JP2010028269A - Wireless communication device and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a wireless communication device that controls handover so as not to give a disadvantage beyond assumption by a user. <P>SOLUTION: The device includes: a wireless communication unit 1 that performs handover between a first base station and a second base station; a handover decision unit 11 which decides whether handover to the second base station is required when the wireless communication unit 1 communicates with the first base station; a handover control unit 12 which controls execution of the handover from the first base station to the second base station based on the handover decision made by the handover decision unit 11; a comparison unit 13 which compares service conditions in the respective communications with the first base station and the second base station if the handover decision unit 11 decides that the hanover is required; and a notification unit 6 which notifies the comparison results by the comparison unit 13. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

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

  In recent years, as a wireless communication device, in addition to handover within the same wireless communication network, handover between wireless communication networks with different wireless communication methods, and handover between wireless communication networks with different frequency bands in the same wireless communication method A so-called multimode-compatible wireless communication device is proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  By the way, in the handover sequence of the wireless communication terminal, for example, in the case of voice communication, it is required that the user does not interrupt the conversation. For this reason, as a handover sequence, handover is executed without notifying the user in advance. As a result, if the handover can be executed smoothly, no notification is given so that the user is not aware of the handover. In the case where it takes time to connect the handover destination, it is conceivable to send a progress tone indicating that the connection sequence is in progress in order to prevent the silent period from becoming long and giving the user anxiety.

JP 2004-15192 A

  However, in the case of handover between wireless communication networks with different wireless communication methods, for example, between cdma2000 1x EV-DO and WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access), the communication speed is different, for example. Even when the communication carriers to be provided are the same or different, it is assumed that communication service charges such as call charges are different. Hereinafter, the handover in this case is abbreviated as “inter-system handover” as appropriate.

  Also, in the case of handover between wireless communication networks with the same wireless communication system and different frequency bands, for example, when communication carriers differ in frequency bands, it is assumed that communication service charges such as call charges differ. Hereinafter, the handover in this case is abbreviated as “inter-carrier handover” as appropriate.

  Further, even in the case of handover within the same wireless communication network, for example, it is assumed that communication service charges such as call charges change if the base station installation area and the communication carrier are different. Hereinafter, the handover in this case is abbreviated as “intra-system handover” as appropriate.

  For this reason, as described above, when a handover is executed without notifying the user in advance, for example, when a handover is performed to a wireless communication network having a high communication service fee, a high usage fee is charged later. In addition, when a handover is performed to a wireless communication network with a low communication speed, it takes a long time to communicate, and similarly, a high usage fee is charged later. There is concern. As described above, when it takes time to connect to the handover destination, even if a progress tone indicating that the connection sequence is in progress is sent, the service condition of the handover destination cannot be known from the progress stone. Again, there are concerns that similar problems will arise.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention made in view of such a point is to provide a wireless communication apparatus and a wireless communication method capable of controlling the execution of a handover so as not to give an unexpected disadvantage to a user.

The invention of a wireless communication device according to claim 1 that achieves the above object is as follows:
A radio communication unit capable of performing handover between the first base station and the second base station;
A handover necessity determination unit that determines whether or not a handover to the second base station is necessary while the wireless communication unit is communicating with the first base station;
A handover control unit that controls execution of a handover from the first base station to the second base station based on whether or not handover is required by the handover necessity determining unit;
When the handover necessity determination unit determines the necessity of handover, a comparison unit that compares service conditions in respective communications with the first base station and the second base station;
An informing unit for informing a comparison result by the comparing unit;
It is characterized by comprising.

The invention according to claim 2 is the wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1,
The comparison unit compares a communication service charge as the service condition,
The notifying unit notifies when the communication service fee for communication with the second base station is higher than the communication service fee for communication with the first base station as a result of the comparison by the comparing unit. To
It is characterized by this.

The invention according to claim 3 is the wireless communication apparatus according to claim 2,
If the communication control fee in communication with the second base station is higher than the communication service fee in communication with the first base station as a result of the comparison by the comparison unit, the handover control unit Invalidate the determination of the necessity of handover by the non-decision unit, and maintain communication with the first base station,
It is characterized by this.

