JP2008301413A - Transmission system, repeater, network state acquiring method, program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a transmission system, repeater, network state acquiring method and the like in which route information can be acquired together with communication properties of terminals in simple configuration. <P>SOLUTION: A network is configured wherein a band management device 11 and a plurality of terminals 12-15 are connected via repeaters 16-18. Communication network property of the terminal 12 itself including a device ID, interface number and communication speed is sent from the terminal 12. The repeater 16 having communication ports A-D of which interface numbers are different from one another sends the communication network property received by the communication port A from any one of sending ports B-D other than the port A that has received the communication network property. At such a time, a communication network property specific for the receiving port A and communication network properties specific for the sending ports B-D are added to the communication network property received by the communication port A, and sent out as a new communication network property. The band management device 11 receives a plurality of communication network properties from the terminals 12-15 from the repeater 176 and manages the network. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a transmission system, a relay apparatus, a network state acquisition method, and the like that manage a network communication band by a band management apparatus.

  In recent years, network technology has become widespread and various communication applications have been used. The communication application uses the communication band to implement the application. Therefore, when there is no surplus bandwidth in the network, it is difficult to use the communication application. In addition, since various communication devices are connected to the network and perform communication using communication applications, it is necessary to secure a communication band required by the communication application.

  There has been a communication system that controls a communication band on a network by managing a band used by each terminal for communication by a band management device connected to the network (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  FIG. 10A shows a connection configuration diagram of a conventional communication system in which the bandwidth management device controls the communication bandwidth on the network.

  A plurality of terminals 102 to 105 form a network connected by transmission paths via bridges 106 to 108, and the bandwidth management apparatus 101 is also connected to the bridge 106 of this network.

  The bandwidth management apparatus 101 manages the communication bandwidth on this network using a bandwidth management table. FIG. 10B shows an example of the bandwidth management table.

  As shown in FIG. 10B, the band management apparatus 101 manages the communication bands of the path 109 between the bridge 106 and the bridge 107 and the path 110 between the bridge 106 and the bridge 108, respectively. The maximum bandwidth shown in FIG. 10B indicates the maximum bandwidth that can be used in each path, and the used bandwidth indicates the bandwidth that is being used in each path. Here, these communication bands are managed by the communication speed.

  That is, in the example of FIG. 10B, the maximum bandwidth of the path 109 between the bridge 106 and the bridge 107 is 25 Mbps, and the maximum bandwidth of the path 110 between the bridge 106 and the bridge 108 is 20 Mbps. The communication bandwidth of the path 109 indicates that 20 Mbps is currently being used, and that the path 110 is not currently used for communication.

  Here, when the terminal 102 tries to start execution of a communication application with the terminal 104, the terminal 102 first makes a call connection request to the bandwidth management apparatus 101. When making this call connection request, the terminal 102 notifies the bandwidth management apparatus 101 of information on the communication band (communication speed) necessary for the communication application, together with the terminal IDs of the calling terminal 102 and the counterpart terminal 104. Here, it is assumed that the communication bandwidth necessary for this communication application is 10 Mbps.

  When receiving the call connection request from the terminal 102, the bandwidth management apparatus 101 determines whether or not the call connection request requested from the terminal 102 can be permitted based on the bandwidth management table of FIG. At this time, the bandwidth management apparatus 101 calculates the sum of the currently used bandwidth (used bandwidth) and the communication bandwidth required by the terminal 102 for the paths used between the terminals, and shows the value of the sum as shown in FIG. Compared with the value of the maximum bandwidth in (b), if the sum is equal to or less than the maximum bandwidth, it is determined that there is a surplus bandwidth equal to or greater than the requested communication bandwidth, and if the sum exceeds the maximum bandwidth, It is determined that there is no surplus bandwidth for the requested communication bandwidth.

  Since the path 109 is used for communication between the terminal 102 and the terminal 104, the bandwidth management apparatus 101 determines the path 109. 10B, in the path 109, the sum of the used bandwidth (20 Mbps) and the requested communication bandwidth (10 Mbps) is 30 Mbps, which exceeds the maximum bandwidth (25 Mbps). It is determined that there is no surplus bandwidth for the communication bandwidth, and the terminal 102 is notified of a “call connection not permitted” response. Since the terminal 102 receives the notification of “call connection not permitted”, the communication application is not executed at this time.

  Next, a case where the terminal 102 tries to start execution of a communication application with the terminal 105 will be described. Also in this case, it is assumed that the communication bandwidth necessary for the communication application is 10 Mbps.

