JP2006101563A - Internet connection system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an internet connection system for allocating the remaining communication band to other rooms and simultaneously setting the communication charge for each room, on the basis of a used communication band, when sharing the Internet access in multiple dwelling houses and buildings. <P>SOLUTION: This internet connection system, in which the terminals share the Internet access from each section of a plurality of predetermined sections, identifies a section to which a communicating terminal belongs and calculates the communication charge on the basis of the actual communication result of each section. In addition, the internet connection system identifies the utilization communication band of each section and dynamically allocates the communication band from a section, having a remaining communication band to a section running short of communication bands. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an Internet connection system, for example, which eliminates user dissatisfaction that a usage fee is constant when sharing an Internet connection in an apartment house, a building, etc., even though communication bands are different, and uses a line between users The present invention relates to an Internet connection system that improves the profits of Internet access line operators, apartment houses, and building managers by improving the efficiency of the network.

  In this type of conventional Internet connection system, terminals in each room of a plurality of rooms share one Internet access line by one gateway. In the past, when sharing an Internet access line in this way, the maximum communication bandwidth of each room was fixed and a uniform service was provided at a fixed charge.

  In such an Internet connection system, when Internet access is shared in an apartment house or a building, the frequency of use of the Internet and the most frequently used time zone vary depending on the usage of each room (residence, office, store, etc.) and personnel composition. Nevertheless, according to the conventional method, only a fixed communication band is allocated to each room, and the usage fee is constant for each room. For this reason, even when the communication band is not used much or when the communication band is used up, the usage fee is constant and there is a lot of unfairness. Also, even if the communication bandwidth is temporarily insufficient due to the time of day or the degree of congestion, the communication bandwidth may be surplus if it is not congested at other times of the day. There was dissatisfaction or inefficiency that it was not available.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an Internet connection system that improves the efficiency and efficiency by allocating excess communication bandwidth to other rooms when sharing Internet access in apartment buildings and buildings, and enabling fair bandwidth allocation. There is.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide an Internet connection system that can set the communication charge of each room fairly according to the communication band used, and that allows the communication band of the remaining room to be accommodated in another room. .

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the Internet connection system according to the present invention employs the following characteristic configuration.

(1) In an Internet connection system in which a terminal accesses and connects to the Internet from each of a plurality of predetermined areas,
An internet connection system that identifies the area to which a communicating terminal belongs and the communication band used for each area, and dynamically allocates the communication band from the area where the communication band is surplus to the area where the communication band is insufficient.
(2) Each of the plurality of predetermined areas has at least one terminal belonging to each of the areas and a gateway connected to the terminal, and is connected via an access line connected to the gateway of each area. Connect the terminal to the Internet,
An Internet connection system that compares the communication amount of access lines connected via the gateway for each area and connects the terminal to the Internet via a gateway to which an access line having a smaller communication amount is connected.
(3) Each area of the plurality of predetermined areas has at least one terminal belonging to each of the areas and a gateway connected to the terminal, via an access line connected to the gateway of each area. Connect the terminal to the Internet,
Comparing the traffic of access lines connected via the gateway for each area, connecting the terminal to the Internet via a gateway connected to an access line with a smaller traffic,
An Internet connection system for identifying an area to which a communicating terminal belongs, recording a used communication band for each area, and calculating a communication fee according to the recorded used communication band for each area.
(4) Each of the predetermined plurality of areas has at least one wireless terminal and a wireless LAN base station connected to the wireless terminal by wireless LAN,
Each of the wireless terminals is connected to a wireless LAN base station in another area other than the area to which the wireless terminal belongs, and is connected to the wireless LAN.
The wireless LAN base stations belonging to the plurality of areas are connected to a common gateway, connected to the Internet via an access line connected to the gateway,
A wireless LAN base station and a gateway in which a communication speed between a wireless terminal in communication and a wireless LAN base station belonging to another area connected to the wireless terminal in communication by wireless LAN is measured, and a higher communication speed is measured And an Internet connection system for connecting the wireless terminal to the Internet via an access line.
(5) Each of the plurality of predetermined areas has at least one wireless terminal and a wireless LAN base station connected to the wireless terminal by wireless LAN,
Each of the wireless terminals is connected to a wireless LAN base station in another area other than the area to which the wireless terminal belongs, and is connected to the wireless LAN.
The wireless LAN base stations belonging to the plurality of areas are connected to a common gateway, connected to the Internet via an access line connected to the gateway,
A wireless LAN base station and a gateway in which a communication speed is measured between a wireless terminal in communication and a wireless LAN base station belonging to another area connected to the wireless terminal in communication by wireless LAN, and a higher communication speed is measured. And connecting the wireless terminal to the Internet via an access line,
An Internet connection system for identifying an area to which a communicating terminal belongs, recording a used communication band for each area, and calculating a communication fee according to the recorded used communication band for each area.
(6) Each of the plurality of predetermined areas has at least one wireless terminal and a wireless LAN base station connected to the wireless terminal by wireless LAN,
Each of the wireless terminals is connected to a wireless LAN base station in another area other than the area to which the wireless terminal belongs, and is connected to the wireless LAN.
The wireless LAN base stations belonging to the plurality of areas are each connected to a gateway, connected to the Internet via an access line connected to the gateway,
A wireless LAN base station and a gateway in which a communication speed is measured between a wireless terminal in communication and a wireless LAN base station belonging to another area connected to the wireless terminal in communication by wireless LAN, and a higher communication speed is measured. And an Internet connection system for connecting the wireless terminal to the Internet via an access line.
(7) Each of the plurality of predetermined areas has at least one wireless terminal and a wireless LAN base station connected to the wireless terminal by wireless LAN,
Each of the wireless terminals is connected to a wireless LAN base station in another area other than the area to which the wireless terminal belongs, and is connected to the wireless LAN.
The wireless LAN base stations belonging to the plurality of areas are each connected to a gateway, connected to the Internet via an access line connected to the gateway,
A wireless LAN base station and a gateway in which a communication speed between a wireless terminal in communication and a wireless LAN base station belonging to another area connected to the wireless terminal in communication by wireless LAN is measured, and a higher communication speed is measured And connecting the wireless terminal to the Internet via an access line,
An Internet connection system for identifying an area to which a communicating terminal belongs, recording a used communication band for each area, and calculating a communication fee according to the recorded used communication band for each area.
(8) A maximum communication speed is preset for each area, and when the total communication band in the area to which the terminal belongs exceeds the maximum communication speed, the communication operation is put in a waiting state and becomes equal to or lower than the maximum communication speed. The Internet connection system according to any one of (1) to (7), wherein the communication operation is resumed when the communication is resumed.
(9) A user in one area uses a communication band of a user in another area, and the user in the one area pays the usage fee to a user in the other area. The internet connection system according to any one of 8).

  As described above, in the present invention, even if the frequency of use or the most frequently used time zone varies depending on the usage of each room (residence, office, store, etc.) and the personnel configuration, Since the communication bandwidth is dynamically allocated to the deficient room and the fee is allocated according to the total communication bandwidth, fair bandwidth can be allocated. Accordingly, the communication fee is reduced in a room that does not use much bandwidth, and the insufficient bandwidth can be compensated for in a room where the bandwidth is insufficient even if the communication fee is somewhat increased.

