JP2006005547A - Connection mediation apparatus, connection mediation system, and connection mediation method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connection mediation apparatus, a connection mediation system, and a connection mediation method capable of ensuring utilization of a seamless service with less occurrence of interruption, enhancing a data communication efficiency, economically utilizing a communication resource and sufficiently coping with a mediation request. <P>SOLUTION: The connection mediation apparatus for searching a communication terminal existing in a tag spot area in response to a connection request from a connection request apparatus at the outside of the tag spot area of a wireless tag apparatus using near distance communication and establishing connection between the wireless tag apparatus and the connection request apparatus via the communication terminal to mediate and relay the communication includes a terminal handover means for handing over another communication terminal found out in the tag spot area when a time resulting from subtracting a resident time of the communication terminal whose connection is established in the tag spot area from a statistic average resident time reaches a prescribed time or below. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a connection mediating device, a connection mediating system, and a connection mediating method for mediating connection between a wireless tag device and a connection requesting device.

  Service provision by wireless tag devices using near field communication such as RFID (contactless IC tag), wireless LAN, Bluetooth, IrDA (infrared communication), UWB (ultra-wideband wireless), etc. is considered. Various services can be used by accessing the wireless tag device from a communication terminal device such as a mobile PC. Examples of service contents include, for example, information distribution from the wireless tag device, information collection by the wireless tag device, remote control of devices connected to the wireless tag device (acquisition of sensor information, acquisition of video by a monitoring camera, etc.) Can be used.

  By the way, the area (tag spot area) that can be directly communicated with the wireless tag device is narrow due to short-range communication, so that the wireless tag device can be accessed from a communication terminal device outside the tag spot area. A method of performing communication by relaying another communication terminal device existing in the network can be considered.

  Patent Document 1 is not intended for a wireless tag device, but in a service area of a base station, a communication terminal device can directly communicate with the base station to use the service, and can communicate with the base station. When outside the service area, the terminal searches for a communication terminal device that is in the service area and can be communicated with, and communicates with the base station by mediating and relaying the communication terminal device found in the service area. Discloses a communication method for expanding a communication area with a base station and using a service provided by the base station.

  Further, in Patent Document 2, a communication terminal apparatus in a service area of a base station performs data communication directly with the base station to use the service, and at the same time receives an intermediary relay request from a communication terminal apparatus outside the service area. Compare the resources of the communication terminal device with the resources required for data communication with the base station when mediating and relaying data to and from the base station. A technique for judging is disclosed. When mediating relaying, resources are allocated (secured) for mediating relaying of communication terminal devices outside the service area while securing resources for own communication.

Here, examples of resources include the remaining amount of power, data processing capability, and data transfer speed (communication bandwidth). In particular, the usage of communication bandwidth, which is listed as one of the resources, is In the internal communication terminal, the remaining communication band that secures the communication band necessary for its own use, that is, the direct communication with the base station in the service area, is allocated for intermediary relay of the communication terminal apparatus outside the area. is there.
JP 2000-31895 A JP 2003-229954 A

  In the prior art disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 described above, a communication terminal device outside the service area of the base station is connected to the communication terminal device within the service area by inter-terminal communication and relays the communication terminal device. If the in-area communication terminal device requesting relaying is out of the service area while using the base station service, basically the relay processing is interrupted and the service usage is interrupted. Will do. Even if an alternative intermediary communication terminal device is searched after the interruption, there is no guarantee that a communication terminal device existing in the service area will be found. Therefore, service use must be stopped until an alternative intermediary communication terminal device is discovered. In particular, a streaming service that cannot be temporarily stopped is unavailable at that time.

  As described above, since the relay is based on the communication resource of the communication terminal device that is not present or uncertain, it is difficult to use a seamless service and the data communication efficiency is poor. No countermeasures are disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Documents 1 and 2 when such a situation occurs, and there is a big problem in realizing continuous use (seamless use) of the service. Yes.

  Thus, there is no guarantee that a service can be used from outside the service area because there is not always a communication terminal apparatus in the service area that can be requested by the communication terminal apparatus outside the service area. And, as the service area (communication area) of the base station becomes smaller, the number of in-area communication terminal devices that can be requested decreases drastically, so that the service provided by the wireless tag device using the short-range communication targeted by the present invention is provided. In such a case, the possibility of seamless continuous use of the service is reduced. When the number of terminals outside the service area far exceeds the number of terminals within the service area, there is a concern that such a situation will occur more frequently and become a problem.

  On the other hand, in the prior arts shown in Patent Documents 1 and 2 described above, since only one relay request for one user can be relayed in one in-area communication terminal device, the communication terminal in the service area of the base station In the case where the number of devices is much smaller than the number of mediation requests from out-of-area communication terminal devices and the communication resource capacity of the communication terminal devices is much larger than the communication resources required by the base station or out-of-area communication terminal devices However, there are problems that it is uneconomical to use communication resources of the communication terminal device, and that all intermediary requests cannot be processed in the in-area communication terminal device.

  Furthermore, when a plurality of out-of-area communication terminal devices issue a relay request to each in-area communication terminal device by designating a communication band for relay, the out-of-area communication terminal device in the in-area communication terminal device The allocated resources are divided and allocated to the individual relay request units of these received out-of-area communication terminal devices according to the respective requested communication bands, and the relay requests of a plurality of communication terminals are received and simultaneously received. Since parallel relay processing cannot be performed, there is a problem that the request cannot be sufficiently satisfied.

  The present invention has been proposed in view of the above-described conventional problems, and the object of the present invention is to reduce the occurrence of interruption, to ensure the seamless use of services, and to improve the data communication efficiency. Another object of the present invention is to provide a connection mediating apparatus, a connection mediating system, and a connection mediating method capable of economically using communication resources and sufficiently responding to mediating requests.

  In order to solve the above problems, according to the present invention, as described in claim 1, in response to a connection request from a connection requesting device outside the tag spot area of a wireless tag device using short-range communication. A connection mediating device that searches for a communication terminal device existing in the tag spot area, establishes a connection between the wireless tag device and the connection requesting device via the communication terminal device, and mediates and relays communication. In the tag spot area, when the time obtained by subtracting the residence time in the tag spot area of the communication terminal device that established the connection from the statistical average residence time is equal to or less than a predetermined time. Terminal handover means for handing over to another communication terminal apparatus is provided.

  As a result, the possibility of interruption after connection establishment is reduced, seamless service use can be ensured, and data communication efficiency can be improved.

  Further, as described in claim 2, the terminal handover unit is configured such that when the radio field intensity of the RFID tag device measured by the communication terminal device that has established the connection falls below a certain value, A handover can be made to another communication terminal device found in the tag spot area.

  As a result, the possibility of interruption after the establishment of the connection is further reduced, seamless use of the service can be ensured, and data communication efficiency can be improved.

  In addition, as described in claim 3, the terminal handover means targets other communication terminal apparatuses for which a specific time has elapsed since entering the tag spot area as a target for handover. can do.

