JP2016111642A - Information processor, information processing method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To appropriately set a transmission power.SOLUTION: An information processor includes a control part. The control part provided at the information processor is configured to generate and transmit control information for requesting the information processor existing in the periphery of the own device to reduce a transmission power on the basis of the data transmission state of the own device. The control part provided at the information processor is configured to control the transmission power of the own device on the basis of the data transmission state of the information processor existing in the periphery of the own device.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present technology relates to an information processing apparatus. Specifically, the present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and information processing method that handle information related to wireless communication, and a program that causes a computer to execute the method.

  Conventionally, there is a wireless communication technology for exchanging various data using wireless communication. For example, a communication method (for example, ad hoc communication or ad hoc network) that autonomously interconnects with information processing apparatuses existing in the vicinity has been proposed.

  Further, for example, a wireless multi-hop communication device has been proposed in which a node that constructs a wireless multi-hop network exchanges received radio wave conditions with adjacent nodes by transmitting and receiving transmission power control packets (see, for example, Patent Document 1). This wireless multi-hop communication device is designed to prevent communication with an adjacent node having another direct communication path from becoming unstable when radio waves reach an adjacent node having no direct communication path. Reduce transmission power.

JP 2011-146850 A

  In the above-described conventional technology, it is possible to reduce radio wave interference by reducing transmission power. However, since the transmission status of adjacent nodes is not taken into consideration, there is a possibility that the transmission power may be lowered more than necessary. Therefore, it is important to appropriately set the transmission power in consideration of the transmission status of adjacent nodes.

  The present technology has been created in view of such a situation, and aims to set transmission power appropriately.

  The present technology has been made to solve the above-described problems, and a first aspect thereof includes a control unit that controls transmission power based on a data transmission state of an information processing apparatus existing in the vicinity. An information processing apparatus, an information processing method thereof, and a program for causing a computer to execute the method. This brings about the effect | action of controlling transmission power based on the data transmission state of the information processing apparatus which exists in the circumference | surroundings.

  In the first aspect, the control unit is control information generated based on a data transmission state of the information processing apparatus by the information processing apparatus existing around the information processing apparatus and exists around the information processing apparatus. When control information for requesting the information processing apparatus to lower the transmission power is received, the transmission power may be controlled based on the control information. This brings about the effect | action of controlling transmission power based on the received control information.

  In the first aspect, the control unit may control the transmission power based on the number of received control information. This brings about the effect | action of controlling transmission power based on the number of received control information.

  In the first aspect, the control unit may control the transmission power based on the transfer number of the received control information. This brings about the effect | action of controlling transmission power based on the transfer number of the received control information.

  In the first aspect, the control unit controls the transmission power to be further decreased when the transmission power of the own apparatus does not decrease when the transmission power is decreased based on the control information. You may make it do. Thus, when the transmission power is reduced based on the control information, the transmission power is further reduced when the data transmission throughput of the own apparatus does not decrease.

  In the first aspect, the control unit may change the control of the transmission power based on the control information based on the QoS of the transmission data of the own device. This brings about the effect | action of changing control of the transmission power based on control information based on QoS of the transmission data of an own apparatus.

  In the first aspect, when the control unit receives the control information, the control unit transfers the control information to another information processing apparatus until the transfer number of the control information reaches a set value. May be. Thereby, when control information is received, the control information is transferred to another information processing apparatus until the transfer number of the control information reaches a set value.

  In the first aspect, the control unit may control the transmission power based on a data transmission state of the information processing apparatus existing in the surroundings and a data transmission state of the own apparatus. This brings about the effect of controlling the transmission power based on the data transmission state of the information processing apparatus existing around and the data transmission state of the own apparatus.

  Further, the second aspect of the present technology is a control for generating and transmitting control information for requesting an information processing apparatus existing in the vicinity to reduce transmission power based on a data transmission state of the own apparatus. An information processing apparatus including a unit, an information processing method thereof, and a program for causing a computer to execute the method. Accordingly, there is an effect of generating and transmitting control information for requesting the information processing apparatus existing in the vicinity to reduce the transmission power based on the data transmission state of the own apparatus.

  In the second aspect, the control unit transmits the control information when the data amount of transmission data is large with reference to a threshold value, and the control unit transmits the control information when the data amount of transmission data is small with reference to the threshold value. You may make it stop transmission of control information. Accordingly, the control information is transmitted when the data amount of the transmission data is large with reference to the threshold value, and the control information transmission is stopped when the data amount of the transmission data is small with reference to the threshold value.

  In the second aspect, the control unit transmits the control information when the QoS of the transmission data is high with reference to the threshold, and the control information when the QoS of the transmission data is low with respect to the threshold. May be stopped. Thus, the control information is transmitted when the QoS of the transmission data is high based on the threshold, and the control information is stopped when the QoS of the transmission data is low based on the threshold.

  In the second aspect, when transferring data of another information processing apparatus, the control unit may determine the request level of the control information based on the data to be transferred. Good. As a result, when data of another information processing apparatus is transferred, the request level of the control information is determined based on the data to be transferred.

  In the second aspect, the control unit determines a request level of the control information based on a comparison result between a throughput of the reception data to be transferred and a throughput of the transmission data to be transferred. It may be. This brings about the effect that the request level of the control information is determined based on the comparison result between the throughput of the reception data to be transferred and the throughput of the transmission data to be transferred.

  In the second aspect, the control unit determines a request level of the control information based on a comparison result between a transmission rate of the reception data to be transferred and a transmission rate of the transmission data to be transferred. You may make it do. Accordingly, there is an effect that the request level of the control information is determined based on the comparison result between the transmission rate of the reception data to be transferred and the transmission rate of the transmission data to be transferred.

  In addition, according to a third aspect of the present technology, an information processing including a control unit that controls transmission power based on a comparison result between reception data to be transferred to another information processing apparatus and transmission data to be transferred. An apparatus, an information processing method thereof, and a program for causing a computer to execute the method. This brings about the effect that the transmission power is controlled based on the comparison result between the reception data to be transferred to another information processing apparatus and the transmission data to be transferred.

  In the third aspect, the control unit controls the transmission power so that a difference between a transmission rate of the reception data to be transferred and a transmission rate of the transmission data to be transferred becomes small. May be. As a result, the transmission power is controlled so that the difference between the transmission rate of the reception data to be transferred and the transmission rate of the transmission data to be transferred becomes small.

  According to the present technology, it is possible to achieve an excellent effect that transmission power can be appropriately set. Note that the effects described here are not necessarily limited, and may be any of the effects described in the present disclosure.

It is a figure showing an example of system configuration of communication system 10 in a 1st embodiment of this art. It is a block diagram showing an example of an internal configuration of information processor 100 in a 1st embodiment of this art. It is a figure which shows the comparative example of the transmission power control which can be performed in the communication system in 1st Embodiment of this technique. It is a figure which shows an example of the format of the control information (control signal) exchanged between each information processing apparatus which comprises the communication system 10 in 1st Embodiment of this technique. It is a figure which shows the flow of the control information exchanged between each information processing apparatus which comprises the communication system 10 in 1st Embodiment of this technique, and its acquisition example. It is a figure showing an example of holding control information acquired by information processor 102 in a 1st embodiment of this art. It is a figure showing an example of setting of a demand level by information processor 100 in a 1st embodiment of this art. It is a figure showing an example of setting of a demand level by information processor 100 in a 1st embodiment of this art. It is a figure showing an example of setting of a demand level by information processor 100 in a 1st embodiment of this art. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure of transmission processing by the information processing device 100 according to the first embodiment of the present technology. It is a figure showing an example of setting of transmission power by information processor 100 in a 1st embodiment of this art. It is a figure showing an example of setting of transmission power by information processor 100 in a 1st embodiment of this art. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure of a transmission power setting process performed by the information processing device 100 according to the first embodiment of the present technology. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure of transmission power setting processing by the information processing device 100 according to the second embodiment of the present technology. It is a figure showing an example of setting of transmission power by information processor 100 in a 3rd embodiment of this art. 22 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure of a transmission power setting process performed by the information processing device 100 according to the third embodiment of the present technology. It is a block diagram which shows an example of a schematic structure of a smart phone. It is a block diagram which shows an example of a schematic structure of a car navigation apparatus.

