JP2015154405A - Radio communication system, radio communication method, radio communication device, management device, and management method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a longer voice communication available time in a radio communication network with limited communication time.SOLUTION: This invention is a radio communication system having a plurality of radio communication devices with limited communication time within a predetermined unit time period, where each of the plurality of radio communication devices transmits and receives a communication signal by multi-hop radio communication, communication time control means is provided for temporarily changing communication time while keeping limited communication time within a predetermined unit time period.

Description

  The present invention relates to a radio communication system, a radio communication method, a radio communication apparatus, a management apparatus, and a management method, and, for example, a radio communication system, a radio communication method, a radio communication apparatus, and a management that constitute a radio communication system with limited transmission time The present invention can be applied to an apparatus and a management method.

  For example, it has been proposed to perform voice communication (hereinafter referred to as VoIP communication) using a voice communication system typified by VoIP using a wireless network such as a multi-hopping network.

  In recent years, many wireless system technologies that limit transmission time have been proposed (see Patent Document 1). However, since such a wireless system has not been used for calls such as VoIP communication, the communication time has been reduced. No effort has been made to improve For this reason, when performing VoIP communication using a wireless network with a limited transmission time, it is strongly desired to make the call time longer than before.

  For example, when performing VoIP communication in a wireless network such as a multi-hopping network, each wireless station performs voice communication while transmitting and receiving (hopping) a voice signal to and from other wireless stations.

  In addition, a wireless station is limited in transmission time for voice communication of a communication method such as VoIP (see Patent Document 1). For example, when the transmission time of a certain radio station is set to 10% or less, for example, within one hour (= 3600 seconds), the transmittable time is set to 360 seconds or less.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-154855 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-157045

  As described above, when performing VoIP communication in a wireless network such as a multi-hopping network, each wireless station is limited in transmission time. Also, the audio signal is hopped in the order of the first station (master station) → second station (slave station) → third station (slave station) →.

  Even in the one-to-one communication such as the first station (parent station) to the second station (slave station) which is the simplest network configuration, the transmission time is limited, so the VoIP communication time is several minutes to about 10 There is a risk of shortening to about minutes. Moreover, the subject that a delay may arise by the increase in the hop number of an audio | voice signal may also arise. If a call delay occurs, there is a possibility that the call will eventually be disconnected.

  In order to prevent call disconnection, a radio station needs to be equipped with a large number of memory devices in advance, or when making a VoIP call, it is necessary to select a radio system with no limitation on transmission time. obtain.

  Therefore, there is a need for a wireless communication system, a wireless communication method, a wireless communication device, a management device, and a management method that can make the communication time longer than before in a wireless communication network with limited communication time.

  In order to solve such a problem, the first aspect of the present invention has a plurality of wireless communication devices in which communication time in a predetermined unit time is limited, and each wireless communication device transmits and receives communication signals by multi-hop wireless communication. The wireless communication system includes a communication time control unit that temporarily varies the communication time while maintaining the communication time in a predetermined unit time at the limited communication time.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wireless communication method including a plurality of wireless communication devices with a limited communication time in a predetermined unit time, wherein each wireless communication device transmits and receives communication signals by multi-hop wireless communication. The wireless communication method is characterized in that the control means temporarily varies the communication time while keeping the communication time in a predetermined unit time at the limited communication time.

  The third aspect of the present invention transmits and receives communication signals by multi-hop wireless communication, and in a wireless communication apparatus in which communication time in a predetermined unit time is limited, the communication time in the predetermined unit time is limited. A wireless communication apparatus comprising a communication time control means for temporarily changing a communication time while maintaining the communication time.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a management device that transmits and receives communication signals by multi-hop wireless communication and manages communication states of a plurality of wireless communication devices in which a communication time in a predetermined unit time is limited. Communicable information determining means for determining communicable information including a communicable time and a pause time of each wireless communication device according to a network configuration recognized based on communication state information acquired from the communication device; and communicable information A management device comprising: communicable information transmission means for transmitting the communicable information determined by the determination means to each corresponding wireless communication device.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a management device management method for transmitting and receiving communication signals by multi-hop wireless communication and managing communication states of a plurality of wireless communication devices in which communication time in a predetermined unit time is limited. The communicable information determining means determines communicable information including a communicable time and a pause time of each wireless communication device according to the network configuration recognized based on the communication state information acquired from each wireless communication device. The communicable information transmission unit transmits the communicable information determined by the communicable information determination unit to each corresponding wireless communication device.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, in a radio | wireless communication network with restrictions in communication time, communication time can be made longer than before.

It is an internal block diagram which shows the internal structure of the radio station which concerns on 1st Embodiment. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an overall configuration of a wireless communication system according to a first embodiment. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of transmission interval adjustment processing in the wireless station according to the first embodiment. It is explanatory drawing explaining the general transmission operation according to the default transmission limit speed set to the radio station. It is explanatory drawing explaining the adjustment process of the transmission time in the radio station which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a whole block diagram which shows the whole structure of the radio | wireless communications system which concerns on 2nd Embodiment (the 1). It is a whole block diagram which shows the whole structure of the radio | wireless communications system which concerns on 2nd Embodiment (the 2). It is an internal block diagram which shows the internal structure of the mesh gateway apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment.

