JP2004135137A - Radio communication complement system using internet - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an extensible communication system using the Internet. <P>SOLUTION: First and second radio machine repeaters 104A, 104B are provided by being connected with the Internet network 101. The communication system is constituted so that first and second transceivers 2a, 2b and third and fourth transceivers 2c, 2d which cannot be communicated by direct wave are communicated via the first radio machine repeater 104A, the Internet network 101 and the second radio machine repeater 104B, and in addition, communication among the first to fourth transceivers 2a to 2d and a personal computer 1 and a PDA (personal digital assistant) 7, etc. is available. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a wireless communication system, and more particularly, to a wireless communication system using the Internet.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, in wireless communication, as a means for enabling communication between wireless devices or wireless stations in an environment where communication by direct waves is difficult, for example, a wireless relay device is provided at an appropriate place where communication with both is possible. The installation method is known / known (for example, refer to Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2).
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-3-62640 (Pages 2 and 3; FIG. 1)
[Patent Document 2]
JP-A-9-225060 (pages 2 and 3; FIG. 1)
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, such a conventional communication system has a drawback that it lacks expandability such that it can communicate with other than a normal communication partner in an emergency such as a disaster.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and provides a communication system for an emergency or the like, and an Internet-based wireless communication supplement system with high expandability of a communication network.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an Internet-based wireless communication supplement system that enables communication between a wireless device and a client terminal.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the Internet-based wireless communication supplement system according to the present invention includes:
An Internet-based wireless communication supplement system that enables wireless devices to communicate with each other via the Internet network,
A radio relay device connected to the Internet network,
A communication management server connected to the Internet network,
The radio relay device transmits a radio signal received by the radio relay device to the communication management server via the Internet network according to a predetermined protocol, and transmits the signal from the communication management server via the Internet network. It is configured to wirelessly transmit the input signal to a wireless device capable of communicating with the wireless device relay device,
The communication management server is configured to transmit a signal input from a predetermined registered wireless relay device via the Internet to a predetermined destination.
[0006]
In such a configuration, the radio relay device and the communication management server can transmit a signal from the radio to the Internet in the form of a signal normally transmitted and received on the Internet network. The devices can communicate with each other via the wireless relay device and the communication management server, and the communication system can be expanded in an emergency or the like.
[0007]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG.
The members, arrangements, and the like described below do not limit the present invention, but can be variously modified within the scope of the present invention.
First, an overall configuration of an Internet-based wireless communication supplement system (hereinafter, referred to as “this system”) according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
First, the configuration of the present system will be generally described. This system is based on the existing Internet network 101 and enables communication between wireless devices that are normally out of the range of wireless communication. The communication between the wireless device and the client terminal or the like is enabled through the communication.
[0008]
Hereinafter, the configuration of the present system will be specifically described.
Since the Internet network 101 is an existing one and has a well-known and well-known configuration, detailed description thereof will be omitted here. A personal computer (referred to as "PC1" or "PC2" in FIG. 1) 1 is connected by a well-known connection method such as a dial-up connection. The Internet network 101 is connected to an intranet network 102 and a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) 103. In the wireless LAN 103, for example, a wireless relay device (not shown) called a wireless access point, which is compliant with specifications such as IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11a and IEEE802.11b, is provided. A so-called PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) 7 having a communication function with such a wireless access point or a client terminal such as a personal computer (not shown) is connected to the wireless LAN 103 to enable communication with the Internet network 101. ing.
[0009]
In such an Internet network 101, the radio relay devices 104A and 104B and the communication management server 105, which are components unique to the present system, are connected.
The wireless relay devices 104A and 104B enable connection to a plurality of transceivers 2a to 2d as wireless devices and the Internet network 101 (details will be described later). Although FIG. 1 shows a configuration in which two radio relay devices 104A and 104B are provided, this is merely an example, and it is needless to say that communication is not limited to two devices. From the standpoint of expanding the range, the larger the number of installed units, the better.
Further, the communication management server 105 performs a relay function for transmitting and receiving signals via the Internet network 101 between the plurality of transceivers 2a to 2d (details will be described later).
