JP2005167696A - Wireless communication controller and its control method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system capable of reducing user operation/setting and shortening a connection time when forming a wireless network. <P>SOLUTION: A wireless apparatus of an access point or the like is named by adding information representing the configuration of the wireless network. In response to a request from an apparatus that participates in the network, the foregoing name is returned as a response, thereby the network to participate in can be easily discriminated. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a wireless communication control device such as an access point, and in particular, by providing a mechanism capable of interpreting a network configuration in a hierarchical structure in access point search, the access point device search time is shortened, and The present invention relates to communication control for facilitating an operation when selecting.

For example, a device that connects an access point installed in a specific area and a portable information terminal has been devised. Here, a value-added service for providing an Internet connection service to a specific user in a private area is provided. For example, in a specific area data transmission apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-268091 (Patent Document 1) of a public patent publication as a first conventional example, an access point service in a specific area has been proposed. Here, it is assumed that the access point and the portable terminal PDA perform data communication by short-range wireless communication. Then, the MAC address of the portable terminal PDA is registered in advance, and the access point performs a determination process as to whether the MAC address added to the connection request frame from the portable terminal PDA is registered in advance. The portable terminal PDA searches for an access point corresponding to the correspondence between the MAC address and name registered in advance, and starts communication if there is one. If a plurality of registered items are found, a plurality of communication partners are displayed on the liquid crystal and selected. Also, as a second conventional example, an electronic device and network configuration method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-108733 (Patent Document 2) of public patent publication that facilitates halfway participation in a network has been proposed. Yes. Here, a configuration has been proposed in which a data list of connection-permitted devices is provided in advance as a configuration that enables participation in the middle of a conference.
JP 2001-268091 A JP 2002-108733 A

  However, the conventional techniques described above have problems in versatility and operability as described below.

  According to the first conventional example, it is assumed that the terminal side has registered in advance a MAC address for distinguishing devices such as lending. It is assumed that there is a contract relationship between the access point and the terminal in advance, and multiple devices can exist in the same frequency band and can be searched / connected, especially as in recent short-range wireless communication systems. If you do not have pre-registration, such as when you bring your own terminal, the terminal will discover the majority of peripheral devices when searching for an access point, It is necessary to find a partner to connect to, which imposes a load on the user.

  In addition, according to the second conventional example, when a participant list is created in advance in an electronic conference system or the like, a free participation type electronic conference regardless of members, connection with a public access point, or a member of another company In the case where it is difficult for members to grasp in advance, such as a meeting, there is a problem that the method of creating the list in advance is very troublesome for the user (organizer).

  Therefore, the present invention eliminates the disadvantages of the prior art, and when connecting from a terminal to an access point, firstly, an access point to which the self terminal connects with many wireless communication devices existing in the same area first. It can be easily distinguished and searched. Second, when the access point has a plurality of wireless devices, that is, when a plurality of access points are hierarchically installed in one access point system, the terminal can easily detect the configuration, Another object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism capable of distributing the load related to other communications such as the number of connections between access points.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention
1. A wireless communication control device according to claim 1, wherein in the wireless communication control device capable of setting or changing the name of a device on the wireless communication network and storing the device name, the name represents a configuration of the wireless communication network. Name generation means for generating at least an identification code, name setting means for setting a name generated by the generation means, and a name acquisition request from another wireless communication control apparatus capable of communicating with the wireless communication control apparatus Means for responding to the name.

  According to such a configuration, the wireless communication control device can notify its own communication network configuration to other wireless communication control devices capable of requesting name acquisition, and the other wireless communication control devices can connect according to the name information. A request can be issued.

  2. The wireless communication control apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the name generation means includes means for including in the name a system identification code representing information unique to the system of the wireless communication network in the name. .

  According to such a configuration, the wireless communication control device can notify the other wireless communication control device that it constitutes a specific network system (personal area network). When searching for a wireless communication control device in the system, it is possible to filter out wireless communication devices that use a similar wireless communication system existing in the vicinity by using a system identification code and remove them from the search result.

  3. The wireless communication control apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the name generation means includes means for including, in the name, an area identification code representing an area covered by the wireless communication network in the name.

