JP2008283500A - Communicating method and radio equipment using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To selectively use header compression technique suitable to an environment. <P>SOLUTION: A communicating part 30 executes communication with radio equipment of a communication target while using a packet signal. A processing part 32 acquires a state of the communication in the communicating part 30. A control part 36 switches algorithm when compressing a header part included in the packet signal in accordance with the state of the communication acquired by the processing part 32. The processing part 32 executes header compression while using the switched algorithm. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a receiving technique, and more particularly to a communication method for compressing a header portion of a packet signal and a radio apparatus using the same.

In a wireless communication system, generally, a terminal device and a base station device are connected to perform communication. When the terminal apparatus moves, the terminal apparatus executes communication with the switching destination base station apparatus instead of communication with the switching source base station apparatus by executing handover. On the other hand, when the wireless communication system is controlled based on IP (Internet Protocol), header compression technology is used to suppress a decrease in transmission efficiency due to the IP header, TCP header, UDP header, and RTP header. . In general, the header compression technique is a technique for reducing the amount of headers by setting a difference between information of a header that has already been transmitted and information to be newly transmitted as a new header. That is, when the header compression technique is used, there is a correlation between the information of the headers before and after. For this reason, even when handover is executed, it is required to maintain correlation between the information of the headers before and after (for example, refer to Patent Document 1).
Special table 2003-514470 gazette

  Even a single wireless communication system may be able to use multiple types of header compression techniques. For example, one of the two types of header compression techniques is simpler than the other, and the other is more robust than the other. Any one of such multiple types of header compression techniques is selected on the transmitting side and the receiving side. Under such circumstances, the present inventor has come to recognize the following problems. As the propagation environment deteriorates, the number of missing packet signals tends to increase. When a packet signal is lost, the packet signal is retransmitted, so that the number of packet signals to be retransmitted increases in the aforementioned environment. Therefore, when the throughput is reduced, the effect of header compression is also reduced. On the other hand, when communication is performed with a mail server or content server, a plurality of types of short packet signals tend to be generated in large quantities. In that case, the correlation is small between the header information in the preceding and following packet signals. Therefore, even if complicated processing is executed for header compression, it is difficult to obtain the effect of only the executed processing. That is, in the former case, use of a robust header compression technique is suitable, and in the latter case, use of a simple process header compression technique is suitable.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a communication technique that selects and uses a header compression technique suitable for the environment.

  In order to solve the above problems, a wireless device according to an aspect of the present invention acquires a communication unit that performs communication with a wireless device to be communicated using a packet signal, and a communication state in the communication unit And a control unit that switches an algorithm for compressing the header portion included in the packet signal according to the communication state acquired by the acquisition unit.

  Another aspect of the present invention is a communication method. This method includes a step of acquiring a communication state when performing communication with a wireless device to be communicated while using a packet signal, and is included in the packet signal according to the acquired communication state. And switching an algorithm for compressing the header portion.

  It should be noted that any combination of the above-described constituent elements and a conversion of the expression of the present invention between a method, an apparatus, a system, a recording medium, a computer program, etc. are also effective as an aspect of the present invention.

  You can select and use header compression technology that is appropriate for your environment.

  Before describing the present invention in detail, an outline will be described. Embodiments of the present invention relate to a communication system including at least a base station apparatus and a terminal apparatus. A packet signal used in the communication system includes an IP packet, and the IP packet includes a TCP / UDP packet and an RTP packet. The communication system performs header compression in order to reduce the size of the header portion in the packet signal. Here, two types of techniques are used for header compression. One is ROHC (RObust Header Compression), and the other is PHS (Payload Header Suppression). Comparing the two, ROHC can be said to be more robust than PHS because it can predict a newly received signal based on the already received signal. On the other hand, the PHS can be said to be simpler and more flexible than ROHC because it can omit the process of specifying the mode in ROHC. The communication system according to the embodiment uses these two types of header compression techniques while selecting as follows.

