JP2013219740A - Communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication system capable of reducing power consumption in a master unit of a communication terminal having a tethering function.SOLUTION: The communication system includes: an information provision device 120 for transmitting information to a terminal through short range radio installed in a facility; a master unit 200 having the tethering function to allow a terminal connected to a wireless LAN to connect to a wide area radio communication network, and a short range communication unit for receiving information from the information provision device through the short range radio; and a subunit 300 connected to the Internet through the wireless LAN. The information provision device 120 transmits to the master unit 200 communication environment information related to wide area radio communication networks available in the facility. The master unit 200 selects and switches a wide area radio communication network, according to the load of the subunit 300 connected to the tethering function of the own master unit.

Description

  An object of the present invention is to provide a communication system capable of reducing power consumption of a parent device in a communication terminal having a tethering function.

  In recent years, communication terminals typified by mobile phones have become increasingly sophisticated. Previously only had a communication function for connecting to a wide area wireless communication network, but it would be equipped with a short-range wireless communication function such as BlueTooth (registered trademark) and wireless LAN (IEEE802.11b, g, a, n). It is becoming. In recent years, a so-called tethering function for routing other terminals connected through short-range wireless communication to the wide-area wireless communication network and connecting to the Internet has begun to spread. Hereinafter, a terminal that provides a routing function using a tethering function is referred to as a master unit, and a terminal that is connected to the Internet via tethering is referred to as a slave unit.

  Here, the wide area wireless communication network is UMTS (WCDMA), CDMA, LTE, TD-LTE, WiMAX, GSM (registered trademark), or the like. As for short-range wireless communication, wireless LAN is currently the mainstream, but BlueTooth (registered trademark) and infrared communication (IrDA) are also used.

  Note that a modem function for connecting a laptop computer connected via infrared communication to the Internet has been implemented in some models since the time of PDC (second generation mobile phone using FDD-TDMA). The tethering function differs from the modem function in that the slave unit controls the master as a modem as a peripheral device in the modem function, whereas the tethering function connects to the master as a wireless LAN access point. That is, there is no need for special processing for controlling the modem on the handset side, and connection to the base unit is possible in exactly the same way as a fixedly installed access point. In this sense, the tethering function may be called a personal hot spot function.

  Patent Document 1 describes a tethering function for connecting a data device (child device) such as a laptop computer to a network by a communication terminal (parent device). Note that Patent Document 1 proposes a method for notifying a network (service provider) of which slave units are connected by a tethering function.

  On the other hand, a technique using RFID is adopted as one of the enhancement of functions of portable terminals. RFID is also one type of short-range wireless communication (non-contact communication), and is used for electronic money and ID authentication (not used for tethering). Patent Document 2 describes a configuration for performing security authentication when entering a room using an RFID tag mounted on a mobile phone.

Special table 2011-520383 gazette JP 2006-127135 A

  The tethering function is known to have high power consumption. This is because the driving power of both the wide-area wireless communication network and short-range wireless IC, the power to output each radio wave, the power consumption of the amplifier to gain up each received radio wave, and the packet This is because the driving power of the CPU and memory for routing is required. The increase in power consumption when the tethering function is executed is remarkable, and the battery life time is shortened. This can be seen from the fact that the temperature of the handheld terminal rises clearly.

  Furthermore, when a communication terminal enters a facility such as a building or a vehicle, power consumption may increase due to poor communication conditions of the wide area wireless communication network. For example, when the radio wave intensity is weakened by being shielded by a building, the base unit tries to increase the gain as much as possible, so that power consumption increases. Also, when there is a lot of noise due to the reflection of radio waves in the building and other radios running in the facility, packet errors will occur and data will be retransmitted, reducing communication speed and consumption. Power increases.

  When the communication status is poor as described above, for example, even if the radio wave condition of UMTS is bad, the radio wave situation of WiMAX or GSM (registered trademark) may not be so bad. This is due to a plurality of factors such as the position of the base station with respect to the window, the degree of congestion of the frequency band to be used, and the presence or absence of a relay station (a repeater, a relay node, or a pico cell) of a certain communication method. For this reason, an increase in power consumption may be suppressed by changing the wide area wireless communication network. However, even if there is an alternative wide area wireless communication network, it is difficult for the user to detect it, and other wide area wireless communication networks are tried only after communication is cut off due to excessive errors.

