JP2004194141A - Device and method for communication - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make effective use of a transmission band by considering a temporal fluctuation characteristic of a used amount of upstream transmission band in an optical communication system. <P>SOLUTION: A fluctuation characteristic learning part 12 of the usage of the upstream transmission band monitors the used amount of the upstream transmission band every slave station or path connected to 0-system and 1-system transmission paths, and learns the temporal fluctuation characteristics of the usage of the upstream transmission band every slave station or path. On the basis of the learning results of the learning part 12, a transmission path setting selecting part 7 changes the setting of the transmission path so that an increase in the usage of upstream transmission band does not concentrate on one of the systems. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a communication band control technique in a communication apparatus, for example, a communication band control technique in an optical communication apparatus such as a PON (Passive Optical Network).
[0002]
[Prior art]
As a conventional technique, there is an optical multi-branch communication system disclosed in JP-A-2002-77212.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a simplified configuration of a communication system according to the related art.
In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a master station in which the transmission path in the PON section is duplicated and has a branch switching function and a DBA (Dynamic Bandwidth Allocation) function.
Reference numeral 2 denotes a slave station accommodated in the master station 1, and reference numerals 31 and 32 denote optical couplers of system 0 and system 1 for connecting the master station and the slave station.
Reference numerals 41 and 42 denote a system 0 and a system 1 having a function of monitoring the amount of uplink transmission bandwidth used for each slave station or path, a function for detecting a fault in the slave station or transmission path, and a function for detecting a change in the number of slave stations or the number of paths. It is a PON termination and upstream transmission band monitoring unit.
Reference numerals 51 and 52 denote DBA function units of the 0-system and 1-system, and 61 and 62 denote failure / change monitoring units of the 0-system and the 1-system.
7 indicates: (1) when the distribution balance to the 0 system or 1 system is disrupted at the time of initial startup and due to a failure of the slave station or the transmission line or a change in the number of slave stations or the number of paths, (2) the minimum guaranteed bandwidth. (3) when the sum of the maximum bandwidths is not substantially equal, (4) when the sum of the differences between the maximum bandwidth and the minimum guaranteed bandwidth is not substantially equal, (5) setting A transmission path setting selection unit for selecting a transmission path setting for each slave station or path in both systems when any of the sums of the bands is not substantially equal. As criteria for selecting the setting, the criteria 1 are that the distribution balance to the 0 or 1 system is good, the criteria 2 are that the sum of the minimum guaranteed bands is substantially equal, and the criteria 3 is the maximum bandwidth. The sum is substantially equal, the criterion {circle around (4)} the sum of the differences between the maximum band and the minimum guaranteed band is substantially equal, and the criterion {circle around (5)} the sum of the set bands is substantially equal.
Reference numeral 8 denotes a selector switch unit that controls the paths of input signals from both systems and output signals to both systems according to the selection information from the transmission path setting selection unit 7.
Reference numerals 91 and 92 denote PON terminators of the 0 and 1 systems on the slave station side, and 10 denotes a transmission path setting selection section for performing transmission path setting selection for each path in both systems according to transmission path setting selection information from the master station. is there. Reference numeral 11 denotes a selector switch unit that controls the paths of input signals from both systems and output signals to both systems in accordance with selection information from the transmission path setting selection unit 10.
Note that the unit for setting and selecting the transmission path by the master station 1 may be for each slave station or for each path. However, for simplicity, it is assumed that only one path is set for one slave station.
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-2002-77212
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The optical multi-branch system according to the related art is configured as described above, but has the following problems.
First, considering an Internet connection as an example, a slave station installed in a company (here, for simplicity, only one path is set for one slave station, so hereinafter, only "slave station" will be expressed. ) Increases at daytime and decreases at night. Conversely, the upstream signal input to a slave station installed in a general home increases at night and decreases at noon. In addition, with respect to the fluctuation of the signal input in one week, there is a slave station that increases on the weekend and a slave station that decreases. As described above, the variation of the uplink signal input to the slave station has a temporal variation characteristic having an arbitrary period for each slave station.
[0005]
FIG. 6 shows, as an example, the temporal fluctuation of the uplink signal input to each of the four slave stations in one day. As an example, it is assumed that the slave stations 21 and 22 are installed in a company, and the slave stations 23 and 24 are installed in a general home. Note that both systems are normally operated, and for simplicity, it is assumed that the minimum guaranteed band, the maximum band, the set band, and the period (one day) of the temporal variation characteristic for each of the slave stations are equal to each other. In addition, the amount of uplink signal input to the slave station does not exceed the maximum bandwidth, and is directly used as the uplink transmission bandwidth by the DBA function.
