JP2008160425A - Information processor, and communication control method of information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processor capable of efficiently assigning communication bands to a plurality of different communication protocols. <P>SOLUTION: A UWB wireless communication management utility 210 monitors the operation condition of an application (for example, a DVD player 221) preregistered as a monitor object. If the application is started, the utility 210 acquires a slot reservation condition of a protocol (for example, Wireless USB) used by the application, from a control stack 154. If slots are reserved beyond a preregistered necessary band amount, the utility 210 instructs the control stack 154 to readjust assignment of bands to respective protocols at a preregistered proportion. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication control technique suitable for application to an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer having a UWB (Ultra Wide Band) wireless communication function.

In recent years, wireless communication that does not require cable laying has been used in various scenes in place of wired communication, which has been the mainstream until now. With the spread of wireless communication, various methods for efficiently using a communication band, which is a limited resource, have been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-9826

  Recently, attention has been focused on UWB that enables high-speed wireless communication of 100 Mbps or more using a wide band of several GHz. In WiWB of UWB specification, the physical layer can be shared by a plurality of different communication protocols by taking advantage of the high speed of UWB.

  Here, consider a case where a plurality of application programs execute communication using different upper protocols. The conventional method including the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 efficiently allocates a communication band that can be used in a certain protocol to each of a plurality of application programs. That is, no consideration is given to allocating communication bands to a plurality of different protocols. Therefore, securing the communication band is fixed in advance for each protocol, or it becomes a first-come-first-served basis.

  However, in such a case, there arises a problem that the bandwidth cannot be adjusted depending on the situation, or that the communication protocol that has taken the communication bandwidth later cannot operate normally without taking a sufficient bandwidth for the operation.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and provides an information processing apparatus and a communication control method for the information processing apparatus that can efficiently allocate communication bands to a plurality of different communication protocols. For the purpose.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, an information processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a wireless communication unit that executes a plurality of wireless communication using different communication protocols in parallel while sharing the same communication band, and a predesignated application program Monitoring means for monitoring the operating status of the communication system, and when the monitoring means detects the activation of the application program, the allocation status of the communication band for each communication protocol is acquired, and the communication protocol used by the application program is designated in advance. Control means for instructing the wireless communication means to re-adjust the communication bandwidth so as to assign a bandwidth greater than the predetermined amount to the communication protocol in a situation where it is not possible to secure a bandwidth exceeding the specified amount. It is characterized by comprising.

  In addition, the information processing apparatus according to the present invention monitors a connection status between a wireless communication unit that executes a plurality of wireless communication using different communication protocols in parallel while sharing the same communication band, and a wireless communication device designated in advance. And when the monitoring unit detects a connection with the wireless communication device, obtains a communication band allocation status for each communication protocol and uses it for wireless communication performed with the wireless communication device. If the communication protocol to be allocated cannot secure a bandwidth greater than a pre-specified amount, the wireless communication network may be re-adjusted to allocate the communication bandwidth to the communication protocol so as to allocate a bandwidth greater than the pre-specified amount. Control means for instructing the communication means.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to efficiently allocate communication bands to a plurality of different communication protocols.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. An information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is realized, for example, as a notebook personal computer (PC).

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of usage of the PC 1 according to the present embodiment. The PC 1 has a wireless communication function compliant with WiMedia UWB. In WiMedia UWB, one channel is divided into 256 time slots, and each protocol is reserved as many times as necessary, so that multi-protocols can be realized by time division multiplexing with only one physical layer. ing. For this purpose, as shown in FIG. 1, the PC 1 uses the Wireless USB protocol for wireless communication with the wireless USB DVD drive 2 and the WiNET protocol (for performing IP communication) and wireless communication with the wireless home server 3. Wireless communication with the DVI display 4 is performed in parallel with a single piece of hardware (UWB physical layer) using multiple wireless communication protocols such as the WirelessDVI protocol (which wirelessly transmits DVI signals). can do.

  FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the PC 1 with the display unit opened. As shown in FIG. 2, the PC 1 includes a computer main body 11 and a display unit 12. The display unit 12 incorporates a display device composed of an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) 13, and the display screen of the LCD 13 is positioned substantially at the center of the display unit 12.

