JP2002026981A - Traffic control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a traffic control method that facilitates revision of a terminal making communication via a low speed transmission channel and effectively utilizes a band of the low speed transmission channel even when the number of terminal making actual communication is changed. SOLUTION: The number of terminals capable of communication via a broadband network is decided in advance as a registration limit value, a terminal identifier and a virtual terminal identifier are registered in cross-reference with each other as to a communication terminal of a narrow band network, and in the case that a packet transmitted from a terminal in a narrow band network is transmitted to the broadband network, a terminal identifier of a sender is extracted and whether or not it is registered is identified, and when the identifier is not registered and the number of registration terminals is less than a registration limit value, the information of the sender of the packet signal is registered. When the extracted terminal identifier is not registered and the number of registered identifiers exceeds the registration limit, the communication is rejected, when the extracted terminal identifier is registered or it is newly registered, the identifier of the packet signal is converted according to registration contents and traffic is controlled for each terminal by using the converted virtual terminal identifier.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a high-speed communication system using a communication system in which a relatively high-speed transmission line and a backbone network having a relatively low-speed transmission line represented by the Internet are interconnected. The present invention relates to a traffic control method used to guarantee communication traffic of each communication terminal when communication terminals connected to a transmission path communicate via a backbone network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the present invention, it is assumed that traffic control is performed in a communication system as shown in FIG. The communication system shown in FIG. 15 includes LAN (local area network) systems 10, 20, a line control unit 30, a backbone network 40, and a LAN system 50.

A plurality of personal computers 13 (1), 13 (2), 1
3 (3) is connected. Further, notebook computers 14 (1) and 14 (2) can be connected to the transmission path 11. Similarly, the personal computer 2 is connected to the transmission path 21 of the LAN system 20.
3 (1), 23 (2) and 23 (3) are connected. Also, L
A plurality of personal computers 52 (1), 52 (2), and 52 (3) each having a communication function are connected to the transmission path 51 of the AN system 50.

The line controller 30 includes a router 31, a traffic controller 32, and a line concentrator 35. The line control unit 30 and the LAN system 50 are connected to the backbone network 40. The backbone network 40 corresponds to a wide area network such as the Internet, for example. Backbone network 40
Is relatively low, in this example 1.5 Mb
It / s is assumed.

[0005] The LAN systems 10, 20, 50 and the transmission lines 11, 21, 51, 34 of the line control unit 30 have relatively high-speed lines such as Ethernet (registered trademark of Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.). Use In this example, the transmission speed of the transmission lines 11, 21, 51, 34 is 10
The case of Mbit / s is assumed. In the communication system shown in FIG. 15, each of the personal computers 13 belonging to the LAN system 10 and each of the personal computers 23 belonging to the LAN system 20 are connected to the L / L via a concentrator 35, a traffic controller 32, a router 31, and a backbone network 40.
Communication with the personal computer 52 belonging to the AN system 50 is possible.

However, since the transmission speed of the backbone network 40 is lower than that of the transmission lines 11, 21, 34, 51, when communicating via the backbone network 40, the backbone network 40 becomes a bottleneck. For example, the personal computer 13 (1) and the personal computer 52
If a bandwidth of 1.5 Mbit / s is allocated to communication with (1), the backbone network 4
Because 100% of the bandwidth of 0 is used, other personal computers 1
3 (2), 13 (3) ... are backbone networks 40
Cannot communicate using. That is, when communication is attempted between the personal computer 13 (2) and the personal computer 52 (2), congestion occurs and necessary communication traffic cannot be secured.

Therefore, a traffic control device 32 is used. The traffic control device 32 restricts communication traffic for each communication terminal, and secures a band so that a plurality of communication terminals can use the backbone network 40 at the same time.
Actually, the traffic control device 32 operates as shown in FIG. 16, and the terminal identifier (eg, IP address or MAC address) included in each packet signal input from each communication terminal (13, 14, 23). To identify a communication terminal for each communication. Then, the traffic volume is measured for each communication terminal, and the traffic volume is suppressed so that the measurement result does not exceed a predetermined upper limit of traffic. Under the control of the traffic control device 32, the bandwidth available for communication of each communication terminal is guaranteed irrespective of the traffic of other communication terminals.

For example, in FIG. 15, six personal computers 1
3 (1), 13 (2), 13 (3), 23 (1), 23 (2), 23 (3)
Are equally used in the bandwidth (1.5 Mbit / s) of the backbone network 40, the personal computers 13 (1), 13 (2), 13 (3), 23 (1), 23 (2), 2
3 (3) is registered in the traffic control device 32, and the upper limit of the traffic of each communication terminal is set to 250 kb which is obtained by dividing the entire band (1.5 Mbit / s) into six.
It / s.

As a result, the six personal computers 13 (1), 13
A communication band of 250 kbit / s is guaranteed for each of (2), 13 (3), 23 (1), 23 (2) and 23 (3). It should be noted that a different value can be assigned to each communication terminal as the upper limit of traffic.

[0010]

However, in the conventional traffic control method, the backbone network 4
The terminal identifiers of all the communication terminals that communicate with each other through 0 must be registered in the traffic control device 32 in advance, and the predetermined upper limit of traffic must be registered in the traffic control device 32. For this reason, the communication terminal that performs communication via the backbone network 40 cannot be freely changed.

For example, in FIG. 15, a communication terminal that performs communication via the backbone network 40 is a personal computer 1
When changing from 3 (1) to laptop 14 (1),
It is necessary to change the registered contents of the traffic control device 32, newly register the terminal identifier of the notebook computer 14 (1), and also register the upper limit of traffic. If the unregistered notebook personal computer 14 (1) communicates via the backbone network 40 without registering with the traffic control device 32, the maximum value of the total traffic volume becomes equal to the entire bandwidth (1.5 Mbit / s). Since s) is exceeded, congestion occurs, and the communication band allocated to each registered communication terminal cannot be guaranteed.

