JP2014175711A - Terminal, keep-alive timing control system, computer program and keep-alive timing control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To secure communication flexibility in each of a plurality of applications in a terminal, with the reduction of communication opportunity in the terminal to transmit a Keep-Alive packet.SOLUTION: A terminal device includes one or a plurality of applications 10 to transmit a Keep-Alive packet connection-by-connection, and a Keep-Alive timing notification unit 11 for notifying the one or the plurality of applications 10 of Keep-Alive timing. Triggered by the Keep-Alive timing notified from the Keep-Alive timing notification unit 11, each application 10 transmits the Keep-Alive packet.

Description

  The present invention relates to a terminal device, a keep-alive timing control system, a computer program, and a keep-alive timing control method.

  Conventionally, when a terminal application establishes a connection to a server and communicates, there is an application that periodically sends a keep-alive packet to the server in order to maintain the connection between the application and the server. . In addition, when there are a plurality of such applications in a terminal, there is known a conventional technique that does not require each application to individually send a Keep-Alive packet (for example, Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2). reference). According to the prior arts of Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2, it is only necessary to establish one TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) connection for a plurality of applications in the terminal, so each application establishes a TCP connection individually. Compared to the case, the communication opportunity for transmitting the Keep-Alive packet can be reduced.

Google Cloud Messaging for Android, <URL: http://developer.android.com/guide/google/gcm/index.html> Apple Push Notification Service, <URL: http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/NetworkingInternet/Conceptual/RemoteNotificationsPG/ApplePushService/ApplePushService.html>

  However, since the above-described conventional technology uses a common TCP connection for a plurality of applications in the terminal, the degree of freedom of communication in each application is limited. For this reason, while reducing the communication opportunity for transmission of a Keep-Alive packet, ensuring the freedom degree of communication in each application is a subject.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of such circumstances, and reduces communication opportunities for transmission of Keep-Alive packets in a terminal and secures communication flexibility in each of a plurality of applications in the terminal. This is the issue.

(1) In order to solve the above-described problem, the terminal apparatus according to the present invention keeps one or a plurality of applications that transmit a keep-alive packet for each connection and the one or a plurality of applications simultaneously. A Keep-Alive timing notification unit for notifying the Alive timing, and the application transmits a Keep-Alive packet triggered by the Keep-Alive timing notified from the Keep-Alive timing notification unit. And

(2) A terminal apparatus according to the present invention includes a Keep-Alive transmission unit that transmits a Keep-Alive packet for each connection, and a Keep-Alive timing notification unit that notifies the Keep-Alive transmission unit of a Keep-Alive timing The Keep-Alive transmission unit transmits a Keep-Alive packet triggered by the Keep-Alive timing notified from the Keep-Alive timing notification unit.

(3) The terminal device according to the present invention includes a Keep-Alive interval measurement unit that measures a Keep-Alive interval by communicating with a specific server, and the Keep-Alive timing notification unit includes the measurement result Based on the above, a keep-alive timing is generated.

(4) The terminal device according to the present invention includes a Keep-Alive interval measuring unit that measures a Keep-Alive interval by communicating with a specific server, and the Keep-Alive timing notifying unit includes: A keep-alive timing is generated based on a packet notification interval and the measurement result.

(5) In the terminal device according to the present invention, the terminal device includes a keep-alive interval holding table for storing a set of the measurement information of the keep-alive interval and the keep-alive interval of the measurement result, and the keep-alive timing notification unit includes: In the transmission of the keep-alive packet under the same conditions as the measurement information, the keep-alive interval stored in the keep-alive interval holding table is used.

(6) A Keep-Alive timing control system according to the present invention includes the terminal device according to (3) described above and a measurement server that communicates with the terminal device.

(7) The computer program according to the present invention simultaneously sets Keep-Alive timing for one or a plurality of applications that transmit Keep-Alive packets for each connection to the terminal computer, triggered by the Keep-Alive timing. It is a computer program for executing a keep-alive timing notification step to be notified.

(8) The computer program according to the present invention notifies the computer of the terminal device of the Keep-Alive timing to the Keep-Alive transmission unit that transmits the Keep-Alive packet for each connection in response to the Keep-Alive timing. A computer program for executing a keep-alive timing notification step.