  The display unit 12 is attached to the computer main body 11 so as to be rotatable between an open position and a closed position. The computer main body 11 has a thin box-shaped casing, and a keyboard 14, a power button 15 for turning on / off the PC 1, an input operation panel 16, a touch pad 17 and the like are arranged on the upper surface thereof. Yes.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a system configuration of the PC 1.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the PC 1 includes a CPU 101, a north bridge 102, a main memory 103, a graphics controller 104, a south bridge 105, a basic input output system (BIOS) -ROM 106, a hard disk drive (HDD) 107, an optical disk drive (ODD). ) 108, an embedded controller / keyboard controller (EC / KBC) 109, a UWB wireless communication controller 110, and the like.

  The CPU 101 is a processor for controlling the operation of the PC 1, and executes an operating system (OS) 100 and various programs operating under the OS 100, which are loaded from the HDD 107 to the main memory 103. Among the various programs operating under the OS 100, there are a UWB wireless communication module group 150, a UWB wireless communication management utility 210, various application program groups 220, etc., which execute and control wireless communication compliant with WiMedia UWB, which will be described later. Exists.

  The CPU 101 also executes the BIOS stored in the BIOS-ROM 106. The BIOS is a group of programs for hardware control. Exists.

  The north bridge 102 is a bridge device that connects the local bus of the CPU 101 and the south bridge 105. The north bridge 102 also includes a memory controller that controls access to the main memory 103. The north bridge 102 also has a function of executing communication with the graphics controller 104 via, for example, an AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) bus.

  The graphics controller 104 is a display controller that controls the LCD 13 used as a display monitor of the PC 1. The graphics controller 104 generates a display signal to be sent to the LCD 13 from the image data written in the video memory (VRAM) 104A.

  The south bridge 105 controls each device on an LPC (Low Pin Count) bus, each device on a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus, and the BIOS-ROM 106, HDD 107, and ODD 108 that are directly connected. The south bridge 105 incorporates an IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) controller for controlling the HDD 107. The HDD 107 and the ODD 108 are auxiliary storage devices that store various software and various data.

  The EC / KBC 109 is a one-chip microcomputer in which an embedded controller for power management and a keyboard controller for controlling the keyboard 14 and the touch pad 17 are integrated. The EC / KBC 109 has a function of turning on / off the PC 1 in accordance with the operation of the power button 15 by the user. The UWB wireless communication controller 110 is a communication device that performs wireless communication compliant with WiMedia UWB.

  FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram related to wireless communication compliant with WiMedia specification UWB executed in the PC 1 having such a configuration.

  On the PC 1, as shown in FIG. 4, a DVD player 221, a content player 222, and a DVI manager 223 are appropriately activated and operated as the above-described various application groups 220. The DVD player 221 is software for reading and reproducing the compressed and encoded moving image data recorded on the DVD in the wireless USB DVD drive 2. The content player 222 is software for downloading and reproducing moving image data and music data from the wireless home server 3. The DVI manager 223 is software for displaying image data on the wireless DVI display 4 which is a high-definition monitor.

  As shown in FIG. 1, wireless communication with the wireless USB DVD drive 2 is WirelessUSB protocol, wireless communication with the wireless home server 3 is WiNET protocol, and wireless communication with the wireless DVI display 4 is WirelessDVI protocol. Are used respectively. That is, the DVD player 221 executes wireless communication using the WirelessUSB protocol, the content player 222 executes wireless communication using the WiNET protocol, and the DVI manager 223 executes wireless communication using the WirelessDVI protocol.

  On the other hand, a UWB wireless communication controller 110 that is a communication device that performs wireless communication compliant with UWB of the WiMedia specification includes a WirelessUSB MAC layer 111 for the WirelessUSB protocol, a WiNET MAC layer 112 for the WiNET protocol, and a WirelessDVI control layer for the WirelessDVI protocol. 113 and the UWB physical layer 114 shared by each protocol. The UWB wireless communication module group 150 for controlling the UWB wireless communication controller 110 includes a WirelessUSB protocol stack 151 for the WirelessUSB protocol, a WiNET protocol stack 152 for the WiNET protocol, and a WirelessDVI protocol stack 153 for the WirelessDVI protocol. And a control stack 154 for executing time slot (bandwidth) reservation processing.

