JP2000261400A - Equipment and method for radio communication - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To satisfy both the immediacy of sound communication and the communication speed of data communication by interrupting data communication during a prescribed data communication interruption period after a prescribed data communication period passes and performing sound communication with the outside while taking priority over data communication. SOLUTION: When a data communication period passes, radio communication equipment 14 performs a receiving operation of an allocated slot during a data communication interruption period set in the same manner as the data communication period and detects the existence/absence of sound communication. When a significant signal is detected during the data communication interruption period, a controlling part 4 interrupts the data communication of its slot and performs a sound receiving operation. The part 4 also detects the absence of a sound signal by detecting the absence of a carrier in a radio channel and resumes data communication. When sound communication is requested, it can respond to the request for sound communication while performing data communication by switching the slot preferentially to sound communication and using it.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a radio communication apparatus, and more particularly to a radio communication system in which a plurality of radio communication apparatuses and a radio base station are connected by a TDMA radio line.
The present invention relates to a wireless communication device and a method that enable voice communication even during data communication.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a plurality of radio communication apparatuses, radio base stations, and radio channel controllers have been used in a time division multiple access (Time Division Multiple Access).
2. Description of the Related Art In a wireless communication system connected by a wireless channel of an ion multiple access (TDMA) system, a link is established between wireless communication devices as follows.
That is, first, the radio communication device sends a call signal to the radio network controller via the radio base station, and then the radio network controller sends a call signal to the called radio communication device and sends a control signal. Had gone by. When a link is established, each wireless communication device is assigned a communication channel and a communication slot formed by time-division multiplexing of a TDMA frame, and has started communication using the assigned slot.

FIG. 7 is a time chart showing the relationship between data communication and voice communication between conventional radio communication terminals A to C. As shown in FIG. 7, the wireless communication terminals A and C
A link has been established between and the slot 70 is allocated for data communication. The data communication is performed from the wireless communication terminals A to C by the slot 70 allocated for the data communication. Once the link is established between the wireless communication terminals AC and the slot 70 is allocated for data communication, the slot 70 is fixedly used for data communication until the time Te when the data communication ends and the link is released. Was assigned to As a result, in order for the wireless communication terminal B attempting to perform voice communication to use the slot 70 for voice communication, the wireless communication terminal B waits until the slot 70 becomes empty until the time Te at which the data communication ends, or attempts to perform data communication. There is a problem that a slot for a wireless communication terminal to use in voice communication in the future must be vacated separately from a slot for data communication.

[0004]

As described above, conventionally, in order to use a slot for voice communication, a wireless communication apparatus that waits for the end of data communication or attempts to perform data communication will be used in future. It was necessary to leave a slot for use in the. However, voice communication requires immediacy in which communication can be started immediately when a call is desired, while data communication requires a high communication speed. Therefore, in order to use voice communication and data communication together, there is a problem that the immediacy of voice communication must be sacrificed or the communication speed of data communication must be sacrificed. Therefore, an object of the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problem, and by switching a slot used for data communication by giving priority to voice communication and using it,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a wireless communication device and method capable of satisfying both immediacy in voice communication and communication speed in data communication.

[0005]

A wireless communication apparatus according to the present invention is a wireless communication apparatus that performs communication by switching between external data communication and voice communication in an assigned slot of an assigned communication channel, The wireless communication device,
A data communication unit for performing data communication with the outside in the allocated slot during a predetermined data communication period, and a data communication unit that performs data communication after the predetermined data communication period and during the predetermined data communication interruption period. The communication is interrupted, and a voice communication detection unit that detects the presence or absence of the start of voice communication from outside in the allocated slot, and when voice communication from outside is detected by the voice communication detection unit, Until the end of the external voice communication is detected in the slot, a voice communication unit that performs voice communication with the outside in preference to the data communication by the data communication unit, and after the voice communication by the voice communication unit ends. And a data communication restarting section for restarting data communication with the outside by the data communication section. Here, in the wireless communication apparatus according to the present invention, the voice communication detection unit can detect the presence or absence of the start of voice communication by detecting the presence or absence of a significant signal from the outside in the assigned slot. is there. Here, in the wireless communication apparatus according to the present invention, the voice communication unit can determine whether or not external voice communication has ended based on the presence or absence of a carrier in the allocated channel in the allocated slot. It is. Here, in the wireless communication apparatus according to the present invention, the voice communication unit can determine whether or not external voice communication has ended based on the presence or absence of a significant signal in the assigned slot.