(9) A Keep-Alive timing control method according to the present invention is a Keep-Alive timing control method in a Keep-Alive timing control system comprising a terminal device and a measurement server that communicates with the terminal device. The terminal device measures a keep-alive interval by measuring a keep-alive interval by communicating with the measurement server, and the terminal device generates a keep-alive timing based on the measurement result. A Keep-Alive timing generation step, and a terminal device that transmits a Keep-Alive packet triggered by the generated Keep-Alive timing.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, while reducing the communication opportunity for transmission of a Keep-Alive packet in a terminal, the freedom degree of communication in each of the some application in a terminal is securable.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of Example 1 of the terminal 1 which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the Keep-Alive interval holding table 120. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the Keep-Alive request | requirement information holding table. It is a sequence chart of the Keep-Alive timing control processing which concerns on Example 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of Example 2 of the terminal 1 which concerns on this invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a terminal 1 is connected to a wireless base station 3 through a wireless line. Examples of the wireless base station 3 include a mobile phone network base station (for example, a 3G line base station) and a wireless LAN access point (AP). The terminal 1 can communicate with the server 2 and the measurement server 20 connected to an IP (Internet Protocol) network 5 such as the Internet via the wireless base station 3.

  There may or may not be one or more network devices 4 such as NAT (Network Address Translation) or firewall on the communication path between the wireless base station 3 and the server 2 and the measurement server 20. There is also. Generally, it is known that the network device 4 manages the presence / absence of a connection that passes through its own device, and discards a packet for a connection that does not pass a packet for a certain time (connection holding time). Further, the connection holding time may vary depending on the network device 4.

  The terminal 1 has a plurality (three in the example of FIG. 1) of applications 10 (A, B, C). Each application 10 (A, B, C) establishes and communicates with each server 2 (A, B, C) by establishing each connection 100A, 100B, 100C. Hereinafter, the individual applications 10 (A, B, C) will be referred to as “applications 10” unless otherwise distinguished. Further, when the individual servers 2 (A, B, C) are not particularly distinguished, they are referred to as “server 2”.

  Hereinafter, examples of the terminal 1 according to the present embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the first embodiment of the terminal 1 according to the present invention. FIG. 2 shows a portion according to the present invention in the configuration of the terminal 1. In FIG. 2, the terminal 1 includes a keep-alive timing notification unit 11 and a keep-alive interval measurement unit 12.

  The Keep-Alive interval measuring unit 12 measures the Keep-Alive interval by communicating with the measurement server 20. Specifically, the Keep-Alive interval measurement unit 12 establishes a connection 100D with the measurement server 20, and then gradually increases the interval (Keep-Alive packet transmission interval) for transmitting Keep-Alive packets to the measurement server 20. Meanwhile, keep-alive packets are transmitted to the measurement server 20 one after another, and whether or not a response packet is received from the measurement server 20 is confirmed. When the keep-alive interval measuring unit 12 determines that the response packet from the measurement server 20 is no longer received, the keep-alive packet transmission interval (Keep -Alive packet transmission interval limit value) is recorded. The Keep-Alive interval measurement unit 12 determines the Keep-Alive interval based on the Keep-Alive packet transmission interval limit value. For example, the Keep-Alive packet transmission interval limit value is set as the Keep-Alive interval. Alternatively, with an allowance, a Keep-Alive packet transmission interval shorter by one step than the Keep-Alive packet transmission interval limit value may be used as the Keep-Alive interval.

  In general, since the connection holding time in the network device 4 is shorter than the connection holding time in the server 2, the keep-alive packet transmission interval limit value indicates the minimum value of the connection holding time in the network device 4. It is thought that.

  The keep-alive interval measuring unit 12 records the keep-alive interval of the measurement result in the keep-alive interval holding table. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the keep-alive interval holding table 120. In FIG. 3, a keep-alive interval holding table 120 stores a set of measurement information and keep-alive intervals. The measurement information is information indicating a condition when measuring the Keep-Alive interval. The measurement information is, for example, identification information indicating the radio base station 3 or the network device 4 existing on the communication path in the measurement of the keep-alive interval. The identification information of the wireless base station 3 includes, for example, identification information (base station ID) of a base station of a cellular phone network (for example, a base station of a 3G line) and identification information (BSSID) of a wireless LAN access point. . Examples of the identification information of the network device 4 include a gateway MAC address.

