JP2005072759A - Transmission device and method therefor, reception device and method therefor, communication device and method therefor, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a transmitter for switching the utilization of a plurality of NICs dynamically. <P>SOLUTION: A driver wrapper 107 recognizes if data are communicated by an Internet telephone application program 101, or an ftp data transmission application program, reads user's request information regarding a communication path stored in a request information management section 111, connects interfaces 105, 106, or each of MAC drivers 108, 109 for each application program, and sets a communication path, thus switching NICs 42-1, 42-2 used for communication for each application program for use. The transmitter can be applied to a personal computer. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a transmission apparatus and method, a reception apparatus and method, a communication apparatus and method, and a program, and more particularly, a transmission apparatus and method, a reception apparatus, and a communication apparatus that can switch and use a plurality of network interface cards according to processing. The present invention relates to a method, a communication apparatus and method, and a program.

  In recent years, personal computers (hereinafter also referred to as PCs) have become widespread and are frequently used in offices and homes. Furthermore, with the spread of the Internet, there are many opportunities for the above-mentioned PCs to be connected to the network.

  There are various forms in which a PC is connected to a network. Ethernet (registered trademark) (Ethernet (R): Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 802.3) is widely used worldwide. By connecting an Ethernet (registered trademark) cable to a PC provided with an Ethernet (registered trademark) interface device and performing various settings, communication can be performed between the PCs connected to the network. Currently, almost all PCs are provided with an Ethernet (registered trademark) interface device, and access to the network is performed using TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol).

  Further, as a new network form using the Ethernet (registered trademark), a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) that communicates using radio as a medium has been developed. Since notebook PCs can be carried around as a child, it can be easily and easily connected to a network rather than connecting an Ethernet (registered trademark) cable.

  In offices and the like, in addition to the conventional network environment based on Ethernet (registered trademark), cases of newly introducing networks constructed by wireless LANs are increasing.

  As a wireless LAN system, there are a plurality of systems such as 802.11b, 802.11g, or 802.11a defined by IEEE (The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.). These are defined separately depending on the frequency band to be used and the modulation / demodulation method.

  As other network connection forms, there are connection systems using telephone lines such as IEEE 1394, xDSL (x Digital Subscriber Line), PHS (Personal Handy Phone System), IDSN (Integrated Services Digital Network). As described above, there are various types of connection modes to the network. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of connection interface devices may be prepared for one PC. That is, in FIG. 1, the PC 1 is connected to the network 12 via Ethernet (registered trademark), IEEE802.11 (wireless LAN), IEEE1394, xDSL (x Digital Subscriber Line), and ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network). And can communicate with other PCs connected to the network 12 via the respective connection interfaces.

  On the other hand, there are cases where a plurality of connection interfaces are laid at the place of use. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the PC 11 is provided with a communication unit 11a for wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11a) and a communication unit 11b for Ethernet (registered trademark). This is a case where a point 14 (IEEE802.11a) and an Ethernet (registered trademark) 12 are provided and can be connected to the network 13 from their respective paths. If such a PC 11 is used, communication can be performed by appropriately selecting an interface to be used according to a user's usage mode.

  Here, we consider TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol), which is a higher-level protocol. An IP address for uniquely identifying the PC 11 is statically or dynamically assigned to each interface. For example, when statically assigned, what is set by the user in the “network setting” column of the PC 11 is used each time.

  In addition, when dynamically assigned, it is assigned by a dynamic assignment protocol such as DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol). As described above, when only one user is used among a plurality of interfaces, a different IP address is used each time depending on the allocation method (static or dynamic) in each interface.

  Conventionally, since the user often explicitly uses one of the interfaces himself, the above method is used. This is because, for example, a desktop PC is not carried, so an Ethernet (registered trademark) interface is used, and a notebook PC used in various places is used IEEE802.11b.

In addition, it has been proposed to assign virtual different IP addresses by classifying each application type for each packet in an IP network.
JP 2001-160825 A

  However, in recent years, a plurality of wireless LAN standards have been defined as described above, and it has become possible to simultaneously mount, for example, IEEE802.11b and IEEE802.11a even on notebook PCs. When using such a PC, it is conceivable to switch the communication interface as appropriate according to the characteristics of the communication and the traffic of the network.

  That is, for example, IEEE802.11a can communicate at high speed with a communication partner at a short distance. On the other hand, although IEEE802.11b has a low communication speed, transmission is possible even when the distance to the communication partner is relatively long. By switching the communication interface in response to such differences in transmission characteristics, changes in transmission speed due to changes in the number of users and changes in the environment, etc., it can be performed at high speed as necessary or as necessary. It can be suitable for communication with a remote party.

  In such a case, it is effective to switch and use a plurality of interfaces as appropriate. That is, if an attempt is made to use a plurality of interfaces simultaneously, an IP address is assigned to each interface. However, since the same IP address cannot be used simultaneously on a plurality of interfaces, a different IP address is assigned to each interface.

  If each interface is in a different broadcast domain, each interface has a unique address because each broadcast domain has a different network address. (For example, 192.168.1.x and 172.16.1.x)

  On the other hand, if each interface is in the same broadcast domain, the network address is the same, so care must be taken when assigning.

  Consider a case where communication is performed with another PC in a state where a plurality of IP addresses are assigned. Here, it is assumed that the personal computer is effective for two interfaces, and addresses “192.168.1.1” and “172.16.1.1” are assigned to each interface. In this example, each interface exists in separate broadcast domains “172.16.1.x” and “192.168.1.x”, but the same applies to the same broadcast domain. Here, it is assumed that the gateways in the respective domains are “172.16.1.254” and “192.168.1.254”.

  When communicating with another computer, the routing table is used as to which interface the packet is sent through. For example, it is assumed that a routing table is set as shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 3, 1 to 7 are shown as routing information numbers on the left side of the drawing. In addition, Network Destination is shown on the right side, and in order from number 1, “0.0.0.0”, “0.0.0.0”, “172.16.1.0”, “172.255.255.255”, “192.168.1.0 "," 192.168.1.255 ", and" 255.255.255.255 "are shown. Further, on the right side, Netmask is shown, and in order from number 1, “0.0.0.0”, “0.0.0.0”, “255.255.255.0”, “255.255.255.255”, “255.255.255. The addresses are shown as “0”, “255.255.255.255”, and “255.255.255.255”. On the right side of the Netmask, gateways are shown. In order from the number 1, "172.16.1.254", "192.168.1.254", "172.16.1.1", "172.16.1.1", "192.168.1.1", "192.168 ".1.1" and "172.16.1.1" are shown. In addition, on the right side, the interfaces are shown: “172.16.1.1”, “172.16.1.1”, “172.16.1.1”, “172.16.1.1”, “192.168.1.1”, “192.168.1.1”, and The address is shown as “172.16.1.1”. On the rightmost side, the number is shown as Metric, and all are shown as 1.

  For example, when communicating with a PC having an address “192.168.1.10”, since this address matches the fifth interface, it is transmitted through the interface “192.168.1.1”. In this case, the best matching routing table is only No. 5. Here, “match” indicates the most matching address based on the setting of Netmask. In other words, in the netmask, the part set with “255” is obtained with a perfect match, whereas the part set with “0” may be any value. Therefore, in Network Destination, the number 5 is “225.225.225.0” as the netmask in “192.168.1.0”, so the upper address “192.168.1” of the desired address “192.168.1.10” matches. Therefore, the remaining “0” is a portion set as “0” in the netmask, and is not necessarily required to match, so it is selected as the most matching routing table. .

  On the other hand, for example, when communicating with a terminal “10.1.1.1”, this address matches No. 1 and No. 2 in the routing table. In other words, in this case, there is no address close to any of the Network Destination, but since the netmasks of both No. 1 and No. 2 in the routing table are both “0.0.0.0”, both parts do not necessarily match. It is not necessary.

  In such a case, normally, the higher rank of the table number is selected, and as a result, the communication path is set via 172.16.1.254. If the user wants to communicate via 192.168.1.254, the communication path can be changed by rewriting the routing table shown in FIG.

  However, since the routing table is usually managed by the OS (Operating System), if this change is made, all communication paths will be changed. For example, the communication path for each application program Cannot be specified, and there is a problem that communication cannot be performed by dynamically changing the communication path intended by the user.