  In this case, since the path 110 is used for communication between the terminal 102 and the terminal 105, the bandwidth management apparatus 101 determines the path 110. From FIG. 10B, since the sum of the used bandwidth (0) and the requested communication bandwidth (10 Mbps) is 10 Mbps in the path 110 and does not exceed the maximum bandwidth (20 Mbps), the bandwidth management apparatus 101 It is determined that there is a surplus bandwidth that is equal to or greater than the designated communication bandwidth, and the terminal 102 is notified of a “call connection permission” response. Upon receiving the “call connection permission” notification, the terminal 102 starts executing the communication application with the terminal 105.

  Further, when the bandwidth management apparatus 101 notifies the terminal 102 of a “call connection permission” response, the bandwidth requested by the terminal 102 is set to the value of the bandwidth used in the path 110 of the bandwidth management table in FIG. The bandwidth (10 Mbps) is added and updated to 10 Mbps. Then, when the notification of “communication end” is received from the terminal 102 after the execution of the communication application of the terminal 102, the communication bandwidth (10 Mbps) used in the communication application is determined from the value of the used bandwidth of the path 110 in the bandwidth management table. Subtract minutes.

In this way, the bandwidth management apparatus 101 manages the communication bandwidth on the network, thereby guaranteeing the communication speed required for the communication application executed between the terminals 102 to 105.
JP 7-193579 A

  However, in the above-described conventional communication system, a bandwidth management table including network route information must be prepared in the bandwidth management apparatus 101 in advance.

  Patent Document 1 only describes how to use a bandwidth management table that the bandwidth management apparatus 101 has in advance, and does not describe how to prepare the bandwidth management table.

  Considering a method in which the bandwidth management device 101 generates a bandwidth management table using conventional technology, for example, the bandwidth management device 101 has a learning MAC table and communication that each bridge has from each bridge 106 to 108. It is conceivable to acquire characteristic information of each port including information such as speed and generate a bandwidth management table based on the information. However, in this case, the request message from the bandwidth management apparatus 101 is received and decoded to each of the bridges 106 to 108, and a response message including its own learning MAC table and characteristic information of each port is transmitted correspondingly. It is necessary to incorporate advanced functions such as

  In view of the above-described conventional problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a transmission system, a relay device, a network state acquisition method, and the like that can acquire route information together with communication characteristics of each terminal with a simple configuration. .

In order to solve the above-described problem, the first aspect of the present invention provides:
A transmission system comprising a network having a bandwidth management device, a plurality of terminals, a relay device, and a transmission path connected between the bandwidth management device and each terminal via the relay device,
The terminal
Having a communication net characteristic sending unit for sending out its own communication net characteristic including at least a device ID, an interface number and a communication speed;
The relay device is
Multiple communication ports with different interface numbers,
An additional communication net characteristic sending unit for sending the communication net characteristic received at each communication port from one or a plurality of sending ports other than the received port;
The additional communication net characteristic sending unit adds a unique communication net characteristic of the received port and a unique communication net characteristic of the sending port when sending the received communication net characteristic from each sending port. And send it as a new communication network characteristic,
The bandwidth management device includes:
The transmission system includes a network topology management unit that manages the network based on a plurality of communication network characteristics received from the connected relay device.

The second aspect of the present invention
The terminal
A call connection request unit for transmitting a call connection request including information on a communication partner terminal to be connected and communication band necessary for communication with the partner terminal to the band management device;
The bandwidth management device includes:
A bandwidth management table for recording communication network characteristics received from the relay device;
The network topology management unit receives the call connection request from the terminal, determines whether or not the communication between the requested terminals is possible based on the bandwidth management table, and at least determines the determination result as the call connection request. 1 is a transmission system according to the first aspect of the present invention.

The third aspect of the present invention
The call connection request unit, when the communication with the counterpart terminal is completed, transmits to the bandwidth management device that the communication is terminated,
When the network topology management unit determines that the communication between the requested terminals is possible when the call connection request is received, the network topology management unit stores information on the necessary communication band as communication state information in the band management table. The transmission system according to the second aspect of the present invention is configured to delete the information of the necessary communication band recorded in the band management table when receiving the fact that the communication is completed.

The fourth aspect of the present invention is
The communication network characteristic transmission unit of the terminal is the transmission system according to the first aspect of the present invention, which transmits the communication network characteristic of itself when connected to the network.

The fifth aspect of the present invention provides
The network is a transmission system according to the first aspect of the present invention, which is a network using a coaxial cable and a distributor for transmitting a broadcast signal for TV as the transmission path.

The sixth aspect of the present invention provides
A relay device provided on the transmission path of a network in which a bandwidth management apparatus and a plurality of terminals are connected by a transmission path, relaying communication between the terminals and communication between the terminal and the bandwidth management apparatus;
Multiple communication ports with different interface numbers,
A communication net characteristic including at least a device ID, an interface number, and a communication speed, which is transmitted from the connected terminal or transmitted from another connected relay apparatus and received at each communication port, An additional communication network characteristic sending unit for sending from one or a plurality of sending ports other than the received port;
The additional communication net characteristic sending unit adds a unique communication net characteristic of the received port and a unique communication net characteristic of the sending port when sending the received communication net characteristic from each sending port. Thus, it is a relay device that is sent out as a new communication network characteristic.

