JP5283257B2 - Communication control device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication control apparatus, and more particularly to a communication control apparatus that appropriately controls communication based on communication quality experienced by a network user.

  As a technique for suppressing traffic that imposes an excessive load on a packet communication network, many methods for suppressing the amount of packets that can be transmitted and received in a data transmission / reception terminal or network have been proposed.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for determining and limiting the amount of traffic that can be transmitted and received by a communication terminal based on link speed information and congestion information of a connection link.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a technique for detecting a congestion state and controlling a transmission bit rate in communication using a real-time communication application.

Patent Document 3 discloses a technique for improving sound quality by changing the transmission-side codec based on the result of evaluating the sound quality of audio decoded and reproduced by the reception-side codec in real-time audio communication.
Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-171084 JP 2002-18598 A JP 2005-175694 A

  In any of the above-described conventional technologies, the quality targeted for communication control is not the quality experienced by individual users, but the average quality assumed for general users. Equivalent communication resources were allocated. However, even if the communication quality at each communication terminal reaches the target quality, it is still insufficient for users who demand high quality, but it may become excessive quality depending on the users who do not place importance on quality. Resources could not be properly allocated to each user.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a communication control device that solves the above-described problems of the prior art, estimates the user's quality of experience individually, and appropriately controls the communication of each user based on the estimation result. It is in.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is characterized in that the following measures are taken.
(1) A communication control means for controlling communication with the counterpart terminal, a sensation quality estimation means for estimating the communication quality experienced by the user, and a control method of the communication control means is determined based on the estimation result of the sensation quality And a control method determining means.
(2) The sensation quality estimation means includes behavior monitoring means for monitoring the user's behavior, the behavior monitoring means monitors the forced termination operation of communication by the user, and the sensation quality estimation means detects the forced termination operation. When it is done, it is characterized by estimating a decrease in quality of experience.
(3) It is characterized by detecting a user's input operation, voice or facial expression, and estimating the quality of experience based on whether or not these satisfy a predetermined condition.
(4) It is characterized by detecting the user's biological information and estimating the bodily sensation quality based on whether or not the biological information satisfies a predetermined condition.

According to the present invention, the following effects are achieved.
(1) Since the communication control method is determined for each user based on the communication quality experienced by each user, an appropriate amount of communication resources can be allocated to each user without excess or deficiency.
(2) Detecting whether or not the user has forcibly terminated the communication, and if the communication is forcibly terminated, the cause is regarded as a decrease in the communication quality experienced by the user, and the quality is improved. Since the communication control method is determined, the communication control can be performed appropriately based on the user's quality of experience.
(3) Predict the user's stress based on the signals detected by the input terminal, camera, and microphone provided as standard in the communication terminal, and estimate that the higher the stress is, the lower the user's experience quality related to communication Therefore, the communication quality experienced by the user can be easily estimated.
(4) Judgment of stress based on user's biometric information, and it is estimated that the higher the stress is, the lower the user's experience quality related to communication, so the user's experience quality is estimated more accurately become able to.

  DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the best embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of a mobile phone 100 to which a communication control device of the present invention is applied. Here, illustrations of components unnecessary for the description of the present invention are omitted.

  A communication interface (I / F) 1 transmits and receives radio signals to and from a mobile phone base station (not shown). The transmission unit 2 converts a transmission signal received from the main control unit 10 described later into a signal having a predetermined frequency and transfers the signal to the communication I / F 1. The receiving unit 3 converts the radio signal detected by the communication I / F 1 into a received signal. The storage unit 4 stores data and programs for operating the mobile phone 100 in a volatile or non-volatile manner. The camera 5 incorporates an image sensor such as a CCD sensor or a CMOS sensor, converts an image of a subject into a video signal, and transfers it to the main control unit 10.

