JP2002111722A - Apparatus and method for repeating data - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To select an optimum route in response to a traffic state and a communication content whether it is in one of a wired communication route or a radio communication route. SOLUTION: A wired LAN I/F processor 31 or a radio I/F processor 32 receives a communication message. A communication message monitor 38 judges a communication message content (data type). A route selection designator 39 selects a candidate route based on a judged result of the communication message content by the monitor 38. A traffic monitor 37 monitors a traffic level of the selected candidate route. A route selection designator 39 selects the optimum communication route from the candidate route irrespective of the wired communication route and the radio communication route based of the traffic monitored result of each candidate route by the monitor 37.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication system, in particular, a wireless LAN system using a wireless access system for a terminal (access points are connected to a LAN.
11, Bluetooth, etc.) and PHS protocols supported).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the number of devices and devices connected to a network has been rapidly increasing year by year, as represented by the Internet. For this reason, as the traffic density on the network increases, the decrease in the information transmission throughput inherent in the network is progressing.
In particular, voice communication that requires real-time properties has a large effect.

On the other hand, a so-called wireless system is becoming widespread as a transmission system capable of realizing a connection form having aesthetic appearance of installation and a degree of freedom in installation.

[0004] For this reason, the terminal devices do not access the backbone network, and the relay devices that manage each terminal device perform wireless communication using the management address.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-24 / 1999 discloses a communication system which provides means for performing communication without being affected by a backbone network.
3373.

As a conventional embodiment, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-2
The configuration of the communication system disclosed in 43373 will be described. FIG. 7 is a plan view showing the configuration of the in-office information communication system, and FIG. 8 is a side view of the system in FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 100 denotes an access station (A) connected to a local LAN provided on an indoor ceiling.
S), 110A is an access station (AS) 100
And a relay device A for connecting a communication modem to be described later.
Similarly, 110B is a relay device B, 110C is a relay device C, and 110D is a relay device D. A plurality of terminal devices 111 are connected to each relay device 110 via a communication modem 120, and A, B, C, D
To distinguish them.

A terminal device 111 such as a personal computer (PC) or a work station (WS) is an access station (A) serving as an access port to a backbone network via a communication modem 120 and a relay device 110.
S) 100 is connected. Further, when the transmission distance is increased, the relay devices 110 can be connected to each other.

An access station (AS) 10
0 is, for example, Ethernet (registered trademark).
net (registered trademark)). In addition, 1 to 7 in the figure indicate each relay device 1.
10 is a communication path.

Next, the operation will be described. Terminal device 11
An example of communication from 1D1 to terminal device 111B1 will be described. When the relay device 110D receives the connection request from the terminal device 111D1, the relay device 110D refers to the address managed by the relay device 110D, and without passing through the access station (AS) 100 which is the LAN connection point and the backbone network, Communicates directly with the connected relay device 110B.

In other words, the relay devices that manage each terminal device perform wireless communication using the management address without the terminal devices accessing the backbone network.
Communication can be performed without being affected by the backbone network, and usability is improved and a highly reliable system is realized.

[0010]

However, in the conventional communication system, the communication route is determined without checking the traffic status of the backbone network, so that it is more appropriate to use the backbone network (for example, the traffic of the backbone network). ), There are problems such as "selecting a wireless route with a small transmission capacity" or "unnecessarily consuming a wireless channel". In addition, in order to determine the communication route without considering the communication contents, the communication that has a large capacity but does not require immediacy is called "a small capacity but requires immediacy in order to communicate by selecting a wireless route with a small transmission capacity. Hinder communication ". In addition, since it is impossible to select another route when the communication route is temporarily faulty, there is a problem that "settings need to be changed even for a temporary fault" or "communication is not possible until restoration". there were. The selection range of the communication route is a route setting including a plurality of network areas (route setting across subnets, etc.).
Therefore, application to a communication system including a plurality of network areas has been difficult. In addition, when all the communication routes of the selection candidates are failures, it is impossible to regulate the transmission from the wireless terminal, so that there is a problem that unnecessary traffic is generated. In addition, since the conditions of the communication route and the like are set by the switches on the communication device, there is a problem that the setting is troublesome (especially when the communication device is installed in an attic or the like).

