JP2016149638A - Communication device, communication method and communication program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technology for preventing a communication performance in a radio section from being reduced as a result by suppressing traffic more than needed, although congestion is not generated actually, based on congestion control that is automatically started each time a packet loss is detected in accordance with characteristics of a radio environment.SOLUTION: A communication apparatus 500 comprises: communication environment identification means 502 that extracts communication features of a transport layer and identifies a communication environment of a termination terminal on the basis of the extracted communication features; and transport layer control means 504 that controls the transport layer on the basis of the identified communication environment.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication device, a communication method, and a communication program that perform communication based on an OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) reference model.

  TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) is known as a standard communication protocol used in the Internet and the like. In recent years, with the spread of smartphones and the like, traffic has increased in communication networks (see, for example, FIG. 1), and congestion control is performed in TCP. The congestion control is activated by detecting packet loss, for example.

  However, in the case of wireless communication, unlike wired communication, packet loss may occur due to the characteristics of the wireless environment even if congestion does not occur.

  In other words, the congestion control that is automatically activated every time a packet loss is detected (hereinafter referred to as “incorrect activation of congestion control”) is more than necessary even though no congestion actually occurs. As a result, traffic may be suppressed, and as a result, communication performance in the wireless section may be degraded.

  Therefore, in order to suppress erroneous activation of congestion control, identification of the wireless environment is important. For example, Patent Document 1 describes a technique for reducing erroneous congestion control by recognizing a wireless environment and adjusting TCP parameters. Specifically, Patent Document 1 describes that wireless information is acquired from each wireless module using a wireless environment recognition unit (for example, a sensor antenna). In this case, Patent Document 1 discloses that the wireless information includes, for example, RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indication), background noise level, modulation method, amount of data waiting for communication stored in the transmission buffer, and NACK (Negative ACKnowledgement) indicating transmission failure. ) The number of times the signal is received from the partner station, the defect rate of the radio frame received from the partner station, and the like.

  Similar to Patent Document 1, Patent Document 2 requires a cooperative communication function between different layers. Patent Document 2 stores the identified network environment information in a management database. The management database is for controlling the application layer and the like.

  Non-Patent Document 1 statistics TCP communication characteristics (distribution probability such as delay) by using providers (vendors) of different wireless environments (LTE, 4G, etc.). In conclusion, it is recognized that TCP communication packet characteristics are different in different wireless environments. In the above, LTE is an abbreviation for Long Term Evolution, and 4G is an abbreviation for 4th generation.

JP 2010-213013 A JP 2004-266330 A

Chen Y C, Lim Y S, Gibbens R J, et al. A Measurement-based Study of Multipath TCP Performance over Wireless Networks [C] // ACM IMC. 2013.

  In Patent Documents 1 and 2, acquisition of the communication environment of the terminal terminal is performed in a physical layer or a MAC (Media Access Control) layer. In this case, dedicated equipment is required, communication between different layers of the OSI reference model is required, and the place where the equipment is applied is limited to a place where there is a radio.

  That is, in the techniques of Patent Documents 1 and 2, the wireless environment cannot be identified stably, and as a result, it is difficult to prevent a decrease in communication performance.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides a communication device, a communication method, and a communication program capable of preventing deterioration in communication performance.

  The communication apparatus of the present invention extracts a communication feature of a transport layer, specifies a communication environment of a terminal terminal based on the extracted communication feature, and the transformer based on the specified communication environment. Transport layer control means for controlling the port layer.

  The communication method of the present invention extracts a communication characteristic of a transport layer, specifies a communication environment of a terminal terminal based on the extracted communication characteristic, and controls the transport layer based on the specified communication environment It is characterized by that.

  The communication program of the present invention extracts a communication characteristic of a transport layer to a computer of a communication device, specifies a communication environment of a terminal terminal based on the extracted communication characteristic, and the specified communication And a transport layer control process for controlling the transport layer based on an environment.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent a decrease in communication performance.

It is a figure which shows the structural example of the communication network to which the communication apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention is applied while being a general communication network. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the communication apparatus shown by FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the communication environment identification means shown by FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the operation example of the communication apparatus of 1st Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the communication apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the communication network with which the communication apparatus which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention is applied. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the communication apparatus shown by FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the operation example of the communication apparatus of 3rd Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the communication apparatus which concerns on the 4th Embodiment of this invention.

[First Embodiment]
[Description of configuration]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a communication network 100 to which the communication device 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention is applied.