  The Keep-Alive interval measuring unit 12 notifies the Keep-Alive interval to the Keep-Alive timing notifying unit 11.

  The Keep-Alive timing notifying unit 11 notifies the Keep-Alive timing simultaneously to each application 10 (A, B, C) based on the Keep-Alive interval notified from the Keep-Alive interval measuring unit 12. The keep-alive timing notifying unit 11 keeps-alive notification notified from the keep-alive interval measuring unit 12 when the keep-alive request information is notified from each application 10 (A, B, C). Based on the interval and the Keep-Alive request information notified from each application 10 (A, B, C), the Keep-Alive timing is simultaneously notified to each application 10 (A, B, C).

  Each application 10 (A, B, C) notifies the keep-alive request information to the keep-alive timing notification unit 11 in advance (for example, when a connection between the application 10 and the server 2 is established). . The Keep-Alive timing notification unit 11 records the Keep-Alive request information notified from the application 10 in the Keep-Alive request information holding table. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the keep-alive request information holding table 110. As shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, a keep-alive request information holding table 110 stores a set of application information and keep-alive request information. The application information is information that identifies the application 10 (for example, identification information of the application 10). The Keep-Alive request information is, for example, an interval (packet notification interval) at which the application 10 transmits a Keep-Alive packet.

  The Keep-Alive timing notifying unit 11 keeps the Keep-Alive interval based on the Keep-Alive interval notified from the Keep-Alive interval measuring unit 12 and the Keep-Alive request information stored in the Keep-Alive request information holding table 110. -Determine the Alive timing. For example, the Keep-Alive timing is generated at the shortest interval between the Keep-Alive interval notified from the Keep-Alive interval measuring unit 12 and the packet notification interval stored in the Keep-Alive request information holding table 110. Can be mentioned.

  Each application 10 (A, B, C) transmits a Keep-Alive packet to each server 2 (A, B, C) triggered by the Keep-Alive timing notified from the Keep-Alive timing notification unit 11.

  Next, the keep-alive timing control process according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a sequence chart of the keep-alive timing control process according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

(Step S1) The Keep-Alive interval measuring unit 12 of the terminal 1 connects to the radio base station 3. The Keep-Alive interval measurement unit 12 acquires identification information of the connected radio base station 3.

(Step S2) The Keep-Alive interval measuring unit 12 searches the Keep-Alive interval holding table 120 based on the acquired identification information of the radio base station 3.

(Step S3) If the relevant Keep-Alive interval is found from the Keep-Alive interval holding table 120 as a result of the search in Step S2, the Keep-Alive interval measuring unit 12 sets the Keep-Alive interval to the Keep-Alive interval. Notify the Alive timing notification unit 11. On the other hand, if the relevant keep-alive interval is found from the keep-alive interval holding table 120 as a result of the search in step S2, the keep-alive interval measuring unit 12 sets the default value of the keep-alive interval as the keep-alive interval. Notify the Alive timing notification unit 11. For the default value of the Keep-Alive interval, set a shorter value that allows for safety.

(Step S4) The keep-alive interval measurement unit 12 uses the measurement server 20 to measure the keep-alive interval.

(Step S5) If the Keep-Alive interval, which is the measurement result of Step S4, is different from the value notified to the Keep-Alive timing notification unit 11 in Step S3, the Keep-Alive interval measurement unit 12 keeps the measurement result. -The alive interval is notified to the keep-alive timing notification unit 11 and updated. Then, the keep-alive interval measuring unit 12 updates the keep-alive interval holding table 120 with the keep-alive interval of the measurement result.

  The keep-alive interval measurement unit 12 periodically measures the keep-alive interval, and updates the keep-alive interval to the keep-alive timing notification unit 11 and the keep-alive interval holding table 120. It may be. Alternatively, the existing setting value of the keep-alive interval may be used without measuring the keep-alive interval.

(Step S6) The application 10 registers Keep-Alive request information in the Keep-Alive timing notification unit 11. When receiving the registration from the application 10, the keep-alive timing notifying unit 11 stores the keep-alive request information in the keep-alive request information holding table 110 in association with the application information of the application 10.

