Control device and control method

Abstract

This control device comprises: a collection unit that acquires, from a plurality of communication stations accommodating one or more terminals, cooperation information including a combination of information pertaining to communication in each communication station; and an analysis unit that determines one or more communication stations, which are to be subjected to sleep control, from among the plurality of communication stations on the basis of the combination, of information pertaining to communication in each communication station, included in the cooperation information, and causes the determined one or more communication stations to execute sleep control.　

Description

Control device and control method

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

[0002] In conventional communication systems that perform wireless communication between terminals and base stations, each base station calculates the throughput and automates the system to enter sleep mode when the throughput exceeds a threshold, thereby saving power. In such communication systems, terminals connected to a sleeping base station are instructed to hand over to the base station with the highest throughput. This allows the terminal to continue communicating.

[0003] However, in the above communication system, if a terminal connected to a sleep base station is handed over to a base station that already has many terminals connected, it may lead to a deterioration in communication quality. Furthermore, in the above communication system, each base station autonomously decides whether or not to enter sleep mode, so overall optimization may not be possible, potentially limiting the effectiveness of power saving.

[0004] Therefore, a communication system has been proposed that collects information such as the number of terminals accommodated by each distributed station and the traffic volume of each distributed station as coordination information from each distributed station that makes up each base station, and puts the distributed stations to sleep based on the collected coordination information (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In the communication system described in Patent Document 1, a distributed station to which multiple terminals will be aggregated is determined based on the coordination information, and the multiple terminals are aggregated to the determined distributed station. Then, other distributed stations that have lost connections are put into sleep mode. This makes it possible to save power in other distributed stations that have lost connections.

[0005] International Publication No. 2023 / 223416

[0006] In the communication system described in Patent Document 1, there are cases where the service requirements cannot be met. For example, consider a scenario where the processing capacity of the distribution station that serves as the aggregation point is at its maximum, and it is possible to collect even more traffic at that distribution station. Here, the processing capacity of the distribution station refers to information such as the memory usage rate and CPU usage rate of the distribution station. In such a case, if even more traffic is aggregated to the distribution station that serves as the aggregation point, the signal processing at the distribution station will not be able to keep up, and the service requirements for high-priority traffic will not be met. Therefore, in the communication system described in Patent Document 1, there were cases where power saving could not be achieved while meeting the service requirements. This problem is not limited to communication systems that are wirelessly connected to terminals, but also occurs in communication systems that are wired to terminals.

[0007] In view of the above circumstances, the present invention aims to provide a technology that can improve the effect of power saving while satisfying service requirements.

[0008] One aspect of the present invention is a control device comprising: a collection unit that acquires cooperation information, including a combination of information regarding communications at each of a plurality of communication stations accommodating one or more terminals; and an analysis unit that determines one or more communication stations to be subjected to sleep control from among the plurality of communication stations based on the combination of information regarding communications at each communication station included in the cooperation information, and causes the determined one or more communication stations to perform sleep control.

[0009] One aspect of the present invention is a control method that acquires cooperation information, which includes a combination of communication information at each communication station, from a plurality of communication stations that accommodate one or more terminals; determines one or more communication stations to be subjected to sleep control from among the plurality of communication stations based on the combination of communication information at each communication station included in the cooperation information; and causes sleep control to be performed on the determined one or more communication stations.

[0010] This invention makes it possible to improve power saving effects while meeting service requirements.

[0011] This diagram illustrates the overall configuration and processing overview of the mobile network system in the first embodiment. This diagram shows an example of the configuration of the mobile network system in the first embodiment. This flowchart shows an example of the flow of sleep processing (part 1) executed by the management control device in the first embodiment. This flowchart shows an example of the flow of sleep wake-up processing (part 1) executed by the management control device in the first embodiment. This flowchart shows an example of the flow of sleep processing (part 2) executed by the management control device in the first embodiment. This flowchart shows an example of the flow of sleep wake-up processing (part 2) executed by the management control device in the first embodiment. This flowchart shows an example of the flow of sleep processing (part 3) executed by the management control device in the first embodiment. This flowchart shows an example of the configuration of the mobile network system in modified example 1 of the first embodiment. This diagram shows an example of the configuration of the mobile network system in modified example 2 of the first embodiment. This diagram shows an example of the configuration of the mobile network system in modified example 3 of the first embodiment. This diagram shows an example of the configuration of the mobile network system in modified example 4 of the first embodiment. This diagram shows an example of the configuration of the mobile network system in modified example 5 of the first embodiment. This diagram shows an example of the configuration of the mobile network system in modified example 6 of the first embodiment. This diagram shows an example of the configuration of the mobile network system in modified example 7 of the first embodiment. This figure shows another example of the transfer device in the first embodiment. This flowchart shows an example of the sleep process flow performed by the management control device in Modification 8 of the first embodiment. This flowchart shows an example of the sleep wake-up process flow performed by the management control device in Modification 8 of the first embodiment. This figure illustrates the overall configuration and processing overview of the mobile NW system in the second embodiment. This figure shows an example of the configuration of the mobile NW system in the second embodiment. This flowchart shows an example of the sleep process (part 1) flow performed by the management control device in the second embodiment. This flowchart shows an example of the sleep wake-up process (part 1) flow performed by the management control device in the second embodiment.This figure illustrates the overall configuration and processing overview of the wired network system in the third embodiment. This figure shows an example configuration of the wired network system in the third embodiment. This flowchart shows an example of the sleep processing (part 1) flow performed by the management control device in the third embodiment. This flowchart shows an example of the sleep wake-up processing (part 1) flow performed by the management control device in the third embodiment.

[0012] One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0013] (Outline of the First Embodiment) Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating the overall configuration and processing overview of the mobile network system in the first embodiment. First, the overall configuration of the mobile network system in the first embodiment will be described. The mobile network system is an example of a communication system. The mobile network system is, for example, a fifth-generation mobile communication system (hereinafter referred to as "5G"). The mobile network system comprises a radio station 12, a transmission device 13, a distributed station 15, an aggregation station 16, a core device 17, a server 18, and a management control device 20. In the following description, the direction from the terminal 11 to the server 18 will be described as the uplink direction, and the direction from the server 18 to the terminal 11 will be described as the downlink direction.

[0014] The transfer device 13 and the distributed station 15, the distributed station 15 and the aggregation station 16, the aggregation station 16 and the core device 17, and the core device 17 and the server 18 are connected by optical fibers for transmitting optical signals. The transfer device 13 and the management control device 20, and the distributed station 15 and the management control device 20 may be connected by either control lines (e.g., electric wires) or optical fibers for transmitting control signals.

[0015] The example shown in Figure 1 illustrates a mobile network system comprising two radio stations 12-1 to 12-2, one transmission device 13, and two distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2. The number of radio stations 12, transmission devices 13, distributed stations 15, aggregation station 16, core device 17, and server 18 in the mobile network system is not particularly limited.

[0016] The radio station 12 is equipped with one or more antennas and performs wireless communication with one or more terminals 11. For example, the radio station 12 receives an uplink signal transmitted from one or more terminals 11 and transmits the received uplink signal to the destination distributed station 15 via the transfer device 13. The radio station 12 transmits the downlink signal received via the transfer device 13 to one or more terminals 11.

[0017] If the radio station 12 is equipped with multiple antennas, the radio station 12 may perform wireless communication with one or more terminals 11 by beamforming. The radio station 12 is, for example, a Radio Unit (RU) in the 5G communication standard.

[0018] The transmission device 13 is installed between the radio station 12 and the distributed station 15. The transmission device 13 is, for example, a router or L2 switch that has the function of transmitting optical signals. The transmission device 13 converts the uplink signal transmitted from the radio station 12 into an optical signal and transmits it to the destination distributed station 15, or converts the optical signal transmitted from the distributed station 15 into an electrical signal (downlink signal) and transmits it to the destination radio station 12.

[0019] The transfer device 13 controls the optical path according to control instructions (hereinafter referred to as "optical path control information") transmitted from the management control device 20. For example, the optical path control performed by the transfer device 13 includes switching optical paths and forming new optical paths. By controlling the optical path, the transfer device 13 controls the connection between the radio station 12 and the distributed station 15. For example, when the transfer device 13 receives optical path control information transmitted from the management control device 20, it performs a switch so that an optical path is connected between the radio station 12 and the distributed station 15, which is the destination of the optical path switch.

[0020] Furthermore, as described above, the transfer device 13 includes a plurality of optical transceivers (not shown in Figure 1) for transmitting and receiving optical signals with at least the distributed stations 15. The optical transceivers have, for example, the function of receiving an uplink signal transmitted from the radio station 12, converting the received uplink signal into an optical signal and transferring it to the distributed station 15, and the function of receiving an optical signal transmitted from the distributed station 15, converting the received optical signal into an electrical signal and transferring it to the radio station 12.

[0021] The distributed station 15 receives the uplink signal transmitted by one or more radio stations 12 as an optical signal via the transfer device 13. The distributed station 15 transmits the downlink signal to one or more destination radio stations 12 via the transfer device 13. The uplink signal transmitted by one or more radio stations 12 is the signal transmitted by terminal 11, and the downlink signal is a signal destined for terminal 11.

[0022] Each distributed station 15 enters a sleep state in accordance with a sleep instruction transmitted from the management control device 20. The sleep state is a state in which power saving is possible by stopping some functions or the entire device. Each distributed station 15 exits the sleep state in accordance with a sleep release instruction transmitted from the management control device 20. Exiting the sleep state means making the stopped functions (functions in sleep state) usable by activating them. The distributed station 15 is, for example, a DU (Distributed Unit) in the 5G communication standard. The information that the management control device 20 acquires from the distributed station 15 is called collaborative information. The distributed station 15 is one form of a communication station.

[0023] In the first embodiment, the collaborative information is information relating to each distributed station 15, for example, information indicating the state of communication between each distributed station 15 and the terminal 11. The collaborative information in the first embodiment includes, for example, information on the traffic volume of each distributed station 15 and at least one of information on traffic priority or information on the processing capacity of each distributed station 15. Thus, the collaborative information in the first embodiment includes a combination of information relating to communication at each distributed station 15. The collaborative information in the first embodiment includes a first pattern which includes information on the traffic volume of each distributed station 15 and information on traffic priority, a second pattern which includes information on the traffic volume of each distributed station 15 and information on the processing capacity of each distributed station 15, and a third pattern which includes information on the traffic volume of each distributed station 15, information on traffic priority, and information on the processing capacity of each distributed station 15. The distributed station 15 may transmit collaborative information including information on traffic volume, information on traffic priority, and information on processing capacity to the management control device 20, and the management control device 20 may select the information to use.

[0024] Hereafter, information on traffic volume will be referred to as traffic information. Traffic information is, for example, described in DCI (Downlink Control Information) or O-RAN CTI (O-RAN.WG4.CTI-TCP.0-v01.00). In O-RAN CTI, it refers to schedule information.

[0025] Traffic priority information can be found in, for example, the 5QI (Quality of Service Identifier). The 5QI is defined in 3GPP® TS 23.501. When using the 5QI as traffic priority information, a smaller value indicates higher priority. Alternatively, the TPC (Transmit Power Control) command or MCS (Modulation and Coding Scheme) values ​​included in the DCI (Downlink Control Information) may also be used as traffic priority information. This is because, in order to transmit high-priority traffic, it is thought that the transmit power and channel quality should be set to good values. Furthermore, HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request) retransmission control information is considered to be high-priority traffic because it is transmitted multiple times, and therefore may be judged as having high priority.

[0026] The processing capacity information for each distributed station 15 indicates the signal processing capabilities of each distributed station 15. This information may include, for example, memory usage or CPU usage. However, the processing capacity information for each distributed station 15 is not limited to the above; it may include other information related to signal processing capabilities.

[0027] The aggregation station 16 aggregates the uplink signals transmitted by each distributed station 15 and transmits them to the core device 17. The aggregation station 16 transmits the downlink signals transmitted from the core device 17 to the target distributed station 15. The aggregation station 16 is, for example, a CU (Centralized Unit) in the 5G communication standard.

[0028] The core device 17 performs signal processing on the upstream signal aggregated by the aggregation station 16. The core device 17 transmits the signal obtained as a result of the execution of the signal processing on the upstream signal to the server 18.

[0029] The core device 17 performs predetermined signal processing on the signal received from the server 18. The core device 17 transmits the signal obtained as a result of the execution of the signal processing on the signal received from the server 18 to the aggregation station 16 as a downstream signal. The signal processing is, for example, the transfer of user data in the UPF (User Plane Function) of the 5G core network.

[0030] The server 18 transmits the signal transmitted from the core device 17 to an external network. The server 18 transmits the signal received from the external network to the core device 17.

[0031] The management control device 20 is a device that manages the entire mobile NW system. The management control device 20 acquires cooperation information from each distributed station 15. When the management control device 20 acquires cooperation information from each distributed station 15, it uses a cooperation interface. The cooperation interface is an interface that connects the management control device 20 and each distributed station 15. The management control device 20 determines whether optical path control and sleep control are necessary based on the acquired cooperation information. The management control device 20 determines whether optical path control and sleep control are necessary by taking into account, for example, not only traffic information but also traffic priority information or information on the processing capabilities of each distributed station 15.

[0032] For example, when the management control device 20 determines that sleep control is possible, it may determine that control of the optical path is necessary. When the management control device 20 determines that at least sleep control is necessary, it performs optical path control processing and sleep control processing. The optical path control processing is processing for causing at least the transfer device 13 to switch or generate an optical path between the radio station 12 and the distributed station 15. The sleep control processing is processing for causing a device to be subjected to sleep control to execute sleep or to release the sleep state. In the first embodiment, the device to be subjected to sleep control is, for example, the distributed station 15. The management control device 20 is one aspect of a control device.

[0033] Next, an outline of the processing of the mobile NW system in the first embodiment will be described. The upper diagram of FIG. 1 shows the connection state of the mobile NW system before optical path switching, and the lower diagram of FIG. 1 shows the connection state of the mobile NW system after optical path switching. In the upper diagram of FIG. 1, it is assumed that the radio station 12-1 is connected to the distributed station 15-1 via the transfer device 13, and the radio station 12-2 is connected to the distributed station 15-2 via the transfer device 13.

[0034] Based on the cooperation information collected from each distributed station 15, the management control device 20 determines that sleep control is possible when one distributed station 15 can accommodate the traffic of other distributed stations 15. That is, based on the cooperation information collected from each distributed station 15, when one distributed station 15 can accommodate the traffic of other distributed stations 15, the management control device 20 performs optical path control processing and sleep control processing. In this way, by causing one distributed station 15 to accommodate the traffic of other distributed stations 15, it is possible to shift other distributed stations 15 with no traffic to the sleep state.

[0035] When the management control device 20 performs optical path control processing, it instructs the transfer device 13 to switch the optical path. For example, as shown in the lower diagram of Figure 1, the management control device 20 determines that distributed station 15-1 can be put into sleep mode if distributed station 15-2 can accommodate all of the traffic from distributed station 15-1. Then, in the optical path control processing, the management control device 20 transmits optical path control information to the transfer device 13 instructing it to switch the path from the transfer device 13 to distributed station 15-1 to the path from the transfer device 13 to distributed station 15-2.

[0036] The transfer device 13 switches the optical path between the radio station 12 and the distributed station 15 in accordance with the optical path switching instruction from the management control device 20. For example, the transfer device 13 switches the optical path to connect radio station 12-1 and distributed station 15-2. This allows the transfer device 13 to switch the optical path so that the uplink signal transmitted from radio station 12-1, which was connected to distributed station 15-1, can be transferred to distributed station 15-2. As a result, the transfer device 13 transfers the uplink signals transmitted from radio stations 12-1 and 12-2 to distributed station 15-2. After the optical path switching is complete, the transfer device 13 notifies the management control device 20 of the completion of the optical path switching. Note that since the connection destination of terminal 11 is changed due to the optical path switching, the management control device 20 may instruct the distributed station 15 that is subject to the optical path switching to change its connection.

[0037] When the management control device 20 receives notification of completion of optical path switching from the device to be switched (for example, the transfer device 13), it sends a sleep permission notification to the device that can enter sleep mode. In the example shown in the lower part of Figure 1, the management control device 20 determines that the distributed station 15-1 is a device that can enter sleep mode. Therefore, the management control device 20 sends a sleep permission notification to the distributed station 15-1. The sleep permission notification is a signal that includes instructions to put the device under sleep control into sleep mode. As a result, the device under sleep control enters sleep mode.

[0038] The lower diagram of Figure 1 shows an example in which radio stations 12-1 to 12-2 are connected to distributed station 15-2, and distributed station 15-1 has entered a sleep state. Based on the coordination information collected from each distributed station 15, the management control device 20 connects terminals 11 connected to distributed stations 15 that are able to enter a sleep state to other distributed stations 15, thereby putting devices that are able to enter a sleep state into a sleep state.

[0039] By putting distributed station 15 into sleep mode, the optical path leading to distributed station 15 is switched. For example, if terminal 11 connected to distributed station 15-1, which can be put into sleep mode, is to be connected to distributed station 15-2, the optical path leading to distributed station 15-1 will be switched to lead to distributed station 15-2. In this way, by putting distributed station 15 into sleep mode, the optical path leading to distributed station 15 is switched. Hereafter, the distributed station 15 that is the source of the optical path switch will be referred to as the source distributed station, and the distributed station 15 that is the destination of the optical path switch will be referred to as the destination distributed station.

[0040] (Details of the First Embodiment) Figure 2 is a diagram showing an example configuration of the mobile network system 100 in the first embodiment. The mobile network system 100 in the first embodiment includes a radio station 12, a transmission device 13, a distributed station 15, an aggregation station 16, a core device 17, a server 18, and a management control device 20. The radio station 12, transmission device 13, distributed station 15, aggregation station 16, core device 17, and server 18 have been explained in Figure 1, so their explanation will be omitted here.

[0041] [Configuration of the Management Control Device 20] The management control device 20 comprises an information collection unit 21, an analysis unit 22, and a control unit 23. The information collection unit 21 comprises an acquisition unit 211. The acquisition unit 211 acquires various types of information. For example, the acquisition unit 211 collects cooperation information from distributed stations 15 at predetermined intervals or at arbitrary timings. The acquisition unit 211 collects information on the traffic volume of each distributed station 15 and at least one of the following as cooperation information: traffic priority information or information on the processing capacity of each distributed station 15.

[0042] The analysis unit 22 comprises an information storage unit 221 and an information analysis unit 222. The information storage unit 221 records the cooperation information collected by the acquisition unit 211 in a predetermined storage device. The information analysis unit 222 analyzes the communication status between each distributed station 15 and the terminal 11 based on the cooperation information. Specifically, the information analysis unit 222 determines whether optical path control and sleep control are necessary based on the cooperation information.

[0043] The information analysis unit 222 determines the distribution station 15 that aggregates traffic (aggregation destination distribution station) and the distribution station 15 that is subject to sleep control (sleep and wake-up) depending on the combination of information used as linked information. The specific details for each pattern are described below.

[0044] (Coordination information is the first pattern) In this case, the information analysis unit 222 uses traffic information and traffic priority information of each distributed station 15 as coordination information. First, the information analysis unit 222 determines the distributed stations 15 that will be candidates for sleep based on the traffic priority information included in the coordination information. For example, the information analysis unit 222 determines the distributed stations 15 that satisfy the priority-based aggregation condition based on the value indicated by the traffic priority information as candidates for sleep. The priority-based aggregation condition in the first embodiment is a condition for determining the distributed stations 15 that aggregate traffic based on traffic priority (distributed stations 15 that move traffic). The priority-based aggregation condition is, for example, that the value indicated by the traffic priority information is less than or equal to the priority determination threshold (or "greater than or equal to" depending on the priority information). In this case, even if a distributed station 15 satisfies the priority-based aggregation condition, the information analysis unit 222 may exclude distributed stations 15 that have traffic that does not satisfy the priority-based aggregation condition from the sleep candidates.

[0045] For example, the information analysis unit 222 may exclude distributed stations 15 with high-priority traffic (hereinafter referred to as "high-priority traffic") from the sleep candidates in order to meet service requirements. Alternatively, for example, the information analysis unit 222 may designate distributed stations 15 with a predetermined number or more of low-priority traffic as sleep candidates in order to prioritize putting distributed stations 15 with a large amount of low-priority traffic (hereinafter referred to as "low-priority traffic") into sleep mode. The information analysis unit 222 may pre-set the priority values ​​of the traffic to be aggregated. Furthermore, if all the traffic of each distributed station 15 has the same priority, the information analysis unit 222 may aggregate distributed stations 15 whose traffic volume is below a threshold and whose traffic volume is small. Alternatively, if the traffic volume is the same, the information analysis unit 222 may select randomly.

[0046] Next, the information analysis unit 222 determines, from among the determined candidate distributed stations 15 for sleep mode, the destination distributed station 15 (hereinafter referred to as the "destination distributed station") and the distributed stations 15 to be put into sleep mode (hereinafter referred to as the "sleep target distributed station"). In the first pattern, the destination distributed station is, for example, a distributed station 15 that satisfies the condition that it can aggregate the traffic of terminals 11 accommodated by other distributed stations 15. In the first pattern, the sleep target distributed station is a distributed station 15 that aggregates the traffic of terminals 11 connected to its own device to the destination distributed station. The sleep target distributed station is, for example, a distributed station 15 that satisfies the condition that there is no traffic after the traffic has been aggregated to the destination distributed station.

[0047] Furthermore, the information analysis unit 222 determines whether or not to wake the system from sleep mode based on the traffic information included in the linked information. For example, the information analysis unit 222 determines that it is necessary to wake the system from sleep mode if there is a distributed station 15 whose traffic volume exceeds the threshold used to determine whether or not to wake the system from sleep mode. On the other hand, the information analysis unit 222 determines that it is unnecessary to wake the system from sleep mode if there is no distributed station 15 whose traffic volume exceeds the threshold used to determine whether or not to wake the system from sleep mode.

[0048] If the information analysis unit 222 determines that it is necessary to wake the distributed stations 15, the distributed stations 15 whose traffic volume exceeds the threshold used to determine whether or not they need to wake up will be selected to be woken up from among the sleeping distributed stations 15. At this time, the information analysis unit 222 distributes the traffic from among the multiple traffics of the distributed stations 15 whose traffic volume exceeds the threshold used to determine whether or not they need to wake up to the highest priority traffic first. For example, the information analysis unit 222 identifies the path that the high-priority traffic will take after waking up, and selects the distributed stations 15 located on the identified path as the distributed stations 15 to be woken up. In this way, it is possible to satisfy service requirements by controlling the traffic with higher priority first.

[0049] (Second pattern of collaborative information) In this case, the information analysis unit 222 uses traffic information of each distributed station 15 and processing capacity information of each distributed station 15 as collaborative information. First, the information analysis unit 222 determines the distributed stations 15 that will be candidates for sleep based on the traffic information included in the collaborative information. Next, the information analysis unit 222 determines the destination distributed station and the distributed stations to be put to sleep from among the determined sleep candidate distributed stations 15. In the second pattern, the destination distributed station is, for example, a distributed station 15 that can aggregate the traffic accommodated by other distributed stations 15, and satisfies the condition that the processing capacity of its own device does not exceed a certain threshold after the traffic of other distributed stations 15 is aggregated. This is because, even if it is still possible to aggregate traffic in terms of traffic volume alone, if the processing capacity exceeds the threshold, processing will become slow, and as a result, the service requirements will not be met. Furthermore, the information analysis unit 222 may also calculate whether the processing capacity will exceed a threshold when traffic is aggregated in the future (for example, by learning and predicting the relationship between traffic volume and processing capacity using machine learning, etc.), and may determine the destination distributed station by adding the condition that the processing capacity will be below the threshold when determining the destination distributed station. A distributed station to be put into sleep mode is, for example, a distributed station 15 that satisfies the conditions that there is no traffic after traffic is aggregated to the destination distributed station, and the processing capacity of the destination distributed station is below the threshold after traffic aggregation.

[0050] Furthermore, the information analysis unit 222 determines whether or not to wake the system from sleep mode based on the traffic information and processing capacity information included in the linked information. For example, the information analysis unit 222 determines that it is necessary to wake the system from sleep mode if there is a distributed station 15 whose traffic volume exceeds a threshold used to determine whether or not to wake the system from sleep mode, or if there is a distributed station 15 whose processing capacity exceeds a certain threshold. In other words, the information analysis unit 222 determines that it is necessary to wake the system from sleep mode if there is a distributed station 15 that satisfies either the condition based on traffic volume or the condition based on processing capacity. On the other hand, the information analysis unit 222 determines that it is unnecessary to wake the system from sleep mode if there is no distributed station 15 whose traffic volume exceeds a threshold used to determine whether or not to wake the system from sleep mode, and there is no distributed station 15 whose processing capacity exceeds a certain threshold.

