JP2011087135A - Communication terminal, communication method, program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a power consumption suppression method which can be utilized even when reception timing is not fixed, and even when an access point on the data transmitting side does not correspond to a new standard in a wireless LAN. <P>SOLUTION: A communication terminal is provided with: a transmitting section 109 which transmits a data request 209 to a data supply device; a receiving section 108 which receives data to be transmitted from the data supply device according to the data request; a receiving buffer 101 which temporarily accumulates the data received by the receiving section; a data fetching section 107 which fetches the data from the receiving buffer; an accumulation amount management section 102 which manages the accumulation amount of the data accumulated in the receiving buffer; and a control section 100 which interrupts or starts the data request from the transmitting section according to the accumulation amount of the data in the receiving buffer. Then, the control section turns off power supply of a receiving amplifier 104 when the data request from the transmitting section is interrupted, and turns on the power supply of the receiving amplifier when the data request from the transmitting section is started. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication terminal, a communication method, a program, and a recording medium. For example, the present invention relates to a communication terminal connected to an access point via a wireless LAN, a communication method thereof, and the like.

  In recent years, the number of cases where a wireless LAN is constructed in an office, a home, or the like is increasing in consideration of easiness of installation and economics of introduction costs. As a typical technique of wireless LAN, there is a method standardized by an IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802 committee. Examples of the method standardized by the IEEE 802 committee include the IEEE 802.11 standard method, the IEEE 802.11a standard method, the IEEE 802.11b standard method, and the IEEE 802.11g standard method.

  The communication standard related to wireless LAN-compatible communication terminals defines a power save mode (PS mode) in which the reception of packets addressed to the device from the access point is periodically stopped to intermittently become a nap and save power. Has been. The IEEE802.11 wireless LAN has a power management function for suppressing the battery consumption of the terminal, and in the standard, there is a method for the terminal station that is saving power to transmit / receive data to / from the AP (access point). It is prescribed.

  In a wireless LAN compatible communication terminal, the power consumption of the wireless LAN unit is large, so if it is always turned on, the battery of the portable device will be consumed in a short time. Therefore, by using the power save mode, it is possible to periodically receive packets addressed to itself from the access point, and during the packet reception stop period, turn on at least a part of the power of the wireless communication unit that consumes much power. It is turned off to reduce power consumption (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  There are an active mode and a power save mode as the operation mode of the terminal station (station) related to power management. In the active mode, the terminal station is in the Awake state (starting state) in which transmission / reception is possible at all times, and in the power save mode, the Awake state and the Doze state (sleep state) that operates with the minimum power that cannot be transmitted / received are intermittently changed. However, the terminal station operating in the power save mode can transmit and receive frames only in the awake state.

  The terminal station operating in the power save mode shifts from the Doze state to the Awake state in accordance with the timing of the beacon transmitted from the base device, and performs a receiving operation.

  FIG. 7 shows a reception sequence in the conventional power save mode. The data transmission / reception operation in the power save mode will be described with reference to FIG.

  In FIG. 7, a terminal station A is a wireless LAN compatible communication terminal, and receives data by wireless communication from an access point (AP) as a base device.

  The AP temporarily buffers the data received from the outside addressed to the terminal station A operating in the power save mode, and confirms that the packet is buffered by the traffic indication map (TIM: Traffic Indication Map) in the beacon. Notice.

  The terminal station A performs a reception operation by shifting from the Doze state to the Awake state in accordance with the beacon output timing from the AP. Whether or not data addressed to the terminal station A is accumulated from the AP is notified by the TIM information element, and when there is data addressed to the own station, the control frame “PS-Poll” is repeatedly transmitted from the AP. Extract data. The presence / absence of data accumulated in the AP can be confirmed in the frame control field, and as soon as it is gone, it is possible to transition to the Doze state.

  In this way, power consumption in communication terminals such as portable devices has been suppressed.

JP-A-9-162798

  However, the above-described conventional power consumption suppression methods have a problem that the reception timing is fixed and a problem that the access point cannot be used unless the access point supports the power save mode.

