JP2019009546A - Cellular communication system connecting device, communication system, cellular communication system connecting method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a cellular communication system connecting device, a communication system, a cellular communication system connecting method, and a program for realizing IoT-PF enabling flexible and integrated management of IoT devices regardless of the type of line without adding large functions to existing communication systems.SOLUTION: Disclosed cellular communication system connecting device is configured to manage by IoT-PF including IoT devices connected to non-cellular networks by setting a transmission/reception packet of an IoT device connected to a non-cellular network as a transmission/reception packet of a virtualized cellular terminal and make it a transmission/reception packet of the cellular network via the virtualized cellular base station.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present disclosure relates to a cellular communication system connection apparatus, a communication system, a cellular communication system connection method, and a program having an IoT-PF connection function for connecting to an IoT-PF included in a cellular communication system in a non-cellular communication system. It is.

  In recent years, not only IP data communication but also a variety of applications and services such as IoT (Internet of Things) / M2M (Machine to Machine), 4K / 8K high-definition video distribution service, and online games have rapidly spread. In particular, not only information / communication equipment such as computers but also various `` things '' that exist in the world have communication functions and communicate with each other, so that IoT that performs automatic recognition, automatic control, remote measurement, etc. is popularized Is progressing rapidly.

  In IoT, since many IoT devices need to be deployed in a wide area, it is important to establish a management method for managing IoT devices. One method for solving this problem is IoT-PF (PlatForm) provided in cellular communication systems such as LTE and 3G. IoT-PF uses the information of the subscriber DB (DataBase) that manages the communication status, location information, and contract status of terminals of cellular communication systems such as HLR (Home Location Register) and HSS (Home Subscriber Server). In addition, it realizes communication status monitoring, communication line opening / stopping, and location information management of IoT devices (hereinafter collectively referred to as cellular devices) using a cellular communication system.

  On the other hand, since there are various IoT use cases, there are IoT devices (hereinafter collectively referred to as non-cellular communication systems) using communication systems other than cellular communication systems (hereinafter collectively referred to as non-cellular communication systems). Called non-cellular devices). For example, in the case of a small and large amount of IoT devices such as sensors, a wireless communication system other than cellular that realizes power consumption and price reduction of a communication device is used. In addition, when a plurality of information is acquired by one IoT device or a large amount of data such as video is transmitted, an optical fiber communication system that realizes high throughput at a low price per transmission data amount. I will provide a.

  However, as of 2017, IoT-PF is not provided in non-cellular communication systems. One reason for this is that in a non-cellular communication system, there is no C-Plane (Control-Plane) protocol that is exchanged between the terminal and the communication system, and there is no subscriber DB such as HLR or HSS. . Therefore, in order to provide IoT-PF in a non-cellular communication system, it is necessary to implement a C-Plane protocol that is exchanged between the terminal and the communication system and to construct a subscriber DB.

  Some users who implement IoT also use both non-cellular and cellular devices. In that case, even if IoT-PF is realized by a cellular communication system or a non-cellular communication system alone, the cellular device and the non-cellular device cannot be integrated and managed.

  Furthermore, in the case of an IoT device using a non-cellular communication system, a plurality of information may be acquired by one device, or a large number of the same small devices may be arranged. In that case, the current IoT-PF managed on a terminal basis is not suitable for operation. Specifically, it is required to manage one IoT device as a plurality of devices or to collectively manage a plurality of IoT devices, but this cannot be realized by terminal-based management.

  Accordingly, there is a demand for realization of IoT-PF that allows flexible and integrated management of IoT devices regardless of the line type without adding a large function to an existing communication system.

  For example, there is a method for exchanging terminal information between a plurality of communication systems as shown in Patent Document 1 as a method for managing terminals in an integrated manner regardless of the type of line used. In patent document 1, provision of integrated IoT-PF is realizable by enabling exchange of subscriber DB which a communication system has among several communication systems.