  In addition, as described above, changing the communication path according to the characteristics of the transmission path and the communication status is actually managed by the OS, so it cannot be dynamically changed and handled. However, there is a problem that it cannot be dynamically changed in accordance with the characteristics of the transmission path and the communication state.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and in particular, a plurality of network connection devices (for example, network cards) can be used by dynamically switching according to the characteristics of the transmission path and the communication state. It is what you want to do.

  The transmission device of the present invention includes an interface information storage unit that stores interface information for each of a plurality of network connection devices, and a communication that sets a communication path via the interface based on the interface information stored by the interface information storage unit. A path setting unit; a connection information storage unit that stores connection information of a network connection device used for each application program; an interface for each application program based on the connection information stored in the connection information storage unit; and a network connection device Switching means for switching connection with the MAC driver, and transmission means for transmitting information via the MAC driver of the network connection device whose connection with the interface is switched for each application program by the switching means, That.

  The switching means can switch the connection between the interface and the MAC driver of the network connection device by rewriting the IP header for each packet data based on the connection information stored in the connection information storage means. .

  Recognizing means for recognizing the communication port and identification means for identifying the application program based on the communication port recognized by the recognizing means can be further provided. The switching means is stored in the connection information storage means. Based on the connection information, the connection between the interface and the MAC driver of the network connection device can be switched for each application program identified by the identification means.

  An input means for inputting a correspondence relationship between the application program and the network connection device can be further provided, and the connection information storage means has a correspondence relationship between the application program input by the input means and the network connection device. Based on this, it is possible to store the connection information of the network connection device used for each application program.

  A state detection unit for detecting a communication state by the network connection device can be further provided, and the connection information storage unit includes a network used for each application program based on the communication state detected by the state detection unit. The connection information of the MAC driver of the connection device can be stored, and the switching unit has an application program based on the connection information stored in the connection information storage unit according to the communication state detected by the state detection unit. The connection between the interface and the MAC driver of the network connection device can be switched every time.

  The state detection means may be further provided with an electrolytic strength detection means for detecting electric field strength, and the communication state by the network connection device is detected by the electric field strength detected by the electric field strength detection means. Can do.

  In the transmission method of the present invention, an interface information storage step for storing interface information for each of a plurality of network connection devices, and a communication path via the interface are set based on the interface information stored in the processing of the interface information storage step. A communication path setting step, a connection information storage step for storing connection information of a network connection device used for each application program, and an interface for each application program based on the connection information stored in the processing of the connection information storage step. The switching step of switching the connection with the MAC driver of the network connection device, and the information through the MAC driver of the network connection device whose connection with the interface is switched for each application program in the processing of the switching step Characterized in that it comprises a transmission step of signal to.

  The first program of the present invention is based on an interface information storage control step for controlling storage of interface information for each of a plurality of network connection devices, and interface information whose storage is controlled by the processing of the interface information storage control step. Memory is controlled by processing of a communication path setting step for setting a communication path via an interface, a connection information storage control step for controlling storage of connection information of a network connection device used for each application program, and a connection information storage control step. Based on the connection information, the switching step for switching the connection between the interface and the MAC driver of the network connection device for each application program, and the connection with the interface for each application program is switched by the processing of the switching step. Characterized in that to execute a transmission control step of controlling transmission of information via the MAC driver for the network connection device to the computer.

  The receiving device according to the present invention includes an interface information storage unit that stores interface information for each of a plurality of network connection devices, and a communication that sets a communication path via the interface based on the interface information stored by the interface information storage unit. A path setting unit; a connection information storage unit that stores connection information of a network connection device used for each application program; an interface for each application program based on the connection information stored in the connection information storage unit; and a network connection device Switching means for switching the connection with the MAC driver, and receiving means for receiving information via the MAC driver of the network connection device whose connection with the interface is switched for each application program by the switching means, That.

  The switching means can switch the connection between the interface and the MAC driver of the network connection device by rewriting the IP header for each packet data based on the connection information stored in the connection information storage means. .

  Recognizing means for recognizing the communication port and identification means for identifying the application program based on the communication port recognized by the recognizing means can be further provided. The switching means is stored in the connection information storage means. Based on the connection information, the connection between the interface and the MAC driver of the network connection device can be switched for each application program identified by the identification means.

  An input means for inputting a correspondence relationship between the application program and the network connection device can be further provided, and the connection information storage means has a correspondence relationship between the application program input by the input means and the network connection device. Based on this, it is possible to store the connection information of the network connection device used for each application program.

  A state detection unit for detecting a communication state by the network connection device can be further provided, and the connection information storage unit includes a network used for each application program based on the communication state detected by the state detection unit. The connection information of the connection device can be stored, and the switching means has an interface for each application program based on the connection information stored in the connection information storage means according to the communication state detected by the state detection means. Then, the connection with the MAC driver of the network connection device can be switched.

  The state detection means may be further provided with an electrolytic strength detection means for detecting electric field strength, and the communication state by the network connection device is detected by the electric field strength detected by the electric field strength detection means. Can do.

  The reception method of the present invention sets an interface information storage step for storing interface information for each of a plurality of network connection devices, and sets a communication path via the interface based on the interface information stored in the interface information storage step. A communication path setting step, a connection information storage step for storing connection information of a network connection device used for each application program, and an interface for each application program based on the connection information stored in the processing of the connection information storage step. The switching step of switching the connection with the MAC driver of the network connection device, and the information through the MAC driver of the network connection device whose connection with the interface is switched for each application program in the processing of the switching step Characterized in that it comprises a receiving step signal to.

  The second program of the present invention is based on an interface information storage control step for controlling storage of interface information for each of a plurality of network connection devices, and interface information whose storage is controlled by the processing of the interface information storage control step. Memory is controlled by processing of a communication path setting step for setting a communication path via an interface, a connection information storage control step for controlling storage of connection information of a network connection device used for each application program, and a connection information storage control step. Based on the connection information, the switching step for switching the connection between the interface and the MAC driver of the network connection device for each application program, and the connection with the interface for each application program is switched by the processing of the switching step. Information transmission via the MAC driver of the network connection device whose connection to the interface is switched for each application program in the transmission control step for controlling transmission of information via the MAC driver of the network connection device and the switching step. The reception control step to be controlled is executed by a computer.

  The communication apparatus according to the present invention includes an interface information storage unit that stores interface information for each of a plurality of network connection devices, and a communication that sets a communication path via the interface based on the interface information stored by the interface information storage unit. A path setting unit; a connection information storage unit that stores connection information of a network connection device used for each application program; an interface for each application program based on the connection information stored in the connection information storage unit; and a network connection device Switching means for switching the connection with the MAC driver, and communication means for communicating information via the MAC driver of the network connection device whose connection with the interface is switched for each application program by the switching means, That.

  The switching unit can switch the connection between the interface and the network connection device by rewriting the IP header for each packet data based on the connection information stored in the connection information storage unit.

  Recognizing means for recognizing the communication port and identification means for identifying the application program based on the communication port recognized by the recognizing means can be further provided. The switching means is stored in the connection information storage means. Based on the connection information, the connection between the interface and the MAC driver of the network connection device can be switched for each application program identified by the identification means.

  An input means for inputting a correspondence relationship between the application program and the network connection device can be further provided, and the connection information storage means has a correspondence relationship between the application program input by the input means and the network connection device. Based on this, it is possible to store the connection information of the network connection device used for each application program.

  A state detection unit for detecting a communication state by the network connection device can be further provided, and the connection information storage unit includes a network used for each application program based on the communication state detected by the state detection unit. The connection information of the connection device can be stored, and the switching means has an interface for each application program based on the connection information stored in the connection information storage means according to the communication state detected by the state detection means. Then, the connection with the MAC driver of the network connection device can be switched.

  The state detection means may be further provided with an electrolytic strength detection means for detecting electric field strength, and the communication state by the network connection device is detected by the electric field strength detected by the electric field strength detection means. Can do.

  According to the communication method of the present invention, an interface information storage step for storing interface information for each of a plurality of network connection devices, and a communication path through the interface are set based on the interface information stored in the processing of the interface information storage step. A communication path setting step, a connection information storage step for storing connection information of a network connection device used for each application program, and an interface for each application program based on the connection information stored in the processing of the connection information storage step. The switching step of switching the connection with the MAC driver of the network connection device, and the information through the MAC driver of the network connection device whose connection with the interface is switched for each application program in the processing of the switching step Characterized in that it comprises a communication step of Shin.

