JP2009033487A - Communication apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication apparatus capable of merging power line carrier communication and radio communication by preventing large sizing of a communication circuit and complication of communication control. <P>SOLUTION: In a communication apparatus (e.g. 8) having both communication functions of power line carrier communication and radio communication, at the time of the radio communication transceiving system signal processing is performed corresponding to a first symbol length while at the time of power line carrier communication the transceiving system signal processing is performed corresponding to a second symbol length having a length power of 2<SP>n</SP>(n: integer) of the first symbol length. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication device including power line carrier wave communication and wireless communication.

  Power line carrier wave communication is to perform data communication by superimposing a carrier wave modulated by a data signal on the power line, and can be connected to the power line through an outlet, and each communication device connected to the power line It can be used for communication between.

  Wireless communication performs data communication using radio waves and is used to connect a portable device to a communication network, such as a wireless LAN.

  In these communications, communication standards and service standards are different, and sufficient ingenuity has been made in the circuit design of communication systems and communication equipment so that the advantages and disadvantages of communication systems can be complemented and used together easily. Absent.

  For example, radio has a disadvantage that radio waves are difficult to reach when there are shielding objects such as walls, although there are differences depending on frequency bands and communication standards. On the other hand, power lines are wired in the walls of the building and are not obstructed by shields such as walls, but they have the disadvantage of poor communication due to the influence of connected electrical equipment. is there.

  In order to compensate for the shortcomings of these communications, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology for sharing power line carrier wave communications and wireless communications and selecting a better communication state among those communications. Yes. Further, in this Patent Document 1, as a communication device, a plurality of analog units are provided to support various wireless standards, and signal processing corresponding to each wireless standard is variously studied for software radio processing by software. Yes.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a device for delaying a signal in order to absorb time associated with switching by software.

JP 2006-197161 A JP 2004-120650 A

  However, in Patent Document 1, communication between two communication devices is assumed, and a communication device (slave) connected to a power line and a communication device (slave) connected wirelessly to one communication device (master). The communication network configuration, communication method, and the like are not described when the communication connection is mixed. Therefore, when Patent Document 1 is applied to a communication device (master) in which a communication device (slave) connected to a power line and a communication device (slave) connected wirelessly are mixed and connected. The physical channel may not be used efficiently.

  Further, by taking advantage of each advantage of power line carrier wave communication and wireless communication and using each communication in combination, the mutual communication characteristics can be complemented. However, Patent Document 2 describes wireless communication of various communication standards. However, power line carrier communication is not considered. Therefore, if the wireless communication and the power line carrier wave communication are combined, the communication circuit becomes large and the communication control becomes complicated.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems. First, communication that can combine power line carrier wave communication and wireless communication by preventing an increase in communication circuit size and complication of communication control. It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus, and secondly, to provide a communication apparatus that can efficiently use a physical channel in a communication apparatus that combines power line carrier wave communication and wireless communication.

In order to solve the above problems, a first aspect of the present invention is a communication apparatus having both communication functions of power line carrier wave communication and wireless communication. During wireless communication, transmission / reception is performed corresponding to the first symbol length. On the other hand, at the time of power line carrier wave communication, transmission / reception system signal processing is performed corresponding to a second symbol length that is 2 ⁿ (n: integer) times longer than the first symbol length. is there.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, during wireless communication, transmission / reception system signal processing is performed corresponding to the first symbol length, while during power line carrier wave communication, the first symbol length of 2 ⁿ (n : Integer) Since transmission / reception system signal processing is performed in correspondence with the second symbol length having a length twice, synchronization of transmission / reception system signal processing of wireless communication and power line carrier wave communication is performed while complying with the communication standard of wireless communication. The design can be facilitated (therefore, an increase in circuit size can be prevented) and the frame configuration can be facilitated (therefore, complication of communication control can be prevented).

Embodiment 1 FIG.
The communication apparatus according to this embodiment is a combination of power line carrier communication (PLC) and wireless communication (for example, short-range wireless communication).

  As described in Non-Patent Document 1 (ARIB STD-T70 Chapter 4 Regulations on Physical Layer), a wireless LAN standard is defined for the broadband mobile access system (HiSWANa). Standards are not generally defined. Therefore, by making the communication standard for power line carrier communication conform to the above-mentioned wireless LAN standard, the versatility of a communication network that combines power line carrier communication and wireless communication can be improved. Therefore, in the communication apparatus of this embodiment, the basic configuration of the wireless LAN is used as the basic configuration. Hereinafter, the communication apparatus of this embodiment will be described in detail.

  FIG. 1 shows an example of a communication network including the communication device of this embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the communication network 1 includes one or more (two in FIG. 1) PLC modems 8 and 9 connected to the power line 7 via the outlet 5 in the house of the building 3, and the PLC modem 8. A wireless terminal (for example, a notebook PC) 11 that is wirelessly connected is provided. The power line 7 connected to the outlet 3 is connected to the Internet 15 via a PLC modem 13 outside the house, for example. For example, terminals 17 and 18 are connected to the PLC modems 8 and 9 by wire.

  The topology of the communication network 1 is a tree shape as shown in FIG. That is, a repeater (which functions as a master / slave type master) M is installed in the middle of the communication path L, and a plurality of repeaters and terminals (these are master / slave type) downstream of the repeater M. It functions as a slave.) S is connected. All slaves S downstream of the master M are centrally controlled by the master M. In FIG. 1, the PLC modem 8 is set as the master M, and the other PLC modem 9 and the notebook PC 11 are set as the slaves S, respectively.

  As the above-described centralized control method, a time division multiple access (TDMA) method in which a frequency band to be used is time-divided to communicate with a plurality of communication partners is used.

  Further, in power line carrier wave communication (PLC), an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation method is used as a modulation / demodulation method to be shared with a wireless LAN.

  In OFDM, a transmitted signal is provided with a section Ts in which a signal (symbol) of one segment called a symbol length is transmitted. Further, as shown in FIG. 17, a section TG called a guard interval is provided between the symbols Ts.

  The received signal includes a delayed wave in addition to the direct wave. However, the delayed wave causes the signal to be degraded and demodulated as an erroneous signal. A guard interval TG is provided to prevent the influence of this delayed wave.

  Since the delay amount of the delayed wave from the direct wave differs between the power line carrier wave communication and the wireless communication, the length of the guard interval differs depending on the transmission path. In power line carrier wave communication, considering long-distance transmission, the delay amount of the delayed wave is longer than that in short-distance wireless communication, so it is necessary to lengthen the guard interval.

