JP2013207504A - Radio communication device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To secure communication quality of radio communication, when a plurality of sets of radio communication conforming to a plurality of radio communication methods are used.SOLUTION: A radio communication device 100 comprises: a BT communication unit 101; and a WLAN communication unit 102. A communication control unit 105 calculates an application-by-application use band in an application storage unit 106 on the basis of a packet length, a packet interval and a communication speed of BT communication and WLAN communication. If an application use band to be activated exceeds an available band, the radio communication device 100 inquires of a user 110 whether or not the application already in operation can be terminated. When the user permits the termination, the radio communication device 100 terminates the application already in operation, and secures the use band of the application to be activated. If otherwise, the radio communication device 100 prohibits the activation of the application to be activated.

Description

  The present invention relates to a wireless communication apparatus including a plurality of wireless communication means.

  As a wireless communication device including a plurality of wireless communication means capable of performing wireless communication based on different wireless communication methods, for example, a short distance based on Bluetooth (hereinafter abbreviated as “BT”) standard Wireless LAN (BT communication) and IEEE802.11 series (IEEE802.11a / b / g / j / n, etc.) wireless LAN (Wireless Local Area Network: hereinafter abbreviated as “WLAN”) There is known a wireless communication apparatus capable of performing wireless communication (WLAN communication) via the network (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  By the way, the frequency bands used for BT communication and WLAN communication are the same 2.4 GHz band ISM (Industrial Scientific Medical) band. Invite you. In order to avoid this, in Patent Document 1, when there is a WLAN communication start request when BT communication is being performed, a switching control method for determining whether or not switching is possible according to the content of the BT communication at the time of the start request. Proposed.

  Specifically, if there is a request for starting WLAN communication while BT communication is being performed, if the wireless communication processing being performed by BT communication is processing by a music / video data transfer protocol, WLAN Switching control is performed so as to reject the communication start request and continue the wireless communication by the BT communication, otherwise permit the WLAN communication start request and switch from the BT communication to the WLAN communication.

JP 2011-49700 A

  However, the switching control method proposed in Patent Document 1 determines whether or not switching to WLAN communication is possible according to the content of BT communication at the time of WLAN communication start request. The content of the WLAN communication in is not considered.

  For this reason, even if WLAN communication can be performed at the same time, it may not be permitted or may be kept waiting, and the WLAN communication becomes unstable.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and in the case of simultaneously using a plurality of wireless communications based on a plurality of wireless communication schemes, a wireless communication device capable of ensuring the communication quality of each wireless communication. The purpose is to provide.

  In order to solve such a problem, a wireless communication device of the present invention includes a first communication unit that performs synchronous wireless communication according to a first communication method, and a second communication unit that performs asynchronous wireless communication according to a second communication method. A communication antenna shared by the first and second communication units, and the first communication unit and the communication antenna within a period of a packet length of a synchronization packet used in the synchronous wireless communication according to the first communication method. A switching unit controlled to connect between the second communication unit and the communication antenna within a packet interval in the synchronous wireless communication, and the switching unit as described above And when the activation of the application used in the asynchronous wireless communication by the second communication method is requested, the communication band used by the first communication unit, and the second communication unit A communication control unit that determines whether or not the application requested to be activated can be activated based on a communication band that can be used and an application requested to be activated and a communication band required by an application that is already running. The structure to do is taken.

  According to the present invention, when the first communication method and the second communication method are used at the same time, the respective wireless communication can be carried out almost equally and stably. There is an effect that can be secured.

The block diagram which shows the structure of the radio | wireless communication apparatus which concerns on one embodiment of this invention Time chart when BT communication synchronous packet and WLAN communication asynchronous packet coexist Flowchart for explaining permission / rejection determination operation of WLAN communication according to the present embodiment Diagram explaining the relationship between application priority and bandwidth used Algorithm for determining activation of application used in WLAN communication Example of a dialog presented to the user to confirm whether or not to exit the application

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

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a wireless communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a wireless communication apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment includes a BT communication unit 101 and a WLAN communication unit 102 as a plurality of wireless communication means, an antenna unit 103, a switching unit 104, a communication control unit 105, an application, And a storage unit 106. The wireless communication device 100 is operated by a user 110.

