Communication control device and communication environment switching assistance method

Abstract

One aspect of this invention acquires vital data of a user in a state of being connected to a first network, estimates stress of the user on the basis of this vital data, and determines the communication quality of each of the first network and a second network that is not the first network. When the stress of the user is increased and the communication quality of the second network is determined to be better than the communication quality of the first network, a message for recommending connection switching from the first network to the second network is generated and presented to the user, and a connection destination is switched from the first network to the second network in response to a switching instruction of the user for the message.

Description

Communication control device and communication environment switching support method

[0001] One aspect of the present invention relates to a communication control device having a function of selectively connecting to, for example, a plurality of wireless networks to perform communication, and a communication environment switching support method executed by the communication control device.

[0002] In recent years, many communication terminals such as smartphones and personal computers are equipped with a function to select and connect to an appropriate network from among multiple connectable networks when there are multiple connectable networks.

[0003] For example, an information communication terminal that can connect to a Wi-Fi (registered trademark) network in addition to a wireless network provided by a contracted telecommunications carrier is provided with a function to preferentially select and connect to a Wi-Fi network (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1). Using a Wi-Fi network allows high-speed communication without being subject to the communication volume restrictions that generally occur when using a telecommunications carrier's network.

[0004] "Wi-Fi on smartphone," kakaku.com, [searched July 3, 2024], Internet <URL: kakaku.com / wifi / smartphone.html>

[0005] However, with conventional network-priority connection functions, once connected to a Wi-Fi network, the connection remains active as long as the network signal can be received, even if communication speeds decrease due to increased communication traffic. In such cases, users may not notice this when using an application that does not require high-speed communication, but may feel frustrated when using an application that requires high-speed communication, such as when browsing a web page that includes video.

[0006] The present invention has been made in light of the above circumstances, and aims to provide a technique that enables a network connection that takes into account the user's stress level.

[0007] In order to solve the above problem, one aspect of a communication control device or a communication environment switching support method according to the present invention acquires vital data of a user while connected to a first network, estimates the user's stress based on the vital data, and determines the communication qualities of the first network and the second network. When the user's stress is detected and it is determined that the communication quality of the second network is better than the communication quality of the first network, a message recommending switching the connection from the first network to the second network is generated and presented to the user, and the connection destination is switched from the first network to the second network in response to a switching instruction from the user in response to the message.

[0008] According to one aspect of the present invention, when a user is communicating using a first network and feels stressed due to, for example, a deterioration in communication quality, and if the communication quality of a second network is better than that of the first network, a message recommending switching to a network with better communication quality is presented to the user. When the user inputs a switch instruction in response to the message, the connection destination is switched from the first network to the second network. Therefore, the user can continue communication in a less stressful communication environment using a network with better communication quality, without being forced to communicate via a network with deteriorated communication quality.

[0009] That is, according to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide a technology that enables a network connection that takes into account the stress level of a user.

[0010] Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a system that executes communication environment switching support control according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a communication control device provided in the system shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of software for the communication control device provided in the system shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing procedure and processing content of communication environment switching support control executed by a control unit of the communication control device shown in Fig. 3.

[0011] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0012] [One Embodiment] (Configuration Example) (1) System FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a system that executes communication environment switching support control according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0013] The system of one embodiment includes a communication control device CS that can be selectively connected to multiple networks NW1, NW2, etc., and an electroencephalogram sensor BS that measures the electroencephalogram of a user US is connected to this communication control device CS via a signal cable.

[0014] The brain wave sensor BS uses, for example, an EEG (Electro Encephalogram) sensor, and measures brain waves generated from specific parts of the brain of the user US via electrodes and outputs the measured brain wave signals to the communication control device CS.

[0015] (2) Communication control device CS The communication control device CS is configured by, for example, a mobile information terminal such as a smartphone or tablet terminal used by the user US. The communication control device CS may also be a notebook or desktop personal computer.

[0016] 2 and 3 are block diagrams showing an example of the hardware configuration and software configuration, respectively, of the communication control device CS according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0017] The communication control device CS includes a control unit 1 that uses a hardware processor such as a central processing unit (CPU). A storage unit having a program storage unit 2 and a data storage unit 3, a sensor interface (hereinafter, interface will be abbreviated as I / F) unit 4, a communication I / F unit 5, and an input / output I / F unit 6 are connected to the control unit 1 via a bus 7.

[0018] The sensor I / F unit 4 receives the electroencephalogram signal output from the electroencephalogram sensor BS and converts it into data in a form that can be processed by the control unit 1. If the electroencephalogram sensor BS has the function of converting the electroencephalogram signal into digital data and outputting it, the data conversion function of the sensor I / F unit 4 is not necessary.