  When an amount of data such as mail is limited to some extent and an application that is generated in large quantities is used, the communication system uses PHS as a header compression technique. As a result, even when the type of application is frequently switched, a flexible response is possible. On the other hand, when the propagation environment deteriorates, such as when the distance between the terminal device and the base station device increases, the communication system uses ROHC as a header compression technique. As a result, even if an error occurs in the header portion, an increase in the number of retransmissions is suppressed.

  FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a communication system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The communication system 100 includes a terminal device 10, a base station device 12, a GW (GateWay) 14, and an IP network 16. Further, the terminal apparatus 10 is provided with a terminal antenna 18, and the base station apparatus 12 is provided with a base station antenna 20. Here, the communication system 100 conforms to, for example, the IEEE 802.16 standard and the IEEE 802.16e standard, and these are also called WiMAX (World Interoperability for Microwave Access) (trademark). Hereinafter, the communication system 100 may be simply referred to as “WiMAX”.

  The base station apparatus 12 corresponds to a base station apparatus compatible with the WiMAX described above. Therefore, the base station apparatus 12 performs communication while multiplexing a plurality of terminal apparatuses 10 by OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access). Here, the details of WiMAX are omitted. The base station apparatus 12 transmits data received from the GW 14 described later to the terminal apparatus 10 on the downlink, and transmits data received from the terminal apparatus 10 to the GW 14 on the uplink. At that time, the base station antenna 20 is used. In addition to the wireless side, the base station device 12 has a wired side interface, and is connected to the IP network 16 via the GW 14 at the wired side interface. The IP network 16 includes a router and the like (not shown).

  The terminal device 10 has a function for voice communication and data communication, and a communication function corresponding to WiMAX. Specifically, the terminal device 10 performs communication by WiMAX by connecting to the base station device 12. At that time, the terminal antenna 18 is used. Further, in the communication system 100, compression is performed on the header portion of the packet signal. Here, one of ROHC and PHS is selected and used as header compression. Therefore, the GW 14, the base station device 12, and the terminal device 10 are assumed to support ROHC and PHS.

  FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the terminal device 10. The terminal device 10 includes a terminal antenna 18, a communication unit 30, a processing unit 32, an IF unit 34, and a control unit 36.

  The communication unit 30 has a function corresponding to WiMAX communication, and performs wireless communication with the base station apparatus 12 of FIG. First, reception processing in the communication unit 30 will be described. The communication unit 30 performs frequency conversion on the radio frequency packet signal received by the terminal antenna 18 to generate a baseband packet signal. The communication unit 30 also includes an AGC (Automatic Gain Control) and an A / D conversion unit. Subsequently, the communication unit 30 demodulates the baseband packet signal. At that time, the communication unit 30 also performs FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) and decoding. Finally, the communication unit 30 outputs the decoded signal to the processing unit 32.

  Next, transmission processing in the communication unit 30 will be described. The communication unit 30 modulates the packet signal input from the processing unit 32. The communication unit 30 also performs encoding and IFFT. The communication unit 30 performs frequency conversion on the baseband packet signal to generate a radio frequency packet signal. Further, the communication unit 30 outputs a radio frequency packet signal to the terminal antenna 18. The communication unit 30 also includes a PA (Power Amplifier) and a D / A conversion unit.

  The processing unit 32 inputs a packet signal from the communication unit 30 and outputs the packet signal to the IF unit 34 as a reception process. Here, the header portion of the received packet signal is compressed. Further, the processing unit 32 decompresses the header, analyzes the content of the header, and executes processing according to the header content. When an error occurs in at least the compressed header portion and the error is not corrected, the processing unit 32 retransmits the packet signal to the base station apparatus 12 (not shown) via the communication unit 30. Is executed.

  On the other hand, when the processing unit 32 receives a packet signal from the IF unit 34 as a transmission process, the processing unit 32 outputs the input packet signal to the communication unit 30. At that time, the processing unit 32 performs header compression. In addition, the processing unit 32 acquires a communication state in the communication unit 30. For example, the error situation of the packet signal in the downlink from the base station apparatus 12 (not shown) to the communication section 30 and the error situation of the packet signal in the uplink from the communication section 30 to the base station apparatus 12 (not shown) are known. Acquired by technology. The processing unit 32 outputs the acquired error status to the control unit 36.