  In such a case (when the guard interval TG is increased), the use efficiency of the transmission path can be made the same by increasing the symbol length section Ts as shown in FIG.

In such a case, the symbol length for wireless communication conforms to the wireless communication standard, and the symbol length for power line carrier wave communication is increased. At this time, as shown in FIG. 6, if the symbol length Tp of the power line carrier wave communication is set to 2 ⁿ times (n: integer) the symbol length Tm of the wireless communication, an increase in the number of transmission / reception circuits is suppressed, and the frame configuration is reduced. The complexity can also be suppressed.

Moreover, the frequency band of radio | wireless communication is 20 MHz, for example. Here, if the symbol length of the wireless communication is 3.2 μs and a 64-point FFT is used, the subcarrier interval is 312.5 KHz. If, for example, 53 subcarriers are used, excluding the edge subcarriers, a frequency band of 16.6 MHz is used. Also in power line carrier wave communication, by adopting the same configuration, the circuit configuration can be shared, and an increase in circuit scale can be prevented. Since FFT is a conversion of the number of samples 2 ⁿ (n: integer), as shown in FIG. 6, the power line carrier allows the communication symbol length Tp to be 2 ⁿ (n: integer) of the radio communication symbol length Tm. Circuit sharing becomes easy.

Further, by increasing the communication capacity by expanding the frequency band, large-capacity transmission / reception becomes easy. Here, as the FFT size, the number of points is usually 2 ⁿ times (n: integer). For example, if the symbol length is the same and the number of FFT points is changed from 64 points to 128 points, double communication capacity is possible. The frequency band of wireless communication is 20 MHz because it is defined by the communication standard. However, there is no particular problem with power line communication even if a double frequency band is used (in this case, the frequency bandwidth of the wireless communication and the power line carrier wave). It will be different from the communication frequency bandwidth). Furthermore, the frequency band can be increased by increasing the FFT size. Conversely, the frequency band of power line carrier wave communication can be narrowed to 10 MHz. FIGS. 5A and 5B schematically show a state where OFDM subcarriers are arranged on the frequency axis. (B) uses twice as many FFTs as (a). Here, when expanding the frequency band, it is necessary to select the frequency of the signal processing circuit so as to satisfy the sampling theorem. The sampling frequency fs of the transmission / reception signal for wireless communication needs to be at least twice the Nyquist frequency. It is also possible to perform oversampling twice or four times the sampling frequency fs. When a signal is sampled at a frequency of 2 ⁿ (n: positive integer) of fs in power line carrier wave communication, it is easy to share the configuration with the wireless communication circuit.

  The PLC modem 8 (communication device) has both communication functions of power line carrier wave communication via the power line 7 and wireless communication via the antenna 23, and a terminal connected to each of these communications and the PLC modem 8 by wire. The machine 17 is connected for communication. The PLC modem 9 has, for example, a communication function for performing power line carrier wave communication via the power line 7, and connects the power line carrier wave communication and the terminal 18 connected to the PLC modem 9 in a wired manner.

  More specifically, the PLC modem 8 includes, for example, a PLC analog front end unit 21 that is connected to the power line 7 and performs power line carrier wave communication, and a wireless analog front end that is connected to the antenna 23 and performs wireless communication as shown in FIG. Unit 25, bridge unit 27 to which terminal 18 is connected by wire, modem LSI 29 for controlling transmission / reception from each unit 21, 25, 27, connection between each analog front end unit 21, 25 and modem LSI 29. And a connection control unit 31 that controls connection.

  Although not shown, the PLC analog front end unit 21 includes an interface unit with the power line 7, an amplifier that amplifies a transmission / reception signal, and a band-pass filter that extracts a signal in a specific frequency band. Extracts a signal in a specific frequency band from the power line 7, adjusts it to an optimum gain, and sends it to the modem LSI 29. At the time of transmission, the signal from the modem LSI 29 is amplified and transmitted from the power line 7.

  Although not shown, the wireless analog front end unit 25 includes an interface unit with the antenna 23, an amplifier that amplifies a transmission / reception signal, and a band-pass filter that extracts a signal in a specific frequency band. Extracts a signal of a specific frequency band from the antenna 23, adjusts it to an optimum gain, and sends it to the modem LSI 29. At the time of transmission, the signal from the modem LSI 29 is amplified and transmitted from the antenna 23.

  The modem LSI 29 includes an A / D conversion unit 41 (FIG. 4), a D / A conversion unit 43 (FIG. 4), a physical layer 33 that performs modulation / demodulation, transmission band setting, error correction, and decoding, and resource management and apparatus. A MAC (Media Access Control) layer (communication control unit) 35 that performs management, encryption, communication control, and the like is provided.

  4, the physical layer 33 performs reception system signal processing on the reception signal input from the connection control unit 31 via the A / D conversion unit 41 and outputs the received signal to the MAC layer 35. And a transmission system signal processing unit 39 that performs transmission system signal processing on the transmission signal from the MAC layer 35 and outputs the result to the connection control unit 31. The reception system signal processing unit 37 and the transmission system signal processing unit 39 constitute a digital modulation / demodulation circuit.

Here, the reception system signal processing unit 37 (transmission system signal processing unit 39), during wireless communication, performs reception system signal processing (transmission system signal processing) corresponding to the symbol length (first symbol length) of wireless communication. On the other hand, at the time of power line carrier wave communication, reception system signal processing (corresponding to a symbol length (second symbol length) of 2 ⁿ (n: integer) of radio communication symbol length as a symbol length of power line carrier wave communication (second symbol length) ( Transmission system signal processing).

  As shown in FIG. 4, the connection control unit 31 includes a switching circuit unit 31a and a control unit 31b that controls the switching circuit unit 31a.

  The switching circuit unit 31a includes a plurality of open / close switches SW1 to SW4. The on / off switch SW1 is connected between the output unit of the wireless analog front end unit 25 and the input unit of the modem LSI 29. The on / off switch SW2 is connected between the input unit of the wireless analog front end unit 25 and the output unit of the modem LSI 29. The on / off switch SW3 is connected between the output unit of the PLC analog front end unit 21 and the input unit of the modem LSI 29. The open / close switch SW4 is interposed between the input unit of the PLC analog front end unit 21 and the output unit of the modem LSI 29.

