JP6413338B2 - Information processing apparatus, distribution control system, load estimation method, and computer program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus that distributes a message to a communication apparatus.

  In recent years, with the spread of smartphones, the load on radio base stations in mobile data communication networks has increased.

  However, the amount of data that can be transmitted / received per unit time by one radio base station has an upper limit. For this reason, when a plurality of communication devices are communicably connected to one radio base station and these devices transmit and receive a large amount of data almost simultaneously, the throughput of the communication device may be reduced.

  There is also an upper limit to the number of communication devices that can be communicably connected to one radio base station. Therefore, when a large number of communication terminals are already communicably connected to a single radio base station, there is a possibility that a communication apparatus that newly starts data communication cannot start communication with that radio base station. .

  On the other hand, the use of push notifications that actively transmit messages from a server to a communication device has become widespread. The push notification is used, for example, for a purpose of transmitting a message related to application update, notification of weather information, and the like to a large number of communication devices. However, when a message is transmitted from a server to a large number of communication devices almost simultaneously, the number of communication devices that are communicably connected increases in a radio base station that relays transmission from the server to the communication device. As a result, the radio base station receives an excessive load.

  Here, as related technologies existing prior to the present application, there are, for example, the following patent documents.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a communication terminal device that alleviates congestion at a base station. To alleviate this, the communication terminal apparatus determines that the radio base station is congested when the communication throughput measured at the time of data transmission is below the threshold, and pauses the file transfer for a certain period of time.

  Patent Document 2 discloses an information processing apparatus that estimates a traffic change amount in a communication path between communication apparatuses constituting a network.

  Patent Document 3 discloses a base station apparatus that estimates the degree of congestion in a cell and changes the priority of transmission target data or the target value of the minimum speed based on the value of the degree of congestion.

JP 2013-143732 A JP 2010-233093 A Re-specialized WO2009 / 116497

  The technologies proposed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 can alleviate congestion in terms of the data flow rate flowing between the communication device and the radio base station. However, these techniques do not consider reducing the congestion that occurs when the number of communication devices that are communicably connected to the radio base station reaches the upper limit. In particular, when a server delivers a message to a large number of communication devices almost simultaneously via a wireless base station, it copes with a load caused by a sudden increase in the number of communication devices that are communicably connected to the wireless base station. This is very important.

  In Patent Document 3, in order to estimate the degree of congestion at a radio base station, it is necessary to change the function of a radio base station that is already in operation, or the load caused by executing a process for estimation is imposed on the radio base station. There is a problem that it takes.

  Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to estimate the number of communication devices communicably connected to a radio base station without changing the radio base station, and to estimate the load on the radio base station. It is to provide a processing apparatus and the like.

  In order to achieve the above object, an information processing apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes the following arrangement.

That is, the information processing apparatus according to one aspect of the present description is
Based on communication history information of the communication device, state estimation means for estimating that the communication device is in a connected state by obtaining a probability that the communication device is in a communicable state ;
Load estimation means for estimating the load of the radio base station based on the probability obtained by the state estimation means and the position information of the communication device.

  A distribution control system according to an aspect of the present invention that achieves the same object includes an information processing device and a communication device.

The information processing device of the distribution control system, based on the communication history information of the communication device, state estimation means for estimating that the wireless base station and the communication device are connected,
Load estimation means for estimating the load of the radio base station based on information representing the connection state estimated by the state estimation means and the position information of the communication device;
Position information receiving means for receiving a position information notification including information indicating the position of the communication device;
Position information storage means for storing information included in the position information notification;
Communication history receiving means for receiving a communication history notification including history information communicated by the communication device;
Communication history storage means for storing information included in the communication history notification.

The communication device of the distribution control system monitors the position of the own device and acquires position information,
Position information transmitting means for transmitting the position information notification including the position information acquired by the position monitoring means;
Communication means for communicating with other devices;
Communication monitoring means for monitoring the communication and obtaining a communication history;
Communication history transmission means for transmitting the communication history notification including the communication history acquired by the communication monitoring means.

A load estimation method according to an aspect of the present invention that achieves the same object is as follows.
Information processing device
Based on the communication history information of the communication device, by estimating the probability that the communication device is in a communicable state, it is estimated that the wireless base station and the communication device are in a connected state,
Based on the obtained probability and the position information of the communication device, the load of the radio base station is estimated.

  Further, the object is to provide an information processing apparatus, a distribution control system, or a load estimation method having the above-described configuration by a computer, and a computer-readable storage medium storing the computer program. Is also achieved.

  According to the present invention described above, there is an effect that it is possible to estimate the number of communication apparatuses that are communicably connected without changing the radio base station and to estimate the load of the radio base station.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the information processing apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the delivery control system which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the information processing apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the positional information storage part of the information processing apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which illustrates the positional information notification which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the communication history memory | storage part which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which illustrates the communication history notification which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the communication apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram which shows the process which the communication apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention transmits a positional information notification to information processing apparatus. It is a sequence diagram which shows the process which the communication apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention transmits a communication history notification to an information processing apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the process which the information processing apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention estimates the load of a wireless base station. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the delivery control system which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the information processing apparatus which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the communication apparatus which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process which the information processing apparatus which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention transmits a message to a communication apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the process which the information processing apparatus which concerns on the 4th Embodiment of this invention transmits a message to a communication apparatus. It is a figure which illustrates illustartively the hardware constitutions of the computer (information processing apparatus) which can implement | achieve the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th embodiment of this invention.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

<First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  The information processing apparatus 1 includes a state estimation unit 2 and a load estimation unit 3.

