JP2014116848A - Relay communication device and transmission rate control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a relay communication device capable of optimizing power consumption.SOLUTION: The relay communication device for relaying communication with a radio terminal station includes: a radio communication information retention unit for acquiring a traffic state or a communication parameter between the radio terminal station and the relay communication device, to store it as radio communication information; and a transmission rate determination unit for determining a transmission rate when relaying information received from the radio terminal station on the basis of the radio communication information stored in the radio communication information retention unit. The radio communication information is information related to the total number of data frames stored in a transmission buffer of the radio terminal station included in information received from the radio terminal station or a radio transmission rate.

Description

  The present invention relates to a relay communication device having two communication interfaces and a transmission rate control method in the relay communication device.

  In recent years, wireless terminal stations equipped with a wireless LAN communication function compliant with the IEEE 802.11 standard (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1) have become widespread. For example, wireless LAN communication functions are installed in wireless terminal stations such as notebook computers and game machines. These wireless terminal stations can access the Internet via an access point having a wireless LAN communication function. The access point has a function for communicating with a wireless terminal station via a wireless link in accordance with the IEEE 802.11 standard. In addition, according to the IEEE 802.3 standard (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 2), it also has a function for performing wired communication with a switch device.

  A device configuration when such a wireless terminal station communicates via an access point will be described. FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the access point and the network. The wireless LAN unit 801 of the access point 80 shown in FIG. 8 can exchange wireless data frames with the wireless terminal station 83 via the wireless link 84. The wireless data frame includes a PHY, a MAC header, and a payload necessary for transmitting the wireless link 84. The payload has a header and information for processing in the upper IP layer. In the wireless LAN unit 801, after the reception of the wireless data frame from the wireless terminal station 83 is completed, demodulation and error correction are performed according to the procedure of the IEEE 802.11 standard with reference to the information of the PHY and MAC headers. As a result, the wireless data frame PHY, the MAC header, and the like are removed. Thereafter, the wireless LAN unit 801 transfers only the payload to the bridge unit 802.

  The bridge unit 802 in the access point 80 is located between the wireless LAN unit 801 and the wired LAN unit 803, processes the payload received from both on the IP layer, and communicates bidirectionally on the IP layer. It has a function to do. In the example illustrated in FIG. 8, the bridge unit 802 can transfer the information of the wireless LAN unit 801 to the wired LAN unit 803 and can transfer the information of the wired LAN unit 803 to the wireless LAN unit 801 in the opposite direction. .

  The wired LAN unit 803 attaches MAC and PHY layer headers necessary for wired transmission to the IP layer information received from the bridge unit 802, and transfers the wired data frame to the switch 81 via the wired link 82. Is possible. The switch 81 has a function of collecting wired data frames from a plurality of access points and transferring them to the next router device. Through this series of wireless and wired data frame processing / transfer processes, the wireless terminal station 83 can access the Internet.

  In the IEEE 802.3 standard, the wired LAN unit 803 of the access point 80 shown in FIG. 8 and the switch 81 are standardized so that different wired transmission rates can be used such as 10 Mbps, 100 Mbps, 1 Gbps, or 10 Gbps. In addition, an Auto-Negotiation function for determining a wired transmission rate is standardized between a pair (wired LAN unit 803 and switch 81 shown in FIG. 8) connected by a wired link 82, and an agreement between the pairs. Thus, it is possible to switch the wired transmission rate suitable for communication.

IEEE Standard 802.11, Wireless LAN medium access control (MAC) and Physical layer (PHY) specification, 12 June, 2007. IEEE Standard 802.3, Local and metropolitan area networks specification, 26 December, 2008. IEEE Standard 802.3az, Local and metropolitan area networks specification, Amendment 5: Media access control parameters, physical layers and magagement parameters for enegy-efficient Ethernet, 27 October, 2010. Chamara Gunaratne, Ken Christensen, Bruce Nordman, “Managing energy consumption costs in desktop PCs and LAN switches with proxying, split TCP connections, and scaling of link speed,” International Journal of Network Management, 2005.