  Preferred embodiments of an Internet connection system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  In the present invention, for example, when Internet access is shared in, for example, an apartment house or a building, the surplus communication band is allocated to other rooms, and at the same time, the communication charge of each room is changed according to the used communication band. It is what I did.

  FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing a first embodiment of an Internet connection system according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, the terminal 1 </ b> A in the room A and the terminal 1 </ b> B in the room B share one Internet access line for the WEB server group 3 by one gateway 2.

  Conventionally, when sharing an Internet access line in this way, the maximum communication bandwidth of each room is fixed and a uniform service is provided at a fixed charge. However, in the present invention, the room of the user of the terminal being communicated is provided. The communication bandwidth (transmission / reception data amount) is recorded for each room, and the communication fee is calculated for each room according to the used communication bandwidth based on these information.

  In the present invention, even if the frequency of use or the maximum usage time range varies depending on the usage of each room (residence, office, store, etc.) and personnel composition, communication from a room with an excess communication band to a room with a shortage By allocating bandwidth dynamically and allocating charges according to the total communication bandwidth used, fair bandwidth allocation is possible. Accordingly, the communication fee is reduced in a room that does not use much bandwidth, and the insufficient bandwidth can be compensated for in a room where the bandwidth is insufficient even if the communication fee is slightly increased.

  The first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 assumes a case in which a single internet access line is shared and used by a common gateway 2 in a building composed of room A and room B as an example. The room A includes a terminal 1A for accessing the Internet, and the room B includes a terminal 1B for accessing the Internet. In this embodiment, in order to simplify the description, the number of terminals in each room is set to 1. However, there may be a plurality of these. In the present specification, the “room” includes not only a room in the meaning normally used but also an “area” divided according to a predetermined definition.

  The terminal 1A is configured as shown in FIG. 2 and includes an application unit 111, a communication control unit 112, and a wireless LAN I / F unit 113. Each of these processing units generally operates as follows.

  The application unit 111 instructs screen display to the user, input detection from the user, and communication start / stop to the communication control unit 112. The communication control unit 112 transmits data received from the LAN I / F unit 113 to the application unit 111 and transmits data requested to be transmitted from the application unit to the LAN I / F unit 113. The LAN I / F unit 113 transmits and receives data on the LAN line.

  The gateway 2 is configured as shown in FIG. 3 and includes a LAN I / F unit A 211, a LAN I / F unit B 212, a WAN I / F unit 213, a communication control unit 214, an authentication request / gate management unit 215. Including. Each of these processing units generally operates as follows.

  The LAN I / F unit A211 transmits / receives data on the LAN line of the room A, and the LAN I / F unit B212 transmits / receives data on the LAN line of the room B. The WAN I / F unit 213 performs data transmission / reception with various servers (WEB server group) 3 on the Internet through the Internet line.

  The communication control unit 214 performs communication control between the LAN I / F unit A 211 and the WAN I / F unit 213 and between the LAN I / F unit B 212 and the WAN I / F unit 213. The authentication request / gate management unit 215 enables only a terminal having a registered MAC address to perform Internet communication, and is referred to via the communication control unit 214. Further, as will be described later, the total communication amount and billing management of the terminals that have accessed the Internet are performed.

  The authentication request / gate management unit 215 stores table information as an internal table as shown in FIG. The MAC address of the terminal registered in the table 71, the room number of the user of the terminal in the table 72, the total traffic used by the terminal in the month in 73, and the total traffic in the month in all rooms in the table 74 The ratio of the total communication amount of the terminal and the charge obtained by allocating the monthly usage charge for the Internet access line at the ratio of the table 74 are stored in the table 75, respectively.

  Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be specifically described. First, the terminals 1A and 1B used in the rooms A and B register the MAC addresses in the table 71 of the authentication request / gate management unit 215 in the gateway 2 and the room numbers in the table 72 in advance. The total communication amount table 73, the ratio table 74, and the charge table 75 are cleared at the end of the month.

  Assume that the terminal 1A in the room A has started communication with a server on the Internet. The application unit 111 of the terminal 1A instructs the communication control unit 112 to start communication with a server on the Internet via the gateway 2. The communication control unit 112 controls the LAN I / F unit 113 to start data transmission / reception with a server on the Internet via a gateway.

  When the gateway 2 receives data from the terminal 1A, the LAN I / F unit A211 first receives the data and transmits it to the communication control unit 214. The communication control unit 214 searches for an entry in the table 71 of the authentication request / gate management unit 215 using the MAC address of the transmission source terminal included in the received data. Since the terminal 1A is registered as a using terminal, a matching entry is found. The size (reception data amount) of the data is added to the table 73 of the found entry, and the recalculated ratio and fee are stored in the tables 74 and 75, respectively, and then the data is transmitted through the WAN I / F unit 213. Sent to a server on the Internet via an access line. If there is no matching entry, the data is discarded.

  When the gateway 2 receives data addressed to the terminal 1A from a server on the Internet, the WAN I / F unit 213 first receives the data and transmits it to the communication control unit 214. The communication control unit 214 obtains the MAC address of the transmission destination terminal from the IP address of the transmission destination terminal included in the received data, and searches the entry in the table 71 of the authentication request / gate management unit 215 using the MAC address. Since the terminal 1A is registered as a using terminal, a matching entry is found.

  The size of data is added to the table 73 of the found entry, and the recalculated ratio and fee are stored in the tables 74 and 75, respectively, and then the data is transmitted to the terminal 1A through the LAN I / F unit 211. If there is no matching entry, the data is discarded.

  Transmission / reception with the terminal 1B is the same as that with the terminal 1A except that the matching entries in the MAC address search are different.

  On the settlement date such as the end of the month, the table 72 of the authentication request / gate management unit is searched with the room number, and the monthly fee for each room is determined by adding the table 75 of all the matching entries. Will be charged.

  In the above-described embodiment, it is possible to eliminate the user's dissatisfaction that the usage fee when sharing the Internet connection in an apartment house, a building, etc. is constant, even though the communication band is different. It can improve the profits of the owners of houses and buildings.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the embodiment described above, one Internet access line is contracted and shared between the building and the apartment house. However, in the second embodiment, the Internet access line is already directly connected to each room, such as an ADSL line using an existing telephone line. Cannot handle when is drawn. Therefore, Internet access lines in each room may be connected and shared.

  The second embodiment is configured as shown in FIG. 5, and the room A includes a terminal 1A for accessing the Internet and a gateway 2A to the access line A. The room B includes a terminal 1B for accessing the Internet and a gateway 2B to the access line B. The billing server 4 is included in the common part of the building and apartment house. In the second embodiment, in order to simplify the description, the number of terminals in each room is one, but there may be a plurality of each.

  The gateway 2A is configured as shown in FIG. 6, and includes a LAN I / F unit 221, a LAN I / F unit 222, a WAN I / F unit 223, a communication control unit 224, an authentication request / gate management unit 225, and bandwidth adjustment between gateways. Part 226. Each of these processing units generally operates as follows.

  The LAN I / F unit A221 transmits / receives data on the LAN line in the room A, and the LAN I / F unit B222 transmits / receives data to / from the gateway 2B in the room B. The WAN I / F unit 223 performs data transmission / reception with various servers on the Internet through an Internet (access) line.