  Further, as a method of using a non-cellular communication system such as WiFi like a cellular communication system, there is a method of encapsulating a cellular protocol as shown in Non-Patent Document 1 with a non-cellular protocol. By accommodating the non-cellular device in the cellular communication system by the method shown in Non-Patent Document 1, it becomes possible to manage the non-cellular device with IoT-PF provided by the cellular communication system.

JP 2001-285372 A

Wireless Gate, “LTE over Wi-Fi” communication service for IoT (“http://k-tai.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/1023020.html”, searched June 5, 2017)

  However, the method of Patent Document 1 only describes a database synchronization method, and it is necessary to be able to add new information when there is a shortage of database information included in each communication system. There is a problem that a large function needs to be added to an existing communication system. Moreover, since it becomes terminal-based management, there also exists a subject that flexible management cannot be implement | achieved.

  Further, although the method of Non-Patent Document 1 realizes integrated management of non-cellular devices and cellular devices, since it becomes terminal-based management, there is a problem that it is difficult to realize flexible device management. In addition, the implementation of the cellular protocol encapsulation function in many non-cellular devices has a problem that a very large function needs to be added.

  Therefore, in order to solve the above-described problem, the present invention provides a cellular communication system connection apparatus, a communication system, and an integrated management system for a non-cellular device and a cellular device without adding a large function to an existing communication system. It is an object to provide a cellular communication system connection method and program.

  In order to achieve the above object, a cellular communication system connection apparatus according to the present invention uses a virtual cellular base station as a virtual cellular terminal transmission / reception packet of a IoT device connected to a non-cellular network. It is possible to handle it as a transmission / reception packet of a cellular network via

Specifically, the cellular communication system connection device according to the present invention is:
One or more virtual cellular terminals having a function of handling transmission / reception packets of a communication device connected to a non-cellular network as transmission / reception packets of the cellular network;
One or more virtual cellular base stations that connect the virtual cellular terminal and a core device in the cellular network;
A packet distribution unit that distributes transmission / reception packets of the communication device connected to the non-cellular network to the virtual cellular terminal;
A virtual that controls a connection relationship between the virtual cellular terminal and the virtual cellular base station, and transfers a transmission / reception packet of a communication device connected to the non-cellular network to and from the cellular network as a transmission / reception packet of the cellular network. A terminal accommodation control unit;
Is provided.

Moreover, the communication system according to the present invention includes:
Placed between cellular and non-cellular networks,
One or more virtual cellular terminals having a function of handling transmission / reception packets of a communication device connected to the non-cellular network as transmission / reception packets of the cellular network, and connecting the virtual cellular terminal and a core device in the cellular network 1 Form the above virtual cellular base station,
A communication device connected to the non-cellular network by distributing transmission / reception packets of the communication device connected to the non-cellular network to the virtual cellular terminal and controlling a connection relationship between the virtual cellular terminal and the virtual cellular base station A cellular communication system connection device for transferring the transmission / reception packet of the cellular network as the transmission / reception packet of the cellular network.

Moreover, the cellular communication system connection method according to the present invention includes:
One or more virtual cellular terminals having a function of handling transmission / reception packets of a communication device connected to a non-cellular network as transmission / reception packets of a cellular network, and one or more connecting the virtual cellular terminal and a core device in the cellular network Forming a virtual cellular base station,
A communication device connected to the non-cellular network by distributing transmission / reception packets of the communication device connected to the non-cellular network to the virtual cellular terminal and controlling a connection relationship between the virtual cellular terminal and the virtual cellular base station The transmission / reception packet is transferred to / from the cellular network as a transmission / reception packet of the cellular network.

  According to the present invention, a cellular communication system connection device is arranged between a cellular network and a non-cellular network, and packet formats are converted between each other. For this reason, it is not necessary to add a large function to the existing communication system, and the communication device can be integrated and managed by the cellular network regardless of the line type.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a cellular communication system connection apparatus, a communication system, a cellular communication system connection method, and an integrated management of a non-cellular device and a cellular device without adding a large function to an existing communication system, and A program can be provided.