  As a result, the number of handovers can be reduced, and more seamless service usage can be ensured.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, when a connection request is received from the connection requesting device, the communication terminal device existing in the tag spot area that has already been relayed is an average communication terminal. If the number of devices has been reached, the connection can be refused.

  As a result, it is possible to ensure seamless use of the service without starting intermediary relay in an environment where there is a high possibility of interruption after the connection is established.

  The communication resource of the communication terminal device that performs transmission and reception for data resource relay between the connection requesting device and the RFID tag device may be a connection request of the connection requesting device. An intermediary terminal communication resource reservation unit that can be independently assigned to each of the terminals can be provided.

  As a result, communication resources can be used economically and the intermediation request can be sufficiently met.

  In addition, as described in claim 6, the communication resource is a premium best effort allocation with an upper limit in which the total of the communication resources is dynamically changed with the communication resource installed in the communication terminal device as an upper limit. Can be.

  Thereby, communication resources can be used effectively.

  In addition, as described in claim 7, the connection request device includes a communication resource reservation fee, a communication resource usage fee, and a delivery fee of a relayed packet performed using the communication resource. Alternatively, a charge management means for performing a charge process for paying the communication terminal device from the wireless tag device can be provided.

  As a result, it is possible to encourage the communication terminal device to stay in the tag spot area and to use the service stably.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, a wireless tag device that provides various services using near field communication, a connection request device that uses a service of the wireless tag device, and a tag spot area of the wireless tag device A communication terminal device that exists arbitrarily inside and outside the terminal, and a communication terminal device that exists in the tag spot area of the wireless tag device in response to a connection request from the connection request device, and through the communication terminal device, the communication terminal device The connection between the wireless tag device and the connection requesting device is established to mediate and relay communication, and the residence time in the tag spot area of the communication terminal device that established the connection is subtracted from the statistical average residence time. Connection mediation to maintain mediation relay by handing over to other communication terminal devices found in the tag spot area when the time falls below a predetermined time It can be configured as a connection intermediary system comprising a location.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication terminal device that exists in the tag spot area in response to a connection request from a connection request device that is outside the tag spot area of a wireless tag device that uses near field communication. A connection mediating method for searching and establishing a connection between the RFID tag device and the connection requesting device via the communication terminal device to mediate and relay communication, wherein the communication terminal device establishes the connection When the time obtained by subtracting the residence time in the tag spot area from the statistical average residence time is equal to or less than a predetermined time, the method includes a step of handing over to another communication terminal device found in the tag spot area. It can be configured as a connection mediation method.

  In the present invention, the occurrence of interruptions is small, seamless use of services can be ensured, data communication efficiency can be improved, communication resources can be used economically, and brokerage requests can be sufficiently met. It is possible to provide a connection mediating apparatus, a connection mediating system, and a connection mediating method that can respond.

  Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a connection mediation system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, the connection mediation system includes a plurality of wireless tags that provide various services by short-range communication such as RFID (contactless IC tag), wireless LAN, Bluetooth, IrDA (infrared communication), UWB (ultra-wideband wireless), and the like. A device 10, a plurality of communication terminal devices 20 such as mobile phones, PDAs, and mobile PCs, which are arbitrarily present inside and outside the tag spot area of the wireless tag device 10, and a connection mediating device 30 that performs main control processing of connection mediation A mobile phone, PDA, mobile that makes a connection request to the connection mediating device 30 in order to use the service of the RFID tag device 10 and the tag spot area mobile device information collecting server 40 that collects information necessary for control It comprises a plurality of connection requesting devices 50 such as PCs.

  Here, the connection mediating apparatus 30 receives the connection request transmitted from the connection requesting apparatus 50, and in accordance with the received connection request, the communication intermediary apparatus 20 is connected to the communication terminal apparatus 20 existing in the tag spot area of the wireless tag apparatus 10 that is the connection destination. It has a function of establishing a connection (link) with the RFID tag device 10 that is the connection destination via the communication terminal device 20 that has been found and found.

  The mobile device information collection server 40 in the tag spot area receives a search request for the communication terminal device 20 existing in the tag spot area of the wireless tag device 10 to be connected from the connection mediating device 30, and receives the communication terminal device. It has a function of performing 20 searches and returning the search result to the connection mediating apparatus 30.

  The communication terminal device 20 establishes a link with the specified wireless tag device 10 by allocating a specific communication resource in response to an intermediary relay request from the connection mediating device 30, and the connection mediating device 30 to the wireless tag device 10. It has a function to perform relaying of data transmission.

  The wireless tag device 10 determines whether or not to accept a connection request in accordance with the connection request of the connection request device 50 received from the communication terminal device 20, and if so, clearly indicates the communication resource to be allocated at the time of connection. 20 has a function of establishing a link with the communication terminal 20 and performing data transmission / reception with the communication terminal device 20.

  In FIG. 1, in order to receive tag information (provided service) transmitted by the short-range radio equipped in the wireless tag device 10, within a communication area (tag spot area) with the wireless tag device 10. The communication terminal device 20 directly receives (uses a service) with the short-range wireless transmission / reception function, or the connection request device 50 that is a communication terminal device outside the tag spot area uses the communication terminal device within the tag spot area. By being relayed to 20, the system of receiving the service of the wireless tag device 10 using the short-range wireless transmission / reception function of the communication terminal device 20 is obtained. Here, in the latter method, the connection request device 50 located outside the tag spot area of the wireless tag device 10 communicates with the wireless tag device 10 via the communication terminal device 20 located within the tag spot area. The communicable area where the service of the apparatus 10 can be received is expanded.

  FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the wireless tag device 10, which includes a connection request reception determination unit 101, a connection request reservation reception registration unit 102, a tag communication control unit 103, a wireless tag communication unit 104, and a processing request processing unit 105.

  The connection request acceptance determination unit 101 has a function of determining whether or not to accept a connection request from the connection request device 50 received from the communication terminal device 20 in the tag spot area of the wireless tag device 10.

  When it is determined that the connection request is accepted, the connection request reservation acceptance registration unit 102 accepts a reservation for the connection request, pays out a reservation acceptance permission identifier for the connection request, and issues the reservation acceptance permission identifier that has been paid out. It has a function to register with various communication bands.

  If the reservation acceptance permission identifier included in the link establishment request received from the communication terminal device 20 is registered in the connection request reservation acceptance registration unit 102, the tag communication control unit 103 assigns communication according to the registration data. When a band is specified, a communication resource that enables the use of the specified communication band is allocated from an empty communication resource of the wireless tag device 10, a link (for example, a session) with the communication terminal device 20 is established, and the communication It has a function of controlling communication between the communication terminal device 20 and the wireless tag device 10 using resources.

  The wireless tag communication unit 104 transmits a connection request reception determination result, a reservation reception permission identifier, and a communication band in response to a request from the connection request reception determination unit 101, and data including multimedia information by short-range wireless communication It has a function of transmitting and receiving wireless information consisting of at least one of resources and control signals.

