JP2004112706A - Radio communication method, radio communication terminal, and program for radio communication control - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform radio communication with an external information device via a radio communication terminal, using a radio communication channel which is most suitably, according to processing capacity of the external information device. <P>SOLUTION: When the radio communication terminal 10 is connected to the external information device via an external interface 105, after a bench mark test part 104 obtains the processing capacity of the external information device itself, estimation of the processing capacity is made. Based on the estimation result, the radio communication channel with the most suitable data communication speed out of a radio communication channel group with 2 or more different data communication speed. By this method, the external communication device with a high processing capacity can conduct radio communication, using the radio communication channel with the data communication speed being as high as possible. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention, a wireless communication channel having any data communication speed is optimally selected by a wireless communication terminal based on the processing capability of an external information device from wireless communication channels having different data communication speeds. The present invention relates to a wireless communication method in which an external information device performs wireless communication via a wireless communication terminal through the wireless communication terminal, the wireless communication terminal itself, and a wireless communication control program stored in the wireless communication terminal in advance.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Up to now, any one channel has been selected from a group of wireless communication channels having two or more different data communication speeds, such as, for example, two or more types of frequency channels having different frequency bandwidths. 2. Description of the Related Art A multi-mode wireless communication system in which wireless communication is performed using a set channel is known. FIG. 4 shows an example of a channel arrangement in a multi-mode wireless communication system.
[0003]
As shown in the figure, for the sake of simplicity of the drawing and the description, a wireless communication channel having two different data communication speeds, for example, a frequency channel having a wide frequency bandwidth (data communication speed is 20 Mbps, for example) 1-Wa To 1-Wc, and frequency channels 1-Na to 1-Nf having a narrow frequency bandwidth (data communication speed is, for example, 10 Mbps) are prepared in the wireless communication system in advance. In this case, when the wireless communication terminal performs wireless communication via an access point (forming a so-called hot spot) using any one of the frequency channels 1-Wa to 1-Wc. Is called a wide mode, and the wireless communication terminal performs wireless communication via an access point using any one of the frequency channels 1-Na to 1-N-f. The communication mode at the time of performing is called a narrow mode.
[0004]
As described above, in a wireless communication terminal, generally, any one channel is selected from a group of wireless communication channels having two or more types of data communication speeds, and then wireless communication is performed. It is generally defined as a multi-mode function. In the wireless communication terminal, one of the communication modes is selected and the wireless communication is performed in terms of the data communication speed. In fact, it depends exclusively on the reception performance (reception field strength, reception error rate, etc.). The optimum communication mode is selected or switched to the optimum communication mode so that the reception electric field strength is increased or the reception error rate is reduced.
[0005]
By the way, a wireless communication terminal used on a wireless Internet access system that can access the Internet by wireless is provided with an external interface such as a PC card interface or an Ethernet (registered trademark) interface. Therefore, the wireless communication terminal can be used as a wireless communication module for any external information device such as a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) or various types of personal computers (PCs). The external information device can be connected to the Internet via a wireless communication terminal and an access point.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, comparing the processing capability of a portable information device such as a PDA (depending on the processing speed of a built-in CPU) with the processing capability of a personal computer or the like (depending on the processing speed of a built-in CPU), FIG. As shown, the processing capability of the portable information device (for example, PDA) 2 is generally lower than that of the personal computers (desktop type, notebook type, etc.) 3 and 4. For this reason, when the wireless communication terminal 1 is connected to an external information device having a high processing capability, the data communication speed between the wireless communication terminal 1 and an access point (wireless communication section) is determined by the speed of the external information device. It is desirable that the communication speed is high according to the processing capability. Conversely, when the wireless communication terminal 1 is connected to an external information device having a low processing capability, the data communication speed in the wireless communication section is However, such a high speed is not required.
[0007]
However, in spite of such circumstances, in the past, when the wireless communication terminal 1 was connected to a PDA having a low processing capability, the wide mode, which is an over-specification wireless channel, was selected. Conversely, when the wireless communication terminal 1 is connected to the personal computers 3 and 4 having high processing capabilities, the narrow mode is selected, and the processing capabilities of the personal computers 3 and 4 are fully utilized. There was a problem that it was not performed.