The seventh aspect of the present invention
A network state acquisition method for a transmission system comprising a bandwidth management device, a plurality of terminals, a relay device, the bandwidth management device, and a transmission line connected between the terminals via the relay device. There,
A communication net characteristic sending step for sending out the communication net characteristic of the terminal itself including at least the device ID, the interface number and the communication speed from the terminal;
In the relay apparatus having a plurality of communication ports having different interface numbers, an additional communication net characteristic sending step for sending the communication net characteristic received at each communication port from one or a plurality of sending ports other than the received port When,
In the band management device, comprising: an additional communication net characteristic acquisition step of receiving a plurality of the communication net characteristics from the connected relay device;
In the additional communication net characteristic sending step, when the received communication net characteristic is sent from each sending port, the unique communication net characteristic of the received port and the unique communication net characteristic of the sending port are added. Thus, a network status acquisition method is transmitted as a new communication network characteristic.

In addition, the eighth aspect of the present invention
In the network status acquisition method of the seventh aspect of the present invention, a communication net characteristic transmission step of transmitting its own communication net characteristic from the terminal, and the communication network characteristic received at each communication port in the relay device, This is a program for causing a computer to execute an additional communication network characteristic sending step for sending from a sending port other than the received port.

The ninth aspect of the present invention provides
A recording medium on which the program of the eighth aspect of the present invention is recorded, and is a recording medium that can be used by a computer.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a transmission system, a relay device, a network state acquisition method, and the like that can acquire route information together with communication characteristics of each terminal with a simple configuration.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
The configuration of the transmission system according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7 together with the network state acquisition method and the network bandwidth management method in the transmission system according to the first embodiment.

  FIG. 1 is a connection configuration diagram of the transmission system according to the first embodiment.

  The transmission system according to the first embodiment constitutes a network in which the bandwidth management device 11 and a plurality of terminals 12 to 15 are connected by transmission lines via bridges 16 to 18. The transmission path connecting the apparatuses may be any transmission path such as a coaxial cable or radio, and may be connected by a different type of transmission path depending on the apparatus. In addition, the code | symbol of AD shown to each bridge | bridging 16-18 of FIG. 1 has shown each port position which a bridge has.

  In FIG. 1, terminals 12 to 15 are all communication devices that execute communication applications, and realize communication applications by communicating with other terminals 12 to 15.

  The terminal 12 includes a network interface, and forms a network by connecting to the bridge 16 using the network interface. Similarly, the terminal 13 and the terminal 14 form a network by connecting to the bridge 17, and the terminal 15 forms a network by connecting to the bridge 18.

  The bridge 16 is connected to the bridge 17 using a network interface to form a network, and is also connected to the bridge 18 to form a network. The bridge 16 is further connected to the bandwidth management apparatus 11 using a network interface to form a network.

  The bridges 16 to 18 correspond to an example of the relay device of the present invention.

  Thus, each terminal 12-15, bridge | bridging 16-18, and the band management apparatus 11 form the network using each network interface.

  The bridge 16 includes a plurality of interfaces for connecting to the terminal 12, the bandwidth management device 11, the bridge 17, and the bridge 18. Similarly, the bridge 17 includes a plurality of interfaces for connecting to the bridge 16, the terminal 13, and the terminal 14, and the bridge 18 includes a plurality of interfaces for connecting to the bridge 16 and the terminal 15.

  Each of the terminals 12 to 15 and the bandwidth management device 11 may also include a plurality of interfaces.

  2A to 2C show block configuration diagrams of the terminal 12, the bridge 16, and the bandwidth management device 11, respectively. The terminals 13 to 15 also have the configuration of the terminal 12 in FIG. 2A, and the bridge 17 and the bridge 18 also have the configuration of the bridge 16 in FIG. As described above, each of the terminal 12, the bridge 16, and the bandwidth management device 11 includes a network interface. However, in FIGS. 2A to 2C, the description of the network interface is omitted.

  FIGS. 3A to 3M show the communication net characteristics of the ports of the terminals 12 to 15 and the bridges 16 to 18. As shown in FIG. 3, the communication network characteristics include a device ID indicating the terminal or bridge, a port number, and a communication speed of the network interface of the port.

  The communication speed of the network interface included in the communication network characteristics is a speed when the entire bandwidth of the transmission path can be used by the interface. The interface number of the present invention is information that can identify individual interfaces of a device having a plurality of interfaces, and the port number of the first embodiment is an example of the interface number of the present invention.