Here, in the wireless communication apparatus according to the present invention, the voice communication detecting section interrupts data communication by the data communication section after the predetermined data communication period has elapsed and during the predetermined data communication interruption period. Detecting whether external voice communication is started on the control channel, and when the voice communication detecting unit detects the external voice communication, the voice communication unit detects the external voice communication on the control channel. Until the end of the communication is detected, voice communication with the outside can be performed in place of the data communication by the data communication unit. Here, the wireless communication device of the present invention includes:
The voice communication detection unit can detect the presence or absence of the start of external voice communication based on the identification information on the control channel. Here, in the wireless communication apparatus according to the present invention, the voice communication unit can determine whether or not external voice communication has ended based on the identification information on the control channel. Here, in the wireless communication device of the present invention, the data communication restarting unit further includes a restarting unit that restarts data communication by the data communication unit when external voice communication is not detected by the voice communication detection unit. It can be prepared.

A wireless communication method according to the present invention is a wireless communication method for performing communication by switching between external data communication and voice communication in an assigned slot of an assigned communication channel. During a predetermined data communication period, a data communication step of performing data communication with the outside in the assigned slot, and after a predetermined data communication period has elapsed and during a predetermined data communication interruption period, the data transmitting side includes: Interrupting the data communication by the communication step, detecting the presence or absence of the start of external voice communication in the allocated slot, the voice transmitting side detects the presence or absence of data communication in the allocated slot,
A voice communication detection step for sending a signal indicating the start of voice communication when there is no data communication; and an external voice communication in the assigned slot when the voice communication detection step detects external voice communication. Until the end of communication is detected, a voice communication step of performing voice communication prior to data communication with the outside, and a data communication restart for restarting data communication with the outside after the voice communication in the voice communication step is completed. And steps. Here, in the wireless communication method according to the present invention, in the voice communication detecting step, the data transmitting side interrupts the data communication in the data communication step after a predetermined data communication period has elapsed and during a predetermined data communication interruption period. Then, the presence or absence of external voice communication on the control channel is detected, and the voice transmitting side sends a signal requesting the start of voice communication to the control channel and sends the signal to the control device that controls the wireless communication receiving the signal. Sending identification information indicating the presence of voice communication to a control channel, wherein the voice communication step is to terminate external voice communication on the control channel when voice communication from outside is detected by the voice communication detection step. Until it is detected, voice communication can be performed instead of data communication with the outside. Here, the wireless communication method according to the present invention, the voice communication step may further include a step of restarting data communication with the outside when the voice communication from the outside is not detected by the voice communication detection step. You can do it.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. Embodiment 1 FIG. FIG. 1 shows a configuration of wireless communication apparatus 14 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In FIG.
The antenna 2 demodulates a high-frequency signal transmitted from the antenna 1 into a digital signal in units of frames, and the radio unit 3 modulates the digital signal in units of frames transmitted from a frame processing unit 3 (described later) into a high-frequency signal. Is a frame processing unit that decodes a digital signal of each frame transmitted from the radio unit 2 into a signal of each slot, and time-division multiplexes the signal of each slot transmitted from the control unit 4 (described later) to encode it into a frame. Reference numeral 5 denotes an AD / DA conversion unit for converting a digital audio signal sent from a control unit 4 (described later) into an analog signal, and converting an analog signal sent from a microphone 7 (described later) to a digital signal. A speaker 7 for outputting an analog signal sent from the DA converter 5 as audio;
Is an external audio input and analog / digital AD / DA
A microphone to be transmitted to the conversion unit 5, a key operation unit 8 for inputting characters by keys or controlling the wireless communication device 14, a display unit 9 for outputting character information and the status of the wireless communication device 14, 1
Reference numeral 0 denotes an external terminal connection terminal for inputting / outputting image data or character data from / to a data transmission terminal 17 (described later).
Determines the type of the signal sent from the frame processing unit 3,
A control unit that controls the entire wireless communication apparatus 14 such as encoding or decoding a signal, performing switching control of slot transmission / reception, and exchanging control signals with a communication partner.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a wireless communication system to which the wireless communication apparatus and method of the present invention are applied. As shown in FIG. 2, a wireless communication system to which the wireless communication apparatus and method of the present invention is applied is connected to one or more wireless base stations 11 to 13, , A plurality of wireless communication devices 14 to 16 connected to the wireless base stations 11 to 13 by a TDMA wireless line, and data transmission terminals 17 respectively connected to the wireless communication devices 14 and 16 , 18. FIG. 2 shows an example of the wireless communication device 14 connected to the data transmission device 17. However, the wireless communication device is not limited to this example, but may be another wireless communication device 15.
And so on.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a TDMA communication frame (hereinafter, referred to as a “TDMA frame”) used in the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG.
The frame 30 of the TDMA communication has four slots S1 (3
1), S2 (32), S3 (33) and S4 (34)
And the slots S2 (31) to S4 (3
4) is allocated for voice communication or data communication, and slot S1 (31) is allocated for data communication. However, other assignments are possible, and the assignments described above are only examples. Each slot S11 (3
1) and the like are further allocated for transmission or reception, and are used for communication between the wireless base station 11 and the like and the wireless communication device 14 and the like. The above-mentioned assignment can be statically assigned in advance, or can be dynamically assigned. Each slot S1
Type information of a signal used in the slot S1 (31) or the like, for example, for voice communication or data communication is added to (31) and the like. The radio channel through which the TDMA frame 30 is transmitted is composed of a plurality of frequencies, and each frequency forms one of the uplink and downlink or both uplink and downlink of the communication channel or the control channel. The configuration of the TDMA frame 30 according to the first embodiment is such that the slots S1 (31) and the like are switched and used for transmission or reception in the wireless communication apparatus 14, but each slot S1 (31) or the like is used. It is also possible to adopt a configuration of a TDD system in which transmission and reception are separately divided in advance.