  The state estimation unit 2 estimates that the wireless base station and the communication device are in a connected state based on the communication history information of the communication device.

  The load estimation unit 3 estimates the load of the radio base station based on the information representing the connection state estimated by the state estimation unit 2 and the position information of the communication device.

  As described above, the first embodiment estimates the load on the radio base station that is generated when the communication device is communicably connected to the radio base station without changing the radio base station. There is an effect that can be.

  The reason is that the radio base station does not need to estimate the load. Further, the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment can extract a communication apparatus located in the radio base station based on the position information of the communication apparatus. Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the state estimation unit 2 estimates the connection state between the extracted communication device and the radio base station, so that the load estimation unit 3 can estimate the load of the radio base station. Because it can.

<Second Embodiment>
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention based on the first embodiment described above will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a distribution control system according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  The distribution control system includes an information processing apparatus 10, radio base stations 20 (20a, 20b), and communication apparatuses 30 (30a to 30e). In FIG. 2, the radio base station 20 includes two radio base stations 20a and 20b, and the communication device 30 includes five communication devices 30a to 30e. However, the number of radio base stations and communication devices is the same. Is an example and is not limited to this.

  The information processing apparatus 10 estimates the number of communication apparatuses 30 that are communicably connected to the radio base station 20.

  The wireless base station 20 communicates wirelessly with the communication device 30 by a method based on a wireless standard such as W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) or LTE (Long Term Evolution).

  The communication device 30 is communicably connected to the radio base station 20 and communicates with other devices via the radio base station 20. The device with which the communication device 30 communicates may be the information processing device 10 or a server device (not shown) that can communicate with the Internet.

  Prior to communicating with other devices, the communication device 30 transmits and receives control signals to and from the radio base station 20. Thereby, the RRC (Radio Resource Control) state between the communication device 30 and the radio base station 20 changes from a dormant state (RRC_IDLE or the like) to a communicable state (RRC_CONNECTED or the like). That is, the communication device 30 is connected to the radio base station 20 so as to be communicable. Further, when the state in which no communication is performed between the communication device 30 and the radio base station 20 continues for a predetermined time, the communication device 30 transmits and receives control signals to and from the radio base station 20. Thereby, the RRC state between the communication device 30 and the radio base station 20 transitions to a dormant state. That is, the communication device 30 becomes unable to communicate with the radio base station 20.

  Here, as illustrated in FIG. 2, it is assumed that the communication devices 30a, 30b, and 30c are located in the service area of the radio base station 20a. The communication devices 30a and 30b are in a state of being communicably connected to the radio base station 20a, and the communication device 30c is not in a state of being communicable with the radio base station 20a. The communication device 30c receives radio waves from the radio base station 20a, and when connecting to the radio base station 20 so as to be communicable, the communication device 30c is connected to the radio base station 20a so as to be communicable.

  Next, the configuration of the information processing apparatus 10 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  The information processing apparatus 10 includes a position information storage unit 101, a position information reception unit 102, a communication history storage unit 103, a communication history reception unit 104, a state estimation unit 105, and a load estimation unit 106.

  The position information storage unit 101 stores position information indicating a place where the communication device 30 exists. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a position information storage unit of the information processing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The position information storage unit 101 includes an identifier 111 and a position 112. That is, the identifier 111 and the position 112 are associated in the position information storage unit 101 as shown in the table conceptually shown in FIG.

  The identifier 111 is a value that can uniquely identify the communication device 30.

  The position 112 is an identifier that can uniquely identify the radio base station 20 in which the communication device 30 is located. The position 112 is described by an identifier such as ECI (E-UTRAN Cell Identifier) which is a unique value corresponding to the radio base station 20, for example. Referring to FIG. 4, the communication device 30 (30a) identified by “30a” is located in the radio base station 20a identified by “360043053”. Note that the position 112 shown in FIG. 4 is an example, and may be in another form. For example, the position 112 may be the latitude and longitude of the place where the communication device 30 exists.

  The location information receiving unit 102 receives a location information notification including information indicating the location of the communication device 30 from the communication device 30 via the radio base station 20. Then, the location information receiving unit 102 stores information representing the content of the received location information notification in the location information storage unit 101.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating position information notification according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The location information notification includes at least an identifier that can uniquely identify the communication device 30 and information indicating the location of the communication device 30. The position information notification shown in FIG. 5 is described in a JSON (Java Script (registered trademark) Object Notification) format. The value described immediately after ““ id ”:” is the identifier of the communication device 30. The value described immediately after “loc”: is an identifier corresponding to the radio base station 20 in which the communication device 30 is located. That is, the location information notification illustrated in FIG. 5 indicates that the communication device 30 having the identifier “30c” is located in the radio base station 20 having the identifier “36234342”. Note that the position information notification shown in the present embodiment is an example, and other forms may be used. For example, the format of the location information notification may be an XML (extensible Markup Language) format. The value indicating the position included in the position information notification may be the latitude and longitude of the place where the communication device 30 exists.

  The location information receiving unit 102 stores information representing the identifier of the communication device 30 included in the location information notification in the identifier 111 of the location information storage unit 101. In addition, the position information receiving unit 102 stores information indicating the position of the communication device 30 included in the position information notification in the position 112 of the position information storage unit 101.

