JP2011254412A - Information terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To support both maintenance of a weak radio wave wireless communication and high throughput in a wireless LAN communication, in a compound wireless apparatus having a weak radio wave wireless apparatus and a wireless LAN apparatus.SOLUTION: A compound wireless apparatus 1 carries out a first wireless communication and a second wireless communication in the same channel band. A wireless LAN apparatus 20 carries out a first wireless communication using a plurality of channels. A weak radio wave wireless apparatus 10 carries out a second wireless communication using a plurality of other channels different from the channels used in first wireless communication. Here, based on threshold determination results of a received signal input intensity in second wireless communication means, a first system where the second wireless communication means carries out the communication using only a channel band not used by the first wireless communication, and a second system where first wireless communication means carries out the communication while the second wireless communication stops, are switched over.

Description

  The present invention relates to an information terminal.

  Currently, wireless communication devices using an ISM (Industrial Science Medical) (2400 to 2483.5 MHz) band are becoming widespread. As a wireless communication device using this ISM band, a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) device using a wireless method conforming to the IEEE 802.11 standard and a weak method using a wireless method using weak radio waves such as Bluetooth (registered trademark). There are radio wave devices, and it is assumed that they are used in the same housing (composite radio device).

  Since these wireless LAN devices and weak radio wave wireless devices that use these ISM bands use the same frequency, they are interfered with each other when used simultaneously, resulting in a decrease in communication quality and line disconnection. As a method of avoiding them, based on the concept of a frequency division scheme that detects a communication channel that interferes with another wireless communication scheme based on BER for each communication channel in use and stops using the communication channel. A solution is disclosed in US Pat.

  Further, as another avoidance method, a control for stopping communication of the wireless LAN device is incorporated when the weak wireless device is transmitting / receiving by notifying the wireless LAN device of the transmission / reception state of the weak wireless device. A solution based on the concept of the time division method of performing interference avoidance by mutual signals is disclosed in Patent Document 2.

JP 2002-198867 A JP 2001-217853 A

  However, in Patent Document 1 described above, the reception signal strength (RSSI) of the weak radio wave wireless device is extremely small compared to the transmission signal strength of the wireless LAN device, and the transmission wave spurious of the wireless LAN device is the same as that of the wireless LAN device and the weak radio wave. If it overlaps with most of the frequency band (2400-2483.5 MHz) used by the wireless device, if the use of the interference channel is stopped based on the BER, the frequency band that can be used by the weak radio device is sufficiently secured. There is a problem that it cannot be performed and is vulnerable to interference.

  In the above-mentioned Patent Document 2, since the communication time of the weak radio wave device and the communication time of the wireless LAN device are distributed to each other, it is possible to avoid mutual interference, but by performing the time division method Since the communication time allocated to the wireless LAN device is shortened, there is a problem that the throughput of the wireless LAN communication device is lowered as a result.

  The information terminal according to the present invention provides an information terminal having both weak radio wave wireless communication reception quality and high wireless LAN communication throughput in an information terminal including a weak radio wave device and a wireless LAN device. Objective.

  An information terminal according to the present invention is an information terminal that performs first wireless communication and second wireless communication in the same frequency band, and performs first wireless communication using a plurality of channels. Means, second wireless communication means for performing second wireless communication using a plurality of other frequencies different from the plurality of frequencies used in the first wireless communication, and the received signal strength of the second wireless communication means A determination result obtained by comparing the received signal strength with the first threshold in the received signal strength threshold determining unit, the received signal strength threshold determining unit performing threshold determination, and a memory unit storing the threshold used for the threshold determination The first wireless communication means performs communication using only the frequency band not used by the first wireless communication, and the first wireless communication means includes the second wireless communication means. When wireless communication is stopped Switching a second mode for performing communication.

  By switching the communication method using the threshold determination result, in the case of the received signal strength in which wireless communication performance degradation is predicted due to mutual interference, switching to the second method, the throughput of the first wireless communication is sacrificed. However, mutual interference can be avoided and the communication performance of the second wireless communication can be ensured. On the other hand, when the received signal strength is predicted to ensure the wireless communication performance even if mutual interference occurs, the first method is switched to the first method to ensure the communication performance of the second wireless communication. It is possible to ensure high throughput of wireless communication.

  Ensuring the reception quality of the weak radio communication in the composite radio apparatus and the high throughput of the wireless LAN communication can both be achieved.