[0051] If the information analysis unit 222 determines that it is necessary to wake the distributed stations 15, it distributes the traffic of the distributed stations 15 that meet the conditions based on the amount of traffic or the processing capacity to the distributed stations 15 that are in sleep mode. In other words, if the information analysis unit 222 determines that it is necessary to wake the distributed stations 15, it determines which distributed stations 15 should be woken up.

[0052] (Third Pattern for Coordination Information) In this case, the information analysis unit 222 uses traffic information, traffic priority information, and processing capacity of each distributed station 15 as coordination information. First, the information analysis unit 222 determines which distributed stations 15 will be sleep candidates based on the traffic priority information included in the coordination information. This is determined in the same way as in the first pattern. Next, the information analysis unit 222 determines which distributed stations 15 will be sleep candidates and which will be sleep targets from among the determined distributed stations 15. In the third pattern, the distributed station to be aggregated is, for example, a distributed station 15 that can aggregate traffic accommodated by other distributed stations 15 and satisfies the condition that its own processing capacity does not exceed a certain threshold after the traffic of other distributed stations 15 is aggregated. In the third pattern, the distributed station to be sleep targets is, for example, a distributed station 15 that has no traffic after traffic is aggregated to the distributed station to be aggregated and satisfies the condition that the processing capacity of the distributed station to be aggregated is below a threshold after the traffic is aggregated.

[0053] Furthermore, the information analysis unit 222 determines whether or not to wake the system from sleep mode based on the traffic information and processing capacity information included in the linked information. The determination of whether or not to wake the system from sleep mode is the same as in the second pattern. If the information analysis unit 222 determines that it is necessary to wake the system from sleep mode, it determines which distributed stations 15 to wake from sleep mode based on the traffic priority information of the distributed stations 15 whose traffic volume exceeds the threshold used to determine whether or not to wake the system from sleep mode. The method for determining which distributed stations 15 to wake from sleep mode is the same as in the first pattern.

[0054] For example, the information analysis unit 222 determines that it will perform optical path control processing and sleep control processing if one or more terminals 11 that are accommodated by one distributed station 15 can be accommodated by any of the distributed stations 15. In this case, the information analysis unit 222 notifies the control unit 23 of control information including an optical path control instruction and a sleep instruction. The optical path control instruction is an instruction to request switching of the optical path and includes, for example, information indicating the source distributed station and information indicating the destination distributed station. The sleep instruction is an instruction to send a sleep permission notification and includes, for example, information indicating the device to be put into sleep mode.

[0055] Furthermore, the information analysis unit 222 determines that if the traffic volume of a certain distributed station 15 exceeds a threshold, it will perform optical path control processing and sleep control processing. If it determines that optical path control processing and sleep control processing will be performed, the information analysis unit 222 notifies the control unit 23 of control information including an optical path control instruction and a sleep release instruction. The sleep release instruction is an instruction to release the sleep state and includes information indicating, for example, the distributed station 15 to be released from sleep.

[0056] The control unit 23 includes an optical path control unit 231 and a sleep control unit 232. The optical path control unit 231 determines the source distributed station and the destination distributed station based on the results of the analysis by the information analysis unit 222. For example, the optical path control unit 231 determines the source distributed station based on information indicating the source distributed station included in the control information notified by the information analysis unit 222. For example, the optical path control unit 231 determines the destination distributed station based on information indicating the destination distributed station included in the control information notified by the information analysis unit 222. The optical path control unit 231 holds information on the radio station 12 connected to the distributed station 15.

[0057] The optical path control unit 231 transmits optical path control information, including information indicating the determined switching destination distributed station, to the transfer device 13. This instructs the transfer device 13 to switch the optical path.

[0058] Based on the results of the analysis by the information analysis unit 222, the sleep control unit 232 causes the device subject to sleep control to either enter sleep mode or exit sleep mode.

[0059] [Sleep Processing (Part 1)] Figure 3 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of sleep processing (Part 1) performed by the management control device 20 in the first embodiment. Here, we will explain using the case where there are two distributed stations 15 (for example, distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2), and the traffic volume information and traffic priority information of each distributed station 15 are used as cooperation information (first pattern case). Furthermore, for the sake of simplicity, we will assume that the connection configuration of each device is as shown in Figure 2.

[0060] The information analysis unit 222 acquires the latest cooperation information for each distributed station 15 (information on the traffic volume and traffic priority of each distributed station 15) stored in the information storage unit 221 (step S101). In the management control device 20, cooperation information is collected at predetermined intervals or at arbitrary timings until the processing of Figure 3 is executed. Therefore, the information storage unit 221 will have cooperation information for each distributed station 15 stored at predetermined intervals or at arbitrary timings. When the processing of Figure 3 is started, the information analysis unit 222 acquires the latest cooperation information for each distributed station 15 at the start of the processing of Figure 3. The management control device 20 may also acquire all of the cooperation information for each distributed station 15, including information on the traffic volume, information on traffic priority, and information on processing capacity. In this case, when the processing of Figure 3 is started, the information analysis unit 222 acquires the latest cooperation information for each distributed station 15 at the start of the processing of Figure 3, including information on the traffic volume and traffic priority of each distributed station 15.

[0061] The information analysis unit 222 calculates the traffic volume for each distributed station 15-1 to 15-2 based on the traffic volume information for each distributed station 15 included in the latest acquired cooperation information for each distributed station 15 (step S102). The information analysis unit 222 also determines the distributed stations 15 that will be candidates for sleep based on the traffic priority information included in the latest acquired cooperation information for each distributed station 15 (step S103). For example, the information analysis unit 222 determines distributed stations 15 that satisfy the aggregation conditions based on priority as candidates for sleep. However, a single distributed station 15 may have both traffic that satisfies the aggregation conditions based on priority and traffic that does not. Therefore, the information analysis unit 222 may exclude distributed stations 15 that have traffic that does not satisfy the aggregation conditions based on priority from the list of candidates for sleep. Here, let's assume that the candidates for sleep are distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2.

[0062] Then, the information analysis unit 222 sorts the distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2 among the sleep candidate distributed stations 15 in descending order of calculated traffic volume (step S104). The information analysis unit 222 determines the traffic volume to be added to A (step S105). Addition target A is, for example, the distributed station 15 with the least traffic volume. As an example, here the distributed station 15 with the least traffic volume is designated as distributed station 15-1. Next, the information analysis unit 222 determines the traffic volume to be added to B (step S106). Addition target B is, for example, the distributed station 15 with the second least traffic volume. As an example, here the distributed station 15 with the second least traffic volume is designated as distributed station 15-2. The information analysis unit 222 adds the traffic volume of addition target A and the traffic volume of addition target B to obtain the traffic volume addition value T ｔｏｔａｌ Calculate (step S107).

[0063] The information analysis unit 222 calculates the traffic volume sum value T. ｔｏｔａｌ The traffic volume sum value T is compared with the threshold Th1. Here, the threshold Th1 is a value for control decision, and may be the same value for each distributed station 15, or it may be a different value for each distributed station 15. The threshold Th1 may be calculated by the information analysis unit 222 based on the cooperation information and recorded in the information storage unit 221, or it may be stored in advance by the information analysis unit 222 for each distributed station 15. If the threshold Th1 for each distributed station 15 is recorded in the information storage unit 221, the information analysis unit 222 may read and use the threshold Th1 recorded in the information storage unit 221. The information analysis unit 222 calculates the traffic volume sum value T ｔｏｔａｌ Then, this is compared with the threshold Th1 of the distributed station 15 corresponding to the summation target A.

[0064] The information analysis unit 222 calculates the traffic volume sum value T. ｔｏｔａｌ However, it is determined whether or not it is greater than the threshold Th1 (step S108). The information analysis unit 222 determines whether the traffic volume sum value T ｔｏｔａｌ However, if it is determined that the value is not greater than the threshold Th1 (step S108-NO), the information analysis unit 222 adds the smallest traffic amount among the traffic amounts that have not been added, thereby creating a new traffic amount addition value Tｔｏｔａｌ Calculate (step S109).

[0065] Subsequently, the information analysis unit 222 executes the process in step S108 again. In this case, the information analysis unit 222 calculates the newly calculated traffic volume sum value T. ｔｏｔａｌ However, it is determined whether or not it is greater than the threshold Th1 (step S108). Note that it is also possible that there is no traffic volume that has not been added. If there is no traffic volume that has not been added, the information analysis unit 222 may execute the process in step S110.

[0066] The information analysis unit 222 may also predict the traffic volume and compare the result with the threshold Th1. In this case, the information analysis unit 222 performs the process of predicting the traffic volume in step S102. Alternatively, the information analysis unit 222 may compare both the current traffic volume and the predicted traffic volume result with the threshold Th1 to determine whether to sleep. In this case, the information analysis unit 222 performs both the calculation of the traffic volume for each distributed station 15 and the process of predicting the traffic volume in step S102. Then, in step S108, if both the current traffic volume and the predicted traffic volume result are less than the threshold Th1, the process of step S110 may be executed. The same applies to the third pattern described later.

[0067] The information analysis unit 222 calculates the traffic volume sum value T. ｔｏｔａｌ If it is determined that the traffic volume is greater than the threshold Th1 (step S108-YES), or if there is no traffic volume that has not been added, the information analysis unit 222 determines the destination distribution station. Specifically, the information analysis unit 222 selects a distribution station 15 that satisfies the condition that it can aggregate the traffic of terminals 11 accommodated by other distribution stations 15 from among the distribution stations 15 (sleep candidate distribution stations 15) that have each traffic volume added up to before the processing of step S110 is executed (for example, before the threshold Th1 is exceeded, or before there is no more traffic volume that has not been added), and selects the distribution station 15 that satisfies the condition that it can aggregate the traffic of terminals 11 accommodated by other distribution stations 15 as the destination distribution station. If there are multiple distribution stations 15 that satisfy the condition, the information analysis unit 222 may select the distribution station 15 with the largest traffic volume among the multiple distribution stations 15 that satisfy the condition as the destination distribution station.

[0068] For example, if each distributed station 15, whose traffic volume has been added up to the time of step S110, is distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2, the information analysis unit 222 may decide that the distributed station 15 with the largest traffic volume among distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2 is the destination distributed station for aggregation. Note that the method for determining the destination distributed station for aggregation is not limited to the above method, and other methods may be used (for example, determining the distributed station 15 with the second largest traffic volume as the destination distributed station). Here, let's assume that distributed station 15-2 has been determined as the destination.

[0069] Furthermore, the information analysis unit 222 determines which distributed stations are to be put into sleep mode (step S110). For example, the information analysis unit 222 determines that the distributed stations 15 other than the distributed station 15 that became the aggregation destination are to be put into sleep mode, from among the distributed stations 15 that have the total traffic volume added up to before the processing in step S110. For example, the information analysis unit 222 may determine that the distributed stations 15 that satisfy the condition that there is no traffic after the traffic has been aggregated to the aggregation destination distributed station are to be put into sleep mode.

[0070] In the above example, each distributed station 15 with an added traffic volume before the execution of step S110 is distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2, and the distributed station 15 that becomes the aggregation destination is distributed station 15-2. If distributed station 15 is distributed station 15-1, which satisfies the condition that there will be no traffic after the traffic is aggregated to the aggregation destination distributed station (distributed station 15-2), the information analysis unit 222 determines that distributed station 15-1 is the target for sleep mode. Distributed station 15-1, which has been determined to be the target for sleep mode, is the source distributed station, and distributed station 15-2, which has been determined to be the aggregation destination, is the destination distributed station.

[0071] Subsequently, the information analysis unit 222 notifies the control unit 23 of control information including an optical path control instruction and a sleep instruction. The information analysis unit 222 includes, for example, information indicating the source distributed station (e.g., distributed station 15-1), information indicating the destination distributed station (e.g., distributed station 15-2), and information indicating the radio station 12 to which the destination distributed station will be connected, in the optical path control instruction. Furthermore, the information analysis unit 222 includes, for example, information indicating the device to be put into sleep mode (e.g., distributed station 15-1), in the sleep instruction.

[0072] The optical path control unit 231 identifies the source distributed station and the destination distributed station based on the optical path control instructions included in the control information notified by the information analysis unit 222. Here, the optical path control unit 231 determines distributed station 15-2 as the destination distributed station and distributed station 15-1 as the source distributed station. The optical path control unit 231 transmits optical path control information, which includes information indicating the determined source and destination distributed stations, to the transfer device 13 (step S112).

[0073] As a result, the transfer device 13 switches the optical path from one directed towards distributed station 15-1 to one directed towards distributed station 15-2. For example, the transfer device 13 forms an optical path so that the uplink signal transmitted from radio station 12-1 is transferred to distributed station 15-2. Note that the transfer device 13 does not need to generate an optical path with the connected distributed station 15-1, so it may stop generating the optical path. At this point, the optical path control unit 231 may transmit optical path control instructions to the determined source distributed station and the radio station 12 connected to the source distributed station.

[0074] The sleep control unit 232 identifies the device to be put into sleep mode based on the sleep instruction included in the control information notified by the information analysis unit 222. For example, the sleep control unit 232 identifies distributed station 15-1 as the device to be put into sleep mode. The sleep control unit 232 sends a sleep permission notification to the identified distributed station 15-1 (step S113). As a result, distributed station 15-1 enters sleep mode.

[0075] In Figure 3, a configuration is shown in which sleep control is performed after the optical path switching control is performed, but the optical path switching control may also be performed after the sleep control is performed. Furthermore, in Figure 3, a configuration is shown in which the sleep control unit 232 puts the sleep target distributed station to sleep, but the sleep control unit 232 may put both the sleep target distributed station and the radio station 12 connected to the sleep target distributed station via the transfer device 13 to sleep, or it may put only the radio station 12 to sleep.

[0076] [Sleep Wake-up Process (Part 1)] Figure 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the sleep wake-up process (Part 1) performed by the management control device 20 in the first embodiment. Here, we will explain using the case where there are two distributed stations 15 (for example, distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2), and the information used for cooperation is the traffic volume information and traffic priority information of each distributed station 15 (first pattern case). For further simplification of the explanation, in the configuration shown in Figure 2, we will assume that radio stations 12-1 and 12-2 are connected to distributed station 15-1 via the transfer device 13. We will also assume that distributed station 15-2 is in a sleep state.

[0077] The information analysis unit 222 acquires the latest cooperation information for each distributed station 15 stored in the information storage unit 221 (step S201). In Figure 4, the information analysis unit 222 acquires the latest cooperation information for each distributed station 15 stored in the information storage unit 221 (information on the traffic volume of each distributed station 15 and information on the traffic priority).

[0078] In the management control device 20, coordination information is collected at predetermined intervals or at arbitrary timings before the processing shown in Figure 4 is executed. Therefore, the information storage unit 221 stores coordination information for each distributed station 15 at predetermined intervals or at arbitrary timings. When the processing shown in Figure 4 is started, the information analysis unit 222 acquires the latest coordination information for each distributed station 15 at the time the processing shown in Figure 4 is started. The management control device 20 may also acquire all of the following information for each distributed station 15 as coordination information: traffic volume information, traffic priority information, and processing capacity information. In this case, when the processing shown in Figure 4 is started, the information analysis unit 222 acquires the latest coordination information for each distributed station 15 at the time the processing shown in Figure 4 is started: traffic volume information and traffic priority information for each distributed station 15.

[0079] The information analysis unit 222 calculates the traffic volume for each of the distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2 based on the latest acquired cooperation information for each distributed station 15 (step S202). The information analysis unit 222 compares the traffic volume for each of the distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2 with threshold Th2. The threshold Th2 used here may be the same as or different from the threshold Th1 used in Figure 3.

[0080] The information analysis unit 222 determines whether there are any distributed stations 15 whose traffic volume exceeds the threshold Th2 (step S203). If the information analysis unit 222 determines that there are no distributed stations 15 whose traffic volume exceeds the threshold Th2 (step S203-NO), the management control device 20 terminates the process shown in Figure 4.

[0081] On the other hand, if the information analysis unit 222 determines that there is a distributed station 15 whose traffic volume exceeds the threshold Th2 (step S203-YES), the information analysis unit 222 sorts the traffic of the distributed station 15 whose traffic volume exceeds the threshold Th2 in descending order of priority (step S204). In this case, the information analysis unit 222 can sort the traffic based on the traffic priority information included in the cooperation information obtained from the distributed station 15 whose traffic volume exceeds the threshold Th2.

[0082] Subsequently, the information analysis unit 222 determines the distributed station 15 to be woken from sleep mode (step S205). Here, it is assumed that the distributed station 15 whose traffic volume exceeds the threshold Th2 is distributed station 15-1. The information analysis unit 222 refers to the priority values ​​of the multiple traffics that distributed station 15-1 possesses and identifies the traffic with the highest priority among the multiple traffics that distributed station 15-1 possesses. The information analysis unit 222 identifies the path that the identified high-priority traffic will take after being woken from sleep mode. The information analysis unit 222 determines the distributed station 15 located on the identified path as the distributed station 15 to be woken from sleep mode.

[0083] Furthermore, if the identified high-priority traffic takes a path through distributed station 15-1 after waking from sleep mode, the information analysis unit 222 identifies the next highest-priority traffic and performs the same processing. The information analysis unit 222 repeats this process until the traffic volume of the distributed station 15-1 falls below the threshold Th2.

[0084] Assuming that the information analysis unit 222 has determined distributed station 15-2 to be the distributed station 15 to be woken from sleep mode using the method described above, distributed station 15-1, whose traffic volume exceeds the threshold Th2, is the source distributed station, and distributed station 15-2, which has been determined to be woken from sleep mode, is the destination distributed station.

[0085] Subsequently, the information analysis unit 222 notifies the control unit 23 of control information including an optical path control instruction and a sleep wake-up instruction. The information analysis unit 222 includes, for example, information indicating the destination distributed station (e.g., distributed station 15-2) and information indicating the radio station 12 to which the destination distributed station will connect, in the optical path control instruction. Here, let's assume that the radio station 12 to which the destination distributed station will connect is radio station 12-2. Furthermore, the information analysis unit 222 includes, for example, information indicating the device to be woken from sleep (e.g., distributed station 15-2), in the sleep wake-up instruction.

[0086] The optical path control unit 231 identifies the target distributed station based on the optical path control instructions included in the control information notified by the information analysis unit 222. Here, the optical path control unit 231 determines distributed station 15-2 as the target distributed station. The optical path control unit 231 transmits optical path control information to the transfer device 13, which includes information indicating the determined target distributed station and information indicating the radio station 12 (for example, radio station 12-2) to which the target distributed station will be connected (step S206).

[0087] As a result, the transfer device 13 switches the optical path from radio station 12-2 to distributed station 15-1 so that it goes from radio station 12-2 to distributed station 15-2. At this point, the optical path control unit 231 may transmit optical path control instructions to the determined destination distributed station and the radio station 12 connected to the destination distributed station.

[0088] The sleep control unit 232 identifies the device to be woken from sleep based on the sleep wake-up instruction included in the control information notified by the information analysis unit 222. For example, the sleep control unit 232 identifies the distributed station 15-2 as the device to be woken from sleep. The sleep control unit 232 transmits a sleep wake-up instruction to the identified distributed station 15-2 (step S207). As a result, the distributed station 15-2 wakes up from sleep. In addition, the sleep control unit 232 may wake up both the distributed station 15 to be woken from sleep and the radio station 12 connected to the distributed station 15 via the transfer device 13, or it may wake up only the radio station 12.

[0089] [Sleep Processing (Part 2)] Figure 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of sleep processing (Part 2) performed by the management control device 20 in the first embodiment. Here, we will explain using the case where there are two distributed stations 15 (for example, distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2), and the information used for cooperation is the traffic volume information of each distributed station 15 and the processing capacity information of each distributed station 15 (second pattern case). For further simplification of the explanation, we will assume that the connection configuration of each device is as shown in Figure 2.

[0090] The information analysis unit 222 acquires the latest cooperation information for each of the distributed stations 15 (information on the traffic volume of each distributed station 15 and information on the processing capacity of each distributed station 15) stored in the information storage unit 221 (step S121). In the management control device 20, the cooperation information is collected at a predetermined cycle or at an arbitrary timing until the process of FIG. 5 is executed. Therefore, the cooperation information of each distributed station 15 is stored in the information storage unit 221 at a predetermined cycle or at an arbitrary timing. Thus, when starting the process of FIG. 5, the information analysis unit 222 acquires the latest cooperation information for each of the distributed stations 15 at the start of the process of FIG. 5. Note that the management control device 20 may acquire, for each distributed station 15, all of the information on the traffic volume, the information on the priority of the traffic, and the information on the processing capacity as the cooperation information. In this case, when starting the process of FIG. 5, the information analysis unit 222 acquires, as the latest cooperation information for each of the distributed stations 15 at the start of the process of FIG. 5, the information on the traffic volume of each distributed station 15 and the information on the processing capacity of each distributed station 15.

[0091] The information analysis unit 222 calculates the traffic volume of each of the distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2 based on the information on the traffic volume of each distributed station 15 included in the acquired latest cooperation information for each of the distributed stations 15 (step S122). Then, the information analysis unit 222 rearranges the distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2 in ascending order of the calculated traffic volume (step S123). Thereafter, the management control device 20 executes the processes from step S105 to step S108. In the process of step S108, when the information analysis unit 222 determines that the traffic volume addition value T ｔｏｔａｌ is not greater than the threshold value Th1 (step S108 - NO), the information analysis unit 222 executes the process of step S109.

[0092] On the other hand, in the process of step S108, when the information analysis unit 222 ｔｏｔａｌIf it is determined that the value is greater than the threshold Th1 (step S108-YES), or if there is no traffic volume that has not been added, the information analysis unit 222 checks the processing capacity of each distributed station 15 (step S124). In this case, the information analysis unit 222 can refer to the processing capacity information of each distributed station 15 included in the cooperation information obtained in step S121.

[0093] The information analysis unit 222 determines the destination distributed station based on the processing capacity of each distributed station 15. Specifically, the information analysis unit 222 selects a destination distributed station from among the distributed stations 15 (sleep candidate distributed stations 15) that have accumulated traffic amounts up to the time before executing the process in step S124 (for example, before exceeding the threshold Th1, or before there are no more unadded traffic amounts), that can aggregate traffic accommodated by other distributed stations 15, and whose own processing capacity does not exceed a certain threshold after the aggregation of traffic from other distributed stations 15.

[0094] For example, if each distributed station 15, whose traffic volume has been added up to the time of step S124, is distributed station 15-1 to 15-2, the information analysis unit 222 will determine the destination distributed station from among distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2 to be one that can aggregate the traffic accommodated by the other distributed stations 15, and whose own processing capacity does not exceed a certain threshold after the aggregation of the traffic of the other distributed stations 15. If there are multiple distributed stations 15 that satisfy the conditions, the information analysis unit 222 may determine the distributed station 15 with the largest traffic volume among the multiple distributed stations 15 that satisfy the conditions to be the destination distributed station. Note that the method for determining the destination distributed station is not limited to the above method, and other methods may be used (for example, determining the distributed station 15 with the second largest traffic volume as the destination distributed station). Here, let's assume that distributed station 15-2 has been determined as the destination.

[0095] Furthermore, the information analysis unit 222 determines which distributed stations are to be put into sleep mode (step S125). For example, the information analysis unit 222 determines that the distributed stations 15 other than the distributed station 15 that became the aggregation destination are to be put into sleep mode, from among the distributed stations 15 that have the total traffic volume added up to before the processing in step S124 is executed. For example, the information analysis unit 222 may determine that the distributed stations 15 that satisfy the conditions that there is no traffic after the traffic is aggregated to the aggregation destination distributed station, and that the processing capacity of the aggregation destination distributed station is below a threshold after the traffic is aggregated are to be put into sleep mode.

[0096] In the above example, each distributed station 15 with the added traffic volume before the execution of step S110 is distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2, and the distributed station 15 that becomes the aggregation destination is distributed station 15-2. If distributed station 15 is distributed station 15-1 that has no traffic after the traffic is aggregated to the aggregation destination distributed station (distributed station 15-2) and satisfies the condition that the processing capacity of the aggregation destination distributed station is below a threshold after the traffic is aggregated, then the information analysis unit 222 decides to put distributed station 15-1 into sleep mode. Distributed station 15-1, which has been decided to put into sleep mode, is the source distributed station, and distributed station 15-2, which has been decided to become the aggregation destination, is the destination distributed station. Subsequently, the processes of steps S111 and S112 are executed.