  The third program of the present invention is based on an interface information storage control step for controlling storage of interface information for each of a plurality of network connection devices, and interface information whose storage is controlled by the processing of the interface information storage control step. Memory is controlled by processing of a communication path setting step for setting a communication path via an interface, a connection information storage control step for controlling storage of connection information of a network connection device used for each application program, and a connection information storage control step. Based on the connection information, the switching step for switching the connection between the interface and the MAC driver of the network connection device for each application program, and the connection with the interface for each application program is switched by the processing of the switching step. Characterized in that to execute a communication control step of controlling the communication of information via the MAC driver for the network connection device to the computer.

  In the transmission apparatus, method, and program of the present invention, information on the interface for each of a plurality of network connection apparatuses is stored, and a communication path via the interface is set based on the stored interface information. The connection information of the network connection device to be used is stored. Based on the stored connection information, the connection between the interface and the MAC driver of the network connection device is switched for each application program, and the connection with the interface is performed for each application program. Information is transmitted through the MAC driver of the switched network connection device.

  In the receiving apparatus and method, and the program of the present invention, information on the interface for each of a plurality of network connection apparatuses is stored, and a communication path via the interface is set based on the stored interface information. The connection information of the network connection device to be used is stored. Based on the stored connection information, the connection between the interface and the MAC driver of the network connection device is switched for each application program, and the connection with the interface is performed for each application program. Information is received via the MAC driver of the switched network connection device.

  In the communication apparatus and method, and the program of the present invention, information on the interface for each of a plurality of network connection apparatuses is stored, and a communication path via the interface is set based on the stored interface information. The connection information of the network connection device to be used is stored. Based on the stored connection information, the connection between the interface and the MAC driver of the network connection device is switched for each application program, and the connection with the interface is performed for each application program. Information is communicated via the MAC driver of the switched network connection device.

  The transmission device, the reception device, or the communication device of the present invention may be an independent device, or may be a block that performs transmission processing, reception processing, or communication processing.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to dynamically switch a plurality of network connection devices and communicate via a network.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. The correspondence relationship between the invention described in this specification and the embodiments of the invention is exemplified as follows. This description is intended to confirm that the embodiments supporting the invention described in this specification are described in this specification. Therefore, although there is an embodiment which is described in the embodiment of the invention but is not described here as corresponding to the invention, it means that the embodiment is not It does not mean that it does not correspond to the invention. Conversely, even if an embodiment is described herein as corresponding to an invention, that means that the embodiment does not correspond to an invention other than the invention. Absent.

  Further, this description does not mean all the inventions described in this specification. In other words, this description is for the invention described in the present specification, which is not claimed in this application, that is, for the invention that will be applied for in the future or that will appear and be added by amendment. It does not deny existence.

  That is, the transmission apparatus of the present invention is an interface information storage unit (for example, the routing table 104a in FIG. 6) that stores interface information for each of a plurality of network connection apparatuses (for example, the NICs 42-1 and 42-2 in FIG. 6). And a communication path setting means (for example, the routing table management unit 104 in FIG. 6) for setting a communication path for the interface based on the interface information stored by the interface information storage means, and a network connection used for each application program Based on the connection information stored in the connection information storage means (for example, the request information storage unit 111 in FIG. 6) and the connection information storage means for storing the connection information of the device, an interface for each application program, and the network connection device Switching the connection with the MAC driver 6 (for example, the driver wrapper 107 in FIG. 6) and a transmission unit (for example, the MAC in FIG. 6) that transmits information via the MAC driver of the network connection device whose connection with the interface is switched for each application program by the switching unit. And drivers 108 and 109).

  The transmission method of the present invention is stored in an interface information storage step (for example, step S2 in the flowchart of FIG. 8) for storing interface information for each of a plurality of network connection devices, and an interface information storage step. A communication path setting step for setting a communication path for the interface based on the interface information (for example, the process of step S23 in the flowchart of FIG. 11), and connection information for storing connection information of the network connection device used for each application program Based on the storage step (for example, the process of step S14 in the flowchart of FIG. 9) and the connection information stored in the process of the connection information storage step, the connection between the interface and the network connection device is switched for each application program. A transmission step (for example, FIG. 11), and a transmission step (for example, FIG. 11) for transmitting information via the network connection device in which the connection to the interface is switched for each application program in the switching step processing. 11 in the flowchart of step S30).

  Furthermore, the receiving apparatus of the present invention is an interface information storage unit (for example, the routing table 104a in FIG. 6) that stores interface information for each of a plurality of network connection apparatuses (for example, the NICs 42-1 and 42-2 in FIG. 6). And a communication path setting means (for example, the routing table management unit 104 in FIG. 6) for setting a communication path for the interface based on the interface information stored by the interface information storage means, and a network connection device used for each application program Connection information storage means for storing the connection information (for example, the request information storage unit 111 in FIG. 6), and the interface and network connection device for each application program based on the connection information stored in the connection information storage means. Switching means for switching connection (for example, 6 and driver means (for example, MAC drivers 108 and 109 in FIG. 6) for receiving information via the network connection device whose connection to the interface is switched for each application program by the switching means. It is characterized by providing.

  The reception method of the present invention includes an interface information storage step (for example, the process of step S2 in the flowchart of FIG. 8) for storing interface information for each of a plurality of network connection devices, and the interface information stored in the interface information storage step. Based on the information, a communication path setting step for setting a communication path for the interface (for example, the process of step S42 in the flowchart of FIG. 14), and a connection information storage step for storing connection information of the network connection device used for each application program (For example, the process of step S14 in the flowchart of FIG. 9) and the switching switch for switching the connection between the interface and the network connection device for each application program based on the connection information stored in the connection information storage step. (For example, the process of step S47 in the flowchart of FIG. 14) and the reception step of receiving information via the network connection device whose connection with the interface is switched for each application program in the process of the switching step (for example, FIG. 11 in the flowchart of step S29).

  The communication apparatus of the present invention includes an interface information storage unit (for example, the routing table 104a in FIG. 6) for storing interface information for each of a plurality of network connection apparatuses (for example, the NICs 42-1 and 42-2 in FIG. 6), Connection between communication path setting means (for example, routing table management unit 104 in FIG. 6) for setting a communication path for an interface based on the interface information stored in the interface information storage means, and a network connection device used for each application program Connection information storage means for storing information (for example, request information storage unit 111 in FIG. 6) and connection between the interface and the network connection device for each application program based on the connection information stored in the connection information storage means. Switching means for switching (for example, in FIG. And a communication unit (for example, the MAC drivers 108 and 109 in FIG. 6) for communicating information via a network connection device whose connection with the interface is switched for each application program by the switching unit. And

  The communication method of the present invention includes an interface information storage step (for example, step S2 in the flowchart of FIG. 8) for storing interface information for each of a plurality of network connection devices, and an interface stored in the interface information storage step. A communication path setting step for setting an interface as a communication path based on the information (for example, the process of step S22 in the flowchart of FIG. 11 or the process of step S42 in the flowchart of FIG. 14), and the network used for each application program Based on the connection information stored in the connection information storage step (for example, the process of step S14 in the flowchart of FIG. 9) and the connection information storage step of storing the connection information of the connection device, an interface is set for each application program. Interface for each application program in the switching step (for example, the process in step S28 in the flowchart in FIG. 11 or the process in step S47 in the flowchart in FIG. 14) and the switching step. Communication step (for example, the process of step S30 in the flowchart of FIG. 11 or the process of step S49 in the flowchart of FIG. 14) for communicating information via the network connection device that has been switched to the connection. And

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a communication system using a PC 41 to which the present invention is applied.

  The PC (personal computer) 41 includes a plurality of card slots. In FIG. 1, NICs (Network Interface Cards) 42-1 and 42-2 are mounted. The NICs 42-1 and 42-2 are connected to gateways 44 and 46, respectively, and can communicate with the PC 43 via the networks 45 and 47, respectively. In the following, the PC 41 communicates with the PC 43 via the NIC 42-1, the gateway 44, and the network 45 by Internet telephone by VoIP (Voice over IP), and also the NIC 42-2, the gateway 46, and the network 47. , Communication with the PC 43 by ftp (File Transfer Protocol) data transmission is performed. Of course, it is possible to execute communication processing for Internet telephone and ftp data transmission in each communication path.