  The processing request processing unit 105 has a function of processing a processing request received from the connection requesting device 50.

  FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of the communication terminal device 20. The first wireless communication unit 201, the second wireless communication unit 202, the third wireless communication unit 203, the terminal communication resource reservation assigning unit 204, the terminal communication resource management unit 205, and the terminal A communication control unit 206 and a terminal mediation management unit 207 are provided.

  The first wireless communication unit 201 establishes a link (session) by assigning a specific communication resource using short-distance communication with the wireless tag device 10 and the communication terminal device 20 as the first section, and transmits and receives data resources. And a function for performing transmission and reception of data resources by allocating a specific communication resource using wide area mobile communication and establishing a link using the second section between the communication terminal device 20 and the connection mediating device 30. . That is, the first wireless communication unit 201 performs intermediary relay of data resource transmission / reception performed between the connection requesting device 50 and the RFID tag device 10, and assigns a specific communication resource for each intermediary relay request to the first interval and the second interval. In FIG. When communication QoS (Quality of Service: communication band) applied in the first section and the second section is different, the first wireless communication unit 201 performs QoS conversion and data conversion to perform the first section and the first section. Absorbs the difference in communication QoS applied in the two sections. The connection mediating apparatus 30 may perform QoS conversion and data conversion.

  The second wireless communication unit 202 transmits / receives data resources to / from the wireless tag device 10 using short-range communication in the first section for the purpose of individual use other than intermediary relay. It has a function of allocating resources and establishing links.

  The third wireless communication unit 203 uses the wide area mobile communication to transmit / receive data resources to / from the connection mediating apparatus 30 for different usage purposes in the second section for the purpose of individual use other than mediation relay. It has a function of establishing communication by allocating communication resources.

  The terminal communication resource reservation allocating unit 204 determines the communication QoS requested by the wireless tag device 10 from the connection requesting device 50 between the communication terminal device 20 and the connection mediating device 30, and between the connection mediating device 30 and the connection requesting device 50. It requests that the connection mediating device 30 and the connection requesting device 50 reserve and allocate communication resources necessary for realizing the communication to be performed, and the connection requesting device 50 makes a connection mediating device to the wireless tag device 10. 30 has a function of requesting the wireless tag device 10 to make a reservation allocation of communication resources necessary for realizing the communication QoS requested via the communication terminal device 20 between the communication terminal device 20 and the wireless tag device 10.

  The terminal communication resource management unit 205 realizes a communication QoS requested when the connection requesting device 50 communicates with the wireless tag device 10 or a communication QoS requested when the wireless tag device 10 communicates with the connection requesting device 50. The communication resources required for the communication are divided into independent communication resources for each request in the first section and the second section from the available communication resource allocation of the first wireless communication unit 201 prepared in advance. It has a function to reserve allocation.

  The terminal communication control unit 206 has a function of performing transmission / reception control of data resources by reapplying the reserved communication resources according to the reserved application schedule.

  When the terminal mediation management unit 207 receives a “connection reservation to the wireless tag device 10” request from the connection mediation device 30, the terminal mediation management unit 207 transmits the connection request to the wireless tag device 10 that is the connection destination, and makes a reservation within a certain period of time. Upon receipt of the acceptance permission identifier, the connection destination wireless tag device 10 has a function of notifying a reservation acceptance permission identifier 303, which will be described later, of the connection mediating device 30 indicating that the connection request has been accepted for reservation. ing. Further, the terminal mediation management unit 207 has a function of notifying the connection destination acceptance confirmation reservation unit 303 of the connection mediating apparatus 30 of the communication QoS (bandwidth) received from the connection destination wireless tag device 10 and necessary for connection. Yes. Further, when the terminal mediation management unit 207 receives a “communication QoS (bandwidth) allocation reservation” request from a mediation terminal communication resource reservation unit 304 (to be described later) of the connection mediating apparatus 30, the reservation acceptance permission identifier included in the request Based on the requested communication band, the terminal communication resource reservation allocation unit 204 is instructed to allocate the communication QoS band in the first section. When the allocation is completed, the second section is also equivalent to the first section. The communication resource necessary for realizing communication QoS is instructed to be assigned from among the communication resources assigned in the first wireless communication unit 201, and when the assignment is completed, an assignment completion notification is sent to the intermediary terminal communication resource reservation unit. 304 has a function to notify the user.

  In addition, when the terminal mediation management unit 207 receives a “connection establishment” request from the connection mediation device 30, the terminal mediation management unit 207 notifies the terminal communication control unit 206 of the reservation acceptance permission identifier included in the request, and the connection-target wireless tag device 10 has a function of instructing the first wireless communication unit 201 to establish a link with the wireless tag device 10 and receiving a request from the wireless tag device 10.

  FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of the connection mediating apparatus 30. The connection request receiving unit 301, the mediation request destination terminal discovery unit 302, the connection destination acceptance confirmation reservation unit 303, the mediation terminal communication resource reservation unit 304, the communication resource management unit 305, and the communication A control unit 306, a terminal handover unit 307, a connection establishment request unit 308, an intermediary relay unit 309, and a charge management unit 310 are provided.

  The connection request reception unit 301 has a function of receiving a connection request transmitted from the connection request device 50.

  The intermediation request destination terminal discovering unit 302 communicates the communication terminal device 20 that requests mediation necessary for connection with the designated wireless tag device 10 as the connection destination with the wireless tag device 10 as the connection destination. It is searched from the mobile device information collection server 40 in the tag spot area on the condition that it exists in the tag spot area that can be communicated by the above, and only within a certain time after entering the tag spot area It has a function of searching for a communication terminal device 20 that has not passed.

  The connection destination acceptance confirmation reservation unit 303 selects one communication terminal device 20 from the communication terminal devices 20 that request the found mediation, establishes a link with the selected communication terminal device 20, and becomes a connection destination. The wireless tag device 10 transmits a connection request (request message) whose status indicating the request content is “connection reservation”, and the reservation acceptance permission identifier and the communication required at the time of connection from the communication terminal device 20 within a certain period of time. It has a function of receiving at least one of the bands.

  When the broker terminal communication resource reservation unit 304 receives the reservation acceptance permission identifier from the communication terminal device 20, if the connection destination wireless tag device 10 receives the communication band designated at the time of connection, the designated communication is performed. A connection request with a status indicating “reservation allocation of communication band” indicating that a reservation acceptance permission identifier and a request content for requesting allocation of a communication resource that realizes a band is received from the discovered communication terminal apparatus 20. Transmission to the communication terminal device 20 having the shortest elapsed time after entering the tag spot area, reservation of the designated communication band is reserved, and communication resources assigned at the time of connection of the connection request in the connection mediating device 30 It has a function of reserving the allocation and receiving a reservation allocation completion notification when the reservation allocation of the communication resource is completed.

