Control device, communication system, control method, and program

Abstract

Provided is a control device comprising: an information acquisition unit that acquires a first uplink signal received by a first base station from a first terminal present in the range of the first base station, first position-related information related to the position of the first terminal, and a second uplink signal received by a second base station from the first terminal, the second base station providing a wireless communication service to the first terminal in cooperation with the first base station; and an adjustment unit that corrects the second uplink signal on the basis of the first uplink signal and the first position-related information, and adjusts the weight of a beam for the first terminal by the second base station on the basis of the corrected second uplink signal. The control device may execute RAN control and AI processing (including RAN-controlled AI processing such as a RAN intelligent controller (RIC), and non-RAN-controlled AI processing).

Description

Control device, communication system, control method, and program

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

[0002] Patent Document 1 states that "a user terminal in a wireless communication system in which cooperative multipoint (CoMP) transmission is performed is characterized by comprising: a receiving unit that receives downlink control information via a physical downlink control channel when CoMP transmission is performed from multiple transmission points; and a determination unit that identifies a CSI-RS resource based on an index included in the downlink control information and higher-level control information, and identifies a wireless base station device that performs the CoMP transmission." Patent Document 2 states that "in a wireless base station device eNB, the degree of variation in feedback information between transmission points that is fed back from the user terminal UE is calculated, and the wireless resources to be allocated to the user terminal UE are determined according to the calculated degree of variation." [Prior Art Documents] [Patent Documents] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2015-195630 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2014-127961

[0003] In base station coordination technologies such as CoMP (Coordinated Multi-Point) and D-MIMO (Distributed-Multi Input Multi Output), multiple base stations receive uplink signals from a terminal, determine the status of the transmission path between each base station and the terminal, and control the beamweight transmitted from each base station to the terminal according to the determined transmission path status. From the perspective of the base station to which the terminal is originally connected (let's call it base station A), it is possible to control the transmission output of the uplink signal from the terminal, but another base station coordinating with base station A (let's call it base station B) cannot do so. Therefore, the quality of the uplink signal reaching base station B from the terminal is not always good, and as a result, the accuracy of transmission path estimation may decrease, which could lead to a decrease in the accuracy of beamweight for communication in the direction from the base station to the terminal and a reduction in efficiency. Poor quality of the uplink signal received by base station B from the terminal can occur when there is a lot of interference or when the power of the received uplink signal is low.

[0004] The control device 300 according to this embodiment has a configuration that contributes to solving such problems. For example, when the quality of the uplink signal received by the base station B from the terminal is poor, the reduction in the quality is compensated using AI (Artificial Intelligence). Further, communication is actually performed with the terminal using the beam weight based on the transmission path compensated by AI, and for example, the reinforcement learning of AI is performed by feeding back the communication result.

[0005] In this case, reinforcement learning may be performed in consideration of the positional relationship of the terminal as seen from the base station B, etc., based on information such as the approximate position of the terminal as seen from the base station A. The accuracy of correction may be improved by performing learning including information visible from the base station A of the terminal connected to the base station B. The accuracy may be improved by using the GPS (Global Positioning System) information of each terminal. By optimizing AI in the above-described manner, as a result, the beam weight of the radio wave from the base station B to the terminal can be adjusted to a good and efficient value.

[0006] The control device 300 according to this embodiment may be arranged on an information processing infrastructure arranged in the region. In the information processing infrastructure, for example, in addition to the above-described AI processing, etc., the control of the RAN may also be performed. By making the function of controlling the RAN run on a high-performance GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) server instead of a general-purpose machine server, the surplus computing resources can be utilized in the AI processing. Examples of the types of AI processing include AI processing related to RAN control (sometimes referred to as RAN control AI processing) and AI processing not related to RAN control (sometimes referred to as non-RAN control AI processing).

[0007] An example of AI-based RAN control processing is RIC (RAN Intelligent Controller). RIC is a technology that uses AI to optimize RAN wireless resources and automate RAN operations. RIC includes Non-RT RIC (Non-Real Time RIC) and Near-RT RIC (Near-Real Time RIC). Non-RT RIC is sometimes called Centralized RIC. Non-RT RIC is located within an SMO (Service Management and Orchestration) that manages and orchestrates the RAN.

[0008] Non-RT RICs generate and notify policies related to RAN control and send information to Near-RT RICs. For example, Non-RT RICs generate a learning model for RAN control by performing machine learning using data collected from the RAN and send it to Near-RT RICs.

[0009] Near-RT RICs are sometimes called Distributed RICs. Compared to Non-RT RICs, Near-RT RICs are located closer to RAN nodes (RU (Radio Unit), DU (Distributed Unit), CU (Central Unit)) and perform tasks such as controlling RAN nodes and resources. Near-RT RICs perform processing that is more real-time than Non-RT RICs. For example, Near-RT RICs perform inference processing related to RAN control using learning models acquired from Non-RT RICs. RAN control AI processing is not limited to RICs.

[0010] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a control device is provided. The control device may include an information acquisition unit that acquires a first uplink signal received by a first base station from a first terminal located at the first base station, first location-related information relating to the location of the first terminal, and a second uplink signal received by a second base station that provides wireless communication services to the first terminal in cooperation with the first base station. The control device may also include an adjustment unit that corrects the second uplink signal based on the first uplink signal and the first location-related information, and adjusts the beam weight of the second base station to the first terminal based on the corrected second uplink signal.