For example, six personal computers 13 (1), 1
When a communication band of 250 kbit / s is allocated to each of 3 (2), 13 (3), 23 (1), 23 (2), and 23 (3), one of the communication terminals is not communicating. Even at times, the upper limit of traffic for each communication terminal is 250 kb
It is limited to it / s. For example, six registered personal computers 13 (1), 13 (2), 13 (3), 23 (1), 23 (2),
Three personal computers 13 (1), 13 (2), 13 out of 23 (3)
When only (3) is communicating, the bandwidth of the backbone network 40 is 750 kbit / s (50%) in total.
Backbone network 40
Bandwidth cannot be used effectively.

[0013] The present invention facilitates the change of a terminal that communicates via a low-speed transmission line, and effectively uses the bandwidth of the low-speed transmission line even when the number of terminals that actually communicate changes. It is an object of the present invention to provide a traffic control method that can be performed.

[0014]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided at least one narrow-area network having a high-speed transmission line and accommodating a plurality of communication terminals, and a low-speed transmission line as compared with the high-speed transmission line. A traffic control method that uses a communication system connected to a wide area network and controls an amount of traffic when a communication terminal connected to the narrow area network performs packet communication via the wide area network, The number of communication terminals capable of performing packet communication via the wide area network in the narrow area network is determined in advance as a registration limit value. A terminal identifier for identifying a terminal and a virtual terminal identifier are registered in a predetermined database in association with each other, When a packet signal is transmitted from each of the communication terminals belonging to the narrow area network toward the wide area network, a terminal identifier for identifying the terminal of the transmission source is extracted from the appeared packet signal, and the extracted For the terminal identifier, identify whether or not it is registered in the database, if the extracted terminal identifier is not registered in the database and the number of registrations of the database is less than the registration limit value, the packet A terminal identifier and a virtual terminal identifier of a communication terminal corresponding to a signal transmission source are registered in the database in association with each other, and the extracted terminal identifier is not registered in the database and the number of registrations in the database is limited by the registration limit. If the value is equal to or greater than the value, the communication for the packet signal is rejected, and the extracted If the terminal identifier is already registered in the database, or if the extracted terminal identifier is newly registered in the database, the terminal identifier of the packet signal is converted into a virtual terminal identifier according to the registered contents of the database, The traffic control is performed by measuring the traffic of the packet signal for each communication terminal using the virtual terminal identifier.

In the present invention, information on communication terminals that perform packet communication via the wide area network is managed in a database. In this database, a terminal identifier for specifying each communication terminal and a virtual terminal identifier are registered in association with each other. The number of communication terminals capable of performing packet communication via the wide area network is determined in advance as a registration limit value.

When a packet signal is transmitted from each communication terminal belonging to the narrow area network toward the wide area network, the terminal identifier of the source communication terminal included in the packet signal is determined based on the registered contents of the database. The communication terminal converts the packet signal into a virtual terminal identifier, uses the virtual terminal identifier, measures the traffic of the packet signal for each communication terminal, and performs traffic control.

If the terminal identifier of the source terminal extracted from the packet signal is not registered in the database and the number of registrations in the database is less than the registration limit value, the terminal of the source communication terminal of the packet signal The identifier and the virtual terminal identifier are registered in the database in association with each other. Further, if the terminal identifier of the source terminal extracted from the packet signal is not registered in the database and the number of registrations in the database is equal to or greater than the registration limit value, the communication for the packet signal is rejected. .

In the first aspect, since the communication terminal of the transmission source to be subjected to traffic control is managed using the virtual terminal identifier, the communication terminal can be changed by changing the registered contents of the database. Further, when the number of communication terminals registered in the database is less than the registration limit value, a communication terminal to be subjected to traffic control can be added.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the traffic control method according to the first aspect, when a packet signal transmitted through the wide area network is transmitted to a communication terminal belonging to the narrow area network, communication is performed from a packet signal that appears to a destination. A terminal identifier for identifying a terminal is extracted, and for the extracted terminal identifier, whether or not it is registered as a virtual terminal identifier in the database is identified, and the extracted terminal identifier is a virtual terminal in the database. If it has been registered as an identifier, the terminal identifier associated with the virtual terminal identifier is obtained as the destination terminal identifier from the database, and the terminal identifier of the packet signal is converted into the destination terminal identifier, and then the corresponding destination To the communication terminal, and the extracted terminal identifier is stored in the database as a virtual terminal. If the identifier of the registered discards the packet signal, using the virtual terminal identifier, and performing measurement by traffic control traffic of a packet signal for each communication terminal.

According to the second aspect, when a packet signal transmitted through the wide area network is transmitted to a communication terminal belonging to the narrow area network, the terminal identifier of the destination communication terminal of the input packet signal is changed to the virtual terminal identifier. Process assuming That is, the virtual terminal identifier of the input packet signal is converted into the actual terminal identifier of the destination based on the registered contents of the database, and then transmitted to the destination. However, if the virtual terminal identifier extracted from the packet signal is not registered in the database, the packet signal is discarded to reduce traffic.

