JP2019075743A - Control device, terminal, communication system, and communication method - Google Patents

Abstract

To make it possible to increase communication throughput in a dense environment.SOLUTION: A control device 104 for controlling transmission of data to a plurality of terminals 101 determines a path to transmit the data to the plurality of terminals 101 on the basis of positional information reported by the plurality of terminals 101, and notifies each of the plurality of terminals 101 of identification information for reception to receive the data according to the path and an SSID for transmission. The control device 104 sets an SSID for data transmission of the terminal 101 at a data transmission side to the same value as an SSID for data reception of the terminal 101 at a data reception side for ad-hoc communication between the pair of terminals 101 on the path, and controls multi-hop communication by the plurality of terminals 101 by sequentially setting an SSID of a different value for each of between other pairs of terminals 101 on the path.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a control device, a terminal, a communication system and a communication method for controlling data transmission to a plurality of terminals.

  In current commercial mobile communication systems, LTE standardized by 3GPP as a mobile phone system is mainly used in wireless LANs (WLAN: Wireless Local Area Network) in homes, commercial facilities, public transport facilities, etc. There is. 3GPP is a 3rd Generation Partnership Project, and LTE is an abbreviation for Long Term Evolution.

  It is desired to improve the wireless communication characteristics when the user's terminal is concentrated in a specific area (referred to as a dense environment) such as a stadium or an event venue. Conventionally, for example, techniques of multicast and broadcast broadcast communication and path control of multi-hop communication have been disclosed (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 5 below).

  As broadcast communication, there are methods such as MBMS and MBSFN in 3GPP in LTE, and Wi-Fi (registered trademark) broadcast in WLAN. MBMS is an abbreviation of Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service, and MBSFN is an abbreviation of Multicast-Broadcast Single-Frequency Network. As multi-hop communication, the mesh network mechanism is defined by IEEE 802.11s, and D2D (Device to Device) communication is also considered in 3 GPP, and some specifications are made.

JP, 2015-065522, A JP-A-2010-507970 JP, 2006-074450, A JP, 2012-191443, A JP, 2008-04232, A

  However, in the above-described data transmission by multicast and broadcast, a special hardware configuration is required for the terminal and the network device. In addition, it is difficult for a service provider other than a carrier such as MVNO to use it because it is handled in a mobile phone carrier network. MVNO is an abbreviation of Mobile Virtual Network Operator.

  Moreover, in the method by multi-hop communication, the terminal of the smartphone mainly used at present can cope with one-to-one ad hoc communication by WLAN, but does not correspond to the method by multi-hop communication. Furthermore, since multi-hop communication requires the IP address and routing setting of each terminal in advance, it has been difficult to apply to an environment where the user's terminal frequently moves, such as a stadium or an event venue. Therefore, communication throughput in data transmission in a dense environment can not be improved.

  In one aspect, the present invention aims to improve communication throughput in a dense environment.

  In one scheme, the control device is a control device that controls transmission of data to a plurality of terminals, and a path for transmitting the data to the plurality of terminals based on location information notified from the plurality of terminals. And a control unit for notifying each of a plurality of the terminals of the identification information for reception for receiving the data corresponding to the path and the identification information for transmission for transmission. It is a requirement.

  According to one embodiment, communication throughput in a dense environment can be improved.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a mobile communication system including a control device according to the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a communication procedure in a general ad hoc mode. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the control device according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a control device according to the embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the terminal according to the embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of the terminal according to the embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining control procedures of the mobile communication system according to the embodiment. FIG. 8 is a chart showing an example of identification information for data transmission and reception set in each terminal according to the embodiment. FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram showing an operation example 1 of the mobile communication system according to the embodiment. FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example 1 performed by the terminal according to the embodiment. FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example 1 performed by the control device according to the embodiment. FIG. 12 is a sequence diagram showing an operation example 2 of the mobile communication system according to the embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an operation example 3 of the mobile communication system according to the embodiment.

Embodiment
In the mobile communication system according to the embodiment, each terminal located in a predetermined area notifies the control device installed on the network of the position information. The control device determines an optimal transmission path for communication connection between the terminals based on the position information from each terminal. Then, in response to the determined transmission path, the control device notifies each terminal of identification information for reception and transmission, and transmits data. Each terminal receives data from another terminal using the identification information for reception based on the notified identification information, and when data reception is completed, transmits data to the other terminal using the identification information for transmission. The control device has the same values of the transmission identification information for the data transmission terminal and the reception identification information for the data reception terminal of the transmitting terminal and the receiving terminal between the pair of terminals. Set to

  As a result, each terminal performs one-to-one ad hoc communication, and sequentially executes ad hoc communication among a plurality of terminals, and as a result, multi-hop communication in which direct communication is performed among a plurality of terminals is realized. Since exchange of information when performing communication between the terminal and the control device may be performed immediately before starting communication, it is possible to cope with a situation where the terminal moves frequently. Multi-hop communication between terminals can eliminate communication between terminals and access points, and improve communication throughput in a dense environment.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a mobile communication system including a control device according to the embodiment. FIG. 1 mainly describes the configuration related to transmission control of data between a plurality of terminals. The mobile communication system comprises a terminal (Mobile Node, MN # 1 to MN # 3) 101, an access point (AP) 102, a content server (CS) 103, and a control device, which are mobile stations located in a predetermined area A. And 104.