  The communication control unit 224 performs communication control between the LAN I / F unit A 221 and the WAN I / F unit 223 and between the LAN I / F unit B 222 and the WAN I / F unit 223.

  The authentication request / gate management unit 225 refers to the accounting server 4 through the LAN I / F unit B 222 when referred to via the communication control unit 224 so that only a terminal having the registered MAC address can perform Internet communication. Refer to and reply.

  The inter-gateway bandwidth adjusting unit 226 is referred to by the communication control unit 224 and the gateway 2B, and grasps the current communication amount of the access line A and the current communication amount of the access line B via the LAN I / F unit B222. The data transmission request from the server 1A to the server on the Internet is distributed to the gateway 2A or the gateway 2B connected to the access line with a smaller communication amount. Here, the inter-gateway bandwidth adjusting unit 226 may be installed in one gateway or both.

  The accounting server 4 is configured as shown in FIG. 7, and the LAN I / F unit 411 performs data transmission / reception with the gateway 2A and the gateway 2B. The communication control unit 412 performs communication control between the LAN I / F unit 411 and the authentication request / gate management unit 413.

  The authentication request / gate management unit 413 stores the information shown in FIG. 4 as an internal table. The MAC address of the terminal registered in the table 71, the room number of the user of the terminal in the table 72, the total traffic used by the terminal in the month in the table 73, and the total traffic in the month in all rooms in the table 74 The table shows the ratio of the total communication traffic of the terminal to the table 75 and the table 75 stores the charges obtained by distributing the total monthly usage charges of the Internet access lines A and B at the ratio of the table 74.

  Next, the operation of the second embodiment will be specifically described. First, the terminal 1A and the terminal 1B used in the room A and the room B register the MAC address in the table 71 of the authentication request / gate management unit 413 and the room number in the table 72 in advance. The total communication amount table 73, the ratio table 74, and the charge table 75 are cleared at the end of the month as described above.

  Assume that the terminal 1A in the room A has started communication with a server on the Internet. The application unit 111 of the terminal 1A instructs the communication control unit 112 to start communication with a server on the Internet via the gateway 2A. The communication control unit 112 controls the LAN I / F unit 113 and starts data transmission / reception with a server on the Internet via the gateway 2A.

  When the gateway 2A receives data from the terminal 1A, the LAN I / F unit A221 first receives the data and transmits it to the communication control unit 224. The communication control unit 224 transmits an authentication request to the authentication request / gate management unit 225 using the MAC address of the transmission source terminal included in the data. The authentication request / gate management unit 225 transfers the authentication request together with the data size to the accounting server 4 through the LAN I / F unit B222.

  The accounting server 4 receives an authentication request from the gateway 2A via the LAN I / F unit 411 and transmits it to the authentication request / gate management unit 413 via the communication control unit 412.

  The authentication request / gate management unit 413 searches for an entry in the table 71. Since the terminal 1A is registered as a using terminal, a matching entry is found. The size of the data is added to the table 73 of the found entry, and the recalculated ratio and fee are stored in the tables 74 and 75, respectively, and then the authentication permission notification is sent to the LAN I / F unit 411 through the communication control unit 412. To the gateway 2A.

  The authentication request / gate management unit 225 of the gateway 2 </ b> A receives the authentication permission notification via the LAN I / F unit 222 and the communication control unit 224. After reception, a gate selection request is sent to the inter-gateway bandwidth adjustment unit 226. The inter-gateway bandwidth adjustment unit 226 periodically communicates with the communication control unit 224 and the communication control unit 224 of the gateway 2B, and the current communication amount between the communication control unit 224 of the gateway 2A and the WAN I / F unit 223, the gateway 2B. Current communication amount between the communication control unit 224 and the WAN I / F unit 223 is collected.

  The inter-gateway bandwidth adjustment unit 226 that has received the gate selection request selects a gateway with a low communication amount based on the collected communication amount, and replies to the authentication request / gate management unit 225. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the communication amount of the gateway 2A is lower, and it is assumed that the authentication request / gate management unit 225 has answered to select the gateway 2A.

In accordance with this answer, the authentication request / gate management unit 225 sends the received data from the terminal 1A to the communication control unit 224 of the gateway 2A and the WAN.
The data is transmitted to a server on the Internet via the I / F unit 223 and the access line A.

When the gateway 2A receives data addressed to the terminal 1A from the server on the Internet via the access line A, the WAN
The I / F unit 223 first receives data and transmits it to the communication control unit 224. The communication control unit 224 obtains the MAC address of the transmission destination terminal from the IP address of the transmission destination terminal included in the data, and transmits an authentication request to the authentication request / gate management unit 225 using the MAC address.

  The authentication request / gate management unit 225 transfers the authentication request to the accounting server 4 through the LAN I / F unit 222. The accounting server 4 receives the authentication request from the gateway 2A by the LAN I / F unit 411 and transmits it to the authentication request / gate management unit 413 via the communication control unit 412.

  The authentication request / gate management unit 413 searches for an entry in the table 71. Since the terminal 1A is registered as a use terminal, a matching entry is found. The size of the data is added to the table 73 of the corresponding entry found, and the recalculated ratio and fee are stored in the tables 74 and 75, respectively, and then the authentication permission notification is sent to the LAN I / F unit through the communication control unit 412. 411 to the gateway 2A.

  When the authentication request / gate management unit 225 receives the authentication permission notification via the LAN I / F unit 222 and the communication control unit 224, the authentication request / gate management unit 225 transmits the received data addressed to the terminal 1A to the terminal via the communication control unit 224 and the LAN I / F unit 221. Send to 1A.

  Transmission / reception with the terminal 1B is performed except that the gateway that first receives transmission data from the terminal 1B to the server on the Internet is the gateway 2B and the entry that matches the MAC address search at the time of the authentication request is different. The same as in the case of 1A.

  On the settlement date such as the end of the month, the table 72 of the billing server authentication request / gate management unit is searched with the room number, and the monthly fee for each room is determined by adding the table 75 of all the matching entries. You will be charged for each room.

  Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 described above, in each adjacent room, even if the total use band of the adjacent room can be covered by the band for one access line, there is no choice but to contract the access line for each room individually. It was inefficient. Thus, in the present embodiment, the number of contracted lines is reduced by using the wireless LAN base station in one room that has drawn in the access line by the wireless terminal in the adjacent room. Here, the user's room of the communicating terminal is identified, the used communication band for each room is recorded, and the communication fee is calculated for each room according to the used communication band.

  Referring to FIG. 8, room A includes a wireless terminal 11A for accessing the Internet and a wireless LAN base station 12A for communicating with the wireless terminal 11A. Room B includes a wireless terminal 11B for Internet access. In the third embodiment, in order to simplify the description, the number of terminals in each room is 1. However, there may be a plurality of each.

  The wireless terminals 11A and 11B are configured as shown in FIG. 9 and include an application unit 131, a base station detection unit 132, a communication control unit 133, a wireless LAN I / F unit 134, and a communication speed detection unit 135. Each of these processing units generally operates as follows.