[0008]
From the above conclusion, it can be said that it is desirable that the data communication speed in the wireless communication section is optimally set according to the processing capacity of the external information device as the connection destination of the wireless communication terminal. However, conventional wireless communication terminals have not been provided with any function of automatically selecting an optimum communication mode in accordance with the processing capability of an external information device, so that a data communication speed for a wireless communication section is not provided. Is not always optimally set.
[0009]
An object of the present invention is that when a wireless communication terminal is connected to an arbitrary external information device, the wireless communication terminal optimally sets a wireless communication channel having a data communication speed according to the processing capability of the external information device. Another object of the present invention is to provide a wireless communication method in which an external information device can perform wireless communication with a wireless communication partner via a wireless communication terminal by using this channel.
Another object of the present invention is to, when connected to an arbitrary external information device, optimally select any one channel from a group of wireless communication channels of two or more different data communication speeds, To provide a wireless communication terminal capable of performing wireless communication between an external information device and a wireless communication partner.
Still another object of the present invention is that the wireless communication device is pre-stored in the wireless communication device so that when the wireless communication device is connected to any external information device, two or more types of wireless communication devices having different data communication rates are provided. An object of the present invention is to provide a wireless communication control program that allows one of the channels to be optimally selected from a group of communication channels, and enables wireless communication between an external information device and a wireless communication partner using the selected channel. .
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In a state interposed between an arbitrary external information device and a wireless communication partner, any one channel is optimally selected from a wireless communication channel group having two or more kinds of different data communication speeds, and this channel is selected. In order to perform wireless communication between the external information device and the wireless communication partner by the wireless communication terminal of the present invention, in addition to the existing wireless communication means, when connected to the external information device, Processing capacity obtaining means for obtaining the processing capacity of the external information device from the external information device; processing capacity evaluation means for evaluating the processing capacity obtained by the processing capacity obtaining means; and an evaluation result from the processing capacity evaluation means Channel selection means for selecting, as a recommended communication mode, a wireless communication channel having an optimum data communication speed from two or more types of wireless communication channels based on It is obtained so as to be trough provided.
[0011]
Therefore, when the wireless communication terminal is configured as described above, when the wireless communication terminal is connected to an external information device, the wireless communication terminal can use two or more types of wireless communication channels having different data communication speeds. , Any one of the wireless communication channels can be automatically and optimally selected. As a result, depending on the beacon standby result, between the external information device and the wireless communication partner, in many cases, Wireless communication can be performed with an optimum data communication speed.
[0012]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, a wireless communication terminal according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 shows a block configuration of one example. As shown, the wireless communication terminal 10 includes a transmitting / receiving antenna 101 for transmitting and receiving radio waves to and from an access point (not shown), a PHY (physical) layer of IEEE 802.11, and a MAC (media access). (Control) A wireless communication unit 102 on which a layer protocol is mounted, and an external interface unit 105 having any interface function such as a PC card interface or an Ethernet (registered trademark) interface are provided as existing components. However, in addition to these existing components, a benchmark test unit 104 and a channel control unit 103 are provided as new components.
[0013]
Among these new components, the benchmark test unit 104 directly and indirectly obtains the processing capability of the external information device via the external interface unit 105 when the wireless communication terminal 10 itself is connected to the external information device. After that, its processing ability is evaluated. As a result of the evaluation, the wireless communication channel having the optimum data communication speed is selected as the recommended communication mode. Further, in the channel control unit 103, while the data communication channel is sequentially switched, the beacon periodically transmitted sequentially from the access point is awaited. In this state, the recommended communication mode from the benchmark test unit 104 is set. When a beacon in the same communication mode as that described above can be received, a wireless communication channel in the recommended communication mode is set in the wireless communication unit 102, whereby the external information device is connected to the wireless communication terminal 10, Wireless communication to the Internet via an access point is enabled.