  That is, since the reception timing is fixed, the response of the transmitted data becomes worse with respect to the request timing from the receiving side terminal, and when there is a lot of data, the PS-POLL frame is displayed. Repeated transmission consumes a lot of power. Moreover, since it will be in an Awake state regularly in order to receive a beacon, even when data transmission / reception is not performed, the receiving side terminal consumes power for receiving the beacon.

  Even if the receiving terminal supports the power save mode, the access point does not support the new standard power save mode (for example, UAPSD (Unscheduled Automatic Power Save Delivery) or a future extension standard). The power consumption of the side terminal cannot be suppressed.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a communication terminal, a communication method, and the like in which the reception timing is not fixed and power saving can be realized by a conventional standard in consideration of the problem of the conventional power consumption suppression method.

In order to solve the above-described problem, the first aspect of the present invention provides:
A transmission unit for transmitting a data request to the data supply device;
A receiving unit for receiving data transmitted from the data supply device in response to the data request;
A reception buffer for temporarily storing data received by the reception unit;
A data extraction unit for extracting the data from the reception buffer;
A storage amount management unit for managing a storage amount of the data stored in the reception buffer;
A control unit for interrupting or starting the data request from the transmission unit according to the accumulation amount of the data obtained from the accumulation amount management unit,
The control unit turns off the power of the reception unit when the data request from the transmission unit is interrupted, and turns off the power of the reception unit when the data request from the transmission unit is started. The communication terminal to turn on.

The second aspect of the present invention
The power supply is the communication terminal according to the first aspect of the present invention, which is a power supply for a reception amplifier included in the reception unit.

The third aspect of the present invention
The accumulation amount management unit compares the accumulation amount of the data with a predetermined first threshold value and a predetermined second threshold value smaller than the first threshold value,
The controller is
Controlling the transmission of the data request to be interrupted when the accumulated amount of the data exceeds the first threshold;
A first or second book that controls to start transmission of the data request when the accumulated amount of the data falls below the second threshold after interrupting the transmission of the data request; It is a communication terminal of the invention.

The fourth aspect of the present invention is
When the control unit controls to turn off the power of the reception unit, the control unit interrupts transmission of the data request, and all the data requests corresponding to the data request transmitted from the transmission unit until then are transmitted. The communication terminal according to the first aspect of the present invention, wherein the power of the receiving unit is turned off after the data is received by the receiving unit.

The fifth aspect of the present invention provides
The control unit causes the transmission unit to transmit the data request in response to an external data request, and when all the data corresponding to all the transmitted data requests is received by the reception unit, The communication terminal according to the first aspect of the present invention turns off the power supply of the receiving unit.

The sixth aspect of the present invention provides
The control unit causes the transmission unit to transmit that the data corresponding to the data request is received by the reception unit each time the data is stored in the reception buffer. The communication terminal according to the fourth or fifth aspect of the present invention, wherein the communication terminal is checked against the data request.

The seventh aspect of the present invention
The reception unit includes a reception amplifier that receives data transmitted from the supply device, and a demodulation unit that demodulates the data received by the reception amplifier and stores the data in the reception buffer.
The control unit confirms that the data corresponding to the data request is received by the receiving unit, by comparing the data demodulated by the demodulating unit and the data request transmitted by the transmitting unit. The communication terminal according to the fourth or fifth aspect of the present invention.

In addition, the eighth aspect of the present invention
A transmission step of transmitting a data request to the data supply device;
A receiving step of receiving data transmitted from the data supply device in response to the data request by a receiving unit;
A temporary storage step of temporarily storing the received data in a reception buffer;
A data retrieval step for retrieving the data from the reception buffer;
A storage amount management step for managing a storage amount of the data stored in the reception buffer;
Using the management information of the storage amount management step, and according to the storage amount of the data, a control step of interrupting or starting the data request in the transmission step,
In the control step, when the data request in the transmission step is interrupted, the power of the receiving unit is turned off, and when the data request in the transmission step is started, the power of the receiving unit is turned on. This is a communication method.