  The IF unit 34 inputs data to be transmitted to the GW 14 and the IP network 16 (not shown), and outputs data received from the GW 14. For example, the IF unit 34 executes processing related to voice communication such as telephone communication. The IF unit 34 is connected to a microphone and a speaker (not shown), inputs audio from the microphone, encodes the input audio, and outputs the encoded signal to the processing unit 32 as data. Further, the IF unit 34 receives data from the processing unit 32 and decodes it to reproduce sound. The reproduced sound is output from a speaker. A known technique may be used for encoding and decoding in the IF unit 34, and thus the description thereof is omitted here.

  Further, the IF unit 34 executes processing related to data communication such as e-mail and Internet connection. The IF unit 34 is connected to an operation unit and a display unit (not shown), inputs user instructions and data (hereinafter referred to as “data etc.”) from the operation unit, and encodes and encodes the input data and the like. Data or the like is output to the processing unit 32 as the data described above. In addition, the IF unit 34 receives the above-mentioned data from the processing unit 32, and reproduces the data and the like by decoding. The reproduced data is displayed on the display unit.

  The control unit 36 controls the operation of the entire terminal device 10. In particular, the control unit 36 implements a plurality of types of algorithms for compressing the header portion included in the packet signal, and switches the algorithm to be used according to the communication state acquired by the processing unit 32. As described above, ROHC and PHS are defined as header compression techniques. The control unit 36 determines the use of PHS in a state where communication with the base station apparatus 12 (not shown) is started, and notifies the processing unit 32 to that effect. The processing unit 32 establishes a negotiation for the use of the PHS with the base station device 12 and the GW 14 (not shown) via the communication unit 30. On the other hand, the control unit 36 determines switching from PHS to ROHC when the state of communication acquired in the processing unit 32 is deteriorated, that is, when the error rate is worse than the threshold value. Such a threshold value is assumed to be derived in advance through experiments or the like. Although the processing content in PHS is simpler than the processing content in ROHC, ROHC has a function of predicting future values from past values unlike PHS.

  Below, ROHC and PHS are demonstrated easily. As a premise, the packet signal corresponds to an IP packet, and the payload of the IP packet signal includes a TCP packet signal or a UDP packet signal. For the sake of clarity, it is assumed here that a UDP packet signal is included. The payload of the UDP packet signal includes the RTP packet signal. For this reason, the packet signal includes an IP header, a UDP header, and an RTP header.

  In ROHC, header fields are classified into the following three types. The first is a field whose value is completely fixed or almost fixed. This includes RTP, SSRC, UDP port, IP address, and the like. Such a field is not changed after it is transmitted once in the initial stage. The second field is a field whose value changes in a predictable manner for each transmitted packet signal. This includes RTP time stamps, sequence numbers, and the like. In general, a certain relationship is established between fields in the predicted effective period of such a field. The third is an unpredictable field. This includes a UDP checksum and the like. Since such a field is a random value, it must be transmitted as it is without being compressed.

  In such a classification situation, ROHC establishes a function that associates the RTP sequence number with other predictable fields, and reliably transfers the RTP sequence number and the unpredictable header field. In particular for the second field, ROHC stores the RTP sequence number in every packet signal, and the other fields are derived using an implicit mapping function. These mapping functions are components of the compression context along with fixed field values that are transmitted at the start of transmission or when the predictable field changes.

  Hereinafter, before explaining the state defined by ROHC, the structure of the RTP packet will be explained. FIGS. 3A and 3B show the format of the RTP data packet used in the communication system 100. FIG. FIG. 3A shows the format of the RTP data packet before compression. “V” corresponds to a version number, “P” corresponds to padding, “X” corresponds to an extension bit, “CC” corresponds to a CSRC count, and “M” corresponds to a marker. Correspondingly, “PT” corresponds to the payload type. The “sequence number” is information used for identifying a packet signal and notifying whether the packet signal is missing or not delivered in the wrong order. This is incremented by 1 each time a packet signal is transmitted, and returns to 0 when the maximum value is reached.

