JP2007096776A - Communication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To secure the quality of priority communication in communication equipment where a terminal mounted with priority control and a terminal without priority control are associated. <P>SOLUTION: In a radio LAN system 1, communication equipment(base station) 2 for having association with a terminal 3, and for transferring a packet to/from the terminal 3 which is associated is configured of a simultaneous speech measuring part 21 for detecting a packet to be used for priority communication(voice communication), and for measuring the number N of simultaneous speeches; a status management part 33 for storing the allowable number Nth of simultaneous speeches; a status management part 22 for measuring the quality status of voice communication; a regulation status A deciding part 31 for regulating new voice communication when the number N of simultaneous speeches is the allowable number Nth of simultaneous speeches or more; and a regulation status B deciding part 32 for regulating association with the terminal 3 which is not associated when the quality is deteriorated beyond a predetermined threshold. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication apparatus such as a wireless LAN base station for connecting a moving terminal to an upper network, for example.

  In conventional wireless LAN systems such as IEEE802.11b, a DCF (Distributed Coordination Function) for performing transmission control by the CSMA / CA method is defined for each wireless station such as an access point or a wireless LAN terminal. Furthermore, as an access control procedure for supporting QoS required for priority communication such as voice communication, EDCA (Enhanced Distributed Channel Access), which is an extension of DCF, is being standardized (IEEE 802.11e). In this EDCA, frames to be transmitted are classified into four access categories, and priority control of frame transmission is performed by giving different EDCA parameters for each category.

  However, even if voice communication frames are prioritized using EDCA, the radio band itself is finite, so if the number of simultaneous calls (the number of simultaneous communication) exceeds a certain value, the quality of the entire call will deteriorate. For this reason, a method is known in which the allowable number of simultaneous calls is set in advance as a threshold, and the call connection of voice communication exceeding this threshold is regulated (for example, see Patent Document 1).

JP 2004-364181 A

  However, even if the EDCA function is mounted on the access point, the wireless LAN terminal is not necessarily mounted with the EDCA function, and such a terminal is controlled by the conventional DCF. Therefore, in a wireless LAN environment where terminals with priority control (EDCA mounting terminals) and terminals without priority control (EDCA non-mounting terminals) coexist, especially in a state where a large number of terminals without EDCA are occupied. However, there is a problem that a voice communication frame, which is a priority access category of an EDCA-equipped terminal, is affected by a frame of a terminal not equipped with an EDCA, resulting in deterioration of voice communication quality.

  In the wireless LAN system, the frame transmission rate and the number of retransmissions when the frame is not reached vary depending on the influence of radio wave interference and the communication distance. This tendency becomes prominent when a terminal that performs voice communication moves (when it is a mobile terminal). As a result, the effective bandwidth of the wireless LAN system varies, and the number of simultaneous calls allowed for ensuring quality also varies. In order to cope with such fluctuations, if the threshold value for restricting the call connection of voice communication is set low, the radio band cannot be used effectively, and conversely, if the threshold value is set high, the voice quality is deteriorated. There is a problem that occurs.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a problem. On the base station side of a wireless LAN system or the like, priority communication is performed by evaluating the number and quality state of terminals that perform priority communication (in this case, voice communication). It is an object of the present invention to provide a communication apparatus that secures the quality of priority communication by restricting wireless connection of terminals that do not perform priority communication, while restricting connection (call connection).

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the communication apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention (for example, the base station 2 in the embodiment) associates with a terminal and transmits / receives a packet to / from the associated terminal. Priority communication quality measurement means for detecting a packet corresponding to priority communication to be prioritized in transmission and reception and measuring the quality state of this priority communication (for example, voice quality measurement unit of traffic information acquisition unit 20 in the embodiment) 22) and a regulation means (for example, in the embodiment) that regulates new priority communication and association of a terminal that is not performing priority communication when the quality state has deteriorated beyond a predetermined threshold. And a state determination / regulation instruction unit 30 ').

  Such a communication apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention has traffic volume measuring means (for example, the traffic volume measuring unit 23 in the embodiment) for measuring the traffic volume of the packet of the associated terminal, and the regulating means is It is preferable that the terminal is configured to disconnect the association of a terminal with a large amount of traffic among terminals not performing priority communication. Further, the restriction means is configured to restrict new associations of terminals that are not associated in addition to disconnecting associations of terminals with high traffic volume among terminals not performing priority communication. Is preferred.

