JP2005102135A - Line connection control apparatus and communication card - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a line connection control apparatus and communication card in which a line is disconnected or a connection status is changed in accordance with a transmitted/received data amount to effectively utilize a radio channel and even when the line is disconnected or the connection status is changed, convenience similar to prior arts can be secured for a user. <P>SOLUTION: In the line connection control apparatus provided at the side of an information processing terminal that controls connection of a line between the information processing terminal and a base station, an instruction part 151 performs an instruction of disconnecting the line or switching a transmission rate in accordance with a data amount transmitted/received between the information processing terminal and the base station. A line connection control part 131 disconnects the line or switches the transmission rate according to the instruction from the instruction part 151 while maintaining the logical link of the information processing terminal. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a mobile communication system.

Conventionally, in a mobile communication system using PHS (registered trademark) (Personal Handy-phone System) or the like, a protocol called PIAFS (PHS Internet Access Forum Standard) is used in order to perform data communication appropriately.

On the other hand, a communication card called a PC card (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association) has been realized for data communication of personal computers, personal digital assistants, etc. It can be installed and used for general purposes.

  In recent years, a communication card incorporating a PIAFS protocol has been realized, and a personal computer (hereinafter abbreviated as PC) or a portable information terminal (hereinafter abbreviated as PC) is prepared without preparing an external PIAFS device such as a PIAFS card. Data communication at a transmission rate of 32 kbps or 64 kbp using PIAFS is possible simply by inserting a card into a socket provided in PDA (Personal Data Assistants). As an interface for connecting a PC or PDA, an interface corresponding to RS-232C that is widely used is adopted, and the PC or PDA can control incoming / outgoing calls using AT commands. For this reason, from the PC or PDA side, it can be handled in the same manner as a modem device connected to the RS-232C interface, and can be used in most existing communication applications.

  When data communication is performed using this PIAFS, a three-step process of setting a communication path, establishing PIAFS synchronization, and transmitting / receiving data is performed.

  For example, when a communication card with a built-in PIAFS protocol is connected to a PC and an intranet is accessed from the PC, first, when starting communication, negotiation for connecting a line between the communication card and the base station is performed. Is called. As a result, when a line is connected between the communication card and the base station, the PIAFS link control unit in the caller communication card and the PIAFS link control in the communication device (for example, router) of the communication partner. PIAFS synchronization establishment processing is performed with the unit. When synchronization is established, data can be transmitted and received between the PC and the router, connection processing is performed using a higher-level protocol such as PPP (Point to Point Protocol), and the PC can access the intranet. You can do it.

By the way, in recent data communication services, all-you-can-eat flat-rate services have become mainstream, and wireless lines are often left unconnected. Therefore, even when data transmission / reception is not performed, the radio channel remains occupied, and communication opportunities for other users are limited.
JP-A-11-164359

  By the way, in the invention disclosed in Patent Document 1, since the pseudo-termination device for pseudo-terminating the protocol is provided on the exchange side, there is a problem that the device tends to increase in size and the processing becomes complicated. there were.

The present invention can effectively use a wireless channel by disconnecting a line or changing a connection state according to the amount of data to be transmitted and received, and even if the line is disconnected or the connection state is changed, a conventional method is used for the user. It is an object of the present invention to provide a line connection control device and a communication card that can ensure the same usability as the above.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has the following configuration.

  That is, the line connection control device according to the present invention is a line connection control device provided on the information processing terminal side that controls connection of a line between the information processing terminal and the base station, the information processing terminal and the Instructing means for instructing disconnection of the line according to the amount of data transmitted / received to / from the base station, and disconnecting the line according to the instruction while maintaining the logical link of the information processing terminal Line connection control means.

  The line connection control device may further comprise line disconnection notification means for notifying the information processing terminal that the line has been disconnected when the disconnected state is maintained for a predetermined time. .

  Further, in the line connection control device, the instruction unit issues an instruction to change the connection state of the line according to the data amount, and the line connection control unit changes the connection state of the line according to the instruction. It is characterized by that.

  In the line connection control device, the instruction means monitors the data amount at a predetermined time, compares the monitored data amount with a preset threshold value, and disconnects or connects the line based on the comparison result. It is characterized by instructing a change of the situation.

  In the line connection control device, the instruction unit monitors the data amount at a first predetermined time, compares the monitored data amount with a preset threshold, and is longer than the first predetermined time. When the comparison result continues without changing for a second predetermined time, an instruction is given to disconnect the line or change the line connection status based on the comparison result.