  For example, when the DVD player 221 transmits some data to the wireless USB DVD drive 2, the data from the DVD player 221 is transferred to the wireless USB DVD drive via the WirelessUSB protocol stack 151 → WirelessUSB MAC layer 111 → UWB physical layer 114. 2 is sent out. Conversely, data sent from the wireless USB DVD drive 2 to the DVD player 221 is delivered to the DVD player 221 via the UWB physical layer 114 → WirelessUSB MAC layer 111 → WirelessUSB protocol stack 151. Similarly, data exchange between the content player 222 and the wireless home server 3 is performed via the WiNET protocol stack 152, the WiNET MAC layer 112, and the UWB physical layer 114, and data exchange between the DVI manager 223 and the wireless DVI display 4 is performed. , WirelessDVI protocol stack 153, WirelessDVI control layer 113, and UWB physical layer 114.

  The UWB physical layer 114 shared by the above routes divides one channel into 256 time slots as described above. Then, each protocol stack of the WirelessUSB protocol stack 151, the WiNET protocol stack 152, and the WirelessDVI protocol stack 153 confirms an empty slot through the control stack 154, and reserves a necessary amount of slots through the control stack 154. Each wireless communication is executed.

  By the way, if each protocol reserves a necessary slot, for example, on a first-come-first-served basis, there is a possibility that a protocol that has started communication later may cause a situation in which the necessary slot cannot be secured. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, when the WirelessUSB protocol and the WiNET protocol first reserve 30% of slots, even if the wireless DVI display 4 is used later, only 40% of the remaining slots are used. Although it does not remain, in order to execute communication using the Wireless DVI protocol, if it is not possible to normally operate unless 60% or more slots are secured, its use must be abandoned.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 6, it is assumed that the DVD player 221 starts DVD playback in a slot allocation situation in which the WirelessUSB protocol and the WiNET protocol are 10% each and the Wireless DVI protocol is 80%. If a 30% slot is required for transferring the data for reproducing the DVD, normal reproduction cannot be performed. Such a problem is likely to be a problem particularly in applications that require real-time performance such as audio and video, and communication applications that require a certain speed or more.

  Therefore, in this PC 1, when the UWB wireless communication management utility 210 monitors the operation status of the application program designated in advance and detects that the application program has been started, the slot reservation status of the protocol used in the application program is displayed. Obtained from the control stack 154. If the required bandwidth amount specified in advance cannot be secured, the UWB wireless communication management utility 210 instructs the control stack 154 to readjust. At this time, the UWB wireless communication management utility 210 issues an instruction to preferentially start the reservation process from the protocol used in the application, thereby ensuring the necessary bandwidth of the protocol and enabling normal operation. can do.

  For this purpose, the UWB wireless communication management utility 210 accepts in advance the registration of the bandwidth allocated to each protocol when the application is operated, and issues an instruction to the control stack 154 to perform readjustment according to the allocation.

For example, it is assumed that registration as shown in FIG. 7 is received in advance. That is,
Application software to monitor: DVD player Protocol used: WirelessUSB
Required bandwidth: 30%
Bandwidth of each protocol during readjustment: WirelessUSB = 30%
WiNET = 10%
WirelessDVI = 60%
Is registered.

  Then, when the DVD player 221 starts operating from the allocation state shown in FIG. 6, the UWB wireless communication management utility 210 detects the activation of the DVD player 221 as the registered application, and the protocol used by the DVD player 221. The wireless USB reserved bandwidth is acquired from the control stack 154.

  In this case, since the value is less than 10% and the registered bandwidth 30%, the UWB wireless communication management utility 210 uses WirelessUSB = 30%, WiNET = 10%, registered as the bandwidth of each protocol at the time of readjustment, Instructs the control stack 154 to readjust at a rate of WirelessDVI = 60%.

  6 can be shifted from the assignment state of FIG. 6 to the assignment state of FIG. 8, and the data from the wireless USB DVD drive 2 can be stably reproduced by the DVD player 221 that the user desires to prioritize.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a wireless communication control procedure compliant with the WiMedia specification UWB executed by the PC 1.