  Each of the NICs 42-1 and 42-2 is an interface card that performs communication by Ethernet (registered trademark) (IEEE 802.3), and “172.16.1.1” and “192.168.1.1” are set as IP (Internet Protocol) addresses, respectively. Has been. The gateways 44 and 46 are set with “172.16.1.254” and “192.168.1.254” as IP addresses. Further, “10.1.1.1” is set as the IP address of the PC 43. Note that the NICs 42-1 and 42-2 are not limited to those compatible with Ethernet (registered trademark), but may be other LANs, such as FDDI (Fiber-Distributed Data Interface), Token Ring ( Needless to say, it may be compatible with IEEE 802.5), and is not limited to a wired LAN, but may be a wireless LAN.

  Next, the configuration of the PC 41 will be described with reference to FIG.

  A CPU (Central Processing Unit) 51 executes various processes according to a program stored in a ROM (Read Only Memory) 52 or a storage unit 58. A RAM (Random Access Memory) 53 appropriately stores programs executed by the CPU 51 and data. The CPU 51, ROM 52, and RAM 53 are connected to each other by a bus 54.

  An input / output interface 55 is also connected to the CPU 51 via the bus 54. Connected to the input / output interface 55 are an input unit 56 made up of a keyboard, mouse, microphone, and the like, and an output unit 57 made up of a display, a speaker, and the like. The CPU 51 executes various processes in response to commands input from the input unit 56. Then, the CPU 51 outputs an image, sound, or the like obtained as a result of the processing to the output unit 57.

  The storage unit 58 connected to the input / output interface 55 is configured by, for example, a hard disk and stores programs executed by the CPU 51 and various data. The communication unit 59 communicates with an external device via, for example, the Internet (not shown) or other networks.

  The card slot 60 can be connected to a predetermined interface card, and can further have a function of the connected interface card. In FIG. 5, the NICs 42-1 and 42-2 are connected, and as described above, connected to the gateways 44 and 46 connected to the NICs 42-1 and 42-2, respectively. In the following, when it is not necessary to distinguish between the NICs 42-1 and 42-2, the NICs 42-1 and 42-2 are simply referred to as the NIC 42, and the same applies to other configurations.

  The storage unit 58 includes an Internet telephone application program 101, an ftp data transfer application program 102, a TCP / UDP socket library 103, a routing table management unit 104 (including the routing table 104a), interfaces 105 and 106, which will be described later in FIG. The driver wrapper 107, the MAC drivers 108 and 109, the communication state detection unit 110, and the request information management unit 111 are required for software programs (including drivers) or when these software programs execute predetermined processing. It is stored as data. The operation of the above software program will be described later with reference to FIG.

  In addition to the above, the program stored in the storage unit 58 acquires the program via the communication unit 59 or the NIC 42-1 or 42-2 attached to the card slot 60, and the storage unit 58 May be stored.

  The drive 70 connected to the input / output interface 55 drives a magnetic disk 81, an optical disk 82, a magneto-optical disk 83, or a semiconductor memory 84 when they are mounted, and programs and data recorded there. Get etc. The acquired program and data are transferred to and stored in the storage unit 58 as necessary.

  The PC 43 in FIG. 4 is basically the same configuration as the PC 41 except that the card slot 60 is not provided and the communication unit 59 performs Internet telephone and ftp data communication. Therefore, the description is omitted.

  Next, functions realized by the PC 41 in FIG. 5 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The Internet phone application program 101 executes communication processing by the Internet phone with the PC 43 via the NIC 42-1, the gateway 44, and the network 45 shown in FIG. 1, and audio data input from the input unit 56 such as a microphone. Is converted into a predetermined format and transmitted to the PC 43, and the audio data transmitted from the PC 43 is received and output to the output unit 57 such as a speaker to be output as audio. Allows calls between users. More specifically, the Internet phone application program 101 supplies the TCP / UDP socket library 103 with the IP address of the PC 43 that is the communication destination, and requests to initialize and set the communication path of the Internet phone. Using the route, voice data is exchanged to enable a call with the user of the PC 43.

  The ftp data transmission application program 102 executes data communication processing with the PC 43 via the NIC 42-2, the gateway 46, and the network 47, and sends predetermined data stored in the storage unit 58 to the PC 43 by ftp. At the same time, it receives data sent from the PC 43 by ftp. More specifically, the ftp data transmission application program 102 supplies the IP address of the PC 43 serving as a communication destination, and initializes and sets a communication path for performing ftp data transmission processing to the TCP / UDP socket library 103. The ftp data transmission / reception with the PC 43 is enabled by exchanging data by ftp using the set route.

  The Internet telephone application program 101 and the ftp data transmission application program 102 correspond to application layers in the communication function hierarchy of the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) reference model. The application program is not limited to the Internet telephone application program 101 and the ftp data transmission application program 102 described above, and may be other application programs.

  When the TCP / UDP (Transmission Control Protocol / User Datagram Protocol) socket library 103 receives a communication request from the Internet telephone application program 101 or the ftp data transmission application program 102, it inquires the routing table management unit 104 and sets in advance. Based on the routing of the routing table 104a, the interfaces 105 and 106 corresponding to the NICs 42-1 and 42-2 are selected and set in a state where communication is possible. The TCP / UDP socket library 103 has a port set in advance according to the application program (which port is used for which application program is set by the port number), and a signal is supplied. The application program is recognized from the port number (for example, the port numbers 20 and 21 are generally set to transmit ftp data), and the interfaces 105 and 106 are passed through the routing table 104a of the routing table management unit 104. To the driver wrapper 107. Note that the TCP / UDP socket library 103 is a program executed on the OS, and similarly, based on the information in the routing table 104a managed by the routing table management unit 104 managed by the OS, the interface 105 , 106 is set so as to ensure a communication state.

  Each TCP / UDP socket library 103 corresponds to a transport layer in the communication function hierarchy of the OSI reference model.

  The routing table management unit 104 is actually a program for managing the routing table 104a managed on the OS, and may be the OS itself.

  The interfaces 105 and 106 are interfaces set by IP addresses set corresponding to the NICs 42-1 and 42-2, respectively. The driver wrapper 107 passes the NIC 42-1 via either the MAC driver 108 or 109. Alternatively, communication of voice data of Internet telephone or ftp data is enabled from 42-2.

  Each of the interfaces 105 and 106 corresponds to a network layer (IP layer) in the communication function hierarchy of the OSI reference model.

  The driver wrapper 107 connects the interfaces 105 and 106 and the MAC drivers 108 and 109 based on the request information related to the user connection stored in the request information management unit 111, and performs communication using the NICs 42-1 and 42-2. to enable. The driver wrapper 107 can also connect the interfaces 105 and 106 to the MAC drivers 108 and 109 based on the communication state information detected by the communication state detection unit 110 in response to a request for request information.

  Further, when different from the normal connection, that is, when the interface 105 and the MAC driver 109 are connected, or when the interface 106 and the MAC driver 108 are connected, the transmission source recorded in the header of the packet at the time of communication Rewrite the address indicating to the IP address of the interface corresponding to the MAC driver to communicate data. That is, the IP address indicating the transmission source of the packet header of the packet transmitted from the NIC 42-2 connecting the interface 105 and the MAC driver 109 is rewritten to the IP address corresponding to the interface 106 corresponding to the NIC 42-2 for communication. Further, the IP address indicating the transmission source of the packet header of the packet transmitted from the NIC 42-1 connecting the interface 106 and the MAC driver 108 is rewritten to the IP address corresponding to the interface 105 corresponding to the NIC 42-1. That is, the IP addresses of the interfaces 105 and 106 corresponding to the NIC 42 that finally transmits data in units of packets are always used.

  The request information management unit 111 is an application program that allows a user to set request information. The request information management unit 111 stores request information input at that time after executing a process of inputting request information. The request information sets the type of NIC used for communication according to the processing executed by each application program. For example, the communication of the Internet telephone application program 101 uses the NIC 42-1, In the ftp data transmission application program 102, the NIC 42-2 is used. More specifically, an NIC that supports PHS (Personal Handy-Phone System) is used for communication of the Internet telephone application program 101, and an NIC that supports IEEE802.11b is used for the ftp data transmission application program. You may make it the setting which makes it. In the request information, automatic setting is also possible. In such a case, a communication path is set according to the communication state detected by the communication state detection unit 110. For example, when the communication state detection unit 110 monitors the communication state based on the communication rate, the driver wrapper 107 selects a NIC with a good communication state according to the communication state of each of the NICs 42-1 and 42-2. Select and set to connect.