  Each of the terminals 12 to 15 has its own unique communication network characteristics 12A, 13A, 14A, and 15A as shown in FIG. The bridge 16 holds unique communication network characteristics 16A to 16D for each port. Similarly, the bridge 17 holds unique communication net characteristics 17A to 17C for each port, and the bridge 18 holds unique communication net characteristics 18A and 18B for each port.

  As shown in FIG. 2 (a), the terminal 12 includes a transmission / reception unit 22 that communicates with the bridge 16, a communication net characteristic transmission unit 21 that transmits its own communication net characteristic 12A, and other terminals. A call connection request unit 23 is provided for requesting to secure the bandwidth of the transmission path between the two.

  When the terminal 12 is connected to the network, the communication net characteristic sending unit 21 sends the communication net characteristic 12A onto the network, that is, to the bridge 16. The same applies to the terminals 13 to 15, and when connected to the network, their own communication network characteristics 13A, 14A, and 15A are transmitted over the network.

  As shown in FIG. 2B, the bridge 16 includes four ports A to D, and includes an additional communication net characteristic transmission unit 24 that transmits communication net characteristics received from each port to other ports. ing.

  When the additional communication net characteristic transmission unit 24 receives the communication net characteristic from a certain port, the additional communication net characteristic transmission unit 24 adds the communication net characteristic of the received port and the communication net characteristic of the port to be transmitted to the received communication net characteristic, thereby creating a new It is transmitted from a port other than the received port as communication network characteristics. Since the port's communication network characteristics are different for each port to be transmitted, the new communication network characteristics transmitted from each port are different.

  In the arrow connected to the additional communication net characteristic sending unit 24 in FIG. 2B, the solid line arrow indicates the flow of the communication net characteristic received from the terminal 12 at the port A, and the broken line arrow indicates the bridge at the port C. 17 shows the flow of the communication network characteristics received from 17. As described above, when the additional communication net characteristic sending unit 24 receives the communication net characteristic, the additional communication net characteristic sending unit 24 sends a new communication net characteristic to a port other than the received port. The same applies when communication network characteristics are received from port B or port D. When receiving from port B, new communication network characteristics are sent to ports A, C and D, and received from port D. Operates to send new communication net characteristics to the ports A to C.

  As shown in FIG. 2C, the bandwidth management device 11 transmits from the transmission / reception unit 25 that communicates with the bridge 16, the network topology management unit 26 that manages the bandwidth of the network, and the terminals 12 to 15. And a bandwidth management table 27 for holding the communication network characteristics received via the bridge 16.

  When the transmission / reception unit 25 receives the communication net characteristic transmitted from the bridge 16, the network topology management unit 26 stores the communication net characteristic in the bandwidth management table 27. When the transmission / reception unit 25 receives a call connection request from each of the terminals 12 to 15, the bandwidth management table 27 is referred to determine whether or not the required bandwidth can be secured between the requested terminals, and transmission / reception is performed. The unit 25 returns the determination result to the terminal that has transmitted the call connection request.

  Here, the flow of the communication net characteristic transferred by each of the bridges 16 to 18 will be specifically described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

  FIG. 4 shows a flow of communication net characteristics on the transmission line when the terminal 12 sends out its own communication net characteristics in the transmission system of the first embodiment. FIG. 5 shows the flow of the communication net characteristics on the transmission line when the terminal 13 sends out its own communication net characteristics.

  First, in FIG. 4, when the terminal 12 is connected to the network, the communication network characteristic transmission unit 21 causes the transmission / reception unit 22 to transmit its own communication network characteristic 12A onto the network.

  When the communication network characteristic transmitted from the terminal 12 is received by the port A, the additional communication network characteristic transmission unit 24 of the bridge 16 adds its own communication network characteristic and transmits it from the other ports B to D. From the port B, the communication net characteristic 16A of the received port A and the communication net characteristic 16B of the port B to be transmitted are added and transmitted. Similarly, from port C, communication net characteristic 16A and communication net characteristic 16C are added for transmission, and from port D, communication net characteristic 16A and communication net characteristic 16D are added for transmission. At this time, the communication net characteristic transmitted from the port B connected to the band management apparatus 11 is set as the communication net characteristic 31 of the terminal 12 received by the band management apparatus 11.

  Further, the additional communication net characteristic sending unit 24 of the bridge 17 and the bridge 18 operates in the same manner as the additional communication net characteristic sending unit 24 of the bridge 16.

  When the communication net characteristic transmitted from the port C of the bridge 16 is input to the port A of the bridge 17, the additional communication net characteristic transmission unit 24 of the bridge 17 adds the communication net characteristic 17A and the communication net characteristic 17B to the port. B is transmitted from port B, and communication net characteristic 17A and communication net characteristic 17C are added to be transmitted from port C.