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and has as its object the purpose of "realizing communication of an optimum route (including a wireless route) according to a traffic state and communication contents". . Another object is to “when the selected communication route is a failure, automatically select another route (including a wireless route) of the next priority and increase the resistance to the failure”. Furthermore, "the selection range of the communication route can be flexibly set (various devices such as a wired communication device / wireless terminal / access point can be used for the device.
The route can also be selected from “a route across subnets”, “a route over a firewall”, etc., and various routes can be set. Also,
It is an object of the present invention to "perform transmission restriction of the wireless terminal temporarily when all the communication routes of the selection candidate communication routes have abnormally high traffic or have a failure to prevent unnecessary traffic from occurring". In addition, "Each item such as traffic monitoring condition / communication content monitoring condition / route selection condition can be set remotely". Practical, highly reliable, highly maintainable, and applicable to multiple network areas. One of the objects is to obtain a possible communication system.

[0012]

A communication system according to the present invention comprises a "wired LAN", a "wired terminal", an "access point", a "wireless terminal" and the like. The access point includes a “traffic monitoring unit that monitors network traffic” and a “communication message monitoring unit (data type determination unit) that monitors communication message contents (data type)”.
And a "route selection instructing unit (relay destination selecting unit) for instructing routing" based on a traffic monitoring result by the traffic monitoring unit and a communication message content monitoring result by the communication message monitoring unit. And a "communication processing unit" accordingly. As a result, “realizing communication of the optimum route (including the wireless route) according to the traffic state and the communication content” and “the other route of the next priority (wireless route ) Is included. "

[0013] Further, the traffic monitoring unit of the access point includes a “delay of a communication message in a network”.
It is characterized in that it is possible to set a monitoring item such as "current communication transmission amount with respect to transmission capacity", and thereby it is possible to flexibly monitor traffic. Further, the maintenance management unit of the access point is characterized in that the traffic monitoring item can be set / changed based on a request from the maintenance terminal via the LAN, thereby improving maintainability. .

The communication message monitoring unit of the access point can set monitoring items such as "contents of communication message (voice or data, etc.)".
This makes it possible to flexibly monitor the contents of the communication message. Further, the maintenance management unit of the access point is characterized in that the traffic monitoring item can be set / changed based on a request from the maintenance terminal via the LAN, thereby improving maintainability. .

The route selection instructing section of the access point can set items such as "traffic monitoring result", "communication message confirmation result", and "route priority according to the other party". (E.g., if the selected communication route is faulty, another route of the next priority automatically (including a wireless route))
Is possible). Further, the maintenance management unit of the access point is characterized in that the traffic monitoring item can be set / changed based on a request from the maintenance terminal via the LAN, thereby improving maintainability. .

The communication processing unit of the access point includes:
Communication using routes such as "routes across subnets", "routes across firewalls", "routes directly to distant access points via high-power radio", "routes via wireless terminals", etc. are possible. Characterized by
This enables communication via various routes.

When an appropriate route cannot be selected by the route selection instructing section of the access point, a means for restricting transmission from the wireless terminal by the communication processing section in accordance with an instruction from the route selecting instructing section is provided. In addition, when all the communication routes of the selection candidates are temporarily out of order, the transmission restriction of the wireless terminal is performed to prevent the occurrence of unnecessary traffic.

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1 Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a communication system according to the present invention. In FIG.
1 is a network area, 2 is a wired LAN, 3 is a communication server, 4 is a communication device, 5 is a wired terminal, 6 is an access point, 7 is a wireless terminal, 8 is a firewall, 9 is a gateway server, 10 is a public network, 11 Is a WAN line.

Next, each component of FIG. 1 will be described. The network area 1 is a basic unit of the present communication system and is composed of units such as subnets. In FIG. 1, identifiers A, B, C, and D are added after the numbers to identify each network area. Also, the identifiers A to D added to the numbers of the other components are for identifying which network area belongs. Wired L
The AN 2 realizes communication by Ethernet or the like and is connected to various communication devices. The communication server 3 is a server (a gate keeper or the like that supports a general H323 protocol or the like) that manages terminals such as IP phones. The communication device 4 is a communication device such as a router / bridge that mainly controls communication between network areas. The wired terminal 5 is a PC (personal computer) / WS connected to the LAN.
(Work station) / printer / terminal such as an IP phone. The access point 6 is a data relay device, and controls interworking between a wireless terminal and a wired LAN (a general wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11, Bl
communication device that supports the PHS protocol). The wireless terminal 7 is a general wireless L
The terminal supports AN (IEEE 802.11, Bluetooth, etc.) and PHS protocols. The firewall 8 is a communication device or a server for preventing intrusion of unauthorized communication, and the gateway server 9 is a server (may be a communication device such as a router) for performing interworking with a public network and a WAN. Reference numeral 10 denotes a general public line of a telecommunications carrier, and a WAN line 11 is a line for establishing a connection to another place over a long distance by a high-speed dedicated line or the like.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an access point as a data relay device according to the present invention. In FIG. 2, 21 is a wired LAN, 22 is a communication server, 23 is a communication device, 24
Is a wired terminal, 25 is another access point, 26 is a wireless terminal, and 30 is an access point to be explained in FIG. 31 which is a component of the access point 30 is a wired LAN I / F processing unit, 32 is a wireless I / F processing unit, and 3
3 is a network I / F processing unit, 34 is a message reception processing unit, 35 is a message transmission processing unit, 36 is a communication processing unit, 37 is a traffic monitoring unit, 38 is a communication message monitoring unit, 39 is a route selection instruction unit, 40 Is a maintenance management unit.

