KR102111130B1 - Apparatus and method for managing dual connectivity - Google Patents

Abstract

A dual connection management apparatus according to an embodiment comprises: a communication unit which receives status information on a network associated with the dual connection or characteristic information on content available to a terminal, when dual connectivity between base stations having different cell sizes and the terminal is possible; a resource allocation policy coordination unit which determines the status of the network on the received status information or the received characteristic information, and adjusts a resource allocation policy for each resource of the base stations based on the received status information or the received characteristic information if the network is determined to be in a congested state or a congested state; and a resource allocation unit for allocating resources of each of the base stations to the terminal based on the adjusted resource allocation policy.

Description

Apparatus and method for dual connection management {APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MANAGING DUAL CONNECTIVITY}

The present invention relates to a dual connection management apparatus and method.

Since the spread of smart devices, traffic is increasing worldwide. Accordingly, a phenomenon in which the load is excessively concentrated in the macro cell is occurring.

Various methods have been proposed to solve the load concentration phenomenon. Among them, there is a method to distribute the load by placing small cells such as picocells, femtocells, or microcells within a macrocell. However, if this method is followed, the mobile wireless terminal is likely to experience frequent handover between small cells, and thus overhead due to such frequent handover may be a problem.

Meanwhile, in order to solve the overhead problem due to such frequent handover, various methods have been proposed. Dual connectivity that connects each of the base stations having different cell sizes (for example, a base station of a macro cell and a base station of a small cell) and a terminal at the same time is one of various methods.

When dual connectivity is supported, the UE can maintain a connection state with each of the base stations having different cell sizes. According to this, for example, the excessive load concentration phenomenon on the base station of the macro cell can be somewhat relieved by the base station of the small cell, and the possibility that the mobile wireless terminal experiences frequent handover between the small cells can be reduced.

Korean Registered Patent Publication No. 10-1615384 (Registration on April 19, 2016)

Packet reordering may be a problem in the above-described double connection. Packet reordering refers to, for example, when a packet transmitted through a base station of a macro cell and a packet transmitted through a base station of a small cell reach a predetermined destination, the packets are thus sorted according to a predetermined criterion. The reason why alignment is necessary is that packets transmitted through the base station of the macro cell and packets transmitted through the base station of the small cell can reach a destination with a time difference between each other depending on the state of the network through which each packet passes. .

In addition, in the above-described dual connection, a process of allocating radio resources for macro cells and radio resources for small cells to terminals is performed. At this time, the quality of service provided through the terminal may vary depending on how much radio resources for the macro cell and radio resources for the small cell are allocated to the terminal.

The problem to be solved by the present invention is to solve the packet rearrangement problem in a dual connection, and also to allocate a radio resource for a macro cell and a radio resource for a small cell to the terminal so that the best quality service can be provided through the terminal. Is to provide.

However, the problem to be solved of the present invention is not limited to those mentioned above, and another problem not to be solved can be clearly understood by a person having ordinary knowledge to which the present invention belongs from the following description. will be.

In the dual connectivity management apparatus according to an embodiment, when dual connectivity between base stations having different cell sizes and a terminal is possible, status information on a network associated with the dual connection or characteristic information on content available to the terminal The communication unit for receiving, and determines the state of the network based on the received status information or the received characteristic information, and if the determination result is determined that the network is in a congested state or a congested state, the received state information or the A resource allocation policy adjustment unit that adjusts a resource allocation policy for each resource of the base stations based on the received characteristic information, and a resource allocation that allocates each of the resources of the base stations to the terminal based on the adjusted resource allocation policy Includes wealth.

Also, base stations having different cell sizes may include a base station of a macro cell and a base station of a small cell.

In addition, the received status information may include at least one of bandwidth, network delay, and packet loss rate for each of the base stations.

In addition, the dual connection management apparatus may further include an encoding control unit determining a target encoding rate and a code rate for the content based on the received status information or the received characteristic information. Can be. At this time, the determined target encoding rate and code rate may be transmitted to an evolved packet core (EPC) through the communication unit.