1 is a block configuration diagram of a composite radio apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The figure which shows the relationship of the signal output from the composite radio | wireless apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention (frequency division system) The figure which shows the relationship of the signal output from the composite radio | wireless apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention (time division system) The figure (state 1) which shows the relationship between the signal output from the composite radio | wireless apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention, and an external noise signal The figure which shows the relationship between the signal output from the composite radio | wireless apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention, and an external noise signal (state 2) The figure (state 3) which shows the relationship between the signal output from the composite radio | wireless apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention, and an external noise signal The figure (state 4) which shows the relationship between the signal output from the composite radio | wireless apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention, and an external noise signal 7 is a flowchart showing control method determination processing by the composite radio apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The flowchart which shows the process of the frequency division system by the composite radio | wireless apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. 5 is a flowchart showing processing of a time division method by the composite radio apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The block block diagram of the composite radio | wireless apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. 7 is a flowchart showing control method determination processing by the composite radio apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The block block diagram of the composite radio | wireless apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention. 10 is a flowchart showing control method determination processing by the composite radio apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The figure which shows the relationship of the signal output from the composite radio | wireless apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 4 of this invention. 10 is a flowchart showing control method determination processing by the composite radio apparatus according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the information terminal according to the present invention is a composite wireless device having a wireless LAN device that performs wireless LAN communication and a weak radio wave device that performs Bluetooth communication by frequency hopping. The information terminal (composite wireless device) according to the present invention performs wireless LAN communication and Bluetooth communication within the same channel band.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a composite radio apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the composite wireless device 1 includes a wireless LAN device 20 that performs wireless LAN (IEEE802.11b, g, etc.) communication using a plurality of channels, and other different from the plurality of channels used in wireless LAN communication. It is a composite radio apparatus having a weak radio wave radio apparatus 10 that performs Bluetooth communication using a plurality of channels.

  Specifically, the weak radio apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 includes an RF / BB / MAC unit 101, a received signal strength threshold determination unit 102, a memory unit 103, a time division arbitration control unit 104, and usable channels. A determination unit 105 and a hopping frequency determination unit 106 are provided. In addition, the RF / BB / MAC unit 101 includes an RF unit 101a, a communication state detection unit 101b, and a received signal strength detection unit 101c.

  On the other hand, the wireless LAN device 20 includes an RF / BB / MAC unit 201, and the RF / BB / MAC unit 201 includes an RF unit 201a and a communication information detection unit 201b.

The RF / BB / MAC unit 101 converts binary data input from a calculation unit (not shown) into baseband data based on the hopping frequency determined by the hopping frequency determination unit 106 described later, and converts the baseband data into the RF unit. To 101a. A baseband processing unit (not shown) converts baseband data input from the RF unit 101a into binary data, and outputs the binary data to a calculation unit (not shown).
The communication state detection unit 101b detects the presence / absence of transmission of weak radio wave communication based on the output from the RF unit.

The RF unit 101a converts baseband data input from a baseband processing unit (not shown) into a radio signal (transmission signal) such as an FHSS (Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum) method, and transmits the radio signal from an antenna. In addition, the RF unit 101a converts a reception signal (for example, an FHSS signal) input from an antenna into baseband data, and outputs the baseband data to a baseband processing unit (not shown).
Based on the transmission data from the RF unit 101a, the communication state detection unit 101b detects the communication state information (presence / absence of transmission) at the present time and notifies the time division arbitration control unit 104 of the communication state information.

The received signal strength detector 101c detects the signal strength (RSSI) of the signal (received signal) received via the antenna.
The reception signal strength threshold determination unit 102 refers to the RSSI determination threshold stored in the memory unit 103 with reference to the RSSI of the weak radio wave communication detected by the reception signal strength detection unit 101c, and performs time division arbitration control on the determination result. Unit 104 and usable channel determination unit 105.

  The memory unit 103 stores an RSSI threshold used for RSSI threshold determination.

  The time division arbitration control unit 104 performs subsequent control based on the determination result of the control method notified from the received signal strength threshold determination unit 102. If the determination result is the time division method, the communication state information detected from the communication state detection unit 101b is notified to the RF unit 201a, the communication state information is referred to, and ON / OFF control of the wireless LAN communication is performed. If the determination result is the frequency division method, the time division method is stopped and the wireless LAN communication is always turned on.

  The usable channel determination unit 105 performs subsequent control based on the determination result of the control method notified from the received signal strength threshold determination unit 102. If the determination result is the frequency division method, the usable channel of the weak radio communication is assigned to a channel not used by the wireless LAN communication based on the information of the communication information detection unit 201b. If the determination result is the time division method, the frequency division method is stopped and all channels that can be assigned as usable channels for weak radio wave wireless communication are set.