Next, each component of FIG. 2 will be described. 21-
30 are the same as those described with reference to FIG.

A wired LAN I / F processing unit 31, which is a component of the access point 30, executes communication processing between the wired LAN and a lower layer (such as a physical layer) (protocols support protocols such as Ethernet and FDDI). The wireless I / F processing unit 32 performs communication processing between a wireless terminal and a lower layer (physical layer or the like) (protocol is wireless LAN (IEEE802.11, Bluetooth)
Etc.) and supports the PHS protocol).

The network I / F processing unit 33 is composed of a message reception processing unit 34 and a message transmission processing unit 35.
Performs conversion processing to a format that can be processed by the CP / IP layer (including the ARP protocol) (encodes and decodes audio as necessary), and executes the message transmission processing unit 3
Reference numeral 5 executes a distribution process to a wired LAN I / F processing unit or a wireless I / F processing unit based on a route instructed from the communication processing unit 36, and performs a format conversion (sound code decoding, etc.) as necessary. .

The communication processing section 36 performs routing processing of communication messages at the network layer level. If the received message from the network I / F processing section 33 is a maintenance message, it is notified to the maintenance management section 40 and other messages are sent. Confirms the contents of the communication message in the communication message monitoring unit 38, inquires of the route selection instructing unit 39 about the optimum route, etc.
/ Perform routing processing for the IP layer (including the ARP protocol) (perform processing such as encapsulation if necessary)
Then, a request to the destination is sent to the network I / F processing unit.

The traffic monitoring unit 37 periodically performs traffic monitoring on the measurement target route in the traffic monitoring condition table based on measurement conditions (measurement period / number of times).

The communication message monitoring unit 38 functions as a data type determining unit for determining the data type of communication data, and, in response to an inquiry from the communication processing unit 36, based on the communication message monitoring condition table based on the communication message content (voice or voice). The type of data such as intermittent data) is determined, and the content of the communication message is returned to the communication processing unit 36.

The route selection instructing unit 39 functions as a relay destination selecting unit for specifying a relay destination. In response to an inquiry from the communication processing unit 36, the "traffic monitoring result of the related route" and the "communication message content and the destination Based on the information (notified by the communication processing unit) and the "route priority according to the other party" in the route selection table, the optimum route (relay destination) is selected, and the route (relay destination) selected by the communication processing unit is selected. Notify.

The maintenance management unit 40, based on the contents of the maintenance message received from the communication processing unit 36, monitors traffic monitoring conditions (traffic monitoring condition table, traffic level determination table, etc.) / Communication message monitoring conditions (communication message monitoring condition table, etc.). / Change the setting of the route selection condition (route selection table). As will be described later in the eighth embodiment, the maintenance message is a message for instructing a setting change of a traffic monitoring condition, a communication message monitoring condition, and a route selection condition.

Next, the operation principle of the access point (data relay device) according to the present invention will be described. Note that the data relay method according to the present invention is also realized by the same procedure. When the access point receives a communication message from a wireless terminal (via a wireless LAN) or a wired terminal (via a wired LAN), the wired LAN I / F processing unit 31 or the wireless I / F processing unit 32 mainly performs lower layer processing. Thereafter, the content of the communication message is notified to the network I / F processing unit 33. In the network I / F processing unit 33, TCP / IP
It performs conversion processing into a format that can be processed by the layer (including the ARP protocol), and notifies the communication processing unit 36 that mainly performs processing of the TCP / IP layer (including the ARP protocol).