  The communication device according to the second aspect of the present invention associates with a terminal and transmits / receives a packet to / from the associated terminal, and corresponds to a priority communication to be prioritized in the transmission / reception. A simultaneous communication number measuring means (for example, the simultaneous call number measuring unit 21 in the embodiment) for measuring the number of simultaneous communication (for example, the number N of simultaneous calls in the embodiment) that is the number of priority communication, and priority communication Storage means (for example, the state management unit 33 in the embodiment) for storing the simultaneous communication allowable number (for example, the simultaneous call allowable number Nth in the embodiment), which is a threshold of the number of simultaneous communication for ensuring the quality of the communication, and priority communication Priority communication quality measurement means (for example, the voice quality measurement unit 22 in the embodiment) that detects the packet used for the measurement and measures the quality state of the priority communication, When the number is equal to or greater than the simultaneous communication allowable number, the first restriction means for restricting new priority communication (for example, the restriction state A determination unit 31 in the embodiment), and the quality deteriorates beyond a predetermined threshold The second restriction means (for example, the restriction state B determination unit 32 in the embodiment) for restricting association with a terminal that is not associated.

  Such a communication apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention also has a traffic volume measuring unit that measures the traffic volume of the packet of the associated terminal, and the second regulating unit is a terminal that is not performing priority communication. Among these, it is preferable to be configured to disconnect the association of a terminal having a large traffic volume. Further, the second regulating means is configured to regulate a new association of a terminal that is not associated in addition to disconnecting an association of a terminal having a large traffic volume among terminals not performing priority communication. It is preferred that

  At this time, when the second restriction means of the communication device according to the second aspect of the present invention is deteriorated by exceeding the predetermined threshold, the state of the traffic amount of the terminal not performing the priority communication, When it is determined whether to disconnect the association with a terminal that is not performing priority communication, and when it is determined that the association is to be disconnected, the association of the terminal with a large amount of traffic is disconnected, and when it is determined that the association is not disconnected, It is preferable that the simultaneous communication allowable number stored in the storage unit is reduced, and further, the simultaneous communication allowable number stored in the storage unit is increased when a good quality state continues.

  When the communication devices according to the first and second aspects of the present invention are configured as described above, the quality of priority communication can be ensured even when terminals equipped with priority control and terminals not implemented are mixed. Can do. At this time, the quality of the priority communication can be reliably ensured by disconnecting the association with the terminal not performing the priority communication. In addition, by configuring so that the allowable number of simultaneous communication is increased or decreased, when the execution band fluctuates due to radio wave interference or communication distance between the terminal and the communication device (base station) as in the wireless LAN system, the execution band Can be used effectively.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the communication system to which the communication apparatus according to the present invention is applied includes a base station 2 and a terminal 3 that is wirelessly connected to the base station 2 as shown in FIG. A case of the wireless LAN system 1 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the wireless LAN system 1 is configured by connecting a plurality of base stations 2 to a wired network 5 such as a LAN. The wired network 5 is connected to a higher network (upper network 4). Connected and configured. As a result, the terminal 3 can communicate with another terminal 3 via the base station 2 and communicate with the higher level network 4. In the following description, a case where voice communication is given priority as priority communication will be described.

  First, the configuration of the base station 2 will be described with reference to FIG. The base station 2 includes a communication processing unit 10 that performs communication with the terminal 3 or the upper network 4, a traffic information acquisition unit 20 that acquires a traffic state of the communication processing unit 10, and traffic acquired by the traffic information acquisition unit 20 It comprises a state determination / restriction instruction unit 30 that determines a communication state based on information and transmits a restriction instruction to the communication processing unit 10.

  As described above, the communication processing unit 10 includes a wireless transmission / reception unit 11 that processes a packet exchanged between the base station 2 and the terminal 3 associated with the base station 2 by wireless communication, and another base station via the wired network 5. It has a wired transmission / reception unit 13 for processing packets exchanged with the terminal 3 and the upper network 4 associated with the station 2. Note that communication between the wireless transmission / reception unit 11 and the terminal 3 is controlled by the wireless I / F unit 12, and communication with the wired network 5 (the upper network 4 or the like) is controlled by the wired I / F unit 14. Packets exchanged between the wireless transmission / reception unit 11 and the wired transmission / reception unit 13 are performed via the restriction processing unit 15. The restriction processing unit 15 performs establishment / disconnection of the association with the terminal 3 and control of packets exchanged with the terminal 3 in accordance with the restriction instruction from the state determination / regulation instruction unit 30. The association means that the base station 2 authenticates the terminal 3 in response to a connection request from the terminal 3, and a communication path is established.