  The switching unit 104 assigns the antenna unit 103 to either the BT communication unit 101 or the WLAN communication unit 102 in accordance with a switching instruction from the communication control unit 105. The application storage unit 106 stores applications used by the BT communication unit 101 and the WLAN communication unit 102 for communication.

  The BT communication unit 101 is controlled by the communication control unit 105 to perform wireless communication (hereinafter referred to as “BT communication”) in the 2.4 GHz band (ISM band) based on the BT standard as the first communication method It is the 1st communication part which performs. Examples of the communication destination include a headset 120 for performing hands-free communication and audio reproduction.

  The WLAN communication unit 102 is controlled by the communication control unit 105 and accessed via a wireless LAN according to each communication method of IEEE802.11b / g / n in the 2.4 GHz band (ISM band) as the second communication method. This is a second communication unit that performs wireless communication (hereinafter referred to as “WLAN communication”) with the point 121. The access point 121 is connected to the Internet network by wire or wireless.

  The communication control unit 105 is configured by a microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM. When using the BT communication and the WLAN communication at the same time, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, the communication control unit 105 gives priority to the BT communication that is the synchronous communication, and the WLAN that is the asynchronous communication in the gap of the synchronous communication. The BT communication unit 101, the WLAN communication unit 102, and the switching unit 104 are controlled in the process of performing overall control of the wireless communication device 100 so that communication can be performed.

  In addition, when the BT communication and the WLAN communication are used at the same time, the communication control unit 105 requests the user 110 to determine which of the applications being used is to be terminated, and follows the instructions of the user 110. Also take appropriate measures.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the communication control unit 105 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a time chart when a synchronous packet for BT communication and an asynchronous packet for WLAN communication coexist. FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the WLAN communication permission / rejection determination operation according to this embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the priority of the application and the bandwidth used. FIG. 5 shows an algorithm for determining activation of an application used in WLAN communication. FIG. 6 is an example of a dialog presented to the user for confirming whether or not to terminate the application.

In FIG. 2, BT communication is synchronous communication, and transmission of a constant amount of data using a synchronous packet 200 having a constant packet length (transmission time width) t _b is repeated at a constant packet interval t _bw. . Since the reception side also receives in accordance with this timing, the transmission timing of the synchronization packet 200 cannot be changed.

On the other hand, WLAN communication is asynchronous communication, and an asynchronous packet having an arbitrary packet length is transmitted at an arbitrary timing. When BT communication and WLAN communication are used simultaneously, both use the same frequency band. Therefore, the communication control unit 105 gives priority to BT communication, and packet interval t _bw which is a gap in synchronous communication of BT communication. The switching unit 104 is controlled so that WLAN communication can be performed.

Specifically, the switching unit 104 connects the time in only the BT communication unit 101 of the packet length _{t b} at the transmission timing of the synchronization packet 200 to the antenna 103, the antenna WLAN communication unit 102 during a period of packet interval _{t bw} Control is made to connect to the unit 103.

Although the number of asynchronous packets that can be transmitted in the period of the packet interval t _bw depends on the communication speed of BT communication and WLAN communication and the application to be used, in FIG. 2, three asynchronous packets 211 are in the period of the packet interval t _bw. , 212, 213 are transmitted. Packet length t _w of the asynchronous packet is generally different for each packet, but here for ease of explanation, is constant. Further, the packet interval of each asynchronous packet is _tww .

  In FIG. 2, when the BT communication and the WLAN communication are used at the same time, the switching unit 104 performs the switching operation so that the BT communication is prioritized, so that the third asynchronous packet 213 shown in black is shown. It is shown that a packet that has been transmitted but actually fails to be transmitted is also generated.