The communication processing unit 36, having received the communication message from the network I / F processing unit 33, inquires of the communication message monitoring unit about the contents of the communication message, confirms the contents of the communication message (such as voice or data), and then checks the contents of the communication message. Information necessary for the route selection of the other party and the like is transmitted to the route selection instructing section 39, and the optimum route (relay destination) is inquired. Upon receiving the inquiry from the communication processing unit 36, the route selection instructing unit 39 confirms the contents of the route selection table, inquires the traffic monitoring unit 37 about the traffic information of the related route, and confirms the traffic monitoring result of the related route. Then, based on the “result of traffic monitoring of the related route”, “information of communication message and destination (notified from the communication processing unit)”, and “route priority according to the destination” in the route selection table, the optimum route is determined. And instruct the communication processing unit 36 on the optimum route. Communication processing unit 36 notified of the optimum route from route selection instructing unit 39
After performing the routing processing of the TCP / IP layer (including the ARP protocol) based on the result (performing the processing such as encapsulation if necessary), the transmission to the destination is sent to the network I / F processing unit 33. Request. Network I
The / F processing unit 33 confirms whether to use the wired LAN or the wireless according to the route, and checks the wired LAN I / F
A distribution process to the processing unit 31 or the wireless I / F processing unit 32 is performed.

The traffic monitoring unit 37 of the access point periodically sends a traffic monitoring message to the destination via the communication processing unit based on the measurement conditions (measurement period / number, etc.) of the measurement target route in the traffic monitoring condition table. Transmit and confirm the response to measure the delay / transmittable amount. Then, the measurement result is collated with the traffic level determination table, and the traffic level and the like are held for the route to be measured.

Next, the operation of the access point 30 when communicating from the wireless terminal 7A1 to the wired terminal 5A will be described.

The access point 6A1 is connected to the wireless terminal 7A1
When a communication message is received, the wireless I / F processing unit 3
2 implements lower layer (physical layer etc.) communication processing (supported protocol is wireless LAN (IEEE80
2.11, Bluetooth, etc.) and PHS), and notifies the contents of the communication message to the network I / F processing unit 33. In the network I / F processing unit 33, the message reception processing unit 34
The P / IP layer (including the ARP protocol) performs a conversion process to a format that can be processed (implements audio codec as necessary) and notifies the communication processing unit 36.

The communication processing unit 36 that has received the communication message from the network I / F processing unit 33 inquires of the communication message monitoring unit 38 about the contents of the communication message. The communication message monitoring unit 38 determines the content (data type such as voice or intermittent data) of the communication message based on the communication message monitoring table shown in FIG. The communication message monitoring table defines which items in the communication message the communication message monitoring unit 38 monitors, and in FIG. 6, media and transmission speed (bearer) are monitored.

After confirming the contents of the communication message (data type such as voice or intermittent data) from the communication message monitoring unit 38, the communication processing unit 36 checks the contents of the communication message and information necessary for the route selection of the other party (the other party). Is a wired terminal 5A
Is sent to the route selection instructing section 39 to inquire about the optimum route. The route selection instructing unit 39 receiving the inquiry from the communication processing unit 36 confirms the candidate route of the partner in the route selection table (conceptual configuration content is shown in FIG. 3), and sends the traffic of the candidate route to the traffic monitoring unit 37. Ask for information. The route selection instructing unit 39 determines a candidate route based on the route selection table shown in FIG. select. In the present embodiment, the contents of the communication message, both voice and data, are both wired terminal 5A (via wired LAN) / access point 6A2 (wireless) / wireless terminal 7A.
Two (wireless) are candidates. The traffic level described in the route selection table of FIG. 3 means that the smaller the number, the lower the traffic. Further, the route selection order is the third priority, but this can be changed according to the system.

Next, the traffic monitoring unit 37, which has received an inquiry from the route selection instructing unit 39, checks the traffic status of each route in the traffic monitoring condition table (conceptual configuration is shown in FIG. 4). The result is notified to the route selection instruction unit 39. In FIG. 4, the wired terminal 5A (via the wired LAN) has the traffic level 1, the access point 6A2 (wireless) has the traffic level 3, and the wireless terminal 7A2 (wireless) has the traffic level 6.

The route selection instructing unit 39 receiving the traffic status of the candidate route from the traffic monitoring unit 37 selects the optimum route based on the route selection table. First,
The traffic level via the wired LAN among the traffic levels of each candidate route acquired from the traffic monitoring unit 37 is recognized. In the present embodiment, the wired terminal 5A (wired L
AN) traffic level 1 is recognized. Here, the reason for recognizing the traffic level via the wired LAN is as follows.
This is because, in the present invention, one of the objects is to make a detour via wireless at the time of wired congestion. Then, based on the recognized traffic level 1, the traffic level 1 column in the route selection table of FIG. 3 is referred to. In the column of traffic level 1, the order of priority is high (wired terminal 5
A (via wired LAN) → access point 6A2 (wireless) → wireless terminal 7A2 (wireless)) and select wired terminal 5A (via wired LAN). If there is no satisfactory route, a route having the highest priority that satisfies the condition among the selected routes corresponding to the next lower traffic level (level 2 or later) is searched. This process is repeated until a route satisfying the conditions is searched, and the optimum route is instructed to the communication processing unit 36.