  As described above, an access point having two communication interfaces conforming to the IEEE 802.11 standard and the IEEE 802.3 standard provides a public wireless LAN deployed by a communication carrier, constructs a home network, etc. It is used in a wide range of situations. Access points that provide wireless services to wireless terminal stations consume less power than routers and switches for processing or forwarding a large amount of traffic, but if the number of installed devices continues to increase, power consumption by access points The total value of is expected to increase. Amid the emphasis on environmental energy issues, there is a growing need for power saving in communication equipment in businesses and homes, and there is a need to optimize the power consumption of access points.

  In response to such a request, a Low Power Idling (LPI) method is defined when no traffic is flowing between the wired LAN unit 803 and the switch 81 connected by the wired link 82 shown in FIG. 8 (for example, Non-Patent Document 3). However, when a small amount of traffic is flowing, the power saving effect by this method is not expected.

  Moreover, the power consumption between the wired LAN and the switch device can be reduced by lowering the wired transmission rate in the wired link (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 4). However, in an apparatus having two communication interfaces simultaneously such as the access point shown in FIG. 8, it is necessary to optimize power consumption by linking the two communication interface functions.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a relay communication apparatus and a transmission rate control method that can optimize power consumption.

  The present invention is a relay communication device that relays communication with a wireless terminal station, and obtains a traffic status or communication parameter between the wireless terminal station and the relay communication device and stores it as wireless communication information A communication information holding unit; and a transmission rate determining unit that determines a transmission rate for relaying information received from the wireless terminal station based on the wireless communication information stored in the wireless communication information holding unit. Features.

  The present invention is characterized in that the wireless communication information is information on a total number of data frames stored in a transmission buffer of the wireless terminal station included in information received from the wireless terminal station or a wireless transmission rate. To do.

  The present invention is characterized in that the transmission rate determination unit determines the transmission rate according to a determination result of whether or not to switch the transmission rate based on a total amount of traffic calculated from the wireless communication information. And

  In the present invention, the transmission rate determining unit obtains the total amount of traffic calculated from the wireless communication information and information on the wireless transmission rate, and determines a ratio of traffic transmitted at each wireless transmission rate to the total amount of traffic. The transmission rate is determined according to a determination result of whether or not to switch the transmission rate based on the calculated result.

  In the present invention, the transmission rate determining unit obtains the total amount of traffic calculated from the wireless communication information and information on the wireless transmission rate, and determines a ratio of traffic transmitted at each wireless transmission rate to the total amount of traffic. The transmission rate is determined according to average input traffic estimated based on the calculated result.

  According to the present invention, the transmission rate determining unit obtains information on the number of the wireless terminal stations and the wireless transmission rate from the wireless communication information, and calculates a ratio of the wireless terminal stations transmitting at each wireless transmission rate. The transmission rate is determined according to the used wireless transmission rate estimated in the above.

  The present invention is a transmission rate control method performed by a relay communication device that relays communication with a radio terminal station, and obtains a traffic status or communication parameter between the radio terminal station and the relay communication device, A wireless communication information storage step for storing in the storage means as communication information, and a transmission rate determination for determining a transmission rate for relaying information received from the wireless terminal station based on the wireless communication information stored in the storage means And a step.

  The present invention is characterized in that the wireless communication information is information on a total number of data frames stored in a transmission buffer of the wireless terminal station included in information received from the wireless terminal station or a wireless transmission rate. To do.

  According to the present invention, the wired transmission rate is dynamically set with reference to the input traffic situation and communication control parameters, so that it is possible to dynamically optimize the power consumption of the relay communication device. The effect of becoming is obtained.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the MAC header of IEEE 802.11 standard. It is a figure which shows the table structure of the radio | wireless communication information table which the radio | wireless communication information holding | maintenance part 105 shown in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement which determines switching of a wired transmission rate and notifies the result. It is a flowchart which shows the processing operation which determines switching of a wired transmission rate and notifies the result. It is a flowchart which shows the processing operation which estimates input traffic based on a traffic condition and a wireless transmission rate. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement which determines a wired transmission rate using the information of a wireless transmission rate. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of an access point and a network.