  The communication history storage unit 103 stores information representing a history of communication performed by the communication device 30. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a communication history storage unit according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The communication history storage unit 103 includes an identifier 131 and a communication time 132. That is, the identifier 131 and the communication time 132 are associated in the communication history storage unit 103 as shown in the table conceptually shown in FIG.

  The identifier 131 is a value that can uniquely identify the communication device 30.

  The communication time 132 is information representing the time when the communication device 30 communicated. The communication time 132 has a format of “communication start time−communication end time, communication start time−communication end time,...”. Referring to FIG. 6, the communication device 30 identified by “30a” starts communication at time “15:13:45”, ends communication at time “15:13:57”, and further, 15:34:01 ”indicates that the communication is started again, and the communication is ended at the time“ 15:35:10 ”. Note that the communication time 132 illustrated in FIG. 6 is an example, and any other form may be used as long as it represents the history of communication performed by the communication device 30. For example, the communication time 132 may be a set of a communication start time and a communication continuation time related to communication performed by the communication device 30 or the number of times per hour that the communication device 30 communicated.

  The communication history receiving unit 104 receives a communication history notification including history information communicated by the communication device 30 from the communication device 30 via the radio base station 20. The communication history receiving unit 104 stores information representing the content of the received communication history notification in the communication history storage unit 103.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating communication history notification according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The communication history notification includes at least an identifier that can uniquely identify the communication device 30 and information that represents a history of communication performed by the communication device 30. The communication history notification shown in FIG. 7 is described in the JSON format. The value described immediately after ““ id ”:” is the identifier of the communication device 30. Further, the value described immediately after ““ time ”:” is a history of communication performed by the communication device 30. According to the communication history notification shown in FIG. 7, the communication device 30 (30c) having the identifier of “30c” starts communication at time “15:10:21”, and at time “15:12:32”. Communication has been terminated. Note that the communication history notification shown here is an example, and other formats may be used. For example, the communication history notification format may be an XML format. The information included in the communication history notification may be, for example, a set of communication start time and communication duration time of the communication device 30 or the number of communication per hour.

  The communication history receiving unit 104 stores information representing the identifier of the communication device 30 included in the communication history notification in the identifier 131 of the communication history storage unit 103. In addition, the communication history receiving unit 104 stores information representing a history of communication performed by the communication device 30 included in the communication history notification at the communication time 132 of the communication history storage unit 103.

  The state estimation unit 105 estimates the connection state between the communication device 30 and the radio base station 20 based on the information stored in the communication history storage unit 103. The state estimation unit 105 obtains the probability that the communication device 30 is connected to the radio base station 20, that is, the RRC state of the communication device 30 is the communicable state (RRC_CONNECTED), thereby determining the connection state between them. presume. That is, the state estimation part 105 outputs the probability as a value which estimated the connection state.

Here, a method for estimating the connection state will be described. As the communication device 30 starts packet communication, the RRC state of the communication device 30 becomes a communicable state (for example, RRC_CONNECTED). Then, if the communication device 30 does not communicate for a certain period of time (inactivity timer value: Inactivity Timer value; hereinafter referred to as “T1” seconds), the RRC state of the communication device 30 transitions to a dormant state (for example, RRC_IDLE). . N-th communication device 30 (n is an integer) communication start time in the communication of the S _n, communication end time is E _n. When the time t satisfies S _n ≦ t <E _n + T1, the RRC state of the communication device 30 becomes a communicable state. Further, when the time t satisfies E _n + T1 ≦ t <S _{n + 1} , the RRC state of the communication device 30 is in a dormant state. Here, S _{n + 1} represents a communication start time in the “n + 1” -th communication (n is an integer) of the communication device 30.

  For example, in FIG. 6, if T1 is 120 seconds, the communication device 30a is in a communicable state from “15:13:45” to “15:15:57”, and “15:15:57”. ”To“ 15:34:01 ”are in a resting state.

Based on the communication time 132 of the communication history storage unit 103, the state estimation unit 105 calculates a total time (T _A ) for which the communication device 30 is in a communicable state and a total time (T _I ) for which the communication device 30 is in a dormant state. .

で算出することができる。なお、ここで示した推定方法は、一例であり、他の方法によって算出してもよい。例えば、状態推定部１０５は、通信装置３０が１時間あたりに通信する通信回数Ｃを用いて、確率Ｐを、「Ｃ×Ｔ１／３６００」で算出してもよい。 The probability P that the communication device 30 is connected to the radio base station 20 is based on the calculated value based on the formula (1)

Can be calculated. In addition, the estimation method shown here is an example, and may be calculated by other methods. For example, the state estimation unit 105 may calculate the probability P by “C × T1 / 3600” using the number of communication times C that the communication device 30 communicates per hour.

  Next, a method in which the load estimation unit 106 calculates a load estimated value that is an estimated value of the load applied to the radio base station 20 will be described. Here, a case where the load estimation unit 106 calculates the load estimation value of the radio base station 20a will be described as an example. First, the load estimation unit 106 refers to the position information storage unit 101 and extracts the communication device 30 located in the radio base station 20a. 4, since the base station identifier of the radio base station 20a is “360043053”, the communication devices 30 (communication devices 30a, 30b, and 30c) corresponding to the identifiers “30a”, “30b”, and “30c” It is located in the radio base station 20a. Next, the load estimator 106 instructs the state estimator 105 so that the state estimator 105 is connected to the radio base station 20 for each of the communication devices 30 located in the radio base station 20a. Is estimated. Here, the state estimation unit 105 calculates the probability P for each of the communication devices 30a, 30b, and 30c by the above-described equation (1).