In the above example, the wired terminal 5A (wired LA)
Although N) was selected, a wireless terminal may be selected by similar processing. For example, when the communication content is “voice” in the communication for the wired terminal 5A, first, the route selection instruction unit 39 recognizes the traffic level of the wired terminal 5A (wired LAN). In this case, when the traffic level measured by the traffic monitoring unit 37 is 2, the route selection instruction unit 39 refers to the column of the traffic level 2 of the voice communication for the wired terminal 5A in FIG. At this time, the priority 1 of the traffic level 2 is the route “access point 6A2 (wireless)”, the priority 2 is “none”, and the priority 3 is the route “wireless terminal 7A2 (wireless)”. First, it is checked whether the access point 6A2 via wireless is selectable (whether or not the traffic level of the access point 6A2 is 2 or less), and if it is selectable, "access point 6A2 (wireless)" is selected. If selection is not possible, wireless terminal 7A via wireless
It is confirmed whether or not 2 can be selected, and if it can be selected, "wireless terminal 7A2 (wireless)" is selected. If selection is not possible, since there is no selectable route at traffic level 2, the traffic level is raised and the selected route is searched in level 3. Thereafter, the search procedure at level 3 is the same as that at level 2.

The communication processing unit 36 that has been notified of the optimum route from the route selection instructing unit 39 performs routing processing of the TCP / IP layer (including the ARP protocol) based on the result, and sends it to the destination. To the network I / F processing unit 33. Network I
The / F processing unit 33 confirms whether to use the wired LAN or the wireless according to the route, and checks the wired LAN I / F
The distribution process is performed to the processing unit 31 or the wireless I / F processing unit 32 (in the example of FIGS. 3 and 4, the selected route is the wired terminal 5A (via the wired LAN), so the wired LAN is selected).

Next, the operation of the traffic monitoring unit 37 of the access point 6A1 during traffic monitoring will be described. The traffic monitoring unit 37 periodically communicates a traffic monitoring message (ping, etc.) based on the measurement conditions (measurement period / number, etc.) for the measurement target route in the traffic monitoring condition table (the conceptual configuration is shown in FIG. 4). The delay / transmittable amount is measured by transmitting the data to the destination via the processing unit 36 and confirming the response. Then, the measurement result is compared with a traffic level determination table (conceptual configuration content is shown in FIG. 5), and the highest level among the traffic levels whose measurement results match the traffic level condition is determined as the traffic level of the measurement target route. I do. It should be noted that the condition item is "whether to satisfy all traffic levels" or "whether to satisfy at least one traffic level"
It is desirable to select a “traffic level that satisfies all”.

Embodiment 2 Embodiment 1 shows an example of the same network area, but this embodiment shows an example in which the selected route extends over the network area. Accordingly, it is possible to flexibly cope with a route setting including a plurality of network areas, and it is possible to improve usability and reliability and to cope with a large-scale communication system.

It is assumed that the wireless terminal 7A1 communicates with the wired terminal 5B when the wired LAN traffic is high. In this case, the route selection instructing unit 39 sets the optimum route as a wireless route (the access point 6A2 (wireless) in the examples of FIGS. 3 and 4) in the same processing as the operation of the first embodiment.
Is selected). The communication processing unit 36 notified of the optimum route from the route selection instructing unit 39 performs a TCP / IP layer (including the ARP protocol) routing process based on the result (at this time, necessary address conversion between network areas). (For example, an address conversion process between subnets is performed). After that,
As in the first embodiment, transmission to the destination is performed by the network I.
By making a request to the / F processing unit 33, communication with the other party is performed.

Embodiment 3 In the first embodiment, an example of communication within the firewall has been described. However, in the present embodiment, an example in which communication is performed with a destination outside the firewall via a wireless network will be described. This allows
Communication with the outside of the firewall can be facilitated according to the communication message content (especially voice), so that usability can be improved and a large-scale communication system can be supported.