According to the second aspect, since the communication terminal of the destination to be subjected to traffic control is managed using the virtual terminal identifier, the communication terminal can be changed by changing the registered contents of the database. A communication system in which at least one narrow-area network having a high-speed transmission path and accommodating a plurality of communication terminals is connected to a wide-area network having a lower-speed transmission path than the high-speed transmission path. And a traffic control method for controlling the amount of traffic when a communication terminal connected to the narrow area network performs packet communication via the wide area network, wherein at least a part belonging to the narrow area network For each communication terminal, a terminal identifier for identifying each communication terminal and a virtual terminal identifier are registered in a predetermined database in association with each other, and the communication terminal belonging to the narrow area network passes through the wide area network. To identify the destination communication terminal from the appearing packet signal when the transmitted packet signal is transmitted. Extracting a terminal identifier, identifying whether or not the extracted terminal identifier has been registered as a virtual terminal identifier in the database; and extracting the terminal identifier as a virtual terminal identifier in the database. Acquires a terminal identifier associated with the virtual terminal identifier from the database as a destination terminal identifier,
After converting the terminal identifier of the packet signal to the destination terminal identifier, the packet signal is transmitted toward the corresponding destination communication terminal,
If the extracted terminal identifier is not registered as a virtual terminal identifier in the database, the packet signal is discarded, and the traffic control is performed by measuring the traffic of the packet signal for each communication terminal using the virtual terminal identifier. It is characterized by performing.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, information on communication terminals that perform packet communication via the wide area network is managed in a database. In this database, a terminal identifier for specifying each communication terminal and a virtual terminal identifier are registered in association with each other. When a packet signal transmitted through the wide area network is transmitted to a communication terminal belonging to the narrow area network, processing is performed by regarding the terminal identifier of the destination communication terminal of the input packet signal as a virtual terminal identifier.

That is, the virtual terminal identifier of the input packet signal is converted into the actual terminal identifier of the destination based on the registered contents of the database, and then transmitted to the destination. However, if the virtual terminal identifier extracted from the packet signal is not registered in the database, the packet signal is discarded to reduce traffic. In the third aspect, the communication terminal of the destination to be subjected to the traffic control is managed using the virtual terminal identifier, so that the communication terminal can be changed by changing the registered contents of the database.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the traffic control method according to any one of the first, second, and third aspects, a communication system in which a plurality of narrow area networks are bundled into one transmission path and connected to the wide area network. When using, the number of communication terminals capable of packet communication via the wide area network is determined in advance as a registration limit value for each narrow area network, and for each of the plurality of narrow area networks, In the case where a packet signal is transmitted from each communication terminal belonging to the narrow area network toward the wide area network, a terminal identifier and a virtual terminal identifier are specified in association with each other and registered in the database. Identifying the narrow area network to which the communication terminal of the transmission source belongs from the content of the appeared packet signal. .

According to the fourth aspect, the number of communication terminals capable of performing packet communication via the wide area network is managed in a database for each narrow area network. Therefore, terminal identifiers and virtual terminal identifiers of a plurality of narrow area networks can be centrally managed. According to a fifth aspect, in the traffic control method according to any one of the first, second, and third aspects, a case is used in which a communication system is used in which a plurality of narrow area networks are bundled into one transmission path and connected to the wide area network. In addition, conversion between a terminal identifier and a virtual terminal identifier for a packet signal is performed by a concentrator or a wireless base station that bundles a plurality of narrow-area networks into one transmission path.

According to the fifth aspect, terminal identifiers and virtual terminal identifiers of a plurality of narrow area networks can be centrally managed by using a concentrator or a radio base station. According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the traffic control method according to any one of the first, second, and third aspects, when a signal indicating the end of the packet communication via the wide area network is detected, the communication is performed. The terminal identifier and the virtual terminal identifier of the communication terminal being used are deleted from the database.

In the present invention, when a signal indicating the end of the packet communication via the wide area network is detected, the information of the communication terminal performing the communication is automatically deleted from the database. For this reason, when the number of communication terminals that actually perform communication is small, the number of communication terminals registered in the database becomes smaller than the registration limit value and a space is created, so that a virtual terminal identifier is assigned to a new communication terminal. , Packet communication can be performed by the communication terminal.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the traffic control method according to any one of the first, second, and third aspects, when a packet signal of the packet communication via the wide area network does not appear for a certain period of time, the method is performed. The terminal identifier and the virtual terminal identifier of the communication terminal that is performing communication are deleted from the database. In claim 7, when a packet signal of packet communication via the wide area network does not appear for a certain period of time, it is considered that the communication has ended, and information on the communication terminal performing the communication is automatically obtained from the database. Deleted.

For this reason, when the number of communication terminals that actually perform communication is small, the number of communication terminals registered in the database becomes smaller than the registration limit and a space is created. And packet communication can be performed by the communication terminal. Claim 8
In the traffic control method according to any one of claims 1, 2, and 3, the number of communicating terminals is sequentially grasped based on the number of communication terminals registered in the database,
It is characterized in that traffic control is performed in accordance with the number of terminals under communication that are grasped.

In claim 8, it is assumed that the number of communication terminals registered in the database changes according to the number of communicating terminals. In the traffic control device, if the limit value of the traffic amount per terminal is reduced, occurrence of congestion can be prevented even if many terminals communicate simultaneously. Also, when the number of communicating terminals is small, congestion does not occur even if the limit value of the traffic amount per terminal is increased.

As described above, if the limit value of the traffic volume is automatically adjusted according to the number of communicating terminals, the communication band of the low-speed transmission path can be effectively used. According to a ninth aspect, in the traffic control method according to any one of the first, second, and third aspects, an Internet network is used as the wide area network.

In general, the transmission speed of the Internet network is lower than that of the narrow area network. Therefore, it is desirable to apply traffic control to communication through the Internet network.