無線基地局２０ａに同時に通信可能に接続することが可能な通信装置３０の数をＭ（Ｍは、１以上の整数）とすると、無線基地局２０ａの負荷推定値Ｌは、

と算出される。負荷推定値Ｌは、負荷推定部１０６に記憶されることが好ましい。負荷推定値Ｌは、無線基地局２０ａに同時に通信可能に接続することが可能な通信装置３０の最大数に対する、接続状態にあると推定される通信装置数の比としている。Ｌ＝０であれば、無線基地局２０ａは、負荷がかかっていない。また、Ｌ＝１であれば、無線基地局２０ａは、最大限の負荷がかかっており、新たに通信装置３０を通信可能に接続することができない。 Now, assuming that there are N communication devices 30 located in the radio base station 20a and each communication device 30 is in a connected state, let P _i (i = 1, 2,..., N) be a probability value. . The load estimation unit 106 calculates an expected value A of the number of communication devices 30 connected to the radio base station 20a according to the following equation (2).

Assuming that the number of communication devices 30 that can be connected to the radio base station 20a at the same time is M (M is an integer equal to or greater than 1), the load estimate L of the radio base station 20a is:

Is calculated. The load estimated value L is preferably stored in the load estimating unit 106. The estimated load value L is the ratio of the number of communication devices estimated to be in a connected state to the maximum number of communication devices 30 that can be connected to the radio base station 20a at the same time. If L = 0, the radio base station 20a is not loaded. If L = 1, the radio base station 20a is under the maximum load and cannot newly connect the communication device 30 so as to be communicable.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 8, the communication apparatus 30 which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a communication apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The communication device 30 includes a communication unit 301, a position monitoring unit 302, a position information transmission unit 303, a communication monitoring unit 304, and a communication history transmission unit 305.

  For example, when the application (not shown) operating in the communication device 30 communicates (transmits / receives data) with a server device (not shown) via the Internet, the communication unit 301 communicates via the radio base station 20. Data is transmitted to and received from the server device.

  The position monitoring unit 302 monitors the position of the communication device 30. For example, the position monitoring unit 302 acquires the identifier of the radio base station 20 included in the radio wave transmitted from the radio base station 20, and monitors the identifier. Alternatively, the position monitoring unit 302 acquires information such as latitude and longitude obtained from a GPS (Global Positioning System) and monitors the information.

  The location information transmission unit 303 transmits the location information notification (FIG. 5) including the location of the communication device 30 acquired by the location monitoring unit 302 to the information processing device 10 via the radio base station 20.

  The communication monitoring unit 304 monitors communication performed by the communication device 30 via the communication unit 301 and acquires a communication history.

  The communication history transmission unit 305 transmits a communication history notification (FIG. 7) including the communication history of the communication device 30 acquired by the communication monitoring unit 304 to the information processing device 10 via the radio base station 20.

  Next, the processing flow of the present embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram illustrating a process in which the communication device according to the second embodiment of the present invention transmits a location information notification to the information processing device. With reference to FIG. 9, processing in which the communication device 30 transmits a position information notification to the information processing device 10 will be described.

  The communication device 30 is based on the quality of radio waves received from each radio base station 20 (for example, radio wave intensity, signal-to-noise ratio, etc.), connection priority to the radio base station 20, and the like. Switch station 20.

  When the radio base station 20 in which the communication apparatus 30 is located is switched, the position monitoring unit 302 detects the change and acquires the identifier of the radio base station 20 that is newly located (step S1001). Here, the radio base station 20 in which the communication device 30 corresponding to the identifier “30c” is located has changed from the radio base station 20 a corresponding to the identifier “360043053” to the radio base station 20 b corresponding to the identifier “36243342”. An example of switching to will be described. After the position monitoring unit 302 detects switching of the radio base station 20, the position information transmission unit 303 transmits a position information notification to the information processing apparatus 10 via the radio base station 20b (step S1002). At this time, as shown in FIG. 5, the location information notification to be transmitted includes the identifier “30c” of the own device (communication device 30) and the identifier “36234342” of the radio base station 20b to be a new location. .

  The location information receiving unit 102 of the information processing device 10 receives the location information notification transmitted by the communication device 30 (step S1003). The position information receiving unit 102 that has received the position information notification updates the position 112 of the position information storage unit 101 based on the information included in the received position information notification (step S1004). That is, the location information receiving unit 102 indicates the radio base station 20b from “360043053” indicating the radio base station 20a, and the location 112 of the row whose identifier 111 is “30c” in the location information storage unit 101 illustrated in FIG. Update to “36234342”.

  FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating processing in which the communication device according to the second embodiment of the present invention transmits a communication history notification to the information processing device. With reference to FIG. 10, processing in which the communication device 30 transmits a communication history notification to the information processing device 10 will be described.

  The communication monitoring unit 304 of the communication device 30 monitors the communication performed by the communication unit 301 and detects the start of communication. The communication monitoring unit 304 acquires the detected time and sets the time as the communication start time (step S1101).

