JP2018007105A - Radio equipment, and method and program for time slot allocation control - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform, if radio equipment is used as a relay station, relay transmission without using a transmission slot allocated to the self-equipment.SOLUTION: A time slot allocation control method includes: allocating, when identifying that data relay is necessary in adjacent equipment at data transmission from the self-equipment, a time slot for relay as a lending slot, from among transmission time slots allocated to the self-equipment; notifying the adjacent equipment of the allocated lending slot, and thereafter transmitting the data; and transmitting, on identifying that data received from the adjacent equipment is relay data to be relayed further to other equipment, the relay data using a borrowing slot which is borrowed beforehand for the relay of the relay data.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a radio apparatus, a time slot allocation control method, and a time slot allocation control program, and more particularly to a radio apparatus, a time slot allocation control method, and a time slot allocation control program used in an ad hoc network.

  For a large number of wireless devices constituting a network, a transmission timing control such as TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) is used in a network environment with a narrow communication band and a low communication speed. . TDMA is a technology that divides radio waves of the same frequency into fixed-length time intervals (frames), further divides the frame of a fixed period into fixed-length time intervals (slots), and transmits data in each slot. Thus, a plurality of communications can be performed at the same frequency.

  As a slot allocation method in TDMA, a pre-assignment method and a demand assignment method are known. The former is a method in which a line assigned to a slot is fixed in advance, and the latter is a method in which a line is assigned to a slot every time a connection request is generated.

  Also, in an ad hoc network in which a plurality of wireless devices communicate with each other, wireless devices in the communication range directly communicate with each other, while wireless devices that cannot communicate directly perform autonomous routing and relay wireless devices Multi-hop communication via

  Techniques relating to ad hoc networks that employ the TDMA scheme are disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2.

  The technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 is a communication control method for quickly assigning a slot in which a collision does not occur to a node desiring to enter an ad hoc network without using a control slot. The technique disclosed in Patent Literature 1 determines and notifies a candidate of a time slot to be assigned to a node that wishes to join based on the time slot assignment state of the node and the adjacent node when the node that has detected the node wishing to join the network is detected. It is configured as follows. Then, the node that wishes to enter selects a time slot to be used from among the notified candidate time slots.

  In the technology disclosed in Patent Document 2, when each node negotiates with each other autonomously to determine time slot allocation in an ad hoc network, slot allocation information indicating a time slot usage state is notified to an adjacent node. It is a control method. With the technique disclosed in Patent Document 2, slot allocation information can be stored and transmitted in a data packet header with a small overhead. According to this technique, the data packet header is selected by selecting a list having a smaller number of time slots included in the list from the used slot list and the empty slot list according to the time slot allocation status to itself and adjacent nodes. Store in and send.

JP 2009-253473 A JP 2010-141853 A

  In an ad hoc network, wireless devices that cannot communicate directly perform multi-hop communication that performs data transfer like a so-called bucket relay, with a wireless device that exists in a communicable range as a relay station. In an ad hoc network employing the TDMA scheme, when a transmission slot is assigned in advance to each wireless device, the wireless device used as a relay station is assigned to the own device for relay transmission of data from the transmission source. Use the specified transmission slot.

  For this reason, in a wireless device used as a relay station, a band originally allocated to the own device is compressed. In particular, when the own apparatus is selected as a relay station from a plurality of transmission sources at the same time, band compression becomes significant and congestion easily occurs. When such a situation occurs, there is a risk of transmission loss or data buffer fullness and data loss.

  Such problems are not considered in the techniques disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2.

  The present invention relates to a radio apparatus, a time slot allocation control method, and a time slot allocation control that perform relay transmission without using a transmission slot allocated to the own apparatus even when the radio apparatus is used as a relay station. Provide a program.

  To achieve the above object, a radio apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes a first slot that is a transmission time slot assigned to the own apparatus, and a first time slot that is used as a relay time slot. Slot information holding means for holding information on each of the second slot lent out from the slot to the other device and the third slot borrowed from the other device as a relay time slot, and an instruction to assign the relay time slot The slot information holding means is referred to, the second slot is determined from the available first slots, the information content held by the slot information holding means is updated, and the determined first Relay slot allocating means for generating and outputting relay control data indicating two slots, and the user data when transmitting user data from the own apparatus When identifying that the destination is not an adjacent wireless device, the relay slot allocation unit is instructed to allocate the second slot, and the relay control data output by the relay slot allocation unit is transmitted prior to transmission of the user data. When the data transmission means for transmitting using the first usable slot determined with reference to the slot information holding means and the data received from another device are identified as the relay control data, the relay When the slot information indicated by the control data is used as the third slot, the contents of the slot information holding means are updated, and when the data received from another device is identified as relay data to be relayed to another device, Data receiving means for instructing the data transmitting means to transmit relay data, and the data transmitting means includes the data receiving means. When the relay data transmission instruction is received from the means, the relay information is transmitted using the third slot borrowed as a time slot for relay of the relay data with reference to the slot information holding means It is characterized by.

  In addition, the time slot allocation control method according to another aspect of the present invention prepares for allocation of a relay time slot when identifying that the destination of the user data is not an adjacent wireless device when transmitting user data from the own device. When assigning a relay time slot, a slot that can be used from the first slot, which is a transmission time slot assigned to the own device, is used as a second slot that is lent to another device as a relay time slot. Prior to transmission of the user data, relay control data including allocation and the second slot information is transmitted using the usable first slot, and data received from another device is the relay control data. When it is identified, the slot information indicated by the relay control data is transmitted from another device as a relay time slot. When the data received from another device is identified as relay data to be relayed to another device, the second slot borrowed as the relay data time slot is identified. The relay data is transmitted using 3 slots.