[0033]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS (First Embodiment) One embodiment of a traffic control method according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
This will be described with reference to FIG. This embodiment corresponds to claims 1 to 3, claim 6, claim 8 and claim 9.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing the operation (1) of the radio subscriber station of this embodiment. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation (2) of the wireless subscriber station of this embodiment. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation (3) of the wireless subscriber station of this embodiment. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the registered contents of the database. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a communication system used in this embodiment. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a packet format between a terminal and a wireless subscriber station. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a packet format between a wireless subscriber station and a wireless base station. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a format of a packet transmitted from the wireless base station to the traffic control device. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing a format of a packet transmitted from the traffic control device to the wireless base station.

In this embodiment, the high-speed transmission line, the communication terminal, the narrow area network, the wide area network, and the database according to the first and third aspects are respectively composed of the transmission path 34, the personal computer 13 (or 23), and the LAN system 10 (or). 2
0), which is embodied as the backbone network 40 and the database 15. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the present invention is applied to the communication system shown in FIG.

The communication system shown in FIG.
The system comprises AN systems 10 and 20, a line control unit 30, a backbone network 40, and a LAN system 50. However, the line control unit 30 and the LAN system 10,
During the period between 20, the line is changed to a wireless line.

A plurality of personal computers 13 (1), 13 (2), 1
3 (3) and the wireless subscriber station 12 are connected. Furthermore,
A database 15 is connected to the wireless subscriber station 12. Notebook computers 14 (1) and 14 (2) can be connected to the transmission line 11. Similarly, a personal computer 23 (1), 23 (2), 23 (3) and a wireless subscriber station 22 are connected to a transmission line 21 of the LAN system 20.

A plurality of personal computers 52 (1), 52 having a communication function are provided on a transmission path 51 of the LAN system 50.
(2) and 52 (3) are connected. In the line control unit 30,
Router 31, traffic control device 32, and wireless base station 3
There are three. The radio base station 33 is a radio subscriber station 1
Packet communication can be performed bidirectionally between the communication device 2 and the communication device 22.

Line control unit 30 and LAN system 50
Are connected to the backbone network 40.
The backbone network 40 corresponds to a wide area network such as the Internet, for example. The transmission speed of the backbone network 40 is relatively low, and in this example, a case of 1.5 Mbit / s is assumed. Further, the LAN systems 10, 20, 50 and the line control unit 3
For each of the transmission lines 11, 21, 51, and 34 of 0, a relatively high-speed line such as Ethernet is used. In this example, the transmission speed of the transmission lines 11, 21, 51, 34 is 10
The case of Mbit / s is assumed. Further, the transmission speed of the wireless line between the wireless base station 33 and the wireless subscriber stations 12 and 22 is also 10 Mbit / s.

In the communication system shown in FIG. 5, each personal computer 13 belonging to the LAN system 10 and each personal computer 23 belonging to the LAN system 20 are connected to the wireless subscriber station 12.
(Or 22), radio base station 33, traffic control device 3
2, it is possible to communicate with a personal computer 52 belonging to the LAN system 50 via the router 31 and the backbone network 40.

However, since the transmission speed of the backbone network 40 is lower than that of the transmission lines 11, 21, 34, and 51, when communicating via the backbone network 40, the backbone network 40 becomes a bottleneck. For example, the personal computer 13 (1) and the personal computer 52
If a bandwidth of 1.5 Mbit / s is allocated to communication with (1), the backbone network 4
Because 100% of the bandwidth of 0 is used, other personal computers 1
3 (2), 13 (3) ... are backbone networks 40
Cannot communicate using. That is, when communication is attempted between the personal computer 13 (2) and the personal computer 52 (2), congestion occurs and necessary communication traffic cannot be secured.

Therefore, a traffic control device 32 is provided between the wireless base station 33 and the router 31. The traffic control device 32 restricts communication traffic for each communication terminal, and secures a band so that a plurality of communication terminals can use the backbone network 40 at the same time. Actually, the traffic control device 32 operates as shown in FIG. 16, and the terminal identifier (eg, IP address or MAC address) included in each packet signal input from each communication terminal (13, 14, 23). To identify a communication terminal for each communication. Then, the traffic volume is measured for each communication terminal, and the traffic volume is suppressed so that the measurement result does not exceed a predetermined upper limit of traffic. Under the control of the traffic control device 32, the bandwidth available for communication of each communication terminal is guaranteed irrespective of the traffic of other communication terminals.

The configuration of the traffic control device 32 itself and its basic operation are the same as those of the conventional device. However, in this example, since the wireless subscriber station 12 performs a special process on the packet signal, it is possible to solve various conventional problems related to traffic control.

That is, the wireless subscriber station 12 shown in FIG.
Executes the processing shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. The same applies to the wireless subscriber station 22. In addition, for example, as shown in FIG.
The terminal identifier (ID-R) and the virtual terminal identifier (ID-i) are registered in association with each other for each of (corresponding to 14 and 23). The number of terminals that can be registered in the database 15 is limited by a predetermined registration upper limit.

Each terminal identifier (ID-R) includes:
Different values are assigned to each other. Similarly, different values are assigned to the respective virtual terminal identifiers (ID-i). In this example, the terminal identifier (I
The combination of (DR) and the virtual terminal identifier (ID-i) is arbitrarily changed according to the order in which the terminal identifiers (ID-R) are registered. For example, in the example of FIG.
-D3 because they are registered in the order of -D3
-Dc-... Are assigned in order.

In the communication system shown in FIG. 5, a packet signal between the personal computer 13 (or 14) and the wireless subscriber station 12 for performing packet communication includes a preamble 101, a destination terminal identifier 102, It includes a source terminal identifier 103, information 104, and a redundancy code 105. For example, the personal computer 13 (1) shown in FIG.
When a packet signal is transmitted toward 2 (1), the source terminal identifier 103 is an identifier assigned to the personal computer 13 (1) in advance, and the destination terminal identifier 102 is assigned to the personal computer 52 (1) in advance. Identifier.

