JP2017212686A - Access point control system and method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an access point control system and method which switch on and off of a virtual access point on the basis of the positional relationship of a terminal with an access point.SOLUTION: In a radio communication access point control system capable of roaming by a plurality of physical access points, a physical access point 110 includes: a plurality of virtual access points; and means for notifying a management server 120 of the existence or non-existence of a terminal 101 to be connected to a virtual access point. A management server 120 includes: a storage unit 420 which stores the positional relationship of the physical access points; and a control unit 410 which, based on the notification from a first physical access point and the positional relationship of the physical access points, controls to activate or halt a virtual access point included in a second physical access point.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to an access point control system and method.

  With the widespread use of smartphone terminals, tablet terminals, and the like, usage methods such that a user carries these terminals and connects to a network at a destination are expanding. In order to connect to a network at a destination, wireless communication is mainly used, and wireless LAN communication is provided in a store or facility, or a public wireless LAN service is provided by a communication provider.

  In such a wireless LAN connection at a moving destination, a roaming technique is known in which an access point to which a terminal is connected is switched depending on a user's action. A seamless connection environment can be provided to the user by appropriately switching the access points.

  By the way, users connected to the access point may use the network from different positions. For example, there are various situations such as the difference between affiliated companies in a multi-tenant office, the distinction between employees and visitors, and the distinction between paid service members and non-members in commercial facilities. Due to such a difference in position, it is necessary to identify users and provide different data communication services.

  A method of providing different data communication services will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of network connection by a virtual access point. As shown in FIG. 15, a plurality of virtual access points (VAPs) are provided in the physical access point 110, and each virtual access point provides a different service, thereby enabling network connection according to the user's position. It becomes.

  However, in order to provide a seamless connection to the user by roaming, it is necessary to prepare a virtual access point of the same service in a neighboring physical access point in advance and prepare for the connection. For example, in FIG. 15, the terminal 101 is connected to the virtual access point 10a in the physical access point 110A, but the virtual access point is assumed assuming that the terminal 101 moves to the connection range of another physical access point. 10 needs to be activated.

  At this time, since the terminal 102 is connected to the virtual access point 20c at the physical access point 110C, it is necessary to activate the virtual access points 10c and 20c at the physical access point 110C. On the other hand, if a plurality of virtual access points are activated, a load is imposed on the communication bandwidth and computing capacity of the physical access point, leading to deterioration in communication quality. That is, roaming and communication quality are in a trade-off relationship, and the following prior art documents are known.

  Japanese Patent No. 5789462 (Patent Document 1) discloses a system for determining a minimum necessary base station in order to secure a connection to a base station (physical access point). However, the activation / sleep of the base station relies on a wake-up signal transmitted from the terminal, and is not configured to support terminal roaming.

  On the other hand, as control based on the positional relationship between the terminal and the access point, Japanese Patent No. 4515711 (Patent Document 2) discloses a technique for turning off the communication interface of the terminal based on the positional relationship between the terminal and the access point. ing. However, Patent Document 2 discloses a method executed on the terminal side for the purpose of power saving of the terminal, and does not realize resource saving of the access point.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems in the prior art, and an object thereof is to provide an access point control system and method for switching on / off a virtual access point based on a positional relationship between a terminal and an access point. And

That is, according to the present invention,
A wireless communication access point control system capable of roaming with a plurality of physical access points,
The physical access point is
Multiple virtual access points,
Means for notifying the management server of the presence or absence of a terminal connected to the virtual access point,
The management server
Means for storing a positional relationship of the physical access points;
An access point control system comprising: means for controlling start or stop of the virtual access point included in the second physical access point based on a notification from the first physical access point and a positional relationship of the physical access point; Provided.

  As described above, according to the present invention, an access point control system and method for switching on / off a virtual access point based on a positional relationship between a terminal and an access point are provided.