  The terminal 101 wirelessly connects with, for example, an access point (AP) 102 of WLAN, and communicates with a content server (CS) 103 of a service provider. The AP 102 may be an LTE base station. In this case, each terminal 101 selects, for example, LTE as a communication scheme and performs wireless communication with an LTE base station (eNB: evolved Node B). Further, the AP 102 functions as a point for transmitting data only to the first terminal 101 on one transmission path determined by the control device 104 at the time of data transmission. In the following description, a point performed by either or both of the WLAN and the LTE base station will be described as the AP 102.

  Here, for example, it is assumed that the above area A is a place where a large number of people gather and perform wireless communication simultaneously, such as a stadium or an event hall, for example, and the AP 102 is installed in the area A. In this case, the number of terminals 101 connected to one AP 102 is very large, and the transmission rate of the wireless communication is thus reduced, and in some cases, there is a problem that connection can not be made. As a measure against this, methods such as multicast, broadcast, or multi-hop are effective when a plurality of users download the same content simultaneously. However, the smartphones currently used in many cases only support one-to-one communication such as communication in the ad hoc mode or Wi-Fi Direct, and application thereof is difficult.

  FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a communication procedure in a general ad hoc mode. FIG. 2 shows an example of a communication procedure in an ad hoc mode called IBSS (Independent Basic Service Set). In the ad hoc mode, the same SSID to be used in advance is determined by the terminals 101 (MN # 1 and MN # 2), and ad hoc communication is set using this SSID. SSID is an abbreviation for Service Set Identifier.

  Each other terminal (MN # 1, MN # 2) periodically transmits the determined SSID by beacon (S1, S2). When the MN # 1 receives a beacon from the MN # 2, the MN # 1 performs connection establishment (S3) processing and authentication processing (S4), and data transmission to the MN # 2 becomes possible. Thereafter, a signal (ATIM) for sending a data transmission notice is transmitted within a fixed period (ATIM window) after the beacon reception of the MN # 2 (S5). When the MN # 1 receives an ACK (transmission permission response, S6) from the MN # 2, it starts data transmission (S7). For data transmission / reception between MN # 1 and MN # 2, as in communication in a normal WLAN, the delivery confirmation is performed by sending an ACK to MN # 1 each time the receiving side MN # 2 receives a frame. It will be.

  As described above, in the communication in the ad hoc mode, it is necessary to determine the SSID in advance by exchanging between the terminals 101 performing communication. Although Wi-Fi Direct does not require such exchange of SSIDs in advance, Wi-Fi Direct has limitations on usable terminals.

  Therefore, in the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, for example, the control device 104 is disposed on the network between the AP 102 and the CS 103. The controller 104 may be installed either in the mobile communication network or at any position on the Internet.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the control device according to the embodiment. The control device 104 illustrated in FIG. 3 mainly describes a configuration related to path control of data transmission to a plurality of terminals 101. The control device 104 includes a control information processing unit 301, a position information processing unit 302, a route determination unit 303, and an identification information generation unit 304.

  The control information processing unit 301 is communicably connected to the AP 102 and the CS 103, and performs data processing for transmission and reception. The AP 102 may be an LTE base station. Also, the control information processing unit 301 collects current position information of the terminals 101 notified from the plurality of terminals 101, and outputs the current position information to the position information processing unit 302. The position information processing unit 302 obtains the current position of each of the plurality of terminals 101.

  The route determination unit 303 determines the optimum route for data transmission by the plurality of terminals 101 based on the position information of the plurality of terminals 101 obtained by the position information processing unit 302, and determines the determined route as the identification information generation unit 304. Output to The identification information generation unit 304 generates reception identification information for each of the plurality of terminals 101 to receive data and transmission identification information for transmission based on the route determined by the route determination unit 303. To the control information processing unit 301. The control information processing unit 301 notifies each of the plurality of terminals 101 of identification information for reception for receiving data and identification information for transmission for transmission. Here, the identification information for transmission in the data transmission terminal 101 and the identification information for reception in the data reception terminal 101 are set to the same value.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a control device according to the embodiment. The control device 104 includes a CPU 401, a ROM 402, a RAM 403, a memory 404, and a network interface 405. The CPU is an abbreviation of Central Processing Unit, ROM is a Read Only Memory, and RAM is an abbreviation of Random Access Memory.