  Further, in the line connection control device, the instructing unit obtains an integrated value by integrating the amount of data within a predetermined past time from the present time, compares the integrated value with a preset threshold value, and determines the comparison result. Based on this, it is instructed to disconnect the line or change the line connection status.

  Furthermore, a communication card according to the present invention includes any one of the line connection control devices described above.

  According to the present invention, the line is disconnected according to the amount of data and the wireless channel is released, so that it is possible to increase the opportunities for other users to perform data communication, and the wireless channel can be used effectively. It becomes.

  Further, the release of the radio channel is performed while maintaining the connection of the upper layer (for example, PPP) logical link. That is, even though the line is disconnected, a higher-level application such as an information communication terminal recognizes that the line connection is maintained, and thus the user is not notified that the connection has been disconnected. As a result, the user can recognize that the line connection is maintained, and can ensure the same usability as in the past.

  Further, according to the present invention, since the connection status of the line is changed according to the data amount, for example, when the data amount is small, a part of the occupied radio channel is released and, conversely, the data amount is large. Sometimes, further, high-speed data communication can be achieved by acquiring empty channels and increasing the number of wireless channels. As a result, the number of channels corresponding to the amount of data can be used, and the wireless channel can be used effectively.

  Embodiments according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a communication card.
The communication card 1 is one of PC cards and can perform voice communication and data communication wirelessly.

  In FIG. 1, the communication card 1 includes a circuit unit 110, a connector 120, an earphone jack 130, and a radio unit 147 that transmits and receives radio signals to and from a public network base station via an antenna 150.

The circuit unit 110 is connected to the connector 120 and transmits / receives a signal to / from the information processing terminal 2 via the connector 120. The circuit unit 110 transmits and receives signals to and from the base station via the wireless unit 147. In addition, an earphone jack 130 is connected to the circuit unit 110, and an audio signal sent via the wireless unit 147 is supplied to the earphone jack 130 for reproduction by the earphone, and the earphone jack 130 is connected from a microphone. Audio signal sent via the wireless unit 147 to the communication network side.
Further, the circuit unit 110 includes a host interface including a PC card interface IC 141, a ROM 143, and a RAM 144, and a telephone unit including a baseband IC 142, a ROM 145, and a RAM 146. The PC card interface IC 141 has a built-in CPU 141a. The CPU 141a functions as a control unit 12, a PIAFS link control unit 14, and a dormant control unit 15 (see FIG. 3) described later by executing a control program stored in the ROM 143, and information connected to the connector 120. Controls data communication with the CPU 202 mounted on the processing terminal 2 and controls the baseband IC 142 to perform outgoing / incoming calls.

  On the other hand, when performing voice communication, the baseband IC 142 performs modulation / demodulation for transmitting and receiving the voice data between the radio unit 147 and the base station when voice is input / output from the earphone with microphone via the earphone jack 130. . When performing data communication, the baseband IC 142 performs modulation / demodulation of serial data for data transmission / reception between the radio unit 147 and the base station. The selection of voice communication or data communication is performed based on a command input from the information processing terminal 2 side to the wireless communication card 1 side.

  The baseband IC 142 includes a CPU 142a. Upon receiving an instruction from the PC card interface IC 141, the CPU 142a executes a control program stored in the ROM 145, thereby functioning as a PHS link control unit 13 (see FIG. 3) to be described later. Negotiations etc.

  On the other hand, in the information processing terminal 2, reference numeral 208 denotes a connector provided in the function expansion slot. By connecting the connector 208 and the connector 120 of the communication card 1, information can be transmitted and received between the CPU 202 in the information processing terminal 2 and the PC card interface IC 141 in the communication card 1. The CPU 202 performs data communication with the communication card 1 connected to the connector 208 by executing a control program stored in the ROM 204. In addition, control information is supplied to the communication card 1 in order to control the operation of the communication card 1. Reference numeral 206 denotes an input unit as a user interface.

  Next, a hierarchical protocol model in the communication card 1 is shown in FIG. 2, and a hardware model is shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, the communication protocol of the communication card 1 includes, in order from the lower layer, a PHS communication protocol composed of L1, L2 / L3, a PIAFS protocol, a dormant protocol, and a part of PPP. Note that PPP is necessary for monitoring a data amount α, which will be described later, and is usually a protocol that is an upper layer of the dormant protocol.
FIG. 3 shows a hardware model, and includes a control unit 12, a PHS link control unit 13, a PIAFS link control unit 14, a dormant control unit 15, and a threshold storage unit 16.