[0019] Note that, instead of a signal cable, a low-power wireless interface such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) may be used as a connection means between the sensor I / F unit 4 and the electroencephalogram sensor BS. Using a wireless interface allows the user greater freedom in operating the communication control device CS.

[0020] The communication I / F unit 5 transmits and receives communication data to and from the networks NW1, NW2, etc. using a frequency band and a communication protocol defined for each network. The networks NW1, NW2, etc. are assumed to be, for example, an LTE (registered trademark) / 4G network and a Wi-Fi network, but may also be other wireless networks or wired networks such as a LAN (Local Area Network). In short, any network whose communication quality fluctuates depending on the communication environment, traffic volume, etc. may be a target for switching.

[0021] The input / output I / F unit 6 outputs the switching recommendation message generated by the control unit 1 to the display device DP, and also takes in switching instruction data input by the user US via the input device IN.

[0022] The program storage unit 2 is, for example, a combination of a non-volatile memory such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD) as a storage medium that can be written to and read from at any time, and a non-volatile memory such as a read only memory (ROM), and stores application programs necessary for executing various processes related to one embodiment of the present invention, in addition to middleware such as an operating system (OS).

[0023] The data storage unit 3 is, for example, a combination of a non-volatile memory such as an HDD or SSD as a storage medium that can be written to and read from at any time, and a volatile memory such as a RAM (Random Access Memory), and its storage area includes an EEG data storage unit 31 and a switching recommendation history storage unit 32.

[0024] The electroencephalogram data storage unit 31 stores electroencephalogram data obtained by converting the electroencephalogram signals output from the electroencephalogram sensor BS into digital data in chronological order.

[0025] The switching recommendation history storage unit 32 stores information indicating whether or not the user US has input a switching instruction in response to the presentation of the switching recommendation message as switching recommendation history, in association with the identification information (network ID) of the currently connected network.

[0026] The control unit 1 includes, as processing function units according to one embodiment of the present invention, an EEG signal acquisition processing unit 11, a stress state estimation processing unit 12, a network quality measurement processing unit 13, a switching recommendation control processing unit 14, and a network switching control processing unit 15.

[0027] Each of the processing units 11 to 15 is realized by causing a hardware processor of the control unit 1 to execute an application program stored in the program storage unit 2. Note that some or all of the processing units 11 to 15 may be realized using hardware such as an LSI (Large Scale Integration) or an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit).

[0028] The EEG signal acquisition processing unit 11 receives the EEG signal output from the EEG sensor BS via the sensor I / F unit 4, and stores the EEG data sampled by the sensor I / F unit 4, for example at a predetermined sampling rate, in the EEG data storage unit 31 in chronological order.

[0029] The stress state estimation processing unit 12 reads the EEG data from the EEG data storage unit 31, extracts features related to the stress of the user US, and estimates the state of stress felt by the user US based on the extracted features.

[0030] The network quality measurement processing unit 13 measures the communication quality of the currently connected network, and also measures whether or not other networks are connectable and their communication quality.

[0031] The switching recommendation control processing unit 14 executes switching recommendation control to recommend a network switch to the user US based on the stress state estimation result of the stress state estimation processing unit 12, the communication quality of the currently connected network and other networks measured by the network quality measurement processing unit 13, and the switching recommendation history stored in the switching recommendation history storage unit 32. An example of the switching recommendation control will be described in detail in the operation example.

[0032] When the network switching control processing unit 15 receives a request to execute network switching control from the switching recommendation control processing unit 14, the network switching control processing unit 15 executes control to switch the destination network in accordance with the request to execute switching control.

[0033] (Example of Operation) Next, an example of operation of the communication control device CS configured as above will be described.

[0034] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing procedure and processing contents of communication environment switching support control executed by the control unit 1 of the communication control device CS.

[0035] (1) Estimation of Stress State of User US In response to a communication start operation by the user US, the communication control device CS starts communication using one of multiple networks NW1, NW2, ..., for example, the Wi-Fi network NW1. When the control unit 1 of the communication control device CS detects the start of communication in step S11, first, in step S12, under the control of the EEG signal acquisition processing unit 11, the control unit 1 receives the EEG signal of the user US output from the EEG sensor BS via the sensor I / F unit 4. Then, the EEG data sampled by the sensor I / F unit 4, for example, at a predetermined sampling rate, is stored in chronological order in the EEG data storage unit 31.

[0036] Next, the control unit 1 of the communication control device CS, under the control of the stress state estimation processing unit 12, executes a process of estimating the stress state of the user US based on the electroencephalogram data as follows.

[0037] That is, first, in step S13, the stress state estimation processing unit 12 reads electroencephalogram data from the electroencephalogram data storage unit 31 in chronological order, and extracts features relating to stress from the read electroencephalogram data.