  The CPU 401 reads out a program stored in the ROM 402, loads the program into the RAM 403, and executes the program, thereby realizing the functions of the control information processing unit 301 to the identification information generation unit 304 shown in FIG. At this time, the CPU 401 stores and holds the processing data in the memory 404 such as a non-volatile memory. A network interface 405 is an interface for communication connection with the AP 102 and the CS 103, and performs processing such as format conversion of data to be handled and processed by the CPU 401 and data to be transmitted to and received from the AP 102 (including LTE base station). . The network interface 405 implements a function related to communication connection of the control information processing unit 301 illustrated in FIG. 3.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the terminal according to the embodiment. The terminal 101 according to the embodiment realizes multi-hop communication by repeating one-to-one ad hoc communication with another terminal 101. The terminal 101 shown in FIG. 5 mainly describes a configuration related to data transmission with another terminal 101.

  The terminal 101 includes an LTE transmission / reception unit 501, a WLAN transmission / reception unit 502, a wireless processing unit 503, a data transmission processing unit 504, a position information management unit 505, an ad hoc communication control unit 506, and an application processing unit 507.

  The LTE transmission / reception unit 501 and the WLAN transmission / reception unit 502 perform wireless communication with the AP 102. When communicating with the AP 102 by WLAN, the WLAN transceiver unit 502 functions, and when communicating with the AP 102 by LTE, the LTE transceiver unit 501 functions.

  The wireless processing unit 503 performs baseband processing on data to be wirelessly communicated with the AP 102, and inputs / outputs to / from the application processing unit 507. The application processing unit 507 executes and processes a plurality of applications that the terminal 101 has, and at this time performs data communication with the AP 102 by LTE or WLAN communication via the wireless processing unit 503. The application processing unit 507 has an application of a control function of ad hoc communication. The data transmission processing unit 504 controls the ad hoc communication control unit 506 when performing one-to-one ad hoc communication with another terminal 101.

  The position information management unit 505 detects its own position information. The position information may be position information (relative position information) or the like relatively derived from the reception levels of other terminals 101 in the vicinity, as well as acquired by GPS (Global Positioning System). The position information is notified to the control device 104 via the LTE transmission / reception unit 501 or the WLAN transmission / reception unit 502 periodically or when data transmission / reception is triggered.

  The ad hoc communication control unit 506 functions when performing one-to-one ad hoc communication with another terminal 101. When the identification information of the terminal 101 of its own is notified from the control device 104, the ad hoc communication control unit 506 continuously executes ad hoc communication (two times) of transmission and reception using the notified identification information. In the first time, ad hoc communication is started using the identification information for reception notified from the control device 104, and data reception from the other terminal 101 is performed.

  After the data reception is completed, the ad hoc communication control unit 506 starts the ad hoc communication using the transmission identification information notified from the control device 104, and performs data transmission to the other terminal 101.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of the terminal according to the embodiment. The terminal 101 includes a CPU 601, a ROM 602, a RAM 603, a memory 604, an LTE RF circuit 605, and a WLAN RF circuit 606.

  The CPU 601 reads out a program stored in the ROM 602, loads the program into the RAM 603, and executes the program, thereby implementing the functions of the wireless processing unit 503 to the application processing unit 507 shown in FIG. At this time, the CPU 601 stores and holds the processing data in the memory 604 such as a non-volatile memory. For example, the memory 604 stores and holds position information of the terminal 101 managed by the position information management unit 505.

  The LTE RF circuit 605 and the WLAN RF circuit 606 are radio circuits that perform processing such as conversion of a radio signal and a baseband signal. The LTE RF circuit 605 implements a function related to communication connection of the LTE transmitting and receiving unit 501 shown in FIG. The WLAN RF circuit 606 implements the function related to the communication connection of the WLAN transmission / reception unit 502 shown in FIG.

  The AP 102 and CS 103 of the mobile communication system shown in FIG. 1 have an existing device configuration. The WLAN AP 102 includes the CPU 601 to the memory 604 in FIG. 6, a WLAN RF circuit 606 that performs WLAN communication with the terminal 101, and a communication interface that communicates with the control apparatus 104. In the case of the AP 102 of LTE, it has the CPU 601 to the memory 604 of FIG. 6, an LTE RF circuit 605 that performs LTE communication with the terminal 101, and a communication interface that communicates with the control device 104. Also, the CS 103 illustrated in FIG. 1 has a communication interface that communicates with the CPU, the ROM, the RAM, the memory, and the control device 104 as in a general-purpose server or the like.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining control procedures of the mobile communication system according to the embodiment. A control procedure related to the route control of the plurality of terminals 101 described above will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 7A, the plurality of terminals 101 located in the area A each detect position information related to their own current position, and notify the control device 104 of the position information. This notification is notified to the control device 104 via the AP 102 by LTE communication or WLAN.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 7B, the control device 104 performs direct communication connection between the plurality of terminals 101 based on the position information notified from the plurality of terminals 101 to multihop transmit data. Determine the optimal path of