Hereinafter, the wireless communication apparatus 14 according to the first embodiment will be described.
Operations 16 to 16 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, for example, the wireless communication device 15 is connected to another wireless communication device 14.
In the case of performing voice communication with the communication channels 16 and 16, a communication channel and a voice slot for performing voice communication are determined and assigned based on a control signal notified on the control channel from the radio channel controller 19 via the radio base station 12. On the other hand, a communication channel for performing data communication and a data communication slot are allocated between wireless communication devices that have already performed data communication (in this specification, unless otherwise obscured, a communication channel and a data communication slot are used). Are generally referred to as "channels", and voice slots and data communication slots are collectively referred to as "slots." Therefore, even with the same channel, the same type of communication (data communication or voice communication) is performed between two or more wireless communication devices assigned the same slot, and two or more wireless communication devices assigned different slots. Different types of communication can be performed between wireless communication devices. The voice transmission from the wireless communication device 15 to the other wireless communication device 14 or the like is performed using the communication channel and the voice slot allocated as described above, and the voice reception in the other wireless communication device 14 or the This can be performed by detecting voice communication transmitted on the same channel and slot as the communication channel and voice slot. As described above, in the case of the voice communication, the assignment of the communication channel and the voice slot to the wireless communication device 15 or the like can be performed based on broadcast information broadcast to all the wireless communication devices 14 to 16 in advance.

As shown in FIG. 2, for example, when a wireless communication device 14 to which a data transmission device 17 is connected performs data communication of characters or images with another wireless communication device 16, first, the wireless communication device 14 From the base station 1
1 is transmitted to the radio network controller 19. Next, the radio line controller 19 transmits a control signal to the called side radio communication device 16 via the radio base station 13 and allocates a communication channel and one or more data communication slots, and Establish a link between the communication device 14 and the wireless communication device 16. Control signals, such as the aforementioned outgoing or incoming signals, are transmitted on control channels. After the link is established, the wireless communication device 14 and the wireless communication device 16 perform data communication using the assigned slots. As described above, in the case of data communication, the assignment of the communication channel and the data communication slot to the wireless communication device 14 or the like can be performed for each call.

