WO2011083587A1

WO2011083587A1 - Communication device and control method therefor

Info

Publication number: WO2011083587A1
Application number: PCT/JP2010/050447
Authority: WO
Inventors: Johan Hjelm; Kenta Yasukawa
Original assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson (Publ)
Priority date: 2010-01-08
Filing date: 2010-01-08
Publication date: 2011-07-14

Abstract

When a predetermined service (e.g., a gateway service) is required in a communication network including two or more communication devices, the suitable or advantageous communication device is automatically identified based on device information, and the identified communication device executes that service. Therefore, a user is freed from the difficult task of determining which one of the communication devices should provide the predetermined service while taking many criteria into account.

Description

DESCRIPTION

COMMUNICATION DEVICE AND CONTROL METHOD THEREFOR TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention generally relates to a communication device and a control method therefor. The present invention particularly relates, but is not limited to, a technology whereby, when a given service is required in a communication network including two or more communication devices, a suitable communication device in the communication network automatically starts execution of the given service.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Currently, communication devices are known that are capable of communicating with each other thereby forming a personal network (PN) . An example of such a communication device is a cellular phone that is equipped with an IEEE 802. lla/b/g-compliant

communication module (hereinafter referred to as a WLAN module) as well as a WCDMA-compliant communication module (hereinafter referred to as a WAN module) .

Configurations are also known whereby one of the communication devices acts as a gateway (e.g., an IMS Gateway (IG) ) for connecting the PN to an external network (e.g., an IMS network), and each communication device in the PN communicates with the external network by way of the communication device acting as the gateway (see e.g.,

http: //www. ericsson. com/ericsson/corpinfo/publications/ review/2008_02/files/2_RemoteAccess.pdf) .

[0003] Meanwhile, even in the case where every communication device has functionality (e.g., a WAN module) allowing it to directly connect to the external network, the data rates of respective communication devices to the external network usually differ from each other due to, for example, ununiformity of signal strength. Assume a case wherein the data rate of the first communication device to the external network is 3.6 Mbps and the data rate of the second communication device to the external network is 7.2 Mbps, and the first and second communication devices are connected with each other via a communication link whose data rate is 54 Mbps. In this case, in order for the first communication device to communicate with the external network with a higher data rate, the second

communication device should act as a gateway and the first communication device should communicate with the external network via the second communication device.

[0004] It should be noted that this is a

simplified example and the actual PN is usually more complicated. For example, the PN may include three or more communication devices. In addition, the data rate is not necessarily the one and only criterion for the determination as to which one of the communication devices should act as the gateway. For example, if a device's remaining battery capacity is low, it should not 'act as a gateway so as to avoid an unexpected shutdown of the communication device due to battery exhaustion .

[0005] Currently, there is no sophisticated mechanism proposed to automatically select the

communication device that should act as a gateway.

Accordingly, in typical cases, a user of the

communication devices has to select one of the

communication devices and configure the selected communication device to act as a gateway by, for example, operating a setting menu.

[0006] However, as described above, because there are many criteria that should be considered, it is a difficult task for a user to determine which one of the communication devices acts as a gateway while taking many criteria into account.

[0007] Note that, although a gateway was referred to as an example, the above-described problem may occur in relation to any services that are executed by one communication device and provided to another

communication device. Examples of such services include a transcoding service whereby a first

communication device having a bitmap image asks a second communication device to transcode the image to JPEG format.

SUMMARY

[0008] The present invention is intended to address the above-described problem, and it is a feature thereof to introduce a technology whereby, when a given service is required in a communication network including two or more communication devices, a suitable communication device in the communication network automatically starts execution of the given service.