  When the communication net characteristic transmitted from the port D of the bridge 16 is input to the port A of the bridge 18, the additional communication net characteristic transmission unit 24 of the bridge 18 adds the communication net characteristic 18A and the communication net characteristic 18B. From port B.

  However, since the communication net characteristics transmitted from the bridge 17 and the bridge 18 are not necessary, the terminals 13 to 15 discard the communication net characteristics even if they are received.

  Next, in FIG. 5, when the terminal 13 is connected to the network, the communication network characteristic transmission unit 21 causes the transmission / reception unit 22 to transmit its own communication network characteristic 13A onto the network.

  When the additional communication net characteristic transmission unit 24 of the bridge 17 receives the communication net characteristic 13A transmitted from the terminal 13 at the port B, the port A transmits the communication net characteristic 17B of the received port B and the communication of the port A to be transmitted. A net characteristic 17A is added for transmission, and from port C, a communication net characteristic 17B and a communication net characteristic 17C for port C to be transmitted are added for transmission.

  When the communication net characteristic transmitted from the port A of the bridge 17 is input to the port C of the bridge 16, the additional communication net characteristic transmission unit 24 of the bridge 16 adds the communication net characteristic 16C and the communication net characteristic 16A. Are transmitted from port A, communication net characteristic 16C and communication net characteristic 16B are added and transmitted from port B, communication net characteristic 16C and communication net characteristic 16D are added and transmitted from port D. At this time, the communication net characteristic transmitted from the port B connected to the band management apparatus 11 is set as the communication net characteristic 32 of the terminal 13 received by the band management apparatus 11.

  When the communication net characteristic transmitted from the port D of the bridge 16 is input to the port A of the bridge 18, the additional communication net characteristic transmission unit 24 of the bridge 18 adds the communication net characteristic 18A and the communication net characteristic 18B. From port B.

  However, since the communication net characteristics transmitted from the bridges 16 to 18 are not necessary, the terminals 12, 14 and 15 discard these communication net characteristics even if they are received.

  FIG. 6 shows a processing flow of the additional communication network characteristic sending unit 24 of the bridge according to the first embodiment. The processing contents of the additional communication network characteristic sending unit 24 will be described with reference to FIG. Here, a description will be given by taking the bridge 16 having a 4-port network interface as an example.

  When the additional communication net characteristic transmitting unit 24 receives the communication net characteristic at any port (step S1), the received communication net characteristic is set to the received communication net characteristic (any one of steps 16A to 16D). Add (steps S2A, S2B, S2C, S2D). For example, when the communication network characteristic is received at the port C, the communication network characteristic 16C of the port C is added (step S2C).

  Next, for each port other than the one that has received the communication net characteristic, the communication net characteristic of that port is added (steps S3A, S3B, S3C, S3D) and sent from that port (steps S4A, S4B, S4C, S4D). . For example, when communication network characteristics are received at port C, the communication characteristics 16A, 16B, and 16D of the ports are added to ports A, B, and D (steps S3A, S3B, and S3D), and the communication network Transmission is performed from the ports A, B, and D to which the characteristics are added (steps S4A, S4B, and S4D).

  The network topology management unit 26 of the bandwidth management device 11 converts the communication network characteristics 31 of the terminal 12 received from the bridge 16 in FIG. 4 and the communication network characteristics 32 of the terminal 13 received from the bridge 16 in FIG. Hold on. Similarly, the network topology management unit 26 receives the communication network characteristics 33 of the terminal 14 and the communication network characteristics 34 of the terminal 15 from the bridge 16 and holds them in the bandwidth management table 27.

  As described above, the bandwidth management device 11 acquires the communication network characteristics 31 to 34 of the terminals 12 to 15.

  FIGS. 7A to 7D show the communication network characteristics 31 to 34 of the terminals 12 to 15 held in the bandwidth management table 27, respectively.

  These communication network characteristics 31 to 34 are information indicating the network topology, route information, and communication band information of the transmission system according to the first embodiment. The network topology management unit 26 of the bandwidth management device 11 manages the bandwidth of the network based on these communication network characteristics 31 to 34 held in the bandwidth management table 27.

  Next, a network communication band control method in the transmission system of the first embodiment will be described.

  Here, a case where the terminal 12 executes a communication application to the terminal 13 will be described as an example.

  When the terminal 12 receives a request for a communication application with the terminal 13 in accordance with an instruction from the user or the like, the call connection request unit 23 receives the communication band necessary for the application to be executed and the application execution partner is the terminal 13. A call connection request message including this is transmitted to the bandwidth management apparatus 11 by the transmission / reception unit 22.