  The hopping frequency determination unit 106 determines a hopping frequency based on the usable channel assigned by the usable channel determination unit 105.

  The RF / BB / MAC unit 201 converts binary data input from a calculation unit (not shown) into baseband data (wireless LAN data), and outputs the baseband data from the antenna via the RF unit 201a. In addition, the reception signal input from the antenna is converted into baseband data and output to a calculation unit (not shown).

  The RF unit 201a converts baseband data (wireless LAN data) input from a baseband processing unit (not shown) into a radio signal (transmission signal) such as a DSSS (Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum) scheme or an OFDM scheme, and this radio signal Is output from the antenna. The RF unit 201a converts a received signal (for example, a DSSS or OFDM signal) input from an antenna into baseband data (wireless LAN data), and converts the baseband data to a baseband processing unit (not shown). Output.

  The communication information detection unit 201b detects a communication channel in which wireless LAN communication is currently performed, and notifies the usable channel determination unit 105 of the communication channel.

  In the weak radio wave apparatus 10, the received signal strength (RSSI) is detected by the received signal strength detection unit 101c from the signal (received signal) received via the antenna.

  The reception signal strength threshold determination unit 102 compares the RSSI of the weak radio wave communication detected by the reception signal strength detection unit 101b with the RSSI determination threshold stored in the memory unit 103, and compares the RSSI with the wireless LAN communication. It is determined whether the weak radio wave communication is performed by the frequency division method or the time division method. Thereafter, the determination result is notified to the time division arbitration control unit 104 and the usable channel determination unit 105.

  When the time division arbitration control unit 104 determines that the time division method is used, the time division arbitration control unit 104 refers to the communication state information (during transmission / reception or communication is stopped) of the weak radio wave apparatus detected by the communication state detection unit 101 to perform transmission / reception. If the wireless LAN communication is stopped, the RF unit 201a is notified of the stop of the wireless LAN communication, and if the communication is stopped, the execution of the wireless LAN communication is notified. On the other hand, when the frequency division method is determined, the time division arbitration control is stopped and the RF unit 201a is always notified of the execution of the wireless LAN communication.

  The usable channel determination unit 105 refers to the wireless LAN communication channel information detected by the communication information detection unit 201b when the frequency division method is determined, and is used by both the wireless LAN device and the weak radio wave device. A band obtained by removing a band used for wireless LAN apparatus communication (2432 to 2452 MHz if the wireless LAN communication channel is 7 channels) from the frequency band (2400 to 2483.5 MHz) is set as a use band of the weak radio wave apparatus. On the other hand, when it is determined that the time division method is used, the entire band (2400 to 2483.5 MHz) that can be set as the use band of the weak radio wave radio apparatus is set.

  The hopping frequency determination unit 106 determines a hopping frequency to be used in the weak radio wave radio apparatus 10 according to the frequency band set by the usable channel determination unit 105. Thereafter, the hopping frequency determination unit 106 outputs information indicating the determined hopping frequency to the RF unit 101a.

  Next, the control method determination process in the composite radio apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 will be described in detail.

  In the following description, as an example, as illustrated in FIGS. 2A to 2B and FIGS. 3A to 3D, the wireless communication device included in the composite wireless device 1 is 2402 MHz to 2480 MHz. This frequency band is used. The weak radio wave apparatus 10 hops a signal having a bandwidth of 1 MHz in a frequency band of 2402 MHz to 2480 MHz. In addition, in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, the wireless LAN device 20 transmits and receives a signal having a bandwidth of 20 MHz at a frequency of 2432 MHz to 2452 MHz.

  In the present embodiment, the composite wireless device 1 compares the RSSI detected by the received signal strength detection unit 101 c of the weak radio wave wireless device 10 with reference to the RSSI determination threshold value stored in the memory unit 103. Therefore, it is determined whether the wireless LAN communication and the weak radio wave communication are performed by the frequency division method or the time division method, and the weak radio wave device and the wireless LAN device in the composite wireless device are Therefore, both the maintenance of the reception quality of the weak radio wave wireless communication and the high throughput of the wireless LAN communication are realized.

  FIG. 2A shows the relationship of signals output from the composite radio apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 2A, an RSSI threshold value 1 is prepared as an RSSI determination threshold value, and the RSSI threshold value 1 is set to an RSSI value to which a weak radio wave signal equivalent to the transmission wave level of the wireless LAN device 20 is added. To do. In the RSSI threshold determination, when the RSSI is larger than the RSSI threshold 1, the frequency division method is selected and executed. On the other hand, when the RSSI is smaller than the RSSI threshold 1, the time division method is selected and executed.

