JP2008118599A - Communication apparatus, communication control method, and communication control program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication apparatus, a communication control method, a communication control program, with high-convenience communication control technology. <P>SOLUTION: A candidate acquisition part 41 of a game device 18 acquires a plurality of candidates of the identifier of its own device to be set as a destination when a game device of communication party transmits data to its own device through network. A candidate notifying part notifies the acquired candidate to the game device of communication party. A response receiving part 43 receives response data transmitted from the game device of communication party. An identifier determination part 44 determines the identifier to be set as the destination in the succeeding communications from the candidates set as the destination to the received response data. An identifier notifying part 45 notifies the determined identifier to the game device of communication party. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication control technique, and more particularly, to a communication device, a communication control method, and a communication control program for controlling communication between terminals via a network.

  Development of network infrastructure such as the Internet is progressing, and it is now possible to enjoy competitive games and chats between game terminals via the network. As a communication method between game terminals, peer-to-peer (P2P) that directly communicates between terminals without using a server is generally used.

  Game devices are often connected to the Internet via a router, but since there are various port usage policies and packet filtering policies depending on the router, the router to which the device is connected and the communication partner device Depending on the combination with the router to which is connected, it may be difficult to perform P2P communication continuously.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a more convenient communication control technique.

  One embodiment of the present invention relates to a communication device. The communication apparatus includes a candidate acquisition unit that acquires a plurality of candidates for an identifier of the own apparatus to be set as a transmission destination when a communication partner apparatus transmits data to the own apparatus via a network; A candidate notifying unit for notifying the communication partner device of the candidate and requesting transmission of response data; and the response data in which the plurality of candidates notified to the communication partner device are set as transmission destinations. A response receiving unit that receives the response data, an identifier determination unit that determines an identifier of the own device to be set as the transmission destination from the candidates set as the transmission destination in the received response data, Assigning a plurality of virtual sockets to the identifier notifying unit for notifying the device identifier of the device to the communication partner device and the identifier of the own device determined by the identifier determining unit, A virtual socket management unit for managing a plurality of communication using the serial identifier, characterized in that it comprises a.

  It should be noted that any combination of the above-described constituent elements and a representation of the present invention converted between a method, an apparatus, a system, etc. are also effective as an aspect of the present invention.

  According to the present invention, a more convenient communication control technique can be provided.

  FIG. 1 shows a basic configuration of a communication system according to an embodiment. The communication system 10 includes a communication management server 12, a STUN server 14, a router 16, a game device 18 that is an example of a communication device, and the Internet 20 that is an example of a network. The routers 16a, 16b,... Are collectively referred to as a router 16. Further, the game devices 18a, 18b, 18c,... Are collectively referred to as the game device 18.

  The communication management server 12 manages communication between game devices. The communication management server 12 receives a request for matching or searching for a communication partner such as a battle game or chat from the game device 18 and determines a communication partner. The communication between the terminals is mediated until the P2P communication path is established between the terminals.

  The STUN server is a server provided to realize STUN (Simple Traversal of UDP through NATs). Upon receiving a request from the game device 18, the IP address on the WAN side of the router 16 to which the game device 18 is connected. Then, the port number assigned for communication of the game device 18 is returned to the game device 18.

  The router 16 controls communication between a plurality of game apparatuses 18 connected downstream and an upstream network. The router 16 functions as a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) server that assigns different private IP addresses to a plurality of game devices 18 connected downstream, and the private IP addresses assigned to the game devices 18 and the router 16 itself. A NAT (Network Address Translation) function that enables mutual communication through the Internet 20 from a game device 18 that is assigned only with a private IP address by mutually converting the global IP address assigned to the device. In addition, a packet filtering function for controlling whether or not a packet transmitted from the game device 18 to the Internet 20 or a packet transmitted from the Internet 20 to the game device 18 is allowed to pass is realized.

  The game device 18 is connected to the Internet 20 via the router 16, and transmits and receives data via the Internet 20, thereby performing a battle game, a chat, and the like with the other game devices 18.