The ninth aspect of the present invention provides
In the communication method of the eighth aspect of the present invention, the storage amount management step for managing the storage amount of the data stored in the reception buffer, and the storage of the data using the management information of the storage amount management step It is a program that causes a computer to execute the control step of interrupting or starting the data request in the transmission step according to the amount.

The tenth aspect of the present invention is
A recording medium on which a program of the ninth aspect of the present invention is recorded, which can be processed by a computer.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a communication terminal, a communication method, and the like in which the reception timing is not fixed and power saving can be realized by a conventional standard.

System configuration diagram of Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2 of the present invention Block diagram of a data transmission / reception part of the terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention The figure which shows the flow of the receiving system process in the terminal of Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2 of this invention The figure which shows the flow of the transmission system process in the terminal of Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2 of this invention The figure which shows the change of the accumulation amount of the data in the receiving buffer of the terminal at the time of the data reception from the outside of Embodiment 1 of this invention Block diagram of the data transmission / reception part of the terminal according to the second embodiment of the present invention The figure which shows the reception sequence in the power save mode in the conventional wireless LAN

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

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 shows a system configuration diagram of Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  In the system according to the first embodiment, a wireless LAN compatible access point 11 is connected to the Internet 13 via a wired network 12. Then, the wireless LAN compatible terminal 10 wirelessly communicates with the access point 11 to receive data on the wired network 12 from the access point 11.

  The terminal 10 is a portable terminal that is portable and driven by a battery, such as a mobile phone or a PDA.

  The terminal 10 corresponds to an example of a communication terminal according to the present invention, and the access point 11 corresponds to an example of a data supply apparatus according to the present invention.

  FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of the data transmission / reception part of the terminal 10.

  The data transmission / reception part of the terminal 10 according to the first embodiment includes a control unit 100, a reception buffer 101, an accumulation amount comparison unit 102, a data extraction unit 107, a reception unit 108, and a transmission unit 109.

  When receiving a data request 200 from an upper layer (such as an application), the control unit 100 generates a data request 209 corresponding to the data request 200 and causes the transmission unit 109 to transmit the data request 209 to the outside.

  The transmission unit 109 includes a modulation unit 105 and a transmission amplifier 106.

  The modulation unit 105 performs frame processing of the data request 209 passed from the control unit 100, modulates it, and inputs the amplifier input 210 to the transmission amplifier 106. A transmission amplifier power control signal 211 input from the modulation unit 105 to the transmission amplifier 106 is a signal for controlling on / off of the power of the transmission amplifier 106, and the modulation unit 105 only inputs the amplifier input 210 to the transmission amplifier 106. The transmitter amplifier 106 is controlled to be turned on.

  The transmission amplifier 106 receives the amplifier input 210 and the transmission amplifier power control signal 211 modulated from the modulation unit 105, and is turned on only when the transmission amplifier power control signal 211 is valid. Wirelessly output to

  The receiving unit 108 includes a demodulating unit 103 and a receiving amplifier 104.

  The reception amplifier power control signal 208 is a signal for controlling on / off of the power of the reception amplifier 104. When power is supplied by the reception amplifier power control signal 208, the reception amplifier 104 receives the reception signal 212 received from the outside. Is controlled to output an amplifier output 207. Then, the demodulation unit 103 demodulates the amplifier output 207 from the reception amplifier 104 and accumulates the reception data 206 subjected to frame processing in the reception buffer 101.

  The reception buffer 101 temporarily stores the reception data 206 demodulated by the demodulation unit 103, and the temporarily stored data 203 is read from the data extraction unit 107. The reception buffer 101 is, for example, a memory such as a RAM built in the terminal 10 or a directly removable memory card.

  In response to a data extraction request 214 from the upper layer, the data extraction unit 107 reads out the data 203 stored in the reception buffer 101 and passes the data 203 as acquired data 201 to the upper layer.