1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication system. 2A and 2B illustrate roaming in a wireless communication system. The figure which shows schematic structure of the hardware of the management server in embodiment of this invention. The software block diagram of the access point control system in 1st Embodiment. The figure explaining the positional relationship of an access point, and a positional relationship table. The figure which shows the example of a VAP list. The sequence diagram of the process which the access point control system in 1st Embodiment performs. The software block diagram of the access point control system in 2nd Embodiment. The sequence diagram of the process which the access point control system in 2nd Embodiment performs. The software block diagram of the access point control system in 3rd Embodiment. The software block diagram of the access point control system in 4th Embodiment. The sequence diagram of the process which the access point control system in 5th Embodiment performs. The figure explaining the Example of the access point control system in 6th Embodiment. The sequence diagram of the process which the access point control system in 6th Embodiment performs. The figure which shows the example of the network connection by a virtual access point.

  Hereinafter, although this invention is demonstrated with embodiment, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned later. In the drawings referred to below, the same reference numerals are used for common elements, and descriptions thereof are omitted as appropriate.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication system 100. The wireless communication system 100 is for connecting various terminals to a network. In FIG. 1, the smartphone terminal 101a and the tablet terminal 101b are connected to a LAN (Local Area Network) via a physical access point 110. Is shown.

  The LAN is connected to the management server 120, whereby the terminal 101 can be connected to a wider network such as the Internet and various services are provided.

  Further, a plurality of physical access points 110 are installed, and when a user carrying the terminal 101 moves, roaming can be performed by appropriately switching the physical access point 110 to which the terminal is connected. As a reference for switching the physical access point 110, for example, an access point with a strong radio wave intensity or an access point with a short distance can be selected. Furthermore, it is also effective to select an access point by weighting the radio wave intensity and distance with the margin of the communication band at each access point.

  Here, roaming will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining roaming in the wireless communication system 100. In the example of FIG. 2, there are three physical access points 110A to 110C in the wireless communication system 100, and there are corresponding coverage areas 201A to 201C. The coverage area 201 is an effective range of radio waves emitted from the physical access point 110, and the terminal 101 in the coverage area 201 can be connected to the network via the corresponding physical access point 110.

  The coverage area 201 can correspond to the user's roaming by overlapping with the adjacent coverage area 201. For example, consider switching of the physical access point 110 that selects an access point with high radio field strength. When a user in the first coverage area 201a moves to the second coverage area 201b, since the radio wave intensity is generally inversely proportional to the distance, the user is first connected to the first physical access point 110a.

  Thereafter, when the user moves to a range where the first coverage area 201a and the second coverage area 201b overlap, roaming according to the radio wave intensity between the terminal 101 and the physical access point 110 is performed. That is, at the stage where the overlapping range is reached, the first physical access point 110a is closer to the first physical access point 110a than the second physical access point 110b from the terminal 101, so Connection is maintained.

  Thereafter, when the user moves, the user moves away from the first physical access point 110a and approaches the second physical access point 110b. Along with this, the radio wave intensity from the first physical access point 110a becomes weak, and the radio wave intensity from the second physical access point 110b becomes strong. Due to these changes in radio field strength, the radio field strengths of both are finally reversed, and the radio field strength from the second physical access point 110b becomes stronger. At this time, the terminal 101 carried by the user can perform a seamless network connection by switching the connection to the second physical access point 110b.

  In the above description, switching based on radio wave intensity has been described as an example, but roaming can be performed in the same manner even when switching is based on distance. In the following, examples of the present invention will be described with reference to specific embodiments.

  First, the hardware configuration in the first embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of hardware of the management server 120 in the embodiment of the present invention. The management server 120 includes a CPU 301, a RAM 302, a ROM 303, a communication interface 304, and an HDD 305.

  The CPU 301 is a device that executes a program that controls the operation of the management server 120. The RAM 302 is a volatile storage device for providing an execution space for programs executed by the management server 120, and is used for storing and developing programs and data. The ROM 303 is a non-volatile storage device for storing programs executed by the management server 120 and data.