[0097] [Sleep Wake-up Process (Part 2)] Figure 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the sleep wake-up process (Part 2) executed by the management control device 20 in the first embodiment. Here, we will explain using the case where there are two distributed stations 15 (for example, distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2), and the information on the traffic volume of each distributed station 15 and the information on the processing capacity of each distributed station 15 are used as cooperation information (second pattern case). For further simplification of the explanation, in the configuration shown in Figure 2, it is assumed that radio stations 12-1 and 12-2 are connected to distributed station 15-1 via the transfer device 13. Also, it is assumed that distributed station 15-2 is in a sleep state. In Figure 6, processes similar to those in Figure 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals as in Figure 4 and their explanation is omitted.

[0098] The information analysis unit 222 acquires the latest cooperation information for each distributed station 15 stored in the information storage unit 221 (step S221). In Figure 6, the information analysis unit 222 acquires the latest cooperation information for each distributed station 15 stored in the information storage unit 221 (information on the traffic volume of each distributed station 15 and information on the processing capacity of each distributed station 15).

[0099] In the management control device 20, coordination information is collected at predetermined intervals or at arbitrary timings before the processing shown in Figure 6 is executed. Therefore, the information storage unit 221 stores coordination information for each distributed station 15 at predetermined intervals or at arbitrary timings. When the information analysis unit 222 starts the processing shown in Figure 6, it acquires the latest coordination information for each distributed station 15 at the time the processing shown in Figure 6 starts. The management control device 20 may also acquire all of the following information for each distributed station 15 as coordination information: traffic volume information, traffic priority information, and processing capacity information. In this case, when the information analysis unit 222 starts the processing shown in Figure 6, it acquires the traffic volume information and processing capacity information for each distributed station 15 as the latest coordination information for each distributed station 15 at the time the processing shown in Figure 6 starts.

[0100] The information analysis unit 222 calculates the traffic volume for each of the distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2 based on the latest coordinate information for each of the distributed stations 15 that it has acquired (step S222). The information analysis unit 222 performs threshold determination based on the calculated traffic volume for each of the distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2. For example, the information analysis unit 222 compares the traffic volume for each of the distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2 with threshold Th2 to determine whether the conditions based on the traffic volume are met (step S223). In step S223, the information analysis unit 222 determines whether the traffic volume for each of the distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2 exceeds threshold Th2.

[0101] Furthermore, the information analysis unit 222 performs threshold determination based on the processing capacity of each of the distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2, based on the latest acquired cooperation information for each distributed station 15 (step S224). For example, the information analysis unit 222 compares the processing capacity of each of the distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2 with the threshold Th3 to determine whether the conditions based on processing capacity are met (step S224). In step S224, the information analysis unit 222 determines whether the processing capacity of each of the distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2 exceeds the threshold Th3.

[0102] The information analysis unit 222 determines whether there is a distributed station 15 that satisfies either of the conditions shown in step S223 or step S224 (step S225). For example, the information analysis unit 222 determines that there is a distributed station 15 that satisfies either of the conditions shown in step S223 or step S224 if there is a distributed station 15 with a traffic volume exceeding threshold Th2, or a distributed station 15 with processing capacity exceeding threshold Th3. On the other hand, the information analysis unit 222 determines that there is no distributed station 15 that satisfies either of the conditions shown in step S223 or step S224 if there is no distributed station 15 with a traffic volume exceeding threshold Th2, and no distributed station 15 with processing capacity exceeding threshold Th3. In the above description, a configuration is shown in which the processing in steps S222 and S223 is executed before the processing in step S224, but the processing in step S224 may be executed before the processing in steps S222 and S223, or they may be executed at the same time.

[0103] If the information analysis unit 222 determines that there are no distributed stations 15 that satisfy either of the conditions shown in step S223 or step S224 (step S225-NO), the management control device 20 terminates the process shown in Figure 6. On the other hand, if the information analysis unit 222 determines that there is a distributed station 15 that satisfies either of the conditions shown in step S223 or step S224 (step S225-YES), the information analysis unit 222 determines the distributed station 15 to be woken from sleep mode (step S226). Here, let's assume that the distributed station 15 that satisfies either of the conditions shown in step S223 or step S224 is distributed station 15-1. The information analysis unit 222 identifies the other distributed station 15 with the largest traffic volume among the distributed stations 15 that are in sleep mode. Two identification methods are listed below.

[0104] (Identification Method 1) Assuming that terminal 11 will reconnect to the original distributed station 15, the information analysis unit 222 first calculates the traffic volume of terminal 11 and then calculates the traffic volume of the sleeping distributed station 15. Then, the information analysis unit 222 identifies the distributed station 15 with the highest traffic volume among the calculated traffic volumes as the other distributed station 15 with the highest traffic volume among the traffic volumes aggregated to distributed station 15-1.

[0105] (Identification Method 2) First, the information analysis unit 222 predicts which distributed station 15 will be connected to after waking from sleep, based on the location of the terminal 11. Next, the information analysis unit 222 calculates the traffic volume of the sleeping distributed station 15 based on the prediction result. Then, the information analysis unit 222 identifies the distributed station 15 with the highest traffic volume among the calculated traffic volumes as the other distributed station 15 with the highest traffic volume among the traffic volumes aggregated to distributed station 15-1.

[0106] Assume that distributed station 15-2 is identified as the other distributed station 15 with the highest traffic volume by one of the identification methods described above. The information analysis unit 222 determines that the identified distributed station 15-2 is the distributed station 15 to be woken from sleep mode. Distributed station 15-1 whose traffic volume exceeds the threshold Th2 is the source distributed station, and distributed station 15-2, which has been determined to be woken from sleep mode, is the destination distributed station.

[0107] Subsequently, the information analysis unit 222 notifies the control unit 23 of control information including an optical path control instruction and a sleep wake-up instruction. The information analysis unit 222 includes, for example, information indicating the destination distributed station (e.g., distributed station 15-2) and information indicating the radio station 12 to which the destination distributed station will connect, in the optical path control instruction. Here, let's assume that the radio station 12 to which the destination distributed station will connect is radio station 12-2. Furthermore, the information analysis unit 222 includes, for example, information indicating the device to be woken from sleep (e.g., distributed station 15-2), in the sleep wake-up instruction. After that, the processing in steps S206 and S207 is executed.

[0108] [Sleep Processing (Part 3)] Figure 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of sleep processing (Part 3) performed by the management control device 20 in the first embodiment. Here, we will explain using the case where there are two distributed stations 15 (for example, distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2), and the information used for coordination is the traffic volume information of each distributed station 15, the traffic priority information, and the processing capacity information of each distributed station 15 (the third pattern). Furthermore, for the sake of simplicity, we will assume that the connection configuration of each device is as shown in Figure 2.

[0109] The information analysis unit 222 acquires the latest cooperation information for each distributed station 15 (information on the traffic volume of each distributed station 15, information on the traffic priority, and information on the processing capacity of each distributed station 15) stored in the information storage unit 221 (step S141). In the management control device 20, cooperation information is collected at predetermined intervals or at arbitrary timings until the processing of Figure 7 is executed. Therefore, the information storage unit 221 will have cooperation information for each distributed station 15 stored at predetermined intervals or at arbitrary timings. When the processing of Figure 7 is started, the information analysis unit 222 acquires the latest cooperation information for each distributed station 15 at the start of the processing of Figure 7.

[0110] Subsequently, the management control device 20 executes the processes from step S102 to step S108. In the process of step S108, the information analysis unit 222 calculates the traffic volume sum value T ｔｏｔａｌ However, if it is determined that the value is not greater than the threshold Th1 (step S108-NO), the information analysis unit 222 executes the process in step S109.

[0111] On the other hand, in the processing of step S108, the information analysis unit 222 determines the traffic volume sum value T ｔｏｔａｌ If it is determined that the value is greater than the threshold Th1 (step S108-YES), or if there is no traffic volume that has not been added, the information analysis unit 222 checks the processing capacity of each distributed station 15 (step S124). In this case, the information analysis unit 222 can refer to the processing capacity information of each distributed station 15 included in the cooperation information obtained in step S121.

[0112] The information analysis unit 222 determines the destination distributed station based on the processing capacity of each distributed station 15. Specifically, the information analysis unit 222 selects a destination distributed station from among the distributed stations 15 (sleep candidate distributed stations 15) that have accumulated traffic amounts up to the time before executing the process in step S124 (for example, before exceeding the threshold Th1, or before there are no more unadded traffic amounts), that can aggregate traffic accommodated by other distributed stations 15, and whose own processing capacity does not exceed a certain threshold after the aggregation of traffic from other distributed stations 15.

[0113] For example, if each distributed station 15, whose traffic volume has been added up to the time of step S124, is distributed station 15-1 to 15-2, the information analysis unit 222 will determine the destination distributed station from among distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2 to be one that can aggregate the traffic accommodated by the other distributed stations 15, and whose own processing capacity does not exceed a certain threshold after the aggregation of the traffic of the other distributed stations 15. If there are multiple distributed stations 15 that satisfy the conditions, the information analysis unit 222 may determine the distributed station 15 with the largest traffic volume among the multiple distributed stations 15 that satisfy the conditions to be the destination distributed station. Note that the method for determining the destination distributed station is not limited to the above method, and other methods may be used (for example, determining the distributed station 15 with the second largest traffic volume as the destination distributed station). Here, let's assume that distributed station 15-2 has been determined as the destination.

[0114] Furthermore, the information analysis unit 222 determines which distributed stations are to be put into sleep mode (step S125). For example, the information analysis unit 222 determines that the distributed stations 15 other than the distributed station 15 that became the aggregation destination are to be put into sleep mode, from among the distributed stations 15 that have the total traffic volume added up to before the processing in step S110. For example, the information analysis unit 222 may determine that the distributed stations 15 that satisfy the conditions that there is no traffic after the traffic is aggregated to the aggregation destination distributed station, and that the processing capacity of the aggregation destination distributed station is below a threshold after the traffic is aggregated are to be put into sleep mode.

[0115] In the above example, each distributed station 15 with the added traffic volume before the execution of step S110 is distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2, and the distributed station 15 that becomes the aggregation destination is distributed station 15-2. If distributed station 15 is distributed station 15-1 that has no traffic after the traffic is aggregated to the aggregation destination distributed station (distributed station 15-2) and satisfies the condition that the processing capacity of the aggregation destination distributed station is below a threshold after the traffic is aggregated, then the information analysis unit 222 decides to put distributed station 15-1 into sleep mode. Distributed station 15-1, which has been decided to put into sleep mode, is the source distributed station, and distributed station 15-2, which has been decided to become the aggregation destination, is the destination distributed station. Subsequently, the processes of steps S111 and S112 are executed.

[0116] [Sleep Wake-up Process (Part 3)] Figure 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the sleep wake-up process (Part 3) executed by the management control device 20 in the first embodiment. Here, we will explain using the case where there are two distributed stations 15 (for example, distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2), and the information used for cooperation is the traffic volume information of each distributed station 15, the traffic priority information, and the processing capacity information of each distributed station 15 (the third pattern). For further simplification of the explanation, in the configuration shown in Figure 2, it is assumed that radio stations 12-1 and 12-2 are connected to distributed station 15-1 via the transfer device 13. Also, it is assumed that distributed station 15-2 is in a sleep state. In Figure 8, processes similar to those in Figure 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals as in Figure 4 and their explanation is omitted.

[0117] The information analysis unit 222 acquires the latest cooperation information for each distributed station 15 stored in the information storage unit 221 (step S241). In Figure 8, the information analysis unit 222 acquires the latest cooperation information for each distributed station 15 stored in the information storage unit 221 (information on the traffic volume of each distributed station 15, information on the processing capacity of each distributed station 15, and information on the traffic priority).

[0118] In the management control device 20, cooperation information is collected at predetermined intervals or at arbitrary timings before the process shown in Figure 8 is executed. Therefore, the information storage unit 221 stores cooperation information for each distributed station 15 at predetermined intervals or at arbitrary timings. When the process shown in Figure 8 is started, the information analysis unit 222 acquires the latest cooperation information for each distributed station 15 at the time the process shown in Figure 8 is started.

[0119] The information analysis unit 222 calculates the traffic volume for each of the distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2 based on the latest acquired cooperation information for each distributed station 15 (step S222). The information analysis unit 222 performs threshold determination based on the calculated traffic volume for each of the distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2. For example, the information analysis unit 222 compares the traffic volume for each of the distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2 with threshold Th2 to determine whether the conditions based on traffic volume are met (step S223).

[0120] Furthermore, the information analysis unit 222 performs threshold determination based on the processing capacity of each of the distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2, based on the latest acquired cooperation information for each distributed station 15 (step S224). For example, the information analysis unit 222 compares the processing capacity of each of the distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2 with the threshold Th3 to determine whether or not the conditions based on processing capacity are met (step S224).

[0121] The information analysis unit 222 determines whether there is a distributed station 15 that satisfies either of the conditions shown in step S223 or step S224 (step S225). If the information analysis unit 222 determines that there is no distributed station 15 that satisfies either of the conditions shown in step S223 or step S224 (step S225-NO), the management control device 20 terminates the process shown in Figure 6.

[0122] On the other hand, if the information analysis unit 222 determines that there is a distributed station 15 that satisfies either of the conditions shown in step S223 or step S224 (step S225-YES), the information analysis unit 222 sorts the traffic of the distributed station 15 whose traffic volume exceeds the threshold Th2 in descending order of priority (step S227). In this case, the information analysis unit 222 only needs to sort the traffic based on the traffic priority information included in the cooperation information obtained from the distributed station 15 whose traffic volume exceeds the threshold Th2. After that, the management control device 20 executes the processing from step S205 onwards.

[0123] According to the mobile network system 100 configured as described above, the management control device 20 includes an information collection unit 21 that acquires cooperation information from a plurality of distributed stations 15, including a combination of information regarding communication at each distributed station 15 (for example, a combination of traffic information and traffic priority information for each distributed station 15, or information regarding the processing capacity of each distributed station 15), and an analysis unit 22 that determines one or more distributed stations 15 to be subjected to sleep control from among the plurality of distributed stations 15 based on the combination of information regarding communication at each distributed station 15 included in the cooperation information, and causes the determined distributed station 15 to perform sleep control.

[0124] As a result, the management control device 20 can determine sleep control using not only traffic volume information, but also traffic priority information or at least one of the processing capacity of each distributed station 15. For example, when the management control device 20 determines sleep control using traffic volume information and traffic priority information, it excludes distributed stations 15 with high-priority traffic from being targeted for sleep. This makes it possible to improve power saving effects while meeting stringent service requirements. Also, for example, when the management control device 20 determines sleep control using traffic volume information and processing capacity information, it determines a distributed station 15 that can aggregate traffic from other distributed stations 15 and whose processing capacity is below a certain threshold as a destination distributed station. Furthermore, the management control device 20 determines a distributed station 15 that meets the conditions that there is no traffic after traffic is aggregated to the destination distributed station, and that the processing capacity of the destination distributed station is below a threshold after traffic aggregation, as a target for sleep. This makes it possible to improve power saving effects while meeting stringent service requirements. Therefore, it becomes possible to improve the overall power saving effect of the system compared to before, while also meeting service requirements.

[0125] (Modification 1 of the First Embodiment) In the configuration shown in Figure 2, the management control device 20 performs optical path control processing and sleep control processing. In contrast, the transmission device may be configured to perform optical path control processing and sleep control processing. Figure 9 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the mobile NW system 100a in Modification 1 of the First Embodiment. The mobile NW system 100a includes a radio station 12, a transmission device 13a, a distributed station 15, and a management control device 20a. Although not shown in Figure 9, the mobile NW system 100a also includes an aggregation station 16, a core device 17, and a server 18.

[0126] The example shown in Figure 9 illustrates a case where the mobile network system 100a comprises two radio stations 12-1 to 12-2, one transmission device 13a, and two distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2. The number of radio stations 12, transmission devices 13a, distributed stations 15, aggregation station 16, core device 17, and server 18 in the mobile network system 100a is not particularly limited.

[0127] As shown in Figure 9, the transfer device 13a includes a control unit 23, while the management control device 20a does not include a control unit 23. The information analysis unit 222 of the management control device 20a notifies the transfer device 13a of control information. The information analysis unit 222 may notify the transfer device 13a of control information only when performing optical path control and sleep control. The control unit 23 of the transfer device 13a performs optical path control processing and sleep control processing based on the control information notified from the management control device 20a.

[0128] The control unit 23 of the transfer device 13a includes an optical path control unit 231 and a sleep control unit 232. The optical path control unit 231 performs the same processing as the optical path control unit 231 shown in Figure 2. The sleep control unit 232 performs the same processing as the sleep control unit 232 shown in Figure 2.

[0129] (Modification 2 of the First Embodiment) In the configuration shown in Figure 2, the management control device 20 performs optical path control processing and sleep control processing. Alternatively, the management control device may be configured to perform sleep control processing and the transfer device to perform optical path control processing. Figure 10 shows an example of the configuration of the mobile NW system 100b in Modification 2 of the First Embodiment. The mobile NW system 100b comprises a radio station 12, a transfer device 13b, a distributed station 15, and a management control device 20b. Although not shown in Figure 10, the mobile NW system 100b also comprises an aggregation station 16, a core device 17, and a server 18.

[0130] The example shown in Figure 10 illustrates a case where the mobile network system 100b comprises two radio stations 12-1 to 12-2, one transmission device 13b, and two distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2. The number of radio stations 12, transmission devices 13b, distributed stations 15, aggregation station 16, core device 17, and server 18 in the mobile network system 100b is not particularly limited.

[0131] As shown in Figure 10, the transfer device 13b includes a control unit 130. The control unit 130 of the transfer device 13b includes an optical path control unit 231. The optical path control unit 231 performs the same processing as the optical path control unit 231 shown in Figure 2.

[0132] The management control device 20b comprises an information collection unit 21, an analysis unit 22, and a control unit 23b. The control unit 23b includes a sleep control unit 232. The information analysis unit 222 of the management control device 20b notifies the transfer device 13b of control information including information indicating the source distributed station and information indicating the destination distributed station, and notifies the control unit 23b of control information including information indicating the device to be subjected to sleep control. The information analysis unit 222 may notify control information only when performing optical path control and sleep control. The sleep control unit 232 performs sleep control processing based on the control information notified by the information analysis unit 222.

[0133] (Modification 3 of the First Embodiment) In the configuration shown in Figure 2, the management control device 20 performs optical path control processing and sleep control processing. In contrast, the optical path control processing and sleep control processing may be performed by different devices. Figure 11 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a mobile NW system 100c in Modification 3 of the First Embodiment. The mobile NW system 100c comprises a radio station 12, a transmission device 13, a distributed station 15, an optical transmission management control device 65, and a wireless transmission management control device 70. As shown in Figure 11, the mobile NW system 100c is equipped with an optical transmission management control device 65 and a wireless transmission management control device 70 instead of the management control device 20. Although not shown in Figure 11, the mobile NW system 100c also includes an aggregation station 16, a core device 17, and a server 18.

[0134] The optical transmission management control device 65 controls the optical transmission section. The optical transmission management control device 65 includes an information collection unit 21, an analysis unit 22, and a control unit 66. The information collection unit 21 and the analysis unit 22 perform the same processing as the information collection unit 21 and the analysis unit 22 provided in the management control device 20 shown in Figure 2. The control unit 66 includes an optical path control unit 231. The optical path control unit 231 performs the same processing as the optical path control unit 231 provided in the management control device 20 shown in Figure 2.

[0135] The wireless transmission management control device 70 controls the wireless transmission section. The wireless transmission management control device 70 includes a control unit 71. The control unit 71 includes a sleep control unit 232. The sleep control unit 232 performs the same processing as the sleep control unit 232 included in the management control device 20 shown in Figure 2.

[0136] The information analysis unit 222 of the optical transmission management control device 65 transmits control information, including information indicating the device to be controlled for sleep mode, to the wireless transmission management control device 70. Based on the control information transmitted from the optical transmission management control device 65, the wireless transmission management control device 70 causes the device to be controlled for sleep mode to either enter sleep mode or exit sleep mode.

[0137] This configuration allows multiple devices to perform different processes, such as switching optical paths and controlling sleep mode. This reduces the amount of processing required on a single device.

[0138] (Modification 4 of the First Embodiment) In the configuration shown in Figure 2, the management control device 20 performs optical path control processing and sleep control processing. In contrast, the optical path control processing and sleep control processing may be performed by different devices. Figure 12 is a diagram showing an example configuration of the mobile NW system 100d in Modification 4 of the First Embodiment. The mobile NW system 100d includes a radio station 12, a transmission device 13, a distributed station 15, an optical transmission management control device 65, and a wireless transmission management control device 70. As shown in Figure 12, the mobile NW system 100d is equipped with an optical transmission management control device 65 and a wireless transmission management control device 70 instead of the management control device 20. Although not shown in Figure 12, the mobile NW system 100c also includes an aggregation station 16, a core device 17, and a server 18.

[0139] The optical transmission management control device 65 shown in Figure 12 controls the optical transmission section. The optical transmission management control device 65 shown in Figure 12 includes a control unit 66. The control unit 66 includes an optical path control unit 231. The optical path control unit 231 performs the same processing as the optical path control unit 231 included in the management control device 20 shown in Figure 2.

[0140] The wireless transmission management control device 70 shown in Figure 12 controls the wireless transmission section. The wireless transmission management control device 70 shown in Figure 12 includes an information collection unit 21, an analysis unit 22, and a control unit 71. The information collection unit 21 and the analysis unit 22 perform the same processing as the information collection unit 21 and the analysis unit 22 provided in the management control device 20 shown in Figure 2. The control unit 71 includes a sleep control unit 232. The sleep control unit 232 performs the same processing as the sleep control unit 232 provided in the management control device 20 shown in Figure 2.

[0141] The information analysis unit 222 of the wireless transmission management control device 70 transmits control information to the optical transmission management control device 65, which includes information indicating the source distributed station and information indicating the destination distributed station. The optical transmission management control device 65 switches the optical path based on the control information transmitted from the wireless transmission management control device 70.

[0142] This configuration allows multiple devices to perform different processes, such as switching optical paths and controlling sleep mode. This reduces the amount of processing required on a single device.

[0143] (Modification 5 in the First Embodiment) The mobile network system 100c shown in Figure 11 may be configured as shown in Figure 13. Figure 13 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the mobile network system 100e in Modification 5 of the First Embodiment. The mobile network system 100e includes a radio station 12, a transmission device 13, a distributed station 15, an optical transmission management control device 65, a radio transmission management control device 70, and an orchestrator 75. As shown in Figure 13, the mobile network system 100e is further provided with an orchestrator 75 in addition to the mobile network system 100c.

[0144] The orchestrator 75 is a higher-level device that controls the optical transmission management control device 65 and the wireless transmission management control device 70, and is positioned above the optical transmission management control device 65 and the wireless transmission management control device 70. The orchestrator 75 transfers signals between the optical transmission management control device 65 and the wireless transmission management control device 70. The orchestrator 75 includes a signal transfer unit 751. The signal transfer unit 751 receives control information sent from the optical transmission management control device 65 to the wireless transmission management control device 70. The signal transfer unit 751 transfers the received control information to the wireless transmission management control device 70.

[0145] The optical transmission management control device 65 performs the same processing as the optical transmission management control device 65 shown in Figure 11, except that it transmits control information destined for the wireless transmission management control device 70 to the orchestrator 75. The wireless transmission management control device 70 performs the same processing as the wireless transmission management control device 70 shown in Figure 11, except that it receives control information from the orchestrator 75.

[0146] (Modification 6 in the First Embodiment) The mobile NW system 100f shown in Figure 12 may be configured as shown in Figure 14. Figure 14 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the mobile NW system 100f in Modification 6 of the First Embodiment. The mobile NW system 100f includes a radio station 12, a transmission device 13, a distributed station 15, an optical transmission management control device 65, a wireless transmission management control device 70, and an orchestrator 75. As shown in Figure 14, the mobile NW system 100f is further provided with an orchestrator 75 in addition to the mobile NW system 100d.

[0147] The orchestrator 75 is a higher-level device that controls the optical transmission management control device 65 and the wireless transmission management control device 70, and is positioned above the optical transmission management control device 65 and the wireless transmission management control device 70. The orchestrator 75 transfers signals between the optical transmission management control device 65 and the wireless transmission management control device 70. The orchestrator 75 includes a signal transfer unit 751. The signal transfer unit 751 receives control information sent from the wireless transmission management control device 70 to the optical transmission management control device 65. The signal transfer unit 751 transfers the received control information to the optical transmission management control device 65.