The traffic information acquisition unit 20 acquires traffic information necessary for state determination and regulation processing by analyzing packets transferred in the wireless transmission / reception unit 11 and the wired transmission / reception unit 13. , A voice quality measuring unit 22 and a traffic amount measuring unit 23. The simultaneous call number measuring unit 21 extracts call control packets (SIP and the like) and voice packets (RTP packets), determines the start / end of the call, and counts the number as the simultaneous call number N. For example, as a protocol for voice communication, SIP (Session Initial Protocol) and RTP (Real-time)
When the transfer protocol is used, the call is started by observing the SIP packet and considering the call start when the INVITE packet is received, and the call end when receiving the BYE packet or the CANCEL packet. At the same time, the RTP packet is observed, and when a voice communication RTP packet is received, it is regarded as a call start.

  The voice quality measuring unit 22 extracts voice packets (RTP, RTCP, etc.), and measures voice communication quality from the packet loss state of the wireless section. As a method for measuring the quality of voice communication, for example, when an RTP packet is used, the sequence number of the voice RTP packet is observed for each terminal 3, and the number of packets lost at a fixed interval is counted. It is obtained by calculating the average packet loss rate of the terminal 3 that is performing. Alternatively, if the transmission intervals of the voice RTP packets of each terminal 3 are the same (known), the number of actual transfer RTP packets of all terminals 3 is divided by the product of the number of RTP packets without loss of one terminal and the number of simultaneous calls. Thus, the packet loss rate may be calculated. Further, the traffic volume measuring unit 23 is configured to measure the transfer traffic volume for each terminal 3 at regular intervals.

  The state determination / regulation instruction unit 30 uses the traffic information from the traffic information acquisition unit 20 to determine the restriction state (there are two types of restriction states in the present embodiment, as will be described later) and issue a restriction instruction. The restriction state A determination unit 31, the restriction state B determination unit 32, the state management unit 33, and the restriction instruction unit 34 are configured. The restriction state A determination unit 31 determines the restriction state (hereinafter, “restriction state A”) based on the simultaneous call number N measured by the simultaneous call number measurement unit 21 and the simultaneous call allowable number Nth managed by the state management unit 33. And the result is passed to the state management unit 33. Further, the restriction state B determination unit 32 is based on the number N of simultaneous calls measured by the simultaneous call number measurement unit 21 and the voice quality information from the voice quality measurement unit 22 (hereinafter referred to as “restriction state B”). ) And pass the result to the state management unit 33.

  The state management unit 33 is based on the restriction state A set by the restriction state A determination unit 31, the restriction state B set by the restriction state B determination unit 32, the simultaneous call allowable number Nth, and the simultaneous call number N. The state of the station 2 is changed, and the restriction instruction unit 34 is notified. The restriction instruction unit 34 is configured to determine and notify a restriction instruction to the communication processing unit 10 based on information from the state management unit 33 and the traffic amount measurement unit 23.

  Next, the processing of the state determination / regulation instruction unit 30 will be described with reference to FIGS. First, the restriction state A is determined by the restriction state A determination unit 31 as described above. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the number N of simultaneous voice communication calls in the communication processing unit 10 is measured, and the restriction state A determination unit 31 extracts this (step S100). Then, the restriction state A determination unit 31 takes out the simultaneous call allowable number Nth from the state management unit 33 and determines whether or not the simultaneous call number N is equal to or larger than the simultaneous call allowable number Nth (step S101). When it is determined in step S101 that the simultaneous call number N is equal to or greater than the simultaneous call allowable number Nth, the restriction state A determination unit 31 sets the restriction state A in the state management unit 33 (step S102). When it is determined that the simultaneous call number N is smaller than the simultaneous allowable number Nth, the restriction state A of the state management unit 33 is canceled (step S103). The restricted state A determination unit 31 is executed each time the simultaneous call number N or the simultaneous call allowable number Nth changes. In step S102, when the restriction state A is already set in the state management unit 33, the state is continued. Similarly, when the restricted state A is canceled in the state management unit 33 in step S103, the state is continued.