  The communication network 100 includes a plurality of networks 101-1 to 101-n (n is a natural number). The networks 101-1 to 101-n include communication types (wired or wireless) of different terminal terminals. The networks 101-1 to 101-n are, for example, a 3G or LTE public mobile phone network, a home Wi-Fi (registered trademark), a wireless LAN in a building, and the like.

  In the above, 3G is an abbreviation for 3rd Generation, Wi-Fi is an abbreviation for Wireless Fidelity, LAN is an abbreviation for Local Area Network, and LTE is an abbreviation for Long Term Evolution.

  Each terminal terminal accesses a server on the Internet via the corresponding networks 101-1 to 101-n to perform data communication.

  In this embodiment, a case where the communication device 1 is installed in a server on a communication path is taken as an example. Of course, the installation location of the communication device 1 is not limited to the server, and may be a device on a communication path other than the server.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the communication device 1 illustrated in FIG. The communication device 1 includes a control unit 11 and a communication unit 12. The control means 11 and the communication means 12 are connected so that communication is possible.

  The communication unit 12 has a general configuration of an OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) reference model. Specifically, the communication unit 12 includes a transport layer 121, a network layer 122, a MAC layer 123, and a physical layer 124. In addition, description of a session layer, a presentation layer, and an application layer is abbreviate | omitted.

  The control unit 11 includes a communication environment specifying unit 111 and a transport layer control unit 112. The communication environment specifying unit 111 is connected to the transport layer control unit 112.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the communication environment specifying unit 111 shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, a configuration other than the communication environment specifying unit 111 is described in order to clarify the connection relationship with the communication environment specifying unit 111.

  The communication environment specifying unit 111 includes a communication feature storage unit 1111 and a communication feature extraction unit 1112.

  The communication feature extraction unit 1112 extracts at least one “communication feature” from the transport layer 121 of the communication unit 12. Here, the communication feature is one or a plurality of physical quantities or statistics in the transport layer 121 during communication, for example, a window size. The physical quantity is, for example, RTT (Round-Trip Time), packet loss rate, packet loss occurrence time, throughput, and buffer length. The statistic is, for example, time-series data of each communication feature change or distribution probability data extracted from the stored communication data of the transport layer 121.

  The communication feature extraction unit 1112 transfers the communication feature extracted from the transport layer 121 to the communication feature storage unit 1111. The communication feature storage unit 1111 stores the transferred communication feature.

  Further, the communication feature extracting unit 1112 specifies a communication environment. Specifically, the communication feature extraction unit 1112 compares the communication feature extracted in the current communication with the existing communication feature stored in advance in the communication feature storage unit 1111. For example, when the extracted communication feature matches or is similar to the LTE communication feature among the existing communication features, the communication feature extracting unit 1112 specifies that the communication environment of the terminal terminal is LTE. The communication feature extraction unit 1112 transfers the specific result (that is, the communication environment) to the transport layer control unit 112.

  The transport layer control unit 112 receives the specific result from the communication feature extraction unit 1112. The transport layer control unit 112 controls the transport layer 121 of the communication unit 12 based on the specific result.

  For example, the transport layer control unit 112 compares the packet loss rate extracted from the communication of the transport layer 121 with the packet loss rate of the existing communication environment. Then, the transport layer control unit 112 executes “transport layer control” for each different communication environment based on the comparison result.

Here, the transport layer control is to control a communication parameter for at least one of transmission / reception control and congestion control, for example.
[Description of operation]
FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of the communication device 1 according to the first embodiment.

  When communication is started, the communication feature extracting unit 1112 of the communication environment specifying unit 111 connects to the transport layer 121 of the communication unit 12 and extracts the communication feature of the transport layer 121 (step S1).

  The communication feature extraction unit 1112 specifies a communication environment based on the extracted communication feature (step S2). Specifically, the communication feature extraction unit 1112 compares the extracted communication feature with the existing communication feature stored in advance in the communication feature storage unit 1111. For example, when the extracted communication feature matches or is similar to the LTE communication feature among the existing communication features, the communication feature extracting unit 1112 specifies that the communication environment is LTE.

  Then, the communication feature extraction unit 1112 determines whether or not there is a wireless section in the communication path (step S3). For example, the communication feature extraction unit 1112 determines that “wireless section = present” when the communication environment is LTE, and determines that “wireless section = none” when the communication environment is a wired LAN.

  When it is determined that “wireless section = present” (Yes in step S3), the communication environment specifying unit 111 transmits the determination result (wireless section = present) to the transport layer control unit 112. The transport layer control means 112 determines the type of wireless environment (for example, LTE, 3G, Wi-Fi, etc.) (step S4). The transport layer control unit 112 executes control of the transport layer 121 for the wireless environment based on the determination result (type of wireless environment) (step S5).