  As a result, switching to the time division method only when it is estimated that communication performance degradation of weak radio waves will occur due to interference with the transmission wave of the wireless LAN device 20 makes it weak at the expense of wireless LAN communication throughput. Ensuring reception quality of radio wave communication.

  When it is determined that the frequency division method is used, the weak radio wave apparatus 10 avoids the interference frequency band (2432 MHz to 2452 MHz) and uses a signal of band 1 MHz using the frequency bands of 2402 MHz to 2432 MHz and 2452 MHz to 2480 MHz. Send and receive (frequency hopping communication). That is, the frequency band of 2432 MHz to 2452 MHz is a weak radio wave wireless communication non-allocation area, and the frequency bands of 2402 MHz to 2432 MHz and 2452 MHz to 2480 MHz are weak radio wave radio communication allocation areas. Thereby, the interference between the weak radio wave wireless device 10 and the wireless LAN device 20 is avoided.

  FIG. 2B shows the relationship of signals output from the composite radio apparatus according to the first embodiment when it is determined that the time division method is used.

  When it is determined that the time division method is used, as shown in FIG. 2B, transmission / reception of the weak radio wave apparatus 10 is performed between 0 ms to 1 ms and 3 to 4 ms. At this time, the communication state detection unit 101b detects communication state information indicating the presence / absence of weak radio communication, and based on the communication state information, the time division arbitration control unit 104 executes / stops wireless LAN communication from the RF unit 201a. Send a signal. Thereby, wireless LAN communication is performed only during a period when transmission / reception of the weak radio wave wireless device 10 is not performed, thereby realizing a time division method.

FIGS. 3A to 3D show the relationship between signals (weak radio wave signals, wireless LAN signals) output from the composite radio apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention and external noise signals.
In this figure, as an example, weak radio wave wireless communication is performed between 2452 MHz and 2480 MHz. However, since weak radio wave radio communication is frequency hopping, the frequency is variable.

  FIG. 3A shows a case where the RSSI is smaller than the RSSI threshold 1 and the weak radio wave signal is larger than the external noise signal. FIG. 3B shows a case where the RSSI is smaller than the RSSI threshold 1 and the weak radio wave signal is smaller than the external noise signal.

  FIG. 3C shows a case where RSSI is larger than RSSI threshold 1 and the weak radio signal is larger than the external noise signal. FIG. 3D shows a case where RSSI is larger than RSSI threshold 1 and the weak radio signal is smaller than the external noise signal.

  As control in the composite wireless device 1, when RSSI is smaller than the RSSI threshold 1 as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, a weak radio wave is caused by interference with a transmission wave of the wireless LAN device 20. Since it is estimated that wireless communication performance will deteriorate, the time division method is selected.

  As shown in FIG. 3C, when the RSSI is larger than the RSSI threshold 1 and it is based on a weak radio signal, the RSSI of the weak radio signal is not affected even by the influence of the transmission wave of the wireless LAN communication. The frequency division method is selected because the communication performance of large radio communication is not deteriorated.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3D, when RSSI is larger than RSSI threshold 1 and it is based on an external noise signal, interference with external noise is avoided even if interference due to a transmission wave of wireless LAN communication is avoided. Thus, since the weak radio wave communication is impossible, the frequency division method is selected.

  Next, a flow of control method determination processing in the composite wireless device 1 will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing control method determination processing by the composite radio apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. Specifically, FIG. 4 illustrates the RF / BB / MAC unit 101, the received signal strength threshold value determination unit 102, and the memory of the weak radio wave wireless device 10 when the weak radio wave device 10 and the wireless LAN device 20 are used simultaneously. The flowchart until a control system is determined in the part 103, the time division | segmentation arbitration control part 104, the usable channel determination part 105, the hopping frequency determination part 106, and the RF / BB / MAC part 201 of the wireless LAN apparatus 20 is shown.

  When the simultaneous use of the weak radio wave device 10 and the wireless LAN device 20 is confirmed, the received signal strength detection unit 101c detects the received signal strength (RSSI) of the weak radio wave wireless communication (step S1).

  The received signal strength threshold determination unit 102 acquires an RSSI determination threshold for determining a control method from the memory unit 103 (step S2).

  It is determined whether or not the current control method is a time division method (step S3). However, the initial setting is the time division method, and the first time (Step S3: Yes) is selected.

  In the case of the time division method (step S3: Yes), it is determined whether or not the RSSI of the weak radio wave communication acquired in step 1 is larger than the RSSI threshold 1 (step S4).