  The communication state detection unit 110 detects the communication rate for each of the NICs 42-1 and 42-2, detects the communication state, and supplies it to the driver wrapper 107. Note that the communication state detection unit 110 is not only configured to detect the communication rate by software, but also configured by hardware, for example, to detect the communication state by detecting the electric field strength and the like. May be.

  MAC (Media Access Control) drivers 108 and 109 are drivers corresponding to the NICs 42-1 and 42-2, respectively, and actually form a communication path via an interface connected by the driver wrapper 107. -1 and 42-2 are used for data communication.

  Each of the MAC drivers 108 and 109 corresponds to a physical layer (MAC layer) in the communication function hierarchy of the OSI reference model.

  Next, the routing table generation process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. This process is executed by the routing table management unit 104 existing on the OS, and generates the routing table 104a managed by the OS.

  In step S1, the routing table management unit 104 inquires of the input unit 56, determines whether or not the routing table information is input from the user, and repeats the processing until the routing table information is input. If it is determined in step S1 that some routing table information has been input, in step S2, the routing table management unit 104 stores the input routing table information in the routing table 104a. Here, the information in the routing table includes Network Destination, Netmask, Gateway, and Interface IP addresses, and Metric.

  In step S3, the routing table management unit 104 determines whether or not the end of the routing table setting process is instructed. If it is determined that the end is not instructed, the process returns to step S1, and thereafter The process is repeated. In step S3, when it is determined that the end is instructed, the process ends. In the above description, a state in which a new addition is made when routing table information is input has been described. Needless to say, updating (rewriting), deletion, and the like can be similarly performed instead of input.

  That is, the routing table 104a managed by the OS is set by this processing. When the information regarding the routing table 104a is generated as described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 7 (or rewritten), the OS executes the subsequent processing based on the rewritten routing table 104a. For this reason, a reboot or the like is executed, and settings corresponding to the routing table 104a are made by a program on the OS at the time of startup. That is, even if processing for rewriting the setting contents of the routing table 104a is performed, it is actually impossible to reflect the contents of the routing table 104a changed in real time.

  The following description will be made assuming that, for example, the routing table 104a as shown in FIG. 8 is set by the processing described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  Here, as for the setting contents of the routing table 104a in FIG. 8, 1 to 7 are shown as routing information numbers on the left side in the figure. In addition, Network Destination is shown on the right side, and in order from number 1, “0.0.0.0”, “0.0.0.0”, “172.16.1.0”, “172.255.255.255”, “192.168.1.0 "," 192.168.1.255 ", and" 255.255.255.255 "are shown. Further, on the right side, Netmask is shown, and in order from number 1, “0.0.0.0”, “0.0.0.0”, “255.255.255.0”, “255.255.255.255”, “255.255.255. The addresses are shown as “0”, “255.255.255.255”, and “255.255.255.255”. On the right side of the Netmask, gateways are shown. In order from the number 1, "172.16.1.254", "192.168.1.254", "172.16.1.1", "172.16.1.1", "192.168.1.1" , “192.168.1.1”, and “172.16.1.1” are indicated. Furthermore, on the right side, an interface (Interface) is shown, and “172.16.1.1”, “172.16.1.1”, “172.16.1.1”, “172.16.1.1”, “192.168.1.1”, “192.168.1.1” "And" 172.16.1.1 "are shown as addresses. On the rightmost side, the number is shown as Metric, and all are shown as 1 in FIG.

  That is, the information of the routing table number 1 in the routing table 104a is that the Network Destination is “0.0.0.0”, the Netmask is “0.0.0.0”, the gateway is “172.16.1.254”, the interface is “172.16.1.1”, and the Metric is 1 is shown. Similarly, the routing table number 2 has Network Destination “0.0.0.0”, Netmask “0.0.0.0”, Gateway “192.16.1.254”, Interface “172.16.1.1”, Metric 1 It is shown that there is. The routing table number 3 indicates that the network destination is “172.16.1.0”, the netmask is “255.255.255.0”, the gateway is “172.16.1.1”, the interface is “172.16.1.1”, and the metric is 1. Has been. The routing table information of number 4 indicates that the network destination is “172.255.255.255”, the netmask is “255.255.255.255”, the gateway is “172.16.1.1”, the interface is “172.16.1.1”, and the metric is 1. Has been. The number 5 routing table information shows that the network destination is “192.168.1.0”, the Netmask is “255.255.255.0”, the gateway is “192.16.1.1”, the interface is “192.16.1.1”, and the Metric is 1. Has been. The routing table information of number 6 indicates that the network destination is “192.168.1.255”, the netmask is “255.255.255.255”, the gateway is “192.16.1.1”, the interface is “192.16.1.1”, and the metric is 1. Has been. The routing table number 7 indicates that the network destination is “255.255.255.255”, the netmask is “255.255.255.255”, the gateway is “172.16.1.1”, the interface is “172.16.1.1”, and the metric is 1. Has been.

  Next, the request information input processing by the request information management unit 111 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  In step S11, the request information management unit 111 determines whether or not an input of request information is instructed, and repeats the process until an input of request information is requested. For example, if it is determined in step S11 that an input of request information has been instructed, in step S12, the request information management unit 111 displays an input screen for inputting request information. For example, the request information input screen is an input screen as shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 10, “MAC driver wrapper setting” is displayed at the top, “protocol in use” is displayed below the right side, and “VoIP (Internet phone)” and “ftp” are displayed from the top. The protocol of the Internet telephone application program 101 and the protocol of the ftp data transmission application program 102 are shown. Furthermore, “use NIC 42-1”, “use NIC 42-2”, and “automatic” are displayed for each protocol, and for each item, mark fields 121 to 126 is provided, and a circle is displayed (marked) when a mark field of the content to be set is selected. When the mark fields 121 and 124 are selected, “use NIC 42-1” is set, and the NIC 42-1 is set to be used for communication, and when the mark fields 122 and 125 are selected, “NIC 42-2”. "Use" is set, and the NIC 42-2 is set to be used for communication. When “automatic” is set, the NIC 42-1 or 42-2 having a good communication state is used for communication according to the communication state of the communication state detection unit 110.

  In the case of FIG. 10, the mark column 121 is selected for VoIP, and it is shown that the user is set to use the NIC 42-1 for the Internet telephone application program 101. Similarly, the mark field 121 is selected for the ftp data transmission application program 102, and it is shown that the user is set to use the NIC 42-1 for VoIP. The request information management unit 111 manages request information in a state where any mark column is selected for each protocol by default.

  A button 127 displayed as “OK” is a button that is pressed when the request information input process is completed.

  In step S12, the request information management unit 111 makes an inquiry to the input unit 56 to determine whether or not an input operation for request information has been performed. When it is determined that an input operation has been performed, in step S14, the request information management unit 111 The display of the input screen is switched accordingly, and at the same time, the request information corresponding to the input operation is set and stored.

  In step S15, the request information management unit 111 makes an inquiry to the input unit 56 to determine whether or not the end of request information input processing has been instructed. The process returns to S13. That is, the processes in steps S13 to S15 are repeated until an instruction to end the request information input process is given. Further, for example, when it is determined that the button 127 has been pressed and the end has been instructed, the processing returns to step S11 and the subsequent processing is repeated.

  If it is determined in step S13 that no input operation has been performed, the process in step S14 is skipped. That is, the request information is held and stored while being displayed as an input screen.

  Since the request information managed by the request information management unit 111 is not directly managed by the OS as in the routing table 104a, the processing of the flowchart of FIG. 9 is executed at any time. It is possible to reflect the change of the request information in real time without requiring processing.

  Next, the transmission process based on the routing table 104a set by the above process and the request information will be described.

  In step S21, the TCP / UDP socket library 103 determines whether or not there is a communication request. That is, it is determined whether communication is requested from either the Internet telephone application program 101 or the ftp data transmission application program 102, and the process is repeated until it is determined that the communication is requested.

  If it is determined in step S21 that communication has been requested by any application program, the port number for which communication has been requested is confirmed in step S22. By confirming the port number, the application program that has requested communication is recognized.