Hereinafter, modes for carrying out the present technology (hereinafter referred to as embodiments) will be described. The description will be made in the following order.
1. First embodiment (an example in which transmission power is controlled based on a data transmission state of an information processing apparatus existing in the vicinity)
2. Second Embodiment (Example in which transmission power is controlled based on a data transmission state of an information processing apparatus existing in the vicinity and a data transmission state of the own apparatus)
3. Third Embodiment (Example in which transmission power is controlled based on a comparison result between reception data to be transferred to another information processing apparatus and transmission data to be transferred)
4). Application examples

<1. First Embodiment>
[Configuration example of communication system]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration example of a communication system 10 according to the first embodiment of the present technology. The communication system 10 is an example of a wireless communication system configured by an information processing apparatus that confirms an occupation state of a medium (for example, a channel and a resource) prior to transmission and performs transmission when the medium is clear.

  The communication system 10 includes information processing apparatuses 100 to 105. In FIG. 1, the relationship between information processing apparatuses capable of direct communication is indicated by a dotted arrow.

  Each information processing device (device) configuring the communication system 10 is, for example, a portable information processing device or a fixed information processing device having a wireless communication function. Note that the portable information processing device is a wireless communication device such as a smartphone, a mobile phone, or a tablet terminal, and the fixed information processing device is an information processing device such as a printer or a personal computer.

  Here, ad-hoc communication, ad-hoc network, and the like are known as a communication method for autonomously interconnecting information processing apparatuses (nodes) that exist in the vicinity. In such a network, each information processing apparatus can communicate with information processing apparatuses existing in the vicinity without depending on the master station. That is, it is possible to exchange control information with information processing apparatuses adjacent to each other, autonomously configure a network, and perform communication with other information processing apparatuses. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present technology, an ad hoc network will be described as an example of a communication method for autonomously interconnecting information processing apparatuses existing in the vicinity. The master station is a control device that performs centralized control such as a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) access point or a mobile phone base station.

  In an ad hoc network, when a new information processing apparatus is added in the vicinity, the new information processing apparatus can also freely participate in the network. For example, first, it is assumed that only the information processing apparatus 100 and the information processing apparatus 101 are participating in the ad hoc network among the information processing apparatuses illustrated in FIG. In this case, it is assumed that the information processing apparatus 102 and the information processing apparatus 103 are sequentially added. In this case, the network coverage can be increased as the number of these information processing devices (information processing devices existing in the vicinity) increases. That is, as the information processing device 102 and the information processing device 103 are sequentially added, the network coverage can be increased.

  Here, each information processing apparatus can transfer information exchanged between other information processing apparatuses in a bucket relay manner, in addition to autonomously interconnecting with information processing apparatuses existing in the vicinity. That is, each information processing apparatus can relay not only data (traffic) of its own apparatus but also data (traffic) transmitted and received by other information processing apparatuses.

  For example, the information processing apparatus 102 can directly communicate with the information processing apparatuses 100, 101, and 103, but may directly communicate with the information processing apparatuses 104 and 105 due to reasons such as radio waves not reaching. It shall not be possible.

  Even when direct communication is not possible in this way, the information processing apparatuses 100, 101, and 103 capable of direct communication with the information processing apparatus 102 can transfer the data of the information processing apparatus 102 to the information processing apparatus 105. Therefore, by transferring the data in this way, the information processing apparatus 102 and the information processing apparatus 105 that cannot directly communicate with the information processing apparatus 102 are mutually connected via the information processing apparatuses 100, 101, and 103. It is possible to exchange information. That is, the information processing apparatus 102 cannot directly communicate with the information processing apparatus 105, but the information processing apparatus 100 or the like can communicate with the information processing apparatus 105 by relaying data of the information processing apparatus 102. Become. Similarly, the information processing apparatus 102 can communicate with the information processing apparatus 104.

  A method of performing data transfer (so-called bucket relay) by a relay node and communicating with a remote information processing apparatus in this manner is called a multi-hop relay. A network that performs multi-hop is generally known as a mesh network. In addition, as a technique for configuring a mesh network, standards such as IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) 802.11s-2011 are known.

  FIG. 2 shows a configuration example of an information processing apparatus that constitutes such an ad hoc network or a mesh network. The communication system 10 is an example of a network in which a plurality of information processing devices are connected to each other by performing a one-to-one wireless communication between the plurality of information processing devices.

[Configuration example of information processing device]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration example of the information processing apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment of the present technology. The internal configuration of the other information processing apparatuses (information processing apparatuses 101 to 105) is the same as that of the information processing apparatus 100. Therefore, only the information processing apparatus 100 will be described here, and the description of the other information processing apparatuses will be described. Is omitted.

  The information processing apparatus 100 includes a transmission unit 110, a reception unit 120, a control unit 130, a memory 140, and an antenna 150. In FIG. 2, only the configuration related to wireless communication is mainly shown, and illustration and description of other configurations are omitted.

  The transmitter 110 includes a channel encoder 111, a modulator 112, and an RF (Radio Frequency) transmitter 113.

  When the data to be transmitted is input, the channel encoder 111 encodes the data to be transmitted and performs error correction encoding based on the control of the control unit 130. The processed data is output to the modulation unit 112.

  Based on the control of the control unit 130, the modulation unit 112 demodulates data that has been error correction encoded by the channel coding unit 111, and outputs the modulated data (modulated signal) to the RF transmission unit 113. .

  The RF transmission unit 113 amplifies the modulated signal output from the modulation unit 112 based on the control of the control unit 130, and transmits the amplified demodulated signal via the antenna 150. For example, the RF transmission unit 113 amplifies the modulated signal output from the modulation unit 112 to power corresponding to the transmission power instruction value output from the control unit 130, and the amplified demodulated signal is transmitted via the antenna 150. Send.

  The receiving unit 120 includes an RF receiving unit 121, a demodulating unit 122, and a channel decoding unit 123.

  The RF reception unit 121 converts a signal (reception signal) received via the antenna 150 into a baseband signal based on the control of the control unit 130, and outputs the baseband signal to the demodulation unit 122.

  The demodulator 122 demodulates the baseband signal output from the RF receiver 121 based on the control of the controller 130, and outputs the demodulated signal to the channel decoder 123.

  The channel decoding unit 123 performs error correction and decoding on the signal demodulated by the demodulation unit 122 based on the control of the control unit 130, and outputs the data subjected to the error correction and decoding.

  For example, the transmission unit 110 and the reception unit 120 can perform wireless communication by millimeter wave communication (60 GHz or the like), 900 MHz / 2.4 GHz / 5 GHz wireless LAN, or UWB (Ultra Wide Band). For example, the transmission unit 110 and the reception unit 120 can perform wireless communication by visible light communication or NFC (Near Field Communication).

  The transmission unit 110 and the reception unit 120 may perform wireless communication using radio waves (electromagnetic waves), or perform wireless communication using a medium other than radio waves (for example, wireless communication performed using a magnetic field). You may make it perform.

  The control unit 130 controls each unit of the information processing apparatus 100 based on a control program stored in the memory 140. For example, the control unit 130 performs signal processing of transmitted / received information. Moreover, the control part 130 is implement | achieved by CPU (Central Processing Unit), for example.

  In addition, the control unit 130 performs transmission power control based on the feature amount (for example, transmission / reception information of the own device) output from the transmission unit 110 and the reception unit 120. For example, the control unit 130 generates a transmission power instruction value based on the feature values output from the transmission unit 110 and the reception unit 120, and outputs the transmission power instruction value to the RF transmission unit 113.

  For example, based on the data transmission state of the information processing apparatus 100, the control unit 130 generates and transmits control information for requesting information processing apparatuses existing in the vicinity to reduce transmission power. Further, for example, the control unit 130 controls transmission power based on the data transmission state of information processing apparatuses existing in the vicinity.

  For example, when receiving the control information, the control unit 130 transfers the control information to another information processing apparatus until the transfer number of the control information reaches a set value (for example, 1).

  The memory 140 is a memory that stores various types of information. For example, the memory 140 stores various information (for example, a control program) necessary for the information processing apparatus 100 to perform a desired operation. Further, in the memory 140, for example, control information received by the information processing apparatus 100 (for example, control information shown in FIG. 4C) is stored for each information processing apparatus.

  Here, a network related to a radio access scheme based on CSMA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access) represented by IEEE 802.11 is assumed. In particular, a network (for example, a mesh network) in which a plurality of information processing apparatuses using the same channel are present is assumed.

  For example, in an access scheme based on CSMA, the opportunity for transmission decreases according to the amount of data (traffic amount) transmitted on the same channel. For example, when a certain information processing apparatus A is present in a close (very adjacent) location and the path loss with the information processing apparatus A is significantly smaller than the path loss with another information processing apparatus B, A case where communication with the information processing apparatus B is performed is assumed. In this case, when a signal from the information processing apparatus A is received, transmission to the information processing apparatus B cannot be performed. That is, if the amount of data increases, the amount of interference given to neighboring information processing devices increases, which may limit the bandwidth used by neighboring information processing devices and reduce the transmission opportunities of neighboring information processing devices. .

