JP2012119810A - Base station device, communication method, and communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To adjust an acceptable amount of delay time, which is allocated to a device included in a network, to a suitable value.SOLUTION: A base station device comprises a reception section, a storage section, a measurement section, a calculation section and a transmission section. The reception section receives a transmission packet transmitted from a transmission device. The storage section stores the upper limit of the time from when the transmission packet is transmitted to when the transmission packet reaches a terminal. The measurement section measures the delay time from when a measurement packet is transmitted from the transmission device to when the measurement packet is received in the reception section by using the measurement packet where transmission time is recorded. The calculation section calculates acceptable time which is a value obtained by subtracting the delay time from the upper limit. The transmission section transmits the transmission packet to the terminal before the acceptable time passes after the reception section receives the transmission packet.

Description

  The present invention relates to a base station apparatus, a communication method using the base station apparatus, and a communication system in which the base station apparatus operates.

  With the widespread use of third generation mobile communication systems, multimedia services including moving images and voices have been provided even in communication using mobile terminals. Packets such as moving images and audio are desirably distributed in real time. On the other hand, some packets are used for services that do not require real-time performance. For this reason, it is desirable to perform control according to the nature of the data included in the packet, that is, appropriate quality of service (QoS) control.

  In the Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, packets to be transmitted and received are classified into a plurality of QoS classes according to the type of data included in the packets, and the priority and allowable delay time for each QoS class (Packet Delay Budget, PDB) is defined. Packet data node gateways (PDN gateways, PGWs), serving gateways (Serving Gateways, SGWs), base stations (eNodeBs, eNBs) and the like included in the LTE system perform priority control according to the QoS class. At this time, a system in which an operator assigns a delay time to a section from one device to another device included in the system and each device is controlled to satisfy the allocated delay time has been studied. For example, each device can control a packet to satisfy the delay time by discarding a packet that cannot be processed within the allocated delay time.

  As a related technique, after allocating the allowable time for transferring the received packet to another device for each device, the time required for transferring the received packet is equal to the allocated allowable value. A system for setting the capacity of a wireless line between devices is known. There is also a system for calculating the delay time of information between the gateway and the base station for each base station and notifying the corresponding base station of the delay time difference that is the difference between the maximum delay time and the delay time of each base station. Are known. In addition, a method of transmitting data from a plurality of radio base stations to a terminal at the same timing by transmitting data at a transmission time determined in consideration of transmission delay time between the plurality of base stations has been devised. ing. In addition, systems have been proposed that degrade service when the delay measured by at least one endpoint exceeds a predetermined value.

JP 2002-27041 A JP 2009-38444 A JP 2008-98758 A JP-T-2002-541723

3GPP TS 23.401 V10.0.0 (2010-06)

  In mobile communication systems, the amount and variation of the amount of transmitted and received packets are large, and the amount of packet processing cannot be predicted for each base station in the network. For this reason, it is difficult to appropriately set the allowable amount of delay time in accordance with the amount of packet processing required for each base station. If the set delay time tolerance is not appropriate, communication efficiency may be reduced. Moreover, if the allowable amount of delay time is too small, the amount of discarded packets increases, and the service quality may be degraded. In the background art, a system using LTE as an example has been described. However, it is difficult to set an allowable amount of delay time in any system used for transmission / reception of data that requires real-time characteristics such as video and audio. Problems can occur.

  An object of the present invention is to adjust an allowable amount of delay time allocated to devices included in a network to an appropriate value.

  A base station apparatus according to an embodiment includes a reception unit, a storage unit, a measurement unit, a calculation unit, and a transmission unit. The reception unit receives a transmission packet transmitted from the transmission device. The storage unit stores an upper limit value of a time required for the transmission packet to reach the terminal after the transmission packet is transmitted. The measurement unit measures a delay time from when the measurement packet is transmitted from the transmission device to when it is received by the reception unit, using the measurement packet in which the transmission time is recorded. The calculation unit calculates an allowable time that is a value obtained by subtracting the delay time from the upper limit value. The transmission unit transmits the transmission packet to the terminal before the allowable time elapses after the transmission packet is received by the reception unit.

  The amount of delay time allocated to devices included in the network is flexibly adjusted.

It is a figure explaining the example at the time of distributing and distributing delay time in a certain network. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of a base station. It is a figure which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of a base station. It is a figure which shows the example of a network. It is a figure explaining the example of the relationship between the QCI value and the characteristic of a transmission packet. It is a figure which shows the example of a structure of a measurement packet. It is a table explaining the example of the characteristic of the RTP payload contained in a measurement packet. It is a figure which shows the example of the setting value of DSCP corresponding to QCI. It is a flowchart explaining the example of the setting method of the path | route between a base station and a measurement packet transmitter. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement when the production | generation and transmission of a measurement packet are performed. It is a figure explaining the example of calculation of allowable time. It is a figure which shows the example of the time change of the delay amount about a certain QCI. It is a figure which shows the example of the time change of the allowable time about a certain QCI. It is a table showing the example of the data which a determination part hold | maintains. It is a figure explaining the example of operation | movement of a band allocation part. It is a flowchart explaining the example of operation | movement of the base station when a measurement packet is received.

Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an example in which a delay time is distributed and distributed in a certain network. 1 includes a packet data network 1, a PDN gateway 2, a serving gateway 3, and a base station 10, and the base station 10 and the terminal 4 are in communication. FIG. 1 also shows an interface in the LTE system. S 1 -U is an interface between the base station 10 and the serving gateway 3. SGi represents an interface between the packet data network 1 and the PDN gateway 2. Furthermore, Uu represents the interface of the wireless network.

  In the following description, it is assumed that the delay time defined between the PDN gateway 2 and the terminal 4 is PDB0. The operator or the like divides PDN0 into a first predicted time (PDB1) and a second predicted time (PDB2). The first predicted time is a time predicted to be taken from when the transmission packet is received by the base station 10 until it is transmitted to the terminal 4. On the other hand, the second predicted time is a time predicted to be taken until the packet transmitted from the PDN gateway 2 is received by the base station 10. The base station stores the values of PDB1 and PDB2. However, the second predicted time is not used as a reference for deleting a packet transmitted from the PDN gateway 2 to the base station 10. That is, the base station 10 also transmits to the terminal 4 a packet that has reached the base station 10 over a longer time than the second predicted time.

  The base station 10 receives the measurement packet transmitted from the PDN gateway 2 and confirms the time when the measurement packet is received. Here, it is assumed that the time at which the measurement packet is transmitted is recorded in the measurement packet. Therefore, the base station 10 obtains a delay time required for the measurement packet to reach the base station 10 from the PDN gateway 2 from the transmission time of the measurement packet and the time when the base station 10 receives the measurement packet.

Here, it is assumed that the delay time required for transmitting the measurement packet is the same as the delay time required for transmitting the data packet (transmission packet) used for communication. Then, the transmission packet reaches the base station 10 from the PDN gateway 2 over a delay time. Also,
PDB0 = PDB1 + PDB2
Therefore, the base station whose delay time is shorter than PDB2 can take a longer time than PDB1 in order to transmit the transmission packet to terminal 4. That is, even if the base station 10 transmits the packet to the terminal over the time obtained by adding the value obtained by subtracting the delay time in the measurement packet from PDB2 and PDB1, the PDN gateway between the specified delay time PDB0 Packets arrive from 2 to the terminal. Therefore, the base station 10 sets the time obtained by subtracting the delay time in the measurement packet from PDB2 and the time obtained by adding PDB1 to the delay amount until the packet is transmitted to the terminal.

  In this way, by adjusting the allowable amount of delay time in the wireless network according to the delay time in the wired network, the allowable amount of delay time can be flexibly adjusted in accordance with the communication amount.