  In step S23, the TCP / UDP socket library 103 makes an inquiry to the routing table management unit 104, makes an inquiry to the routing table 104a for the IP address of the transmission partner requested for communication by the application program, and sends it to the corresponding interface 105 or 106. Connecting.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 12, when communication is requested from the Internet telephone application program 101 to the PC 43 whose IP address is “10.1.1.1”, the TCP / UDP socket library 103 sets the Network Destination and Netmask. Select the closest routing table from the relationship. In this case, one of the numbers 1 and 2 is selected as the closest route to “10.1.1.1”. When multiple routes are selected in this way, the routing with the higher number is selected. Will be. Therefore, in this case, the routing with the number 1 is selected. Therefore, the TCP / UDP socket library 103 sets a communication path for the interface 105 whose IP address is “172.16.1.1”. With this processing, communication data exchanged in the Internet telephone application program 101 is supplied to the driver wrapper 107 via the interface 105. In FIG. 12, solid arrows excluding the arrows from the communication state detection unit 110 and the request information management unit 111 indicate the set communication paths.

  In step S24, the driver wrapper 107 inquires the request information management unit 111 to read out the request information. In step S25, the driver wrapper 107 determines whether or not the communication setting in the protocol of the application program recognized from the port number is “automatic”. judge.

  For example, in FIG. 10, when a mark is set in the mark field 123, it is determined that automatic is selected, and the process proceeds to step S26.

  In step S26, the driver wrapper 107 makes an inquiry to the communication state detection unit 110 to detect the communication state, and acquires information on the communication state.

  In step S27, the driver wrapper 107 determines whether or not a route change is necessary. That is, the interface 105 with the IP address “172.16.1.1” is normally set with a communication path to the MAC driver 108 of the NIC 42-1, but is detected by the communication state detection unit 110 when automatic is set. The connection is switched to the NIC 42-2 corresponding to the communication state. For example, when the communication state of the NIC 42-1 is better than the communication state of the NIC 42-2, the packetized data supplied by the MAC driver 108 via the driver wrapper 107 in step S31 is shown in FIG. Output to the standard MAC driver 108. At this time, the IP address of the interface serving as the transmission source is recorded in the packet header of the packetized data.

  In step S30, the NIC 42-1 transmits data relating to communication of the Internet telephone application program 101.

  On the other hand, in step S25, for example, as shown in FIG. 10, in the Internet telephone, the mark column 121 is marked and "Use NIC 42-1" is selected, that is, "Automatic" is selected. Therefore, it is determined that it is not automatic, the process of step S26 is skipped, and the process proceeds to step S27.

  In the case of FIG. 10, since the mark field 121 is marked and “Use NIC 42-1” is selected, the standard NIC 42-1 is used in step S27. It is determined that it is not necessary, and the process proceeds to step S31.

  In step S27, for example, the mark field 123 of FIG. 10 is marked and “automatic” is selected, and if the communication state is better for the NIC 42-2, or the mark field 122 is selected, When the use of the NIC 42-2 is requested, in step S28, the driver wrapper 107 sets the IP address indicating the transmission source of the packet header of the packetized data supplied from the Internet telephone application program 101 to the IP of the interface 105. The address “172.16.1.1” is rewritten to “192.168.1.1” of the interface 106 which is the standard of the NIC 42-2.

  In step S29, the driver wrapper 107 outputs the packetized data to the MAC driver 109. In step S30, the data from the Internet telephone application program 101 is transmitted from the NIC 42-2 to the PC 43.

  Further, for example, when executing ftp data transmission from the ftp data transmission application program 102, when the request information is set as shown in FIG. 10, the IP address of the PC 43 selected as the communication partner is the above-mentioned Similarly, since it is “10.1.1.1”, according to the setting of the routing table 104a shown in FIG. 8, the interface 105 is still selected as shown in FIG. 13, solid arrows excluding the arrows from the communication state detection unit 110 and the request information management unit 111 indicate the set communication paths. However, based on the setting of the request information stored in the request information management unit 111, the driver wrapper 107 switches the communication path (determined that the path needs to be changed in step S27), and the NIC 42-2. Thus, ftp data transmission by the ftp data transmission application program 102 is realized.

  That is, as described above, since a route is set based on the routing table 104a that has been managed by the OS so far, only a certain routing is selected even if there are a plurality of NICs 42. Until now, only one NIC 42 could be used for communication (the NIC 42 used for communication could not be dynamically switched). However, by providing the driver wrapper 107, user request information is added. Since it is possible to change the route on the basis of this, for example, it is not necessary to restart every time the route setting is changed, so that the communication route can be changed in real time, and further, the communication state It is also possible to dynamically change the communication path according to the situation.

  Accordingly, in the present example, the NICs 42-1 and 42-2 have been described with respect to the example in which the same specifications corresponding to the Ethernet (registered trademark) are used. In the case of the Internet telephone application program 101, the NIC 42-1 is compliant with IEEE802.11a capable of communication, and the NIC 42-2 is compliant with IEEE802.11b capable of high-speed communication. In the case of the application program 102, by selecting each of the NICs 42-2, it is possible to switch to the NIC corresponding to each characteristic and transmit.

  Next, the reception process based on the routing table 104a set by the above process and the request information will be described.

  In step S41, the driver wrapper 107 determines whether data is input from either the MAC driver 108 or 109 (whether the data transmitted from the PC 43 is received via the NIC 42-1, 42-2). Determine. That is, the process is repeated until it is determined that either the Internet telephone application program 101 or the ftp data transmission program 102 has been input.

  If it is determined in step S41 that data has been input from any of the MAC drivers 108 and 109, the driver wrapper 107 confirms the port number of the communication path in which the data has been input in step S42.

  In step S43, the driver wrapper 107 inquires of the request information management unit 111 to read out the request information. In step S44, it is determined whether or not the communication setting in the protocol of the application program recognized from the port number is “automatic”. judge.

  For example, when data of the Internet telephone application program 101 is received, it is determined that “automatic” is selected when a mark is set in the mark field 123 in FIG. 10, and the process proceeds to step S45. move on.

  In step S45, the driver wrapper 107 makes an inquiry to the communication state detection unit 110 to detect the communication state, and acquires communication state information.

  In step S46, the driver wrapper 107 determines whether or not the route needs to be changed. That is, the interface 105 with the IP address “172.16.1.1” is normally set with a communication path to the MAC driver 108 of the NIC 42-1, but is detected by the communication state detection unit 110 when automatic is set. The connection is switched to the NIC 42-2 corresponding to the communication state. For example, when the communication state of the NIC 42-1 is better than the communication state of the NIC 42-2, it is determined that the path change is unnecessary, and the reception data supplied from the MAC driver 108 is received from the driver wrapper 107 in step S50. And output to the standard interface 105 as shown in FIG.

  In step S49, the interface 105 outputs data related to communication to the Internet telephone application program 101.

  On the other hand, in step S44, for example, as shown in FIG. 10, in the Internet telephone, the mark column 121 is marked and "Use NIC 42-1" is selected, that is, "Automatic" is selected. Therefore, it is determined that it is not automatic, the process of step S45 is skipped, and the process proceeds to step S46.

  In the case of FIG. 10, since the mark field 121 is marked and “Use NIC 42-1” is selected, the standard NIC 42-1 is used in step S46. It is determined that it is not necessary, and the process proceeds to step S50.

  In step S46, for example, if the mark field 123 of FIG. 10 is marked and “automatic” is selected and the communication state is better for the NIC 42-2, or the mark field 122 is selected, If the use of the NIC 42-2 is requested, the NIC 42-2 has received the communication data of the Internet telephone application program of the PC 43, so in step S47, the driver wrapper 107 determines the MAC driver of the NIC 42-2. The IP address indicating the source of the packet header of the packetized data of the Internet phone application program 101 from the PC 43 supplied from 109 is “192.168.1.1”, which is the IP address of the interface 106 serving as the standard of the NIC 42-2. To “172.16.1.1” of the interface 105.

  In step S <b> 48, the driver wrapper 107 outputs the packetized data from the MAC driver 109 to the interface 105. In step S49, voice data of the Internet telephone is output from the interface 105 to the Internet telephone application program 101.