[0038] It is known that the human brain emits gamma waves of 30 Hz or higher when irritated. Therefore, the stress state estimation processor 12 extracts the frequency components of the waveform by, for example, applying a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to the EEG data. Then, in step S14, the stress state estimation processor 12 determines whether the EEG contains gamma waves of 30 Hz or higher, and if so, what their level is, based on the extracted frequency components of the waveform.

[0039] If the result of the above judgment is that the brain waves do not contain gamma waves of 30 Hz or higher, the control unit 1 of the communication control device CS proceeds to step S23 to monitor the end of communication, and if communication is continuing, returns to step S12 and repeats the above-mentioned stress state estimation process.

[0040] (2) Measurement of Communication Quality On the other hand, suppose that the result of the stress state estimation indicates that the brain waves include gamma waves of 30 Hz or higher, and that the level of gamma waves is above a predetermined value. In this case, the control unit 1 of the communication control device CS determines that the user US is feeling stressed, and in step S15, under the control of the network quality measurement processing unit 13, measures the communication quality of the currently connected Wi-Fi network NW1. Note that the communication quality can be measured, for example, by measuring the communication speed (bit rate).

[0041] At the same time, the network quality measurement processing unit 13 determines in step S16 whether there is a connectable network among the other networks, and if there is a connectable network, measures the communication quality of this connectable network. Note that whether or not a connection is possible can be determined by measuring the received field strength (RSSI) of radio waves, for example, and the communication quality can be measured by the communication speed as described above.

[0042] (3) Switching Recommendation Control Suppose that the network quality measurement processing unit 13 determines that there is another connectable network, for example, an LTE / 4G network. In this case, the control unit 1 of the communication control device CS, under the control of the switching recommendation control processing unit 14, executes switching recommendation control to recommend a network switch to the user US as follows.

[0043] That is, first, in step S17, the switching recommendation control processing unit 14 calculates the communication quality CQ of the currently connected Wi-Fi network measured by the network quality measurement processing unit 13. NW1 and the communication quality CQ of the LTE / 4G network NW2, which is the other network that can be connected. NW2 Compared with CQ NW2 >CQ NW1 It is determined whether or not

[0044] As a result of the above judgment, CQ NW2 >CQ NW1 In other words, it is determined that the LTE / 4G network NW2 has better communication quality than the Wi-Fi network NW1. In this case, in step S18, the switching recommendation control processing unit 14 refers to the switching recommendation history stored in the switching recommendation history storage unit 32 and determines whether the user US has previously refused to switch to the currently connected Wi-Fi network NW1.

[0045] If it is determined that the user US has not previously refused switching, the switching recommendation control processing unit 14 generates a switching recommendation message in step S19 and outputs the generated switching recommendation message to the display device DP from the input / output I / F unit 6. As a result, the switching recommendation message is displayed on the display device DP.

[0046] The message recommending switching may be, for example, a text message such as "There is another network with good communication quality. Would you like to switch?", with a "switch instruction button" and a "reject switch button" added. The name of the candidate network may also be included.

[0047] After presenting the switching recommendation message, the switching recommendation control processing unit 14 determines whether the user US has input a switching instruction in step S20. Then, when the user US operates the switching instruction button, the switching recommendation control processing unit 14 switches the destination network from the Wi-Fi network NW1 to the LTE / 4G network NW2 in step S21.

[0048] On the other hand, if the user US operates the switching rejection button or does not operate any button within a certain time after the switching recommendation message is presented, the switching recommendation control processing unit 14 stores information indicating that the switching has been rejected in the switching recommendation history storage unit 32 in association with the network ID of the currently connected Wi-Fi network while maintaining the connection to the Wi-Fi network in step S22.

[0049] (5) End of communication environment switching support The control unit 1 of the communication control device CS determines the end of communication in step S23. If communication continues, the process returns to step S12 and executes the series of communication environment switching support control steps S12 to S23 again. Thereafter, the control unit 1 similarly repeatedly executes the series of communication environment switching support control steps S12 to S23 as long as communication continues. On the other hand, when the end of communication is detected, the control unit 1 ends the communication environment switching support control and returns to the standby state.

[0050] As described above, in one embodiment, while communicating using the Wi-Fi network NW1, the stress state of the user US is estimated based on the electroencephalogram data of the user US, and it is determined whether the user US is feeling stressed. If the user US is feeling stressed, the communication quality of the currently connected network is compared with the communication quality of the connectable LTE / 4G network NW2. If it is determined that the communication quality of the LTE / 4G network NW2 is better, a switching recommendation message is generated and presented to the user US. If the user US inputs a switching instruction in response to this message, the connection destination is switched from the Wi-Fi network NW1 to the LTE / 4G network NW2.