  When the RSSI is larger than the RSSI threshold 1 (step S4: Yes), the frequency division scheme execution signal is sent from the received signal strength threshold determination unit 102 to the time division arbitration control unit 104 and the usable channel determination unit 105 (step S5). A division method is implemented (step S6). A detailed flowchart of the frequency division method will be described with reference to FIG.

  It is determined whether or not the wireless LAN device 20 and the weak radio wave device 10 are operating simultaneously (step S10). If simultaneous operation is in progress (step S10: Yes), the process returns to step S1. If not simultaneously operating (step S10: No), the flow is terminated.

  In the case of the frequency division method (step S3: No), it is determined whether or not the RSSI of the weak radio wave communication acquired in step 1 is smaller than the RSSI threshold 1 (step S7).

  When the RSSI is smaller than the RSSI threshold 1 (step S7: Yes), the received signal strength threshold determination unit 102 sends a time division method execution signal to the time division arbitration control unit 104 and the usable channel determination unit 105 (step S8). A division method is implemented (step S9). A detailed flowchart of the time division method will be described with reference to FIG.

  If it is smaller than the RSSI threshold 1 (step S4: No), it is determined whether or not it is the first time (step S11).

  In the first case (step S11: Yes), the process proceeds to step S8. If it is the second time or later (step S11: No), the process returns to step S1.

  When RSSI is larger than RSSI threshold 1 (step S7: No), the process returns to step S1.

  Next, the flow of the frequency division processing (step S6) in the composite radio apparatus 1 will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the frequency division method performed by the composite radio apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, FIG. 5 shows the RF / BB / MAC unit 101, the usable channel determination unit 105, the hopping frequency of the weak radio wave wireless device 10 when the weak radio wave device 10 and the wireless LAN device 20 are used simultaneously. The flowchart which shows the procedure in which the frequency division system is performed in the determination part 106 and the communication information detection part 201b of RF / BB / MAC part 201 is shown.

  When the frequency division method (step S6) is selected, the communication information detection unit 201b detects the communication channel information of the wireless LAN device 20, and notifies the usable channel determination unit 105 (step S6-1).

  The usable channel determination unit 105 refers to the communication channel information detected in the previous step, and determines the usable channel of the weak radio wave apparatus 10 (step S6-2).

  The hopping frequency determination unit 106 determines the hopping frequency used in the weak radio wave radio apparatus 10 based on the usable channel information of the weak radio wave radio apparatus 10 determined in the previous step (step S6-3).

  The RF unit 101a is notified of the hopping frequency used in the weak radio wave communication device (step S6-4).

  It is determined whether or not the weak radio wave wireless device 10 and the wireless LAN device 20 are in use at the same time (step S6-5). When the weak radio wave wireless device 10 and the wireless LAN device 20 are being used simultaneously (step S6-5: Yes), the processing returns to step S6-1.

  When one or both of the weak radio wave wireless device 10 and the wireless LAN device 20 are stopped (step S6-5: No), the frequency division method is terminated.

  Next, the flow of the time division method processing (step S9) in the composite radio apparatus 1 will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing of the time division method by the composite radio apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, FIG. 6 illustrates a communication state detection unit 101b, a time division arbitration control unit 104, and a usable channel determination of the weak radio wave wireless device 10 when the weak radio wave device 10 and the wireless LAN device 20 are used simultaneously. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which a time division method is performed in the communication information detection unit of the unit 105, the hopping frequency determination unit 106, and the RF / BB / MAC unit 201.

  When the time division method (step S9) is selected, the time division arbitration control unit 104 acquires weak radio wave wireless communication state information (whether transmission / reception or communication is stopped) from the communication state detection unit 101b (step S9). S9-1).

  In the time division arbitration control unit 104, it is determined whether or not the weak radio wave apparatus 104 is transmitting / receiving (step S9-2).

  When the weak radio wave wireless device 104 is transmitting / receiving (step S9-2: Yes), the time division arbitration control unit 104 notifies the RF unit 201a of a wireless LAN communication stop signal (step S9-3).

  When the weak radio wave wireless communication device 10 is transmitting / receiving (step S9-2: No), the time division arbitration control unit 104 notifies the RF unit 201a of an execution signal for wireless LAN communication (step S9-4).

  It is determined whether or not the weak radio wave wireless device 10 and the wireless LAN device 20 are in use at the same time (step S9-5). When the weak radio wave wireless device 10 and the wireless LAN device 20 are simultaneously in use (step S9-5: Yes), the process returns to step S9-1.