  The cellular communication system connection device according to the present invention detects a connection state between a communication device connected to the non-cellular network and the non-cellular network, and changes an activation state of the virtual cellular terminal and the connection relationship. A device management unit that controls the virtual terminal accommodation control unit is further provided. The cellular communication system connection apparatus includes the device management unit, so that the state of the non-cellular device can be managed in the cellular network.

  The virtual cellular terminal of the cellular communication system connection device according to the present invention further has a function of transferring a transmission / reception packet of a communication device connected to the non-cellular network to the non-cellular network as a transmission / reception packet of the non-cellular network. It is characterized by. The cellular communication system connection device enables information to be collected in a data server by selectively using a cellular communication system and a non-cellular communication system according to the contents of communication.

  The program according to the present invention is a program for causing a computer to function as the cellular communication system connection device. The cellular communication system connection device according to the present invention can be realized by a computer and a program, and the program can be recorded on a recording medium or provided through a network.

  The present invention relates to a cellular communication system connection apparatus, a communication system, a cellular communication system connection method, and a program capable of integrated management of a non-cellular device and a cellular device without adding a large function to an existing communication system. Can be provided.

It is a figure explaining the communication system which concerns on this invention. It is a figure explaining the packet distribution table with which the cellular communication system connection apparatus concerning this invention is provided. It is a figure explaining the terminal setting table with which the cellular communication system connection apparatus concerning this invention is provided. It is a figure explaining the virtual terminal accommodation table with which the cellular communication system connection apparatus concerning this invention is provided. It is a figure explaining the base station setting table with which the cellular communication system connection apparatus concerning this invention is provided. It is a figure explaining the device management table of IoT-PF. It is a figure explaining the cellular communication system connection method which concerns on this invention. It is a figure explaining the cellular communication system connection method which concerns on this invention. It is a figure explaining base station DB of a cellular network. It is a figure explaining the cellular communication system connection method which concerns on this invention. It is a figure explaining subscriber DB of a cellular network. It is a figure explaining the cellular communication system connection method which concerns on this invention. It is a figure explaining IoT device management DB of IoT-PF. It is a figure explaining the cellular communication system connection method which concerns on this invention. It is a figure explaining the cellular communication system connection method which concerns on this invention. It is a figure explaining IoT device management DB of IoT-PF. It is a figure explaining the cellular communication system connection method which concerns on this invention. It is a figure explaining the cellular communication system connection method which concerns on this invention. It is a figure explaining the transmission / reception packet in the communication system which concerns on this invention. It is a figure explaining the transmission / reception packet in the communication system which concerns on this invention. It is a figure explaining the transmission / reception packet in the communication system which concerns on this invention. It is a figure explaining the communication system which concerns on this invention. It is a figure explaining the communication state relevance table with which the cellular communication system connection apparatus which concerns on this invention is provided. It is a figure explaining the cellular communication system connection method which concerns on this invention. It is a figure explaining the virtual terminal accommodation table with which the cellular communication system connection apparatus concerning this invention is provided. It is a figure explaining IoT device management DB of IoT-PF. It is a figure explaining the virtual terminal accommodation table with which the cellular communication system connection apparatus concerning this invention is provided. It is a figure explaining IoT device management DB of IoT-PF. It is a figure explaining the terminal setting table with which the cellular communication system connection apparatus concerning this invention is provided. It is a figure explaining IoT device management DB of IoT-PF. It is a figure explaining the communication system which concerns on this invention. It is a figure explaining the packet distribution table with which the cellular communication system connection apparatus concerning this invention is provided. It is a figure explaining the terminal setting table with which the cellular communication system connection apparatus concerning this invention is provided. It is a figure explaining the cellular communication system connection method which concerns on this invention. It is a figure explaining the transmission / reception packet in the communication system which concerns on this invention.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiments described below are examples of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments. In the present specification and drawings, the same reference numerals denote the same components.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an IoT data collection system 601 of the present embodiment. The IoT data collection system 601
An IoT platform 23 in the cellular network 20;
One or more virtual cellular terminals 303 having a function of handling transmission / reception packets of IoT (Internet of Things) devices (42, 43) connected to the non-cellular network 10 as transmission / reception packets of the cellular network 20, and the virtual cellular terminal 303 and the cellular Forming one or more virtual cellular base stations 309 connecting the core devices 203 in the network 20;
The transmission / reception packet of the IoT device (42, 43) connected to the non-cellular network 10 is distributed to the virtual cellular terminal 303, the connection relationship between the virtual cellular terminal 303 and the virtual cellular base station 309 is controlled, and the non-cellular network 10 Connect the connected IoT devices (42, 43) to the IoT platform 23;
A cellular communication system connection device 3 that transfers transmission / reception packets of the IoT devices (42, 43) connected to the non-cellular network 10 to / from the cellular network 20 as transmission / reception packets of the cellular network 20;
Is provided.

