Communication control device and communication control method

Abstract

One embodiment of the present invention provides a communication control device comprising a control unit that executes: a digital twin generation process for generating, on the basis of sensing data including data on the position of an object in the surrounding environment of a wireless communication device, a digital twin of the surrounding environment after a prescribed time; an emulation process for emulating, on the basis of the generated digital twin, the state of a communication channel between the wireless communication device and a terminal; and a communication control parameter generation process for generating, on the basis of the result of the emulation, a communication control parameter for defining a communication method for the wireless communication device.

Description

Communication control device and communication control method

[0001] The present invention relates to a communication control device and a communication control method.

[0002] In a high-frequency band distributed antenna system with a high-density arrangement of antennas or in a wireless system using a large-scale array antenna such as XL-MIMO (extremely large-scale MIMO), there is concern about the generation of communication overhead for measuring propagation path states and the like due to an increase in the number of antennas.

[0003] By creating a digital twin of the propagation environment in real time using a sensor or the like and emulating propagation path states and the like on the digital twin, information necessary for wireless communication can be obtained without using wireless resources (Non-Patent Document 1).

[0004] A. Alkhateeb, S. Jiang and G. Charan, "Real-Time Digital Twins: Vision and Research Directions for 6G and Beyond," IEEE Communications Magazine, vol. 61, no. 11, pp. 128-134, November 2023.

[0005] However, since it takes time to create the digital twin and emulate the propagation path state itself, real-time communication control is difficult.

[0006] In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a technology that enables real-time communication control.

[0007] One aspect of the present invention is a communication control device comprising: a control unit that performs: a digital twin generation process that generates a digital twin of the surrounding environment after a predetermined time based on sensing data including data on the positions of objects in the surrounding environment of a wireless communication device; an emulation process that emulates the communication path state between the wireless communication device and a terminal based on the generated digital twin; and a communication control parameter generation process that generates communication control parameters defining the communication method of the wireless communication device based on the emulated results.

[0008] One aspect of the present invention is a communication control method comprising: a digital twin generation step of generating a digital twin of the surrounding environment after a predetermined time based on sensing data including data on the positions of objects in the surrounding environment of a wireless communication device; an emulation step of emulating the communication path state between the wireless communication device and a terminal based on the generated digital twin; and a communication control parameter generation step of generating communication control parameters that define the communication method of the wireless communication device based on the emulated result.

[0009] This invention enables real-time communication control.

[0010] This is an explanatory diagram illustrating the outline of the communication control device 1 according to the first embodiment. This is a flowchart showing the operation of the communication control device 1 according to the first embodiment. This is a flowchart showing the operation of the communication control device 1 according to the second embodiment. This is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the communication control device 1 in the embodiment.

[0011] Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

[0012] Figure 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the outline of a communication control device 1 according to a first embodiment. The communication control device 1 includes a control unit 11. The control unit 11 includes a processor 91 such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), or NPU (Neural Network Processing Unit) connected by a bus, and a memory 92. The communication control device 1 controls the communication performed by the wireless communication device 2. The wireless communication device 2 communicates with the opposing terminal 3. Between the wireless communication device 2 and the terminal 3, there are objects such as stationary structures like buildings and moving objects like automobiles. These objects may act as shields in the propagation of radio waves between the wireless communication device 2 and the terminal 3. In addition, these objects may cause reflection or diffraction in the propagation of radio waves between the wireless communication device 2 and the terminal 3, becoming part of the propagation path. The communication control device 1 controls communication taking into account the objects between the wireless communication device 2 and the terminal 3.

[0013] The wireless communication device 2 includes an antenna 23. The wireless communication device 2 performs signal processing and communication method control processing. Signal processing is the processing of signals transmitted and received via wireless communication. Communication method control processing is the processing of the communication method of the signals. The processing of the communication method of the signals is, for example, the control of the phase and amplitude of the beam of the transmitted and received signals (beamforming). The antenna 23 may be an aggregated array configuration or a distributed antenna configuration.

[0014] In the wireless communication device 2, the processing functions may be divided. For example, the processing functions may be divided as in the RU (Radio Unit), DU (Distributed Unit), and CU (Central) in a 5G mobile communication system.