  The application unit 131 displays the screen to the user, detects input from the user, compares the average speeds of a plurality of base stations detected by the base station detection unit 132, determines the optimum connection destination base station, and sends it to the communication control unit 133. Instructs to start and stop communication.

  The base station detection unit 132 detects a communicable wireless LAN base station by identifying the beacon signal of the wireless LAN base station from the signal received from the wireless LAN I / F unit 134 and notifies the application unit 131 of it.

  The communication control unit 133 transmits data received from the wireless LAN I / F unit 134 to the application unit 131 and transmits data requested to be transmitted from the application unit to the wireless LAN I / F unit 134.

  The wireless LAN I / F unit 134 transmits and receives data to and from the base station. The wireless LAN base station A is configured as shown in FIG. 10, and includes a wired LAN I / F unit 121, a communication control unit 122, and a wireless LAN I / F unit 123. Each of these processing units generally operates as follows.

  The wired LAN I / F unit 121 performs data transmission / reception with the wired LAN. The communication control unit 122 controls transmission of data received from the wireless LAN I / F 123 to the wired LAN I / F 121 and transmission of data received from the wired LAN I / F unit 121 to the wireless LAN I / F unit 123. . The wireless LAN I / F unit 123 performs data transmission / reception with a wireless terminal.

  The gateway 21 is configured as shown in FIG. 3 and includes a LAN I / F unit 211, a LAN I / F unit 212, a WAN I / F unit 213, a communication control unit 214, and an authentication request / gate management unit 215. The LAN I / F unit 212 is not used in this embodiment. Each of these processing units generally operates as follows.

  The LAN I / F unit 211 performs data transmission / reception on the LAN line of the room A, and the WAN I / F unit 213 performs data transmission / reception with various servers on the Internet through the Internet line. The communication control unit 214 performs communication control between the LAN I / F unit 211 and the WAN I / F unit 213.

  The authentication request / gate management unit 215 is referred to by the communication control unit 214 so that only a terminal having a registered MAC address can perform Internet communication. It also manages the total traffic and billing of terminals that have accessed the Internet. The authentication request / gate management unit 215 stores the information shown in FIG. 4 as an internal table. The MAC address of the terminal registered in the table 71, the room number of the user of the terminal in the table 72, the total traffic used by the terminal in the month in the table 73, and the total traffic in the month in all rooms in the table 74 The ratio of the total communication amount of the terminal with respect to the table 75 is stored in the table 75, and a charge obtained by allocating the monthly usage charge of the Internet access line at the ratio of the table 74 is stored.

  Next, the operation of the third embodiment will be specifically described. First, the wireless terminal 11A and the wireless terminal 11B used in the room A and the room B register the MAC address in the table 71 of the gateway authentication request / gate management unit and the room number in the table 72 in advance. The total communication amount table 73, the ratio table 74, and the charge table 75 are cleared at the end of the month.

  It is assumed that the wireless terminal 11B in the room B starts communication with a server on the Internet. First, the wireless LAN I / F unit 135 of the wireless terminal 11B tries to receive a beacon (communication signal) of a surrounding wireless LAN base station. As shown in FIG. 8, the wireless terminal 11B is included in the beacon reach range of the wireless LAN base station 12A. When the wireless LAN I / F unit 135 of the wireless LAN terminal receives a beacon emitted from the wireless LAN base station, the base station detection unit 132 detects it and notifies the application unit 131 of it. The application unit 131 transmits data to the wireless LAN base station 12A through the communication control unit 134 and the wireless LAN I / F unit 135.

  The wireless LAN base station 12A transfers the communication data to the gateway 21 through the wireless LAN I / F unit 123, the communication new control unit 122, and the wired LAN I / F unit 121.

  When the gateway 21 receives data from the terminal 11B, the LAN I / F unit 211 shown in FIG. 3 first receives the data and transmits it to the communication control unit 214. The communication control unit 214 searches for an entry in the authentication request / gate management unit table 71 using the MAC address of the transmission source terminal included in the data. Since the wireless terminal 11B is registered as a using terminal, a matching entry is found. The size of the data is added to the table 73 of the corresponding entry found, and the recalculated ratio and fee are stored in the tables 74 and 75, respectively, and then the data is transmitted to the Internet via the access line through the WAN I / F unit 213. Send to the above server. If there is no matching entry, the data is discarded.

  When the gateway 21 receives data addressed to the wireless terminal 11 B from a server on the Internet, the WAN I / F unit 213 first receives the data and transmits it to the communication control unit 214. The communication control unit 214 obtains the MAC address of the transmission destination terminal from the IP address of the transmission destination terminal included in the data, and searches the entry in the table 71 of the authentication request / gate management unit 215 using the MAC address. Since the wireless terminal 11B is registered as a using terminal, a matching entry is found.

  The size of the data is added to the table 73 of the corresponding entry found, and the recalculated ratio and fee are stored in the tables 74 and 75, respectively, and then the data is transmitted via the wireless LAN base station through the LAN I / F unit 211. Transmit to the wireless terminal 11B. If there is no matching entry, the data is discarded.

  Transmission / reception with the wireless terminal 11A is the same as that with the wireless terminal 11B, except that the matching entries in the MAC address search are different.

  On the settlement date such as the end of the month, the table 72 of the authentication request / gate management unit is searched with the room number, and the monthly fee for each room is determined by adding the table 75 of all the matching entries. Will be charged.

  Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 described above, depending on the room, the maximum transmission speed between the gateway and the terminal may be slower than the speed of the access line due to the presence of an obstacle or the like.接 続 When a wireless terminal connection form is adopted, if the maximum transmission rate between the wireless LAN base station and the wireless terminal is slower than the maximum transmission rate between the access line and the gateway ⇔ wireless LAN base station, In some cases, the communication bandwidth of the access line could not be used up to the maximum.

  Therefore, in the fourth embodiment, a wireless LAN base station and a wireless terminal are installed in each room, and the wireless terminal has a congestion degree (communication speed) of the indoor base station and a congestion degree (communication speed) of the base station in the adjacent room. The wireless terminal accesses the gateway via the base station in the adjacent room. Here, in the gateway part to the access line, the user's room of the terminal that is communicating is identified, the used communication band is recorded for each room, and the communication fee is charged according to the used communication band for each room. calculate.

  Referring to FIG. 11, room A includes a wireless terminal 11A for accessing the Internet and a wireless LAN base station 12A communicating with the wireless terminal 11A. The room B includes a wireless terminal 11B for accessing the Internet and a wireless LAN base station 12B communicating with the wireless terminal 11B. In this embodiment, in order to simplify the description, the number of terminals in each room is one, but there may be a plurality of these.

  The wireless terminals 11A and 11B are configured as shown in FIG. 12, and include an application unit 131, a base station detection unit 132, a communication speed detection unit 135, a communication control unit 133, a wireless LAN I / F unit 134, and a communication speed detection unit 135. Including. Each of these processing units generally operates as follows. The communication speed detection unit 135 is not necessarily provided in the wireless terminal.

  The application unit 131 displays the screen to the user, detects input from the user, compares the average speeds of a plurality of base stations detected by the base station detection unit 132, determines the optimum connection destination base station, and sends it to the communication control unit 133. Instructs to start and stop communication.

