JP2008061034A - Wireless communication device and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication device and method which perform stable communications according to variation in communication load or communication quality, for two or more communication facilities. <P>SOLUTION: The wireless communication device includes; a wireless communication section for transmitting sound or picture information by carrying out communication on a respective condition by means of a first wireless receiving set, a second wireless receiving set, a Bluetooth (R) and the like; a wireless communication load detection section for detecting the variation in communication load of the wireless communication section; and a wireless communication condition setting section for changing at least one communication condition of either the first wireless receiving set, or that of the second radio receiving set, when the variation in communication load is detected by the wireless communication load detection section. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a wireless communication apparatus and a wireless communication method for changing communication settings.

  Recently, the development and popularization of digital wireless communication technology has been remarkable. For example, wireless audio devices using Bluetooth (registered trademark) are known. Such a wireless audio transmission / reception system using Bluetooth (registered trademark) has been basically realized as a device that performs audio streaming between one transmitter and one receiver.

On the other hand, Patent Document 1 shows an audio player that performs wireless connection with a plurality of headphones. The headphones receive transmission data by a receiving device, store the data in a data buffer, sequentially read out, and drive a speaker.
JP 2002-112383 A.

  However, although the prior art of Patent Document 1 performs communication for a plurality of headphones, even if the communication load or communication quality changes, a method corresponding to this has not been shown.

  An object of this invention is to provide the radio | wireless communication apparatus and radio | wireless communication method which perform the stable communication according to the change of communication load or communication quality with respect to several communication apparatus.

As one embodiment to solve the problem,
A wireless communication unit that communicates with the first wireless reception device and the second wireless reception device with Bluetooth (registered trademark) under predetermined communication conditions, and transmits audio information;
A wireless communication load detection unit for detecting a change in communication load of the wireless communication unit;
A wireless communication quality detection unit for detecting a change in communication quality of the wireless communication unit;
If there is a change in the communication load detected by the wireless communication load detection unit or the communication quality detected by the wireless communication quality detection unit, the communication condition with the first wireless reception device or the second wireless reception device A wireless communication apparatus comprising a wireless communication condition setting unit that changes at least one of communication conditions is shown.

  Provided are a wireless communication device and a wireless communication method for performing stable communication according to a change in communication load and communication quality for a plurality of communication devices.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication device and a wireless reception device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an electrical configuration of the wireless communication device and the wireless reception device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an electrical configuration of the wireless reception device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the communication setting change process of the wireless communication apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a relationship between communication load and communication quality and communication settings in the wireless communication apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

<Radio Communication Device and Radio Reception Device According to One Embodiment of the Present Invention>
(Configuration and operation of wireless communication device and wireless receiving device)
First, an example of the configuration of a wireless communication device and a wireless reception device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. A wireless communication device 1 and a wireless reception device 3 according to an embodiment of the present invention have an appearance as shown in FIG. 1 and, as shown in FIG. ROM 12 that stores programs for controlling operations, RAM 13 that stores processing data and programs, management information, etc., and is used as a work area necessary for operations, and stores reproducible audio information. An audio storage unit 14 using a flash memory or a tens of GB hard disk, an operation unit 15 capable of performing operations such as selection of sound volume and audio file, setting of communication conditions with a wireless reception device to be communicated, etc. Have.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the wireless communication apparatus 1 performs a display unit 16 having a user interface function of the audio player such as display of operation information and information such as the title of the audio file, demodulation of the audio file, adjustment of sound quality, and the like. Communication conditions with the audio processing unit 17, for example, a wireless communication unit 18 that performs wireless communication between devices such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), a wireless communication load detection unit 21 that detects a change in communication load of wireless communication, and communication conditions with the wireless reception device. A wireless communication condition setting unit 19 to be set, a communication quality detection unit 22 for detecting communication quality with a wireless reception device, a signal input / output terminal such as USB (registered trademark) (Universal Serial Bus), line-in or headphone out A certain wired communication unit 20 is included.

  The above-described wireless communication device 1 uses, for example, a function such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) of the wireless communication unit 18 to send audio to a wireless reception device (e.g., wireless headphones), which will be described later, existing in the communication range near the wireless communication device 1. By providing information, the user can listen to music and the like with wireless headphones.