  The accumulation amount comparison unit 102 compares the accumulation amount information 204 indicating the amount of received data accumulated in the reception buffer with a predetermined threshold value, and notifies the control unit 100 of the comparison result 205.

  The accumulation amount comparison unit 102 is an example of the accumulation amount management unit of the present invention.

  The control unit 100 controls the reception amplifier power control signal 208 and the like based on the comparison result 205 notified from the accumulation amount comparison unit 102.

  Next, an operation when the terminal 10 according to the first embodiment receives streaming data from the access point 11 will be described.

  Here, as an example, it is assumed that downloading from the access point 11 is performed irregularly mainly by an instruction from the application of the terminal 10, and the downloaded data is video streaming data.

  In the case of video streaming, since the reception data 206 temporarily stored in the reception buffer 101 is decoded while being extracted in accordance with the streaming playback time, when the reception data 206 continues to be stored in the reception buffer 101, the access point 11 If the transmission timing of the received reception signal 212 is not controlled, the reception buffer 101 overflows. Therefore, it is necessary to control the transmission timing of the data request 209 transmitted from the transmission unit 109.

  FIG. 3 shows a flow of reception system processing in the terminal 10, and FIG. 4 shows a flow of transmission system processing in the terminal 10.

  The terminal 10 according to the first embodiment realizes a power saving function by executing these reception processing and transmission processing in parallel.

  FIG. 5 shows changes in the amount of data stored in the reception buffer 101.

  The upper threshold value and the lower threshold value shown in FIG. 5 are values set in advance for the power saving control of the first embodiment, and the accumulated amount of data accumulated in the reception buffer 101 is determined by these values. Power saving control is performed by comparing with a threshold value.

The upper threshold value and the lower threshold value shown in FIG. 5 are examples of the predetermined first threshold value and the predetermined second threshold value of the present invention, respectively. First, referring to FIG. The operation of the reception system process will be described. Note that the power on / off of the reception amplifier 104 is controlled in a transmission system process described later.

  The reception amplifier 104 outputs an amplifier output 207 for the reception signal 212 when the reception signal 212 from the access point 11 arrives with the power on. When demodulating section 103 detects reception amplifier output 207 (STEP 300), it demodulates and stores received data 206 in reception buffer 101 (STEP 301). When the amplifier output 207 is not detected in STEP 300, the process proceeds to the next process (STEP 302).

  Next, the accumulation amount comparison unit 102 compares the accumulation amount of the data accumulated in the reception buffer 101 with the upper threshold value and the lower threshold value (see FIG. 5) shown in FIG. 205 is notified to the control unit 100 (STEP 302).

  If there is a data retrieval request 214 for performing the next decoding process for streaming playback from the application (STEP 303), the data retrieval unit 107 retrieves the data 203 from the reception buffer 101 and delivers it as the acquired data 201 to the application (step 303). (STEP305).

  Then, the process returns to STEP 300 again, and the above-described process shown in FIG.

  Next, the operation of the transmission system process will be described with reference to FIG.

  In the transmission system processing, first, the reception system processing operation is initialized, and the control unit 100 turns off the power of the reception amplifier 104 by the reception amplifier power control signal 208 (STEP 400).

  The control unit 100 checks whether or not there is a data request 200 for acquiring streaming data from the application (STEP 401), and when there is a data request 200, operates the reception amplifier power control signal 208 to receive the reception amplifier 104. Is turned on (STEP 402).

  Then, the control unit 100 generates a data request 209 for transmitting to the access point 11 corresponding to the data request 200, and sends the data request 209 to the modulation unit 105. The modulation unit 105 converts the data request 209 into a frame and modulates it, and outputs it to the transmission amplifier 106 as an amplifier input 210. The transmission amplifier 106 performs amplification processing on the amplifier input 210 and outputs it as a transmission signal 213 to the outside ( (STEP403). At this time, the modulation unit 105 performs control so that the power of the transmission amplifier 106 is turned on only while the transmission signal 213 is being output.