[0014]
By the way, the acquisition of the processing capacity of the external information device will be described. The processing capacity includes the calculation processing capacity of the built-in CPU, the image processing speed, the screen drawing processing capacity, the capacity of the wireless data storage RAM, the interface, and the like. Specifications (data transfer speed) and the like are listed, and these are acquired by the wireless communication terminal 10. The benchmark test unit 104 actually measures and collects their processing capabilities via the external interface unit 105, and obtains the processing capability of the external information device as the final result of these measurements and collections. is there. However, when the processing capability information is set in the external information device in advance, the processing capability information is read out to the benchmark test unit 104 via the external interface unit 105, and is thus obtained as the processing capability of the external information device. It may be.
[0015]
Now, a series of operations in the wireless communication terminal of the present invention, that is, from the connection of the wireless communication terminal to the external information device to the setting of the wireless communication channel to the wireless communication unit will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. The description is as follows.
That is, wireless communication is required in the external information device, and if the wireless communication terminal is connected to the external information device via the external interface unit, this fact is detected by the external interface unit (process 21). Waiting for this connection detection, the benchmark test unit actually measures and collects the processing capacity of the external information device, and as a final result of the measurement and collection, obtains the overall processing capacity. An evaluation is performed, and as a result of the evaluation, a wireless communication channel having an optimum data communication speed can be selected as a recommended communication mode (process 22). However, if the various processing capabilities of the external information device or the overall processing capability is preset in the external information device (for example, a collection installed in a driver installed in the external information device in advance), the connection detection is performed. If the various processing capacities or the total processing capacities are later read out to the benchmark test unit via the external interface unit, the processing capacities can be acquired earlier because the measurement of the various processing capacities is unnecessary. Will be.
[0016]
As a specific example of the process 22, for example, the data communication speed in each of the narrow mode and the wide mode is 3 to 18 Mbps and 6 to 36 Mbps, and the interface with the external information device is Ethernet (registered trademark). Assuming that the measurement result that the data communication speed between the terminal and the external information device is a maximum of 3 Mbps is obtained by the benchmark test unit, the processing capability of the external information device is sufficiently satisfied in the narrow mode. The narrow mode is selected as the recommended communication mode in terms of speed.
[0017]
As described above, the optimum recommended communication mode is selected by the processing 22, but when the optimum recommended communication mode is selected, the communication is supported for a certain period under the control of the channel control unit. For all the wireless communication channels, the beacon standby from the access point is performed while the wireless communication channels are sequentially switched (process 23). As a result of the beacon standby, if a beacon can be received on at least the wireless communication channel in the same communication mode as the recommended communication mode, the channel control unit selects the wireless communication channel in the recommended communication mode and sets the wireless communication unit Is set, the wireless communication is performed (processes 24 and 25).
[0018]
More specifically, as shown in FIG. 3A, for example, when beacon standby is sequentially performed on each of frequency channels 1-Wa, 1-Nd, and 1-N-f, If a beacon is received on each of frequency channels 1-Wa, 1-Nd, and 1-N-f, and the recommended communication mode at that time is narrow mode, frequency channel 1-N- Any one of the frequency channels d, 1-N-f may be selected and set in the wireless communication unit so that the wireless communication is performed.
[0019]
When a beacon can be received on a wireless communication channel in at least the same communication mode as the recommended communication mode, the processing flow is as described above.However, this is not the case, and a wireless communication channel in a communication mode different from the recommended communication mode is used. If only the beacon can be received, the wireless communication channel in the different communication mode is selected and set to the wireless communication unit (processes 24 and 26). In such a case, even if the external information device has a high processing capability, wireless communication is performed using a wireless communication channel having a low data communication speed, or even if the external information device has a low processing capability, the high data communication can be performed. Wireless communication may be performed by a wireless communication channel of a high speed, but it is unavoidable.
[0020]
In any case, as a result of waiting for a beacon, if a beacon can be received only on a frequency channel in a certain communication mode, the frequency channel in that communication mode is changed regardless of the recommended communication mode from the benchmark test unit. After being set in the wireless communication unit, wireless communication is performed.