(Step S7) The keep-alive timing notifying unit 11 takes into account the keep-alive interval notified from the keep-alive interval measuring unit 12 and the keep-alive interval (for example, packet notification interval) notified from the application 10. Determine the Keep-Alive interval.

(Step S8) The Keep-Alive timing notification unit 11 simultaneously notifies the Keep-Alive timing to all the applications 10 registered in the Keep-Alive request information holding table 110 at the Keep-Alive interval determined in Step S7. To do.

(Step S <b> 9) When the application 10 receives a keep-alive timing notification from the keep-alive timing notification unit 11, the application 10 transmits a keep-alive packet to the server 2.

  According to the first embodiment described above, each application 10 (A, B, C) receives each server 2 (A, B, C) triggered by the Keep-Alive timing simultaneously notified from the Keep-Alive timing notification unit 11. Send a Keep-Alive packet to C). Thereby, the communication opportunity for transmitting the Keep-Alive packet is limited to the Keep-Alive timing notified from the Keep-Alive timing notification unit 11 to each application 10 (A, B, C) at the same time. For this reason, the terminal 1 can reduce the frequency of establishing a radio link between the radio base stations 3 for the transmission of Keep-Alive packets, which contributes to reduction of power consumption and efficient use of radio resources. it can. In addition, since each application 10 (A, B, C) individually establishes a connection with each server 2 (A, B, C), the degree of freedom of communication can be ensured. For example, each application 10 (A, B, C) can perform its own PUSH notification mechanism and information transmission.

  Further, by preventing frequent communication, it is possible to suppress the generation of a control signal for the wireless base station 3 to set the terminal 1 to the active state or the non-active state.

  In addition, since frequent occurrence of communication due to use of the application 10 is suppressed, battery consumption due to use of the application 10 can be reduced, and an effect of improving a negative impression to the user that battery consumption due to use of the application 10 is increased. Can be expected.

  The second embodiment is a modification of the first embodiment described above. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the second embodiment of the terminal 1 according to the present invention. FIG. 2 shows a portion according to the present invention in the configuration of the terminal 1. In FIG. 2, parts corresponding to the parts in FIG. Hereinafter, differences from the first embodiment will be mainly described.

  The terminal 1 illustrated in FIG. 2 includes a keep-alive transmission unit 30. The Keep-Alive transmission unit 30 has a function of transmitting a Keep-Alive packet to each server 2 (A, B, C) for each connection of each application 10 (A, B, C). Each application 10 (A, B, C) registers the keep-alive transmission to the keep-alive sending unit 30. The Keep-Alive transmission unit 30 transmits a Keep-Alive packet to each server 2 (A, B, C) in accordance with the keep-alive transmission registration from each application 10 (A, B, C).

  In the second embodiment, the keep-alive timing notification unit 11 notifies the keep-alive transmission unit 30 of the keep-alive timing. The Keep-Alive transmission unit 30 transmits Keep-Alive packets related to all applications 10 registered for transmission of Keep-Alive, triggered by the Keep-Alive timing notified from the Keep-Alive timing notification unit 11. .

  According to the second embodiment, the communication opportunity for transmitting the Keep-Alive packet in the terminal 1 is limited to the Keep-Alive timing notified from the Keep-Alive timing notifying unit 11 to the Keep-Alive transmitting unit 30. . As a result, the terminal 1 can reduce the frequency of establishing a radio link between the radio base stations 3 for the transmission of Keep-Alive packets, which contributes to reduction of power consumption and efficient use of radio resources. it can. In addition, since each application 10 (A, B, C) individually establishes a connection with each server 2 (A, B, C), the degree of freedom of communication can be ensured.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was explained in full detail with reference to drawings, the specific structure is not restricted to this embodiment, The design change etc. of the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention are included.

  For example, the present invention is also applicable when one application establishes a plurality of connections. In this case, the terminal may have only one application that establishes a plurality of connections. The application transmits Keep-Alive packets related to all connections in response to the Keep-Alive timing notified from the Keep-Alive timing notification unit.