<Device configuration>
Hereinafter, the operation of the base station 10 will be described in detail. In the following description, a packet transmitted toward a terminal communicating with the base station 10 is referred to as a “transmission packet”. The transmission packet is processed by the terminal 4. Further, the transmission packet is associated with one of QoS class identifiers (QCI, QoS Class Identifier) depending on the type and priority of the information included. It is assumed that the measurement packet is used for predicting the time taken for the transmission packet to reach the base station 10 from the PDN gateway 2. It is assumed that the measurement packet records the time when the measurement packet was transmitted from the PDN gateway 2 in the time stamp. The measurement packet is also associated with one of the QCIs, and the measurement packet is used to predict the delay time of the transmission packet associated with the same QCI as the associated QCI. In addition, the time taken for the measurement packet to reach the base station 10 from the PDN gateway 2 may be described as “delay time”. Furthermore, let PDB0 be the upper limit of the time it takes for the transmission packet to reach the terminal after the transmission packet is transmitted.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the base station 10. The base station 10 includes a network interface 11, an identification unit 12, a storage unit 13, a QoS buffer 14, an antenna 15, a delay adjustment unit 20, a scheduler 30, a transmission unit 40, and a radio signal reception unit 50. The network interface 11 includes a receiving unit 16 and a transmitting unit 17. The delay adjustment unit 20 includes a measurement unit 21, a storage unit 22, a calculation unit 23, a statistics unit 24, and a timer 25. The scheduler 30 includes a determination unit 31 and a bandwidth allocation unit 32. The transmission unit 40 includes an encoding processing unit 41, an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) modulation unit 42, and a wireless modulation unit 43. The radio signal reception unit 50 includes a radio demodulation unit 51, an OFDM demodulation unit 52, and a decoding processing unit 53.

  The base station 10 receives packets from the PDN gateway 2, the serving gateway 3, the mobility management entity (MME) 5, and the like via the receiving unit 16. Further, the base station 10 transmits a packet to the PDN gateway 2, the serving gateway 3, the MME 5, and the like via the transmission unit 17.

  The identification unit 12 identifies whether the type of packet received from the network interface 11 is a transmission packet or a measurement packet, and outputs the packet to an output destination corresponding to the type. The identification unit 12 distinguishes a transmission packet from a measurement packet by using a Tunnel Endpoint Identifier (TEID) included in a GTP-U (GPRS Tunneling Protocol for User Plane) header of the packet. Note that the TEID used for the transmission packet and the TEID used for the measurement packet are set to different values in advance, and the identification unit 12 stores the TEID value and the packet type associated with the TEID in advance. It shall be. The combination of TEID and packet type may be stored in the storage unit 22. In this case, the identification unit 12 refers to the storage unit 22 to identify the packet. The measurement packet can also be identified by setting the IP address carrying the GTP-U packet used for the transmission packet and the measurement packet to different values. When receiving the measurement packet, the identification unit 12 outputs the measurement packet to the measurement unit 21. On the other hand, when receiving the transmission packet, the identification unit 12 acquires the QCI of each packet. The QCI acquisition method performed by the identification unit 12 will be described later. The identification unit 12 outputs the transmission packet to the QoS buffer 14 according to the QCI value.

  The storage unit 13 stores a transmission packet transmitted toward a terminal communicating with the base station 10. The storage unit 13 includes a plurality of QoS buffers 14 (14a to 14c). The QoS buffer 14 is uniquely associated with the QCI, and each QoS buffer 14 stores a transmission packet of the associated QCI. For example, the QoS buffer 14a stores a transmission packet with QCI = 1, and the QoS buffer 14b stores a transmission packet with QCI = 2. In the example illustrated in FIG. 2, the storage unit 13 includes N QoS buffers 14, but the number of QoS buffers 14 included in the storage unit 13 can be arbitrarily changed according to the implementation.

  The measurement unit 21 calculates the difference between the time stamp included in the measurement packet and the reception time of the measurement packet, thereby calculating the time taken for the measurement packet to reach the base station 10 from the PDN gateway 2. calculate. As described above, since each measurement packet is associated with one of the QCIs, the measurement unit 21 may obtain a delay time for the QCI measurement packet associated with the measurement packet to be processed. it can. Further, the delay time calculated using the measurement packet is approximately the same as the time taken for the transmission packet of the same QCI as the measurement packet to be processed to reach the base station 10 from the PDN gateway 2. . Therefore, the measurement unit 21 calculates the time taken for the transmission packet associated with the same QCI as the QCI associated with the measurement packet used for calculating the delay time to reach the base station 10 from the PDN gateway 2. It can be said that it is seeking. For example, the measurement unit 21 calculates the delay time obtained using the measurement packet associated with QCI = 1 until the transmission packet associated with QCI = 1 reaches the base station 10 from the PDN gateway 2. This time can be set.

  The storage unit 22 stores the first predicted time and the second predicted time. Here, it is assumed that the first and second prediction times are determined independently for each QCI by the operator in advance. In addition, the storage unit 22 can store data and programs used for processing of the base station 10 such as a calculation result of the measurement unit 21. Further, the storage unit 22 can also store the time (PDB0) that is allowed until the transmission packet reaches the terminal 4 from the PDN gateway 2. The storage unit 22 can also store data calculated by the calculation unit 23.

  The calculation unit 23 calculates the difference between the second predicted time and the delay time obtained by the measurement unit 21. In the following description, the calculation unit 23 calculates a value (ΔPDB2) obtained by subtracting the second predicted time from the actual measurement value of the time taken for the measurement packet to reach the base station 10 from the PDN gateway 2. To do. Therefore, when ΔPDB2 is negative, it indicates that the time taken to transmit the measurement packet is shorter than the predicted time. That is, it is shown that the packet is transmitted earlier than expected in the wired network from the PDN gateway 2 to the base station 10. On the other hand, when the obtained difference is positive, it indicates that the time taken to transmit the measurement packet is longer than the predicted time. In the wired network between the PDN gateway 2 and the base station 10, it is shown that it takes longer time to transmit packets than expected.

  Further, the calculation unit 23 adds −ΔPDB2 to the first predicted time, and calculates a time allowed until the transmission packet is transmitted from the base station 10 to the terminal. In the following description, the time allowed until the transmission packet is transmitted from the base station 10 to the terminal may be referred to as “allowable time”. Here, the calculation of the allowable time is assumed to be performed for each QCI.

  The calculation unit 23 notifies the determination unit 31 and the storage unit 22 of the calculated result. The statistical unit 24 statistically processes the change frequency of the storage unit 22 and the time change of the allowable time, and generates data for feeding back to the operator. The statistics unit 24 can appropriately notify the generated data to the device operated by the operator via the network interface 11, and the operator can change the first and second predicted times according to the notification. Can do. The timer 25 holds time information and notifies the time information to the measurement unit 21 and the like as appropriate. For example, the measurement unit 21 can obtain the time when the measurement packet is received with reference to the timer 25.

  The determination unit 31 acquires the transmission rate of the transmission packet for each QCI. Further, the determination unit 31 determines whether the transmission packet stored in the QoS buffer 14 can be transmitted to the terminal within the allowable time by using the allowable time and the transmission rate notified from the calculation unit 23. To do. The determination unit 31 outputs the determination result to the band allocation unit 32.

  The band allocation unit 32 allocates resource blocks to the terminals 4 communicating with the base station 10 using the determination result input from the determination unit 31. Here, a resource block is a unit for assigning a frequency band to a terminal, and one resource block represents a continuous constant time for a fixed number of continuous subcarriers. For example, one resource block can be a continuous 0.5 milliseconds for 12 consecutive subcarriers. Further, the band allocation unit 32 determines the coding rate and the modulation scheme for each terminal to which the resource block is allocated, and notifies the transmission unit 40 of it. When the coding rate and the modulation scheme are determined, the band allocation unit 32 outputs a transmission packet to be transmitted to the terminal to which the resource block is allocated to the transmission unit 40.

  The encoding processing unit 41 encodes the input transmission packet at the encoding rate notified from the band allocating unit 32. The OFDM modulation unit 42 performs OFDM modulation on the data input from the encoding processing unit 41, and outputs the obtained signal to the radio modulation unit 43. The radio modulation unit 43 performs orthogonal modulation on the I / Q signal input from the OFDM modulation unit 42, modulates the I / Q signal to the carrier frequency, and outputs the result to the antenna 15. The base station 10 transmits a transmission packet to the terminal via the antenna 15.

  The radio demodulator 51 removes the carrier wave from the signal input via the antenna 15 and demodulates it. The radio demodulation unit 51 outputs the demodulated data to the OFDM demodulation unit 52. The OFDM demodulator 52 performs OFDM demodulation on the data input from the radio demodulator 51 and outputs the data to the decoding processor 53. The decoding processing unit 53 decodes the data input from the OFDM demodulating unit 52. The data decrypted by the decryption processing unit 53 is appropriately processed by the call control processing unit 65 (see FIG. 3).