In the dual connection management method performed by the dual connection management apparatus, when dual connectivity between base stations having different cell sizes and a terminal is possible, status information on a network associated with the dual connection or content available to the terminal Receiving characteristic information, determining a state of the network based on the received state information or the received characteristic information, and determining that the network is in a congested state or a congested state, as a result of the determination. Adjusting a resource allocation policy for each resource of the base stations based on status information or the received characteristic information, and allocating resources of each of the base stations to the terminal based on the adjusted resource allocation policy It is carried out including.

Also, base stations having different cell sizes may include a base station of a macro cell and a base station of a small cell.

In addition, the received status information may include at least one of bandwidth, network delay, and packet loss rate for each of the base stations.

In addition, the dual connection management method includes determining a target encoding rate and a code rate for the content based on the received status information or the received characteristic information, and the determined target The method may further include transmitting an encoding rate and a code rate to an evolved packet core (EPC).

A computer program according to an embodiment is stored in a computer-readable recording medium, and when dual connectivity between base stations having different cell sizes and a terminal is possible, state information about a network associated with the dual connection or the terminal Receiving property information on the content that can be provided, determining the state of the network based on the received state information or the received property information, and as a result of the determination, the network is in a congested or congested state If it is determined, adjusting the resource allocation policy for each resource of the base stations based on the received status information or the received characteristic information, and the resource of each of the base stations based on the adjusted resource allocation policy It is programmed to perform, including the step of allocating to the terminal.

According to an embodiment, a resource allocation policy to a terminal for each resource of the base stations double-connected to the terminal may be determined based on status information on a network associated with the dual connection or characteristic information on content provided to the terminal. . According to this resource allocation policy, resources of each of the base stations can be efficiently allocated to the terminal. Therefore, the terminal can stably provide high-quality content to the user by using the allocated resource.

In addition, the target encoding rate and code rate, which are the basis for encoding for content, may also be determined based on the state information for the network associated with the dual connection or property information for the content. When encoding for the content is performed based on the target encoding rate determined in this way and fountain encoding for the content is performed based on the determined code rate, a problem with packet realignment may be solved.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a network system including a dual connection management apparatus according to an embodiment.
2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a dual connection management apparatus according to an embodiment.
3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation flow in a network system including a dual connection management apparatus according to an embodiment.

Advantages and features of the present invention, and methods for achieving them will be clarified with reference to embodiments described below in detail together with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but may be implemented in various different forms, and only the embodiments allow the disclosure of the present invention to be complete, and common knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention pertains. It is provided to completely inform the person having the scope of the invention, and the present invention is only defined by the scope of the claims.

In describing embodiments of the present invention, when it is determined that a detailed description of known functions or configurations may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, the detailed description will be omitted. In addition, terms to be described later are terms defined in consideration of functions in an embodiment of the present invention, which may vary according to a user's or operator's intention or practice. Therefore, the definition should be made based on the contents throughout this specification.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a network system 10 including a dual connection management apparatus 100 according to an embodiment. Referring to FIG. 1, the network system 10 includes a dual connection management apparatus 100, a terminal 200, a macro cell base station 300, a small cell base station 400, and an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) 500 as a configuration. And a media server 600. In addition, each configuration shown in FIG. 1 is not shown in FIG. 1, but is connected by a wired or wireless network. However, since FIG. 1 is merely exemplary, the spirit of the present invention is not limited to being applied only to the network system 10 illustrated in FIG. 1.

Among them, the terminal 200 is a portable device capable of providing a predetermined service, such as a mobile communication service, even when it is stationary as well as when it is stationary. The terminal 200 may be, for example, a smart device such as a smart phone or a smart pad or a wearable device, but is not limited thereto.

