Wireless communication apparatus, wireless communication system, and wireless communication method

Abstract

A wireless communication system according to the present disclosure comprises: an aggregation unit that aggregates information about a base station status and request, a relay station status and request, and a terminal status and request; a route selection unit that generates a plurality of communication route plans from the information aggregated by the aggregation unit, evaluates entire network states for the generated communication route plans on the basis of evaluation indexes, and selects a communication route plan that optimizes the evaluation result of the entire network; and a route selection result transmission unit that transmits information about the selection result by the route selection unit.

Description

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

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

[0002] With the development of technology, in wireless communication systems, various communication topologies can be formed. A wireless communication system is expected to accommodate various services and applications, but the required communication quality varies depending on the service and application. Also, the terminals used in a wireless communication system have diversified, and the processing capabilities differ for each terminal. And power saving of the entire wireless communication system is required. In order to achieve the required communication quality while suppressing the power consumption of the wireless communication system, it is necessary to appropriately select a communication path. As a technique for selecting a communication path in a wireless communication system, for example, Patent Document 1 describes a method of determining a route based on communication quality.

[0003] Japanese Patent No. 4965592

[0004] A wireless communication system is expected to accommodate various services and applications, but the required communication quality varies depending on the service and application. Also, the terminals using services and applications in a wireless communication system have diversified, and the processing capabilities differ for each terminal. And power saving of the entire wireless communication system is required. In order to achieve the required communication quality while suppressing the power consumption of the wireless communication system, it is necessary to appropriately select a communication path. In the prior art as described in Patent Document 1, the communication quality of each communication path, the power consumption of the entire system, and the processing capabilities of the terminals using services and applications cannot be fully considered, and it is difficult to achieve the required communication quality while suppressing power consumption.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems. An object of the present invention is to achieve the required communication quality while suppressing the power consumption in a wireless communication system.

[0006] A wireless communication device according to one aspect of the present invention comprises: an aggregation unit that aggregates information on the status and requests of base stations, the status and requests of relay stations, and the status and requests of terminals; a route selection unit that generates a plurality of proposed communication routes from the information aggregated in the aggregation unit, evaluates the state of the entire network based on an evaluation index for the generated proposed communication routes, and selects the proposed communication route that is optimal in the evaluation result for the entire network; and a route selection result transmission unit that transmits information on the selection result by the route selection unit.

[0007] Furthermore, a wireless communication system according to one aspect of the present invention includes: an aggregation unit that aggregates information on the status and requests of base stations, the status and requests of relay stations, and the status and requests of terminals; a route selection unit that generates a plurality of proposed communication routes from the information aggregated in the aggregation unit, evaluates the state of the entire network based on an evaluation index for the generated proposed communication routes, and selects the proposed communication route that is optimal in terms of the evaluation results for the entire network; and a route selection result transmission unit that transmits information on the selection results by the route selection unit.

[0008] Furthermore, a wireless communication method according to one aspect of the present invention comprises the steps of: aggregating information on the status and requests of base stations, relay stations, and terminals; generating a plurality of proposed communication paths from the information on the status and requests of base stations, relay stations, and terminals; evaluating the state of the entire network based on an evaluation index for the generated proposed communication paths and selecting the proposed communication path that results in the optimal evaluation for the entire network; and starting communication according to the selection result of the proposed communication path that results in the optimal evaluation for the entire network.

[0009] According to the present invention, it is possible to achieve the required communication quality while suppressing power consumption in wireless communication systems.

[0010] This figure shows the configuration of the wireless communication system according to Embodiment 1. This block diagram shows a functional configuration example of the aggregation station according to Embodiment 1. This figure illustrates an example of the operation of the aggregation station according to Embodiment 1. This figure illustrates an example of route selection in the wireless communication system according to Embodiment 1. This figure shows an example of the hardware configuration that realizes each function of the wireless communication system according to Embodiment 1.

[0011] The embodiments will be described below with reference to the attached drawings. In this disclosure, redundant explanations will be simplified or omitted as appropriate. This disclosure is not limited to the following embodiments. This disclosure may include various modifications and combinations of the configurations disclosed in the following embodiments, without departing from the spirit thereof. In this disclosure, "base station" can be interchangeably read as "wireless base station," "NodeB," "eNodeB," "access point," "cell," "macrocell," "small cell," "femtocell," "picocell," etc.

[0012] Embodiment 1. Figure 1 shows the configuration of a wireless communication system according to Embodiment 1. The wireless communication system according to this embodiment is a wireless communication system that accommodates multiple different services and applications. The wireless communication system according to this embodiment consists of a base station 10, a relay station 20, and a terminal 30. In Figure 1, one base station 10, one relay station 20, and one terminal 30 are shown for clarity of explanation, but the wireless communication system according to this disclosure may include multiple base stations 10, multiple relay stations 20, and multiple terminals 30.