[0011] In any of the control devices described above, the adjustment unit may correct the second up-link signal acquired by the information acquisition unit using a learning model that takes the first up-link signal, the first position-related information, and the second up-link signal as inputs and outputs a corrected second up-link signal.

[0012] In any of the above-mentioned control devices, the first position-related information may include information relating to the movement state of the first terminal. In any of the above-mentioned control devices, the first position-related information may include information relating to the state of the surrounding environment of the first terminal.

[0013] Any of the control devices described above may include a quality acquisition unit that acquires the service quality of the wireless communication service provided to the first terminal by the second base station and the first base station in cooperation, using weights adjusted by the adjustment unit, from the first base station. Any of the control devices described above may include a model update unit that updates the learning model based on the service quality acquired by the quality acquisition unit, so as to improve the service quality when using the corrected second uplink signal output by the learning model.

[0014] In any of the above-mentioned control devices, the information acquisition unit may further acquire first base station location information indicating the location of the first base station and second base station location information indicating the location of the second base station. In any of the above-mentioned control devices, the adjustment unit may further adjust the beam weight of the second base station to the first terminal based on the first base station location information and the second base station location information.

[0015] In any of the control devices described above, the information acquisition unit may acquire a third uplink signal received by the second base station from a second terminal located at the second base station, second location-related information relating to the location of the second terminal, and a fourth uplink signal received by the first base station from the second terminal. In any of the control devices described above, the adjustment unit may adjust the beam weight of the second base station to the first terminal based on the third uplink signal, the second location-related information, and the fourth uplink signal.

[0016] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a communication system is provided. The communication system may include the first base station, the second base station, and any of the control devices.

[0017] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a control method is provided. The control method may include an information acquisition step in which a first base station acquires a first uplink signal received from a first terminal located at the first base station, first location-related information relating to the location of the first terminal, and a second uplink signal received from the first terminal by a second base station that provides wireless communication services to the first terminal in cooperation with the first base station. The control method may also include an adjustment step in which the second uplink signal is corrected based on the first uplink signal and the first location-related information, and the beam weight of the second base station for the first terminal is adjusted based on the corrected second uplink signal.

[0018] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a program is provided for causing a computer to execute any of the control methods described above.

[0019] It should be noted that the above summary of the invention does not enumerate all the necessary features of the present invention. Furthermore, subcombinations of these features may also constitute an invention.

[0020] An example of the prior art is shown in general terms. An example of the prior art is shown in general terms. An example of the communication system 30 is shown in general terms. An example of the communication system 30 is shown in general terms. An example of the processing flow by the control device 300 is shown in general terms. An example of the communication system 30 is shown in general terms. An example of the hardware configuration of the computer 1200 that functions as the control device 300, information processing infrastructure 400, or management infrastructure 500 is shown in general terms.

[0021] The present invention will be described below through embodiments, but these embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the claims. Furthermore, not all combinations of features described in the embodiments are necessarily essential to the solution of the invention.

[0022] Figure 1 schematically shows an example of the prior art. In the example shown in Figure 1, a first base station 100 provides wireless communication services to a first terminal 80. The first base station 100 may provide wireless communication services to the first terminal 80 in cooperation with a second base station 200. In this case, the first base station 100 is connected to the second base station 200.

[0023] In the example shown in Figure 1, the first base station 100 forms a cell 10, and the second base station 200 forms a cell 20. Cell 10 may be within the range of the radio waves of the first base station 100, and cell 20 may be within the range of the radio waves of the second base station 200.

[0024] In the example shown in Figure 1, the first terminal 80 is located at the first base station 100. In the example shown in Figure 1, the first terminal 80 is not located at the second base station 200. In the example shown in Figure 1, the first terminal 80 is located at cell 10 and cell 20.

[0025] Here, "a terminal is located at a base station" means that the terminal is in communication with the base station. Here, "a terminal is located in a cell" means that the terminal is located within a cell formed by a base station, and does not necessarily require that the terminal be in communication with the base station.

[0026] In the example shown in Figure 1, the first terminal 80 transmits a first uplink signal 81 to the first base station 100. The first uplink signal 81 is, for example, a pilot signal. At this time, the first base station 100 instructs the first terminal 80 on the transmission timing, transmission strength, phase, etc., of the uplink signal, and the first terminal 80 transmits the first uplink signal 81 according to these instructions.

[0027] From the perspective of the first base station 100, assuming that the first terminal 80 transmitted the uplink signal as instructed, the conditions of the radio wave transmission path connecting the first terminal 80 and the first base station 100 can be estimated by comparing the waveform of the radio wave instructed to the first terminal 80 with the waveform of the radio wave of the first uplink signal 81 that the first base station 100 actually received from the first terminal 80. For example, the conditions of the transmission path include the degree of attenuation of radio wave intensity, the degree of phase shift of radio waves, etc.

[0028] The first terminal 80 transmits uplink signals in all directions. Therefore, within a certain distance range from the first terminal 80, the uplink signals transmitted by the first terminal 80 can be received. Consequently, the second base station 200 may be able to receive the uplink signals transmitted by the first terminal 80. In the example shown in Figure 1, since the first terminal 80 is also located in cell 20, the second base station 200 can also receive the uplink signals transmitted by the first terminal 80.