Consider a case in which the wireless terminal 7A1 communicates with the wired terminal 5C outside the firewall. In this case, the route selection instructing unit 39 performs the same processing as that of the first embodiment.
Is the wireless route (access point 6E)
1 (wireless) is selected). Communication processing unit 3 notified of the optimum route from route selection instructing unit 39
6 is a TCP / IP layer (ARP) based on the result.
Perform routing processing (including protocol) (at this time, perform processing such as encapsulation in consideration of security). Thereafter, as in the first embodiment, communication with the partner is performed by requesting the network I / F processing unit 33 to transmit to the partner.

Embodiment 4 In Embodiment 1, “Wireless I / F uses access point with high output” or “Adds output control function to wireless I / F processing unit 32”
For example, a long-distance access point can be selected as a selected route via wireless communication. As a result, it is possible to flexibly cope with setting of a long-distance detour, and it is possible to improve usability and reliability and to cope with a large-scale communication system.

Consider the case where the wireless terminal 7A1 communicates with the wired terminal 5B when the wired LAN traffic is high. In this case, the route selection instructing unit 39 sets the optimum route as the wireless route (in the example of FIGS. 3 and 4, the access point 6B1 or 6B1) in the same processing as the operation of the first embodiment.
2 (wireless) is selected). The communication processing unit 36 notified of the optimum route from the route selection instruction unit 39
Based on the result, a TCP / IP layer (including the ARP protocol) routing process is performed. After that, transmission to the destination is performed by the network I / O as in the first embodiment.
By making a request to the F processing unit 33, communication with the other party is performed.

Embodiment 5 In the first embodiment, an example has been described in which a wired LAN and an access point fixedly belonging to the same network area are selected as the optimal route. However, in the present embodiment, a relayable wireless terminal is under the access point, An example in which a wireless terminal is selected as an optimal route will be described. Thereby, the fixedly belonging wired LAN
In addition, even when the traffic of the access point is high, the route can be flexibly selected, and the usability and reliability can be improved.

Consider a case where the wireless terminal 7A1 communicates with the wired terminal 5A when the traffic of the wired LAN is high. In this case, the route selection instructing unit 39 selects the wireless route (for example, the wireless terminal 7A2 (wireless) is selected) as the optimal route by the same processing as the operation of the first embodiment. The communication processing unit 36 notified of the optimum route from the route selection instructing unit 39, based on the result, transmits the TCP /
Perform routing processing of the IP layer (including the ARP protocol) (at this time, processing such as encapsulation is performed (for example, the method described in JP-A-7-212364)
On the other hand, the destination on the IP address is not the wireless terminal but the wired terminal 6A2 so that the message can be identified as a relay message by the wireless terminal, and the message is relayed directly to the access point 6A2 by wireless.) Thereafter, as in the first embodiment, communication with the partner is performed by requesting the network I / F processing unit 33 to transmit to the partner. The wireless terminal 7A2 that has received the message relays the message to the destination access point 6A2. In the access point 6A2, the communication processing unit 36 performs routing processing including processing such as decapsulation and transmits a communication message to the wired terminal 5A.

Embodiment 6 FIG. Embodiments 1 to 5 show the case of setting a route from a wireless terminal to a wired terminal. However, this embodiment shows an example in which a communication message is relayed from a wired LAN. As a result, it is possible to flexibly select a route even when the traffic of the wired LAN is high in a large-scale communication system, thereby improving usability and reliability and supporting a large-scale communication system.

[0050] All selected routes are network area 1
A case is considered where communication is performed from the wired terminal 5A to the wired terminal 5B when the wired LAN traffic between A and 1B is abnormally high or cannot be used due to a failure or the like. In this case, it is assumed that the communication device 4A is registered as the first priority and the access point 6A1 is registered as the second priority in the routing table of the wired terminal 5A. In this case, since the wired terminal 5A cannot communicate with the communication device 4A, the access point 6A
A communication message is transmitted to A1. The access point 6A1 that has received the communication message transmits the wired LAN I /
After the processing of the lower layer is performed by the F processing section 31, the network I / F processing section 33 is notified. Thereafter, a route selection process is performed by a process similar to the operation of the first to fifth embodiments, and transmitted to a destination via a wireless route.

Embodiment 7 FIG. In the first embodiment, there has been described a case where some of the candidate routes satisfy the condition.
In the present embodiment, an example is shown in which all the selected routes do not satisfy the conditions. As a result, when all of the communication routes of the selection candidates have abnormally high traffic or a failure, transmission from the wireless terminal can be regulated, and unnecessary traffic can be prevented.