  In other words, the third asynchronous packet 213 shown in black is a packet that has started transmission because the transmission of the synchronous packet 200 of BT communication has not started at the transmission timing of the asynchronous packet 213, but the asynchronous packet 213 Transmission of the synchronization packet 200 is started during transmission of the packet 213. That is, since the switching unit 104 switches the connection with the antenna unit 103 from the WLAN communication unit 102 to the BT communication unit 101 at the timing when the transmission of the synchronous packet 200 is started, the transmission of the asynchronous packet 213 fails. Become.

  In the procedure shown in FIG. 3, the communication control unit 105 reduces the occurrence of asynchronous packets that fail such transmission as much as possible, and transmits as many asynchronous packets as possible in the packet period of the synchronous packets. The communication control for controlling the WLAN communication and ensuring the stable communication of the WLAN communication is performed.

In FIG. 3, since communication control unit 105 prioritizes BT communication in step ST <b> 1, the arrival of the transmission timing of synchronization packet 200 of BT communication is monitored, and packet length t of synchronization packet 200 is transmitted at the transmission timing of synchronization packet 200. _{During b,} a switching instruction for causing the switching unit 104 to allocate the antenna unit 103 to the BT communication unit 101 is output.

  In step ST2, the communication control unit 105 monitors the generation of a WLAN communication start request in the process of performing the synchronous communication of the BT communication. When a WLAN communication start request is generated (step ST2: Yes), when the communication control unit 105 allows the generated WLAN communication start request, the transmitted WLAN communication packet and the BT communication packet overlap in time. It is determined whether or not a competitive relationship is generated (step ST3).

  If it is determined in step ST3 that the transmitted WLAN communication packet and the BT communication packet overlap in time and cause a competition (step ST3: Yes), the communication control unit 105 determines whether the transmitted WLAN communication Since the packet corresponds to the asynchronous packet 203 shown in FIG. 2, the current WLAN communication start request is rejected (step ST4), and the process returns to step ST2.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step ST3 that the transmitted WLAN communication packet and the BT communication packet do not overlap with each other in time (step ST3: No), the communication control unit 105 performs the WLAN communication. the communication bandwidth _{w et} usable calculated as follows (step ST5). This will be described with reference to FIG.

The time b _w that can be used in WLAN communication can be obtained by the following equation (1) by a simple calculation method.

Therefore, the communication bandwidth _{w et} usable in WLAN communications, using a communication speed _{w u} of the WLAN communication, determined by the following equation (2).

Incidentally, the ratio R between the packet interval t _bw and the transmission time nt _w of n asynchronous packets that can actually be transmitted by WLAN communication within the period of the packet interval t _bw is expressed by the following equation (3).

The higher the ratio R is small, is different from the amount of data that can be sent in real packet interval t _bw and the amount of data that can be delivered at time b _w determined by simple calculation method. Therefore, even if it seems that the communication band is sufficient in calculation, the communication band is actually insufficient, and for example, voice communication is interrupted. In order to improve this, the communication band _wet will be determined more accurately.

The packet length t _b and the packet interval t _bw of the synchronization packet 200 in BT communication are uniquely determined according to the application used in BT communication. The packet length _{t w} such as asynchronous packet 211 in WLAN communications, the packet size when the _{p w,} can be determined using the communication speed _{w u} of the WLAN communication, by the following equation (4).

Since the communication band in WLAN communication changes with time, if the instantaneous communication band at the time of calculation is used, the communication quality deteriorates when the communication band is reduced. In addition, there is a large gap between the communication speed and the actual communication band in the WLAN communication standard. Therefore, the communication speed of the WLAN communication at time t is set as w _u−t, and the average instantaneous communication band w _{t is obtained} by the following formula (5) using the constants C _d and C _t .

Actually, since it is difficult to acquire the communication band as a continuous value, for example, an average may be obtained using a value obtained every 5 seconds. The constant C _d is 30 seconds or more and 5 minutes or less, the constant C _t is 0.1 <C _t <0.7, and the constants C _d and C _t may be determined according to the characteristics of the apparatus. Further, the constants C _d and C _t may be dynamically changed according to the change state of the communication speed of the WLAN communication.

Thus, communication bandwidth _{w et} can be obtained by the following equation (6).