  Furthermore, the time slot allocation control program according to another aspect of the present invention provides the first slot as a transmission time slot allocated to the own apparatus and a relay time slot as the first slot. Slot information holding function means for holding information on each of the second slot lent out from the slot to the other device and the third slot borrowed from the other device as a relay time slot, and the assignment of the time slot for relay When the instruction is received, the slot information holding function means is referred to, the second slot is determined from the available first slots, and the information content held by the slot information holding function means is updated and determined. Relay slot assigning function means for generating and outputting relay control data indicating the second slot, and When it is identified that the user data destination is not an adjacent wireless device at the time of transmission of the user data, the relay slot allocation function means is instructed to allocate the second slot, and the relay control data output by the relay slot allocation function means Prior to transmission of the user data, data transmission function means for transmitting using the usable first slot determined with reference to the slot information holding function means, and data received from another device When it is identified as relay control data, the slot information indicated by the relay control data is used as the third slot to update the contents of the slot information holding function means, and the data received from another device is still another device. When it is identified that the relay data is to be relayed to the relay station, the data transmission function means is instructed to transmit the relay data. When the data transmission function means receives an instruction to transmit relay data from the data reception function means, the slot information holding function means is referred to for relaying the relay data. An operation is performed such that the relay data is transmitted using the third slot borrowed as a time slot.

  The present invention can perform relay transmission without using a transmission slot allocated to the own apparatus even when the wireless apparatus is used as a relay station.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a TDMA wireless network to which the present invention is applied. It is a block diagram which illustrates the composition of the radio equipment of a 1st embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which illustrates operation | movement of the time slot allocation control method of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which illustrates the hardware constitutions of the radio | wireless apparatus of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the function means which the time slot allocation control program of the 1st Embodiment of this invention implement | achieves. It is a block diagram which illustrates the composition of the radio equipment of a 2nd embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which illustrates the content of the slot information management table. FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation performed by a slot information update / read control unit. It is a flowchart which illustrates the operation | movement which a relay slot allocation part performs. It is a flowchart which illustrates the transmission operation which a data transmission part performs. It is a flowchart which illustrates data reception operation.

  Embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

  The embodiments are examples, and the disclosed apparatus and method are not limited to the configurations of the following embodiments. The reference numerals attached to the drawings are added as an example for helping understanding, and are not intended to be any limitation. Furthermore, the direction of the arrow in the drawing shows an example, and does not limit the direction of the signal between the blocks.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a TDMA wireless network to which the present invention is applied.

  Referring to FIG. 1, a TDMA wireless network to which the present invention is applied constitutes an ad hoc network in which a plurality of wireless devices denoted by reference numerals 1-1 to 1-4 communicate with each other by the TDMA scheme. While wireless communication within the mutual communication range directly communicates, wireless communication that cannot be directly communicated performs autonomous routing and performs multi-hop communication via a relay wireless device. In addition, the number of the radio | wireless apparatuses shown in FIG. 1 is an illustration, and is not restricted to the radio | wireless apparatus which attached | subjected the reference numerals 1-1 to 1-4.

(First embodiment)
A first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the wireless device according to the first embodiment of this invention.

  The wireless device 1 according to the first embodiment includes a slot information holding unit 11, a relay slot allocation unit 12, a data transmission unit 13, and a data reception unit 14.

  The slot information holding unit 11 holds information on the following three types of time slots. They are a first slot which is a transmission time slot assigned to the own apparatus, a second slot lent to another apparatus from the first slot as a relay time slot, and a relay time slot. As a third slot borrowed from another device.

  When the relay slot allocating unit 12 receives an instruction to allocate a relay time slot, the relay slot allocating unit 12 refers to the slot information holding unit 11 to determine the second slot from the usable first slots and to determine the slot information holding unit. 11 updates the information content held. Then, the relay slot allocation unit 12 generates and outputs relay control data indicating the determined second slot.

  When the data transmission unit 13 identifies that the destination of the user data is not an adjacent wireless device when transmitting the user data from the own device, the data transmission unit 13 instructs the relay slot allocation unit 12 to allocate the second slot. The data transmission unit 13 transmits the relay control data output from the relay slot allocation unit 12 using the first usable slot determined with reference to the slot information holding unit 11 prior to transmission of user data. .

  When the data receiving unit 14 identifies that the data received from the other device is relay control data, the data receiving unit 14 updates the contents of the slot information holding unit 11 with the slot information indicated by the relay control data as the third slot. When the data receiving unit 14 identifies that the data received from another device is relay data to be relayed to another other device, the data receiving unit 14 instructs the data transmitting unit 13 to transmit the relay data.

  When the data transmission unit 13 receives the relay data transmission instruction from the data reception unit 14, the data transmission unit 13 refers to the slot information holding unit 11 and determines the third slot borrowed as a relay time slot for the relay data. Use to transmit the relay data.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the time slot allocation control method according to the first embodiment of this invention. The time slot allocation control method of the first embodiment is realized by the radio apparatus 1 of the first embodiment operating as shown in FIG.

  When it is identified that the destination of the user data is not an adjacent wireless device at the time of transmission of user data from the own device, a relay time slot allocation is prepared (S101).