The NAT characteristics in the router 16 to which the game apparatus 18 is connected are classified into the following three types.
(1) The IP address assigned to the network interface of the game apparatus 18 is the same as the global IP address on the Internet 20 side of the router 16.
(2) The IP address assigned to the network interface of the game device 18 is different from the global IP address on the Internet 20 side of the router 16 and meets any of the following conditions.
(A) The mapping policy of the router 16 does not depend on the IP address and port number of the communication partner, and the filtering policy does not depend on the IP address and port number of the communication partner.
(B) The mapping policy of the router 16 does not depend on the IP address and port number of the communication partner, and the filtering policy depends only on the IP address of the communication partner.
(C) The mapping policy of the router 16 depends only on the communication partner's IP address, and the filtering policy does not depend on the communication partner's IP address and port number.
(D) The mapping policy of the router 16 depends on the IP address and port number of the communication partner, and the filtering policy does not depend on the IP address and port number of the communication partner.
(3) All cases other than (1) and (2) above.

  At this time, if the routers 16 to which the two game devices 18 that are going to perform P2P communication are both of the type (3), it is difficult to perform P2P communication continuously. . Accordingly, the game device 18 acquires the types of the router 16 to which the own device is connected in advance and the type of the router 16 to which the communication device game device 18 is connected. You may alert | report that communication cannot be performed. However, in this embodiment, even in such a case, in order to increase the possibility that P2P communication can be performed between terminals, the game apparatuses 18 on their own networks prior to P2P communication. A technique is proposed in which a plurality of candidates that can be used as identifiers are notified to each other, and packets that can be transmitted and received on a trial basis are searched for candidates that can be communicated. Thereby, the P2P communication path between the game apparatuses 18 can be established more reliably, and the convenience of inter-terminal communication can be improved.

  FIG. 2 shows a configuration of the game apparatus 18 which is an example of a communication apparatus. The game device 18 includes a network interface 30, a communication control unit 40, a game execution unit 60, an input unit 62, an image processing unit 66, and a display device 68. In terms of hardware components, these configurations are realized by a CPU of a computer, a memory, a program loaded in the memory, and the like, but here, functional blocks realized by their cooperation are illustrated. Accordingly, those skilled in the art will understand that these functional blocks can be realized in various forms by hardware only, software only, or a combination thereof.

  The input unit 62 receives an operation instruction from the user input from the game controller. The game execution unit 60 executes the game program based on the operation instruction from the user received by the input unit 62 and advances the game. The image processing unit 66 generates a display screen for the game executed by the game execution unit 60 and causes the display device 68 to display the display screen.

  The communication control unit 40 includes a candidate acquisition unit 41, a candidate notification unit 42, a response reception unit 43, an identifier determination unit 44, an identifier notification unit 45, a candidate reception unit 46, a response transmission unit 47, an identifier reception unit 48, and a virtual socket management unit. 49, a packet transmission unit 50, and a packet reception unit 51.

  The candidate acquisition unit 41 acquires a plurality of identifier candidates for the own device to be set as a transmission destination when the communication partner game device 18 transmits data to the own device via the network. In the present embodiment, a socket in which an IP address and a port number are combined is used as an example of an identifier.

  The candidate acquisition unit 41 first acquires an IP address and a port number assigned to the network interface 30 of the own device, and sets the acquired IP address and port number as a candidate “local”. Subsequently, if the router 16 to which the own device is connected supports UPnP (Universal Plug and Play), the candidate acquisition unit 41 tries UPnP “AddPortMapping”, and the game device 18 and the other device. The router 16 is requested to add a predetermined fixed port number as a port number for communication. Furthermore, the candidate acquisition unit 41 accesses the STUN server 14 and acquires the IP address and port number on the Internet 20 side of the router 16 to which the own device is connected. When the acquired IP address and port number are different from the candidate “local”, the candidate acquisition unit 41 sets the acquired IP address and port number to the candidate “stun”. In addition, the candidate acquisition unit 41 inquires of the STUN server 14 whether the port number requested to be added to the router 16 is accessible from the outside. When this port number is accessible from the outside and is different from the candidate “stun”, the candidate acquisition unit 41 sets the IP address on the Internet 20 side of the router 16 and the port number added by UPnP as the candidate “static”. set.