  According to such a configuration, even when wireless communication control devices constituting a personal area network having the same system identification code are adjacent to each other, the personal area network to be connected by the area identification code can be easily identified, It becomes possible to select.

  4. The wireless communication control device according to claim 4, wherein the name generation means uses a unit identification code unique to each of one or more wireless communication units connected to the name as the name. And means for including.

  According to such a configuration, it becomes possible to identify and connect the wireless communication units constituting the personal area network having the same area identification code.

  5. The wireless communication control device according to claim 5, wherein the name generation means includes all unit identification codes of all the one or more wireless communication units connected to the wireless communication control device; It is characterized by having.

  According to such a configuration, it becomes possible to identify the configuration (number of components, etc.) of wireless communication units of the personal area network having the same area identification code, and to select and connect one wireless communication unit from among them. .

6. The radio communication control apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the name generation means generates the system identification code, area identification code, unit identification code, and all unit identification code according to a specific format, and the format identification generated there. Wireless communication unit identification code setting means for setting a code for each wireless communication unit;
It is characterized by having.

  According to such a configuration, it is possible to identify the network layer configuration of the personal area network only among other wireless communication control devices that can interpret the format identification code, and easily select a connection partner. It becomes possible.

7. The wireless communication control device according to claim 7, wherein the name generating means includes: a name changing means for changing the name according to a state of each of the wireless communication units; In the case of not accepting a communication request from another wireless communication control device, the unit identification code of the wireless communication unit included in the all unit identification code in the format identification code is not included in the name, and Activating the wireless communication unit identification code setting means,
It is characterized by that.

  According to such a configuration, when a plurality of wireless communication units are included in the wireless communication control device, and there are many connection requests from other wireless communication control devices to one of the wireless communication units, a connection is made By concealing a wireless communication unit with many requests, connection requests can be distributed to other wireless communication units.

8. The wireless communication control device according to claim 8, wherein the name generation unit is configured to identify the deleted unit when the wireless communication unit can accept a communication request from another wireless communication control device. Re-configure the format identification code including the code, and again activate the wireless communication unit identification code setting means,
It is characterized by that.

  According to such a configuration, the wireless communication control device can dynamically change the disclosure and concealment of the wireless communication unit in accordance with the system state, and the state of the wireless communication unit can be controlled in real time by another wireless communication control unit. It is possible to notify the device.

9. The wireless communication control device according to claim 9, wherein the wireless communication control device acquires a communication operation status of each of the wireless communication units, and a load distribution confirmation that confirms whether the communication operation status works equally. And a load balancing confirmation unit,
For a wireless communication unit with a large load, the name generation means includes the wireless communication unit identification code setting means for each wireless communication unit without including information on the wireless communication unit in the all unit identification codes. to start,
It is characterized by that.

  According to such a configuration, the wireless communication control device can perform load distribution by dynamic and autonomous operation of other wireless communication control devices, and can perform congestion control without using system resources so much. It becomes possible.

