JP2006197122A - Wireless lan terminal device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a wireless LAN terminal device capable of confirming a connectable wireless LAN base station. <P>SOLUTION: The wireless LAN terminal device 10 has a receiving means 11a for receiving a beacon notified from wireless LAN base station devices 1a, 1b, an information element analyzing means 12 for analyzing information elements in the beacon received by the receiving means 11a, a connection deciding means which executes connection judgements in between the wireless LAN base station devices 1a, 1b on the basis of the analysis results by the information element analyzing means 12, and a connection decision notifying means 18 for notifying a user of the decision results obtained by the connection decision means 15. At a result, it is possible to quickly and easily detect the wireless LAN base station device wirelessly connectable or suitable for wireless connection in a wireless LAN system, and consequently, waste of time can be avoided. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  In the present invention, when an area covered by a wireless LAN (Wireless Local Area Network) base station is not clear, the wireless LAN base station covers an area before establishing a wireless connection, or even establishes a wireless connection. It is related with the wireless LAN terminal device used in order to confirm whether it is a suitable wireless LAN base station.

  The reach of wireless LAN radio waves is determined by frequency, transmission output, etc., and is generally shorter than mobile phones and the like, and is easily affected by obstacles. For this reason, the area covered by the wireless LAN base station is often not clear. In recent years, standardization of wireless LAN systems has progressed one after another, and various wireless LAN base stations with different versions are mixed. This trend is expected to continue over the next several years.

  In order for a user carrying an information terminal to use a wireless LAN system, the information terminal including the wireless LAN card must be turned on and wireless connection processing must be performed within the area covered by the wireless LAN base station. In general, the user turns off the power outside the area covered by the wireless LAN base station in order to save the battery of the information terminal. In general, an information terminal such as a personal computer requires a certain time until it can be operated after power-on.

  Since the area covered by the wireless LAN base station is not clear, the user turns on the power of the information terminal such as a personal computer equipped with the wireless LAN card to check whether it is within the area covered by the connectable wireless LAN base station. Must. At this time, if it is outside the area covered by the wireless LAN base station, there is a problem that it leads to waste of time and the battery of the information terminal.

  As a tool for solving this problem, there is a small power saving detector (Non-Patent Document 1) that can detect a 2.4 GHz band radio wave, which is the same as the wireless LAN system before powering on an information terminal such as a personal computer. It becomes possible to easily confirm the presence or absence of a 2.4 GHz band radio wave.

Kensington, “WiFi Finder”, [online], [Search December 8, 2004], Internet <http://www.kensington.com/html/3720.html>

  In the above-described conventional technology, it is possible to confirm the presence / absence of a 2.4 GHz band radio wave, but only the presence / absence of a 2.4 GHz band radio wave is detected. It is not possible to discriminate what is not a wireless LAN base station that uses radio waves in the band, and there are two versions of IEEE802.11b and IEEE802.11g even in the 2.4 GHz band wireless LAN, so you can connect with a wireless LAN card owned by the user Cannot determine whether it is possible. Furthermore, even if it is a connectable wireless LAN radio wave, there are various problems such as being unable to determine whether the security protection is applied and not being able to determine whether the wireless LAN base station is allowed to connect. In order to confirm that it is a wireless LAN base station that has been transmitted from the LAN base station and can be connected, it is necessary to turn on the information terminal equipped with the wireless LAN card and try to establish a wireless connection. When the wireless LAN base station is out of the area covered, there is a problem that time and information terminal batteries are wasted.

  Furthermore, in recent years, dual band wireless LAN cards supporting not only the 2.4 GHz band but also the 5 GHz band have been commercialized one after another, and thus a tool corresponding to the dual band is required.

  The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and confirms the area covered by the wireless LAN base station and whether it is possible to establish a wireless connection with the wireless LAN base station. The purpose is to receive a control signal (beacon) broadcasted by the wireless LAN base station, confirm that the received power value is within the area covered by the wireless LAN base station, and analyze the received control signal (beacon). It is an object of the present invention to provide a wireless LAN terminal device that can confirm that it is a connectable wireless LAN base station.