  Note that the terminal 13 in this case corresponds to an example of the counterpart terminal of the present invention.

  When the network topology management unit 26 of the bandwidth management device 11 receives the call connection request message from the terminal 12 by the transmission / reception unit 25, the communication network characteristics 31 of the terminal 12 and the communication network of the terminal 13 held in the bandwidth management table 27. Based on the characteristic 32, it is determined how much communication band is in the communication path between the terminal 12 and the terminal 13.

  Since the communication net characteristic 16B is common to both from the communication net characteristic 31 of the terminal 12 shown in FIG. 7A and the communication net characteristic 32 of the terminal 13 shown in FIG. 7B, it is connected to the terminal management apparatus 11. It can be seen that the communication network characteristics related to the transmission path between the bridge 16 and the terminal management apparatus 11, that is, the communication network characteristics not related to the transmission path between the terminal 2 and the terminal 3.

  From these two communication net characteristics 31 and communication net characteristics 32, excluding this common communication network characteristic 16B, the configuration of the transmission path between the terminal 12 and the terminal 13 and the transmission path between the terminal 12 and the terminal 13 Know the communication speed. Specifically, from these two communication network characteristics 31 and communication network characteristics 32, the path between the terminal 2 and the terminal 3 connected by the interface of the communication network characteristics 12A and the interface of the communication network characteristics 16A, and the communication network It can be seen that the transmission path is composed of three transmission paths: a path connected by the interface of the characteristic 16C and the interface of the communication net characteristic 17A, and a path connected by the interface of the communication net characteristic 17B and the interface of the communication net characteristic 13A. .

  Further, from the information on the communication speed included in each communication network characteristic, it can be seen that the maximum bandwidths of these three routes are 50 Mbps, 30 Mbps, and 30 Mbps, respectively.

  If the network topology management unit 26 determines that a communication band necessary for the communication application executed by the terminal 12 exists, the network topology management unit 26 causes the transmission / reception unit 25 to transmit a response message “permit communication with the terminal 13” to the terminal 12. At this time, the network topology management unit 26 records the communication band requested from the terminal 12 in the band management table 27 as the communication band in use.

  Upon receiving the response message “permit communication with terminal 13”, the terminal 12 starts executing the communication application with the terminal 13.

  Thereafter, the network topology management unit 26 terminates execution of the communication application between the terminal 12 and the terminal 13 and receives a notification of “communication with the terminal 13” from the terminal 12 as the communication band in use. The communication band information requested from the terminal 12 recorded in the band management table 27 is deleted.

  On the other hand, if the network topology management unit 26 determines that the surplus communication band between the terminal 12 and the terminal 13 is less than the communication band necessary for the communication application executed by the terminal 12, “communication with terminal 13 is not permitted. Is transmitted to the terminal 12 by the transmission / reception unit 25.

  Then, the terminal 12 that has received the response message “not permitted to communicate with the terminal 13” stops the execution of the communication application.

  The network topology management unit 26 determines whether there is an excess communication band, for example, as in the case of the conventional communication system disclosed in Patent Document 1, holds the communication band in use in the band management table 27. It can be determined from the communication band necessary for the application requested from the terminal 12 and the maximum band for each transmission path.

  The maximum bandwidth of each transmission path used for this determination can be obtained from the communication network characteristics 31 to 34 of the terminals 12 to 15 held in the bandwidth management table 27.

  FIG. 8 shows the maximum bandwidth of each route derived from the communication network characteristics 31 to 34 of the terminals 12 to 15 held in the bandwidth management table 27. In this manner, the network path configuration and the maximum bandwidth of each path can be derived from the communication network characteristics 31 to 34 of the terminals 12 to 15.

  In the first embodiment, it has been described that the communication network characteristics 31 to 34 of the terminals 12 to 15 are held in the bandwidth management table 27. However, instead of these pieces of information, route information derived from these pieces of information is held. You may make it keep. For example, based on such information, a table as shown in FIG. 10B used in the conventional communication system may be created and held.

  In this way, the communication network characteristics 31 to 34 of each of the terminals 12 to 15 are notified to the bandwidth management device 11 by a simple process of transferring the communication network characteristics by the additional communication network characteristics transmission unit 24 of each of the bridges 16 to 18. By using these communication network characteristics 31 to 34 held in the bandwidth management table 27, network device characteristics can be shared without depending on the network configuration, and communication applications based on the network topology can be shared. Execution becomes possible.

  Next, a usage example of the transmission system according to the first embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 9 shows a connection configuration diagram of an example of use of the transmission system according to the first embodiment. In addition, the same code | symbol as FIG. 1 is used for the component which has the same function as FIG.