  Specifically, the IoT data collection system 601 includes a non-cellular communication system 1, a cellular communication system 2, a cellular communication system connection device 3 provided in a form added to the non-cellular communication system 1, an IoT device 4, and the Internet. Part 5. In the IoT data collection system 601, the cellular communication system connection device 3 is only provided between the non-cellular communication system 1 and the cellular communication system 2, and the IoT device 4 is used regardless of the line type in the IoT-PF 23 on the cellular communication system 2. Can be managed flexibly and integratedly.

  In addition, the solid line in FIG. 1 means the connection between function parts, and the broken line arrow has shown exchange of control information.

  The non-cellular communication system 1 includes a non-cellular network 10 configured by routers and switches to provide communication between connection units, and a transfer device 11 that exists in the non-cellular network 10 and is connected to the cellular communication system connection device 3. , An OLT (Optical Line Terminal) 12 that is an optical line terminator inside the office, an ONU (Optical Network Unit) 13 that is an optical line terminator inside the house, and a wireless device 42 that transmits and receives data via a radio wave 15 and is non-cellular. A wireless GW (Gateway) 14 that mediates connection to the network 10, and a wired GW 16 that transmits and receives via the wired device 43 and the wired 17 to mediate connection to the non-cellular network 10. The radio wave 15 is a communication medium between the radio GW 14 and the radio device 42 and has a radio system different from the radio wave used in cellular.

  The cellular communication system 2 includes a cellular network 20 configured by routers and switches to provide communication between connection units, and a cellular base that performs transmission / reception via a cellular radio wave 22 with a cellular device 41 to mediate connection to the cellular network 20. A station 21 and an IoT-PF 23 are included.

  The cellular network 20 includes a base station DB 201 that manages information and states of base stations connected to the cellular communication system 2, a subscriber DB 202 that manages information and states of terminals connected to the cellular communication system 2, The cellular device 41 includes a core device 203 serving as a GW when communicating with the Internet unit 5 and a wireless control device 204 that is connected to the cellular base station 21 and controls the connection state of the cellular device 41. Here, the subscriber DB 202 is assumed to be an HLR or HSS, and IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) is assumed as identification information of a terminal managed by the subscriber DB 202. The core apparatus 203 assumes P-GW (Packet data network Gateway) and S-GW (Serving Gateway) defined by 3GPP. The wireless control device 204 assumes MME (Mobility Management Entity) defined by 3GPP.

  The IoT-PF 23 includes an IoT device management DB 231 that manages information and states of IoT devices, a VPN router 511 that connects the VPN router 511 and the VPN 52 in the cloud 51, terminals on the cellular communication system 2, and management targets And a device management table 233 that describes association information of IoT devices.