  When assigning a relay time slot, a slot that can be used from the first slot, which is a transmission time slot assigned to the own device, is assigned as a second slot that is lent to another device as a relay time slot ( S102).

  Relay control data including second slot information is transmitted using the usable first slot prior to transmission of user data (S103).

  When it is identified that the data received from another device is relay control data, the slot information indicated by the relay control data is held as a third slot borrowed from another device as a relay time slot (S104).

  When data received from another device is identified as relay data to be relayed to another device, the relay data is transmitted using the third slot borrowed as a relay time slot for the relay data. (S105).

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the wireless device according to the first embodiment of this invention.

  Referring to FIG. 4, the wireless device 1 can be realized by a hardware configuration similar to that of a general computer device, and includes the following configuration.

  The hardware configuration includes a central processing unit (CPU) 21, a main storage unit 22, and an auxiliary storage unit 23, which are control units. The main storage unit 22 is configured by a RAM (Random Access Memory) or the like, and the auxiliary storage unit 23 is configured by a nonvolatile memory such as a semiconductor memory.

  The hardware configuration includes a communication unit 24 that performs wireless communication, an input / output unit 25 as a man-machine interface, a system bus 26 that interconnects the above-described components, and the like.

  The wireless device 1 of the present embodiment may be realized in software by the CPU 21 executing a program that provides each function of each component.

  That is, the CPU 21 loads the program stored in the auxiliary storage unit 23 to the main storage unit 22 and executes it, or directly executes it on the auxiliary storage unit 23 to control the operation of the wireless device 1. Implement each function in software.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of functional means realized by the time slot allocation control program according to the first embodiment of this invention.

  The time slot allocation control program of the first embodiment causes a computer to operate as slot information holding function means 31, relay slot allocation function means 32, data transmission function means 33, and data reception function means 34.

  The slot information holding function means 31 holds information relating to the following three types of time slots. They are a first slot which is a transmission time slot assigned to the own apparatus, a second slot lent to another apparatus from the first slot as a relay time slot, and a relay time slot. As a third slot borrowed from another device.

  When the relay slot assignment function means 32 receives an instruction to assign a relay time slot, the relay slot assignment function means 32 refers to the slot information holding function means 31 to determine the second slot from the usable first slots and to obtain slot information. The information content held by the holding function means 31 is updated. Then, the relay slot allocation function means 32 generates and outputs relay control data indicating the determined second slot.

  When the data transmission function means 33 identifies that the destination of the user data is not an adjacent wireless apparatus when transmitting the user data from its own apparatus, the data transmission function means 33 instructs the relay slot assignment function means 32 to assign the second slot. The data transmission function unit 33 uses the first usable slot determined by referring to the slot information holding function unit 31 prior to transmission of user data, for the relay control data output by the relay slot allocation function unit 32. To send.

  When the data receiving function means 34 identifies that the data received from another device is relay control data, the data receiving function means 34 updates the contents of the slot information holding function means 31 with the slot information indicated by the relay control data as the third slot. When the data reception function unit 34 identifies that the data received from the other device is relay data to be relayed to another other device, the data reception function unit 34 instructs the data transmission function unit 33 to transmit the relay data.

  Receiving the relay data transmission instruction from the data reception function unit 34, the data transmission function unit 33 refers to the slot information holding function unit 31 and selects the third slot borrowed as a relay time slot for the relay data. Use to transmit the relay data.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the data is transmitted from the own device, when it is identified that the adjacent device needs to be relayed, the relay time slot is lent out from the transmission time slot assigned to the own device. Assign as a slot. Then, the assigned lending slot is notified to the adjacent device, and then the data is transmitted. When the adjacent device identifies that the received data is relay data, the adjacent device transmits the relay data using a borrowing slot borrowed in advance for relaying the relay data.

  As a result, the wireless device that has become the relay station can perform relay transmission of data using the relay slot lent out from the transmission source, so that the own transmission slot can be used for relay transmission. Absent.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, even when the wireless device is used as a relay station, relay transmission can be performed without using the transmission slot allocated to the own device.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a wireless device according to the second embodiment of this invention.

  The wireless device 10 according to the second embodiment includes a data transmission unit 110, a data reception unit 120, a slot information holding unit 130, a relay slot allocation unit 140, a route information holding unit 150, and a communication application 160.

  The data transmission unit 110 transmits radio waves using another TDMA wireless communication method and transmits data to other wireless devices. The data to be transmitted includes user data transmitted from its own device instructed by the communication application 160, relay data received by the data receiving unit 120 and further transmitted to other wireless devices, relay control data transmitted for slot management, etc. There is.

  The data receiving unit 120 receives radio waves using a TDMA wireless communication system and receives data from other wireless devices. The received user data is sent to the communication application 160. The received relay data is sent to the data transmission unit 110. The received relay control data is sent to the slot information holding unit 130.

  The slot information holding unit 130 holds and manages a transmission time slot assigned to the own device, a loan slot lent to another device as a relay time slot, and a borrowing slot borrowed from another device as a relay time slot. To do.

  The lending slot is a time slot that lends a transmission time slot assigned to the own apparatus to another apparatus temporarily. In the first embodiment, the transmission time slot has been described as the first slot, the lending slot as the second slot, and the borrowing slot as the third slot.

  The slot information holding unit 130 includes a slot information update / read control unit 131 and a slot information management table 132.