[0148] The optical transmission management control device 65 performs the same processing as the optical transmission management control device 65 shown in Figure 12, except that it receives control information from the orchestrator 75. The wireless transmission management control device 70 performs the same processing as the wireless transmission management control device 70 shown in Figure 12, except that it transmits control information intended for the optical transmission management control device 65 to the orchestrator 75.

[0149] (Modification 7 in the First Embodiment) The mobile NW system 100 may be configured as shown in Figure 15. Figure 15 is a diagram showing an example configuration of the mobile NW system 100g in Modification 7 of the First Embodiment. The mobile NW system 100g includes a radio station 12, a transmission device 13, a distributed station 15, an optical transmission management control device 65, and a wireless transmission management control device 70. As shown in Figure 15, the mobile NW system 100g is provided with an optical transmission management control device 65 and a wireless transmission management control device 70 instead of a management control device 20. The mobile NW system 100g is configured such that the optical transmission management control device 65 and the wireless transmission management control device 70 each receive cooperation information from each distributed station 15. The cooperation information that the optical transmission management control device 65 and the wireless transmission management control device 70 each receive from each distributed station 15 may be any of the first to third patterns.

[0150] The optical transmission management control device 65 shown in Figure 15 comprises an information collection unit 67, an analysis unit 68, and a control unit 66. The information collection unit 67 comprises an acquisition unit 671. The acquisition unit 671 performs the same processing as the acquisition unit 211 provided in the management control device 20 shown in Figure 2. The analysis unit 68 comprises an information storage unit 681 and an information analysis unit 682. The information storage unit 681 and the information analysis unit 682 perform the same processing as the information storage unit 221 and the information analysis unit 222 provided in the management control device 20 shown in Figure 2. The control unit 66 comprises an optical path control unit 231. The optical path control unit 231 performs the same processing as the optical path control unit 231 provided in the management control device 20 shown in Figure 2.

[0151] The wireless transmission management control device 70 includes an information collection unit 72, an analysis unit 73, and a control unit 71. The information collection unit 72 includes an acquisition unit 721. The acquisition unit 721 performs the same processing as the acquisition unit 211 provided in the management control device 20 shown in Figure 2. The analysis unit 73 includes an information storage unit 731 and an information analysis unit 732. The information storage unit 731 and the information analysis unit 732 perform the same processing as the information storage unit 221 and the information analysis unit 222 provided in the management control device 20 shown in Figure 2. The control unit 71 includes a sleep control unit 232. The sleep control unit 232 performs the same processing as the sleep control unit 232 provided in the management control device 20 shown in Figure 2.

[0152] The timing at which the optical transmission management control device 65 performs optical path control processing and the timing at which the wireless transmission management control device 70 performs sleep control processing may be determined by each device. The mobile NW system 100g may include an orchestrator 75 that controls the optical transmission management control device 65 and the wireless transmission management control device 70, and the orchestrator 75 may synchronize the timing at which the optical transmission management control device 65 performs optical path control processing with the timing at which the wireless transmission management control device 70 performs sleep control processing.

[0153] (Modification 8 in the first embodiment) Instead of traffic information, the cooperation information may include, for example, information regarding the number of terminals 11 that can be accommodated by each distributed station 15 (hereinafter referred to as "number of accommodated terminals"). The information regarding the number of accommodated terminals may be, for example, that described in 3GPP TS28.522. The cooperation information may also include information regarding the communication quality of the terminals 11 connected to each distributed station 15 (hereinafter referred to as "communication quality information"). The communication quality information may include, for example, MCS, RSRP (Reference Signal Received Power), RSRQ (Reference Signal Received Quality), SINR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio), packet delay, location information, etc.

[0154] If the linked information includes information on the number of connected terminals, the information analysis unit 222 may select sleep control targets (e.g., sleep targets or sleep wake targets) using the information on the number of connected terminals and at least one of the traffic priority information or the processing capacity information of each distributed station 15. In this configuration, the information analysis unit 222 can select the devices (e.g., distributed stations 15) to be subjected to sleep control using information on the number of connected terminals instead of traffic information.

[0155] First, we will explain the process of determining the target for sleep control using information on the number of connected terminals and information on traffic priority. First, the information analysis unit 222 determines the candidate distributed stations 15 for sleep based on the traffic priority information included in the latest coordination information for each distributed station 15. Next, the information analysis unit 222 sorts the candidate distributed stations 15 in descending order of the number of connected terminals identified by the information on the number of connected terminals. After that, the information analysis unit 222 adds up the number of connected terminals in ascending order to the distributed station 15 with the fewest connected terminals. The information analysis unit 222 compares the summed total with the threshold Th11 and continues adding up the number of connected terminals in ascending order until it exceeds the threshold Th11 or until there are no more connected terminals that have not been added. Based on the number of connected terminals added up until it exceeds the threshold Th11 or until there are no more connected terminals that have not been added, the information analysis unit 222 selects the target for sleep from among the multiple distributed stations 15 with the summed number of connected terminals. Next, the information analysis unit 222 determines the destination distributed station from among multiple distributed stations 15 related to the total number of connected terminals. Subsequently, the information analysis unit 222 determines the distributed station 15 to be put into sleep mode from among multiple distributed stations 15 related to the total number of connected terminals. The method for determining the destination distributed station and the distributed station to be put into sleep mode is the same as the process described in the first pattern.

[0156] Next, we will explain the process of determining the sleep control target using information on the number of connected terminals and information on the processing capacity of each distributed station 15. First, the information analysis unit 222 sorts each distributed station 15 in descending order of the number of connected terminals identified by the information on the number of connected terminals. Then, the information analysis unit 222 adds up the number of connected terminals in ascending order to the distributed station 15 with the fewest connected terminals. The information analysis unit 222 compares the summed total with the threshold Th 11 and continues adding up the number of connected terminals in ascending order until it exceeds the threshold Th 11 or until there are no more connected terminals that have not been added. Based on the number of connected terminals added before it exceeds the threshold Th 11 or before there are no more connected terminals that have not been added, the information analysis unit 222 selects the sleep target from among the multiple distributed stations 15 related to the summed number of connected terminals. Next, the information analysis unit 222 determines the destination distributed station from among the multiple distributed stations 15 related to the summed number of connected terminals. Subsequently, the information analysis unit 222 determines which distributed stations 15 to be put into sleep mode from among the multiple distributed stations 15 related to the total number of connected terminals. The method for determining the aggregated distributed station and the distributed stations to be put into sleep mode is the same as the process described in the second pattern.

[0157] Next, we will explain the process for determining the sleep control target using information on the number of connected terminals, information on traffic priority, and information on the processing capacity of each distributed station 15. First, the information analysis unit 222 determines the distributed stations 15 that are candidates for sleep based on the traffic priority information included in the latest cooperation information for each distributed station 15. Next, the information analysis unit 222 sorts the distributed stations 15 that are candidates for sleep in descending order of the number of connected terminals identified by the information on the number of connected terminals. After that, the information analysis unit 222 adds up the number of connected terminals in ascending order to the distributed station 15 with the fewest connected terminals. The information analysis unit 222 compares the summed total with the threshold Th11 and continues adding up the number of connected terminals in ascending order until it exceeds the threshold Th11 or until there are no more connected terminals that have not been added. Based on the number of connected terminals added up until it exceeds the threshold Th11 or until there are no more connected terminals that have not been added, the information analysis unit 222 selects the sleep target from among the multiple distributed stations 15 with the summed number of connected terminals. Next, the information analysis unit 222 determines the destination distributed station from among multiple distributed stations 15 related to the total number of connected terminals. Subsequently, the information analysis unit 222 determines the distributed station 15 to be put into sleep mode from among multiple distributed stations 15 related to the total number of connected terminals. The method for determining the destination distributed station and the distributed station to be put into sleep mode is the same as the process described in the third pattern.

[0158] If the linked information includes communication quality information, the information analysis unit 222 may select sleep control targets (for example, sleep targets or sleep wake targets) using traffic information, processing load information tp, and at least one of traffic priority information or processing capacity information for each distributed station 15. For example, when selecting sleep control targets using traffic information, processing load information tp, and traffic priority information, the information analysis unit 222 determines to perform sleep control if the conditions for sleep target distributed stations in the first pattern or the conditions for sleep wake-up in the first pattern are met, and the conditions based on communication quality information are also met. The conditions based on communication quality information may be, for example, conditions based on whether the route after sleep is feasible (for example, whether quality degradation occurs). In this case, even if the information analysis unit 222 determines the sleep target and the optical path control target distributed stations 15 based on the conditions based on traffic information, it is possible that quality may degrade after route switching. Therefore, even if the distributed stations 15 to be sleep-bound and the optical path-controlled are determined based on conditions derived from traffic information, the information analysis unit 222 may choose not to perform sleep if the quality deteriorates along the path after optical path control. For example, when selecting sleep-bound targets using traffic information, processing load information tp, and information on the processing capacity of each distributed station 15, the information analysis unit 222 determines to perform sleep control if the conditions for sleep-bound distributed stations in the second pattern or the conditions for waking from sleep in the second pattern are met, and the conditions based on communication quality information are also met. For example, when selecting sleep-bound targets using traffic information, processing load information tp, traffic priority information, and information on the processing capacity of each distributed station 15, the information analysis unit 222 determines to perform sleep control if the conditions for sleep-bound distributed stations in the third pattern or the conditions for waking from sleep in the third pattern are met, and the conditions based on communication quality information are also met.

[0159] (Modification 9 in the First Embodiment) In the configurations shown in Figures 2 and 9 to 15, a configuration comprising one transfer device 13 has been described. In contrast, in the configurations shown in Figures 2 and 9 to 15, the combination of the transfer device 13 and the optical transfer device 14 shown in Figure 16 may be used. In this configuration, the sleep control unit 232 may target any of the optical transceivers and optical transfer devices 14 provided in the transfer device 13, in addition to the distributed station 15, for sleep control. Figure 16 is a diagram showing another example of the transfer device 13 in the first embodiment. Figure 16(A) shows a configuration using one transfer device 13 and a plurality of optical transfer devices 14-1 to 14-2, and Figure 16(B) shows a configuration using one transfer device 13 and one optical transfer device 14. The following describes the cases using each configuration. Here, an example will be given of applying the configuration of the transfer device 13 and optical transfer device 14 shown in Figure 16 to the configuration shown in Figure 2.

[0160] (Configuration using one transfer device 13 and multiple optical transfer devices 14-1 to 14-2) The configuration shown in Figure 16(A) is arranged between the radio station 12 and the distributed station 15. Therefore, the transfer device 13 is connected to the radio station 12, and the optical transfer devices 14 are connected to the distributed station 15. The transfer device 13 and the optical transfer devices 14, and the optical transfer devices 14 and the distributed station 15 are connected by optical fibers. The transfer device 13 and the management control device 20, and the optical transfer devices 14 and the management control device 20 may be connected by either control lines (e.g., electric wires) or optical fibers to transmit control signals. In the example shown in Figure 16(A), one transfer device 13 and two optical transfer devices 14-1 to 14-2 are shown, but the number of transfer devices 13 and optical transfer devices 14 is not particularly limited.

[0161] In Figure 16(A), the transfer device 13 and optical transfer device 14 are arranged in the order of transfer device 13 and optical transfer device 14, with respect to the direction from the radio station 12 to the server 18 (upstream direction). However, the arrangement of the transfer device 13 and optical transfer device 14 is not limited to this. For example, they may be arranged in the order of transfer device 13, optical transfer device 14, and transfer device 13 with respect to the direction from the radio station 12 to the server 18 (upstream direction), or in the order of optical transfer device 14 and transfer device 13, or only optical transfer device 14 may be arranged, or multiple optical transfer devices 14 may be arranged in a series (for example, in the order of optical transfer device 14-1, optical transfer device 14-2, ...).

[0162] The transfer device 13 is installed between the radio station 12 and the optical transfer device 14. The transfer device 13 converts the uplink signal transmitted from the radio station 12 into an optical signal and transfers it to the destination optical transfer device 14, or converts the optical signal transferred from the optical transfer device 14 into an electrical signal (downlink signal) and transfers it to the destination radio station 12.

[0163] The transfer device 13 controls the connection between the radio station 12 and the optical transfer device 14 according to the optical path control information transmitted from the management control device 20. For example, when the transfer device 13 receives the optical path control information transmitted from the management control device 20, it performs a switch so that the optical path is connected between the radio station 12, which is the destination of the optical path switch, and the optical transfer device 14.

[0164] Furthermore, the transfer device 13 includes a first optical transceiver 131 and a second optical transceiver 132. In Figure 16(A), for the sake of simplicity, the transfer device 13 is shown to have a configuration comprising two first optical transceivers 131-1 to 131-2 and two second optical transceivers 132-1 to 132-2, but the number of first optical transceivers 131 and second optical transceivers 132 is not particularly limited. In the following description, unless otherwise specified, the first optical transceiver 131 and the second optical transceiver 132 of the transfer device 13 will be referred to as the optical transceivers of the transfer device 13.

[0165] The first optical transceiver 131 transmits and receives signals between the radio station 12 and the second optical transceiver 132. The first optical transceiver 131 forwards the uplink signal transmitted from the radio station 12 to the second optical transceiver 132, which is the forwarding destination. The first optical transceiver 131 also forwards the downlink signal transmitted from the second optical transceiver 132 to the destination radio station 12.

[0166] The second optical transceiver 132 transmits and receives signals between the optical transfer device 14 and the first optical transceiver 131. The second optical transceiver 132 converts the uplink signal transmitted from the first optical transceiver 131 into an optical signal and transfers it to the destination optical transfer device 14. The second optical transceiver 132 also converts the optical signal transmitted from the optical transfer device 14 into a downlink signal (electrical signal) and transfers it to the destination first optical transceiver 131.

[0167] In the example shown in Figure 16(A), the first optical transceiver 131-1 and the second optical transceiver 132-1 are connected, and the first optical transceiver 131-2 and the second optical transceiver 132-2 are connected. The transfer device 13 switches the connection between the first optical transceiver 131 and the second optical transceiver 132 based on optical path control information transmitted from the management control device 20. For example, when switching the optical path so that the uplink signal transmitted from the radio station 12-1 is transferred to the distributed station 15-2 via the optical transfer device 14-2, the transfer device 13 switches to connect the first optical transceiver 131-1 and the second optical transceiver 132-2. As a result, the uplink signal transmitted from the radio station 12-1 is transferred to the optical transfer device 14-2 via the first optical transceiver 131-1 and the second optical transceiver 132-2.

[0168] Furthermore, the transfer device 13 transitions the optical transceiver of the transfer device 13, which is specified in the sleep instruction, to a sleep state in accordance with the sleep instruction transmitted from the management control device 20. The optical transceiver of the transfer device 13, which is specified in the sleep instruction, is, for example, an optical transceiver that will no longer be used due to the switching of the optical path. An optical transceiver that will no longer be used is an optical transceiver that does not need to be made usable and is an optical transceiver that is subject to sleep.

[0169] Furthermore, if the optical transceiver of the transfer device 13 identified by the sleep instruction transmitted from the management control device 20 is the second optical transceiver 132-1 that communicates with the optical transfer device 14-1, the transfer device 13 will put the second optical transceiver 132-1 that communicates with the optical transfer device 14-1 into a sleep state. In this way, the transfer device 13 puts the optical transceiver of the transfer device 13 that will no longer be used due to the switching of the optical path into a sleep state.

[0170] Furthermore, as the transmission device 13 receives a transmission from the management control device 20, it releases the sleep state of the optical transceiver of the transmission device 13 that is identified by the sleep release instruction. The optical transceiver of the transmission device 13 identified by the sleep release instruction is, for example, an optical transceiver used by switching optical paths. The optical transceiver used is an optical transceiver that needs to be made available for use and is the optical transceiver that is to be released from sleep.

[0171] For example, if the optical transceiver of the transfer device 13 identified by a sleep-release instruction transmitted from the management control device 20 is the second optical transceiver 132-1 that communicates with the optical transfer device 14-1, the transfer device 13 will release the second optical transceiver 132-1 that communicates with the optical transfer device 14-1 from the sleep state. In this way, the transfer device 13 transitions the optical transceiver of the transfer device 13 that is used by switching the optical path from the sleep state to the active state.

[0172] The optical transfer device 14 is provided between the transfer device 13 and the distributed station 15. The optical transfer device 14 is, for example, an optical switch or a ROADM (Reconfigurable Optical Add-Drop Multiplexer). The optical transfer device 14 transfers the optical signal transferred from the transfer device 13 to the destination distributed station 15, or transfers the optical signal transmitted from the distributed station 15 to the transfer device 13. The optical transfer device 14-1 is connected, for example, to the second optical transceiver 132-1 of the transfer device 13 and the distributed station 15-1. The optical transfer device 14-1 is connected, for example, to the second optical transceiver 132-2 of the transfer device 13 and the distributed station 15-2.

[0173] The optical transfer device 14 controls the optical path according to the optical path control information transmitted from the management control device 20. For example, the optical path control performed by the optical transfer device 14 includes switching optical paths and forming new optical paths. By controlling the optical path, the optical transfer device 14 controls the connection between the transfer device 13 and the distributed station 15. For example, when the optical transfer device 14 receives optical path control information transmitted from the management control device 20, it performs a switch so that the optical path is connected between the transfer device 13 and the distributed station 15, which are the destinations of the optical path switch.

[0174] Furthermore, the optical transmission device 14 includes a first optical transceiver 141 and a second optical transceiver 142. In Figure 16(B), for the sake of simplicity, the optical transmission device 14 is shown to have one first optical transceiver 141 and one second optical transceiver 142, but the number of first optical transceivers 141 and second optical transceivers 142 is not particularly limited.

[0175] The first optical transceiver 141 transmits and receives signals with the second optical transceiver 132 provided in the transfer device 13. The first optical transceiver 141 forwards the optical signal transmitted from the second optical transceiver 132 to the second optical transceiver 142, which is the transfer destination. The first optical transceiver 141 also forwards the optical signal transmitted from the second optical transceiver 142 to the connected second optical transceiver 132.

[0176] The second optical transceiver 142 transmits and receives signals with the distributed station 15. The second optical transceiver 142 forwards the optical signal transferred from the first optical transceiver 141 to the connected distributed station 15. The second optical transceiver 142 also forwards the optical signal transmitted from the connected distributed station 15 to the destination first optical transceiver 141.

[0177] Furthermore, the optical transmission device 14 enters a sleep state in accordance with a sleep instruction transmitted from the management control device 20. Unlike the transmission device 13, when the optical transmission device 14 receives a sleep instruction, it enters a sleep state itself. This is because the distributed station 15 to which the optical transmission device 14 is connected enters a sleep state, and the optical transmission device 14 itself becomes unused due to the switching of the optical path.

[0178] Furthermore, the optical transmission device 14 wakes up from sleep mode in accordance with the sleep wake-up instruction transmitted from the management control device 20. When the optical transmission device 14 receives the sleep instruction, unlike the transmission device 13, it wakes up from sleep mode itself. This is because the distributed station 15 to which the optical transmission device 14, which is in sleep mode, is connected wakes up from sleep mode, and the optical transmission device 14 itself is used by switching the optical path.

[0179] As described above, the transfer device 13 and the optical transfer device 14 are devices that control the optical path for connecting the radio station 12 and the distributed station 15.

[0180] During optical path control processing, the management control device 20 determines whether there are any optical transceivers in the transfer device 13 or optical transfer devices 14 that will not be used for signal transfer after the optical path is switched. If there are any optical transceivers in the transfer device 13 or optical transfer devices 14 that will not be used for signal transfer after the optical path is switched, the management control device 20 determines that either the unused optical transceiver in the transfer device 13 or optical transfer device 14 is subject to sleep control. The management control device 20 then sends a sleep instruction to the transfer device 13 or optical transfer device 14 that has been determined to be subject to sleep control. If there are no optical transceivers in the transfer device 13 or optical transfer devices 14 that will not be used for signal transfer after the optical path is switched, the management control device 20 does not determine that the optical transceivers in the transfer device 13 or optical transfer devices 14 are subject to sleep control.

[0181] Furthermore, during optical path control processing, the management control device 20 determines whether there is an optical transceiver in the transfer device 13 that is in a sleep state, or an optical transfer device 14 that is in a sleep state, which will be used for signal transfer after the optical path is switched. If there is an optical transceiver in the transfer device 13 that is in a sleep state, or an optical transfer device 14 that is in a sleep state, the management control device 20 determines that either the optical transceiver in the transfer device 13 that is in a sleep state, or the optical transfer device 14 that is in a sleep state, is subject to sleep control.

[0182] The control unit 20 then sends a sleep release instruction to the transfer device 13 or the optical transfer device 14 that has been determined to be subject to sleep control. If there are no optical transceivers or optical transfer devices 14 in sleep mode of the transfer device 13 used for signal transfer after the optical path switching, the control unit 20 does not determine that the optical transceivers or optical transfer devices 14 in sleep mode of the transfer device 13 are subject to sleep control.

[0183] [Sleep Processing] Next, the flow of sleep processing when using the configuration shown in Figure 16(A) will be described. Figure 17 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of sleep processing executed by the management control device 20 in modified example 8 of the first embodiment. In Figure 17, the same reference numerals as in Figure 3 are used for processing similar to that in Figure 3, and their explanation is omitted. When the processing from step S101 to step S110 is completed, the information analysis unit 222 determines the optical path control section based on the determined source distributed station (for example, distributed station 15-1) and destination distributed station (for example, distributed station 15-2) (step S301). For example, the information analysis unit 222 determines the section connecting the transfer device 13 and distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2 as the optical path control section.

[0184] In the example shown in Figure 16(A), the section connecting the transfer device 13 and the distributed station 15-1 consists of the first optical transceiver 131-1, the second optical transceiver 132-1, the optical transfer device 14-1, and the distributed station 15-1. Also in the example shown in Figure 16(A), the section connecting the transfer device 13 and the distributed station 15-2 consists of the first optical transceiver 131-2, the second optical transceiver 132-2, the optical transfer device 14-2, and the distributed station 15-2.

[0185] The information analysis unit 222 then identifies either the optical transceiver of the transfer device 13 or the optical transfer device 14 that will no longer be used after the optical path is switched in the determined optical path control section. In other words, the information analysis unit 222 identifies either the optical transceiver of the transfer device 13 or the optical transfer device 14, from among the first optical transceiver 131, the second optical transceiver 132, and the optical transfer device 14 provided in the transfer device 13, that will no longer be used after the optical path is switched.

[0186] In the above example, all the traffic aggregated by distributed station 15-1 will be aggregated at distributed station 15-2. In this case, the optical path will switch from the route of the first optical transceiver 131-1 of the transfer device 13, the second optical transceiver 132-1 of the transfer device 13, the optical transfer device 14-1 and distributed station 15-1 to the route of the first optical transceiver 131-1 of the transfer device 13, the second optical transceiver 132-2 of the transfer device 13, the optical transfer device 14-2 and distributed station 15-2.

[0187] Therefore, the optical transfer device 14-1 and the second optical transceiver 132-1 of the transfer device 13 will not be used. Accordingly, the information analysis unit 222 decides that the optical transfer device 14-1 and the second optical transceiver 132-1 of the transfer device 13 will also be put into sleep mode (step S302).

[0188] Subsequently, the information analysis unit 222 notifies the control unit 23 of control information including an optical path control instruction and a sleep instruction. The information analysis unit 222 includes in the optical path control instruction information, for example, information indicating the source distributed station (e.g., distributed station 15-1), information indicating the destination distributed station (e.g., distributed station 15-2), and information indicating the radio station 12 to which the destination distributed station will be connected. Furthermore, the information analysis unit 222 includes in the sleep instruction information indicating, for example, the devices to be put into sleep mode (e.g., distributed station 15-1, optical transfer device 14-1, and the second optical transceiver 132-1 of the transfer device 13).

[0189] The optical path control unit 231 identifies the source distributed station and the destination distributed station based on the optical path control instructions included in the control information notified by the information analysis unit 222. Here, the optical path control unit 231 determines distributed station 15-2 as the destination distributed station and distributed station 15-1 as the source distributed station. The optical path control unit 231 transmits optical path control information, including information indicating the determined source and destination distributed stations, to the transfer device 13 and the optical transfer device 14 (step S303).