  The base station detection unit 132 detects a communicable wireless LAN base station by identifying the beacon signal of the wireless LAN base station from the signal received from the wireless LAN I / F unit 134 and notifies the application unit 131 of it.

  The communication speed detection unit 135 monitors the communication control unit 133 to calculate the current communication speed and the communication speed. The communication control unit 133 transmits data received from the wireless LAN I / F unit 134 to the application unit 131 and transmits data requested to be transmitted from the application unit to the wireless LAN I / F unit 134.

  The wireless LAN I / F unit 134 transmits and receives data to and from the base station. The wireless LAN base stations 12A and 12B are configured as shown in FIG. 10 described above, and include a wired LAN I / F unit 121, a communication control unit 122, and a wireless LAN I / F unit 123. Each of these processing units generally operates as follows.

  The wired LAN I / F unit 121 performs data transmission / reception with the wired LAN. The communication control unit 122 controls transmission of data received from the wireless LAN I / F 123 to the wired LAN I / F 121 and transmission of data received from the wired LAN I / F unit 121 to the wireless LAN I / F unit 123. . The wireless LAN I / F unit 123 performs data transmission / reception with a wireless terminal.

  The gateway 21 is configured as shown in FIG. 3 described above and includes a LAN I / F unit 211, a LAN I / F unit 212, a WAN I / F unit 213, a communication control unit 214, and an authentication request / gate management unit 215. Each of these processing units generally operates as follows.

  The LAN I / F unit 211 performs data transmission / reception on the LAN line of the room A. The LAN I / F unit 212 performs data transmission / reception on the LAN line in the room B. The WAN I / F unit 213 performs data transmission / reception with various servers on the Internet through the Internet line.

  The communication control unit 214 includes a LAN I / F unit 211 and a WAN I / F unit 213, a LAN I / F unit 211 and a LAN I / F unit 212, and a LAN I / F unit 212 and a WAN I / F. Communication control between the F unit 213 is performed.

  The authentication request / gate management unit 215 is referred to by the communication control unit 214 so that only a terminal having a registered MAC address can perform Internet communication. It also manages the total traffic and billing of terminals that have accessed the Internet. The authentication request / gate management unit 215 stores the information shown in FIG. 7 as an internal table.

  The MAC address of the terminal registered in the table 71, the room number of the user of the terminal in the table 72, the total traffic used by the terminal in the month in the table 73, and the total traffic in the month in all rooms in the table 74 The table shows the ratio of the total communication traffic of the terminal to the table 75, and the table 75 stores the charges obtained by allocating the monthly usage charges for the Internet access line at a ratio of 74.

  Next, the operation of the fourth embodiment will be specifically described. First, the wireless terminals 11A and 11B used in the room A and the room B register the MAC address in the table 71 of the authentication request / gate management unit 215 of the gateway 21 and the room number in the table 72 in advance. The total communication amount table 73, the ratio table 74, and the charge table 75 are cleared at the end of the month.

  First, when the wireless terminal 11B is activated, the wireless LAN I / F unit 134 of the wireless terminal 11B tries to receive a beacon (communication signal) of a surrounding wireless LAN base station. As shown in FIG. 11, the wireless terminal 11B is included in the beacon reach of the wireless LAN base station 12A and the wireless LAN base station 12B. Here, it is assumed that the wireless LAN I / F unit 134 first receives a beacon issued by the wireless LAN base station 12A.

  The base station detection unit 132 detects this and notifies the application unit 131 of it. The application unit 131 transmits / receives dummy data for communication speed measurement to / from the base station 12A through the communication control unit 133 and the wireless LAN I / F unit 134, and the communication speed detection unit 135 calculates the average speed to the application unit 131. Notice.

  Next, the wireless LAN I / F unit 134 tries to receive the beacon (communication signal) of another wireless LAN base station, receives the beacon of the wireless LAN base station 12B, and the base station detection unit 132 detects it and detects the application. Notification to the unit 131. The application unit 131 transmits / receives dummy data for communication speed measurement to / from the base station 12B through the communication control unit 133 and the wireless LAN I / F unit 134, and the communication speed detection unit 135 calculates the average speed to the application unit 131. Notice. Since beacons do not arrive from other than the base stations 12A and 12B, the average communication speeds measured by the base stations 12A and 12B are compared.

  As a result of the comparison, it is assumed that the average communication speed with the wireless LAN base station 12A is faster than the average communication speed with the wireless LAN base station 12B, and the application unit transmits the wireless LAN base through the communication control unit 133 and the wireless LAN I / F unit 134. Communication with the station 12A is started.

  The wireless LAN base station 12A transfers the communication data to the gateway through the wireless LAN I / F unit 123, the communication control unit 122, and the wired LAN I / F unit 121.

  When the gateway 21 receives data from the wireless terminal 11B, the LAN I / F unit 211 first receives the data and transmits it to the communication control unit 214. The communication control unit 214 searches for an entry in the authentication request / gate management unit table 71 using the MAC address of the transmission source terminal included in the data. Since the wireless terminal 11B is registered as a using terminal, a matching entry is found. The size of the data is added to the table 73 of the corresponding entry found, and the recalculated ratio and fee are stored in the tables 74 and 75, respectively, and then the data is transmitted to the Internet via the access line through the WAN I / F unit 213. Send to the above server. If there is no matching entry, the data is discarded.

  When the gateway 21 receives data addressed to the wireless terminal 11 B from a server on the Internet, the WAN I / F unit 213 first receives the data and transmits it to the communication control unit 214. The communication control unit 214 obtains the MAC address of the destination terminal from the IP address of the destination terminal included in the data, and searches the entry in the authentication request / gate management unit table 71 using the MAC address.

  Since the wireless terminal 11B is registered as a use terminal, a matching entry is found. The size of the data is added to the table 73 of the corresponding entry found, and the recalculated ratio and fee are stored in the tables 74 and 75, respectively, and then the data is transmitted via the wireless LAN base station 12A through the LAN I / F unit 211. To the wireless terminal 11B. If there is no matching entry, the data is discarded.

  Transmission / reception with the wireless terminal 11A is the same as that with the terminal 11B except that the matching entries are different in the MAC address search.

  On the settlement date such as the end of the month, the table 72 of the authentication request / gate management unit is searched with the room number, and the monthly fee for each room is determined by adding the table 75 of all the matching entries. Will be charged.

  Next, a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 described above, when two applications are used at the same time, the maximum transmission speed between the gateway A or B⇔ terminal is lower than the speed of the access line A + B depending on the room. When the gateway ⇔ wireless LAN base station ⇔ wireless terminal connection is adopted, the maximum transmission speed between the wireless LAN base station ⇔ wireless terminal is higher than the maximum transmission speed between the access line A + B and the gateway ⇔ wireless LAN base station. If it is slow, this may become a bottleneck and the communication bandwidth of the access line may not be used to the maximum.

  Therefore, in the fifth embodiment, a wireless LAN base station and a wireless terminal are installed in each room, and the wireless terminal compares the congestion degree of the base station in the room with the congestion degree of the base station in the adjacent room. A wireless terminal accesses a gateway via a base station in an adjacent room. In the gateway part to the access line, the user's room of the terminal that is communicating is identified, the used communication band is recorded for each room, and the communication fee is calculated for each room according to the used communication band.