  If the tethering function is not used here, it is simply determined that the radio wave is weak and the pictograph is displayed (the radio wave intensity is indicated by the antenna icon). However, when the tethering function is executed, data is continuously transmitted / received in the background, and the amount of data transmitted / received depends on the slave unit, and therefore cannot be adjusted on the master unit side.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a communication system capable of reducing power consumption of a parent device in a communication terminal having a tethering function.

  In order to solve the above problems, a typical configuration of a communication system according to the present invention includes an information providing apparatus installed in a facility and transmitting information to a terminal through short-range wireless communication, and a terminal connected to a wireless LAN connected to a wide area wireless network. The information providing apparatus includes a master unit that is connected to a communication network and receives information from the information providing apparatus through short-range wireless communication, and a slave unit that is connected to the Internet network through a wireless LAN. Communication environment information related to a wireless communication network is transmitted to a parent device, and the parent device selects and switches a wide area wireless communication network according to a load of a child device connected to the parent device.

  The communication environment information includes information on a plurality of connection destinations of the wide area wireless communication network, and it is preferable that the master unit switches to a connection destination that can cover the load and consumes the least power.

  The communication environment information includes data indicating the degree of congestion of the wireless LAN channel used in the facility, and the master unit has a tethering function for connecting a terminal connected to the wireless LAN to the wide area wireless communication network. It is preferable to change the channel used for its own tethering function to a channel with less interference.

  The communication environment information includes the setting information of the wireless LAN access point that can be used in the facility, the master unit transmits the setting information to the slave unit, and the slave unit uses the setting information to specify the connection destination to the access point. It is preferable to switch.

  The information providing apparatus has an authentication function for managing entrance / exit to the facility of the parent device, and when the parent device enters the facility, it acquires and authenticates the authentication ID of the parent device through short-range wireless, It is preferable to transmit the communication environment information to the parent device.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, another typical configuration of a communication system according to the present invention includes an information providing apparatus that transmits and receives information to and from a terminal through short-range wireless communication, and a wireless LAN connection with the terminal that is connected to the Internet A facility having an access point to be connected, a tethering function for connecting a terminal connected to the local wireless LAN to a wide area wireless communication network, a base unit for transmitting / receiving information to / from an information providing device through short-range wireless, and a wireless The information providing device acquires tethering setting information, which is wireless LAN connection information used for the tethering function, from the parent device, and sets the tethering setting information in the access point. , The master unit disables the tethering function, and the slave unit connected to the master unit switches to the access point And wherein the door.

  It is preferable that the above-mentioned base unit further connects itself to the access point when the tethering function is disabled, monitors the radio wave intensity of the access point, and re-enables the tethering function when the radio wave intensity becomes a predetermined value or less. .

  The access point preferably stops the operation based on the tethering setting information when there is no access from the slave unit for a predetermined time or more.

  The information providing device further includes an authentication function for managing entry / exit of the parent device into the facility, and the information providing device acquires the authentication ID of the parent device through short-range wireless when the parent device enters the facility. It is preferable that the tethering setting information is acquired as well as authentication, the master unit invalidates the tethering function when entering the facility, and the slave unit connected to the master unit is switched to the access point.

  The above information providing device further stops the operation based on the tethering setting information of the access point when the base unit leaves the facility, and the base unit enables the tethering function when leaving the facility and connects to the access point. It is preferable that the connected child device is switched to the parent device.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the communication system which can aim at reduction of the power consumption of a main | base station in the communication terminal provided with the tethering function can be provided.

It is a figure explaining the structure of the communication system concerning this embodiment. It is a flowchart showing operation | movement of the communication system of FIG. It is a figure explaining the structure of the communication system concerning other embodiment of this invention. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the communication system of FIG. 3.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The dimensions, materials, and other specific numerical values shown in the embodiments are merely examples for facilitating understanding of the invention, and do not limit the present invention unless otherwise specified. In the present specification and drawings, elements having substantially the same function and configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted, and elements not directly related to the present invention are not illustrated. To do.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a communication system according to the present embodiment. The communication system 100 includes a facility 110, a parent device 200, and a child device 300.