  In the embodiment, various route determination methods can be used. For example, the general-purpose Dijkstra method or Bellman-Ford method may be used. At this time, the control device 104 calculates a plurality of route candidates connecting the plurality of terminals 101 by one route, and for example, the hop number and the transmission distance are the smallest based on the total number of hops and transmission distance for each route candidate A route candidate is determined as an optimal route (routing) for multi-hop transmission.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 7C, the control device 104 sets (assigns) two pieces of identification information for reception and transmission for each of the terminals 101, corresponding to the determined route. Notify The identification information may be any information as long as the receiving terminal 101 and the transmitting terminal 101 can recognize each other. For example, terminal identification information (terminal ID) or the like can be used in addition to using the SSID in WLAN.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 7D, the plurality of terminals 101 first perform data reception with the identification information for reception based on the notified two pieces of identification information, and when the data reception is completed, the identification for transmission is performed. Send data using information.

  Here, in the ad-hoc communication of the pair of terminals 101, the control device 104 matches the identification information for reception used by the terminal 101 performing reception with the identification information for transmission used by the terminal 101 performing transmission. Then, when the plurality of terminals 101 perform the same operation, for example, between the adjacent terminals 101, the plurality of terminals 101 sequentially execute one-to-one ad hoc communication, and as a result, multiple terminals 101 Hop communication can be performed. In the example shown in FIG. 7, the transmission path of one data is AP 102 → MN # 3 (101) → MN # 2 (101) → MN # 1 (101).

  FIG. 8 is a chart showing an example of identification information for data transmission and reception set in each terminal according to the embodiment. An example of receiving and transmitting SSIDs set by the control device 104 for each of a plurality of MN # 1 to MN # 3 will be shown.

  In the order of the data transmission direction starting from the AP 102, the reception SSID of the MN # 3 is “A”, and the transmission SSID is “B” different from the reception SSID. The reception SSID of the MN # 2 is “B”, which is the same as the transmission SSID of the MN # 1, and the transmission SSID is “C”. The reception SSID of MN # 1 is "C", which is the same as the transmission SSID of MN # 2. Since the MN # 1 is the end point of the data transmission path, the transmission SSID is unnecessary and is not set.

(Operation example 1 of mobile communication system)
FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram showing an operation example 1 of the mobile communication system according to the embodiment. Only the exchange of signals related to data transmission between a plurality of terminals is shown based on the setting of the SSID by the control device 104 (see FIG. 8 etc.).

  The AP 102 performs data transmission to the terminal 101 located at the top of the optimal route determined by the control device 104. The AP 102 may be either an LTE base station or a WLAN, and in the case of the LTE base station, transmission with the first MN # 3 (101) is not ad hoc communication, but data transmission in normal mobile communication (LTE) Use. Similarly, the transmission between the AP and the first MN # 3 (101) may not be ad hoc communication, but may be data transmission in infrastructure mode. As a specific data transmission protocol, an existing protocol such as FTP (File Transfer Protocol) or HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) can be used.

  First, each of the plurality of MNs # 1 to # 3 (101) detects position information on its own current position, and notifies the control device 104 of the position information (step S901). This notification is notified to the control device 104 via the AP 102 by LTE communication or WLAN.

  Next, the control device 104 counts the position information notified from the plurality of terminals 101 (step S902). Then, the control apparatus 104 determines an optimal route for multi-hop transmission of certain data among the plurality of terminals 101 (step S903).

  Next, the control device 104 sets two pieces of identification information for reception and transmission for each terminal 101 corresponding to the determined route, and notifies the plurality of terminals 101 simultaneously (step S904), and Data transmission is started (step S906). The identification information may be any information as long as the receiving terminal 101 and the transmitting terminal 101 can recognize each other. For example, as described above, the SSID in the WLAN can be used, or the terminal identification information (terminal ID) can be used.

  Then, the plurality of terminals 101 first perform data reception with the identification information for reception based on the notified two pieces of identification information, and when the data reception is completed, transmit data using the identification information for transmission.

  Specifically, as described in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, the MN # 3 sets the reception SSID “A” notified from the control device 104 as identification information for data reception (step S 905 a). Then, the MN # 3 receives data from the network side (CS 103 to control device 104 to AP 102) (step S 906 a). Thereafter, the MN # 3 sets the transmission SSID "B" notified from the control device 104 as identification information for data transmission (step S905b), and transmits data (step S906b).

  The MN # 2 sets the reception SSID "B" notified from the control device 104 as identification information for data reception (step S905c), and receives data from the MN # 3 (step S906b). Thereafter, the MN # 2 sets the transmission SSID "C" notified from the control device 104 as identification information for data transmission (step S905 d), and transmits data (step S906 c).

  The MN # 1 sets the reception SSID "C" notified from the control device 104 as identification information for data reception (step S905e), and receives data from the MN # 2 (step S906c). Since the MN # 1 is the end point of the transmission path, it receives information from the control device 104 that the transmission SSID is not received or the transmission SSID is unnecessary, and does not set the data transmission SSID.