  The communication unit 301 enters a state where no data is transmitted or received (no communication state) after performing necessary communication. After detecting the start of communication, the communication monitoring unit 304 continues to monitor the communication unit 301 and detects that the no-communication state has continued for a predetermined time (for example, 1 second) (step S1102).

  The communication monitoring unit 304 acquires the time when the continuation of the no-communication state is detected, and sets the time as the communication end time (step S1103).

  Thereafter, the communication history transmission unit 305 transmits a communication history notification including the identifier of the communication device 30, the communication start time, and the communication end time to the information processing device 10 via the radio base station 20 (step S1104). When the communication device 30 is the communication device 30c, the communication start time is “15:10:21”, and the communication end time is “15:12:32”, the communication history notification transmitted in this embodiment is, for example, FIG. It becomes the contents shown in.

  The communication history receiving unit 104 of the information processing apparatus 10 receives a communication history notification (step S1105).

  Then, the communication history receiving unit 104 updates the communication history storage unit 103 based on the information included in the communication history notification (step S1106). Here, it is assumed that the communication history storage unit 103 stores the information shown in FIG. 6 when the communication history notification is received. The communication history receiving unit 104 acquires the value of the communication time 132 from the row in which the identifier 131 of the communication history storage unit 103 is the identifier “30c” of the communication device 30 included in the communication history notification. The value obtained at this time is “14: 23: 42-14: 23: 50, 14: 55: 55-14: 57: 10”. The communication history receiving unit 104 adds the communication start time and the communication end time notified by the communication history notification to the acquired value, and “14: 23: 42-14: 23: 50, 14:55:55”. -14: 57: 10, 15: 10: 21-15: 12: 32 ". The communication history receiving unit 104 sets the obtained value as the communication time 132 of the row where the identifier 131 in the communication history storage unit 103 is “30c”.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating processing in which the information processing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention estimates the load on the radio base station. With reference to FIG. 11, processing in which the information processing apparatus 10 estimates a load applied to the radio base station 20 will be described. In the present embodiment, description will be made assuming that the load of the radio base station 20a having the identifier “360043053” is estimated.

  First, the information processing apparatus 10 refers to the position information storage unit 101 and identifies the communication apparatus 30 located in the radio base station 20a to be estimated (step S1201). Assuming that the location information storage unit 101 has the contents shown in FIG. 4, the communication device 30 residing in the radio base station 20a has the communication devices 30 having identifiers “30a”, “30b”, and “30c”. (30a to 30c).

  Next, the state estimation unit 105 estimates a connection state between the identified communication device 30 and the radio base station 20a. Here, the communication device 30a will be described as an example. First, the state estimation unit 105 refers to the communication history information storage unit 103 and acquires a communication time 132 related to the communication device 30a identified by “30a” (step S1202).

  Based on the communication time 132, the state estimation unit 105 calculates the probability P that the communication device 30a is connected to the radio base station 20a using Equation (1) (step S1203).

  The state estimation unit 105 also estimates the connection state between the communication device 30 and the radio base station 20a for the communication devices 30b and 30c identified as being located in the radio base station 20a (steps S1202 and S1203).

  When the connection state is estimated for all the communication devices 30 identified as being located in the radio base station 20a (“YES” in step S1204), the load estimation unit 105 obtains the equation (2) and the equation (3). Then, the estimated load value of the radio base station 20a is calculated (step S1205).

  The load estimation value may be updated by executing the flowchart shown in FIG. 11 at regular time intervals.

  As described above, in the second embodiment, the load of the radio base station 20 generated when the communication device 30 is communicably connected to the radio base station 20 without changing the radio base station 20. There is an effect that can be estimated.

  The reason is that the information processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment extracts the communication apparatus 30 located in the radio base station 20 by receiving the position information of the communication apparatus 30. The information processing apparatus 10 can communicate with the radio base station 20 by estimating the connection state with the radio base station 20 for all the communication apparatuses 30 located in the radio base station 20. This is because the load generated by connecting to is estimated.

<Third Embodiment>
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention based on the above-described second embodiment will be described.

  In the third embodiment, based on the load of the radio base station 20 estimated in the second embodiment, the message is delivered to the communication device in consideration of the absence of time for the load to concentrate on the radio base station 20. To do. In the following description, the characteristic part according to the present embodiment will be mainly described. About the structure similar to 2nd Embodiment mentioned above, the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted by attaching | subjecting the same reference number.

  FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a distribution control system according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The distribution control system according to the third embodiment includes an information processing device 11, a radio base station 20, and a communication device 31.

  FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an information processing apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The information processing apparatus 11 includes a position information storage unit 101, a position information reception unit 102, a communication history storage unit 103, a communication history reception unit 104, a state estimation unit 105, a load estimation unit 106, and a message transmission unit 107. And a transmission control unit 108. The information processing apparatus 11 according to the third embodiment is different from the information processing apparatus 10 according to the second embodiment in that it includes a message transmission unit 107 and a transmission control unit 108.

  The information processing apparatus 11 receives a distribution request from an application server (not shown) or the like that is communicably connected to the communication apparatus 31 via the Internet. The distribution request includes an identifier that can uniquely identify the communication device 31 that is a distribution destination, and a message to be distributed. In the distribution request, a plurality of communication devices 31 may be designated as destinations.