  The PHS link control unit 13 mainly performs control related to line (link) establishment, line disconnection, and transmission rate switching with the base station. Note that the processing associated with line establishment and transmission rate switching is the same as the conventional processing content.

  On the other hand, in the PIAFS control unit 14, functions of 32 kbps fixed, 64 kbp fixed, and best effort (PIAFS2.1 compliant) are defined, and any one of the speeds can be selected. Here, the fixed 32 kbps is a mode for consistently performing 32 kbps data communication regardless of the communication environment from the beginning to the end of communication, and 64 kbp is a mode for consistently performing 64 kbp data communication regardless of the communication environment. . Best effort is a mode in which the transmission rate of 32 kbps and 64 kbps can be dynamically switched depending on the communication environment.

  The dormant control unit 15 includes an instruction unit 151 that issues an instruction to disconnect a wireless line and an instruction to change a communication speed according to the amount of data transmitted and received between the information processing terminal 2 and the base station, and a PHS link control unit 13 is provided with a line disconnection notification unit 152 that notifies the higher level protocol (PPP) that the line is disconnected when the wireless line is disconnected by 13 and the state is maintained for a predetermined time.

  The threshold value storage unit 16 stores threshold values that are referred to when the instruction unit 151 issues a line disconnection instruction or a communication speed change instruction. An example of the threshold value stored in the threshold value storage unit 16 is shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 4, threshold A is a threshold that is referred to when data communication is performed at a transmission rate of 64 kbps, and when the situation where the data amount is equal to or less than the threshold is maintained for a predetermined time (5 seconds), Processing for switching the transmission rate to 32 kbps is performed. The threshold value B is a threshold value that is referred to when data communication is performed at a transmission rate of 32 kbps. The situation where the data amount is equal to or greater than the threshold value (22.4 kbps) is maintained for a predetermined time (3 seconds). In this case, processing for switching the transmission rate to 64 kbps is performed. The threshold value C is a threshold value that is referred to for both transmission speeds of 32 kbps and 64 kbps, and a process for disconnecting a line when a data amount of 0 is maintained for a predetermined time (60 seconds). Done.

  Next, the control operation of the communication card 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing control processing of the communication card 1 during communication. In the following operations, a case where communication is currently being performed at a transmission rate of 32 kbps will be described as an example.

  First, during communication, the dormant controller 15 monitors the data amount α transmitted and received with the base station (step SP1). Specifically, the amount of data α at a predetermined time can be grasped by monitoring information of PPP, which is an upper protocol layer.

  Next, the monitored data amount α is compared with the threshold value B stored in the threshold value storage unit 16. Specifically, it is determined whether or not the data amount α is 22.4 kbps or more (step SP2). As a result, if the data amount α is 22.4 kbps or more, it is determined whether or not this situation is maintained for a predetermined time (here, 3 seconds) (step SP3).

  When the state of step SP2 is maintained for 3 seconds or longer, the instruction unit 151 outputs an instruction to switch the transmission rate to 64 kbps to the control unit 12 (step SP4).

  When receiving the information, the control unit 12 notifies the PHS link control unit 13 of the information. When the line connection unit 131 of the PHS link control unit 13 receives an instruction to switch the communication speed to 64 kbps, the line connection unit 131 examines the current wireless environment and determines whether data communication at the communication speed of 64 kbps is possible (step SP5). As a result, when there is a free radio channel allocated from the base station and data communication at a transmission rate of 64 kbps is possible, information for switching the communication rate from 32 kbps to 64 kbps is transmitted to the base station (step SP6).

  As a result, if 64 kbps data communication is permitted in the base station, the PIAFS link control unit 14 synchronizes with the communication partner. Thereby, data communication at a transmission rate of 64 kbps is started (step SP7).

  On the other hand, if the state of step SP2 is not maintained for 3 seconds in step SP3, or if there is no free radio channel allocated from the base station and data communication at a transmission rate of 64 kbps is impossible in step SP5. The data communication at the current transmission rate is maintained (step SP8).

  Next, when the data amount α is less than 22.4 kbps in step SP2, the instruction unit 151 determines whether or not the data amount α is 0 (step SP9). As a result, when the data amount is 0, it is determined whether or not this situation is maintained for a predetermined time (here, 60 seconds) (step SP10).

  If the situation where the data amount α is 0 is maintained for 60 seconds or longer (YES in step SP10), the instruction unit 151 outputs an instruction to disconnect the wireless line to the control unit 12 (step S10). SP11). Accordingly, the instruction is notified to the PHS link control unit 13 via the control unit 12. When the line connection unit 131 of the PHS link control unit 13 receives the line disconnection instruction, the line connection unit 131 disconnects the line (step SP12).