  Thereafter, the content server 103 transmits data to the terminal 101 (step S906). This data is received by the first one MN # 3 (101) from the AP 102 via the control device 104 to the AP 102 with the reception SSID "A" (step S906a). The MN # 3 (101) transmits the received data with the transmission SSID "B".

  The MN # 2 (101) receives the data from the MN # 3 (101) of which the reception SSID is “B” and the same SSID “B” by ad hoc communication (step S906 b). The MN # 2 (101) transmits the received data with the transmission SSID "C".

  The MN # 1 (101) receives data from the MN # 2 (101) having the same reception SSID "C" and the same SSID "C" by ad hoc communication (step S906 c). In this manner, a plurality of terminals 101 perform ad-hoc communication on a one-to-one basis with, for example, an adjacent terminal 101, and sequentially repeat this ad-hoc communication with another adjacent terminal 101. Data transmission by multi-hop communication is performed between 101.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example 1 performed by the terminal according to the embodiment. An example of control processing executed by the CPU 601 of each of the plurality of terminals 101 is shown.

  First, the terminal 101 collects its own position information (step S1001). Next, the terminal 101 notifies the control device 104 of the collected position information (step S1002). For example, at the time of a request for downloading predetermined data from the CS 103, the terminal 101 sends out its own position information along with the request. In addition to this, as described above, the terminal 101 can send out the position information periodically or when triggered by the transmission of predetermined data.

  Thereafter, the terminal 101 waits for reception of the reception SSID and the transmission SSID from the control device 104 (step S1003: No loop). When the reception SSID and the transmission SSID are received from the control device 104 (step S1003: Yes), the terminal 101 sets the ad hoc mode using the reception SSID and starts receiving data (step S1004).

  Thereafter, the terminal 101 waits for completion of data reception (step S1005: No loop). When the data reception is completed (step S1005: YES), the terminal 101 sets the ad hoc mode using the transmission SSID, and starts data transmission (step S1006). After this, the terminal 101 waits for completion of data transmission (step S1007: No loop). When the data transmission is completed (step S1007: YES), the above process is ended.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example 1 performed by the control device according to the embodiment. An example of control processing executed by the CPU 401 of the control device 104, for example, periodically or every time data to be transmitted is generated is shown.

  First, the control device 104 receives position information from each of the plurality n of terminals (# 1 to #n) 101 (step S1101). Next, based on the received positional information of each of the plurality of terminals 101, the control device 104 calculates and determines a route of data transmission in the plurality of terminals 101 (step S1102). At this time, after transmitting data from the AP 102 to the first terminal, a route connecting one route to the final MN # n (101) is calculated to determine the optimum route.

  Next, based on the determined route, the control apparatus 104 determines a reception SSID used by each terminal and a transmission SSID (step S1103). As described above, at this time, the transmission SSID and the reception SSID are set to the same value between the pair of terminals 101 performing the ad hoc communication.

Next, the control device 104 sets an initial value “1” to the count value i for notifying the SSID to each terminal 101 (step S1104), and notifies the terminal i of the receiving SSID _Ri and the transmitting SSID _Ti . (Step S1105).

  Next, the control device 104 determines whether i <n (step S1106). If i <n (step S1106: YES), i is incremented (step S1107), and the process returns to step S1103 to repeat the process from step S1103 onward for the next terminal. If i n n (step S1106: NO), the processing for all terminals (# 1 to #n) is ended, and the above processing is ended.

  In the example shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the reception SSID of the first MN # 3 (101) on the transmission path is “A”, and the transmission SSID is “B”. Therefore, the reception SSID of the next MN # 2 (101) on the transmission path is set to "B" (the character string has been incremented) next to "A" set to the first MN # 3 (101). Also, the transmission SSID is set to "C" next to "B".

(Operation example 2 of mobile communication system)
In operation example 2, an operation example of timeout suppression of ad hoc communication will be described. When each terminal 101 receives data transmitted from the terminal 101 at the previous stage of the multi-hop transmission path or the AP 102 (including the LTE base station), each terminal 101 is in a standby state for ad hoc communication. Generally, in ad hoc communication, it is assumed that data communication is started as soon as it is started, so if data communication is not started for a while after the start, timeout may occur.

  In the operation example 2, in order to prevent occurrence of such timeout, the terminal 101 notifies the control device 104 that the reception of data is completed, and the control device 104 receives the notification and then the next terminal on the transmission path. The identification information (SSID) is notified to 101. As a result, each terminal 101 starts ad hoc communication in response to the notification of the identification information from the control device 104, so that occurrence of timeout can be prevented.

  FIG. 12 is a sequence diagram showing an operation example 2 of the mobile communication system according to the embodiment. An operation different from the operation example 1 (see FIG. 9) will be mainly described based on the setting of the SSID by the control device 104 (see FIG. 8 and the like).