  Referring to FIG. 13, room A includes a wireless terminal 11A for accessing the Internet, a wireless LAN base station 12A communicating with the wireless terminal, and a gateway 21A to access line A. The room B includes a terminal 11B for accessing the Internet, a wireless LAN base station 12B communicating with the wireless terminal, and a gateway 21B to the access line B. The billing server 41 is included in the common part of the building and apartment house. In this embodiment, in order to simplify the description, the number of terminals in each room is one, but there may be a plurality of each.

  The wireless terminals 11A and 11B are configured as shown in FIG. 12 and include an application unit 131, a base station detection unit 132, a communication control unit 133, a wireless LAN I / F unit 134, and a communication speed detection unit 135. Each of these processing units generally operates as follows.

  The application unit 131 displays the screen to the user, detects input from the user, compares the average speeds of a plurality of base stations detected by the base station detection unit 132, determines the optimum connection destination base station, and sends the information to the communication control unit 133. Instruct to start and stop communication.

  The base station detection unit 132 detects a communicable wireless LAN base station by identifying the beacon signal of the wireless LAN base station from the signal received from the wireless LAN I / F unit 134 and notifies the application unit 131 of it.

  The communication speed detection unit 135 monitors the communication control unit 133 to calculate the current communication speed and the communication speed. The communication control unit 133 transmits data received from the wireless LAN I / F unit 134 to the application unit 131 and transmits data requested to be transmitted from the application unit to the wireless LAN I / F unit 134.

  The wireless LAN I / F unit 134 transmits and receives data to and from the base station. The wireless LAN base stations 12A and 12B are configured as shown in FIG. 10 and include a wired LAN I / F unit 121, a communication control unit 122, and a wireless LAN I / F unit 123. Each of these processing units generally operates as follows.

  The wired LAN I / F unit 121 performs data transmission / reception with the wired LAN. The communication control unit 122 controls transmission of data received from the wireless LAN I / F 123 to the wired LAN I / F 121 and transmission of data received from the wired LAN I / F unit 121 to the wireless LAN I / F unit 123. . The wireless LAN I / F unit 123 performs data transmission / reception with a wireless terminal.

  The gateway 21A is configured as shown in FIG. 6, and includes a LAN I / F unit 221, a LAN I / F unit 222, a WAN I / F unit 223, a communication control unit 224, an authentication request / gate management unit 225, and inter-gateway bandwidth adjustment. Part 226. Each of these processing units generally operates as follows.

  The LAN I / F unit 221 transmits and receives data on the LAN line in the room A. The LAN I / F unit 222 performs data transmission / reception with the gateway 21B of the room B. The WAN I / F unit 223 performs data transmission / reception with various servers on the Internet through an Internet line.

  The communication control unit 224 performs communication control between the LAN I / F unit 221 and the WAN I / F unit 223 and between the LAN I / F unit 222 and the WAN I / F unit 223.

  When the authentication request / gate management unit 225 is referred from the communication control unit 224 so that only the terminal having the registered MAC address can perform Internet communication, the authentication request / gate management unit 225 refers to the accounting server through the LAN I / F unit 222 and returns a response.

  The inter-gateway bandwidth adjustment unit 226 is referred to by the communication control unit 224 and the gateway 21B, and grasps the current communication amount of the access line A and the current communication amount of the access line B via the LAN I / F unit 222. The data transmission request to the server on the Internet is distributed to the gateway 21A and the gateway 21B.

  The accounting server is configured as shown in FIG. 7, and the LAN I / F unit 411 performs data transmission / reception between the gateway 21A and the gateway 21B.

  The communication control unit 412 performs communication control between the LAN I / F unit 411 and the authentication request / gate management unit 413.

  The authentication request / gate management unit 413 stores the information shown in FIG. 4 as an internal table. The MAC address of the terminal registered in the table 71, the room number of the user of the terminal in the table 72, the total traffic used by the terminal in the month in the table 73, and the total traffic in the month in all rooms in the table 74 The ratio of the total communication amount of the terminal with respect to, and the table 75 stores a charge obtained by allocating the total monthly usage charge of the Internet access lines A and B at the ratio of the table 74.

  Next, the operation of the fifth embodiment will be specifically described. First, the wireless terminals 11A and 11B used in the room A and the room B register the MAC address in the table 71 of the authentication request / gate management unit of the accounting server and the room number in the table 72 in advance. The total communication amount table 73, the ratio table 74, and the charge table 75 are cleared at the end of the month.

  When the wireless terminal 11B is activated, the wireless LAN I / F unit 135 of the wireless terminal 11B tries to receive a beacon (communication signal) of a surrounding wireless LAN base station. As shown in FIG. 13, the wireless terminal 11B is included in the beacon reach range of the wireless LAN base station 12A and the wireless LAN base station 12B. Here, it is assumed that the wireless LAN I / F unit 135 first receives a beacon issued by the wireless LAN base station 12A.

  The base station detection unit 132 detects this and notifies the application unit 131 of it. The application unit 131 transmits / receives dummy data for communication speed measurement to / from the base station 12A through the communication control unit 133 and the wireless LAN I / F unit 134, and the communication speed detection unit 135 calculates the average speed to the application unit 131. Notice.

  Next, the wireless LAN I / F unit 134 tries to receive the beacon (communication signal) of another wireless LAN base station, receives the beacon of the wireless LAN base station 12B, and the base station detection unit 132 detects it and detects the application. Notification to the unit 131. The application unit 131 transmits / receives dummy data for communication speed measurement to / from the base station B through the communication control unit 133 and the wireless LAN I / F unit 134, and the communication speed detection unit 135 calculates the average speed to the application unit 131. Notice.

  Since beacons do not arrive from other than the base stations 12A and 12B, the average communication speeds measured by the base stations 12A and 12B are compared. As a result of the comparison, it is assumed that the average communication speed with the wireless LAN base station 12A is faster than the average communication speed with the wireless LAN base station 12B, and the application unit transmits the wireless LAN base through the communication control unit 133 and the wireless LAN I / F unit 134. Communication with the station 12A is started.

  The wireless LAN base station 12A transfers the communication data to the gateway 21A through the wireless LAN I / F unit 123, the communication new control unit 122, and the wired LAN I / F unit 121.

  When the gateway 21A receives data from the wireless terminal 11B, the LAN I / F unit 221 first receives the data and transmits it to the communication control unit 224. The communication control unit 224 transmits an authentication request to the authentication request / gate management unit 225 using the MAC address of the transmission source terminal included in the data. The authentication request / gate management unit 225 transfers the authentication request to the charging server together with the data size through the LAN I / F unit 222.

  The accounting server receives the authentication request from the gateway 21A by the LAN I / F unit 411 and transmits it to the authentication request / gate management unit 413 via the communication control unit 412. The authentication request / gate management unit 413 searches for an entry in the table 71. Since the wireless terminal 11B is registered as a using terminal, a matching entry is found. The size of the data is added to the table 73 of the found entry, and the recalculated ratio and fee are stored in the tables 74 and 75, respectively, and then the authentication permission notification is sent to the LAN I / F unit 411 through the communication control unit 412. To the gateway 21A.