  When the restriction state A is set in the state management unit 33, the restriction instruction unit 34 transmits a new call connection restriction instruction for voice communication to the restriction processing unit 15 as a restriction instruction. Upon receiving this new call connection restriction instruction, the restriction processing unit 15 restricts new call connection for voice communication in the communication processing unit 10. That is, as shown in FIG. 5A, when a call origination request is made from the terminal 3 associated with the base station 2, the INVITE packet transmitted from the calling terminal 3 is detected and discarded (higher order). The packet is discarded and the new call connection request is rejected. Further, as shown in FIG. 5B, when an incoming call request is sent from the upper network 4 to the terminal 3 associated with the base station 2, the INVITE packet transmitted to the called terminal 3 is detected. And discarding it (not transferring it to the called terminal 3) and notifying the incoming call request source that the new call connection request has been rejected.

  As described above, when the restricted state A is entered, the new call connection is restricted so that the simultaneous call number N does not exceed the simultaneous call allowable number Nth, so that the quality of voice communication is ensured. However, as described above, some terminals 3 connected to the base station 2 do not perform voice communication. When such terminals 3 perform file transfer or the like and generate large traffic, the voice communication The quality of the product may be affected. In particular, when such a terminal 3 is a terminal not mounted with EDCA, priority control according to the EDCA standard does not work and voice communication cannot be prioritized. Therefore, in the base station 2 according to the present embodiment, a regulated state B is provided separately from the regulated state A as shown below.

  The restricted state B is determined by the restricted state B determination unit 32. The restriction state B determination unit 32 is executed independently of the restriction state A determination part 31, and is configured such that the following processing is repeatedly executed at regular intervals. Further, the restriction state B determination unit 32 is provided with an area (memory) for storing various types of information. The number of simultaneous calls N (t) acquired in the currently executed process is acquired in the previous process. The number of simultaneous calls N (t−1), the number of continuations M in the regulation processing unnecessary state that is not required to be in the regulation state B, and the number of continuation conditions in the regulation processing unnecessary state for releasing the regulation state B Cont is stored.

  When the process of the restriction state B determination unit 32 is started, as shown in FIG. 4, first, the simultaneous call number N is acquired from the simultaneous call number measurement unit 21 and held as the current simultaneous call number N (t). (Step S200) and compared with the number N (t-1) of simultaneous calls in the previous process (step S201). If it is determined in step S201 that the current number of simultaneous calls N (t) is greater than the previous number of simultaneous calls N (t-1), the number of continuous calls M is reset because the number of simultaneous calls N has increased. (Step S202).

  Next, the quality of voice communication is evaluated (step S203). In step S203, voice quality information in the communication processing unit 10 is acquired from the voice quality measuring unit 22, and it is determined whether or not regulation is necessary to ensure the quality of voice communication. For example, when the packet loss rate is measured as the voice quality information in the voice quality measuring unit 22 as described above, a threshold value for the packet loss rate is set, and if this threshold is exceeded, a restriction process is required. It is judged. If it is determined in step S203 that the restriction process is necessary, the process proceeds to the voice quality adjustment state ST2, and the number of continuations M is reset (step S204). Then, the restriction state B determination unit 32 sets the restriction state B in the state management unit 33 (step S205). In addition, when the regulation state B is already set in the state management unit 33, the state is continued.

  When the restriction state B is set in the state management unit 33, the restriction instruction unit 34 transmits a new call connection restriction instruction for voice communication as a restriction instruction to the restriction processing unit 15 as in the case of the restriction state A. The new connection restriction instruction of the terminal 3 is transmitted. Upon receiving this new connection restriction instruction, the restriction processing unit 15 restricts association with the new terminal 3 in the wireless transmission / reception unit 11 of the communication processing unit 10. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the terminal 3 is turned on in the area of the base station 2 to receive an association establishment request, or the terminal 3 that has been associated with another base station 2 When the mobile terminal moves into the area 2 and receives an association establishment request, the restriction processing unit 15 transmits a connection refusal to the terminal. Thereby, since the number of terminals 3 connected to the base station 2 is limited, an increase in traffic of the base station 2 can be suppressed.

