JP4736657B2 - Communication terminal, system and program for controlling maximum burst length of token buffer - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication terminal that communicates via a wireless link, a communication system including the communication terminal and a base station, and a program that causes a computer installed in the communication terminal to function.

  Conventionally, a communication terminal that transmits and receives data packets via a wireless link includes a transmission packet buffer and a reception packet buffer. The communication terminal is a wireless communication card attached to a terminal such as a personal computer, for example, and can communicate with the base station via a wireless link. The base station is connected to a mobile carrier network, and the communication terminal can communicate with a server connected to the Internet.

  Some of such communication terminals use a traffic control method called “token bucket” (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1). The IP network is a best-effort type and allows temporary bursty data transfer. However, during burst communication by one communication terminal, data transfer of other communication terminals multiplexed on the same link is suppressed. Therefore, by using the token bucket, it is possible to suppress an extreme bursty data transfer of one communication terminal.

  FIG. 1 is a functional configuration diagram of a token bucket.

  The token bucket 101 includes a packet buffer 1011 that stores data packets, a token buffer 1012 that stores tokens, and a buffer reading unit 1013. The token means the right to transmit unit amount data. The buffer reading unit 1013 extracts and transfers the data packet from the packet buffer 1011 according to the amount of tokens accumulated in the token buffer 1012. Therefore, the flow rate of the data packet is controlled by controlling the token input to the token buffer 1012.

On the other hand, as a communication service that provides a wireless link between a terminal and a base station, generally, a charging condition is determined according to a transfer rate. In this case, the billing conditions are set such that the higher the transfer rate, the higher the contract amount of the user.

A. Parekh, R. Gallerger, "A generalized processor sharing approach to flow control in integrated services network: the single node case", IEEE / ACM transaction on Networking vol.1, no.3, Jun-93.

  As described above, the conventional communication service considers only the transfer rate of the radio link, not the maximum burst length. A large maximum burst length means a large amount of traffic that can be transmitted or received instantaneously. Even if the transfer rate is high, if the maximum burst length is small, the amount of data that can be received inevitably is limited. According to the current Internet usage situation, there are many burst data transfers from the server in the downstream direction.

  Such burst data transfer largely depends on the application program of the terminal. For example, when the Web browser is activated, one still image data (one maximum burst length) is about 100 kbytes, for example. On the other hand, when the streaming application is activated, the moving image data (one maximum burst length) is, for example, about 1 Mbyte. In this case, for example, when the streaming application is activated and the maximum burst length is 100 kbytes, the data transfer between the radio links not only takes a lot of time due to the transmission waiting time but also the data packet. May be missed.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a communication terminal, a system, and a program that can provide a communication service according to the maximum burst length.

According to the present invention, in a communication terminal that communicates with a base station via a wireless link,
A token bucket for transmission and / or reception for the radio link;
Token buffer control means for controlling a token to be input to the token buffer of the token bucket based on user usage information that defines a charging condition by using a wireless link.

  According to another embodiment of the communication terminal of the present invention, it is preferable to further include a fixed usage information storage unit that stores user usage information in advance.

According to the communication system of the present invention, the communication system includes the communication terminal described above and a user management server that stores user usage information corresponding to a user identifier,
The communication terminal receives user usage information from the user management server, and controls the token buffer control means based on the user usage information.

Moreover, according to the communication system of the present invention, the communication system includes the communication terminal described above and a user management server that charges for each user identifier based on a charging condition,
The communication terminal has a table in which application process identifiers and connection addresses are associated with each other, and further includes application state management means for notifying the token buffer control means of application state information based on the connection address of the data packet currently being transferred. And
The token buffer control means of the communication terminal transmits the token buffer size changed by the application state information to the user management server,
The user management server is characterized in that the charging condition is changed based on the received token buffer size.

Furthermore, according to the communication system of the present invention, the communication system includes the communication terminal described above and a user management server that charges for each user identifier based on a charging condition,
The token buffer control means of the communication terminal transmits the maximum burst length information transferred in a burst manner by the token bucket to the user management server,
The user management server is characterized in that the charging condition is changed based on the received maximum burst length information.

According to the present invention, in a communication program for causing a computer installed in a communication terminal that communicates with a base station via a wireless link to function,
A token bucket for transmission and / or reception for the radio link;
The computer is caused to function as token buffer control means for controlling a token to be input to a token buffer of a token bucket based on user usage information that defines a charging condition by using a wireless link.

  According to another embodiment of the communication program of the present invention, it is also preferable to cause the computer to function so as to further include fixed usage information storage means for storing user usage information in advance.