  Further, for example, when data by ftp data transmission to the ftp data transmission application program 102 is received by the MAC driver 109 via the NIC 42-2, when the request information is set as shown in FIG. As described above, since the IP address of the selected PC 43 is “10.1.1.1” as described above, according to the setting of the routing table 104a shown in FIG. 8, as shown in FIG. 105 will be selected. However, based on the setting of the request information stored in the request information management unit 111, the driver wrapper 107 switches the communication path (in step S46, it is determined that the path needs to be changed), and the MAC driver 109 The IP address of the packet header of the packetized ftp data transmitted from the PC 43 to the ftp data transmission application program 102 supplied from the designated IP address is different from the IP address of the interface 106 of the received NIC 42-2. By rewriting the IP address of the interface 105 and supplying it to the interface 105, ftp data transmission can be realized.

  That is, as described above, since a route is set based on the routing table 104a that has been managed by the OS so far, only a certain routing is selected even if there are a plurality of NICs 42. Until now, only one NIC 42 could be used for communication (the NIC 42 used for communication could not be dynamically switched). However, by providing the driver wrapper 107, user request information is added. Since it is possible to change the route on the basis of, for example, there is no need to restart every time the setting of the route is changed, so that the communication route can be changed in real time, and further, the communication state It is also possible to dynamically change the communication path in accordance with the data and receive the data.

  Accordingly, in the present example, the NICs 42-1 and 42-2 have been described with respect to the example in which the same specifications corresponding to the Ethernet (registered trademark) are used. In the case of the Internet telephone application program 101, the NIC 42-1 is compliant with IEEE802.11a capable of communication, and the NIC 42-2 is compliant with IEEE802.11b capable of high-speed communication. In the case of the application program 102, by selecting each of the NICs 42-2, it is possible to switch to and receive the NICs corresponding to the respective characteristics.

  Summarizing the above-described transmission processing or reception processing, the processing from the application layer such as the Internet telephone application program 101 and the ftp data transmission application program 102 to the network layer such as the interfaces 105 and 106 is conventionally performed as a routing table. The communication path is set based on the information of 104a. However, by applying the present invention, the driver wrapper 107 is provided so that the connection relationship between the interface and the MAC driver that has been conventionally set on a one-to-one basis for each NIC 42 is provided. As a result, the connection relationship between the interface and the MAC driver can be switched based on the request information, so that the communication path that has been fixed by the setting of the routing table 104a so far can be changed. Ability and it can be, as a result, even case of providing a different specifications NIC into a plurality, in response to a user request, or, it is possible to design switched in accordance with the communication state.

  In the above, each of the transmission process and the reception process has been described, but it is also possible to execute a communication process that combines the transmission process and the reception process.

  FIG. 17 is a flowchart for explaining this communication process.

  In step S61, the driver wrapper 107 determines whether data is input from either the interface 105, 106 or the MAC driver 108, 109. The process of step S61 is repeated until it is determined that data has been input from either. When data is input, the process proceeds to step S62.

  In step S62, the driver wrapper 107 determines whether or not the input data is input from an upper layer, that is, the driver wrapper 107 is an interface 105 that is higher than itself in the communication function hierarchy of the OSI reference model. Alternatively, it is determined whether or not the input data is from 106. That is, in step S62, the fact that the input data is input data from the upper interface 105 or 106 is regarded as a transmission state in which data is supplied from the application layer. The process proceeds to step S63.

  In step S63, the driver wrapper 107 executes a transmission process. Since the transmission process is the process of steps S22 to S31 described with reference to FIG. 11 (the process in which the process of step S21 in the process of the flowchart of FIG. 11 is deleted), the description thereof is omitted.

  In step S62, it is determined that the input data is not input data from the upper interface 105 or 106, that is, data is supplied from the MAC driver 108 or 109 which is the lower MAC layer. If so, the process is considered to be in a receiving state, and the process proceeds to step S64.

  In step S64, the driver wrapper 107 executes a reception process. Since the reception process is the process of steps S42 to S50 described with reference to FIG. 14 (the process in which the process of step S41 in the process of the flowchart of FIG. 14 is deleted), the description thereof is omitted.

  Also in the above communication processing, the same effect as that obtained by the above-described transmission processing or reception processing can be obtained.

  In the above, the connection is switched between the hierarchy of the interfaces 105 and 106 and the hierarchy of the MAC drivers 108 and 109. For example, as shown in FIG. 18, the interface 151 specific to the driver wrapper 107 is used. Is provided together with a dedicated IP address ("20.0.0.1" in FIG. 18), and the interface 151 is always selected in the routing table 104a, so that it is always connected to the driver wrapper 107. The connected driver wrapper 107 may connect (switch) the interfaces 105 and 106 and the MAC drivers 108 and 109. In this case, since the data first input to the driver wrapper 107 to start the process for setting the communication path is only changed from the interfaces 105 and 106 to the interface 151, transmission processing and reception Since the processing and the communication processing are not substantially different from those in FIG. 6, the description thereof is omitted.

  As described above, in a device having a plurality of network interfaces, it is possible to dynamically change a route in response to a request from the user without impairing the flow of the TCP / IP protocol stack. In addition, for example, it is possible to dynamically change the route of an application that requires real-time performance to a network that is not congested.

  In addition, when using a NIC that supports wireless LAN, such as IEEE802.11a, b, g, etc., whose transmission characteristics change from moment to moment, the NIC can be used properly depending on the communication status, so the highest throughput is achieved at that timing. Can communicate to get.

  In addition, since the implementation method described in the present invention can be configured without changing the functions of the OS, functions related to various networks included in the OS (for example, firewall functions and advanced authentication / encryption functions). Etc.) can be used as they are, and the NICs can be switched appropriately.

  The series of processes described above can be executed by hardware, but can also be executed by software. When a series of processes is executed by software, a program constituting the software may execute various functions by installing a computer incorporated in dedicated hardware or various programs. For example, it is installed from a recording medium in a general-purpose personal computer or the like.

  As shown in FIG. 5, this recording medium is provided to the user in a state of being pre-installed in the PC 41, in order to provide the program to the user separately from the computer, as well as the storage unit 58 in which the program is recorded. , A magnetic disk 81 (including a flexible disk) on which a program is recorded, an optical disk 82 (including a compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM), a DVD (digital versatile disk)), and a magneto-optical disk 83. (Including MD (Mini-Disc) (registered trademark)) or a package medium made of semiconductor memory 84 (including Memory Stick).

  In this specification, the step of describing the program recorded on the recording medium is not limited to the processing performed in time series in the order described, but of course, it is not necessarily performed in time series. Or the process performed separately is included.

  Further, in this specification, the system represents the entire apparatus constituted by a plurality of apparatuses.

It is a figure which shows the example of a connection with the network at the time of using the several NIC in the conventional PC. It is a figure explaining communication at the time of using several NIC by conventional PC. It is a figure explaining the example of a routing table. It is a figure explaining the structure of the communication system using PC to which this invention is applied. It is a figure which shows the structure of one Embodiment of PC to which this invention is applied. It is a functional block diagram explaining the function implement | achieved by PC of FIG. It is a flowchart explaining the process which produces | generates the routing table by PC of FIG. It is a figure explaining the example of the routing table used with PC of FIG. It is a flowchart explaining the request information input process by PC of FIG. It is a figure explaining the input screen displayed in a request information input process. It is a flowchart explaining a transmission process. It is a figure explaining a transmission process. It is a figure explaining a transmission process. It is a flowchart explaining a reception process. It is a figure explaining a reception process. It is a figure explaining a reception process. It is a flowchart explaining a communication process. It is a functional block diagram explaining the other function implement | achieved by PC of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  41 PC, 42, 42-1, 42-2 NIC, 44 gateway, 45 network, 46 gateway, 47 network, 101 Internet telephone application program, 102 ftp data transmission application program, 103 TCP / UDP socket library, 104 routing table management Unit, 104a routing table, 105, 106 interface, 107 driver wrapper, 108, 109 MAC driver, 110 communication state detection unit, 111 request information management unit, 151 interface

Claims (24)