[0051] Therefore, if the user US is feeling stressed, a message is presented to the user US recommending switching to a network with better communication quality than the currently connected network, and the user US can switch networks by inputting a switching instruction in accordance with this message. This allows the user US to continue communication in a less stressful communication environment using a network with better communication quality without being forced to communicate via a network with degraded communication quality.

[0052] In one embodiment, the switching recommendation control determines whether the user US has a history of refusing to switch while connected to the same network based on the switching recommendation history, and if there is a history of refusing to switch, the switching recommendation message is not presented. Therefore, if the user US has no intention of switching networks, the switching recommendation message can be prevented from being repeatedly presented.

[0053] [Other Embodiments] (1) In one embodiment, the stress state of the user US is estimated based on electroencephalograms. However, stress may be estimated using other vital data that may reflect stress, such as body temperature, heart rate, or sweat rate, in addition to electroencephalograms. Furthermore, feature amounts that reflect stress, such as facial deformation or hand tremors, may be extracted from an image of the user's face or hands and feet, and the user's stress may be estimated based on the extracted feature amounts.

[0054] (2) In one embodiment, when a state occurs for the first time in which it is determined that the user US is stressed while connected to a network and the communication quality of another network that is a candidate for connection is determined to be better than that of the currently connected network, a switching recommendation message is always presented. However, if a history of past network switching when communication was performed using the same network is stored and a history of network switching with a similar pattern has been performed in the past, the presentation of the switching recommendation message may be omitted and the network may be automatically switched.

[0055] (3) In one embodiment, an example of supporting switching of communication environments was described. However, other possible applications include, for example, estimating a user's stress while waiting in line for an attraction at a theme park, and if it is determined that the user is experiencing stress above a certain level, presenting the user with a message recommending switching to another attraction that is relatively less crowded.

[0056] Another possible application example is when a user experiences a delay due to an accident or other reason while using public transportation, the system estimates the user's stress level, and if it determines that the user is experiencing a certain level of stress or above, presents the user with a message recommending that they switch to another available form of public transportation.

[0057] (4) In addition, various modifications can be made to the functional configuration of the communication control device, the processing procedures and processing contents of the communication environment switching support control, the method for estimating user stress, the method for measuring network communication quality, the configuration of the switching recommendation message, etc., without departing from the spirit of this invention.

[0058] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the above description is merely an example of the present invention in every respect. It goes without saying that various improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. In other words, when implementing the present invention, specific configurations according to the embodiments may be appropriately adopted.

[0059] In short, this invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and in the implementation stage, the components can be modified and embodied without departing from the spirit of the invention. Furthermore, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining multiple components disclosed in the above-described embodiments. For example, some components may be omitted from all the components shown in the embodiments. Furthermore, components from different embodiments may be appropriately combined.

[0060] CS...Communication control device BS...Electroencephalogram sensor IN...Input device DP...Display device NW1, NW2...Networks 1...Control unit 2...Program storage unit 3...Data storage unit 4...Sensor I / F unit 5...Communication I / F unit 6...Input / output I / F unit 7...Bus 11...Electroencephalogram signal acquisition processing unit 12...Stress state estimation processing unit 13...Network quality measurement processing unit 14...Switching recommendation control processing unit 15...Network switching control processing unit 31...Electroencephalogram data storage unit 32...Switching recommendation history storage unit

Claims

1. A communication control device that can be selectively connected to a first network and a second network, comprising: a first processing unit that, while connected to the first network, acquires vital data of a user and estimates the user's stress based on the acquired vital data; a second processing unit that determines the communication quality of each of the first network and the second network; a third processing unit that, when the user's stress is detected and the communication quality of the second network is determined to be better than the communication quality of the first network, generates a message recommending switching the connection from the first network to the second network and presents the generated message to the user; and a fourth processing unit that switches the connection from the first network to the second network in response to the user's input of a switching instruction in response to the message.

2. A communication control device as described in claim 1, wherein the first processing unit acquires the user's brain waves as the vital data and estimates the user's stress based on the acquired brain waves.

3. The communication control device described in claim 1, wherein the third processing unit stores historical information indicating whether or not the user has input a switching instruction in response to the message, and determines based on the historical information whether or not the user has previously refused to switch while connected to the first network, and if the user has previously refused to switch, does not present the message to the user.

4. A communication environment switching support method executed by a communication control device that can selectively connect to a first network and a second network, comprising: a step of acquiring vital data of a user while connected to the first network, and estimating the user's stress based on the acquired vital data; a step of determining the communication quality of each of the first network and the second network; a step of generating a message recommending switching the connection from the first network to the second network when the user's stress is detected and the communication quality of the second network is determined to be better than the communication quality of the first network, and presenting the generated message to the user; and a step of switching the connection destination from the first network to the second network in response to the user's input of a switching instruction in response to the message.

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