  The communication interface 304 is a device for connecting the management server 120 and the physical access point 110 by wire or wireless. The communication interface 304 can also be connected to a WAN (Wide Area Network) such as the Internet. The HDD 305 is a device that stores a connection status of the terminal 101, a virtual access point authentication, an encryption setting database, and an OS (Operating System) that causes the management server 120 to function.

  The hardware configuration included in the management server 120 has been described above. Next, functional means executed by each hardware of the management server 120 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a software block diagram of the access point control system in the first embodiment. The first embodiment is an example of “centralized management” in which the management server 120 controls on / off of virtual access points of each physical access point.

  The management server 120 in the first embodiment includes a control unit 410 and a storage unit 420. In FIG. 4, there are three physical access points 110 </ b> A to 110 </ b> C, and each physical access point 110 includes the virtual access points VAP <b> 10 and VAP <b> 20, but the number of physical access points and virtual access points is particularly large. There is no limit. In the example of FIG. 4, the terminals 101 and 102 are respectively connected to the VAP 10a of the physical access point 110A and the VAP 20c of the physical access point 110C.

  Here, it is assumed that VAP 10 and VAP 20 are different network services. Also, it is assumed that the VAPs 10a to 10c provide the same network service VAP10, and similarly, the VAPs 20a to 20c provide the same network service VAP20.

  The control unit 410 is means for controlling the virtual access point based on the connection status of the terminal 101 at each physical access point 110. The storage unit 420 is a unit that stores various databases such as the positional relationship table 421 and the VAP list 422. Various databases stored in the storage unit will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the positional relationship between the access points and the positional relationship table 421. FIG. 5A shows an example of the arrangement of the physical access points 110, and FIG. 5B shows an example of the positional relationship table 421. Respectively.

  In FIG. 5A, five physical access points 110 are arranged. Hereinafter, these physical access point names will be described as A to E for convenience. This arrangement indicates what kind of adjacent relationship the physical access points 110 have, and does not limit the number or arrangement of the physical access points 110. Further, the coverage area 201 of each physical access point is not limited to a rectangle as shown in FIG. 5A, and the coverage areas 201 may overlap.

  The positional relationship table 421 is a table illustrated in FIG. 5B in which the positional relationship of the arrangement of the physical access points 110 is associated, and here is based on the arrangement shown in FIG. For example, A's neighboring physical access points are B, and B's neighboring physical access points are A, C, and D.

  In the following description, “neighboring” means that the coverage areas are adjacent to each other or are within a range where the user can be expected to move from the coverage area where the user is present.

  In the example of FIG. 5, the neighboring physical access point is assumed to be adjacent to the coverage area 201, but the two adjacent physical access points are set as neighboring physical access points according to the scale of the wireless communication system 100. Alternatively, nearby physical access points may be set according to the distance.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the VAP list 422. Examples of information held by the VAP list 422 include an SSID (Service Set Identifier), encryption settings, names of physical access points to which the terminal is connected, and remarks.

  The SSID is an identifier of an access point, and is used here to identify a virtual access point. In FIG. 6, the SSID shows an example in which three virtual access points are identified as VAP10, VAP20, and VAP30.

  The encryption setting is an encryption method used for connection of each virtual access point. FIG. 6 shows an example in which the VAP 10 is WPA-PSK and the VAP 30 is WPA-EAP.

  The physical access point name to which the terminal is connected indicates the name of the physical access point where the terminal connected to the virtual access point exists. For example, in FIG. 4, since the terminal 101 is connected to the A VAP 10 and the terminal 102 is connected to the C VAP 20, the VAP list 422 shown in FIG. 6 is obtained. Therefore, the item can be changed as appropriate according to the connection status of the terminal.

  The remarks indicate other information used for managing the virtual access point. The information used for managing the virtual access point is, for example, a pre-shared key (PSK) or an address of an authentication server.