  The candidate notification unit 42 notifies the communication partner game device 18 of the plurality of candidates acquired by the candidate acquisition unit 41 and requests transmission of response data. The candidate notification unit 42 may notify the communication partner game device 18 of the candidate via the communication management server 12. Further, the communication management server 12 may be notified of the candidate, and the communication management server 12 may be requested to notify the communication partner game device 18 of the candidate. Thereby, even if the candidate notification unit 42 does not acquire the IP address or port number of the game device 18 of the communication partner, the candidate of the IP address or port number of the own device is notified to the game device 18 of the communication partner. Can do.

  The candidate receiving unit 46 receives identifier candidates to be set as transmission destinations and stores them in a table when data is transmitted from the communication partner game device 18 to the game device 18. When identifier candidates are mutually transmitted and received with the game device 18 of the communication partner, the connection state of each game device 18 becomes “PENDING”. Subsequently, a connection confirmation is performed with the communication partner game device 18 to establish communication.

  The response receiver 43 receives response data in which a plurality of candidates notified to the communication partner game device 18 are set as transmission destinations via the network. The response receiving unit 43 may measure the time required until the response data is received after the candidate notification unit 42 notifies the communication device game device 18 of the candidate using a timer or the like. Thereby, the application which communicates can estimate the time required for communication with the game device 18 of a communication other party based on the measured time.

  The response transmission unit 47 transmits the response data in which the identifier candidate received from the game device 18 of the communication partner is set as the transmission destination via the network. Here, in the response transmission unit 47, an identifier different from the identifier candidate received by the candidate reception unit 46 is set as the identifier of the transmission source of the response data received by the response reception unit 43 from the game device 18 as the communication partner. In this case, the identifier is set to the candidate “derived”, and the response data in which the added candidate “derived” is set as the transmission destination is also transmitted.

  The identifier determination unit 44 determines the identifier of the own device to be set as the transmission destination from the candidates set as the transmission destination in the response data received by the response reception unit 43. When receiving the response data in which the IP address and the port number set in the candidate “local” are set as the transmission destination, the identifier determination unit 44 sets the IP address and the port number as an identifier to be set as the transmission destination with priority. decide.

  In FIG. 1, when P2P communication is performed between the game device 18a and the game device 18c, it is necessary to communicate via the Internet 20, so when the game device 18c transmits response data to the game device 18a, Even if the private IP address of the game apparatus 18a is set as the transmission destination, the game apparatus 18a is not reached. In this case, it is necessary to set the global IP address on the Internet 20 side of the router 16a to which the game apparatus 18a is connected as a transmission destination. Therefore, the response data does not reach the game apparatus 18a unless the candidate is “stun” or “static”.

  However, when P2P communication is performed between the game device 18a and the game device 18b, the game device 18a and the game device 18b are connected to the same router 16a and can communicate without going through the Internet 20. Therefore, the response data in which the private IP address of the game apparatus 18a is set as the transmission destination also reaches the game apparatus 18a. In this case, there is a possibility that the response data in which the candidate “stun” or the candidate “static” in which the global IP address on the Internet 20 side of the router 16a is set is set as the transmission destination also reaches the game device 18a. Since it is once sent from the router 16a to the Internet 20 and reaches the game device 18a again via the router 16a, there is a possibility that the communication path becomes unnecessarily long and the communication time becomes long. Therefore, when two game devices 18 that perform P2P communication exist in the same LAN, that is, when response data in which the candidate “local” is set as the transmission destination is received by the response reception unit, that is given priority. adopt. Thereby, the time required for communication can be shortened.

  Only the game device 18c is connected to the router 16b. In this case, a global IP address on the Internet 20 side of the router 16b may be assigned to the network interface 30 of the game device 18c. At this time, the DHCP server function and the NAT function of the router 16b are stopped. In this case, not the private IP address but the global IP address is set in the candidate “local”. Even in this case, when response data in which the candidate “local” is set as the transmission destination is received by the response receiving unit 43, it may be preferentially adopted.