[0009] According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication device, comprising:

a communication unit that establishes a

communication link with another communication device; a service providing unit that executes a

predetermined service and provides the other

communication device with the predetermined service via the communication link, wherein the other communication device is also capable of executing the predetermined service and providing the communication device with the predetermined service;

a maintaining unit that maintains first device information including information related to

performance of the predetermined service executed by the service providing unit;

a sending unit that sends the first device information to the other communication device via the communication link;

a receiving unit that receives, from the other communication device via the communication link, second device information including information related to performance of the predetermined service executed by the other communication device;

a generating unit that generates a request to execute the predetermined service;

a detecting unit that detects the request; and a determining unit that determines whether or not the first device information and the second device information satisfies a first condition,

wherein if the request generated by the

generating unit is detected by the detecting unit and if it is determined by the determining unit that the first condition is satisfied, the service providing unit starts execution of the predetermined service, and sends, to the other communication device via the communication link, a first notification indicating that the communication device has started execution of the predetermined service.

[0010] According to the second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for controlling a communication device, wherein the

communication device comprises:

a communication unit that establishes a communication link with another communication device; and

a service providing unit that executes a

predetermined service and provides the other

communication device with the predetermined service via the communication link, wherein the other communication device is also capable of executing the predetermined service and providing the communication device with the predetermined service,

the method comprising:

a maintaining step of maintaining first device information including information related to

a sending step of sending the first device information to the other communication device via the communication link;

a receiving step of receiving, from the other communication device via the communication link, second device information including information related to performance of the predetermined service executed by the other communication device;

a generating step of generating a request to execute the predetermined service;

a detecting step of detecting the request;

a determining step of determining whether or not the first device information and the second device information satisfies a first condition; and

a controlling step of controlling, if the request generated in the generating step is detected in the detecting step and if it is determined in the

determining step that the first condition is satisfied, the service providing unit to start execution of the predetermined service, and send, to the other

communication device via the communication link, a first notification indicating that the communication device has started execution of the predetermined service .

[0011] The main advantage of the present invention is that users are freed from having to perform the difficult tasks required in order to determine which one of the communication devices should provide a predetermined service while taking many criteria into account .

[0012] Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the figures thereof .

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0013] Fig. 1 illustrates an overview of a

personal network (PN) 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

[0014] Fig. 2 is a functional block diagram of the communication device 110 according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

[0015] Fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure whereby the communication device 110

determines whether to execute the gateway service by itself or to ask another communication device (e.g., the communication device 120) to execute the gateway service .

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0016] Fig. 1 illustrates an overview of a

personal network (PN) 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The PN 100 includes communication devices 110 and 120, which can communicate with each other via, for example, wireless communication in accordance with IEEE 802. llg. The communication devices 110 and 120 can execute a predetermined service. The communication device 110 can use the service which the communication device 110 is executing, and can provide the service to the communication device 120. Similarly, the communication device 120 can use the service which the communication device 120 is executing, and can provide the service to the communication device 110.

[0017] In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the communication devices 110 and 120 are cellular phones that are equipped with a WAN module. Moreover, it is assumed that the predetermined service executed by the communication devices 110 and 120 is a gateway service. The gateway service enables the communication devices 110 and 120 to access the Internet 130 via the WAN module.

[0018] When one of the communication devices 110 and 120 (e.g., the communication device 110) wishes to use a gateway service, it may execute the gateway service and serve itself, or it may be served by the other communication device (i.e., the communication device 120) via communication in the PN 100. However, as described in the BACKGROUND section, it is a

difficult task for a user to determine which one of the communication devices 110 and 120 is more advantageous for the purpose of executing and providing the gateway service, because there are many criteria that should be taken into account. Accordingly, as detailed below, the communication devices 110 and 120 of the present embodiment are configured such that the more

advantageous device is selected automatically, and the selected device executes the gateway service and provides the other with that service.

[0019] Note that, although a gateway service was referred to as an example of the predetermined service, the present invention can be applied to any services that are executed by one communication device and provided to another communication device. Examples of such services include a transcoding service. In this case, the communication devices 110 and 120 can execute the transcoding service and provide it for each other. For example, the communication device 110 having a bitmap image can ask the communication device 120 to transcode that image to a JPEG image.