  Further, a case is assumed where there are a plurality of information processing apparatuses that perform transmission and reception on the same channel in the vicinity. In this case, when the own device transmits data, the data transmission becomes interference for an information processing device other than the information processing device to which the data is transmitted. For this reason, in the access method based on CSMA, the data transmission of the own apparatus restricts the transmission opportunities of other information processing apparatuses. For example, when the transmission environment of a link that performs data transmission is favorable, data transmission is performed with a higher transmission power than necessary, and the transmission opportunities of other information processing apparatuses are reduced. In other words, there is a risk of increased interference that does not require data transmission of the device itself.

  Therefore, it is conceivable to control the transmission power in accordance with the transmission status of the own device. For example, assume a case where the transmission power of the own apparatus is lowered when an information processing apparatus existing in the vicinity is not transmitting data. In this case, the interference with other information processing devices can be reduced and the transmission opportunities of other information processing devices can be increased. However, since other information processing devices do not transmit data, Does not affect the information processing device. However, in this case, the transmission data rate of the own apparatus is lowered and the throughput is lowered.

  Also, transmission power is controlled according to the number of adjacent information processing devices, information processing devices (next adjacent nodes) existing in the vicinity detected by the information processing devices that are separated from each other, and the distance to those information processing devices. It is also possible to do. However, even when the transmission power is controlled in such a manner, the transmission status of other information processing apparatuses cannot be grasped in the same manner, and therefore the transmission power may be lowered more than necessary.

  Thus, even when controlling the transmission power of the own device according to the transmission status of the own device, the number of information processing devices present in the surroundings and the distance thereof, the transmission power may be reduced more than necessary. The overall system throughput may be reduced. That is, the system capacity such as the throughput of the entire network does not necessarily increase.

  In a mesh network or the like, data transmitted by another information processing apparatus may be transferred. In this case, the flow throughput is determined by the transmission rate of the path having the lowest transmission rate. For example, when there is a difference between the transmission rate of transmitted data and the transmission rate of received data among the data to be transferred, the high transmission rate path does not contribute to the improvement of the flow throughput. For this reason, when transmission power is not controlled, transmission power more than necessary for transmission at a high transmission rate is used, which may increase interference with information processing apparatuses existing in the vicinity. . That is, unnecessary interference due to imbalance between the received data (reception traffic) of the information processing apparatus (relay node) that relays data and the transmission data (transmission traffic) may increase. An example of these is shown in FIG.

[Example of transmission power control]
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a comparative example of transmission power control that can be performed in the communication system according to the first embodiment of the present technology. FIG. 3 shows a relationship example between the mesh network configured by the information processing devices 21 to 24 and the mesh network configured by the information processing devices 31 to 33. In FIG. 3, the relationship between information processing apparatuses that can communicate directly is indicated by a dotted arrow. Further, the communicable range of the information processing apparatus 21 is schematically indicated by dotted ellipses 41 to 43.

  FIG. 3 shows a comparative example in the case of reducing interference and increasing transmission opportunities by performing transmission power control in a mesh network (for example, IEEE 802.11s).

  FIG. 3 a shows an example of a network configuration when transmission power control is not performed. 3A shows an example in which each of the information processing device 21 and the information processing device 31 performs data communication with a nearby information processing device.

  In the example illustrated in a of FIG. 3, the information processing device 31 is included in the communicable range of the information processing device 21 (dotted line ellipse 41), and thus receives transmission data from the information processing device 21. As described above, when the information processing apparatus 31 receives the transmission data from the information processing apparatus 21, the data transmission must be stopped until the channel is cleared. For this reason, the transmission opportunity of the information processing apparatus 31 decreases.

  FIG. 3 b shows an example of a network configuration when performing transmission power control. FIG. 3 b illustrates an example in which each of the information processing device 21 and the information processing device 31 performs data communication with a nearby information processing device.

  As illustrated in b of FIG. 3, the information processing device 21 reduces the transmission power, so that the communicable range (the dotted ellipse 42) of the information processing device 21 is narrowed. For this reason, data from the information processing device 21 does not reach the information processing device 31. As a result, the information processing apparatus 31 can perform data transmission of its own apparatus regardless of whether or not the data transmission of the information processing apparatus 21 is present, and the transmission opportunities increase. In addition, since the interference power given to the information processing devices 32 and 33 by the information processing device 21 is reduced, the communication status of the information processing devices 32 and 33 is improved.

  Here, it is assumed that there is a difference in transmission power between the information processing device 21 and the information processing device 31. In this case, the information processing apparatus 21 controls the signal detection capability, thereby preventing a decrease in transmission opportunities by the information processing apparatus 31.

  However, when the information processing apparatus 21 decreases the transmission power, the transmission rate of data transmitted by the information processing apparatus 21 also decreases. For example, when the information processing apparatus 31 generates data transmission, an increase in transmission opportunities of the information processing apparatus 31 leads to an increase in the throughput of the entire network. On the other hand, when there is no data transmission of the information processing apparatus 31, the throughput of the entire network is reduced by the amount that the transmission rate of the information processing apparatus 21 is reduced.

  FIG. 3c illustrates an example of a network configuration in the case where transmission power control is performed based on the transmission state of information processing apparatuses existing in the vicinity. FIG. 3c illustrates an example in which the information processing apparatus 31 does not perform data communication with neighboring information processing apparatuses.

  As shown in FIG. 3c, when there is no data transmission of the information processing device 31, the information processing device 21 increases the transmission power. Thereby, the transmission rate of the information processing device 21 can be increased, and the throughput can be improved. As described above, when the information processing apparatus existing in the vicinity is not transmitting data, the transmission power of the own apparatus is increased. When the information processing apparatus existing in the vicinity is transmitting data, the transmission power of the own apparatus is increased. It is possible to improve the transmission opportunity of the information processing apparatus existing in the vicinity.

[Example format of control information (control signal)]
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a format of control information (control signal) exchanged between the information processing apparatuses configuring the communication system 10 according to the first embodiment of the present technology.

  Here, each information processing apparatus constituting the communication system 10 exchanges packet-shaped signals during communication. In addition, each information processing device constituting the communication system 10 transmits control information (control signal) at regular intervals (or necessary timing) in order to notify the information processing devices existing in the surroundings of the transmission state of the own device. To do. This control information is used as a notification for requesting another information processing apparatus to lower the transmission power.

  In addition, each information processing apparatus constituting the communication system 10 preferably transmits control information in a broadcast frame in order to notify a plurality of information processing apparatuses of the transmission state of the own apparatus. Therefore, in the first embodiment of the present technology, an example (implementation example in a beacon frame) in which control information is superimposed on a beacon frame in order to prevent an increase in a new control frame is shown. FIG. 4 shows an example in which an IEEE 802.11 beacon frame is used. The beacon frame is one of management frames.

  Information other than a beacon may be used. For example, a probe request used for broadcast transmission and scanning may be used.

  FIG. 4 a shows a MAC (Media Access Control) frame format example of the management frame. The MAC header is from the frame control field to the HT (High Throughput) control field. The frame body field stores a beacon frame information element. Information such as a time stamp, a beacon period, and an SSID (Service Set Identifier) is stored in the information element.

  In addition, in the Information Element, a Vendor-specific element that can be independently implemented by a vendor is prepared. An example of this format is shown in FIG.

  FIG. 4b shows a format example of the Vendor-specific element. That is, the format of the Vendor-specific element shown in b of FIG. 4 is stored in a part of the frame body field shown in a of FIG.

  In the first embodiment of the present technology, control information (control signal) is stored in the Vendor-specific content 200 shown in FIG. A format example of this control information is shown in FIG.

  FIG. 4c shows a format example of the control information (control signal). The control information includes ID fields 201 and 211, transfer fields 202 and 212, and request level fields 203 and 213. One ID field, transfer field, and request level field are stored for one information processing apparatus. For example, control information (ID field, transfer field, and request level field) relating to the own device is arranged first, and control information (ID field, transfer field, and request level field) relating to another device is arranged next. In addition, when there are a plurality of other information processing apparatuses to which control information is to be transmitted, the control information of that number (the number of information processing apparatuses to which control information is to be transmitted) is sequentially arranged. The arrangement order can be determined according to a predetermined rule (for example, reception order).

  ID fields 201 and 211 store IDs (for example, MAC addresses) for identifying information processing apparatuses in the network. In the first embodiment of the present technology, the IDs of the information processing apparatuses 100 to 105 will be described as 0 to 5 for ease of explanation.