  Here, the data request 209 generated by the control unit 100 is, for example, an appropriate window for acquiring data corresponding to the data request 200 from the application in order to control the amount of data received from the access point 11. For example, a TCP segment with a set size. Therefore, a plurality of data requests 209 are passed from the control unit 100 to the modulation unit 105 for one data request 200.

  The control unit 100 causes the transmission unit 109 to transmit the transmission signal 213 corresponding to the data request 209, and then confirms whether all the data requests 209 to be transmitted corresponding to the data request 200 have been transmitted (STEP 404). When all the data requests 209 to be transmitted have been transmitted, the presence / absence of a new data request 200 from the application is confirmed (STEP 405).

  When there is no new data request 200 from the application, the control unit 100 confirms whether all data corresponding to all the data requests 209 transmitted to the transmission unit 109 has been received by the reception unit 108 ( (STEP406).

  When the control unit 100 confirms that all data corresponding to all the data requests 209 has been received, the control unit 100 returns to STEP 400 and performs control to turn off the power of the reception amplifier 104.

  Here, every time reception data 206 is accumulated in the reception buffer 101 by the demodulation unit 103, the control unit 100 reads out the header information 202 of the accumulated reception data 206 from the reception buffer 101 and modulates the header information 202. By comparing with the data request 209 that has already been passed to the unit 105, it is confirmed whether or not all the data corresponding to all the data requests 209 have been received. Note that the header information 202 read out from the reception buffer 101 by the control unit 100 at this time may be the entire header portion of the reception data 206, or contrasts with the data request 209 for which transmission has been requested in the header portion. Therefore, only the information part necessary for the purpose may be used.

  In STEP 404, when all the data requests 209 to be transmitted have not yet been transmitted, and in STEP 405, when there is a new data request 200 from the application, the control unit 100 stores the accumulated amount comparison unit 102. It is confirmed whether the comparison result 205 notified from is less than the upper threshold (STEP 407).

  When the comparison result 205 is less than the upper limit threshold value, the process returns to STEP 403, and the control unit 100 generates the next data request 209 and transmits it from the transmission unit 109.

  If the comparison result 205 is greater than or equal to the upper threshold value, there is a possibility that the reception buffer 101 will overflow when further requesting data transmission from the access point 11 is made. A data request 209 set to 0 is generated, and the data request 209 is sent to the modulation unit 105. The modulation unit 105 converts the data request 209 into a frame and modulates it, and outputs it to the transmission amplifier 106 as an amplifier input 210. The transmission amplifier 106 performs amplification processing on the amplifier input 210 and outputs it as a transmission signal 213 to the outside ( (STEP408). At this time, the modulation unit 105 performs control so that the power of the transmission amplifier 106 is turned on only while the transmission signal 213 is being output.

  Thereafter, the control unit 100 confirms that all the data corresponding to all the data requests 209 transmitted to the transmission unit 109 are received by the reception unit 108 by the same processing as STEP 406 (STEP 409).

  When the control unit 100 confirms that all the data corresponding to all the data requests 209 passed to the transmission unit 109 has been received, the control unit 100 operates the reception amplifier power control signal 208 to turn off the power of the reception amplifier 104. (STEP 410).

  After turning off the power of the reception amplifier 104, the control unit 100 generates and stores a data request signal to be transmitted next by the transmission unit 109 (STEP 411).

  Thereafter, the control unit 110 checks whether or not the comparison result 205 notified from the accumulation amount comparison unit 102 has become less than the lower limit threshold (STEP 412).

  When the comparison result 205 is equal to or greater than the lower limit threshold value, the process returns to STEP 411, and the control unit 100 generates and stores a data request signal to be transmitted next by the transmission unit 109. At this time, the data request signal that has already been saved is overwritten and saved.

  When the comparison result 205 is less than the lower threshold value, the control unit 100 controls the reception amplifier power control signal 208 to operate so as to turn on the power of the reception amplifier 104 (STEP 413).