The radio subscriber station 12 and the radio base station 33
7, the preamble 111, the base station terminal identifier 112, and the subscriber station identifier 1 as shown in FIG.
13, destination terminal identifier 114, source terminal identifier 11
5, information 116 and redundant code 117.

The source terminal identifier 115 and the destination terminal identifier 114 in FIG. 7 are respectively the source terminal identifier 1 in FIG.
03 and the destination terminal identifier 102. The subscriber station identifier 113 is an identifier assigned to the wireless subscriber station 12 in advance. The base station terminal identifier 112 is an identifier assigned to the wireless base station 33 in advance. When the present invention is implemented, a packet signal transmitted from the wireless base station 33 to the traffic control device 32 includes a preamble 121, a destination terminal identifier 122, a source virtual terminal identifier 123, information 124, and Redundant code 1
25 are included.

The source virtual terminal identifier 123 in FIG. 8 has a correspondence with the source terminal identifier 103 in FIG. 6, but is not the same value. That is, the source terminal identifier 103 of the packet signal transmitted from the personal computer 13 is converted into a virtual terminal identifier (ID-i) shown in FIG. 4 before being input to the traffic control device 32. In this example, the wireless subscriber station 12 replaces the terminal identifier (ID-R) of the transmission source with the virtual terminal identifier (ID-i) based on the contents registered in the database 15.

Similarly, when the present invention is implemented, a packet signal transmitted from the traffic control device 32 to the radio base station 33 includes a preamble 131, a destination virtual terminal identifier 132, and a source terminal identifier 133 as shown in FIG. , Information 134 and a redundant code 135 are included. The destination virtual terminal identifier 132 in FIG.
2, but not the same value. Therefore, the destination virtual terminal identifier 132 of the packet signal output from the traffic control device 32 is converted from (ID-i) to (ID-I) in FIG. 4 based on the contents registered in the database 15 under the control of the wireless subscriber station 12. -R).
Therefore, according to the registered contents of the database 15, a specific terminal identifier (I
The packet signal is delivered to the specific terminal (13, 14) to which Di) is assigned.

The operation of the wireless subscriber station 12 shown in FIG. 5 will be described below with reference to FIGS. When a packet signal is input from any of the personal computers 13 (14) or the wireless base station 33, the operation of the wireless subscriber station 12 proceeds from step S10 to S11, where the received packet signal is input.

In step S12, the direction of the packet signal is identified. When a packet in the direction from the personal computer 13 to the radio base station 33 (the traffic control device 32) is received, the process proceeds from step S12 to S13, and when a packet in the opposite direction is received, the process proceeds from step S12 to S in FIG.
Proceed to 21. In step S13, the terminal identifier of the transmission source is extracted from the received packet signal. That is,
The source terminal identifier 103 shown in FIG. 6 is extracted from the received packet.

In step S14, the database 15 is searched, and the source terminal identifier 1 extracted in step S13
03 of the transmission source terminal corresponding to the database 15
Identify whether or not it is registered. If registered, the process proceeds from step S14 to S15, and if not registered, the process proceeds to step S17. In step S17, the number of terminals currently registered in the database 15 is compared with a predetermined registration upper limit value, and it is determined whether or not there is a free space in the database 15 (whether or not information can be added). If there is a vacancy, the process proceeds from step S17 to S18, and if there is no vacancy, the process proceeds to step S19.

The registration upper limit value in step S 17 means the upper limit value of the number of terminals that can simultaneously communicate using the backbone network 40 in the LAN system 10.
The registration upper limit is related to the traffic upper limit in the traffic control device 32. That is, the traffic control device 32 must guarantee the communication of the predetermined traffic amount to the number of terminals corresponding to the registration upper limit value for the LAN system 10.

In step S18, the terminal identifier of the terminal corresponding to the source terminal identifier 103 of the packet signal input in step S11 and its virtual terminal identifier are registered in the database 15 in association with each other. That is, the information of the transmission source terminal to be communicated is added to the database 15. If the same number of terminals as the registration upper limit have already been registered in the database 15, no more registrations can be made, so the process proceeds to step S19 and rejects communication for the packet signal input in step S11. That is, a signal for discarding the packet signal or rejecting the connection is transmitted from the wireless subscriber station 12 to the terminal (13).

In step S15, the source terminal identifier 103 included in the packet signal input in step S11
Is replaced with the virtual terminal identifier (ID-i) from the terminal identifier (ID-R) according to the registered contents of the database 15. For example, if the source terminal identifier 103 included in the packet signal input in step S11 is “D3” of the terminal identifier (ID-R) in FIG. 4, the virtual terminal identifier (ID- Write “Dc” in i) as the source terminal identifier 103.

In step S16, the packet signal for which the replacement in step S15 has been completed is transmitted to the radio base station 33. In this case, the source terminal identifier 115 shown in FIG.
Is a virtual terminal identifier (ID-i) assigned to the source terminal on the database 15. The virtual terminal identifier (ID-i) is input to the traffic control device 32 as the source virtual terminal identifier 123 in FIG.

On the other hand, when a packet signal is received from the traffic control device 32 through the radio base station 33 toward the radio subscriber station 12, the process proceeds to step S21 in FIG. Extract the terminal identifier. That is, the destination terminal identifier 114 shown in FIG. 7 is extracted from the packet signal.

However, the wireless subscriber station 12 has a terminal identifier (I
In order to perform mutual conversion between DR and the virtual terminal identifier (ID-i), the destination terminal identifier 114 extracted in step S21 is the virtual terminal identifier (ID-i) of the destination terminal. Therefore, in the next step S22, a virtual terminal identifier (ID-i) corresponding to (having the same value as) the destination terminal identifier 114 extracted in step S21 is searched in the database 15. When the destination terminal is registered in the database 15, the terminal identifier (ID-R) and the virtual terminal identifier (ID-i) thereof are stored in the database 15. The identifier (ID-i) can be found in the database 15.