  Furthermore, by realizing without using the transmission function, not only power saving is measured, but also cost reduction is achieved by eliminating the need for technical standard conformity certification (TELEC application).

  Claim 1 is a wireless LAN terminal device in a wireless LAN network having one or a plurality of wireless LAN base station devices and a wireless LAN terminal device, receiving means for receiving a beacon notified from the wireless LAN base station device; Information element analyzing means for analyzing information elements in the beacon received by the receiving means, connection determining means for making a connection determination with the wireless LAN base station apparatus based on an analysis result by the information element analyzing means, It has a connection determination notification means for notifying the user of the determination result of the connection determination means.

  In claim 1, the wireless LAN base station apparatus periodically broadcasts a control signal called a beacon composed of a plurality of information elements, and the wireless LAN terminal apparatus has no transmission means and receives this beacon. It has only functions. When receiving the beacon, the wireless LAN terminal device analyzes information elements in the beacon and determines whether the wireless LAN base station device is a connectable wireless LAN base station device. As a determination criterion, a wireless LAN network is recognized by referring to a Service Set ID (SSID) which is one of information elements, and a version of the wireless LAN (IEEE802.11b) is referred to by referring to Supported Rates which is one of information elements. IEEE802.11g), refer to CF Parameter Set, which is one of information elements, determine the QoS service status of the wireless LAN base station apparatus, and refer to DS Parameter Set, which is one of information elements The channel number being used. Then, the determination result can be notified to the user or the information terminal by lighting of LED, sound, vibration of vibrator, radio wave of FM or RFID, and the like. In addition, since the wireless LAN terminal device does not have a transmission unit, it is possible to reduce the cost by saving power and eliminating the need for technical standard conformity certification.

  Claim 2 is a wireless LAN terminal device in a wireless LAN network having one or a plurality of wireless LAN base station devices and wireless LAN terminal devices, and receiving means for receiving a beacon notified from the wireless LAN base station device and transmission A wireless communication means comprising means, an information element analyzing means for analyzing an information element in a beacon received by the receiving means, and the wireless LAN base station apparatus based on an analysis result by the information element analyzing means. Connection determining means for performing connection determination, an information processing section for processing information from the wireless LAN base station device, and power to the transmitting means and the information processing section only when the connection determining means determines that connection is possible It has a power management means for turning it on.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, the wireless LAN terminal device incorporates an information processing unit specialized for a certain function, replacing the conventional information terminal. IP telephones and audio players can be considered as specialized functions. In a wireless LAN terminal device having an information processing unit as an IP phone, in a standby state, the power source of the IP telephone processing unit (information processing unit) and the transmission means of the wireless communication unit is turned off, and the wireless LAN base station as in claim 1 If it is possible to determine whether it can be connected to the apparatus, the IP telephone processing unit (information processing unit) and the transmission means can be turned on to function as an IP telephone. Further, in this wireless LAN terminal device compatible with IP telephones, as in the case of claim 1, the wireless LAN base station apparatus confirms the support status of the QoS service to determine whether it is suitable for an environment using IP telephones. It becomes possible to confirm before turning on the power of the unit. Further, immediately after the wireless LAN terminal device is turned on, the IP phone processing unit is turned off. After confirming whether the wireless LAN base station device is suitable for using the IP phone, the IP phone processing unit It is possible to save power by turning on the power, and it is also possible to save power by specializing the function to an IP phone.

  A wireless LAN terminal apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the wireless LAN terminal apparatus includes a receiving means corresponding to a plurality of frequencies, a frequency detecting means for detecting a frequency of a radio wave transmitted by the wireless LAN base station apparatus, and the frequency detecting means. It is characterized by having connection determination means for adding the frequency detected by the above to the determination material.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the wireless LAN terminal device according to the second aspect of the present invention, a wireless communication unit including a reception unit and a transmission unit corresponding to a plurality of frequencies and a frequency of a radio wave transmitted by the wireless LAN base station device are detected. And a connection determination unit that adds the frequency detected by the frequency detection unit to the determination material.