The cellular communication system connection device 3
One or more virtual cellular terminals 303 having a function of handling transmission / reception packets of the IoT devices (42, 43) connected to the non-cellular network 10 as transmission / reception packets of the cellular network 20,
One or more virtual cellular base stations 309 connecting the virtual cellular terminal 303 and the core device 203 in the cellular network 20;
A packet distribution unit 302 that distributes transmission / reception packets of the IoT devices (42, 43) connected to the non-cellular network 10 to the virtual cellular terminal 303;
By controlling the connection relationship between the virtual cellular terminal 303 and the virtual cellular base station 309, the IoT devices (42, 43) connected to the non-cellular network 10 are connected to the IoT platform 23 in the cellular network 20, and the non-cellular network A virtual terminal accommodation control unit 306 that transfers transmission / reception packets of the IoT devices (42, 43) connected to the cellular network 20 as transmission / reception packets of the cellular network 20;
Is provided.

  Specifically, the cellular communication system connection device 3 distributes a packet to the virtual cellular terminal 303 based on information read from the packet distribution table 302, and a packet distribution table 302 that describes the distribution rules of the packet distribution unit 301. A function of handling transmission / reception packets of the wireless device 42 and the wired device 43 as transmission / reception packets of the cellular communication system, and a function of operating a protocol for connecting to the core apparatus 203 and the wireless control apparatus 204 via the virtual cellular base station 308 A virtual cellular terminal 303 configured with a function having terminal identification information on the cellular communication system, and a virtual cellular terminal control unit 304 that controls the virtual cellular terminal based on information read from the terminal setting table 305 , A terminal setting table 305 in which the control information of the virtual cellular terminal is described, and a virtual terminal accommodation control unit that controls the connection relationship between the virtual cellular terminal 303 and the virtual cellular base station 310 based on the information read from the virtual terminal accommodation table 307 306, the virtual terminal base table 307 describing the connection relation information between the virtual cellular terminal 303 and the virtual cellular base station 310, and the virtual cellular base station settings are controlled based on the information read from the base station setting table 309. A virtual base station control unit 308, a base station setting table 309 in which control information of the virtual cellular base station is described, a virtual cellular base station 310 that connects the virtual cellular terminal 303 and the core device 203 in the cellular network 20, and Is composed of. Here, IMSI is assumed as the terminal identification information that the virtual cellular terminal 303 has, and the text described at the bottom of the virtual cellular terminal 303 indicates the IMSI that each virtual cellular terminal has.

  The IoT device 4 has a function of transmitting IoT data acquired by a device such as a sensor provided while operating as a communication terminal to the data server 512 of the cloud 51 (hereinafter collectively referred to as IoT data transmission). In the present embodiment, the IoT device 4 is a cellular device 41, a wireless device 42, and a wired device 43.

  The cellular device 41 performs IoT data transmission by connecting to the cellular base station 21 via the cellular radio wave 22 while operating as a terminal of the cellular communication system. While operating as a terminal of a non-cellular communication system, the wireless device 42 performs IoT data transmission by connecting to the wireless GW 14 via the wireless radio wave 15 that is a radio wave different from the cellular radio wave. The wired device 43 performs IoT data transmission by connecting to the wired GW 16 via the wired line 17 while operating as a terminal of the non-cellular communication system.

  In addition, the name of the terminal in a present Example is shown in () of IoT device 4 of FIG. The IMSI of each cellular device is shown below the cellular device 41 in FIG. Also, the IP addresses of the respective IoT devices are shown below the wireless device 42 and the wired device 43 in FIG.

  The Internet unit 5 includes an Internet 50, a cloud 51, and a VPN 52 indicating a VPN line connecting the IoT-PF 23 and the cloud 51.

  The cloud 51 includes a VPN router 511 that connects the VPN router 232 and VPN 52 in the IoT-PF, and a data server 512 that receives and stores IoT data transmitted from the IoT device 4. The IP address of each data server is shown below the data server 512.

  Next, the setting information of FIGS. 2 to 6 preset by the provider of the communication system when the present embodiment is configured will be described.

  FIG. 2 shows specific setting contents of the packet distribution table 302 in the present embodiment. The packet distribution table 302 includes a distribution priority indicating an application order of distribution rules, an identifier used for distributing packets, a transfer destination GW of a downlink packet that matches the identifier, and a transfer destination virtual terminal of an uplink packet that matches the identifier And is composed of.