[0020] Fig. 2 is a functional block diagram of the communication device 110 according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The communication device 120 may also have the same or similar

configuration. It should be noted that the

functionality of each block in the communication device 110 may be implemented using dedicated hardware, using software executed by a processor (not shown) , or a combination thereof.

[0021] The communication device 110 comprises a communication unit 201 that establishes a communication link with another communication device (e.g., the communication device 120) in the PN 100. The

communication unit 201 is compliant with, for example, IEEE 802. llg. When the communication unit 201 starts the establishment of the communication link, it may search for other communication devices in accordance with, for example, the UPnP discovery mechanism.

[0022] Moreover, the communication device 110 comprises a WAN module 202 that enables the communication device 110 to access the Internet 130.

The WAN module 202 is compliant with, for example,

WCD A. The communication device 110 also comprises a service providing unit 203 that executes a gateway- service and provides the gateway service to the

communication device 110 and the other communication devices in the PN 100. The gateway service provides an access to the Internet 130 by way of the WAN module 202. When the service providing unit 203 starts execution of the gateway service, it sends, to the other

communication devices in the PN 100, a notification indicating that the communication device 110 has

started execution of the gateway service.

[0023] The communication device 110 comprises a maintaining unit 204 that maintains device information of the communication device 110. The device

information includes information related to performance of the gateway service, such as data rate of the WAN module 202, data rate of the communication unit 201, performance of the CPU (not shown) of the communication device 110, and so on. It should be noted that the data rate of the communication unit 201 is related to the performance of the gateway service because it may be a bottleneck when the other communication devices in the PN 100 use the gateway service through the

communication unit 201. The device information may also include any information that is related to the communication device 110. Such information includes,, but is not limited to, remaining battery capacity, the position of the communication device 110, user profile, and so on. The maintaining unit 204 also maintains device information of the other communication devices in the PN 100.

[0024] The communication device 110 also includes a sending unit 205, a receiving unit 206, a generating unit 207, a detecting unit 208, and a determining unit 209. The operations of these units will be described later with reference to the flowchart shown in Fig. 3.

[0025] Fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure whereby the communication device 110

[0026] In step S301, the maintaining unit 204 obtains the device information of the communication device 110 and stores it in a memory (not shown) .

Although not shown in the flowchart, the maintaining unit 204 periodically updates the stored device

information by obtaining the latest device information of the communication device 110. Note that where the maintaining unit 204 obtains respective items of device information from depends on the type of each item; for example, the maintaining unit 204 may obtain the data rate of the communication unit 201 from the

communication unit 201, and may obtain the position of the communication device 110 from a GPS module (not shown) .

[0027] In step S302, the communication unit 201 establishes a communication link with another

communication device (e.g., the communication device 120) . Specifically, for example, the communication unit 201 searches for other communication devices in accordance with the UPnP discovery mechanism, and if the communication device 120 is found, the

communication unit 201 establishes a communication link with the communication device 120.

[0028] In step S303, the sending unit 205 sends the device information of the communication device 110, which is maintained by the maintaining unit 204, via the communication link. Specifically, for example, the sending unit 205 embeds the device information in device description of the communication device 110 that is sent to the communication device 120 in accordance with UPnP. Although not shown in the flowchart, when the maintaining unit 204 updates the device information, the sending unit 205 re-sends the latest device

information to the communication device 120.

[0029] In step S304, the receiving unit 206

receives the device information of the communication device 120 via the communication link. Specifically, for example, the device information is embedded in the device description of the communication device 120 that is received in accordance with UPnP. Although not shown in the flowchart, the receiving unit 206 receives the device information again when the communication device 120 re-sends the latest device information to the communication device 110. The received device information is maintained by the maintaining unit 204.

[0030] In step S305, the generating unit 207 determines whether or not the communication device 110 requires the gateway service. If it is determined that the communication device 110 requires the gateway service, processing proceeds to step S306, otherwise, processing proceeds to step S307.