  The slot information management table 132 is a table that holds a transmission time slot, a lending slot, and a borrowing slot assigned to the own apparatus. Details of the table configuration will be described later.

  The slot information update / read control unit 131 controls update and read of information managed by the slot information management table 132. Details of the update / read control will be described later.

  When the relay slot allocation unit 140 receives an instruction to allocate a rental slot to be lent to another device, the relay slot allocation unit 140 refers to the contents of the slot information holding unit 130 and determines a slot that can be lent from the transmission time slot allocated to the own device. Assign. Relay slot allocation unit 140 updates the contents of slot information holding unit 130 based on the result of this allocation process. Also, the relay slot allocation unit 140 generates and outputs relay control data for notifying the allocated rental slot. Details of the operation of the relay slot allocation unit 140 will be described later.

  The route information holding unit 150 is not capable of direct communication with other wireless devices (neighboring wireless devices) in a state where direct communication is possible, but is in a state where communication is possible via the neighboring wireless device. Holds route information including information of the wireless device. Such route information can be examined using a Hello message of OLSR (Optimized Link State Routing) which is a route control method for ad hoc networks.

  The communication application 160 is communication software that performs data communication such as images, texts, and voices.

  Note that the data transmission unit 110, the data reception unit 120, the slot information holding unit 130, the relay slot allocation unit 140, the route information holding unit 150, and the communication application 160 may be mounted in different device casings, not in the same device casing. It doesn't matter.

  The contents of the slot information management table will be described.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the contents of the slot information management table.

  The slot information management table 132 is a table for managing information on time slots that can be used in the own apparatus. The slot information management table 132 is rewritten by the slot information update / read control unit 131.

  The contents of the slot information management table 132 include an empty / busy flag, a lending flag, a borrowing flag, an expiration date, and a device ID (Identification) corresponding to a TS (Time Slot) number.

  The TS number indicates a time slot number assigned to the own device and a time slot number borrowed from another device.

  The idle / busy flag indicates the state of the time slot allocated to the own device being free (available) or closed (unusable).

  The lending flag indicates a time slot (lending slot) lent to another apparatus among the time slots allocated to the own apparatus.

  The borrowing flag indicates that the time slot (borrowing slot) is borrowed from another device.

  The expiration date indicates the expiration date for each of the lending slot and the borrowing slot.

  The device ID indicates the identification number of the borrowing wireless device for the lending slot and the identification number of the borrowing wireless device for the borrowing slot.

  In the example of FIG. 7, the time slot numbers assigned to the own device are TS1 to TS6, TS1 is being used for data transmission from the own device, TS2 to TS4 are vacant, and TS5 and TS6 are lent to other devices. It shows that. Each of TS12, TS18, TS22, and TS35 represents a borrowing slot borrowed from another device.

  It is shown that the rental slots TS5 and TS6 are lent to the wireless devices having the device ID aaaa and the device ID bbbb for the period indicated by the expiration date.

  Further, it is shown that the borrowing slots TS12, TS18, TS22, and TS35 have been borrowed from the wireless devices having the device IDcccc, the device IDdddd, the device IDeeee, and the device IDffff for the period indicated by the expiration date.

  Next, the operation of the slot information update / read control unit 131 that controls updating and reading of information managed by the slot information management table 132 will be described.

  The slot information update / read control unit 131 is accessed from the data transmission unit 110, the data reception unit 120, and the relay slot allocation unit 140.

  The data transmission unit 110 is accessed by slot reading, in which the time slot used for data transmission is read from the slot information management table 132.

  The data receiving unit 120 is accessed by slot update, in which the relay slot notified by the relay management data from the adjacent wireless device is written in the slot information management table 132 as a borrowed slot.

  The relay slot assignment unit 140 is accessed by slot update, which is written in the slot information management table 132 as a rented slot when a relay slot lent to another device is assigned.

  In addition to the access from the data transmission unit 110, the data reception unit 120, and the relay slot allocation unit 140, the expiration date monitoring for monitoring the expiration date set in the lending slot and the borrowing slot is also performed.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an operation performed by the slot information update / read control unit 131.

  The operation of the slot information update / read control unit 131 will be described with reference to FIG.

  When the operation is started, the slot information update / read control unit 131 determines a processing type to be executed. In step S201, it is determined whether it is a slot reading process, in step S202, it is determined whether it is a slot update process, and in step S203, it is determined whether it is an expiration date monitoring process.

  If it is determined that the slot reading process is requested from the data transmission unit 110 (S201, Yes), the empty slot is searched with reference to the empty slot flag assigned to the own device in the slot information management table 132 (S204). ).

  If there is an empty slot in this empty slot search (Yes in S204), the empty slot flag corresponding to the empty slot is set to “block”, and the empty slot number is notified to the data transmission unit 110 (S205). .

  On the other hand, when there is no empty slot in this empty slot search (S204, No), the data transmission unit 110 is notified that there is no empty slot (S206).

  Although the above description is the slot reading process used when data is transmitted from the own apparatus, the slot used for relay data transmission is read as follows although not shown.

  The data transmission unit 110 requests the slot information update / read control unit 131 to read a slot used for relay. At that time, the data transmission unit 110 adds the device ID of the wireless device that is the transmission source of the relay data.

  The slot information update / read control unit 131 refers to the slot information management table 132 and searches for a borrowed slot with a matching device ID. Then, the data transmission unit 110 is notified of the slot number of the borrowed slot whose device ID matches. If the expiry date has expired and there is no borrowed slot with the same device ID, an empty time slot assigned to the own device may be used.