  After turning on the power of the receiving amplifier 104, the control unit 100 takes out the stored data request signal and sends the data request 209 to the modulation unit 105. The modulation unit 105 converts the data request 209 into a frame and modulates it, and outputs it to the transmission amplifier 106 as an amplifier input 210. The transmission amplifier 106 performs amplification processing on the amplifier input 210 and outputs it as a transmission signal 213 to the outside ( (STEP 414). At this time, the modulation unit 105 performs control so that the power of the transmission amplifier 106 is turned on only while the transmission signal 213 is being output.

  In the above description, the control unit 100 has been described as controlling the power supply of the reception amplifier 104. However, the control unit 100 controls the power supply of the reception amplifier 104 and also controls the power supply supplied to the demodulation unit 103. You may do it.

  As described above, the amount of data stored in the reception buffer 101 is controlled by controlling the interruption / start of an external data request and turning on / off the power of the reception amplifier 104 in accordance with the amount of data stored in the reception buffer 101. FIG. 5 changes.

  In the reception and transmission processing of the first embodiment described above, as shown in FIG. 5, when the amount of data stored in the reception buffer 101 increases and reaches the upper limit threshold value, the control unit 100 The data request 209 to the modulation unit 105 is stopped and the transmission of the transmission signal 213 to the outside is interrupted.

  After stopping the data request 209 from the control unit 100 to the modulation unit 105, the control unit 100 confirms that the reception signals 212 corresponding to all transmission signals 213 that have been transmitted are received by the reception unit 108. The power of the receiving amplifier 104 is turned off. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, the power of the reception amplifier 104 is turned off at a timing later than when the data request is stopped.

  Further, after the power supply of the reception amplifier 104 is turned off, the amount of data stored in the reception buffer 101 decreases, and when the lower limit threshold is reached, the power supply of the reception amplifier 104 is turned on and the control unit Processing is performed so that the data request 209 from 100 to the modulation unit 105 is started (restarted).

  The upper and lower thresholds are the accumulative capacity of the reception buffer 101, the communication speed with the access point 11, the requested data size set in the data request 209, and the frequency of the data retrieval request 214 from the application. An appropriate value according to the above is set in advance. For example, when receiving streaming data, the lower threshold corresponds to a data request that has been resumed until the decoder has processed the data stored in the reception buffer 101 and the reception buffer 101 is empty. A value that is greater than or equal to a value that allows the reception data to be stored in the reception buffer 101 in advance is set.

  Further, the processing of the control unit 100, the accumulation amount comparison unit 102, the data extraction unit 107, and the like can be processed by software by causing the CPU to execute a program. When these are processed by software, it is possible to easily cope with changes in processing contents and changes in threshold values.

  As shown in FIG. 5, terminal 10 of the first embodiment interrupts transmission of a data request based on the storage capacity of reception buffer 101 and turns off reception amplifier 104 during that period. Electric power can be suppressed.

  Further, when data other than that addressed to the own terminal 10 is generated on the wired network 12, the reception amplifier 104 receives the data, and thus consumes useless power for the reception. Since such data is not received during the period when the power of the receiving amplifier 104 is off, it is possible to suppress unnecessary power consumption. In addition, since it is not necessary to periodically turn on the reception amplifier 104 at the timing when a beacon is output as in the prior art, the power consumption can be reduced as compared with the conventional power consumption suppression method.

  In addition, the access point 11 does not need to correspond to the new standard, and power consumption can be suppressed only by processing on the terminal 10 side.

(Embodiment 2)
The system in which the terminal according to the second embodiment of the present invention is used is the same as that of the first embodiment, as shown in FIG.

  FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of a data transmission / reception part of terminal 10 of the second embodiment. The same reference numerals are used for the same components as those of the terminal of the first embodiment shown in FIG.

  The processing of the reception system and the processing of the transmission system at the time of data reception from the access point 11 of the terminal 10 of the second embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment and are as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. In step 406 and step 409 of FIG. 4, the control unit 100 confirms that all data corresponding to all the data requests 209 transmitted to the application transmission unit 109 are received by the reception unit 108 as in the first embodiment. Is different.