  Although the facility 110 is depicted as a building in FIG. 1, it may be a part of the building or a site including the building. The facility may be a vehicle such as a train or a bus. The facility 110 is provided with an information providing device 120 that transmits information to a terminal through short-range wireless communication, a relay station 130 that relays a wide area wireless communication network, and a wireless LAN access point 140.

  The short-range wireless of the information providing apparatus 120 is a bidirectional RFID in this embodiment, and exchanges information with a second short-range wireless communication unit of the parent device 200 described later. An authentication unit 122, an authentication database 124 (abbreviated as authentication DB in FIG. 1), and a storage unit 126 that stores communication environment information are connected to the information providing apparatus 120.

  The wide area wireless communication network is UMTS (WCDMA), CDMA, LTE, TD-LTE, WiMAX, GSM (registered trademark), or the like. The relay station 130 is a repeater, a relay node, a pico cell, or the like, and is installed according to a wide area wireless communication system. The relay station 130 does not have to belong to the facility 110, and may be a shared (public) facility provided in the vicinity.

  The access point 140 is connected to a wired broadband line such as optical communication or ADSL. The access point 140 is installed to provide a wireless LAN infrastructure to devices in the facility 110.

  The information providing apparatus 120 has two functions (roles). The first function is that the authentication unit 122 reads the authentication ID of the parent device 200, compares it with the user ID registered in the authentication database 124 in advance, and sends the information to the facility 110 of the person who owns the parent device 200. This is a function to authenticate admission. Also, entry / exit can be managed by performing authentication even when a person carrying the parent device 200 leaves the facility 110.

  The second function is a function of transmitting (reading) the communication environment information stored in the storage unit 126 to the parent device 200 via the information providing device 120. The contents and operation of the communication environment information will be described later.

  Master device 200 can be connected to a plurality of wide area wireless communication networks. In the example shown in FIG. 1, wide area wireless communication unit 210 includes UMTS connection unit 212, LTE connection unit 214, and WiMAX connection unit 216. When base unit 200 connects to a wide area wireless communication network, one of a plurality of communication units selectively operates.

  The first short-range wireless communication unit 220 performs data communication using a wireless LAN (IEEE802.11b, g, a, n). Master device 200 can be connected to (other) access points of the wireless LAN using first short-range wireless communication unit 220. In addition, the access point function unit 222 operates as an access point in the infrastructure mode by controlling the communication chip of the first short-range wireless communication unit 220, so that a connection from another device can be accepted. Although other devices can be connected by operating in the ad hoc mode, here, the operation as an access point will be described.

  The routing unit 226 routes packets in both directions between a terminal connected to the first short-range wireless communication unit 220 operating as an access point and the Internet connected from the wide-area wireless communication unit 210. As described above, the wide area wireless communication unit 210 connected to the Internet, the first short-range wireless communication unit 220 that operates as an access point, and the routing unit 226 that performs routing between them, the terminals connected to the wireless LAN are connected. A tethering function for connecting to a wide area wireless communication network is realized.

  In the present embodiment, the second short-range wireless communication unit 230 is a bidirectional RFID, and exchanges information with the information providing apparatus 120 installed in the facility 110. Note that Felica (registered trademark) is widely used as an RFID mounted on a portable terminal, but since this is a unidirectional RFID, it is not touched in this embodiment. The second short-range wireless communication unit 230 has two functions (roles). The first function is a function of transmitting (reading) an ID unique to the parent device 200 from the authentication ID transmitting unit 232 to the information providing apparatus 120. The second function is a function for receiving (reading) communication environment information from the information providing apparatus 120 by the communication environment information reading unit 234.

  The wide area wireless communication switching unit 240 has a function of controlling the wide area wireless communication unit 210 based on the communication environment information read by the communication environment information reading unit 234 and switching the wide area wireless communication network. Access point information transmission unit 224 of first short-range wireless communication unit 220 transmits communication environment information to connection destination switching unit 304 of handset 300.