  The transfer fields 202 and 212 store the number of transfer of the corresponding control information. For example, 0 is stored in the transfer field 202 of the own device in the control information transmitted by the own device. Each time data is transferred, 1 is added to the value of the transfer field.

  The request level fields 203 and 213 store values corresponding to the degree of request for lowering the transmission power to the information processing apparatuses existing in the vicinity.

  For example, when the information processing apparatus existing in the vicinity wants to greatly reduce the transmission power, or when a strong reduction in transmission power is requested, the value of the request level is increased. On the other hand, if not, the value of the request level is lowered. The range of the requested level value may be either binary or multivalued. The request level field may be omitted from the control information. In this case, for example, the information processing apparatus on the receiving side can determine the request level according to the presence / absence of the request level field.

  The information processing apparatus that has received the control information shown in c of FIG. 4 adds the received control information to the beacon of its own apparatus and transmits it. In this case, 1 is added to the value of the transfer field (for example, the transfer field 212 shown in FIG. 4C). If the IDs included in the received control information (for example, the ID fields 201 and 211 shown in FIG. 4c) are the same as the IDs included in the control information received in the past, the control information Are combined into one. In this case, when the transfer field value is different, the control information having the smaller transfer field value is adopted. Here, an upper limit value of the number of transfers may be set in advance, and the control information may not be transferred when the upper limit value is exceeded.

[Example of control information transfer]
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a flow of control information exchanged between the information processing devices included in the communication system 10 according to the first embodiment of the present technology and an example of obtaining the control information. FIG. 5 shows an example in which the information processing apparatuses 100 to 105 are arranged in the topology shown in FIG.

  FIG. 5 a shows an example of the flow until the control information transmitted from the information processing apparatus 105 reaches the information processing apparatus 102 in the communication system 10.

  FIG. 5 b illustrates an example of control information acquired by the information processing apparatus 102 in the example illustrated in FIG.

  As illustrated in a of FIG. 5, the control information transmitted by the information processing device 105 is transferred by the information processing device 100, the information processing device 101, the information processing device 104, and the information processing device 103, and reaches the information processing device 102. . The flow of the control information is indicated by bold arrows 301 to 303.

  Further, the information processing apparatus 102 receives control information of the information processing apparatus 105 from each of the information processing apparatus 100, the information processing apparatus 101, and the information processing apparatus 103. In this case, as shown in FIG. 5b, the control information is held in the memory of the information processing apparatus 102 (corresponding to the memory 140 shown in FIG. 2).

  In FIG. 5 b, control information received by the information processing apparatus 102 from the information processing apparatus 103 via the information processing apparatus 104 is shown in the upper part. Further, the control information received from the information processing apparatus 100 by the information processing apparatus 102 is shown in the middle section. Control information received by the information processing apparatus 102 from the information processing apparatus 101 is shown in the lower part. In this case, each ID field 311 is “5” indicating the information processing apparatus 105. The values of the transfer field 312 are 2, 1, and 1, respectively. That is, the upper control information shown in FIG. 5 b is 2 because it is received from the information processing apparatus 103 via the information processing apparatus 104. On the other hand, the interruption control information shown in FIG. 5B is 1 because it is received from the information processing apparatus 100 without passing through another information processing apparatus. Similarly, the lower control information shown in FIG. 5B is 1 because it is received from the information processing apparatus 101 without passing through another information processing apparatus. As described above, when the transfer field value is different, the control information having the smaller transfer field value is employed as described above. That is, 1 is adopted.

  Further, the information processing apparatus 102 transmits the received control information together with the control information related to the own apparatus. In this case, the information processing apparatus 102 adds 1 to the value of the transfer field of the control information related to the information processing apparatus 105 and transmits it. That is, the information processing apparatus 102 stores “5” in the ID field and “2” in the transfer field as control information related to the information processing apparatus 105, and stores the received request level as it is in the request level. To send.

  Here, when the network is configured by a large number of information processing apparatuses, the number of control information to be exchanged increases. In general, as the number of transfers increases, the interference power decreases, so the importance of the transmission information of the information processing apparatus with a large number of transfers decreases. For this reason, an upper limit may be provided for the transfer of control information. That is, it is possible to set an upper limit value for the number of transfers and prevent control information from being transferred when the number of transfers exceeds the upper limit value. For example, when the upper limit of the number of transfers is 1, only control information transmitted by an adjacent information processing apparatus (that is, an information processing apparatus within 2 hops) is collected.

[Example of holding control information]
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of holding the control information acquired by the information processing apparatus 102 according to the first embodiment of the present technology. FIG. 6 shows an example in which the information processing apparatuses 100 to 105 are arranged in the topology shown in FIG.

  For example, for the information processing apparatus 105 corresponding to “5” of the ID 321, 1 is stored in the transfer field 322 as illustrated in FIG. 6. Similarly, for other information processing apparatuses, 0 or 1 is stored in the transfer field 322.

  Similarly, the control information is held for the other information processing apparatuses 100 to 104. Further, each of the information processing apparatuses 100 to 105 updates the held control information periodically or at a predetermined timing. For example, the held control information can be updated at the timing when the beacon is received. The held control information may be deleted periodically or at a predetermined timing. For example, it can be erased at a timing when a certain time has passed since the data was held. Thereby, old control information can be appropriately deleted.

  In this way, by checking the value of the transfer field 322, it is easy to see how many information processing devices (for example, an adjacent information processing device or an information processing device adjacent to the information processing device) according to the hop number exist around Can grasp.

[Example of sending control information]
As described above, control information can be exchanged between the information processing apparatuses that constitute the communication system 10. Therefore, in the following, setting conditions for transmitting control information (for example, timing) and request levels will be described. For example, a specific example of a transmission state transmitted as control information and a setting example of a request level included in control information will be described below. Any of the following may be used, or a plurality of them may be weighted and combined. In the following, an example in which the information processing apparatus 100 generates and transmits control information is shown.

[Transmission example based on the amount of data to be transmitted (traffic volume)]
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a setting example of the request level by the information processing apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment of the present technology. FIG. 7 shows an example in which the request level is set according to the transmission data amount (transmission traffic amount). In the graph shown in FIG. 7, the horizontal axis indicates the transmission data amount (transmission traffic amount), and the vertical axis indicates the request level.

  FIG. 7 shows an example in which the range of the request level is four values from 0 to 3. Further, when the transmission data amount is smaller than the threshold value, the control information is not transmitted. Further, when the transmission data amount is larger than the threshold value, the value of the request level is increased stepwise based on the graph shown in FIG.

  As described above, the control unit 130 of the information processing apparatus 100 can determine the transmission timing of the control information based on the transmission data amount (feature amount) acquired from the transmission unit 110. For example, the control unit 130 can transmit control information when the amount of transmission data is large with reference to the threshold, and can stop transmission of control information when the amount of transmission data is small with reference to the threshold.

  Further, the control unit 130 of the information processing apparatus 100 can set the request level of the information processing apparatus 100 based on the transmission data amount (feature amount) acquired from the transmission unit 110.

[Transmission example based on QoS (Quality of Service) of transmitted data (traffic)]
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a setting example of the request level by the information processing apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment of the present technology. FIG. 8 shows a setting example of the request level according to the QoS of transmission data (transmission traffic). In the graph shown in FIG. 8, the horizontal axis indicates the QoS of transmission data (transmission traffic), and the vertical axis indicates the request level. FIG. 8 shows an example in which an access category defined by IEEE 802.11 is used as the QoS.

  FIG. 8 shows an example in which the range of the request level is four values from 0 to 3. Also, AC_BK (background), AC_BE (best effort), AC_VI (video), and AC_VO (voice) are assigned to each of the request level ranges.

  As described above, the control unit 130 of the information processing apparatus 100 can determine the transmission timing of the control information based on the QoS acquired from the transmission unit 110. For example, the control unit 130 can transmit the control information when the QoS of the transmission data is high based on the threshold, and can stop the transmission of the control information when the QoS of the transmission data is low based on the threshold.

  Further, the control unit 130 of the information processing apparatus 100 can set the request level of the information processing apparatus 100 based on the QoS acquired from the transmission unit 110.

  The request level may be set in consideration of both the request level setting based on the transmission data amount shown in FIG. 7 and the request level setting based on QoS shown in FIG. That is, the control unit 130 of the information processing apparatus 100 can determine the transmission timing of the control information based on the transmission data amount and QoS acquired from the transmission unit 110. Further, the control unit 130 of the information processing apparatus 100 can set the request level of the information processing apparatus 100 based on the transmission data amount and QoS acquired from the transmission unit 110.