  The display unit 6 visually displays the image signal provided from the main control unit 10. The microphone 7 converts the user's voice into an electric signal and transfers it to the main control unit 10. The speaker 8 audibly outputs the audio signal provided from the main control unit 10. The operation input unit 9 includes a numeric keypad, a function key, a jog dial, or the like, converts a user operation into an operation signal, and transfers the operation signal to the main control unit 10. The main control unit 10 controls the operation of the mobile phone 100 based on the operation signal transferred from the operation input unit 9 and the received signal transferred from the receiving unit 3. The communication control unit 91 controls communication with the counterpart terminal via the radio base station.

  In the main control unit 10, a sensible quality estimation unit 92 estimates a sensible quality of the user related to the communication. The control method determination unit 93 determines a communication control method by the communication control unit 91 based on the estimation result of the quality of experience.

  In this embodiment, the sensation quality estimation unit 92 includes a behavior monitoring unit 92a that detects a forced termination operation of communication by a user, and the sensation quality estimation unit 92 performs the forced termination operation on the behavior monitoring unit 92a. If it is detected by the above, it is estimated that the quality of experience is lowered.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the sensation quality estimation process performed by the sensation quality estimation unit 92. In steps S1, 2, and 3, the communication protocol started by the communication control unit 91 is THHP, It is determined whether it is FTP or VoIP.

  If it is determined that the communication protocol is THHP, the process proceeds to step S4, whether the communication is terminated by the user's forced termination operation, whether the TCP RST (Reset) packet is transmitted from the communication control unit 91, or not. Based on the determination. This TCP RST message is a message that is sent when a user forcibly terminates TCP communication at his / her own will. If a TCP RST packet is detected by the behavior monitoring unit 92a during HTTP communication, the user Is determined to have been forcibly terminated, and the process proceeds to step S5. In step S <b> 5, the quality of experience notification is transferred to the control method determination unit 93 together with the identifier of the communication protocol (here, HTTP).

  On the other hand, if the HTTP communication has not ended with the transmission of the TCP RST packet, the process proceeds to step S6, and it is determined whether the HTTP communication has ended with a trigger other than the transmission of the TCP RST packet. Here, if it is determined that the HTTP communication is normally terminated, for example, triggered by transmission of a TCP FIN packet, the process proceeds to step S7. In step S7, the notification of good quality of experience is transferred to the control method determination unit 93 together with the communication protocol identifier. If the HTTP communication is continuing, the process returns to step S4 and the above determination process is repeated until the communication ends.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the communication protocol is FTP, the process proceeds to step S8, whether or not the communication is terminated by the user's forced termination operation, whether or not an ABOR (interruption) command is sent from the communication control unit 91. It is determined based on. This ABOR command is a command that is sent when the user forcibly terminates FTP communication at his / her own will. If the ABOR command is detected by the behavior monitoring unit 92a during FTP communication, the user is forced to It is determined that the end operation has been performed, and the process proceeds to step S9. In step S9, the sensible quality deterioration notification is transferred to the control method determination unit 93 together with the identifier of the communication protocol (here, FTP).

  On the other hand, if the FTP communication has not ended with the transmission of the ABOR command, the process proceeds to step S10, and it is determined whether the FTP communication has ended with a trigger other than the transmission of the ABOR command. Here, if it is determined that the FTP communication has been normally terminated with the transmission of, for example, a 226 File Send OK command, the process proceeds to step S11. In step S11, the good quality of experience notification is transferred to the control method determination unit 93 together with the communication protocol identifier. If FTP communication is ongoing, the process returns to step S8 and the above determination processing is repeated until the communication is completed.

  Further, if the communication protocol is real-time VoIP, the process proceeds to step S12, and a timer for measuring the call time Ttalk is started. In step S13, it is determined whether or not the talk is finished. When the talk is detected, the process proceeds to step S14. In step S14, the call time Ttalk is compared with a reference call time Tref. The reference call time Tref is obtained by statistically processing the user's past call time, and is obtained, for example, by multiplying the average value of the past call time by a predetermined correction coefficient k (0 <k <1). . If Ttalk ≦ Tref, the behavior monitoring unit 92a determines that the call has been rounded up due to a decrease in call quality, that is, the user has performed a forced termination operation, and proceeds to step S15.