The invention according to claim 4 is the wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1,
The comparison unit compares the communication speed as the service condition, and notifies that when the communication speed in communication with the second base station is slower than the communication speed in communication with the first base station. ,
It is characterized by this.

The invention according to claim 5 is the wireless communication apparatus according to claim 4,
If the communication speed with the second base station is lower than the communication speed with the first base station as a result of the comparison by the comparison section, the handover control section determines the handover necessity determining section. Invalidate the determination of the necessity of handover by, and maintain communication with the first base station,
It is characterized by this.

The invention according to claim 6 is the wireless communication apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
A storage unit for storing the service condition in each communication with the first base station and the second base station,
The comparison unit, when the handover necessity determination unit determines a handover necessity, compares the service conditions in the respective communications with the first base station and the second base station stored in the storage unit,
It is characterized by this.

The invention according to claim 7 is the wireless communication apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The notification unit notifies the comparison result by the comparison unit by at least one of sound, light, vibration, and display,
It is characterized by this.

The invention according to claim 8 is the wireless communication apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
The wireless communication unit can be handed over between the first base station and the second base station having different wireless communication methods.
It is characterized by this.

The invention according to claim 9 is the wireless communication apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
The wireless communication unit can be handed over between the first base station and the second base station with different frequency bands in the same wireless communication system,
It is characterized by this.

Furthermore, the invention of the wireless communication method according to claim 10 that achieves the above object is as follows:
A radio communication unit capable of performing handover between the first base station and the second base station determining whether or not a handover to the second base station is necessary during communication with the first base station;
Determining the handover necessity, comparing service conditions in the respective communications with the first base station and the second base station, and notifying the comparison result;
It is characterized by including.

  According to the present invention, when the necessity of handover from the first base station to the second base station is determined, the service conditions in the respective communications between the first base station and the second base station are compared and the result is notified. Therefore, the execution of the handover can be controlled so as not to give an unexpected disadvantage to the user.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a main part of a wireless communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The wireless communication apparatus includes a wireless communication unit 1, an operation unit 2, an audio unit 3, a display unit 4, a storage unit 5, a notification unit 6, and a control unit 7 that controls the overall operation. In the present embodiment, a system is configured to be able to perform inter-system handover between a plurality of wireless communication systems, here two wireless communication networks.

  For this reason, the wireless communication unit 1 is provided with two wireless units 1-1 and 1-2 each having a reception circuit and a transmission circuit. These wireless units 1-1 and 1-2 are optimized in advance for the corresponding wireless communication network and built in the terminal, or any wireless unit can be detachably attached to the terminal via the interface. Configure. Alternatively, the radio units 1-1 and 1-2 are configured as software radios so as to correspond to a desired radio communication network as appropriate.

  The operation unit 2 includes various operation keys such as a numeric keypad for inputting desired information. The audio unit 3 includes a microphone, a speaker, and the like necessary for voice communication. The display unit 4 is configured to be able to display information input from the operation unit 2 and downloaded images. The storage unit 5 stores programs and various applications necessary for the operation of the apparatus, and stores service conditions in a wireless communication network to which the wireless units 1-1 and 1-2 can be wirelessly connected. Moreover, the alerting | reporting part 6 is comprised by the well-known vibration mechanism which has a motor and the eccentric weight attached to the axis | shaft, for example.

  Here, the two wireless communication systems that can be handed over have different communication service charges, and it is assumed that the communication service charge does not change in an intra-system handover within the same wireless communication network. For this reason, in the present embodiment, the communication service charge in the corresponding wireless communication network in which the wireless units 1-1 and 1-2 can communicate is stored as a service condition stored in the storage unit 5.

  The control unit 7 controls the entire operation including the baseband processing of wireless communication based on the operation of the operation unit 2, and includes, for example, a CPU (central processing unit). The control unit 7 includes a handover necessity detection unit 11, a handover control unit 12, and a comparison unit 13.

  The wireless communication device according to the present embodiment is in communication with any one wireless unit of the wireless communication unit 1, for example, a wireless communication network base station (first base station) corresponding to the wireless unit 1-1. The field strength of the signal received from the base station in the same wireless communication network including the first base station with which the wireless unit 1-1 is communicating, and the base station of the wireless communication network to which the other wireless unit 1-2 corresponds ( Based on the received electric field strength of the signal received from the second base station), the handover necessity determining unit 11 determines whether the intra-system handover or the inter-system handover is necessary, and based on the determination, the handover control unit 12 To control the execution of handover.