  As described above, according to the present invention, in the wireless communication control device, by providing the configuration of the wireless communication control device to the name area that can be searched and provided, the wireless communication control device of the present invention can be connected to the user who wants to connect. It is possible to shorten the time from search to connection and to improve the operability from search to connection.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the entire wireless communication system in an embodiment of the present invention. Reference numerals 100 and 101 denote systems that perform the most characteristic control of the present invention using wireless access points, and are equipped with wireless units 102A, 102B, 102C, and 102D, 102E that perform wireless communication, respectively. The wireless unit performs data communication with the PDAs 103, 104, and 105 using wireless communication. In addition, there is a device having the same wireless communication system in the system, 106 is a personal computer and can communicate with the 107 mouse by the same wireless communication, and 108 is a headset between 109 mobile phones. And can be communicated by the same wireless communication. Further, personal area network A which is 110 area A is a range in which 100 access points A can communicate, and personal area network B which is area B in 111 is a range in which 101 access points B can communicate. The PDAs 101a and 101b can communicate with the host PC 100 when they enter the book 102 area. FIG. 2 shows an example of unit-specific names that can be notified by the wireless units installed in 100 access points A to surrounding wireless devices. 200 represents the format of the entire name, 201 in the format represents a system identification code “Canon” representing a keyword for identifying the system, 202 represents area information, and in this example “Conference Room A”, and 203, 204, 205 Represents a list of three wireless units installed in the access point A, which are “NAP1”, “NAP2”, and “NAP3”, respectively. Reference numeral 206 denotes “NAP2” representing the own wireless unit. 210 is an example when “NAP1” is deleted from the wireless unit list, 211 is a system identification code “Canon”, 212 is area information “conference room A”, and 213 and 214 are wireless units from which NAP1 has been deleted. The list 215 is “NAP2” representing the own wireless unit.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart when the access point 100 generates, sets, and changes a name. In order to generate a name after starting the system, a system identification code is acquired (S300). Hereinafter, when acquiring data, it does not matter whether the data is set in advance in the storage area inside the access point or externally. Next, an area identification code, which is information representing an area, is acquired (S301). Next, the configuration of the network card is acquired, and a list of wireless units is acquired (S302). Subsequently, a name format is generated based on the acquired information (S303), a name setting request is made to the network card which is each wireless unit, and name setting is executed (S304). When the setting completion notification is received from all the wireless units (S305), the setting of the name format is completed. Next, assume that a name change request occurs. (S306) In this case, a name format according to the change request is generated (S307), and a name setting request is made to the network card which is a wireless unit (S308). When setting completion notifications are received from all the wireless units (S309), the process is terminated.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart when the access point 100 changes the name according to the resource state of the wireless unit. The following description assumes that the wireless unit has already been given a name. First, it waits for an event to occur from a network card, which is a wireless unit (S400). If there is an event that the resource has become excessive (S401), first, the identification code of the corresponding network card is acquired (S402), and the information of the corresponding wireless unit from the name list representing the wireless unit is obtained. Is deleted (S403), and a name format is generated again (S404). A request for setting the name of the generated name is made to the wireless units (S405), and the setting is completed for all the wireless units (S406). Subsequently, a search impossible setting request is made to the wireless unit having the excessive resource described above, and the wireless unit cannot be searched from other wireless communication devices (invisible state) (S407, S408).

  FIGS. 5 to 7 are diagrams showing search results when a search for a wireless device is performed using the above-described access point name mechanism.

  FIG. 5 shows device list information discovered when searching for wireless communication devices in the environment of FIG. Information on the name of each device, the device address serving as the identification code of the wireless device, and device class information indicating the type of the wireless device can be acquired as a search result. If there are more wireless devices, it will be answered from them and it will be understood that a lot of data areas are required.

  FIG. 6 is a list of wireless devices that have responded when a device other than the above-described device class is a network access point is filtered in the environment of FIG. Here, the access point 100 indicates that there is a response from the wireless units “NAP1” and “NAP2”, and the access point 101 indicates that there is a response from the wireless units “NAP1” and “NAP2”.

  At this point, if it is desired to connect to the access point, it is necessary to select an access point from among four types.

  FIG. 7 is an example of a search result when only position information is extracted from the name format. In this case, only two wireless devices are visible, and it can be seen that the operability of device selection can be improved for the user.

  In this way, by including the location information and device name of the wireless device in the name of the wireless unit, it is possible to easily determine the other party to connect to even when there are many wireless devices, and to perform the connection operation. Since the name can be changed according to the system resource, there is an effect that congestion control can be performed with the connection partner without using a special wireless communication command.

  In this embodiment, the application and system identification code are linked to each other, and the system search is automatically started at the time of start-up, so that the user can connect only by selecting an area simultaneously with the start-up and further omit the operation. There is an effect peculiar to the embodiment.

(Second embodiment)
FIG. 8 is an example of a name format in the second embodiment of the present invention, and represents an example of unit-specific names that can be notified by the wireless units equipped in 100 access points A to surrounding wireless devices. 800 represents the format of the entire name, 801 in the format is a system identification code “Canon” representing a keyword for identifying the system, 802 is area information, and in this example is “Conference Room A”, and 803, 804, 805 Represents a list of device addresses of the three wireless units installed in the access point A, which are “002030135F43”, “3080F248E835”, and “0010248F536E”, respectively. Reference numeral 806 denotes “3080F248E835” representing the device address of the own wireless unit.