  First, each of the plurality of MNs # 1 to # 3 (101) detects position information on its own current position, and notifies the control device 104 of the position information (step S1201). Next, the control device 104 counts the position information notified from the plurality of terminals 101 (step S1202). Then, the control device 104 determines an optimal route for multi-hop transmission of certain data among the plurality of terminals 101 (step S1203). Next, the control device 104 notifies the MN # 3 located at the start position of the determined route of the reception SSID and the transmission SSID (step S1203a).

  As a result, the MN # 3 sets the reception SSID "A" notified from the control device 104 as identification information for data reception (step S1204a). Then, the MN # 3 receives data transmitted from the network side (CS 103 to control device 104 to AP 102) (step S1205 a). Thereafter, the MN # 3 sets the transmission SSID "B" notified from the control device 104 as identification information for data transmission (step S1204b), and notifies the control device 104 of the completion of data reception (step S1206a). ).

  After this, when the control device 104 receives the notification that the reception of data from the MN # 3 is completed, the control device 104 transmits an SSID for reception to the MN # 2 located next to the MN # 3 on the determined route, and a transmission Is notified of (step S1203b).

  Thus, the MN # 2 sets the reception SSID "B" notified from the control device 104 as identification information for data reception (step S1204c), and receives data transmitted from the MN # 3 (step S1205b). ). Thereafter, the MN # 2 sets the transmission SSID "C" notified from the control device 104 as identification information for data transmission (step S1204d), and notifies the control device 104 of the completion of data reception (step S1206b). ).

  Thereafter, when the control device 104 is notified of the completion of reception of data from the MN # 2, the control device 104 transmits the SSID for reception to the MN # 1 located next to the MN # 2 on the determined route, and for transmission. Is notified of (step S1203c).

  Thus, the MN # 1 sets the reception SSID "C" notified from the control device 104 as identification information for data reception (step S1204e), and receives data transmitted from the MN # 2 (step S1205c). ). After that, the MN # 1 notifies the control device 104 that the data reception has been completed (step S1206 c). Since the MN # 1 is the end point of the transmission path, it receives information from the control device 104 that the transmission SSID is not received or that the transmission SSID is unnecessary, and does not set transmission identification information.

  The operation procedures of the operation example 1 (see FIG. 9) and the operation example 2 (see FIG. 12) described above can be used selectively as follows, for example. The actual transmission time required to complete the transmission of the data transmitted by the control device 104 is actually transmitted with the communication quality such as the reception level, the distance information between the terminals 101, and the transmission rate predicted from the wireless system. It can be estimated by the size of transmission data. Therefore, when the estimated transmission time falls within the timeout time, the control device 104 performs control according to the operation example 1 (see FIG. 9), and when the estimated transmission time exceeds the timeout time, the control example 104 The state can be switched to control according to FIG.

  The notification of the data transmission completion is performed according to the transmission protocol used between the terminals 101 performing the ad hoc communication. The control device 104 uses substantially the same procedure as that of the operation example 2 (see FIG. 12) in order to reliably confirm the delivery of data for each terminal 101, and the terminal 101 that has completed data transmission to the control device 104 respectively. Notification of completion of data transmission may be returned.

(Operation example 3 of mobile communication system)
In the embodiment described above, multi-hop communication is performed by the plurality of terminals 101 repeating one-to-one ad hoc communication. Here, in a dense environment where the number of terminals 101 located in the area A is large, it may take a long time to complete data transmission to all the terminals 101 by one transmission path.

  In the operation example 3, after dividing a large number of terminals 101 into a plurality of groups in advance as described above, multi-hop communication is performed by repeating one-to-one ad-hoc communication for each group. For example, the control device 104 sets the number of divisions according to the number of terminals 101 when the number of terminals 101 located in the area A is a predetermined number or more.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an operation example 3 of the mobile communication system according to the embodiment. When the number of the terminals 101 located in the area A is large, the control device 104 performs processing of division into a plurality of groups, with the terminals 101 close in position as one group.

  In the example of FIG. 13, based on the positional relationship between the terminals 101, the control device 104 sets the MN # 1 to MN # 3 close to each other as one group G1, and sets one MN # 4 to MN # 7. Set as group G2.

  Then, the control device 104 determines an optimum route for each of the groups G1 and G2, and performs data transmission with a transmission route for each of the groups G1 and G2 (the specific data transmission procedure is the operation example 1, 2 etc. See). As a result, by dividing the terminals 101 in the area A into groups and setting transmission paths by group, a plurality of transmission paths can be formed in the area A, and the number of terminals 101 in the area A is large. Even if there is, it is possible to shorten the time until the data transmission is completed.

