JP2017130813A - Communication device and communication program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To delay the time when the traffic arrives at an upper limit value.SOLUTION: A communication device communicates with a server which switches the amount of data of a content according to the time after delivering a content before receiving an acknowledgement. The communication device has a measurement unit, an execution unit, and a transfer control unit. The measurement unit measures the traffic in a predetermined period of the own communication device. The execution unit reproduces a content delivered from the server, and executes an application program for replying an acknowledgement to the server. The transfer control unit calculates the difference of the traffic and a predetermined upper limit value, and then restricts the amount of content to be transferred to the application program per unit time according to the difference.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication device and a communication control program.

  In recent years, communication apparatuses such as smartphones and tablet terminals that execute applications that reproduce content such as moving image data and music data distributed from a server have become widespread. Various techniques for dynamically changing the bit rate of content on the server side in accordance with the content reproduction capability of the communication device on the receiving side have been studied. For example, as in the following prior art documents, a technology is known in which the bit rate of content is switched on the server side in accordance with the time from when content is distributed to a communication device until reception of a confirmation response. A technique for switching the image quality of content to be distributed according to the bit rate is also known. For example, the control is such that if the bit rate is high, the image is distributed with high image quality, but if the bit rate is low, the image is distributed with low image quality.

JP 2004-357226 A JP 2004-88473 A

  However, the conventional technology has a problem that the communication amount in the predetermined period on the communication device side reaches the upper limit value early. For example, in the above-described prior art, the bit rate and the image quality of the content are dynamically switched on the server side using the confirmation response sent back to the server side. The amount of data to be increased increases instantaneously. As a result, when viewing the content by executing the application on the communication device side, the communication amount may reach the upper limit early. When the communication amount reaches the upper limit value, there may be inconveniences such as the content distribution speed being limited by the communication carrier.

  The disclosed technology has been made in view of the above, and an object thereof is to provide a communication device and a communication control program capable of delaying the time when the communication amount reaches the upper limit value.

  In one aspect, the communication device disclosed in the present application communicates with a server that switches the data amount of the content according to the time from when the content is distributed until the confirmation response is received. The communication device includes a measurement unit, an execution unit, and a transfer control unit. A measurement part measures the communication amount in the predetermined period of an own communication apparatus. The execution unit executes the application program that reproduces the content distributed from the server and returns the confirmation response to the server. The transfer control unit calculates a difference between the communication amount and a predetermined upper limit value, and limits the amount of content to be transferred to the application program per unit time according to the difference.

  According to one aspect of the communication device disclosed in the present application, it is possible to delay the time when the communication amount reaches the upper limit value.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a communication system including the communication apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a communication apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a predetermined memory area in the measurement unit. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the storage unit. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a predetermined memory area in the transfer control unit. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining an example of the processing operation of the communication system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining an example of the flow of transfer control processing by the transfer control unit of the present embodiment. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the communication apparatus.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of a communication device and a communication control program disclosed in the present application will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The disclosed technology is not limited by this embodiment. In the following embodiments, the same reference numerals are given to the components having the same functions, and duplicate descriptions are omitted.

[Configuration example of communication system]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a communication system including the communication apparatus according to the present embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the communication system 1 includes a communication device 10 and a server 30.

  The communication device 10 is wirelessly connected to the network 20 and communicates with the server 30 via the network 20. For example, the communication device 10 executes a moving image application, receives moving image data distributed from the server 30 from the network 20, and reproduces the received moving image data. Then, after the reproduction of the moving image data, the communication device 10 returns a confirmation response indicating completion of the reproduction of the moving image data to the server 30 via the network 20.

  The server 30 distributes moving image data to the communication device 10 via the network 20. The server 30 performs control to dynamically change the bit rate of the moving image data according to the reproduction capability of the moving image data in the communication device 10 on the receiving side. Specifically, the server 30 switches the bit rate of the moving image data in accordance with the time from when the moving image data is distributed to the communication device 10 until the confirmation response is received (hereinafter referred to as “reception side response time”). . For example, when the receiving side response time is T1, the server 30 sets the bit rate of the moving image data to a bit rate corresponding to the high resolution, and when the receiving side response time is T2 longer than T1, the moving image data Switch the bit rate to a bit rate corresponding to the low resolution. Such control for dynamically changing the bit rate is sometimes referred to as “multi-bit rate control”.

