JP2012085020A - Mobile communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mobile communication system that allows a user to select either an indoor radio base station or an outdoor radio base station as a connection destination based on congestion of circuits of the indoor radio base station.SOLUTION: A mobile communication system comprises: an outdoor radio base station; an indoor radio base station 12 having a communication area encompassed in a communication area of the outdoor radio base station; a higher-level device 10 connected by wire to the outdoor radio base station and the indoor radio base station 12 for controlling radio communication between a radio terminal 14 and the outdoor radio base station and the indoor radio base station 12. If the higher-level device 10 determines that the indoor radio base station 12 is congested based on the amount of radio communication of the indoor radio base station 12, it lets the radio terminal 14 which performs a new connection request select either the indoor radio base station 12 or the outdoor radio base station as a connection destination.

Description

  The present invention relates to control when a radio terminal in a mobile communication system is connected to a radio base station.

  A conventional mobile communication system will be described. The indoor radio base station corresponding to the femtocell is a base station developed to supplement a local radio wave insensitive zone. Since the number of users that can be connected to the indoor radio base station is limited, each user connected to the indoor radio base station can occupy a line, and high-speed communication is possible.

  In the future, services such as communication charges being discounted by connecting within an indoor radio base station are expected. As a result, the user desires to connect to the indoor radio base station in search of inexpensive and high-speed communication.

  As a communication system using femtocells, for example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a method for controlling a wireless communication terminal. According to the method for controlling a wireless communication terminal described in Patent Document 1, a reselection operation (femtocell system scan) is performed at the time of transmission, and the base of the femtocell even if the currently waiting system is a public network system. By scanning the station, the possibility of communication (transmission) in the femtocell is increased.

International Publication No. 2009/096410

  Currently, the volume of communication data is increasing, and it is possible that more users would like high-speed, large-capacity communications using indoor radio base stations. If you do, you will run out of bandwidth.

  The current technology cannot notify the user that the line of the indoor radio base station is congested, so the user cannot determine that the line of the indoor radio base station is congested. High-speed communication is not possible even when communicating within the base station area.

  Therefore, in view of the above-described problems, the present invention provides a mobile communication system in which a user can select either an indoor radio base station or an outdoor radio base station as a connection destination based on the congestion status of the line of the indoor radio base station. For the purpose of provision.

  The mobile communication system of the present invention includes an outdoor radio base station, an indoor radio base station having a communication area included in a communication area of the outdoor radio base station, and wired and connected to the outdoor and indoor radio base stations. A mobile communication system comprising: a terminal and a host device that controls wireless communication between the outdoor and indoor wireless base stations, wherein the host device is configured to perform the indoor wireless communication based on a wireless communication amount of the indoor wireless base station. A mobile unit that, when it is determined that a base station is congested, causes the wireless terminal newly making a connection request to select which of the indoor wireless base station and the outdoor wireless base station is a connection destination Communications system.

  In the mobile communication system of the present invention, when the host device determines that the indoor wireless base station is congested based on the amount of wireless communication of the indoor wireless base station, the upper device transmits a new connection request to the wireless terminal The user can select either the indoor radio base station or the outdoor radio base station as a connection destination, so that the user can receive a service such as a communication fee discount even when connected to the indoor radio base station even at low speed communication, or the outdoor radio base station. It is possible to select whether to secure high-speed communication even if the communication fee is high by connecting to the base station.

It is a block diagram of the mobile communication system of this invention. It is a figure which shows operation | movement of the mobile communication system of this invention.

(Embodiment 1)
<Configuration>
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a mobile communication system according to the present embodiment. The mobile communication system according to the present embodiment includes an outdoor radio base station 11 corresponding to a macro cell covering a wide area, an indoor radio base station 12 corresponding to a femto cell covering a local area, an indoor or outdoor radio base station 11, 12 includes a host device 10 for controlling wireless communication and wireless terminals 13 and 14.

  The communication area (outdoor radio base station area 11A) of the outdoor radio base station 11 includes the communication area (indoor radio base station area 12A) of the indoor radio base station 12, and exists in the indoor radio base station area 11A. The wireless terminals 13 and 14 can receive radio waves from both the indoor wireless base station 12 and the outdoor wireless base station 11.