  When the response receiver 43 has not received the response data set as the transmission destination even when waiting for a predetermined time, when other candidates have received the response data set as the transmission destination Adopt it. When the response data of a plurality of other candidates is received, the candidate that received the response data first may be preferentially adopted. Further, a candidate having the minimum average communication time may be preferentially adopted after a plurality of trials. Alternatively, a candidate that tried a plurality of times and had the smallest number of communication errors may be preferentially adopted.

  The identifier notification unit 45 notifies the communication device game device 18 of the identifier of the own device determined by the identifier determination unit 44. The identifier notification unit 45 may notify the communication device game device 18 of the determined identifier via the communication management server 12.

  The identifier receiving unit 48 receives an identifier determined to be set as a transmission destination from the communication partner game device 18. The identifier receiving unit 48 registers the received identifier in the table. Thereafter, when the packet transmitting unit 50 transmits a packet to the game device 18 of the communication partner, this identifier is set as the transmission destination. When identifiers are transmitted to and received from the communication partner game device 18, the connection state of each game device 18 becomes “ACTIVE”, a communication path is established, and thereafter, P2P communication is possible.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure of the communication control method according to the present embodiment. First, the candidate acquisition unit 41 of the game device 18a acquires a plurality of candidates for the identifier of the own device to be set as a transmission destination when the game device 18b of the communication partner transmits data to the own device via the network. (S10). Subsequently, the candidate notification unit 42 notifies the acquired candidate to the communication partner game device 18b (S12). When receiving the candidate, the candidate receiving unit 46 of the game device 18b registers the candidate in the table (S14). And the response transmission part 47 transmits the response data which set the received candidate as a transmission destination (S16). The response receiving unit 43 of the game device 18a receives the response data transmitted from the game device 18b (S18). When the response receiving unit 43 receives response data in which the candidate “local” is set as the transmission destination (Y in S20), the identifier determination unit 44 determines the candidate “local” as an identifier to be set as the transmission destination. (S22). When the response receiving unit 43 does not receive the response data in which the candidate “local” is set as the transmission destination (N in S20), the identifier determination unit 44 sets the transmission data from the candidates that have received the response data. An identifier to be performed is determined (S24). The identifier notifying unit 45 notifies the game device 18b of the determined identifier (S26). The identifier receiving unit 48 of the game device 18b registers the notified identifier in a table (S28), and sets the notified identifier as a transmission destination in subsequent communication.

  The virtual socket management unit 49 allocates a virtual socket to each of the plurality of applications so that a plurality of applications share the same port number, and manages communication via the virtual port number assigned to the virtual socket. . In the game device 18, when a plurality of applications communicate with the other game device 18 in parallel, when each application independently establishes a communication path using the above-described function, different identifiers are adopted depending on the situation. There may be a situation in which one application can communicate with P2P while another application cannot communicate. In order to avoid such a situation, when an identifier is determined by the above-described function, the identifier can be shared and used by a plurality of applications. For this purpose, the virtual socket management unit 49 assigns different virtual sockets to applications that perform communication, and registers virtual port numbers in the management table.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining communication using a virtual socket. The virtual socket management unit 49 is newly requested to communicate with another device from the game execution unit 60 and applications 64a and 64b (hereinafter simply referred to as “application 64”) that communicate with other devices. Then, a virtual socket is assigned to the application 64. The virtual socket management unit 49 registers the virtual port number of the virtual socket assigned to the application 64 and the ID for identifying the application 64 in the management table 53 in association with each other. In the example of FIG. 4, a virtual port 52a is assigned to the game execution unit 60, a virtual port 52b is assigned to the application 64a, and a virtual port 52c is assigned to the application 64b. The virtual socket management unit 49 may reserve a range of virtual port numbers to be allocated to the operation system of the game apparatus 18 and limit the range of virtual port numbers to be allocated to the application 64.