[0006]
In the prior art, the criteria for distributing slave stations to system 0 or system 1 are the above-described criteria (1) to (5). In the case of FIG. The four slave stations are determined to be equivalent in the standard. As a result, the slave station 21 and the slave station 22 may be assigned to the 0 system, and the slave station 23 and the slave station 24 may be assigned to the 1 system. In such a case, the increase of the upstream signal concentrates on either the system 0 or the system 1 in the daytime or night time zone.
[0007]
Similarly, an example for one week is shown in FIG.
In the case of FIG. 7 as well, the slave stations 21 and 22 may be assigned to the 0 system, and the slave stations 23 and 24 may be assigned to the 1 system. In such a case, the increase of the upstream signal is concentrated on either the system 0 or the system 1 on Monday to Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
[0008]
When the increase of the upstream signal is concentrated on one system, the excess band available to the other slave stations connected to the same system in the DBA function decreases in the concentrated system, and conversely, the increase of the signal is concentrated. In a system that does not perform this, the surplus bandwidth available to other slave stations in the DBA function increases. However, the change of the setting selection by the transmission line setting selection unit 7 in the prior art is caused by the failure of the slave station or the transmission line or the change in the number of slave stations or the number of paths. When the distribution balance to the system is lost, (2) when the sum of the minimum guaranteed bands is not substantially equal, (3) when the sum of the maximum bands is not substantially equal, (4) the maximum band and the minimum guaranteed band In the other cases, the sum of the differences is not substantially equal, and (5) it is limited to the case where the sum of the set bands is not substantially equal. In other cases, the system selected with the initial setting is fixed. Become. As a result, it is not possible to avoid the increase in the uplink signal that occurs periodically due to the temporal variation characteristic from being concentrated on one system.
[0009]
As described above, in the related art, the transmission path setting selection cannot be changed even when the upstream signal is concentrated on one system during a certain time zone, so that the surplus bandwidth of the other system cannot be effectively used, resulting in inefficiency. Was. That is, in the related art, since there is no function to consider the time variation characteristic of the uplink transmission band usage for each slave station or each path, slave stations or paths having similar time variation characteristics are biased toward the same system. Even if it is selected, the setting selection cannot be changed, and the increase in the amount of use of the upstream transmission band cannot be prevented from being concentrated on one system. As a result, there was a problem that the upstream band could not be used effectively.
[0010]
The present invention has as its main object to solve the problems of the prior art as described above, and has as its main object to effectively utilize a transmission band in consideration of a temporal variation characteristic of a transmission band usage. I do.
[0011]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The communication device according to the present invention,
A communication that is connected to a plurality of transmission paths connected to each of a plurality of opposing devices, sets a transmission path for communication for each opposing device, and communicates with each opposing device using the set transmission path. A device,
A fluctuation characteristic learning unit that monitors the communication band usage for each of the opposing devices and learns the fluctuation characteristics of the communication band usage with respect to time for each of the opposing devices;
A transmission path setting selecting section for setting and selecting a transmission path to be used for communication with any of the opposing devices based on a result of learning of the fluctuation characteristic by the fluctuation characteristic learning section.
[0012]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Embodiment 1 FIG.
[0013]
FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of a communication system according to the present embodiment.
Reference numeral 1 denotes a master station, which corresponds to an example of a communication device. Reference numeral 2 denotes a slave station, which corresponds to an opposing device. Although only one slave station 2 is shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of slave stations 2 are connected to the master station 1 via a duplicated transmission line. Further, each slave station may accommodate a plurality of paths.
In FIG. 1, as compared with FIG. 5, in the master station 1, an upstream transmission band use amount variation characteristic learning unit 12 is added, and a 0-system DBA function unit 51, a 1-system DBA function unit 52, and a transmission path setting selection unit 7, a function described later is added. The other parts are the same as those shown in FIG. Note that the upstream transmission band usage amount variation characteristic learning unit 12 corresponds to a variation characteristic learning unit.
The configuration of the slave station 2 is the same as that shown in FIG.
[0014]
The 0-system DBA function unit 51 and the 1-system DBA function unit 52 transmit upstream transmission band information (communication band usage) indicating the upstream transmission band usage (communication band usage) for each slave station or path set and selected for each system. A function to output to the band usage variation characteristic learning unit 12 is added.