  Hereinafter, a relay communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the embodiment. The access point 10 can communicate with the wireless terminal station 13 via the wireless LAN unit 101 and the wireless link 14. When receiving a wireless data frame from the wireless terminal station 13, the wireless LAN unit 101 performs necessary processing on the wireless data frame, restores it to an IP frame, and transfers the frame to the bridge unit 102. The bridge unit 102 has a function of exchanging IP frames bidirectionally between the wireless LAN unit 101 and the wired LAN unit 103. The wired LAN unit 103 is connected to the switch 11 via the wired link 12, and has a function of processing the IP frame transferred from the bridge unit 102 and transferring the wired data frame to the switch 11. Also, the wired transmission rate can be switched between the wired LAN unit 103 and the switch 11 by mutual agreement.

  The access point 10 is provided with a wired transmission rate determining unit 104 and a wireless communication information holding unit 105. The wired transmission rate determination unit 104 collects traffic and communication parameter information in the wireless LAN unit 101 from the wireless communication information holding unit 105, and performs switching determination of the wired transmission rate using the obtained information. The wired transmission rate determination unit 104 notifies the wired LAN unit 103 of the determination result and switches the wired transmission rate. Further, the wired transmission rate determination unit 104 holds information regarding the wired transmission rate being used by the wired LAN unit 103 and other usable transmission rates. The wireless communication information holding unit 105 updates the traffic status and communication parameters with the wireless terminal station 13 in the wireless LAN unit 101, and notifies the wired transmission rate determination unit 104 regularly or irregularly.

<First Wired LAN Transmission Rate Determination Method>
Next, an operation for controlling the transmission rate of the wired LAN will be described. First, the wired transmission rate determination unit 104 shown in FIG. 1 uses the MAC header information (Queue Size) collected from the wireless LAN unit 101 to control the wired transmission rate for the wired LAN unit 103. explain. The wireless LAN unit 101 performs wireless communication with the wireless terminal station 13 using a wireless data frame standardized by the IEEE 802.11 standard. The wireless data frame includes header information for communication control.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the MAC header of the IEEE 802.11 standard. As shown in FIG. 3, a field “Queue Size” exists in the QoS Control field of the MAC header. In this field, the number of MSDUs (MAC service data units) stored in the buffer of the sender who transmitted the wireless data frame is described. The wireless LAN unit 101 outputs the information of the Queue Size field in the MAC header to the wireless communication information holding unit 105 every time a wireless data frame is received from the connected wireless terminal station 13. The wireless communication information holding unit 105 has a wireless communication information table that stores information output from the wireless LAN unit 101.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a table structure of a wireless communication information table held by the wireless communication information holding unit 105. The wireless communication information table stores the communication time, queue size, and wireless transmission rate associated with the wireless LAN unit 101 for each connection ID that is identification information of the connected wireless terminal station 13. The wireless communication information holding unit 105 receives information from the wireless LAN unit 101 and updates the wireless communication information table every time the wireless LAN unit 101 exchanges wireless data frames with the wireless terminal station 13.

  The wired transmission rate determining unit 104 obtains the total number of MSDUs stored in the wireless terminal station 13 connected to the access point 10 from the wireless communication information holding unit 105 and uses it as traffic information in the wired LAN unit 103. Determine whether to switch the wired transmission rate. When the traffic accumulated in the wireless terminal station 13 decreases, the power consumption at the access point 10 can be reduced by lowering the wired transmission rate. On the other hand, when the traffic accumulated in the wireless terminal station 13 increases, the communication quality can be ensured by increasing the wired transmission rate.

  Next, an operation in which the wired transmission rate determining unit 104 determines switching of the wired transmission rate and notifies the wired LAN unit 103 of the result will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of determining the switching of the wired transmission rate and notifying the result.