[0010]
The first to fourth transceivers 2a to 2d as wireless devices according to the embodiments of the present invention have transmission and reception functions, and have a well-known structure of a PTT (press talk) system. It becomes. The frequencies used by the first to fourth transceivers 2a to 2d do not need to be limited to specific frequencies, and should be selected according to the type of wireless communication to which the present system is applied.
In FIG. 1, only four transceivers 2a to 2d are shown, but this is for the sake of simplicity, and is not intended to limit the number to four. Also, in FIG. 1, for convenience, the first transceiver 2a is “radio A”, the second transceiver 2b is “radio B”, the third transceiver 2c is a radio C, and the fourth transceiver 2c is “radio B”. The siever is described as “radio device D”.
[0011]
Next, a more specific configuration example of the wireless relay devices 104A and 104B will be described with reference to FIG. In the following description, for convenience of explanation, the radio relay device 104A is referred to as a first radio relay device 104A, and the radio relay device 104B is referred to as a second radio relay device 104B.
The first and second wireless relay devices 104A and 104B in the mobile phone according to the embodiment of the present invention both have the same basic configuration, and include a relay transceiver 3 as a relay wireless device and a relay unit 50. It is roughly divided into and constituted.
The relay transceiver 3 has basically the same configuration as the transceivers 2a to 2d to be relayed. Note that, in the embodiment of the present invention, the first radio relay device 104A includes the first and second transceivers 2a and 2b, and the second radio relay device 104B includes the third and fourth transceivers. It is assumed that 2c and 2d are to be relayed, respectively. In this case, the first and second transceivers 2a and 2b have the same frequency, and the third and fourth transceivers 2c and 2d have the same frequency. It is not necessary that the first and second transceivers 2a, 2b and the third and fourth transceivers 2c, 2d have the same frequency. Therefore, the relay transceiver 3 in the first radio relay device 104A only needs to have the same frequency as the first and second transceivers 2a and 2b, and the relay transceiver 3 in the second radio relay device 104B. May be the same frequency as the third and fourth transceivers 2c and 2d. Of course, the first to fourth transceivers 2a to 2d may all have the same frequency.
The relay transceiver 3 is provided at a place where the ground height is as high as possible in the buildings 106a and 106b (see FIG. 1) in which the first and second wireless relay devices 104A and 104B are installed, for example, on a rooftop. Preferably, it is provided.
[0012]
The relay unit 50 includes a signal converter (indicated as “SIG-CON” in FIG. 2) 4, a press-talk control unit (indicated as “PTT-CON” in FIG. 2) 5, and a central processing unit (in FIG. In this case, the CPU is described as “CPU”).
The signal converter 4 converts the audio signal output from the relay transceiver 3 into a digital audio signal and outputs the digital audio signal to the central processing unit 6, while being transmitted through the Internet network 101 and input to the central processing unit 6. It is configured so that digital voice from another transceiver can be converted into an analog voice signal and output as a microphone input signal of the relay transceiver 3.
The press-talk control unit 5 responds to a signal from the central processing unit 6 of the relay transceiver 3 by operating the relay transceiver 3 with the same operation signal as when a press-talk switch (not shown) is manually operated. Is output. In other words, the press talk control unit 5 is configured to control the transmission / reception operation of the relay transceiver 3.
[0013]
The central processing unit 6 outputs a digital voice signal of another transceiver input from the Internet network 101 to the relay transceiver 3 via the signal converter 4 based on TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol). And, conversely, a process for transmitting a digital voice signal input from the relay transceiver 3 via the signal converter 4 to the Internet 101 based on TCP / IP. For example, it is realized using a microcomputer or the like. When a digital voice signal is input from the Internet network 101, the central processing unit 6 causes the pre-talk control unit 5 to put the relay transceiver 3 in a transmission state, and in other states, The operation of the press-talk controller 5 is controlled by the press-talk controller 5 so that the relay transceiver 3 is in the receiving state.