If all the selected routes have abnormally high traffic or cannot be used due to a failure or the like, the radio terminal 7A1
And a request for communication with the wired terminal 5 </ b> B. In this case, the route selection instructing unit 39 performs an optimal route selection process in the same process as the operation of the first embodiment, but notifies the communication processing unit 36 without a route because there is no route that matches the condition. . The communication processing unit 36, which has been notified that there is no optimum route from the route selection instructing unit 39, based on the result, transmits a communication rejection (relay rejection) message to the wireless terminal of the caller based on the network I / F processing unit 33. Request from the wireless terminal.

Embodiment 8 FIG. In the present embodiment, an operation at the time of remote maintenance will be described. In the present embodiment, the access point receives a maintenance message (condition setting change instruction) for instructing a change in the setting of the traffic monitoring condition, the communication message monitoring condition, and the route selection condition, and performs these based on the content of the received maintenance message. Change the condition of. As a result, the traffic monitoring condition / communication content monitoring condition / route selection condition can be set remotely, thereby improving maintainability.

The access point 6A1 is connected to the wireless terminal 7A
1 or the maintenance message from the wired LAN 2A, the wired LAN I / F processing unit 31 or the wireless I / F processing unit 32 mainly performs the processing of the lower layer, and then the content of the communication message is transmitted to the network I / F processing unit 33. Notify.
The network I / F processing unit 33 performs conversion processing into a format that can be processed by the TCP / IP layer (including the ARP protocol), and mainly performs processing of the TCP / IP layer (including the ARP protocol). To the communication processing unit 36. The communication processing unit 36 determines that the message is a maintenance message, and notifies the maintenance management unit 40 of the content of the message. The maintenance management unit 40, which has received the notification from the communication processing unit 36, based on the content of the maintenance message, the traffic monitoring condition (traffic monitoring condition table, traffic level determination table, etc.) / Communication message monitoring condition (communication message monitoring condition table, etc.). / Change the setting of the route selection condition (route selection table).

The features of the present invention described above are summarized below. In a communication system including a “wired LAN”, a “wired terminal”, an “access point”, a “wireless terminal”, and the like, a “traffic monitoring unit that monitors network traffic” and a “communication message monitoring unit that monitors communication message contents” Based on the traffic monitoring result by the traffic monitoring unit and the communication message content monitoring result by the communication message monitoring unit, a “route selection instructing unit that instructs routing” and a “communication processing unit” in response to the instruction by the route selection instructing unit. , An optimal route (including wireless) can be selected according to the network traffic state and communication contents.

The traffic monitoring unit of the access point can set monitoring items such as “delay of communication messages on the network” and “current communication transmission amount with respect to transmission capacity”, and can change setting remotely. It is characterized by being.

The communication message monitoring section of the access point is capable of setting monitoring items such as "contents of communication message (voice or data, etc.)" and the setting can be changed.

The route selection instructing unit of the access point can select an optimum route based on items such as “traffic monitoring result”, “communication message confirmation result”, and “route priority according to the other party”. Yes, and the setting of each item can be changed remotely.

The communication processing unit of the access point includes:
Selectable from "route across subnets", "route over firewall", "route directly to long-distance access point via high-power wireless", "route via wireless terminal", etc. .

When an appropriate route cannot be selected by the route selection instructing section of the access point, the communication processing section includes a section for restricting transmission from the wireless terminal in accordance with an instruction from the route selecting instructing section. It is characterized by the following.

[0061]

As described above, it is possible to obtain a communication system which realizes the following effects, is practical, has high reliability, has high maintainability, and can cope with a case in which a plurality of network areas are crossed.

According to the present invention, it is possible to monitor the traffic state of the network and select an optimum route (including a wireless route) according to the traffic state, so that the data transmission device is a wired terminal or a wireless terminal. Regardless of whether there is a route or not, it is possible to select an optimal route according to the traffic state regardless of whether it is a wired communication route or a wireless communication route.

According to the present invention, communication contents (data type)
Is monitored, and an optimal route (including a wireless route) according to the communication content can be selected, so that communication on the optimal route according to the communication content can be realized. For example, communication that does not require immediacy but has a large amount of data requires a backbone system (often wired) that easily secures transmission capacity, and routes that require immediacy but a small amount of data have a small transmission delay (wired or wired). Wireless).

According to the present invention, when a communication route is faulty, another route (including a wireless route) of the next priority can be automatically selected and communicated, so that resistance to a fault can be enhanced. it can.

According to the present invention, it is possible to set a route including a plurality of network areas (such as setting a route across subnets), and to apply the present invention to a communication system including a plurality of network areas.

According to the present invention, when the communication route of the selection candidate has abnormally high traffic or has all faults, it is possible to restrict the transmission from the wireless terminal, and to prevent the occurrence of unnecessary traffic. Can be.