<Operation>
Now, it is assumed that all the plurality of wireless terminals 13 have established connections with the indoor wireless base station 12 and are performing large-capacity data communication. For this reason, the line of the indoor radio base station 12 is congested. In such a case, when wireless communication is performed by connecting to the indoor wireless base station 12, a service specific to femtocells such as a discount on communication charges can be received, but low-speed communication is performed. On the other hand, when wireless communication is performed by connecting to the outdoor wireless base station 11, a communication fee is higher than that of connection to the indoor wireless base station 12, but high-speed communication can be ensured.

  The wireless terminal 14 is not connected to any of the wireless base stations 11 and 12 and is trying to establish a new connection with the indoor wireless base station 12. Since the line of the indoor radio base station 12 is in a congested state, high-speed communication cannot be expected. However, the radio terminal 14 does not know that and tries to establish a new connection to the indoor radio base station 12. Yes. Note that the radio terminal 14 is in a very good state of receiving radio waves from the indoor radio base station 12.

  The operation of the mobile communication system of the present embodiment will be described along the sequence example shown in FIG. The indoor radio base station 12 notifies the host device 10 of the communication amount on its own line at a constant cycle.

  When the control unit 14a of the wireless terminal 14 issues a connection request to the higher-level device 10 via the indoor wireless base station 12, the higher-level device 10 uses the amount of communication most recently notified from the indoor wireless base station 12 to determine whether the indoor wireless base station 12 It is determined whether or not the line is congested. Now, when the communication amount notified from the indoor radio base station 12 exceeds a predetermined threshold at which it can be determined that the line of the indoor radio base station 12 is congested, the host device 10 is congested by the indoor radio base station 12. It is determined that the wireless terminal 14 is connected to the wireless terminal 14, and a connection permission / prohibition selection request for prompting selection of the outdoor wireless base station 11 or the indoor wireless base station 12 is transmitted.

  The control unit 14a of the wireless terminal 14 that has received the connection propriety selection request transmits the connection propriety selection request to the user interface unit 14b, and the user interface unit 14b issues a connection propriety selection request to the user by, for example, a dialog displayed on the screen. Do. The connection result selection result (whether it is connected to the outdoor radio base station 11 or the indoor radio base station 12) performed by the user is sent from the control unit 14a of the radio terminal 14 via the indoor radio base station 12 as a connection availability selection response. Transmit to the host device 10.

  The host device 10 that has received the connectability selection response can connect to the indoor radio base station 12 in the control unit 14a of the radio terminal 14 if the response is desired to connect to the indoor radio base station 12. And the indoor wireless base station 12 and the wireless terminal 14 are connected. If the response is desired to connect to the outdoor radio base station 11, the control unit 14a of the radio terminal 14 transmits that the connection to the outdoor radio base station 11 is possible, and the outdoor radio base station 11 and the radio terminal 14 is connected.

  If the communication amount notified from the indoor radio base station 12 is less than or equal to a numerical value at which it can be determined that the line of the indoor radio base station 12 is congested, the host device 10 connects the indoor radio base station 12 and the radio terminal 14 to each other. Connecting.

  In addition, after the wireless terminal 14 is connected to the outdoor wireless base station 11, it is not continuously connected to the outdoor wireless base station 11 until the end of communication. If it is determined that the radio base station 12 is not congested, the radio terminal 14 may be automatically switched from the outdoor radio base station 11 to the indoor radio base station 12. When it is determined that the load on the indoor radio base station 12 is reduced and high-speed communication is possible, the host device 10 immediately switches the connection destination of the radio terminal 14 to the indoor radio base station 12, so that the optimum communication for the radio terminal 14 is achieved. Speed can be realized.