[0015] A sensor 22 is attached to the wireless communication device 2. The sensor 22 acquires sensing data from sensing targets in the surrounding environment. Sensing targets are objects in the surrounding environment, such as stationary structures like buildings or moving objects like automobiles. The sensor 22 acquires a signal indicating the position from the sensing target, processes the acquired signal, and generates sensing data indicating the position of the sensing target. The sensor 22 may further acquire a signal indicating the speed from the sensing target, process the acquired signal, and generate sensing data indicating the speed of the sensing target. The sensor 22 is, for example, an FMCW (frequency modulated continuous wave) LiDAR, and generates 3D point cloud data of the sensing target as sensing data. The sensor 22 only needs to be able to generate sensing data indicating the position of the sensing target, and the sensor 22 may include, for example, a radar, camera, microphone, etc., and acquire a signal indicating the position of the sensing target, and the control unit 11 performs signal processing on the acquired signal to generate 3D point cloud data of the sensing target. The sensor 22, like the antenna 23, may be in an aggregated configuration or a distributed configuration.

[0016] The sensor 22 may be, for example, an FMCW (frequency modulated continuous wave) LiDAR, and may generate data on the relative velocity of the three-dimensional point cloud in addition to the three-dimensional point cloud of the object being sensed as sensing data. The sensor 22 may include, for example, a radar, camera, microphone, etc., and acquire signals indicating the position and velocity of the object being sensed, and the control unit 11 may perform signal processing on the acquired signals to generate data on the relative velocity of the three-dimensional point cloud in addition to the three-dimensional point cloud of the object being sensed.

[0017] The communication control device 1 controls communication with the terminal 3 via the antenna 23 based on sensing data acquired by the sensor 22. The communication control device 1 communicates with the sensor 22 and the antenna 23 to send and receive data. The communication control device 1 may be installed in the vicinity of the sensor 22 and the antenna 23, and may perform short-range communication with the sensor 22 and the antenna 23 to send and receive data.

[0018] The control unit 11 performs, for example, sensing data acquisition processing, digital twin generation processing, emulation processing, and communication control parameter generation processing.

[0019] The sensing data acquisition process is the process of acquiring sensing data using the sensor 22. The sensing data acquisition process is executed, for example, at predetermined intervals.

[0020] The digital twin generation process generates a digital twin of a predetermined time period based on sensing data generated by the sensor 22. The digital twin of a predetermined time period is data that estimates the surrounding environment at that time, and indicates the positions of objects in the surrounding environment at that time. It is desirable that the generated digital twin is a digital twin of the time required from the acquisition of sensing data to the execution of communication control, and is desirable that it is a digital twin of a time period longer than the execution time of the emulation described later.

[0021] The sensing data generated by sensor 22 includes data on the positions of objects in the surrounding environment. By using the object position data at multiple time points, the position of an object after a predetermined time can be estimated.

[0022] If the sensing data includes data on the velocity of objects in the surrounding environment, and assuming that the velocity of objects in the surrounding environment is constant, the displacement of the sensed object from the time of sensing to a predetermined time can be calculated. This allows the position of the object in the surrounding environment after the predetermined time to be estimated. Through the above procedure, a digital twin of the object after the predetermined time is generated in the digital twin generation process.

[0023] In the digital twin generation process, a digital twin may be generated based on sensing data using machine learning to capture a digital twin after a predetermined time. The machine learning model used here is trained to output a digital twin after a predetermined time when sensing data is input. This machine learning model can be created by using past sensing data as training data.

[0024] A database of 3D models is stored, and in the digital twin generation process, objects may be replaced with 3D models in the database. If the sensing data includes image data of the surrounding environment, the type of object in the surrounding environment can be determined from the image. The type of object may be, for example, the make or model number of a car. A database is stored that associates car make or model numbers with corresponding 3D models of cars, and in the digital twin generation process, the car make or model number of a car included in the image can be determined from the image data, and a 3D model corresponding to that make or model number may be generated as a digital twin of that car. The objects that can be replaced with 3D models are not limited to cars; for example, trains may also be included.

[0025] The emulation process is a process that emulates the communication path state between the wireless communication device 2 and the terminal 3 using a digital twin generated after a predetermined time. The communication path state includes propagation path, propagation attenuation, propagation delay, etc. Examples of emulation methods include ray tracing and FDTD (Finite-Difference Time-Domain). The emulation method may also be based on machine learning.

[0026] The communication control parameter generation process generates appropriate communication control parameters based on the emulation results. These communication control parameters include, for example, the modulation scheme and the weights for analog / digital beamforming. In the communication method control process by the wireless communication device 2, the signal communication method is controlled, such as controlling the phase and amplitude of the beam, based on the generated communication control parameters.