  In Claims 3 and 4, since the wireless LAN terminal device supports a plurality of frequencies, it is possible to determine not only information elements in the beacon but also wireless LAN versions (IEEE802.11a, IEEE802.11g) having different frequencies. It becomes.

  5. The wireless LAN terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the wireless LAN terminal apparatus includes a received power measuring unit that measures a received power value, and a connection determination in which the received power value measured by the received power measuring unit is added to a determination material. It has the means.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to estimate the communication quality of the radio wave of the wireless LAN by providing the reception power measuring means in the wireless LAN terminal device, and add the communication quality to the determination criterion as to whether it is suitable for the wireless connection. It becomes possible.

  6. The wireless LAN terminal apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the wireless LAN network includes a plurality of wireless LAN base station apparatuses, and connection determination results for storing connection determination results for the respective wireless LAN base station apparatuses. Storage means and wireless LAN base station apparatus selection means for selecting an optimal wireless LAN base station apparatus from the connection determination result stored in the connection determination result storage means.

  In claim 6, when simultaneously being in an area covered by a plurality of wireless LAN base station devices, by temporarily storing the determination results for each wireless LAN base station device in the connection determination result storage means, It becomes possible to compare and select which wireless LAN base station device is suitable for establishing a wireless connection.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the wireless LAN terminal device according to the sixth aspect, the wireless LAN base station apparatus includes a priority order registration unit that registers a priority order as a selection material in advance in the wireless LAN base station device selection unit.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, it is possible to register in advance by a user the wireless LAN base station device to be preferentially selected from the determination result temporarily stored in the connection determination result storage means.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to detect a wireless LAN base station apparatus that can be wirelessly connected easily or is suitable for wireless connection in a wireless LAN system, and avoids wasting time and suppresses power consumption. Become.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that components having the same function are denoted by the same reference symbols throughout the drawings for describing the embodiment, and the repetitive description thereof will be omitted.

(First embodiment)
An embodiment of a wireless terminal device of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. This form corresponds to claims 1, 3, 5, 6, and 7.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the system of this embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the wireless LAN terminal device 10 capable of wireless communication with the wireless LAN base station devices 1a and 1b that regularly notify the beacon as a control signal has a certain frequency (for example, 2.4 GHz band). Receiving means 11b corresponding to a frequency (for example, 5 GHz band) different from the receiving means 11a corresponding to the above, information element analyzing means 12 for analyzing the information element in the received beacon, and frequency detecting means for detecting the frequency of the received radio wave 13, the received power measuring means 14 for measuring the received power, the analysis result by the information element analyzing means 12, the frequency detection result by the frequency detecting means 13, and the received power measurement result by the received power measuring means 14, based on the wireless LAN base station apparatus 1a. Alternatively, connection determination means 15 for determining whether 1b is wirelessly connectable or suitable for wireless connection, and connection determination means 15 Connection determination result storage means 16 for storing the disconnection result for each of the wireless LAN base station apparatuses 1a and 1b, and a wireless LAN base for establishing a wireless connection based on the connection determination result stored in the connection determination result storage means 16 The wireless LAN base station apparatus selecting means 17 for selecting a station apparatus, and the connection determination notifying means 18 for notifying the wireless LAN base station apparatus 1a or 1b selected by the wireless LAN base station apparatus selecting means 17 are provided. It is also possible for the user to specify the selection criteria in the wireless LAN base station device selection means 17 in the form of priority information 19 or the like. The receiving means 11a and 11b operate while switching periodically.