  810 is a device address list of the wireless unit of access point B, 811 is “Canon” which is a system identification code, 812 is area information “meeting room B”, and 813, 814 and 815 are device address lists of wireless units. "3080F248E835", "0010248F536E", and "002030135F43".

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the detailed operation when the wireless terminal (hereinafter referred to as PDA) goes to the access point when the second embodiment is used.

  First, the PDA is powered on (S900) and the application is activated (S901). Next, in order to search for an access point to be connected, the PDA uses the device class as an access point, and starts searching with the keyword of the system identification code as “Canon”. (S902) In response to the search completion notification (S903), the corresponding system is displayed. In this case, the area information part is used for display (S904). Subsequently, the call ID which is the device address list of the wireless unit included in the search name is extracted and stored in the call ID storage area IDMem. (S905) The user selects an access point based on the displayed area information part. (S906) Then, in order to sequentially connect to wireless units having device addresses in IDMem, IDs are first selected from IDMem and set. (S907) It is confirmed whether connection has been attempted for all ID Mems (S908), and a connection request is transmitted to the selected ID (S909). It is checked whether or not a connection response has been received (S910). If the connection cannot be made, a call ID newly stored in the IDMem is selected as a new ID and a connection request is made. (S911) If connection is possible, the process is complete.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the configuration of the call ID storage area IDMem in the flowchart of FIG. Reference numeral 1000 denotes area information area information. In this case, two access points “conference room A” and “conference room B” are searched. 1001 is a diagram in which device addresses included in the wireless unit list of the conference room A are extracted and stored in the storage area. Device addresses “002030135F43”, “3080F248E835”, and “0010248F536E” of three wireless units included in the wireless unit list are stored in the call code area. Similarly, 1002 is a diagram in which a list of device addresses of wireless units installed in an access point representing the conference room B is stored.

  In this way, by using the device address in the wireless unit list part, it is not necessary for the terminal attempting to connect to the access point to search for all the wireless units, so that it is possible to shorten the time until connection. There is an effect.

(Third embodiment)
FIG. 11 is an example of a name format in the third embodiment of the present invention, and represents an example of unit-specific names that can be notified by the wireless units equipped in 100 access points A to surrounding wireless devices. Reference numeral 1100 represents the format of the entire name, 1101 in the format represents a system identification code “Canon” representing a keyword for identifying the system, 1102 represents area information, and in this example, “Conference Room A”, and 1103, 1104, 1105 Represents a list of device addresses of the three wireless units installed in access point A,
“002030135F43”, “3080F248E835”, and “0010248F536E”.

  Reference numeral 1106 denotes “3080F248E835” representing the device address of the own wireless unit. Reference numeral 1110 is an example of the name format after changing the order of the device address list of the wireless unit of the access point A, 1111 is the system identification code “Canon”, 1112 is the area information “conference room A”, 1113, 1114, 1115. Is a device address list of the wireless unit, and represents “3080F248E835”, “0010248F536E”, “002030135F43”, and is different in that the device address 1103 of the wireless unit has moved to the end of the list compared to before the order change. I understand.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing in detail the operation of the access point of the third embodiment.

  It waits for an event from the network card, which is a wireless unit (S1200). When an event occurs, if it is found that the number of connected cards exceeds the threshold at n of the card (S1201), the order of the device address list part of the wireless unit is changed (S1202). In this case, as described with reference to FIG. A name format whose order has been changed is generated (S1203), and a name setting request is made to the network card (S1204). Wait until notification of setting completion is received from all cards (S1205).

  As a result, when a wireless terminal that wants to connect to the access point of the present invention selects a wireless unit to be connected from the list of wireless units and tries to connect in order from the top of the list, it automatically becomes a wireless unit with a small number of connections. There is an effect peculiar to the embodiment that the connection can be made. That is, there is an effect that load distribution of wireless communication can be performed autonomously.