On the other hand, when the current communication feature matches the existing communication feature including the wired section or does not match the existing communication feature including the wireless section (No in step S3), the communication feature extraction unit 1112 determines that the current communication feature is not being terminated. The terminal determines that the “wired environment” is used, and transmits the determination result (wireless section = none) to the transport layer control means 112. The transport layer control unit 112 executes control of the transport layer 121 with respect to the wired environment based on the determination result (step S6).
[Description of effects]
In the communication device 1 according to the first embodiment described above, the communication environment specifying unit 111 extracts communication features from the transport layer 121, and determines the communication environment of the current communication path of the terminal terminal based on the extracted communication features. Identify. Then, the communication environment specifying unit 111 transmits the current communication environment of the terminal terminal to the transport layer control unit 112. The transport layer control unit 112 controls the transport layer 121 of the communication unit 12 based on the transmitted communication environment.

That is, according to the first embodiment, it is possible to avoid erroneous activation of congestion control, and as a result, it is possible to prevent a decrease in communication performance.
[Second Embodiment]
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a communication device 1A according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The communication device 1A includes a communication unit 12 and a control unit 11A.

  The communication unit 12 is the same as that in the first embodiment. The control unit 11A includes a communication environment specifying unit 111A and a transport layer control unit 112A.

  The communication environment identification unit 111A includes an extraction calculation unit 1113 instead of the configuration (communication feature storage unit 1111 and communication feature extraction unit 1112) of the first embodiment (see FIG. 3).

  The extraction calculation unit 1113 extracts the communication feature of the transport layer 121. The extraction calculation unit 1113 generates control information for controlling the transport layer 121 based on the extracted communication features. For example, the extraction calculation unit 1113 substitutes the extracted communication feature into a predetermined function expression that outputs the control information with the communication feature as an argument, and obtains control information.

  The extraction calculation unit 1113 outputs the obtained control information to the transport layer control unit 112A.

  The transport layer control unit 112A controls the transport layer 121 based on the input control information.

According to the second embodiment described above, the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained. Furthermore, according to the second embodiment, the control information for controlling the transport layer 121 is calculated directly from the communication characteristics, so that the control of the transport layer 121 can be executed at higher speed.
[Third Embodiment]
[Description of configuration]
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a communication network 100A to which the communication device 3 according to the third embodiment of the present invention is applied. As shown in FIG. 6, in the third embodiment, a plurality of communication devices 3 are used, and communication is possible between the plurality of communication devices 3.

  FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the communication device 3 illustrated in FIG.

  In the communication device 3, the control means 31 is different from that of the first embodiment, and other components are the same as those of the first embodiment. Therefore, in FIG. 6, the same components as those in the third embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 2, and their descriptions are omitted.

  The transport layer transfer unit 313 of the control unit 31 receives the data transferred to the transport layer. The communication environment specifying unit 311 extracts the current communication environment of the terminal terminal from the transport layer transfer unit 313. The components and operations of the communication environment specifying unit 311 are the same as those of the communication environment specifying unit 111 of the first embodiment, identify the communication environment of the terminal terminal, and transfer the result to the transport layer control unit 312.

  The transport layer control unit 312 modifies or controls the transport layer data received by the transport layer transfer unit 313. For example, the transport layer control means 312 rewrites the reserved bits in the header part of the TCP communication packet for recording the communication environment of the terminal terminal. Further, the transport layer transfer means 313 may change the communication action of the transport layer according to the identified communication environment. Changing the communication behavior of the transport layer includes, for example, forcibly retransmitting before a retransmission request is received, or ignoring the delay factor of the terminal terminal.

  The transport layer transfer means 313 transfers the corrected data to the destination of the transmission path.

  Since a plurality of communication devices 3 are installed from the terminal terminal to the server side, the corrected data passes through the next communication device 3.

  The communication environment specifying unit 311 of the communication device 3 reads the communication environment of the terminal terminal from the transport layer data modified by the other transport layer control unit 312. Further, the communication environment specifying unit 311 transmits the extracted communication environment of the terminal terminal to the transport layer control unit 312.

  The communication environment specifying unit 311 can record the communication environment and communication characteristics of the terminal terminal from the transport layer 121. The recorded result can be used in the case of the first embodiment (when it is necessary to estimate the communication environment of the terminal terminal).

The transport layer control unit 112 performs the same operation as in the first embodiment.
[Description of operation]
FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of the communication device 3 according to the third embodiment.