  When receiving a communication resource reservation from the intermediary terminal communication resource reservation unit 304, the communication resource management unit 305 has a function of allocating a communication resource according to the received reservation instruction if there is an available communication resource.

  When the communication resource management unit 305 completes the reservation of the communication resource that realizes the communication band requested by the connection target wireless tag device 10, the connection establishment request unit 308 indicates that the reservation acceptance permission identifier and the status indicating the request content are “connection”. It has a function of transmitting a connection request “established” to the communication terminal device 20 that reserved the communication band.

  The communication control unit 306 has a function of performing relay transmission control according to communication resources assigned to a link established between the connection request device 50 and the wireless tag device 10 in accordance with the connection request.

  After establishing the connection with the wireless tag device 10 that is the connection destination, the terminal handover unit 307 has a predetermined residence time in the tag spot area of the wireless tag device 10 of the communication terminal device 20 requested to intermediary. When the value, that is, the time obtained by subtracting the dwell time from the average dwell time is equal to or less than a certain time, another communication requesting the mediation by specifying the RFID tag device 10 as the connection destination to the mediation request destination terminal discovery unit 302 An instruction to search for the terminal device 20 is issued, and a handover is performed from the discovered communication terminal device 20 to the communication terminal device 20 in which the communication resource is reserved in the mediation terminal communication resource reservation unit 304, and the connection request device 50 and the wireless tag device It has a function of maintaining a link between 10.

  The intermediary relay unit 309 has a function of relaying and transmitting a link established between the connection requesting device 50 and the wireless tag device 10 using a communication QoS specified by applying an assigned communication resource.

  The charging management unit 310 relays the communication resource reservation fee, communication resource usage fee, communication resource usage fee, and communication resource that are performed based on the request from the connection request device 50 or the wireless tag device 10. It has a function of performing a billing process for collecting the packet delivery fee from the connection requesting device 50 or the wireless tag device 10 and paying it to the communication terminal device 20.

  FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of the connection request device 50, which includes a connection request side communication unit 501, a connection request setting management unit 502, and a connection request side resource storage unit 503.

  The connection request side communication unit 501 has a function of receiving control information and transmitting at least one wireless information of a set connection request and a data resource including data including multimedia information.

  The connection request setting management unit 502 has a function of setting a connection request including a connection destination and a processing request requested to the wireless tag device 10 designated as the connection destination.

  The connection request side resource storage unit 503 has one or more data storage areas, and has a function of storing data resources.

  The operation of the above embodiment will be described below.

  FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram illustrating processing from connection request to link establishment and handover, and FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating processing of the connection mediating apparatus 30.

  First, the operation in which the connection request device 50 creates a connection request and transmits the connection request from the connection request device 50 to the connection mediating device 30 and the operation of the connection request device 50 after transmission will be described.

  The connection request device 50 designates a wireless tag device 10 as a connection destination, sets a processing request to be requested to the wireless tag device 10, and sets a connection request.

  This processing request includes, for example, information distribution from the wireless tag device 10, information collection by the wireless tag device 10, remote control of devices connected to the wireless tag device 10 (acquisition of sensor information, acquisition of video by a monitoring camera, etc.) It is an instruction regarding etc. When requesting streaming video distribution from the RFID tag device 10, a communication resource allocation request is included in the connection request in order to realize the specified communication QoS.

The connection request is
(1) Connection destination: RFID tag device name (2) Processing request (+ parameter)
(3) Requested communication QoS
Consists of However, the communication QoS of (3) may not be specified.

  When the connection request shown above is set in the connection request setting management unit 502 of the connection requesting device 50, the connection request side communication unit 501 immediately establishes a link with the connection mediating device 30, and uses the connection request as wireless information. It transmits toward the apparatus 30 (step S1). The wireless information to be transmitted is transmitted as a set in a processing request for requesting only a connection request or a data resource that must be transmitted along with the connection request.

  After transmission, the process waits until a notification that a link has been established between the connection mediating device 30 and the connection-destination RFID tag device 10 is transmitted.

  A notification indicating that the link is established with the connection destination from the connection mediating apparatus 30, that is, a reservation reception indicating that access to the connection-target wireless tag device 10 is permitted and corresponding to an address for specifying the connection destination Although it is a notification consisting of a permission identifier and an option, it receives communication resource (realized communication QoS) information allocated and secured to a session (path) with which a link has been established.

  Thereafter, this reservation acceptance permission identifier is set as a destination address, and various information is transmitted by applying the communication resource designated by the connection requesting device 50. When the value of the communication resource is not notified, the received reservation acceptance permission identifier is set as the final transmission destination, and is transmitted toward the connection mediating apparatus 30 with the communication QoS specified in advance.

  Next, after accepting the connection request from the connection requesting device 50, the connection mediating device 30 discovers the communication terminal device 20 that requests mediation relay, and is indicated by the connection request using the discovered communication terminal device 20 as an intermediary. The operation of establishing a link with the wireless tag device 10 that is the connection destination will be described.

  When the connection request transmitted from the connection request device 50 is received by the connection request reception unit 301, the received connection request is registered in the connection request registration database, and the progress and execution management of the received connection request are performed. A request change from the connection requesting device 50 (for example, change of connection destination), withdrawal of a connection request, etc. are accepted and the countermeasure is taken. Further, when the transmission rate (bandwidth) of information of the RFID tag device 10 is changed, the change is notified to the communication control unit 306, the communication resource management unit 305, the mediation relay unit 309, and the connection requesting device 50.

  When the communication QoS (particularly the communication band) applied at the time of transmission of information transmitted from the RFID tag device 10 is changed, a notification of change of the communication QoS is issued to the terminal mediation management unit 207 of the communication terminal device 20 and received. When a response indicating that the response has been received is returned from the connection mediating apparatus 30, the transmission QoS is changed and distribution of information is started.

  Next, when the connection intermediary device 30 accepts the connection request at the connection request accepting unit 301, the communication terminal device 20 can immediately request connection mediation relay within the tag spot area of the wireless tag device 10 designated as the connection destination. Is inquired to the intermediation request destination terminal discovery unit 302.

  In response to the inquiry, the intermediation request destination terminal discovery unit 302 performs a search using the mobile device information collection server 40 in the tag spot area (steps S2 and S301), and the specified wireless tag device 10 has already been mediated for connection. The number of communication terminal devices 20 in the tag spot area is confirmed (step S302). If the number of communication terminal devices 20 has reached the average number of communication terminal devices (average number of mobile devices), the search is performed again ( In step S303), if a new discovery is not made, a notification is made that there is no communication terminal device 20 that can request an intermediary relay. If the average number of communication terminal devices has not been reached, the number of available communication terminal devices is the number obtained by subtracting the number of communication terminal devices 20 that have already been relayed from the average number of communication terminal devices.

  When the number of confirmed communication terminal devices 20 is less than the average number of communication terminal devices, the communication QoS requested by the connection request (including the communication band) or the requested communication QoS notified by the wireless tag device 10 is realized. The communication terminal device 20 that can secure the communication resources necessary for this and that has the shortest elapsed time since entering the tag spot area is selected and reported as a mediation request destination candidate terminal.