  In Embodiment 2, when demodulating section 111 of receiving section 112 demodulates amplifier output 207 from receiving amplifier 104 and stores received data 206 in receiving buffer 101, header information of received data 206 stored therein is received. 202 is transferred to the control unit 110.

  Then, every time the header information 202 is passed from the demodulator 111 in STEP 406 and STEP 409, the control unit 110 compares the header information 202 with the data request 209 that has already been passed to the modulation unit 105. It is confirmed whether or not all data corresponding to the request 209 has been received.

  The header information 202 passed to the control unit 110 by the demodulation unit 111 may be the entire header portion of the received data 206, or contrasted with the data request 209 for which the control unit 110 has requested transmission in the header portion. It may be only the information part necessary to do.

  In the above description, when the demodulation unit 111 stores the reception data 206 in the reception buffer 101, the header information 202 is passed to the control unit 110. At that time, the reception data 206 is controlled instead of the header information 202. You may make it pass to the part 110. FIG.

  In such a case, the control unit 110 extracts information necessary for comparing the data request 209 that has already been passed to the modulation unit 105 from the received data 206 that has been passed from the demodulation unit 111, and the data Contrast with request 209. In this case, the demodulation unit 111 may not store the reception data 206 in the reception buffer 101, but the control unit 110 may store the reception data 206 passed from the demodulation unit 111 in the reception buffer 101.

  In the first embodiment, the control unit 100 uses the header information 202 read from the reception buffer 101 and contrasts with the data request 209 that has been passed to the modulation unit 105, whereas in the second embodiment, as described above. In addition, whether or not all the data corresponding to all the data requests 209 has been received by comparing the data request 209 that has been passed to the modulation unit 105 using the information passed from the demodulation unit 111 by the control unit 110. The point to check is different.

  In each embodiment, the case where the terminal 10 communicates wirelessly with the access point 11 has been described as an example, but the same effect can be obtained even when the terminal 10 and the access point 11 are connected by wire. In addition, the present invention can be applied to any device that performs communication, not limited to communication between the terminal 10 and the access point 11.

  The communication terminal and the communication method of the present invention can effectively suppress power consumption during streaming playback or the like that requires reception data to be stored in a reception buffer.

  Conventionally, on the premise that access of IP data between an access point and a terminal is equal in upstream and downstream directions, a wireless LAN or the like has been provided with a polling-based power saving mechanism as described with reference to FIG. . On the other hand, the communication terminal and the communication method of the present invention are mainly limited to downloading from the access point (downward direction), focusing on the fact that mobile terminals generally have the main function of downloading (downward direction). It is a thing.

  Whereas conventional power saving mechanisms such as wireless LAN cannot be used unless both the access point and the terminal support the new standard, the present invention can realize power saving of the terminal on the conventional standard. It is what I did.

  Although the effect of the present invention is greatly exerted in a mobile terminal driven by a battery and having a large influence of power consumption required for communication, the same effect can be obtained in other terminals.

  The program of the present invention uses the storage amount management step for managing the storage amount of the data stored in the reception buffer and the management information of the storage amount management step in the communication method described above. A program for causing a computer to execute the operation of the control step for interrupting or starting the data request in the transmission step according to the accumulated amount of the data, the program operating in cooperation with the computer.

  In addition, the recording medium of the present invention uses the storage amount management step for managing the storage amount of the data stored in the reception buffer and the management information of the storage amount management step in the communication method described above. , A recording medium recording a program for causing a computer to execute the operation of the control step for interrupting or starting the data request in the transmission step according to the amount of accumulated data, and readable by the computer The recorded program is used in cooperation with the computer.