  Returning to FIG. Each physical access point determines whether there is a connected user for the virtual access point held by itself, and notifies the management server 120 of the result of the determination. Upon receiving the notification, the management server 120 instructs the neighboring physical access point to start or stop the virtual access point. Note that the communication format between the management server 120 and the physical access point 110 can be various communication protocols such as HTTP, OpenFlow (registered trademark), and TCP using a JSON message as a payload. There are no particular restrictions.

  Below, the process in 1st Embodiment is demonstrated using FIG. FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram of processing executed by the access point control system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 7 shows a state in which the terminal 101 is connected to the VAP 10a of the physical access point 110A, as in FIG. 4, and is an example assuming that the user in the coverage area 201A disconnects the connection to the VAP 10a. . In addition, it is assumed that the physical access point 110A and the physical access point 110B are in the above-described neighbor relationship, and in the following description, the notations such as “A” and “B” identify the physical access point unless otherwise specified. Indicates what to do.

  First, as a first situation, there is a user in the coverage area 201A of A, and the terminal 101 carried by the user is connected to the VAP 10a. In the wireless communication system, it is assumed that there are no other users connected to the VAP 10. At this time, A notifies the management server 120 that there is a user connected to the VAP 10a in its coverage area 201A (step S101). At this time, the VAP 10a is naturally activated.

  The control unit 410 of the management server 120 that has received the notification stores in the storage unit 420 that there is a user in the VAP 10a in step S102. Specifically, the VAP 10 stores in the “name of physical access point with terminal connection” in the VAP list 422 that the physical access point 110A has a connection. Further, the control unit 410 refers to the physical access point near A in the storage unit 420 in step S103.

  In step S104, the storage unit 420 responds to the control unit 410 that the neighborhood of A is B based on the positional relationship table 421 with respect to the reference in step S103. In response to the response, the control unit 410 instructs B to start the VAP 10b in step S105.

  Through the above-described processing, the VAP 10b without a user can be activated in advance, and smooth roaming can be realized even when the user moves to the coverage area 201B. Further, since a virtual access point of a physical access point that is not near is not activated, a communication band can be saved.

  Next, it is assumed that there is no user connected to the VAP 10a. As a situation where the user disappears, for example, the user has moved from the coverage area 201A or disconnected. At this time, A notifies the management server 120 that there is no user connected to the VAP 10a in its coverage area 201A (step S106).

  The control unit 410 of the management server 120 that has received the notification stores in the storage unit 420 that there is no user in the VAP 10a in step S107. Specifically, the “name of physical access point with terminal connection” stored in the VAP list 422 is updated. In step S108, the control unit 410 refers to the physical access point near A in the storage unit 420.

  In step S109, similarly to the process in step S104, the storage unit 420 responds to the control unit 410 that the neighborhood of A is B based on the positional relationship table 421 in response to the reference in step S108. Receiving that the neighboring physical access point is B, the control unit 410 further refers to whether or not there is a VAP10 user in the B coverage area 201B and the B coverage area 201 in step S110.

  By performing the process of step S110, in the case of the positional relationship illustrated in FIG. 5, it is possible to determine whether or not there is a user in the coverage area 201 of B, C, and D in addition to A. Thereby, for example, even if there is no user in A, it is possible to avoid stopping the virtual access point when there are users in B and C.

  As a result of the reference in step S110, the storage unit 420 responds that there is no user connected to the VAP 10 in step S111. The control unit 410 that has received the response instructs B to stop the VAP 10b in step S112.

  By the above-described processing, the virtual access point for roaming can be started or stopped, so that the communication band can be saved.

  An arbitrary method can be selected as the timing for notifying the presence or absence of the user in steps S101 and S106. For example, notification may be made periodically, notification may be made when there is a change in the presence / absence of the user, or the management server 120 may request notification.

  The first embodiment has been described above. Hereinafter, the second embodiment will be described. The second embodiment is a “distributed control type” example in which each physical access point communicates with each other to control on / off of the virtual access point. The hardware configuration in the second embodiment is the same as the configuration shown in FIG. 3, and the management server 120 may be replaced with the physical access point 110, so the details are omitted.