  Next, when the line is disconnected by the line connection control unit 131, the line disconnection notification unit 152 of the dormant control unit 15 starts an internal timer and counts the time since disconnection. When the state where the data amount α is 0 is maintained until 180 seconds have elapsed since the line was disconnected (YES in step SP13), the line connection control unit 131 determines that the line is not connected to the upper protocol (for example, PPP). The disconnection is notified (step SP14). Thereby, the line disconnection is recognized also in the information processing terminal 2 (step SP15).

  On the other hand, if the data amount α is not 0 before 180 seconds have elapsed since the line was disconnected (NO in step SP13), that is, if data to be transmitted to or received from the base station has occurred, the line connection The control unit 131 stops counting, while the instruction unit 151 outputs an instruction to reconnect the line (step SP16).

  This instruction is notified to the line connection control unit 131 via the control unit 12, and the line connection control unit 131 transmits information for establishing a line to the base station. As a result, the line is connected again (step SP17), and data communication is resumed (step SP18). In this case, whether the transmission rate is 32 kbps or 64 kbps is determined according to the transmission capability of the base station.

  If the data amount α is not 0 in step SP1 or if the state in which the data amount α is 0 is not maintained for 60 seconds in step SP10, the line connection is not performed and data at a transmission rate of 32 kbps is used. Communication is maintained (step SP19).

  Next, a case where data communication is performed at a transmission rate of 64 kbps will be described as an example. Note that this case is almost the same as the case of data communication at the transmission rate of 32 kbps described above, and only the threshold value in step SP2 and the maintenance time in step SP3 are different.

  That is, the instruction unit 151 determines whether or not the data amount α is 19.2 kbps or less in step SP2 of FIG. As a result, if the data amount α is 19.2 kbps or less, it is determined in step SP3 whether the situation is maintained for 5 seconds. If it is maintained for 5 seconds, an instruction to switch the transmission rate from 64 kbps to 32 kbps is output in step SP4. Thus, by switching the transmission rate from 64 kbps to 32 kbps, the wireless channel can be released.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when a state where the data amount α is 0 is maintained for a predetermined time, another user can perform data communication by disconnecting the line and releasing the wireless channel. Can increase the opportunity to do. Furthermore, when the data amount decreases and it is not necessary to maintain data communication at a transmission rate of 64 kbps, one slot is released from the radio channel by switching the transmission rate to 32 kbps. On the other hand, when the amount of data increases and data communication at a transmission rate of 32 kbps becomes insufficient, data communication at a transmission rate of 64 kbps is performed by acquiring one more slot of the wireless channel.

  Next, a second embodiment will be described. The basic configuration of the communication card is the same as that of the above embodiment, and the operation of the dormant control unit and the threshold value stored in the threshold value storage unit to which it refers are different. Only different parts will be described with reference to the drawings as appropriate.

  FIG. 6 is an example of threshold values in the present embodiment stored in the threshold value storage unit 16.

  The threshold value A is a threshold value that is referred to when data communication is performed at a transmission rate of 64 kbps. This value is a value indicating the amount of data in bytes when communication is performed for 5 seconds at a transmission rate of 30% of 64 kbps. As will be described later with reference to the flowchart, the dormant control unit retains the data amount for the past 5 seconds as an integrated value in units of bytes from the present, and compares this with the threshold value A and falls below the threshold value A. Processing to switch the transmission rate to 32 kbps is performed. Whether data is handled in byte units or bit units is a design matter, and in this embodiment, data may be handled in bit units.

  The threshold value B is a threshold value that is referred to when data communication is performed at a transmission rate of 32 kbps. This value is a value indicating the data amount in bytes when communication is performed for 3 seconds at a transmission rate of 70% of 32 kbps. The dormant control unit holds the data amount for the past 3 seconds as an integrated value in bytes from the present, and compares this with the threshold value B, and performs processing to switch the transmission rate to 64 kbps when the threshold value B is exceeded.

  Next, the operation of the communication card will be described with reference to FIG. This flowchart is for the case where communication is currently performed at a transmission rate of 64 kbps.

  First, during communication, the dormant controller monitors the amount of data α transmitted and received with the base station (step SP21). The specific means for monitoring is the same as in the previous embodiment.