  The subunit | mobile_unit 300 is provided with the near field communication part 302 for connecting to the internet by wireless LAN, and the connection destination switching part 304. FIG. The short-range wireless communication unit 302 is connected to the fixedly installed access point and the first short-range wireless communication unit 220 of the parent device 200 in the same manner. Upon receiving the setting information of the access point 140 from the access point information transmitting unit 224, the connection destination switching unit 304 can set the setting information in the short-range wireless communication unit 302 and switch the connection destination.

  The operation of the communication system 100 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the communication system 100 of FIG. First, in step 350, it is assumed that the user tries to enter the communication system 100 while the user is tethering with the parent device 200 and the child device 300. When the user holds the parent device 200 over the information providing device 120, the information providing device 120 receives the authentication ID from the authentication ID transmission unit 232, and the authentication unit 122 checks the authentication ID against the authentication database 124. Authenticate. If the authentication ID passes the verification, in step 352, the information providing apparatus 120 causes the communication environment information reading unit 234 to read the storage unit 126.

  The communication environment information includes at least information related to a wide area wireless communication network that can be used in the facility 110. “Information about the wide area wireless communication network” refers to the method of the wide area wireless communication network that is known to penetrate into the facility 110, which wide area wireless communication network has the relay station 130 installed therein, and those Includes bands, channels, MIMO ranks, etc.

  The wide area wireless communication switching unit 240 acquires the communication environment information read by the communication environment information reading unit 234. Next, in step 354, it is selected whether or not to switch the access point of handset 300. That is, it is a selection as to whether or not tethering by the base unit 200 is continued. This determination can be arbitrarily made when the access point 140 is available in the facility 110.

  When the access point is not switched (NO in step 354), the process further proceeds to step 356 to determine whether or not the wide area wireless communication network is available in the facility 110. When the communication environment information (step 352) notifies the wide area wireless communication network that can be used in the facility (YES in step 356), in the subsequent step 358, the wide area wireless communication switching unit 240 tethers to its own device. The load by the subunit | mobile_unit 300 connected to the function is acquired. Examples of the load include the number of slave units acquired from the access point function unit 222, the communication frequency acquired from the routing unit 226, and the communication speed. In step 360, wide area wireless communication switching unit 240 selects and switches the wide area wireless communication network according to the load. At this time, the wide area wireless communication switching unit 240 switches to a connection destination that can cover the load (can transfer data) and has the lowest power consumption. In addition, if the selected wide area wireless communication network is the same as that used so far, the switching is not performed.

  For example, in continuous communication on the premise that the radio wave intensity from the base station for each wide area wireless communication is sufficiently secured and interference is sufficiently small, the data transfer rate is higher in WiMAX than in UMTS (WCDMA) and WiMAX. However, UMTS (WCDMA) consumes less power. For this reason, WiMAX is selected when the load is high, and UMTS (WCDMA) is selected when the load is low. Thus, power consumption can be reduced by selecting and switching the wide area wireless communication network according to the load.

  If there is no wide area wireless communication network penetrating indoors based on the communication environment information in the upper step 356 (NO in step 356), the wide area wireless communication switching unit 240 in step 362 The communication unit 210 is controlled to disconnect the wide area wireless communication network.

  In this way, when a wide area wireless communication network penetrating indoors is known in advance when entering a facility, waiting time for searching the wide area wireless communication network and power consumption can be reduced. In addition, wasteful power consumption can be reduced by connecting to a wide area wireless communication network that is faster than a tethering load. In addition, when the wide area wireless communication network is not available, it is possible to reduce power consumption by quickly disconnecting (step 362) to avoid continuing communication with weak radio waves or repeating data retransmission. Can be planned.

  Further, the communication environment information (step 352) can include data indicating the degree of congestion of the wireless LAN channel used in the facility. For channel congestion, radio waves of other communication systems that use the same frequency band such as BlueTooth (registered trademark) are also considered. In this case, the access point function unit 222 acquires the communication environment information from the communication environment information reading unit 234, and determines whether the wireless LAN channel used for its own tethering function is congested in step 364. To do. If there is a channel with less interference, an instruction is given to the short-range wireless communication unit 302 of the slave unit 300 in step 366 to perform channel switching processing to avoid interference in the wireless LAN. Thereby, efficient communication can be performed in the first short-range wireless communication unit 220, and the power consumption of the parent device 200 can be reduced.