  Under such circumstances, the communication device 10 measures a communication amount that is the sum of the amounts of data received by the communication device 10 during a predetermined period. Note that the data received by the communication apparatus 10 in a predetermined period includes not only the moving image data but also other data such as audio data other than the moving image data. Further, as the predetermined period, for example, a period such as one month is used.

  Then, when the moving image application is executed, the communication device 10 calculates the difference between the communication amount and the predetermined upper limit value. The predetermined upper limit value is determined in advance by a contract between the user of the communication device 10 and the communication carrier.

  And the communication apparatus 10 restrict | limits the quantity of the moving image data which should be transferred per unit time to a moving image application among moving image data received as reception data according to said "difference". For example, the communication device 10 stores a limit value (hereinafter referred to as “transfer limit value”) of the amount of moving image data that decreases as the above “difference” decreases in the storage unit. The communication device 10 acquires a transfer limit value corresponding to the “difference” from the storage unit, and limits the amount of moving image data to be transferred per unit time to the moving image application using the acquired transfer limit value.

  As described above, the communication device 10 limits the amount of moving image data to be transferred per unit time to the moving image application according to the difference between the communication amount and the predetermined upper limit value. Confirmation response can be delayed. As a result, since the response time on the receiving side becomes longer, the bit rate of the moving image data is switched from the bit rate corresponding to the high resolution to the bit rate corresponding to the low resolution by the “multi-bit rate control”. As a result, in the communication device 10, it is possible to delay the time when the communication amount reaches the predetermined upper limit value when viewing the moving image data.

[Configuration example of communication device]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a communication apparatus according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 2, the communication device 10 includes a wireless reception unit 11, a reception processing unit 12, a measurement unit 13, an execution unit 14, a storage unit 15, a transfer control unit 16, a transmission processing unit 17, and wireless transmission. Part 18.

  The radio reception unit 11 performs predetermined reception radio processing, that is, down-conversion, analog-digital conversion, and the like on the reception signal received via the antenna, and outputs the reception signal after the reception radio processing to the reception processing unit 12.

  The reception processing unit 12 performs predetermined reception processing, that is, demodulation processing and decoding processing on the reception signal received from the wireless reception unit 11. And the reception process part 12 extracts various reception data from the received signal after a reception process, and outputs each extracted reception data to a corresponding function part. For example, the reception processing unit 12 extracts the moving image data distributed from the server 30 from the reception data and outputs it to the transfer control unit 16.

  The measurement unit 13 measures a communication amount that is the sum of the amounts of data received by the communication device 10 during a predetermined period. For example, the measurement unit 13 measures the total amount of received data received during a predetermined period by the wireless reception unit 11 and the reception processing unit 12 as a communication amount, and records it in a predetermined memory area in the measurement unit 13. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a predetermined memory area in the measurement unit. When the predetermined period is one month, as shown in FIG. 3, the “monthly packet usage”, which is the sum of the amounts of received data received by the wireless reception unit 11 and the reception processing unit 12 for one month, The amount of communication is recorded in a predetermined memory area in the measurement unit 13. Then, the measurement unit 13 outputs the measured communication amount to the transfer control unit 16.

  The execution unit 14 executes a moving image application. The moving image application reproduces the moving image data distributed from the server 30 and returns a confirmation response to the server 30 after reproducing the moving image data. That is, the moving image application reproduces the moving image data received from the transfer control unit 16 every time moving image data is transferred by the transfer control unit 16 to be described later, and outputs a confirmation response to the transmission processing unit 17 after reproducing the moving image data. . On the other hand, when the moving image data is not transferred by the transfer control unit 16, the moving image application does not reproduce the moving image data and output a confirmation response.