  Based on the load applied to the radio base station 20 estimated by the load estimation unit 106, the transmission control unit 108 determines whether to immediately transmit the message to the communication device 31 or to temporarily hold the message.

  Next, a method for determining whether a message can be transmitted will be described. Here, the case where it is determined whether or not to transmit a message to the communication device 31a located in the radio base station 20a will be described as an example.

が満たされる場合に送信可、満たされない場合に送信不可（一時保留）と判定する。なお、Ｍは、無線基地局２０ａに接続可能な通信装置３１の最大数とする。式（４）の第２項は、通信装置３１ａにメッセージを送信することにより増加する、無線基地局２０ａの負荷量の期待値である。 First, the load estimation unit 106 calculates the estimated load value L of the radio base station 20a in which the communication device 31a that is the destination of the message is located, using Expression (3). Further, the state estimation unit 105 calculates a probability P that the communication device 31a is in a connection state with the radio base station 20. In the radio base station 20a, an allowable load amount _TL is set in advance, and the following equation (4)

It is determined that transmission is possible when the condition is satisfied, and transmission is impossible (temporary hold) when the condition is not satisfied. Note that M is the maximum number of communication devices 31 that can be connected to the radio base station 20a. The second term of the equation (4) is an expected value of the load amount of the radio base station 20a, which is increased by transmitting a message to the communication device 31a.

When the transmission control unit 108 determines that transmission is possible, the message transmission unit 107 transmits a message to the communication device 31a. Therefore, the distribution control system according to the present embodiment can prevent the load from being concentrated on the radio base station 20a by distributing the message. The allowable load amount _TL is set in advance by the administrator of the information processing apparatus 11. The allowable load amount _TL may be a different value for each radio base station 20, or may be changed for each time zone. For example, when the time variation of the load applied to the radio base station 20 is large, setting _TL low results in a situation where there is a margin up to the upper limit of the number of communication devices 31 to be connected. Thereby, even when the load on the radio base station 20 suddenly increases, the possibility that the number of connections of the radio base station 20 reaches the upper limit and the communication device 31 to be connected cannot be newly connected is reduced. Can do.

  FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a communication apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The communication device 31 includes a communication unit 301, a position monitoring unit 302, a position information transmission unit 303, a communication monitoring unit 304, a communication history transmission unit 305, and a message reception unit 306. The communication device 31 according to the third embodiment is different from the communication device 30 according to the second embodiment of the present invention in that it includes a message receiving unit 306.

  The message receiving unit 306 receives a message transmitted from the information processing apparatus 11. The message received by the message receiving unit 306 is notified to an application (not shown) operating on the communication device 31. The application that receives the notification performs processing according to the received message.

  Next, processing in the third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating processing in which the information processing apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention transmits a message to the communication apparatus.

  The information processing apparatus 11 receives a distribution request from an application server (not shown) or the like.

  The information processing apparatus 11 refers to the position information storage unit 101 to identify the radio base station 20 in which the communication apparatus 31 specified as the destination in the distribution request is located (step S2001).

  When the load estimated value L of the load applied to the specified radio base station 20 has not yet been calculated (“NO” in step S2002), the load estimation unit 106 obtains the load estimated value L of the load applied to the radio base station 20. Calculate (step S2003).

  Thereafter, the state estimation unit 105 calculates a probability P that the communication device 31 that is the destination of the message is connected to the radio base station 20 (step S2004).

  Based on the connection probability P calculated by the state estimation unit 105 and the load estimation value L calculated by the load estimation unit 106, the transmission control unit 108 determines whether or not the message transmission is possible using Expression (4) (step S2005). ).

  If it is determined that the message can be transmitted (“YES” in step S2005), the message transmission unit 107 transmits the message to the communication device 31 (step S2006).

After transmitting the message, the load estimation unit 106 calculates the load estimated value L of the load applied to the radio base station 20 by the following formula (5) and updates it (step S2007).

  If the communication device 31 has not established a connection with the radio base station 20, a new connection is established with the radio base station 20 by transmitting a message, and the load on the radio base station 20 increases. The load estimated value L is updated by the equation (5) to reflect this increase in load. The expected value for increasing the load on the radio base station 20 is (1−P) / M, which is obtained by multiplying the probability 1−P of unconnection by the coefficient 1 / M, so that Expression (5) is derived.

  If the transmission control unit 108 determines that the message cannot be transmitted (“NO” in step S2005), the transmission of the message is temporarily suspended, and thus steps S2006 and S2007 are not performed.

  The transmission control unit 108 confirms whether or not the determination of whether or not message transmission is possible has been completed for all the communication devices 31 of the communication device 31 that is the target of message transmission (step S2008).

  If the message transmission permission / inhibition determination is not completed ("NO" in step S2008), the process returns to step S2001 and the subsequent processing is repeated. When the message transmission permission / inhibition determination is completed (“YES” in step S2008), the information processing apparatus 11 waits for a predetermined time set in advance (step S2009). The waiting time may be, for example, the same time as the inactivity timer value at which the RRC state of the communication device 31 shifts from the communicable state to the dormant state. As a result, even when there is a newly established connection between the communication device 31 and the radio base station 20 due to message transmission, it is expected that the load on the radio base station 20 will be reduced by releasing the connection. Is done.

  When the predetermined time has elapsed, the load estimation unit 106 initializes the load estimation value L (step S2010). This is because it is considered that the load applied to the radio base station 20 changes as the predetermined time elapses.