The terminal 200 supports dual connectivity. According to the double connection, the terminal 200 can be simultaneously connected to each of the base stations having different cell sizes to receive a predetermined service. Here, since the double connection itself is a known technique, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The macro cell base station 300 refers to a base station that provides a service to the terminal 200 in the macro cell. On the other hand, the small cell base station 400 refers to a base station that provides a service to the terminal 200 in the small cell. Here, the macro cell base station 300 is only a base station of a relatively large sized cell among the base stations dually connected to the terminal 200, and is limited to being interpreted as referring only to a base station of a cell defined as a 'macro cell'. no. Similarly, the small cell base station 400 also refers to a base station of a relatively small size cell among base stations double-connected to the terminal 200, and is limited to being interpreted as referring only to a base station of a cell defined as a 'small cell'. no.

The dual connection management apparatus 100 allocates each resource of the base stations 300 and 400 to the terminal 200 based on the resource allocation policy. In addition, the dual connection management apparatus 100 provides a solution for solving a problem according to packet realignment. The dual connection management apparatus 100 will be described in more detail later.

Evolved Packet Core (EPC) 500 is also referred to as an evolved packet core. The EPC 500 may perform fountain encoding on the content based on a code rate determined by the dual connection management apparatus 100. In addition, the EPC 500 may divide the content that has been subjected to the fountain encoding, and each of the divided contents is provided to the terminal 200 through any one of the base stations 300 and 400 that are dually connected to the terminal 200. . Here, the content may be an image or an image, but is not limited thereto. Meanwhile, since the fountain encoding / decoding itself, the target encoding rate itself, and the code rate itself are well-known technologies, detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted.

The media server 600 is a component that encodes content based on a target encoding rate and then provides the encoded content to the EPC 500. At this time, the target encoding rate used for encoding of the content may be that received from the EPC 500 that the dual connection management apparatus 100 determines.

Hereinafter, the above-described dual connection management apparatus 100 will be described in more detail.

2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a dual connection management apparatus 100 according to an embodiment. Referring to FIG. 2, the dual connection management apparatus 100 includes a communication unit 110, a resource allocation policy determination unit 120, a resource allocation unit 130, and an encoding control unit 140 as components. However, the configuration of the dual connection management apparatus 100 is not limited to that illustrated in FIG. 2.

First, the dual connection management apparatus 100 illustrated in FIG. 2 may be implemented in a server or the like.

The communication unit 110 is a wired or wireless communication module that transmits and receives data. The dual connection management apparatus 100 may exchange data with the base stations 300 and 400, the EPC 500 or the media server 600 through the communication unit 110.

For example, the dual connection management apparatus 100 may receive or collect status information on a network associated with the dual connection from base stations 300 and 400 that are dually connected to the terminal 200 through the communication unit 110. In addition, the dual connection management apparatus 100 may receive or collect characteristic information on content that the media server 600 can provide to the terminal 200 from the media server 600 through the communication unit 110.

Here, the state information on the network associated with the above-described double connection may include, for example, at least one of a bandwidth, a network delay, and a packet loss rate for each of the base stations 300 and 400 double-connected to the terminal 200.

In addition, the characteristic information about the content that can be provided to the terminal 200 described above may include, for example, an encoding rate or rate-distortion loss parameter model.

On the other hand, although not shown in the drawing, the communication unit 110 may exchange data with the above-described base stations 300,400, EPC 500 or media server 600 through a software-defined-network (SDN) controller. Here, the SDN means that the communication equipment constituting the network is virtually implemented using the computing power of software through the allocation of physical resources.

Considering the SDN controller, looking at the network system 10 shown in FIG. 1, the SDN controller corresponds to a control plane. In addition, the terminal 200, the macro cell base station 300, the small cell base station 400, the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) 500, and the media server 600 correspond to a data plane. In addition, the dual connection management device 100 corresponds to an application layer.

See FIG. 2 again. Each of the resource allocation policy adjustment unit 120, the resource allocation unit 130, and the encoding control unit 140 may be implemented in the form of a software module or a hardware module executed by a processor, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module. have.