According to the present invention, since the traffic monitoring condition / communication content monitoring condition / route selection condition can be set remotely, maintainability can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a communication system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an access point according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the conceptual configuration of an access point route selection table according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a conceptual configuration of a traffic monitoring condition table of an access point according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a conceptual configuration content of a traffic level table of an access point in the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a conceptual configuration of a communication message monitoring condition table of an access point according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing the configuration of a conventional in-office information communication system (disclosed in JP-A-11-243373).

FIG. 8 is a side view showing the configuration of a conventional in-office information communication system (disclosed in JP-A-11-243373).

[Explanation of symbols]

1 network area, 2 wired LAN, 3 communication server, 4 communication device, 5 wired terminal, 6 access point, 7 wireless terminal, 8 firewall, 9 gateway server, 10 public network, 11 WAN line, 2
1 wired LAN, 22 communication server, 23 communication device,
24 wired terminals, 25 access points, 26 wireless terminals, 30 access points, 31 wired LANI /
F processing unit, 32 wireless I / F processing unit, 33 network I / F processing unit, 34 message reception processing unit, 35
Message transmission processing unit, 36 communication processing unit, 37 traffic monitoring unit, 38 communication message monitoring unit, 39 route selection instruction unit, 40 maintenance management unit, 100 access station, 110 relay device, 111 terminal device,
120 Communication modem.

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Nobuhito Miyauchi 2-3-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo F-term (reference) in Mitsui Electric Co., Ltd. 5K030 HD03 HD07 JL01 JT09 LB02 LB05 MB09 5K067 AA12 BB21 DD17 DD51 EE02 EE06 EE10 HH11 LL01

Claims (10)

[Claims] A data relay device capable of communicating with a wired communication device and a wireless communication device, receiving transmission data transmitted from a data transmission device to a data reception device, and relaying the received transmission data. A communication traffic monitoring unit that monitors communication traffic on a communication path; and, based on a communication traffic monitoring result by the communication traffic monitoring unit, a specific wired communication device or a specific wired communication device from the wired communication device and the wireless communication device. A data relay device comprising a relay destination selection unit for selecting any one of the wireless communication devices as a relay destination. 2. The relay destination selection unit according to claim 2, wherein said data transmission device is a wired communication device or a wireless communication device, based on said communication traffic monitoring result. 2. The data relay device according to claim 1, wherein any one of the following is selected as a relay destination. 3. The data relay device further includes a transmission data type determination unit that determines a type of the transmission data, wherein the relay destination selection unit determines a type of the transmission data based on a result of the determination by the transmission data type determination unit. The data relay device according to claim 1, wherein the relay destination is selected. 4. The data relay device according to claim 1, wherein the relay destination selection unit selects a wireless communication device of another network as the relay destination. 5. The data relay according to claim 1, wherein the relay destination selection unit selects a wireless communication device disposed outside a firewall of a network including the data relay device as the relay destination. apparatus. 6. The relay destination selection unit has a relay destination selection condition for selecting the relay destination, and when there is no relay destination that satisfies the relay destination selection condition, relays the transmission data. The data relay device according to claim 1, wherein a relay reject message to be rejected is transmitted to the data transmission device. 7. The data relay device may include any one of a relay destination selection condition for the relay destination selection unit, a communication traffic monitoring condition for the communication traffic monitoring unit, and a transmission data type determination condition for the transmission data type determination unit. A condition setting change instruction instructing the above setting or change is received, and further, based on the received condition setting instruction, any one of the relay destination selection condition, the communication traffic monitoring condition, and the transmission data type determination condition. 4. The apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a condition setting changing unit for performing the setting or changing.
2. The data relay device according to item 1. 8. A data relay method capable of communicating with a wired communication device and a wireless communication device, receiving transmission data transmitted from a data transmission device to a data reception device, and relaying the received transmission data. A communication traffic monitoring step of monitoring communication traffic on a communication path; and, based on a communication traffic monitoring result of the communication traffic monitoring step, a specific wired communication device or a specific wired communication device from the wired communication device and the wireless communication device. A relay destination selecting step of selecting one of the wireless communication devices as a relay destination. 9. The relay destination selecting step, wherein the data transmission device is a wired communication device or a wireless communication device, based on the result of monitoring the communication traffic. 9. The data relay method according to claim 8, wherein any one of the following is selected as a relay destination. 10. The data relay method further includes a transmission data type determination step of determining a type of the transmission data, wherein the relay destination selection step is based on a determination result by the transmission data type determination step. 9. The data relay method according to claim 8, wherein the relay destination is selected.