  Further, the “operation of the control step” of the present invention means the operation of all or part of the control 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, 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 communication terminal and the communication method according to the present invention have the effect that the reception timing is not fixed and power saving can be realized by the conventional standard, and the communication terminal and the communication method of the system in which the communication terminal is connected wirelessly Useful.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Terminal 11 Access point 12 Wired network 13 Internet 100 Control part 101 Reception buffer 102 Accumulation amount comparison part 103 Demodulation part 104 Reception amplifier 105 Modulation part 106 Transmission amplifier 107 Data extraction part 108 Reception part 109 Transmission part 110 Control part 111 Demodulation part 112 Receiver 200 Data request 201 Acquired data 202 Header information 203 Data 204 Accumulated amount information 205 Comparison result 206 Received data 207 Amplifier output 208 Receive amplifier power control signal 209 Data request 210 Amplifier input 211 Transmit amplifier power control signal 212 Receive signal 213 Transmit signal 214 Data retrieval request

Claims (10)

A transmission unit for transmitting a data request to the data supply device;
A receiving unit for receiving data transmitted from the data supply device in response to the data request;
A reception buffer for temporarily storing data received by the reception unit;
A data extraction unit for extracting the data from the reception buffer;
A storage amount management unit for managing a storage amount of the data stored in the reception buffer;
A control unit for interrupting or starting the data request from the transmission unit according to the accumulation amount of the data obtained from the accumulation amount management unit,
The control unit turns off the power of the reception unit when the data request from the transmission unit is interrupted, and turns off the power of the reception unit when the data request from the transmission unit is started. Communication terminal to turn on.   The communication terminal according to claim 1, wherein the power source is a power source of a reception amplifier included in the reception unit. The accumulation amount management unit compares the accumulation amount of the data with a predetermined first threshold value and a predetermined second threshold value smaller than the first threshold value,
The controller is
Controlling the transmission of the data request to be interrupted when the accumulated amount of the data exceeds the first threshold;
3. The control according to claim 1, wherein after the transmission of the data request is interrupted, the transmission of the data request is controlled when the accumulated amount of the data falls below the second threshold value. Communication terminal.   When the control unit controls to turn off the power of the reception unit, the control unit interrupts transmission of the data request, and all the data requests corresponding to the data request transmitted from the transmission unit until then are transmitted. The communication terminal according to claim 1, wherein the power of the receiving unit is turned off after the data is received by the receiving unit.   The control unit causes the transmission unit to transmit the data request in response to an external data request, and when all the data corresponding to all the transmitted data requests is received by the reception unit, The communication terminal according to claim 1, wherein the power of the receiving unit is turned off.   The control unit causes the transmission unit to transmit that the data corresponding to the data request is received by the reception unit each time the data is stored in the reception buffer. The communication terminal according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the communication terminal confirms the data request against the data request. The reception unit includes a reception amplifier that receives data transmitted from the supply device, and a demodulation unit that demodulates the data received by the reception amplifier and stores the data in the reception buffer.
The control unit confirms that the data corresponding to the data request is received by the receiving unit, by comparing the data demodulated by the demodulating unit and the data request transmitted by the transmitting unit. The communication terminal according to claim 4 or 5. A transmission step of transmitting a data request to the data supply device;
A receiving step of receiving data transmitted from the data supply device in response to the data request by a receiving unit;
A temporary storage step of temporarily storing the received data in a reception buffer;
A data retrieval step for retrieving the data from the reception buffer;
A storage amount management step for managing a storage amount of the data stored in the reception buffer;
Using the management information of the storage amount management step, and according to the storage amount of the data, a control step of interrupting or starting the data request in the transmission step,
In the control step, when the data request in the transmission step is interrupted, the power of the receiving unit is turned off, and when the data request in the transmission step is started, the power of the receiving unit is turned on. Communication method.   9. The communication method according to claim 8, wherein the storage amount management step for managing the storage amount of the data stored in the reception buffer, and the storage of the data by using management information of the storage amount management step A program for causing a computer to execute the control step of interrupting or starting the data request in the transmission step according to an amount.   A recording medium on which the program according to claim 9 is recorded, wherein the recording medium can be processed by a computer.

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