If the search is successful in step S22, the process proceeds to step S23. If the search is unsuccessful, the process proceeds to step S2.
Proceed to 6. In step S26, the input packet signal is discarded. In step S23, the same virtual terminal identifier (I
The terminal identifier (ID-R) associated with D-i) is input from the database 15.

For example, if the value of the destination terminal identifier 114 extracted in step S21 is the virtual terminal identifier (ID-ID) shown in FIG.
If it is the same as “D6” in i), “Df” of the terminal identifier (ID-R) is input from the database 15. In step S24, the destination terminal identifier 114 of the packet signal input in step S11 is stored in step S2.
3, the terminal identifier (ID-
R).

In step S25, the packet signal for which the replacement in step S24 has been completed is transmitted to the destination terminal after the replacement. On the other hand, a signal indicating the end of communication is sent to the wireless subscriber station 1
If the number has been input to 2, the process proceeds from step S27 to S28. In step S28, the terminal identifier (ID-ID) of the source or destination terminal associated with the terminated communication
R) and a virtual terminal identifier (ID-i) in the database 1
Delete from 5.

For this reason, information on only the terminals that are actually communicating is held in the database 15, and the registered contents are changed successively. That is, the database 15
Even if there is no free space, when the communication of a certain terminal ends, the information of that terminal is deleted from the database 15 and a free space is created in the database 15, so that other unregistered terminals can communicate.

In any case, the traffic control device 32
In (2), traffic control is performed on terminals managed for each virtual terminal identifier (ID-i). Therefore, a change in a terminal using the backbone network 40 can be handled only by changing the registered contents of the database 15. In addition, since registration and deletion of a new terminal in the database 15 are automatically performed by the processing of the wireless subscriber station 12, if there is a vacancy in the bandwidth of the backbone network 40, the database 15 can be used without any special operation. An arbitrary terminal that has not been registered can participate in communication.

On the other hand, when the registration in the database 15 is performed in step S18 in FIG.
When the registered content is deleted in 28, the processing of FIG. 3 is executed. In step S41 of FIG. 3, the number of terminals registered in the database 15 is counted.

In step S42, the upper limit of traffic is determined based on the number of registered terminals. For example, if the LAN system 10 is the backbone network 4
When the bandwidth of 0 (1.5 Mbit / s) can be used 100% and the number of terminals registered in the database 15 is 3, a bandwidth of 0.5 Mbit / s is assigned as the upper limit of traffic per one. be able to.

In step S43, the traffic upper limit value determined in step S42 is notified to the traffic control device 32. In this case, the traffic control device 32 performs traffic control using the latest traffic upper limit value notified from the wireless subscriber station 12. Therefore, when the number of terminals actually communicating via the backbone network 40 is small, the upper limit of the traffic per terminal automatically increases. The database 15
When the number of terminals registered in the terminal increases, the upper limit of traffic per terminal automatically decreases, so that occurrence of congestion is avoided. Thereby, the backbone network 4
A band with a small number of 0 can be used efficiently.

(Second Embodiment) Another embodiment of the traffic control method of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. This embodiment corresponds to claim 7. This embodiment is a modification of the first embodiment. The configuration of the communication system to which the present invention is applied is the same as that of FIG. 5, and executes the processes of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 as in the first embodiment. However, in this embodiment, steps S27 and S28 in FIG.
Instead, the processing of FIG. 10 is executed. The rest is the same as the first embodiment.

The process shown in FIG. 10 is executed by the wireless subscriber station 12 each time a new terminal is registered in the database 15 (S18 in FIG. 1). Hereinafter, the process of FIG. 10 will be described. In step S31, a monitoring timer is started. In step S32, it is determined whether or not the wireless subscriber station 12 has received a packet signal from a terminal registered in the database 15 when starting the processing in FIG. If it has been received, the process proceeds to step S34, and if it has not been received, the process proceeds to step S33.

In step S33, it is determined whether or not the wireless subscriber station 12 has received a packet signal addressed to a terminal registered in the database 15 when starting the processing in FIG. If it has been received, the process proceeds to step S34, and if it has not been received, the process proceeds to step S35. Step S3
At 4, the monitoring timer of step S31 is restarted.

In step S35, it is determined whether or not the monitoring timer of step S31 has timed out. If a timeout has been detected, the process proceeds to step S36,
If not, the process returns to step S32. In step S36, the information of the terminal registered in the database 15 when the process of FIG.
Remove from.

That is, in this embodiment, the database 15
If transmission or reception of a packet signal does not occur for a predetermined time assigned to the monitoring timer for each terminal registered in the database, the terminal is regarded as having completed communication and is automatically deleted from the database 15. (Third Embodiment) Another embodiment of the traffic control method according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. This embodiment corresponds to claims 4 and 5.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a communication system used in this embodiment. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the operation (1) of the radio base station of this embodiment. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the operation (2) of the radio base station of this embodiment. FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the registered contents of the database. This embodiment is a modification of the first embodiment. In FIG. 11, elements corresponding to those in FIG. 5 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

The configuration of the communication system shown in FIG. 11 is almost the same as that of the communication system shown in FIG. However, in this embodiment, a change is made so that the wireless base station 33 performs conversion between the terminal identifier (ID-R) of the packet signal and the virtual terminal identifier (ID-i). Therefore, the database 37 is connected to the wireless base station 33.