[0190] As a result, the transfer device 13 and the optical transfer device 14 switch the optical path from one directed to distributed station 15-1 to one directed to distributed station 15-2. For example, the transfer device 13 connects the first optical transceiver 131-1 and the second optical transceiver 132-2 so that the uplink signal transmitted from radio station 12-1 is directed to distributed station 15-2. The optical transfer device 14-2 forms an optical path to transfer the uplink signal transmitted from radio station 12-1 to distributed station 15-2. The optical transfer device 14-1 identifies that the source distributed station is distributed station 15-1 based on the optical path control information. As a result, the optical transfer device 14-1 does not need to generate an optical path with the connected distributed station 15-1, and can therefore simply stop generating the optical path. At this point, the optical path control unit 231 may transmit optical path control instructions to the determined source distributed station and the radio station 12 connected to the source distributed station.

[0191] The sleep control unit 232 identifies the devices to be put into sleep mode based on the sleep instructions included in the control information notified by the information analysis unit 222. For example, the sleep control unit 232 identifies the distributed station 15-1, the optical transfer device 14-1, and the second optical transceiver 132-1 of the transfer device 13 as devices to be put into sleep mode. The sleep control unit 232 sends sleep permission notifications to the identified distributed station 15-1, the optical transfer device 14-1, and the transfer device 13 (step S112).

[0192] As a result, distributed station 15-1 enters sleep mode. Furthermore, optical transmission device 14-1 enters sleep mode. Furthermore, transmission device 13 enters sleep mode the second optical transceiver 132-1, which is identified by the information indicating the optical transceiver to be put into sleep mode included in the sleep permission notice.

[0193] In Figure 17, a configuration is shown in which sleep control is performed after optical path switching control is performed, but optical path switching control may also be performed after sleep control. Furthermore, in Figure 17, a configuration is shown in which the sleep control unit 232 puts the second optical transceiver 132, optical transfer device 14, and distributed station 15, which are equipped in the transfer device 13, into sleep mode, but the sleep control unit 232 may put both the distributed station to be put into sleep mode and the radio station 12 connected to the distributed station to be put into sleep mode via the transfer device 13 and the optical transfer device 14, or it may put only the radio station 12 into sleep mode.

[0194] Although Figure 17 illustrates the case where the linkage information is the first pattern, the process shown in Figure 17 is also applicable when the linkage information is the second or third pattern (as in Figure 5 or Figure 7). For example, when applying the process shown in Figure 17 to Figure 5 or Figure 7, the processes from step S201 to step S204 are executed after the process in step S125.

[0195] [Sleep Wake-up Process] Next, the flow of the sleep wake-up process when using the configuration shown in Figure 16(A) will be described. Figure 18 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the sleep wake-up process executed by the management control device 20 in the modified example 8 of the first embodiment. In Figure 18, processes similar to those in Figure 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals as in Figure 4 and their explanation is omitted. When the processes from step S201 to step S205 are completed, the information analysis unit 222 determines the optical path control section based on the determined source distributed station (e.g., distributed station 15-1) and destination distributed station (e.g., distributed station 15-2) (step S401). For example, the information analysis unit 222 determines the section connecting the transfer device 13 and each of the distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2 as the optical path control section. Then, the information analysis unit 222 identifies one of the first optical transceiver 131, the second optical transceiver 132, or the optical transfer device 14, which are in sleep mode and will be used after the optical path is switched in the determined optical path control section.

[0196] In the above example, a portion of the traffic aggregated by distributed station 15-1 (for example, traffic transmitted from radio station 12-2) will be distributed to distributed station 15-2. In this way, the optical paths that need to be newly generated when disabling distributed station 15-2 are the paths between radio station 12-2, the first optical transceiver 131-2 of the transfer device 13, the second optical transceiver 132-2 of the transfer device 13, the optical transfer device 14-2, and distributed station 15-2.

[0197] Therefore, the sleep-state optical transmission device 14-2 and the sleep-state second optical transceiver 132-2 provided by the transmission device 13 will be used. Accordingly, the information analysis unit 222 decides that the sleep-state optical transmission device 14-2 and the sleep-state second optical transceiver 132-2 provided by the transmission device 13 will also be subject to being woken from sleep (step S402). In this way, the information analysis unit 222 decides that not only the sleep-state distributed station 15, but also any of the sleep-state optical transceivers provided by the transmission device 13 and the sleep-state optical transmission device 14 will also be subject to being woken from sleep.

[0198] Subsequently, the information analysis unit 222 notifies the control unit 23 of control information including an optical path control instruction and a sleep wake-up instruction. The information analysis unit 222 includes, for example, information indicating the destination distributed station (e.g., distributed station 15-2) and information indicating the radio station 12 to which the destination distributed station will connect, in the optical path control instruction. Here, let's assume that the radio station 12 to which the destination distributed station will connect is radio station 12-2. Furthermore, the information analysis unit 222 includes, for example, information indicating the devices to be woken from sleep mode (e.g., distributed station 15-2, optical transfer device 14-2, and the second optical transceiver 132-2 of transfer device 13) in the sleep wake-up instruction.

[0199] The optical path control unit 231 identifies the target distributed station based on the optical path control instructions included in the control information notified by the information analysis unit 222. Here, the optical path control unit 231 determines distributed station 15-2 as the target distributed station. The optical path control unit 231 transmits optical path control information, which includes information indicating the determined target distributed station and information indicating the radio station 12 (for example, radio station 12-2) to which the target distributed station will be connected, to the transfer device 13 and the optical transfer device 14 (step S403).

[0200] As a result, the transfer device 13 and the optical transfer device 14 switch the optical path from radio station 12-2 to distributed station 15-1 so that it goes from radio station 12-2 to distributed station 15-2. For example, the transfer device 13 switches the connection between the first optical transceiver 131-2 and the second optical transceiver 132-2 so that the uplink signal transmitted from radio station 12-2 goes to distributed station 15-2. The optical transfer device 14-2 forms an optical path to transfer the uplink signal transmitted from radio station 12-2 to distributed station 15-2. At this point, the optical path control unit 231 may transmit optical path control instructions to the determined destination distributed station and the radio station 12 connected to the destination distributed station.

[0201] The sleep control unit 232 identifies the devices to be woken from sleep based on the sleep wake-up instructions included in the control information notified by the information analysis unit 222. For example, the sleep control unit 232 identifies the distributed station 15-2, the optical transfer device 14-2, and the second optical transceiver 132-2 of the transfer device 13 as devices to be woken from sleep. The sleep control unit 232 transmits sleep wake-up instructions to the identified distributed station 15-2, the optical transfer device 14-2, and the transfer device 13 (step S404).

[0202] As a result, the distributed station 15-2 wakes up from sleep mode. Furthermore, the optical transfer device 14-2 wakes up from sleep mode. Furthermore, the transfer device 13 wakes up the sleep mode of the second optical transceiver 132-2, which is identified by the information indicating the optical transceiver to be woken up in the sleep wake-up instruction. As a result, the distributed station 15-2, the optical transceiver in the transfer device 13, and the optical transfer device 14 can be woken up from sleep mode.

[0203] In Figure 16(A), the sleep control unit 232 is shown to release the sleep state of the second optical transceiver 132, optical transfer device 14, and distributed station 15, which are all part of the transfer device 13. However, the sleep control unit 232 may release the sleep state of both the distributed station 15 that is to be released from sleep and the radio station 12 that is connected to the distributed station 15 via the transfer device 13 and the optical transfer device 14, or it may release the sleep state of the radio station 12.

[0204] Although Figure 18 illustrates the case where the linking information is the first pattern, the process shown in Figure 18 is also applicable when the linking information is the second or third pattern (as in Figure 6 or Figure 8). For example, when applying the process shown in Figure 18 to Figure 6, the processes from steps S401 to 404 are executed after the process in step S226. For example, when applying the process shown in Figure 18 to Figure 8, the processes from steps S401 to 404 are executed after the process in step S205.

[0205] (Configuration using one transmission device 13 and one optical transmission device 14) Next, the configuration of Figure 16(B) will be described. The configuration shown in Figure 16(B) is arranged between the radio station 12 and the distributed station 15. The configuration shown in Figure 16(B) differs from the optical transmission device 14 shown in Figure 16(A) in that one optical transmission device 14 is equipped with a plurality of first optical transceivers 141 and a plurality of second optical transceivers 142 and is connected to a plurality of distributed stations 15 (for example, distributed stations 15-1, 15-2). The optical transmission device 14 is equipped with a plurality of first optical transceivers 141-1 to 141-2 and a plurality of second optical transceivers 142-1 to 142-2. In the following description, unless otherwise distinguished, the first optical transceivers 141 and the second optical transceivers 142 of the optical transmission device 14 will be referred to as the optical transceivers of the optical transmission device 14.

[0206] Furthermore, the optical transmission device 14, in accordance with the sleep instruction transmitted from the management control device 20, puts the optical transceiver of the optical transmission device 14 identified by the sleep instruction into a sleep state. Also, if the optical transceiver of the optical transmission device 14 identified by the sleep instruction transmitted from the management control device 20 is the second optical transceiver 142-1 that communicates with the distributed station 15-1, the optical transmission device 14 puts the second optical transceiver 142-1 that communicates with the distributed station 15-1 into a sleep state. Thus, unlike the case described in Figure 16(A), the optical transmission device 14 does not put the optical transmission device 14 itself into a sleep state, but rather puts the optical transceiver of the optical transmission device 14 that will no longer be used due to the switching of the optical path into a sleep state.

[0207] Furthermore, the optical transmission device 14, in accordance with the sleep-release instruction transmitted from the management control device 20, releases the sleep state of the optical transceiver of the optical transmission device 14 specified by the sleep-release instruction. For example, if the optical transceiver of the optical transmission device 14 specified by the sleep-release instruction transmitted from the management control device 20 is the second optical transceiver 142-1 that communicates with the distributed station 15-1, the optical transmission device 14 releases the second optical transceiver 142-1 that communicates with the distributed station 15-1 from the sleep state. In this way, the optical transmission device 14 transitions the optical transceiver of the optical transmission device 14 that is used by switching the optical path from the sleep state to the active state.

[0208] During optical path control processing, the management control device 20 determines whether there are any optical transceivers that will not be used for signal transmission after the optical path is switched. Specifically, the management control device 20 determines whether there are any optical transceivers in the transfer device 13 or the optical transfer device 14 that will not be used for signal transmission after the optical path is switched. If either the optical transceiver in the transfer device 13 or the optical transfer device 14 will not be used for signal transmission after the optical path is switched, the management control device 20 determines that there are optical transceivers that will not be used for signal transmission after the optical path is switched. On the other hand, in all other cases (where there are no optical transceivers in the transfer device 13 or the optical transfer device 14 that will not be used for signal transmission after the optical path is switched), the management control device 20 determines that there are no optical transceivers that will not be used for signal transmission after the optical path is switched.

[0209] The control unit 20 determines that any optical transceivers that are not used for signal transmission after the optical path has been switched are subject to sleep control. The control unit 20 then sends a sleep instruction to the transfer device 13 or optical transfer device 14 equipped with the unused optical transceivers. The control unit 20 does not determine that any optical transceivers are subject to sleep control if there are no optical transceivers that are not used for signal transmission after the optical path has been switched.

[0210] Furthermore, during optical path control processing, the management control device 20 determines whether or not there are any optical transceivers in a sleep state that will be used for signal transfer after the optical path is switched. Specifically, the management control device 20 determines whether or not there are any optical transceivers in a sleep state of the transfer device 13 or the optical transfer device 14 that will be used for signal transfer after the optical path is switched.

[0211] If there are optical transceivers in sleep mode in the transfer device 13 or optical transfer device 14 that are used for signal transfer after the optical path is switched, the management control device 20 determines that the optical transceivers in sleep mode in the transfer device 13 or optical transfer device 14 that are used are targets for sleep control. The management control device 20 then sends a sleep release instruction to the transfer device 13 or optical transfer device 14 equipped with the optical transceivers in sleep mode that are used. If there are no optical transceivers in sleep mode in the transfer device 13 or optical transfer device 14 that are used for signal transfer after the optical path is switched, the management control device 20 does not determine that the optical transceivers in sleep mode in the transfer device 13 or optical transfer device 14 are targets for sleep control.

[0212] [Sleep Processing] Next, the flow of sleep processing when using the configuration shown in Figure 16(B) will be explained. When the processing from step S101 to step S110 in Figure 3 is completed, the information analysis unit 222 determines the section connecting the transfer device 13 and each of the distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2 as the optical path control section. In the example shown in Figure 16(B), the section connecting the transfer device 13 and the distributed station 15-1 is the first optical transceiver 131-1 provided in the transfer device 13, the second optical transceiver 132-1 provided in the transfer device 13, the first optical transceiver 141-1 provided in the optical transfer device 14, the second optical transceiver 142-1 provided in the optical transfer device 14, and the distributed station 15-1. Furthermore, in the example shown in Figure 16(B), the section connecting the transfer device 13 and the distributed station 15-2 consists of the first optical transceiver 131-2 of the transfer device 13, the second optical transceiver 132-2 of the transfer device 13, the first optical transceiver 141-2 of the optical transfer device 14, the second optical transceiver 142-2 of the optical transfer device 14, and the distributed station 15-2.

[0213] The information analysis unit 222 then identifies the optical transceivers that will no longer be used after the optical path is switched in the determined optical path control section. Specifically, the information analysis unit 222 identifies the optical transceivers that will no longer be used after the optical path is switched from among the first optical transceiver 131 and second optical transceiver 132 provided in the transfer device 13, and the first optical transceiver 141 and second optical transceiver 142 provided in the optical transfer device 14.

[0214] In the above example, all traffic contained in distributed station 15-1 will be aggregated at distributed station 15-2. In this case, the optical path will be switched from the route of the first optical transceiver 131-1 of the transfer device 13, the second optical transceiver 132-1 of the transfer device 13, the first optical transceiver 141-1 of the optical transfer device 14, the second optical transceiver 142-1 of the optical transfer device 14 and distributed station 15-1 to the route of the first optical transceiver 131-1 of the transfer device 13, the second optical transceiver 132-2 of the transfer device 13, the first optical transceiver 141-2 of the optical transfer device 14, the second optical transceiver 142-2 of the optical transfer device 14 and distributed station 15-2.

[0215] Therefore, the second optical transceiver 132-1 of the transfer device 13 and the first optical transceiver 141-1 and second optical transceiver 142-1 of the optical transfer device 14 will not be used. Accordingly, the information analysis unit 222 also decides that the second optical transceiver 132-1 of the transfer device 13 and the first optical transceiver 141-1 and second optical transceiver 142-1 of the optical transfer device 14 will also be put into sleep mode.

[0216] Subsequently, the information analysis unit 222 notifies the control unit 23 of control information including an optical path control instruction and a sleep instruction. The information analysis unit 222 includes in the optical path control instruction information, for example, information indicating the source distributed station (e.g., distributed station 15-1), information indicating the destination distributed station (e.g., distributed station 15-2), and information indicating the radio station 12 to which the destination distributed station will be connected. Furthermore, the information analysis unit 222 includes in the sleep instruction information indicating, for example, the devices to be put into sleep mode (e.g., distributed station 15-1, the first optical transceiver 141-1 and the second optical transceiver 142-1 of the optical transfer device 14, and the second optical transceiver 132-1 of the transfer device 13).

[0217] The optical path control unit 231 identifies the source distributed station and the destination distributed station based on the optical path control instructions included in the control information notified by the information analysis unit 222. Here, the optical path control unit 231 determines distributed station 15-2 as the destination distributed station and distributed station 15-1 as the source distributed station. The optical path control unit 231 transmits optical path control information, including information indicating the determined source and destination distributed stations, to the transfer device 13 and the optical transfer device 14.

[0218] As a result, the transfer device 13 and the optical transfer device 14 switch the optical path from one directed towards distributed station 15-1 to one directed towards distributed station 15-2. For example, the transfer device 13 connects the first optical transceiver 131-1 and the second optical transceiver 132-2 so that the uplink signal transmitted from radio station 12-1 is directed towards distributed station 15-2. The optical transfer device 14 connects the first optical transceiver 141-1 and the second optical transceiver 142-2 so that the uplink signal transmitted from radio station 12-1 is directed towards distributed station 15-2. At this point, the optical path control unit 231 may transmit optical path control instructions to the determined source distributed station and the radio station 12 connected to the source distributed station.

[0219] The sleep control unit 232 identifies the devices to be put into sleep mode based on the sleep instructions included in the control information notified by the information analysis unit 222. For example, the sleep control unit 232 identifies the distributed station 15-1, the first optical transceiver 141-1 and the second optical transceiver 142-1 of the optical transfer device 14, and the second optical transceiver 132-1 of the transfer device 13 as devices to be put into sleep mode. The sleep control unit 232 sends sleep permission notifications to the identified distributed station 15-1, the optical transfer device 14, and the transfer device 13.

[0220] As a result, distributed station 15-1 enters sleep mode. Furthermore, optical transmission device 14 enters sleep mode for the first optical transceiver 141-1 and the second optical transceiver 142-1, which are identified by the information indicating the optical transceivers to be put into sleep mode included in the sleep permission notice. Furthermore, transmission device 13 enters sleep mode for the second optical transceiver 132-1, which is identified by the information indicating the optical transceivers to be put into sleep mode included in the sleep permission notice.

[0221] In this example, a configuration is shown in which sleep control is performed after the optical path switching control is performed, but the optical path switching control may also be performed after the sleep control is performed. Furthermore, although a configuration is shown in which the sleep control unit 232 puts the second optical transceiver 132 of the transfer device 13, the first optical transceiver 141, the second optical transceiver 142 and the distributed station 15 of the optical transfer device 14 into sleep mode, the sleep control unit 232 may also put both the distributed station to be put into sleep mode and the radio station 12 connected to the distributed station to be put into sleep mode via the transfer device 13 and the optical transfer device 14, or it may put only the radio station 12 into sleep mode.

[0222] In the above example, the case where the linking information is the first pattern was used as an example, but this process can also be applied when the linking information is the second or third pattern (as in Figure 5 or Figure 7). For example, when applying the above process to Figure 5 or Figure 7, the above process is executed after the process in step S125.

[0223] [Sleep Wake-Up Process] Next, the flow of the sleep wake-up process when using the configuration shown in Figure 16 (B) will be explained. When the processes from step S201 to step S205 in Figure 4 are completed, the information analysis unit 222 determines the section connecting the transfer device 13 and each of the distributed stations 15-1 to 15-2 as the optical path control section. The information analysis unit 222 then identifies either the first optical transceiver 131 and the second optical transceiver 132 of the sleep-state transfer device 13 that will be used after the optical path switching in the determined optical path control section, or the first optical transceiver 141 and the second optical transceiver 142 of the sleep-state optical transfer device 14.

[0224] In the above example, a portion of the traffic aggregated by distributed station 15-1 (for example, traffic transmitted from radio station 12-2) will be distributed to distributed station 15-2. In this way, the optical paths that need to be newly generated when disabling distributed station 15-2 are the paths between radio station 12-2, the first optical transceiver 131-2 of the transfer device 13, the second optical transceiver 132-2 of the transfer device 13, the first optical transceiver 141-2 of the optical transfer device 14, the second optical transceiver 142-2 of the optical transfer device 14, and distributed station 15-2.

[0225] Therefore, the first optical transceiver 141-2 and the second optical transceiver 142-2, both in sleep mode, provided by the optical transfer device 14, and the second optical transceiver 132-2, both in sleep mode, provided by the transfer device 13, will be used. Accordingly, the information analysis unit 222 also determines that the first optical transceiver 141-2 and the second optical transceiver 142-2, both in sleep mode, provided by the optical transfer device 14, and the second optical transceiver 132-2, both in sleep mode, provided by the transfer device 13, will also be subject to being woken from sleep mode. In this way, the information analysis unit 222 determines that not only the distributed station 15 in sleep mode, but also any optical transceiver in sleep mode provided by the transfer device 13 or the optical transfer device 14 will be subject to being woken from sleep mode.

[0226] Subsequently, the information analysis unit 222 notifies the control unit 23 of control information including an optical path control instruction and a sleep wake-up instruction. The information analysis unit 222 includes, for example, information indicating the destination distributed station (e.g., distributed station 15-2) and information indicating the destination radio station 12 to which the destination distributed station will connect, in the optical path control instruction. Here, let's assume that the destination radio station 12 to which the destination distributed station will connect is radio station 12-2. Furthermore, the information analysis unit 222 includes, for example, information indicating the devices to be woken from sleep mode (e.g., distributed station 15-2, the first optical transceiver 141-2 and the second optical transceiver 142-2 of the optical transfer device 14, and the second optical transceiver 132-2 of the transfer device 13), in the sleep instruction.

[0227] The optical path control unit 231 identifies the target distributed station for switching based on the optical path control instructions included in the control information notified by the information analysis unit 222. Here, the optical path control unit 231 determines distributed station 15-2 as the target distributed station for switching. The optical path control unit 231 transmits optical path control information, which includes information indicating the determined target distributed station for switching and information indicating the radio station 12 (for example, radio station 12-2) to which the target distributed station for switching will be connected, to the transfer device 13 and the optical transfer device 14.

[0228] As a result, the transfer device 13 and the optical transfer device 14 switch the optical path from radio station 12-2 to distributed station 15-1 so that it goes from radio station 12-2 to distributed station 15-2. For example, the transfer device 13 connects the first optical transceiver 131-2 and the second optical transceiver 132-2 so that the uplink signal transmitted from radio station 12-2 is directed to distributed station 15-2. The optical transfer device 14 connects the first optical transceiver 141-2 and the second optical transceiver 142-2 so that the uplink signal transmitted from radio station 12-2 is directed to distributed station 15-2. At this point, the optical path control unit 231 may transmit optical path control instructions to the determined destination distributed station and the radio station 12 connected to the destination distributed station.

[0229] The sleep control unit 232 identifies the devices to be woken from sleep based on the sleep wake-up instructions included in the control information notified by the information analysis unit 222. For example, the sleep control unit 232 identifies the distributed station 15-2, the first optical transceiver 141-2 and the second optical transceiver 142-2 of the optical transfer device 14, and the second optical transceiver 132-2 of the transfer device 13 as devices to be woken from sleep. The sleep control unit 232 transmits sleep wake-up instructions to the identified distributed station 15-2, the optical transfer device 14, and the transfer device 13.

[0230] As a result, the distributed station 15-2 wakes up from sleep mode. Furthermore, the optical transfer device 14 wakes up the sleep mode of the first optical transceiver 141-2 and the second optical transceiver 142-2, which are identified by the information indicating the optical transceiver to be woken up in the sleep wake-up instruction. Furthermore, the transfer device 13 wakes up the sleep mode of the second optical transceiver 132-2, which is identified by the information indicating the optical transceiver to be woken up in the sleep wake-up instruction. As a result, the distributed station 15-2, the optical transceiver in the transfer device 13, and the optical transceiver in the optical transfer device 14 can be woken up from sleep mode.

[0231] In this example, the sleep control unit 232 is shown to release the sleep state of the optical transceiver in the transfer device 13, the optical transceiver in the optical transfer device 14, and the distributed station 15. However, the sleep control unit 232 may release the sleep state of both the distributed station 15 to be released from sleep and the radio station 12 connected to the distributed station 15 via the transfer device 13 and the optical transfer device 14, or it may release the sleep state of the radio station 12.

[0232] In the above example, the case where the linking information is the first pattern was used as an example, but this process can also be applied when the linking information is the second or third pattern (as in Figure 6 or Figure 8). For example, when applying the above process to Figure 5 or Figure 7, the above process is executed after the process in step S125.

[0233] (Modification 10 in the first embodiment) A transfer device 13 may be placed between the distributed station 15 and the aggregation station 16, and sleep control determination may be performed in the same manner.

[0234] (Second Embodiment) In the second embodiment, a configuration comprising a base station in which a radio station, a distributed station, and an aggregated station are integrated will be described.

[0235] (Outline of the Second Embodiment) Figure 19 is a diagram illustrating the overall configuration and processing overview of the mobile network system in the second embodiment. First, the overall configuration of the mobile network system in the second embodiment will be described. The mobile network system in the second embodiment is an example of a communication system. The mobile network system in the second embodiment is, for example, 5G. The mobile network system in the second embodiment comprises a transmission device 13, a core device 17, a server 18, a base station 19, and a management control device 20.

[0236] The base station 19 and the transfer device 13, the transfer device 13 and the core device 17, and the core device 17 and the server 18 are connected by optical fibers for transmitting optical signals. The transfer device 13 and the management control device 20, and the base station 19 and the management control device 20 may be connected by either control lines (e.g., electric wires) or optical fibers for transmitting control signals.

[0237] The example shown in Figure 19 illustrates a mobile network system comprising two base stations 19-1 to 19-2 and one transmission device 13. The number of transmission devices 13, core devices 17, servers 18, and base stations 19 in the mobile network system is not particularly limited.