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the base station 10. The base station 10 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 60, a switch 62, a memory 70, a digital signal processor (DSP) 75, and a radio frequency (RF) circuit 80. The switch 62 can be a layer 2 switch, for example, and operates as the identification unit 12. The RF circuit 80 operates as the radio modulation unit 43 and the radio demodulation unit 51. The DSP 75 operates as an encoding processing unit 41, an OFDM modulation unit 42, an OFDM demodulation unit 52, and a decoding processing unit 53. The memory 70 operates as the storage unit 13 and the storage unit 22.

  The CPU 60 operates as the network interface 11, the delay adjustment unit 20, the scheduler 30, the U / C plane multiplexing unit 63, the U / C plane separation unit 64, the call control processing unit 65, and the device control unit 66. The U / C plane multiplexing unit 63 multiplexes the signal classified into the control plane (C-plane) and the signal classified into the user plane (U-plane), and outputs the obtained signal to the scheduler 30. The U / C plane separation unit 64 separates the signal input from the decoding processing unit 53 into a signal classified as a control plane and a signal classified as a user plane.

  The call control processing unit 65 transmits / receives a signal transmitted / received between the terminal that requested connection to the base station 10 and the base station 10 or a call to a terminal located in a cell formed by the base station 10. The signal to be processed is performed. Further, the call control processing unit 65 sets a path between the base station 10 and the PDN gateway 2. The device control unit 66 monitors the operations of the network interface 11, the delay adjustment unit 20, the scheduler 30, the switch 62, the U / C plane multiplexing unit 63, the U / C plane separation unit 64, the call control processing unit 65, and the like. Control. FIG. 3 shows an example of the hardware configuration of the base station 10. For example, the number of CPUs 60 and DSPs 75 can be arbitrarily changed. In a base station including a plurality of CPUs 60, for example, the network interface 11, the delay adjustment unit 20, the scheduler 30, and the like may be realized by different CPUs 60.

<Embodiment>
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a network. The network shown in FIG. 4 includes a measurement packet transmitter 90. The measurement packet transmitter 90 is connected to the PDN gateway 2 and the packet data network 1. When the base station 10 is activated, a path between the base station 10 and the measurement packet transmitter 90 is set. When the path is set, the measurement packet transmitting device 90 transmits the measurement packet to the base station 10 via the appropriate serving gateway 3. The measurement packet transmitter 90 includes a measurement packet generator 91, a timer 92, and a storage unit 93. The measurement packet generator 91 generates a measurement packet. The timer 92 holds time information and notifies the measurement packet generation unit 91 of the generation timing of the measurement packet as appropriate. The storage unit 93 stores information such as intervals for generating measurement packets. An example of the configuration and generation method of the measurement packet will be described later.

  The PDN gateway 2 includes a U-plane processing unit 94. When the PDN gateway 2 receives the measurement packet, the U-plane processing unit 94 processes the measurement packet as user data. That is, the measurement packet is processed in the same manner as the transmission packet transmitted from the PDN gateway 2 to the terminal 4. The PDN gateway 2 transmits user data including a measurement packet and a transmission packet to the base station 10. When a plurality of base stations 10 (10a to 10f) are connected to the router 7 in the network, the router 7 transmits a transmission packet and a measurement packet to the destination base station 10. The base station 10 receives the measurement packet via the serving gateway 3 or the router 7 and based on the delay time obtained using the measurement packet, the allowable time when transmitting the transmission packet from the base station 10 to the terminal 4 Adjust.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an example of the relationship between the QCI value and the characteristics of the transmission packet. A transmission packet transmitted from the PDN gateway 2 to the terminal 4 and a QCI value associated with the transmission packet will be described with reference to FIG. In the example of FIG. 5, the transmission packet is divided into nine types according to the type and priority of the data included in the transmission packet, and the QCI value takes one of 1 to 9. The transmission packet is transmitted at either a guaranteed bit rate (guaranteed bit rate, GBR) or a non-guaranteed bit rate (non-GBR). In the case of transmission at a guaranteed bit rate, the transmission packet is transmitted using a reserved band so that the bit rate takes a value equal to or greater than a prescribed minimum value. On the other hand, when transmitting at a non-guaranteed bit rate, the minimum value of the bit rate is not defined, and the band used for transmitting the transmission packet is not reserved. For example, a transmission packet having a QCI of 1 to 4 is transmitted using a band reserved in advance, but a transmission packet having a QCI of 5 to 9 is not transmitted using the reserved band. Further, the priority of the transmission packet differs for each QCI, and the QCI having a smaller numerical value in the priority column has a higher priority. For example, the priority of a transmission packet with QCI = 5 is the highest among QCI = 1-9. Similarly, the priority of the transmission packet with QCI = 1 is the second highest after the measurement packet with QCI = 5.

  PDB 0 in the table of FIG. 5A indicates the time that can be taken until the transmission packet reaches the terminal 4 from the PDN gateway 2. The value of PDB0 varies depending on the QCI value of the transmission packet. FIG. 5B is a diagram illustrating an example of a time (PDB0) that can be taken for the packet when the QCI value is 1 to reach the terminal 4 from the PDN gateway 2. The operator can determine the first and second predicted times for each QCI in advance according to the value of PDB0. The value of PDB0 and the first and second prediction times are stored in the storage unit 22 in association with the QCI value. As shown in FIG. 5B, the network may further include a Mobility Management Entity (MME) 5 and a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCRF) 6. S1-MME, S11, S5, Gx, and Rx are interface names.

  The column of the service example in the table of FIG. 5A shows an example of the type of data included in the transmission packet. For example, audio data may be transmitted by transmission packets with QCI = 1, and image data and audio data may be transmitted by transmission packets with QCI = 2 to 4 and 6 to 9. A transmission packet with QCI = 5 is used for IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) signaling. Since transmission packets have different transmission processing priorities depending on the QCI, when received by the base station 10, as shown in FIG. 2, they are stored in different QoS buffers 14 depending on the QCI of the transmission packet. Therefore, the time from reception at the base station 10 to transmission to the terminal 4 may differ for each QCI.

  Next, examples of types and structures of measurement packets will be described. Since the time taken for the transmission packet to reach the base station 10 from the PDN gateway 2 may be different for each QCI, the delay time of the transmission packet is measured for each QCI. Furthermore, the smaller the difference in the type and size of data contained in the packet between the measurement packet and the transmission packet, the longer the delay time obtained using the measurement packet is, the transmission packet is transmitted from the PDN gateway 2 to the base. It is close to the time taken to reach the station 10. Therefore, the data included in the measurement packet is different for each QCI of the transmission packet for measuring the delay time. A specific example of the type of data included in the measurement packet will be described later.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a measurement packet. The configuration of the measurement packet for measuring the delay time of any QCI transmission packet is as shown in FIG. The measurement packet includes an Internet Protocol (IP) header 101, a User Datagram Protocol (UDP) header 102, a Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) header 103, and an RTP payload 104. The IP header 101 includes a source address, a destination address, a service type (Type Of Service, TOS) field, and the like. Here, the TOS field is an 8-bit field, and the upper 6 bits are used as a differentiated services code point (DSCP) as described later. The DSCP stores information for specifying the QCI. An example of the DSCP setting value will be described later. In the case of IPv6, the Traffic Class field is included in the IP header 101 instead of the TOS field. The UDP header 102 includes a source port number and a destination port number.

  FIG. 6B shows an example of the configuration of the RTP header 103. The RTP header 103 includes a time stamp. The time stamp records information indicating the time when the measurement packet is transmitted from the measurement packet transmitter 90. Therefore, the measurement unit 21 can acquire the transmission time of the measurement packet by referring to the time stamp of the RTP header 103. The information included in the time stamp can be in any format that can indicate the time. For example, when the time stamp is recorded in a 32-bit area as shown in FIG. 6B, the value of the time stamp may be incremented by 1 every 125 μs (8 kHz). In this case, it is assumed that the measurement packet transmitter 90 and the base station 10 store the timing for resetting the time stamp data in advance. For example, both the measurement packet transmitter 90 and the base station 10 store that the time stamp is reset every day at midnight. It is assumed that the time taken for the measurement packet to be transmitted from the measurement packet transmitter 90 to the PDN gateway 2 is negligible with respect to the second delay time. Further, the time when the measurement packet is transmitted from the PDN gateway 2 may be recorded in the time stamp.