[Transmission example based on data throughput (relay node)]
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a setting example of the request level by the information processing apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment of the present technology. FIG. 9 illustrates an example of setting a request level when the information processing apparatus 100 transfers data from another information processing apparatus (that is, when the information processing apparatus 100 functions as a relay node). FIG. 9 shows an example in which only the amount of data when the information processing apparatus 100 transfers data from another information processing apparatus, not the data that is the transmission source or destination.

  FIG. 9 schematically shows reception 401 of data to be transferred and transmission 402 of data to be transferred by the information processing apparatus 100.

  For example, when the throughput of received data is larger than the throughput of transmitted data, the data is buffered in the information processing apparatus 100. In this case, the throughput of the entire flow is reduced. Thus, when the difference between the received data throughput and the transmitted data throughput is large, the control information request level is increased. On the other hand, when the difference is small, the control information request level is reduced.

  Although FIG. 9 shows an example in which throughput is used, the request level may be set based on other information (for example, the buffer capacity occupation ratio).

[Example of transmission based on data transmission rate (relay node)]
Here, an example using the transmission rate of data to be transferred is shown. In this example, as in FIG. 9, an example in which only information of data to be relayed is handled is shown.

  For example, when the transmission rate of received data is higher than the transmission rate of transmitted data, the request level of control information is increased. That is, when the difference between the transmission rate of received data and the transmission rate of transmitted data is large, the request level of control information is increased. On the other hand, when the difference is small, the control information request level is reduced.

  When a plurality of data is transferred, a value weighted based on the data amount or QoS of each data may be set as the request level.

  In this manner, the control unit 130 transmits the control information transmission timing based on the transmission / reception information acquired from the transmission unit 110 and the reception unit 120 (for example, transmission data and reception data throughput, transmission data and reception data transmission rate). Can be determined. Further, the control unit 130 can set the request level of the information processing apparatus 100 based on the transmission / reception information acquired from the transmission unit 110 and the reception unit 120.

  As described above, when transferring data from another information processing apparatus, the control unit 130 can determine the request level of control information based on the data to be transferred. For example, the control unit 130 can determine the request level of the control information based on a comparison result between the throughput of the reception data to be transferred and the throughput of the transmission data to be transferred. For example, the control unit 130 can determine the request level of the control information based on a comparison result between the transmission rate of the reception data to be transferred and the transmission rate of the transmission data to be transferred.

[Operation example of information processing device]
FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure of a transmission process performed by the information processing apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment of the present technology.

  First, the control unit 130 of the information processing apparatus 100 acquires transmission / reception information of the own apparatus (step S801). For example, the control unit 130 transmits / receives transmission / reception information (for example, transmission data amount, transmission data QoS, transmission data and reception data throughput, transmission data and reception data) from at least one of the transmission unit 110 and the reception unit 120. Transmission rate).

  Subsequently, the control unit 130 determines a request level based on the acquired transmission / reception information (step S802). For example, the request level can be determined based on any of the examples shown in FIGS.

  Subsequently, the control unit 130 embeds control information including the determined request level in a beacon (step S803). Also, the control unit 130 embeds control information to be transmitted among control information related to other information processing apparatuses in the beacon (step S803). For example, as shown in FIG. 4c, each control information (ID, transfer, request level) is embedded in the beacon.

  Subsequently, the control unit 130 transmits the beacon in which the control information is embedded to the information processing apparatus existing in the vicinity (step S804).

  Subsequently, the control unit 130 determines whether there is an instruction to end the transmission process (step S805). If there is an instruction to end the transmission process (step S805), the operation of the transmission process ends. On the other hand, if there is no instruction to end the transmission process (step S805), the process returns to step S801.

  Thus, based on the data transmission state of the information processing apparatus 100, the control unit 130 generates and transmits control information for requesting the information processing apparatuses existing in the vicinity to reduce the transmission power.

[Transmission power setting example]
Next, an example in which the information processing apparatus that has received the control information sets transmission power will be described. That is, a setting example in which an information processing apparatus that collects control information from information processing apparatuses existing in the vicinity controls transmission power based on the control information will be described.

[Setting example of transmission power based on the number of received control information]
FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a setting example of transmission power by the information processing apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment of the present technology. FIG. 11 illustrates an example in which transmission power is set based on the number of received control information (that is, the number of information processing apparatuses that have transmitted control information). In the graph shown in FIG. 11, the horizontal axis indicates the number of received control information, and the vertical axis indicates the value of transmission power.

  For example, when the number of received control information is large, it can be estimated that there are many information processing apparatuses that transmit data around the own apparatus. Therefore, in order to reduce interference with information processing apparatuses existing in the vicinity, control is performed to reduce the transmission power of the own apparatus.

[Setting example of transmission power weighted according to request level]
For example, when a request level field is set in the control information, the number of received control information is weighted according to the request level, and the transmission power is set based on the weighted value. Good. For example, the transmission power can be set based on a value obtained by adding the values of the request level fields included in all received control information. Also, for example, a threshold value can be set, and the transmission power can be set based on the number of control information whose request level field value exceeds the threshold value.

  Thus, the control unit 130 can control transmission power based on the number of received control information.

[Setting example of transmission power based on the number of transferred control information]
FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a setting example of transmission power by the information processing apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment of the present technology. FIG. 12 shows an example in which the transmission power is set based on the value of the transfer field of the received control information. In the graph shown in FIG. 12, the horizontal axis indicates the number of information processing apparatuses having a transfer field value included in the received control information of 1 or more, and the vertical axis indicates the value of transmission power.

  For example, when the number of received control information is large, it can be estimated that there are many information processing apparatuses that transmit data around the own apparatus. Therefore, in order to reduce interference with information processing apparatuses existing in the vicinity, control is performed to reduce the transmission power of the own apparatus.

  For example, it is impossible to directly communicate with an information processing device whose transfer field value included in the received control information is 1 or more (that is, an information processing device that is 2 hops or more ahead). For this reason, the signal transmitted by the own apparatus becomes interference with these information processing apparatuses. Therefore, in order to reduce interference with these information processing apparatuses, the transmission power of the own apparatus is reduced.

  A value obtained by weighting the value of the transfer field included in the received control information may be used. For example, the transmission power can be set by ignoring control information having a transfer field value of 2 or more.

[Setting example of transmission power weighted according to request level]
For example, assume that a request level field is set in the control information. In this case, the transfer number of the received control information may be weighted according to the request level, and the transmission power may be set based on the weighted value. For example, the transmission power can be set based on a value obtained by adding all the control information request levels having a transfer field value of 1 or more among all received control information. In addition, for example, a threshold value can be set, and the transmission power can be set using only control information in which the value of the request level field exceeds the threshold value.

  As described above, the control unit 130 can control the transmission power based on the transfer number of the received control information.

[Example of suppressing frequent changes in transmit power]
As described above, the range in which the information processing apparatus 100 can directly communicate is changed by changing the transmission power. For this reason, even when there is no change in the position or transmission state of each information processing apparatus, the value of the transfer field of the control information changes. In this case, there is a possibility that the transmission power value to be set changes frequently and the system is not stable. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the transmission power value from changing frequently by setting different values for the setting value for increasing the transmission power and the setting value for decreasing the transmission power. For example, the set value for increasing the transmission power can be set to a value larger than the set value for decreasing the transmission power. Thus, in order to prevent the value of the transmission power from changing frequently, hysteresis can be provided.

[Operation example of information processing device]
FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure of transmission power setting processing by the information processing device 100 according to the first embodiment of the present technology.

  First, the control unit 130 of the information processing apparatus 100 determines whether or not a beacon has been received (step S811). If no beacon is received (step S811), monitoring is continued.

  When a beacon is received (step S811), the control unit 130 extracts control information included in the received beacon (step S812). Subsequently, the control unit 130 updates the held control information based on the extracted control information (step S813). In this case, it is assumed that a plurality of beacons are received, and control information having the same ID exists among the control information included in the plurality of beacons. In this case, the control unit 130 combines the control information having the same ID into one based on the value of the transfer field included in the control information having the same ID. That is, the control unit 130 compares the value of the transfer field included in the control information having the same ID, and sets the control information that should have the smallest transfer field value. Moreover, it is assumed that control information having the same ID as the retained control information exists among the control information included in the received beacon. Similarly, in this case, the control unit 130 collects the control information having the same ID into one based on the value of the transfer field included in the control information having the same ID.

  Subsequently, the control unit 130 determines the transmission power of the own device based on the held control information (step S814). For example, the transmission power of the own apparatus can be determined based on the example shown in FIG.

  Subsequently, the control unit 130 performs control to change the transmission power of the own device so that the determined transmission power is obtained (step S815).