  Next, functional means executed by each hardware of the physical access point 110 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a software block diagram of the access point control system in the second embodiment. In the second embodiment, the physical access point 110 includes the control unit 410 and the storage unit 420 included in the management server 120 in the first embodiment. Therefore, the functions of the control unit 410 and the storage unit 420 included in each physical access point 110 are the same as those in the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.

  In the second embodiment, the physical access point that detects the connection of the user notifies the neighboring physical access point that the user exists, and the physical access point 110 that has received the notification changes the virtual access point. to start. In the present embodiment, the management server 120 is mainly used to connect the LAN to the Internet or the like.

  Below, the process in 2nd Embodiment is demonstrated using FIG. FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram of processing executed by the access point control system according to the second embodiment. In the example of FIG. 9, description is made assuming that the same situation as in FIG. 7 is assumed, and description of similar processing is omitted as appropriate.

  First, as a first situation, there is a user in the coverage area 201A of A, and the terminal 101 carried by the user is connected to the VAP 10a. In the wireless communication system, it is assumed that there are no other users connected to the VAP 10. At this time, the VAP 10a is naturally activated.

  In step S <b> 201, the control unit 410 of A stores in the storage unit 420 that there is a user in its coverage area. Further, in step S202, the control unit 410 refers to the positional relationship table 421 in the storage unit 420 in order to recognize its own physical access point, and acquires the physical access point name of A's neighbor.

  In step S203, the storage unit 420 of A responds to the control unit 410 that the neighborhood of A is B based on the positional relationship table 421 with respect to the reference of step S202. Upon receiving the response, the control unit 410 of A notifies B that the user is present in BAP in step S204. In addition, although the notification destination in this embodiment is only B, the notification destination in step S204 notifies all of the physical access points in the vicinity of A acquired in step S203.

  Upon receiving the notification in step S204, the control unit 410 of B stores that the user is in the VAP 10a in the storage unit 420 in step S205. Further, the control unit 410 of B activates the VAP 10b in step S206.

  Through the above-described processing, the VAP 10b without a user can be activated in advance, and smooth roaming can be realized even when the user moves to the coverage area 201B. Further, since a virtual access point of a physical access point that is not near is not activated, a communication band can be saved.

  Next, it is assumed that there is no user connected to the VAP 10a. At this time, A stores in the storage unit 420 that there is no user connected to the VAP 10a in its coverage area 201A (step S207).

  Furthermore, in step S208, the control unit 410 refers to the positional relationship table 421 in the storage unit 420 and acquires the name of the physical access point near A in the same manner as in step S202. In step S203, the storage unit 420 of A responds to the control unit 410 that the neighborhood of A is B based on the positional relationship table 421 with respect to the reference of step S208.

  Thereafter, the control unit 410 of A notifies B that there is no user in the VAP 10a in step S210. Upon receiving the notification in step S210, the B control unit 410 stores in the storage unit 420 that there is no user in the VAP 10a in step S211.

  Further, in step S212, the control unit 410 of B further refers to whether there is a VAP10 user in the coverage area of B and the coverage area in the vicinity of B. As a result of the reference in step S212, the storage unit 420 responds that there is no user connected to the VAP 10 in step S213.

  By performing the process of step S212, for example, even if there are no users in A, it is possible to avoid stopping the virtual access point when there are users in B and C.

  Upon receiving the response in step S213, the B control unit 410 stops the VAP 10b in step S214.

  By the above-described processing, the virtual access point for roaming can be started or stopped, so that the communication band can be saved.

  The second embodiment has been described above. Hereinafter, the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is a software block diagram of the access point control system in the third embodiment. In the third embodiment, a virtual access point is always activated for a specific physical access point 110.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 10, when the physical access point 110A is the outermost part of the roaming range, the virtual access points VAPs 10a and 20a included in A are included regardless of whether or not there is a user connected to A or a nearby B. Is always activated.