[0029] In the example shown in Figure 1, the uplink signals transmitted by the first terminal 80 are distinguished as follows: the uplink signal that reaches the first base station 100 is called the first uplink signal 81, and the uplink signal that reaches the second base station 200 is called the second uplink signal 82. The waveform of the second uplink signal 82 received by the second base station 200 is schematically shown in the upper right of Figure 1.

[0030] In the example shown in Figure 1, the first terminal 80 is not within range of the second base station 200. Therefore, the second base station 200 cannot adjust the second uplink signal 82 transmitted by the first terminal 80. Furthermore, the second base station 200 does not have information regarding the source of the second uplink signal 82.

[0031] From the perspective of the second base station 200, it is possible to determine, based on information such as the frequency of the received second uplink signal 82, that the received second uplink signal 82 is an uplink signal transmitted from one of the terminals. However, it is not possible to determine which terminal transmitted the received second uplink signal 82, or at what transmission timing, transmission strength, and phase. Therefore, the accuracy of the second base station 200's estimation of the conditions of the radio wave transmission path connecting the first terminal 80 and the second base station 200 is low.

[0032] When the first base station 100 collaborates with the second base station 200 to perform CoMP (Communication Platform Management) or similar operations for the first terminal 80, information such as the intensity and phase of the uplink signal transmitted by the first terminal 80 is shared from the first base station 100 to the second base station 200. This allows the second base station 200 to compare the second uplink signal 82 actually received from the first terminal 80 with the waveform of the radio waves transmitted at that time. As a result, the accuracy of estimating the conditions of the radio wave transmission path between the first terminal 80 and the second base station 200 is improved, enabling CoMP or similar operations. Note that the estimation of the conditions of the radio wave transmission path between the first terminal 80 and the second base station 200 does not necessarily have to be performed by the second base station 200.

[0033] Figure 2 schematically shows an example of the prior art. The example shown in Figure 2 will mainly be explained in terms of the differences from the example shown in Figure 1. In the example shown in Figure 2, a terminal 88 different from the first terminal 80 is located within the cell 20 of the second base station 200.

[0034] In this case, the second uplink signal 82 transmitted by the first terminal 80 may interfere with another uplink signal 89 transmitted by another terminal 88. In this case, the second uplink signal 82 that has been interfered with will have altered strength and phase compared to the second uplink signal 82 that would not have been interfered with.

[0035] In the upper right of Figure 2, the waveform of the second uplink signal 82 that was interfered with and received by the second base station 200 is shown as a dashed line, and the waveform of the other uplink signal 89 from the other terminal 88 is shown as a solid line. The solid white line shows the waveform of the second uplink signal 82 that the second base station 200 would have originally received if there had been no interference. This waveform may be the same as the second uplink signal 82 shown in Figure 1.

[0036] Thus, if the second uplink signal 82 interferes with another uplink signal 89 from another terminal 88, even if information such as the intensity and phase of the uplink signal transmitted by the first terminal 80 is shared from the first base station 100 to the second base station 200, the accuracy of estimating the conditions of the radio wave transmission path connecting the first terminal 80 and the second base station 200 will decrease. As a result, the accuracy of the beamweight for communication in the direction from the second base station 200 to the first terminal 80 will decrease, and communication efficiency such as CoMP will decline.

[0037] Figure 3 schematically shows an example of a communication system 30. The communication system 30 comprises a first base station 100, a second base station 200, and a control device 300. In the example shown in Figure 3, the control device 300 is located on an information processing infrastructure 400 located in region 40. The control device 300 may be connected to the information processing infrastructure 400. The control device 300 may be located in at least one of the first base station 100 and the second base station 200.

[0038] The information processing infrastructure 400 may be data centers located in various locations. The information processing infrastructure 400 may be composed of multiple devices. The information processing infrastructure 400 may be implemented on a virtualization infrastructure composed of multiple devices. The information processing infrastructure 400 may be implemented by a single device. In other words, the information processing infrastructure 400 may be an information processing device.

[0039] The information processing infrastructure 400 may have one or more CPUs (Central Processing Units). The information processing infrastructure 400 may have one or more GPUs. The information processing infrastructure 400 may have multiple superchips, each connected by an interconnect. This interconnect may be memory consistent and capable of achieving high bandwidth and low latency. Thus, the information processing infrastructure 400 may have CPU resources and GPU resources as computing resources.

[0040] In the example shown in Figure 3, the first base station 100 and the second base station 200 are located in the region 40 corresponding to the information processing infrastructure 400. In the example shown in Figure 3, the first base station 100 and the second base station 200 are connected to the information processing infrastructure 400. In the example shown in Figure 3, the second base station 200 provides wireless communication services to the first terminal 80 in cooperation with the first base station 100.

[0041] The region 40 corresponding to the information processing infrastructure 400 may be the region where the information processing infrastructure 400 is installed. The information processing infrastructure 400 does not have to be installed within the corresponding region 40. Region 40 may be, for example, a region with an area roughly equivalent to that of each prefecture in Japan. Region 40 may be, for example, a region with an area smaller than that of each prefecture in Japan. Region 40 may be, for example, a region with an area larger than that of each prefecture in Japan.