  The “time stamp” represents the moment when the first octet of the media data included in the packet signal is sampled, and is used to schedule the playback of the media data. The “SSRC identifier” corresponds to a synchronization source identifier, and the “CSRC identifier” corresponds to a contributing source identifier. FIG. 3B shows the format of the additional field when the header is complete. As shown, a “Generation field”, a “context identifier field”, and a “sequence number field” are included. Returning to FIG.

  In ROHC, three states are defined. The first is an initialization / refresh state. In this state, the header shown in FIGS. 3A to 3B is transmitted. In this state, after information necessary for establishing a context is transmitted, a transition is made to a primary compression state or a secondary compression state, which will be described later. The second is the primary compression state. In this state, the changed part of the context is transmitted. Specifically, the RTP sequence number, context identifier, and changed field are transmitted. The third is a secondary compression state. This state is used when the entire header can be predicted from the RTP sequence number and the saved context. Specifically, only the RTP sequence number and context identifier are transmitted. As a result, transmission efficiency is improved.

  In such a secondary compression state, W-LSB (Window-based Least-Significant Bit) encoding is used. By using such W-LSB, even if a small number of packet signals are lost in the window, synchronization is not lost on the receiving side. That is, W-LSB has a function of predicting future values from past values.

  Next, PHS will be described. The PHS is executed between the terminal device 10 and the GW 14 in FIG. In PHS, a compression rule is negotiated between the terminal device 10 and the GW 14. The compression rule is information about which part of the header is to be omitted. After determining the compression rule, the terminal device 10 and the GW 14 execute header compression according to the compression rule. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram illustrating a rule negotiation procedure in the PHS executed in the communication system 100. The GW 14 outputs a negotiation request signal to the base station apparatus 12 (S10). Here, the request signal includes a compression rule and a request for information for identifying the terminal device 10. The base station apparatus 12 outputs a request signal to the terminal apparatus 10 (S12). The terminal device 10 receives the request signal, grasps the compression rule, and outputs a report signal including information for identifying itself to the base station device 12 (S14). The base station apparatus 12 outputs a report signal to the GW 14 (S16), and outputs an ACK signal for the report signal to the terminal apparatus 10 (S18). Further, the GW 14 outputs an ACK signal for the report signal to the base station apparatus 12 (S20).

  FIGS. 5A to 5E show an outline of PHS operations executed in the communication system 100. FIG. Here, Fig.5 (a)-(b) has shown the operation | movement by the side of transmission among the terminal devices 10 and GW14, FIG.5 (c) is the state between the terminal device 10 and GW14. FIGS. 5D to 5E show the operation on the receiving side of the terminal device 10 and the GW 14. FIG. 5A shows the structure of the header in the uncompressed state input to the transmission side. As shown in the figure, the header is composed of five fields indicated as “A” to “E”. FIG. 5B shows the compression rules stored on the transmission side.

  The compression rule is defined in association with each field. “1” indicates a field to be omitted, and “0” indicates a field that is not omitted. The transmission side extracts a field corresponding to “0” while referring to the compression rule, and sets it as a transmission target header. The header of the compression result corresponding to FIGS. 5A and 5B is FIG. 5C, and only “B” and “D” are included as illustrated. On the receiving side, referring to the compression rule shown in FIG. 5D, the header shown in FIG. Even during the data communication, the compression rule is updated by executing the process shown in FIG. As a result, flexible communication becomes possible.

  This configuration can be realized in terms of hardware by a CPU, memory, or other LSI of any computer, and in terms of software, it is realized by a program having a communication function loaded in the memory. Describes functional blocks realized by collaboration. 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 operation of the terminal device 10 having the above configuration will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the switching procedure of the header compression technique in the control unit 36. The control unit 36 determines the use of PHS (S50). If the error rate does not deteriorate below the threshold (N in S52) and communication is not completed (N in S54), the process returns to Step 50. If the communication ends (Y in S54), the process ends. On the other hand, if the error rate is worse than the threshold (Y in S52), the control unit 36 determines the use of ROHC (S56). If the communication is not completed (N in S58), the process returns to step 56. If the communication ends (Y in S58), the process ends.