  When the communication terminal device 20 is discovered, the mediation terminal communication resource reservation unit 304 determines whether the communication QoS (including the communication band) or the wireless tag device 10 is requested by the connection request to the discovered communication terminal device 20. The communication resource allocation reservation instruction required to realize the requested communication QoS that has been notified is sent to the terminal mediation management unit 207 of the communication terminal apparatus 20 with a connection request whose status is “communication resource allocation request”. In addition, the communication intermediary device 30 is instructed to the communication resource management unit 305 to reserve the allocation of communication resources to be allocated when the connection request is connected.

  When receiving the communication resource allocation reservation instruction, the communication resource management unit 305 performs communication resource allocation reservation according to the received reservation instruction if there is an available communication resource in the connection mediating apparatus 30. Here, according to the reservation instruction, the communication resource is reserved and allocated according to the allocation schedule indicating the timing when the communication resource can be used.

  When the terminal mediation management unit 207 of the communication terminal device 20 accepts a communication resource allocation reservation request from the mediation terminal communication resource reservation unit 304 of the connection mediation device 30, the terminal mediation management unit 207 of the communication resource allocated to the first wireless communication unit 201 The terminal communication resource management unit 205 is instructed to allocate the designated communication resource to the second section.

  In accordance with the communication resource allocation instruction, the terminal communication resource management unit 205 reserves and allocates the designated communication resource for communication in the second section from among the communication resources allocated to the first wireless communication unit 201. To do.

  Next, the terminal communication resource management unit 205 uses the first wireless communication unit 201 to allocate communication resources assigned to the first wireless communication unit 201 for communication in the first section, which is a communication section with the wireless tag device 10. Among these, the reservation allocation of the communication resource required in order to implement | achieve communication quality equivalent to the communication quality implement | achieved in a 2nd area is performed.

  When the communication resource reservation allocation in the first wireless communication unit 201 is completed, a reservation allocation completion notification is transmitted to the connection mediating apparatus 30 via the terminal mediation management unit 207.

  Upon receipt of the communication resource reservation allocation completion notification in the mediation terminal communication resource reservation unit 304 of the connection mediating device 30, the connection establishment request unit 308 sends a connection establishment request to the connection request device 50 (connection request side communication unit 501). , To the communication terminal device 20 (terminal mediation management unit 207). In accordance with this connection establishment request, reserved communication resources are applied, and between the connection requesting device 50 and the connection mediating device 30, between the connection mediating device 30 and the communication terminal device 20, and between the communication terminal device 20 and the RFID tag device 10, respectively. A link (session) is established in the section (steps S3 to S6, S304).

  Through the series of processes described above, a link is established between the connection requesting device 50 and the wireless tag device 10 designated as the connection destination.

  Next, after the link between the connection requesting device 50 and the wireless tag device 10 is established and information exchange is started via the link, the communication terminal device 20 that relays and relays generally moves. You will leave the area sometime. When the communication terminal device 20 leaves the tag spot area, the intermediary relay is interrupted. Therefore, in order to continue the communication, it is necessary to request another different communication terminal device 20 to perform the intermediary relay continuous processing.

  Therefore, the network connection is established by switching the intermediary relay to another communication terminal device 20 existing in the tag spot area (handover), and by adopting a mechanism that enables continuous communication with the wireless tag device 10. Seamless communication with a wireless tag device 10 that is not connected is realized.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a schematic operation of the above handover.

  Now, it is assumed that the connection request device 50 has established the link L1 with the wireless tag device 10A via the connection mediating device 30 and the communication terminal device 20A at the position Vl. Here, assuming that the communication terminal device 20A moves from V1 to V2 to V3, the communication terminal device 20A is connected by the link L1, the link L2, and the link L3 in order as the communication terminal device 20A moves from V1 to V3. The request device 50 and the wireless tag device 10A are connected, and the connection is not disconnected during this time. Note that the time from the communication terminal device 20A from Vl to V3 is almost the average residence time.

  When the residence time in the tag spot area of the wireless tag device 10A of the communication terminal device 20A that has established a connection with the wireless tag device 10A that is the connection destination (requested for mediation) becomes the average residence time, the connection mediation device 30 Then, the terminal handover unit 307 issues an instruction to the intermediation request destination terminal discovery unit 302 to specify the wireless tag device 10A as a connection destination and search for another communication terminal device 20 that requests mediation. Note that the time when the residence time reaches the average residence time is the handover timing, but generally the handover timing is when the time obtained by subtracting the residence time from the average residence time falls below a predetermined time. It can be.

  The intermediation request destination terminal discovery unit 302 immediately communicates with the shortest time that has elapsed since entering the tag spot area among the communication terminal apparatuses 20 that have entered the tag spot area of the designated RFID tag device 10A. The terminal device 20B is selected, and an intermediary relay request is made to the communication terminal device 20B. That is, when the communication terminal device 20A reaches V3, a search search for the communication terminal device 20 to be transferred is performed in the terminal handover unit 307 of the connection mediating device 30, and the communication terminal device 20 serving as a handover destination candidate is located at the position V4. A communication terminal device 20B, a communication terminal device 20C at a position V5, and a communication terminal device 20D at a position V6 are found. Among them, the communication terminal device 20B at a position V4 enters the tag spot area most. This is selected because the elapsed time from is short.

  As soon as the communication terminal device 20B agrees to perform mediation relay processing, the mediation terminal communication resource reservation unit 304 performs reservation allocation of the designated communication resource to the agreed communication terminal device 20B. When the reservation allocation of the communication resource of the communication terminal device 20B is completed, the communication terminal device 20A having the residence time equal to the average residence time is handed over to the communication terminal device 20B, and the connection request device 50 and the wireless tag device 10A are handed over. Intermediary relay to maintain the link continuously. That is, a handover is performed from the communication terminal device 20A at the position V3 to the communication terminal device 20B at the position V4, and the mediation relay to the wireless tag device 10A is continued to maintain a seamless connection.

  On the other hand, in order for the communication terminal device 20 possessed by such a third party to accept the intermediary relay process from the connection requesting device 50, it is considered that some incentive by taking over the intermediary relay process is necessary.

  Therefore, as an incentive obtained by the communication terminal device 20 taking over the relaying process, the communication resource reservation fee, communication resource, and the like, which are made based on the request of the connection request device 50 or the wireless tag device 10 The connection request device 50 or the wireless tag device 10 is assumed to be paid with the use fee of the communication and the delivery fee of the relayed packet performed using the communication resource as an incentive. The communication resource reservation fee and the communication resource usage fee are, for example, a fee structure proportional to the time and the amount of communication resources reserved / used, and the packet delivery fee depends on, for example, the number of relayed packets. The billing system will be

  Next, an operation when the communication terminal apparatus 20 to be handed over cannot be found will be described.