In the voice communication, as described above, the assignment of the communication channel and the voice slot to the radio communication device 15 and the like can be performed by the broadcast information broadcast to all the radio communication devices in advance. As in the case, link establishment and assignment can be performed for each call.

FIG. 4 shows an example in which voice communication is preferentially performed during data communication between wireless communication devices in the first embodiment. In FIG. 4, one TDMA frame 40
Of the second slot S2 (42) are allocated for voice communication, and the third slot S3 (43) and the fourth slot S4
It is assumed that (44) is allocated exclusively for data communication. FIG. 4A shows a time chart when data communication is performed from the wireless communication device 14 to the wireless communication device 16 but voice communication is not performed. When the voice communication is not performed as shown in FIG. 4A, the second slot S2 (42) is used as the slot 45 for data communication, so that the wireless communication device 14 and the wireless communication device 16 can communicate with each other. Between the three slots S2 (42) and S3 (4
Data communication can be performed using 3) and S4 (44). As a result, the data communication speed can be increased as compared with the case where only two slots are used. FIG. 4B shows a time chart when voice communication is performed from the wireless communication device 15 to the other wireless communication devices 14 and 16. When voice communication is performed during data communication as shown in FIG. 4B, the second slot S2 (42) allocated for voice communication is transmitted from the wireless communication device 15 to the other wireless communication devices 14 and 16 Voice communication slot 4 to
Used as 7. On the other hand, between the wireless communication device 14 and the wireless communication device 16, the third slot S3 (43) and the fourth slot S4 (44) are used as slots 48 for data communication.
And 49, the voice communication is eventually performed from the wireless communication device 15 to the wireless communication devices 14 and 16 in the second slot S2 (42), and at the same time, from the wireless communication device 14 to the wireless communication device 16 Can perform data communication using the third slot S3 (43) and the fourth slot S4 (44). Therefore, the data communication between the wireless communication device 14 and the wireless communication device 16 can be performed at the same time while satisfying the immediacy of the voice communication requested by the wireless communication device 15.

Hereinafter, a method for giving priority to voice communication over data communication will be described. FIG. 5 shows each wireless communication device 1 shown in FIG.
4 shows the transmission / reception timing of the second slot S2 (42) at 4 or the like. As described above, in the wireless communication devices 14 and 16, the second slot S2 (42) is assigned as a slot in which voice communication has priority over data communication. When the voice communication is not performed, the second slot S2 (42)
Uses only Td for a certain period for data communication 50. A fixed period T used for the data communication 50
d (data communication period) can be set as a constant in the wireless communication system shown in FIG. 2 or can be set when a link is established between the wireless communication devices. When the data communication period Td elapses, the wireless communication devices 14 and 16 perform the receiving operation 51 in the slot to detect the presence or absence of voice communication. The detection of the presence / absence of voice communication is performed for the second slot input to the control unit 4 via the antenna 1, the radio unit 2 and the frame processing unit 3 over the data communication suspension period Ts set similarly to the data communication period Td. S
2 (42) is performed depending on whether or not the received signal is a significant signal. When no significant signal is detected during the data communication suspension period Ts, the control unit 4 restarts the data communication 52 during the data communication period Td in the slot S2 (42). When the significant signal 53 is detected, the wireless communication devices 14 and 16 interrupt the data communication in the slot S2 (42) and perform the voice receiving operation 54. The wireless communication device 15 that intends to perform voice communication monitors the received signal in the second slot S2 (42) and performs the detection 56 of the data signal similarly to the control unit 4 of the wireless communication device 14. When it can be confirmed that there is no data signal, after transmitting the significant signal 53,
The voice communication 54 is started. Similarly, the significant signal 53 is transmitted to the wireless communication device 16 and the voice communication 54 is performed. Each of the wireless communication devices 14 and 16 detects the absence of an audio signal by detecting that there is no carrier in the wireless line by each control unit 4, and confirms the end of the audio communication from the wireless communication device 15. In order to confirm the end of the voice communication, it is necessary to continuously detect the absence of the voice signal. After confirming the end of the voice communication, the data communication 55 is restarted.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, when there is no voice communication, the slot allocated for voice communication is used for data communication, and when voice communication is requested, the slot is used for voice communication. , It is possible to meet the demand for immediacy of voice communication while performing data communication.