  According to the embodiment of the present invention, since the compression algorithm is switched according to the communication state, a header compression technique suitable for the environment can be selected and used. Further, since PHS is used when a large amount of packet signals are generated or in the initial stage, header compression can be easily executed. In addition, since the PHS is used when a large amount of packet signals are generated or in the initial stage, the compression rule can be easily changed and flexible communication can be executed. Further, when the environment deteriorates, the PHS is switched to the ROHC, so that correction for an erroneous header can be executed. In addition, since correction for an erroneous header is executed, the influence of environmental deterioration can be reduced. In addition, since correction for an erroneous header is performed, the number of retransmissions can be reduced.

  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 the combination of each component and each processing process, and such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention. .

  In the embodiment of the present invention, the terminal device 10 performs transmission processing and reception processing while including one terminal antenna 18. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the terminal device 10 may include a plurality of terminal antennas 18 and the communication unit 30 may perform adaptive array signal processing and diversity processing on a plurality of baseband signals. Here, the plurality of baseband signals correspond to radio frequency signals received by the plurality of terminal antennas 18, respectively. In the adaptive array signal processing, a reception weight vector is derived for each of a plurality of baseband signals, and after weighting the plurality of baseband signals with the derived reception weight vector, they are added. In addition, the adaptive array signal processing may be realized by a known technique even if it is other than these. On the other hand, as diversity processing, selection diversity, in-phase synthesis diversity, maximum ratio synthesis diversity, or the like may be performed.

  The communication unit 30 may also perform adaptive array signal processing and diversity processing on the input signal in the transmission processing as in the reception processing. In the adaptive array signal processing, a transmission weight vector is derived based on the reception weight vector, and after the modulated signal is weighted by the derived transmission weight vector, they are output as a baseband signal. In the diversity processing, one of the modulated signals is selected so that a radio frequency signal is transmitted from any one of the plurality of terminal antennas 18. In addition, the above modification is the same also about the base station apparatus 12. FIG. According to this modification, communication quality can be improved. Furthermore, the terminal device 10 and the communication unit 30 may execute a MIMO process. Since the MIMO process may be realized by a known technique, description thereof is omitted here. According to this modification, the communication speed can be improved.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, the processing unit 32 acquires an error rate as a communication state. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the processing unit 32 may acquire received power, interference power, and the like, and the control unit 36 may switch the algorithm by comparing the acquired value with a threshold value. According to this modification, various parameters can be used.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the communication system which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the terminal device of FIG. FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams showing a format of an RTP data packet used in the communication system of FIG. It is a sequence diagram which shows the negotiation procedure of the rule in PHS performed in the communication system of FIG. FIGS. 5A to 5E are diagrams showing an outline of PHS operation executed in the communication system of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the switching procedure of the header compression technique in the control part of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  10 terminal device, 12 base station device, 14 GW, 16 IP network, 18 terminal antenna, 20 base station antenna, 30 communication unit, 32 processing unit, 34 IF unit, 36 control unit, 100 communication system.

Claims (3)

A communication unit that performs communication with a wireless device to be communicated using a packet signal;
An acquisition unit for acquiring a communication state in the communication unit;
A control unit that switches an algorithm when compressing a header part included in a packet signal according to the communication state acquired in the acquisition unit;
A wireless device comprising:   The control unit can execute at least the first algorithm and the second algorithm, and when the communication state acquired in the acquisition unit deteriorates, the processing content is simpler than the second algorithm. The radio apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first algorithm is switched to a second algorithm having a function of predicting a future value from a past value. Acquiring a communication state when performing communication with a wireless device to be communicated using a packet signal;
Switching the algorithm for compressing the header part included in the packet signal according to the acquired communication state;
A communication method comprising:

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