[0014]
Next, the operation in such a configuration will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, it is assumed that wireless communication between the first transceiver 2a and the second transceiver 2b, and that between the third transceiver 2c and the fourth transceiver 2d do not go through the wireless device relay devices 104A and 104B, respectively. While possible, the first and second transceivers 2a and 2b and the third and fourth transceivers 2c and 2d are in a state where direct wireless communication is not possible without passing through the radio relay devices 104A and 104B. And
In the following description of the operation example, in order to facilitate understanding, for example, the first transceiver 2a is in a range in which the first transceiver 2a can wirelessly communicate with the first radio relay apparatus 104A, and the third transceiver 2a It is assumed that 2c is within a range in which it can wirelessly communicate with the second wireless relay device 104B.
Further, it is assumed that the communication management server 105 has registered the first and second radio relay devices 104A and 104B as partner devices that relay packet signals.
Under this premise, for example, if a call is made from the first transceiver 2a to the third transceiver 2c, first, the radio wave of the first transceiver 2a is transmitted by the relay transceiver 3 of the first radio relay device 104A. The received and demodulated voice is converted into a digital voice signal by the signal converter 4 of the relay unit 50 and input to the central processing unit 6.
[0015]
In the central processing unit 6, the digital audio signal from the signal converter 4 is converted into a predetermined format suitable for transmission on the Internet network 101, and is converted into a packet signal addressed to the communication management server 105 according to the TCP / IP protocol. Will be sent. Here, an IP address is assigned to each of the first and second wireless relay devices 104A and 104B in advance, and when transmitting a packet signal to the communication management server 105, the IP address of the transmission source is used. The information is added together with the audio data and transmitted.
In the communication management server 105, when the packet signal from the first wireless relay device 104A is received as described above, first, the received packet signal is transferred to the wireless relay devices 104A and 104B registered in advance. Is determined. Here, it is preferable to use, for example, the IP addresses of the wireless relay devices 104A and 104B to determine whether or not the packet signals are from the wireless relay devices 104A and 104B registered in advance.
[0016]
Then, when it is determined that the packet signal is not a packet signal from the wireless relay devices 104A and 104B registered in advance, the received packet signal is discarded without being transferred.
On the other hand, when it is determined that the received packet signal is from the pre-registered radio relay devices 104A and 104B, the other pre-registered radio relay devices, that is, in this embodiment, Is transferred to the second wireless relay device 104B.
In the second radio relay device 104B, when reception of the packet signal from the communication management server 105 is confirmed by the central processing unit 6, audio data is extracted from the packet signal and input to the signal converter 4. It becomes.
[0017]
In the signal converter 4, conversion processing from digital voice data to analog voice data is performed. When this conversion processing is completed and a voice signal can be output to the relay transceiver 3, the central processing unit 6 presses the signal. At the same time as outputting a predetermined control signal to put the relay transceiver 3 in the transmission state via the talk control unit 5, an analog audio signal is output from the signal converter 4 to the microphone input terminal of the relay transceiver 3, Wireless transmission by the relay transceiver 3 is performed.
The transmission radio wave of the relay transceiver 3 of the second radio relay device 104B is received by the third transceiver 2c, and is transmitted from its speaker (not shown) as if directly communicating with the first transceiver 2a. You can listen to the voice of the communication partner.
[0018]
In the above description of the operation, in order to facilitate understanding, it is assumed that only the third transceiver 2c is in a range communicable with the second radio relay device 104B, but the fourth transceiver 2d is also As long as it is within a communication range with the second wireless relay device 104B, it is possible to listen to the transmission content from the first transceiver 2a in the same manner as described above.
Then, when transmission is performed by the third transceiver 2c or the fourth transceiver 2d, the first transceiver is transmitted via the second transceiver relay device 104B and the communication management server 105, contrary to the above. The transmission content is transmitted as a packet signal to the relay device 104A, and the first transceiver 2a and further the second transceiver 2b transmit the first wireless signal by wireless transmission by the relay transceiver 3 of the first wireless device relay device 104A. If it is within the communication range with the relay device 104A, the second transceiver 2b can listen to the transmission sound from the third or fourth transceiver 2c, 2d.
[0019]
In the above-described operation example, the first and second wireless relay devices 104A and 104B are registered in advance in the communication management server 105, but are not necessarily limited to the wireless relay devices.