  Subsequently, the control unit 130 determines whether or not there is an instruction to end the transmission power setting process (step S816). When there is an instruction to end the transmission power setting process (step S816), the operation of the transmission power setting process is ended. On the other hand, if there is no instruction to end the transmission power setting process (step S816), the process returns to step S811.

  As described above, when the information processing apparatus existing in the vicinity receives control information generated based on the data transmission state of the information processing apparatus, the control unit 130 controls transmission power based on the control information. Can do.

  In addition, although the example which controls transmission power for every beacon period is shown in FIG. 13, you may make it control transmission power at another timing. Further, for example, the cycle for controlling the transmission power may be changed.

<2. Second Embodiment>
In 1st Embodiment of this technique, the example which controls transmission power based on the received control information was shown. However, the transmission power may be controlled using other information.

  Therefore, in the second embodiment of the present technology, an example of transmission power control based on other information (for example, transmission information of the own device) is shown. Note that the configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present technology is substantially the same as the information processing apparatuses 100 to 105 illustrated in FIGS. For this reason, about the part which is common in 1st Embodiment of this technique, the code | symbol same as 1st Embodiment of this technique is attached | subjected, and some description is abbreviate | omitted.

[Example using transmission throughput]
First, an example in which transmission throughput is used as transmission information of the own device will be described. For example, by reducing the transmission power of the own device, the reception power of the transmission destination is lowered, and therefore the transmission rate is also lowered. In this case, the transmission throughput may decrease depending on the channel availability. For this reason, if the transmission throughput does not decrease even when the transmission power is reduced, the transmission power can be controlled to be further reduced. In that case, the transmission power may be reduced to the extent that it does not fall below the transmission rate considered necessary.

  Thus, when the transmission power is reduced based on the control information, the control unit 130 can control the transmission power to be further reduced when the data transmission throughput of the information processing apparatus 100 does not decrease.

[Example using QoS]
Next, an example in which QoS is used as transmission information of the own device will be shown. For example, an example in which an IEEE 802.11 access category is used as QoS will be described.

  For example, when highly important AC_VO or AC_VI data is being transmitted, the control for reducing the transmission power is stopped. On the other hand, when AC_BE or AC_BK data with low importance is transmitted, the transmission power is controlled as described above.

  As described above, the control unit 130 can change (for example, stop or execute) the control of the transmission power based on the control information based on the QoS of the transmission data of the information processing apparatus 100.

[Operation example of information processing device]
FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure of transmission power setting processing by the information processing device 100 according to the second embodiment of the present technology. FIG. 14 is a modification of part of FIG. 13, and a part is common to FIG. 13. Specifically, steps S821 to S823 and S827 shown in FIG. 14 are common to steps S811 to S813 and S815 shown in FIG. For this reason, a part of description of a common part is abbreviate | omitted.

  After updating the held control information (step S823), the control unit 130 determines a transmission power candidate of the own apparatus based on the held control information (step S824). Note that the transmission power candidate determination method is the same as the transmission power determination method shown in FIG.

  Subsequently, the control unit 130 acquires transmission information of the own device and determines a transmission request condition (step S825).

  For example, when the transmission throughput is used as the transmission information, it is determined whether or not the transmission throughput does not decrease even when the transmission power is reduced. If the transmission throughput does not decrease even when the transmission power is reduced, the transmission request condition is determined so as to further reduce the transmission power.

  For example, when QoS is used as transmission information, it is determined whether or not the transmission data is highly important data (for example, AC_VO, AC_VI). When the transmission data is highly important data, the transmission request condition is determined so as to stop the control for reducing the transmission power. On the other hand, when the transmission data is data with low importance (for example, AC_BE, AC_BK), the transmission power is controlled as described above.

  Subsequently, the control unit 130 determines whether or not the transmission power determined as a candidate satisfies the determined transmission request condition (step S826). When the transmission power determined as a candidate satisfies the determined transmission request condition (step S826), the control unit 130 changes the transmission power of the own device so as to be the transmission power determined as the candidate. Control is performed (step S827).

  When the transmission power determined as a candidate does not satisfy the determined transmission request condition (step S826), the control unit 130 causes the transmission power determined as the candidate to satisfy the determined transmission request condition. Then, the transmission power determined as the candidate is corrected (step S828). And the control part 130 performs control which changes the transmission power of an own apparatus so that it may become the corrected transmission power (step S828).

  As described above, in the embodiment of the present technology, it is possible to control the transmission power of the own device based on the information processing devices existing in the vicinity and the data transmission state of the own device. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the transmission power from being lowered more than necessary to reduce the throughput. For example, when the data transmission amount of the information processing apparatus existing in the vicinity is small, the throughput of the own apparatus can be improved by setting the transmission power of the own apparatus large. Further, when the data transmission amount of information processing apparatuses existing in the vicinity is large, the interference can be reduced when necessary by reducing the transmission power of the own apparatus.

  Further, it is possible to transmit control information for requesting adjacent information processing apparatuses to reduce transmission power based on the data transmission state of the own apparatus. Thereby, more optimal transmission power control according to the transmission state of an adjacent information processing apparatus can be performed.

  In addition, by transmitting such control information, it is possible to grasp the transmission state of the information processing apparatus 2 hops ahead (next adjacent) or more. Thereby, the interference with the information processing apparatus more than 2 hops away can be reduced.

  Further, the information processing apparatus that has received such control information can control the transmission power based on the transmission state of the information processing apparatus existing in the vicinity and the transmission state of the own apparatus. As a result, interference with other information processing apparatuses can be reduced within a range that does not affect the data transmission of the own apparatus.

<3. Third Embodiment>
In the first and second embodiments of the present technology, the example in which the transmission power is controlled based on the received control information has been described. However, in the case of a relay node, transmission power may be controlled without using control information.

  Thus, in the third embodiment of the present technology, an example in which the relay node controls transmission power without using control information is shown. Note that the configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present technology is substantially the same as the information processing apparatuses 100 to 105 illustrated in FIGS. For this reason, about the part which is common in 1st Embodiment of this technique, the code | symbol same as 1st Embodiment of this technique is attached | subjected, and some description is abbreviate | omitted.

[Setting example of transmission power based on transmission rate difference]
FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a setting example of transmission power by the information processing apparatus 100 according to the third embodiment of the present technology. FIG. 15 shows an example in which transmission power is set based on a difference in transmission rate of transferred data (a difference between a transmission rate of received data and a transmission rate of transmission data). In the graph shown in FIG. 15, the horizontal axis indicates the difference value of the transmission rate of the transferred data (the difference value between the transmission rate of the reception data and the transmission rate of the transmission data), and the vertical axis indicates the value of the transmission power. Indicates.

  For example, it is assumed that the information processing apparatus 100 transfers data as a relay node (that is, when data is relayed). In this case, as shown in FIG. 9, if there is a difference between the transmission status of the transferred data and the reception status of the transferred data, the throughput of the entire flow is improved by reducing the difference. Can do. Therefore, in such a case, the relay node controls the transmission power of its own device based on the difference.

  For example, the control unit 130 of the information processing apparatus 100 calculates a difference value between the transmission rates of the transferred data (a difference value between the transmission rate of the received data (reception rate) and the transmission rate of the transmission data (transmission rate)). And the control part 130 performs the setting which reduces transmission power, when a transmission rate is larger than a reception rate. On the other hand, when the transmission rate is smaller than the reception rate, the control unit 130 performs setting to increase the transmission power.

  FIG. 15 shows an example in which transmission power is set regardless of the presence or absence of control information. However, the transmission power may be set based only on the difference value of the transmission rate of the transferred data (the difference value between the reception rate and the transmission rate), or a combination with the transmission power setting method based on the control information. May be used.

[Operation example of information processing device]
FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure of transmission power setting processing by the information processing device 100 according to the third embodiment of the present technology.

  First, the control unit 130 of the information processing apparatus 100 acquires information (transmission rate (reception rate) of received data, transmission rate (transmission rate) of transmission data) regarding the transmission / reception state of the transferred data (step S831).

  Subsequently, the control unit 130 determines whether or not the transmission rate (transmission rate) of the transmission data is larger than the transmission rate (reception rate) of the reception data (steps S832 and S834).

  When the transmission rate is higher than the reception rate (step S832), the control unit 130 performs setting to reduce the transmission power (step S833).

  When the transmission rate (transmission rate) of the transmission data is smaller than the transmission rate (reception rate) of the reception data (step S834), the control unit 130 performs setting to increase the transmission power (step S835).