In a transmission device having a plurality of network connection devices connected to a network,
Interface information storage means for storing interface information for each of the plurality of network connection devices;
Communication path setting means for setting a communication path via the interface based on the interface information stored by the interface information storage means;
Connection information storage means for storing connection information of a network connection device used for each application program;
Based on the connection information stored in the connection information storage means, switching means for switching the connection between the interface and the MAC driver of the network connection device for each application program,
A transmission device comprising: a transmission unit configured to transmit information via a MAC driver of the network connection device whose connection with the interface is switched for each application program by the switching unit. The switching means switches the connection between the interface and the MAC driver of the network connection device by rewriting an IP header for each packet data based on the connection information stored in the connection information storage means. The transmission device according to claim 1. A recognition means for recognizing the communication port;
An identification unit for identifying the application program based on the communication port recognized by the recognition unit;
The switching means switches the connection between the interface and the MAC driver of the network connection device for each application program identified by the identification means based on the connection information stored in the connection information storage means. The transmission device according to claim 1, wherein An input unit for inputting a correspondence relationship between the application program and the network connection device;
The connection information storage unit stores connection information of a network connection device used for each application program based on a correspondence relationship between the application program input by the input unit and the network connection device. The transmission device according to claim 1. A state detecting unit for detecting a communication state by the network connection device;
The connection information storage means stores connection information of a MAC driver of a network connection device used for each application program based on a communication state detected by the state detection means,
The switching means, based on the connection information stored in the connection information storage means according to the communication state detected by the state detection means, for each application program, between the interface and the MAC driver of the network connection device The transmission apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the connection is switched. The state detection means further comprises electrolytic strength detection means for detecting electric field strength,
The transmission apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a communication state by the network connection apparatus is detected based on an electric field intensity detected by the electric field intensity detection unit. In a transmission method of a transmission device having a plurality of network connection devices connected to a network,
An interface information storage step for storing interface information for each of the plurality of network connection devices;
A communication path setting step for setting a communication path via the interface based on the interface information stored in the process of the interface information storage step;
A connection information storage step for storing connection information of a network connection device used for each application program;
Based on the connection information stored in the process of storing the connection information, a switching step for switching connection between the interface and the MAC driver of the network connection device for each application program,
And a transmission step of transmitting information via the MAC driver of the network connection device whose connection with the interface is switched for each application program in the process of the switching step. A computer program for controlling a transmission device including a plurality of network connection devices connected to a network,
An interface information storage control step for controlling storage of interface information for each of the plurality of network connection devices;
A communication path setting step for setting a communication path via the interface based on the interface information whose storage is controlled in the process of the interface information storage control step;
A connection information storage control step for controlling storage of connection information of the network connection device used for each application program;
Based on the connection information whose storage is controlled in the processing of the connection information storage control step, a switching step of switching connection between the interface and the MAC driver of the network connection device for each application program,
A transmission control step for controlling transmission of information via a MAC driver of the network connection device whose connection with the interface has been switched for each application program in the processing of the switching step. program. In a receiving device having a plurality of network connection devices connected to a network,
Interface information storage means for storing interface information for each of the plurality of network connection devices;
Communication path setting means for setting a communication path via the interface based on the interface information stored by the interface information storage means;
Connection information storage means for storing connection information of a network connection device used for each application program;
Based on the connection information stored in the connection information storage means, switching means for switching the connection between the interface and the MAC driver of the network connection device for each application program,
A receiving device comprising: a receiving unit configured to receive information via a MAC driver of the network connection device whose connection with the interface is switched for each application program by the switching unit. The switching means switches the connection between the interface and the MAC driver of the network connection device by rewriting an IP header for each packet data based on the connection information stored in the connection information storage means. The receiving device according to claim 9. A recognition means for recognizing the communication port;
An identification unit for identifying the application program based on the communication port recognized by the recognition unit;
The switching means switches the connection between the interface and the MAC driver of the network connection device for each application program identified by the identification means based on the connection information stored in the connection information storage means. The receiving device according to claim 9. An input unit for inputting a correspondence relationship between the application program and the network connection device;
The connection information storage unit stores connection information of a network connection device used for each application program based on a correspondence relationship between the application program input by the input unit and the network connection device. The receiving device according to claim 9. A state detecting unit for detecting a communication state by the network connection device;
The connection information storage unit stores connection information of a network connection device used for each application program based on a communication state detected by the state detection unit;
The switching means, based on the connection information stored in the connection information storage means according to the communication state detected by the state detection means, for each application program, between the interface and the MAC driver of the network connection device The receiving apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the connection is switched. The state detection means further comprises electrolytic strength detection means for detecting electric field strength,
The receiving apparatus according to claim 13, wherein a communication state by the network connection apparatus is detected based on an electric field intensity detected by the electric field intensity detecting unit. In a receiving method of a receiving device having a plurality of network connecting devices connected to a network,
An interface information storage step for storing interface information for each of the plurality of network connection devices;
A communication path setting step for setting a communication path via the interface based on the interface information stored in the process of the interface information storage step;
A connection information storage step for storing connection information of a network connection device used for each application program;
Based on the connection information stored in the process of storing the connection information, a switching step for switching connection between the interface and the MAC driver of the network connection device for each application program,
And a receiving step of receiving information via a MAC driver of the network connection device whose connection with the interface is switched for each application program in the process of the switching step. A computer program for controlling a receiving device including a plurality of network connection devices connected to a network,
An interface information storage control step for controlling storage of interface information for each of the plurality of network connection devices;
A communication path setting step for setting a communication path via the interface based on the interface information whose storage is controlled in the process of the interface information storage control step;
A connection information storage control step for controlling storage of connection information of the network connection device used for each application program;
Based on the connection information whose storage is controlled in the processing of the connection information storage control step, a switching step of switching connection between the interface and the MAC driver of the network connection device for each application program,
A transmission control step for controlling the transmission of information via the MAC driver of the network connection device in which the connection with the interface is switched for each application program in the process of the switching step;
A reception control step for controlling reception of information via a MAC driver of the network connection device whose connection with the interface is switched for each application program in the processing of the switching step. program. In a communication device having a plurality of network connection devices connected to a network,
Interface information storage means for storing interface information for each of the plurality of network connection devices;
Communication path setting means for setting a communication path via the interface based on the interface information stored by the interface information storage means;
Connection information storage means for storing connection information of a network connection device used for each application program;
Based on the connection information stored in the connection information storage means, switching means for switching the connection between the interface and the MAC driver of the network connection device for each application program,
A communication device comprising: communication means for communicating information via a MAC driver of the network connection device whose connection with the interface is switched for each application program by the switching means. The switching means switches the connection between the interface and the network connection device by rewriting an IP header for each packet data based on the connection information stored in the connection information storage means. Item 18. The communication device according to Item 17. A recognition means for recognizing the communication port;
An identification unit for identifying the application program based on the communication port recognized by the recognition unit;
The switching means switches the connection between the interface and the MAC driver of the network connection device for each application program identified by the identification means based on the connection information stored in the connection information storage means. The communication device according to claim 17, characterized in that: An input unit for inputting a correspondence relationship between the application program and the network connection device;
The connection information storage unit stores connection information of a network connection device used for each application program based on a correspondence relationship between the application program input by the input unit and the network connection device. The communication device according to claim 17. A state detecting unit for detecting a communication state by the network connection device;
The connection information storage unit stores connection information of a network connection device used for each application program based on a communication state detected by the state detection unit;
The switching means, based on the connection information stored in the connection information storage means according to the communication state detected by the state detection means, for each application program, between the interface and the MAC driver of the network connection device The communication apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the connection is switched. The state detection means further comprises electrolytic strength detection means for detecting electric field strength,
The communication apparatus according to claim 21, wherein a communication state by the network connection apparatus is detected based on an electric field intensity detected by the electric field intensity detection unit. In a communication method of a communication device having a plurality of network connection devices connected to a network,
An interface information storage step for storing interface information for each of the plurality of network connection devices;
A communication path setting step for setting a communication path via the interface based on the interface information stored in the process of the interface information storage step;
A connection information storage step for storing connection information of a network connection device used for each application program;
Based on the connection information stored in the process of storing the connection information, a switching step for switching connection between the interface and the MAC driver of the network connection device for each application program,
And a communication step of communicating information via a MAC driver of the network connection device whose connection with the interface is switched for each application program in the process of the switching step. A computer program for controlling a communication device including a plurality of network connection devices connected to a network,
An interface information storage control step for controlling storage of interface information for each of the plurality of network connection devices;
A communication path setting step for setting a communication path via the interface based on the interface information whose storage is controlled in the process of the interface information storage control step;
A connection information storage control step for controlling storage of connection information of the network connection device used for each application program;
Based on the connection information whose storage is controlled in the processing of the connection information storage control step, a switching step of switching connection between the interface and the MAC driver of the network connection device for each application program,
A communication control step for controlling communication of information via a MAC driver of the network connection device whose connection with the interface is switched for each application program in the process of the switching step. program.

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