Further, according to another embodiment of the communication program of the present invention, it is possible to communicate with a user management server that stores user usage information corresponding to a user identifier,
It is also preferable to receive the user usage information from the user management server and cause the computer to function to control the token buffer control means based on the user usage information.

Furthermore, according to another embodiment of the communication program of the present invention,
It is possible to communicate with a user management server that accumulates user usage information corresponding to a user identifier and can change a charging condition based on the received token buffer size,
An application state management means for notifying the token buffer control means of application state information based on the connection address of the data packet currently being transferred;
The token buffer control means of the communication terminal preferably causes the computer to function so as to transmit the token buffer size changed by the application state information to the user management server.

Furthermore, according to another embodiment of the communication program of the present invention,
It is possible to communicate with a user management server that accumulates user usage information corresponding to a user identifier and can change charging conditions based on the received maximum burst length information,
The token buffer control means preferably causes the computer to function to transmit the maximum burst length information transferred in a burst manner by the token bucket to the user management server.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the communication service of a radio link which can change charging conditions according to the maximum burst length can be provided. The user can be charged according to the maximum burst length required for the application to be used, and the cost-effectiveness of the user can be enhanced. On the other hand, depending on the communication carrier, the maximum burst length from one communication terminal can be limited, and the capacity of the entire network can be increased.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  The present invention is characterized in that a “maximum burst length” of a packet buffer for data transfer in a terminal is determined according to user usage information. Specifically, the amount of tokens input to the token buffer of the token bucket is controlled.

  The user usage information is a service type corresponding to charging conditions, for example, user contract information corresponding to charging conditions for a wireless link. In the following description, it is assumed that the user usage information is user contract information.

  As control parameters of the token bucket, there are “transfer rate” and “token buffer size”. The “transfer rate” is a rate of tokens input to the token buffer, and defines an average rate of traffic flow. The “token buffer size” is the size of the token buffer and defines the maximum burst length of traffic flow. According to the present invention, it is possible to provide communication services of service types having different charging conditions based on not only the transfer rate but also the maximum burst length.

  FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram according to the present invention.

  According to FIG. 2, the terminal 1 includes a wireless communication card 10 and transmits / receives data packets to / from the base station 3 via a wireless link. As a communication standard between the terminal 1 and the base station 3, for example, there is 1x EVDO (1x Evolution Data Optimized) in cdma2000 (MC-CDMA: Multi Carrier-CDMA). This is a radio link dedicated to data packets, and enables high-speed data transfer with a maximum downlink of 2.4 Mbps (average of 600 kbps) and an uplink of 153.6 kbps. The present invention is not only compatible with the 1xEVDO system, but can be implemented in various communication systems such as W-CDMA. Note that the terminal 1 may be a mobile phone and may incorporate a wireless communication card 10.

  The base station 3 is connected to, for example, a mobile carrier network 4 and is also connected to the Internet 5 via a gateway. According to the present invention, the user management server 2 is connected to the Internet 5 and manages user contract information corresponding to the user identifier of the user of the terminal 1. The user management server 2 only needs to exist at a position where it can communicate with the terminal 1 and may be connected to the mobile communication carrier network 4.

The user management server 2 stores user contract information for each user identifier as follows.

The user contract information is defined by the following service types, for example.

  According to the service type, the charge is determined in consideration of not only the transfer rate but also the maximum burst length. The higher the transfer rate, the higher, and the higher the maximum burst length, the higher. According to the aforementioned service type, the service 5D is considered to be the maximum amount.

  Next, the functional configuration of the wireless communication card 10 provided in the terminal 1 will be described in detail.

  The wireless communication card 10 includes a reception token bucket 101, a reception token buffer control unit 102, a usage information transmission / reception unit 103, a fixed usage information storage unit 104, a transmission token bucket 105, a transmission token buffer control unit 106, an application And a state management unit 107.

  The reception token bucket 101 includes a packet buffer 1011, a token buffer 1012, and a buffer reading unit 1013. Similarly, the transmission token bucket 105 includes a packet buffer 1051, a token buffer 1052, and a buffer reading unit 1053. According to the present invention, the reception token buffer control unit 102 that controls the token amount input to the reception token bucket 101 and the transmission token buffer control unit 106 that controls the token amount input to the transmission token bucket 105 are provided. There is a feature.

  The fixed usage information storage unit 104 stores user contract information in advance. With this function, for example, when the wireless communication card itself is sold and distributed, it is possible to sell wireless communication cards with different amounts for each service type. Since the user contract information is fixed in advance, the token buffer control units 102 and 106 can control the token buffer based on the user contract information.