  In addition, the above-described wireless receiving device 3 receives voice information by communicating with the wireless communication device 1 and the like existing in the nearby communication range by the wireless communication function such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) of the wireless communication unit 18. Then, it can be demodulated and music etc. can be heard using the connected headphones 4 or the like.

(Another form of wireless receiver)
Next, the configuration of the wireless reception device 2 having the speaker unit shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. As an example, the wireless reception device 2 is a wireless headphone. For example, the wireless reception device 2 receives audio information or the like from the wireless communication device 1 by a wireless communication function such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) and reproduces the sound with the headphones.

  As shown in FIG. 3, such a wireless reception device 2 stores a CPU 31 that controls the overall processing operation, a ROM 32 that stores programs, and the like, processing data, programs, management information, and the like. Operation capable of performing operations such as RAM 33, audio storage unit 34 temporarily storing received audio information, volume and sound file selection, setting of communication conditions with a wireless communication device or the like to be communicated A portion 35 is provided. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the wireless receiver 2 includes a display unit 36 for displaying information such as operation information and a title of an audio file, an audio processing unit 37 for demodulating an audio file, adjusting sound quality, and the like. 37, a speaker unit 38 that outputs sound in response to an audio signal from 37, a wireless communication unit 39 that performs wireless communication between devices such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), and a wireless communication condition setting that sets communication conditions with a wireless communication device Part 40.

(Communication condition change processing of wireless communication device)
Next, a communication condition changing process when the wireless communication device 1 communicates with the wireless reception devices 2 and 3 will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 4 and the explanatory diagram of FIG. Note that each step of the flowchart of FIG. 4 below can be replaced with a circuit block, and therefore, all the steps of each flowchart can be redefined as a block.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 4, when the audio player (wireless communication device 1) is connected to one or more audio receivers (wireless receivers 2, 3, etc.) and the streaming operation starts, this flowchart is started.

  First, it is determined whether or not there is a change in the number of connected devices in a situation where streaming is being performed on one or more receivers (step S11). For example, this determination is Yes when a connection establishment procedure with a new receiver is started or when a connection release procedure with a receiver that is already connected and performing streaming playback is started. In the case of Yes, it progresses to step S12.

  Next, it is determined whether or not there is at least one connected device after the number of connected devices changes (step S12). Here, if there is no unit, communication setting is unnecessary, so the process proceeds to the end, and the process is terminated. In the case of Yes here, the process proceeds to step S16 in order to perform the communication setting update process according to the change in the number of connected units. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the number of receiving devices is changed from 1 to 2.

In step S16, a communication setting update process is executed by the function of the wireless communication load detection unit 21, and then the process proceeds to step S11 to continue the process. Various methods can be used to change the communication setting, but any method can be used as long as it reduces the processing load of the own device.

・ Communication setting change method This example will be described as an example of communication setting change in FIG.
In general, since the processing load is higher when the sampling frequency is higher, it is preferable to reduce the processing load by changing the sampling frequency of wireless communication, for example, by changing 44.1 KHz to 32 KHz.

  In general, since stereo and monaural have a higher processing load, it is also preferable to reduce the processing load by switching the stereo system for wireless communication to the monaural system. It is also preferable to reduce the processing load by reducing the overhead per packet by changing the packet size of wireless communication, for example, changing 200 bytes to 1000 bytes.

  A method of changing the sampling frequency of wireless communication and a method of switching the stereo method of wireless communication to the monaural method may be combined and performed simultaneously.

  In addition, it is preferable to combine these methods as appropriate, but the processing load can be similarly reduced by appropriately changing another communication setting.

  In addition, if the processing load of the machine that causes the change of the communication setting is reduced again, the communication setting is returned to the original value or the communication setting is reset to a value corresponding to the processing load. Is preferred.

  Returning to the flowchart again, a case will be described in which the change determination of the number of connected devices in the previous step S11 is No. In this case, the process proceeds to step S13, and it is determined whether or not the processing load of the own machine exceeds a predetermined value.