  The communication environment information (step 352) can include setting information of the access point 140 (connection information such as WEP ESSID, password, and WAP key code). In this case, the access point of handset 300 can be switched in step 354 (YES in step 354). When the access point is switched (YES in step 354), the access point information transmission unit 224 acquires the communication environment information from the communication environment information reading unit 234 and transmits it to the connection destination switching unit 304 of the child device 300. The connection destination switching unit 304 of the child device 300 controls the short-range wireless communication unit 302 using the setting information included in the received communication environment information, and the place connected to the parent device 200 is the access point of the facility 110. The connection destination is switched to 140 (step 368). In this way, since the tethering is completed by offloading the traffic communicated via the parent device 200 to the access point 140, the power consumption of the parent device 200 can be reduced.

  Transmission of the communication environment information from the access point information transmission unit 224 to the slave unit is preferably broadcast via a wireless LAN. On the other hand, the connection destination switching unit 304 of the child device 300 constantly monitors broadcast transmission. Accordingly, even when a plurality of slave units 300 are connected, they can be operated simultaneously, and information can be transmitted from the master unit 200 regardless of whether or not the slave unit 300 has such a function. (Only the child device 300 including the connection destination switching unit 304 operates appropriately).

  As described above, according to the present invention, power consumption can be reduced in the parent device 200 having the tethering function, so that the convenience of tethering can be improved. In particular, in an environment where a wide-area wireless communication network that can be used is limited or an environment where there is a lot of wireless LAN interference, the power consumption reduction effect of the present invention is significant.

  Further, by using the information providing apparatus 120 for user authentication, facility investment on the facility side can be minimized, and a trigger for transmitting communication environment information to the parent device 200 can be used. .

  In the above embodiment, it has been described that the information providing apparatus 120 and the second short-range wireless communication unit 230 communicate using bidirectional RFID. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and infrared communication or BlueTooth (registered trademark) may be used.

(Other embodiments)
FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of a communication system 400 according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the communication system 400 of FIG. Also in the communication system 400, the parent device 200 having the tethering function can reduce power consumption. Hereinafter, the communication system 400 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. 3 that are the same as those of the communication system 100 in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

  The communication system 400 shown in FIG. 3 also includes a facility 110, a parent device 200, and a child device 300. As a feature of the present embodiment, the second short-range wireless communication unit 230 of the parent device 200 has a tethering setting transmission unit 410 and can transmit tethering setting information to the information providing apparatus 120. The tethering setting information is wireless LAN connection information with the child device 300 that is used when the parent device 200 executes the tethering function. This tethering setting information is mainly used in the access point function unit 222 and the like, and includes information such as an access point name (SSID and the like) for identifying the parent device 200 and a password, for example.

  In the present embodiment, an additional access point is set in the access point 140 that is a device installed in the facility 110 based on the tethering setting information of the parent device 200 received by the information providing apparatus 120. That is, the tethering function (which can also be referred to as an access point function) of the parent device 200 is moved (copied) to the facility 110 side as it is. Then, the tethering function of base unit 200 is disabled. Thereby, in the facility 110, the power consumption of the parent device 200 can be suppressed while maintaining the Internet connection of the child device 300 and the like. Therefore, there is no need to change the wireless LAN connection setting of the slave unit 300, and even a conventional general-purpose device that does not have such a function can be used as the slave unit 300 of this system.

  The operation and further configuration of the communication system 400 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 4, it is assumed that the user enters the facility 110 while tethering with the parent device 200 and the child device 300 (YES in step 500). At that time, when the user holds the parent device 200 over the information providing device 120, the information providing device 120 first receives the authentication ID from the authentication ID transmitting unit 232, and the authentication unit 122 sends the authentication ID to the authentication database 124. Authenticate against When the authentication ID passes the verification, in step 502, the tethering setting transmission unit 410 transmits the tethering setting information to the information providing apparatus 120, and the information providing apparatus 120 receives the information.