  When receiving the transmission data from the application 64, the virtual socket management unit 49 adds a virtual socket header for managing the virtual socket to the transmission data, generates a virtual socket packet, and sends it to the packet transmission unit 50. The packet transmission unit 50 adds a UDP header or an IP header to the virtual socket packet generated by the virtual socket management unit 49 to generate a transmission packet, and sends it to the router 16. At this time, the packet transmitting unit 50 sets the identifier of the game device 18 of the communication partner received by the identifier receiving unit 48 as the destination address. Here, an example in which packets are transmitted and received by UDP will be described, but the same applies to TCP and other communication protocols.

  FIG. 5 shows a data structure of a virtual socket packet generated by the virtual socket management unit 49. The UDP packet 80 includes a UDP header 81 and one or more virtual socket packets 82 stored in the payload of the UDP packet 80. The virtual socket packet 82 includes a virtual socket header 83 and variable length data 89. A plurality of virtual socket packets 82 may be packaged in one UDP packet 80.

  The virtual socket header 83 is assigned to the start flag 84, which is a specific data string indicating the start of the virtual socket header 83, the data type 85 of the data 89, the data length 86 of the data 89, and the transmission source application 64. A transmission source virtual port number 87 and a destination virtual port number 88 assigned to the transmission destination application 64 are included. When the virtual port number of the destination application 64 is unknown at the time of the first transmission or the like, information for specifying the application 64 may be stored in the destination virtual port number 88. The data type 85 includes, for example, normal data, encrypted data, signed data, encrypted signed data, and the like. In the case of signed data, the virtual socket header 83 may further store a signature. In this case, since the data length of the virtual socket header 83 differs depending on the presence or absence of a signature, the data length 86 includes a virtual socket header after the data length 86 in order to make it possible to uniquely specify the start position of the data 89. A value obtained by adding the data length of 83 and the data length of data 89 may be stored. Alternatively, an area for storing the data length of the virtual socket header 83 may be provided in the virtual socket header 83.

  When receiving a packet from the communication partner game device 18, the packet receiving unit 51 analyzes the payload of the UDP packet 80 and confirms whether or not the start flag 84 indicating the presence of the virtual socket header 83 is stored. If the virtual socket header 83 exists, the management table 53 is searched based on the destination virtual port number 88 to identify the transmission destination application 64, and the received data is sent to the application 64.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a procedure of the communication control method according to the present embodiment. When receiving the transmission data from the application 64 (S30), the virtual socket management unit 49 searches the management table 53 and acquires the virtual port number assigned to the application 64 (S32). If no virtual socket is assigned to the application 64 (N in S34), a new virtual socket is assigned to the application 64, and the ID and virtual port number of the application 64 are registered in the management table 53 (S35). ). The virtual socket manager 49 sets the virtual socket header 83 and generates the virtual socket packet 82 (S36). The packet transmission unit 50 adds a UDP header, an IP header, etc. to the generated virtual socket packet 82 and transmits it to the other game device 18 (S38).

  When receiving the UDP packet 80 received from the other game device 18 (S40), the virtual socket management unit 49 checks whether or not the start flag 84 is set at the head of the payload of the received UDP packet 80. If the start flag 84 is set, the virtual socket packet 82 is stored, so the virtual socket header 83 is analyzed to acquire the destination virtual port number 88 (S42), the management table 53 is searched and the transmission destination is searched. The application 64 is specified, and the received data is sent to the application (S44).

  With such a technique, it becomes possible to perform a plurality of communications in parallel using an identifier for which a communication path has been established once, so that each application 64 can more reliably communicate with other game devices 18. P2P communication can be performed. In addition, since the communication control unit 40 collectively performs establishment of such a communication path and management of a plurality of communications using the communication path, the application development entity considers such problems related to communication control. The application 64 using P2P communication can be developed without doing so. Thereby, the man-hour of development can be reduced.

  The packet transmission unit 50 transmits a keep alive packet to the communication partner game device 18 at a predetermined time, for example, every 20 seconds. As a result, it is possible to notify the communication partner game device 18 that the device is alive, and to continuously secure a communication path by updating the NAT table of the router 16 to which the device is connected. Can do.