  Furthermore, in order to eliminate the cause of voice quality degradation caused by the terminal 3 already connected, for example, large traffic due to file transfer or the like, the restriction instructing unit 34 sets the voice communication state when the restriction state B is set. In order to ensure quality, it is determined whether or not to disconnect the association of the terminal 3 that is not performing voice communication (referred to as “non-voice communication terminal”) (step S206). As a determination method in step S206, when the non-voice communication terminal 3 is connected to the base station 2 or more, or the transfer traffic volume of the non-voice communication terminal 3 measured by the traffic volume measuring unit 23 is acquired. Then, when there is one or more terminals 3 having a traffic amount of a certain amount or more, it is determined that the association must be disconnected.

  When it is determined in step S206 that the association must be disconnected, the restriction instruction unit 34 transmits the disconnection of the non-voice communication terminal 3 as a restriction instruction to the restriction processing unit 15 (step S207). Ends. At this time, the terminal 3 having the largest amount of transfer traffic is selected as the non-voice communication terminal 3 to be disconnected. When the disconnection of the non-voice communication terminal 3 is instructed, the restriction processing unit 15 disconnects the connection (association) of the terminal 3 designated by the state instruction unit 34. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, a disconnection notification (De-authentication packet) is transmitted from the wireless transmission / reception unit 11 to the terminal 3 to be disconnected, and the terminal 3 is disconnected from the base station 2. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S206 that disconnection of the non-voice communication terminal 3 is unnecessary, the simultaneous call allowable number Nth stored in the state management unit 33 is reduced by 1 (step S208) The process ends. Thereby, the threshold value of the number N of simultaneous calls is lowered, the number of voice communication connections is regulated, and the quality is ensured.

  Note that, based on the premise that EDCA-equipped terminals are sufficiently prioritized by EDCA, the terminals 3 to be disconnected in step S207 can be limited to EDCA non-implemented terminals.

  On the other hand, if the quality of voice communication is evaluated in step S203 described above and it is determined that the restriction process is unnecessary, the number of continuations M is incremented by one (step S209). Then, it is determined whether or not the restriction state B can be released (step S210). In step S210, it is determined that the restriction state B can be released when the number of continuations M is equal to or greater than the continuation number condition Cont. That is, when the number of times that the quality of voice communication is determined to be good reaches a predetermined number, it is determined that the restriction state B can be released. When the continuation count M is smaller than the continuation count condition Cont, one process is completed.

  If it is determined in step S210 that the restriction state B can be released, it is next determined whether or not the simultaneous call allowable number Nth can be increased (increased by one) (step S211). The increase in the simultaneous call allowable number Nth is determined to be possible when the current simultaneous call number N (t) is equal to or greater than the simultaneous call allowable number Nth (step S212). When step S211 or step S212 is executed, the restriction state B of the state management unit 33 is released (step S213), and one process is completed. As described above, when the traffic of the base station 2 has a margin, the execution bandwidth can be fully utilized corresponding to the change in the execution bandwidth of the wireless communication by increasing the allowable simultaneous call number Nth.

  The state of the base station 2 (the state managed by the state management unit 33) in the above processing is summarized as follows using FIG. As shown in FIG. 8A, the transition between the restricted state A and the non-restricted state A is executed when the number of simultaneous calls N or the simultaneous call allowable number Nth changes. That is, in the non-regulated state A, when a new call is started and the number N of simultaneous calls is increased to N ≧ Nth, or the allowable number Nth of simultaneous calls is reduced in the restricted state B determination unit 32. When N ≧ Nth, the state transitions to the restricted state A. Further, in the restricted state A, when N <Nth due to the end of the call and the decrease in the number N of simultaneous calls, or when the allowable number Nth of simultaneous calls is increased in the restricted state B determination unit 32, N <Nth. At this point, the state transitions to the non-regulated state A.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 8B, the transition between the restricted state B and the non-restricted state B is executed when the result of the voice communication quality evaluation changes. That is, in the non-regulated state B, the state transitions to the regulated state B when it is determined that the restriction process is required in the voice communication quality evaluation. Further, in the restricted state B, the transition to the non-restricted state B is made when the number of continuations M of the restriction process unnecessary state becomes equal to or greater than the continuation number condition Cont in the voice communication quality evaluation.