<Effect>
The mobile communication system of the present embodiment includes an outdoor radio base station 11, an indoor radio base station 12 having a communication area 12A included in a communication area 11A of the outdoor radio base station 11, and outdoor and indoor radio base stations 11. , 12, and a host device 10 that controls wireless communication between the wireless terminals 13 and 14 and the outdoor and indoor wireless base stations 11 and 12, and the host device 10 When it is determined that the indoor wireless base station 12 is congested based on the wireless communication amount of the wireless base station 12, either the outdoor wireless base station 11 or the indoor wireless base station 11 or 12 is newly connected to the wireless terminal 14 that makes a connection request. Therefore, the user selects the indoor radio base station 12 and receives a service such as a discount on the communication fee even at low-speed communication, or selects the outdoor radio base station 11 and selects the communication fee. Be higher can choose to secure the high-speed communication.

  Further, in the mobile communication system of the present embodiment, the host device 10 determines that the indoor wireless base station 12 is congested when the amount of wireless communication of the indoor wireless base station 12 exceeds a predetermined threshold. Since the wireless terminal 14 newly making a connection request selects which of the outdoor or indoor wireless base stations 11 and 12 is the connection destination, the user selects the indoor wireless base station 12 to communicate even at low speed communication. It is possible to select whether to receive a service such as a discount or to ensure high-speed communication even if the outdoor wireless base station 11 is selected and the communication fee is high.

  Further, in the mobile communication system of the present embodiment, when the host apparatus 10 determines that the indoor radio base station 12 is not congested, the host apparatus 10 determines the connection destination of the radio terminal 14 already connected to the outdoor radio base station 11. Since switching to the indoor radio base station 12, an optimum communication speed for the radio terminal 14 can be realized.

(Embodiment 2)
The mobile communication system according to Embodiment 1 determines the degree of congestion using the amount of communication processed by the indoor radio base station 12 without distinguishing between uplink and downlink. Therefore, if at least one of the uplink line or the downlink line is congested, the higher-level device 10 determines that the line of the indoor radio base station 12 is congested, but which of the uplink line and the downlink line is Information on whether it is crowded is not managed.

  In the mobile communication system according to the present embodiment, the host device 10 manages the uplink and downlink traffic separately, and either the uplink or the downlink is selected in accordance with the connection availability selection request to the wireless terminal 14. It shall be notified if it is busy. As a result, the wireless terminal 14 can know from the host device 10 which of the uplink and downlink lines is congested. For example, if it is known that a downlink load is low for a wireless terminal intended for download, an indoor base station can be requested by making a connection request to the indoor wireless base station 12 regardless of the uplink congestion status. The service in the connection within the area 12A can be enjoyed.

  Since other operations are the same as those in the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

<Effect>
In the mobile communication system according to the present embodiment, the host device 10 determines congestion for each uplink and downlink of the indoor radio base station 12, and either or both of the uplink and the downlink are congested. Therefore, the user can select a radio base station according to the type of communication (download or upload) performed by the radio terminal 14.

(Embodiment 3)
In the mobile communication system according to the first embodiment, the higher-level device 10 determines whether the line of the indoor radio base station 12 is congested based on the amount of communication most recently notified from the indoor radio base station 12. Therefore, even if the user of the wireless terminal 14 that has received the connection availability selection request can recognize that the line of the indoor wireless base station 12 is congested, the degree of congestion may be mitigating or even more congested It is not possible to determine how it is going. As a user of the wireless terminal 14, even if the line of the indoor wireless base station 12 is currently congested, if the degree of congestion is being eased, the user is expected to connect to the domestic wireless base station 12 in anticipation of the future. It is possible to make a selection.

  Therefore, in the mobile communication system according to the third embodiment, in addition to determining the congestion level of the line of the indoor radio base station 12, the higher-level device 10 notifies the radio terminal 14 of the change in communication traffic.

  When receiving a connection request from the wireless terminal 14, the upper level device 10 determines the indoor wireless base station 12 based on the communication traffic of the indoor wireless base station 12 received from the indoor wireless base station 12 as in the first embodiment. It is determined whether or not the line is congested. When the traffic volume exceeds a predetermined threshold, the higher-level device 10 determines that the indoor radio base station 12 is congested and refers to the data for the past multiple times received from the indoor radio base station 12 next time. Then, the transition of the traffic volume up to now is judged. For example, when the communication amount tends to decrease, the wireless terminal 14 is notified together with the connection availability selection request that the congestion is in a direction to ease. On the other hand, when the communication amount is increasing, the wireless terminal 14 is similarly notified that the congestion is increasing.