  The UWB wireless communication management utility 210 monitors the operation status of an application registered in advance as a monitoring target (step A1). If the application is activated (YES in step A2), the UWB wireless communication management utility 210 The slot reservation status of the protocol used by this application is acquired from the control stack 154 (step A3).

  If the UWB wireless communication management utility 210 has not reserved more than the pre-registered necessary bandwidth amount (NO in step A4), the UWB wireless communication management utility 210 re-adjusts the allocation of the bandwidth to each protocol at the pre-registered rate. An instruction is issued to the control stack 154 (step A5).

  As described above, the PC 1 can efficiently allocate a communication band to a plurality of different communication protocols (as desired by the user).

  Here, for example, registration of an application as a monitoring target is accepted, for example, when priority is given to wireless communication by the DVD player 221, and when this application is activated, priority is given to allocation of a bandwidth to a protocol used by the application. Although an example of performing control has been described, instead of this, for example, when a wireless USB DVD drive 2 is connected, priority is given to allocation of a band to the WirelessUSB protocol used for wireless communication with the wireless USB DVD drive 2. It is also possible to change to perform control. In other words, the registration of a wireless communication device is accepted as a monitoring target, and when the wireless communication device is connected, control is performed so as to prioritize the allocation of a band to a protocol that is registered for wireless communication with the wireless communication device. The technical idea of performing is also a category of the communication control method of the present invention.

  Although an example has been described here in which only one application registration is received as a monitoring target, a plurality of applications may be received as monitoring targets. In this case, for example, in a situation where registration of priorities between applications is further accepted and the registered applications operate at the same time, for example, allocation of a bandwidth to a protocol used by the higher priority application registered. Control may be performed so that priority is given.

  As described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, constituent elements over different embodiments may be appropriately combined.

The figure which shows the usage example of the information processing apparatus (PC) which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The perspective view in the state where the display unit of PC of the embodiment was opened The figure which shows the system configuration | structure of PC of the embodiment Functional block diagram related to wireless communication compliant with UWB of WiMedia specification executed in PC of the embodiment 1st figure which shows the allocation condition of the slot illustrated in order to demonstrate the control principle of the radio | wireless communication based on UWB of the WiMedia specification performed with PC of the embodiment 2nd figure which shows the allocation condition of the slot illustrated in order to demonstrate the control principle of the radio | wireless communication based on UWB of the WiMedia specification performed with PC of the embodiment The figure which shows the registration content which the UWB radio | wireless communication management utility which operate | moves on PC of the embodiment receives 3rd figure which shows the allocation condition of the slot illustrated in order to demonstrate the control principle of the radio | wireless communication based on UWB of the WiMedia specification performed with PC of the embodiment A flowchart showing a wireless communication control procedure compliant with UWB of the WiMedia specification executed on the PC of the embodiment

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Information processing apparatus (PC), 2 ... Wireless USB DVD drive, 3 ... Wireless home server, 4 ... Wireless DVI display, 11 ... Computer main body, 12 ... Display unit, 13 ... LCD, 14 ... Keyboard, 15 ... Power button 16 ... Input operation panel, 17 ... Touch pad, 100 ... Operating system (OS), 101 ... CPU, 102 ... North bridge, 103 ... Main memory, 104 ... Graphics controller, 104A ... Video memory, 105 ... South bridge, 106 ... BIOS-ROM, 107 ... Hard disk drive (HDD), 108 ... Optical disk drive (ODD), 109 ... Embedded controller / keyboard controller (EC / KBC), 110 ... UWB wireless communication controller 111 ... WirelessUSB MAC layer, 112 ... WiNET MAC layer, 113 ... WirelessDVI control layer, 114 ... UWB physical layer, 150 ... UWB wireless communication module group, 151 ... WirelessUSB protocol stack, 152 ... WiNET protocol stack, 153 ... WirelessDVI protocol Stack, 154 ... Control stack, 210 ... UWB wireless communication management utility, 220 ... Various application program groups, 221 ... DVD player, 222 ... Content player, 223 ... DVI manager.