  In the wireless LAN system 1 according to the present embodiment, when the base station 2 is configured as described above, the number N of simultaneous voice communication calls performed by the terminal 3 associated with the base station 2 is set to be equal to or less than the simultaneous call allowable number Nth. Since the quality of the voice communication can be ensured and the quality of the voice communication is lowered even if the number N of simultaneous calls is equal to or less than the number Nth of simultaneous calls, a new one for the base station 2 can be provided. The quality of the voice communication can be ensured by disconnecting the terminal 3 that is not performing voice communication from the base station 2 when the quality cannot be ensured by restricting the association of the terminal 3 to secure the quality. As a result, it is possible to ensure the quality of voice communication even when there is a terminal 3 not mounted with EDCA.

  In the above embodiment, a case has been described in which two restriction states, restriction state A and restriction state B, are provided to ensure the quality of voice communication by the terminal 3 associated with the base station 2. As shown in FIG. 9, the state determination / restriction instruction unit 30 ′ is not provided with the restriction state A determination unit 31, and the voice communication quality is ensured only by the restriction state B by the restriction state B determination unit 32. Is also possible. In this case, in the restriction state B determination process, as shown in FIG. 10, the simultaneous call allowable number Nth does not have a portion to be changed. Specifically, in the processing flow shown in FIG. 4, steps S200 to S202, step S208, and steps S211 and S212 are omitted (in FIG. 10, the same processes as those in FIG. Detailed description will be omitted). With this configuration, since the restriction based on the simultaneous call allowable number Nth (that is, the restriction based on the restriction state A) is not performed, there may be a case where the voice quality is temporarily lowered. Thus, the quality of voice communication can be ensured.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 11, it is possible to omit the disconnection determination (step S <b> 206) from the base station 2 of the non-voice communication terminal 3 in the process shown in FIG. 10. By adopting such a configuration, the control in the base station 2 can be further simplified.

  Further, in the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the case where the base station 2 controls the wireless communication with the terminal 3 alone has been described, but the base station 2 is connected as shown in FIG. It is also possible to connect the controller 6 to the wired network 5 and mount a part of the functions of the base station 2 in the controller 6. The case where it comprises with the base station 2 and the controller 6 is demonstrated using FIG. 12 and FIG. In the following description, the same components as those in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  In FIG. 12, a plurality of base stations 2 are collectively controlled by the controller 6, and the traffic information acquisition unit 20 and the state determination / regulation instruction unit 30 (30 ′) are mounted on the controller 6. In this configuration, since the controller 6 communicates with the base station 2 via the wired network 5, a wired transmission / reception unit 13 ′ and a wired I / F unit 14 ′ are mounted. Are sent and received via Therefore, part of the functions of the restriction processing unit 15 is executed by the restriction processing unit 15 ′ mounted on the controller 6. Specifically, the restriction processing unit 15 installed in the base station 2 executes new call connection restriction for voice communication, and the restriction processing unit 15 ′ installed in the controller 6 performs the new connection restriction for the terminal 3 and The disconnection of the non-voice communication terminal 3 is executed. The regulation instruction transmitted from the regulation instruction unit 34 is transmitted to the regulation processing unit 15 via the regulation processing unit 15 ′.

  FIG. 13 shows a case where the traffic information acquisition unit 20 is installed in the base station 2 and only the state determination / regulation instruction unit 30 (30 ′) is implemented in the controller 6. In this case, information transmitted / received between the base station 2 and the controller 6 is traffic information and a regulation instruction, and a packet transmitted / received between the terminal 3 and the upper network 4 via the base station 2 does not pass through the controller 6.