  When the traffic is below a predetermined threshold, the host device 10 determines that the line of the indoor radio base station 12 is not congested and connects the indoor radio base station 12 and the radio terminal 14.

  The user of the wireless terminal 14 that has received the connection permission selection request can grasp the transition of the communication volume in addition to the information that it is currently congested. Therefore, based on the information, the indoor wireless base station 12, the outdoor wireless base It is possible to select which of the stations 11 is connected.

  Alternatively, instead of notifying the user of the traffic change as described above, the host device 10 may determine the congestion in consideration of the traffic change. That is, when receiving a connection request from the wireless terminal 14, the upper level device 10 receives not only the most recent communication amount of the indoor wireless base station 12 received from the indoor wireless base station 12 but also the data of the communication amount for the past multiple times. To determine the congestion statistically.

  For example, even if the most recent traffic volume slightly exceeds a predetermined threshold, if the trend from the past traffic volume is decreasing, the traffic volume tends to be relaxed and not congested. Judgment is made and the indoor radio base station 12 and the radio terminal 14 are connected.

  On the other hand, if the most recent traffic volume is slightly below the predetermined threshold and the trend from the past traffic volume is increasing, it is determined that the traffic volume is increasing and the traffic is congested. Then, a connection availability selection request is transmitted to the wireless terminal 14.

  Although the above operation is an example, the user of the wireless terminal 14 is more busy with the actual traffic because the higher-level device 10 determines the congestion based on the transition from the latest traffic and the past traffic. Depending on the situation, it is possible to select which of the indoor radio base station 12 and the outdoor radio base station 11 is connected.

<Effect>
In the mobile communication system according to the present embodiment, when the host device 10 determines that the indoor wireless base station 12 is congested based on the wireless communication amount of the indoor wireless base station 12, the higher-level device 10 determines the amount of traffic from the past wireless communication amount. Since the wireless terminal 14 is notified of the transition, the user of the wireless terminal 14 can grasp the transition of the traffic volume in addition to the information that it is currently congested, and the indoor wireless base station 12 or the outdoor based on the information It is possible to select which of the radio base stations 11 is connected.

  Further, in the mobile communication system of the present embodiment, the host device 10 determines congestion based on the transition of the wireless communication amount of the indoor wireless base station 12, so that the user of the wireless terminal 14 is more congested with the actual communication amount. Depending on the situation, it is possible to select which of the indoor radio base station 12 and the outdoor radio base station 11 is connected.

(Embodiment 4)
In the embodiments so far, the congestion determination is performed based only on the communication amount of the indoor radio base station 12. However, although the line of the indoor radio base station 12 is not congested, if the host network (between the host device 10 and the indoor radio base station 12) is congested, it can be connected to the indoor radio base station 12 at high speed. A situation where communication is not possible is assumed.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the amount of wired communication between the host device 10 and the indoor radio base station 12 is also used as a congestion determination material.

  In addition to managing the communication amount of the indoor radio base station 12, the upper device 10 also manages the communication amount between the upper device 10 and the indoor radio base station 12. That is, when the upper apparatus 10 receives a new connection request from the wireless terminal 14, either the wireless communication amount of the indoor wireless base station 12 or the wired communication amount of the upper apparatus 10—indoor wireless base station 12 is a predetermined threshold value. Is exceeded, the indoor radio base station 12 determines that high-speed communication cannot be expected because the indoor radio base station 12 is congested, and transmits a connection permission request to the radio terminal 14.

<Effect>
In the mobile communication system of the present embodiment, the host device 10 determines congestion based on the amount of communication in the wire connecting the indoor radio base station 12 and the host device 10, so that it is more suitable for actual communication. You can make a judgment of congestion.