  According to the embodiment described above, each terminal located in the predetermined area notifies the control device installed on the network of the position information, and the control device generates the position information based on the position information from each terminal. Determine the optimal transmission path for communication connection between each terminal. Then, the control device transmits data after notifying, for example, the SSID as identification information for reception and transmission to each terminal corresponding to the determined transmission path. The control device sets the same SSID for the transmitting side terminal and the receiving side terminal between the pair of terminals. Each terminal performs data reception with the notified SSID for reception, and when data reception is completed, transmits data using the transmission SSID. Note that data is transmitted from the AP including the LTE base station to this first terminal only to the terminal located at the top of the route when viewed from the network side.

  As a result, the terminal on the transmitting side and the terminal on the receiving side where the same SSID is set perform one-to-one ad hoc communication. By sequentially executing this ad-hoc communication among a plurality of terminals, it is possible to realize multi-hop communication in which direct communication is performed among a plurality of terminals. Multi-hop communication between terminals can eliminate the need for communication between terminals and access points, and can improve communication throughput when transmitting data to a plurality of terminals in a dense environment.

  In addition, since the exchange of information when performing communication between the terminal and the control device may be performed immediately before the start of communication, it is possible to cope with a situation where the terminal frequently moves in the area. .

  Also, each time each terminal performs data reception or data transmission, it notifies the control device of reception completion or transmission completion, and after the completion notification, the control device transmits and receives to the next terminal on the route. The SSID of may be notified. As a result, data can be transmitted immediately after setting the SSID in each terminal, and it is possible to prevent occurrence of timeout when there is no data to be transmitted to the next terminal after setting the SSID.

  When the number of terminals is large in the area, etc., the terminals may be divided into groups according to the number of terminals, and transmission paths for each group may be set. Thereby, a plurality of transmission paths can be formed in the area, and even when the number of terminals in the area is large and the degree of the dense environment is further increased, the time until the data transmission is completed can be shortened.

  Then, according to the embodiment, unlike the prior art, the AP does not have to transmit data by multicast or broadcast, and the processing load on the network system side including the AP and the delay of data transmission can be prevented. Further, in the embodiment, a special hardware configuration can be made unnecessary for the terminal and other network side devices simply by adding a control device, and a dense environment can be achieved even for service providers other than carriers such as MVNO. The communication throughput in the case of transmitting data to a plurality of terminals in

  In the embodiment, multi-hop communication is realized by performing one-to-one ad hoc communication between terminals using existing WLAN or the like, and repeatedly performing this ad-hoc communication between terminals next to a transmission path. As a result, the multi-hop communication can be performed as a whole by the general-purpose smartphone executing the one-to-one ad hoc communication by the WLAN. Furthermore, in the multi-hop communication of the embodiment, the IP address and routing setting of each terminal can be eliminated in advance, and the present invention can be easily applied to an environment where the user's terminal frequently moves, such as a stadium or an event venue. As described above, according to the embodiment, high-speed data transmission in a dense environment, which is conventionally difficult, can be easily realized using an existing terminal.

  The above control method described in the present embodiment can be realized by executing a control program prepared in advance by a computer (CPU or the like) such as a target device (the control device or terminal). The control program is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, or a universal serial bus (USB) flash memory, and is executed by being read from the recording medium by the computer. Also, the control program may be distributed via a network such as the Internet.

  The following appendices will be further disclosed regarding the embodiment described above.

(Supplementary Note 1) A control device that controls data transmission to a plurality of terminals,
A route for transmitting the data to the plurality of terminals is determined based on position information notified from the plurality of terminals, and each of the plurality of terminals receives the data corresponding to the route. A control device comprising: a control unit that notifies identification information for reception and identification information for transmission for transmission.

(Supplementary Note 2) The control unit transmits the identification information for transmission in the terminal on the data transmission side and the reception in the terminal on the reception side of the data for ad hoc communication between the pair of terminals on the route. Set the same value as the identification information for
The control device according to claim 1, wherein multi-hop communication by a plurality of the terminals is controlled by sequentially setting identification information of different values for each other pair of terminals on the path.

(Supplementary Note 3) The control device according to Supplementary note 1 or 2, wherein the control unit transmits the data to a terminal located at the top of the path via an access point.

(Supplementary note 4) The control device according to Supplementary note 3, wherein the control unit transmits the data to a terminal located on the top of the path via a mobile communication network as the access point or a WLAN. .

(Supplementary Note 5) After receiving notification of data reception completion or data transmission completion from one of the terminals on the route, the control unit transmits the identification information for transmission and reception to the next terminal on the route. The control device according to any one of appendices 1 to 4, characterized by notifying.

(Supplementary Note 6) The control unit divides the terminals located in a predetermined area into a predetermined number of groups, and determines the transmission path for each of the groups. Control device as described.

(Supplementary Note 7) The control unit may divide the terminals located in the predetermined area into groups according to a predetermined number of positions close to each other, and determine the transmission path for each of the groups. Control device.

(Supplementary Note 8) The control unit calculates a plurality of the path candidates connecting the plurality of terminals by one path, and determines an optimal path from among the path candidates. Control device described in one or more.