Here, as one factor that changes the processing load of the own device, BER (Bit Error Rate) of wireless communication can be cited. This is because when BER rises, processing required for error correction increases. As an example of an increase in BER, there is a case where the processing load increases from 10 ⁻⁴ to 10 ⁻³ as shown in FIG. Note that since BER is an index indicating communication quality, the wireless communication quality detection unit may detect this and determine whether to change communication settings.

  Further, the processing load of the own device is expressed as, for example, the CPU usage rate of the CPU 11 of the wireless communication device 1, and as an example, it is preferable that the usage rate increases from 20% to 80% as shown in FIG. The usage rate of the CPU may be an average usage rate for a predetermined time (such as 5 minutes).

  In the case of Yes, if the communication setting is not changed so as to reduce the processing load, good streaming cannot be maintained, so that the process proceeds to step S16 and the communication setting update process as described above is executed.

  In the case of No in step S13, the process proceeds to step S14, and whether the content to be streamed is going to change, for example, accompanied with a change in encoding method or encoding parameter, which affects the processing load of the own device. It is determined whether or not.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the content A that is currently being streamed to the audio receiver 2 (wireless receiver 2) using the MP3 codec (codec) is stored in the audio storage unit 14 after being encoded with the MP3 codec. If both the audio player 1 (wireless communication apparatus 1) and the audio receiver 2 support the transmission using the MP3 method, the audio processing unit 17 of the audio player 1 re-encodes to another encoding method. The stored MP3 content A can be transmitted. However, when the content B to be reproduced next is encoded in a PCM format in which at least one of the audio player 1 and the audio receiver 2 is not compatible with transmission, another content for transmission such as MP3 is used. This is a case where it is necessary to operate and transmit an encoder that converts to an encoding method.

  Similarly, let us consider a case in which both the audio player 1 and the audio receiver 2 are compatible with SBC (Sub Band Codec) transmission but not AAC transmission. As shown in FIG. 5, the content C that is currently being streamed to the audio receiver 2 using the SBC codec is stored in the audio storage unit 14 after being encoded with the SBC codec, and thus stored without operating the encoder. However, since the content D to be reproduced next is stored in the AAC format, both the SBC encoder and the like are converted into an encoding method corresponding to transmission. This is a case where it is necessary to operate the encoder to be transmitted.

  In such a case, since the processing load is increased by operating the MP3 encoder or the SBC encoder, it is necessary to change the communication setting as described above so that the processing load of the own device does not exceed the predetermined value. There is. In such a case, it is determined Yes and the process proceeds to step S16, and communication setting update processing is executed. Or, the same content is transmitted to a plurality of receivers with the same encoding parameter, and only one encoder is operated, but different content must be transmitted in response to a song change request from a certain receiver. Even when there are no more cases, the processing load increases in order to operate two encoders, and a communication setting update process is required.

  In the case of No in step S14, the process proceeds to step S15, and it is determined whether or not the communication quality with each receiver has changed. Here, the change in communication quality refers to, for example, a situation in which there is a radio wave shielding object between the audio player and the receiver, or jitter of a transmitted data packet due to interference from other devices ( Jitter) is increased from 10 msec to 100 msec as in the example of FIG. Alternatively, it is detected that a situation has occurred in which transmission at a desired bit rate is not possible, for example, when the transmittable bandwidth of the wireless communication portion is reduced from 300 kbps to 100 kbps as in the example of FIG.

  In addition, the communication setting is also changed by taking a change in a good direction as observed by the reduction of jitter, for example, from the removal of this adverse effect.

  If the communication quality deteriorates, it is necessary to change the communication settings to obtain the best playback state according to the bad conditions. If the communication quality is improved, the playback state is better than the current state. Change the communication settings. For this reason, when a change in communication quality occurs and it is determined Yes, the process proceeds to step S16, and the communication setting update process described above is executed.

  If No in step S15, the process proceeds to step S17. In step S17, it is determined whether one or more counterpart devices exist. If Yes, the process proceeds to step S11, and the process is continued. In the case of No, since communication setting is unnecessary, the process proceeds to the end, and the process is terminated.

  In this way, in a system that performs audio streaming from a single transmitter to a plurality of receivers by using the communication condition setting method according to an embodiment of the present invention, under the restrictions placed on the system. Streaming quality can be improved.