(Embodiment 5)
In the mobile communication system shown in the first embodiment, since the high-speed communication cannot be provided when the line of the indoor radio base station 12 is congested, the higher-level device 10 provides the radio terminal 14 with the indoor radio base station 12. And the outdoor wireless base station 11 are selected. However, even when connecting to the outdoor radio base station 11, the communication of the outdoor radio base station 11 is more than the communication of the indoor radio base station 12 because the host device 10 does not recognize the communication amount of the outdoor radio base station 11. Is also congested, it is assumed that the communication will be slower than when connected to the indoor radio base station 12.

  Therefore, in the mobile communication system according to the present embodiment, in the mobile communication system according to the first embodiment, not only the current communication amount of the indoor radio base station 12 but also the current status of the outdoor radio base station 11 is transmitted to the host device 10. The amount of communication is also added with a function for determining congestion.

  The host device 10 periodically acquires the wireless communication amount from both the indoor wireless base station 12 and the outdoor wireless base station 11. When the host device 10 receives a new connection request from the wireless terminal 14, the host device 10 refers to the latest wireless communication amount of the indoor wireless base station 12. Here, when the wireless communication amount of the indoor wireless base station 12 exceeds a predetermined threshold, the host device 10 refers to the wireless communication amount of the outdoor wireless base station 11 and the communication amount of the indoor wireless base station 12 is When the communication amount of the outdoor wireless base station 11 is larger, the higher-level device 10 transmits a connection availability selection request to the wireless terminal 14.

  When the communication amount of the indoor wireless base station 12 is smaller than the communication amount of the outdoor wireless base station 11, the communication speed that the wireless terminal 14 can enjoy by connecting to the outdoor wireless base station 11 compared to the indoor wireless base station 12. Therefore, even if the communication amount of the indoor radio base station 12 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, the higher-level device 10 does not transmit a connection availability selection request to the radio terminal 14, and the indoor radio base station 12 and the radio terminal 14 Connecting. Thereby, when the line of the indoor radio base station 12 is congested, it is possible to prevent a situation where the communication is further reduced by connecting to the outdoor radio base station 11.

<Effect>
In the mobile communication system of the present embodiment, the host device 10 determines congestion based also on the amount of wireless communication of the outdoor wireless base station 11, so that when the line of the indoor wireless base station 12 is congested, By connecting to the radio base station 11, it is possible to prevent a situation in which communication becomes even slower.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Host apparatus, 11 Outdoor wireless base station, 11A Outdoor wireless base station area, 12 Indoor wireless base station, 12A Indoor wireless base station area, 13, 14 Wireless terminal, 14a Control part, 14b User interface part.

Claims (8)

An outdoor wireless base station,
An indoor radio base station having a communication area included in the communication area of the outdoor radio base station;
A mobile communication system comprising: a wired device connected to the outdoor and indoor wireless base stations; and a host device for controlling wireless communication between the wireless terminal and the outdoor and indoor wireless base stations,
When the higher-level device determines that the indoor wireless base station is congested based on the amount of wireless communication of the indoor wireless base station, the indoor wireless base station makes a new connection request to the wireless terminal that makes a connection request Alternatively, a mobile communication system that allows the user to select which of the outdoor wireless base stations is a connection destination.   The host apparatus determines the congestion of the indoor radio base station for each uplink and downlink, and notifies the radio terminal that one or both of the uplink and downlink is congested. Item 4. The mobile communication system according to Item 1.   When the higher-level device determines that the indoor wireless base station is congested based on the wireless communication amount of the indoor wireless base station, the higher-level device notifies the wireless terminal of a transition from the past wireless communication amount. Item 3. The mobile communication system according to Item 1 or 2.   The mobile communication system according to claim 1, wherein the higher-level device determines the congestion based on a transition of a wireless communication amount of the indoor wireless base station.   The mobile communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the host device performs the congestion determination based on a communication amount in a wire connecting the indoor radio base station and the host device.   The mobile communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the host device determines the congestion based on a wireless communication amount of the outdoor wireless base station.   The movement according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the higher-level device determines that the indoor wireless base station is congested when a wireless communication amount of the indoor wireless base station exceeds a predetermined threshold. Body communication system.   The upper device switches the connection destination of the wireless terminal already connected to the outdoor wireless base station to the indoor wireless base station when determining that the indoor wireless base station is not congested. The mobile communication system according to any one of the above.

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