  In addition, when the handover necessity determination unit 11 determines that the inter-system handover is necessary, the control unit 7 compares the communication service charges of the corresponding handover source and handover destination stored in the storage unit 5 in the comparison unit 13. Based on the comparison result, the driving of the notification unit 6 is controlled to notify the comparison result. In the present embodiment, if the result of the comparison by the comparison unit 13 is that the communication service fee at the handover destination is higher than the communication service fee at the handover source, the notification unit 6 is driven by the control unit 7, thereby Is vibrated to notify the user to that effect.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining a handover sequence by the radio communication apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  First, when the necessity of handover is determined by the handover necessity determination unit 11, the control unit 7 determines whether the type of handover is “inter-system handover” or “intra-system handover” (step S21). As a result, in the case of “inter-system handover”, the control unit 7 next compares the communication service charges of the corresponding handover source and handover destination stored in the storage unit 5 in the comparison unit 13, and performs handover. It is determined whether the previous communication service fee is higher than the handover source communication service fee (step S22).

  As a result, if the communication service fee at the handover destination is higher than the communication service fee at the handover source, the notification unit 6 is driven by the control unit 7, thereby vibrating the apparatus main body and informing the user to that effect. (Step S23). Thereafter, the control unit 7 uses the handover control unit 12 to execute a handover process between systems from the first base station of the wireless communication network in communication to the second base station of the wireless communication network having a different wireless communication method ( Step S24).

  On the other hand, when the communication service charge at the handover destination is equal to or lower than the communication service charge at the handover source in step S22, the control unit 7 moves to step S24 without driving the notification unit 6, and performs handover control. A handover process between systems by the unit 12 is executed.

  On the other hand, when the type of handover is “intra-system handover” in step S21, the control unit 7 proceeds to step S24, and the handover control unit 12 makes the same from the first base station of the wireless communication network in communication. Perform handover processing in the system to other base stations in the wireless communication network.

  As described above, the radio communication apparatus according to the present embodiment drives the notification unit 6 when performing inter-system handover to a radio communication network that is more expensive than the communication service fee of the radio communication network that is in communication. Since the user is notified of this, it is possible to notify in advance that the user is charged a high usage fee, thereby preventing the user from being given an unexpected disadvantage. In addition, the user can continue to talk even if he / she pays a high fee by notifying the handover to a high-priced wireless communication network, or he / she does not endure disconnecting until he / she pays a high fee. Rather than paying an expensive fee because it is not an important conversation, you can select whether to disconnect the communication once and then try again later, etc. Can be improved.

  In addition, this invention is not limited only to the said embodiment, Many deformation | transformation or a change is possible. For example, in the above embodiment, even when the communication service fee of the handover destination is higher than the communication service fee of the handover source, the handover process by the handover control unit 12 is performed as long as the operation disconnection operation is not performed in the operation unit 2. However, if the communication service fee at the handover destination is high, the determination of the necessity of handover by the handover necessity determination unit 11 is automatically invalidated, and the handover process by the handover control unit 12 is not performed. The communication with the wireless communication network that is the handover source can be maintained.

  In addition, the notification unit 6 is not limited to the case where the communication service fee of the handover destination is higher than that of the handover source, and when it is low, it is driven separately from the case where it is high and notifies the user to that effect. You can also. In this way, it is possible to give the user a sense of security when the communication service fee at the handover destination is low.