  The control unit 31b performs open / close control of the open / close switches SW1 to SW4 of the switching circuit unit 31a based on transmission / reception timing notified from the MAC layer 35 and switching information of the analog front end units 21 and 25.

  With this configuration, in the PLC modem 8, at the time of transmission, the open / close switches SW 2 and SW 4 are closed by the control unit 31 b, and in parallel with this, the signal from the MAC layer 35 is modulated by the transmission system signal processing unit 39. Transmission system signal processing is performed, converted into an analog signal by the D / A conversion unit 43, output to the analog front end units 21 and 25 via the open / close switches SW2 and SW4, and from the wireless analog front end unit 25 to the antenna. 23 is wirelessly transmitted via the power line 23, and power line carrier communication is performed from the PLC analog front end unit 25 via the power line 7. Control is performed so that the open / close switch SW2 is closed when only wireless communication is performed, and the open / close switch SW4 is closed when only power line carrier wave communication is performed.

  On the other hand, at the time of reception, for example, first, the opening / closing switch SW1 is closed by the control unit 31b (while the opening / closing switch SW3 is opened), whereby the reception signal received by the wireless analog front end unit 25 via the antenna 23. Is input to the A / D conversion unit 41 via the open / close switch SW1 and converted into a digital signal, and reception system signal processing such as demodulation is performed in the reception system signal processing unit 37, and the above processing is performed in the MAC layer 35. Done. Next, the opening / closing switch SW3 is closed by the control unit 31b (while the opening / closing switch SW1 is opened), whereby the reception signal received by the PLC analog front end unit 21 is transmitted to the A / A via the opening / closing switch SW3. The signal is input to the D conversion unit 41 and converted into a digital signal. The reception system signal processing unit 37 performs reception system signal processing such as demodulation, and the MAC layer 35 performs the above processing. Thus, at the time of reception, reception by wireless communication and reception by power line carrier wave communication are performed in a time division manner.

  Here, the reception system signal processing unit 37 will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 7, the reception system signal processing unit 37 includes a gain detection unit 37a, a carrier frequency synchronization unit 37b, an FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) unit 37c, A channel path estimation unit 37d, an equalization unit 37e, a subcarrier demodulation 37f, and an error correction unit 37g are provided.

  With this configuration, in the reception system signal processing unit 37, the signal (reception signal) from the A / D conversion unit 41 is output to the gain detection unit 37a and the carrier frequency synchronization unit 37b. Then, the gain detection unit 37a detects the signal strength of the reception signal from the A / D conversion unit 41, and the detection result is the analog front end unit (the reception signal is received by the wireless analog front end unit 21). If the received signal is received by the PLC analog front end unit 21, the received signal is fed back to the PLC analog front end unit 21) and received by the analog front end unit 21 or 23. The gain of is adjusted.

  At the same time, the received signal output to the carrier frequency synchronization unit 37b is subjected to symbol timing synchronization by the carrier frequency synchronization unit 37b, converted from a time axis signal to a frequency axis signal by the FFT unit 37, and channel estimation. Is output to the unit 37d and the equalizing unit 37e. Then, the channel path estimation unit 37e estimates the transmission path distortion of the received signal (each subcarrier), and the equalization section 37e determines the signal (each subcarrier) from the FFT section 37e based on the estimated transmission path distortion. The subcarrier demodulation unit 37e demodulates each subcarrier, the error correction unit 37e performs deinterleave and Viterbi decoding, and outputs the result to the MAC layer 35.

  The transmission system signal processing unit 39 will be described in detail. The transmission system signal processing unit 39 includes an error correction unit 39a, a subcarrier modulation unit 39b, and an inverse FFT unit 39c as shown in FIG.

  With this configuration, in the transmission system signal processing unit 39, the signal (transmission signal) from the MAC unit 35 is subjected to convolutional code and interleaving processing in the error correction unit 39a, and is modulated for each subcarrier in the subcarrier modulation unit 39b. Then, the inverse FFT unit 39 c converts the frequency axis signal into a time axis signal and outputs it to the D / A conversion unit 43.

  Further, the MAC layer 35 will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 8, the MAC layer 35 includes a quality management unit 35a, a training unit 35b, a scheduling unit 35c, and a control unit 35d.

  The quality management unit 35a detects the S / N ratio of the subcarrier, the CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check), the number of error corrections, and the like, and based on the detection result and the signal strength detected by the gain detection unit 37a of the physical layer 33. To detect changes in the transmission path. Further, when the quality management unit 35a detects deterioration or excess of the communication quality, the quality management unit 35a instructs the training unit 35b to perform training.

  When the training unit 35b receives an instruction from the quality management unit 35a, the training unit 35b performs a predetermined training to correct the deterioration or excess of the communication quality.

  The scheduling unit 35c assigns transmission power and modulation information to each slave based on the training result of the training unit 35c.

  The control unit 35d performs master-slave communication connection according to a predetermined frame F (FIG. 9) set in advance, and performs data communication between the master M and the slave S. Here, since the modem LSI 29 is set as the master M, the control unit 35d performs the process assigned to the master M in accordance with the frame F described above.

  The frame configuration of the frame F is configured as a time division multiple access frame, for example, as shown in FIG. This frame F is composed of sections BCH, FCH, ACH (physical channel) for transmitting / receiving control information for establishing communication between the master M and slave S, and sections DL, UL (physical channel) for transmitting / receiving data. It is configured.

  Each section BCH, FCH, ACH, DL, UL, RCH is formed by a preamble PA and a payload PL as shown in FIG. The brimble PA is a known signal and is used for signal detection, automatic gain control (AGC), frequency synchronization, timing synchronization, and the like of the receiver. Data information is placed on the payload PL.

  Note that the end point of the section BCH and the start point end points of the sections FCH, ACH, and RCH are set to time intervals determined from the start point of the section BCH.

  For the frame configuration of the frame F, for example, the standard ARIB STD-T70 of the broadband mobile access system (HiSWANa) of Non-Patent Document 1 can be referred to. HiSWANA is a standard defined for a wireless communication system, but can be referred to as a connection method.