[0042] In this embodiment, the type of terminal, such as the first terminal 80, is not particularly limited. The type of terminal may be, for example, a smartphone, a tablet, a PC (Personal Computer), or an IoT (Internet of Things) terminal. In the example shown in Figure 3, the first terminal 80 is a smartphone.

[0043] In the example shown in FIG. 3, the first terminal 80 is within the coverage area of the first base station 100. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the first terminal 80 is not within the coverage area of the second base station 200. The first base station 100 receives the first uplink signal 81 from the first terminal 80. The second base station 200 receives the second uplink signal 82 from the first terminal 80.

[0044] In the example shown in FIG. 3, the control device 300 includes an information acquisition unit 310, an adjustment unit 320, a quality acquisition unit 330, and a model update unit 340. It is not essential for the control device 300 to include all of these.

[0045] The information acquisition unit 310 acquires various types of information. For example, the information acquisition unit 310 acquires the first uplink signal 81 and the second uplink signal 82. For example, the information acquisition unit 310 acquires first position-related information related to the position of the first terminal 80. The information acquisition unit 310 may acquire the first uplink signal 81 from the first base station 100 and the second uplink signal 82 from the second base station 200.

[0046] The first position-related information may include the position information of the first terminal 80. The type of the terminal's position information and the method of deriving the position are not particularly limited. For example, the terminal's position information may be information on the coordinates of the terminal specified by the terminal using GPS. For example, the terminal's position information may be information on the position of the terminal predicted based on the reception results of radio waves transmitted from a plurality of base stations by the principle of triangulation.

[0047] For example, the terminal's position information may be information on the position of the terminal predicted by DOA (Direction of Arrival). For example, the terminal's position information may be information on the position of the terminal predicted using the terminal position calculation method defined in TS (Technical Specification) 38.305 of 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) (registered trademark) such as A-GNSS.

[0048] The first position-related information may include information regarding the movement state of the first terminal 80. The information regarding the movement state of the terminal may include information such as the movement direction of the terminal and the movement speed of the terminal. The method for deriving the movement direction and movement speed of the terminal is not particularly limited. For example, based on the time-series information of the aforementioned position information of the terminal, the movement direction and movement speed of the terminal can be derived from the amount and direction of position change per unit time.

[0049] The first position-related information may include information such as the signal strength, transmission output, and transmission timing of the first uplink signal 81 transmitted by the first terminal 80. The signal strength, transmission output, and transmission timing of the uplink signal are determined according to the position of the terminal. For example, when the terminal is at a position far from the base station, the transmission output of the uplink signal is set to be large.

[0050] The first position-related information may include information regarding the state of the surrounding environment of the first terminal 80. The information regarding the state of the surrounding environment of the terminal may include information such as whether the terminal is located indoors or outdoors, whether it is located inside or outside a vehicle, etc., information regarding the number and traffic volume of other surrounding terminals, and information regarding the weather in the area where the terminal is located.

[0051] The information acquisition unit 310 may acquire map information of the area where the first terminal 80 is located. For example, by using the position information of the first terminal 80 and the map information, it is possible to specify where the first terminal 80 is located on the map, and it is possible to estimate whether the terminal is located indoors or outdoors.

[0052] The information acquisition unit 310 may acquire first base station position information indicating the position of the first base station 100 and second base station position information indicating the position of the second base station 200.

[0053] The adjustment unit 320 corrects the second uplink signal 82 received by the second base station 200. For example, when a terminal transmits an uplink signal from a certain point, the first base station 100 and the second base station 200 are fixedly located in a specific area with a specific terrain, so a certain relationship can be established between the uplink signal received by the first base station 100 and the uplink signal received by the second base station 200.

[0054] For example, when the first terminal 80 moves along a road located at a given point, the pattern of the time-series change in the waveform of the first uplink signal 81 accompanying the movement of the first terminal 80 may become a unique pattern depending on the terrain and the arrangement of buildings near the road. In this case, by storing the reception pattern of the second uplink signal 82 received by the second base station 200 as a reception pattern corresponding to that unique pattern, when the first base station 100 receives the first uplink signal 81 with that unique pattern, the second base station 200 can correct the second uplink signal 82 received by the second base station 200 using the stored reception pattern corresponding to that unique pattern.

[0055] In the middle right of Figure 3, the waveform of the second uplink signal 82 that was interfered with and received by the second base station 200 is shown as a dashed line, and the waveform of the second uplink signal 82 after correction by the adjustment unit 320 is shown as a solid line. In this way, by correcting the second uplink signal 82 with the adjustment unit 320, it is possible to obtain a waveform that reduces the influence of interference from, for example, other uplink signals 89 transmitted by other terminals 88.

[0056] The adjustment unit 320 may correct the second uplink signal 82 using the first base station position information and the second base station position information acquired by the information acquisition unit 310. This allows the positional relationship between the first base station 100 and the second base station 200 to be determined. For example, if the positions of the first base station 100 and the first terminal 80 can be estimated, the positional relationship between the second base station 200 and the first terminal 80 can be estimated with similar accuracy, thereby improving the accuracy of the correction of the second uplink signal 82.