Among them, the resource allocation policy adjustment unit 120 determines a state of a network capable of being dually connected to the terminal 200. When determining, at least one of the status information for the above-described network received through the communication unit 110 and the characteristic information for the above-described content may be considered.

As a result of the determination, it may be determined that the network is in a congested state or a congested state. In this case, the resource allocation policy adjustment unit 120 adjusts the resource allocation policy for each resource of the base stations 300 and 400. At this time, at least one of the status information for the above-described network and the characteristic information for the above-mentioned content will be considered. Can be. On the other hand, if it is determined that the network is not congested or is not scheduled to be congested, the resource allocation policy is not adjusted.

The resource allocation unit 130 allocates resources of each of the base stations 300 and 400 to the terminal 200. At this time, the resource allocation unit 130 may allocate each resource of the base stations 300 and 400 to the terminal 200 based on the resource allocation policy adjusted by the resource allocation policy adjustment unit 120 as described above.

The encoding control unit 140 determines a target encoding rate and a code rate to be applied to the content. In the determination process, at least one of the status information for the above-described network and the characteristic information for the above-described content received through the communication unit 110 may be considered, and the resource allocation unit 130 may perform the terminal 200 according to an embodiment. The resources allocated to may be considered.

In addition, the determined target encoding rate and code rate are transmitted to the EPC 500 through the communication unit 110.

As described above, according to an embodiment, the resource allocation policy to the terminal for each resource of the base stations double-connected to the terminal, the status information for the network associated with the dual connection or the characteristic information for the content provided to the terminal It can be determined on the basis of. According to this resource allocation policy, resources of each of the base stations can be efficiently allocated to the terminal. Therefore, the terminal can stably provide high-quality content to the user by using the allocated resource.

In addition, the target encoding rate and code rate, which are the basis for encoding for content, may also be determined based on the state information for the network associated with the dual connection or property information for the content. When encoding for the content is performed based on the target encoding rate determined in this way and fountain encoding for the content is performed based on the determined code rate, a problem with packet realignment may be solved.

Hereinafter, a procedure or process in which predetermined content is provided to the terminal 200 through a dual connection, which can be performed in the network system 10 including the dual connection management apparatus 100, will be described.

3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation flow in the network system 10 including the dual connection management apparatus 100 according to an embodiment. However, since the operation flow illustrated in FIG. 3 is merely exemplary, the spirit of the present invention is not limited to that illustrated in FIG. 3. Hereinafter, it will be described with reference to FIG. 3.

The dual connection management apparatus 100 may receive or collect status information on a network associated with the dual connection from base stations 300 and 400 that are dually connected to the terminal 200 through the communication unit 110 (S100).

In addition, the dual connection management apparatus 100 may receive or collect characteristic information about content that the media server 600 can provide to the terminal 200 from the media server 600 through the communication unit 110 (S110). ). The content may be an image or an image, but is not limited thereto.

Here, the base stations 300 and 400 refer to base stations having different cell sizes from each other, and may include, for example, a macro cell base station 300 and a small cell base station 400.

Among them, the macro cell base station 300 refers to a base station that provides a service to the terminal 200 in the macro cell. On the other hand, the small cell base station 400 refers to a base station that provides a service to the terminal 200 in the small cell. Here, the macro cell base station 300 is only a base station of a relatively large sized cell among the base stations dually connected to the terminal 200, and is limited to being interpreted as referring only to a base station of a cell defined as a 'macro cell'. no. Similarly, the small cell base station 400 also refers to a base station of a relatively small size cell among base stations double-connected to the terminal 200, and is limited to being interpreted as referring only to a base station of a cell defined as a 'small cell'. no.

Meanwhile, the state information on the network associated with the dual connection described above may include at least one of a bandwidth, a network delay, and a packet loss rate for each of the base stations 300 and 400 connected to the terminal 200.