  In FIG. 8, the connection requesting device 50 designates the wireless tag device 10A as a connection destination and transmits a connection request to the connection mediating device 30, and then the wireless tag device 10A, the communication terminal device 20A, the connection mediating device 30, and the connection requesting device. Assume that a link between 50 is established. In this state, if the communication terminal device 20A leaves the tag spot area of the wireless tag device 10A, if the handover to another communication terminal device 20 cannot be performed in advance, the relay process cannot be performed and the connection is made. The link between the requesting device 50 and the wireless tag device 10A is disconnected.

  When this disconnection is detected by the connection mediating device 30, the connection mediating device 30 notifies the connection requesting device 50 that it has been interrupted, stops the transmission of data resources, and the delivery is completed by the interruption despite the transmission. Without notification, the head data of the packet loss data is notified and the relay is interrupted.

  After the interruption, a search process for the communication terminal device 20 replacing the communication terminal device 20A is entered, the tag spot area mobile device information collection server 40 is inquired, and the communication terminal device 20 indicated in the return result is in accordance with the returned result. Is determined as a handover destination, and the communication terminal device 20 is requested to mediate connection to the wireless tag device 10A.

  The requested communication terminal device 20 displays an intention to take over (declaration) for the designated RFID tag device 10A, and communicates between the RFID tag device 10A, the communication terminal device 20, the connection mediating device 30, and the connection requesting device 50. Re-establish link. Thereafter, the connection mediating apparatus 30 instructs the connection requesting apparatus 50 to start transmission of data from the transmission resumption point.

  By repeating such a series of processing, the connection request from the connection requesting device 50 existing outside the tag spot area is handled through the communication resource of the uncertain communication terminal device 20 existing within the tag spot area. To do. If the handover destination is not found continuously, the data transmission waits until the handover destination is found. The shorter this waiting time, the more seamless data transmission can be performed.

  Next, based on FIGS. 6 and 7, when the residence time in the tag spot area of the communication terminal device 20 exceeds the average residence time, or the radio field intensity of the wireless tag device 10 measured by the communication terminal device 20 is A description will be given of an operation process in which the communication terminal device 20 to be relayed is handed over and communication between the wireless tag device 10 and the connection requesting device 50 is continued when the communication terminal device 20 drops below a certain value.

  If the elapsed time since the communication terminal device 20 requesting the mediation relay processing enters the designated tag spot area exceeds the statistical average residence time, an intermediary relay is requested immediately instead of the communication terminal device 20 When a searchable other communication terminal device is found and a requestable communication terminal device is found, the average number of communication terminal devices that have already requested mediation relay within the tag spot area of the designated wireless tag device 10 is the average. If the number is less than the number of communication terminal devices (the number of communication terminal devices that can be said to be almost present in the tag spot area when viewed statistically), the average residence time exceeded the detected communication terminal device. The communication terminal device 20 is requested to perform an alternative intermediary relay and handed over (steps S7 to S16, S305 to S308, S304).

  However, if a communication terminal device requesting alternative mediation relay is not found, the communication terminal device 20 that is currently mediating and relaying continues to mediate until a communication terminal device that requests alternative mediation relay is discovered. Request a relay. In this case, after that, until the alternative communication terminal device is discovered, the intermediary relay is continuously requested until the radio wave intensity received from the wireless tag device 10 of the communication terminal device 20 falls below a certain value. . When the radio field intensity of the RFID tag device 10 received by the communication terminal device 20 falls below a certain value, the intermediary relay is suspended and waits until another communication terminal device that can be handed over is found (step S17, S18, S309, S311).

  If the residence time in the tag spot area of the communication terminal device 20 that has requested mediation relay is equal to or less than the average residence time, the mediation relay processing is continuously requested. A series of these processes is performed by the connection mediating apparatus 30.

  In addition, when the radio terminal intensity received by the communication terminal device 20 from the wireless tag device 10 falls below a certain value during the request for mediation relay processing, the communication mediator device 20 connects to the connection mediation device 30. Is notified that the radio field intensity has fallen below a specified value. In response to this notification, the connection mediating apparatus 30 performs handover to the newly discovered communication terminal apparatus even if the residence time within the tag spot area of the requested communication terminal apparatus 20 has not exceeded the average residence time. Processing is performed (steps S17 to S24, S310, S311, and S304).

  Even if a new communication terminal device is discovered, the relay processing is not requested beyond the average number of communication terminal devices. This is because the average number that can be stably relayed is exceeded.

  Next, a mechanism for determining the communication terminal apparatus 20 that is the handover destination so that the standby time is minimized will be described. That is, a statistical average residence time is measured as the time for one communication terminal device 20 to stay in the tag spot area of the wireless tag device 10, and the measured average residence time per one communication terminal device 20 is measured. Based on the above, a mechanism for performing handover between the communication terminal apparatuses 20 will be described.

  Each time the communication terminal device 20 receives tag information from the wireless tag device 10, it transmits the tag information together with the communication terminal device ID to the tag spot area mobile device information collection server 40. The tag information is received and transmitted using the second wireless communication unit 202 and the third wireless communication unit 203. The time stamp of the received data is assigned on the server side when it arrives at the mobile device information collection server 40 in the tag spot area. This is because the time of the clock that each communication terminal device 20 is equipped with varies, and generally there are few that indicate the correct time, so even if a time stamp is assigned by the communication terminal device 20, the time stamp indicates. This is because there remains a problem with the authenticity of the time.

  The tag spot area mobile device information collection server 40 collects event information including tag information + communication terminal device ID + time stamp. Therefore, the average residence time in which the communication terminal device 20 stays in the tag spot area of the wireless tag device 10 can be calculated for each wireless tag device 10 from the collected event information. However, since it is assumed that the average dwell time varies depending on the date of time, calculate the average dwell time for each specified time interval, and calculate the average dwell time to be referenced according to the time and date. deep.

  It is considered that the communication terminal device 20 immediately after entering the tag spot area of the wireless tag device 10 stays in the tag spot area for the average residence time when viewed macroscopically.

  Therefore, the timing of the handover is controlled based on the calculated average residence time. The communication terminal device 20 to be handed over becomes a more convenient terminal as the terminal whose elapsed time after entering the tag spot area is as short as possible. In the tag spot area mobile device information collection server 40, when searching for a handover destination, the wireless tag device name, the handover execution time, and the date are extracted, and the average residence time is extracted. It is also possible to calculate the upper average residence time for each communication terminal device 20. Further, grouping can be performed in the same category unit by the attribute profile of the communication terminal device 20, and the average residence time can be calculated in the group unit. Therefore, it is possible to calculate a desired average residence time by specifying attribute information, time, a wireless tag device, a communication terminal device ID, and the like as search conditions for the mobile device information collection server 40 in the tag spot area. .

  By making such a search possible, it is possible to reduce the loss when the handover process is performed as much as possible. This loss means that the relay process is suddenly interrupted due to the intermediary communication terminal apparatus 20 suddenly refusing the relay process between the time when the handover process is performed and the average residence time elapses. Therefore, it can be considered that there is a packet loss caused by continuing to transmit a considerable number of packets even after the interruption occurs, and a loss caused by the waste of the transmission processing cost.