  Subsequently, the control unit 130 determines whether or not there is an instruction to end the relay process (step S836). If there is an instruction to end the relay process (step S836), the operation of the relay process is ended. On the other hand, if there is no instruction to end the relay process (step S836), the process returns to step S831.

  As described above, the control unit 130 can control the transmission power based on the comparison result between the reception data to be transferred to another information processing apparatus and the transmission data to be transferred. For example, the control unit 130 can control the transmission power so that the difference between the transmission rate of the reception data to be transferred and the transmission rate of the transmission data to be transferred becomes small.

  As described above, in the third embodiment of the present technology, an information processing device (relay node) that relays data between other information processing devices receives a transmission rate of received data, a transmission rate of transmitted data, and The transmission power can be controlled so that the difference between the two becomes small. As a result, interference with other information processing apparatuses can be reduced without reducing the data transfer throughput.

  Thus, according to the embodiment of the present technology, it is possible to appropriately control the transmission power in the wireless communication network. In addition, radio waves can be effectively used by controlling transmission power in a wireless communication network. As a result, it is possible to prevent a decrease in transmission opportunities of information processing apparatuses existing in the surroundings and to suppress interference with information processing apparatuses existing in the surroundings, thereby preventing the transmission power from being lowered more than necessary. Can do. In addition, the throughput of the entire network can be improved.

<4. Application example>
The technology according to the present disclosure can be applied to various products. For example, the information processing apparatuses 100 to 105 are a smartphone, a tablet PC (Personal Computer), a notebook PC, a mobile terminal such as a portable game terminal or a digital camera, a fixed terminal such as a television receiver, a printer, a digital scanner, or a network storage. Alternatively, it may be realized as an in-vehicle terminal such as a car navigation device. The information processing apparatuses 100 to 105 are also terminals (MTC (Machine Type Communication) terminals) that perform M2M (Machine To Machine) communication, such as smart meters, vending machines, remote monitoring apparatuses, or POS (Point Of Sale) terminals. May also be realized. Further, the information processing apparatuses 100 to 105 may be wireless communication modules (for example, integrated circuit modules configured by one die) mounted on these terminals.

[4-1. First application example]
FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a smartphone 900 to which the technology according to the present disclosure can be applied. The smartphone 900 includes a processor 901, a memory 902, a storage 903, an external connection interface 904, a camera 906, a sensor 907, a microphone 908, an input device 909, a display device 910, a speaker 911, a wireless communication interface 913, an antenna switch 914, an antenna 915, A bus 917, a battery 918, and an auxiliary controller 919 are provided.

  The processor 901 may be, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a SoC (System on Chip), and controls functions of an application layer and other layers of the smartphone 900. The memory 902 includes a RAM (Random Access Memory) and a ROM (Read Only Memory), and stores programs and data executed by the processor 901. The storage 903 can include a storage medium such as a semiconductor memory or a hard disk. The external connection interface 904 is an interface for connecting an external device such as a memory card or a USB (Universal Serial Bus) device to the smartphone 900.

  The camera 906 includes, for example, an image sensor such as a charge coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS), and generates a captured image. The sensor 907 may include a sensor group such as a positioning sensor, a gyro sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, and an acceleration sensor. The microphone 908 converts sound input to the smartphone 900 into an audio signal. The input device 909 includes, for example, a touch sensor that detects a touch on the screen of the display device 910, a keypad, a keyboard, a button, or a switch, and receives an operation or information input from a user. The display device 910 has a screen such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) or an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, and displays an output image of the smartphone 900. The speaker 911 converts an audio signal output from the smartphone 900 into audio.

  The wireless communication interface 913 supports one or more wireless LAN standards such as IEEE802.11a, 11b, 11g, 11n, 11ac, and 11ad, and performs wireless communication. The wireless communication interface 913 can communicate with other devices via a wireless LAN access point in the infrastructure mode. In addition, the wireless communication interface 913 can directly communicate with other devices in an ad hoc mode or a direct communication mode such as Wi-Fi Direct. In Wi-Fi Direct, unlike the ad hoc mode, one of the two terminals operates as an access point, but communication is performed directly between the terminals. The wireless communication interface 913 can typically include a baseband processor, an RF (Radio Frequency) circuit, a power amplifier, and the like. The wireless communication interface 913 may be a one-chip module in which a memory that stores a communication control program, a processor that executes the program, and related circuits are integrated. The wireless communication interface 913 may support other types of wireless communication methods such as a short-range wireless communication method, a proximity wireless communication method, or a cellular communication method in addition to the wireless LAN method. The antenna switch 914 switches the connection destination of the antenna 915 among a plurality of circuits (for example, circuits for different wireless communication schemes) included in the wireless communication interface 913. The antenna 915 includes a single antenna element or a plurality of antenna elements (for example, a plurality of antenna elements constituting a MIMO antenna), and is used for transmission and reception of radio signals by the radio communication interface 913.

  Note that the smartphone 900 is not limited to the example in FIG. 17, and may include a plurality of antennas (for example, an antenna for a wireless LAN and an antenna for a proximity wireless communication method). In that case, the antenna switch 914 may be omitted from the configuration of the smartphone 900.

  The bus 917 connects the processor 901, memory 902, storage 903, external connection interface 904, camera 906, sensor 907, microphone 908, input device 909, display device 910, speaker 911, wireless communication interface 913, and auxiliary controller 919 to each other. . The battery 918 supplies electric power to each block of the smartphone 900 shown in FIG. 17 through a power supply line partially shown by a broken line in the drawing. For example, the auxiliary controller 919 operates the minimum necessary functions of the smartphone 900 in the sleep mode.

  In the smartphone 900 illustrated in FIG. 17, the control unit 130 described using FIG. 2 may be implemented in the wireless communication interface 913. In addition, at least a part of these functions may be implemented in the processor 901 or the auxiliary controller 919.

  Note that the smartphone 900 may operate as a wireless access point (software AP) when the processor 901 executes the access point function at the application level. Further, the wireless communication interface 913 may have a wireless access point function.

[4-2. Second application example]
FIG. 18 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a car navigation device 920 to which the technology according to the present disclosure can be applied. The car navigation device 920 includes a processor 921, a memory 922, a GPS (Global Positioning System) module 924, a sensor 925, a data interface 926, a content player 927, a storage medium interface 928, an input device 929, a display device 930, a speaker 931, and wireless communication. An interface 933, an antenna switch 934, an antenna 935, and a battery 938 are provided.

  The processor 921 may be a CPU or SoC, for example, and controls the navigation function and other functions of the car navigation device 920. The memory 922 includes RAM and ROM, and stores programs and data executed by the processor 921.

  The GPS module 924 measures the position (for example, latitude, longitude, and altitude) of the car navigation device 920 using GPS signals received from GPS satellites. The sensor 925 may include a sensor group such as a gyro sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, and an atmospheric pressure sensor. The data interface 926 is connected to the in-vehicle network 941 through a terminal (not shown), for example, and acquires data generated on the vehicle side such as vehicle speed data.

  The content player 927 reproduces content stored in a storage medium (for example, CD or DVD) inserted into the storage medium interface 928. The input device 929 includes, for example, a touch sensor, a button, or a switch that detects a touch on the screen of the display device 930, and receives an operation or information input from the user. The display device 930 has a screen such as an LCD or an OLED display, and displays a navigation function or an image of content to be reproduced. The speaker 931 outputs the navigation function or the audio of the content to be played back.

  The wireless communication interface 933 supports one or more wireless LAN standards such as IEEE802.11a, 11b, 11g, 11n, 11ac, and 11ad, and performs wireless communication. The wireless communication interface 933 can communicate with other devices via a wireless LAN access point in the infrastructure mode. In addition, the wireless communication interface 933 can directly communicate with other devices in an ad hoc mode or a direct communication mode such as Wi-Fi Direct. The wireless communication interface 933 may typically include a baseband processor, an RF circuit, a power amplifier, and the like. The wireless communication interface 933 may be a one-chip module in which a memory that stores a communication control program, a processor that executes the program, and related circuits are integrated. In addition to the wireless LAN system, the wireless communication interface 933 may support other types of wireless communication systems such as a short-range wireless communication system, a proximity wireless communication system, or a cellular communication system. The antenna switch 934 switches the connection destination of the antenna 935 among a plurality of circuits included in the wireless communication interface 933. The antenna 935 includes a single antenna element or a plurality of antenna elements, and is used for transmission and reception of a radio signal by the radio communication interface 933.

  In addition, it is not limited to the example of FIG. 18, The car navigation apparatus 920 may be provided with a some antenna. In that case, the antenna switch 934 may be omitted from the configuration of the car navigation device 920.