  As illustrated in FIG. 4, the storage unit 15 stores the transfer limit value in association with the difference between the communication amount and the predetermined upper limit value. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the storage unit. As shown in the example of FIG. 4, the transfer limit value decreases as the above “difference” decreases. For example, in the storage unit 15 illustrated in FIG. 4, the first level indicates that the transfer limit value is not set when the “difference” is 5 GB or more. The second row shows that the transfer limit value is set to 1 Mbit when the “difference” is 2 GB or more and less than 5 GB. The third row shows that when the “difference” is less than 2 GB, the transfer limit value is set to 0.5 Mbit.

  When the moving image application is executed by the execution unit 14, the transfer control unit 16 calculates the above “difference”, that is, the difference between the communication amount received from the measurement unit 13 and a predetermined upper limit value. Here, the predetermined upper limit value is recorded, for example, in a predetermined memory area in the transfer control unit 16. FIG. 5 is an example of a predetermined memory area in the transfer control unit. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the “monthly packet usage upper limit value” that is the upper limit value of the “monthly packet usage amount” is recorded as a predetermined upper limit value in a predetermined memory area in the transfer control unit 16. . Then, the transfer control unit 16 limits the amount of moving image data to be transferred per unit time among moving image data received from the reception processing unit 12 according to the “difference”. Specifically, the transfer control unit 16 acquires a transfer limit value corresponding to the “difference” from the storage unit 15, and uses the acquired transfer limit value to transfer a moving image to the moving image application per unit time. Limit the amount of data.

  For example, the transfer control unit 16 should acquire the transfer limit value corresponding to the above “difference” from the storage unit 15 shown in FIG. 3 and transfer it to the video application per unit time using the acquired transfer limit value. Limit the amount of video data. That is, the transfer control unit 16 does not set a transfer limit value when the “difference” is 5 GB or more. For example, when the above “difference” is 2 GB or more and less than 5 GB, the transfer control unit 16 acquires 1 Mbit as a transfer limit value from the storage unit 15, and the moving image data to be transferred per unit time to the moving image application Is limited to 1 Mbit. For example, when the “difference” is less than 2 GB, the transfer control unit 16 acquires 0.5 Mbits as the transfer limit value from the storage unit 15, and the moving image data to be transferred per unit time to the moving image application. Is limited to 0.5 Mbit.

  In addition, when moving image data is newly received as received data, the transfer control unit 16 causes the total amount of moving image data received per unit time (hereinafter referred to as “total received data amount”) to exceed the transfer limit value. It is determined whether or not to do. Then, when the total received data amount is equal to or less than the transfer limit value, the transfer control unit 16 transfers the newly received moving image data to the moving image application. On the other hand, when the total amount of received data exceeds the transfer limit value, the transfer control unit 16 waits for transfer of newly received moving image data until the unit time elapses.

  The transmission processing unit 17 performs predetermined transmission processing, that is, encoding processing and modulation processing, on transmission data and various types of information, and outputs the result to the wireless transmission unit 18. For example, the transmission processing unit 17 performs a predetermined transmission process on the confirmation response received from the execution unit 14 and outputs the result to the wireless transmission unit 18.

  The wireless transmission unit 18 performs predetermined wireless transmission processing, that is, digital-analog conversion, up-conversion, and the like on the transmission signal after the predetermined transmission processing, and transmits the transmission signal after the wireless transmission processing via the antenna.

[Operation example of communication system]
An example of the processing operation of the communication system 1 having the above configuration will be described. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining an example of the processing operation of the communication system according to the present embodiment. In the example of FIG. 6, it is assumed that the moving image application is activated by the execution unit 14 of the communication device 10. In the initial state, the server 30 is assumed to set the bit rate of moving image data to a bit rate corresponding to high resolution by multi-bit rate control.

  The server 30 distributes moving image data to the communication device 10 (step S101). At this time, the server 30 delivers moving image data at a bit rate corresponding to high resolution.

  In the communication device 10, the reception processing unit 12 outputs the moving image data received as the reception data from the server 30 to the transfer control unit 16 (step S102).