[0238] The base station 19 is a device that integrates a radio station, a distributed station, and an aggregation station. The base station 19 is equipped with one or more antennas and performs wireless communication with one or more terminals 11 located within the communication area. For example, each base station 19 converts uplink signals transmitted from one or more terminals 11 into optical signals and transmits them to the core device 17 via the transfer device 13. The base station 19 transmits downlink signals (optical signals) received via the transfer device 13 to one or more terminals 11 wirelessly. The base station 19 transmits coordination information to the management control device 20. The base station 19 is one form of a communication station.

[0239] In the second embodiment, the cooperation information is information relating to each base station 19, for example, information indicating the state of communication between each base station 19 and the terminal 11. In the second embodiment, the cooperation information includes, for example, traffic information of each base station 19 and at least one of traffic priority information or processing capacity information of each base station 19. Thus, the cooperation information in the second embodiment includes a combination of information relating to communication at each base station 19. In the second embodiment, the cooperation information includes a first' pattern which includes traffic volume information and traffic priority information of each base station 19, a second' pattern which includes traffic volume information of each base station 19 and processing capacity information of each distributed station 15, and a third' pattern which includes traffic volume information of each distributed station 15, traffic priority information and processing capacity information of each distributed station 15. Note that the traffic information, traffic priority information and processing capacity information are the same as in the first embodiment, except that the target is different (base stations 19 instead of distributed stations 15).

[0240] If the base station 19 is equipped with multiple antennas, the base station 19 may perform wireless communication with one or more terminals 11 by beamforming. The base station 19 includes at least a transmitting unit, a receiving unit, and a sleep processing unit. The transmitting unit transmits cooperation information to the management control unit 20 at the request of the management control unit 20 or voluntarily. The receiving unit receives a sleep permission notification from the management control unit 20. In response to receiving the sleep permission notification, the sleep processing unit puts the base station 19 (its own device) into a sleep state. The sleep processing unit also releases the base station 19 (its own device) from the sleep state in response to receiving a sleep release instruction.

[0241] In the second embodiment, the transmission device 13 is provided between the base station 19 and the core device 17. The transmission device 13 is, for example, a router or L2 switch that has the function of transmitting optical signals. The transmission device 13 includes a plurality of optical transceivers (not shown in Figure 19). The transmission device 13 in the second embodiment performs the same processing as in the first embodiment, except that the base station 19 is connected instead of the radio station 12 and the core device 17 is connected instead of the optical transmission device 14.

[0242] In the second embodiment, the management control device 20 is a device that manages the entire mobile network system. The management control device 20 acquires cooperation information from each base station 19. When acquiring cooperation information from each base station 19, the management control device 20 uses a cooperation interface. The management control device 20 determines whether optical path control and sleep control are necessary, taking into account not only traffic information but also traffic priority information or information on the processing capacity of each distributed station 15. The specific processing is the same as in the first embodiment.

[0243] Next, an overview of the processing of the mobile network system in the second embodiment will be described. The upper part of Figure 19 shows the connection state of the mobile network system before optical path switching, and the lower part of Figure 19 shows the connection state of the mobile network system after optical path switching. In the upper part of Figure 19, two terminals 11 are connected to base station 19-1, base station 19-1 is connected to core device 17 via transfer device 13, two terminals 11 are connected to base station 19-2, and base station 19-2 is connected to core device 17 via transfer device 13.

[0244] The management control device 20 determines, based on the coordination information collected from each base station 19, that sleep control is possible if one base station 19 can accommodate the traffic of the other base stations 19. In other words, the management control device 20 performs optical path control processing and sleep control processing if one base station 19 can accommodate the traffic of the other base stations 19 based on the coordination information collected from each base station 19. In this way, by accommodating the traffic of the other base stations 19 to one base station 19, the other base stations 19 whose traffic has ceased can be put into sleep mode.

[0245] When the management control device 20 collects traffic information and traffic priority information as collaborative information, it determines the base stations 19 that will be candidates for sleep based on the traffic priority information included in the collaborative information. For example, the management control device 20 determines the base stations 19 that satisfy the priority-based aggregation condition based on the value indicated by the traffic priority information as candidates for sleep. The priority-based aggregation condition in the second embodiment is a condition for determining the base stations 19 that aggregate traffic (base stations 19 that move traffic) based on traffic priority. The priority-based aggregation condition is, for example, that the value indicated by the traffic priority information is less than or equal to the priority determination threshold (or "greater than or equal to" depending on the priority information). In this case, even if a base station 19 satisfies the priority-based aggregation condition, the management control device 20 may exclude base stations 19 that have traffic that does not satisfy the priority-based aggregation condition from the sleep candidates.

[0246] For example, the management control device 20 may exclude base stations 19 with high-priority traffic from sleep mode in order to meet service requirements. Alternatively, for example, the management control device 20 may designate base stations 19 with a predetermined number or more of low-priority traffic as sleep candidates in order to prioritize putting base stations 19 with a large amount of low-priority traffic into sleep mode. This makes it possible to meet the service requirements for high-priority traffic.

[0247] When the management control device 20 performs optical path control processing, it instructs the transfer device 13 to switch the optical path. For example, as shown in the lower diagram of Figure 19, the management control device 20 determines that base station 19-1 can be put into sleep mode when base station 19-2 can accommodate all of the traffic from base station 19-1. Then, in the optical path control processing, the management control device 20 transmits optical path control information to the transfer device 13 instructing it to switch the path from base station 19-1 to transfer device 13 to the path from base station 19-2 to transfer device 13.

[0248] The transmission device 13 switches the optical path between the base station 19 and the core device 17 in accordance with the optical path switching instruction from the management control device 20. After the optical path switching is complete, the transmission device 13 notifies the management control device 20 of the completion of the optical path switching. Since the connection destination of the terminal 11 changes due to the optical path switching, the management control device 20 may instruct the base station 19, which is the target of the optical path switching, to change the connection.

[0249] When the management control device 20 receives notification of completion of optical path switching from the device to be switched (for example, the transmission device 13), it sends a sleep permission notification to the device that can enter sleep mode. In the example shown in the lower part of Figure 19, the management control device 20 determines that the base station 19-1 is a device that can enter sleep mode. Therefore, the management control device 20 sends a sleep permission notification to the base station 19-1.

[0250] The lower diagram in Figure 19 shows an example where four terminals 11 are connected to base station 19-2, and base station 19-1 has entered a sleep state. Based on the coordination information collected from each base station 19, the management control device 20 moves terminals 11 connected to base stations 19 that can enter a sleep state to other base stations 19, thereby putting devices that can enter a sleep state into a sleep state. Hereinafter, the base station 19 that is the source of the optical path switching will be referred to as the source base station, and the base station 19 that is the destination of the optical path switching will be referred to as the destination base station.

[0251] (Details of the second embodiment) Figure 20 shows an example of the configuration of the mobile network system 200 in the second embodiment. The mobile network system 200 in the second embodiment includes a transmission device 13, a core device 17, a server 18, a base station 19, and a management control device 20. The transmission device 13, core device 17, server 18, and base station 19 have been explained in Figure 19, so their explanation is omitted here.

[0252] [Configuration of the Management Control Device 20] The management control device 20 comprises an information collection unit 21, an analysis unit 22, and a control unit 23. The information collection unit 21 comprises an acquisition unit 211. The acquisition unit 211 acquires various types of information. For example, the acquisition unit 211 collects cooperation information from base stations 19 at predetermined intervals or at arbitrary timings. The acquisition unit 211 collects traffic information from each base station 19 as cooperation information.

[0253] The analysis unit 22 comprises an information storage unit 221 and an information analysis unit 222. The information storage unit 221 records the cooperation information collected by the acquisition unit 211 in a predetermined storage device. The information analysis unit 222 analyzes the communication status between each base station 19 and the terminal 11 based on the cooperation information. Specifically, the information analysis unit 222 determines whether optical path control and sleep control are necessary based on the cooperation information. The method by which the information analysis unit 222 determines whether optical path control and sleep control are necessary based on the cooperation information is the same as in the first embodiment.

[0254] For example, the information analysis unit 222 determines that it will perform optical path control processing and sleep control processing if all terminals 11 accommodated by one base station 19 can be accommodated by any of the base stations 19. In this case, the information analysis unit 222 notifies the control unit 23 of control information including an optical path control instruction and a sleep instruction. In the second embodiment, the optical path control instruction is an instruction to request switching of the optical path, and includes, for example, information indicating the source base station and information indicating the destination base station. In the second embodiment, the sleep instruction is an instruction to send a sleep permission notification, and includes, for example, information indicating the device to be put into sleep mode.

[0255] Furthermore, the information analysis unit 222 determines that if the traffic volume of a certain base station 19 exceeds a threshold, it will perform optical path control processing and sleep control processing. In this case, the information analysis unit 222 notifies the control unit 23 of control information including an optical path control instruction and a sleep wake-up instruction. The sleep wake-up instruction in the second embodiment is an instruction to wake the sleep state and includes information indicating, for example, the base station 19 to be woken from sleep. The method for selecting the target to be woken from sleep in the information analysis unit 222 is the same as in the first embodiment.

[0256] The control unit 23 includes an optical path control unit 231 and a sleep control unit 232. The optical path control unit 231 determines the source base station and the destination base station based on the results of the analysis by the information analysis unit 222. For example, the optical path control unit 231 determines the source base station based on information indicating the source base station included in the control information notified by the information analysis unit 222. For example, the optical path control unit 231 determines the destination base station based on information indicating the destination base station included in the control information notified by the information analysis unit 222.

[0257] The optical path control unit 231 transmits optical path control information, including information indicating the determined switching destination base station, to the transfer device 13. This instructs the transfer device 13 to switch the optical path.

[0258] Based on the results of the analysis by the information analysis unit 222, the sleep control unit 232 causes the device subject to sleep control to either enter sleep mode or exit sleep mode.

[0259] [Sleep Processing (Part 1)] Figure 21 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of sleep processing (Part 1) performed by the management control device 20 in the second embodiment. Here, we will explain using the case where there are two base stations 19 (for example, base stations 19-1 to 19-2), and the information used for cooperation is the traffic volume information and traffic priority information of each distributed station 15 (the case of the 1' pattern). Furthermore, for the sake of simplifying the explanation, we will assume that the connection configuration of each device is as shown in Figure 20.

[0260] The information analysis unit 222 acquires the latest cooperation information for each base station 19 (information on the traffic volume and traffic priority of each base station 19) stored in the information storage unit 221 (step S501). In the management control device 20, cooperation information is collected at predetermined intervals or at arbitrary timings until the processing of Figure 21 is executed. Therefore, the information storage unit 221 will have cooperation information for each base station 19 stored at predetermined intervals or at arbitrary timings. Thus, when the information analysis unit 222 starts the processing of Figure 21, it acquires the latest cooperation information for each base station 19 at the start of the processing of Figure 21. The management control device 20 may also acquire all of the cooperation information for each base station 19, including information on the traffic volume, information on traffic priority, and information on processing capacity. In this case, when the information analysis unit 222 starts the processing of Figure 21, it acquires the information on the traffic volume and traffic priority of each base station 19 as the latest cooperation information for each base station 19 at the start of the processing of Figure 21.

[0261] The information analysis unit 222 calculates the traffic volume for each base station 19-1 to 19-2 based on the traffic volume information for each base station 19 included in the latest acquired cooperation information for each base station 19 (step S502). The information analysis unit 222 also determines the base stations 19 that will be candidates for sleep based on the traffic priority information included in the latest acquired cooperation information for each base station 19 (step S503). For example, the information analysis unit 222 determines base stations 19 that satisfy the aggregation conditions based on priority as sleep candidates. Here, a single base station 19 may have both traffic that satisfies the aggregation conditions based on priority and traffic that does not satisfy the aggregation conditions based on priority. Therefore, the information analysis unit 222 may exclude base stations 19 that have traffic that does not satisfy the aggregation conditions based on priority from the sleep candidates. Here, let's assume that the sleep candidates are base stations 19-1 to 19-2.

[0262] Then, the information analysis unit 222 sorts the base stations 19-1 to 19-2 among the sleep candidate base stations 19 in descending order of calculated traffic volume (step S504). The information analysis unit 222 determines the traffic volume to be added to A (step S505). In the second embodiment, the traffic volume to be added to A is, for example, the base station 19 with the least traffic volume. As an example, here the base station 19 with the least traffic volume is designated as base station 19-1. Next, the information analysis unit 222 determines the traffic volume to be added to B (step S506). In the second embodiment, the traffic volume to be added to B is, for example, the base station 19 with the second least traffic volume. As an example, here the base station 19 with the second least traffic volume is designated as base station 19-2. The information analysis unit 222 adds the traffic volume of the traffic volume to be added to A and the traffic volume of the traffic volume to be added to B to obtain the traffic volume to be added value T ｔｏｔａｌ Calculate (step S507).

[0263] The information analysis unit 222 calculates the traffic volume sum value T. ｔｏｔａｌThe information analysis unit 222 compares the calculated traffic volume sum T with the threshold Th1'. Here, the threshold Th1' is a value for control decision-making, and may be the same value for each base station 19, or it may be a different value for each base station 19. The threshold Th1' may be calculated by the information analysis unit 222 based on the cooperation information and recorded in the information storage unit 221, or it may be held in advance by the information analysis unit 222 for each base station 19. If the threshold Th1' for each base station 19 is recorded in the information storage unit 221, the information analysis unit 222 may read and use the threshold Th1' recorded in the information storage unit 221. The information analysis unit 222 calculates the traffic volume sum T ｔｏｔａｌ This is then compared with the threshold Th1' of base station 19 corresponding to the summation target A.

[0264] The information analysis unit 222 calculates the traffic volume sum value T. ｔｏｔａｌ However, it is determined whether or not it is greater than the threshold Th1' (step S508). The information analysis unit 222 determines whether the traffic volume sum value T ｔｏｔａｌ However, if it is determined that the value is not greater than the threshold Th1' (step S508-NO), the information analysis unit 222 adds the smallest traffic amount among the traffic amounts that have not been added, thereby creating a new traffic amount addition value T ｔｏｔａｌ Calculate (step S509).

[0265] Subsequently, the information analysis unit 222 executes the process in step S508 again. In this case, the information analysis unit 222 calculates the newly calculated traffic volume sum value T. ｔｏｔａｌ However, it is determined whether or not it is greater than the threshold Th1' (step S508). Note that it is also possible that there is no traffic volume that has not been added. If there is no traffic volume that has not been added, the information analysis unit 222 may execute the process in step S510.

[0266] The information analysis unit 222 may also predict the traffic volume and compare the result with the threshold Th1'. In this case, the information analysis unit 222 performs the process of predicting the traffic volume in step S502. Alternatively, the information analysis unit 222 may compare both the current traffic volume and the predicted traffic volume result with the threshold Th1' to determine whether to sleep. In this case, the information analysis unit 222 performs both the calculation of the traffic volume for each base station 19 and the process of predicting the traffic volume in step S502. Then, in step S508, if both the current traffic volume and the predicted traffic volume result are less than the threshold Th1', the process of step S510 may be executed. The same applies to the third' pattern described later.

[0267] The information analysis unit 222 calculates the traffic volume sum value T. ｔｏｔａｌ If it is determined that the traffic volume is greater than the threshold Th1' (step S508 - YES), or if there is no traffic volume that has not been added, the information analysis unit 222 determines the base station 19 to be aggregated. Specifically, the information analysis unit 222 selects a base station 19 that satisfies the condition that it can aggregate the traffic of terminals 11 accommodated by other base stations 19 from among the base stations 19 that have each traffic volume added up to before the processing of step S510 is executed (for example, before the threshold Th1' is exceeded, or before there is no more traffic volume that has not been added), and selects the base station 19 that satisfies the condition that it can aggregate the traffic of terminals 11 accommodated by other base stations 19 as the base station 19 to be aggregated. If there are multiple base stations 19 that satisfy the condition, the information analysis unit 222 may select the base station 19 with the largest traffic volume among the multiple base stations 19 that satisfy the condition as the base station 19 to be aggregated.

[0268] For example, if the base stations 19 with the summed traffic amounts before executing the process in step S510 are base stations 19-1 to 19-2, the information analysis unit 222 may decide that the base station 19 with the largest traffic amount among base stations 19-1 to 19-2 is the base station 19 to be aggregated. Note that the method for determining the base station 19 to be aggregated is not limited to the above method, and other methods may be used (for example, determining the base station 19 with the second largest traffic amount as the base station 19 to be aggregated). Here, let's assume that base station 19-2 is determined to be the aggregation destination.

[0269] Furthermore, the information analysis unit 222 determines which base stations 19 will be put into sleep mode (step S511). For example, the information analysis unit 222 determines which base stations 19 will be put into sleep mode from among the base stations 19 with the total traffic amounts added up to before the processing in step S510, excluding the base station 19 that became the aggregation destination. For example, the information analysis unit 222 may determine which base stations 19 will be put into sleep mode if they satisfy the condition that there will be no traffic after the traffic is aggregated to the aggregation destination base station 19.

[0270] In the above example, each base station 19 with the added traffic amount before the processing of step S510 is base stations 19-1 to 19-2, and the base station 19 that becomes the aggregation destination is base station 19-2. If base station 19-1 is the base station 19 that satisfies the condition that there will be no traffic after the traffic is aggregated to the aggregation destination base station 19 (base station 19-2), the information analysis unit 222 determines base station 19-1 to be the sleep target. Base station 19-1, which has been determined to be the sleep target, is the switching source base station, and base station 19-2, which has been determined to be the aggregation destination, is the switching destination base station.

[0271] Subsequently, the information analysis unit 222 notifies the control unit 23 of control information including an optical path control instruction and a sleep instruction. The information analysis unit 222 includes, for example, information indicating the source base station (e.g., base station 19-1) and information indicating the destination base station (e.g., base station 19-2) in the optical path control instruction. Furthermore, the information analysis unit 222 includes, for example, information indicating the device to be put into sleep mode (e.g., base station 19-1) in the sleep instruction.

[0272] The optical path control unit 231 identifies the source base station and the destination base station based on the optical path control instructions included in the control information notified by the information analysis unit 222. Here, the optical path control unit 231 determines base station 19-2 as the destination base station and base station 19-1 as the source base station. The optical path control unit 231 transmits optical path control information, which includes information indicating the determined source base station and destination base station, to the transfer device 13 (step S512).

[0273] As a result, the transmission device 13 switches the optical path route so that the optical path formed between base stations 19-1 becomes a path via base station 19-2. At this point, the optical path control unit 231 may transmit an optical path control instruction to the base station from which the optical path was switched.

[0274] The sleep control unit 232 identifies the device to be put into sleep based on the sleep instruction included in the control information notified by the information analysis unit 222. For example, the sleep control unit 232 identifies base station 19-1 as the device to be put into sleep. The sleep control unit 232 sends a sleep permission notification to the identified base station 19-1 (step S513). As a result, base station 19-1 enters sleep mode. Although Figure 21 shows a configuration in which sleep control is performed after optical path switching control, optical path switching control may also be performed after sleep control.

[0275] In the above description, the sleep process (1) executed by the management control device 20 in the second embodiment was described, but the management control device 20 may also execute sleep process (2) and sleep process (3) as in the first embodiment. That is, the management control device 20 may execute sleep process when using information on the traffic volume of each base station 19 and information on the processing capacity of each base station 19 as cooperation information (in the case of the second' pattern), or when using information on the traffic volume of each base station 19, information on traffic priority, and information on the processing capacity of each base station 19 as cooperation information (in the case of the third' pattern). When the management control device 20 in the second embodiment executes sleep process (2) as shown in the first embodiment, the management control device 20 executes the process shown in Figure 7. In this case, the radio station 12 and distributed station 15 shown in Figure 7 should be read as base stations 19. When the management control device 20 in the second embodiment executes sleep process (3) as shown in the first embodiment, the management control device 20 executes the process shown in Figure 9. In this case, the radio station 12 and distributed station 15 shown in Figure 9 should be replaced with base station 19.

[0276] [Sleep Wake-up Process (Part 1)] Figure 22 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the sleep wake-up process (Part 1) performed by the management control device 20 in the second embodiment. Here, we will explain using the case where there are two base stations 19 (for example, base stations 19-1 to 19-2), and the traffic volume information and traffic priority information of each distributed station 15 are used as cooperation information (Pattern 1'). For further simplification of the explanation, we will assume that base station 19-2 is in a sleep state in the configuration shown in Figure 20.

[0277] The information analysis unit 222 acquires the latest cooperation information for each base station 19 stored in the information storage unit 221 (step S601). In Figure 22, the information analysis unit 222 acquires the latest cooperation information for each base station 19 (information on the traffic volume of each base station 19 and information on the traffic priority) stored in the information storage unit 221.

[0278] In the management control device 20, cooperation information is collected at predetermined intervals or at arbitrary timings before the processing shown in Figure 22 is executed. Therefore, the information storage unit 221 stores cooperation information for each base station 19 at predetermined intervals or at arbitrary timings. When the information analysis unit 222 starts the processing shown in Figure 22, it acquires the latest cooperation information for each base station 19 at the time the processing shown in Figure 22 starts. The management control device 20 may also acquire all of the cooperation information for each base station 19, including traffic volume information, traffic priority information, and processing capacity information. In this case, when the information analysis unit 222 starts the processing shown in Figure 22, it acquires the latest cooperation information for each base station 19 at the time the processing shown in Figure 22 starts, including traffic volume information and traffic priority information for each base station 19.

[0279] The information analysis unit 222 calculates the traffic volume for each of the base stations 19-1 to 19-2 based on the latest acquired cooperation information for each base station 19 (step S602). The information analysis unit 222 compares the traffic volume for each of the base stations 19-1 to 19-2 with the threshold Th2'. The threshold Th2' used here may be the same as or different from the threshold Th1' used in Figure 21.

[0280] The information analysis unit 222 determines whether there are any base stations 19 whose traffic volume exceeds the threshold Th2' (step S603). If the information analysis unit 222 determines that there are no base stations 19 whose traffic volume exceeds the threshold Th2' (step S603-NO), the management control device 20 terminates the process shown in Figure 22.

[0281] On the other hand, if the information analysis unit 222 determines that there is a base station 19 whose traffic volume exceeds the threshold Th2' (step S603-YES), the information analysis unit 222 sorts the traffic of the base station 19 whose traffic volume exceeds the threshold Th2 in descending order of priority (step S604). In this case, the information analysis unit 222 can sort the traffic based on the traffic priority information included in the cooperation information obtained from the base station 19 whose traffic volume exceeds the threshold Th2.

[0282] Subsequently, the information analysis unit 222 determines the base station 19 to be woken from sleep mode (step S605). Here, it is assumed that the base station 19 whose traffic volume exceeds the threshold Th2' is base station 19-1. The information analysis unit 222 refers to the priority values ​​of the multiple traffics that base station 19-1 possesses and identifies the traffic with the highest priority among the multiple traffics that base station 19-1 possesses. The information analysis unit 222 identifies the path that the identified high-priority traffic will take after being woken from sleep mode. The information analysis unit 222 determines the base station 19 located on the identified path as the base station 19 to be woken from sleep mode.

[0283] Furthermore, if the identified high-priority traffic takes a path to base station 19-1 after waking from sleep, the information analysis unit 222 identifies the next highest-priority traffic and performs the same processing. The information analysis unit 222 repeats this process until the traffic volume of the traffic held by base station 19-1 falls below the threshold Th2'.

[0284] Assuming that the information analysis unit 222 has determined base station 19-2 to be the base station 19 to be woken from sleep mode using the method described above, base station 19-1, whose traffic volume exceeds the threshold Th2', is the source base station, and base station 19-2, which has been determined to be woken from sleep mode, is the destination base station.

[0285] Subsequently, the information analysis unit 222 notifies the control unit 23 of control information including an optical path control instruction and a sleep wake-up instruction. The information analysis unit 222 includes, for example, information indicating the switching destination base station (e.g., base station 19-2) in the optical path control instruction. Furthermore, the information analysis unit 222 includes, for example, information indicating the device to be woken from sleep (e.g., base station 19-2) in the sleep wake-up instruction.

[0286] The optical path control unit 231 identifies the switching destination base station based on the optical path control instructions included in the control information notified by the information analysis unit 222. Here, the optical path control unit 231 determines base station 19-2 as the switching destination base station. The optical path control unit 231 transmits optical path control information, which includes information indicating the determined switching destination base station, to the transfer device 13 (step S606).

[0287] As a result, the transmission device 13 switches the optical path route from the base station 19-2 to the core device 17. The sleep control unit 232 identifies the device to be woken from sleep based on the sleep wake instruction included in the control information notified by the information analysis unit 222. For example, the sleep control unit 232 identifies the base station 19-2 as the device to be woken from sleep. The sleep control unit 232 transmits a sleep wake instruction to the identified base station 19-2 (step S607). As a result, the base station 19-2 wakes up from sleep. Consequently, the sleep control unit 232 can wake the base station 19-2 from sleep.