  First, the wired transmission rate determination unit 104 calculates the total amount of Queue Sizes of all the wireless terminal stations 13 stored in the wireless communication information table in the wireless communication information holding unit 105 (step S101). The wired transmission rate determination unit 104 performs threshold determination using this total amount. The wired transmission rate determination unit 104 determines whether or not the total amount value is larger than the threshold value β1 (step S102). If the total amount value is smaller than the threshold value β1 (step S102: NO), the wired transmission rate determination unit 104 performs wired transmission. The rate reduction is determined, and the result is notified to the wired LAN unit 103 (step S104).

  On the other hand, when the total amount value is larger than the threshold value β1 (step S102: YES), the wired transmission rate determining unit 104 determines whether the total amount value is larger than the threshold value β2 (step S103). When the total value is smaller than the threshold β2 (step S103: NO), the wired transmission rate determination unit 104 ends the threshold determination processing operation without changing the wired transmission rate. On the other hand, if the total value is larger than the threshold β2 (step S103: YES), the wired transmission rate determining unit 104 determines to round up the wired transmission rate and notifies the wired LAN unit 103 of the result (step S105). The magnitudes of the threshold values β1 and β2 used in this determination are set according to the wired transmission rate being used by the wired LAN unit 103. Each time the wired transmission rate is switched, threshold values β1 and β2 are newly set. The threshold value β2 is larger than the threshold value β1.

  Next, the wired LAN unit 103 transmits a request for switching the wired transmission rate to the switch 11 after receiving an instruction for switching the wired transmission rate from the wired transmission rate determining unit 104. Regarding the method of switching the wired transmission rate between the wired LAN unit 103 and the switch 11, the Auto-Negotiation function standardized by the IEEE 802.3 standard may be used, or wired by both wired pairs by other methods. If the transmission rate can be agreed, that method may be used.

  Next, after completing the agreement of the wired transmission rate with the switch 11, the wired LAN unit 103 notifies the wired transmission rate determining unit 104 of the resultant wired transmission rate. In response to this result, the wired transmission rate determination unit 104 changes the magnitudes of the threshold values β1 and β2.

<Second Wired LAN Transmission Rate Determination Method>
Next, the wired transmission rate determination unit 104 shown in FIG. 1 uses the MAC header information (Queue Size and wireless transmission rate) collected from the wireless LAN unit 101 to set the wired transmission rate for the wired LAN unit 103. The control operation will be described.

  The wireless LAN unit 101 communicates with the wireless terminal station 13 by selecting an appropriate rate from a plurality of wireless transmission rates in a wireless data frame standardized by the IEEE 802.11 standard. The wireless transmission rate that can be used by the wireless LAN unit 101 and the wireless terminal station 13 varies depending on a plurality of causes such as the relative distance between them, thermal noise, and the presence or absence of interference. In general, the closer the relative distance is, or the lower the thermal noise and interference, the higher the radio transmission rate can be communicated. On the other hand, when the relative distance is longer or when there is thermal noise or interference, communication may be possible only at a low wireless transmission rate.

  Hereinafter, a processing operation for determining the switching of the wired transmission rate by using the traffic state (Queue Size) and the wireless transmission rate in the wireless LAN unit 101 will be described. The wired transmission rate determination unit 104 acquires information on the traffic status (Queue Size) and the wireless transmission rate from the wireless communication information holding unit 105, and determines the wired transmission rate used in the wired LAN unit 103 based on these information. . When the traffic is low, the power consumption at the access point 10 is reduced by lowering the wired transmission rate. On the other hand, when there is a lot of traffic, it is possible to ensure communication quality by increasing the wired transmission rate.

  Next, a processing operation in which the wired transmission rate determining unit 104 determines switching of the wired transmission rate and notifies the wired LAN unit 103 of the result will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the processing operation for determining the switching of the wired transmission rate and notifying the result.