  The transfer control unit 16 calculates a difference between the communication amount received from the measurement unit 13 and a predetermined upper limit value. Then, the transfer control unit 16 limits the amount of moving image data to be transferred per unit time among moving image data received from the reception processing unit 12 according to the “difference”. Here, it is assumed that the “difference” is 2 GB or more and less than 5 GB. Then, the transfer control unit 16 acquires 1 Mbit as a transfer limit value from the storage unit 15 illustrated in FIG. 3 and limits the amount of moving image data to be transferred to the moving image application per unit time to 1 Mbit.

  The transfer control unit 16 determines whether the total amount of moving image data received per unit time, that is, whether the total received data amount exceeds 1 Mbit, which is a transfer limit value. Here, it is assumed that the total received data amount is 1 Mbit or less, which is a transfer limit value. In this case, the transfer control unit 16 transfers the moving image data received from the reception processing unit 12 in step S102 to the moving image application (step S103). The moving image application reproduces the moving image data received from the transfer control unit 16, and outputs a confirmation response to the transmission processing unit 17 after reproducing the moving image data (step S104). The transmission processing unit 17 performs a predetermined transmission process on the confirmation response received from the execution unit 14 and outputs the result to the wireless transmission unit 18. The wireless transmission unit 18 performs predetermined wireless transmission processing on the transmission signal after the predetermined transmission processing, and transmits the transmission signal after the wireless transmission processing via the antenna. Thereby, a confirmation response is returned to the server 30 as a transmission signal (step S105).

  Since the server 30 distributes the moving image data to the communication apparatus 10 and receives the confirmation response, that is, the response time on the receiving side is T1 which is relatively short, the bit rate of the moving image data is set to a high resolution. The bit rate corresponding to is maintained.

  The server 30 distributes moving image data to the communication device 10 (step S106). At this time, the server 30 distributes the high-resolution moving image data at a bit rate corresponding to the high-resolution.

  In the communication device 10, the reception processing unit 12 outputs the moving image data received as the reception data from the server 30 to the transfer control unit 16 (step S107).

  The transfer control unit 16 determines whether or not the total received data amount exceeds 1 Mbit which is a transfer limit value (step S108). Here, it is assumed that the total amount of received data exceeds the transfer limit value of 1 Mbit. In this case, the transfer control unit 16 waits for the transfer of the moving image data received from the reception processing unit 12 in step S107 until the unit time has elapsed (step S109). When the unit time has elapsed, the transfer control unit 16 transfers the moving image data received from the reception processing unit 12 in step S107 to the moving image application (step S110). The moving image application reproduces the moving image data received from the transfer control unit 16, and outputs a confirmation response to the transmission processing unit 17 after reproducing the moving image data (step S111). The transmission processing unit 17 performs a predetermined transmission process on the confirmation response received from the execution unit 14 and outputs the result to the wireless transmission unit 18. The wireless transmission unit 18 performs predetermined wireless transmission processing on the transmission signal after the predetermined transmission processing, and transmits the transmission signal after the wireless transmission processing via the antenna. As a result, a confirmation response is returned as a transmission signal to the server 30 (step S112). Here, the transfer control unit 16 waits for the transfer of the moving image data in step S109, whereby the confirmation response returned from the moving image application to the server 30 is delayed. Then, the time from when the moving image data is received to the communication device 10 until the confirmation response is received, that is, the reception side response time becomes T2 longer than T1.

  Since the receiving side response time is T2 longer than T1, the server 30 switches the data to be distributed to low-resolution moving image data. At this time, the bit rate is switched from the bit rate corresponding to the high resolution to the bit rate corresponding to the low resolution (step S113).

[Flow of transfer control processing]
Next, an example of the flow of transfer control processing by the transfer control unit 16 of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining an example of the flow of transfer control processing by the transfer control unit of the present embodiment.

  As illustrated in FIG. 7, the transfer control unit 16 determines whether or not the moving image application has been activated by the execution unit 14 (step S <b> 121). When the moving image application is not activated by the execution unit 14 (No at Step S121), the transfer control unit 16 repeats the determination at Step S121.