  Each section BCH, FCH, ACH, DL, UL, RCH of the frame F is a section where the following processing is performed. That is, a section BCH (Broadcast Channel) is a section in which broadcast information is transmitted from the master M to all the slaves S. For example, the master M executes the frame F using the transmission time of the broadcast information as the start point of the section BCH, and the slave S executes the frame F using the reception time of the broadcast information as the start point of the section BCH. A section FCH (Frame Channel) is a section in which information regarding the frame configuration of the frame F is transmitted from the master M to the slave S. A section DL (downlink) is a section in which data is transmitted from the master M to the slave S. The section UL (uplink) is a section in which data is transmitted from the slave S to the master M. A section RCH (Random access Channel) is a section in which a communication connection request (resource request) or the like is transmitted from the slave S to the master M. A section ACH (Access feedback Channel) is a section in which the result of the communication connection request (that is, permission or non-permission of communication connection) is transmitted from the master M to the slave S.

  More specifically, the structure of each section DL, UL in FIG. 9 is as shown in FIG. 10a, where section DL, UL regarding the i (i = 1, 2,...) Slave Si is section DL Si, UL Si. Further, each slave Si (i = 1, 2,...) May have a structure in which the sections DL Si and UL Si relating to each slave Si are arranged next to each other, or first, as shown in FIG. The section DL Si regarding 1, 2,... May be arranged in order, and then the section UL Si regarding each slave Si (i = 1, 2,...) May be sequentially arranged.

  In more detail, considering that it is necessary to switch between power line carrier wave communication and radio communication in a time division manner at the time of reception, a communication connection request or the like is transmitted from the section RCH in FIG. 12), the communication connection request is transmitted from the slave S connected to the power line to the master M as shown in FIG. 12, and the communication connection request is transmitted from the slave S connected to the radio to the master M. Section RCH_M. The section RCH_P and the section RCH_M may be arranged continuously in the same frame as shown in FIG. 12, or may be arranged separately in different frames F as shown in FIG. This will be described with reference to FIG.

  Similarly, the section UL (section in which data is transmitted from the slave S to the master M) in the frame F in FIG. 9 is also a section in which data is transmitted from the slave S connected to the power line to the master M as shown in FIG. It is divided into UL_P and a section UL_M in which data is transmitted from the slave S connected wirelessly to the master M.

  In each section BCH, FCH, and ACH in which a signal is transmitted from the master M to the slave S, it is not necessary to switch between power line carrier communication and wireless communication in a time-sharing manner, so transmission is performed simultaneously in both power line carrier communication and wireless communication. Is done. Here, BCH, FCH, and ACH are transmitted with a symbol length and a frequency band conforming to radio communication.

  However, when the slave S is only a slave connected to the power line (for example, the PLC modem 9), transmission is performed only by power line carrier wave communication. When the slave S is only a slave connected to the wireless communication (for example, the notebook PC 11), the wireless communication is performed. Send by communication only. Thereby, power consumption can be reduced.

  However, in the section BCH (the section in which the notification information is transmitted from the master M to all the slaves S), even when communicating with only the slave S connected to the power line, a new slave S is connected to the radio and the slave When there is a possibility that a communication connection request is transmitted from S, or even when communication is performed only with a slave S connected wirelessly, a new slave S is connected to the power line and communication is performed from the slave S When there is a possibility that the connection request is transmitted, the notification information is transmitted in both the power line carrier wave communication and the wireless communication.

  Here, the section DL in which information is transmitted from the master M to the slave S is divided into the section DL_P in which information is transmitted from the master M to the slave S connected to the power line, and the information from the master M to the slave S connected wirelessly. Is divided into sections DL_M in which is transmitted. In section DL, there is no problem in operation even if both power line carrier wave communication and wireless communication are transmitted. However, if both analog front end units 21 and 25 are operated simultaneously, power consumption increases. Is divided into sections DL_P and DL_M, and the analog front end units 21 and 25 are operated in a time-sharing manner to reduce power consumption.

  Next, the configuration of the PLC modem 9 (other communication device) will be described in detail. Since the PLC modem 9 performs only power line carrier wave communication (that is, does not perform wireless communication), the PLC modem 9 is compared with the configuration of the above-described PLC modem 8 (for example, FIG. 3 and FIG. 4). The unit 25 and the connection control unit 31 are omitted, and the MAC layer 35 of the PLC modem 9 has the same configuration except that the slave processing is performed according to the frame F.

  Since the notebook PC 11 (other communication apparatus) performs only wireless communication here (that is, does not perform power line carrier wave communication), the configuration of the communication module portion of the notebook PC 11 is the configuration of the above-described PLC modem 8 (for example, FIG. 3 and FIG. 4), the PLC analog front end unit 21, the connection control unit 31, and the bridge unit 27 are omitted, and the MAC layer 35 of the notebook PC 11 performs slave processing according to the frame F described above. The configuration is the same except that the points are different.

  Of the constituent parts of the PLC modem 9 and the notebook PC 11, the same constituent parts as those of the PLC modem 8 are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted. For the sake of convenience, schematic configuration diagrams of the PLC modem 8 (for example, FIGS. 3 and 4) are used as schematic configuration diagrams of the PLC modem 9 and the notebook PC 11.

  Next, the operation of the communication network 1 will be described based on FIG. 1, FIG. 10, and FIG.

  The master M (here, the PLC modem 8) periodically performs the process defined by the frame F. Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, the frames F of the first week, the second week, the third week,... Are sequentially referred to as a first frame, a second frame, a third frame,.

  First, the master M transmits (broadcasts) broadcast information, for example, simultaneously in both the power line carrier wave communication and the wireless communication, for example, in the section BCH of the first frame.

  Of the slaves S (here, the PLC modem 9 and the notebook PC 11) that have received this broadcast, the slave S (here, the PLC modem 9) connected to the power line is connected to the master M in the section RCH_P of the first frame. On the other hand, the slave S (notebook PC 11 in this case) connected wirelessly transmits a communication connection request to the master M in the section RCH_M of the first frame. At that time, in the section RCH_P, the master M selects the PLC analog front end unit 21 in the connection control unit 31 and receives a communication connection request from the slave connected to the power line by power line carrier wave communication. In section RCH_M, the connection control unit 31 selects the wireless analog front end unit 25 and receives a communication connection request from the slave S connected wirelessly by wireless communication.

  Then, the master M transmits a communication connection permission to the slave S that has transmitted the above communication connection request if communication connection is possible in the section ACH of the second frame.