(Fourth embodiment)
In the first to third embodiments, the system identification code and the area information part have been described in a simple form. However, the same frequency is used because the control channel is changed for each communication carrier in a public wireless line such as PHS. It is also possible to use the system identification code part of the present application as a method for distinguishing between communication carriers and access point installers in a system using a band. In addition, by adding not only location information but also fee information to the area information section, a new usage method such as trying to connect to an access point with a low fee in a time zone will be born.

It is a conceptual diagram showing the structure of the wireless network containing the radio | wireless communication control apparatus by embodiment of this invention. It is a figure showing the name format by the 1st Example of this invention. It is a flowchart showing the operation | movement from the name production | generation of an access point to a change by the 1st Example of this invention. It is a flowchart showing the operation | movement in the case of performing congestion control at the time from the access point name production | generation to a change by the 1st Example of this invention. It is a figure showing the search result at the time of searching the surrounding radio | wireless communication apparatus by 1st Example of this invention, and its information. It is a figure showing the search result and its information when not searching by filtering except a network access point when searching the surrounding radio | wireless communication apparatus by 1st Example of this invention. It is an example of the display displayed on a user screen when searching this radio | wireless communication control apparatus and its same system by 1st Example of this invention. It is a figure showing the name format by the 2nd Example of this invention. It is a flowchart showing the operation example of the radio | wireless terminal which has searched and connected with this radio | wireless communication control apparatus by 2nd Example of this invention. It is the information of the calling code list of the wireless unit equipped in the access point stored in the wireless terminal that has performed the search according to the second embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure showing the name format by the 3rd Example of this invention. It is a flowchart showing operation | movement of the access point by the 3rd Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

100 Access point A
101 Access point B
102A, B, C, D, E Wireless unit 103, 104, 105 Mobile terminal 106 Personal computer 107 Mouse 108 Headset 109 Mobile phone 110, 111 Communication area of personal area network

Claims (9)

A name generation unit configured to set or change a name of a device on a wireless communication network and store one or more identification codes representing a configuration of the wireless communication network in the name in a wireless communication control apparatus capable of storing the name; A name setting means for setting the name generated by the generating means; and a means for responding to the name in response to a name acquisition request from another wireless communication control apparatus capable of communicating with the wireless communication control apparatus,
A wireless communication control device. The wireless communication control device according to claim 1,
The name generation means includes in the name a system identification code representing system-specific information of the wireless communication network in the name;
A wireless communication control device. The wireless communication control device according to claim 1,
The name generation means includes in the name an area identification code representing an area covered by the wireless communication network in the name;
A wireless communication control device. The wireless communication control device according to claim 1,
The name generation means includes in the name a unit identification code unique to each of one or more wireless communication units connected to the wireless communication control device in the name;
A wireless communication control device. The wireless communication control device according to claim 1 or 3,
The name generation means includes all unit identification codes of all the one or more wireless communication units connected to the wireless communication control device;
A wireless communication control device. The wireless communication control device according to claim 1,
The name generation means generates the system identification code, area identification code, unit identification code, and all unit identification code according to a specific format, and sets the generated format identification code for each wireless communication unit. Wireless communication unit identification code setting means;
A wireless communication control device comprising: The wireless communication control device according to claim 1,
The name generation means includes a name change means for changing the name according to the state of each wireless communication unit, and the wireless communication unit does not accept a communication request from another wireless communication control device by the name change means. In the case of a state, the unit identification code of the wireless communication unit included in the all unit identification code in the format identification code is not included in the name, and the wireless communication unit identification code setting unit is activated.
A wireless communication control device. The wireless communication control device according to claim 1,
When the wireless communication unit is able to accept a communication request from another wireless communication control device, the name generation unit reconfigures the format identification code including the deleted unit identification code, And again activate the wireless communication unit identification code setting means,
A wireless communication control device. The wireless communication control device according to claim 7 or 8,
The wireless communication control device activates the means for acquiring the communication operation status of each wireless communication unit, the load distribution confirmation means for confirming whether the communication operation status is working equally, and the load distribution confirmation means,
For a wireless communication unit with a large load, the name generation means includes the wireless communication unit identification code setting means for each wireless communication unit without including information on the wireless communication unit in the all unit identification codes. to start,
A wireless communication control device.

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