  In addition, if the time that stays in the tag spot area after the average stay time, which is the request time for intermediary relay to the handed over communication terminal device 20, is considerably large, the accurate average stay time is originally measured. If so, the loss can be further reduced, for example, the number of handovers can be further reduced.

  Accordingly, the connection mediating device 30 can request connection based on the communication characteristics between the wireless tag device 10 and the connection mediating device 30 that can be predicted from the behavior history characteristics of the communication terminal device 20 in the tag spot area of the wireless tag device 10. By performing connection mediation relay processing between the device 50 and the RFID tag device 10, mediation relay that minimizes the loss and maximizes the throughput becomes possible.

  In addition, when the communication terminal device 20 freely sets communication resources to be provided when receiving a request for intermediary relay to the wireless tag device 10 from the connection request device 50, the communication resources that can be used for each communication terminal device 20 also change. Therefore, it is necessary to resolve the contention depending on the performance (amount) of communication resources. When communication resources are abundant, it becomes possible to simultaneously accept intermediary relays of a plurality of connection request devices 50.

  Further, the average number of staying communication terminals is calculated for each tag spot area of the wireless tag device 10 from the action history of the communication terminal device 20 registered in the mobile device information collection server 40 in the tag spot area.

  The average number of staying communication terminals means the average value of the number of communication terminal apparatuses 20 that are always present in the tag spot area. Therefore, from a macro view, even if relay relay is performed assuming that there are always communication terminal devices 20 corresponding to the average number of staying communication terminals in the tag spot area of the RFID tag device 10, the loss described above is obtained. Theoretically, it means that you can realize a minimized intermediary relay.

  However, in order to increase the accuracy of the average number of staying communication terminals, according to time, date, communication terminal user profile, request, presence, purpose of use, etc. It is expected to improve accuracy by taking the average value.

  Therefore, the average number of staying communication terminals means that the number of terminals is always present in the tag spot area, and the total of communication resources provided by the number of terminals is the RFID tag device 10 in the tag spot area. Will determine the communication quality. The always-on mediation device 30 can provide the mediation service as the number of mediations of connections to the wireless tag device 10 by the number of mediations that can be mediated by the plurality of communication terminal devices 20.

  The loss is minimized by performing the connection mediation relay processing to the wireless tag device 10 with the communication quality based on the behavior history characteristics of the communication terminal device 20 such as the average residence time and the average number of communication terminals described above. It is possible to use a connection mediation service.

  Furthermore, a method for increasing the accuracy of the average residence time and the average residence communication terminal number will be described.

  The above average dwell time and average dwell communication terminal number are determined by past historical behavior characteristics, but the actually measured numerical values are separated from the average value, and the actual average dwell time and the actual average communication terminal number are statistics. If there is a discrepancy with the average average value, the next average dwell time and average dwell communication terminal number when searching under the same conditions will be tuned up and down with the average dwell time and average dwell communication terminal number taken into account, taking into account the measured average value Thus, the error between the next predicted value and the actually measured value can be reduced.

  Further, from the correlation between the actually measured number of communication terminals and the measured average residence time of a certain adjacent RFID tag device and the measured average residence time and the measured average stayed communication terminal number of the RFID tag device 10, the mobile device information in the tag spot area A method of tuning the average residence time and average residence communication terminal number calculated by the collection server 40 is conceivable.

  Also, based on the movement history information between the tag spot areas of the communication terminal device 20, what percentage of the communication terminal device 20 in the tag spot area of a certain RFID tag device 10 flows into the tag spot area. From this numerical value, a method of estimating the average residence time and the average number of staying communication terminals of the wireless tag device 10 from the number of actually staying communication terminals and the actual measurement staying time in a tag spot area at a certain time can be considered.

  Intermediary relaying can be performed by appropriately using a method for predicting the average residence time and the average number of communication terminals in accordance with the situation.

  Next, a handover operation procedure based on the average staying time and the average number of staying communication terminals will be described.

  The connection mediating apparatus 30 performs connection mediation management for each connection request unit transmitted by the connection requesting apparatus 50.

  The elapsed time is measured from the time when the relay request is made, and when the remaining time obtained by subtracting the elapsed time from the average residence time falls below a certain time, the search condition is created according to the situation, and the mobile device information in the tag spot area Queries the collection server 40, calculates the average residence time and average number of communication terminals, and from the communication terminal device 20 satisfying the same condition, the wireless tag device 10 enters the tag spot area within a certain period of time. And the smallest communication terminal device 20 is selected and determined as the communication terminal device 20 to be handed over. When the communication terminal device 20 within a certain time is not found in the entry elapsed time, the communication terminal device 20 that waits for a new entry is waited for.

  If the predicted value of the number of communication terminal devices 20 that are likely to flow in for a certain period of time is smaller than the number of communication terminal devices in the waiting state, the process waits. In response to a connection request, the communication terminal device 20 having the minimum elapsed time among those for which a certain time has passed has been used as a communication terminal device requesting relay relay. The amount of inflow can also be counted from the history, and its statistical average value can be calculated.

  Further, in the terminal handover unit 307 of the connection mediating apparatus 30, the radio field intensity calculated from the radio wave transmitted by the RFID tag apparatus 10 received in the second wireless communication unit 202 of the communication terminal apparatus falls below a certain value. When the communication terminal device 20 is found in the tag spot area, it is handed over to the communication terminal device 20 whose received radio wave intensity transmitted from the wireless tag device 10 is equal to or higher than a certain value, A communication resource held by the first wireless communication unit 201 of the communication terminal device 20 is assigned to each link corresponding to each connection request that has been handed over, and the wireless tag device 10, the communication terminal device 20, and the connection request device 50 are assigned. It is also possible to maintain a three-way link between them.

  Next, a communication resource allocation method of the communication terminal apparatus 20 will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the communication terminal apparatus 20 is equipped with communication resources for short-range communication (for example, RFID, wireless LAN, Bluetooth, IrDA, UWB, etc.) and communication resources for wide area mobile communication.

  The first wireless communication unit 201 is a communication unit that performs mediation relay of communication performed between the connection mediating device 30 and the wireless tag device 10. Therefore, it is composed of communication resources for short-range communication and communication resources for wide area mobile communication. The wireless tag device 10 communicates with the wireless tag device 10 via short-range communication, and immediately receives the data received from the wireless tag device 10 using the wide-area mobile communication resource. Mediating relay transfer to the connection mediating apparatus 30 by mobile communication.

  Further, when the first wireless communication unit 201 receives data transmitted from the connection mediating device 30 by wide area mobile communication, the data is relayed and transferred to the wireless tag device 10 by short-range communication of the first wireless communication unit 201. When there is a difference in the communication QoS realized in each of the short-range communication means and the wide-area mobile communication means during this relay transfer, the first wireless communication unit 201 realizes QoS conversion that absorbs the difference. Will do.