  At that time, for example, the master M selects both of the analog front end units 21 and 25 by the connection control unit 31 and grants communication connection permission to the slave (that is, the PLC modem 9) connected to the power line by the power line carrier wave communication. Simultaneously with the transmission, a communication connection permission is transmitted to the slave (that is, the PLC modem 9) wirelessly connected by wireless communication. Note that the master M transmits the communication connection permission only by the power line carrier wave communication when the slave S is only the slave connected to the power line, and on the other hand, the wireless transmission is performed when the slave S is only the slave connected to the wireless line. Only send communication connection permission.

  Then, the master M assigns the arrangement of the sections DL Si and UL Si to the slave Si that has permitted the communication connection, for example, as shown in FIG. 10a or 10b.

  And the master M transmits the information regarding arrangement | positioning of each area | region DL Si and UL Si allocated to the slave Si with respect to the slave Si which permitted said communication connection by the area FCH of the 3rd frame. Here, symbol length and frequency band information is also transmitted.

  Then, the master M transmits data to the slave Si that has permitted the communication connection in the section DL Si of the third frame. At that time, when the master M transmits to the slave Si connected to the power line, the connection control unit 31 selects the PLC analog front end unit 21 to transmit by power line carrier communication, and transmits to the slave connected wirelessly. When doing so, the connection control unit 31 selects the wireless analog front end unit 25 and transmits it by wireless communication. Here, when transmitting by power line carrier wave communication, the symbol length and frequency band suitable for power line carrier wave communication are used, and when transmitting by wireless communication, the symbol length and frequency band suitable for radio communication are used. , Transmission suitable for each performance is possible.

  Further, the master M receives data from the slave Si that has permitted the communication connection in the section UL Si of the third frame. At that time, when the master M receives from the slave Si connected to the power line, the connection control unit 31 selects the PLC analog front end unit 21 to receive by power line carrier wave communication, and receives from the wirelessly connected slave. When doing so, the connection control unit 31 selects the wireless analog front end unit 25 and receives it by wireless communication.

  Communication is performed between the master M and the slave S by periodically repeating the above processing.

According to the communication network 1 configured as described above, the signal processing units 37 and 39 of the PLC modem 9 (communication device) correspond to the wireless communication symbol length (first symbol length) during wireless communication. On the other hand, during power line carrier wave communication, the symbol length of the power line carrier wave communication corresponds to the symbol length (second symbol length) of 2 ⁿ (n: integer) of the wireless communication symbol length. Since transmission / reception system signal processing is performed, synchronous design of each transmission / reception system signal processing of wireless communication and power line carrier wave communication can be facilitated while conforming to the communication standard of wireless communication (thus preventing an increase in circuit size) and a frame. The configuration can be facilitated (therefore, complication of communication control can be prevented).

  Also, the PLC modem 9 (communication device) is set as the master, the PLC modem 9 and the notebook PC 11 (other communication device) are set as slaves, and they communicate with each other in the master / slave system. Can be added easily.

Further, the signal processing units 37 and 39 of the PLC modem 9 use a signal sampled at a frequency of 2 ⁿ (n: positive integer) of the sampling frequency of the signal for wireless communication, so that the communication standard for wireless communication is used. Power line carrier wave communication processing can be performed while complying.

  Further, since the PLC modem 9 (communication device) communicates with the PLC modem 9 and the notebook PC 11 (other communication devices) by time division multiple access, when there are a plurality of communication partners 9 and 11 of the PLC modem 9 However, the PLC modem 9 can appropriately communicate with the communication partners 9 and 11.

  In this embodiment, an example in which BCH, FCH, and ACH in a frame are shared with wireless communication has been described. However, BCH, FCH, and ACH are also suitable for power line carrier communication and wireless communication. You may send it. In this case, it is necessary to transmit BCH, FCH, and ACH for power line carrier wave communication and BCH, FCH, and ACH for wireless communication, respectively.

  In addition, as an access method, time division multiple access has been described as an example, but polling (master M sends to each slave S in the order of inquiry as to whether or not to communicate, and if there is a reply, grants transmission connection permission. Even in the case of performing access by the communication method to be transmitted), the same effect as in the case of time division multiple access can be obtained. When accessing by polling, for example, the slave S connected to the power line is polled, and then the slave S connected wirelessly is polled to connect to the power line. Communication connection can be similarly performed between the slave S and the slave S connected wirelessly.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
The number of slaves S connected to the power line and the number of slaves S connected to the radio vary depending on the installation location of the communication device and the usage status of the communication device. This is because the frequency (number of times) of communication connection requests from the slave S connected to the power line and the frequency (number of times) of communication connection requests from the slave S connected wirelessly depend on the installation location and the usage status of each communication device. Means different. Therefore, in order to efficiently use the section RCH of the frame F of the first embodiment, it is effective to adjust the ratio of the sections RCH_P and RCH_M of the frame F as follows.

  That is, consecutive frames F are defined as a first frame, a second frame,..., An Nth frame, and these are collectively set as one unit. For example, when there are few slaves S connected by radio, both the section RCH_P and the section RCH_M are arranged in the section RCH of the first frame, and the section RCH_P is provided in each section RCH from the second frame to the Nth frame. Only place. Alternatively, only the section RCH_M may be arranged in the section RCH of the first frame, and only the section RCH_P may be arranged in each section RCH from the second frame to the Nth frame.

  Conversely, when there are few slaves S connected by the power line, both the sections RCH_P and RCH_M are arranged in the section RCH of the first frame, and each section RCH from the second frame to the Nth frame is section RCH_M. Only place. Alternatively, only the section RCH_P may be arranged in the section RCH of the first frame, and only the section RCH_M may be arranged in each section RCH from the second frame to the Nth frame.

  The ratio of the section RCH_P and the section RCH_M may be set in accordance with a setting value that is set and input to the setting input section provided in the master M (in this case, the PLC modem 8). That is, the master M (communication device) in such a case is a section that receives a communication connection request from the slave S (other communication device) based on the setting input unit and the setting value input to the setting input unit. In the RCH (physical channel), a communication control unit that controls a ratio of a section RCH_P for power line carrier communication and a section RCH_M for wireless communication (this communication control unit is in charge of, for example, the MAC layer 27). Become. In this way, the ratio can be freely adjusted according to the setting value in the setting input unit by the user or the administrator, and thereby the physical channel that receives the communication connection request from the slave S can be used efficiently. .