  The physical access point that is always activated is stored by the management server 120. For example, an item “physical access point that is always activated” may be added to the VAP list 422 in FIG.

  When the terminal 101 possessed by the user outside the roaming range enters the roaming range due to the movement of the user, the physical access point 110 to be connected first is the physical access point 110 that is the outermost part of the roaming range. Therefore, by always starting the virtual access point included in the physical access point, a quick network service can be provided to the user.

  Also, the physical access point 110 that is always activated is not limited to the outermost one in the roaming range. For example, the physical access point 110 that includes an area serving as an entrance / exit for the user in the coverage area may be constantly activated. Further, even within the roaming range, some physical access points 110 may always be activated to provide initial connection when the terminal recovers from a power failure or sleep state.

  10 illustrates the centralized management type embodiment, the present invention can be applied even to the distributed control type. In the case of the distributed control type, this embodiment can be realized by identifying that each physical access point is always activated.

  Next, a fourth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 11 is a software block diagram of the access point control system in the fourth embodiment. In the fourth embodiment, the user detection unit 430 detects the presence / absence of a user regardless of the connection status of the terminal, and activates a virtual access point included in the physical access point that detected the user.

  The physical access point 110 of the fourth embodiment further includes a user detection unit 430. The user detection unit 430 is means for detecting whether or not there is a user in the coverage area 201, and can be detected by various methods such as visible light, infrared light, audible sound, non-audible sound, temperature, and capacitance. .

  FIG. 11 shows a situation where there is a user carrying the terminal 101 in the coverage area 201A of A, and the terminal is not connected to a virtual access point. In such a situation, by activating the virtual access point included in A, not only when the user moves, but also when the user connects to the virtual access point by operating the terminal 101, Providing quick network services

  In addition, activation of the virtual access point can be performed according to various criteria. For example, in order to reduce the burden on the user, it may be activated when there is a user in the coverage area, or the user holds his hand over a specific area in order not to activate an unnecessary virtual access point. It may be activated when an explicit action is performed.

  Furthermore, the means for detecting the user in the present embodiment may detect the terminal by communication outside the wireless communication band and determine the presence or absence of the user. For example, the presence / absence of a user in the coverage area can be determined by detecting a terminal using a near field communication medium such as NFC (Near Field Communication) or Bluetooth (registered trademark).

  In addition, in FIG. 11, although illustrated in the centralized management type embodiment, this embodiment can be applied even to the distributed control type.

  Next, a fifth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 12 is a sequence diagram of processing executed by the access point control system according to the fifth embodiment. In the fifth embodiment, in addition to starting / stopping the control of the virtual access point, “starting in a state where the beacon frequency is lower than the normal starting state” is added.

  The beacon is generally set to be transmitted at a frequency of once every 100 milliseconds. However, it is allowed by the standard to change this frequency setting. Therefore, it is possible to save the communication band by reducing the beacon transmission frequency.

  The processing in steps S301 to S304 in FIG. 12 is the same as that in steps S101 to S104 in FIG. In step S <b> 305, the control unit 410 refers to the storage unit 420 as to whether or not B is a user. Here, when there is no user connected to B, this embodiment can be applied. This is because when there is a user connected to B, B's virtual access point is activated at a normal beacon frequency.

  Thereafter, in step S306, the storage unit 420 responds to the control unit 410 that there is no user in B. Upon receiving the response, the control unit 410 instructs B to start in a state where the beacon frequency is lower than the normal start state.

  12 illustrates the centralized management type embodiment, the present embodiment can be applied even to the distributed control type. Furthermore, the method shown in the third embodiment can be carried out in combination with this embodiment. That is, the virtual access point included in the specific physical access point 110 is always activated with the beacon frequency being lower than the normal activation state, and the normal beacon frequency is set when the user enters the coverage area 201. It can also be set.

  According to the fifth embodiment, by starting with the beacon frequency lowered, the communication bandwidth can be saved while securing the connection possibility, so that it is possible to provide a roaming environment that is comfortable for the user.