  In order to perform again the transmission permission / inhibition determination of the message transmission determined to be unsuccessful in step S2005, the result of the transmission permission / inhibition determination is erased, and the process returns to step S2001.

  As described above, in the third embodiment, even when a message is transmitted to a plurality of communication devices 31, a message is transmitted while suppressing the load applied to the radio base station 20 to be equal to or less than the allowable load amount. There is an effect that can be.

The reason is that the information processing apparatus 11 transmits a message to the communication apparatus 31 while considering the maximum number of communication apparatuses 31 to which the radio base station 20 can connect.
<Fourth Embodiment>
A fourth embodiment of the present invention based on the above-described third embodiment will be described. In the following description, the characteristic parts according to the present embodiment will be mainly described, and the same configurations and processes as those of the second and third embodiments described above are denoted by the same reference numerals. The duplicated explanation is omitted.

  The system according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention has the same configuration as the system according to the third embodiment, but there is a difference in processing performed by the information processing apparatus 11.

  Hereinafter, processing of the information processing apparatus 11 according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating processing in which the information processing apparatus according to the fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention transmits a message to the communication apparatus.

  The transmission control unit 108 of the information processing device 11 refers to the location information storage unit 101, selects one of the communication devices 31 that is the destination of message transmission, and the wireless base station 20 in which the selected communication device 31 is located. The process of specifying (Step S2001) is the same as that of the third embodiment. The identifier of the specified radio base station 20 will be described as 20a.

  The load estimation unit 106 calculates the load estimated value L of the radio base station 20a using the equation (3) (step S3001).

  Next, the transmission control unit 108 refers to the location information storage unit 101, and extracts the communication device 31 located in the radio base station 20a from the communication devices 31 that are destinations for message transmission (step S3002). .

Hereinafter, the communication apparatus 31 extracted in step S3002 will be described as 31i (i = 1, 2, 3,..., N, where n is an integer). For all of the extracted communication devices 31i, the state estimation unit 105 calculates the connection probability P _i (P _i indicates the connection probability of the communication device 31i) in the same manner as in equation (1) (step S3003).

Transmission control section 108, searches the maximum value serving as among the calculated connection probabilities _{P i} (step S3004). The value obtained by the search will be described as the connection probability _Pk of the communication device 31k. Based on the obtained P _k and the estimated load value L of the radio base station 20a, the transmission control unit 108 determines whether the message can be transmitted based on the equation (4) (step S3005).

に従い更新する（ステップＳ３００７）。 When the transmission control unit 108 determines that the message can be transmitted (“YES” in step S3005), the message transmission unit 107 transmits the message to the communication device 31k (step S3006). Then, the load estimation unit 106 calculates the load estimated value L of the radio base station 20a using the following equation (6).

And updating according to (step S3007).

  Thereafter, the transmission control unit 108 removes 31k from the set of communication devices 31 extracted in step S3002, and again performs the processing from step S3004. In step S3004, the reason for selecting the communication device 31 having the largest connection probability is that the increment of the load estimation value L evaluated by the equation (6) is the smallest, and messages can be transmitted to more communication devices 31. It is because there is sex. If it is determined in step S3005 that message transmission is not possible, processing in step S2008 and subsequent steps is performed. Since the subsequent steps are the same as those in the third embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

  As described above, the fourth embodiment of the present invention has an effect that messages can be transmitted to more communication devices 31 at an early stage while suppressing the load on the radio base station 20.

  The reason is that the information processing apparatus 11 preferentially transmits a message to the communication apparatus 31 having a high probability of being connected to the radio base station 20. Even if a message is transmitted to the radio base station 20 and the communication device 31 that has already established a connection, the number of communication devices 31 connected to the radio base station 20 does not increase. That is, if a communication device 31 with a high probability of connection is selected and a message is transmitted to the communication device 31, the expected value of the load on the radio base station 31 that increases by transmitting the message decreases. Thereby, the information processing apparatus 11 can reduce the time until the message reaches the communication apparatus 31 while avoiding congestion of the radio base station 20.

(Hardware configuration)
In the embodiment described above, each unit shown in FIGS. 1, 3, 8, 13, and 14 may be practiced by a dedicated device, but is regarded as a function (processing) unit (software module) of a software program. be able to. However, various configurations can be envisaged when mounting each part shown in these drawings. An example of the hardware environment in such a case will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary hardware configuration of a computer (information processing apparatus) capable of realizing the first, second, third, and fourth embodiments of the present invention. That is, FIG. 17 illustrates the information processing apparatus 1 illustrated in FIG. 1, the information processing apparatus 10 and the communication apparatus 30 illustrated in FIG. 2, or the information processing apparatus 11 and the communication apparatus 31 illustrated in FIG. Represents a hardware environment capable of realizing each function in the above-described embodiment.

  An information processing apparatus 9000 shown in FIG. 17 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 9001, a display 9002, a communication interface (I / F) 9003, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 9004, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 9005, a hard disk device ( HD) 9006, and these are connected via a bus 9007. The hard disk device (HD) 9006 stores a program group 9006A and various kinds of stored information 9006B. The program group 9006A includes, for example, each of the information processing apparatus 1, the information processing apparatus 10, the communication apparatus 30, the information processing apparatus 11, and the communication apparatus 31 illustrated in FIG. 1, FIG. 3, FIG. 8, FIG. A computer program for realizing a function corresponding to a block (each unit). The various storage information 9006B is, for example, the position information storage unit 101 and the communication history storage unit 103 shown in FIG. A communication interface 9003 is a general communication unit that realizes communication with an external device via the network 9100.