[0057] The adjustment unit 320 adjusts the beam weight of the second base station 200 for the first terminal 80 based on the corrected second uplink signal 82. This improves the accuracy of the beam weight for communication in the direction from the second base station 200 to the first terminal 80, thereby improving communication efficiency such as CoMP.

[0058] The adjustment unit 320 may correct the second uplink signal 82 acquired by the information acquisition unit 310 using a learning model that takes the first uplink signal 81, the first position-related information, and the second uplink signal 82 as inputs and outputs the corrected second uplink signal 82. The learning model may be a neural network such as a deep neural network or a convolutional neural network, but is not particularly limited.

[0059] For example, datasets of the first uplink signal 81, the second uplink signal 82, and the values ​​of each item under multiple conditions with different terminal types, terminal locations, uplink signal transmission output, and uplink signal phases are recorded, and a learning model is generated using these multiple datasets as training data. As mentioned above, a certain relationship exists between the first uplink signal 81 and the second uplink signal 82, so by inputting a specific first uplink signal 81, first location-related information, and the second uplink signal 82 into this learning model, the second uplink signal 82 that reaches the second base station 200 can be output, resulting in the corrected second uplink signal 82.

[0060] The learning model used by the adjustment unit 320 may be a base station-specific type learning model that has been trained using multiple individual datasets for each specific combination of base stations. Alternatively, the learning model used by the adjustment unit 320 may be a general-purpose base station type learning model that has been trained using datasets that are not limited to each specific combination of base stations. The general-purpose base station type learning model may be capable of inference similar to that of the base station-specific type learning model by inputting location information of a specific base station.

[0061] The adjustment unit 320 may generate a learning model. Another device other than the control device 300 may generate a learning model. The adjustment unit 320 may store the learning model. Another part of the control device 300 may store the learning model. Another device other than the control device 300 may store the learning model. The adjustment unit 320 may correct the second uplink signal 82 using the stored learning model. The adjustment unit 320 may access a learning model stored by another device other than the control device 300 and correct the second uplink signal 82 using the accessed learning model.

[0062] The quality acquisition unit 330 acquires various service quality aspects of the wireless communication service. For example, the quality acquisition unit 330 uses weights adjusted by the adjustment unit 320 to acquire the service quality of the wireless communication service provided to the first terminal 80 by the second base station 200 and the first base station 100 in cooperation from the first base station. For example, the quality acquisition unit 330 acquires throughput, delay, packet loss rate, connection success rate, SNR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio), etc., of the communication of the first terminal 80.

[0063] The model update unit 340 updates the learning model. For example, the model update unit 340 updates the learning model based on the service quality acquired by the quality acquisition unit 330 so that the service quality is improved when using the corrected second uplink signal 82 output by the learning model. For example, the model update unit 340 does not update the learning model if the actual service quality acquired by the quality acquisition unit 330 is above a predetermined threshold, but updates the learning model if the actual service quality is below a predetermined threshold.

[0064] Figure 4 schematically shows an example of the communication system 30. The example shown in Figure 4 will mainly be explained in terms of differences from the example shown in Figure 3. In the example shown in Figure 4, the second terminal 90 is located near the first terminal 80. The second terminal 90 is located within the range of the second base station 200. The second terminal 90 is not located within the range of the first base station 100. The second terminal 90 is located in cell 10 and cell 20.

[0065] In the example shown in Figure 4, the second base station 200 receives the third uplink signal 93 from the second terminal 90. At this time, the second base station 200 instructs the second terminal 90 on the transmission timing, transmission strength, phase, etc., of the uplink signal to be transmitted, and the second terminal 90 transmits the third uplink signal 93 according to these instructions. In other words, the relationship between the second base station 200, the second terminal 90, and the third uplink signal 93 can be said to correspond to the relationship between the first base station 100, the first terminal 80, and the first uplink signal 81. Therefore, by using the third uplink signal 93, the second base station 200 can accurately estimate the status of the transmission path between the second base station 200 and the second terminal 90.

[0066] The second terminal 90 transmits uplink signals in all directions. Therefore, within a certain distance range from the second terminal 90, the uplink signals transmitted by the second terminal 90 can be received. Consequently, the first base station 100 may be able to receive the uplink signals transmitted by the second terminal 90.

[0067] In the example shown in Figure 4, the uplink signals transmitted by the second terminal 90 are distinguished as follows: the uplink signal that reaches the second base station 200 is designated as the third uplink signal 93, and the uplink signal that reaches the first base station 100 is designated as the fourth uplink signal 94. The waveform of the third uplink signal 93 received by the second base station 200 is schematically shown by a solid line in the middle right of Figure 4.

[0068] In the example shown in Figure 4, the second terminal 90 is not within range of the first base station 100. Therefore, the first base station 100 cannot adjust the fourth uplink signal 94. Furthermore, the first base station 100 does not have information regarding the source of the fourth uplink signal 94. In other words, the relationship between the first base station 100, the second terminal 90, and the fourth uplink signal 94 corresponds to the relationship between the second base station 200, the first terminal 80, and the second uplink signal 82.

[0069] In the example shown in Figure 4, the information acquisition unit 310 may acquire the third uplink signal 93, second location-related information relating to the location of the second terminal 90, and the fourth uplink signal 94 received by the first base station 100 from the second terminal 90. The items included in the second location-related information may be the same as the items included in the first location-related information described above.