  If it is determined that the slot update process is requested from the data receiving unit 120 or the relay slot assigning unit 140 (S202, Yes), the information instructed by each access source is registered in the slot information management table 132 (S207).

  For example, as will be described later, the relay slot assigning unit 140 performs an operation of assigning a rental slot from a time slot assigned to the own device, and registers information on the assigned rental slot in the slot information management table 132. Specifically, for the slot assigned to the lending slot, the empty / busy flag is set to “block”, and the lending flag, the expiration date, and the device ID of the lending destination are registered.

  Further, as will be described later, the data receiving unit 120 registers the relay slot notified by the relay control data in the slot information management table 132 as a borrowing slot. Specifically, the slot number of the relay slot indicated by the notified relay control data, the borrowing flag, the expiration date, and the borrower's device ID are registered as new entries in the slot information management table 132.

  If it is determined that the expiration date monitoring process is executed periodically by a timer or the like (S203, Yes), it is determined whether the expiration date registered in the slot information management table 132 has expired (S208).

  If there is a registration that has expired (S208, Yes), for the lending slot, the lending flag, the expiry date, and the device ID of the lending destination are cleared, and the empty / busy flag is set to “empty”. For borrowed slots, the corresponding entry is deleted from the slot information management table 132.

  Although not shown in FIG. 8, when the relay slot allocation unit 140 performs a relay slot allocation process, which will be described later, it is checked whether there is a slot that can be used as a lending slot among the time slots allocated to the own device. There is also processing to do.

  Next, the operation of relay slot allocation unit 140 will be described.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an operation performed by relay slot allocation unit 140.

  The operation of relay slot allocation section 140 will be described with reference to FIG.

  When data transmission unit 110 transmits user data from its own device and identifies that the user data is data to be relayed by an adjacent device, data transmission unit 110 provides relay slot allocation unit 140 with a lending slot as a relay slot. Request an assignment. When the data transmission unit 110 issues this relay slot allocation instruction, the data transmission unit 110 notifies the relay slot allocation unit 140 of the data size of the user data.

  The relay slot allocation unit 140 receives this relay slot allocation instruction from the data transmission unit 110 (S301).

  The relay slot allocation unit 140 refers to the contents of the slot information management table 132 (S302), and determines whether there is a slot that can be used as a lending slot among the time slots allocated to the own device (S303). ).

  If there is a slot that can be used as a rented slot (Yes in S303), the relay slot allocating unit 140 determines the slot number and expiration date of the time slot allocated to the own device used as the rented slot (S304). The expiration date may be determined based on the transmission rate per channel used by the wireless device and the data size of the notified user data. Further, the expiration date may be an absolute time when the expiration date expires, or may be a relative time when counting down.

  The relay slot assigning unit 140 updates the contents of the slot information management table 132 with the information on the rented slot determined in step S304 (S305). The update of the contents of the slot information management table 132 is as described in step S202 and step S207 of FIG.

  When the update of the contents of the slot information management table 132 is completed, the relay slot allocation unit 140 generates relay control data in which information related to the lending slot determined in step S304 is set, and outputs it to the data transmission unit 110 (S306). The relay control data includes the slot number of the lending slot, the expiration date, and the device ID of the own device.

  If it is determined in step S303 that there is no slot that can be used as a lending slot (No in S303), the relay slot allocation unit 140 notifies the data transmission unit 110 that there is no slot that can be lent. (S307).

  Next, data transmission processing and reception processing will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11, respectively.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating the transmission operation performed by the data transmission unit 110.

  The communication application 160 instructs the data transmission unit 110 to transmit user data, triggered by an instruction from the user or execution of various information processing functions installed in the communication application 160 (S401).

  The data transmitting unit 110 refers to the route information held by the route information holding unit 150 (S401), identifies whether the destination of user data is an adjacent wireless device, and determines whether data relay is necessary in the adjacent wireless device. Is determined (S403).

  If it is determined in step S403 that the destination of the user data is an adjacent wireless device, it is determined that data relay is unnecessary in the adjacent wireless device. If the destination of the user data is not an adjacent wireless device, it is determined that data relay is necessary in the adjacent wireless device.

  If it is determined in step S403 that the adjacent wireless device does not require data relay (S403, unnecessary), the data transmission unit 110 accesses the slot information holding unit 130 and reads the time slot for data transmission. Execute (S404). In this process, as described in step S201 and steps S204 to S206 described in FIG. 8, the empty slot of the time slot allocated to the own apparatus is read. Then, the data transmission unit 110 transmits user data using the read transmission slot.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in the determination in step S403 that data relay is necessary in the adjacent wireless device (S403, required), it is determined whether the adjacent wireless device has an adjacent node that can be relayed (S406). That is, it is determined whether the user data is connected to the destination to be relayed. This determination is also made with reference to the route information held by the route information holding unit 150.

  If it is determined in step S406 that the adjacent wireless device is connected to the destination to which the user data is to be relayed (Yes in S406), the data transmission unit 110 executes the relay slot allocation process on the relay slot allocation unit 140. Is instructed (S407).

  The operation of relay slot allocation unit 140 instructed to execute relay slot allocation processing from data transmission unit 110 is as in steps S301 to S307 described with reference to FIG.