  If the moving image application is activated by the execution unit 14 (Yes at Step S121), the transfer control unit 16 calculates a difference between the communication amount received from the measurement unit 13 and a predetermined upper limit value (Step S122). Then, the transfer control unit 16 acquires a transfer limit value corresponding to the difference calculated in step S122 from the storage unit 15 (step S123).

  When the transfer limit value acquired from the storage unit 15 is “not set” (Yes at Step S124), the transfer control unit 16 determines whether moving image data is received as received data (Step S125). When the moving image data is received as the received data (Yes at Step S125), the transfer control unit 16 transfers the moving image data to the moving image application (Step S126), and the process proceeds to Step S135. On the other hand, when the moving image data is not received as the received data (No at Step S125), the transfer control unit 16 proceeds to Step S135.

  On the other hand, when the transfer limit value acquired from the storage unit 15 is not “no setting” (No at Step S124), the transfer control unit 16 sets the initial value 0 to the total received data amount and starts a timer ( Step S127). The timer measures the unit time after starting.

  The transfer control unit 16 determines whether moving image data is received as received data (step S128). When the moving image data is not received as the received data (No at Step S128), the transfer control unit 16 determines whether the unit time has elapsed, that is, whether a timer timeout has been detected (Step S129). . When the timer timeout is not detected (No at Step S129), the transfer control unit 16 returns the process to Step S128. When the timer timeout is detected (Yes at Step S129), the transfer control unit 16 proceeds to Step S135.

  On the other hand, when the moving image data is received as the received data (Yes at Step S128), the transfer control unit 16 adds the amount of the newly received moving image data to the current total received data amount to obtain the total received data amount. Update (step S130).

  Subsequently, the transfer control unit 16 determines whether or not the total received data amount exceeds the transfer limit value (step S131). If the total received data amount is equal to or less than the transfer limit value (No at Step S131), the transfer control unit 16 transfers the moving image data received as the received data to the moving image application (Step S132), and returns the process to Step S128.

  On the other hand, when the total received data amount exceeds the transfer limit value (Yes at Step S131), the transfer control unit 16 determines whether or not the unit time has elapsed, that is, whether or not a timer timeout has been detected ( Step S133). If the timer timeout is not detected, that is, if the unit time has not elapsed (No at Step S133), the transfer control unit 16 returns the process to Step S133. That is, the transfer control unit 16 waits for transfer of moving image data to the moving image application until a timer timeout is detected, that is, until a unit time elapses.

  When a timer timeout is detected, that is, when the unit time has elapsed (Yes at Step S133), the transfer control unit 16 transfers the moving image data received as received data to the moving image application (Step S134), and performs processing. The process proceeds to step S135.

  The transfer control unit 16 determines whether or not the moving image application has been terminated (step S135). If the moving image application is not terminated (No at Step S135), the transfer control unit 16 returns the process to Step S122. When the moving image application is terminated (Yes at Step S135), the transfer control unit 16 ends the transfer control process.

  As described above, the communication device 10 according to the present exemplary embodiment includes the measurement unit 13, the execution unit 14, and the transfer control unit 16. The measurement unit 13 measures a communication amount that is the sum of the amounts of data received by the communication device 10. The execution unit 14 reproduces the moving image data distributed from the server 30 and executes an application that returns a confirmation response to the server 30 after reproducing the moving image data. When the moving image application is executed, the transfer control unit 16 calculates a difference between the communication amount received from the measurement unit 13 and a predetermined upper limit value. Then, the transfer control unit 16 limits the amount of moving image data to be transferred per unit time to the moving image application among the moving image data received as the received data according to the “difference”.

  With this configuration, the communication device 10 restricts the amount of moving image data to be transferred to the moving image application per unit time according to the difference between the communication amount and the predetermined upper limit value, so that the moving image application returns the response to the server 30. Confirmation response can be delayed. As a result, since the response time on the receiving side becomes longer, the bit rate of the moving image data is switched from the bit rate corresponding to the high resolution to the bit rate corresponding to the low resolution by the “multi-bit rate control”. As a result, in the communication device 10, it is possible to delay the time when the communication amount reaches the predetermined upper limit value when viewing the moving image data.