In step ST5, by using a communication band w _et calculated in this manner and cut be determined communication bandwidth that can be used in an actual WLAN communications with higher accuracy.

  Next, the communication control unit 105 includes a table indicating the relationship between the priority of the application used in the BT communication and the WLAN communication and the used bandwidth. An example is shown in FIG. Applications with a low order are high priority. Examples of applications include VolP (order 10, used bandwidth 128 kbps), audio transfer (order 15, used bandwidth 256 kbps), smartphone synchronization (order 20, bandwidth 10 Mbps), and video playback (order 30, bandwidth 20 Mbps). . None of the applications described as “BestEffort”, “application in order 40 (software update), application in order 100 (browser)” has the required minimum bandwidth.

  In step ST6, the communication control unit 105 refers to the relationship table illustrated in FIG. 4 to obtain a bandwidth required for the application used in the WLAN communication for which a communication start request has been made. Then, an application whose priority is higher than that of the application to be started this time is extracted from the applications that are already in operation, and their necessary bandwidths are totaled. The necessary bandwidth of the application to be started this time is added to the total necessary bandwidth. Note that the applications being used include applications used in BT communication.

In the next step ST7, it compares the magnitude relation between the total required bandwidth obtained by the communication bandwidth w _et a step ST6 calculated in step ST5, the total required bandwidth obtained in step ST6 is a step ST5 is smaller than the communication bandwidth _{w et} calculated in (step ST7: No), determines that the application that you try to start this time start-up Allowed (step ST8).

  In the next step ST9 and step ST10, when an application to be started this time is started, an application to be ended that has been found among already running applications is presented to the user 110 and an instruction from the user 110 is waited (see FIG. 6), in accordance with the input instruction of the user 110, measures are taken to enable / disable the application used in the WLAN communication for which a communication start request has been made, and this procedure ends.

On the other hand, in step ST7, larger than the communication bandwidth _{w et} need band obtained calculated in step ST5 at step ST6 (Step ST7: Yes), determines that the application to be started this activation impossibility ( Step ST11), this procedure ends.

  The processing of step ST6 to step ST10 is realized by the algorithm shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 5, let A be an application that performs activation determination. This is an application used in the WLAN communication that has been determined not to compete with the BT communication in step ST3 among the WLAN communication that has been requested to start communication.

In the second to fourth lines, applications whose priority is higher than that of the application A to be activated this time are extracted from the list of active applications, and their necessary bandwidths are totaled. Then, by adding the required bandwidth of the application A to be started now to the summed required bandwidth, comparing the communication bandwidth w _et and the calculated total communication bandwidth obtained by adding. If the total communication bandwidth that the sum is smaller than the communication bandwidth w _et, processing to-ready is performed.

  In the fifth to eleventh lines, a process for extracting an application that has to be terminated because the priority is low if the application A is activated from the list of active applications is performed.

At this time, if there is no non-best effort list in the running application list, it is determined that the application A once determined to be startable cannot be started. Then, the operation of taking out the application with the lowest priority instead of the best effort from the list of operating applications and moving to the application list to be terminated is made up of the total bandwidth of the remaining operating applications and the necessary bandwidth of the application A. carried out between the sum is greater than the communication bandwidth w _et.

  From the 12th line to the 18th line, a list of applications to be terminated is shown to the user 110, and an inquiry is made as to whether or not these applications can be terminated (see FIG. 6). As a result, if the user 110 permits termination, the application to be terminated is terminated, and it is determined that the application A can be activated. On the other hand, if the user 110 does not permit termination, the application to be terminated is not terminated and it is determined that the application A cannot be activated.

  Note that the algorithm shown in FIG. 5 is an example. For example, instead of the processing from the 5th line to the 18th line, the user 110 may be asked to select unnecessary applications until the communication bandwidth becomes sufficient, and the user 110 may be terminated. You may take the form which terminates the application which seems to be unnecessary with a low priority, without inquiring.