As shown in FIG. 14, the database 37 stores a terminal identifier (ID-R) and a virtual terminal identifier (ID-R).
In addition to i), a wireless subscriber station identifier (ID-a) is registered. The wireless subscriber station identifier (ID-a) is the LAN system (10, 20,...) To which each terminal is connected.
Are assigned in advance to the wireless subscriber stations (12, 22,...).

In this example, as shown in FIG. 14, each terminal is managed by being divided for each wireless subscriber station (12, 22,...). Furthermore, the number of terminals that can be registered in the database 37 (registration upper limit value) depends on the wireless subscriber station (12, 2).
2,...) Are predetermined. In the example of FIG. 14, four terminals can be registered for a terminal belonging to the wireless subscriber station whose wireless subscriber station identifier (ID-a) is “D01”, and the wireless subscriber station identifier (ID-a) is “ Three terminals can be registered for the terminal belonging to the wireless subscriber station D02, and two terminals are registered for the terminal belonging to the wireless subscriber station having the wireless subscriber station identifier (ID-a) of "D03". it can.

As in the first embodiment, the terminal identifier (ID-R) and the virtual terminal identifier (ID-i) are registered in the database 37 at the same time. Terminal identifier (ID-
R) and the virtual terminal identifier (ID-i) are:
It changes according to the order of registration. In this embodiment, the radio base station 33 executes the processing shown in FIGS. Further, the wireless base station 33 executes the same processing as in FIG.

The contents of the processing shown in FIGS. 12 and 13 are the same as those shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 except that the apparatus for executing the processing is changed from the wireless subscriber station 12 to the wireless base station 33 and step S57 is added. Almost the same. In step S57 of FIG. 12, the wireless subscriber station (12, 22,...) To which the terminal of the transmission source of the packet signal belongs is identified from the contents of the packet signal input in step S51.
That is, since the packet signal contains the subscriber station identifier 113 shown in FIG. 7, it is extracted from the packet signal.

In step S58, step S5
With respect to the wireless subscriber station (any of 12, 22,...) Corresponding to the subscriber station identifier 113 extracted in 7, the number of terminals currently registered in the database 15 is compared with the registration upper limit value. For example, if the subscriber station identifier 113 detected in step S57 is the same as the wireless subscriber station identifier (ID-a) “D01” in FIG. 14, “D01”
Registration upper limit value (4) previously assigned to “D01”
The terminal identifier (ID-ID) actually registered in association with
R) or the number of virtual terminal identifiers (ID-i).

When processing a packet signal in the direction from the traffic control device 32 to the radio base station 33, the database 37 is referred to, from the virtual terminal identifier (ID-i) to the corresponding terminal identifier (ID-i). I
DR) and a wireless subscriber station identifier (ID-a). In this case, the subscriber station identifier 11 of the packet signal transmitted from the wireless base station 33 to the wireless subscriber station 12
3 and the destination terminal identifier 114 (FIG. 7) include the wireless subscriber station identifier (ID-a) and the terminal identifier (I
DR).

Except for the above, the configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment, and the description is omitted. For example, as shown in FIG. 15, the line control unit 30 and the LAN systems 10 and 20
In the case where are connected by wire, the same processing as that of the wireless base station 33 in FIG. 11 may be changed to be performed by the line concentrator 35 in FIG.

[0082]

As described above, according to the present invention, since traffic control is performed for each terminal managed for each virtual terminal identifier, the target of the traffic control is actually changed only by changing the information managed in the database. Terminal can be changed freely. Since information managed in the database can be automatically added or deleted, communication can be performed using an unregistered terminal without performing any special operation.

In the case of a communication system in which a plurality of narrow-area networks are connected, the number of terminals that can be registered in the database is managed for each narrow-area network, so that the bandwidth available for communication is reduced for each narrow-area network. Can be restricted individually. Also, by automatically deleting the terminal for which communication has ended from the database, one virtual terminal identifier can be shared by a plurality of terminals.

Further, whenever the number of terminals registered in the database changes, the number is notified to the traffic control device, so that the traffic limit value can be dynamically controlled. The bandwidth can be used efficiently according to the change in the usage status of the device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows the operation of a wireless subscriber station according to a first embodiment (1).
It is a flowchart which shows.

FIG. 2 shows the operation of the wireless subscriber station according to the first embodiment (2).
It is a flowchart which shows.

FIG. 3 shows the operation of the wireless subscriber station according to the first embodiment (3).
It is a flowchart which shows.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of registered contents of a database.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a communication system used in the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a packet format between a terminal and a wireless subscriber station.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a packet format between a wireless subscriber station and a wireless base station.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a format of a packet transmitted from a radio base station to a traffic control device.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing a format of a packet transmitted from the traffic control device to the radio base station.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an operation of the wireless subscriber station according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a communication system used in a third embodiment.

FIG. 12 shows the operation (1) of the radio base station according to the third embodiment.
It is a flowchart which shows.