  That is, in this example, the wireless LAN terminal device 10 can reduce the cost by suppressing the power consumption by eliminating the transmission means and eliminating the need for technical standard conformity certification. The wireless LAN system adopting the 2.4 GHz band (IEEE802.11b, IEEE802.11b) is provided by having receiving means 11a and 11b corresponding to the frequency bands of 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, and periodically switching between them. .11g) and wireless LAN systems (IEEE802.11a) that employ the 5 GHz band, and support up to 11 Mbps by referring to Supported Rates, which is one of the information elements in the received beacon. It is possible to discriminate between IEEE802.11b and IEEE802.11g that support a maximum of 54 Mbps. Similarly, by referring to the CF Parameter Set that is one of the information elements in the received beacon, it is possible to determine the QoS service support status of the wireless LAN base station apparatuses 1a and 1b. Similarly, it is possible to determine the channel number used by referring to the DS Parameter Set which is one of the information elements in the received beacon. Simultaneously, the received power value is measured by the received power measuring means 14 so that the communication quality can be estimated. These pieces of information are only useful for determining whether a wireless connection with the wireless LAN base station apparatuses 1a and 1b can be established in accordance with the status of the wireless LAN card provided in the information terminal held by the user corresponding to each wireless LAN system. In addition, it is useful for determining whether communication quality is suitable by estimating the communication quality from the received power value, and when the function of the information terminal requires a QoS service such as reception of IP phone or video streaming, the wireless LAN base station This is useful for determining whether to establish a wireless connection with the devices 1a and 1b. Further, even if the wireless LAN base station apparatus is performing connection restriction, the wireless LAN base station apparatuses 1a and 1b are referred to by referring to an SSID (Service Set ID) which is one of information elements in the beacon. It is possible to determine whether a wireless connection to is permitted. Further, even in an environment where a plurality of wireless LAN base station devices 1a and 1b that are capable of wireless connection or are suitable for wireless connection exist at the same time, the information of the wireless LAN base station devices 1a and 1b is stored in the connection determination result storage unit 16. It is possible to select a wireless connection destination from a plurality of wireless LAN base station apparatuses 1a and 1b by temporarily storing them. At this time, if the user designates the priority order of the connection destination in advance as the priority order information 19 by SSID or the like, the user can select the wireless LAN base station apparatus 1a, 1b most suitable for wireless connection or wireless connection. It becomes possible to select the wireless LAN base station apparatuses 1a and 1b having a high priority. As a method of notifying the user by the connection judgment notifying means 18, it can be considered that there is a wireless LAN base station device that can be wirelessly connected, such as light such as LED, infrared light, beep sound, vibration by a vibrator, and the like. In addition, by transmitting radio waves such as FM and RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification), an information terminal equipped with a corresponding receiver can be automatically activated. In addition, a liquid crystal display is mounted on the wireless LAN terminal device 10, and various information (type of wireless LAN system, received power value, QoS support status, SSID, channel number, etc. ) In order according to the priority order, it is also conceivable that the user selects the wireless LAN base station apparatuses 1a and 1b as wireless connection destinations.

(Second Embodiment)
One embodiment of the wireless terminal device of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. This form corresponds to claims 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the system of this embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the wireless LAN terminal device 20 includes wireless communication means 22a and 22b including reception means 11a and 11b corresponding to different frequencies and transmission means 21a and 21b that are turned off in a standby state. And a power management means 23 for turning on one of the transmission means 21a and 21b when detecting one of the wireless LAN base station devices 1a and 1b suitable for wireless connection or suitable for wireless connection, and simultaneously in a standby state An information processing unit 24 that performs information processing from power OFF to power ON is provided. The other points are the same as in the first embodiment.

  That is, in this example, the information processing unit 24 is specialized for a certain function such as an IP phone or an audio player, not an information terminal such as a normal notebook personal computer or PDA, so that wireless connection is possible or wireless connection is possible. Only when a suitable wireless LAN base station is detected, the power of the transmission means 21a or 21b and the information processing unit 24 can be turned on to save power, and the power consumption of the information processing unit 24 can also be suppressed. It becomes. Further, it is only necessary to turn on one power source in accordance with the wireless LAN base station apparatuses 1a and 1b that have also detected a plurality of transmission means 21a and 21b, and power saving can be achieved.