  In step S15, the notice of quality of experience reduction is transferred to the control method determination unit 93 together with the identifier of the communication protocol (here, VoIP). On the other hand, if Ttalk> Tref, it is determined that the call has ended normally, and the process proceeds to step S16. In step S <b> 16, the good quality of experience notification is transferred to the control method determination unit 93 together with the communication protocol identifier.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a control method determination procedure by the control method determination unit 93 that has received the notification related to the sensory quality from the sensory quality estimation unit 92.

  When the notification of the quality of experience and the communication protocol identifier is received in step S31, the process proceeds to step S32. In step S32, it is determined whether the notification is a bodily sensation quality deterioration notification or a bodily sensation quality good notification. If the notification is a quality deterioration notification, the process proceeds to step S33. In step S33, the current transmission bit rate related to the notified communication protocol is reviewed, and a higher transmission bit rate is selected as a future transmission bit rate. In other words, the allocated bandwidth for the communication protocol of the user is expanded.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S32 that the notification of good quality of experience is received, the process proceeds to step S34. In step S34, the current transmission bit rate for the notified communication protocol is reviewed, and a lower transmission bit rate is selected as a future transmission bit rate. In other words, the allocated bandwidth for the communication protocol of the user is reduced. In step S35, the revised transmission bit rate is notified to the communication control unit 91 together with the communication protocol identifier.

  Upon receiving the revised transmission bit rate and communication protocol identifier pair from the control method determination unit, the communication control unit 91 receives the revised transmission bit rate notified as the transmission bit rate in the communication protocol thereafter. Update the control method so that is adopted.

  In the above embodiment, the user experience quality is estimated based on the communication end procedure. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and an audio signal detected by the microphone 7 is used. May be applied to appropriate psychoacoustic analysis to detect the user's stress and estimate that the communication quality is degraded as the stress increases.

  Alternatively, the user's facial expression is photographed with the camera 5, and this is applied to an appropriate facial expression psychological analysis to detect the user's stress, and it is estimated that the communication quality deteriorates as the stress increases. Good.

  Alternatively, the speed of the input operation by the user is detected based on the amount of information input from the operation input unit 9, and if the operation speed is faster than usual, it is estimated that the stress is high and the communication quality is deteriorated. You may do it.

  By the way, even if high stress is detected based on the user's voice signal, facial expression, input operation speed, etc., as described above, this is due to communication quality, or the content of the call, physical condition, mental state, etc. It is difficult to determine whether the stress is due to other than the communication quality. However, high stress caused by other than communication quality is often transient. Therefore, even if the allocated bandwidth is expanded uniformly during high stress regardless of the cause of stress, the stress is eliminated during the next communication because the cause of high stress is other than communication quality. Since the expanded allocated bandwidth is reduced, the allocated bandwidth converges to the appropriate bandwidth.

  Note that each of the above methods for estimating the quality of experience may be used not only independently but also in combination.

  FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the main part of the second embodiment of the present invention. The same reference numerals as those described above represent the same or equivalent parts. Also here, illustrations of components unnecessary for the description of the present invention are omitted.

  In the first embodiment described above, the user experience quality is estimated based on a signal detected by the operation input unit 9, the microphone 7, or the camera 5 that the mobile terminal 100 is equipped as standard. The embodiment is characterized in that a sensor for detecting a user's biological signal is provided separately, and the user's quality of experience is estimated based on the biological signal.