  The usage information transmission / reception unit 103 transmits the user identifier of the user of the terminal 1 to the user management server 2. On the other hand, user contract information is received from the user management server 2. The received user contract information is notified from the usage information transmission / reception unit 103 to the reception token buffer control unit 102 and the transmission token buffer control unit 106. Thereby, the reception token buffer control unit 102 and the transmission token buffer control unit 106 can control the maximum burst length according to the user contract information.

  Here, the reception token buffer control unit 102 and the transmission token buffer control unit 106 may be controlled together, or may be controlled separately. According to the download from the Web server, only the reception token buffer control unit 102 may be controlled. Further, for example, the burst data transfer amount may be controlled by controlling only the transmission token buffer control unit 106 from the characteristics of a sliding window of TCP (Transport Control Protocol).

  The reception token buffer control unit 102 and the transmission token buffer control unit 106 operate in the same manner. The token buffer control unit controls the token buffer based on the user contract information. Specifically, the token buffer control unit sends the tokens to the token buffer to such an extent that the transfer rate can be secured, and performs control so that the token accumulated in the token buffer is always longer than the maximum burst length.

The application state management unit 107 has a table in which application process identifiers and connection addresses are associated with each other. For example, as shown in Table 4 below, an IP (Internet Protocol) address and a port number are assigned to PID (application Process IDentification).

  The application state management unit 107 monitors the IP address and port number of the transferred data packet. The monitored data packet may be stored in the packet buffer 1011 or read from the buffer reading unit 1013. That is, the IP address and port number of the data packet being transferred are monitored, and the application process ID is extracted. Application state information based on the application process ID is notified to the reception token buffer control unit 102 and the transmission token buffer control unit 106. The application status information may be the application process ID itself or other information that is classified according to the token buffer size.

  Thereby, the required maximum burst length can be varied depending on the application program running on the terminal 1. The reception token buffer control unit 102 and the transmission token buffer control unit 106 change the maximum burst length (token buffer size) according to the application state information.

  For example, when a VoIP application is activated, the token buffer size needs to be reduced because it is vulnerable to delay jitter. On the other hand, when a web screen browsing operation application such as a browser is activated, there are many downstream burst transfers, and it is necessary to increase the token buffer size.

  As another embodiment, the reception token buffer control unit 102 and the transmission token buffer control unit 106 notify the usage information transmission / reception unit 103 of the changed token buffer size. The usage information transmitting / receiving unit 103 transmits the changed maximum burst length to the user management server 2. Thereby, according to the token buffer size required in the terminal 1, the user management server 2 can change the charging conditions for the user.

  The billing conditions are roughly divided into a flat rate system and a pay-as-you-go system. In the flat-rate system, a charge is determined according to a time interval, and in a pay-per-use system, a charge is determined according to the amount of transferred packets. For example, in the flat rate system, the fee can be determined according to the time interval and the token buffer size. In the pay-as-you-go system, the fee can be determined according to the packet amount and the token buffer size. In this case, even if the amount of transferred packets is the same, the charge amount can be changed depending on the token buffer size. For example, the larger the token buffer size, the more expensive the charging conditions can be. Accordingly, the charging condition is changed depending on how much the packet is transferred in bursts (how much the token in the token buffer has been reduced to the maximum).

  FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram in the present invention.

  A first embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, for example, when the wireless communication card itself is sold and distributed, the wireless communication card is sold with a different amount for each service type. The maximum burst length can be controlled according to the user contract information stored in advance in the wireless communication card itself.

(S201) The fixed usage information storage unit 104 transmits the user contract information to the reception token buffer control unit 102.
(S202) The fixed usage information accumulation unit 104 transmits user contract information to the transmission token buffer control unit 106.

  A second embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, the maximum burst length can be controlled according to the user contract information based on the user contract information for each user identifier stored in the user management server 2.

(S221) The usage information transmission / reception unit 103 transmits a usage information request message including a user identifier to the user management server 2.
(S222) The user management server 2 transmits a usage information message including user contract information corresponding to the user identifier to the terminal 1.
(S223) The usage information transmission / reception unit 103 of the terminal 1 notifies the reception token buffer control unit 102 of the user contract information. The reception token buffer control unit 102 controls the token buffer according to the user contract information.
(S224) The usage information transmission / reception unit 103 of the terminal 1 notifies the transmission token buffer control unit 106 of the user contract information. The transmission token buffer control unit 106 controls the token buffer according to the user contract information.

  A third embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, the user management server 2 can change the charging condition for the user according to the token buffer size required by the application program corresponding to the transferred data packet.