[0070] In the example shown in Figure 4, the adjustment unit 320 may adjust the beam weight of the second base station 200 for the first terminal 80 based on the third uplink signal 93, the second location-related information, and the fourth uplink signal 94. The adjustment unit 320 may, for example, use the first location-related information and the second location-related information to determine whether the second terminal 90 is located near the first terminal 80. The conditions of the transmission path between the first terminal 80 and the second base station 200 are considered to be similar to the conditions of the transmission path between the second terminal 90, which is located near the first terminal 80, and the second base station 200.

[0071] For example, if the adjustment unit 320 determines that the second terminal 90 is located near the first terminal 80, it uses the third uplink signal 93 received by the second base station 200 to estimate the transmission path between the first terminal 80 and the second base station 200. For example, if the adjustment unit 320 determines that the second terminal 90 is located near the first terminal 80, it corrects the second uplink signal 82 received by the second base station 200 by substituting it with the third uplink signal 93 received by the second base station 200.

[0072] As described above, the second base station 200 can accurately estimate the status of the transmission path between the second base station 200 and the second terminal 90 by using the third uplink signal 93. Therefore, by using the status of the transmission path between the second terminal 90 and the second base station 200 instead of the status of the transmission path between the first terminal 80 and the second base station 200, the status of the transmission path between the first terminal 80 and the second base station 200 can be accurately estimated. The adjustment unit 320 adjusts the beamweight based on this estimation result, thereby improving the accuracy of the beamweight for communication in the direction from the second base station 200 to the first terminal 80, and improving the communication efficiency of CoMP, etc.

[0073] Figure 5 schematically shows an example of the processing flow by the control device 300. In step 102 (steps may be abbreviated as S), the information acquisition unit 310 acquires the first up signal 81, the first position-related information, and the second up signal 82.

[0074] In S104, the adjustment unit 320 corrects the second uplink signal 82 based on the first uplink signal 81 and the first position-related information acquired by the information acquisition unit 310 in S102. As described above, the adjustment unit 320 may correct the second uplink signal 82 using a learning model.

[0075] In S106, the adjustment unit 320 adjusts the beam weight for the first terminal 80 by the second base station 200 based on the corrected second uplink signal 82 acquired in S104.

[0076] Figure 6 schematically shows an example of a communication system 30. In the example shown in Figure 6, the communication system 30 comprises a management infrastructure 500 and a plurality of information processing infrastructures 400. The management infrastructure 500 may manage the plurality of information processing infrastructures 400. The management infrastructure 500 may be a data center that manages the plurality of information processing infrastructures 400. The management infrastructure 500 may be composed of a plurality of devices. The management infrastructure 500 may be implemented on a virtualization infrastructure composed of a plurality of devices. The management infrastructure 500 may be implemented by a single device. That is, the management infrastructure 500 may be a management device.

[0077] In the example shown in Figure 6, the configuration of each of the multiple information processing infrastructures 400 is the same as in the examples shown in Figures 3 and 4. Note that in Figure 6, the control device 300, the first terminal 80, and the second terminal 90 are omitted from the description.

[0078] In the example shown in Figure 6, the control device 300 may be located on the management infrastructure 500. In this case, the control device 300 may be further located on at least one of the multiple information processing infrastructures 400. Alternatively, the control device 300 may not be located on the management infrastructure 500, but on each of the multiple information processing infrastructures 400.

[0079] The management infrastructure 500 may be called the Core Brain, and the information processing infrastructure 400 may be called the Regional Brain. Note that Figure 6 illustrates a case where a single-layer information processing infrastructure 400 is located below the management infrastructure 500, but this is not the only example. The information processing infrastructure 400 may have multiple layers. For example, if two layers of information processing infrastructure 400 are located below the management infrastructure 500, the management infrastructure 500 may be called the Core Brain, the lower layer of information processing infrastructure 400 may be called the Regional Brain, and the further lower layer of information processing infrastructure 400 may be called the Sub-Regional Brain. In this case, the control device 300 may be located in the Regional Brain. In any of the above cases, the control device 300 may be connected to the information processing infrastructure 400 or the management infrastructure 500 instead of being located on them.

[0080] Figure 7 schematically shows an example of the hardware configuration of a computer 1200 that functions as a control device 300, an information processing platform 400, or a management platform 500. A program installed on the computer 1200 can cause the computer 1200 to function as one or more "parts" of the apparatus according to this embodiment, or to cause the computer 1200 to execute operations associated with the apparatus according to this embodiment or such one or more "parts", and / or to cause the computer 1200 to execute a process or a stage of such process according to this embodiment. Such a program may be executed by the CPU 1212 to cause the computer 1200 to execute specific operations associated with some or all of the blocks in the flowcharts and block diagrams described herein.

[0081] The computer 1200 according to this embodiment includes a CPU 1212, a GPU 1213, a RAM 1214, and a graphics controller 1216, which are interconnected by a host controller 1210. The computer 1200 also includes input / output units such as a communication interface 1222, a storage device 1224, a DVD drive, and an IC card drive, which are connected to the host controller 1210 via an input / output controller 1220. The DVD drive may be a DVD-ROM drive and a DVD-RAM drive, etc. The storage device 1224 may be a hard disk drive and a solid-state drive, etc. The computer 1200 also includes legacy input / output units such as a ROM 1230 and a keyboard, which are connected to the input / output controller 1220 via an input / output chip 1240.