  In the above-described embodiment, the communication condition changing process in the wireless communication apparatus 1 has been described. However, it is preferable that the wireless receiving apparatuses 2 and 3 perform the same communication condition changing process.

  In the above-described embodiment, in the wireless communication device 1, the communication condition changing process targets a plurality of communication conditions corresponding to each of the wireless receiving devices 2, 3,. Although it is preferable to change the conditions independently, it is also preferable to change a plurality of communication conditions uniformly at the same time according to the user's settings.

  With the various embodiments described above, those skilled in the art can realize the present invention. However, it is easy for those skilled in the art to come up with various modifications of these embodiments, and have the inventive ability. It is possible to apply to various embodiments at least. Therefore, the present invention covers a wide range consistent with the disclosed principle and novel features, and is not limited to the above-described embodiments.

  In particular, this embodiment describes a wireless communication device and a wireless reception device that communicate audio information, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, image information that changes communication conditions according to a communication load or the like is communicated. The present invention can also be applied to a wireless communication device and a wireless reception device.

Explanatory drawing which shows an example of the radio | wireless communication apparatus and radio | wireless receiving apparatus which concern on one Embodiment of this invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an electrical configuration of a wireless communication device and a wireless reception device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The block diagram which shows an example of the electrical constitution of the radio | wireless receiver which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of communication setting change processing of the wireless communication apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. Explanatory drawing which shows an example of the relationship between the communication load in the radio | wireless communication apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention, communication quality, and communication setting.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Audio player, 2 ... Headphone with a wireless communication function, 3 ... Wireless receiver, 4 ... Headphone.

Claims (13)

A wireless communication unit that communicates with each of the first wireless reception device and the second wireless reception device by wireless communication under predetermined communication conditions and transmits audio or image information;
A wireless communication load detection unit for detecting a change in communication load of the wireless communication unit;
Wireless communication condition setting for changing at least one of a communication condition with the first wireless reception device or a communication condition with the second wireless reception device if there is a change in the communication load detected by the wireless communication load detection unit A wireless communication device. A wireless communication unit that communicates with the first wireless receiving device and the second wireless receiving device by wireless communication under predetermined communication conditions and transmits audio or image information;
A wireless communication quality detection unit for detecting a change in communication quality of the wireless communication unit;
If there is a change in the communication quality detected by the wireless communication quality detection unit, wireless communication condition setting for changing at least one of a communication condition with the first wireless reception device or a communication condition with the second wireless reception device A wireless communication device.   The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the change in the communication load is a change in the number of wireless reception apparatuses to be communicated.   The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the change in the communication load is a change in a value of a communication BER (Bit Error Rate).   The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the change in the communication load is a change in a usage rate of a CPU that performs transmission processing of the wireless communication unit.   The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the change in communication quality is a change in a transmittable band of the wireless communication unit.   The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication condition to be changed is a sampling frequency of the audio information transmitted by the wireless communication unit.   The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication condition to be changed is a stereo or monaural system of the audio information transmitted by the wireless communication unit.   The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication condition to be changed is a packet size of the voice information transmitted by the wireless communication unit. A communication method by wireless communication between the first wireless reception device and the second wireless reception device and the wireless communication device,
The first wireless reception device and the second wireless reception device and the wireless communication device communicate with each other under predetermined communication conditions by wireless communication, and transmit voice or image information.
Detecting a change in communication load at the time of transmission;
When there is a change in the communication load, at least one of a communication condition with the first wireless reception apparatus or a communication condition with the second wireless reception apparatus is changed.   The wireless communication method according to claim 10, wherein the change in the communication load is a change in the number of wireless reception devices targeted by the wireless communication device. A communication method by wireless communication between the first wireless reception device and the second wireless reception device and the wireless communication device,
The first wireless reception device and the second wireless reception device and the wireless communication device communicate with each other under predetermined communication conditions by wireless communication, and transmit voice or image information.
Detecting a change in communication quality at the time of transmission;
If there is a change in the communication quality, at least one of a communication condition with the first wireless reception apparatus or a communication condition with the second wireless reception apparatus is changed.   The wireless communication method according to claim 12, wherein the change in communication quality is a change in a transmittable band at the time of transmission.

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