[0021]
In the beacon standby method shown in FIG. 3A, the beacon standby in the recommended communication mode is not always performed prior to the beacon standby in the other communication mode in the beacon standby order. It may take a long time to select a wireless communication channel. In order to solve such a problem, it may be considered that the beacon standby in the recommended communication mode is performed prior to the beacon standby in the other communication mode. As shown in FIG. 3B, for example, when the narrow mode is selected as the recommended communication mode, the beacon standby in the frequency channels 1-Nd and 1-Nf in the narrow mode is prioritized sequentially. If a beacon cannot be received on both of these frequency channels 1-Nd and 1-N-f, switching to frequency channel 1-Wa in the wide mode is performed for the first time and It is conceivable to perform standby. If a beacon is received on this frequency channel 1-Wa, it is only necessary that the frequency channel 1-Wa is set in the wireless communication unit and wireless communication is performed.
[0022]
Although the present invention has been described above, various wireless communication channels can be considered in addition to the frequency channel. In short, any wireless communication channel capable of generating two or more types of data communication rates (for example, BPSK and QPSK) can be used.
[0023]
In the above description, the benchmark test unit and the channel control unit are independent from each other both in hardware and in software, but the functions of each of the benchmark test unit and the channel control unit are as follows. It can be replaced with a series of wireless communication control programs. The operation flow shown in FIG. 2 is realized by the wireless communication control program, and the wireless communication control program needs to be stored in advance in the wireless communication device. It consists of various steps.
[0024]
That is, when the wireless communication terminal is connected to an external information device, a processing capability obtaining step for obtaining the processing capability of the external information device, and a processing capability evaluation for evaluating the processing capability obtained in the processing capability obtaining step A step of selecting a wireless communication channel having an optimal data communication speed as a recommended communication mode from wireless communication channels of two or more data communication speeds based on an evaluation result in the processing capability evaluation step. A beacon standby step of performing beacon standby on all supported wireless communication channels, and based on the beacon standby result in the beacon standby step and the recommended communication mode, determine a wireless communication channel to be used for wireless communication. A channel control step of performing wireless communication by the wireless communication channel; Structured to include at least.
[0025]
In the beacon standby step, the beacon standby in the same speed mode as the recommended communication mode may be performed prior to the beacon standby in the other speed mode. After the measurement and collection of various processing capacities are performed, the processing capacity is obtained as a final result of the measurement and collection, or the processing capacity information preset in the external information device is the external information. The processing capability information may be obtained as the processing capability by being read from the device.
[0026]
Incidentally, in addition to the above-mentioned invention, the following inventions (1) and (2) are also conceivable.
That is,
(1) A wireless communication terminal in a wireless communication system having a multi-mode function, the wireless communication terminal having a function of evaluating the processing capability of a device detachably connected to the wireless communication terminal. .
(2) In a wireless communication terminal in a wireless communication system having a multi-mode function, a channel having a bandwidth corresponding to the processing capacity of a device detachably connected to the wireless communication terminal is optimally selected and used for wireless communication. A wireless communication terminal having a function of performing
[0027]
As described above, the invention made by the inventor has been specifically described based on the embodiment. However, the invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be variously modified without departing from the gist of the invention. Needless to say.
[0028]
【The invention's effect】
When the wireless communication terminal is connected to an arbitrary external information device, the wireless communication terminal sets an optimal wireless communication channel at a data communication rate according to the processing capability of the external information device, and sets an external A wireless communication method is provided in which an information device can perform wireless communication with a wireless communication partner via a wireless communication terminal.
In addition, when connected to an arbitrary external information device, one of two or more wireless communication channels having different data communication speeds is optimally selected, and this channel is used for wireless communication with the external information device. A wireless communication terminal capable of performing wireless communication with a partner is provided.
Further, by being stored in advance in the wireless communication device, when the wireless communication device is connected to an arbitrary external information device, any one of two or more types of wireless communication channels having different data communication speeds is selected. One channel is optimally selected, and a wireless communication control program capable of performing wireless communication between an external information device and a wireless communication partner by using this channel is provided.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a block configuration of an example of a wireless communication terminal according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an operation flow in an example of the wireless communication terminal.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a beacon waiting method (No. 1 and No. 2) in the wireless communication terminal.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a channel arrangement in an example on a multi-mode wireless communication system.
FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a problem when a data communication channel is not optimally selected.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Wireless communication terminal, 101 ... Transmission / reception antenna, 102 ... Wireless communication part, 103 ... Channel control part, 104 ... Benchmark test part, 105 ... External interface part

Claims (10)

A wireless communication method in which wireless communication is performed by a wireless communication channel between an external information device and a wireless communication partner in a state where a wireless communication terminal is interposed between the arbitrary external information device and the wireless communication partner And
In the wireless communication terminal, when connected to an external information device, after the processing capability of the external information device is acquired from the external information device, the processing capability is evaluated, and based on the result of the evaluation, When a wireless communication channel having an optimum data communication rate is selected as a recommended communication mode from two or more types of wireless communication channels, the wireless communication channel in the recommended communication mode is given priority over wireless communication. A wireless communication method to be used for communication. When the wireless communication channel with the optimal data communication speed is selected as the recommended communication mode, it is used for wireless communication based on the results of beacon standby for all supported wireless communication channels and the above recommended communication mode. The wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein a wireless communication channel to be performed is determined. 3. The wireless communication method according to claim 2, wherein when the beacon standby is performed, the beacon standby in the same speed mode as the recommended communication mode is performed prior to the beacon standby in the other speed mode. The processing capacity of the external information device is obtained by measuring and collecting various processing capabilities of the external information device in the wireless communication terminal and obtaining the final result of the measurement or collection, or 2. The wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein processing capability information preset in a device is obtained by being read by the wireless communication terminal. A wireless communication terminal for allowing wireless communication between the external information device and the wireless communication partner to be performed by a wireless communication channel while being interposed between any external information device and the wireless communication partner, In addition to existing wireless communication methods,
When connected to an external information device, a processing capability obtaining means for obtaining the processing capability of the external information device from the external information device,
Processing capacity evaluation means for evaluating the processing capacity acquired by the processing capacity acquisition means,
Channel selection means for selecting, as a recommended communication mode, a wireless communication channel having an optimum data communication speed from two or more types of wireless communication channels based on the evaluation result from the processing capability evaluation means;
Beacon standby means for performing beacon standby on all supported wireless communication channels,
A channel control for determining a wireless communication channel to be used for wireless communication based on a result of beacon standby from the beacon standby unit and the recommended communication mode, and causing the wireless communication unit to perform wireless communication using the wireless communication channel. Wireless communication terminal comprising: In the processing capability acquisition means, various processing capabilities of the external information device are measured and collected, and the processing capability is acquired as a final result of the measurement and collection, or the external information device has 6. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the set processing capability information is read from the external information device, so that the processing capability information is acquired as the processing capability. 6. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the beacon standby unit performs beacon standby in the same speed mode as the recommended communication mode prior to beacon standby in another speed mode. In the state where the wireless communication terminal is interposed between any external information device and the wireless communication partner in advance stored in the wireless communication device, and between the external information device and the wireless communication partner via the wireless communication channel, A wireless communication control program for performing wireless communication,
When the wireless communication terminal is connected to the external information device, a processing capability obtaining step of obtaining the processing capability of the external information device,
A processing capacity evaluation step of evaluating the processing capacity acquired in the processing capacity acquisition step,
A channel selecting step of selecting, as a recommended communication mode, a wireless communication channel having an optimal data communication speed from two or more types of wireless communication channels based on the evaluation result in the processing capability evaluation step;
A beacon standby step of performing beacon standby on all supported wireless communication channels;
Based on the beacon standby result in the beacon standby step and the recommended communication mode, determine a wireless communication channel used for wireless communication, and at least include a channel control step of performing wireless communication using the wireless communication channel. Wireless communication control program. 9. The wireless communication control program according to claim 8, wherein in the beacon standby step, the beacon standby in the same speed mode as the recommended communication mode is performed prior to the beacon standby in the other speed mode. In the processing capacity acquisition step, various processing capacities of the external information device are measured and collected, and the processing capacity is acquired as a final result of the measurement and collection, or the external information device has 9. The wireless communication control program according to claim 8, wherein the set processing capability information is read from the external information device, so that the processing capability information is acquired as the processing capability.

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