[0082] The CPU 1212 operates according to the programs stored in the ROM 1230 and RAM 1214, thereby controlling each unit. The graphics controller 1216 acquires the image data generated by the CPU 1212 and stores it in the frame buffer provided in the RAM 1214 or within itself, so that the image data is displayed on the display device 1218.

[0083] The communication interface 1222 communicates with other electronic devices via a network. The storage device 1224 stores programs and data used by the CPU 1212 in the computer 1200. The DVD drive reads programs or data from a DVD-ROM or the like and provides them to the storage device 1224. The IC card drive reads programs and data from an IC card and / or writes programs and data to an IC card.

[0084] The ROM 1230 stores boot programs and / or hardware-dependent programs of the computer 1200, which are executed by the computer 1200 when activated. The input / output chip 1240 may also connect various input / output units to the input / output controller 1220 via USB ports, parallel ports, serial ports, keyboard ports, mouse ports, etc.

[0085] The program is provided on a computer-readable storage medium such as a DVD-ROM or IC card. The program is read from the computer-readable storage medium and installed on a storage device 1224, RAM 1214, or ROM 1230, which are examples of computer-readable storage media, and executed by the CPU 1212. The information processing described within these programs is read by the computer 1200, resulting in coordination between the program and the various types of hardware resources described above. The apparatus or method may be configured to realize the operation or processing of information in accordance with the use of the computer 1200.

[0086] For example, when communication is performed between a computer 1200 and an external device, the CPU 1212 may execute a communication program loaded into the RAM 1214 and, based on the processing described in the communication program, instruct the communication interface 1222 to perform communication processing. Under the control of the CPU 1212, the communication interface 1222 reads transmission data stored in a transmission buffer area provided in a recording medium such as the RAM 1214, storage device 1224, DVD-ROM, or IC card, transmits the read transmission data to the network, or writes received data received from the network to a reception buffer area or the like provided on the recording medium.

[0087] Furthermore, the CPU 1212 may read all or necessary parts of a file or database stored on an external recording medium such as a storage device 1224, a DVD drive (DVD-ROM), or an IC card into the RAM 1214, and perform various types of processing on the data in the RAM 1214. The CPU 1212 may then write the processed data back to the external recording medium.

[0088] Various types of information, such as various types of programs, data, tables, and databases, may be stored on the recording medium and subjected to information processing. The CPU 1212 may perform various types of processing on the data read from the RAM 1214, including various types of operations, information processing, conditional judgments, conditional branching, unconditional branching, information retrieval / replacement, etc., as described throughout this disclosure and specified by the program instruction sequence, and write the results back to the RAM 1214. The CPU 1212 may also retrieve information in files, databases, etc., within the recording medium. For example, if a plurality of entries are stored in the recording medium, each having an attribute value of a first attribute associated with an attribute value of a second attribute, the CPU 1212 may search among the plurality of entries for an entry that matches the specified condition for the attribute value of the first attribute, read the attribute value of the second attribute stored in that entry, and thereby obtain the attribute value of the second attribute associated with the first attribute that satisfies a predetermined condition.

[0089] The program or software module described above may be stored on or near the computer 1200 in a computer-readable storage medium. Alternatively, a recording medium such as a hard disk or RAM provided within a server system connected to a dedicated communication network or the Internet can be used as a computer-readable storage medium, thereby providing the program to the computer 1200 via the network.

[0090] In this embodiment, blocks in the flowchart and block diagram may represent a stage in a process in which an operation is performed or a "part" of a device that has the role of performing an operation. A particular stage and "part" may be implemented by a dedicated circuit, a programmable circuit supplied with computer-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium, and / or a processor supplied with computer-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium. The dedicated circuit may include digital and / or analog hardware circuits, and may include integrated circuits (ICs) and / or discrete circuits. The programmable circuit may include reconfigurable hardware circuits, such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and programmable logic arrays (PLAs), which include logical AND, logical OR, exclusive OR, negated AND, negated OR, and other logical operations, flip-flops, registers, and memory elements.

[0091] A computer-readable storage medium may include any tangible device capable of storing instructions to be executed by a suitable device, and as a result, a computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored therein will comprise a product that includes instructions that can be executed to create means for performing operations specified in a flowchart or block diagram. Examples of computer-readable storage media may include electronic storage media, magnetic storage media, optical storage media, electromagnetic storage media, semiconductor storage media, etc. More specific examples of computer-readable storage media may include floppy disks, diskettes, hard disks, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), static random access memory (SRAM), compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital multipurpose disk (DVD), Blu-ray® disk, memory stick, integrated circuit card, etc.

[0092] Computer-readable instructions may include assembler instructions, instruction set architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine-dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state setting data, or source code or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including object-oriented programming languages ​​such as Smalltalk®, Java®, C++, and conventional procedural programming languages ​​such as the C programming language or similar programming languages.