(A) First Embodiment Hereinafter, a first embodiment of a wireless communication system, a wireless communication method, a wireless communication device, a management device, and a management method of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  1st Embodiment illustrates the case where this invention is applied to the multihopping radio | wireless network as a disaster prevention system, such as a country and a local public entity, for example.

(A-1) Configuration of the First Embodiment FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram showing the overall configuration of the wireless communication system according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the radio communication system 10 according to the first embodiment includes a voice communication device 1 (1-1 and 1-2) as a telephone terminal, and a plurality of radio stations 2 (2-1 to 2- 4) having a mesh gateway device 3;

  The wireless communication system 10 is a wireless mesh network configured with a plurality of wireless stations 2-1 to 2-4 arranged in a space. Although FIG. 2 illustrates the case where four wireless stations 2-1 to 2-4 are provided, the number of wireless stations 2-1 to 2-4 is not particularly limited.

  The mesh gateway device 3 manages and monitors the entire network composed of the radio stations 2-1 to 2-4 constituting the radio communication system 10. In this embodiment, on the network in the wireless communication system 10, the terminal wireless station 2-1 and the wireless station 2-4 are connected to the voice communication apparatuses 1-1 and 1-2 that perform VoIP communication. Communication is possible between the communication apparatuses 1-1 and 1-2. The mesh gateway device 3 transmits and receives control signals from the wireless stations 2-1 to 2-4, acquires status information of the wireless stations 2-1 to 2-4, and receives wireless devices 2-1 to 2-2. -4 setting information. For example, the mesh gateway device 3 may set an existing transmission speed limit of the wireless communication network 10 (network) for each wireless station. The mesh gateway device 3 has an information processing device such as a personal computer, for example.

  The voice communication apparatuses 1-1 and 1-2 are apparatuses having a telephone function for performing voice communication through a network or a telephone function. For example, the voice communication apparatuses 1-1 and 1-2 are installed inside and outside a building such as a user's house or facility. The voice communication device 1-1 is connected to a wireless station 2-1 having a wireless communication function, and the voice communication device 1-2 is connected to a wireless station 2-4 having a wireless communication function. The voice communication apparatuses 1-1 and 1-2 are, for example, SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) or H.264. Voice communication can be performed using a voice communication system such as H.323. The voice communication apparatuses 1-1 and 1-2 perform transmission / reception of voice packets by radio communication through the radio stations 2-1 and 2-4.

  The radio stations 2-1 to 2-4 are arranged in the space, and relay the packet including the data with other radio stations (other radio stations belonging to the radio range) by radio hopping. The packet is transmitted to the destination of the packet. Further, the radio stations 2-1 to 2-4 perform transmission and reception of control signals with the mesh gateway device 3. The radio stations 2-1 to 2-4 are installed, for example, inside or outside a building such as a user's house or facility, and may include a display unit, a setting information input unit, and the like.

  In this embodiment, the radio station 2-1 is connected to the voice communication apparatus 1-1, the radio station 2-4 is connected to the voice communication apparatus 1-2, and the radio stations 2-1 to 2-4 are connected. Shows an example of relaying voice packets between the voice communication apparatuses 1-1 and 1-2 by wireless hopping.

  In this embodiment, for ease of explanation, it is assumed that the voice communication device 1-1 is a voice packet source and the voice communication device 1-2 is a voice packet destination.

  Therefore, for the wireless stations 2-1 to 2-4, the wireless station 2-1 that is connected to the voice communication device 1-1 and performs wireless communication with the wireless station 2-2 is defined as a “parent station”, and the wireless station 2-1 And the radio station 2-2 that performs radio communication with the radio stations 2-3 are referred to as “slave stations”, and the radio station 2-3 that performs radio communication with the radios 2-2 and 2-4 is referred to as “grandchild station”. The radio station 2-4 that connects to the radio station 2 and performs radio communication with the radio station 2-3 is referred to as a “great-grandchild station”.

  It is assumed that the wireless stations 2-1 to 2-4 are in a state where direct wireless communication is not possible between wireless stations that are not adjacent to each other. Specifically, the master station radio station 2-1 is in a state in which direct radio communication with the radio station 2-3 (grandchild station) and radio station 2-4 (greater grandchild station) is not possible. The wireless station 2-2 is in a state in which direct wireless communication with the wireless station 2-4 (great-grandchild station) is not possible.

  In this embodiment, a case where 4-hop wireless communication is performed between four wireless stations 2-1 to 2-4 with respect to voice packets is illustrated, but the number of wireless stations and the number of hops (hopping number) are particularly It is not limited.

  The mesh gateway device 3 manages wireless communication of the wireless communication system 10 as a mesh network.