  Of the operations shown in FIG. 8, operations from step S1 to S6 are the same as steps S1 to S6 (see FIG. 4) of the first embodiment. Therefore, in the following description, steps S1 to S6 will be briefly described.

  The communication environment specifying unit 311 extracts the current communication feature (step S1), specifies the communication environment based on the communication feature (step S2), and determines the presence or absence of a wireless section in the communication path (step S3). Then, the transport layer control unit 112 controls communication with respect to the determined communication environment of the terminal (steps S5 and S6).

  Thereafter, the transport layer control unit 312 corrects the data of the transport layer 121 based on the determined communication environment of the terminal, and sends the corrected data to the communication unit 12 via the transport layer transfer unit 313. Transfer (step S13).

  The other communication device receives the corrected data (step S14). The communication environment specifying unit 311 of another communication apparatus acquires the communication environment of the terminal terminal stored by the transport layer control unit 312 from the data of the transport layer 121. The communication environment specifying unit 311 acquires and records the communication environment of the terminal terminal.

The communication environment specifying unit 311 extracts the communication environment of the terminal terminal and transmits it to the transport layer control unit 312. The transport layer control means 312 controls the transport layer 121 based on the communication environment of the terminal terminal (step S15).
[Description of effects]
In the communication device 3 according to the third embodiment described above, the communication environment specifying unit 311 extracts the communication feature from the transport layer 121 and specifies the communication environment of the current communication path of the terminal terminal based on the extracted communication feature. To do. Then, the communication environment specifying unit 311 transmits the current communication environment of the terminal terminal to the transport layer control unit 312. The transport layer control unit 312 controls the transport layer 121 of the communication unit 12 based on the transmitted communication environment.

  With the above-described configuration and operation, it is possible to avoid erroneous occurrence of congestion control for a specific packet loss of wireless communication. As a result, it is possible to prevent a decrease in communication performance.

  In addition, the communication device 3 according to the third embodiment can write the identified communication environment into data communicated by the transport layer 121. When the other communication device 3 installed in the communication path receives data, the control unit 31 can extract the communication environment. Control of the communication unit 12 can be realized based on the communication environment acquired by the control unit 31.

Accordingly, it is possible to more accurately avoid the erroneous occurrence of congestion control against the inherent packet loss of wireless communication. As a result, it is possible to more reliably prevent a decrease in communication performance.
[Fourth Embodiment]
FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a communication apparatus 500 according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. The communication apparatus 500 includes a communication environment specifying unit 502 and a transport layer control unit 504.

  The communication environment specifying unit 502 extracts the communication characteristics of the transport layer, and specifies the communication environment of the terminal terminal based on the extracted communication characteristics.

  The transport layer control unit 504 controls the transport layer based on the specified communication environment.

  According to the fourth embodiment described above, since erroneous activation of congestion control is avoided, it is possible to prevent a decrease in communication performance.

  A program for realizing all or part of the functions of the embodiments described above is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. The program recorded on the recording medium is read and executed by the computer system.

  As an example of the “computer system”, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) can be cited.

  The “computer-readable recording medium” is, for example, a non-transitory storage device. Examples of non-temporary storage devices include a magneto-optical disk, a ROM (Read Only Memory), a portable medium such as a nonvolatile semiconductor memory, and a hard disk built in a computer system. The “computer-readable recording medium” may be a temporary storage device. As an example of a temporary storage device, for example, a communication line in the case of transmitting a program via a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line, or a volatile memory inside a computer system can be cited.

  Further, the program may be for realizing a part of the above-described functions, and may be capable of realizing the above-described functions in combination with a program already recorded in the computer system. . The program may replace a program already recorded in the computer system.

  As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated using each embodiment, the technical scope of this invention is not limited to description of said each embodiment. It is obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications or improvements can be added to the above embodiments. Therefore, it is needless to say that embodiments with such changes or improvements are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. The numerical values and names of the components used in the embodiments described above are illustrative and can be changed as appropriate.