  The authentication request / gate management unit 225 of the gateway 21A receives the authentication permission notification via the LAN I / F unit 222 and the communication control unit 224. After reception, a gate selection request is sent to the inter-gateway bandwidth adjustment unit 226. The inter-gateway bandwidth adjustment unit 226 periodically communicates with the communication control unit 224 and the communication control unit 224 of the gateway 21B, and the current communication amount between the communication control unit 224 of the gateway 21A and the WAN I / F unit 223, the gateway 21B. The current communication volume (communication speed currently being communicated) between the communication control unit 224 and the WAN I / F unit 223 is collected.

  The inter-gateway bandwidth adjustment unit 226 that has received the gate selection request selects a gateway with a low communication amount based on the collected communication amount, and replies to the authentication request / gate management unit 225. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the communication amount of the gateway 21A is lower, and it is assumed that the authentication request / gate management unit 225 is answered to select the gateway 21A.

  The authentication request / gate management unit 225 transmits the received data from the wireless terminal 11B to the server on the Internet via the communication control unit 224 and the WAN I / F unit 223 of the gateway 21A and the access line A according to the answer.

When the gateway 21A receives data addressed to the wireless terminal 11B from the server on the Internet via the access line A, the WAN
The I / F unit 223 first receives data and transmits it to the communication control unit 224. The communication control unit 224 obtains the MAC address of the transmission destination terminal from the IP address of the transmission destination terminal included in the data, and transmits an authentication request to the authentication request / gate management unit 225 using the MAC address. The authentication request / gate management unit 225 transfers the authentication request together with the data size to the accounting server through the LAN I / F unit B 222.

  The accounting server receives the authentication request from the gateway 21A by the LAN I / F unit 411 and transmits it to the authentication request / gate management unit 413 via the communication control unit 412. The authentication request / gate management unit 413 searches for an entry in the table 71. Since the wireless terminal 11B is registered as a use terminal, a matching entry is found. The size of the data is added to the table 73 of the corresponding entry found, and the recalculated ratio and fee are stored in the tables 74 and 75, respectively, and then the authentication permission notification is sent to the LAN I / F unit through the communication control unit 412. 411 to the gateway 21A.

  When the authentication request / gate management unit 225 receives the authentication permission notification via the LAN I / F unit 222 and the communication control unit 224, the authentication request / gate management unit 225 wirelessly transmits received data addressed to the terminal 11A via the communication control unit 224 and the LAN I / F unit 221. Transmit to terminal 11B.

  On the settlement date such as the end of the month, the table 72 of the billing server authentication request / gate management unit is searched with the room number, and the monthly fee for each room is determined by adding the table 75 of all the matching entries. You will be charged for each room.

  Next, a sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described. In each of the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1, 5, 8, 11, and 13, the communication band fluctuates depending on the degree of mixing of the other shared, so that it is necessary to secure a constant communication band. Can not.

  Therefore, in the sixth embodiment, there are provided means for keeping the communication band of a certain room at a constant speed or more and means for changing the constant speed according to the time zone.

  Specifically, in the embodiment of FIGS. 1, 8, and 11, the internal table of the gateway authentication request / gate management unit 215 stores the information shown in FIG. One day in which the MAC address of the terminal registered in the room in the table 81, the room number of the terminal in the table 82, the time zone in the table 83, the maximum communication bandwidth for each time zone in the table 84, and the total time in the table 85 Is stored in the ratio of the monthly usage charge of the access line in the ratio of the table 85 to the ratio of the daily communication charge of the access line to the maximum daily communication volume of the access line.

  Further, the operation of the communication control unit 214 is changed as follows. When the communication control unit 214 receives transmission data to the Internet, the communication control unit 214 searches an entry in the authentication request / gate management unit table 82 using the MAC address of the transmission source terminal included in the data. The entry corresponding to the current time is searched from the table 83 of the corresponding entry found, the maximum communication bandwidth at that time is read from the table 84, and the total current communication bandwidth of all the terminals in the room to which the terminal belongs is the maximum communication bandwidth. If so, the transmission data is stored in the queue and is not transmitted until the maximum communication bandwidth is reached. When the next transmission data is sent in this state, the data is also stored at the end of the current queue. When the maximum communication bandwidth is not reached, data is sequentially transmitted from the queue to the access line.

  On the settlement date such as the end of the month, the table 82 of the authentication request / gate management unit is searched with the room number, and the amount of the matching entry table 86 is charged to each room as the monthly fee for each room.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 12, the information shown in FIG. 14 is stored in the internal table of the authentication request / gate management unit 413 of the accounting server. Table 82 is the room number, Table 81 is the MAC address of the terminal registered in the room, Table 83 is the time zone, Table 84 is the maximum communication bandwidth for each time zone, and Table 85 is the maximum for the entire day. The ratio of the communication amount to the daily maximum communication amount of the access line, and the charge obtained by distributing the monthly usage charge of all the access lines at the ratio of the table 85 are stored in the table 86.

  Also, the operation of the billing server authentication request / gate management unit 413 is changed as follows.

  Upon receiving the authentication request, the authentication request / gate management unit 413 searches for an entry in the table 82. The entry in the table 81 of the authentication request / gate management unit 413 is searched with the MAC address of the transmission source terminal included in the authentication request data. The entry corresponding to the current time is searched from the table 83 of the corresponding entry found, the maximum communication bandwidth of that time is read from the table 84, and the gateway 2A, 21A from the LAN I / F unit 411 through the communication control unit 412 together with the authentication permission notification. Or it transmits to 2B and 21B.

  The authentication request / gate management unit 225 of the gateway 2A, 21A or 2B, 21B receives the authentication permission notification via the LAN I / F unit 222 and the communication control unit 224. After reception, a gate selection request is sent to the inter-gateway bandwidth adjustment unit 226. The inter-gateway bandwidth adjustment unit 226 periodically communicates with the communication control unit 224 and the communication control unit 224 of another gateway, and the current communication amount between the communication control unit 224 of the own gateway and the WAN I / F unit 223, and other gateways Current communication amount between the communication control unit 224 and the WAN I / F unit 223 is collected. The inter-gateway bandwidth adjustment unit 226 that has received the gate selection request selects a gateway with a low communication amount based on the collected communication amount.

  However, if the total communication bandwidth of all terminals in the room to which the terminal belongs is equal to or greater than the maximum communication bandwidth of the room to which the terminal belongs at the time sent with the authentication permission notification, the transmission data is queued. And the authentication request / gate management unit 225 is not answered until the maximum communication bandwidth is reached. When the next transmission data is sent in this state, the data is also stored at the end of the current queue.

  When the bandwidth is equal to or less than the maximum communication bandwidth, the gateway with low traffic is selected again, and then sequentially transmitted from the queue to the authentication request / gate management unit 225 together with the gate selection result.

  On the settlement date such as the end of the month, the table 81 of the authentication request / gate management unit 413 is searched with the room number, and the amount of the matching entry table 86 is charged to each room as the monthly fee for each room. .

  Next, a seventh embodiment of the present invention will be described. In each of the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1, 5, 8, 11, and 13 described above, when the usage of a part of the room is a store, there is no business model for increasing the sales of the store.

  Therefore, in the seventh embodiment, the residential householder who wishes to pay a part of the communication fee of the store is paid, and a coupon equivalent to an amount obtained by adding a certain amount to the fee is paid to the residential householder Is provided. Here, a charge corresponding to the amount may be paid.