  The information providing apparatus 120 that has received the tethering setting information can accommodate a function based on the tethering setting information (a function as a wireless LAN access point (hereinafter referred to as an AP function) of the base unit 200) on the facility 110 side. In the case (YES in step 504), the tethering setting information is transmitted to the access point 140. In step 506, the access point 140 on the facility 110 side additionally sets the function based on the tethering setting information of the parent device 200 to the own device. As a result, the AP function of base unit 200 moves to the facility side. As an example of the access point 140, for example, when a device equipped with a multi-SSID function is used, the above processing can be suitably realized.

  In step 508, the information providing apparatus 120 commands the parent device 200 to invalidate the tethering function, and the parent device 200 executes it. Then, the handset 300 that has been disconnected from the wireless LAN connection with the base device 200 switches its connection destination and establishes a wireless LAN connection to the access point 140 on the facility 110 side (step 510). Through these processes, the power consumption of the parent device 200 is suppressed by disabling the tethering function while the Internet connection of the child device 300 is maintained while the user is in the facility 110.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, processing for maintaining the Internet connection of the slave unit 300 is also performed. The base unit 200 of FIG. 3 includes a radio field intensity monitor unit 420 in the first short-range wireless communication unit 220. When the tethering function is invalidated (step 508 in FIG. 4), the parent device 200 itself connects to the access point 140 on the facility 110 side as a client in the subsequent stage, like the child device 300. Then, base unit 200 monitors the radio field intensity of access point 140 on the facility 110 side using radio field intensity monitor unit 420 (step 512). If the radio field intensity is equal to or lower than the predetermined value (YES in step 512), the process proceeds to step 522, and base unit 200 re-enables the tethering function. As a result, even if the handset 300 is out of the range of the access point 140 in the facility 110, the Internet connection of the handset 300 is maintained by the tethering function of the base unit 200 (step 524), and communication is performed. Can keep.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the access point 140 includes a traffic monitoring unit 430. The traffic monitoring unit 430 is a part that monitors traffic (information amount) from the child device 300. The access point 140 provided with the traffic monitoring unit 430 monitors the traffic from the slave unit 300 in step 514 of FIG. 4 and when “no access” from the slave unit 300 has exceeded a predetermined time (step 514). In step 516, the access point 140 stops the operation based on the tethering setting information received from the parent device 200 (wireless LAN connection with the child device). With this process, power consumption at the access point 140 can be suppressed.

  Note that the predetermined time of “no access”, which is a criterion for determination in step 514, can be arbitrarily set. For example, the predetermined time may be set to be the same as the automatic stop time of the tethering function set in the parent device 200. In the present embodiment, the automatic stop time of the tethering function may be transmitted by being included in the tethering setting information in step 502 and set in the access point 140. Also, step 512 and step 514 are out of order.

  Next, step 518 will be described. Assume that the user tries to leave the facility 110 while the handset 300 is connected to the access point 140 via a wireless LAN. At this time, when the user holds the parent device 200 over the information providing device 120, the information providing device 120 detects the departure of the parent device 200 from the facility 110 (YES in step 518). Subsequently, in step 520, the information providing apparatus 120 commands the access point 140 to stop the operation based on the tethering setting information of the parent device 200, and the access point 140 executes this. In addition, in step 522, the information providing apparatus 120 commands the parent device 200 to activate the tethering function, and the parent device 200 executes this. Then, the connection destination of the slave device 300 is switched from the access point 140 to the master device 200. As a result, the slave unit 300 is again connected to the master unit 200 and tethered (step 524), and the user can connect the slave unit 300 to the wide area wireless communication network and move outdoors.

  As described above, according to the communication system 400 of the present embodiment, when the user enters the facility 110, the tethering function of the parent device 200 can be disabled to reduce the power consumption. It is possible to maintain the internet connection of the slave unit 300 in a suitable and smooth manner regardless of whether inside the 110 or outside the facility 110. In addition, since both processes are automatically performed without requiring a setting change operation by the user, the convenience is high.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described referring an accompanying drawing, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to the example which concerns. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and these are naturally within the technical scope of the present invention. Understood.