[0027] Figure 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the communication control device 1 according to the first embodiment. The control unit 11 executes a sensing data acquisition process and acquires sensing data from the sensor 22 (step S11). The control unit 11 executes a digital twin generation process and generates a digital twin based on the sensing data at a certain time after the sensing data was acquired (step S12). The control unit 11 executes an emulation process and emulates the communication path state between the wireless communication device 2 and the terminal 3 in the generated digital twin at a certain time after the acquisition (step S13). The control unit 11 executes a communication control parameter generation process and generates communication control parameters based on the emulation result (step S14). The wireless communication device 2 controls the phase and amplitude of the beams of the signals to be transmitted and received based on the generated communication control parameters. As a result, the communication performed by the wireless communication device 2 can be controlled. The communication control device 1 can control the transmitted and received beams to suit the changing surrounding environment by repeating the operations from step S11 to step S14.

[0028] In the first embodiment, the communication control device 1 generates a digital twin of a certain time period based on sensing data, emulates the communication path state based on the digital twin of that time period, generates communication control parameters, and controls the communication method. The digital twin generated here is, for example, the result of estimating the surrounding environment at the timing of controlling the communication method. Therefore, the communication control device 1 can perform communication control in real time.

[0029] The second embodiment will now be described. The processing performed by the control unit 11 of the communication control device 1 according to the second embodiment differs from the processing performed by the control unit 11 according to the first embodiment in that, in the digital twin generation process, it does not newly generate a digital twin in a region where the change in the impact on wireless communication over time is small. In the digital twin generation process of the second embodiment, the digital twin that was not newly generated uses a digital twin that was previously generated in that region.

[0030] Regions where the impact on wireless communication changes little over time include regions with objects that contribute little to wireless communication and regions with objects that contribute stably to wireless communication. Objects that contribute little to wireless communication are those that do not affect the signal reception quality, or only have a negligible effect, whether they are present or absent. Objects that contribute stably to wireless communication are those that affect the signal reception quality but are not significantly affected by environmental fluctuations. For example, a static object that is not significantly affected by surrounding objects can be considered an object that contributes stably to wireless communication.

[0031] In the digital twin generation process, regions where the impact on wireless communication changes little over time are determined based on previous emulation results. For example, if ray tracing is performed during emulation, if an object is not part of the propagation path or is part of a multipath propagation path where the received power is below a predetermined threshold, the region containing the object is determined to be a region where the impact on wireless communication changes little over time. The determination of regions where the impact on wireless communication changes little over time may be based on the result of the most recent emulation, or on the results of multiple previous emulations. In the second embodiment, the storage unit 13 of the control unit 11, described later, stores past emulation results and previously generated digital twins.

[0032] Figure 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the communication control device 1 according to the second embodiment. The control unit 11 executes a sensing data acquisition process and acquires sensing data from the sensor 22 (step S21). Based on previous emulation results, the control unit 11 determines regions where the change in the impact on wireless communication over time is small (step S22). The control unit 11 executes a digital twin generation process and generates a digital twin based on the sensing data at a certain time after the sensing data has been acquired (step S23). In step S23, a digital twin is generated in the regions where it has been determined that a digital twin should be generated. Subsequently, the control unit 11 generates a digital twin in the regions where it has been determined that a digital twin should not be generated, from the digital twins that have been generated in the past (step S24). Steps S23 and S24 generate digital twins in all regions. The digital twins generated here are stored.

[0033] The control unit 11 performs emulation processing and emulates the communication path state between the wireless communication device 2 and the terminal 3 in the digital twin after a certain period of time (step S25). The emulation result is stored in the storage unit 13. The control unit 11 performs communication control parameter generation processing and generates communication control parameters based on the emulation result (step S26). The wireless communication device 2 controls the phase and amplitude of the beams of the signals to be transmitted and received based on the generated communication control parameters. The communication control device 1 can control the transmitted and received beams to suit the changing surrounding environment by repeating the operations from step S21 to step S26.

[0034] In the second embodiment, unlike the first embodiment, a digital twin of a region where the impact on wireless communication changes over time is small is not generated from the sensing data. This reduces the computational capacity required for generating and emulating the digital twin, thereby shortening the computation time. This saves computational capacity in the communication control device 1. Furthermore, because the computation time is shortened, the generated digital twin can be a digital twin of a shorter time period. This leads to an improvement in the estimation accuracy of the digital twin, and thus improves the accuracy of communication control.

[0035] <Example of Hardware Configuration of Communication Control Device 1> Figure 4 shows an example of the hardware configuration of the communication control device 1 in the embodiment. The communication control device 1 includes a control unit 11 which has a processor 91 and memory 92 connected by a bus, and executes a program. The communication control device 1 functions as a device comprising the control unit 11, interface unit 12 and storage unit 13 by executing the program.