  First, the wired transmission rate determination unit 104 calculates the total amount of traffic from the Queue Size of all the wireless terminal stations 13 stored in the wireless communication information table in the wireless communication information holding unit 105 (step S201). Next, the wired transmission rate determining unit 104 calculates the ratio of the total amount of traffic with a lower wireless transmission rate than the wired transmission rate in use by the wired LAN unit 103 (step S202). Then, the wired transmission rate determining unit 104 determines whether or not the ratio calculated in S202 is larger than the threshold γ1 (step S203). When the ratio is larger than the threshold value γ1 (step S203: YES), the wired transmission rate determination unit 104 determines to lower the wired transmission rate and notifies the wired LAN unit 103 of the result (step S204).

  On the other hand, when the ratio is smaller than the threshold γ1 (step S203: NO), the wired transmission rate determination unit 104 calculates the ratio of the total amount of traffic with a higher wireless transmission rate than the wired transmission rate in use (step S205). ). Then, the wired transmission rate determination unit 104 determines whether or not the ratio calculated in S205 is larger than the threshold γ2 (step S206). When the ratio is larger than the threshold γ2 (step S206: YES), the wired transmission rate determining unit 104 determines to round up the wired transmission rate and notifies the wired LAN unit 103 of the result (step S207). On the other hand, if the ratio is smaller than the threshold γ2 (step S206: NO), the wired transmission rate determination unit 104 ends the threshold determination.

  For example, at a certain point in time, the wired transmission rate of the wired LAN unit 103 is 100 Mbps, and the threshold γ1 is 50%. In FIG. 3, since 70% of the total traffic is input at a wireless transmission rate of 6 Mbps, the wired transmission rate determining unit 104 changes the wired transmission rate from 100 Mbps to 10 Mbps according to the processing operations of S201 to S204 shown in FIG. The determination result is notified to the wired LAN unit 103.

  Note that the magnitudes of the thresholds γ1 and γ2 used in this determination are set according to the wired transmission rate being used by the wired LAN unit 103. Each time the wired transmission rate is switched, threshold values γ1 and γ2 are newly set. The threshold γ2 is a numerical value greater than the threshold γ1.

  Next, the wired LAN unit 103 transmits a request for switching the wired transmission rate to the switch 11 after receiving an instruction for switching the wired transmission rate from the wired transmission rate determining unit 104. Regarding the method of switching the wired transmission rate between the wired LAN unit 103 and the switch 11, the Auto-Negotiation function standardized by the IEEE 802.3 standard may be used, or other methods may be used for wired transmission in pairs. If the rate can be agreed, that method may be used.

  Next, after completing the agreement of the wired transmission rate with the switch 11, the wired LAN unit 103 notifies the wired transmission rate determining unit 104 of the resultant wired transmission rate. In response to this result, the wired transmission rate determination unit 104 changes the magnitudes of the thresholds γ1 and γ2.

<Third Wired LAN Transmission Rate Determination Method>
Next, the wired transmission rate determination unit 104 shown in FIG. 1 estimates future input traffic based on the MAC header information (Queue Size and wireless transmission rate) collected from the wireless LAN unit 101, and the estimation result The operation for determining whether to switch the wire transmission rate based on the above will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing operation for estimating the input traffic based on the traffic situation and the radio transmission rate.

  First, the wired transmission rate determination unit 104 acquires information on the traffic status (Queue Size) and the wireless transmission rate of each wireless terminal station 13 from the wireless communication information table in the wireless communication information holding unit 105 (step S301). The wired transmission rate determination unit 104 grasps the status of the entire traffic by using the traffic status information of each wireless terminal station 13. Further, the wired transmission rate determining unit 104 calculates the ratio of the traffic transmitted at each wireless transmission rate occupying the entire traffic (step S302). In the example shown in FIG. 3, assuming that the total traffic is 1, the ratio of traffic transmitted at 6 Mbps is 0.7, the ratio of traffic transmitted at 150 Mbps is 0.1, and is transmitted at 300 Mbps. The proportion of traffic is 0.2.