[0031] In step S306, the generating unit 207 generates a request to execute the gateway service, and passes the request to the detecting unit 208.

[0032] In step S307, the detecting unit 208 determines whether or not the request for the gateway service is detected. A request is declared as detected when the generating unit 207 has generated a request in step S306. Moreover, a request is also declared as detected when the communication device 120 generates a request for the gateway service and forwards the request to the communication device 110 (described later in detail with reference to step S311) . If a request is detected, the detecting unit passes the request to the determining unit 209, and processing proceeds to step S308; otherwise, processing returns to step S305.

[0033] In step S308, the determining unit 209 determines whether the detected request is the request generated by the generating unit 207 or is the request generated and forwarded by the communication device 120. In other words, the determining unit 209 determines whether or not the detected request has been generated locally. If so, processing proceeds to step S309 ;

otherwise, processing proceeds to step S313.

[0034] In step S309, the determining unit 209 determines whether or not the communication device 110 is a suitable device for providing the gateway service. Specifically, for example, the determining unit 209 has a predefined first condition and determines whether or not the device information of the communication devices 110 and 120 satisfy the first condition. An example of the first condition is that "the data rate of the WAN module 202 is higher than the data rate of the WAN module of the communication device 120" and "the data rate of the communication link established by the communication unit 201 is higher than the data rate of the WAN module 202". If this condition is satisfied, it is expected that both of the communication devices 110 and 120 may access the Internet 130 at a higher data rate through the gateway service provided by the service providing unit 203 than would be possible if the gateway service provided by the communication device 120 was used. Accordingly, it is determined that the communication device 110 is a suitable device for providing the gateway service. The first condition may also include the condition that "the remaining battery capacity of the communication device 110 is more than 25%". In this case, the communication device 110 does not provide the gateway service, which consumes battery, and early shutdown of the

communication device 110 can be avoided. It is also possible to express the aforementioned parameters as numerical values, according to a common digitizing algorithm for all the entities in the PN 100. Use of numerical values is advantageous for the

interoperability between plurality of devices from a multitude of manufacturers. The digitizing algorithm may, for instance, express the values in terms of percentages, where suitable; or as absolute values. While no such algorithm is currently standardized, proprietary algorithms can be used. Moreover, when a standardized algorithm is created, it can be used in the present invention.

[0035] Although one of the examples of the

determination in step S309 is described above, the determination may be performed in accordance with any criteria and using any algorithm as long as it is possible to determine whether_. or not the communication device 110 is a "suitable" device for providing the gateway service. One of the possible algorithms is "fuzzy logic", which is known in the art (see e.g., Zadeh, L. A. et al. 1996 Fuzzy Sets, Fuzzy Logic, Fuzzy Systems, World Scientific Press, ISBN 9810224214).

[0036] If the first condition is satisfied in step

S309, processing proceeds to step S310; otherwise, processing proceeds to_. step S311.

[0037] In step S310, the service providing unit

203 executes the gateway service, and sends, to the communication device 120 via the communication link, a notification indicating that the communication device 110 has started execution of the gateway service. The notification may be sent to the communication device 120 in accordance with the event notification mechanism of the UPnP.

[0038] In step S311, because it has been

determined that the communication device 110 is not suitable for providing the gateway service, the service providing unit 203 forwards the request for the gateway service, which has been generated in step S306, to the communication device 120. Note that if the

communication device 120 performs the same process as described above and forwards the request to the

communication device 110, the determination in step S308 results in "no" and processing proceeds from step S308 to S313.

[0039] In step S312, the service providing unit

203 determines whether or not the notification

indicating that the communication device 120 has

started execution of the gateway service has been received from the communication device 120. If

notification has been received, processing ends and the communication device 110 uses the gateway service provided by the communication device 120. If

notification has not been received, because this

indicates that the communication device 120 is not providing the gateway service for whatever reason (e.g., battery shortage) , processing proceeds to step S310 so that the communication device 110 is controlled to provide the gateway service.

