control process according to the third embodiment. For example, as shown in FIG. 13 , it is assumed that the usage traffic volume 1301 of the terminal 20 before control exceeds the allowable traffic volume 1302 of the base station 10a predicted by the prediction unit 202. In this case, the traffic volume control unit 203 controls the terminal 20 to hand over to another base station 10b whose usage traffic volume 1301 of the terminal 20 exceeds the allowable traffic volume 1303.

[0058] The traffic volume control unit 203 assumes that the terminal 20 moves at a constant speed, and selects, from among the base stations 10 with which communication is possible, a base station 10 whose allowable traffic volume 1303 exceeds the traffic volume used by the terminal 20.

[0059] 14 is a diagram illustrating another example of the traffic volume control process according to the third embodiment. For example, as shown in FIG. 14, it is assumed that the usage traffic volume 1301 of the terminal 20 before control exceeds the allowable traffic volume 1302 of the base station 10a predicted by the prediction unit 202. In this case, the traffic volume control unit 203 may use, for example, CA (Carrier Aggregation) to control the allowable traffic volume 1401 of the base station 10a so that it exceeds the usage traffic volume 1301 of the terminal 20. CA is a technology that achieves high-speed communication by bundling and using multiple frequency bands.

[0060] 13 and 14 are merely examples. For example, instead of handover or CA, the traffic volume control unit 203 may control the base stations 10a and 10b by using dual connectivity, which uses the two base stations 10a and 10b simultaneously, so that the allowable traffic volume exceeds the traffic volume used by the terminal 20.

[0061] 12, the description of the flowchart will be continued. In step S1204, the communication unit 204 of the base station 10a and / or the base station 10b performs wireless communication with the terminal 20 under the control of the traffic volume control unit 203 of the control device 30.

[0062] As a result, in the third embodiment as well, good communication quality can be obtained in the wireless communication system 1 in which the base station 10 and the terminal A perform wireless communication.

[0063] As described above, the wireless communication system 1 according to the present embodiment can be realized with various system configurations and functional configurations.

[0064] <Hardware Configuration> The base station 10, the terminal 20, the control device 30, etc. according to this embodiment can all be realized by causing a computer to execute a program. This computer may be a physical computer or a virtual machine on the cloud.

[0065] That is, the base station 10, the terminal 20, and the control device 30 can be realized by executing a program corresponding to the processing performed by each device using hardware resources such as a CPU and memory built into the computer. The above program can be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium (such as a portable memory) and can be saved or distributed. The above program can also be provided via a network such as the Internet or email.

[0066] Fig. 15 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a computer. In the example of Fig. 15, a computer 1500 includes a drive device 1000, an auxiliary storage device 1002, a memory device 1003, a CPU 1004, an interface device 1005, a display device 1006, an input device 1007, an output device 1008, and the like, which are all interconnected by a bus BS.

[0067] A program for implementing processing on the computer 1500 is provided by a recording medium 1001, such as a CD-ROM or a memory card. When the recording medium 1001 storing the program is set in the drive device 1000, the program is installed from the recording medium 1001 to the auxiliary storage device 1002 via the drive device 1000. However, the program does not necessarily have to be installed from the recording medium 1001, but may be downloaded from another computer via a network. The auxiliary storage device 1002 stores the installed program as well as necessary files, data, etc.

[0068] The memory device 1003 reads and stores a program from the auxiliary storage device 1002 when an instruction to start the program is received. The CPU 1004 realizes functions related to the device in accordance with the program stored in the memory device 1003. The interface device 1005 is used as an interface for connecting to a network, etc. The display device 1006 displays a GUI (Graphical User Interface) or the like according to the program. The input device 1007 is composed of a keyboard, mouse, buttons, a touch panel, etc., and is used to input various operation instructions. The output device 1008 outputs the results of calculations.

[0069] The CPU 1004 may be a processor such as a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), a PLD (Programmable Logic Device), or an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array).

[0070] (Supplementary Note) The base station 10, terminal 20, and control device 30 in this embodiment may be realized not only by dedicated devices but also by general-purpose computers. In this case, a program for realizing this function may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded on this recording medium may be read into a computer system and executed. Note that the term "computer system" here includes hardware such as an OS and peripheral devices.

[0071] Furthermore, the term "computer-readable recording medium" includes various storage devices such as portable media such as flexible disks, optical magnetic disks, ROMs, and CD-ROMs, as well as storage devices 2103 built into computer systems. Furthermore, the term "computer-readable recording medium" may also include devices that dynamically store a program for a short period of time, such as a communication line when transmitting a program via a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line, and devices that store a program for a certain period of time, such as volatile memory within a computer system that serves as a server or client in such cases.

[0072] Furthermore, the above program may be one that realizes part of the above-mentioned functions, or may be one that can realize the above-mentioned functions in combination with a program already recorded in a computer system, or may be one that is realized using hardware such as a PLD or FPGA.

[0073] <Effects of the embodiment> According to the present embodiment, in the wireless communication system 1 in which the base station 10 and the terminal 20 perform wireless communication, good communication quality can be obtained even when the base station is changed due to the terminal 20 moving or the like.

[0074] For example, in the wireless communication system 1, each base station 10 communicates based on the predicted results of the allowable traffic volume that can be communicated without delay, which eliminates delays that have previously occurred and enables larger-capacity communication than before, leading to more reliable and faster communications.

[0075] Summary of Embodiments This specification discloses at least the wireless communication system, communication device, wireless communication method, and program of the following paragraphs: (1) A wireless communication system in which a base station and a terminal perform wireless communication, comprising: a prediction unit that predicts an allowable traffic volume of the base station; and a traffic volume control unit that controls the traffic volume of the wireless communication based on the allowable traffic volume of the base station. (2) A communication device in which a base station and a terminal perform wireless communication, comprising: a prediction unit that predicts an allowable traffic volume of the base station; and a traffic volume control unit that controls the traffic volume of the wireless communication based on the allowable traffic volume of the base station. (3) A wireless communication method in which one or more computers included in a wireless communication system in which a base station and a terminal perform wireless communication, execute a prediction process that predicts an allowable traffic volume of the base station; and a traffic volume control process that controls the traffic volume of the wireless communication based on the allowable traffic volume of the base station. (4) A program, or a storage medium storing a program, that causes one or more computers to execute the wireless communication method described in paragraph 3.

[0076] Although the present embodiment has been described above, the present invention is not limited to such a specific embodiment, and various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims.

[0077] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Wireless communication system 10, 10a, 10b Base station (an example of a communication device) 20 Terminal (an example of a communication device) 201 Information acquisition unit 202 Prediction unit 203 Traffic volume control unit 204 Communication unit 30 Control device (an example of a communication device) 1500 Computer

Claims

1. A wireless communication system in which a base station and a terminal perform wireless communication, the wireless communication system comprising: a prediction unit that predicts the allowable traffic volume of the base station; and a traffic volume control unit that controls the traffic volume of the wireless communication based on the allowable traffic volume of the base station.

2. A communication device in a wireless communication system in which a base station and a terminal perform wireless communication, comprising: a prediction unit that predicts the allowable traffic volume of the base station; and a traffic volume control unit that controls the traffic volume of the wireless communication based on the allowable traffic volume of the base station.

3. A wireless communication method in which one or more computers included in a wireless communication system in which a base station and a terminal perform wireless communication execute a prediction process for predicting the allowable traffic volume of the base station, and a traffic volume control process for controlling the traffic volume of the wireless communication based on the allowable traffic volume of the base station.

4. A program that causes one or more computers to execute the wireless communication method according to claim 3.

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