In addition, the characteristic information about the content that can be provided to the terminal 200 described above may include, for example, an encoding rate or rate-distortion loss parameter model.

Based on the information received in steps S100 and S110, the resource allocation policy adjustment unit 120 of the dual connection management apparatus 100 determines the state of the network capable of dual connection to the terminal 200 (S200).

As a result of the determination in step S200, it may be determined that the network is in a congested state or a congested state. In this case, the resource allocation policy adjustment unit 120 adjusts the resource allocation policy for each resource of the base stations 300 and 400. At this time, at least one of the state information for the above-described network and the characteristic information for the above-described content is considered. It can be (S220). On the other hand, if it is determined that the network is not congested or is not scheduled to be congested, the resource allocation policy is not adjusted.

Thereafter, the resource allocation unit 130 of the dual connection management apparatus 100 allocates resources of each of the base stations 300 and 400 to the terminal 200. At this time, the resource allocation unit 130 may allocate each resource of the base stations 300 and 400 to the terminal 200 based on the resource allocation policy adjusted by the resource allocation policy adjustment unit 120 as described above.

The encoding control unit 140 of the dual connection management apparatus 100 determines a target encoding rate and a code rate to be applied to the content (S240). In the determination process, at least one of the status information for the above-described network and the characteristic information for the above-described content received through the communication unit 110 may be considered, and the resource allocation unit 130 may perform the terminal 200 according to an embodiment. The resources allocated to may be considered.

The determined target encoding rate and code rate are transmitted to the EPC 500 through the communication unit 110 (S250).

When the EPC 500 transmits the target encoding rate received in step S250 to the media server 600, the content to be provided to the terminal 200 requests the media server 600 to satisfy the target encoding rate ( S300).

The media server 600 receiving the request performs encoding for content to be provided to the terminal 200 (S310). At this time, the media server 600 may perform encoding based on the target encoding rate received from the EPC 500 in step S300.

When the encoding in step S310 is completed, the media server 600 transmits the encoded content to the EPC 500 (S320).

Then, the EPC 500 performs fountain encoding on the encoded content received in S320 based on the code rate received in step S250 (S330).

When the fountain encoding in step S330 is completed, the EPC 500 divides the fountain-encoded content into first content and second content (S340). In this case, the number of divided contents is not limited to two.

Each of the contents divided in step S340 is provided to the terminal 200 through any one of the base stations 300 and 400 double-connected to the terminal 200 (S350 to S380).

Then, the terminal 200 merges the content (first content and second content) received in steps S370 and S380, and performs fountain decoding (S400).

When the fountain decoding in step S400 is completed, content reproduction is possible in the terminal 200 (S410).

As described above, according to an embodiment, the resource allocation policy to the terminal for each resource of the base stations double-connected to the terminal, the status information for the network associated with the dual connection or the characteristic information for the content provided to the terminal It can be determined on the basis of. According to this resource allocation policy, resources of each of the base stations can be efficiently allocated to the terminal. Therefore, the terminal can stably provide high-quality content to the user by using the allocated resource.

In addition, the target encoding rate and code rate, which are the basis for encoding for content, may also be determined based on the state information for the network associated with the dual connection or property information for the content. When encoding for the content is performed based on the target encoding rate determined in this way and fountain encoding for the content is performed based on the determined code rate, a problem with packet realignment may be solved.

On the other hand, the invention of the above-described method, the form of a computer-readable recording medium storing a computer program programmed to perform each step included in the method or stored in the computer-readable recording medium, each included in the method It may be implemented in the form of a computer program programmed to perform the steps.

The above description is merely illustrative of the technical idea of the present invention, and those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains may make various modifications and variations without departing from the essential quality of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention are not intended to limit the technical spirit of the present invention, but to explain, and the scope of the technical spirit of the present invention is not limited by these embodiments. The scope of protection of the present invention should be interpreted by the following claims, and all technical ideas within the scope equivalent thereto should be interpreted as being included in the scope of the present invention.