The upstream transmission band usage variation characteristic learning unit 12 acquires from the 0-system DBA function unit 51 the uplink transmission band information for each slave station or path set and selected for system 0, and performs the upstream transmission for each slave station or path. The bandwidth usage is monitored and the upstream transmission bandwidth information for each slave station or path selected and set for the first system is obtained from the first system DBA function unit 52 to monitor the upstream transmission bandwidth usage for each slave station or each path. Then, based on them, the variation characteristics of the temporally used amount of the uplink transmission band are statistically learned for all slave stations or all paths for each slave station or path.
To learn is defined as "W _n = f _n (t), 0 ≦ t, _where W is the amount of uplink transmission band used, N is the number of slave stations or paths, t is the time, and T is the cycle of the fluctuation characteristic to be learned. <T, n = 1, 2, 3,..., N ”so that the m-th order function f _n (m: an integer) is approximated as much as possible to the temporal fluctuation of the actual uplink transmission band usage. That is, it is determined for each slave station or each pass. The order m of the function to be learned and the type of the function can be set, and the greater the order m, the higher the accuracy of the fluctuation characteristic that can be learned. Examples of the function f _n include a linear function and a non-linear function, and a sine function “F (x) = A sin (Bx + C) + D: A, B, C, and D are arbitrary real numbers” and a sigmoid function “F (x ) = A / {B + exp (-Cx + D)} + E: A, B, C, D, and E are arbitrary real numbers. " . When the period of learning the function _{f n} and _{T L, T L} is an integral multiple _(T L = PT, P: integer) of the T it is, can be arbitrarily set T and _{T L.} For example, T can be one day, _TL can be one week, T can be one week, and _TL can be one month. In addition, trigger factors for starting re-learning (for example, occurrence of a failure in a slave station or a route or a command from a device manager), learning times Q (finite or infinite times), learning frequencies (for example, learning in the first week of every month) Or the learning interval L can be set arbitrarily.
[0015]
When the learning period _TL ends, the uplink transmission band usage amount variation characteristic learning unit 12 outputs a learning result to the transmission path setting selection unit 7 as a learning result for all slave stations or all paths that have been learned for each slave station or path. It outputs characteristic information (function f _n , cycle T, etc.) and a setting selection change request.
FIG. 2 shows a flowchart relating to learning.
[0016]
The learning of the function f _n (t) for the slave station n or the path n will be described.
M-order function as an example of a function ^{_{"f n (t) = a n}} , m t m + a n, m-1 t m-1 + ... + a n, 1 t + a n, 0 " when that, to learn the coefficients " an _{, m} , an _{, m-1} ,..., an _{, 0} ". Using the least-squares error method for learning, _{assuming that the} actual uplink transmission band usage at any sample time t = t _x (0 ≦ t _x <T) during the learning period is W _nx , | f _n ( t _x ) −W _nx | ² The learning period _TL ends with respect to the values of the coefficients “an _{, m} , an _{, m−1} ,..., an _{, 0} ” so as to decrease the value of the learning period _TL. Repeat the correction until you do.
[0017]
The transmission path setting selection unit 7 to which the setting selection change request has been input from the upstream transmission band usage variation characteristic learning unit 12 receives the parameters (minimum guaranteed band, maximum guaranteed band) set for every slave station or every path at the time of initial setting. The transmission path setting selection is changed based on the fluctuation characteristic information (function f _n , cycle T, etc.) for each child station or path input from the upstream transmission band use amount fluctuation characteristic learning unit 12 and the band. .
The criteria for the distribution to the 0 system or 1 system for each slave station or each path are, for example, the criteria of the prior art; ▼ The sum of the minimum guaranteed bandwidths is substantially equal, criterion (3) The sum of the maximum bandwidths is substantially equal, and the criterion (4) The sum of the difference between the maximum bandwidth and the minimum guaranteed bandwidth is substantially equal. Judgment criterion (5) The sum of the set bandwidths is substantially equal, and the criterion (6) added in the present embodiment (6) The same slave station or path having a similar temporal variation characteristic of the amount of use of the upstream transmission band. It is not biased to the system.
When there is a time zone in which the transmission band usage is biased in one of the transmission lines of the 0 system and 1 system, that is, the transmission band usage of the 0 system transmission line and the transmission band usage of the 1 system transmission line When there is a variation with respect to, the transmission path setting selection unit 7 applies the criterion (6) to change the transmission path setting for any of the slave stations so as to suppress the variation with respect to time.