[0013] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 1, the wireless communication system according to this embodiment is characterized by comprising a aggregation station 40. Figure 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration example of the aggregation station 40 according to Embodiment 1. The aggregation station 40 is an example of a wireless communication device according to the present disclosure.

[0014] When setting up each station or when traffic usage is low, the base station 10, relay station 20, and terminal 30 notify the aggregation station 40 of their status as a pre-processing step. In this disclosure, "status" refers to various information that can be read from each station, such as device quality, compensation capability, compensation resources, impact of RF circuit imperfections, processing resources, processing delay, location, battery level, and number of connections. Note that the notification of status from the base station 10, relay station 20, and terminal 30 to the aggregation station 40 may be performed during communication rather than as a pre-processing step.

[0015] As shown in Figure 1, the base station 10 and the terminal 30 access each other via the relay station 20, or without the relay station 20. When the base station 10 and the terminal 30 access each other, the base station 10, the relay station 20, and the terminal 30 notify the aggregation station 40 of their current status. Furthermore, in addition to their status, the base station 10, the relay station 20, and the terminal 30 notify the aggregation station 40 of the requests necessary for communication. In this disclosure, "requests" refers to various requests necessary to realize communication, such as processing resources, compensation resources, communication delay, power consumption, and throughput.

[0016] As shown in Figure 2, the aggregation station 40 comprises an aggregation unit 41, a route selection unit 42, and a route selection result transmission unit 43. The aggregation unit 41 aggregates information on the status and requests of the base station 10, the status and requests of the relay station 20, and the status and requests of the terminal 30, and organizes the aggregated information.

[0017] The route selection unit 42 selects the optimal communication route from the information of each station aggregated in the aggregation unit 41. More specifically, the route selection unit 42 generates multiple communication route options from the information aggregated in the aggregation unit 41, evaluates the state of the entire network based on evaluation indicators for the generated communication route options, and selects the communication route option that results in the optimal evaluation for the entire network. The route selection result transmission unit 43 transmits the information of the communication route selection result selected by the route selection unit 42 to each station.

[0018] As shown in Figure 1, for example, the aggregation station 40 generates route proposals based on the status of each station. Then, the aggregation station 40 narrows down the generated route proposals to those that satisfy the requirements of each station. This generates multiple route proposals that take into account the status and requirements of each station.

[0019] As shown in Figure 1, for example, the aggregation station 40 evaluates the state of the entire network based on evaluation indicators for the narrowed-down route options and selects the communication route that is optimal for the entire network. The aggregation station 40 notifies each station of the selection result. The base stations 10, relay stations 20, and terminals 30 start communication according to the route selection result by the aggregation station 40.

[0020] Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in wireless communication are used as evaluation results and indicators for the overall state of the network. Examples of KPIs include communication quality, communication delay, power consumption, and throughput. The priority of each KPI can also be used as an evaluation result and indicator.

[0021] Figure 3 illustrates an example of the operation of the aggregation station 40 according to Embodiment 1. The aggregation station 40 receives, for example, the status of each station, the requests of each station, and the evaluation index method as input data. The aggregation station 40 performs calculations using, for example, a pre-set route selection function 45 and selects the optimal communication path as described above. The aggregation station 40 outputs information about the selected communication path as output data. Note that the selection of the optimal communication path is not limited to the pre-set route selection function 45; for example, machine learning may also be used.

[0022] Figure 4 illustrates an example of route selection in a wireless communication system according to Embodiment 1. The example in Figure 4 shows a case where a first terminal 30a and a second terminal 30b communicate with a base station 10a via a first relay station 20a or a second relay station 20b. In this case, routes α, β, γ, and δ are generated as proposed routes. Of these four, the routes are narrowed down to those that satisfy the requirements of each station. Here, it is assumed that all four routes satisfy the requirements.

[0023] Next, the optimal route is selected when considering the entire network. Evaluation metrics for route selection include, for example, the power consumption of each terminal 30 and the power consumption of the entire network. For example, suppose the total power consumption is 16 when using routes α and γ. Suppose the total power consumption is 19 when using routes α and δ. Suppose the total power consumption is 26 when using routes β and γ. Suppose the total power consumption is 15 when using routes β and δ. In this case, routes β and δ are selected as the optimal route. Note that evaluation metrics are not limited to power consumption; other KPIs may also be used.