100: dual connection management device

Claims (10)

When dual connectivity between base stations having different cell sizes and a terminal is possible, a communication unit that receives status information on a network associated with the dual connection or characteristic information on content available to the terminal;
The status of the network is determined based on the received status information or the received characteristic information, and when the determination result determines that the network is in a congested state or a congested state, the received state information or the received characteristic information is determined. And a resource allocation policy adjustment unit that adjusts a resource allocation policy for each of the base stations.
A resource allocation unit for allocating resources of each of the base stations to the terminal based on the adjusted resource allocation policy;
The encoding control unit determines a target encoding rate and a code rate for the content differently for each of the base stations having different cell sizes based on the received state information or the received characteristic information. Including,
The target encoding rate and code rate determined differently for each of the base stations having different cell sizes are:
It is transmitted to an evolved packet core (EPC) through the communication unit and used for fountain encoding performed by the EPC.
Dual connection management device. According to claim 1,
The base stations having different cell sizes,
Comprising a base station of a macro cell and a base station of a small cell
Dual connection management device. According to claim 1,
The received status information,
Including at least one of bandwidth, network delay, and packet loss rate for each of the base stations
Dual connection management device. delete A dual connection management method performed by the dual connection management device,
When dual connectivity between base stations having different cell sizes and a terminal is possible, receiving status information on a network associated with the dual connection or characteristic information on content available to the terminal;
Determining a state of the network based on the received state information or the received characteristic information,
Adjusting the resource allocation policy for each of the base stations based on the received status information or the received characteristic information when the network is determined to be congested or scheduled to be congested as a result of the determination;
Allocating resources of each of the base stations to the terminal based on the adjusted resource allocation policy,
Determining a target encoding rate and a code rate for the content differently for each of the base stations having different cell sizes based on the received status information or the received characteristic information. Including,
The target encoding rate and code rate determined differently for each of the base stations having different cell sizes are:
It is transmitted to an evolved packet core (EPC) and used for fountain encoding performed by the EPC.
How to manage dual connections. The method of claim 5,
The base stations having different cell sizes,
Comprising a base station of a macro cell and a base station of a small cell
How to manage dual connections. The method of claim 5,
The received status information,
Including at least one of bandwidth, network delay, and packet loss rate for each of the base stations
How to manage dual connections. delete When dual connectivity between base stations having different cell sizes and a terminal is possible, receiving status information on a network associated with the dual connection or characteristic information on content available to the terminal;
Determining a state of the network based on the received state information or the received characteristic information,
Adjusting the resource allocation policy for each of the base stations based on the received status information or the received characteristic information when the network is determined to be congested or expected to be congested as a result of the determination;
Allocating resources of each of the base stations to the terminal based on the adjusted resource allocation policy,
Determining a target encoding rate and a code rate for the content differently for each of the base stations having different cell sizes based on the received status information or the received characteristic information. Including,
The target encoding rate and code rate determined differently for each of the base stations having different cell sizes are:
It is transmitted to an evolved packet core (EPC) and used for fountain encoding performed by the EPC.
A computer program stored on a computer readable recording medium. When dual connectivity between base stations having different cell sizes and a terminal is possible, receiving status information on a network associated with the dual connection or characteristic information on content available to the terminal;
Determining a state of the network based on the received state information or the received characteristic information,
Adjusting the resource allocation policy for each of the base stations based on the received status information or the received characteristic information when the network is determined to be congested or scheduled to be congested as a result of the determination;
Allocating resources of each of the base stations to the terminal based on the adjusted resource allocation policy,
Determining a target encoding rate and a code rate for the content differently for each of the base stations having different cell sizes based on the received status information or the received characteristic information. Including,
The target encoding rate and code rate determined differently for each of the base stations having different cell sizes are:
It is transmitted to an evolved packet core (EPC) and used for fountain encoding performed by the EPC.
A computer readable recording medium storing a computer program.

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