  Furthermore, the service conditions of the handover destination and the handover source are not limited to the communication service fee, and can be configured to compare communication speeds. In this case, if the communication speed of the handover destination is low, the user can know that it takes time to communicate by notifying the fact, so in the case of data download, it is unexpected to the user. It is possible to prevent a disadvantage. Also in this case, when the communication speed of the handover destination is low, the determination of the necessity of handover by the handover necessity determination unit 11 is automatically invalidated and the handover process by the handover control unit 12 is performed as described above. It is also possible to maintain the communication with the wireless communication network that is the handover source. On the contrary, when the communication speed of the handover destination increases, the notification unit 6 is driven to distinguish it from the case where the communication speed decreases, so that the user is notified so that the user can feel secure. It can also be configured.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the service conditions in the radio | wireless communication network with which the radio | wireless parts 1-1 and 1-2 communicate were stored beforehand in the memory | storage part 5, one or both service conditions are memorize | stored. Without being stored in the unit 5 in advance, it is also possible to obtain the information from the corresponding wireless communication network and perform the comparison process after determining the necessity of handover.

  Further, the notification unit 6 that notifies the comparison result of the service condition by the comparison unit 13 is not limited to the notification by vibration, but may be notified by sound (ringing) by sharing the speaker of the audio unit 3, or a light emitting element such as a light emitting diode. It is also possible to provide a notification by light, to notify the display by sharing the display unit 4, or to notify by combining two or more of these notification modes.

  Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the case where the service conditions change due to the inter-system handover, but can be applied to the case where the service conditions change depending on the communication area or the like in the intra-system handover. It can also be applied when conditions change. When performing only intra-system handover, the radio communication unit 1 can be configured by one radio unit that performs transmission / reception. When performing intra-system handover and inter-carrier handover, the radio communication unit 1 performs communication. It is also possible to configure a radio unit that performs transmission / reception for receiving and a reception unit for searching for a handover destination.

It is a functional block diagram which shows schematic structure of the principal part of the radio | wireless communication apparatus which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. 3 is a flowchart for explaining a handover sequence by the wireless communication apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Radio | wireless communication part 1-1, 1-2 Radio | wireless part 2 Operation part 3 Audio part 4 Display part 5 Memory | storage part 6 Informing part 7 Control part 11 Handover necessity detection part 12 Handover control part 13 Comparison part

Claims (10)

A radio communication unit capable of performing handover between the first base station and the second base station;
A handover necessity determination unit that determines whether or not a handover to the second base station is necessary while the wireless communication unit is communicating with the first base station;
A handover control unit that controls execution of a handover from the first base station to the second base station based on whether or not handover is required by the handover necessity determining unit;
When the handover necessity determination unit determines the necessity of handover, a comparison unit that compares service conditions in respective communications with the first base station and the second base station;
An informing unit for informing a comparison result by the comparing unit;
A wireless communication apparatus comprising: The comparison unit compares a communication service charge as the service condition,
The notifying unit notifies when the communication service fee in communication with the second base station is higher than the communication service fee in communication with the first base station as a result of the comparison by the comparing unit. To
The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1. If the communication control fee in communication with the second base station is higher than the communication service fee in communication with the first base station as a result of the comparison by the comparison unit, the handover control unit Invalidate the determination of the necessity of handover by the non-decision unit, and maintain communication with the first base station,
The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 2. The comparison unit compares the communication speed as the service condition, and notifies that when the communication speed in communication with the second base station is slower than the communication speed in communication with the first base station. ,
The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1. If the communication speed with the second base station is lower than the communication speed with the first base station as a result of the comparison by the comparison section, the handover control section determines the handover necessity determining section. Invalidate the determination of the necessity of handover by, and maintain communication with the first base station,
The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 4. A storage unit for storing the service condition in each communication with the first base station and the second base station;
The comparison unit, when the handover necessity determination unit determines a handover necessity, compares the service conditions in the respective communications with the first base station and the second base station stored in the storage unit,
The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein the wireless communication device is a wireless communication device. The notification unit notifies the comparison result by the comparison unit by at least one of sound, light, vibration, and display,
The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein the wireless communication device is a wireless communication device. The wireless communication unit can be handed over between the first base station and the second base station having different wireless communication methods.
The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein the wireless communication device is a wireless communication device. The wireless communication unit can be handed over between the first base station and the second base station with different frequency bands in the same wireless communication system,
The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein the wireless communication device is a wireless communication device. A radio communication unit capable of performing handover between the first base station and the second base station determining whether or not a handover to the second base station is necessary during communication with the first base station;
Determining the handover necessity, comparing service conditions in the respective communications with the first base station and the second base station, and notifying the comparison result;
A wireless communication method comprising:

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