  In this QoS conversion, communication QoS conversion and data QoS conversion are performed. The QoS conversion realized by the relay policy at the time of mediation relay is determined. Generally, when communication QoS changes, the time required for data transmission changes. Therefore, for example, when the data transfer completion time may be changed, only communication QoS conversion is performed. When it is difficult to change the completion time of the data transfer, the QoS of the data to be transferred is converted and relayed along with the conversion of the communication QoS.

  In addition, when the first wireless communication unit 201 receives a plurality of intermediary relay requests, the communication resources allocated to the first wireless communication unit 201 are divided and allocated independently for each data transfer unit to be relayed. It is possible. Therefore, communication resources can be assigned to each relay request unit, relay destinations can be designated, and communication QoS can be uniquely realized for relay relay transfer.

  Further, the second wireless communication unit 202 performs short-range communication using the short-range communication resources allocated for the purpose of individual use of the communication terminal device 20 to perform data transfer with the wireless tag device 10.

  The third wireless communication unit 203 communicates with the connection mediating apparatus 30 by performing wide area mobile communication using the wide area mobile communication resources allocated for the purpose of individual use of the communication terminal apparatus 20, and Communicate with the connection requesting device 50.

  The communication resources allocated to the second wireless communication unit 202 and the communication resources allocated to the first wireless communication unit 201 are communication resources in which the sum of the first and second communication resources is equipped for short-range communication. Can be dynamically changed up to the upper limit. In other words, it is a premium best effort with an upper limit.

  Further, the communication resources allocated to the third wireless communication unit 203 and the communication resources allocated to the first wireless communication unit 201 are equipped with a total of the first and third communication resources for wide area mobile communication. It is possible to dynamically change the communication resource as an upper limit. In this case as well, it is a premium best effort with an upper limit.

  Therefore, it is possible to allocate all communication resources for mediation relay, or not to allocate at all for mediation relay, at the judgment of the user of the communication terminal device 20. In addition, when accepting an intermediary relay, it is basically possible to receive a consideration as a usage fee. Therefore, it is conceivable that priority is given to receiving an intermediary relay request for the purpose of obtaining this usage fee.

  The present invention has been described above by the preferred embodiments of the present invention. While the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, various modifications and changes may be made to the embodiments without departing from the broad spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims. Obviously you can. In other words, the present invention should not be construed as being limited by the details of the specific examples and the accompanying drawings.

It is a block diagram of the connection mediation system concerning one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of a wireless tag apparatus. It is a block diagram of a communication terminal device. It is a block diagram of a connection mediation apparatus. It is a block diagram of a connection request apparatus. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing processing from connection request to link establishment and handover processing. It is a flowchart which shows the process of a connection mediation apparatus. It is a figure which shows schematic operation | movement of a handover. It is a figure which shows allocation of a communication resource.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Wireless tag apparatus 101 Connection request reception determination part 102 Connection request reservation reception registration part 103 Tag communication control part 104 Wireless tag communication part 105 Processing request processing part 20 Communication terminal apparatus 201 1st wireless communication part 202 2nd wireless communication part 203 1st 3 wireless communication unit 204 terminal communication resource reservation allocation unit 205 terminal communication resource management unit 206 terminal communication control unit 207 terminal mediation management unit 30 connection mediation device 301 connection request reception unit 302 mediation request destination terminal discovery unit 303 connection destination acceptance confirmation reservation unit 304 Intermediary terminal communication resource reservation unit 305 Communication resource management unit 306 Communication control unit 307 Terminal handover unit 308 Connection establishment request unit 309 Mediation relay unit 310 Charge management unit 40 Mobile device information collection server in tag spot area 50 Connection request device 501 Connection Request side communication unit 50 Connection request setting management unit 503 connected requesting resource storage unit

Claims (9)

In response to a connection request from a connection requesting device outside the tag spot area of the wireless tag device using short-range communication, the communication terminal device existing in the tag spot area is searched, and the wireless communication device is connected via the communication terminal device. A connection mediating device that establishes a connection between the tag device and the connection requesting device and mediates and relays communication,
Other communication discovered in the tag spot area when the time obtained by subtracting the residence time in the tag spot area of the communication terminal device establishing the connection from the statistical average residence time is equal to or less than a predetermined time. A connection mediating apparatus comprising terminal handover means for performing handover to a terminal apparatus.   The terminal handover unit is configured to detect another communication terminal discovered in the tag spot area when the radio field intensity of the RFID tag device measured by the communication terminal device that has established the connection falls below a certain value. 2. The connection mediating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein handover is performed to the apparatus.   3. The terminal handover unit according to claim 1, wherein the terminal handover means targets another communication terminal apparatus for which a specific time has elapsed since entering the tag spot area. The connection mediation device according to item.   When a connection request is received from the connection requesting device, if the number of communication terminal devices existing in the tag spot area that have already been relayed has reached the average number of communication terminal devices, the connection is rejected. The connection mediating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein:   An intermediary terminal communication resource reservation means for independently allocating communication resources of the communication terminal apparatus that performs transmission and reception for data resource relay between the connection request apparatus and the RFID tag apparatus for each connection request of the connection request apparatus The connection mediating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the connection mediating apparatus is provided.   6. The connection according to claim 5, wherein the communication resource is a premium best effort allocation with an upper limit that dynamically changes the total of the communication resources with the communication resource installed in the communication terminal device as an upper limit. Mediation device.   The communication terminal device pays the communication resource reservation fee, the communication resource usage fee, and the delivery fee of the packet relayed using the communication resource from the connection request device or the wireless tag device to the communication terminal device. The connection mediating apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a charge management unit that performs a charge process for the connection. A wireless tag device that provides various services using near field communication;
A connection requesting device that uses the service of the wireless tag device;
A communication terminal device arbitrarily present inside and outside the tag spot area of the wireless tag device; and
In response to a connection request from the connection requesting device, a communication terminal device existing in the tag spot area of the wireless tag device is searched, and between the wireless tag device and the connection requesting device via the communication terminal device. When establishing a connection and relaying communication, and when the time obtained by subtracting the residence time in the tag spot area of the communication terminal device that established the connection from the statistical average residence time is equal to or less than a predetermined time, A connection mediation system comprising: a connection mediation device for handing over to another communication terminal device discovered in the tag spot area and maintaining mediation relay. In response to a connection request from a connection requesting device outside the tag spot area of the wireless tag device using short-range communication, the communication terminal device existing in the tag spot area is searched, and the wireless communication device is connected via the communication terminal device. A connection mediating method for establishing a connection between a tag device and the connection requesting device and mediating and relaying communication,
Other communication discovered in the tag spot area when the time obtained by subtracting the residence time in the tag spot area of the communication terminal device establishing the connection from the statistical average residence time is equal to or less than a predetermined time. A connection mediating method comprising a step of handing over to a terminal device.

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