That is, for example, the personal computer 1, the wireless LAN 103, the intranet network 102, and the like are registered in the communication management server 105 together with the wireless relay devices 104 A and 104 B as a target of transmission and reception of packet signals with the wireless relay devices 104 A and 104 B. Basically, as described above, the personal computer 1 connected to the Internet network 101 by a dial-up connection or the like, a computer (not shown) connected to the wireless LAN 103, and a computer connected to the intranet network 102 And the first to fourth transceivers 2a to 2d can communicate with each other via the radio relay devices 104A and 104B.
In this case, of course, a computer such as the personal computer 1 reproduces the received audio data, and also performs a well-known / well-known process of performing audio data processing for transmitting packets spoken by the user of the computer as audio data. It is assumed that general-purpose software is installed.
[0020]
The present system having the functions as described above is advantageous as a mode of use, for example, for securing and expanding a communication network in an emergency such as a disaster.
That is, for example, usually, mutual wireless communication between the first transceiver 2a and the second transceiver 2b by direct waves and mutual wireless communication between the third transceiver 2c and the fourth transceiver 2d by direct waves are sufficient. In this case, the first and second radio relay devices 104A and 104B may be set to the non-operation state. Then, when an emergency such as a disaster occurs and it is necessary to obtain damage information or the like in another area, the first and second wireless relay devices 104A and 104B are set in the operating state, and the above-described operation is performed. As described above, transceivers that cannot communicate with each other by direct waves can communicate with each other. Further, as described above, communication with the personal computer 1 and the like can be performed. For example, it is possible to contribute to the convenience of recovery activities and the like by an administrative organization in an emergency such as a disaster.
[0021]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, since a signal of a wireless device is configured to be transmitted over the Internet network, the wireless devices can communicate with each other via the Internet network, and further, the wireless device can communicate with the client terminal or the like. Communication is enabled, and an effect is provided that a highly expandable communication network and communication system can be provided.
In particular, when used for communication between wireless devices, there is an effect that the uncertainty of communication in a so-called dead zone can be eliminated and a stable and reliable communication path can be provided.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating a configuration example of an Internet-based wireless communication supplement system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram illustrating a configuration example of a wireless relay device used in the Internet-based wireless communication supplement system according to the embodiment of the present invention;
[Explanation of symbols]
2a to 2d: Transceiver 3: Relay transceiver 4: Signal converter 5: Press talk control unit 6: Central processing unit 101: Internet network 102: Intranet network 103: Wireless LAN
104A, 104B: Radio relay device 105: Communication management server

Claims (3)

An Internet-based wireless communication supplement system that enables wireless devices to communicate with each other via the Internet network,
A radio relay device connected to the Internet network,
A communication management server connected to the Internet network,
The radio relay device transmits a radio signal received by the radio relay device to the communication management server via the Internet network according to a predetermined protocol, and transmits the signal from the communication management server via the Internet network. It is configured to wirelessly transmit the input signal to a wireless device capable of communicating with the wireless device relay device,
The communication management server is configured to transmit a signal input from a predetermined wireless relay device registered in advance via the Internet to a predetermined destination. Complementary system. A wireless device relay device for enabling communication between wireless devices or a wireless device and a client terminal via the Internet network,
A relay radio having the same configuration as the radio,
A relay unit for connecting the relay wireless device and the Internet network,
The relay unit converts an audio signal of the relay wireless device into a digital signal and sends the digital signal to an Internet network according to a predetermined protocol, while converting audio data addressed to the wireless device input from the Internet network into an analog audio signal. A radio relay device configured to convert the analog audio signal, input the analog audio signal to the relay radio device, and perform radio transmission with the relay radio device in a transmission state. A communication management server that relays a signal from a wireless relay device to enable communication between wireless devices or a wireless device and a client terminal via the Internet network,
When a signal from the wireless relay device is input, it is determined whether or not the wireless relay device is registered in advance, and when it is determined that the wireless relay device is a registered wireless relay device, A communication management server configured to transmit a signal from the wireless relay device to a destination registered in advance.

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