  Upon receiving notification of relay control data including information related to the rented slot from the relay slot allocating unit 140, the data transmitting unit 110 executes a process of reading a transmission time slot used for data transmission from the own device (S408). . This process is the same as the process of step S404, and as described in step S201 and steps S204 to S206 described in FIG. 8, the empty slot of the time slot allocated to the own apparatus is read.

  Then, the data transmission unit 110 first transmits the relay control data to the adjacent wireless device using the read transmission slot (S409). Subsequently, user data instructed from the communication application 160 is transmitted using the same transmission slot.

  If it is determined in step S406 that the adjacent wireless device is not connected to the destination to which the user data is to be relayed (No in S406), it is determined that the user data cannot be transmitted, and the process ends. In this case, it may be reported to the communication application 160 that user data cannot be transmitted. In addition, it may be configured to transmit data after waiting for a neighboring wireless device to connect to a destination to which user data should be relayed due to a change in network topology due to mutual movement of wireless devices or changes in radio wave conditions. good.

  If there is no slot that can be lent in step S303 of the operation of relay slot allocating unit 140 described with reference to FIG. Be notified. FIG. 10 does not show the operation in that case, but in this case, it is sufficient to jump to the process of step S404. In other words, when there is no slot that can be lent out, no relay control data is generated, so only user data from the own device need be transmitted.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating the data receiving operation.

  In FIG. 11, the operation in step S <b> 505 is the operation of the data transmission unit 110 instructed to transmit relay data from the data reception unit 120.

  When the data receiving unit 120 receives data from the adjacent wireless device (S501), the data receiving unit 120 checks the data type (S502). The data type to be confirmed is relay control data or user data. The data type is identified by the data type attached to the packet header information.

  When the data type is relay control data (S502, relay control data), the data receiving unit 120 performs processing to update the slot information management table 132 with information regarding the relay slot notified by the relay control data (S503). . That is, the slot information holding unit 130 is accessed, and the relay slot notified by the relay control data is registered in the slot information management table 132 as a borrowed slot.

  The process of registering a borrowed slot in the slot information management table 132 is as described in step S202 and step S207 of FIG. Specifically, the slot number of the relay slot indicated by the notified relay control data, the borrowing flag, the expiration date, and the borrower's device ID are registered as new entries in the slot information management table 132.

  If it is determined in step S502 that the data type is user data (S502, user data), the data receiving unit 120 determines whether the user data is relay data or data that arrives at the own device (S504). Whether the data is relay data or data that arrives at its own device can be determined from information that is a data destination such as a destination address attached to the packet.

  When the received data is relay data (S504, relay data), the data reception unit 120 instructs the data transmission unit 110 to transmit the relay data. The data transmission unit 110 instructed to transmit the relay data reads the borrowed slot registered in the slot information management table 132, and transmits the relay data using the borrowed slot (S505).

  At this time, the data transmission unit 110 refers to the slot information management table 132 based on the device ID of the wireless device that is the transmission source of the relay data, and searches for a borrowed slot that matches the device ID. Then, relay data is transmitted using a borrowed slot whose device IDs obtained by the search match.

  Further, when the received data is the own device incoming data (S504, own device incoming data), the data receiving unit 120 sends the received user data to the communication application 160 (S506).

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when user data is transmitted from the own device, when the user data identifies that the adjacent device needs to be relayed, the relay time slot is changed from the transmission time slot assigned to the own device. Are assigned as lending slots. The assigned lending slot is notified to the adjacent device using the relay control data, and then the user data is transmitted. In the adjacent device, the lending slot notified using the relay control data is registered as a borrowing slot. When the received data is identified as relay data, the relay data is transmitted using the registered borrow slot.

  As a result, the wireless device that has become the relay station can perform relay transmission of data using the relay slot lent out from the transmission source, so that the own transmission slot can be used for relay transmission. Absent. That is, since the slot owned by the transmission source is lent out for data relay, congestion of data traffic does not occur in the wireless device serving as the relay station.

  As described above, in this embodiment, even when a wireless device is used as a relay station, relay transmission can be performed without using a transmission slot allocated to the own device.