[0024] As described above, the wireless communication system according to this embodiment and the aggregation station 40 constituting this wireless communication system can optimize the communication path and achieve the required communication quality while suppressing power consumption. The aggregation station 40 in the above-described embodiment is an example of a wireless communication device according to this disclosure. The wireless communication device according to this disclosure can also be implemented as, for example, a base station 10, a relay station 20, or another device located at a higher layer. At least a part of the functions of the aggregation station 40 in the above-described embodiment may be provided in the base station 10, the relay station 20, or another device located at a higher layer. The main functions of the wireless communication system according to this disclosure can be implemented by a single wireless communication device such as the base station 10, the relay station 20, the aggregation station 40, or another device located at a higher layer, or they can be implemented as a system in which multiple devices cooperate.

[0025] Each function of the wireless communication system according to the above-described embodiment may be implemented in part or in whole using hardware such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), PLD (Programmable Logic Device), or FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array). Each function of the wireless communication system may also be implemented by a combination of dedicated hardware and software. Furthermore, each function of the wireless communication system may be configured in part or in whole as a program executed by a processor such as a CPU. This program may be recorded on a computer-readable storage medium.

[0026] For example, each function of a wireless communication system can be implemented using a computer and a program, and the program can be recorded on a storage medium or provided over a network.

[0027] Figure 5 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration that realizes each function of the wireless communication system according to Embodiment 1. As shown in Figure 5, each function of the wireless communication system is realized by, for example, an input unit 100, an output unit 110, a communication unit 120, a CPU 130, a memory 140, and an HDD 150. The input unit 100, output unit 110, communication unit 120, CPU 130, memory 140, and HDD 150 are connected via a bus 160 and have the functionality of a computer. Furthermore, the computer composed of the input unit 100, output unit 110, communication unit 120, CPU 130, memory 140, and HDD 150 is capable of inputting and outputting data to and from a storage medium 170 that the computer can read.

[0028] The input unit 100 is, for example, a keyboard and mouse. The output unit 110 is, for example, a display device such as a display. The communication unit 120 is, for example, a wireless network interface.

[0029] The CPU 130 controls each component of the wireless communication system and performs predetermined processing. The memory 140 and HDD 150 function as storage units for storing various types of data. The storage medium 170 stores programs that execute the various functions of the wireless communication system.

[0030] Furthermore, the term "computer" as used herein includes hardware such as the operating system and peripheral devices. "Computer-readable storage medium" refers to portable media such as flexible disks, magneto-optical disks, ROMs, and CD-ROMs.

[0031] Furthermore, "computer-readable storage medium" may refer to a medium that dynamically holds a program for a short period of time, such as a communication line used when transmitting a program over a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line. Alternatively, "computer-readable storage medium" may refer to a medium that holds a program for a certain period of time, such as volatile memory inside a server or client computer.

[0032] The wireless communication device, wireless communication system, and wireless communication method according to the present invention can be applied, for example, to a mobile base station that provides wireless communication.

[0033] 10 Base station 20 Relay station 30 Terminal 40 Aggregation station 41 Aggregation unit 42 Route selection unit 43 Route selection result electronic unit 44 Input data 45 Route selection function 46 Output data 100 Input unit 110 Output unit 120 Communication unit 130 CPU 140 Memory 150 HDD 160 Bus 170 Storage medium

Claims

1. A wireless communication device comprising: an aggregation unit that aggregates information on the status and requests of base stations, relay stations, and terminals; a route selection unit that generates multiple proposed communication paths from the information aggregated in the aggregation unit, evaluates the state of the entire network based on evaluation indicators for the generated proposed communication paths, and selects the proposed communication path that is optimal for the evaluation result of the entire network; and a route selection result transmission unit that transmits information on the selection result by the route selection unit.

2. A wireless communication system comprising: an aggregation unit that aggregates information on the status and requests of base stations, relay stations, and terminals; a route selection unit that generates multiple proposed communication paths from the information aggregated in the aggregation unit, evaluates the state of the entire network based on evaluation indicators for the generated proposed communication paths, and selects the proposed communication path that is optimal for the evaluation result of the entire network; and a route selection result transmission unit that transmits information on the selection result by the route selection unit.

3. A wireless communication method comprising: a step of aggregating information on the status and requests of base stations, relay stations, and terminals; a step of generating multiple proposed communication paths from the information on the status and requests of base stations, relay stations, and terminals; a step of evaluating the state of the entire network based on evaluation indicators for the generated proposed communication paths and selecting the proposed communication path that provides the optimal evaluation result for the entire network; and a step of initiating communication according to the selection result of the proposed communication path that provides the optimal evaluation result for the entire network.

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