Embodiment 2 FIG. As described above, in the first embodiment, the wireless communication device 14 that performs data communication uses the assigned slot S2 (4) during the data communication suspension period Ts.
The presence / absence of a voice signal is determined by detecting the presence / absence of a significant signal in 2), and the data communication is interrupted and switched to voice communication by detecting the presence of voice communication, and the same slot S2 (42) is assigned. The end of the voice communication is determined by detecting the presence or absence of the carrier. However, in the second embodiment, the presence or absence of voice communication is determined by monitoring the control channel instead of the communication channel.

FIG. 6 shows a time chart when voice communication is performed in the second embodiment. In FIG. 6, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, the radio communication device 15 that intends to perform voice communication transmits a control signal 66 requesting the start of voice communication in the uplink control channel to the radio line controller 19.
Send to The radio channel controller 19 transmits an identification information signal 62 indicating that voice communication is present on the downlink control channel. On the other hand, the wireless communication devices 14 and 16 perform the data communication period T
When d elapses, the receiving operation 61 is performed in the control slot to detect the presence or absence of voice communication. Detection of the presence or absence of voice communication is performed by detecting whether or not the received signal of the control slot is the identification information signal 62 indicating the presence of voice over a data communication suspension period Ts set similarly to the data communication period Td. . If the identification information signal 62 is not detected during the data communication interruption period Ts, the control unit 4 restarts the data communication 52 during the data communication period Td in the slot S2 (42). When the identification information signal 62 is detected, the wireless communication devices 14 and 16 are switched to the slot S2.
The data communication in (42) is interrupted and the voice receiving operation 5
Perform 4. When terminating the voice communication, the wireless communication device 15 transmits a control signal 67 requesting release of the voice communication to the wireless channel control device 19 on the uplink control channel.
The radio channel controller 19 ends the transmission of the identification information signal 62 on the downlink control channel. Wireless communication devices 14 and 1
6 monitors the control channel, performs voice communication until the identification information signal 62 disappears, confirms the end of the voice communication, and restarts the data communication 55.

As described above, according to the second embodiment, the presence / absence of voice communication can be detected by detecting the presence / absence of a voice signal using a control channel. Therefore, when voice communication is requested, a slot for data communication is used. By switching to the one for voice communication, it is possible to meet the demand for immediacy of voice communication while performing data communication.

[0020]

As described above, according to the radio communication apparatus and method of the present invention, the slot used for data communication is switched and used with priority given to voice communication, thereby realizing instantaneous communication in voice communication. It is possible to provide a wireless communication device and method capable of satisfying both the communication performance and the communication speed in data communication.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a wireless communication device 14 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication system to which the wireless communication device and method of the present invention are applied.

FIG. 3 shows T used in Embodiment 1 of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a DMA frame.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example in which voice communication is preferentially performed during data communication between wireless communication devices according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing transmission / reception timing of a second slot S2 (42) in each wireless communication device 14 or the like shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a time chart when voice communication is performed in the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a time chart showing the relationship between data communication and voice communication between conventional wireless communication terminals.

[Description of Signs] 1 antenna, 2 radio section, 3 frame processing section,
4 control unit, 5 AD / DA conversion unit, 6 speaker, 7 microphone, 8 key operation unit, 9 display unit,
10 external terminal connection terminal, 19 radio line controller,
11, 12, 13 wireless base stations, 14, 15, 16
Wireless communication device, 17, 18 data transmission device, 3
0 TDMA frame, 31-34, 41-45, 4
7 to 49 slots, 50, 52, 55 data communication, 51, 61 voice signal detection operation, 53 significant signal, 54 voice communication, 62 voice identification information signal, 66 voice request signal, 67 voice release signal.