In addition, although a part or all of said embodiment can be described also as the following additional remarks, it is not restricted to the following.
(Supplementary note 1) A first slot which is a transmission time slot assigned to the own apparatus, a second slot lent to another apparatus from the first slot as a relay time slot, and a relay slot When a slot information holding means for holding information on each of the third slots borrowed from other devices as time slots and an instruction to assign a time slot for relaying are received, the slot information holding means can be used with reference to the slot information holding means A relay slot for determining the second slot from the first slot, updating the information content held by the slot information holding means, and generating and outputting relay control data indicating the determined second slot When the assigning means identifies that the destination of the user data is not an adjacent wireless device when transmitting the user data from the own device, The relay slot allocation unit is instructed to allocate the second slot, and the relay control data output from the relay slot allocation unit is determined with reference to the slot information holding unit prior to the transmission of the user data. When data transmission means for transmitting using the usable first slot and data received from another device are identified as the relay control data, the slot information indicated by the relay control data is represented by the third slot. When the contents of the slot information holding means are updated and the data received from another device is identified as relay data to be relayed to another device, the data transmission means is instructed to transmit the relay data. Data receiving means, and the data transmitting means receives the relay data transmission instruction from the data receiving means, and Referring to Tsu preparative information holding means, a wireless device using the third slot borrowed as the time slots for the relay of the relay data and transmits the relayed data.
(Supplementary Note 2) When the data transmission means instructs the second slot allocation, the data transmission means notifies the relay slot allocation means of the data size of the user data, and the relay slot allocation means The wireless apparatus according to appendix 1, wherein an expiration date of the slot is set based on the notified data size of the user data, and the information content held by the slot information holding unit is updated.
(Supplementary Note 3) The slot information holding means includes information indicating an empty / busy status of the first slot, information indicating an expiration date of the second slot, information indicating an expiration date of the third slot, and Slot information management table for managing the borrower wireless device identification information, and a slot that is accessed from any one of the relay slot allocation unit, the data transmission unit, and the data reception unit and updates information managed by the slot information management table The wireless apparatus according to appendix 2, including an information update / read control unit.
(Supplementary Note 4) The slot information update / read control unit manages the second slot that has expired as the first slot and the third slot that has expired as the slot information. The wireless device according to attachment 3, wherein the wireless device is deleted from the management table.
(Supplementary Note 5) When the data transmission unit receives an instruction to transmit relay data from the data reception unit, the data transmission unit refers to the slot information management table and the identification information of the transmission source device of the relay data is the borrower radio. The wireless apparatus according to appendix 3, wherein the relay data is transmitted using the third slot that matches the apparatus identification information.
(Supplementary note 6) When it is identified that the destination of the user data is not an adjacent wireless device at the time of transmission of user data from the own device, preparation of relay time slot assignment is made, and in assigning the relay time slot, the own device A slot that can be used from the first slot, which is a transmission time slot assigned to, is assigned as a second slot lent to another apparatus as a relay time slot, and relay control data including the second slot information Prior to transmission of the user data, the slot indicated by the relay control data is identified by identifying that the data received from another device is the relay control data. Information is held as a third slot borrowed from another device as a relay time slot, When the received data is identified as relay data to be relayed to another device, the relay data is transmitted using the third slot borrowed as a relay time slot for the relay data. A time slot allocation control method characterized by the above.
(Supplementary Note 7) The relay control data includes an expiration date of the second slot set based on the data size of the user data, and slot information indicated by the relay control data received from another device is the third information. The time slot allocation control method according to attachment 6, wherein the slot is held as a slot and its expiration date.
(Supplementary Note 8) The relay control data includes identification information of the wireless device that lent the second slot, and the identification information of the wireless device indicated by the relay control data received from another device is the third slot. 9. The time slot allocation control method according to appendix 7, wherein the time slot allocation control method is stored as borrower wireless device identification information corresponding to.
(Supplementary note 9) The time according to Supplementary note 7, wherein the second slot that has expired is managed as the first slot, and the third slot that has expired is deleted. Slot allocation control method.
(Supplementary Note 10) When transmitting relay data, the relay data is transmitted using the third slot in which the identification information of the transmission source device of the relay data matches the identification information of the borrower wireless device. The time slot allocation control method according to appendix 8.
(Supplementary Note 11) A first slot that is a transmission time slot assigned to the own device, and a second slot that is lent to the other device from the first slot as a relay time slot; Refer to the slot information holding function means for holding information on each of the third slots borrowed from other devices as relay time slots, and the slot information holding function means upon receiving an instruction to assign a relay time slot. Then, the second slot is determined from the usable first slots, the information content held by the slot information holding function means is updated, and the relay control data indicating the determined second slot is generated. And the relay slot allocation function means to be output and the destination of the user data is adjacent when the user data is transmitted from the own apparatus When identifying that it is not a wireless device, the relay slot allocation function means is instructed to allocate the second slot, and the relay control data output by the relay slot allocation function means is transmitted prior to transmission of the user data. When the data transmission function means for transmitting using the usable first slot determined with reference to the slot information holding function means and the data received from another device are identified as the relay control data, the relay When the slot information indicated by the control data is used as the third slot to update the contents of the slot information holding function means and the data received from the other device is identified as relay data to be relayed to another device, The data transmission function means for instructing the data transmission function means to transmit the relay data, and the data transmission When receiving the relay data transmission instruction from the data receiving function means, the function means refers to the slot information holding function means and uses the third slot borrowed as a relay time slot for the relay data. Then, a time slot allocation control program that operates to transmit the relay data.
(Supplementary Note 12) When the data transmission function means instructs the allocation of the second slot, the data transmission function means notifies the relay slot allocation function means of the data size of the user data, and the relay slot allocation function means 12. The time according to claim 11, wherein an expiration date of the second slot is set based on the notified data size of the user data, and the information content held by the slot information holding function unit is updated. Slot assignment control program.
(Additional remark 13) The slot information holding function means includes information indicating a vacancy status of the first slot, information indicating an expiration date of the second slot, and information indicating an expiration date of the third slot. And the slot information management table for managing the borrower radio apparatus identification information and the information managed by the slot information management table is updated by accessing from any one of the relay slot assignment means, the data transmission means and the data reception means. 13. The time slot allocation control program according to appendix 12, including slot information update / read control function means.
(Supplementary Note 14) The slot information update / read control function means manages the second slot expired as the first slot, and the third slot expired as the slot. 14. The time slot allocation control program according to appendix 13, which is deleted from the information management table.
(Supplementary Note 15) When the data transmission function unit receives an instruction to transmit relay data from the data reception function unit, the data transmission function unit refers to the slot information management table, and the identification information of the transmission source device of the relay data is 14. The time slot allocation control program according to appendix 13, wherein the relay data is transmitted using the third slot that matches the original wireless device identification information.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 10 Radio | wireless apparatus 11 Slot information holding means 12 Relay slot allocation means 13 Data transmission means 14 Data reception means 21 CPU
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 22 Main memory part 23 Auxiliary memory part 24 Communication part 25 Input / output part 26 System bus 31 Slot information holding function means 32 Relay slot allocation function means 33 Data transmission function means 34 Data reception function means 110 Data transmission part 120 Data reception part 130 Slot Information holding unit 131 Slot information update / reading control unit 132 Slot information management table 140 Relay slot allocation unit 150 Route information holding unit 160 Communication application