  The battery 938 supplies power to each block of the car navigation device 920 shown in FIG. 18 through a power supply line partially shown by a broken line in the drawing. Further, the battery 938 stores electric power supplied from the vehicle side.

  In the car navigation device 920 illustrated in FIG. 18, the control unit 130 described with reference to FIG. 2 may be implemented in the wireless communication interface 933. Further, at least a part of these functions may be implemented in the processor 921.

  In addition, the technology according to the present disclosure may be realized as an in-vehicle system (or vehicle) 940 including one or more blocks of the car navigation device 920 described above, an in-vehicle network 941, and a vehicle-side module 942. The vehicle-side module 942 generates vehicle-side data such as vehicle speed, engine speed, or failure information, and outputs the generated data to the in-vehicle network 941.

  The above-described embodiment shows an example for embodying the present technology, and the matters in the embodiment and the invention-specific matters in the claims have a corresponding relationship. Similarly, the invention specific matter in the claims and the matter in the embodiment of the present technology having the same name as this have a corresponding relationship. However, the present technology is not limited to the embodiment, and can be embodied by making various modifications to the embodiment without departing from the gist thereof.

  Further, the processing procedure described in the above embodiment may be regarded as a method having a series of these procedures, and a program for causing a computer to execute these series of procedures or a recording medium storing the program. You may catch it. As this recording medium, for example, a CD (Compact Disc), an MD (MiniDisc), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), a memory card, a Blu-ray disc (Blu-ray (registered trademark) Disc), or the like can be used.

  In addition, the effect described in this specification is an illustration to the last, Comprising: It does not limit and there may exist another effect.

In addition, this technique can also take the following structures.
(1)
An information processing apparatus including a control unit that controls transmission power based on a data transmission state of an information processing apparatus existing in the vicinity.
(2)
The control unit is a control information generated based on a data transmission state of the information processing apparatus by the information processing apparatus existing in the surroundings, and transmits transmission power to the information processing apparatus existing around the information processing apparatus. The information processing apparatus according to (1), wherein when the control information for requesting to lower the power is received, the transmission power is controlled based on the control information.
(3)
The information processing apparatus according to (2), wherein the control unit controls the transmission power based on the number of the received control information.
(4)
The information processing apparatus according to (2), wherein the control unit controls the transmission power based on a transfer number of the received control information.
(5)
When the transmission power is reduced based on the control information, the control unit performs control so as to further reduce the transmission power when the data transmission throughput of the own device does not decrease. The information processing apparatus according to any one of the above.
(6)
The information processing apparatus according to any one of (2) to (4), wherein the control unit changes control of the transmission power based on the control information based on a QoS of transmission data of the own apparatus.
(7)
When receiving the control information, the control unit transfers the control information to another information processing apparatus until the number of transfer of the control information reaches a set value. Any one of (2) to (6) The information processing apparatus described in 1.
(8)
The information according to any one of (1) to (7), wherein the control unit controls the transmission power based on a data transmission state of an information processing apparatus existing in the vicinity and a data transmission state of the own apparatus. Processing equipment.
(9)
An information processing apparatus including a control unit that generates and transmits control information for requesting an information processing apparatus existing in the vicinity to reduce transmission power based on a data transmission state of the own apparatus.
(10)
The control unit transmits the control information when a data amount of transmission data is large with reference to a threshold value, and stops transmission of the control information when a data amount of the transmission data is small with reference to the threshold value ( The information processing apparatus according to 9).
(11)
The control unit transmits the control information when the QoS of the transmission data is high based on a threshold value, and stops transmitting the control information when the QoS of the transmission data is low based on the threshold value (9) The information processing apparatus described in 1.
(12)
The control unit determines the request level of the control information based on the data to be transferred when transferring data of another information processing apparatus, according to any one of (9) to (11) Information processing device.
(13)
The information processing apparatus according to (12), wherein the control unit determines a request level of the control information based on a comparison result between a throughput of the reception data to be transferred and a throughput of the transmission data to be transferred. .
(14)
The information according to (12), wherein the control unit determines a request level of the control information based on a comparison result between a transmission rate of the reception data to be transferred and a transmission rate of the transmission data to be transferred. Processing equipment.
(15)
An information processing apparatus including a control unit that controls transmission power based on a comparison result between reception data to be transferred to another information processing apparatus and transmission data to be transferred.
(16)
The information processing apparatus according to (15), wherein the control unit controls the transmission power so that a difference between a transmission rate of reception data to be transferred and a transmission rate of transmission data to be transferred becomes small.
(17)
An information processing method for controlling transmission power based on a data transmission state of an information processing apparatus existing around.
(18)
An information processing method for generating and transmitting control information for requesting an information processing apparatus existing in the vicinity to reduce transmission power based on a data transmission state of the own apparatus.
(19)
A program for causing a computer to execute a control procedure for controlling transmission power based on a data transmission state of an information processing apparatus existing in the vicinity.
(20)
A procedure for generating control information for requesting an information processing apparatus existing in the vicinity to reduce transmission power based on the data transmission state of the own apparatus;
A program for causing a computer to execute the procedure for transmitting the generated control information.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Communication system 100-105 Information processing apparatus 110 Transmission part 111 Channel encoding part 112 Modulation part 113 RF transmission part 120 Reception part 121 RF reception part 122 Demodulation part 123 Channel decoding part 130 Control part 140 Memory 150 Antenna 900 Smartphone 901 Processor 902 Memory 903 Storage 904 External connection interface 906 Camera 907 Sensor 908 Microphone 909 Input device 910 Display device 911 Speaker 913 Wireless communication interface 914 Antenna switch 915 Antenna 917 Bus 918 Battery 919 Auxiliary controller 920 Car navigation device 921 Processor 922 Memory 924 GPS module 925 Sensor Data interface 92 Content player 928 storage medium interface 929 input device 930 display device 931 speaker 933 wireless communication interface 934 the antenna switch 935 antenna 938 Battery 941-vehicle network 942 vehicle side module

Claims (20)

  An information processing apparatus including a control unit that controls transmission power based on a data transmission state of an information processing apparatus existing in the vicinity.   The control unit is a control information generated based on a data transmission state of the information processing apparatus by the information processing apparatus existing in the surroundings, and transmits transmission power to the information processing apparatus existing around the information processing apparatus. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the control information for requesting to lower the power is received, the transmission power is controlled based on the control information.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit controls the transmission power based on the number of the received control information.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit controls the transmission power based on a transfer number of the received control information.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein when the transmission power is reduced based on the control information, the control unit controls to further reduce the transmission power when a throughput of data transmission of the own apparatus does not decrease. .   The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit changes the control of the transmission power based on the control information based on a QoS of transmission data of the own apparatus.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit, when receiving the control information, transfers the control information to another information processing apparatus until a transfer number of the control information reaches a set value.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the transmission power based on a data transmission state of an information processing apparatus existing in the vicinity and a data transmission state of the own apparatus.   An information processing apparatus including a control unit that generates and transmits control information for requesting an information processing apparatus existing in the vicinity to reduce transmission power based on a data transmission state of the own apparatus.   The control unit transmits the control information when a data amount of transmission data is large with reference to a threshold value, and stops transmitting the control information when a data amount of the transmission data is small with reference to the threshold value. 9. The information processing apparatus according to 9.   The control unit transmits the control information when a QoS of transmission data is high based on a threshold value, and stops transmitting the control information when a QoS of the transmission data is low based on the threshold value. Information processing device.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein when the data of another information processing apparatus is transferred, the control unit determines a request level of the control information based on the data to be transferred.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the control unit determines a request level of the control information based on a comparison result between a throughput of the reception data to be transferred and a throughput of the transmission data to be transferred.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the control unit determines a request level of the control information based on a comparison result between a transmission rate of the reception data to be transferred and a transmission rate of the transmission data to be transferred. .   An information processing apparatus including a control unit that controls transmission power based on a comparison result between reception data to be transferred to another information processing apparatus and transmission data to be transferred.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the control unit controls the transmission power so that a difference between a transmission rate of reception data to be transferred and a transmission rate of transmission data to be transferred becomes small.   An information processing method for controlling transmission power based on a data transmission state of an information processing apparatus existing around.   An information processing method for generating and transmitting control information for requesting an information processing apparatus existing in the vicinity to reduce transmission power based on a data transmission state of the own apparatus.   A program for causing a computer to execute a control procedure for controlling transmission power based on a data transmission state of an information processing apparatus existing in the vicinity. A procedure for generating control information for requesting an information processing apparatus existing in the vicinity to reduce transmission power based on the data transmission state of the own apparatus;
A program for causing a computer to execute the procedure for transmitting the generated control information.

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