  Alternatively, in addition to providing the setting input unit as described above, the ratio between the section RCH_P and the section RCH_M is the number of times that the master M has received a communication connection request from the slave S through power line carrier communication, and the master M is a slave through wireless communication. It may be automatically set according to the ratio with the number of times of receiving the communication connection request from S. In such a case, the master M (communication device) receives the communication connection request from the slave S (other communication device) by power line carrier wave communication, and from the slave S (other communication device) by wireless communication. The ratio of the number of times of receiving the communication connection request is detected, and based on the ratio, in the section RCH (physical channel) that receives the communication connection request from the slave S, the section RCH_P for power line carrier communication and the section RCH_M for wireless communication And a communication control unit that controls the ratio of (the communication control unit is in charge of, for example, the MAC layer 27). In this way, the section for power line carrier communication automatically depends on the number of times the communication connection request is received from the slave S in power line carrier communication and the number of times the communication connection request is received from the slave S in wireless communication. The ratio between the RCH_P and the wireless communication section RCH_M can be adjusted, whereby a physical channel that receives a communication connection request from the slave S can be used efficiently.

  In addition to the above example, the ratio of the section RCH_P and the section RCH_M is determined in N consecutive frames according to the ratio between the slave S connected to the power line and the slave S connected to the radio and the importance of communication. By changing, it is possible to effectively use the physical channel and frequency band of the communication network.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
In this embodiment, a case where the slave S has both communication functions of power line carrier wave communication and wireless communication will be described. In this case, the slave S can perform communication with the master M by selecting the one with the better communication state among the power line carrier wave communication and the wireless communication.

  The slave S in this case is different from the configuration of the PLC modem 8 of the first embodiment (for example, FIG. 3 and FIG. 4) in that the bridge unit 27 is omitted and in the MAC layer 35 of the slave S. The configuration is the same except that the slave processing is performed according to the frame F described above.

  Of the constituent parts of the slave S in this case, the same constituent parts as those of the PLC modem 8 of the first embodiment are given the same reference numerals and explanation thereof is omitted. Further, as a schematic configuration diagram of the slave S in this case, the schematic configuration diagram (for example, FIGS. 3 and 4) of the PLC modem 8 of the first embodiment is used for convenience.

  Next, based on FIG. 14, the operation of the slave S in this case (particularly, the operation for communication connection with the master M) will be described.

  In step S1, the slave S receives the broadcast information transmitted from the master M only in the power line carrier wave communication in the section BCH of the first frame. In step S2, the slave S analyzes the transmission path condition of the power line carrier wave communication based on the training signal included in the received notification information.

  In S3, the slave S receives the broadcast information transmitted from the master M in the section BCH of the second frame only by wireless communication. In step S4, the slave S analyzes the wireless communication transmission path status based on the training signal included in the received notification information.

  In step S5, the slave S compares the transmission line situation of the power line carrier wave communication and the transmission line situation of the wireless communication based on the above analysis result, and selects the better one of the two communications (ie, , Use the better communication).

  If the slave S selects power line carrier communication in step S5, the slave S transmits a communication connection request to the master M by power line carrier communication in the section RCH_P of the second frame, and on the other hand selects wireless communication. Transmits a communication connection request to the master M by wireless communication in the section RCH_P of the second frame.

  On the other hand, when the master M receives the communication connection request from the slave S in the section RCH_P of the second frame, the sections DL_P and UL_P using the power line carrier wave communication are set as the sections DL and UL to be allocated to the slave S. On the other hand, when the communication connection request from the slave S is received in the section RCH_M of the second frame, the sections DL_M and UL_M using wireless communication are allocated as the sections DL and UL to be allocated to the slave S. Thereafter, the master M operates in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

  Then, in step 6, the slave S continuously receives the broadcast information transmitted from the master M in the section BCH of each frame in the same manner as described above, only in the power line carrier wave communication and only in the radio communication. Are compared, and the result is compared to select the better of the two communications. If the selected communication is the same as the currently used communication, the slave S determines that there is no change in the transmission path status of the currently used communication and continues to use the currently used communication ( Then repeat step S6). On the other hand, if the selected communication is different from the currently used communication, the slave S determines that the transmission path state of the currently used communication has deteriorated, and in step S7, the currently used communication. Switch to the selected communication. Then, the slave S transmits a communication connection request to the master M by the switched communication. Then, the process returns to step S6.

  According to the communication network 1 configured as described above, the slave S (communication device) having the communication functions of both the power line carrier wave communication function and the wireless communication function is connected to the connection control unit 31 that controls connection of these communication functions. And information on the transmission path status from the master M (other communication devices) in both power line carrier wave communication and wireless communication, and based on each information, the transmission path status of each communication is compared. And the MAC layer 27 (communication control unit) that makes a communication connection request to the first master M via the connection control unit 31 via the connection control unit 31. Better communication between the two.

  In this embodiment, in the slave S, the analysis of the transmission line conditions of the power line carrier wave communication and the wireless communication is performed based on the broadcast information transmitted in the section BCH of different frames. This is because in S, the broadcast information cannot be received simultaneously in both power line carrier wave communication and wireless communication. Therefore, if the transmission path conditions of these two communications are analyzed based on information transmitted in different sections (for example, any two sections of BCH, FCH, ACH, and DL) of the same frame, It is possible to analyze the transmission path conditions of these two communications based on the information transmitted by.

  In this embodiment, the transmission path condition is analyzed based on the training signal. However, in addition to the training signal, it is used for the communication quality inspection of the quality management unit of the MAC layer 26 of the slave S or the master M. Information on the transmission path status (received signal strength, channel estimation result, CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check), error correction number, etc.) may be used. Even if it does in this way, the same effect is acquired.

Embodiment 4 FIG.
In the first embodiment described above, it is necessary to perform power line carrier wave communication and wireless communication by the same communication method. However, various standards have been put into practical use in wireless communication, and access to various communication devices is required. In order to cope with such a request, in this embodiment, the transmission / reception system signal processing in the master M and the slave S is processed by software so that various communication standards can be supported according to the software.

  The master M (PLC modem 8) of this embodiment is configured as shown in FIG. That is, in the master M, the reception system signal processing unit 37 and the transmission system signal processing unit 39 perform digital signal processing by software as compared with the configuration of the PLC modem 8 of the first embodiment (for example, FIG. 4). Each of the reception system signal processing unit 37 and the transmission system signal processing unit 39 is adapted to correspond to different communication standards depending on the software and according to the control of the MAC layer 35. The configuration is the same except that a digital signal processing switching unit 45 that switches software used in digital signal processing is further provided. Of the constituent parts of the master M (PLC modem 8) of this embodiment, the same constituent parts as those of the master M (PLC modem 8) of the first embodiment are given the same reference numerals and the description thereof is omitted.