  In FIG. 6, V is a version number of RTP, P is padding, X is a flag indicating the presence / absence of data in an extension header, and CC is an identifier of each data source when data of a plurality of data sources is made into one RTP packet. , M represents a marker flag. The sequence number indicates the order of the packets. PT indicates the type of data included in the RTP payload 104, and the Synchronization Source (SSRC) identifier and the Contributing Sources (SCRC) identifier indicate the data transmission source.

  FIG. 7 is a table for explaining an example of characteristics of the RTP payload 104 included in the measurement packet. As described above, since the type of data included in the measurement packet is the same as the transmission packet to be measured for the delay time, the RTP payload 104 included in the measurement packet is set for each QCI of the transmission packet to be measured. Different. For example, audio data may be included in the RTP payload 104 of the measurement packet with QCI = 1, 7, and image data and audio data are included in the RTP payload 104 of the measurement packet with QCI = 2-4, 6-9. May be included.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the payload length of the RTP payload 104 is also different for each QCI in which the transmission packet to be measured is classified. For example, the RTP payload 104 is not included in a measurement packet with a QCI of 5. On the other hand, the length of the RTP payload 104 is 30 bytes for a measurement packet with QCI = 1, 100 bytes for a measurement packet with QCI = 2, 200 bytes for a measurement packet with QCI = 3, and 500 bytes for QCI = 4 and 7. Sometimes. Similarly, when QCI = 6, 8, and 9, the RTP payload 104 of the measurement packet may be 1000 bytes.

  Further, when the transmission packet is a packet transmitted using the reserved band, the measurement packet used for measuring the delay time for the transmission packet is also transmitted in the reserved band. For example, a measurement packet for measuring a delay time in a transmission packet having a QCI of 1 is transmitted from the PDN gateway 2 to the base station 10 via a band reserved for transmission of a transmission packet of QCI = 1. The On the other hand, since the bandwidth used for transmission of transmission packets with QCI 5-9 is not reserved, the measurement packet for measuring the delay time of transmission packets with QCI = 5-9 does not pass through the reserved bandwidth. Is transmitted from the PDN gateway 2 to the base station 10.

  7 is appropriately stored in the storage unit 93, and the measurement packet generation unit 91 can refer to the storage unit 93 when generating the measurement packet. In the example of FIG. 7, the case where the QCI is divided into nine stages of 1 to 9 has been described, but the number of QCIs may be arbitrarily changed.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a DSCP setting value corresponding to QCI. The storage unit 93 stores the information shown in FIG. 8, and the DSCP value is set according to the QCI associated with the measurement packet. In the example of FIG. 8, three types of classes are used: an Expedited Forwarding (EF) class, an Assured Forwarding (AF) class, and a Best Effort (BE) class. The priority decreases in the order of EF class> AF class> BE class. In the table of FIG. 8, the class to be set and the DSCP setting value indicating the class are associated with the QCI. Further, FIG. 8 also shows the priority obtained according to the set class in association with the DSCP setting value. For example, the measurement packet with QCI = 5 is set to the EF class, and the DSCP setting value of the measurement packet is 0b101110. Similarly, the measurement packet with QCI = 1 is classified into the AF42 class, and the set value of DSCP is 0b100100. As described above, since the DSCP is set in association with the QCI or the like, the identification unit 12 or the measurement unit 21 refers to the setting value of the DSCP of the measurement packet, and thereby the QCI associated with the measurement packet. And the priority of the measurement packet can be acquired.

  Although the setting of the DSCP of the measurement packet has been described with reference to FIG. 8, the value of the DSCP is set for the transmission packet in accordance with the QCI as well as the measurement packet. Moreover, the memory | storage part 22 can memorize | store the table of FIG. Therefore, the identification unit 12 can identify the QCI of the transmission packet by referring to the DSCP of the transmission packet. Note that the setting values in FIG. 8 are examples, and the DSCP setting values can be arbitrarily changed so that the QCI can be uniquely identified by the DSCP values.

  The measurement packet described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8 is generated by the measurement packet transmitter 90. Hereinafter, an example of a method for generating a measurement packet in the measurement packet transmitter 90 will be described. Here, it is assumed that the measurement packet transmitting apparatus 90 stores the tables shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 in the storage unit 93.

  (1) Upon receiving notification of the timing for transmitting a measurement packet associated with a certain QCI from the timer 92, the measurement packet generator 91 generates the RTP payload 104 of the measurement packet. At this time, the measurement packet generation unit 91 acquires the payload length associated with the QCI of the measurement packet and the type of data included in the RTP payload 104 with reference to the table of FIG. For example, when a measurement packet with QCI = 1 is generated, the measurement packet generation unit 91 refers to the storage unit 93 and recognizes that the RTP payload 104 can be made into 30-byte audio data. The measurement packet generator 91 generates the RTP payload 104 according to the information acquired from the storage unit 93.

  (2) The measurement packet generation unit 91 acquires time information from the timer 92 and sets the time stamp of the RTP header 103. Thereafter, the measurement packet generator 91 generates an RTP packet by adding an RTP header 103 with a time stamp set to the RTP payload 104.

(3) The measurement packet generator 91 adds the UDP header 102 to the RTP packet to generate a UDP packet.
(4) The measurement packet generation unit 91 refers to the storage unit 93 and acquires a value to be set as the DSCP value of the IP header 101. For example, in the case of QCI = 1, as shown in FIG. 8, it is acquired that it is transmitted in the AF42 class. Therefore, the measurement packet generator 91 sets DSCP to 01b100100. Further, the measurement packet generator 91 sets the destination address of the base station 10 and adds the IP header 101 to the RTP packet.

  Next, an example of a method for measuring the time until the measurement packet reaches the base station 10 from the PDN gateway 2 and obtaining the allowable time will be described. In the following description, it is assumed that the value of PDB0 is as shown in FIG. In the following description, it is assumed that the network includes a Network Time Protocol (NTP) server (see FIG. 9) or that the base station 10 and the measurement packet transmission device 90 can access the NTP server. The base station 10 and the measurement packet transmitter 90 can update the time information by accessing the NTP server. Furthermore, in the following description, it is assumed that the measurement packet transmitting device 90 includes the same number of timers 92 as the number of types of QCI associated with the generated measurement packet.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining an example of a path setting method between the base station 10 and the measurement packet transmitting apparatus 90. When the base station 10 is activated, the base station 10 accesses the NTP server and updates the time information held by the timer 25 to the time information obtained from the NTP server (steps S1 and S2). On the other hand, after the measurement packet transmitter 90 is also activated, the NTP server is accessed to synchronize the time information of the timer 92 and the time information of the NTP server (steps S3 and S4). The measurement packet transmitter 90 sets a time interval for transmitting the measurement packet to each timer 92 (step S5). At this time, the individual timers 92 are set to transmission intervals of different QCI measurement packets. For example, it is assumed that the measurement packet transmission device 90 includes four timers 92, which are timers 92a to 92d. In this case, QCI = 1 is set for the timer 92a, QCI = 2 for the timer 92b, QCI = 3 for the timer 92c, and QCI = 4 for the timer 92d. In this case, the timer 92a is timed up every time the measurement packet with QCI = 1 is transmitted. Similarly, the timer 92b times up to the transmission timing of the measurement packet with QCI = 2, the timer 92c times up to the transmission timing of the measurement packet with QCI = 3, and the timer 92d times up to the transmission timing of the measurement packet with QCI = 4. Note that the timing set in the timer 92 can be set to an arbitrary value according to the processing load of the base station 10 and the fluctuation of the communication amount. For example, transmission of a packet transmitted from the base station 10 to the terminal 4 The timing may be set to be shorter than the cycle. The operation of the measurement packet transmitting device 90 when the timer 92 is up will be described later.