  The transmission system of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 9 uses a distributor 28 and a coaxial cable laid for transmission of TV broadcast signals as a transmission path. By using a frequency band that is not used for a TV broadcast signal for transmission between terminals, it is possible to divert equipment already installed in the home or the like.

  The configuration of FIG. 9 is different from the configuration of FIG. 1 in that the bridges 16 to 18 are commonly connected by the distributor 28. However, even in the configuration of FIG. Can be applied. As shown in FIG. 9, the network state acquisition method of the first embodiment can be applied as long as each path between the bandwidth management device 11 and the terminals 12 to 15 has a uniquely determined configuration.

  For example, an STB or a video recording device may be connected as the terminals 12 to 15. Using this transmission system, for example, video recorded by an HDD recorder may be displayed on a TV in another room, or a broadcast received by an STB may be recorded by an HDD recorder installed in another room. it can.

  When making a recording reservation with a video recording device, if the bandwidth management device 11 reserves in advance a communication bandwidth necessary for the recording from the time of reservation, the communication bandwidth is used between other terminal devices at the time of recording. Therefore, it is possible to prevent problems such as failure of scheduled recording.

  In the first embodiment, a bridge is used as the relay device. However, other devices such as a repeater hub and a router may be used as the relay device.

  As described above, by using the network status acquisition method of the present invention, it is possible to acquire the characteristics of the devices that make up the network without depending on the network configuration, and the communication application based on the characteristics of the devices and the network topology. Can be executed.

  Note that the program of the present invention includes the above-described network state acquisition method, a communication network characteristic transmission step of transmitting its own communication network characteristics from the terminal, and the communication network received at each communication port in the relay device. A program for causing a computer to execute the operation of an additional communication network characteristic sending step for sending a characteristic from a sending port other than the received port, and a program that operates in cooperation with the computer.

  In addition, the recording medium of the present invention includes a communication net characteristic transmission step of transmitting the communication network characteristic from the terminal of the network state acquisition method described above, and the communication received at each communication port in the relay device. A recording medium recording a program for causing a computer to execute an operation of an additional communication net characteristic sending step for sending a net characteristic from a sending port other than the received port, and is readable and read by a computer The recording medium is used in cooperation with the computer.

  The “step operation” of the present invention means the operation of all or part of the step.

  Further, one usage form of the program of the present invention may be an aspect in which the program is recorded on a recording medium such as a ROM readable by a computer and operates in cooperation with the computer.

  Further, one use form of the program of the present invention may be an aspect in which the program is transmitted through a transmission medium such as the Internet or a transmission medium such as light / radio wave, read by a computer, and operates in cooperation with the computer. .

  The computer of the present invention described above is not limited to pure hardware such as a CPU, DSP, FPGA, and may include firmware, an OS, and peripheral devices.

  As described above, the configuration of the present invention may be realized by software or hardware.

  The transmission system, the relay apparatus, and the network state acquisition method according to the present invention have the effect of acquiring path information together with the communication characteristics of each terminal with a simple configuration, and manage the network communication band by the band management apparatus It is useful for a relay device, a network state acquisition method, and the like.

Connection configuration diagram of transmission system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention (A) Block configuration diagram of the terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention, (b) Block configuration diagram of the bridge according to the first embodiment of the present invention, (c) Block of the bandwidth management device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Diagram (A)-(m) The figure which shows the communication network characteristic of each terminal and each bridge | bridging of Embodiment 1 of this invention The figure which shows the flow of a communication network characteristic when the terminal 12 sends out a communication network characteristic in the transmission system of Embodiment 1 of this invention. The figure which shows the flow of a communication network characteristic when the terminal 13 sends out a communication network characteristic in the transmission system of Embodiment 1 of this invention. The figure which shows the processing flow of the additional communication network characteristic transmission part of the bridge | bridging of Embodiment 1 of this invention. The figure which shows the communication network characteristic of the terminal 12 hold | maintained in the bandwidth management table of the bandwidth management apparatus of Embodiment 1 of this invention. The figure which shows the communication network characteristic of the terminal 13 hold | maintained in the bandwidth management table of the bandwidth management apparatus of Embodiment 1 of this invention. The figure which shows the communication network characteristic of the terminal 14 hold | maintained in the bandwidth management table of the bandwidth management apparatus of Embodiment 1 of this invention. The figure which shows the communication network characteristic of the terminal 15 hold | maintained in the bandwidth management table of the bandwidth management apparatus of Embodiment 1 of this invention. The figure which shows the maximum band of each path | route derived | led-out from the communication network characteristic hold | maintained in the band management table of the band management apparatus of Embodiment 1 of this invention Connection configuration diagram of one usage example of the transmission system according to the first embodiment of the present invention (A) Connection configuration diagram of a communication system in which a conventional bandwidth management device controls a communication band on a network, (b) A diagram showing an example of a bandwidth management table used by a conventional bandwidth management device