  In the above, this invention was demonstrated based on the Example. This embodiment is an exemplification, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to each component and combination of processing processes, and such modifications are within the scope of the present invention.

It is a figure which shows the basic composition of the communication system which concerns on embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of the game device which concerns on embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the communication control method which concerns on embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the communication using a virtual socket. It is a figure which shows the data structure of the virtual socket packet produced | generated in a virtual socket management part. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the communication control method which concerns on embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Communication system, 12 Communication management server, 14 STUN server, 16 router, 18 Game device, 20 Internet, 30 Network interface, 40 Communication control part, 41 Candidate acquisition part, 42 Candidate notification part, 43 Response reception part, 44 Identifier determination 45, identifier notification unit, 46 candidate reception unit, 47 response transmission unit, 48 identifier reception unit, 49 virtual socket management unit, 50 packet transmission unit, 51 packet reception unit, 60 game execution unit, 62 input unit, 66 image processing Part, 68 display device.

Claims (6)

A candidate acquisition unit for acquiring a plurality of identifier candidates of the own device to be set as a transmission destination when the communication partner device transmits data to the own device via the network;
A candidate notifying unit for notifying the communication partner device of the plurality of acquired candidates and requesting transmission of response data;
A response receiving unit configured to receive the response data in which a plurality of candidates notified to the communication partner device are set as transmission destinations via the network;
An identifier determination unit that determines an identifier of the own device to be set as the transmission destination from among the candidates set as the transmission destination in the received response data;
An identifier notifying unit for notifying the communication partner device of the determined identifier of the own device;
A virtual socket management unit that assigns a plurality of virtual sockets to the identifier of the own device determined by the identifier determination unit, and manages a plurality of communications using the same identifier;
A communication apparatus comprising:   When the candidate includes a private IP address of the own device, the identifier determining unit determines the private IP address of the own device as an identifier of the own device to be set as the transmission destination preferentially. The communication device according to claim 1.   The communication apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the candidate notification unit notifies the communication partner apparatus of the candidate via a management server that manages communication between terminals. A step of acquiring a plurality of identifiers of the identifier of the own device to be set as a transmission destination when the communication partner device transmits data to the own device via the network;
Notifying the communication partner device of the plurality of acquired candidates and requesting transmission of response data; and
Receiving the response data in which a plurality of candidates notified to the communication partner device are set as transmission destinations via the network;
Determining an identifier of the own device to be set as the transmission destination from among the candidates set as the transmission destination in the received response data;
Notifying the communication partner device of the determined identifier of the device itself;
Assigning a plurality of virtual sockets to the determined identifier of the own device, and managing a plurality of communications using the same identifier;
The communication control method characterized by including. A function of acquiring a plurality of candidates for the identifier of the own device to be set as a transmission destination when the communication partner device transmits data to the own device via the network;
A function of notifying the communication partner device of the plurality of acquired candidates and requesting transmission of response data;
A function of receiving, via the network, the response data in which a plurality of candidates notified to the communication partner device are set as transmission destinations;
A function for determining an identifier of the own device to be set as the transmission destination from among the candidates set as the transmission destination in the received response data;
A function for notifying the communication partner device of the determined identifier of the device;
A function of assigning a plurality of virtual sockets to the determined identifier of the own device and managing a plurality of communications using the same identifier;
A communication control program for causing a computer to realize the above. A function of acquiring a plurality of candidates for the identifier of the own device to be set as a transmission destination when the communication partner device transmits data to the own device via the network;
A function of notifying the communication partner device of the plurality of acquired candidates and requesting transmission of response data;
A function of receiving, via the network, the response data in which a plurality of candidates notified to the communication partner device are set as transmission destinations;
A function for determining an identifier of the own device to be set as the transmission destination from among the candidates set as the transmission destination in the received response data;
A function for notifying the communication partner device of the determined identifier of the device;
A function of assigning a plurality of virtual sockets to the determined identifier of the own device and managing a plurality of communications using the same identifier;
A computer-readable recording medium on which a communication control program is recorded.

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