  The body temperature sensor 11 detects the body temperature of the user and outputs a detection signal. The blood pressure sensor 12 detects the blood pressure of the user and outputs a detection signal. The biological information detection unit 94 converts each detection signal into temperature information and blood pressure information. The sensation quality estimation unit 93 determines whether or not the user is in a stress state based on the body temperature and blood pressure of the user, and estimates that the sensation quality decreases as the stress increases. The estimation result is notified to the control method determination unit 93 in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and the transmission bit rate is changed to a higher transmission bit rate so that the communication quality of the communication protocol with a low quality of experience is improved. The

  Although the second embodiment has been described as detecting body temperature and blood pressure as biological signals, the present invention is not limited to this, and the cardiac potential, heart rate, apex heartbeat, myoelectric potential, At least one of nystagmus mode, nystagmus frequency, cardiac / vascular pressure, respiratory flow velocity, respiratory pressure and ventilation volume is detected, and the user's stress state is determined based on these detection results. You may make it estimate that quality has fallen.

  Further, the second embodiment described above may be used not only alone but also in combination with the first embodiment.

It is a functional block diagram of 1st Embodiment of the mobile telephone to which the communication control apparatus of this invention is applied. It is the flowchart which showed the procedure of the experience quality estimation process. It is the flowchart which showed the determination procedure of the control system. It is a functional block diagram of 2nd Embodiment of the mobile telephone to which the communication control apparatus of this invention is applied.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Communication interface, 2 ... Transmission part, 3 ... Reception part, 4 ... Memory | storage part, 5 ... Camera, 6 ... Display part, 7 ... Microphone, 8 ... Speaker, 9 ... Operation input part, 10 ... Main control part

Claims (9)

Communication control means for controlling communication with a partner terminal;
Experience quality estimation means for estimating communication quality experienced by the user;
And a control method determination means for determining a control method of the communication control unit based on the quality of experience estimation results,
The bodily sensation quality estimation means includes behavior monitoring means for monitoring the behavior of the user,
The behavior monitoring means monitors a forced termination operation of communication by a user,
The sensation quality estimation means estimates a decrease in sensation quality when the forced termination operation is detected.   The communication control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the behavior monitoring unit determines that a forced termination operation has been performed when a TCP RST message is detected during communication using HTTP.   The communication control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the behavior monitoring unit determines that a forced termination operation has been performed when an ABOR command is detected during communication by FTP.   The communication control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the behavior monitoring unit determines that a forced termination operation has been performed when real-time communication is terminated within a predetermined reference time. Communication control means for controlling communication with a partner terminal;
Experience quality estimation means for estimating communication quality experienced by the user;
Control method determining means for determining a control method of the communication control means based on the estimation result of the sensory quality;
Operation input means for converting a user's input operation into an operation signal,
The bodily sensation quality estimation means detects a speed of an input operation by a user based on the operation signal , and estimates that the bodily sensation quality is degraded when the operation speed is faster than usual. apparatus. Communication control means for controlling communication with a partner terminal;
Experience quality estimation means for estimating communication quality experienced by the user;
Control method determining means for determining a control method of the communication control means based on the estimation result of the sensory quality;
A microphone for converting a user's voice into a voice signal;
The communication control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sensory quality estimation unit detects the stress of a user by applying the voice signal to phonetic psychoanalysis, and estimates that the sensory quality deteriorates as the stress increases . Communication control means for controlling communication with a partner terminal;
Experience quality estimation means for estimating communication quality experienced by the user;
Control method determining means for determining a control method of the communication control means based on the estimation result of the sensory quality;
Imaging means for converting a user's facial expression into a video signal,
The communication control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the experience quality estimation means estimates the experience quality based on whether or not the video signal satisfies a predetermined condition. Communication control means for controlling communication with a partner terminal;
Experience quality estimation means for estimating communication quality experienced by the user;
Control method determining means for determining a control method of the communication control means based on the estimation result of the sensory quality;
Biometric information detecting means for detecting the biometric information of the user,
The communication control apparatus, wherein the experience quality estimation unit estimates experience quality based on whether or not the biological information satisfies a predetermined condition. The biological information is at least one of cardiac potential, heart rate, apex heartbeat, myoelectric potential, nystagmus mode, nystagmus frequency, cardiac / intravascular pressure, blood pressure, respiratory flow rate, respiratory pressure, ventilation volume, and body temperature. The communication control device according to claim 8 .

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