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Band management apparatus 12-15 Terminal 16-18 Bridge 21 Communication network characteristic transmission part 22 Transmission / reception part 23 Call connection request part 24 Additional communication net characteristic transmission part 25 Transmission / reception part 26 Network topology management part 27 Band management table 28 Divider 12A, 13A, 14A, 15A Terminal communication network characteristics 16A, 16B, 16C, 16D, 17A, 17B, 17C, 18A, 18B Bridge communication network characteristics 31 Communication network characteristics of terminal 12 32 Communication network characteristics of terminal 13 33 Communication network characteristics 34 Communication network characteristics of terminal 15

Claims (9)

A transmission system comprising a network having a bandwidth management device, a plurality of terminals, a relay device, and a transmission path connected between the bandwidth management device and each terminal via the relay device,
The terminal
Having a communication net characteristic sending unit for sending out its own communication net characteristic including at least a device ID, an interface number and a communication speed;
The relay device is
Multiple communication ports with different interface numbers,
An additional communication net characteristic sending unit for sending the communication net characteristic received at each communication port from one or a plurality of sending ports other than the received port;
The additional communication net characteristic sending unit adds a unique communication net characteristic of the received port and a unique communication net characteristic of the sending port when sending the received communication net characteristic from each sending port. And send it as a new communication network characteristic,
The bandwidth management device includes:
A transmission system comprising a network topology management unit for managing the network based on a plurality of communication network characteristics received from the connected relay device. The terminal
A call connection request unit for transmitting a call connection request including information on a communication partner terminal to be connected and communication band necessary for communication with the partner terminal to the band management device;
The bandwidth management device includes:
A bandwidth management table for recording communication network characteristics received from the relay device;
The network topology management unit receives the call connection request from the terminal, determines whether or not the communication between the requested terminals is possible based on the bandwidth management table, and at least determines the determination result as the call connection request. The transmission system according to claim 1, wherein the transmission system is transmitted to a terminal that has transmitted. The call connection request unit, when the communication with the counterpart terminal is completed, transmits to the bandwidth management device that the communication is terminated,
When the network topology management unit determines that the communication between the requested terminals is possible when the call connection request is received, the network topology management unit stores information on the necessary communication band as communication state information in the band management table. The transmission system according to claim 2, wherein the information of the necessary communication band recorded in the band management table is deleted when the fact that the communication has been completed is received.   The transmission system according to claim 1, wherein the communication network characteristic sending unit of the terminal sends the communication network characteristic of the terminal when connected to the network.   The transmission system according to claim 1, wherein the network is a network that uses a coaxial cable and a distributor for transmitting a broadcast signal for TV as the transmission path. A relay device provided on the transmission path of a network in which a bandwidth management apparatus and a plurality of terminals are connected by a transmission path, relaying communication between the terminals and communication between the terminal and the bandwidth management apparatus;
Multiple communication ports with different interface numbers,
A communication net characteristic including at least a device ID, an interface number, and a communication speed, which is transmitted from the connected terminal or transmitted from another connected relay apparatus and received at each communication port, An additional communication network characteristic sending unit for sending from one or a plurality of sending ports other than the received port;
The additional communication net characteristic sending unit adds a unique communication net characteristic of the received port and a unique communication net characteristic of the sending port when sending the received communication net characteristic from each sending port. Relay device to send out as new communication network characteristics. A network state acquisition method for a transmission system comprising a bandwidth management device, a plurality of terminals, a relay device, the bandwidth management device, and a transmission line connected between the terminals via the relay device. There,
A communication net characteristic sending step for sending out the communication net characteristic of the terminal itself including at least the device ID, the interface number and the communication speed from the terminal;
In the relay apparatus having a plurality of communication ports having different interface numbers, an additional communication net characteristic sending step for sending the communication net characteristic received at each communication port from one or a plurality of sending ports other than the received port When,
In the band management device, comprising: an additional communication net characteristic acquisition step of receiving a plurality of the communication net characteristics from the connected relay device;
In the additional communication net characteristic sending step, when the received communication net characteristic is sent from each sending port, the unique communication net characteristic of the received port and the unique communication net characteristic of the sending port are added. Network status acquisition method to send out as new communication network characteristics.   The network state acquisition method according to claim 7, wherein the communication net characteristic transmission step of transmitting its own communication net characteristic from the terminal, and the communication net characteristic received at each communication port in the relay device, A program for causing a computer to execute an additional communication network characteristic sending step to be sent from a sending port other than the received port.   A recording medium on which the program according to claim 8 is recorded, the recording medium being usable by a computer.

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