[0288] In the above description, the sleep wake-up process (1) executed by the management control device 20 in the second embodiment was described, but the management control device 20 may also execute sleep wake-up processes (2) and (3) as in the first embodiment. That is, the management control device 20 may execute a sleep wake-up process when it uses information on the traffic volume of each base station 19 and information on the processing capacity of each base station 19 as cooperation information (in the case of the second' pattern), or a sleep wake-up process when it uses information on the traffic volume of each base station 19, information on traffic priority, and information on the processing capacity of each base station 19 as cooperation information (in the case of the third' pattern). When the management control device 20 in the second embodiment executes the sleep wake-up process (2) shown in the first embodiment, the management control device 20 executes the process shown in Figure 8. In this case, the radio station 12 and distributed station 15 shown in Figure 8 should be read as base stations 19. When the management control device 20 in the second embodiment executes the sleep wake-up process (3) shown in the first embodiment, the management control device 20 executes the process shown in Figure 10. In this case, the radio station 12 and distributed station 15 shown in Figure 10 should be replaced with base station 19.

[0289] According to the mobile NW system 100 in the second embodiment configured as described above, the management control device 20 includes an information collection unit 21 that acquires cooperation information from a plurality of base stations 19, including a combination of information relating to communication at each base station 19 (for example, a combination of traffic information and traffic priority information for each base station 19, or information relating to the processing capacity of each base station 19), and an analysis unit 22 that determines one or more base stations 19 to be subjected to sleep control from among the plurality of base stations 19 based on the combination of information relating to communication at each base station 19 included in the cooperation information, and causes the determined base station 19 to perform sleep control.

[0290] This makes it possible to obtain the same effects as in the first embodiment.

[0291] (Modification 1 in the second embodiment) In the configuration shown in Figure 20, the management control device 20 is shown to perform optical path control processing and sleep control processing. In contrast, the transmission device may be configured to perform optical path control processing and sleep control processing. In this configuration, the mobile NW system 200 is equipped with a transmission device 13a shown in Figure 9 instead of the transmission device 13, and a management control device 20a shown in Figure 9 instead of the management control device 20. The specific processing is the same as in Figure 9, and the radio station 12 and distributed station 15 can be read as base station 19.

[0292] (Modification 2 in the second embodiment) In the configuration shown in Figure 20, the management control device 20 performs optical path control processing and sleep control processing. In contrast, the management control device may be configured to perform sleep control processing and the transmission device to perform optical path control processing. In this configuration, the mobile NW system 200 includes a transmission device 13b shown in Figure 10 instead of the transmission device 13, and a management control device 20b shown in Figure 10 instead of the management control device 20. The specific processing is the same as in Figure 10, except that the radio station 12 and distributed station 15 are read as base station 19.

[0293] (Modification 3 in the second embodiment) In the configuration shown in Figure 20, the management control device 20 performs optical path control processing and sleep control processing. In contrast, the optical path control processing and sleep control processing may be performed by different devices. In this configuration, the mobile NW system 200 includes an optical transmission management control device 65 and a wireless transmission management control device 70 as shown in Figure 11 instead of the management control device 20. The specific processing is the same as in Figure 11, and the wireless station 12 and distributed station 15 can be read as base station 19.

[0294] (Modification 4 in the second embodiment) In the configuration shown in Figure 20, the management control device 20 performs optical path control processing and sleep control processing. In contrast, the optical path control processing and sleep control processing may be performed by different devices. In this configuration, the mobile NW system 200 includes an optical transmission management control device 65 and a wireless transmission management control device 70 as shown in Figure 12 instead of the management control device 20. The specific processing is the same as in Figure 12, and the wireless station 12 and distributed station 15 can be read as base station 19.

[0295] (Modification 5 in the second embodiment) The mobile NW system 200 may be configured as shown in Figure 13. In this configuration, the mobile NW system 200 includes an optical transmission management control device 65, a wireless transmission management control device 70, and an orchestrator 75 as shown in Figure 13, instead of the management control device 20. The specific processing is the same as in Figure 13, except that the wireless station 12 and distributed station 15 are read as base station 19.

[0296] (Modification 6 in the second embodiment) The mobile NW system 200 may be configured as shown in Figure 14. In this configuration, the mobile NW system 200 includes an optical transmission management control device 65, a wireless transmission management control device 70, and an orchestrator 75 as shown in Figure 14, instead of the management control device 20. The specific processing is the same as in Figure 14, except that the wireless station 12 and distributed station 15 are read as base station 19.

[0297] (Modification 7 in the second embodiment) The mobile NW system 200 may be configured as shown in Figure 15. In this configuration, the mobile NW system 200 includes an optical transmission management control device 65 and a wireless transmission management control device 70 as shown in Figure 15, instead of the management control device 20. The specific processing is the same as in Figure 15, except that the wireless station 12 and distributed station 15 are read as base station 19.

[0298] (Modification 8 in the second embodiment) The cooperation information may include, for example, information on the number of terminals accommodated by each base station 19, instead of traffic information. The cooperation information may also include communication quality information of the terminals 11 connected to each base station 19.

[0299] The processing when the cooperation information includes information about the number of connected terminals is the same as in the first embodiment, except that the radio station 12 and distributed station 15 are read as base station 19. Similarly, the processing when the cooperation information includes communication quality information is the same as in the first embodiment, except that the radio station 12 and distributed station 15 are read as base station 19.

[0300] (Modification 9 in the Second Embodiment) In the configurations shown in Figure 20 and Modifications 1 to 7 in the Second Embodiment, a configuration in which the mobile NW system 200 is equipped with one transmission device 13 has been described. In contrast, in the configurations shown in Figure 20 and Modifications 1 to 7 in the Second Embodiment, a combination of the transmission device 13 and optical transmission device 14 shown in Figure 16 may be used. The processing in this configuration is the same as in the First Embodiment, and the radio station 12 and distributed station 15 can be read as base station 19.

[0301] (Third Embodiment) In the first and second embodiments described above, a mobile network system was used as an example. In the third embodiment, a wired network system will be used as an example.

[0302] (Overall Configuration and Processing Overview of Wired Network System) Figure 23 is a diagram illustrating the overall configuration and processing overview of the wired network system in the third embodiment. First, the overall configuration of the wired network system will be described. A wired network system is an example of a communication system. A wired network system is, for example, a PON (Passive Optical Network). In the following description, the case where the wired network system is a PON will be described, but the wired network system may have other configurations as long as the terminals are connected by wires. For example, the wired network system may have a configuration in which the terminals are connected point-to-point. The wired network system comprises an ONU 42, an optical transmission device 43, an OLT 45, a concentrator 46, a core device 47, a server 48, and a management control device 50.

[0303] Each ONU 42 is connected to the optical transfer device 43, the optical transfer device 43 to the OLT 45, the OLT 45 to the concentrator 46, the concentrator 46 to the core device 47, and the core device 47 to the server 48 by optical fibers that transmit optical signals. The optical transfer device 43 is connected to the management control device 50, and each OLT 45 is connected to the management control device 50 by either control lines (e.g., electric wires) or optical fibers to transmit control signals.

[0304] The example shown in Figure 23 illustrates a wired network system comprising one optical transmission device 43 and two OLTs 45-1 to 45-2. The number of ONUs 42, optical transmission devices 43, OLTs 45, concentrators 46, core devices 47, and servers 48 in the wired network system is not particularly limited.

[0305] In Figure 23, one optical transfer device 43 is positioned in the direction from the ONU 42 towards the server 48 (upstream direction), but multiple optical transfer devices 43 may be arranged in a series (for example, optical transfer device 43-1, optical transfer device 43-2, ...).

[0306] The ONU 42 is an optical subscriber line termination device installed in the home of a user receiving the service, which terminates optical signals. One or more terminals 41 are connected to each ONU 42 by wires such as electrical lines. Each ONU 42 communicates with the terminals 41 via wired connections. For example, each ONU 42 receives an uplink signal transmitted from a terminal 41 and converts the received uplink signal into an optical signal. The ONU 42 transmits the converted optical signal to the destination OLT 45 via an optical transmission device 43. The ONU 42 receives an optical signal via the optical transmission device 43. The ONU 42 converts the received optical signal into an electrical signal and transmits it to the destination terminal 41.

[0307] The optical transfer device 43 is provided between the ONU 42 and the OLT 45. The optical transfer device 43 is, for example, an optical switch or a ROADM. The optical transfer device 43 transfers optical signals transferred from the ONU 42 to the destination OLT 45, or transfers optical signals transmitted from the OLT 45 to the destination ONU 42.

[0308] The optical transfer device 43 controls the optical path according to the optical path control information transmitted from the management control device 50. For example, the optical path control performed by the optical transfer device 43 includes switching optical paths and forming new optical paths. By controlling the optical path, the optical transfer device 43 controls the connection between the ONU 42 and the OLT 45. For example, when the optical transfer device 43 receives optical path control information transmitted from the management control device 50, it performs a switch so that the optical path is connected between the ONU 42 and the OLT 45, which are the destinations of the optical path switch.

[0309] As described above, the optical transfer device 43 is a device that controls the optical path for connecting the ONU 42 and the OLT 45.

[0310] The OLT 45 is an optical subscriber line terminal device installed on the electric utility side providing the service, which terminates optical signals. The OLT 45 receives uplink signals transmitted by one or more ONUs 42 via the optical transfer device 43. The OLT 45 transmits downlink signals to one or more ONUs 42 connected via the optical transfer device 43. The uplink signals transmitted by one or more ONUs 42 are signals converted from signals transmitted by terminal 41 into optical signals, and the downlink signals are optical signals destined for terminal 41. The OLT 45 enters a sleep state in accordance with a sleep instruction transmitted from the management control device 50. The information acquired by the management control device 50 from the OLT 45 is called linked information.

[0311] The collaborative information in the third embodiment is information relating to each OLT 45, for example, information indicating the communication status between each OLT 45 and the terminal 41. The collaborative information in the third embodiment includes, for example, information on the traffic volume of each OLT 45 and at least one of information on the traffic priority or information on the processing capacity of each OLT 45. Thus, the collaborative information in the third embodiment includes a combination of information relating to communication at each OLT 45. The collaborative information in the third embodiment includes a first'' pattern which includes information on the traffic volume of each OLT 45 and information on the traffic priority; a second'' pattern which includes information on the traffic volume of each OLT 45 and information on the processing capacity of each OLT 45; and a third'' pattern which includes information on the traffic volume of each OLT 45, information on the traffic priority, and information on the processing capacity of each OLT 45. The traffic information, traffic priority information, and processing capacity information are the same as in the first embodiment, except that the target is different.

[0312] The OLT 45 comprises at least a transmitting unit, a receiving unit, and a sleep processing unit. The transmitting unit transmits cooperation information to the management control device 50 at the request of the management control device 50 or voluntarily. The receiving unit receives a sleep permission notification from the management control device 50. In response to receiving the sleep permission notification, the sleep processing unit puts the OLT 45 (itself) into a sleep state. The sleep processing unit also releases the OLT 45 (itself) from the sleep state in response to receiving a sleep release instruction. The OLT 45 is one embodiment of a communication station.

[0313] The concentrator 46 aggregates the uplink signals transmitted by each OLT 45. The concentrator 46 distributes the downlink signals.

[0314] The core device 47 performs signal processing on the uplink signals aggregated by the concentrator 46. The core device 47 transmits the signal obtained as a result of performing signal processing on the uplink signals to the server 48. The core device 17 performs predetermined signal processing on the signals received from the server 48. The core device 47 transmits the signal obtained as a result of performing signal processing on the signals received from the server 48 to the concentrator 46 as a downlink signal.

[0315] Server 48 transmits signals sent from core device 47 to the external network. Server 48 transmits signals received from the external network to core device 47.

[0316] The management control device 50 is a device that manages the entire wired network system. The management control device 50 acquires coordination information from each OLT 45. When acquiring coordination information from each OLT 45, the management control device 50 uses a coordination interface. Based on the acquired coordination information, the management control device 50 determines whether or not optical path control and sleep control are necessary.

[0317] For example, the management control device 50 may determine that optical path control is necessary when it determines that sleep control is possible. The management control device 50 performs optical path control processing and sleep control processing when it determines that sleep control is necessary. The optical path control processing in the third embodiment is the process of switching the optical path between the ONU 42 and the OLT 45 or generating an optical path. The sleep control processing in the third embodiment is the process of executing sleep or releasing the sleep state for the device to be controlled for sleep. In the third embodiment, the device to be controlled for sleep is, for example, the OLT 45. The management control device 50 is one embodiment of a control device.

[0318] Next, we will explain the overview of the wired network system's processing. The upper diagram of Figure 23 shows the connection status of the wired network system before optical path switching, and the lower diagram of Figure 23 shows the connection status of the wired network system after optical path switching. In the upper diagram of Figure 23, it is assumed that ONU 42-1 is connected to OLT 45-1 and ONU 42-2 is connected to OLT 45-2.

[0319] The management control device 50 determines, based on the coordination information collected from each OLT 45, that sleep control is possible if one OLT 45 can accommodate the traffic of the other OLT 45s. In other words, the management control device 50 performs optical path control processing and sleep control processing if, based on the coordination information collected from each OLT 45, one OLT 45 can accommodate the traffic of the other OLT 45s. In this way, by accommodating the traffic of the other OLT 45s to one OLT 45, the other OLT 45s that have no traffic can be put into sleep mode.

[0320] When the management control device 50 collects traffic information and traffic priority information as linked information, it determines the OLT 45 that will be sleep candidates based on the traffic priority information included in the linked information. For example, the management control device 50 determines the OLT 45 that will be sleep candidates if the value indicated by the traffic priority information satisfies the priority-based aggregation condition. The priority-based aggregation condition in the third embodiment is a condition for determining the OLT 45 that aggregates traffic (the OLT 45 to which traffic is moved) based on traffic priority. The priority-based aggregation condition is, for example, that the value indicated by the traffic priority information is less than or equal to the priority determination threshold (or "greater than or equal to" depending on the priority information). In this case, even if an OLT 45 satisfies the priority-based aggregation condition, the management control device 50 may exclude OLT 45 that have traffic that does not satisfy the priority-based aggregation condition from the sleep candidates.

[0321] For example, the management control device 50 may exclude OLT 45 with high-priority traffic from sleep mode to meet service requirements. Alternatively, for example, the management control device 50 may designate OLT 45 with a predetermined number or more of low-priority traffic as sleep candidates in order to prioritize putting OLT 45 with a large amount of low-priority traffic into sleep mode. This makes it possible to meet the service requirements of high-priority traffic.

[0322] When the management control device 50 performs optical path control processing, it instructs the optical transfer device 43 to switch the optical path. For example, as shown in the lower diagram of Figure 23, the management control device 50 determines that OLT 45-1 can be put into sleep mode when OLT 45-2 can accommodate all the traffic from OLT 45-1. Then, in the optical path control processing, the management control device 50 transmits optical path control information to the optical transfer device 43 instructing it to switch the path from ONU 42-1 to OLT 45-1 to the path from ONU 42-1 to OLT 45-2.

[0323] The optical transmission device 43 switches the optical path between the ONU 42 and the OLT 45 in accordance with the optical path switching instruction from the management control device 50. For example, the optical transmission device 43 switches the optical path to connect ONU 42-1 and OLT 45-2. This allows the optical transmission device 43 to switch the optical path so that the uplink signal transmitted from ONU 42-1, which was connected to OLT 45-1, can be transferred to OLT 45-2. As a result, the optical transmission device 43 transfers the uplink signals transmitted from ONU 42-1 and 42-2, respectively, to OLT 45-2. After the optical path switching is complete, the optical transmission device 43 notifies the management control device 50 of the completion of the optical path switching. Note that since the connection destination of the terminal 41 is changed due to the optical path switching, the management control device 50 may instruct the OLT 45, which is the target of the optical path switching, to change its connection.

[0324] When the management control device 50 receives notification of completion of optical path switching from the device to be switched (for example, the optical transfer device 43), it sends a sleep permission notification to the device that can enter sleep mode. In the example shown in the lower part of Figure 23, the management control device 50 determines that the OLT 45-1 is a device that can enter sleep mode. Therefore, the management control device 50 sends a sleep permission notification to the OLT 45-1. As a result, the device subject to sleep control enters sleep mode.

[0325] The lower diagram in Figure 23 shows an example where ONUs 42-1 to 42-2 are connected to OLT 45-2, and OLT 45-1 has entered sleep mode. Based on the coordination information collected from each OLT 45, the management control device 50 moves devices that can enter sleep mode into sleep mode by connecting terminals 41 connected to OLT 45s that can enter sleep mode to other OLT 45s.

[0326] By putting OLT45 into sleep mode, the optical path directed to OLT45 is switched. For example, if terminal 41 connected to OLT45-1, which can enter sleep mode, is to be connected to OLT45-2, the optical path directed to OLT45-1 will be switched to be directed to OLT45-2. In this way, by putting OLT45 into sleep mode, the optical path directed to OLT45 is switched. Hereafter, OLT45 that can enter sleep mode will be referred to as the source OLT, and OLT45 that becomes the new connection destination for terminal 41 connected to the source OLT will be referred to as the destination OLT.

[0327] (Details of the Third Embodiment) Figure 24 is a diagram showing an example configuration of the wired network system 300 in the third embodiment. The wired network system 300 in the third embodiment includes an ONU 42, an optical transmission device 43, an OLT 45, a concentrator 46, a core device 47, a server 48, and a management control device 50. The ONU 42, optical transmission device 43, OLT 45, concentrator 46, core device 47, and server 48 were explained in Figure 23, so their explanation is omitted here.

[0328] [Configuration of the Management Control Device 50] Next, the configuration of the management control device 50 in the third embodiment will be described. The management control device 50 includes an information collection unit 51, an analysis unit 52, and a control unit 53. The information collection unit 51, the analysis unit 52, and the control unit 53 perform the same processing as the information collection unit 21, the analysis unit 22, and the control unit 23 in the first embodiment, except that the target is different.

[0329] [Sleep Processing (Part 1)] Figure 25 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of sleep processing (Part 1) performed by the management control device 50 in the third embodiment. Here, we will explain using the case where there are two OLTs 45 (for example, OLTs 45-1 to 45-2), and the information used for cooperation is the traffic volume information of each distributed station 15 and the traffic priority information (the case of the first'' pattern). Furthermore, for the sake of simplifying the explanation, we will assume that the connection configuration of each device is as shown in Figure 24.

[0330] The information analysis unit 522 acquires the latest cooperation information for each OLT 45 (information on the traffic volume and traffic priority of each OLT 45) stored in the information storage unit 521 (step S701). In the management control device 50, cooperation information is collected at predetermined intervals or at arbitrary timings until the processing of Figure 25 is executed. Therefore, the information storage unit 521 will have cooperation information for each OLT 45 stored at predetermined intervals or at arbitrary timings. Thus, when the processing of Figure 25 is started, the information analysis unit 522 acquires the latest cooperation information for each OLT 45 at the time the processing of Figure 25 is started. The management control device 50 may also acquire all of the cooperation information for each OLT 45, including information on the traffic volume, information on traffic priority, and information on processing capacity. In this case, when the processing of Figure 25 is started, the information analysis unit 522 acquires the latest cooperation information for each OLT 45 at the time the processing of Figure 25 is started, including information on the traffic volume and traffic priority of each OLT 45.

[0331] The information analysis unit 522 calculates the traffic volume for each of the OLTs 45-1 to 45-2 based on the latest acquired linkage information for each OLT 45 (step S702). The information analysis unit 522 also determines which OLTs 45 will be candidates for sleep based on the traffic priority information included in the latest acquired linkage information for each OLT 45 (step S703). For example, the information analysis unit 522 determines which OLTs 45 satisfy the aggregation conditions based on priority as candidates for sleep. However, a single OLT 45 may have both traffic that satisfies the aggregation conditions based on priority and traffic that does not. Therefore, the information analysis unit 522 may exclude from the sleep candidates OLTs 45 that have traffic that does not satisfy the aggregation conditions based on priority. Here, let's assume that the sleep candidates are OLTs 45-1 to 45-2.

[0332] Then, the information analysis unit 522 sorts the sleep candidate OLT45 from OLT45-1 to OLT45-2 in ascending order of calculated traffic volume (step S704). The information analysis unit 522 determines the traffic volume to be added to A (step S705). In the third embodiment, the traffic volume to be added to A is, for example, the OLT45 with the least traffic volume. As an example, here the OLT45 with the least traffic volume is designated as OLT45-1. Next, the information analysis unit 522 determines the traffic volume to be added to B (step S706). In the third embodiment, the traffic volume to be added to B is, for example, the OLT45 with the second least traffic volume. As an example, here the OLT45 with the second least traffic volume is designated as OLT45-2. The information analysis unit 522 adds the traffic volume of the traffic volume to be added to A and the traffic volume of the traffic volume to be added to B to obtain the traffic volume to be added value T ｔｏｔａｌ Calculate (step S707).

[0333] The information analysis unit 522 calculates the traffic volume sum value T. ｔｏｔａｌThe traffic volume sum value T is compared with the threshold Th1''. Here, the threshold Th1'' is a value for control decision, and may be the same value for each OLT 45, or it may be a different value for each OLT 45. The threshold Th1'' may be calculated by the information analysis unit 522 based on the linked information and recorded in the information storage unit 521, or it may be stored in advance by the information analysis unit 522 for each OLT 45. If the threshold Th1'' for each OLT 45 is recorded in the information storage unit 521, the information analysis unit 522 may read and use the threshold Th1'' recorded in the information storage unit 521. The information analysis unit 522 then calculates the traffic volume sum value T ｔｏｔａｌ Then, compare this with the threshold Th1'' of OLT45 corresponding to the item A to be added.

[0334] The information analysis unit 522 calculates the traffic volume sum value T. ｔｏｔａｌ However, it is determined whether or not it is greater than the threshold Th1'' (step S708). The information analysis unit 522 determines whether the traffic volume sum value T ｔｏｔａｌ However, if it is determined that the value is not greater than the threshold Th1'' (step S708-NO), the information analysis unit 522 adds the smallest traffic amount among the traffic amounts that have not been added, thereby creating a new traffic amount addition value T ｔｏｔａｌ Calculate (step S709).

[0335] Subsequently, the information analysis unit 522 executes the process in step S708 again. In this case, the information analysis unit 522 calculates the newly calculated traffic volume sum value T. ｔｏｔａｌ However, it is determined whether or not it is greater than the threshold Th1'' (step S708). Note that it is also possible that there is no traffic volume that has not been added. If there is no traffic volume that has not been added, the information analysis unit 522 may execute the process of step S710.

[0336] The information analysis unit 522 may also predict the traffic volume and compare the result with the threshold Th1''. In this case, the information analysis unit 522 performs the process of predicting the traffic volume in step S702. Alternatively, the information analysis unit 522 may compare both the current traffic volume and the predicted traffic volume result with the threshold Th1'' to determine whether to sleep. In this case, the information analysis unit 522 performs both the calculation of the traffic volume for each OLT 45 and the process of predicting the traffic volume in step S702. Then, in step S708, if both the current traffic volume and the predicted traffic volume result are less than the threshold Th1'', the process of step S710 may be executed. The same applies to the third'' pattern described later.

[0337] The information analysis unit 522 calculates the traffic volume sum value T. ｔｏｔａｌ If it is determined that the traffic volume is greater than the threshold Th1'' (step S708 - YES), or if there is no traffic volume that has not been added, the information analysis unit 522 determines the OLT 45 to be aggregated. Specifically, the information analysis unit 522 selects the OLT 45 that satisfies the condition that it can aggregate the traffic of terminals 41 accommodated by other OLT 45s from among the OLT 45s that have each traffic volume added up to before the processing of step S710 is executed (for example, before the threshold Th1'' is exceeded, or before there is no more traffic volume that has not been added), and selects the OLT 45 that satisfies the condition that it can aggregate the traffic of terminals 41 accommodated by other OLT 45s as the target OLT. If there are multiple OLT 45s that satisfy the condition, the information analysis unit 522 may select the OLT 45 with the largest traffic volume among the multiple OLT 45s that satisfy the condition as the target OLT 45.

[0338] For example, if each OLT 45 with the summed traffic volume before executing the process in step S710 is OLT 45-1 to 45-2, the information analysis unit 522 may decide that the OLT 45 with the largest traffic volume among OLT 45-1 to 45-2 is the OLT 45 to be aggregated. Note that the method for determining the OLT 45 to be aggregated is not limited to the above method, and other methods may be used (for example, a method of deciding that the OLT 45 with the second largest traffic volume is the OLT 45 to be aggregated). Here, let's assume that OLT 45-2 is determined to be the aggregation destination.