Next, the wired transmission rate determining unit 104 estimates the average input traffic T _avg by the following equation (1) using the ratio of the traffic transmitted at each wireless transmission rate (step S303).

In equation _{(1), V 1, V} 2, ..., V n are means each wireless transmission rate. In addition, R ₁ , R ₂ ,..., R _n are the percentages of traffic transmitted at each wireless transmission rate. Note that R ₁ , R ₂ ,..., R _n are positive numbers that are not zero. When the wireless communication information table shown in FIG. 3 is used, the value of the average input traffic T _avg is 8.09 Mbps. Using this numerical value, a comparison is made with the wired transmission rate currently used by the wired LAN unit 103. Wired transmission rate in use is greater than the average input traffic _{T avg,} by wireline transmission rate determining unit 104 refers to the _{T avg,} and decide to switch to the nearest wired transmission rate _{T avg,} wired LAN Notification to the unit 103. On the other hand, when the wired transmission rate in use is smaller than the average input traffic T _avg , the wired transmission rate determination unit 104 notifies the wired LAN unit 103 of the switching of the wired transmission rate by the same method. Further, after completing the agreement of the wired transmission rate with the switch device, the wired LAN unit 103 notifies the wired transmission rate determining unit 104 of the resultant wired transmission rate (step S304).

<Fourth Wired LAN Transmission Rate Determination Method>
Next, the wired transmission rate determination unit 104 shown in FIG. 1 predicts a dominant wireless transmission rate in the wireless link based on the wireless transmission rate information used by the wireless terminal station 13 under the wireless LAN unit 101 for traffic transmission. An operation for setting the wired transmission rate of the wired LAN unit 103 in accordance with the expected dominant wireless transmission rate will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of determining a wired transmission rate using information on a wireless transmission rate.

  First, the wired transmission rate determination unit 104 acquires information on the wireless transmission rate of each wireless terminal station 13 connected to the access point 10 from the wireless communication information holding unit 105 (step S401). Then, the wired transmission rate determining unit 104 calculates, for each wireless transmission rate, the ratio of the wireless terminal station 13 using the corresponding wireless transmission rate to all the wireless terminal stations (step S402). When the wired transmission rate in use is larger than the predicted dominant wireless transmission rate, the wired transmission rate determination unit 104 determines to switch to the closest wired transmission rate with reference to the predicted wireless transmission rate, Notify the wired LAN unit 103. On the other hand, also when the wired transmission rate in use is smaller than the expected wireless transmission rate, the wired transmission rate determining unit 104 notifies the wired LAN unit 103 of switching of the wired transmission rate by the same method (step S403). Further, after completing the agreement of the wired transmission rate with the switch device, the wired LAN unit 103 notifies the wired transmission rate determination unit 104 of the resultant wired transmission rate.

<Method for preventing excessive switching>
In the above description, in order to optimize the wired transmission rate of the wired LAN unit 103 in the access point 10, the switching determination based on the traffic status in the wireless LAN unit 101 or the switching determination based on the traffic status and the wireless transmission rate has been described. However, according to such a determination method, when there is a sudden change in traffic, the wired LAN unit 103 may frequently switch the wired transmission rate. Therefore, in order to prevent excessive switching, when the wired transmission rate determining unit 104 notifies the wired LAN unit 103 of an instruction to switch the wired transmission rate, the switching is not performed again within a predetermined time from the switching. It may be. For example, it is assumed that switching of the wired transmission rate occurs at a certain switching determination time. In this case, the wired transmission rate determination unit 104 does not perform the switching determination until one minute has passed after the switching has occurred. In this way, excessive switching can be prevented.

  As described above, the wired transmission rate is switched in the wired LAN unit using the input traffic status and communication parameter information. As a result, the wired transmission rate can be dynamically changed according to the increase or decrease of the input traffic, so that the power consumption can be optimized in the relay communication device having two communication interfaces.