  Each means of the first and second embodiments may be configured by an electronic circuit, or a part or all of it may be configured by a program stored in the CPU and the storage device.

  The first and second embodiments described above are merely illustrative of the present invention and are not intended to be limiting, and the present invention can be implemented in various other modifications and changes. . Therefore, the scope of the present invention is defined only by the claims and their equivalents.

It is a block diagram which shows the system configuration | structure of 1st Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the system configuration | structure of 2nd Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1a ... LAN base station apparatus, b ... LAN base station apparatus, 10 ... Wireless LAN terminal apparatus, 11a ... Reception means, 11b ... Reception means, 12 ... Information element analysis means, 13 ... Frequency detection means, 14 ... Received power measurement means , 15 ... connection determination means, 16 ... connection determination result storage means, 17 ... wireless LAN base station apparatus selection means, 18 ... connection determination notification means, 19 ... priority order information, 20 ... wireless LAN terminal apparatus, 21a ... transmission means, 21b ... Transmission means, 22a ... Wireless communication means, 22b ... Wireless communication means, 23 ... Power management means, 24 ... Information processing section

Claims (7)

A wireless LAN terminal device in a wireless LAN network having one or a plurality of wireless LAN base station devices and a wireless LAN terminal device,
Receiving means for receiving a beacon notified from the wireless LAN base station device;
Information element analyzing means for analyzing information elements in the beacon received by the receiving means;
Connection determination means for determining connection with the wireless LAN base station device based on the analysis result by the information element analysis means;
A wireless LAN terminal device comprising connection determination notification means for notifying a user of the determination result of the connection determination means. A wireless LAN terminal device in a wireless LAN network having one or a plurality of wireless LAN base station devices and a wireless LAN terminal device,
A wireless communication means comprising a receiving means and a transmitting means for receiving a beacon notified from the wireless LAN base station device;
Information element analyzing means for analyzing information elements in the beacon received by the receiving means;
Connection determination means for determining connection with the wireless LAN base station device based on the analysis result by the information element analysis means;
An information processing unit for processing information from the wireless LAN base station device;
A wireless LAN terminal device comprising power management means for turning on the power of the transmission means and the information processing unit only when the connection judgment means judges that connection is possible. The wireless LAN terminal device according to claim 1, wherein
Receiving means corresponding to a plurality of frequencies;
Frequency detecting means for detecting the frequency of the radio wave transmitted by the wireless LAN base station device;
A wireless LAN terminal device comprising: a connection determination unit that adds a frequency detected by the frequency detection unit to a determination material. The wireless LAN terminal device according to claim 2,
Wireless communication means composed of reception means and transmission means corresponding to a plurality of frequencies;
Frequency detecting means for detecting the frequency of the radio wave transmitted by the wireless LAN base station device;
A wireless LAN terminal device comprising: a connection determination unit that adds a frequency detected by the frequency detection unit to a determination material. The wireless LAN terminal device according to claim 1,
A received power measuring means for measuring a received power value;
A wireless LAN terminal apparatus comprising: a connection determination unit that adds a reception power value measured by the reception power measurement unit to a determination material. The wireless LAN terminal device according to claim 1,
The wireless LAN network has a plurality of wireless LAN base station devices,
Connection determination result storage means for storing a connection determination result for each wireless LAN base station device;
A wireless LAN terminal apparatus comprising: a wireless LAN base station apparatus selecting means for selecting an optimal wireless LAN base station apparatus for establishing a wireless connection from a connection determination result stored in the connection determination result storage means. In the wireless LAN terminal device according to claim 6,
A wireless LAN terminal apparatus comprising priority order registering means for registering a priority order as a selection material in advance in the wireless LAN base station apparatus selecting means.

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