  Next, a sixth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of an access point control system according to the sixth embodiment. In the sixth embodiment, in the centralized management type embodiment, the presence / absence of a user is detected and notified based on the function of the OpenFlow protocol.

  OpenFlow (registered trademark) is a communication protocol that transfers communication data based on a “flow” corresponding to a “matching rule” that is a data condition and an “action” that is a processing content.

  FIG. 13A is a software block diagram of the access point control system in the sixth embodiment, which is obtained by adding a new software block to the embodiment described in FIG. In the sixth embodiment, the physical access point 110 includes an OpenFlow switch 440, and the management server 120 includes an OpenFlow controller 450.

  The OpenFlow switch 440 is a data transfer unit in the OpenFlow protocol, and holds a list of each flow called a flow table illustrated in FIG. Here, the flow table will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 13B, the flow table is a table that associates items such as an index, a matching rule, and an action. The index is a number for identifying a flow. Here, 1 to 3 are assigned, but the number of flows is not particularly limited. For example, indexes 1 and 2 are assigned to each virtual access point, and a number of flows corresponding to the number of virtual access points can be set. In addition, as in index 3, there may be a matching rule that is performed based on inflow data from the network above the access point.

  The matching rule is a condition for determining whether or not to take an action when the OpenFlow switch 440 receives a packet from the virtual access point. Here, the inflow data is distinguished by the port number. In this embodiment, the virtual access point is regarded as a port in OpenFlow, the port number is assigned with VAP 10a as port 1 and VAP 20b as port 2.

  The action indicates processing to be executed based on the determination by the matching rule. Here, any flow is defined as a normal transfer of data.

  The OpenFlow controller 450 is a means for communicating with the OpenFlow switch 440, and can request statistical information from the OpenFlow switch 440. The OpenFlow controller 450 can edit the flow table.

  Hereinafter, a specific operation in the sixth embodiment will be described. FIG. 14 is a sequence diagram of processing executed by the access point control system according to the sixth embodiment.

  First, when a terminal is connected to a virtual access point included in the physical access point 110, the OpenFlow switch 440 normally transfers data based on the flow table (step S401). Thereafter, in step S402, the OpenFlow controller 450 requests statistical information of the number of packets from the OpenFlow switch 440. For this request, an OpenFlow Stats Request message or the like can be used.

  The OpenFlow switch 440 returns the number of packets of each flow to the OpenFlow controller 450 in step S403. The OpenFlow controller 450 that has received the response in step S403 notifies the control unit 410 of the number of packets in each flow in step S404.

  The control unit 410 can determine the presence or absence of a user according to the number of packets among the flows associated with each virtual access point (step S405). For example, it can be determined that there is a user in a flow with a large number of packets and no user in a flow with a small number of packets.

  The presence / absence of the user can be determined by the above-described processing, and activation and stop of the virtual access point can be instructed to the neighboring physical access points by the processing after step S102 in FIG. In addition, a virtual access point of a neighboring physical access point may be activated by setting a threshold value for the number of packets, or a virtual access point may be activated in a state where the beacon frequency is reduced according to the number of packets. .

  Furthermore, although FIG. 13 shows an example in which all packets are normally transferred, a more complicated flow table may be used. For example, access filtering by discarding specific data, communication quality assurance control by preferentially communicating with a specific virtual access point, and the like can be applied to matching rules and actions. As a result, various communication controls can be executed in the same system as the presence or absence of the user.

  In addition to the Stats Request message, a packet in message, a vendor-defined message, or the like may be used for the notification for determining the presence or absence of the user.

  Although FIG. 13 illustrates an example in the centralized management type embodiment, the present embodiment can be applied to a distributed control type. In the case of the distributed control type, each physical access point can be realized by further including an OpenFlow controller.

  As described above, according to the sixth embodiment, by controlling the virtual access point according to the number of packets, flexible control can be realized and a comfortable roaming environment can be provided.