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A wireless communication device that performs communication by switching between external data communication and voice communication in an assigned slot of an assigned communication channel, wherein the wireless communication device performs a predetermined data communication period. A data communication unit for performing data communication with the outside in the allocated slot; and after the predetermined data communication period has elapsed and during the predetermined data communication interruption period, interrupting data communication by the data communication unit. A voice communication detection unit that detects the presence or absence of the start of external voice communication in the allocated slot; and, when voice communication from the outside is detected by the voice communication detection unit, external voice communication is performed in the allocated slot. A voice communication unit that performs voice communication with the outside in preference to the data communication by the data communication unit until the end of the voice communication is detected; After the voice communication is finished by the audio communication unit, a wireless communication apparatus comprising the data communication resumption unit that resumes the data communication with an external by said data communication unit. 2. The wireless communication system according to claim 1, wherein the voice communication detection section detects the presence or absence of the start of voice communication by detecting the presence or absence of a significant signal from the outside in the assigned slot. Communication device. 3. The voice communication unit according to claim 1, wherein the voice communication unit determines whether external voice communication is terminated based on the presence or absence of a carrier in the allocated channel in the allocated slot. The wireless communication device according to claim 1. 4. The voice communication unit according to claim 1, wherein the voice communication unit determines whether external voice communication is terminated based on the presence or absence of a significant signal in the assigned slot. Wireless communication device. 5. The voice communication detecting section, after the predetermined data communication period has elapsed and during the predetermined data communication suspension period,
The data communication by the data communication unit is interrupted, and the presence or absence of the start of external voice communication on the control channel is detected.The voice communication unit is configured to detect a case where external voice communication is detected by the voice communication detection unit. 2. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein voice communication with the outside is performed in place of the data communication by the data communication unit until the end of the voice communication from the outside is detected in the control channel. 6. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the voice communication detection unit detects the presence or absence of the start of external voice communication based on the identification information on the control channel. 7. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the voice communication unit determines whether external voice communication has ended based on the identification information on the control channel. 8. The data communication restart unit further includes a restart unit that restarts data communication by the data communication unit when the external voice communication is not detected by the voice communication detection unit. Claims 1 to 7
The wireless communication device according to any one of the above. 9. A wireless communication method for performing communication by switching between external data communication and voice communication in an assigned slot of an assigned communication channel, wherein the wireless communication method is performed during a predetermined data communication period. A data communication step of performing data communication with the outside in the allocated slot; and after a predetermined data communication period has elapsed and during a predetermined data communication interruption period, the data transmitting side performs data communication by the data communication step. Interrupting, detecting the presence or absence of the start of external voice communication in the allocated slot, the voice transmitting side detects the presence or absence of data communication in the allocated slot, and if there is no data communication, A voice communication detecting step of transmitting a signal indicating start, and an external voice communication is detected by the voice communication detecting step. In the case, until the end of the external voice communication is detected in the assigned slot, a voice communication step of performing voice communication in preference to external data communication, and the voice communication in the voice communication step is completed. And a data communication restarting step of restarting data communication with the outside. 10. The voice communication detecting step, after a predetermined data communication period has elapsed and during a predetermined data communication interruption period, the data transmitting side interrupts the data communication in the data communication step, and Detecting the presence or absence of external voice communication, the voice transmitting side sends a signal requesting the start of voice communication to the control channel, and indicates the presence of voice communication to the control device that controls the wireless communication receiving the signal. Sending the identification information to a control channel, the voice communication step includes: when the external voice communication is detected by the voice communication detecting step, the external communication is performed until the end of the external voice communication is detected on the control channel. The wireless communication method according to claim 9, wherein voice communication is performed instead of data communication with the wireless communication. 11. The voice communication step further includes a step of restarting data communication with the outside when the voice communication from the outside is not detected in the voice communication detection step. 9 or 10
A wireless communication device according to claim 1.