  Also, in step ST11, instead of immediately refusing activation, the user 110 is asked to select unnecessary applications until the communication bandwidth becomes sufficient, and the priority is changed without terminating the application or inquiring the user 110. It may be possible to secure a communication band by terminating an application that is considered to be low and unnecessary.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, communication availability is determined for each application by calculating a communication band for each application used in each wireless communication of BT communication and WLAN communication. In the case where the WLAN communication is also used at the same time while giving priority, the communication control for allowing more WLAN communication can be performed more finely. Further, since the packet size and the communication method in each of the BT communication and the WLAN communication are included in the calculation of the used band, the accuracy of the band calculation can be improved. By these, when using BT communication and WLAN communication simultaneously, each radio | wireless communication can be implemented substantially equally stably, Therefore The communication quality of each radio | wireless communication is securable.

  In the present embodiment, the BT communication unit 101, the WLAN communication unit 102, and the switching unit 104 are described as separate configurations, but may be physically mounted on one chip. Moreover, although the headset 120 and the access point 121 were mentioned as an example of a connection destination apparatus, you may communicate with apparatuses other than this. Furthermore, although the example of the application list is shown in FIG. 4, another item may be added to the list, and the application type is not limited to that listed.

  The wireless communication device of the present invention is useful as a wireless communication device capable of ensuring the communication quality of each wireless communication when using a plurality of wireless communication based on a plurality of wireless communication methods at the same time. It is.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Wireless communication apparatus 101 BT communication part 102 WLAN communication part 103 Antenna part 104 Switching part 105 Communication control part 106 Application memory | storage part 110 User 120 Headset 121 Access point

Claims (8)

A first communication unit that performs synchronous wireless communication according to a first communication method;
A second communication unit that performs asynchronous wireless communication according to a second communication method;
A communication antenna shared by the first and second communication units;
The first communication unit and the communication antenna are connected within a period of a packet length of a synchronization packet used in the synchronous wireless communication according to the first communication method, and within a packet interval period in the synchronous wireless communication A switching unit that is controlled to connect between the second communication unit and the communication antenna;
Controlling the switching unit as described above, and when a start of an application used in the asynchronous wireless communication by the second communication method is requested, a communication band used by the first communication unit,
Communication for determining whether or not activation of the application requested for activation is possible based on a communication band that can be used in the second communication unit, an application requested for activation, and a communication band required for an application that is already operating A control unit;
A wireless communication device comprising:   The communication control unit determines a communication bandwidth usable in the second communication method, a packet length and a packet interval of a synchronous packet used in the first communication method, and a packet length of an asynchronous packet used in the second communication method. And is calculated based on the packet interval and the communication speed, and is required in the case where there is one or more applications whose priority is higher than the priority of the application requested to start among the already running applications When the sum of the communication bandwidths required and the communication bandwidth required by the application requested to start is smaller than the calculated usable communication bandwidth, it is determined that the application requested to start can be started. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1.   When there is an application that has to be terminated because the priority is low among the already running applications, when the communication control unit starts the application requested to start that is determined to be startable, Inquires the user as to whether or not to terminate, and when the user gives permission, terminates the low-priority operating application, and if the user does not give permission, determines that the application can be started once The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the application that is requested to be activated is determined not to be activated.   When there is an application that has to be terminated because the priority is low among the already running applications, when the communication control unit starts the application requested to start that is determined to be startable, The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the wireless communication apparatus requests a user to select an application to be terminated, and secures a communication band necessary for the application requested to be activated that is determined to be activated.   When the communication control unit determines that the application requested to be activated cannot be activated, the communication control unit terminates the active application used in the first communication unit and the second communication unit, and the activation is performed. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a communication band required by a requested application is secured.   The communication control unit determines whether or not to terminate the application used in the first communication unit and the second communication unit when determining that the application requested to be activated cannot be activated. The wireless communication device according to claim 2, wherein the active application is terminated only when the user gives permission, and a communication band required by the application requested to start is secured.   The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the communication control unit uses an average of communication speeds for a predetermined time and further multiplies a constant when calculating a communication speed in the second communication method. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first communication method is a communication method based on a Bluetooth standard, and the second communication method is a communication method based on each standard of the IEEE 802.11 series.

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