FIG. 13 shows an operation (2) of the radio base station according to the third embodiment.
It is a flowchart which shows.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing an example of registered contents of a database.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a communication system.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the operation of the traffic control device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10,20 LAN system 11,21 transmission line 12,22 wireless subscriber station 13,23 personal computer 14 notebook computer 15 database 30 line controller 31 router 32 traffic controller 33 wireless base station 34 transmission line 35 concentrator 37 database 40 backbone Network 50 LAN system 51 Transmission line 52 Personal computer 101, 111, 121, 131 Preamble 102 Destination terminal identifier 103 Source terminal identifier 104, 116, 124, 134 Information 105, 117, 125, 135 Redundancy code 112 Base station terminal identifier 113 Subscription Receiver station identifier 114 Destination terminal identifier 115 Source terminal identifier 122 Destination terminal identifier 123 Source virtual terminal identifier 132 Destination virtual terminal identifier 133 Source terminal identifier

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Masataka Iizuka 2-3-1 Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Within Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Inventor Masahiro Morikura 2-3-3, Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo No. 1 Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation F-term (reference) 5K030 HA08 HC14 HD06 KA07 LC08 5K033 CB06 CB08 CC01 DA06 DA17 EC03

Claims (9)

[Claims] A communication system in which at least one narrow-area network having a high-speed transmission path and accommodating a plurality of communication terminals is connected to a wide-area network having a transmission path that is slower than the high-speed transmission path. And a traffic control method for controlling the amount of traffic when a communication terminal connected to the narrow area network performs packet communication via the wide area network, wherein the wide area is included in the narrow area network. The number of communication terminals capable of performing packet communication via the network is determined in advance as a registration limit value, and for at least some of the communication terminals belonging to the narrow area network, a terminal identifier for identifying each communication terminal and Virtual terminal identifiers are associated with each other and registered in a predetermined database, and belong to the narrow area network. When a packet signal is transmitted from each of the communication terminals toward the wide area network, a terminal identifier for identifying the terminal of the transmission source is extracted from the appearing packet signal, and for the extracted terminal identifier, If the extracted terminal identifier is not registered in the database and the number of registrations in the database is less than the registration limit value, the packet signal is transmitted to the transmission source of the packet signal. The terminal identifier of the corresponding communication terminal and the virtual terminal identifier are registered in the database in association with each other, and the extracted terminal identifier is not registered in the database and the number of registrations in the database is the same as the registration limit value or If it is longer than this, the communication for the packet signal is rejected, and the If the terminal identifier is already registered in the database, or if the extracted terminal identifier is newly registered in the database, the terminal identifier of the packet signal is converted into a virtual terminal identifier according to the registered contents of the database, and the virtual terminal A traffic control method characterized by measuring traffic of a packet signal for each communication terminal by using an identifier and performing traffic control. 2. The traffic control method according to claim 1, wherein when a packet signal transmitted through the wide area network is transmitted to a communication terminal belonging to the narrow area network, a destination communication terminal is specified from the packet signal that appears. A terminal identifier for extracting the terminal identifier, and identifying whether or not the extracted terminal identifier is registered as a virtual terminal identifier in the database, and registering the extracted terminal identifier as a virtual terminal identifier in the database. If the communication terminal of the corresponding destination is obtained, the terminal identifier associated with the virtual terminal identifier is obtained from the database as the destination terminal identifier, and the terminal identifier of the packet signal is converted into the destination terminal identifier. And the extracted terminal identifier is stored in the database as a virtual terminal identifier. And if it is not already present it is, discards the packet signal, using the virtual terminal identifier, a traffic control method and performing measured traffic control traffic of a packet signal for each communication terminal. 3. A communication system in which at least one narrow-area network having a high-speed transmission path and accommodating a plurality of communication terminals is connected to a wide-area network having a lower-speed transmission path than the high-speed transmission path. And a traffic control method for controlling an amount of traffic when a communication terminal connected to the narrow area network performs packet communication via the wide area network, wherein at least a part belonging to the narrow area network For each communication terminal, a terminal identifier for identifying each communication terminal and a virtual terminal identifier are registered in a predetermined database in association with each other, and the communication terminal belonging to the narrow area network passes through the wide area network. When a packet signal is transmitted, the destination communication terminal is identified from the appearing packet signal. The terminal identifier of the extracted terminal identifier is identified as to whether or not it is registered as a virtual terminal identifier in the database, and the extracted terminal identifier is registered as a virtual terminal identifier in the database. In this case, a terminal identifier associated with the virtual terminal identifier is obtained as a destination terminal identifier from the database, and the terminal identifier of the packet signal is converted into the destination terminal identifier and then transmitted to the corresponding destination communication terminal. If the extracted terminal identifier is not registered as a virtual terminal identifier in the database, the packet signal is discarded, and the traffic of the packet signal is measured for each communication terminal using the virtual terminal identifier. A traffic control method comprising performing traffic control. 4. A traffic control method according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of narrow-area networks are bundled into one transmission path and a communication system for connecting to said wide-area network is used. The number of communication terminals capable of performing packet communication via the wide area network is determined in advance as a registration limit value for each narrow area network, and each communication terminal is specified for each of the plurality of narrow area networks. A terminal identifier and a virtual terminal identifier are registered in the database in association with each other, and appear when a packet signal is transmitted from each communication terminal belonging to the narrow area network toward the wide area network. A traffic characterized by identifying the narrow area network to which the communication terminal of the transmission source belongs from the contents of the packet signal Control method. 5. The traffic control method according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of narrow-area networks are bundled into one transmission path and a communication system for connecting to the wide-area network is used. A traffic concentrator or radio base station that bundles a plurality of narrow-area networks into one transmission path, performs conversion between a terminal identifier and a virtual terminal identifier for a packet signal. 6. The traffic control method according to claim 1, wherein when a signal indicating the end of packet communication via the wide area network is detected, the communication is performed. A traffic control method, wherein a terminal identifier and a virtual terminal identifier of an existing communication terminal are deleted from the database. 7. The traffic control method according to claim 1, wherein when a packet signal of packet communication via the wide area network does not appear for a certain period, the communication is performed. A traffic control method comprising: deleting a terminal identifier and a virtual terminal identifier of an existing communication terminal from the database. 8. The traffic control method according to claim 1, wherein the number of communicating terminals is sequentially determined based on the number of communication terminals registered in the database. A traffic control method according to the number of communicating terminals. 9. The traffic control method according to claim 1, wherein an Internet network is used as the wide area network.