  FIG. 3 shows specific setting contents of the terminal setting table 305 in the present embodiment. The terminal setting table 305 has a table for each virtual cellular terminal, and includes an activation state indicating whether the virtual cellular terminal is activated and a connection destination core apparatus indicating the core apparatus 203 to be connected.

  FIG. 4 shows specific setting contents of the virtual terminal accommodation table 307 in the present embodiment. The virtual terminal accommodation table 307 includes a virtual cellular terminal name indicating the target virtual cellular terminal 303, an accommodation destination virtual cellular base station name indicating the virtual cellular base station to which the virtual cellular terminal 303 is connected, and the virtual cellular terminal 303. And a connection state indicating a connection state of the virtual cellular base station 307.

  FIG. 5 shows specific setting contents of the base station setting table 309 in the present embodiment. The base station setting table 309 has a table for each virtual cellular base station 307, and an activation state indicating whether the virtual cellular base station 307 is activated, latitude information indicating the virtual position of the virtual cellular base station, and longitude And information.

  FIG. 6 shows specific setting contents of the device management table 233 in the present embodiment. The device management table 233 includes an IMSI of a terminal that is an IoT-PF management target and a device name that indicates the name of an IoT device having the IMSI.

  Hereinafter, the operation in this embodiment will be described. The operation in the present embodiment includes a pre-process S1 that is a process that targets the non-cellular devices 42 to 43 as management targets of the IoT-PF 23, a management process S2 that is periodically performed after the pre-process S1 is performed, and the IoT device 4 It consists of an upstream communication process S3 to the cloud 5 and a downstream communication process S4 from the cloud 5 to the IoT device 4.

  FIG. 7 shows the contents of the pre-processing S1. The pre-processing S1 includes virtual cellular base station connection processing S101 in which the virtual cellular base station 310 connects to the radio network controller 204, virtual cellular terminal connection processing S102 in which the virtual cellular terminal 303 connects to the cellular network 20, and IoT-PF. And device registration processing S103 for registering a device to be managed.

  FIG. 8 shows the contents of the virtual cellular base station connection process S101. First, the virtual cellular base station 310 is connected to the radio control apparatus 204 (step S101-1). The connection process in step S101-1 is assumed as an example of the connection process of the S1-MME interface defined by 3GPP. Next, the radio network controller 204 registers information on the virtual cellular base station 310 in the base station DB 201 (step S101-2).

  FIG. 9 shows the base station DB 201 before and after the virtual cellular base station connection process S101 in the present embodiment. FIG. 9A shows the state of the base station DB 201 before execution of the virtual cellular base station connection process S101, and FIG. 9B shows the state of the base station DB 201 after execution of the virtual cellular base station connection process S101. The base station DB 201 includes a base station name indicating the name of the base station, a connection state of the base station, and latitude information and longitude information indicating the position of the base station. As shown in FIG. 9, the virtual cellular base station 309 is connected to the cellular communication system 2 in the same manner as the cellular base station 21 by performing the virtual cellular base station connection processing S101 by adopting this embodiment. Become.

  FIG. 10 shows the contents of the virtual cellular terminal connection process S102. First, the virtual cellular terminal 303 is connected to the virtual cellular base station 309 distributed by the virtual terminal accommodating unit 306 (step S102-1). The connection process in step S102-1 assumes an RRC Connection Establishment process defined by 3GPP as an example. Next, the virtual cellular terminal 303 connects to the connection destination core apparatus 203 set by the radio control apparatus 204 and the virtual terminal control unit via the virtual cellular base station 309 (step S102-2). The connection process in step S102-2 assumes an LTE attach procedure defined by 3GPP as an example. Finally, the wireless control device 204 and the core device 203 reflect the information of the virtual cellular terminal 303 in the subscriber DB (step S102-3).