  Next, the integrated value Σ5 for the past 5 seconds is updated from the monitored data amount α (step SP22). In order to update the integrated value, it is necessary to add the current data amount α and subtract the data amount before the past 5 seconds. There are various methods for obtaining such an integrated value. However, the data for the past 5 seconds is managed together with the time data in a FIFO (first-in first-out) memory, and the data for the past 5 seconds is read from the FIFO. Subtract from

  Next, the integrated value Σ5 is compared with the threshold value A stored in the threshold value storage unit (step SP23). Specifically, it is determined whether or not the integrated value Σ5 is less than 12 kBytes.

  Here, when the integrated value Σ5 is less than 12 kBytes, the instruction unit of the dormant control unit outputs an instruction to switch the transmission rate to 32 kbps to the control unit (step SP24), and the control unit receives the instruction. Data communication at a transmission rate of 32 kbps is started (step SP25).

  If the integrated value Σ5 is 12 kByte or more in step SP23, communication is maintained at the current transmission rate of 64 kbps (step SP26).

  The above explanation is for the case where the current transmission rate is 64 kbps. However, even when communication is performed at 32 kbps, the cumulative value of data is similarly compared with the threshold value, and transmission is performed based on the comparison result. Process to switch speed. In this case, the process of determining whether or not it is possible to switch to 64 kbps, the process of disconnecting the line when the data amount becomes 0, the process of notifying the upper protocol, etc. Similar processing is performed.

  Thus, by changing the communication status according to the data amount, it is possible to use a limited wireless channel very effectively.

Further, the line disconnection is performed while the upper layer PPP holds the logical link connection. That is,
Despite the line being disconnected, the upper application of the information communication terminal 2 recognizes that the call is maintained. Therefore, the user is not notified that the connection has been disconnected. In this way, even if the line is disconnected / reconnected in the PHS link control unit 13 in order to effectively use the radio channel, the user is not notified of these control processes, and thus the user maintains the line connection. It can be recognized as a thing and the same usability as before can be secured.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and includes designs and the like that do not depart from the gist of the present invention.

  For example, the threshold shown in FIG. 4 is an example, and can be arbitrarily changed.

  In the above-described embodiment, the wireless data communication has been described as an example. However, the present invention can also be applied to wired data communication.

It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of a communication card. 2 is a diagram showing a hierarchical protocol model in the communication card 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the model of hardware. It is a figure which shows an example of the threshold value stored in the threshold value memory | storage part. It is the flowchart which showed the control process of the communication card 1 in communication. It is a figure which shows an example of the threshold value stored in the threshold value memory | storage part of 2nd Example. It is the flowchart which showed the control process of the communication card in communication of 2nd Example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Communication card 2 Information processing terminal 12 Control part 13 PHS link control part 131 Line connection control part (line connection control means)
14 PIAFS link controller 15 Dormant controller 151 Instruction unit (instruction means)
152 Line disconnection notification unit (line disconnection notification means)
16 threshold storage unit 110 circuit unit 141 PC card interface IC
142 Baseband IC
141a, 142a CPU
143, 145 ROM
144, 146 RAM
130 Earphone jack 150 Antenna 147 Wireless unit 120, 208 Connector 202 CPU
204 ROM
206 Input section

Claims (7)

A line connection control device provided on the information processing terminal side for controlling connection of a line between the information processing terminal and the base station,
Instruction means for instructing to disconnect the line according to the amount of data per time transmitted and received between the information processing terminal and the base station;
A line connection control device comprising line connection control means for disconnecting the line according to the instruction while maintaining a logical link of the information processing terminal. 2. The line connection control according to claim 1, further comprising line disconnection notification means for notifying the information processing terminal that the line is disconnected when the disconnected state is maintained for a predetermined time. apparatus. The instructing means instructs to change the connection status of the line according to the data amount,
The line connection control device according to claim 1, wherein the line connection control unit changes a connection state of the line according to the instruction. The instructing means monitors the amount of data in a predetermined time, compares the monitored amount of data with a preset threshold value, and instructs to disconnect the line or change the line connection status based on the comparison result. The line connection control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.   The instruction means monitors a data amount at a first predetermined time, compares the monitored data amount with a preset threshold value, a second predetermined time longer than the first predetermined time, and the comparison result 4. The line connection control device according to claim 1, wherein if the connection continues without changing, the line disconnection or change of the line connection status is instructed based on the comparison result.   The instructing means obtains an integrated value by integrating the amount of data in the past predetermined time from the present time, compares the integrated value with a preset threshold value, and determines whether the line is disconnected or is connected based on the comparison result. 4. The line connection control device according to claim 1, wherein a change is instructed.   A communication card comprising the line connection control device according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

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