  As described above, since the controller 6 is configured to control the base station 2 by setting the restriction state of the base station 2 and implementing the function of controlling the base station 2, the controller 6 can collectively control the base station 2. The LAN system 1 can be effectively controlled. In particular, in the wireless LAN system 1, since the terminal 3 moves between a plurality of base stations 2, the base station 2 to be associated is also used as the destination, so that it is effective to manage the whole by the controller 6 Is.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the communication system according to the present invention is applied to the wireless LAN system 1 in which the base station 2 and the terminal 3 perform wireless communication has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the present invention can be applied to a PLC communication system that performs communication using a power line as a medium.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a wireless LAN system according to the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a base station. 5 is a flowchart showing control in a restricted state A. 5 is a flowchart showing control in a restricted state B. It is explanatory drawing which shows the flow at the time of restrict | limiting new call connection of audio | voice communication, (a) shows the case where a call is originated from a terminal, (b) shows the case where a terminal is called. It is explanatory drawing which shows the flow when regulating the association of the terminal with respect to a base station. It is explanatory drawing which shows the flow when disconnecting the terminal which is associated. It is a state transition diagram which shows the transition of the state of a base station, (a) is a state transition diagram of the control state A with respect to the number-of-calls state, (b) is a state transition diagram of the control state B with respect to a voice quality state. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the base station when not providing the regulation state A. It is a flowchart which shows the control of the control state B when it is comprised so that the simultaneous call permissible number may not be increased / decreased. It is a flowchart which shows control of the control state B when it comprises so that a non-voice communication terminal may always be cut | disconnected. It is a block diagram when it comprises with a base station and a controller, Comprising: The case where it comprises so that all the packets may be exchanged with a high-order network via a controller is shown. It is a block diagram when it comprises with a base station and a controller, Comprising: The case where only a regulation process is mounted in the controller is shown.

Explanation of symbols

1 Wireless LAN system 2 Base station (communication device)
3 Terminal 20 Traffic information acquisition unit 21 Simultaneous call measurement unit (simultaneous call measurement means)
22 Voice quality measuring unit (voice quality measuring means)
30, 30 'State determination / regulation instruction section (regulation means)
31 Restriction state A determination unit (first restriction means)
32 restriction state B determination unit (second restriction means)
33 State management unit (storage means)

Claims (7)

A communication device that associates with a terminal and transmits / receives a packet to / from the associated terminal;
Priority communication quality measuring means for detecting a packet corresponding to priority communication to be prioritized in the transmission and reception and measuring the quality state of the priority communication;
When the quality state has deteriorated beyond a predetermined threshold, a new priority communication restriction and a restriction means for restricting the association of the terminal not performing the priority communication are provided. A communication device. Traffic volume measuring means for measuring the traffic volume of the packet of the terminal that is associated;
The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the restriction unit is configured to disconnect the association of the terminal having a large traffic volume among the terminals not performing the priority communication. Traffic volume measuring means for measuring the traffic volume of the packet of the terminal that is associated;
The restricting means is configured to disconnect the association of the terminal having a large traffic volume among the terminals not performing the priority communication, and to restrict the new association of the terminal not performing the association. The communication device according to claim 1. A communication device that associates with a terminal and transmits / receives a packet to / from the associated terminal;
Simultaneous communication number measuring means for detecting a packet corresponding to priority communication to be prioritized in the transmission and reception and measuring the number of simultaneous communication that is the number of communication of the priority communication;
Storage means for storing a simultaneous communication allowable number that is a threshold value of the number of simultaneous communication for ensuring the quality of the priority communication;
Priority communication quality measuring means for detecting the packet used for the priority communication and measuring the quality state of the priority communication;
First restriction means for restricting new priority communication when the simultaneous communication number is equal to or greater than the simultaneous communication allowable number;
A communication apparatus comprising: a second restricting unit that restricts the association with the terminal that is not associated when the quality state has deteriorated beyond a predetermined threshold. Traffic volume measuring means for measuring the traffic volume of the packet of the terminal that is associated;
5. The communication according to claim 4, wherein the second restriction unit is configured to disconnect the association of the terminal having a large traffic volume among the terminals not performing the priority communication. apparatus. Traffic volume measuring means for measuring the traffic volume of the packet of the terminal that is associated;
The second restricting means disconnects the association of the terminal having a large amount of traffic among the terminals not performing the priority communication, and restricts a new association of the terminal that is not associated. The communication device according to claim 4, wherein the communication device is configured as follows. The second regulating means is
When the quality state has deteriorated beyond a predetermined threshold, the association with the terminal not performing the priority communication is disconnected according to the state of the traffic volume of the terminal not performing the priority communication. Whether or not
When it is determined that the association is to be disconnected, the association of the terminal with a large amount of traffic is disconnected,
When it is determined not to disconnect the association, the simultaneous communication allowable number stored in the storage means is reduced,
The communication apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the communication apparatus is configured to increase the simultaneous communication allowable number stored in the storage unit when the quality state continues to be good. .

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