Claims (12)

Wireless communication means for executing in parallel a plurality of wireless communication using different communication protocols while sharing the same communication band;
Monitoring means for monitoring the operating status of the application program designated in advance;
When the monitoring means detects the activation of the application program, it acquires the allocation status of the communication bandwidth for each communication protocol, and the communication protocol used by the application program cannot secure a bandwidth of a predetermined amount or more. If there is, control means for instructing the radio communication means to readjust the allocation of the communication band so as to allocate a band of the communication protocol more than the predesignated amount;
An information processing apparatus comprising:   2. The information processing according to claim 1, wherein the control unit instructs the wireless communication unit of a pre-designated allocation ratio of the communication band for each communication protocol at the time of readjustment of the allocation of the communication band. apparatus. The monitoring means monitors the operating status of a plurality of application programs,
The control means is used by an application program having a higher priority given in advance when another application program that is the monitoring target of the monitoring means is activated during the operation of the application program that is the monitoring target of the monitoring means. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein priority is given to bandwidth allocation for a communication protocol to be given, and an instruction is given to the wireless communication means. Wireless communication means for executing in parallel a plurality of wireless communication using different communication protocols while sharing the same communication band;
Monitoring means for monitoring a connection status with a wireless communication device designated in advance;
When the monitoring unit detects a connection with the wireless communication device, the communication band allocation status for each communication protocol is acquired, and a communication protocol used for wireless communication executed with the wireless communication device is preliminarily set. In a situation where it is not possible to secure a bandwidth exceeding the specified amount, the wireless communication means is instructed to readjust the communication bandwidth so as to allocate the bandwidth more than the predetermined amount to the communication protocol. Control means;
An information processing apparatus comprising:   5. The information processing according to claim 4, wherein the control unit instructs the wireless communication unit of a pre-designated allocation ratio of the communication band for each communication protocol at the time of readjustment of the allocation of the communication band. apparatus. The monitoring means monitors the connection status of a plurality of wireless communication devices,
When the other wireless communication device that is the monitoring target of the monitoring unit is connected while the wireless communication device that is the monitoring target of the monitoring unit is connected, the control unit has the higher priority given in advance. 5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein an instruction to the wireless communication unit is given with priority given to allocation of a bandwidth for a communication protocol used for wireless communication executed with a device. A communication control method for an information processing apparatus including a wireless communication unit that executes a plurality of wireless communication using different communication protocols in parallel by sharing the same communication band,
Monitor the operating status of pre-designated application programs,
When the activation of the application program is detected, the allocation status of the communication band for each communication protocol is acquired, and the communication protocol used by the application program is in a situation where it is not possible to secure a bandwidth of a predetermined amount or more, Instructing the wireless communication means to readjust the allocation of the communication band so as to allocate a band of the communication protocol more than the predetermined amount;
A communication control method characterized by the above.   8. The communication band allocation ratio for each communication protocol at the time of readjustment of the communication band allocation specified in advance is instructed when instructing readjustment of the communication band allocation. Communication control method. Monitor the operating status of multiple application programs,
When another application program to be monitored is activated during the operation of the application program to be monitored, priority is given to bandwidth allocation for the communication protocol used by the application program with a higher priority given in advance, 8. The communication control method according to claim 7, wherein an instruction is given to the wireless communication means. A communication control method for an information processing apparatus including a wireless communication unit that executes a plurality of wireless communication using different communication protocols in parallel by sharing the same communication band,
Monitor the connection status with a pre-designated wireless communication device,
When a connection with the wireless communication device is detected, the allocation state of the communication band for each communication protocol is acquired, and a communication protocol used for wireless communication executed with the wireless communication device is designated in advance In a situation where the above bandwidth cannot be secured, the wireless communication means is instructed to readjust the communication bandwidth so as to allocate more bandwidth than the predesignated amount for the communication protocol.
A communication control method characterized by the above.   11. When instructing the readjustment of the communication band assignment, the communication band assignment ratio for each communication protocol at the time of the readjustment of the communication band assignment specified in advance is instructed. Communication control method. Monitor the connection status of multiple wireless communication devices,
When another wireless communication device to be monitored is connected while the wireless communication device to be monitored is connected, it is used for wireless communication executed with a wireless communication device having a higher priority given in advance. 11. The communication control method according to claim 10, wherein the wireless communication unit is instructed with priority given to bandwidth allocation for a communication protocol.

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