[0093] Computer-readable instructions may be provided locally or via a wide area network (WAN) such as a local area network (LAN) or the internet to a processor or programmable circuit of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or another programmable data processing device, so that the processor or programmable circuit of the programmable data processing device, such as a computer, may execute the computer-readable instructions to generate means for performing operations specified in a flowchart or block diagram. Here, the computer may be a PC (personal computer), a tablet computer, a smartphone, a workstation, a server computer, a general-purpose computer, or a special-purpose computer, and may also be a computer system in which multiple computers are connected. Such a computer system in which multiple computers are connected is also called a distributed computing system and is a computer in a broad sense. In a distributed computing system, multiple computers execute a program collectively by each computer executing a part of the program and passing data during program execution between computers as needed.

[0094] Examples of processors include computer processors, central processing units (CPUs), processing units, microprocessors, digital signal processors, controllers, and microcontrollers. A computer may have one or more processors. In a multiprocessor system with multiple processors, each processor executes a portion of the program, and the processors collectively execute the program by passing program execution data between them as needed. For example, in the execution of multitasks, each of the multiple processors may execute a portion of each task in small chunks by switching tasks at each time slice. In this case, which part of a program each processor executes changes dynamically. Which part of a program each of the multiple processors executes may also be statically determined by multiprocessor-aware programming.

[0095] The invention according to this embodiment enables the more efficient provision of cooperative wireless communication services between base stations. By providing a more efficient and comfortable communication infrastructure, it can contribute to achieving at least one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Goal 7 "Affordable and Clean Energy," Goal 9 "Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure," and Goal 11 "Sustainable Cities and Communities."

[0096] Although the present invention has been described above using embodiments, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications or improvements can be made to the above embodiments. It will be clear from the claims that such modified or improved forms may also be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

[0097] It should be noted that the execution order of operations, procedures, steps, and stages in the devices, systems, programs, and methods shown in the claims, specifications, and drawings is not explicitly stated as "before" or "prior to," and that these can be performed in any order unless the output of a previous operation is used in a later operation. Even if the operation flow in the claims, specifications, and drawings is described using phrases such as "first," and "next," for convenience, this does not mean that it is mandatory to perform the operations in that order.

[0098] 10 Cell, 20 Cell, 30 Communication System, 40 Region, 80 First Terminal, 81 First Uplink Signal, 82 Second Uplink Signal, 88 Other Terminals, 89 Other Uplink Signals, 90 Second Terminal, 93 Third Uplink Signal, 94 Fourth Uplink Signal, 100 First Base Station, 200 Second Base Station, 300 Control Device, 310 Information Acquisition Unit, 320 Adjustment Unit, 330 Quality Acquisition Unit, 340 Model Update Unit, 400 Information Processing Platform, 500 Management Platform, 1200 Computer, 1210 Host Controller, 1212 CPU, 1213 GPU, 1214 RAM, 1216 Graphics Controller, 1218 Display Device, 1220 Input / Output Controller, 1222 Communication Interface, 1224 Storage Device, 1230 ROM, 1240 Input / Output Chip

Claims

1. A control device comprising: an information acquisition unit that acquires a first uplink signal received by a first base station from a first terminal located at the first base station, first location-related information relating to the location of the first terminal, and a second uplink signal received by a second base station that provides wireless communication services to the first terminal in cooperation with the first base station from the first terminal; and an adjustment unit that corrects the second uplink signal based on the first uplink signal and the first location-related information, and adjusts the beam weight of the second base station to the first terminal based on the corrected second uplink signal.

2. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the adjustment unit corrects the second up-link signal acquired by the information acquisition unit using a learning model that takes the first up-link signal, the first position-related information, and the second up-link signal as inputs and outputs a corrected second up-link signal.

3. The control device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first position-related information includes information relating to the movement state of the first terminal.

4. The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first location-related information includes information relating to the state of the surrounding environment of the first terminal.

5. The control device according to claim 2, further comprising: a quality acquisition unit that acquires the service quality of the wireless communication service provided to the first terminal by the second base station and the first base station in cooperation using the weight adjusted by the adjustment unit from the first base station; and a model update unit that updates the learning model based on the service quality acquired by the quality acquisition unit so that the service quality is improved when the corrected second uplink signal output by the learning model is used.

6. The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the information acquisition unit further acquires first base station location information indicating the location of the first base station and second base station location information indicating the location of the second base station, and the adjustment unit further adjusts the beam weight of the second base station to the first terminal based on the first base station location information and the second base station location information.

7. The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the information acquisition unit acquires a third uplink signal received by the second base station from a second terminal located at the second base station, second location-related information relating to the location of the second terminal, and a fourth uplink signal received by the first base station from the second terminal, and the adjustment unit adjusts the beam weight of the second base station to the first terminal based on the third uplink signal, the second location-related information, and the fourth uplink signal.

8. A communication system comprising the first base station, the second base station, and the control device according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

9. A control method comprising: an information acquisition step of acquiring a first uplink signal received by a first base station from a first terminal located at the first base station, first location-related information relating to the location of the first terminal, and a second uplink signal received by a second base station that provides wireless communication services to the first terminal in cooperation with the first base station from the first terminal; and an adjustment step of correcting the second uplink signal based on the first uplink signal and the first location-related information, and adjusting the beam weight of the second base station to the first terminal based on the corrected second uplink signal.

10. A program for causing a computer to perform the control method described in claim 9.

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