Note that arbitrary weights can be assigned to the judgment criteria (1) to (6), and the weights can also be set. If a failure occurs in the slave station or the transmission line or the number of slave stations or the number of paths changes, a setting selection change request is issued from the 0-system failure / change monitoring unit 61 or the 1-system failure / change monitoring unit 62. Is input, and the transmission path setting selection is changed according to the same criteria. However, if the learning of the fluctuation characteristics is not completed, the above criterion (6) is excluded.
[0018]
By adding the above-described functions, the setting of the learning-related parameters (the learning period _TL , the number of learnings Q, the learning interval L, etc.) can be arbitrarily set to change the transmission path setting selection for each slave station or each path. Can be dynamically performed. In addition, by taking into account the temporal fluctuation characteristics, it is possible to avoid that the slave stations or paths having similar temporal fluctuation characteristics are intensively set and selected in the same system, and increase the use of the uplink transmission band to one system. Concentration can be avoided. As a result, a temporal statistical multiplexing effect is obtained with respect to the amount of use of the upstream transmission band in both systems, the excess band usable by the DBA function is not biased toward one system, and the use efficiency of the upstream transmission band is improved.
[0019]
As an example, the operation when the present embodiment is applied to the case of FIG. 6 will be described with reference to FIG.
For the sake of simplicity, the function to be learned is a quadratic function f _n (t) = an _{, 2} t ² + an _{, 1} t + an _{, 0} , and the cycle is one day. coefficients a _{n, 2} of 22 becomes a negative value, the slave station 23, the coefficient a _{n, 2} of the slave station 24 becomes a positive value (the graph of the characteristic function of FIG. 3, in response to these learning result There). Regarding the four slave stations, since the judgment criteria (1) to (5) are equivalent, the slave station 21 and the slave station 22 or the slave station 23 and the slave station 24 according to the judgment criteria (6) added in the present embodiment. Are set and selected separately. FIG. 3 shows a situation where the slave station 22 is changed from the system 0 to the system 1 and the slave station 24 is changed from the system 1 to the system 0 as an example. By changing the setting of the transmission path by the transmission path setting selection unit 7, as shown in the graph 301 of the upstream transmission band of the system 0 and the graph 302 of the upstream transmission band of the system 1 in FIG. Time-dependent fluctuations in the usage amount are suppressed.
As a result, a temporal statistical multiplexing effect is obtained in both systems with respect to an increase or decrease in the amount of use of the upstream transmission band, and the band can be effectively used.
[0020]
Next, the operation when the present embodiment is applied to the case of FIG. 7 will be described with reference to FIG.
Learning to function sigmoid function _f n _(t) = a _{a n / {b n + exp} (-c n t + d n)} + e n, when the period one week, the learning results slave station 21, the coefficient of the child station 22 the product a _n · c _n a negative value, the slave station 23, the product a _n · c _n of the coefficients of the slave station 24 has a positive value (graphs of the characteristic function of FIG. 4, in these learning result Yes).
Therefore, the slave station 21 and the slave station 22 or the slave station 23 and the slave station 24 are separately set and selected as described above. FIG. 4 shows an example in which the slave station 22 is changed from the system 0 to the system 1 and the slave station 24 is changed from the system 1 to the system 0. By changing the setting of the transmission path by the transmission path setting selection unit 7, the transmission bandwidth of the transmission path of both systems is shown in the graph 401 of the upstream transmission band of the 0 system and the graph 402 of the upstream transmission band of the 1 system in FIG. Time-dependent fluctuations in the usage amount are suppressed.
As a result, a temporal statistical multiplexing effect is obtained in both systems with respect to an increase or decrease in the amount of use of the upstream transmission band, and the band can be effectively used.
[0021]
As described above, in the master station (communication device) according to the present embodiment, the transmission path in the PON section is duplicated, both systems can be used as the active system, and the systems can be switched for each slave station or for each path. A communication device having a DBA function of dynamically assigning a band for each slave station or each path in a system configuration capable of branch switching, wherein each of the slave stations or It is characterized in that a transmission path is dynamically set and selected for each slave station or for each path based on the temporal variation characteristics of the amount of uplink transmission band used for each path.
[0022]
As described above, conventionally, the transmission path for each slave station or each path is set and selected based on various setting parameters (minimum guaranteed band, maximum band, set band, etc.) at the time of initial setting. It was fixed as long as the number of stations or the number of paths did not fluctuate. However, the temporal variation in the amount of uplink transmission band used during actual operation has characteristics for each slave station or path, and when slave stations or paths having similar characteristics are set and selected in the same system, a certain The increase or decrease in the amount of use of the upstream transmission band concentrates on one system, resulting in inefficiency.