(Supplementary note 9) A plurality of terminals whose data transmission is controlled by the control device
Informing the control device of its current location information,
The transmission identification information for receiving the data using the reception identification information for receiving the data notified from the control device, and the transmission notification for the data notified from the control device A terminal comprising: a control unit for ad hoc communication that transmits the received data after use.

(Supplementary Note 10) The control unit notifies the mobile communication network connected to the control device or an access point of WLAN in the position information according to a communication scheme with the access point,
The terminal according to appendix 9, wherein the terminal located at the top of the route determined by the control device transmits the data via the access point.

(Supplementary Note 11) The control unit notifies the control device of data reception completion or data transmission completion each time data reception completion or data transmission completion with another terminal is added. Or the terminal described in 10.

(Supplementary note 12) A communication system comprising a plurality of terminals and a control device that controls transmission of data to the terminals,
The controller is
A route for transmitting the data to the plurality of terminals is determined based on position information notified from the plurality of terminals, and each of the plurality of terminals receives the data corresponding to the route. A control unit that notifies identification information for reception and identification information for transmission for transmission;
The plurality of terminals are
Each notifying the control device of its current location information;
The data is received using the identification information for the reception of the data notified from the control device, and the identification information for the transmission of the data notified from the control device is used to receive the data. A control unit for transmitting the data;
A communication system characterized by

(Supplementary note 13) A communication method in a communication system including a plurality of terminals and a control device that controls transmission of data to the terminals,
The controller is
A route for transmitting the data to the plurality of terminals is determined based on position information notified from the plurality of terminals, and each of the plurality of terminals receives the data corresponding to the route. Indicate identification information for reception and transmission identification information for transmission,
The plurality of terminals are
Each notifying the control device of its current location information;
The data is received using the identification information for the reception of the data notified from the control device, and the identification information for the transmission of the data notified from the control device is used to receive the data. Send the data,
A communication method characterized by

101 terminal (MN)
102 Access Point (AP)
103 Content Server (CS)
104 control device 301 control information processing unit 302 position information processing unit 303 route determination unit 304 identification information generation unit 401, 601 CPU
402, 602 ROM
403,603 RAM
404, 604 Memory 405 Network Interface 501 LTE Transmitter / Receiver 502 WLAN Transmitter / Receiver 503 Radio Processing Unit 504 Data Transmission Processor 505 Location Information Management Unit 506 Ad Hoc Communication Controller 507 Application Processor 605 LTE RF Circuit 606 WLAN RF Circuit A Area G1, G2 group

Claims (8)

A control device that controls transmission of data to a plurality of terminals, the control device comprising:
A route for transmitting the data to the plurality of terminals is determined based on position information notified from the plurality of terminals, and each of the plurality of terminals receives the data corresponding to the route. A control device comprising: a control unit that notifies identification information for reception and identification information for transmission for transmission. The control unit transmits the identification information for transmission in the terminal on the data transmission side and the identification information for reception in the terminal on the data reception side for ad hoc communication between a pair of terminals on the route. And set the same value,
The control device according to claim 1, wherein multihop communication by a plurality of the terminals is controlled by sequentially setting identification information of different values for each other pair of terminals on the path.   The control device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit transmits the data to a terminal located at the top of the path via an access point.   The control unit may notify the next terminal on the route of the identification information for transmission and reception after receiving notification of completion of data reception or data transmission from one of the terminals on the route. The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that:   The control according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the control unit divides the terminals located in a predetermined area into groups by a predetermined number, and determines the transmission path for each group. apparatus. A plurality of terminals whose data transmission is controlled by the controller
Informing the control device of its current location information,
The data is received using the reception identification information for receiving the data notified from the control device, and the transmission identification information for transmitting the data notified from the control device A terminal comprising: a control unit for ad hoc communication that transmits the received data after use. A communication system comprising a plurality of terminals and a control device for controlling transmission of data to the terminals, the communication system comprising:
The controller is
A route for transmitting the data to the plurality of terminals is determined based on position information notified from the plurality of terminals, and each of the plurality of terminals receives the data corresponding to the route. A control unit that notifies identification information for reception and identification information for transmission for transmission;
The plurality of terminals are
Each notifying the control device of its current location information;
The data is received using the identification information for the reception of the data notified from the control device, and the identification information for the transmission of the data notified from the control device is used to receive the data. A control unit for transmitting the data;
A communication system characterized by A communication method in a communication system comprising: a plurality of terminals; and a control device that controls transmission of data to the terminals,
The controller is
A route for transmitting the data to the plurality of terminals is determined based on position information notified from the plurality of terminals, and each of the plurality of terminals receives the data corresponding to the route. Indicate identification information for reception and transmission identification information for transmission,
The plurality of terminals are
Each notifying the control device of its current location information;
The data is received using the identification information for the reception of the data notified from the control device, and the identification information for the transmission of the data notified from the control device is used to receive the data. Send the data,
A communication method characterized by

Images