  The present invention can be used as a communication system including a communication terminal having a tethering function.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Communication system, 110 ... Facility, 120 ... Information provision apparatus, 122 ... Authentication part, 124 ... Authentication database, 126 ... Memory | storage part, 130 ... Relay station, 140 ... Access point, 200 ... Master unit, 210 ... Wide area wireless communication 212, UMTS connection unit, 214 ... LTE connection unit, 216 ... WiMAX connection unit, 220 ... first short-range wireless communication unit, 222 ... access point function unit, 224 ... access point information transmission unit, 226 ... routing unit, 230 ... second short-range wireless communication unit, 232 ... authentication ID transmission unit, 234 ... communication environment information reading unit, 240 ... wide area wireless communication switching unit, 300 ... slave unit, 302 ... short-range wireless communication unit, 304 ... connection Destination switching unit, 400 ... communication system, 410 ... tethering setting transmission unit, 420 ... radio wave intensity monitoring unit, 430 ... traffic The monitoring unit

Claims (10)

An information providing device installed in a facility and transmitting information to a terminal through short-range wireless communication;
A base unit that connects a terminal connected to a wireless LAN to a wide area wireless communication network and receives information from the information providing apparatus through short-range wireless;
It consists of a slave unit connected to the Internet via a wireless LAN,
The information providing device transmits communication environment information related to a wide area wireless communication network that can be used in the facility to the parent device,
The communication system characterized in that the master unit selects and switches a wide area wireless communication network according to a load of a slave unit connected to the master unit. The communication environment information includes information of a plurality of connection destinations of the wide area wireless communication network,
The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the parent device switches to a connection destination that can cover the load and has the lowest power consumption. The communication environment information includes data indicating the degree of congestion of the wireless LAN channel used in the facility,
The base unit has a tethering function for connecting a terminal connected to a wireless LAN to a wide area wireless communication network, and changes a channel used for the tethering function of the own unit to a channel with less interference. 2. The communication system according to 2. The communication environment information includes setting information of a wireless LAN access point that can be used in the facility,
The master unit transmits the setting information to the slave unit,
4. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the slave unit switches a connection destination to the access point using the setting information. 5.   The information providing device has an authentication function for managing entry / exit of the base unit with respect to the facility, and acquires an authentication ID of the base unit through short-range wireless when the base unit enters the facility. 5. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein authentication is performed and the communication environment information is transmitted to the parent device. 6. A facility comprising an information providing device that transmits and receives information to and from a terminal through short-range wireless, and an access point that connects the terminal to a wireless LAN and connects it to the Internet
A master unit having a tethering function for connecting a terminal connected to the local area wireless LAN to a wide area wireless communication network, and a base unit for transmitting and receiving information to and from the information providing apparatus through short-range wireless;
It consists of a slave unit connected to the Internet via a wireless LAN,
The information providing device acquires tethering setting information that is wireless LAN connection information used for the tethering function from the parent device, sets the tethering setting information in the access point,
The master unit disables the tethering function,
The communication system according to claim 1, wherein a connection destination of the slave unit connected to the master unit is switched to the access point.   The base unit further connects itself to the access point when the tethering function is disabled, monitors the radio wave intensity of the access point, and re-enables the tethering function when the radio wave intensity falls below a predetermined value. The communication system according to claim 6.   The communication system according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the access point stops an operation based on the tethering setting information when there is no access from the slave unit for a predetermined time or more. The information providing apparatus further includes an authentication function for managing entrance / exit to the facility of the base unit,
The information providing device acquires and authenticates the authentication ID of the parent device through short-range wireless when the parent device enters the facility, and acquires the tethering setting information,
The base unit disables the tethering function when entering the facility,
The communication system according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein a connection destination of the slave unit connected to the master unit is switched to the access point. The information providing apparatus further stops an operation based on the tethering setting information of the access point when the base unit leaves the facility,
The base unit activates the tethering function when leaving the facility,
The communication system according to claim 9, wherein a connection destination of the child device connected to the access point is switched to the parent device.

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