  When one or both of the weak radio wave wireless device 10 and the wireless LAN device 20 are stopped (step S9-5: No), the time division method is terminated.

  Therefore, according to the present embodiment, by using RSSI threshold determination of weak radio wave radio communication, switching between the frequency division method and the time division method is performed according to the determination result. As a result, it is possible to switch the communication method according to the degree of performance degradation of weak wireless communication due to mutual interference, and it is possible to achieve both the reception quality of weak radio communication and high throughput of wireless LAN communication.

(Embodiment 2)
Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  In the present embodiment, by changing the RSSI threshold setting threshold (RSSI threshold 1) on the basis of the received signal quality, in the above case, the frequency division method is forcibly determined to make the more efficient weak radio wave. Both the maintenance of the reception quality of wireless communication and the high throughput of wireless LAN communication are realized.

  Hereinafter, this embodiment will be specifically described. Note that, in the wireless LAN device, the weak radio wave wireless device, and the internal configuration thereof according to the present embodiment, the description of the parts overlapping with those of the first embodiment is omitted below.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the composite radio apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. still,
In FIG. 7, the same reference numerals are assigned to the same blocks as those in the composite radio apparatus (FIG. 1) according to Embodiment 1, and the description thereof is omitted.

  Received signal quality detection section 101d detects received signal quality (BER (Bit Error Rate)) based on the baseband-processed signal. Here, BER is exemplified as the received signal quality, but C / N (Carrier to Noise Ratio) or MER (Modulation Error Ratio) may be used.

  The threshold determining unit 107 determines the RSSI threshold 1 stored in the memory unit 103 based on the received signal quality (BER) notified from the received signal quality detecting unit 101c.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing control method determination processing by the composite radio apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. Specifically, FIG. 8 illustrates an RF / BB / MAC unit 101, a threshold value determination unit 102, and a memory unit 103 of the weak radio wave wireless device 10 when the weak radio wave device 10 and the wireless LAN device 20 are used simultaneously. 5 shows a flowchart until a control method is determined in the time division arbitration control unit 104, the usable channel determination unit 105, the hopping frequency determination unit 106, and the RF / BB / MAC unit 201 of the wireless LAN device 20. In FIG. 8, the same processes as those in the flowchart (FIG. 4) representing the control method determination process by the composite radio apparatus according to Embodiment 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.

  In the threshold value determination unit 107, the reception signal quality (BER) information of the weak radio wave radio apparatus 10 is acquired from the reception signal quality detection unit 101d (step S12).

  The threshold value determination unit 107 determines whether or not the time division method is currently being performed (step S13).

  When the time division method is performed (step S13: Yes), it is determined whether or not the BER value is smaller than the BER threshold value (step S14). Here, the BER threshold value for determining the BER value indicates the maximum BER value at which the weak radio wave wireless communication becomes error free.

  When the BER value is smaller than the threshold (step S14: Yes), the RSSI threshold 1 stored in the memory unit 103 is a weak radio wave signal equivalent to the transmission wave level of the wireless LAN device 20 as in the first embodiment. The added RSSI value is set (step S15).

  When the BER value is larger than the threshold (step S14: No), 0 is set to the RSSI threshold 1 stored in the memory unit 103 (step S16). By setting the RSSI threshold 1 to 0, the RSSI threshold determination result is always the frequency division method, and as a result, the frequency division method is forcibly shifted.

  When the time division method is performed (step S13: No), the process proceeds to step S15.

  Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the reception signal quality of the weak radio wave apparatus 10 is determined in advance of the RSSI threshold determination, and the RSSI determination threshold is updated according to the determination result. As a result, when switching to the time division method, it is possible to switch to the time division method only when it is expected that the communication performance of the weak radio wave device 10 can be ensured. It is possible to achieve both the reception quality of communication and the high throughput of wireless LAN communication.

(Embodiment 3)
Embodiment 3 of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  In the present embodiment, the reception quality of weak radio wave wireless communication is maintained by changing the setting threshold of the RSSI threshold based on communication state information indicating the presence or absence of transmission of the more efficient weak radio wave non-wireless LAN device 20. Realizes high throughput for wireless LAN communication.

  Hereinafter, this embodiment will be specifically described. Note that, in the wireless LAN device, the weak radio wave device, and the internal configuration thereof according to the present embodiment, description of portions overlapping with those of the second embodiment will be omitted below.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the composite radio apparatus according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. still,
In FIG. 9, the same blocks as those in the block diagram (FIG. 7) showing the configuration of the composite radio apparatus according to Embodiment 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.