[Other embodiments]
Each component of each part illustrated in the embodiments does not necessarily need to be physically configured as illustrated. In other words, the specific form of distribution / integration of each part is not limited to the one shown in the figure, and all or a part thereof may be functionally or physically distributed / integrated in arbitrary units according to various loads and usage conditions. Can be configured.

  Furthermore, various processing functions performed in each device are performed on a CPU (Central Processing Unit) (or a microcomputer such as an MPU (Micro Processing Unit), MCU (Micro Controller Unit), etc.) in whole or in part. You may make it perform. Various processing functions may be executed entirely or arbitrarily on a program that is analyzed and executed by a CPU (or a microcomputer such as an MPU or MCU) or hardware based on wired logic. .

  The communication apparatus of the present embodiment can be realized by the following hardware configuration, for example.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the communication apparatus. As illustrated in FIG. 8, the communication apparatus 600 includes a wireless unit 601, a processor 602, a storage unit 603, a speaker 604, a microphone 605, an audio input / output unit 606, a display unit 607, and a touch input unit 608. And have. The storage unit 603 includes a RAM (Random Access Memory) 603a and a ROM (Read Only Memory) 603b.

  The wireless unit 601 transmits and receives wireless signals via an antenna. The audio input / output unit 606 performs audio processing on the sound collected by the microphone 605, performs audio processing on the audio signal in the wireless signal received via the wireless unit 601, and outputs sound from the speaker 604. The display unit 607 is an output interface that displays various types of information such as application screens. The touch input unit 608 is an input interface that detects a touch operation on the screen of the display unit 607.

  The RAM 603a is a memory area for storing various information. The ROM 603b stores various programs such as a communication control program. The processor 602 controls the entire communication apparatus 600 using programs and data stored in the RAM 603a and the ROM 603b included in the storage unit 603. Examples of the processor 602 include a CPU, a DSP, and an FPGA.

  The processor 602 develops a program stored in the ROM 603b or the like in the RAM 603a and executes various processes corresponding to various processes. For example, the processor 602 executes processes corresponding to the processes executed by the reception processing unit 12, the measurement unit 13, the execution unit 14, the transfer control unit 16, and the transmission processing unit 17. The storage unit 15 is realized by the storage unit 603. Further, the wireless reception unit 11 and the wireless transmission unit 18 are realized by the wireless unit 601.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Communication apparatus 11 Wireless reception part 12 Reception processing part 13 Measurement part 14 Execution part 15 Storage part 16 Transfer control part 17 Transmission processing part 18 Wireless transmission part 30 Server

Claims (4)

A communication device that communicates with a server that switches a data amount of the content according to a time from when the content is distributed until a confirmation response is received;
A measurement unit that measures the communication amount of the communication device in a predetermined period;
An execution unit for playing back the content distributed from the server and executing an application program for returning the confirmation response to the server;
A transfer control unit that calculates a difference between the communication amount and a predetermined upper limit value, and limits a content amount to be transferred per unit time to the application program according to the difference. . In association with the difference, the storage unit further stores a limit value of the amount of content that decreases as the difference decreases,
The transfer control unit acquires the limit value corresponding to the difference from the storage unit, and limits the amount of content to be transferred to the application program per unit time using the acquired limit value. The communication apparatus according to claim 1. The transfer control unit determines whether or not the communication amount exceeds the limit value, and when the communication amount is equal to or less than the limit value, transfers the newly received content to the application program, The communication apparatus according to claim 2, wherein when the communication amount exceeds the limit value, the transfer of the newly received content is waited until the unit time elapses. A communication device that communicates with a server that switches the data amount of the content according to the time from delivery of the content to reception of the confirmation response measures the communication amount of the communication device in a predetermined period and is delivered from the server Playing back the content and executing an application program that returns the confirmation response to the server,
A communication control program that calculates a difference between the communication amount and a predetermined upper limit value, and executes a process of limiting an amount of content to be transferred to the application program per unit time according to the difference.

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