[0040] In step S313, the determining unit 209 determines whether or not the communication device 110 should provide the gateway service responsive to the request forwarded by the communication device 120.

Specifically, for example, the determining unit 209 has a predefined second condition and determines whether or not the device information of the communication device 110 satisfies the second condition. An example of the second condition is that "the remaining battery

capacity of the communication device 110 is more than 10%". If the second condition is satisfied, processing proceeds to step S310; otherwise, processing ends. The process of step S313 is performed in view of the following situation. Generally, if a forwarded request is detected, it is assumed that the communication device 110 is more suitable for providing a gateway service than the communication device 120, and it is expected that the communication device 110 will provide the gateway service. However, in some cases (e.g., the remaining battery capacity is very low) , the

determining unit 209 may decide not to provide the gateway service so as to avoid an inconvenient

operation (e.g., sudden shutdown) of the communication device 110.

[0041] As described above, according to the present embodiment, when a predetermined service (e.g., a gateway service) is required in a communication network including two or more communication devices, the suitable or advantageous communication device is automatically identified based on device information, and the identified communication device executes that service. Therefore, a user is freed from the difficult task of determining which one of the communication devices should provide the predetermined service while taking many criteria into account.

[0042] While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such

modifications and equivalent structures and functions.

Claims

1. A communication device (110), comprising:

a communication unit (201) that establishes a communication link with another communication device (120) /

a service providing unit (203) that executes a predetermined service and provides the other

a maintaining unit (204) that maintains first device information including information related to performance of the predetermined service executed by the service providing unit;

a sending unit (205) that sends the first device information to the other communication device via the communication link;

a receiving unit (206) that receives, from the other communication device via the communication link, second device information including information related to performance of the predetermined service executed by the other communication device;

a generating unit (207) that generates a request to execute the predetermined service; a detecting unit (208) that detects the request; and

a determining unit (209) that determines whether or not the first device information and the second device information satisfies a first condition,

wherein if the request generated by the

2. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein :

if the request generated by the generating unit is detected by the detecting unit and if it is

determined by the determining unit that the first condition is not satisfied, the service providing unit forwards the request to the other communication device via the communication link; and

if a second notification indicating that the other communication device has started execution of the predetermined service is not received from the other communication device via the communication link, the service providing unit starts execution of the

predetermined service, and sends the first notification to the other communication device via the communication link .

3. The communication device according to claim 2, wherein :

the other communication device is also capable of generating the request;

if the request generated and forwarded by the other communication device is detected by the detecting unit, the determining unit determines whether or not the first device information satisfies a second

condition; and

if it is determined by the determining unit that the second condition is satisfied, even if the first condition is not satisfied, the service providing unit starts execution of the predetermined service, and sends the first notification to the other communication device via the communication link.

4. The communication device according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein:

if the service providing unit has started

execution of the predetermined service, the sending unit sends the first device information, which has changed due to the start of execution, to the other communication device via the communication link.

5. A method for controlling a communication device (110), wherein the communication device comprises:

a communication unit (201) that establishes a communication link with another communication device (120); and

the method comprising:

a maintaining step (S301) of maintaining first device information including information related to performance of the predetermined service executed by the service providing unit;

a sending step (S303) of sending the first device information to the other communication device via the communication link;

a receiving step (S304) of receiving, from the other communication device via the communication link, second device information including information related to performance of the predetermined service executed by the other communication device; a generating step (S306) of generating a request to execute the predetermined service;

a detecting step (S307) of detecting the request; a determining step (S309) of determining whether or not the first device information and the second device information satisfies a first condition; and

a controlling step (S308, S309, S310) of

controlling, if the request generated in the generating step is detected in the detecting step and if it is determined in the determining step that the first condition is satisfied, the service providing unit to start execution of the predetermined service, and send, to the other communication device via the communication link, a first notification indicating that the

communication device has started execution of the predetermined service.