  Note that the software blocks shown in each embodiment described above correspond to functional means realized by causing the hardware to function by causing the CPU 301 to execute the program of this embodiment. In addition, all of the functional means shown in each embodiment may be realized by software, or a part or all of them may be implemented as hardware that provides an equivalent function.

  As described above, according to each embodiment of the present invention described above, it is possible to provide an access point control system and method for switching on / off a virtual access point based on the positional relationship between a terminal and an access point.

  Each function of the above-described embodiment of the present invention can be realized by a device-executable program described in C, C ++, C #, Java (registered trademark) or the like. The program of this embodiment includes a hard disk device, a CD- It can be stored and distributed in a device-readable recording medium such as ROM, MO, DVD, flexible disk, EEPROM, EPROM, etc., and can be transmitted via a network in a format that other devices can.

  As described above, the present invention has been described with the embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and as long as the operations and effects of the present invention are exhibited within the scope of embodiments that can be considered by those skilled in the art. It is included in the scope of the present invention. Therefore, even when the embodiments described above are combined, they are included in the scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10, 20 ... Virtual access point, 100 ... Wireless communication system, 101, 102 ... Terminal, 110 ... Physical access point, 120 ... Management server, 201 ... Coverage area, 301 ... CPU, 302 ... RAM, 303 ... ROM, 304 ... Communication interface, 305... HDD, 410... Control unit, 420... Storage unit, 421... Positional relationship table, 422... VAP list, 430.

Japanese Patent No. 5789462 Japanese Patent No. 4515711

Claims (10)

A wireless communication access point control system capable of roaming with a plurality of physical access points,
The physical access point is
Multiple virtual access points,
Means for notifying the management server of the presence or absence of a terminal connected to the virtual access point,
The management server
Means for storing a positional relationship of the physical access points;
An access point control system comprising: means for controlling activation or deactivation of the virtual access point included in the second physical access point based on a notification from the first physical access point and a positional relationship of the physical access point. Communication between the management server and the physical access point is performed by the OpenFlow protocol.
The presence or absence of a terminal connected to the virtual access point is determined based on the number of packets.
The access point control system according to claim 1. A wireless communication access point control system capable of roaming with a plurality of physical access points,
The physical access point is
Multiple virtual access points,
Means for storing a positional relationship of the physical access points;
Means for notifying the second physical access point of the presence / absence of a terminal connected to the virtual access point based on the positional relationship of the physical access point;
An access point control system comprising: means for controlling activation or deactivation of the virtual access point included in the second physical access point based on a notification from the first physical access point and a positional relationship of the physical access point; . The access point control system includes:
The notification is performed when a terminal connected to the virtual access point is detected.
The access point control system according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The access point control system includes:
There is no terminal connected to the virtual access point included in the second physical access point,
And when there is a terminal connected to a virtual access point included in the first physical access point in the vicinity of the second physical access point,
Activating a virtual access point included in the second physical access point;
The access point control system according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The access point control system includes:
There is no terminal connected to the virtual access point included in the second physical access point,
And when there is no terminal connected to the virtual access point included in the first physical access point in the vicinity of the second physical access point,
Stopping a virtual access point included in the second physical access point;
The access point control system according to any one of claims 1 to 5. Of the physical access points included in the access point control system, a virtual access point included in a specific physical access point is always activated.
The access point control system according to any one of claims 1 to 6. The physical access point is
Further comprising means for detecting a user or terminal;
The access point control system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein start or stop of the virtual access point is controlled based on a result of the detection. The means for controlling is
The frequency of transmitting the beacon of the virtual access point can be changed to activate the physical access point.
The access point control system according to any one of claims 1 to 8. A method of controlling a wireless communication access point capable of roaming by a plurality of physical access points,
Notifying the presence or absence of a terminal connected to the virtual access point;
Controlling activation or deactivation of the virtual access point included in the second physical access point based on the notification from the first physical access point and the positional relationship of the physical access point.