[0036] More specifically, the processor 91 reads the program stored in the storage unit 13 and stores the read program in the memory 92. By executing the program stored in the memory 92, the processor 91 functions as a device comprising a control unit 11, an interface unit 12, and a storage unit 13.

[0037] The control unit 11 controls the operation of each functional unit of the communication control device 1. The control unit 11, for example, acquires information stored in the storage unit 13. Specifically, the process of acquiring information stored in the storage unit 13 is reading. The control unit 11 may, for example, output various types of information to the storage unit 13. The storage unit 13 records the information output to the storage unit 13. The control unit 11, for example, acquires information acquired by the interface unit 12. The control unit 11, for example, controls the interface unit 12 to send the information to be transmitted to the destination.

[0038] The control unit 11 performs, for example, sensing data acquisition processing, digital twin generation processing, emulation processing, and communication control parameter generation processing.

[0039] The interface unit 12 is configured to include a communication interface for connecting the communication control device 1 to an external device. The interface unit 12 communicates with the external device via wired or wireless means. The external device is, for example, a sensor 22 and an antenna 23. The interface unit 12 acquires sensing data by communicating with the sensor 22 and controls the communication method of the antenna 23 by communicating with the antenna 23.

[0040] The interface unit 12 may include input devices such as a mouse, keyboard, or touch panel. The interface unit 12 may also be configured as an interface connecting these input devices to the communication control device 1. In this way, the input devices of the interface unit 12 receive various types of information to the communication control device 1 via wired or wireless connections. Note that various types of information, such as network information, do not necessarily need to be input to the communication interface of the interface unit 12; they may also be input to the input devices of the interface unit 12.

[0041] The interface unit 12 outputs various types of information, for example. The interface unit 12 includes, for example, a display device such as a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) display, a liquid crystal display, or an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) display, as well as a speaker. The interface unit 12 may be configured as an interface for connecting these display devices or speakers to the communication control device 1. Therefore, the display devices and speakers provided by the interface unit 12 output information input to the input device of the interface unit 12 as images or sounds, for example.

[0042] The storage unit 13 is configured using a computer-readable recording medium such as a magnetic hard disk drive or a semiconductor memory device. The storage unit 13 stores various information related to the communication control device 1. For example, the storage unit 13 stores a database of generated digital twins, emulation results, and 3D models.

[0043] As described above, an embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to the above, and various design changes and the like can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0044] In the above embodiment, the communication control device 1 executes sensing data acquisition processing, digital twin generation processing, emulation processing, and communication control parameter generation processing. However, each processing may be executed by two or more different devices. Also, the communication control device 1 may execute the signal processing and / or communication method control processing executed by the wireless communication device 2.

[0045] The signal transmitted and received by the antenna 23 may be utilized for sensing. This can be realized by ISAC (Integrated Sensing and Communication). When the signal transmitted and received by the antenna 23 is utilized for sensing, the wireless communication device 2 may not include the sensor 22, and the antenna 23 may generate sensing data.

[0046] The wireless communication device 2 may be read as a wireless base station, NodeB, eNodeB, gNodeB, access point, cell, macro cell, small cell, femto cell, pico cell, etc.

[0047] 1 Communication control device, 2 Wireless communication device, 3 Terminal, 11 Control unit, 12 Interface unit, 13 Storage unit, 22 Sensor, 23 Antenna, 91 Processor, 92 Memory

Claims

1. A communication control device comprising: a control unit that performs: a digital twin generation process that generates a digital twin of the surrounding environment after a predetermined time based on sensing data including data on the positions of objects in the surrounding environment of a wireless communication device; an emulation process that emulates the communication path state between the wireless communication device and a terminal based on the generated digital twin; and a communication control parameter generation process that generates communication control parameters defining the communication method of the wireless communication device based on the emulated result.

2. In the digital twin generation process, objects included in the database of three-dimensional models are replaced with three-dimensional models included in the database, as described in claim 1.

3. In the digital twin generation process, no new digital twins are generated in regions where the impact on wireless communication changes over time. The communication control device according to claim 1 or 2.

4. A communication control method comprising: a digital twin generation step of generating a digital twin of the surrounding environment after a predetermined time based on sensing data including data on the positions of objects in the surrounding environment of a wireless communication device; an emulation step of emulating the communication path state between the wireless communication device and a terminal based on the generated digital twin; and a communication control parameter generation step of generating communication control parameters that define the communication method of the wireless communication device based on the emulated result.

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