  Next, the operation of the master M will be described. In the master M (PLC modem 8), at the time of transmission, the open / close switches SW2 and SW4 are closed by the control unit 31b under the control of the MAC layer 35, and a plurality of signal processing software are installed by the digital signal processing switching unit 45. The one corresponding to a predetermined communication standard is selected from among them. The signal from the MAC layer 35 is subjected to transmission system signal processing by the transmission system signal processing unit 38 based on the selected software, converted to an analog signal by the D / A conversion unit 43, and the open / close switch SW2, The signals are output to the analog front end units 21 and 25 via the SW 4, wirelessly transmitted from the wireless analog front end unit 25 via the antenna 23, and also transmitted through the power line 7 from the PLC analog front end unit 25 via the power line 7. The

  On the other hand, at the time of reception, under the control of the MAC layer 35, the digital signal processing switching unit 45 selects one corresponding to a predetermined communication standard from a plurality of signal processing software. Under the control of the MAC layer 35, for example, the opening / closing switch SW1 is first closed by the control unit 31b (while the opening / closing switch SW3 is opened), whereby the wireless analog front end unit 25 receives the signal via the antenna 23. The received signal is input to the A / D conversion unit 41 via the open / close switch SW1 and converted into a digital signal, and the reception system signal processing unit 37 performs reception system signal processing based on the selected software. The data is output to the MAC layer 35. Then, under the control of the MAC layer 35, the open / close switch SW3 is closed by the control unit 31b (while the open / close switch SW1 is opened), whereby the received signal received by the PLC analog front end unit 21 is The signal is input to the A / D conversion unit 41 via the opening / closing switch SW3 and converted into a digital signal, and the reception system signal processing unit 37 performs reception system signal processing based on the selected software and outputs it to the MAC layer 35. Is done. Thus, at the time of reception, reception by wireless communication and reception by power line carrier wave communication are performed in a time division manner.

  In the above description at the time of reception, the same signal processing software is used for power line carrier wave communication and wireless communication, but different signal processing software may be used for the two communication times.

  In the above description at the time of transmission, the same signal processing software is used for power line carrier wave communication and wireless communication, but different signal processing software may be used for the two communication times. In this case, as in reception, it is necessary to perform transmission in wireless communication and transmission in power line carrier communication in a time-sharing manner.

  Next, the configuration of the slave S of this embodiment will be described. First, the case where the slave S has communication functions of both power line carrier wave communication and wireless communication as in the third embodiment will be described. In this case, the slave S performs the processing of the slave according to the frame F in the point that the bridge unit 27 is omitted and the MAC layer 35 of the slave S compared to the master M (for example, FIG. 3 and FIG. 15). The configuration is the same except that the points are different. Of the constituent parts of the slave S in this case, the same constituent parts as those of the master M are given the same reference numerals and the description thereof is omitted. In addition, as a schematic configuration diagram of the slave S in this case, the schematic configuration diagram of the master M (for example, FIG. 15) is used for convenience.

  The operation of the slave S in this case (particularly the operation at the time of communication connection with the master M) will be described with reference to FIGS. In this slave S, different signal processing software is used in the transmission line signal processing unit 39 in the power line carrier wave communication and in the wireless communication, and the reception system signal processing unit 37 also in the power line carrier wave communication and the wireless communication. A case where different signal processing software is used will be described.

  In the slave S, in step T1, the digital signal processing switching unit 45 selects one corresponding to a predetermined communication standard for power line carrier wave communication from among a plurality of signal processing software.

  In step T2, in the slave S, in the first frame section BCH, the connection control unit 31 closes the open / close switch SW3 and opens the open / close switch SW1, and the notification information transmitted from the master M is only for power line carrier wave communication. Received at.

  In step T3, in the slave S, the received signal is subjected to reception system signal processing by the reception system signal processing unit 37 based on the signal processing software selected in step T1. Then, the transmission path situation of the power line carrier wave communication is analyzed by the MAC layer 35 of the slave S based on the information on the transmission path situation included in the received signal processed.

  In step T4, in the slave S, the digital signal processing switching unit 45 selects one corresponding to a predetermined communication standard for wireless communication from among a plurality of signal processing software.

  In step T5, in the slave S, in the second frame section BCH, the connection control unit 31 closes the open / close switch SW1 and opens the open / close switch SW3, and the notification information transmitted from the master M is only wireless communication. Received.

  In step T6, in the slave S, the reception signal is processed by the reception system signal processing unit 37 based on the signal processing software selected in step T4. Then, the MAC channel 35 of the slave S analyzes the transmission path status of wireless communication based on the information related to the transmission path status included in the signal processed reception signal.

  In step T7, in the slave S, the MAC layer 35 compares the transmission line situation of the power line carrier wave communication and the transmission line situation of the wireless communication based on the above analysis result, and the better one of the two communications. Is selected (i.e., the better communication is used).

  If the power line carrier communication is selected as a result of the selection, the slave S uses the digital signal processing switching unit 45 to install signal processing software corresponding to the predetermined communication standard of the power line carrier communication selected in step T1. select. In the slave S, in the second frame section RCH_P, the connection control unit 31 closes the open / close switch SW4 and the open / close switch SW2, and the communication connection request signal from the MAC layer 35 is transmitted to the transmission system signal processing unit. 39 is subjected to transmission system signal processing based on the above selected signal processing software, converted to an analog signal by the D / A converter 43, and transmitted from the PLC analog front end unit 21 to the master M by power line carrier wave communication. .

  On the other hand, when the wireless communication is selected as a result of the selection, the slave S selects the signal processing software corresponding to the predetermined communication standard of the wireless communication selected in step T4 by the digital signal processing switching unit 45. . In the slave S, the open / close switch SW2 is closed and the open / close switch SW4 is opened by the connection control unit 31 in the section RCH_P of the second frame, and the communication connection request signal from the MAC layer 35 is transmitted to the transmission system signal processing unit. 39, transmission system signal processing is performed based on the selected signal processing software by 39, converted into an analog signal by the D / A converter 43, and transmitted from the wireless analog front end unit 25 to the master M by wireless communication.