  In order to start measuring the delay time, the base station 10 notifies the measurement packet transmitting apparatus 90 of an identifier for identifying the base station 10 such as the IP address of the base station 10 (step S6). After notifying the identifier, the base station 10 waits until receiving a measurement packet. On the other hand, when receiving the identifier of the base station 10, the measurement packet transmitting apparatus 90 registers the received identifier in the storage unit 93 (step S7). The measurement packet transmitter 90 can also transmit measurement packets to a plurality of base stations 10, and thus recognizes the number of base stations 10 that transmit measurement packets. Hereinafter, M is the total number of base stations 10 that transmit measurement packets. Therefore, when the measurement packet transmitting apparatus 90 registers the identifier of the base station 10 in step S7, the measurement packet transmitting apparatus 90 increments the value of M by one. Further, the measurement packet transmitter 90 sets a bearer between the measurement packet transmitter 90 and the base station 10 (step S8).

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining the operation when the measurement packet is generated and transmitted. In the flowchart of FIG. 10, the variable m is used. The variable m represents the number of base stations 10 to which the measurement packet transmitter 90 has transmitted measurement packets after the timer 92 has expired. When the timer 92 set to the interval for transmitting the measurement packet with QCI = n times out, the measurement packet generator 91 sets the variable m to 1 (step S11). The measurement packet generator 91 generates the RTP payload 104 of the measurement packet with QCI = n (step S12). Here, the method of generating the RTP payload 104 is as described with reference to FIGS. The measurement packet generation unit 91 generates an RTP packet by adding the RTP header 103 to the RTP payload 104, and further adds a UDP header 102 and an IP header 101 to the RTP packet. At this time, the measurement packet generation unit 91 sets the DSCP of the IP header 101 and stores it in the storage unit 93. (Step S13). The measurement packet generator 91 copies the generated measurement packet and sets the IP address of the mth base station 10 as the destination address in the IP header 101 (step S14). Further, the measurement packet generator 91 sets a time stamp value included in the RTP header 103 (step S15). Thereafter, the measurement packet transmitter 90 transmits the generated measurement packet to the mth base station 10 (step S16). After transmitting the measurement packet, the measurement packet generation unit 91 increments the value of m by 1, and checks whether the variable m is equal to or greater than the total number (M) of the base stations 10 that transmit the measurement packet (step S17, S18). When the variable m is less than M, the measurement packet generator 91 repeats steps S14 to S18. In the second and subsequent steps S14 to S18, a copy of the IP packet generated in step S13 is used. When the variable m becomes equal to or greater than the constant M, the measurement packet generator 91 deletes the packet generated in step S13 from the storage unit 93.

  When the base station 10 receives the measurement packet via the reception unit 16, the identification unit 12 identifies the measurement packet and outputs it to the measurement unit 21 (step S19). The measurement unit 21 refers to the timer 25 to acquire the reception time of the measurement packet, and from the reception time and the time stamp value of the RTP header 103, until the measurement packet reaches the base station 10 from the measurement packet transmission device 90 Is calculated (step S20). The calculation unit 23 calculates a difference between the obtained delay time and the second predicted time (PDB2), and further obtains an allowable time using the calculated difference. A method for obtaining the allowable time will be described later. Furthermore, the calculation unit 23 updates the allowable time stored in the storage unit 22 (step S21).

  As described with reference to FIG. 10, a measurement packet is generated each time the timer 92 expires, and the allowable time is updated using the measurement packet. The flowchart of FIG. 10 shows a case where the timer 92 of QCI = n has timed up, but n is an arbitrary number equal to or less than the number of QCIs into which the transmission packet is classified. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, when QCI is classified into 1 to 9, a timer 92 is set for each of QCI = 1 to 9. Each time one timer 92 times out, a QCI measurement packet whose transmission interval has been measured by the timer 92 that has timed up is transmitted.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of calculation of allowable time. The table in FIG. 11 represents a part of the data stored in the storage unit 22. Hereinafter, a method for calculating the allowable time performed in the base station 10 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 11A shows a part of data held in the storage unit 22 when the measurement packet has not been received since the base station 10 was activated. The operator determines the values of PDB1 and PDB2 according to the value of PDB0 shown in FIG. In addition, the time required for processing at the base station 10 is also obtained in advance and stored in the storage unit 22. In the following description, the time required for processing in the base station 10 may be referred to as “base station processing delay”. FIG. 11A shows an example of PDB1, PDB2, and base station processing delay for each QCI of 1 to N.

  When the PDB1 and the base station processing delay are stored, the calculation unit 23 sets the time obtained by subtracting the base station processing delay from the PDB1 as an initial value of the allowable time A for each of the QCIs 1 to N. Since the base station processing delay is the time required for processing of the base station 10, if the time taken for the transmission packet to reach the base station 10 from the PDN gateway 2 is PDB1, the base station 10 It can be stored in the QoS buffer 14 only during A. FIG. 11A also shows the initial value of the allowable time A calculated for each QCI of 1 to N.

When the measurement packet is received from the measurement packet transmitting apparatus 90, the measurement packet is output to the measurement unit 21 by the identification unit 12. The measuring unit 21 acquires the time when the base station 10 receives the measurement packet from the timer 25. The measuring unit 21 refers to the time stamp included in the RTP header 103 of the measurement packet to obtain the time when the measurement packet is transmitted from the measurement packet transmitting device 90. Further, the measurement unit 21 obtains the delay time D required for the measurement packet to reach the base station 10 from the measurement packet transmission device 90 from the equation (1).
D = Trec−Tstamp (1)
Here, Trec is the time when the measurement packet is received by the base station 10, and Tstamp is the time indicated by the time stamp included in the measurement packet. The measurement unit 21 outputs the calculated delay time to the calculation unit 23.

When obtaining the delay time, the calculation unit 23 obtains a difference between the second predicted time and the delay time obtained by the measurement unit 21. Here, if the difference between the second predicted time and the delay time is ΔPDB2, ΔPDB2 is expressed by equation (2).
ΔPDB2 = D−PDB2 (2)

Next, the calculation unit 23 calculates an update value of the allowable time A from ΔPDB2, the first predicted time, and the base station processing delay. The allowable time is obtained according to equation (3).
A = PDB1-ΔPDB2-Dbase (3)
In Equation (3), Dbase represents a base station processing delay. In addition, as will be described later, the influence of the base station processing delay may be negligible. The calculation unit 23 outputs the calculated allowable time to the storage unit 22 and the determination unit 31.

For example, it is assumed that it takes 20 ms for the measurement packet with QCI = 1 to reach the base station 10 from the measurement packet transmitter 90. As shown in FIG. 11A, since PDB2 at QCI = 1 is 50 ms, ΔPDB2 is as follows.
ΔPDB2 = D−PDB2 = 20 ms−50 ms = −30 (ms)
Therefore, the calculation unit 23 obtains the allowable time using the equation (3).
A = PDB1-ΔPDB2-Dbase
= 50 ms-(-30 ms) -5 ms = 75 ms
That is, when the delay time of the measurement packet with QCI = 1 is 20 ms, the time required for the transmission packet with QCI = 1 to reach the base station 10 from the PDN gateway 2 is 30 ms shorter than the second prediction time. Therefore, the base station 10 can store the transmission packet in the QoS buffer 14a for 30 ms longer than the case where the delay time of the measurement packet is the same value as the PDB2. Accordingly, the initial value of the allowable time is 45 ms as shown in FIG. 11A, whereas the time that the base station 10 can store in the QoS buffer 14a for a transmission packet with QCI = 1 is 75 ms. . FIG. 11B shows the calculation result of the allowable time obtained using the measurement packet with QCI = 1.

On the other hand, it is assumed that it takes 90 ms for the measurement packet with QCI = 2 to reach the base station 10 from the measurement packet transmitter 90. As shown in FIG. 11A, since PDB2 at QCI = 2 is 70 ms, ΔPDB2 is as follows.
ΔPDB2 = 90 ms−70 ms = 20 (ms)
Therefore, the calculation unit 23 obtains the allowable time using the equation (3).
A = 80 ms-20 ms-5 ms = 55 ms
That is, when the delay time of the measurement packet with QCI = 2 is 20 ms longer than the second prediction time, the base station 10 transmits only 20 ms shorter than when the delay time of the measurement packet is the same value as PDB2. The packet cannot be stored in the QoS buffer 14b. Therefore, the initial value of the allowable time for a transmission packet with QCI = 2 is 75 ms as shown in FIG. 11A, whereas the updated value of the allowable time is 55 ms shorter by 20 ms.