(S231) The application state management unit 107 notifies the transmission token buffer control unit 106 of application state information corresponding to the transferred data packet. The transmission token buffer control unit 106 controls the token buffer according to the application state information.
(S232) The transmission token buffer control unit 106 notifies the usage information transmission / reception unit 103 of the changed token buffer size and transmits it to the user management server 2. The user management server 2 can change the charging condition for the user according to the changed token buffer size.
(S233) The application state management unit 107 notifies the reception token buffer control unit 102 of the application state information, similarly to S231. The reception token buffer control unit 102 controls the token buffer according to the application state information.
(S234) The reception token buffer control unit 102 notifies the usage information transmission / reception unit 103 of the changed token buffer size and transmits it to the user management server 2. The user management server 2 can change the charging condition for the user according to the changed token buffer size.

A fourth embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, the user management server 2 can change the charging condition for the user according to the maximum burst length information of the transferred data packet.
(S235) The transmission token buffer control unit 106 notifies the usage information transmission / reception unit 103 of the maximum burst length information in a predetermined period and transmits it to the user management server 2. The user management server 2 can change the charging condition for the user according to the received maximum burst length information.
(S236) The reception token buffer control unit 102 notifies the usage information transmission / reception unit 103 of the maximum burst length information in a predetermined period, and transmits it to the user management server 2. The user management server 2 can change the charging condition for the user according to the received maximum burst length information.

  FIG. 4 is a graph of the buffer accumulation amount with respect to time t.

  According to FIG. 4, the token buffer size is controlled at 1 Mbyte. Although the accumulated amount of the packet buffer increases and decreases as time t elapses, the token buffer is controlled so that 1 Mbyte burst data can always be transferred.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a wireless link communication service capable of changing the charging condition according to the maximum burst length. The user can be charged according to the maximum burst length required for the application to be used, and the cost-effectiveness of the user can be enhanced. On the other hand, depending on the communication carrier, the maximum burst length from one communication terminal can be limited, and the capacity of the entire network can be increased.

  In the various embodiments of the present invention described above, various changes, modifications, and omissions in the scope of the technical idea and the viewpoint of the present invention can be easily made by those skilled in the art. The above description is merely an example, and is not intended to be restrictive. The invention is limited only as defined in the following claims and the equivalents thereto.

It is a functional block diagram of a token bucket. It is a system configuration diagram in the present invention. It is a sequence diagram in the present invention. It is a graph of the amount of buffer accumulation with respect to time t.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Terminal 10 Wireless communication card 101 Reception token bucket 1011 Packet buffer 1012 Token buffer 1013 Buffer reading part 102 Reception token buffer control part 103 Usage information transmission / reception part 104 Fixed usage information storage part 105 Transmission token bucket 1051 Packet buffer 1052 Token buffer 1053 Buffer reading Unit 106 Transmission token buffer control unit 107 Application state management unit 2 User management server 3 Base station 4 Mobile carrier network 5 Internet

Claims (6)

A communication system having a communication terminal that communicates with a base station via a wireless link, and a user management server that charges for each user identifier based on charging conditions,
The communication terminal is
A token bucket for transmission and / or reception for the wireless link;
Token buffer control means for controlling a token to be input to the token buffer of the token bucket based on user usage information that defines charging conditions for the radio link ;
A table associating application process identifiers with connection addresses;
Application status management means for notifying the token buffer control means of application status information based on the connection address of the data packet currently being transferred;
Have
The token buffer control means of the communication terminal transmits the token buffer size changed by the application state information to a user management server;
The communication system, wherein the user management server changes the charging condition based on the received token buffer size. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the communication terminal further includes fixed usage information storage means for storing the user usage information in advance. A communication system comprising: the communication terminal according to claim 1; and a user management server storing user usage information corresponding to a user identifier,
The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the communication terminal receives the user usage information from the user management server and controls the token buffer control unit based on the user usage information. In a communication program for functioning a computer installed in a communication terminal that communicates with a base station via a wireless link,
A token bucket for transmission and / or reception for the wireless link;
Token buffer control means for controlling a token to be input to the token buffer of the token bucket based on user usage information that defines charging conditions for the radio link ;
Application state management means that has a table in which application process identifiers and connection addresses are associated with each other and notifies application state information based on the connection address of the data packet currently transferred to the token buffer control means Make the computer work,
It is possible to communicate with a user management server that accumulates user usage information corresponding to a user identifier and can change a charging condition based on the received token buffer size,
The token buffer control means of the communication terminal causes a computer to function so as to transmit a token buffer size changed by the application state information to a user management server . 5. The communication program according to claim 4 , further comprising a fixed usage information storage unit that stores the user usage information in advance. It is possible to communicate with a user management server that stores user usage information corresponding to a user identifier,
5. The communication program according to claim 4 , wherein the computer functions so as to receive the user usage information from the user management server and to control the token buffer control unit based on the user usage information.

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