  On the other hand, when the master M receives the communication connection request from the slave S in the section RCH_P of the second frame, the sections DL_P and UL_P using the power line carrier wave communication are set as the sections DL and UL to be allocated to the slave S. On the other hand, when the communication connection request from the slave S is received in the section RCH_M of the second frame, the sections DL_M and UL_M using wireless communication are allocated as the sections DL and UL to be allocated to the slave S.

  Then, in step T8, the slave S continues to receive the broadcast information transmitted from the master M alternately in only the power line carrier wave communication and only the radio communication in the section BCH of each frame in the same manner as described above. Are compared, and the result is compared to select the better of the two communications. If the selected communication is the same as the currently used communication, the slave S determines that there is no change in the transmission path status of the currently used communication, and continues to use the currently used communication. (And repeat step T8). On the other hand, if the selected communication is different from the currently used communication, the slave S determines that the transmission path state of the currently used communication has deteriorated, and in step T9, the currently used communication. Is switched to the selected communication, and a communication connection request is transmitted to the master M in the same manner as described above. Then, the process returns to step T8.

  According to the communication network 1 configured as described above, the master M (communication device) and / or the slave S (communication device) performs transmission / reception signal processing by software, and the communication standard is determined according to the software. Since the changeable transmission / reception signal processing units 37 and 39 are provided, it is possible to cope with various communication standards only by changing the software.

  When the slave S has only the communication function of power line carrier wave communication, compared with the configuration of the slave S (slave having both the power line carrier wave communication and wireless communication functions) S, the antenna 23, the wireless analog front The configuration is the same except that the end unit 25 and the connection control unit 31 are omitted. Further, when the slave S has only a communication function for wireless communication, the PLC analog front end unit 21 and the connection are compared with the configuration of the slave (slave having both communication functions of power line carrier wave communication and wireless communication) S described above. The configuration is the same except that the control unit 31 is omitted. Therefore, description of the operation of these slaves S is omitted.

3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a communication device according to Embodiment 1. FIG. It is the figure which showed the connection relation of a master and a slave. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a PLC modem 8. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a more detailed configuration of a PLC modem 8. FIG. It is a figure explaining the relationship between clock frequency fa and a frequency band. It is a figure explaining the relationship between symbol length Tm of radio | wireless communication, and symbol length Tp of power line carrier wave communication. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a physical layer 33 of a PLC modem 8. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a MAC layer 35 of a PLC modem 8. FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of the typical flame | frame of time division multiple access. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) of a time division multiple access. It is a figure which shows the structural example of a physical channel. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the physical channel at the time of using power line carrier wave communication and radio | wireless communication together. It is a figure which shows the other structural example of the physical channel at the time of using power line communication and radio | wireless communication together. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the slave S of the third embodiment. FIG. 10 is a schematic configuration diagram of a master M (PLC modem 8) according to a fourth embodiment. It is a figure explaining operation | movement of the slave (slave which has a communication function of both power line carrier wave communication and radio | wireless communication) S of Embodiment 4. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a symbol length section Ts and a guard interval TG in Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 10 is another diagram illustrating the relationship between the symbol length section Ts and the guard interval TG in the first embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  1 communication device, 3 building, 5 outlet, 7 power line, 8, 9, 13 PLC modem, 11 wireless terminal, 15 Internet, 17, 18 wired terminal, 21 PLC analog front end, 23 antenna, 25 wireless analog front End section, 27 bridge section, 29 modem LSI, 31 connection control section, 33 physical layer, 35 MAC layer, 35a quality management section, 35b training section, 35c scheduling section, 35d control section, 37 reception signal processing section, 37a gain Detection unit, 37b carrier frequency synchronization unit, 37c FFT unit, 37d channel path estimation unit, 37e equalization unit, 37f subcarrier demodulation unit, 37g error correction unit, 39 transmission system signal processing unit, 39a error correction unit, 39b subcarrier Modulation unit, 39c Inverse FFT unit, 41 A / D conversion unit, 43 D / A conversion unit, 45 digital signal processing switching unit, M master, S1, S2, S3 slave, Ts symbol length section, Tg guard interval.

Claims (11)

In a communication apparatus having both power line carrier communication and wireless communication functions, during wireless communication, transmission / reception system signal processing is performed corresponding to the first symbol length, while, during power line carrier communication, the first A communication apparatus that performs transmission / reception signal processing corresponding to a second symbol length having a length 2 ⁿ (n: integer) times the symbol length. In a communication apparatus having both power line carrier wave communication and wireless communication functions, a signal sampled at a frequency 2 ⁿ (n: positive integer) times the sampling frequency of a signal transmitted and received by wireless communication is a power line. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication apparatus is used for carrier wave communication.   In a communication device having both power line carrier communication and wireless communication functions, OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) is used as the communication method, and modulation / demodulation processing of power line carrier communication and modulation / demodulation processing of wireless communication are performed by a common digital modulation / demodulation circuit. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein:   2. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication apparatus performs communication in a master / slave manner with one or more other communication apparatuses having at least one communication function of power line carrier wave communication and wireless communication. Communication equipment. A connection control unit that controls connection of each communication between power line carrier wave communication and wireless communication;
Information related to transmission path conditions from other communication devices in both power line carrier communication and wireless communication when performing communication with other communication devices having both communication functions of power line carrier communication and wireless communication Based on the respective information, compare the transmission path status of each communication, select a communication with a better transmission path status, and select the other communication with the selected communication via the connection control unit. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a communication control unit that performs communication with the apparatus. A setting input section;
Communication for controlling a ratio of a physical channel for power line carrier communication and a physical channel for wireless communication in a physical channel that receives a communication connection request from another communication device based on a setting value set and input to the setting input unit The communication apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a control unit. Detect the ratio between the number of times the communication connection request is received from other communication devices in power line carrier wave communication and the number of times the communication connection request is received from other communication devices in wireless communication, and based on the ratio, other communication 2. The communication according to claim 1, further comprising: a communication control unit that controls a ratio between a physical channel for power line carrier wave communication and a physical channel for wireless communication in a physical channel that receives a communication connection request from an apparatus. apparatus.   The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication apparatus communicates with another communication apparatus by time division multiple access.   The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a standard described in ARIB STD-T70 is used as a wireless communication standard.   The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication apparatus communicates with another communication apparatus by multiple access through polling.   The communication apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a transmission / reception system signal processing unit that performs transmission / reception system signal processing by software and that can change a communication standard according to the software.

Images