  The communication state information detection unit 201c detects the communication state information (presence / absence of transmission) of the wireless LAN device 20 at the present time based on the transmission data from the RF unit 201a, and notifies the threshold determination unit 107 of the detected communication state information.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing control method determination processing by the composite radio apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, FIG. 10 illustrates an RF / BB / MAC unit 101, a received signal strength threshold determination unit 102 of the weak radio wave wireless device 10 when the weak radio wave radio device 10 and the wireless LAN device 20 are used at the same time. The flowchart until a control system is determined in the memory part 103, the time division | segmentation arbitration control part 104, the usable channel determination part 105, the hopping frequency determination part 106, and the RF / BB / MAC part 201 of the wireless LAN apparatus 20 is shown. In FIG. 10, the same processes as those in the flowchart (FIG. 8) representing the control method determination process by the composite radio apparatus according to the second embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.

  The threshold value determination unit 107 acquires wireless LAN communication state information indicating the presence / absence of communication of the wireless LAN device 20 from the communication state information detection unit 201c (step S17).

  The threshold value determination unit 107 refers to the wireless LAN communication state information and determines whether or not the wireless LAN device 20 is transmitted (step S18).

  When the wireless LAN device 20 is transmitting (step S18: Yes), the RSSI threshold 1 stored in the memory unit 103 is a weak radio wave signal equivalent to the transmission wave level of the wireless LAN device 20 as in the first embodiment. An RSSI value to which is added is set (step S19).

  When the wireless LAN device 20 is not transmitting (step S18: No), the RSSI threshold value 1 stored in the memory unit 103 is set to an RSSI value equivalent to the transmission wave level of the wireless LAN device 20 (step S20).

  Therefore, according to this Embodiment, the presence or absence of the transmission signal of the wireless LAN communication apparatus 20 is determined in advance of RSSI threshold determination, and the RSSI determination threshold is updated according to the determination result. As a result, it is possible to selectively use an RSSI threshold value that considers the transmission wave of the wireless LAN communication device 20 and a threshold value that is not considered, and as a result, it is possible to maintain a more efficient reception quality of weak radio wave wireless communication and improve wireless LAN communication performance. Both throughput can be realized.

(Embodiment 4)
Embodiment 4 of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  In this embodiment, by adding a second threshold value equivalent to the minimum reception sensitivity level of the weak radio wave radio to the RSSI threshold value, both the reception quality of the weak radio wave radio communication and the high throughput of the wireless LAN communication are realized. ing.

  Hereinafter, this embodiment will be specifically described. Note that, in the wireless LAN device, the weak radio wave wireless device, and the internal configuration thereof according to the present embodiment, the description of the parts overlapping with those of the first embodiment is omitted below.

  FIG. 11 shows the relationship of signals output from the composite radio apparatus according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 11, an RSSI threshold value 1 and an RSSI threshold value 2 are prepared as RSSI determination threshold values. At this time, the RSSI threshold value 1 is set to an RSSI value obtained by adding a weak radio wave signal equivalent to the transmission wave level of the wireless LAN device 20, and the RSSI threshold value 2 is set to a minimum received signal strength level at which weak radio wave radio communication is possible. is there.

  In the RSSI threshold determination, when the RSSI of the weak radio wave communication is larger than the RSSI threshold 1 or smaller than the RSSI threshold 2, the frequency division method is selected and executed. On the other hand, when the RSSI of the weak radio wave communication is larger than the RSSI threshold 2 and smaller than the RSSI threshold 1, the time division method is selected and executed. Accordingly, the weak radio wave is sacrificed at the expense of the throughput of the wireless LAN communication by switching to the time division method only when it is estimated that the communication performance degradation of the weak radio wave radio is caused by the interference with the transmission wave of the wireless LAN device 20. The reception quality of wireless communication is ensured.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing control method determination processing by the composite radio apparatus according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, FIG. 12 illustrates an RF / BB / MAC unit 101, a received signal strength threshold determination unit 102 of the weak radio wave wireless device 10 when the weak radio wave radio device 10 and the wireless LAN device 20 are used at the same time. The flowchart until a control system is determined in the memory part 103, the time division | segmentation arbitration control part 104, the usable channel determination part 105, the hopping frequency determination part 106, and the RF / BB / MAC part 201 of the wireless LAN apparatus 20 is shown. In FIG. 12, the same processes as those in the flowchart (FIG. 4) representing the control method determination process by the composite radio apparatus according to Embodiment 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

  In the received signal strength threshold determination unit 102, an RSSI determination threshold (RSSI threshold 1, RSSI threshold 2) for determining a control method is acquired from the memory unit 103 (step S21).