  Further, a part of the connection for transmitting the Keep-Alive packet in response to the Keep-Alive timing notified from the Keep-Alive timing notification unit may be limited. This also has the effect of reducing the communication opportunity for transmitting the Keep-Alive packet at the terminal.

  Further, the Keep-Alive timing notification unit may notify the Keep-Alive timing to all applications regardless of the Keep-Alive registration from the application.

  Alternatively, the application may be divided into a plurality of groups, and the timing for generating the keep-alive timing may be determined for each application group. In this case, a keep-alive timing is generated for each application group, and the generated keep-alive timing is notified only to applications belonging to the group corresponding to the generated keep-alive timing.

Further, a program for realizing the terminal 1 described above may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded on the recording medium may be read into a computer system and executed. Here, the “computer system” may include an OS and hardware such as peripheral devices.
“Computer-readable recording medium” refers to a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, a writable nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory, a portable medium such as a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), and a built-in computer system. A storage device such as a hard disk.

Further, the “computer-readable recording medium” means a volatile memory (for example, DRAM (Dynamic DRAM) in a computer system that becomes a server or a client when a program is transmitted through a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line. Random Access Memory)), etc., which hold programs for a certain period of time.
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, and what is called a difference file (difference program) may be sufficient.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Terminal (terminal device), 2 ... Server, 3 ... Wireless base station, 4 ... Network equipment, 5 ... IP network, 10 ... Application, 11 ... Keep-Alive timing notification part, 12 ... Keep-Alive interval measurement part, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 ... Measurement server, 30 ... Keep-Alive transmission part, 100A, 100B, 100C, 100D ... Connection, 110 ... Keep-Alive request information holding table, 120 ... Keep-Alive interval holding table

Claims (9)

One or more applications that send Keep-Alive packets for each connection,
A Keep-Alive timing notification unit for notifying one or a plurality of applications of Keep-Alive timing at the same time,
The application transmits a Keep-Alive packet triggered by the Keep-Alive timing notified from the Keep-Alive timing notification unit.
A terminal device characterized by that. A Keep-Alive sending unit that sends a Keep-Alive packet for each connection;
A Keep-Alive timing notification unit for notifying the Keep-Alive timing to the Keep-Alive transmission unit,
The Keep-Alive transmission unit transmits a Keep-Alive packet triggered by the Keep-Alive timing notified from the Keep-Alive timing notification unit.
A terminal device characterized by that. A Keep-Alive interval measurement unit that measures the Keep-Alive interval by communicating with a specific server is provided.
The Keep-Alive timing notification unit generates a Keep-Alive timing based on the measurement result.
The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the terminal device is a terminal device. A Keep-Alive interval measurement unit that measures the Keep-Alive interval by communicating with a specific server is provided.
The Keep-Alive timing notification unit generates a Keep-Alive timing based on a packet notification interval in each connection and the measurement result.
The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the terminal device is a terminal device. A keep-alive interval holding table for storing a set of measurement information of the keep-alive interval and a keep-alive interval of the measurement result;
The Keep-Alive timing notification unit uses the Keep-Alive interval stored in the Keep-Alive interval holding table in the transmission of the Keep-Alive packet under the same conditions as the measurement information.
The terminal device according to claim 3 or 4, wherein   A Keep-Alive timing control system comprising: the terminal device according to claim 3; and a measurement server that communicates with the terminal device. In the terminal computer,
Keep-Alive timing notification step to notify Keep-Alive timing at the same time to one or more applications that send Keep-Alive packets for each connection triggered by Keep-Alive timing.
A computer program for running. In the terminal computer,
Keep-Alive timing notification step for notifying the Keep-Alive timing to the Keep-Alive transmission unit that transmits Keep-Alive packets for each connection with the Keep-Alive timing as an opportunity,
A computer program for running. A keep-alive timing control method in a keep-alive timing control system comprising a terminal device and a measurement server that communicates between the terminal device,
The terminal device measures a Keep-Alive interval by measuring a Keep-Alive interval by communicating with the measurement server;
The terminal device generates a keep-alive timing based on the measurement result, and a keep-alive timing generation step,
The terminal device transmits a Keep-Alive packet triggered by the generated Keep-Alive timing,
A keep-alive timing control method comprising:

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