  FIG. 1 is an internal configuration diagram showing an internal configuration of radio stations 2-1 to 2-4 according to the first embodiment. All the radio stations 2-1 to 2-4 have the same or corresponding internal configuration, and will be described as being shown as radio station 2 in FIG.

  In FIG. 1, the radio station 2 according to the first embodiment includes a control unit 21, an antenna unit 22, a reception unit 23, a transmission unit 24, and an antenna unit 25.

  The antenna unit 22 captures a radio wave, converts the radio wave signal into an electric signal, and gives the converted electric signal to the receiving unit 23 as a reception signal.

  The reception unit 23 acquires a reception signal from the antenna unit 22 and performs reception processing on the acquired reception signal.

  The control unit 21 controls transmission processing and reception processing of the wireless station 2. The control unit 21 includes, for example, a CPU, ROM, RAM, EEPROM, input / output interface unit, and the like. The CPU implements the function of the wireless station 2 by executing a processing program stored in the ROM. Note that the processing program can be installed by installation, and can be represented by a block illustrated in FIG. 1 as a function of a CPU that is a computer.

  Functionally, the control unit 21 includes a transmission time control unit 211, an adjacent wireless station number recognition unit 213, a communication data number determination unit 213, and a codec type determination unit 214.

  The transmission time control unit 211 controls the transmission time of the wireless station 2. The transmission time control unit 211 controls a transmission time necessary for real-time communication such as VoIP communication.

  The transmission time control unit 211 controls the transmission interval of the wireless station 2 based on the codec method determined by the codec type determination unit 214 described later.

  The transmission interval control method based on the codec method by the transmission time control unit 211 is based on a voice code of a received voice packet (VoIP packet) in order to maintain the real-time property of VoIP communication while maintaining a predetermined transmission speed limit. A method of temporarily adjusting the transmission time interval of voice packets can be applied according to the conversion method.

  Here, the predetermined transmission limit speed indicates a ratio of transmission time required for VoIP communication set in advance in the wireless station 2 in the wireless communication system 10. For example, when the default transmission limit speed is set to “10%”, 360 seconds in the unit time of 1 hour (= 3600 seconds) is a time that can be spent as the transmission time of the VoIP packet. To do. The predetermined transmission limit rate can be appropriately determined in the wireless communication system 10, but in this embodiment, the case where the predetermined transmission limit rate is 10% is illustrated.

  That is, the transmission time control unit 211 sets the transmission limit speed within a unit time (for example, 1 hour (3600 seconds)) to 10%, but temporarily transmits the transmission time during the VoIP communication period. Adjust so that the interval is small. A specific method in which the transmission time control unit 211 adjusts the transmission time interval based on the speech encoding method determined by the codec type determination unit 214 described later will be described in detail in the operation section.

  The adjacent wireless station number recognition unit 212 recognizes the number of other wireless stations 2 with which the local station can communicate. That is, the adjacent wireless station number recognizing unit 212 recognizes the number of other adjacent wireless stations 2 with which the local station performs wireless communication when performing VoIP communication. The adjacent wireless station number recognizing unit 212 can recognize the number of adjacent wireless stations 2 by a technique such as a multi-hop routing protocol such as OLSR.

  The communication data number determination unit 213 determines the number of communication data passing through the own station. The communication data number determination unit 213 can apply, for example, a method of counting the number of communication data (or the number of VoIP packets) related to VoIP communication that passes through the own station per unit time.

  The codec type determination unit 214 acquires a reception signal from the reception unit 23, and determines the type of the voice encoding method (codec method) of the reception signal based on the header information of the reception signal. In other words, the codec type determination unit 214 determines the audio signal encoding method from the header information of the received signal, and gives the determination result to the transmission time control unit 211.

  The transmission unit 24 provides a signal to be transmitted to the antenna unit 25 for transmission.

  The antenna unit 25 transmits a transmission signal from the transmission unit 24 on a radio wave.

(1-2) Operation of First Embodiment Next, voice communication in the wireless communication system 10 of the first embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  Here, in FIG. 2, voice packets between the voice communication apparatuses 1-1 and 1-2 are VoIP communicated between the radio station 2-1 as the master station and the radio station 2-4 as the great-grandchild station. The case is illustrated.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the transmission interval adjustment process in the wireless station 2 according to the first embodiment.

  In FIG. 3, when receiving the received signal, the control unit 21 of each of the wireless stations 2-1 to 2-4 configuring the wireless communication system 10 determines the packet type based on the header information of the received signal (S101). . Here, it is determined that the packet type (for example, SIP message or the like) related to the VoIP communication between the voice communication apparatuses 1-1 and 1-2.

  Next, the codec type determination unit 214 of the control unit 21 determines the type of the codec scheme (voice coding scheme) of the voice signal based on the header information of the received voice packet (S102). The type of codec system of the audio signal in the audio communication apparatuses 1-1 and 1-2 is, for example, ITU-TG. 729.1, ITU-TG. 723.1, ITU-TG 711 etc. Note that the codec type is not limited to this.