Therefore, the master station according to the present embodiment first learns the temporal variation characteristics of the uplink transmission bandwidth usage for each slave station or path, and based on the temporal variation characteristics and various setting parameters at the time of initial setting. It is characterized in that the transmission path is dynamically set and selected for each slave station or path, thereby preventing the increase or decrease in the amount of use of the upstream transmission band from being concentrated on one system. As a result, a temporal statistical multiplexing effect is obtained, and the bandwidth can be effectively used.
[0023]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the fluctuation characteristic of the communication band usage amount with respect to time is learned for each opposing device or path, and a transmission path used for communication is set for any opposing device or path based on the learning result. Since the selection is made, the increase or decrease of the communication band usage can be prevented from being concentrated on a specific transmission path, and the communication band can be effectively used.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a communication system according to a first embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a learning process of a temporal variation characteristic according to the first embodiment;
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a transmission line change process according to the first embodiment;
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of transmission line change processing according to the first embodiment;
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a conventional technique.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a conventional technique.
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a conventional technique.
[Explanation of symbols]
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 master station, 2 slave stations, 7 transmission path setting selection section, 8 selector switch section, 10 transmission path setting selection section, 11 selector switch section, 12 uplink transmission band usage fluctuation characteristic learning section, 310 optical coupler, 32 1 system optical coupler, 410 system PON terminal and upstream transmission band monitoring unit, 42 system 1 PON terminal and upstream transmission band monitoring unit, 510 system DBA function unit, 521 system DBA function unit, 610 system failure / change monitoring Unit, 62 system 1 fault / change monitoring unit, 910 system PON terminal unit, 921 system PON terminal unit.

Claims (7)

A communication that is connected to a plurality of transmission paths connected to each of a plurality of opposing devices, sets a transmission path for communication for each opposing device, and communicates with each opposing device using the set transmission path. A device,
A fluctuation characteristic learning unit that monitors the communication band usage for each of the opposing devices and learns the fluctuation characteristics of the communication band usage with respect to time for each of the opposing devices;
A communication path setting selecting section for setting and selecting a transmission path to be used for communication with any of the opposing apparatuses based on a result of learning of the fluctuation characteristic by the fluctuation characteristic learning section. The transmission path setting selection unit,
Based on the learning result of the fluctuation characteristic by the fluctuation characteristic learning unit, setting and selecting a transmission line to be used for communication with any one of the opposing devices so that a fluctuation of the communication band usage amount with respect to the time of each transmission line is suppressed. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein: Each transmission path is connected to a plurality of transmission paths connected to each of the plurality of opposing apparatuses, and a transmission path used for communication is set for each path accommodated in each of the opposing apparatuses. A communication device that performs communication for the path of
A variation characteristic learning unit that monitors the communication bandwidth usage for each path and learns the variation characteristics of the communication bandwidth usage over time for each path;
A communication apparatus, comprising: a transmission path setting selection unit that sets and selects a transmission path to be used for communication for any one of the paths based on a result of learning of the fluctuation characteristic by the fluctuation characteristic learning unit. The transmission path setting selection unit,
Based on the learning result of the fluctuation characteristic by the fluctuation characteristic learning unit, setting and selecting a transmission line used for communication on any one of the paths so that the fluctuation of the communication band usage amount with respect to the time of each transmission line is suppressed. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein: The communication device,
The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the communication device is an optical communication device that performs optical communication with a plurality of opposing devices. It is possible to communicate with a plurality of opposing devices via a plurality of transmission paths, each of which is connected to each of the plurality of opposing devices, set a transmission path to be used for communication for each opposing apparatus, and use the set transmission path. A communication method for communicating with each of the opposing devices,
A variable characteristic learning step of monitoring the communication band usage for each of the opposing devices and learning the fluctuation characteristics of the communication band usage with respect to time for each of the opposing devices;
A communication path setting selecting step of setting and selecting a transmission path to be used for communication with any of the opposing devices based on a result of learning the fluctuation characteristic in the fluctuation characteristic learning step. It is possible to communicate with multiple opposing devices via multiple transmission paths that are connected to each of the multiple opposing devices, and set the transmission path used for communication for each path accommodated in each opposing device. A communication method for performing communication for each path using the set transmission path,
A variable characteristic learning step of monitoring a communication band usage for each path and learning a fluctuation characteristic of the communication band usage with respect to time for each path;
A communication path setting selecting step of setting and selecting a transmission path to be used for communication with respect to any one of the paths based on a learning result of the fluctuation characteristic in the fluctuation characteristic learning step.

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