Moreover, a part or all of each embodiment mentioned above can be described also as the following additional remarks.
(Appendix 1)
A communication environment specifying means for extracting a communication characteristic of a transport layer and specifying a communication environment of a terminal terminal based on the extracted communication characteristic;
Transport layer control means for controlling the transport layer based on the identified communication environment;
A communication apparatus comprising:
(Appendix 2)
The communication environment specifying means generates control information for controlling the transport layer based on the communication characteristics, rather than specifying the communication environment of the terminal terminal based on the communication characteristics, and generates the control Sending information to the transport layer control means,
The communication apparatus according to appendix 1, wherein the transport layer control means controls the transport layer based on the control information.
(Appendix 3)
The communication apparatus according to appendix 1 or 2, wherein the communication environment specifying unit corrects data of the transport layer.
(Appendix 4)
The communication apparatus according to any one of appendices 1 to 3, wherein the control of the transport layer controls a communication parameter for at least one of transmission / reception control and congestion control.
(Appendix 5)
Extracting the communication characteristics of the transport layer, specifying the communication environment of the terminal terminal based on the extracted communication characteristics,
The transport method is controlled based on the specified communication environment.
(Appendix 6)
The communication environment is specified by generating control information for controlling the transport layer based on the communication characteristics, instead of specifying the communication environment of the terminal terminal based on the communication characteristics, and generating the control Processing to send information to control of the transport layer,
The communication method according to claim 5, wherein the control of the transport layer includes a process of controlling the transport layer based on the control information.
(Appendix 7)
The communication method according to appendix 5 or 6, wherein the specification of the communication environment includes a process of correcting data of the transport layer.
(Appendix 8)
The communication method according to any one of appendices 5 to 7, wherein the control of the transport layer controls a communication parameter for at least one of transmission / reception control and congestion control.
(Appendix 9)
In the computer of the communication device,
A communication environment specifying process for extracting a communication characteristic of a transport layer and specifying a communication environment of a terminal terminal based on the extracted communication characteristic;
A transport layer control process for controlling the transport layer based on the identified communication environment;
Communication program for executing
(Appendix 10)
The communication environment specifying process generates control information for controlling the transport layer based on the communication characteristics, rather than specifying the communication environment of the terminal terminal based on the communication characteristics, and generates the control Sending information to the transport layer control process;
The communication program according to appendix 9, wherein the transport layer control process controls the transport layer based on the control information.
(Appendix 11)
The communication program according to appendix 8 or 9, wherein the communication environment specifying process corrects data of the transport layer.
(Appendix 12)
The communication program according to any one of appendices 9 to 11, wherein the control of the transport layer controls a communication parameter for at least one of transmission / reception control and congestion control.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 3 Communication apparatus 11, 11A Control means 12 Communication means 31 Control means 100, 100A Communication network 101-1 ~ n Network 111, 111A Communication environment specification means 1111 Communication feature preservation | save means 1112 Communication feature extraction means 1113 Extraction calculation means 112, 112A Transport layer control means 121 Transport layer 122 Network layer 123 MAC layer 124 Physical layer 311 Communication environment specifying means 312 Transport layer control means 313 Transport layer transfer means 500 Communication device 502 Communication environment specifying means 504 Transport layer control means

Claims (10)

A communication environment specifying means for extracting a communication characteristic of a transport layer and specifying a communication environment of a terminal terminal based on the extracted communication characteristic;
Transport layer control means for controlling the transport layer based on the identified communication environment;
A communication apparatus comprising: The communication environment specifying means generates control information for controlling the transport layer based on the communication characteristics, rather than specifying the communication environment of the terminal terminal based on the communication characteristics, and generates the control Sending information to the transport layer control means,
2. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transport layer control means controls the transport layer based on the control information.   3. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication environment specifying unit corrects the data of the transport layer.   The communication apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the control of the transport layer controls a communication parameter for at least one of transmission / reception control and congestion control. Extracting the communication characteristics of the transport layer, specifying the communication environment of the terminal terminal based on the extracted communication characteristics,
The transport method is controlled based on the specified communication environment. The communication environment is specified by generating control information for controlling the transport layer based on the communication characteristics, instead of specifying the communication environment of the terminal terminal based on the communication characteristics, and generating the control Processing to send information to control of the transport layer,
6. The communication method according to claim 5, wherein the control of the transport layer includes a process of controlling the transport layer based on the control information.   7. The communication method according to claim 5, wherein the specification of the communication environment includes a process of correcting data of the transport layer. In the computer of the communication device,
A communication environment specifying process for extracting a communication characteristic of a transport layer and specifying a communication environment of a terminal terminal based on the extracted communication characteristic;
A transport layer control process for controlling the transport layer based on the identified communication environment;
Communication program for executing The communication environment specifying process generates control information for controlling the transport layer based on the communication characteristics, rather than specifying the communication environment of the terminal terminal based on the communication characteristics, and generates the control Sending information to the transport layer control process;
9. The communication program according to claim 8, wherein the transport layer control process controls the transport layer based on the control information.   10. The communication apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the communication environment specifying process corrects data of the transport layer.

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