Claims (10)

A first slot which is a transmission time slot assigned to the own apparatus, a second slot lent to another apparatus from the first slot as a relay time slot, and another as a relay time slot Slot information holding means for holding information on each of the third slots borrowed from the apparatus;
When receiving an instruction to assign a relay time slot, the slot information holding unit refers to the slot information holding unit, determines the second slot from the available first slots, and holds the slot information holding unit Relay slot allocating means for updating the contents and generating and outputting relay control data indicating the determined second slot;
When identifying that the destination of the user data is not an adjacent wireless device when transmitting user data from the own device, the relay slot assigning unit is instructed to assign the second slot, and the relay slot assigning unit outputs the Data transmission means for transmitting relay control data using the usable first slot determined with reference to the slot information holding means prior to transmission of the user data;
When the data received from another device is identified as the relay control data, the slot information indicated by the relay control data is used as the third slot to update the contents of the slot information holding means, and the data received from the other device However, when it is identified that it is relay data to be relayed to another device, it comprises data receiving means for instructing the data transmitting means to transmit the relay data,
When the data transmission unit receives an instruction to transmit relay data from the data reception unit, the data transmission unit refers to the slot information holding unit and uses the third slot borrowed as a relay time slot for the relay data. And transmitting the relay data. The data transmitting means notifies the relay slot allocating means of the data size of the user data when instructing the allocation of the second slot, and the relay slot allocating means notifies the expiration date of the allocated second slot. The wireless device according to claim 1, wherein the information content held by the slot information holding unit is updated based on the notified data size of the user data. The slot information holding means is
Information indicating the vacancy status of the first slot, information indicating the expiration date of the second slot, information indicating the expiration date of the third slot, and slot information for managing borrower wireless device identification information A management table;
2. A slot information update / read control unit that is accessed from any one of the relay slot allocation unit, the data transmission unit, and the data reception unit and updates information managed by the slot information management table. 2. The wireless device according to 2. The slot information update / read control unit manages the second slot that has expired as the first slot, and deletes the third slot that has expired from the slot information management table The wireless device according to claim 3, wherein: When the data transmission unit receives an instruction to transmit relay data from the data reception unit, the data transmission unit refers to the slot information management table and the identification information of the transmission source device of the relay data is the same as the borrower wireless device identification information. The radio apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the relay data is transmitted using the matching third slot. When identifying that the destination of the user data is not an adjacent wireless device at the time of transmission of user data from the own device, prepare to assign a time slot for relaying,
In assigning a relay time slot, a slot that can be used from the first slot, which is a transmission time slot assigned to the own device, is assigned as a second slot lent to another device as a relay time slot,
Relay control data including the second slot information is transmitted using the available first slot prior to transmission of the user data;
When identifying that the data received from another device is the relay control data, the slot information indicated by the relay control data is held as a third slot borrowed from another device as a relay time slot,
When it is identified that the data received from another device is relay data to be relayed to another device, the relay data is used by using the third slot borrowed as a time slot for relaying the relay data. A time slot allocation control method characterized by transmitting. The relay control data includes an expiration date of the second slot set based on the data size of the user data, and slot information indicated by the relay control data received from another device is represented by the third slot and its The time slot allocation control method according to claim 6, wherein the time slot allocation control method is held as an expiration date. The relay control data includes the identification information of the wireless device that lent the second slot, and the identification information of the wireless device indicated by the relay control data received from another device is associated with the third slot. 8. The time slot allocation control method according to claim 7, wherein the time slot allocation control method is held as borrower wireless device identification information. 9. When transmitting relay data, the relay data is transmitted using the third slot in which identification information of a transmission source device of the relay data matches the borrower wireless device identification information. The time slot allocation control method described in 1. Computer
A first slot which is a transmission time slot assigned to the own apparatus, a second slot lent to another apparatus from the first slot as a relay time slot, and another as a relay time slot Slot information holding function means for holding information on each of the third slots borrowed from the apparatus;
Upon receiving an instruction to assign a relay time slot, the slot information holding function means determines the second slot from the available first slots and holds the slot information holding function means. Relay slot allocation function means for updating the information content to be generated and generating and outputting relay control data indicating the determined second slot;
When identifying that the destination of the user data is not an adjacent wireless device when transmitting user data from the own device, the relay slot assignment function unit is instructed to assign the second slot, and the relay slot assignment function unit outputs Data transmission function means for transmitting the relay control data using the usable first slot determined with reference to the slot information holding function means prior to transmission of the user data;
When the data received from the other device is identified as the relay control data, the slot information indicated by the relay control data is used as the third slot to update the contents of the slot information holding function means, and the data is received from the other device. When the data is identified as relay data to be relayed to another device, the data transmission function means for instructing the data transmission function means to transmit the relay data,
When the data transmission function means receives an instruction to transmit relay data from the data reception function means, the third information borrowed as a time slot for relay of the relay data with reference to the slot information holding function means A time slot allocation control program which operates to transmit the relay data using a slot.

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