  Similarly, the measurement packet with QCI = 3 is transmitted in 10 ms, but since PDB2 is 20 ms, the measurement packet reaches the base station 10 earlier than expected by 10 ms. Then, as shown in FIG. 11A, the allowable time is 35 ms, which is 10 ms longer than the initial value of the allowable time, 25 ms. FIG. 11B shows the calculation result of the allowable time obtained using the measurement packet.

  The measurement packet transmitter 90 obtains an allowable time until the transmission packet reaches the terminal 4 from the base station 10 for each of QCI = 1 to N. In addition, the calculation of the allowable time is performed every time the measurement packet is transmitted. When the measurement packet is received after the second time, the calculation unit 23 obtains the allowable time while referring to the table as shown in FIG. 11B, and stores the obtained value in the storage unit 22 to determine the allowable time. Update.

  By adjusting the allowable time using the time until the measurement packet reaches the base station 10 from the measurement packet transmitting apparatus 90, the base station 10 determines the amount of delay allowed between devices as the amount of communication in the network. It can be changed flexibly according to. For example, when the delay amount until the transmission packet is transmitted from the PDN gateway 2 to the base station 10 is less than the second predicted time, the transmission time is increased from the base station 10 by increasing the allowable time at the base station 10. The amount of data can be increased. For this reason, a wireless network can be used effectively. On the other hand, even if the amount of delay until the transmission packet is transmitted from the PDN gateway 2 to the base station 10 exceeds the second predicted time, the allowable time at the base station 10 is reduced, so that the data in the wired network is reduced. Disposal can be prevented.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a temporal change in the delay amount for a certain QCI. A curve Tra2 included in FIG. 12A is an example of a change in time taken for a transmission packet of QCI = 1 transmitted from the PDN gateway 2 to the terminal 4 to reach the base station 10 from the PDN gateway 2. Shall be shown. In the following description, it is assumed that the time required for a transmission packet to reach the base station 10 from the PDN gateway 2 varies as shown by a curve Tra2 due to a variation in communication charges. The broken line in FIG. 12A indicates PDB2, that is, the second predicted time. In the example of FIG. 12A, the delay amount of the transmission packet at times T1 to T7 and times T11 to T12 is shorter than the second delay time. On the other hand, the delay amount of the transmission packet at times T8 to T10 exceeds the second predicted time.

  It is assumed that the measurement packet transmitter 90 transmits a measurement packet with QCI = 1 to the base station 10 at time Tn (n is an arbitrary integer equal to or greater than 1) such as time T1, T2, and T3. Here, the delay time observed at times T1 to T12 is considered to be equal to the delay time of the measurement packet at times T1 to T12. For example, the delay time of the measurement packet transmitted at time T1 is equal to the value of Tra2 at time T1. The delay time obtained by the measurement packet transmitted at times T1 to T12 is shown by a straight line in FIG.

  Assuming that the delay time does not fluctuate after the delay time of a certain measurement packet is obtained until the delay time of the next measurement packet is obtained, the fluctuation of the delay time is represented by a bar graph shown in FIG. Can be represented. For example, the delay time from time T1 to T2 is the delay time obtained from the measurement packet transmitted at time T1, and the delay time from time T2 to T3 is the delay obtained from the measurement packet transmitted at time T2. It's time. The same applies to other delay times.

  ΔPDB2 calculated by the calculation unit 23 is a value obtained by subtracting the value of the bar graph of FIG. 12B from PDB2. FIG. 12C is a diagram showing the value of −ΔPDB2 as a function of time. As shown in FIG. 12C, the value of -ΔPDB2 is positive at times T1 to T8 and times T11 to T12. Therefore, at time T1 to T8 and time T11 to T12, the base station 10 takes a longer time than the predetermined first prediction time (PDB1) before transmitting the transmission packet to the terminal 4. Can do. On the other hand, from time T8 to T11, the value of -ΔPDB2 is negative. From time T8 to T11, the base station 10 can only take a shorter time than the predetermined first predicted time (PDB1) before transmitting the transmission packet to the terminal 4.

  FIG. 13A shows an allowable time obtained by adding the value shown by the bar graph of FIG. 12C to the value of PDB1. As shown in FIG. 13A, at times T1 to T8 and times T11 to T12, the allowable time is longer than PDB1. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 13 (b), the base station 10 exceeds PDB1 at times T1 to T8 if it is shorter than the allowable time from receiving the transmission packet to transmitting it to the terminal 4. I can take time. On the other hand, at times T8 to T11, the base station 10 can only take a shorter time than PDB1 from receiving the transmission packet to transmitting it to the terminal 4. Accordingly, when the amount of delay when the transmission packet is transmitted from the base station 10 to the terminal 4 is as indicated by the curve Tra1 in FIG. 13B, all the transmission packets are transmitted to the terminal 4.

  As described above, since the base station 10 can adjust the delay time using the delay time obtained using the measurement packet, the system including the base station 10 effectively uses wired and wireless networks. Efficient communication. For example, even if the delay time from the PDN gateway 2 to the base station 10 exceeds the second predicted time, the transmission packet is not discarded as long as it is within the delay time allowed between the PDN gateway 2 and the terminal 4. , Transmitted to the terminal 4. That is, in a system in which the base station 10 is used, the base station 10 autonomously redistributes the delay time even if the delay allocated to the device is exceeded. For this reason, even when the delay amount initially allocated to each device is exceeded, there is a case where all transmission packets can be transmitted without discarding packets or interrupting reception by connection admission control (CAC). is there.

  When the allowable time is calculated as described with reference to FIGS. 11 to 13, the calculated allowable time is notified to the scheduler 30. Next, an operation performed by the scheduler 30 when the calculated value of the allowable time is notified will be described.

  The determination unit 31 acquires the transmission rate allocated to each QCI by the band allocation unit 32. A table representing an example of data held by the determination unit 31 is shown in FIG. The determination unit 31 stores the allowable time and the transmission rate notified from the calculation unit 23 in association with the QCI.

  The determination unit 31 divides the amount of data stored in each QoS buffer 14 by the transmission rate, and calculates the time taken to transmit the transmission packet of each QCI. The determination unit 31 compares the time required for transmission with the allowable time, and if the time required for transmission of the data included in the QoS buffer 14 is equal to or shorter than the allowable time, the determination unit 31 stores the data in the QoS buffer 14 within the allowable time. It is determined that the transmission packet can be transmitted to the terminal. On the other hand, if the time taken to transmit the data contained in the QoS buffer 14 is longer than the allowable time, it is determined that the transmission packet stored in the QoS buffer 14 cannot be transmitted to the terminal within the allowable time. The determination unit 31 outputs the determination result to the band allocation unit 32.

  FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining an example of the operation of the bandwidth allocation unit 32. FIG. 15A shows an example of the relationship between the amount of packets stored in the QoS buffer 14 and the time required for transmission when it is determined that the packet can be transmitted within the allowable time. An example of the transmission packet 110 (110a to 110f) stored in the QoS buffer 14 is shown in the queue status column. In the example of FIG. 15A, it is assumed that the allowable time is 60 ms. The transmission packet 110 held in the QoS buffer 14 is transmitted toward the terminal 4 from the current time until the time described in the scheduled transmission time column elapses. For example, the transmission packet 110a is transmitted within 10 ms from the present time, and the transmission packet 110f is transmitted within 50 ms from the present time. Since all of the transmission packets 110a to 110f are scheduled to be transmitted within 60 ms from the present time, in the case of FIG. 15A, the bandwidth allocation unit 32 does not change the transmission rate.

  FIG. 15B shows an example of the relationship between the amount of packets stored in the QoS buffer 14 and the time required for transmission when it is determined that the packet cannot be transmitted within the allowable time. Here, it is assumed that the QoS buffer 14 shown in FIG. 15B is a QoS buffer 14a for storing a transmission packet with QCI = 1. Further, since PDB0 is 100 ms, it takes 60 ms for the measurement packet to reach the base station 10 from the measurement packet transmitting apparatus 90, and therefore the allowable time is 40 ms. The transmission packets 110a to 110e are transmitted within 40 ms, but the transmission packet 110f cannot be transmitted within the allowable time.