  The program for realizing the function of the processing unit in FIG. 1 is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded on the recording medium is read into the computer system and executed, thereby executing a transmission rate control process. May be performed. Here, the “computer system” includes an OS and hardware such as peripheral devices. The “computer-readable recording medium” refers to a storage device such as a flexible medium, a magneto-optical disk, a portable medium such as a ROM and a CD-ROM, and a hard disk incorporated in a computer system. Further, the “computer-readable recording medium” refers to a volatile memory (RAM) in a computer system that becomes a server or a client when a program is transmitted via a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line. In addition, those holding programs for a certain period of time are also included.

  The program may be transmitted from a computer system storing the program in a storage device or the like to another computer system via a transmission medium or by a transmission wave in the transmission medium. Here, the “transmission medium” for transmitting the program refers to a medium having a function of transmitting information, such as a network (communication network) such as the Internet or a communication line (communication line) such as a telephone line. The program may be for realizing a part of the functions described above. Furthermore, what can implement | achieve the function mentioned above in combination with the program already recorded on the computer system, what is called a difference file (difference program) may be sufficient.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention has been described with reference to drawings, the said embodiment is only the illustration of this invention, and it is clear that this invention is not limited to the said embodiment. is there. Accordingly, additions, omissions, substitutions, and other changes of the components may be made without departing from the technical idea and scope of the present invention.

  In a relay communication apparatus having two communication interfaces, it can be applied to applications where it is essential to optimize power consumption.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Access point, 101 ... Wireless LAN part, 102 ... Bridge part, 103 ... Wired LAN part, 104 ... Wired transmission rate determination part, 105 ... Wireless communication information holding part, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Switch, 12 ... Wired link, 13 ... Wireless base station, 14 ... Wireless link

Claims (8)

A relay communication device that relays communication with a wireless terminal station,
A wireless communication information holding unit that acquires traffic conditions or communication parameters between the wireless terminal station and the relay communication device and stores them as wireless communication information;
A relay rate determining unit for determining a transmission rate for relaying information received from the radio terminal station based on the radio communication information stored in the radio communication information holding unit; .   2. The wireless communication information is information on a total number of data frames stored in a transmission buffer of the wireless terminal station included in information received from the wireless terminal station, or information on a wireless transmission rate. The relay communication device described in 1. The transmission rate determination unit
3. The relay according to claim 1, wherein the transmission rate is determined according to a determination result of whether or not to switch the transmission rate based on a total amount of traffic calculated from the wireless communication information. Communication device. The transmission rate determination unit
The transmission rate switching based on the result of calculating the total amount of traffic calculated from the wireless communication information and information on the wireless transmission rate and calculating the ratio of the traffic transmitted at each wireless transmission rate to the total amount of traffic The relay communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transmission rate is determined according to a determination result of whether or not to perform the transmission. The transmission rate determination unit
Average amount estimated based on the result of calculating the total amount of traffic calculated from the wireless communication information and information on the wireless transmission rate, and calculating the ratio of traffic transmitted at each wireless transmission rate to the total amount of traffic The relay communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transmission rate is determined according to input traffic. The transmission rate determining unit obtains information on the number of wireless terminal stations and the wireless transmission rate from the wireless communication information, and estimates the use based on the result of calculating the ratio of wireless terminal stations transmitting at each wireless transmission rate The relay communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transmission rate is determined according to a wireless transmission rate. A transmission rate control method performed by a relay communication device that relays communication with a wireless terminal station,
A wireless communication information storage step of acquiring a traffic situation or communication parameter between the wireless terminal station and the relay communication device and storing it in a storage means as wireless communication information;
A transmission rate control method comprising: a transmission rate determination step for determining a transmission rate for relaying information received from the wireless terminal station based on the wireless communication information stored in the storage means.   8. The wireless communication information is information related to a total number of data frames stored in a transmission buffer of the wireless terminal station included in information received from the wireless terminal station or a wireless transmission rate. The transmission rate control method described in 1.

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