  More specifically, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1, 8, and 11, the table 82 of the authentication request / gate management unit is searched with the room number of the store on the settlement date such as the end of the month, and a matching entry is obtained. A part of the amount of the table 86 is evenly allocated to the table 86 of the room where the coupon is desired, and a coupon issuance request corresponding to an amount obtained by increasing the allocated amount by a certain percentage is transmitted to the store. Thereafter, normal settlement processing is performed. Here, of course, a charge corresponding to the amount may be paid.

  In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 and 13, the table 82 of the authentication request / gate management unit 413 is searched with the room number of the store on the settlement date such as the end of the month, and the amount of the table 86 of the matching entry is calculated. The coupon is evenly allocated to the table 86 of the room where the coupon is desired, and a coupon issuance request corresponding to an amount obtained by increasing the allocated amount by a certain percentage is transmitted to the store. Thereafter, normal settlement processing is performed.

  The configuration and operation of the preferred embodiment of the Internet connection system according to the present invention have been described above in detail. However, such an embodiment is merely an example of the present invention and does not limit the present invention. Those skilled in the art will readily understand that various modifications and changes can be made according to a specific application without departing from the gist of the present invention.

1 is a system configuration diagram showing a first embodiment of an Internet connection system according to the present invention. It is a block diagram of the terminal in 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the gateway in 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the internal table of the authentication request | requirement / gate management part in 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a system block diagram which shows 2nd Embodiment of the internet connection system by this invention. It is a block diagram of the gateway in 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the accounting server in 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a system block diagram which shows 3rd Embodiment of the internet connection system by this invention. It is a block diagram of the radio | wireless terminal in 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the base station in 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a system block diagram which shows 4th Embodiment of the internet connection system by this invention. It is a block diagram of the radio | wireless terminal in 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is a system configuration figure showing a 5th embodiment of the Internet connection system by the present invention. It is a figure which shows the internal table of the authentication request | requirement / gate management part in 5th Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1A, 1B terminal 11A, 11B Wireless terminal 2, 2A, 2B, 21, 21A, 21B Gateway 3 WEB server group 4 Charging server 12A, 12B Wireless LAN base station 111, 131 Application unit 112, 122, 134, 214, 224, 412 Communication control unit 113, 211, 212, 221, 222, 411 LAN
I / F unit 121 Wired LAN I / F unit 123 Wireless LAN I / F unit 132 Base station detection unit 133 Communication speed detection unit 213, 223 WAN I / F unit 215, 225, 413 Authentication request / gate management unit 226 Between gateways Bandwidth adjustment unit

Claims (9)

In an Internet connection system that accesses and connects to the Internet from each of a plurality of predetermined areas by a terminal,
An internet connection system characterized by identifying an area to which a communicating terminal belongs and a used communication band for each area, and dynamically allocating a communication band from an area where the communication band is surplus to an area where the communication band is insufficient . Each area of the plurality of predetermined areas has at least one terminal belonging to each area and a gateway connected to the terminal, and the terminal is connected via an access line connected to the gateway of each area. Connected to the Internet,
Comparing the traffic amount of access lines connected via the gateway for each area, and connecting the terminal to the Internet via a gateway to which an access line having a smaller traffic amount is connected Internet connection system. Each of the plurality of predetermined areas has at least one terminal belonging to each of the areas and a gateway connected to the terminal, and the terminal is connected via an access line connected to the gateway of each area. Connected to the Internet,
Comparing the traffic of access lines connected via the gateway for each area, connecting the terminal to the Internet via a gateway connected to an access line with a smaller traffic,
An Internet connection characterized by identifying an area to which a communicating terminal belongs, recording a used communication band for each area, and calculating a communication fee according to the recorded used communication band for each area system. Each of the plurality of predetermined areas has at least one wireless terminal and a wireless LAN base station connected to the wireless terminal by wireless LAN,
Each of the wireless terminals is connected to a wireless LAN base station in another area other than the area to which the wireless terminal belongs, and is connected to the wireless LAN.
The wireless LAN base stations belonging to the plurality of areas are connected to a common gateway, connected to the Internet via an access line connected to the gateway,
A wireless LAN base station and a gateway in which a communication speed between a wireless terminal in communication and a wireless LAN base station belonging to another area connected to the wireless terminal in communication by wireless LAN is measured, and a higher communication speed is measured And an internet connection system for connecting the wireless terminal to the internet via an access line. Each of the plurality of predetermined areas has at least one wireless terminal and a wireless LAN base station connected to the wireless terminal by wireless LAN,
Each of the wireless terminals is connected to a wireless LAN base station in another area other than the area to which the wireless terminal belongs, and is connected to the wireless LAN.
The wireless LAN base stations belonging to the plurality of areas are connected to a common gateway, connected to the Internet via an access line connected to the gateway,
A wireless LAN base station and a gateway in which a communication speed is measured between a wireless terminal in communication and a wireless LAN base station belonging to another area connected to the wireless terminal in communication by wireless LAN, and a higher communication speed is measured. And connecting the wireless terminal to the Internet via an access line,
An Internet connection characterized by identifying an area to which a communicating terminal belongs, recording a used communication band for each area, and calculating a communication fee according to the recorded used communication band for each area system. Each of the plurality of predetermined areas has at least one wireless terminal and a wireless LAN base station connected to the wireless terminal by wireless LAN,
Each of the wireless terminals is connected to a wireless LAN base station in another area other than the area to which the wireless terminal belongs, and is connected to the wireless LAN.
The wireless LAN base stations belonging to the plurality of areas are each connected to a gateway, connected to the Internet via an access line connected to the gateway,
A wireless LAN base station and a gateway in which a communication speed is measured between a wireless terminal in communication and a wireless LAN base station belonging to another area connected to the wireless terminal in communication by wireless LAN, and a higher communication speed is measured. And an internet connection system for connecting the wireless terminal to the internet via an access line. Each of the plurality of predetermined areas has at least one wireless terminal and a wireless LAN base station connected to the wireless terminal by wireless LAN,
Each of the wireless terminals is connected to a wireless LAN base station in another area other than the area to which the wireless terminal belongs, and is connected to the wireless LAN.
The wireless LAN base stations belonging to the plurality of areas are each connected to a gateway, connected to the Internet via an access line connected to the gateway,
A wireless LAN base station and a gateway in which a communication speed between a wireless terminal in communication and a wireless LAN base station belonging to another area connected to the wireless terminal in communication by wireless LAN is measured, and a higher communication speed is measured And connecting the wireless terminal to the Internet via an access line,
An Internet connection characterized by identifying an area to which a communicating terminal belongs, recording a used communication band for each area, and calculating a communication fee according to the recorded used communication band for each area system.   When the maximum communication speed is preset for each area, and the total communication band in the area to which the terminal belongs exceeds the maximum communication speed, the communication operation is put into a waiting state, and when the communication speed is less than the maximum communication speed. 8. The Internet connection system according to claim 1, wherein the communication operation is resumed.   A user in one area uses a communication band of a user in another area, and a user in the one area pays a user for the use to the user in the other area. The Internet connection system according to any one of 8.

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