  For example, in the case of voice communication using SIP, information about the type of codec system is included in the SIP message, and the codec type determination unit 214 reads the information about the type of codec system included in the header information. Can be determined.

  Next, in the wireless station 2, the communication data number determination unit 213 determines the number of communication data (that is, packets including voice data) passing through the own station (S103). For example, after the start of VoIP communication, the number of voice packets relayed by the local station is measured every unit time (for example, several seconds, several tens of seconds, etc.), and each wireless station 2 determines the number of voice packets relayed by the local station. To do.

  Each wireless station 2 has a transmission time control unit 211 based on a predetermined transmission limit speed in the wireless communication system 10, the number of adjacent wireless stations of the own station, the number of communication data passing through the own station, and the codec type. The transmission speed limit that is temporarily changed is calculated (S104). Each wireless station 2 adjusts the transmission time interval using the calculated transmission speed limit (S105), and transmits a voice packet to be relayed at the adjusted transmission timing.

  FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a general transmission operation according to a predetermined transmission speed limit set in the wireless station 2. FIG. 4 exemplifies a case where the default transmission limit rate is 10%, for example. In FIG. 4, the horizontal axis represents time.

  As shown in FIG. 4, when the predetermined transmission speed limit is 10%, the wireless station 2 performs transmission suspension for 9 seconds (9 s) after a transmission period of 1 second (1 s). In other words, when the predetermined transmission speed limit is 10%, it is common that the wireless station 2 performs transmission processing by determining the transmission time as 1 s corresponding to 10% of 10 seconds. Further, the actual transmission operation may occur when the transmission time is not exactly 1 second due to the influence of the data length of the communication data. For example, even if the predetermined transmission speed limit is 10%, the actual transmission time is not exactly 1 s, and for example, a time of about 1 ms or about 10 ms may be extended. In such a case, the control unit 21 of the wireless station 2 performs control so that the pause time becomes nine times the extended time according to the extended time (for example, about 1 ms, about 10 ms, etc.).

  FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating transmission time adjustment processing in the radio station according to the first embodiment. FIG. 5 exemplifies a case where the temporarily adjusted transmission limit speed is 50%. Also in FIG. 5, the horizontal axis represents time.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the transmission control unit 211 of the wireless station 2 temporarily changes the transmission limit rate for a predetermined period in which the voice packet is relayed. For example, the transmission limit rate per hour (= 3600 seconds) Is adjusted to be kept at a predetermined transmission limit speed of 10%.

  That is, when the wireless station 2 relays a voice packet related to VoIP communication, the wireless station 2 sets a transmission suspension period between 1s after a transmission period between 1s. As a result, the transmission limit rate temporarily becomes 50%, and the radio station 2 can increase the speed of the transmission timing of the voice packet during the period when the transmission limit rate is changed to be high.

  On the other hand, the wireless station 1 also adjusts the transmission limit rate per hour to 10% as a total, including the period when the transmission limit rate is changed to a high level.

  The time for adjusting the transmission limit speed to be high can be a time considered necessary for VoIP communication. For example, a time set in advance (for example, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, etc. as a time required for a call) It may be the time when the wireless station 2 is receiving (relaying) the voice packet.

  Specifically, the time related to the call is 5 minutes (= 300 seconds). It is assumed that the transmission time control unit 211 adjusts the transmission limit speed so as to change to 50% for the five minutes. Then, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the transmission time control unit 211 adjusts the transmission time to be 150 seconds out of 5 minutes (= 300 seconds), which is the time related to the call. On the other hand, if the default transmission speed limit is 10%, the transmission time is 6 minutes (= 360 seconds) in one hour (= 3600 seconds). Therefore, for 55 minutes (= 3300 seconds) after the lapse of 5 minutes, which is the time related to the call, the transmission time control unit 211 sets the transmission time to 210 seconds (= (360 seconds−150 seconds)). (In this example, adjustment is made so that the transmission speed limit is 6%).

  Here, an example of a method for adjusting the transmission time limit by the transmission time control unit 211 will be described. For example, the transmission time control unit 211 adjusts the transmission time limit according to the following equation (1).

“Transmission speed limit” = “Default transmission speed limit” × “Number of data communication” × “Number of adjacent wireless stations” × “Value according to codec type” (1)
Here, the “transmission limit rate” is an interval of transmission time necessary for performing VoIP communication in real time. The “predetermined transmission speed limit” is a transmission time interval set in the wireless communication system 10. In this embodiment, the case of 10% is illustrated.

  “Number of data communications” refers to the number of data communications (number of voice packets) of a VoIP call passing through the own station in the entire network. The “number of adjacent wireless stations” refers to the number of wireless stations that are performing VoIP communication or need to hop VoIP packets.

  The “value according to the codec type” is a value according to the codec type (speech coding method type) of the audio signal related to VoIP communication. For example, when the speech encoding method is G711 or G721, “1” is set. Also, for example, if the audio encoding method is G723.1 or G.264. In the case of 729.1, it is set to “2”. Note that the “value according to the codec type” is not limited to “1” or “2”, and how many times the transmission limit speed is increased (that is, how much the transmission interval is reduced) ) May be appropriately determined according to

  Here, the reason for considering the “number of data communication” and the “number of adjacent wireless stations” is that the number of adjacent wireless stations is the same as the wireless station 2-2 (slave station) or the wireless station 2-3 (grandchild station). This is because the radio station 2 that has a large amount of communication data (the number of voice packets) to be relayed has a large traffic. For the radio station 2 with such a large amount of traffic, the transmission limit speed is higher and the transmission interval is shorter. As a result, the radio station 2 located in the middle of the network and having a large load can continue the call without overflowing (that is, without disconnecting the call).

  The reason why the “value according to the codec type” is provided is based on the codec rate of the audio signal. For example, if the speech encoding method is G.264. For 729 and G723, the codec rate is relatively fast. Therefore, in this case, depending on the network configuration, the wireless station 2-1 (master station), the wireless station 2-2 (slave station), the wireless station 2-3 (grandchild station), and the wireless station 2 illustrated in FIG. At the time of -4 (great-grandchild station) hopping, only during VoIP communication, the transmission time control unit 211 changes the transmission limit speed to 40% of the quadruple speed of the default transmission limit speed of 10%. Further, for example, in the case of normal data communication, the transmission time control unit 211 may leave the transmission limit speed at the default transmission limit speed of 10%. Further, for example, the codec rate of the audio signal is relatively low. In the case of 721, the transmission time control unit 211 sets the transmission limit speed to 20%, which is twice the default transmission limit speed of 10%. In this way, it is possible to adjust the transmission speed limit according to the codec rate of the audio coding method.

  Further, the value of the transmission speed limit that is quadrupled or doubled may be changed according to the number of Hopping, the number of adjacent radio stations, and the number of communication data of VoIP communication. For example, the N wireless stations 2 may be provided to hop voice packets, and the value of the transmission speed limit may be changed to be larger by a multiple of N according to the number of hopping.

  In this way, when performing VoIP communication, the wireless station 2 can temporarily change the transmission interval to be short while maintaining the real-time property of VoIP communication and the total transmission time. That is, the wireless station 2 can temporarily change the transmission limit speed such as 20%, 40%, 60%, and the like.

  In addition, the wireless station 2 can vary the transmission time according to the VoIP coding rate in order to increase the VoIP call time with the conventional apparatus configuration without increasing the memory. .

(A-3) Effect of First Embodiment As described above, according to the first embodiment, a wireless station with a load in the network (for example, the wireless station 2-2 of the first embodiment). (Slave station) and radio station 2-3 (slave station)), the transmission interval can be shortened to increase the transmission time timing speed.

  Compared to the conventional case where the transmission time timing speed is not increased, the amount of data to be stored can be suppressed, so that the real-time property during a call can be maintained for a long time.

  As a result, since it is not necessary to mount a large amount of memory or the like with the current device, it is possible to suppress the device cost associated with the addition of the memory and to increase the real-time call time.

(B) Second Embodiment Next, a second embodiment of the wireless communication system, the wireless communication method, the wireless communication device, the management device, and the management method of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(B-1) Configuration of Second Embodiment FIGS. 6 and 7 are overall configuration diagrams showing the overall configuration of a wireless communication system 10A according to the second embodiment.

  As illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7, the wireless communication system 10 </ b> A according to the second embodiment includes voice communication devices 1-1 to 1-4, wireless stations 2-1 to 2-5, and a mesh gateway device 3. .

  6 and 7, the voice communication device 1-1 is connected to the radio station 2-1, and the voice communication device 1-2 is connected to the radio station 2-5. Also, it is assumed that the voice communication device 1-3 is connected to the radio station 2-2, and the voice communication device 1-4 is connected to the radio station 2-4. The mesh gateway device 3 is connected to the wireless station 2-1.

  6 and 7, the wireless station 2-1 is the “parent station”, the wireless station 2-2 is the “slave station”, the wireless station 2-3 is the “grandchild station”, and the wireless station 2-4. Is a “hiyoko station”, and the radio station 2-5 is a “hiyoko station”.

  It is assumed that the wireless stations 2-1 to 2-5 are in a state where direct wireless communication is not possible between wireless stations that are not adjacent to each other. Specifically, the radio station 2-1 of the master station has direct radio communication with the radio station 2-3 (grandchild station), the radio station 2-4 (greater grandchild station), and the radio station 2-5 (greater grandchild station). It is assumed that the wireless station 2-2 of the slave station cannot perform direct wireless communication with the wireless station 2-4 (hisunago station) and the wireless station 2-5 (hihison son station). Shall.

  The mesh gateway device 3 transmits and receives control signals to and from the wireless stations 2-1 to 2-5, and manages and monitors the entire wireless communication system 10A (network). The mesh gateway device 3 has an information processing device such as a personal computer, for example. The mesh gateway device 3 sends information including the call time and the transmission suspension time to each of the wireless devices 2-1 to 2-5 according to the state of VoIP communication between the voice communication devices 1-1 to 1-4. The transmission time and the transmission suspension time are displayed on each of the wireless stations 2-1 to 2-5.

  Thereby, since the user who has arrange | positioned the radio stations 2-1 to 2-5 can see the call possible time and rest time displayed on the display means, the user's radio stations 2-1 to 2- The user-friendliness of 5 can be improved.

  FIG. 8 is an internal configuration diagram illustrating an internal configuration of the mesh gateway device 3 according to the second embodiment.

  In FIG. 8, the mesh gateway device 3 according to the second embodiment includes a communication unit 31 and a control unit 32.

  The communication unit 31 is a processing unit or device that exchanges control information with the wireless station 2-1 that is a master station.

  The control unit 32 governs the function of the mesh gateway device 3. For example, the control unit 32 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, an EEPROM, an input / output interface unit, and the like. The CPU implements the function of the mesh gateway device 3 by executing a processing program stored in the ROM. Note that the processing program can be installed by installation, and can be represented by a block illustrated in FIG. 8 as a function of a CPU that is a computer.

  Functionally, the control unit 32 includes a radio station information acquisition unit 321, a radio station communication time calculation unit 322, a radio station pause time calculation unit 323, and a callable information transmission unit 324.

  The wireless station information acquisition unit 321 acquires information including state information of each of the wireless stations 2-1 to 2-5 configuring the wireless communication system 10A (network). Each of the wireless stations 2-1 to 2-5 periodically transmits a signal including state information to the wireless device 2-1 that is the parent station, and the wireless station information acquisition unit 321 is the wireless station 2- 1, status information of each of the wireless stations 2-1 to 2-5 is acquired. The wireless station information acquisition unit 321 acquires information including the packet type, transmission source information, destination information, routing information, transmission limit speed, and the like relayed by the wireless stations 2-1 to 2-5. As a result, it is possible to acquire information related to the transmission source and destination of the voice communication apparatuses 1-1 to 1-4 performing VoIP communication and to recognize the routing information of the VoIP packet. As a result, the mesh gateway device 3 can recognize the network configuration in which VoIP communication is performed.

  The wireless station communication time calculation unit 322 determines the callable time of each of the wireless stations 2-1 to 2-5 according to the network configuration performing VoIP communication based on the information acquired by the wireless station information acquisition unit 321. It is what you want. For example, even when the default transmission limit speed of 10% is set, the communication time of each of the wireless stations 2-1 to 2-5 is about several minutes to 10 minutes. After that, although depending on the processing of the memory of the wireless station 2, the VoIP communication can be performed again with a pause time of about several minutes like the transmission time.

  For example, the wireless station communication time calculation unit 322 calculates a communicable time for each of the wireless stations 2-1 to 2-5 according to the transmission speed limit of each of the wireless stations 2-1 to 2-5. At this time, the communicable time varies depending on the radio wave environment and the like. For this reason, the wireless station communication time calculation unit 322 considers the environment in which each of the wireless stations 2-1 to 2-5 is placed, and performs processing such as setting the time deducted by a predetermined time as a communicable time. May be performed.

  Further, depending on the network configuration of VoIP communication, the radio station communication time calculation unit 322 may have a radio station 2 with a large load that relays VoIP packets related to a plurality of calls. As described above, the wireless station communication time calculation unit 322 may request the wireless device 2 in which a plurality of call networks overlap so that the callable time is shortened.

  The radio station pause time calculation unit 323 is configured to change the radio stations 2-1 to 2-1 according to the network configuration performing VoIP communication based on the information acquired by the radio stations 2-1 to 2-5 radio station information acquisition unit 321. 2-5 is obtained for each pause time.

  As described above, for example, even when the default transmission limit speed of 10% is set, the communication time of each of the wireless stations 2-1 to 2-5 is about several minutes to 10 minutes. Although it depends on the processing of the memory of the radio station 2, the VoIP communication can be performed again with a pause time of about several minutes as with the transmission time.

  Therefore, the radio station pause time calculation unit 323 may obtain a pause time comparable to the communication times of the radio stations 2-1 to 2-5.

  In addition, for the wireless device 2 in which a plurality of call networks overlap, the wireless station suspension time calculation unit 323 sets a time longer than the communicable time calculated by the wireless station communication time calculation unit 322 as the suspension time. You may make it ask.

  The communicable information transmission unit 324 uses the information including the communicable time obtained by the radio station communication time calculation unit 322 and the outage time obtained by the radio station pause time calculation unit 323 as the call available information, And transmitted to each wireless station 2 via the network.

(B-2) Operation of Second Embodiment Next, voice communication in the wireless communication system 10A according to the second embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 6 illustrates a case where the voice communication device 1-1 and the voice communication device 1-3 perform VoIP communication, and the voice communication device 1-2 and the voice communication device 1-4 perform VoIP communication. Yes.

  In FIG. 6, the mesh gateway device 3 includes a network related to a call between the voice communication device 1-1 and the voice communication device 1-3 based on the state information from the wireless stations 2-1 to 2-5, and voice. It recognizes that a network related to a call between the communication device 1-2 and the voice communication device 1-4 is configured.

  That is, the mesh gateway device 3 performs routing of the VoIP packet between the voice communication device 1-1 and the voice communication device 1-3 with respect to the radio station 2-1 (master station) and the radio station 2-2 (slave station). In addition, the routing of VoIP packets between the voice communication device 1-2 and the voice communication device 1-4 is performed by the radio station 2-4 (greater grandchild station) and the radio station 2-5 (greater grandchild). Recognize what is being done via

  In the case of FIG. 6, between the network related to the call between the voice communication device 1-1 and the voice communication device 1-3 and the network related to the call between the voice communication device 1-2 and the voice communication device 1-4. There are no overlapping radio stations 2.

  Further, the mesh gateway device 3 recognizes from the wireless station 2-1 and the wireless station 2-2 that the transmission limit speed is a predetermined transmission limit speed of 10%. In the case where the default transmission speed limit is 10%, for example, a call of about several minutes to 10 minutes is possible. Therefore, in the mesh gateway device 3, the wireless station communication time calculation unit 212 sets the call time 5 as a communicable time. Ask for minutes.

  Here, for convenience, the call time is 5 minutes. For example, when the transmission speed limit is 10%, the communication time is 6 minutes (= 360 seconds) per hour (= 3600 seconds). Further, the mesh gateway device 3 may determine the call time according to the transmission limit speed of the wireless station 2.

  Furthermore, the mesh gateway device 3 determines a time comparable to the determined call time as the pause time after the call time.

  Then, the mesh gateway device 3 transmits information including the call time and the suspension time to the radio stations 2-1 and 2-2 that configure the network between the voice communication devices 1-1 and 1-2.

  The radio stations 2-1 and 2-2 display information including the call time and the pause time received from the mesh gateway device 3 on the display unit. Thereby, the user who has arrange | positioned the radio stations 2-1 and 2-2 can recognize the use condition of the radio stations 2-1 and 2-2.

  In the above example, the mesh gateway device 3 exemplifies the case where the call time and the suspension time are determined for the network related to the call between the voice communication device 1-1 and the voice communication device 1-3. The same applies to the network related to the call between the device 1-2 and the voice communication device 1-4.

  FIG. 7 illustrates a case where the voice communication device 1-1 and the voice communication device 1-2 perform VoIP communication, and the voice communication device 1-3 and the voice communication device 1-4 perform VoIP communication. Yes.

  In FIG. 7, the mesh gateway device 3 includes a network related to a call between the voice communication device 1-1 and the voice communication device 1-2 based on the state information from the wireless stations 2-1 to 2-5, and voice. It recognizes that a network related to a call between the communication device 1-3 and the voice communication device 1-4 is configured.

  That is, in the mesh gateway device 3, the routing of the VoIP packet between the voice communication device 1-1 and the voice communication device 1-2 is performed by the radio station 2-1 (master station), the radio station 2-2 (slave station), It is recognized that the operation is performed via the radio station 2-3 (the grandchild station), the radio station 2-4 (the great grandchild station), and the radio station 2-5 (the great grandchild station).

  In addition, the routing of the VoIP packet between the voice communication device 1-3 and the voice communication device 1-4 is performed by the radio station 2-2 (slave station), the radio station 2-3 (grandchild station), and the radio station 2-4 ( Recognize that this is being done

  In the case of the example in FIG. 7, the wireless station 2-2 (child station), the wireless station 2-3 (grandchild station), and the wireless station 2-4 (greater grandchild station) overlap in the communication routes of the two call networks. Yes.

  In this case, the radio station 2-2 (slave station), the radio station 2-3 (grandchild station), and the radio station 2-4 (greater grandchild station) each have a larger number of communication data (number of VoIP packets) passing through the own station. The traffic load increases.

  Therefore, the wireless station 2-2 (slave station), the wireless station 2-3 (grandchild station), and the wireless station 2-4 (greater grandchild station) are described in the first embodiment in order to increase the speed of transmission timing. In this way, the transmission limit speed is changed to be higher. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, the radio station 2-2 (slave station) and the radio station 2-4 (great-grandchild station) change the transmission limit speed to 20%. The radio station 2-3 (the grandchild station) changes the transmission speed limit to 40%. Of course, the transmission limit speed may be the default transmission limit speed of 10%. However, when the transmission limit speed is changed to a high level, for example, when 10% is maintained during 1: 1 communication between the master station and the slave station. Rather than that, the talk time is much shorter.

  At this time, the media gateway device 3 determines the call time as 5 minutes, and after that call time, determines the pause time as 15 minutes so as to be longer than the call time.

  Then, the mesh gateway device 3 transmits information including the call time and the pause time to the radio stations 2-1 to 2-5.

  The radio stations 2-1 to 2-5 display information including the call time and the pause time received from the mesh gateway device 3 on the display unit. Thereby, the user who has arrange | positioned the radio stations 2-1 to 2-5 can recognize the use condition of the radio stations 2-1 to 2-5.

(B-3) Effects of the Second Embodiment As described above, according to the second embodiment, even when VoIP communication is performed with the default transmission limit speed, the default transmission limit speed is increased. Even when VoIP communication is performed, the mesh gateway device monitors the entire network and causes each wireless station to display the communication time and the waiting time until transmission is possible (transmission pause time). As a result, the communication time and the waiting time until the call are clarified, and the waiting time is expected to save power by suspending the transmission system that consumes the most power. Furthermore, by displaying the communication time and the downtime by the display function of the wireless station, it becomes a service for the user, and the usability can be improved.

(C) Other Embodiments Although various modified embodiments have been described in the above-described embodiments, the present invention can be widely applied to the following modified embodiments.

(C-1) In each embodiment mentioned above, the case where this invention was applied to the multihopping radio | wireless system as a disaster prevention system was illustrated. However, the present invention is not limited to a disaster prevention system as long as it is a multi-hopping wireless system, and can be widely applied to a wireless communication system.

(C-2) As described in the first embodiment, the present invention provides wireless communication when a voice communication device as a VoIP telephone is connected to a wireless station (for example, a disaster prevention wireless device) and performs VoIP communication. The station can change the transmission time, and can be widely applied to wireless systems of various network forms between wireless stations.

(C-3) As described in the second embodiment, the present invention can be applied to a radio station (for example, disaster prevention) when the transmission time is changed or the transmission time is not changed when the VOIP call is performed. The present invention can be widely applied to a wireless system in which a VoIP telephone is connected to a wireless device and a mesh gateway device monitors the whole.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Wireless communication system, 1-1 to 1-4 ... Voice communication apparatus, 2-1 to 2-5 ... Wireless station, 3 ... Mesh gateway apparatus, 21 ... Control part, 211 ... Transmission time control part, 212 ... Adjacent Number of wireless stations recognizing unit, 213... Communication data number determining unit, 214... Codec type determining unit, 22 and 25... Antenna unit, 23. 321... Wireless station information acquisition unit, 322... Wireless station communication time calculation unit, 323... Radio station pause time calculation unit, 324.

Claims (9)

In a wireless communication system having a plurality of wireless communication devices in which a communication time in a predetermined unit time is limited, each wireless communication device transmits and receives communication signals by multi-hop wireless communication.
A wireless communication system, comprising: a communication time control means for temporarily varying the communication time while maintaining the communication time in the predetermined unit time at a limited communication time.   2. The communication time control means according to claim 1, wherein the communication time control means sets a communication suspension time after elapse of a temporarily changed communication time so that the communication time in the predetermined unit time is limited. The wireless communication system described.   Each of the wireless communication devices includes the communication time control means, and the communication time control means determines whether to temporarily change the communication time according to the communication protocol of the received signal received. The wireless communication system according to claim 1, wherein   The communication time control means determines whether or not to temporarily change the communication time according to the type of a voice encoding method of a voice signal as a communication protocol of a received signal. 3. The wireless communication system according to 3. A management device for managing each communication state of the plurality of wireless communication devices;
The management device
Communicable information determining means for determining communicable information including a communicable time and a pause time of each wireless communication device according to a network configuration recognized based on communication state information acquired from each wireless communication device; ,
Communicable information transmitting means for transmitting the communicable information determined by the communicable information determining means to each of the corresponding wireless communication devices,
The wireless communication system according to claim 1, wherein each of the wireless communication devices includes an output unit that outputs information including a communicable time and a pause time acquired from the management device. In a wireless communication method having a plurality of wireless communication devices in which communication time in a predetermined unit time is limited, each wireless communication device transmits and receives communication signals by multi-hop wireless communication.
A wireless communication method, wherein the communication time control means temporarily varies the communication time while maintaining the communication time in the predetermined unit time at the limited communication time. In a wireless communication device that transmits and receives communication signals by multi-hop wireless communication and has a limited communication time in a predetermined unit time,
A wireless communication apparatus comprising: a communication time control unit that temporarily varies the communication time while maintaining the communication time in the predetermined unit time at a limited communication time. In a management device that transmits and receives communication signals by multi-hop wireless communication and manages communication states of a plurality of wireless communication devices in which communication time in a predetermined unit time is limited,
Communicable information determining means for determining communicable information including a communicable time and a pause time of each wireless communication device according to a network configuration recognized based on communication state information acquired from each wireless communication device; ,
A communicable information transmission unit that transmits the communicable information determined by the communicable information determination unit to each of the corresponding wireless communication devices. In a management method of a management device that transmits and receives communication signals by multi-hop wireless communication and manages communication states of a plurality of wireless communication devices in which communication time in a predetermined unit time is limited.
The communicable information determining means determines communicable information including a communicable time and a pause time of each wireless communication device according to the network configuration recognized based on the communication state information acquired from each wireless communication device. And
A communicable information transmitting unit transmits the communicable information determined by the communicable information determining unit to each of the corresponding wireless communication devices.

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