  The present invention described by taking the above-described embodiment as an example is a block configuration diagram referred to in the description of the embodiment, or after supplying a computer program capable of realizing the function of the flowchart, This is achieved by reading the data to the CPU 9001 of the hardware and using the hardware resources of the information processing apparatus 9000 shown in FIG. Specifically, when the information processing apparatus 10 is realized by the information processing apparatus 9000, the information processing apparatus 9000 may realize a computer program corresponding to the flowchart shown in FIG. When the information processing apparatus 11 is realized by the information processing apparatus 9000, the information processing apparatus 9000 may realize a computer program corresponding to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. The computer program supplied to the information processing device 9000 may be stored in a readable / writable temporary storage memory (9005) or a non-volatile storage device (storage medium) such as the hard disk device 9006.

  In the above case, the computer program can be supplied to the apparatus by a method of installing it in the apparatus via various storage media such as a CD-ROM or by an external communication line 9100 such as the Internet. A general procedure can be adopted at present, such as a method of downloading from the Internet. In such a case, the present invention can be understood to be constituted by a code constituting the computer program or a computer-readable storage medium in which the code is recorded.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Information processing apparatus 2 State estimation part 3 Load estimation part 10 Information processing apparatus 11 Information processing apparatus 20 Wireless base station 30 Communication apparatus 31 Communication apparatus 101 Position information storage part 102 Position information reception part 103 Communication history storage part 104 Communication history reception part 105 state estimation unit 106 load estimation unit 107 message transmission unit 108 transmission control unit 111 communication device identifier 112 position 131 communication device identifier 132 communication time 301 communication unit 302 position monitoring unit 303 position information transmission unit 304 communication monitoring unit 305 communication history transmission unit 306 Message Receiver 9000 Information Processing Device (Computer)
9001 CPU
9002 Display 9003 Communication interface (I / F)
9004 ROM
9005 RAM
9006 Hard disk device (HD)
9006A Program group 9006B Various stored information 9007 Bus 9100 Network

Claims (10)

Based on communication history information of the communication device, state estimation means for estimating that the communication device is in a connected state by obtaining a probability that the communication device is in a communicable state ;
An information processing apparatus comprising: load estimation means for estimating a load of the radio base station based on the probability obtained by the state estimation means and position information of the communication apparatus. Position information receiving means for receiving a position information notification including information indicating the position of the communication apparatus from the communication apparatus ;
Position information storage means for storing information included in the position information notification;
Communication history receiving means for receiving a communication history notification including history information communicated by the communication device;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising communication history storage means for storing information included in the communication history notification. A transmission control means for receiving a distribution request to the communication device and determining whether transmission to the communication device is possible;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: a transmission unit configured to transmit a message specified in the distribution request when it is determined that transmission is possible. The transmission control means estimates a load of the radio base station that increases when the communication apparatus and the radio base station are communicably connected, and determines whether transmission is possible to the communication apparatus. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3. The transmission control means estimates a load of the radio base station that increases when the communication apparatus and the radio base station are communicably connected, and preferentially transmits to the communication apparatus with a low estimated load. 4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the information processing apparatus is controlled as follows. Position monitoring means for monitoring the position of the device itself and acquiring position information;
Position information transmitting means for transmitting the position information notification including the position information acquired by the position monitoring means;
Communication means for communicating with other devices;
Communication monitoring means for monitoring the communication and obtaining a communication history;
A communication apparatus comprising: a communication history transmission unit that transmits the communication history notification including the communication history acquired by the communication monitoring unit;
A distribution control system comprising: the information processing apparatus according to claim 2. Position monitoring means for monitoring the position of the device itself and acquiring position information;
Position information transmitting means for transmitting the position information notification including the position information acquired by the position monitoring means;
Communication means for communicating with other devices;
Communication monitoring means for monitoring the communication and obtaining a communication history;
Communication history transmitting means for transmitting the communication history notification including the communication history acquired by the communication monitoring means;
A communication device comprising: a receiving unit that receives the message transmitted from the information processing device according to claim 3;
A distribution control system comprising: the information processing apparatus according to claim 3. Information processing device
Based on the communication history information of the communication device, by estimating the probability that the communication device is in a communicable state, it is estimated that the wireless base station and the communication device are in a connected state,
A load estimation method for estimating a load of the radio base station based on the obtained probability and position information of the communication device. The communication device
When communicating with another device, the history information of the communication is transmitted to the information processing device as a communication history notification, and when the change of the serving base station is detected, the location information of the own device is used as the location information notification. To the device,
The information processing apparatus is
Receiving the communication history notification, based on the content, by estimating the probability that the communication device is in a communicable state, estimating that the wireless base station and the communication device are in a connected state,
A load estimation method for estimating a load of the radio base station based on the calculated probability and the position information notification transmitted from the communication device. Based on the communication history information of the communication device, a state estimation function for estimating that the communication device is in a connected state by obtaining a probability that the communication device is in a communicable state ;
Based on the probability obtained by the state estimation function and the position information of the communication device, a load estimation function for estimating the load of the radio base station,
A computer program characterized by being realized by a computer.

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