  Therefore, the bandwidth allocation unit 32 reduces the bandwidth allocated to transmission of the transmission packet 110 classified as QCI having a lower priority than QCI = 1, and allocates the transmission to the transmission of the transmission packet 110 with QCI = 1. Here, the storage unit 22 stores a table in which the characteristics of the transmission packet 110 shown in FIG. 5 are recorded, and the bandwidth allocation unit 32 can refer to the table as appropriate. For example, since the transmission packet 110 with QCI = 9 has the ninth highest priority, it has a lower priority than the transmission packet 110 with QCI = 1. Therefore, the bandwidth allocation unit 32 reduces the amount of data output from the QoS buffer 14 to the scheduler 30 per unit time for the data of QCI = 9. Furthermore, the bandwidth allocating unit 32 increases the transmission amount per unit time of the data with QCI = 1 within a range equal to or less than the amount of data reduced with respect to QCI = 9 per unit time. For example, for data with QCI = 1, when the data output per unit time increases by 25%, as shown in FIG. 15C, the transmission packets 110a to 110f stored in the QoS buffer 14a for 40 ms are obtained. Can be sent.

  Furthermore, the bandwidth allocating unit 32 can reduce the bandwidth used for transmitting a plurality of QCI transmission packets and increase the bandwidth used for one or more QCI transmission packets. For example, it is possible to increase the bandwidth used for transmission of transmission packets with QCI = 1 by decreasing the bandwidth allocated to each transmission of QCI = 6-9. Further, the bandwidth allocating unit 32 can reduce the bandwidth of the QCI transmitted at the guaranteed bit rate if the bandwidth is insufficient even if the bandwidth used for the data transmitted at the non-guaranteed bit rate is reduced. . However, regardless of whether the transmission is performed at the guaranteed bit rate or the non-guaranteed bit rate, the priority of the QCI for which the bandwidth is reduced is lower than the priority of the QCI for which the bandwidth is increased. .

  FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the base station 10 when a measurement packet is received. In the example of FIG. 16, the calculation unit 23 stores the previous delay time for each QCI and compares it with the delay time acquired from the measurement unit 21. Here, when the delay time does not change, the allowable time is not updated. However, the operation of the base station 10 may be changed, for example, step S34 is performed before step S33, or the order of steps S35 and S36 is changed.

  The identification unit 12 identifies the measurement packet with reference to the TEID and IP address of the packet received via the network interface 11, and outputs the measurement packet to the measurement unit 21 (step S31). The measuring unit 21 calculates a delay time from the time when the measurement packet is received and the time stamp value of the measurement packet (step S32). The measurement unit 21 notifies the calculation unit 23 of the calculated delay time and the QCI of the measurement packet. The calculation unit 23 calculates the difference between the second predicted time (PDB2) and the delay time (step S33). The calculation unit 23 compares the previous delay time with the delay time notified from the measurement unit 21 (step S34).

  If the previous delay time is different from the latest delay time, the calculation unit 23 records the delay time in the storage unit 22 (Yes in step S34, step S35). Further, the calculation unit 23 notifies the determination unit 31 of the latest delay time together with the QCI (step S36). The determination unit 31 determines whether the transmission packet stored in the QoS buffer 14 can be transmitted with the updated allowable time (step S37). If it is determined that the transmission packet stored in the QoS buffer 14 cannot be transmitted in the updated allowable time, the band allocation unit 32 changes the band allocation to change the transmission rate (Yes in step S37, step S38). On the other hand, if it is determined that the transmission packet stored in the QoS buffer 14 can be transmitted in the updated allowable time, the bandwidth allocation is not changed (No in step S37, step S38). If it is determined in step S34 that the previous delay time is the same as the latest delay time, the transmission packet is transmitted without performing steps S35 to S38.

  As described with reference to FIGS. 15 and 16, when the allowable time is shorter than the time predicted to be transmitted from the base station 10 to the terminal 4, the transmission packet having a high priority is within the specified time. The bandwidth allocation is adjusted so that it is transmitted to. For this reason, there is a high possibility that a transmission packet having a high priority will be transmitted to the terminal 4 within a specified time.

  Further, when the base station 10 is used, as described with reference to FIGS. 12, 13, etc., the delay amount until reaching the device included in the network is flexibly changed according to the communication amount in the network. be able to. In the mobile communication system, since the terminal 4 moves with the movement of the user, the communication amount bias and change are large compared to the fixed communication system. For example, the amount of communication differs between a business district where an office is located and a residential area. In addition, the number of terminals 4 and the amount of communication vary greatly because the distribution of users is different even at the same location, depending on the time of day, season, event, and other events. However, when a system using the base station 10 is formed, it is possible to set a delay amount according to a change in communication amount. That is, in a system including the base station 10, the delay amount of both the wired network from the PDN gateway 2 to the base station 10 and the wireless network from the base station 10 to the terminal 4 is efficiently changed to efficiently communicate. Is done.

<Others>
The embodiment is not limited to the above, and can be variously modified. Some examples are described below.

Although the base station processing delay varies depending on the base station, it may be a negligible time for any of PDB0, PDB1, and PDB2. In this case, equation (3) is expressed as A = PDB1−ΔPDB2 (4)
It becomes. Since PDB1 + PDB2 = PDB0, equation (4) can be modified as follows from equation (2).
A = PDB1-D + PDB2 = PDB0-D
Therefore, when the base station processing delay is negligible for PDB0, PDB1, and PDB2, the allowable time is a value obtained by subtracting the delay time from PDB0.

  If the effect of base station processing delay is negligible, the operator may not determine the first and second predicted times. In this case, the storage unit 22 stores a permissible amount of time (PDB0) required for the transmission packet to reach the terminal 4 from the PDN gateway 2 for each QCI. Next, the measurement part 21 calculates | requires the time required for a transmission packet to reach | attain the base station 10 from the PDN gateway 2 using a measurement packet. Here, the method for obtaining the delay time from the measurement packet is as described above. When notified of the delay time from the measurement unit 21, the calculation unit 23 sets a value obtained by subtracting the delay time from the PDB 0 as the allowable time. The processing after the allowable time is obtained is as described above.

The measurement packet transmitter 90 may be included in the PDN gateway 2. In this case, the measurement packet is transmitted from the PDN gateway 2 toward the base station 10.
The measurement packet transmitting apparatus 90 includes a CPU and a memory, and can operate as the measurement packet generation unit 91, the timer 92, and the storage unit 93 by realizing a program stored in the memory.

  The network examples shown in FIGS. 1, 4, 5, and the like are networks adopting LTE, but the base station 10 may be used even in a network that does not support LTE. Even in a network that does not support LTE, the base station 10 obtains an allowable time as described above, and transmits a transmission packet to the terminal 4 within the allowable time.

  In the above description, the case where the upper limit value of the time until the transmission packet reaches the terminal 4 from the PDN gateway 2 is described as an example, but the section in which the upper limit value is set is changed. There is. For example, the time until the terminal 4 is reached from the transmission device that transmits the transmission packet may be the upper limit value. In this case, the measurement unit 21 uses the measurement packet to obtain the time until the transmission packet reaches the base station 10 from the transmission device of the transmission packet.