  In the case of the time division method (step S3: Yes), it is determined whether the RSSI of the weak radio wave communication acquired in step 1 is smaller than the RSSI threshold 2 or larger than the RSSI threshold 1 (step S22).

  When the RSSI of the weak radio wave communication is smaller than the RSSI threshold 2 or larger than the threshold 1 (step S22: Yes), the process proceeds to step S5.

  When the RSSI of the weak radio wave communication is larger than the RSSI threshold 2 and smaller than the RSSI threshold 1 (No at Step S22), the process proceeds to Step S11.

  In the case of the frequency division method (step S3: No), it is determined whether or not the RSSI of the weak radio wave communication acquired in step 1 is larger than the RSSI threshold 2 and smaller than the RSSI threshold 1 (step S23).

  When the RSSI of the weak radio wave communication is larger than the RSSI threshold 2 and smaller than the RSSI threshold 1 (step S23: Yes), the process proceeds to step S8.

  When the RSSI of the weak radio communication is smaller than the RSSI threshold 2 or larger than the RSSI threshold 1 (No at Step S23), the process returns to Step S1.

  Therefore, according to this embodiment, a second threshold value equivalent to the minimum reception sensitivity level of weak radio wave wireless communication is added to the RSSI threshold value determination of Embodiment 1, and RSSI threshold value determination is performed using two threshold values. Do. As a result, when switching to the time division method, it is possible to avoid the situation where the weak radio communication does not reach the minimum reception sensitivity level and communication is impossible, and as a result, more efficient weak radio communication is possible. It is possible to realize both the maintenance of reception quality and the high throughput of wireless LAN communication.

  The embodiments of the present invention have been described above.

  In the first to fourth embodiments, the wireless LAN communication device is described as an example of one of the composite wireless communication devices. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and wireless communication that performs cellular communication or the like is used. It may be a device.

  The weak radio wave communication described in the first to fourth embodiments includes wireless communication such as Bluetooth communication and GPS communication.

  The present invention is useful, for example, for a composite wireless device in which a plurality of wireless devices such as a wireless LAN device and a weak radio wave device are mounted using the same frequency band.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Composite radio | wireless apparatus 10 Weak radio wave radio apparatus 20 Wireless LAN apparatus 101,201 RF / BB / MAC part 101a RF part 101b Communication state detection part 101c Reception signal strength detection part 101d Reception signal quality detection part 201a RF part 201b Communication information detection part 201c communication state information detection unit 102 received signal strength threshold determination unit 103 memory unit 104 time division arbitration control unit 105 usable channel determination unit 106 hopping frequency determination unit 107 threshold determination unit

Claims (5)

An information terminal that performs the first wireless communication and the second wireless communication in the same frequency band, and a first wireless communication unit that performs the first wireless communication using a plurality of channels; and Second wireless communication means for performing second wireless communication using a plurality of other frequencies different from the plurality of frequencies used in wireless communication, and received signal strength for performing threshold determination of received signal strength in the second wireless communication means A threshold value determination unit; and a memory unit that stores a threshold value used for the threshold value determination. The reception signal strength threshold value determination unit, based on a determination result obtained by comparing the reception signal strength and the first threshold value, The first method in which the wireless communication means performs communication using only the frequency band that is not used by the first wireless communication, and the second wireless communication is stopped by the first wireless communication means. Second person who communicates only when Switch the door, information terminal. When the received signal strength is greater than the first threshold in the determination result in the received signal strength threshold determination unit, communication is performed according to the first method, and when the received signal strength is lower than the first threshold. The information terminal according to claim 1, wherein communication is performed according to the second method. A threshold value determining unit configured to determine the first threshold value based on a communication state in the first or second wireless communication unit, and in the threshold value determining unit, based on a received signal quality in the second wireless communication unit; 3. The information terminal according to claim 2, wherein when the received signal quality is higher than a second threshold, switching to the first method is performed. The threshold value determination unit reduces the first threshold value when the first wireless communication unit is not performing communication based on communication state information indicating presence / absence of communication in the first wireless communication unit. Item 2. The information terminal according to item 2. Furthermore, in addition to the first threshold value, a memory unit that stores a third threshold value, and when the received signal strength is larger than the first threshold value in the determination result in the received signal strength threshold value determination unit, Alternatively, if the received signal strength is smaller than the first threshold when the received signal strength is smaller than the first threshold when the received signal strength is smaller than the third threshold, the second method is used. The information terminal according to claim 1, which performs communication.

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