[0339] Furthermore, the information analysis unit 522 determines which OLT 45 will be put to sleep (step S710). For example, the information analysis unit 522 determines that the OLT 45s other than the OLT 45 that became the aggregation destination will be put to sleep from among the OLT 45s with the respective traffic amounts added up to the time before the processing of step S710 is executed. For example, the information analysis unit 522 may determine that the OLT 45 that will be put to sleep will satisfy the condition that there will be no traffic after the traffic is aggregated to the aggregation destination OLT 45. In the above example, the OLT 45s with the respective traffic amounts added up to the time before the processing of step S710 are OLT 45-1 to 45-2, and the OLT 45 that became the aggregation destination is OLT 45-2. If OLT45-1 is the OLT45 that satisfies the condition that traffic will cease after traffic is aggregated to the destination OLT45 (OLT45-2), the information analysis unit 522 determines that OLT45-1 is a sleep target. OLT45-1, which has been determined to be a sleep target, is the source OLT, and OLT45-2, which has been determined to be the aggregation destination, is the destination OLT.

[0340] Subsequently, the information analysis unit 522 notifies the control unit 53 of control information including an optical path control instruction and a sleep instruction. The information analysis unit 522 includes, for example, information indicating the source OLT (e.g., OLT 45-1), information indicating the destination OLT (e.g., OLT 45-2), and information indicating the ONU 42 to which the destination OLT will be connected, in the optical path control instruction. Furthermore, the information analysis unit 522 includes, for example, information indicating the device to be put into sleep mode (e.g., OLT 45-1), in the sleep instruction.

[0341] The optical path control unit 531 identifies the source OLT and the destination OLT based on the optical path control instructions included in the control information notified by the information analysis unit 522. Here, the optical path control unit 531 determines OLT 45-2 as the destination OLT and OLT 45-1 as the source OLT. The optical path control unit 531 transmits optical path control information, including information indicating the determined source OLT and destination OLT, to the optical transfer device 43 (step S712).

[0342] As a result, the optical transfer device 43 switches the optical path from one leading to OLT 45-1 to one leading to OLT 45-2. The optical transfer device 43 forms an optical path to transfer the uplink signal transmitted from ONU 42-1 to OLT 45-2. The optical transfer device 43 does not need to generate an optical path with the connected OLT 45-1, so it may stop generating the optical path. At this point, the optical path control unit 531 may send optical path control instructions to the determined source OLT and the ONU 2 connected to the source OLT.

[0343] The sleep control unit 532 identifies the device to be put into sleep mode based on the sleep instruction included in the control information notified by the information analysis unit 522. For example, the sleep control unit 532 identifies OLT 45-1 as the device to be put into sleep mode. The sleep control unit 532 sends a sleep permission notification to the identified OLT 45-1 (step S713). As a result, OLT 45-1 enters sleep mode.

[0344] In Figure 25, a configuration is shown in which sleep control is performed after the optical path switching control is performed, but the optical path switching control may also be performed after the sleep control is performed. Furthermore, in Figure 25, a configuration is shown in which the sleep control unit 532 puts the OLT 45 to sleep, but the sleep control unit 532 may put both the OLT 45 to be put to sleep and the ONU 42 connected to the OLT 45 to be put to sleep via the optical transfer device 43, or it may put only the ONU 42 to sleep.

[0345] In the above description, the sleep process (1) executed by the management control device 50 was explained, but the management control device 50 may also execute sleep process (2) and sleep process (3) as in the first embodiment. That is, the management control device 50 may execute sleep process when using information on the traffic volume of each OLT 45 and information on the processing capacity of each OLT 45 as cooperation information (in the case of the second'' pattern), or when using information on the traffic volume of each OLT 45, information on traffic priority, and information on the processing capacity of each OLT 45 as cooperation information (in the case of the third'' pattern). When the management control device 50 executes sleep process (2) as shown in the first embodiment, the management control device 50 executes the process shown in Figure 7. In this case, the radio station 12 and distributed station 15 shown in Figure 7 should be read as OLT 45, and the transfer device 13 should be read as optical transfer device 43. When the management control device 50 executes sleep process (3) as shown in the first embodiment, the management control device 50 executes the process shown in Figure 9. In this case, the radio station 12 and distributed station 15 shown in Figure 9 should be read as OLT 45, and the transfer device 13 should be read as optical transfer device 43.

[0346] [Sleep Wake-up Process (Part 1)] Figure 26 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the sleep wake-up process (Part 1) executed by the management control device 50 in the third embodiment. Here, we will explain using the case where there are two OLTs 45 (for example, OLTs 45-1 to 45-2), and the information of the traffic volume and traffic priority of each OLT 45 are used as the cooperation information (the case of the first'' pattern). For further simplification of the explanation, in the configuration shown in Figure 24, it is assumed that ONUs 42-1 and 42-2 are connected to OLT 45-1 via the optical transmission device 43. Also, it is assumed that OLT 45-2 is in a sleep state.

[0347] The information analysis unit 522 acquires the latest OLT 45-specific coordination information stored in the information storage unit 521 (step S801). In Figure 25, the information analysis unit 522 acquires the latest OLT 45-specific coordination information (information on the traffic volume of each OLT 45 and information on the traffic priority) stored in the information storage unit 521.

[0348] In the management control device 50, coordination information is collected at predetermined intervals or at arbitrary timings before the processing of Figure 25 is executed. Therefore, the information storage unit 521 stores coordination information for each OLT 45 at predetermined intervals or at arbitrary timings. When the information analysis unit 522 starts the processing of Figure 25, it acquires the latest coordination information for each OLT 45 at the time the processing of Figure 25 starts. The management control device 50 may also acquire all of the following information for each OLT 45 as coordination information: traffic volume information, traffic priority information, and processing capacity information. In this case, when the information analysis unit 522 starts the processing of Figure 25, it acquires the latest coordination information for each OLT 45 at the time the processing of Figure 25 starts: traffic volume information and traffic priority information for each OLT 45.

[0349] The information analysis unit 522 calculates the traffic volume for each of the OLTs 45-1 to 45-2 based on the latest acquired linkage information for each OLT 45 (step S802). The information analysis unit 522 compares the traffic volume for each of the OLTs 45-1 to 45-2 with the threshold Th2''. The threshold Th2'' used here may be the same as or different from the threshold Th1'' used in Figure 25.

[0350] The information analysis unit 522 determines whether there are any OLT 45s whose traffic volume exceeds the threshold Th2'' (step S803). If the information analysis unit 522 determines that there are no OLT 45s whose traffic volume exceeds the threshold Th2'' (step S803-NO), the management control device 50 terminates the process shown in Figure 26.

[0351] On the other hand, if the information analysis unit 522 determines that there is an OLT 45 whose traffic volume exceeds the threshold Th2'' (step S803-YES), the information analysis unit 522 sorts the traffic of the OLT 45 whose traffic volume exceeds the threshold Th2 in descending order of priority (step S804). In this case, the information analysis unit 522 can sort the traffic based on the traffic priority information included in the coordination information obtained from the OLT 45 whose traffic volume exceeds the threshold Th2.

[0352] Subsequently, the information analysis unit 522 determines the OLT 45 to be woken from sleep mode (step S805). Here, it is assumed that the OLT 45 whose traffic volume exceeds the threshold Th2'' is OLT 45-1. The information analysis unit 522 refers to the priority values ​​of the multiple traffics that OLT 45-1 possesses and identifies the traffic with the highest priority among the multiple traffics that OLT 45-1 possesses. The information analysis unit 522 identifies the path that the identified high-priority traffic will take after being woken from sleep mode. The information analysis unit 522 determines the OLT 45 located on the identified path as the OLT 45 to be woken from sleep mode.

[0353] Furthermore, if the identified high-priority traffic takes OLT45-1 after waking from sleep, the information analysis unit 522 identifies the next highest-priority traffic and performs the same process. The information analysis unit 522 repeats this process until the traffic volume of the traffic on OLT45-1 falls below the threshold Th2''.

[0354] As described above, the information analysis unit 522 has determined that OLT 45-2 is the OLT 45 to be woken from sleep mode. OLT 45-1, whose traffic volume exceeds the threshold Th2'', is the source OLT, and OLT 45-2, which has been determined to be woken from sleep mode, is the destination OLT.

[0355] Subsequently, the information analysis unit 522 notifies the control unit 53 of control information including an optical path control instruction and a sleep wake-up instruction. The information analysis unit 522 includes, for example, information indicating the destination OLT (e.g., OLT 45-2) and information indicating the ONU 42 to which the destination OLT will be connected in the optical path control instruction. Here, let's assume that the ONU 42 to which the destination OLT will be connected is ONU 42-2. Furthermore, the information analysis unit 522 includes, for example, information indicating the device to be woken from sleep (e.g., OLT 45-2) in the sleep wake-up instruction.

[0356] The optical path control unit 531 identifies the target OLT based on the optical path control instructions included in the control information notified by the information analysis unit 522. Here, the optical path control unit 531 determines OLT 45-2 as the target OLT. The optical path control unit 531 transmits optical path control information to the optical transfer device 43, which includes information indicating the determined target OLT and information indicating the ONU 42 (for example, ONU 42-2) to which the target OLT will be connected (step S806).

[0357] As a result, the optical transfer device 43 switches the optical path from ONU 42-2 to OLT 45-1 to OLT 45-2. The optical transfer device 43 forms an optical path to transfer the uplink signal transmitted from ONU 42-2 to OLT 45-2.

[0358] The sleep control unit 532 identifies the device to be woken from sleep based on the sleep wake instruction included in the control information notified by the information analysis unit 522. For example, the sleep control unit 532 identifies OLT 45-2 as the device to be woken from sleep. The sleep control unit 532 sends a sleep wake instruction to the identified OLT 45-2 (step S807). As a result, OLT 45-2 wakes up from sleep. Consequently, the sleep control unit 532 can wake OLT 45-2 from sleep.

[0359] In Figure 26, the sleep control unit 532 is shown to release the sleep state of the second optical transceiver 442-2 and the OLT 45 provided in the optical transfer device 43. However, the sleep control unit 532 may release the sleep state of both the OLT 45 to be released and the ONU 42 connected to the OLT 45 via the optical transfer device 43, or it may release the sleep state of the ONU 42.

[0360] In the above description, the sleep wake-up process (1) executed by the management control device 50 was explained, but the management control device 50 may also execute sleep wake-up processes (2) and (3) as in the first embodiment. That is, the management control device 50 may execute a sleep wake-up process when the information of the traffic volume of each OLT 45 and the information of the processing capacity of each OLT 45 are used as cooperation information (in the case of the second'' pattern), or a sleep wake-up process when the information of the traffic volume of each OLT 45, the traffic priority information, and the information of the processing capacity of each OLT 45 are used as cooperation information (in the case of the third'' pattern). When the management control device 50 executes the sleep wake-up process (2) shown in the first embodiment, the management control device 50 executes the process shown in Figure 8. In this case, the radio station 12 and distributed station 15 shown in Figure 8 should be read as OLT 45, and the transfer device 13 should be read as optical transfer device 43. When the management control device 50 executes the sleep wake-up process (part 3) shown in the first embodiment, the management control device 50 executes the process shown in Figure 10. In this case, the radio station 12 and distributed station 15 shown in Figure 10 should be read as OLT 45, and the transfer device 13 should be read as optical transfer device 43.

[0361] In the wired network system 300 configured as described above, the management control device 50 includes an information collection unit 51 that acquires cooperation information from a plurality of OLTs 45, including a combination of information regarding communication at each OLT 45 (for example, a combination of traffic information and traffic priority information for each OLT 45, or information regarding the processing capacity of each OLT 45), and an analysis unit 52 that determines one or more OLTs 45 to be subjected to sleep control from among the plurality of OLTs 45 based on the combination of information regarding communication at each OLT 45 included in the cooperation information, and causes the determined OLTs 45 to perform sleep control.

[0362] This makes it possible to obtain the same effects as in the first embodiment.

[0363] (Modification 1 in the third embodiment) The cooperation information may include, for example, information on the number of terminals accommodated for each OLT 45, instead of traffic information. The cooperation information may also include communication quality information of the terminals 41 connected to each OLT 45.

[0364] If the linked information includes information about the number of connected terminals, the information analysis unit 522 may select sleep control targets (e.g., sleep targets or sleep wake targets) using at least one of the information about the number of connected terminals and information about traffic priority or information about the processing capacity of each OLT 45. In this configuration, the information analysis unit 522 can select the devices (e.g., OLT 45) to be subjected to sleep control in the same way as when using traffic information.

[0365] First, we will explain the process of determining the sleep control target using information on the number of connected terminals and information on traffic priority. First, the information analysis unit 522 determines the OLT 45s that are candidates for sleep based on the traffic priority information included in the latest coordination information for each OLT 45. Next, the information analysis unit 522 sorts the OLT 45s among the sleep candidate OLT 45s in descending order of the number of connected terminals identified by the information on the number of connected terminals. After that, the information analysis unit 522 adds up the number of connected terminals in ascending order to the OLT 45 with the fewest connected terminals. The information analysis unit 522 compares the summed total with the threshold Th11'' and continues adding up the number of connected terminals in ascending order until it exceeds the threshold Th11'' or until there are no more connected terminals that have not been added. Based on the number of connected terminals added up until it exceeds the threshold Th11'' or until there are no more connected terminals that have not been added, the information analysis unit 522 selects the sleep target from among the multiple OLT 45s with the summed number of connected terminals. Next, the information analysis unit 522 determines the OLT 45 to be aggregated from among the multiple OLTs 45 related to the total number of connected terminals. After that, the information analysis unit 522 determines the OLT to be put into sleep mode from among the multiple OLTs 45 related to the total number of connected terminals. The method for determining the OLT 45 to be aggregated and the OLT 45 to be put into sleep mode is the same as the process described in the first'' pattern.

[0366] Next, we will explain the process of determining the sleep control target using information on the number of connected terminals and information on the processing capacity of each OLT 45. First, the information analysis unit 522 sorts each OLT 45 in descending order of the number of connected terminals identified by the information on the number of connected terminals. Then, the information analysis unit 522 adds the number of connected terminals to the OLT 45 with the fewest connected terminals, in descending order of connected terminals. The information analysis unit 522 compares the summed total with the threshold Th11'' and continues adding the number of connected terminals in ascending order until it exceeds the threshold Th11'' or until there are no more connected terminals that have not been added. Based on the number of connected terminals added before it exceeds the threshold Th11'' or before there are no more connected terminals that have not been added, the information analysis unit 522 selects the sleep target from among the multiple OLT 45s related to the summed number of connected terminals. Next, the information analysis unit 522 determines the OLT 45 to be aggregated from among the multiple OLT 45s related to the summed number of connected terminals. Subsequently, the information analysis unit 522 determines which OLT 45 to sleep from among multiple OLT 45 related to the total number of connected terminals. The method for determining the OLT 45 to be aggregated and the OLT 45 to be sleep is the same as the process described in the second'' pattern.

[0367] Next, we will explain the process for determining the sleep control target using information on the number of connected terminals, traffic priority information, and processing capacity information for each OLT 45. First, the information analysis unit 522 determines the OLT 45s that are candidates for sleep based on the traffic priority information included in the latest cooperation information for each OLT 45. Next, the information analysis unit 522 sorts the OLT 45s among the sleep candidate OLT 45s in descending order of the number of connected terminals identified by the information on the number of connected terminals. After that, the information analysis unit 522 adds up the number of connected terminals in ascending order to the OLT 45 with the fewest connected terminals. The information analysis unit 522 compares the summed total with the threshold Th11'' and continues adding up the number of connected terminals in ascending order until it exceeds the threshold Th11'' or until there are no more connected terminals that have not been added. The information analysis unit 522 selects a sleep target from among multiple OLTs 45 related to the total number of connected terminals, based on the total number of connected terminals before the threshold Th11'' is exceeded or before the number of connected terminals that have not been added runs out. Next, the information analysis unit 522 determines the OLT 45 to be aggregated from among the multiple OLTs 45 related to the total number of connected terminals. After that, the information analysis unit 522 determines the OLT 45 to be slept from among the multiple OLTs 45 related to the total number of connected terminals. The method for determining the OLT 45 to be aggregated and the OLT 45 to be slept is the same as the process described in the third'' pattern.

[0368] If the linked information includes communication quality information, the information analysis unit 522 may select sleep control targets (e.g., sleep targets or sleep wake targets) using, in addition to traffic information, at least one of the following: communication quality information, traffic priority information, or processing capacity information for each OLT 45. For example, when selecting sleep control targets using communication quality information in addition to traffic information, the information analysis unit 522 determines to perform sleep control if the conditions based on traffic information and the conditions based on communication quality information are met. The conditions based on communication quality information may be, for example, conditions based on whether the route after sleep is feasible (e.g., whether quality degradation occurs). In this case, even if the information analysis unit 522 determines the OLT 45 targets for sleep and optical path control based on the conditions based on traffic information, it is possible that quality may degrade after the route is switched. Therefore, even if the information analysis unit 522 determines the OLT 45 targets for sleep and optical path control based on the conditions based on traffic information, it may choose not to perform sleep if quality degrades in the route after optical path control.

[0369] (Modification 2 in the third embodiment) The optical transfer device 43 provided in the wired NW system 300 shown in Figure 24 may have the same configuration as the optical transfer device 14 shown in Figure 16(B). In this configuration, in addition to the OLT 45, the management control device 50 puts the optical transceiver of the optical transfer device 43, which is one of the first optical transceiver 141 and second optical transceiver 142 provided in the optical transfer device 43 and will no longer be used due to the switching of the optical path, into a sleep state. In addition to the OLT 45, the management control device 50 also releases the sleep state of the optical transceiver of the optical transfer device 43 that is in sleep state and will be used due to the switching of the optical path, which is one of the first optical transceiver 141 and second optical transceiver 142 provided in the optical transfer device 43.

[0370] (Modification 3 in the Third Embodiment) In the configuration shown in Figure 24, a configuration in which the wired NW system 300 is equipped with one optical transfer device 43 has been described. In contrast, in the configuration shown in Figure 24, multiple optical transfer devices may be arranged after the optical transfer device 43. The multiple optical transfer devices arranged after the optical transfer device 43 are, for example, the optical transfer devices 14-1 and 14-2 shown in Figure 16(A). In this configuration, the wired NW system 300 is equipped with an ONU 42, an optical transfer device 43, multiple optical transfer devices 14-1 and 14-2, an OLT 45, a concentrator 46, a core device 47, a server 48, and a management control device 50. The ONU 42, OLT 45, concentrator 46, core device 47, and server 48 have been described in Figure 23, so their description is omitted here.

[0371] With this configuration, for example, if the OLT 45-1 can be put into sleep mode, it becomes possible to put the second optical transceiver 442-2 of the optical transfer device 43 and the optical transfer device 14-1 into sleep mode.

[0372] (In each embodiment) At least some or all of the functional units of the management control devices 20, 20a, 20b, 50, some or all of the functional units of the transfer devices 13, 13a, 13b, some or all of the functional units of the optical transfer devices 14, 43, or some or all of the functional units of the OLT 45 are realized as software by a processor such as a CPU executing a program stored in a storage device and a storage unit having a non-volatile recording medium (non-temporary recording medium). The program may be recorded on a computer-readable non-temporary recording medium. A computer-readable non-temporary recording medium is, for example, a portable medium such as a flexible disk, magneto-optical disk, ROM (Read Only Memory), CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), or a storage device such as a hard disk built into a computer system.

[0373] At least some or all of the functional units of the management control devices 20, 20a, 20b, and 50, some or all of the functional units of the transfer devices 13, 13a, and 13b, some or all of the functional units of the optical transfer devices 14 and 43, or some or all of the functional units of the OLT 45 may be implemented using hardware including electronic circuits (or circuits) such as LSI (Large Scale Integrated Circuit), ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), PLD (Programmable Logic Device), or FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array).

[0374] While embodiments of this invention have been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to these embodiments and includes designs and the like that do not depart from the spirit of this invention.

[0375] This invention can be applied to optical communication systems such as optical access systems.

[0376] 11, 41... Terminals, 12, 12-1 to 12-2... Radio stations, 13, 13a, 13b... Transfer devices, 14, 14-1 to 14-2, 43... Optical transfer devices, 15, 15-1 to 15-2... Distributed stations, 16... Aggregation stations, 17, 47... Core devices, 18, 48... Servers, 19, 19-1 to 19-2... Base stations, 20, 20a, 20b, 50... Management and control devices, 21, 51, 67, 72... Information gathering units, 22, 52, 68, 73... Analysis units, 23, 23b, 53, 66, 71, 130... Control units, 42, 42-1 to 42-2... ONUs, 45, 45-1 to 45-2... OLTs, 46... Concentrators, 65...Optical transmission management control device, 70...Wireless transmission management control device, 75...Orchestrator, 131, 131-1 to 131-2, 141, 141-1 to 141-2...First optical transceiver, 132, 132-1 to 132-2, 142, 142-1 to 142-2...Second optical transceiver, 100, 100a, 100b, 100c, 100d, 100e, 100f, 100g, 200...Mobile NW system, 211, 511, 671, 721...Acquisition unit, 221, 521, 681, 731...Information storage unit, 222, 522, 682, 732...Information analysis unit, 231, 531...Optical path control unit, 232, 532...Sleep control unit, 300...Wired network system, 751...Signal transfer unit

Claims

1. A control device comprising: a collection unit that acquires coordination information, including combinations of communication information at each communication station, from a plurality of communication stations that accommodate one or more terminals; and an analysis unit that determines one or more communication stations to be subjected to sleep control from among the plurality of communication stations based on the combinations of communication information at each communication station included in the coordination information, and causes the determined one or more communication stations to perform sleep control.

2. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the combination of communication information at each communication station included in the linked information is a combination of traffic volume information or the number of terminals accommodated at each communication station and traffic priority information at each communication station, and the analysis unit determines one or more communication stations to be subject to sleep control based on the combination of traffic volume information or the number of terminals accommodated at each communication station and traffic priority information at each communication station.

3. The control device according to claim 2, wherein the analysis unit determines each communication station having traffic that satisfies the aggregation conditions based on priority as a candidate communication station for sleep, further determines a communication station to which the traffic will be aggregated from each of the determined candidate communication stations based on information on the traffic volume of each communication station or information on the number of terminals accommodated by each communication station, and determines one or more communication stations to be subject to sleep control based on the traffic of communication stations other than the communication station to which the traffic will be aggregated.

4. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the combination of communication information at each communication station included in the linked information is a combination of information on the traffic volume of each communication station or information on the number of terminals accommodated at each communication station and information on the processing capacity of each communication station, and the analysis unit determines one or more communication stations to be subject to sleep control based on the combination of information on the traffic volume of each communication station or information on the number of terminals accommodated at each communication station and information on the processing capacity of each communication station.

5. The control device according to claim 4, wherein the analysis unit determines a candidate communication station for sleep based on information on the traffic volume of each communication station or information on the number of terminals accommodated by each communication station, further determines a communication station to be used as a traffic aggregation destination from among the determined candidate communication stations for sleep based on their processing capacity, and determines one or more communication stations to be subject to sleep control based on the traffic volume of communication stations other than the traffic aggregation destination and the processing capacity of the traffic aggregation destination.

6. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the combination of communication information at each communication station included in the linked information is a combination of information on the traffic volume of each communication station or information on the number of terminals accommodated by each communication station, information on the traffic priority of each communication station and information on the processing capacity of each communication station, and the analysis unit determines one or more communication stations to be subject to sleep control based on the combination of information on the traffic volume of each communication station or information on the number of terminals accommodated by each communication station, information on the traffic priority of each communication station and information on the processing capacity of each communication station.

7. The control device according to claim 6, wherein the analysis unit determines each communication station having traffic that satisfies the aggregation conditions based on priority as a candidate communication station for sleep, further determines a communication station to which traffic will be aggregated from each of the determined candidate communication stations for sleep based on information on the traffic volume of each communication station or information on the number of terminals accommodated by each communication station, and determines one or more communication stations to be subject to sleep control based on the traffic volume of communication stations other than the communication station to which traffic will be aggregated and the processing capacity of the communication station to which traffic will be aggregated.

8. A control method comprising: obtaining cooperation information from multiple communication stations accommodating one or more terminals, including combinations of communication information for each communication station; determining one or more communication stations to be subject to sleep control from among the multiple communication stations based on the combinations of communication information for each communication station included in the cooperation information; and executing sleep control on the determined one or more communication stations.

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