In addition, the following notes are disclosed.
(Appendix 1)
A receiving unit for receiving a transmission packet transmitted from the transmission device;
A storage unit for storing an upper limit value of a time required for the transmission packet to reach the terminal after the transmission packet is transmitted;
A measurement unit that measures a delay time from when the measurement packet is transmitted from the transmission device to when it is received by the reception unit, using a measurement packet in which a transmission time is recorded;
A calculation unit that calculates an allowable time that is a value obtained by subtracting the delay time from the upper limit;
A base station apparatus comprising: a transmission unit that transmits the transmission packet to the terminal before the allowable time elapses after the transmission packet is received by the reception unit.
(Appendix 2)
The storage unit includes a first predicted time that is expected to be taken after the transmission packet is received by the reception unit and transmitted to the terminal, and the reception unit after the transmission packet is transmitted. And a second predicted time that is predicted to be received at
The calculation unit according to claim 1, wherein the calculation unit calculates the allowable time by adding a value obtained by subtracting the delay time from the second prediction time to the first prediction time. Base station device.
(Appendix 3)
A storage unit for storing the transmission packet;
Whether the transmission packet stored in the storage unit is transmitted to the terminal within the allowable time from the amount of transmission packet transmitted in a certain time and the amount of transmission packet stored in the storage unit A determination unit for determining;
When it is determined that transmission cannot be performed within the allowable time, the bandwidth allocation unit further increases a bandwidth allocation to the terminal and increases a transmission packet transmitted to the terminal at the certain time. The base station apparatus according to appendix 2.
(Appendix 4)
A first storage unit for storing a first transmission packet set to a first priority;
A second storage unit that stores a second transmission packet set to a second priority lower than the first priority;
The measurement packet, the first transmission packet, and the second transmission packet are identified, the measurement packet is the measurement unit, the first transmission packet is a first storage unit, and the second transmission An identification unit for outputting the packet to the second storage unit;
Further comprising
The measurement unit measures a first delay time using the first measurement packet set to the first priority, and determines the second measurement packet set to the second priority. To measure the second delay time,
The calculating unit calculates a first permissible time from when the first packet is received by the receiving unit to when the first packet is transmitted to the terminal using the first delay time, and Calculating a second allowable time from when the second packet is received by the receiving unit to when the second packet is transmitted to the terminal using a delay time;
The transmission unit transmits the first transmission packet to the terminal and the second transmission packet is received before the first permissible time has elapsed since the reception of the first transmission packet. The base station apparatus according to any one of appendices 1 to 3, wherein the second transmission packet is transmitted to the terminal before the second allowable time has elapsed.
(Appendix 5)
When it is determined that the first transmission packet stored in the first storage unit cannot be transmitted within the first allowable time, the band allocation unit is used for transmitting the second transmission packet. The base station apparatus according to appendix 4, wherein the band used for transmitting the first transmission packet is increased by reducing the band.
(Appendix 6)
The base station device receives the transmission packet transmitted from the transmission packet transmission device,
The measurement packet transmitter generates a measurement packet in which a transmission time is recorded, and transmits the measurement packet to the base station device through the transmission packet transmitter.
The base station measures a delay time from when the measurement packet is transmitted until it is received by the receiving unit,
The base station subtracts the delay time from the upper limit of the time it takes for the transmission packet to reach the terminal after the transmission packet is transmitted until the base station transmits the transmission packet to the terminal. To calculate the allowable time for
The base station transmits the transmission packet to the terminal before the allowable time elapses after the transmission packet is received by the reception unit.
(Appendix 7)
A transmission packet transmitter for transmitting a transmission packet to be processed at the terminal to the terminal;
A base station device that relays the transmission packet;
A measurement packet transmitter that generates a measurement packet in which a transmission time is recorded, and that transmits the measurement packet to the base station device via the transmission packet transmitter,
The base station
A receiver for receiving the transmission packet and the measurement packet;
A measurement unit that measures a delay time from when the measurement packet is transmitted until it is received by the reception unit;
Allowable until the base station transmits the transmission packet to the terminal by subtracting the delay time from the upper limit of the time it takes for the transmission packet to reach the terminal after the transmission packet is transmitted A calculation unit for calculating time;
A transmitter that transmits the transmission packet to the terminal before the allowable time elapses after the transmission packet is received by the receiver;
A communication system comprising:

1 packet data network 2 PDN gateway 3 serving gateway 4 terminal 5 MME
6 PCRF
7 router 10 base station 11 network interface 12 identification unit 13 storage unit 14 QoS buffer 15 antenna 16 reception unit 17 transmission unit 20 delay adjustment unit 21 measurement unit 22, 93 storage unit 23 calculation unit 24 statistics unit 25, 92 timer 30 scheduler 31 Determination unit 32 Band allocation unit 40 Transmission unit 41 Encoding processing unit 42 OFDM modulation unit 43 Radio modulation unit 50 Radio signal reception unit 51 Radio demodulation unit 52 OFDM demodulation unit 53 Decoding processing unit 60 CPU
62 switch 63 U / C plane multiplexing unit 64 U / C plane separation unit 65 call control processing unit 66 device control unit 70 memory 75 DSP
80 RF circuit 90 Measurement packet transmitter 91 Measurement packet generator 101 IP header 102 UDP header 103 RTP header 104 RTP payload 110 Transmission packet

Claims (6)

A receiving unit for receiving a transmission packet transmitted from the transmission device;
A storage unit for storing an upper limit value of a time required for the transmission packet to reach the terminal after the transmission packet is transmitted;
A measurement unit that measures a delay time from when the measurement packet is transmitted from the transmission device to when it is received by the reception unit, using a measurement packet in which a transmission time is recorded;
A calculation unit that calculates an allowable time that is a value obtained by subtracting the delay time from the upper limit;
A base station apparatus comprising: a transmission unit that transmits the transmission packet to the terminal before the allowable time elapses after the transmission packet is received by the reception unit. The storage unit includes a first predicted time that is expected to be taken after the transmission packet is received by the reception unit and transmitted to the terminal, and the reception unit after the transmission packet is transmitted. And a second predicted time that is predicted to be received at
2. The calculation unit according to claim 1, wherein the calculation unit calculates the allowable time by adding a value obtained by subtracting the delay time from the second prediction time to the first prediction time. Base station equipment. A storage unit for storing the transmission packet;
Whether the transmission packet stored in the storage unit is transmitted to the terminal within the allowable time from the amount of transmission packet transmitted in a certain time and the amount of transmission packet stored in the storage unit A determination unit for determining;
When it is determined that transmission cannot be performed within the allowable time, the bandwidth allocation unit further increases a bandwidth allocation to the terminal and increases a transmission packet transmitted to the terminal at the certain time. The base station apparatus according to claim 2. A first storage unit for storing a first transmission packet set to a first priority;
A second storage unit that stores a second transmission packet set to a second priority lower than the first priority;
The measurement packet, the first transmission packet, and the second transmission packet are identified, the measurement packet is the measurement unit, the first transmission packet is a first storage unit, and the second transmission An identification unit for outputting the packet to the second storage unit;
Further comprising
The measurement unit measures a first delay time using the first measurement packet set to the first priority, and determines the second measurement packet set to the second priority. To measure the second delay time,
The calculating unit calculates a first permissible time from when the first packet is received by the receiving unit to when the first packet is transmitted to the terminal using the first delay time, and Calculating a second allowable time from when the second packet is received by the receiving unit to when the second packet is transmitted to the terminal using a delay time;
The transmission unit transmits the first transmission packet to the terminal and the second transmission packet is received before the first permissible time has elapsed since the reception of the first transmission packet. The base station apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the second transmission packet is transmitted to the terminal before the second allowable time elapses. The base station device receives the transmission packet transmitted from the transmission packet transmission device,
The measurement packet transmitter generates a measurement packet in which a transmission time is recorded, and transmits the measurement packet to the base station device through the transmission packet transmitter.
The base station measures a delay time from when the measurement packet is transmitted until it is received by the receiving unit,
The base station subtracts the delay time from the upper limit of the time it takes for the transmission packet to reach the terminal after the transmission packet is transmitted until the base station transmits the transmission packet to the terminal. To calculate the allowable time for
The base station transmits the transmission packet to the terminal before the allowable time elapses after the transmission packet is received by the reception unit. A transmission packet transmitter for transmitting a transmission packet to be processed at the terminal to the terminal;
A base station device that relays the transmission packet;
A measurement packet transmitter that generates a measurement packet in which a transmission time is recorded, and that transmits the measurement packet to the base station device via the transmission packet transmitter;
The base station
A receiver for receiving the transmission packet and the measurement packet;
A measurement unit that measures a delay time from when the measurement packet is transmitted until it is received by the reception unit;
Allowable until the base station transmits the transmission packet to the terminal by subtracting the delay time from the upper limit of the time it takes for the transmission packet to reach the terminal after the transmission packet is transmitted A calculation unit for calculating time;
A transmitter that transmits the transmission packet to the terminal before the allowable time elapses after the transmission packet is received by the receiver;
A communication system comprising: