JP2016058928A - Wireless device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem in which it takes time to search for a transmission beam pattern with excellent reception quality.SOLUTION: The wireless device transmits a fan beam while changing a beam radiation direction in a first scan direction, transmits a pencil beam with a narrow beam width while changing a beam radiation direction in a direction different from the first scan direction in a predetermined radiation range of the fan beam, and makes a predetermined direction of the pencil beam to be a radiation direction of a transmission beam.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a wireless device.

  In the millimeter wave band wireless communication, in order to implement high quality wireless communication, a technique for selecting a high-precision beam pattern at high speed has been developed. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a wireless communication apparatus and a wireless communication system that can select a beam pattern with high accuracy at high speed.

JP 2013-179423 A (published September 9, 2013)

  However, in the above-described conventional technique, when the beam pattern is narrow like a pencil beam, it is necessary to compare the reception quality of a large number of beam patterns. Therefore, there is a problem that it takes time to search for a beam pattern with good reception quality.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, a wireless device according to one embodiment of the present invention is a wireless device that transmits a signal to an external wireless device, and changes a beam radiation direction in a first scanning direction while a fan beam. Among the fan beam transmitting means for transmitting the fan beam and the fan beam having a different radiation direction transmitted by the fan beam transmitting means in a second scanning direction different from the first scanning direction within a predetermined fan beam radiation range. Among the pencil beam transmitting means for transmitting a pencil beam having a beam width narrower than the fan beam while changing the beam radiation direction, and the pencil beam having a different radiation direction transmitted by the pencil beam transmitting means, the radiation of a predetermined pencil beam Transmission beam setting means for setting the direction to the radiation direction of the transmission beam is provided.

  A wireless device according to one embodiment of the present invention is a wireless device including a transmission unit that transmits a signal to an external wireless device, and a reception unit that receives a signal of the external wireless device. In the radiation range of the fan beam having a different reception direction of the fan beam transmitted by the wireless device of the first wireless device while changing the beam radiation direction in the first scanning direction, or in the radiation range of the fan beam having good reception quality by the external wireless device. Reception quality acquisition means for acquiring the reception quality of a pencil beam having a radiation direction of a pencil beam having a beam width narrower than that of the fan beam transmitted while changing the beam radiation direction in a second scanning direction different from the first scanning direction. Compare the reception quality of the different fan beams or the reception quality of the different pencil beams. Identify the quality is good pencil beam, information indicating the specified beam, and a beam specifying means for transmitting to said external wireless device includes.

  In addition, a wireless device according to one embodiment of the present invention receives a fan beam transmitted from an external wireless device in a fan-shaped beam reception region while changing a directing direction in the third scanning direction. Directing in a fourth scanning direction different from the third scanning direction within a predetermined reception area among the beam receiving areas having different directivity directions used by the fan beam receiving means and the fan beam receiving means. A pencil beam receiving means for receiving a fan beam to be transmitted in a pencil-shaped beam receiving area having a higher directivity and a narrow receiving area than the fan-shaped beam receiving area while changing the direction, and the pencil beam receiving means Among the pencil-shaped beam reception areas with different directivity directions used for reception, the directivity direction of a predetermined beam reception area is set as the reception direction of the received beam. And a reception beam setting means for comprises.

  The wireless device according to one aspect of the present invention is a wireless device that transmits and receives signals to and from an external wireless device, and reception quality determination means that determines whether or not the reception quality of the received signal exceeds a threshold value. Transmission beam switching means for switching the type of beam to be used according to the determination result of the reception quality determination means.

  A wireless device according to one embodiment of the present invention is a wireless device that transmits / receives a signal to / from an external wireless device, and switches the type of beam used by the external wireless device from the external wireless device. A receiving unit that receives the switching information to be displayed, and a transmission beam switching unit that switches the type of the transmission beam of the device itself when the switching information is received.

  A wireless device according to one embodiment of the present invention is a wireless device that transmits / receives a signal to / from an external wireless device, and receives information indicating reception quality of a signal received by the external wireless device from the external wireless device. A receiving unit for receiving; reception quality determining means for determining whether or not the reception quality exceeds a threshold; and transmission beam switching means for switching the type of beam to be used according to the determination result of the reception quality determining means; It has.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, there is an effect that the time for specifying the radiation direction of a beam with good reception quality is shortened.

  Further, according to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to increase out-of-service tolerance due to a shift in the position (direction) of each wireless device while maintaining reception quality.

It is a block diagram which shows an example of the principal part structure of the communication system of this Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process of the communication system of this Embodiment 1. (A)-(c) is a figure which shows the structure and beam pattern of an antenna. (A) And (b) is a figure which shows the transmission beam of this Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the flame | frame of the signal transmitted of this Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the principal part structure of the communication system of this Embodiment 2. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process of the communication system of this Embodiment 2. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the principal part structure of the communication system of this Embodiment 3. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process of the communication system of this Embodiment 3. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a processing flow of a communication system according to a first modification. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process of the conventional communication system.

Embodiment 1
The following describes the present embodiment with reference to FIGS. A communication system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of the communication system 1. The communication system 1 includes a wireless communication device (wireless device) 2 and a wireless communication device 3. The wireless communication device 2 and the wireless communication device 3 are communication terminals (wireless LAN terminals), access points, and the like. Note that the communication terminal and the access point can be either the wireless communication device 2 or the wireless communication device 3. Signals are transmitted and received between the wireless communication device 2 and the wireless communication device 3.

  Next, the wireless communication device 2 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the wireless communication device 2 includes a communication unit 21 and a control unit 22.

  The communication unit 21 performs wireless communication with an external device via a directional antenna (not shown). The wireless communication device 2 performs wireless communication with the wireless communication device 3. The wireless communication device 2 may be configured to include an omnidirectional antenna in addition to the directional antenna.

  A configuration of the antenna 5 according to the present embodiment and a beam shape (beam pattern) indicating a radiation direction (beam radiation direction) of a signal to be transmitted will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the relationship between the configuration of the antenna 5 and the beam pattern. FIG. 3A is a diagram showing the relationship between the configuration of the antenna 5 and the pencil beam pattern. As shown in FIG. 3A, the antenna 5 includes a plurality of antenna elements 51 arranged in a lattice pattern. When all of the antenna elements 51 included in the antenna 5 are used, the antenna 5 emits a pencil beam with a pencil beam pattern F1 having a high directivity and a narrow reception area (a narrow beam width). The pencil beam has a narrower beam width than the fan beam described later. 3B and 3C are diagrams showing the relationship between the configuration of the antenna 5 and the fan beam pattern. As shown in FIG. 3 (b), when the antenna elements used in the antenna 5 are limited to the antenna elements 51a in the central horizontal row (one row in the horizontal direction), the antenna 5 is high or low. The fan beam is radiated with a wide-angle fan beam pattern F2. Further, as shown in FIG. 3C, when the antenna elements to be used among the antenna elements 51 provided in the antenna 5 are limited to only the antenna elements 51b in the central vertical row (one row in the vertical direction), the antenna 5 Transmits a fan beam with a fan beam pattern F3 having a wide azimuth angle.

  The communication unit 21 includes a reception unit 211 and a transmission unit 212. The receiving unit 211 receives a signal from the wireless communication device 3. Specifically, when receiving a beacon from the wireless communication device 3, the reception unit 211 transmits beacon reception information indicating that a beacon has been received to the transmission beam switching unit 23. In addition, when the reception unit 211 receives transmission fan beam information indicating a fan beam with good reception quality, the reception unit 211 transmits the information to the transmission beam switching unit 23. When receiving the transmission pencil beam information indicating the pencil beam having good reception quality, the reception unit 211 transmits the information to the transmission beam pattern setting unit (transmission beam setting unit) 25. The transmission unit 212 transmits a signal to the wireless communication device 3 in accordance with an instruction from the beam transmission instruction unit 24.

  The control unit 22 includes a transmission beam switching unit 23, a beam transmission instruction unit 24, and a transmission beam pattern setting unit 25.

  When receiving the beacon reception information from the reception unit 211, the transmission beam switching unit 23 transmits the beacon reception information to the fan beam transmission instruction unit (fan beam transmission unit) 241. Further, when receiving the transmission fan beam information, the transmission beam switching unit 23 transmits the information to the beam transmission instruction unit 24. The fan beam transmission instruction unit 241 receives the information, and instructs the transmission unit 212 to transmit the fan beam. The pencil beam transmission instruction unit (pencil beam transmission unit) 242 receives information from the transmission beam switching unit 23 and instructs the transmission unit 212 to transmit the pencil beam. That is, the information transmission destination (fan beam transmission instruction unit 241 or pencil beam transmission instruction unit 242) of the transmission beam switching unit 23 determines the type of transmission beam transmitted by the transmission unit 212 (switches the transmission beam).

  The beam transmission instruction unit 24 includes a fan beam transmission instruction unit 241 and a pencil beam transmission instruction unit 242.

  The fan beam transmission instruction unit 241 instructs the transmission unit 212 to transmit the fan beam while changing the beam emission direction in the first scanning direction. Specifically, when the fan beam transmission instruction unit 241 receives the beacon reception information, the fan beam transmission instruction unit 241 instructs the transmission unit 212 to transmit the fan beam while changing the beam radiation direction in the X-axis direction in the set two-dimensional coordinates. To do.

  The pencil beam transmission instructing unit 242 has a second fan beam different from the first scanning direction in a predetermined fan beam radiation range among fan beams having different radiation directions instructed by the fan beam transmission instruction unit 241 to transmit. The transmitter 212 is instructed to transmit a pencil beam having a beam width narrower than that of the fan beam while changing the beam radiation direction in the scanning direction. Specifically, the pencil beam transmission instruction unit 242 receives transmission fan beam information indicating a transmission fan beam having good reception quality among fan beams having different radiation directions instructed by the fan beam transmission instruction unit 241. When receiving the transmission fan beam information, the pencil beam transmission instruction unit 242 emits the beam in the Y-axis direction (second scanning direction) in the set two-dimensional coordinates in the fan beam radiation range indicated by the transmission fan beam information. The transmission unit 212 is instructed to transmit the pencil beam while changing the direction. When the pencil beam transmission instruction unit 242 receives the transmission pencil beam information from the transmission beam pattern setting unit 25, the pencil beam transmission instruction unit 242 instructs the transmission unit 212 to transmit using the pencil beam indicated by the transmission pencil beam information.

  The transmission beam pattern setting unit 25 sets the radiation direction of a predetermined pencil beam as the radiation direction of the transmission beam among the pencil beams having different radiation directions instructed by the pencil beam transmission instruction unit 242. Specifically, when receiving the transmission pencil beam information from the reception unit 211, the transmission beam pattern setting unit 25 transmits the transmission pencil beam information to the pencil beam transmission instruction unit 242.

  Next, the wireless communication device 3 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the wireless communication device 3 includes a communication unit 31, a control unit 32, and a storage unit 40.

  The communication unit 31 performs wireless communication with an external device via an omnidirectional antenna (not shown). The wireless communication device 3 performs wireless communication with the wireless communication device 2. The wireless communication device 3 may be configured to include a directional antenna in addition to the omnidirectional antenna. The communication unit 31 includes a reception unit 311 and a transmission unit 312. The receiving unit 311 receives a signal from the wireless communication device 2. Specifically, the receiving unit 311 receives fan beams having different fan beam radiation directions transmitted by the wireless communication device 2. The reception unit 311 transmits signals included in fan beams (transmission beams) having different radiation directions to the beam quality monitoring unit (reception quality acquisition unit) 36. The receiving unit 311 receives pencil beams with different radiation directions transmitted by the wireless communication device 2. The reception unit 311 transmits signals included in pencil beams (transmission beams) having different radiation directions to the beam quality monitoring unit 36. The transmission unit 312 transmits a signal to the wireless communication apparatus 2 in accordance with an instruction from the beam pattern identification unit (beam identification unit) 37.

  The control unit 32 includes a beam quality monitoring unit 36 and a beam pattern specifying unit 37.

  The beam quality monitoring unit 36 acquires the reception quality of fan beams having different radiation directions of the fan beams transmitted by the wireless communication apparatus 2 while changing the beam radiation direction in the first scanning direction. Further, the beam quality monitoring unit 36 transmits the radio beam while changing the beam radiation direction in the second scanning direction different from the first scanning direction in the fan beam radiation range with good reception quality. The reception quality of a pencil beam having a radiation direction of a pencil beam having a beam width narrower than that of the fan beam is acquired. Specifically, the beam quality monitor unit 36 acquires the reception quality of the signals included in the received fan beams or pencil beams having different radiation directions. Examples of reception quality include reception signal strength detection (RSSI), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), signal-to-interference / noise ratio (SINR), bit error rate, frame error rate, packet error rate, and the like. The beam quality monitor unit 36 stores reception quality information indicating the acquired reception quality of each transmission beam in the storage unit 40. Further, the beam quality monitor unit 36 transmits a signal indicating that the reception quality information is stored in the storage unit 40 to the beam pattern specifying unit 37.

  The beam pattern specifying unit 37 compares the reception quality of a fan beam or the reception quality of a pencil beam, specifies a fan beam having a good reception quality or a pencil beam having a good reception quality, and information indicating the specified beam (Transmission fan beam information, transmission pencil beam information) is transmitted to the external device via the transmission unit 312.

  The storage unit 40 stores reception quality information indicating the reception quality of the transmission beam acquired by the beam quality monitoring unit 36.

  Next, a processing flow of the communication system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of the communication system 1.

  As shown in FIG. 2, when the receiving unit 211 of the wireless communication device 2 receives a beacon from the wireless communication device 3 (S1), the transmission beam switching unit 23 switches to a fan beam (S2). Next, the transmission unit 212 transmits the fan beam while changing the beam radiation direction in the X-axis direction (first scanning direction) in the set two-dimensional coordinates in accordance with the instruction of the fan beam transmission instruction unit 241 ( S3). Here, the “direction of the X axis in the two-dimensional coordinates” in step S3 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4A shows a fan beam. As shown in FIG. 4A, the fan beam F4 is transmitted while changing the beam radiation direction in the direction D1 of the X axis.

  The wireless communication device 3 receives the fan beams with different radiation directions transmitted by the wireless communication device 2 via the omnidirectional antenna (S4). The beam pattern identification unit 37 identifies the transmission fan beam a1 having good reception quality from the reception quality information, and the transmission unit 312 transmits the transmission fan beam information to the wireless communication apparatus 2 (S5).

  When the wireless communication device 2 receives the transmission fan beam information, the beam transmission instruction unit 24 switches the beam to be transmitted to the pencil beam. (S6). The pencil beam transmission instruction unit 242 instructs the transmission unit 212 to transmit the pencil beam while changing the beam emission direction in the Y-axis direction (second scanning direction) in the emission range of the transmission fan beam a1 ( S7). Here, the “direction of the Y axis” in step S7 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4B is a diagram showing a pencil beam. As shown in FIG. 4B, the pencil beam F5 is transmitted while changing the beam radiation direction in the Y-axis direction D2 in the radiation range A1 of the transmission fan beam a1 with good reception quality.

  The wireless communication device 3 receives the pencil beams with different radiation directions transmitted by the wireless communication device 2 via the omnidirectional antenna (S8). The beam pattern specifying unit 37 specifies the transmission pencil beam a2 having good reception quality (S9). In step S9, a process is performed in which the fan beam in step S5 described above is replaced with a pencil beam.

  The beam pattern identification unit 37 identifies the transmission pencil beam a2 with good reception quality, and instructs the transmission unit 312 to transmit the transmission pencil beam information to the wireless communication device 2.

  When receiving the transmission pencil beam information, the wireless communication device 2 performs transmission using the transmission pencil beam a2 indicated by the transmission pencil beam information (S10). Note that the wireless communication device 2 may specify the direction in which the wireless communication device 3 is located based on the direction indicated by the transmission pencil beam a2.

  In the present embodiment, the fan beam is scanned in the X-axis direction of the set two-dimensional coordinates. However, the fan beam may be scanned in the Y-axis direction. In this case, the pencil beam may be scanned in the X-axis direction within the fan beam radiation range with good reception quality. In addition, when the wireless communication device 2 scans the fan beam in the X-axis direction of the set two-dimensional coordinates and cannot determine the direction in which the wireless communication device 3 is located, the Y-axis direction of the set two-dimensional coordinates The fan beam may be scanned again in the X-axis direction after changing the position.

  Next, a frame structure of a signal transmitted by the transmission beam according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a frame structure of a signal transmitted by the transmission beam according to the present embodiment. The communication according to the present embodiment is assumed to be performed by a time division multiple access method (TDMA), but is not limited thereto. As shown in FIG. 5, a frame of a signal transmitted by a transmission beam is composed of a plurality of slots serving as a basic unit when performing time division multiple access. The frame is composed of the following slots. A beacon that transmits a synchronization signal serving as a reference for time in a wireless communication device on a transmission side and a wireless communication device on a reception side. A beam pattern slot for transmitting a signal indicating each beam pattern of a transmission beam. Communication slot (CS) used for communication. The signal transmitted by the transmission beam may be configured to transmit a beacon indicating a time reference for each frame.

  Here, the processing flow of the conventional communication system will be described with reference to FIG. As illustrated in FIG. 11, the wireless communication device 200 receives a beacon from the wireless communication device 300 (S101). The wireless communication apparatus 200 transmits a transmission beam having a different radiation direction in all transmittable directions using the pencil beam (S102). The wireless communication device 300 receives the transmission beam transmitted by the wireless communication device 200 via the omnidirectional antenna (S103). The radio communication apparatus 300 identifies a transmission beam (transmission beam pattern) having good reception quality from the transmission beam received from the radio communication apparatus 200 as the transmission beam pattern a, and the transmission beam having good reception quality is the transmission beam pattern a. Information indicating this is transmitted to the wireless communication apparatus 200 (S104). The wireless communication apparatus 200 transmits a signal to the wireless communication apparatus 300 using an omnidirectional antenna (S105). Radio communication apparatus 300 receives signals in pencil-shaped beam reception areas (reception beam patterns) having different reception directions in all receivable directions. (S106). The radio communication apparatus 300 identifies a pencil-shaped beam reception area with good reception quality as the reception beam pattern b, and transmits information indicating that the reception beam pattern with good reception quality is the reception beam pattern b to the radio communication apparatus 200. (S107). The wireless communication apparatus 300 sets the beam reception area as the reception beam pattern b (S108). When receiving information indicating that the received beam pattern with good reception quality is the received beam pattern b, the wireless communication apparatus 200 sets the transmitted beam to the transmitted beam pattern a (S109).

  As described above, in the conventional communication system, the wireless communication apparatus 200 transmits a transmission beam in all possible directions using a pencil beam. The wireless communication apparatus 300 identifies a transmission beam (transmission beam pattern) with good reception quality among the transmission beams transmitted from the wireless communication apparatus 200. On the other hand, in the communication system according to the present embodiment, the wireless communication device 2 changes the beam radiation direction to the Y-axis direction in the set two-dimensional coordinates in the radiation range indicated by the transmission fan beam having good reception quality while the pencil is changed. The beam is transmitted to the wireless communication device 3. The wireless communication device 3 identifies a transmission beam (transmission beam pattern) with good reception quality from the transmission beams received from the wireless communication device 2. Therefore, the number of pencil beam patterns transmitted by the wireless communication device 2 can be reduced as compared with the wireless communication device 200 according to the reference embodiment of the present invention.

[Embodiment 2]
The following will describe another embodiment of the present invention with reference to FIGS. For convenience of explanation, members having the same functions as those described in the embodiment are given the same reference numerals, and descriptions thereof are omitted. In the communication system 1a according to the present embodiment, the description of the same configuration as that of the communication system 1 according to the first embodiment is omitted.

  The communication unit 21a performs wireless communication with an external device via a directional antenna (not shown). The wireless communication device 2a may be configured to include an omnidirectional antenna in addition to the directional antenna. The communication unit 21a includes a reception unit 211a and a transmission unit 212a. The receiving unit 211a performs the following processing in addition to the same processing as the receiving unit 211 described in the first embodiment. The reception unit 211a receives transmission pencil beam information indicating a transmission pencil beam with good reception quality from the wireless communication device 3a, and transmits the information to the transmission beam switching unit 23a. In addition, when receiving the reception pencil beam information, the reception unit 211a transmits the information to the transmission beam pattern setting unit 25a. The transmission unit 212a transmits a signal in accordance with an instruction from the beam transmission instruction unit 24a.

  The control unit 22a includes a transmission beam switching unit 23a, a beam transmission instruction unit 24a, and a transmission beam pattern setting unit 25a.

  The transmission beam switching unit 23a performs the following processing in addition to the same processing as the transmission beam switching unit 23a described in the first embodiment. The transmission beam switching unit 23a receives the transmission pencil beam information from the reception unit 211a, and transmits that the transmission pencil beam information has been received to the fan beam transmission instruction unit 241a.

  The beam transmission instruction unit 24a includes a fan beam transmission instruction unit 241a and a pencil beam transmission instruction unit 242a. In addition to the same processing as the fan beam transmission instruction unit 241 described in the first embodiment, the fan beam transmission instruction unit 241a transmits the transmission fan beam indicated by the transmission fan beam information in response to reception of the transmission pencil beam information. To instruct the transmission unit 212a to transmit a signal. Further, the fan beam transmission instruction unit 241a instructs the transmission unit 212a to transmit a signal again using the transmission fan beam indicated by the transmission fan beam information after a predetermined time has elapsed after the signal transmission instruction. The pencil beam transmission instruction unit 242a receives the reception of the received pencil beam information from the transmission beam pattern setting unit 25a in addition to the same processing as the pencil beam transmission instruction unit 242 described in the first embodiment. The pencil beam transmission instruction unit 242a instructs the transmission unit 212a to communicate with the wireless communication device 3a using the transmission pencil beam indicated by the transmission pencil beam information in response to reception of the reception pencil beam information.

  The transmission beam pattern setting unit 25a sets the transmission pencil beam a2 as a transmission beam in communication with the wireless communication device 3a in response to reception of the reception pencil beam information. Specifically, the transmission beam pattern setting unit 25a transmits the reception of the received pencil beam information to the pencil beam transmission instruction unit 242a.

  Next, the wireless communication device 3a will be described. As shown in FIG. 6, the wireless communication device 3a includes a communication unit 31a, a control unit 32a, and a storage unit 40a.

  The communication unit 31a performs wireless communication with an external device via an omnidirectional or directional antenna (not shown). The wireless communication device 3a performs wireless communication with the wireless communication device 2a.

  The receiving unit 311a performs reception in accordance with an instruction from the beam reception instructing unit 34a in addition to the same processing as the receiving unit 311 described in the first embodiment. In addition, a signal received by a fan beam or a pencil beam having different directivity directions is transmitted to the beam quality monitor unit 36a. The transmission unit 312a transmits a signal to the wireless communication device 2a in accordance with an instruction from the beam pattern identification unit 37a.

  The control unit 32a includes a beam quality monitoring unit 36a, a beam pattern specifying unit 37a, a reception beam switching unit 33a, a beam reception instruction unit 34a, and a reception beam pattern setting unit (reception beam setting means) 35a.

  In addition to the same processing as the beam quality monitor unit 36 described in the first embodiment, the beam quality monitor unit 36a receives a fan beam (received beam) having a different directional direction or a pencil beam (received beam) having a different directional direction. The received quality of the received signal is acquired, and received quality information indicating the received quality of each received beam is stored in the storage unit 40a. The beam quality monitoring unit 36a notifies the beam pattern specifying unit 37a that the reception quality information is stored in the storage unit 40a.

  The beam pattern specifying unit 37a includes a transmission beam specifying unit 371a and a reception beam specifying unit 372a.

  In addition to the same processing as that of the beam pattern specifying unit 37 described in the first embodiment, the transmission beam specifying unit 371a transmits transmission pencil beam specifying information indicating that the transmission pencil beam has been specified to the reception beam switching unit 33a.

  The reception beam specifying unit 372a compares the reception quality of the reception beams and specifies a fan beam having a good reception quality or a pencil beam having a good reception quality. The reception beam specifying unit 372a transmits reception fan beam information or reception pencil beam information indicating the specified reception beam to the reception beam switching unit 33a. The reception beam specifying unit 372a instructs the transmission unit 312a to transmit the reception pencil beam information to the wireless communication device 2a.

  The reception beam switching unit 33a transmits the information received from the beam pattern specifying unit 37a to the fan beam reception instruction unit (fan beam reception unit) 341a or the pencil beam reception instruction unit (pencil beam reception unit) 342a. Specifically, when receiving the transmission pencil beam specifying information, the receiving beam switching unit 33a transmits the transmitting pencil beam specifying information to the fan beam reception instructing unit 341a. In addition, when the reception beam switching unit 33a receives the reception fan beam information, the reception beam switching unit 33a transmits the reception fan beam information to the pencil beam reception instruction unit 342a.

  The beam reception instruction unit 34a includes a fan beam reception instruction unit 341a and a pencil beam reception instruction unit 342a.

  The fan beam reception instructing unit 341a instructs to receive the fan beam transmitted from the wireless communication apparatus 2a in the fan-shaped beam reception area while changing the directing direction to the third scanning direction. Specifically, when receiving the transmission pencil beam specifying information, the fan beam reception instruction unit 341a instructs the reception unit 311a to receive a signal transmitted from the wireless communication device 2a by the transmission fan beam. Specifically, the fan beam reception instructing unit 341a causes the receiving unit 311a to receive the beam reception area while changing the pointing direction in the X-axis direction (third scanning direction) of the set two-dimensional coordinates. To instruct.

  The pencil beam reception instructing unit 342a is different from the third scanning direction in a predetermined reception region among the fan-shaped beam reception regions having different directivity directions used by the fan beam reception instructing unit 341a. While changing the directivity direction to the scanning direction 4, an instruction is given to receive the transmitted fan beam in the pencil-shaped beam reception area having a higher directivity and narrower reception area than the fan-shaped beam reception area. Specifically, the pencil beam reception instruction unit 342a instructs the reception unit 311a to receive a signal transmitted from the wireless communication apparatus 2a by the transmission fan beam. The pencil beam reception instructing unit 342a changes the directivity direction in the Y-axis direction different from the X-axis direction in the range of the reception area of the reception fan beam with good reception quality, and has more directivity than the fan-shaped beam reception area. It is instructed to receive in a pencil-shaped beam receiving area that has a strong receiving area.

  The reception beam pattern setting unit 35a sets the directivity direction of a predetermined beam reception region as the reception direction of the reception beam among the pencil-shaped beam reception regions having different directivity directions instructed by the pencil beam reception instruction unit 342a. Specifically, the reception beam pattern setting unit 35a receives the reception pencil beam information and transmits the reception pencil beam information to the pencil beam reception instruction unit 342a. When the pencil beam reception instruction unit 342a receives the reception pencil beam information, the pencil beam reception instruction unit 342a instructs the reception unit 311a to receive using the reception pencil beam indicated by the reception pencil beam information.

  The storage unit 40a stores reception quality information indicating the reception quality of the transmission beam and the reception beam acquired by the beam quality monitoring unit 36a.

  Next, a processing flow of the communication system 1a according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of the communication system 1a. In addition, since the process of step S1-9 is the same as the flow of a process of the communication system 1 which concerns on Embodiment 1, description is abbreviate | omitted. In addition, the transmission beam switching unit 23, the reception unit 211, the fan beam transmission instruction unit 241, the transmission unit 212, the reception unit 311, the beam quality monitoring unit 36, the storage unit 40, and the beam pattern identification unit in steps S1 to S9 of the first embodiment. 37, the transmission unit 312 and the pencil beam transmission instruction unit 242 are respectively processed by the transmission beam switching unit 23 a, the reception unit 211 a, the fan beam transmission instruction unit 241 a, the transmission unit 212 a, the reception unit 311 a, and the beam quality monitor. Each of the unit 36a, the storage unit 40a, the transmission beam specifying unit 371a, the transmission unit 312a, and the pencil beam transmission instruction unit 242a.

  As shown in FIG. 7, when the transmission pencil beam specifying information is received, the reception beam switching unit 33a switches to the fan beam. (S21).

  On the other hand, when the transmission beam specifying unit 371a specifies the transmission pencil beam a2, the transmission pencil beam information is transmitted via the transmission unit 312a. The reception unit 211a of the wireless communication device 2a transmits the information to the transmission beam switching unit 23a. The transmission beam switching unit 23a notifies the fan beam transmission instruction unit 241a that the transmission pencil beam information has been received. In response to the notification, the fan beam transmission instruction unit 241a instructs the transmission unit 212a to transmit a signal using the transmission fan beam a1 (switches the transmission beam to the fan beam) (S22). For example, the fan beam transmission instruction unit 241a refers to transmission fan beam information stored in a storage unit (not shown) provided in the wireless communication device 2a and performs the above process. The transmission unit 212a transmits a signal to the wireless communication device 3a according to the instruction from the fan beam transmission instruction unit 241a (S23).

  When receiving the transmission pencil beam specific information, the fan beam reception instructing unit 341a receives the received two-dimensional coordinates while changing the pointing direction of the reception area in the X-axis direction (third scanning direction) of the two-dimensional coordinates. Instruct the unit 311a. The reception unit 311a receives the transmission fan beam a1 according to the instruction of the fan beam reception instruction unit 341a (S24).

  The reception unit 311a transmits a signal received by reception fan beams having different directivity directions to the beam quality monitoring unit 36a. The beam quality monitoring unit 36a acquires the reception quality of signals received by reception fan beams having different directivity directions, and stores the reception quality information in the storage unit 40a. The subsequent process of specifying the reception fan beam b1 with good reception quality by the reception beam specifying unit 372a is the same as the process of the transmission fan beam with good reception quality by the beam pattern specifying unit 37 shown in step S5 of the first embodiment. (S25).

  When the reception beam specifying unit 372a specifies the reception fan beam b1 having good reception quality, the reception beam specifying unit 372a transmits reception fan beam information to the reception beam switching unit 33a. When receiving the information, the reception beam switching unit 33a switches the reception beam to a pencil beam (S26).

  After S23, when a predetermined time has elapsed, the fan beam transmission instruction unit 241a of the wireless communication device 2a instructs the transmission unit 212a to transmit the signal again by the transmission fan beam a1 (S27).

  The pencil beam reception instructing unit 342a that has received the reception fan beam information changes the pointing direction of the reception area in the Y-axis direction (fourth scanning direction) within the range of the reception area of the reception fan beam b1, The reception unit 311a is instructed to receive the transmission fan beam a1 in the beam reception area (pencil beam) (S28). The receiving unit 311a transmits the signal received by the receiving pencil beams having different directivity directions to the beam quality monitoring unit 36a. The subsequent specific processing of the reception pencil beam b2 with good reception quality is the same as the specific processing of the reception fan beam with good reception quality in step S25 described above (S29).

  The reception beam specifying unit 372a transmits the reception pencil beam information to the reception beam pattern setting unit 35a when the reception pencil beam b2 having good reception quality is specified. The reception beam pattern setting unit 35a receives the received pencil beam information and transmits the information to the pencil beam reception instruction unit 342a. When receiving the information, the pencil beam reception instruction unit 342a instructs the reception unit 311a to receive using the reception pencil beam b2 (S30). The wireless communication device 3a may specify the position of the wireless communication device 2a based on the directions indicated by the transmission pencil beam a2 and the reception pencil beam b2.

  In addition, when the reception beam specifying unit 372a specifies the reception pencil beam b2, the reception beam specifying unit 372a instructs the transmission unit 312a to transmit the reception pencil beam information to the wireless communication device 2a. When receiving the reception pencil beam information, the reception unit 211a of the wireless communication device 2a transmits the reception pencil beam information to the transmission beam pattern setting unit 25a. The transmission beam pattern setting unit 25a receives the received pencil beam information, and notifies the pencil beam transmission instruction unit 242a that the information has been received. The pencil beam transmission instruction unit 242a instructs the transmission unit 212a to communicate with the wireless communication device 3a using the transmission pencil beam a2 (S31). Further, the wireless communication device 2a may specify the position of the wireless communication device 3a based on the directions indicated by the transmission pencil beam a2 and the reception pencil beam b2 (S32).

  In the conventional communication system described above, the wireless communication apparatus 300 uses a pencil beam to receive signals in pencil-shaped beam reception areas (reception beam patterns) having different reception directions in all receivable directions. The wireless communication apparatus 300 identifies a received beam pattern with good reception quality from the received beam. On the other hand, in the communication system according to the present embodiment, the wireless communication device 3a changes the direction of the reception area in the direction of the Y axis in the set two-dimensional coordinates in the radiation range indicated by the reception fan beam with good reception quality. Receive. The wireless communication device 3a identifies a reception beam (reception beam pattern) with good reception quality from the reception beam. Therefore, compared with the conventional wireless communication apparatus 200, the number of reception pencil beam patterns with which the wireless communication apparatus 3a compares the reception quality can be reduced.

  In the above description of each embodiment, the transmission beam pattern setting unit and the transmission beam switching unit are illustrated as separate components. However, the transmission beam pattern setting unit and the transmission beam switching unit may be configured as one component. . In addition, although the reception beam pattern setting unit and the reception beam switching unit are illustrated as separate components, the transmission beam pattern setting unit and the reception beam switching unit may be configured as one.

[Embodiment 3]
The present embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. A communication system 1b according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of the communication system 1b. The communication system 1b includes a wireless communication device 2b and a wireless communication device 3b. The wireless communication device 2b and the wireless communication device 3b are communication terminals (wireless LAN terminals), access points, and the like. The communication terminal and the access point can be either the wireless communication device 2b or the wireless communication device 3b. Signals are transmitted and received between the wireless communication device 2b and the wireless communication device 3b. The main configuration of the wireless communication device 2b shown in FIG. 8 shows a configuration according to Modification 1 of the present embodiment to be described later, and a broken line in FIG. 8 indicates data according to Modification 1 of the present embodiment. Shows the flow.

  Next, the wireless communication device 3b will be described. As illustrated in FIG. 8, the wireless communication device 3b includes a communication unit 31b, a control unit 32b, and a storage unit 40b.

  The communication unit 31b performs wireless communication with an external device via a directional antenna (not shown). In the present embodiment, the wireless communication device 3b performs wireless communication with the wireless communication device 2b. The wireless communication device 3b may be configured to include an omnidirectional antenna in addition to the directional antenna. The communication unit 31b includes a reception unit 311b and a transmission unit 312b. The receiving unit 311b receives the transmission beam transmitted by the wireless communication device 2b via the directional antenna. The receiving unit 311b transmits the received signal to the beam quality monitoring unit 36b. The transmission unit 312b transmits a signal to the wireless communication device 2b.

  The control unit 32b includes a beam quality monitoring unit 36b, a reception quality determination unit (reception quality determination unit) 37b, a beam switching unit (transmission beam switching unit) 38b, and a beam instruction unit 34b.

  The beam quality monitor unit 36b acquires the reception quality of the transmission beam received from the wireless communication device 2b. The target of the reception quality is the same as the target of the reception quality of the transmission beam described in the first embodiment, and thus description thereof is omitted here. The beam quality monitoring unit 36b stores reception quality information indicating the received reception quality of each transmission beam in the storage unit 40b.

  The reception quality determination unit 37b reads the reception quality information stored in the storage unit 40b at predetermined time intervals, and determines whether or not the reception quality of the transmission beam exceeds a threshold value. Although the threshold value is stored in the storage unit 40b and the reception quality determination unit 37b will be described below as performing the determination with reference to the threshold value, the present invention is not limited to this. The reception quality determination unit 37b transmits the determination result to the beam switching unit 38b.

  The beam switching unit 38b receives the determination result from the reception quality determination unit 37b, and instructs the fan beam communication instruction unit 341b or the pencil beam communication instruction unit 342b to output a beam used for communication according to the determination result.

  That is, the beam switching unit 38b switches the type of beam to be used according to the determination result of the reception quality determination unit 37b.

  Specifically, when the reception quality of the transmission beam exceeds the threshold, the beam switching unit 38b instructs the fan beam communication instruction unit 341b to output. If the reception quality of the transmission beam does not exceed the threshold value, the beam switching unit 38b instructs the pencil beam communication instruction unit 342b to output. Further, the beam switching unit 38b instructs the transmission unit 312b to transmit the beam type used by the wireless communication device 3b to the wireless communication device 2b.

  The beam instruction unit 34b includes a fan beam communication instruction unit 341b and a pencil beam communication instruction unit 342b. The fan beam communication instruction unit 341b instructs the communication unit 31b to use the communication beam (transmission beam, reception beam) of the wireless communication device 3b as a fan beam. The pencil beam communication instruction unit 342b instructs the communication unit 31b to change the communication beam (transmission beam, reception beam) of the wireless communication device 3b to a pencil beam.

  The storage unit 40b stores reception quality information indicating the reception quality of the transmission beam acquired by the beam quality monitoring unit 36b.

  Next, a processing flow of the communication system 1b according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of the communication system 1b. As illustrated in FIG. 9, the reception unit 311b receives a signal (transmission beam) from the wireless communication device 2b, and transmits the received signal to the beam quality monitoring unit 36b. The beam quality monitoring unit 36b acquires the reception quality of the received transmission beam and stores the reception quality information in the storage unit 40b. The reception quality determination unit 37b reads the reception quality information stored in the storage unit 40b, and determines whether or not the reception quality of the transmission beam exceeds a threshold value (S41). Thereafter, the determination result is transmitted to the beam switching unit 38b. If the reception quality of the transmission beam exceeds the threshold (YES in S41), the beam switching unit 38b instructs the fan beam communication instruction unit 341b to output using the fan beam (S42). The beam switching unit 38b instructs the transmission unit 312b to transmit the type of beam used by the wireless communication device 3b to the wireless communication device 2b (S43), and proceeds to step S41. When the reception quality of the transmission beam does not exceed the threshold (NO in S41), the beam switching unit 38b instructs the pencil beam communication instruction unit 342b to output using the pencil beam (S44). Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S43.

(Modification 1)
Next, a first modification of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. As described above, the broken lines in FIG. 8 indicate the data flow according to the first modification of the present embodiment. A configuration different from that of the above-described third embodiment will be described for the control unit 32b of the wireless communication device 3b according to the present modification.

  The beam switching unit 38b receives the determination result from the reception quality determination unit 37b, and sets the beam pattern of communication of the wireless communication device 2b according to the determination result. The beam switching unit 38b transmits information indicating the set beam type (for example, switching information indicating that the transmission beam is switched to the fan beam) to the wireless communication device 2b via the transmission unit 312b.

  Next, the wireless communication device 2b will be described. As illustrated in FIG. 8, the wireless communication device 2b includes a communication unit 21b and a control unit 22b.

  The communication unit 21b includes a reception unit 211b and a transmission unit 212b. The receiving unit 211b receives a signal from the wireless communication device 3b. The reception unit 211b receives information indicating the beam type set by the wireless communication device 3b and transmits the information to the beam switching unit 25b.

  In this modification, the control unit 22b includes a beam switching unit 25b and a beam instruction unit 24b. The beam switching unit 25b receives the information indicating the set beam type, and instructs the fan beam communication instruction unit 241b or the pencil beam communication instruction unit 242b to output the beam to be used for communication according to the information. To do. The beam instruction unit 24b includes a fan beam communication instruction unit 241b and a pencil beam communication instruction unit 242b. The fan beam communication instruction unit 241b instructs the communication unit 21b to use the communication beam (transmission beam, reception beam) of the wireless communication device 2b as a fan beam. The pencil beam communication instruction unit 242b instructs the communication unit 21b to change the communication beam of the wireless communication device 2b to a pencil beam.

  For example, when the wireless communication device 2b receives switching information indicating that the transmission beam is switched to the fan beam, the fan beam communication instruction unit 241b uses the communication beam (transmission beam) of the wireless communication device 2b as a fan beam. To the communication unit 21b.

  Next, a processing flow of the communication system 1b according to the present modification will be described. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of the communication system 1b. Since step S41 has been described above, a description thereof will be omitted. The reception quality determination unit 37b reads the reception quality information stored in the storage unit 40b, and determines whether or not the reception quality of the transmission beam exceeds a threshold value (S41). Thereafter, the result is transmitted to the beam switching unit 38b. When the reception quality of the transmission beam exceeds the threshold (YES in S41), the beam switching unit 38b sets the type of beam used for communication of the wireless communication device 2b to a fan beam (S52). The beam switching unit 38b transmits information indicating the set beam type to the wireless communication device 2b (S55). If the reception quality of the transmission beam does not exceed the threshold value (NO in S41), the beam switching unit 38b sets the beam type used for communication of the wireless communication device 2b to a pencil beam (S54), and proceeds to step S55. To do. The beam switching unit 25b of the wireless communication device 2b receives information indicating the set beam pattern, and in response to the information, the fan beam communication instruction unit 241b or the pencil beam communication instruction unit 242b transmits a beam to be used for communication. The output is instructed (S60).

(Modification 2)
Regarding the wireless communication device 3b and the wireless communication device 2b according to this modification, configurations different from those of Modification 1 described above will be described.

  In the wireless communication device 3b, the beam quality monitor unit 36b acquires the reception quality of the transmission beam received from the wireless communication device 2b. The beam quality monitoring unit 36b stores reception quality information indicating the received reception quality of each transmission beam in the storage unit 40b and transmits the reception quality information to the wireless communication apparatus 2b via the transmission unit 312b. In this modification, the beam switching unit 38b does not transmit information indicating the set beam type to the wireless communication device 2b.

  The wireless communication device 2b includes a reception quality determination unit in addition to the configuration of the first modification.

  The reception quality determination unit receives reception quality information from the wireless communication device 2b via the reception unit 211b. The reception quality determination unit determines whether or not the reception quality indicated by the reception quality information exceeds a threshold value. The threshold value is stored in a storage unit (not shown) of the wireless communication device 2b, and the reception quality determination unit makes a determination with reference to the threshold value, but is not limited thereto. The reception quality determination unit transmits the determination result to the beam switching unit 25b.

  The beam switching unit 25b receives the determination result of the reception quality determination unit, and instructs the fan beam communication instruction unit 241b or the pencil beam communication instruction unit 242b to output a beam used for communication according to the determination result.

  That is, the beam switching unit 25b switches the type of beam to be used according to the determination result of the reception quality determination unit.

  For example, when the reception quality determination unit determines that the reception quality exceeds a threshold value, the transmission beam of the own apparatus is switched to a fan beam. Since the configuration of the beam instruction unit 24b is the same as that of the first modification, the description thereof is omitted here.

  In the above description, the reception quality determination unit 37b shows an example in which the reception quality information once stored in the storage unit 40b is read and determined. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the beam quality monitor unit 36b directly The reception quality information may be received and received by the reception quality determination unit 37b.

[Example of software implementation]
The control blocks of the wireless communication devices 2, 2a, 2b, 3, 3a and 3b may be realized by a logic circuit (hardware) formed in an integrated circuit (IC chip) or the like, or a CPU (Central Processing Unit) And may be realized by software. In the latter case, the wireless communication devices 2, 2a, 2b, 3, 3a, and 3b can read a program instruction that is software that realizes each function, and the above-described program and various data can be read by a computer (or CPU). ROM (Read Only Memory) or a storage device (these are referred to as “recording media”), a RAM (Random Access Memory) for expanding the program, and the like. And the objective of this invention is achieved when a computer (or CPU) reads the said program from the said recording medium and runs it. As the recording medium, a “non-temporary tangible medium” such as a tape, a disk, a card, a semiconductor memory, a programmable logic circuit, or the like can be used. The program may be supplied to the computer via an arbitrary transmission medium (such as a communication network or a broadcast wave) that can transmit the program. The present invention can also be realized in the form of a data signal embedded in a carrier wave in which the program is embodied by electronic transmission.

[Summary]
A wireless device (wireless communication device 2, 2a) according to aspect 1 of the present invention is a wireless device that transmits a signal to an external wireless device, and changes a beam radiation direction in a first scanning direction (direction D1). Among the fan beams transmitted by the fan beam transmitting means (fan beam transmission instruction units 241, 241a, transmitting unit 212, transmitting unit 212a) and fan beams having different radiation directions transmitted by the fan beam transmitting unit. Pencil beam transmitting means for transmitting a pencil beam having a beam width narrower than that of the fan beam while changing the beam radiation direction in a second scanning direction (direction D2) different from the first scanning direction in the radiation range of the beam. (Pencil beam transmission instruction unit 242, 242a, transmission unit 212, transmission unit 212a) and the pencil beam transmission means transmitted Of direction different pencil beam elevation, and a transmission beam setting means for setting the radiation direction of the transmission beam radiation direction of a predetermined pencil beam (transmission beam pattern setting unit 25, 25a), are provided.

  According to the above configuration, the pencil beam transmission means changes the beam radiation direction to the second scanning direction different from the first operation direction in the radiation range of the predetermined fan beam in the first direction, A pencil beam having a narrower beam width than the fan beam is transmitted. Then, the transmission beam pattern setting means sets the radiation direction of a predetermined pencil beam among the transmitted different pencil beams as the radiation direction of the transmission beam. That is, using a fan beam having a wide beam width, the radiation direction (radiation range) of a predetermined transmission beam is roughly narrowed down. Thereafter, the radiation direction of a predetermined pencil beam is specified using the pencil beam within the roughly narrowed radiation range. Therefore, in the above configuration, the time for specifying the radiation direction of the predetermined transmission beam is shortened compared to the configuration in which all directions are examined using the pencil beam in order to specify the radiation direction of the predetermined transmission beam. .

  A wireless device (wireless communication device 3, 3a) according to aspect 2 of the present invention includes a transmission unit (312 312a) that transmits a signal to an external wireless device and a reception unit (311) that receives a signal of the external wireless device. 311a), wherein the external wireless device transmits a fan beam with a different radiation direction of the fan beam transmitted while changing the beam radiation direction in the first scanning direction, or the external device In the radiation range of the fan beam with good reception quality, the wireless device transmits a pencil beam whose beam width is narrower than the fan beam transmitted while changing the beam radiation direction in a second scanning direction different from the first scanning direction. Reception quality acquisition means (beam quality monitoring units 36 and 36a) for acquiring the reception quality of pencil beams having different radiation directions, and reception quality of the different fan beams; Alternatively, the reception quality of the different pencil beams is compared to identify a fan beam having a good reception quality or a pencil beam having a good reception quality, and information indicating the specified beam is transmitted to the external wireless device. Beam specifying means (beam pattern specifying units 37 and 37a). According to the above configuration, information indicating a beam having good reception quality among the fan beams received from the external wireless device or the pencil beam received from the external wireless device can be transmitted to the external wireless device. it can.

  The wireless device (wireless communication device 3a) according to the third aspect of the present invention receives a fan beam transmitted from an external wireless device in a fan-shaped beam receiving area while changing the directing direction to the third scanning direction. The fan beam receiving means (fan beam reception instructing unit 341a) and the fan beam receiving means used for reception in the fan-shaped beam receiving areas having different directivity directions within a predetermined receiving area, While changing the directivity direction to a fourth scan direction different from the scan direction, the fan beam to be transmitted is received in the pencil-shaped beam receive area having a higher directivity and narrower receive area than the fan-shaped beam receive area. Pencil beam receiving means (pencil beam reception instruction unit 342a) and pencils having different directivity directions used by the pencil beam receiving means for reception. Of shaped for beam-receiving region, and a reception beam setting means for setting the orientation of the predetermined beam receiving area and receiving direction of the received beam (reception beam pattern setting unit 35a), and includes.

  According to the above configuration, the pencil beam receiving unit changes the pointing direction in the fourth scanning direction different from the third scanning direction in the predetermined fan-shaped beam receiving area in the third scanning direction. The transmitted fan beam is received in a pencil-shaped beam receiving area having a higher directivity and narrower receiving area than the fan-shaped beam receiving area. Then, the reception beam setting means sets the directivity direction of a predetermined beam reception area among the pencil-shaped beam reception areas having different directivity directions used for reception as the reception direction of the reception beam. That is, a predetermined beam receiving area is roughly narrowed down using a fan-shaped beam receiving area having a wide beam width. Thereafter, in the roughly narrowed beam reception area, the reception direction of a predetermined reception beam is specified using the pencil-shaped beam reception area. Therefore, in the above configuration, the time for specifying the beam direction of the predetermined reception beam is shortened as compared with the configuration in which only the pencil-shaped beam reception region is used for specifying the beam direction of the predetermined beam reception region. The

  In the wireless device according to aspect 4 of the present invention, the communication system (1, 1a) may include the wireless device according to aspect 1 and the wireless device according to aspect 2 or 3.

  According to said structure, the said communication system can contain the radio | wireless apparatus of Claim 1, and the radio | wireless apparatus of Claim 2 or 3. Therefore, in the communication system, it is possible to shorten the time required to specify a transmission beam and a reception beam with good reception quality.

  A wireless device (wireless communication device 3b) according to aspect 5 of the present invention is a wireless device that transmits and receives signals to and from an external wireless device, and receives whether or not the reception quality of the received signal exceeds a threshold value. Quality determination means (reception quality determination section 37b) and transmission beam switching means (beam switching section 38b) for switching the type of beam to be used according to the determination result of the reception quality determination means.

  According to said structure, the kind of beam to be used is switched according to the determination result of a reception quality determination means. Therefore, for example, when the transmission beam is set to be switched to the fan beam when the reception quality is higher than the threshold value, the out-of-range tolerance due to the deviation of the position (direction) of each wireless device can be improved by widening the transmission beam. it can. Further, when the radio apparatus is close to the reception side and the transmission side and the reception quality is high, the reception quality does not deteriorate even if a fan beam is used. For this reason, it is possible to enhance out-of-service tolerance due to a shift in position (direction) of each wireless device while maintaining reception quality.

  A radio apparatus according to aspect 6 of the present invention includes the transmission means for transmitting, in the above-described aspect 5, beam type switching information to be used to the external radio apparatus according to the determination result of the reception quality determination means. Also good.

  According to said structure, the other radio | wireless apparatus can grasp | ascertain switching of the kind of transmission beam in one radio | wireless apparatus in communication state. Therefore, the other radio apparatus can operate according to the switching of the transmission beam of the one communication apparatus. For example, according to switching of the transmission beam of one communication apparatus, the other radio apparatus can also switch the transmission beam.

  The radio apparatus according to aspect 7 of the present invention is the radio apparatus according to aspect 5, wherein the reception quality acquisition means for acquiring the reception quality and the transmission means for transmitting the reception quality acquired by the reception quality acquisition means to the external radio apparatus. May be provided.

  According to said structure, the other radio | wireless apparatus can grasp | ascertain the reception quality of the signal received in one radio | wireless apparatus in communication state. Therefore, the other radio apparatus can operate according to the reception quality of the signal received by one radio apparatus. For example, the transmission beam (pencil beam and fan beam) of the own apparatus can be switched according to the received reception quality.

  A wireless device (wireless communication device 2b) according to an aspect 8 of the present invention is a wireless device that transmits / receives a signal to / from an external wireless device (wireless communication device 3b), from the external wireless device to the external wireless device. A receiving unit (221b) that receives switching information indicating that the type of beam used by the transmitter is switched, and a transmission beam switching unit (beam switching unit 25b) that switches the type of transmission beam of the own apparatus when the switching information is received. And.

  According to said structure, according to switching of the kind of transmission beam in one communication apparatus, a transmission beam can be switched to a fan beam also in the other radio | wireless apparatus.

  A wireless device (wireless communication device 2b) according to an aspect 9 of the present invention is a wireless device that transmits / receives a signal to / from an external wireless device (wireless communication device 3b), and the reception quality of the signal received by the external wireless device. In accordance with the determination result of the reception unit (221b) that receives information indicating the above from the external wireless device, the reception quality determination unit that determines whether or not the reception quality exceeds a threshold, and the reception quality determination unit, Transmission beam switching means (beam switching unit 25b) for switching the type of beam to be used.

  According to said structure, the other radio | wireless apparatus can switch the kind of transmission beam of an own apparatus according to the reception quality of the signal which one radio | wireless apparatus received.

  The wireless device according to each aspect of the present invention may be realized by a computer. In this case, the wireless device is realized by the computer by causing the computer to operate as each unit included in the wireless device. A control program and a computer-readable recording medium on which the control program is recorded also fall within the scope of the present invention.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope shown in the claims, and embodiments obtained by appropriately combining technical means disclosed in different embodiments. Is also included in the technical scope of the present invention. Furthermore, a new technical feature can be formed by combining the technical means disclosed in each embodiment.

  The present invention can be used for a wireless communication apparatus.

  1, 1a communication system, 2, 2a wireless communication device (wireless device), 3, 3a, 3b wireless communication device (wireless device), 25, 25a transmission beam pattern setting unit (transmission beam setting means), 36, 36a beam quality Monitor unit (reception quality acquisition unit), 37, 37a Beam pattern identification unit (beam identification unit), 37b Reception quality determination unit (reception quality determination unit), 38b Beam switching unit (transmission beam switching unit), 212, 212a Transmission unit (Fan beam transmission means, pencil beam transmission means), 241, 241a Fan beam transmission instruction section (fan beam transmission means), 242, 242a Pencil beam transmission instruction section (pencil beam transmission means), 312, 312a transmission section, 311; 311a Receiver, D1 direction (first scanning direction), D2 direction (second running direction) (Inspection direction)

Claims (8)

A wireless device that transmits a signal to an external wireless device,
Fan beam transmitting means for transmitting a fan beam while changing the beam radiation direction in the first scanning direction;
Among the fan beams having different radiation directions transmitted by the fan beam transmitting means, the beam radiation direction is changed to a second scanning direction different from the first scanning direction in a predetermined fan beam radiation range, A pencil beam transmitting means for transmitting a pencil beam having a narrower beam width than the fan beam;
A radio apparatus comprising: a transmission beam setting unit that sets a radiation direction of a predetermined pencil beam as a radiation direction of a transmission beam among pencil beams having different radiation directions transmitted by the pencil beam transmission unit. . A wireless device comprising: a transmitter that transmits a signal to an external wireless device; and a receiver that receives a signal of the external wireless device,
A fan beam having a different radiation direction of the fan beam transmitted while changing the beam radiation direction in the first scanning direction by the external wireless device or a radiation range of the fan beam having a good reception quality by the external wireless device. Receive quality of a pencil beam having a radiation direction of a pencil beam having a beam width narrower than that of the fan beam transmitted while changing the beam radiation direction in a second scanning direction different from the first scanning direction. Acquisition means;
The reception quality of the different fan beams or the reception quality of the different pencil beams is compared to identify a fan beam with a good reception quality or a pencil beam with a good reception quality, and information indicating the identified beam A radio apparatus comprising beam specifying means for transmitting to an external radio apparatus. Fan beam receiving means for receiving a fan beam transmitted from an external wireless device in a fan-shaped beam receiving area while changing a directivity direction to a third scanning direction;
Of the fan-shaped beam receiving areas having different directivity directions used by the fan beam receiving means, the directivity direction is changed to a fourth scanning direction different from the third scanning direction within a predetermined receiving area. However, a pencil beam receiving means for receiving a fan beam to be transmitted in a pencil-shaped beam receiving area having a higher directivity than the fan-shaped beam receiving area and a narrow receiving area;
Among the pencil-shaped beam receiving areas with different directivity directions used for reception by the pencil beam receiving means, a receiving beam setting means for setting the directivity direction of a predetermined beam receiving area as the receiving direction of the received beam is provided. A wireless device characterized by the above. A wireless device that transmits and receives signals to and from an external wireless device,
Reception quality determination means for determining whether or not the reception quality of the received signal exceeds a threshold;
A radio apparatus comprising: a transmission beam switching unit that switches a beam type to be used according to a determination result of the reception quality determination unit.   5. The radio apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a transmission unit that transmits switching information of a beam type to be used to the external radio apparatus according to a determination result of the reception quality determination unit. Reception quality acquisition means for acquiring the reception quality;
5. The radio apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising: a transmission unit that transmits the reception quality acquired by the reception quality acquisition unit to the external radio apparatus. A wireless device that transmits and receives signals to and from an external wireless device,
A receiving unit that receives switching information indicating that the type of beam used by the external wireless device is switched from the external wireless device;
A radio apparatus comprising: a transmission beam switching unit that switches a type of a transmission beam of the own apparatus when the switching information is received. A wireless device that transmits and receives signals to and from an external wireless device,
A receiving unit that receives information indicating the reception quality of the signal received by the external wireless device from the external wireless device;
Reception quality determination means for determining whether or not the reception quality exceeds a threshold;
A radio apparatus comprising: a transmission beam switching unit that switches a type of a beam to be used in accordance with a determination result of the reception quality determination unit.

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