  FIG. 11 shows the subscriber DB 202 before and after the virtual cellular terminal connection process S102 in this embodiment. FIG. 11A shows the state of the subscriber DB 202 before the virtual cellular terminal connection process S102 is performed, and FIG. 11B shows the state of the subscriber DB 202 after the virtual cellular terminal connection process S102. The subscriber DB 202 includes the IMSI that is the terminal authentication information of the cellular device 41 and the virtual cellular terminal 303, the contract status indicating the presence / absence of a communication contract between the cellular device 41 and the virtual cellular terminal 303, the cellular device 41 and the virtual cellular terminal 303. The base station information indicating the connected cellular base station, the core device information indicating the core device 203 to which the cellular device 41 and the virtual cellular terminal 303 are connected, and the core device 203 to the cellular device 41 and the virtual cellular device. IP address information indicating the IP address assigned to the terminal 303, and cumulative traffic information indicating the cumulative traffic of the cellular device 41 and the virtual cellular terminal 303. As shown in FIG. 11, by adopting this embodiment, the virtual cellular terminal 303 can be connected to the cellular network 20 and managed in the same manner as the cellular device 41.

  FIG. 12 shows the contents of the device registration process S103. The IoT-PF 23 reads the association information between the IMSI and the IoT device from the device management table 233, and registers the read information in the IoT device management DB.

  FIG. 13 shows the IoT device management DB 231 before and after the device registration process S103. FIG. 13A shows the state of the IoT device management DB 231 before the device registration process S103, and FIG. 13B shows the state of the IoT device management DB 231 after the device registration process S103. The IoT device management DB 231 includes a device name of a management target IoT device, an IMSI that is terminal authentication information of the cellular device 41 and the virtual cellular terminal 303 corresponding to the IoT device, and the cellular device 41 and the virtual cellular device corresponding to the IoT device. Contract state indicating presence / absence of communication contract of terminal 303, communication state indicating presence / absence of connection of cellular network 20 of cellular device 41 and virtual cellular terminal 303 corresponding to IoT device, cellular device 41 and virtual cellular terminal corresponding to IoT device The estimated location information indicating the location information of the cellular base station to which 303 is connected as the presence location of the pseudo IoT device, and the cellular device 41 and the virtual cellular terminal 303 corresponding to the IoT device are assigned. And the IP address information is the cumulative traffic of cellular devices 41 and virtual cellular terminal 303 corresponding to IoT devices, and a. As shown in FIG. 13, by adopting this embodiment, a non-cellular terminal and a cellular terminal can be registered on the same IoT-PF, and a plurality of non-cellular terminals can be registered as one IoT device. It is possible to register one non-cellular terminal as a plurality of IoT devices.

  FIG. 14 shows the contents of the management process S2. The management process S2 includes a device information update process S201.

  FIG. 15 shows the contents of the device information update process S201. First, the IoT-PF 23 reads information on the IMSI described in the device management table 233 from the subscriber DB 201 (step S201-1). Next, IoT-PF23 reads the information regarding the base station name read by step S201-1 from base station DB202 (step S201-2). Finally, the IoT-PF 23 reflects the information read in step S201-1 and step S201-2 in the IoT device management DB 231 (step S201-3).

  FIG. 16 shows the contents of the IoT device management DB 231 after the device information update process S201 is performed. By adopting this embodiment, a non-cellular terminal and a cellular terminal are managed on the same IoT-PF, a plurality of non-cellular terminals are managed as one IoT device, or a single non-cellular terminal is managed as a plurality of IoT devices. It can be managed as.

  FIG. 17 shows the contents of the uplink communication process S3. First, the wireless device 42 or the wired device 43 transfers the acquired IoT data to the wireless GW 14 or the wired GW 16 as a destination packet by the data server 512 (step S301). The wireless GW 14 or the wired GW 16 transfers the packet to the packet distribution unit 301 via the non-cellular network 10 (step S302). The packet distribution unit 301 transfers the packet to the virtual cellular terminal 303 based on the description in the packet distribution table 302 (step S303). The virtual cellular terminal 303 converts the packet into its own transmission packet (step S304). The process of step S304 assumes NAPT (Network Address Port Translation) as an example. The virtual cellular terminal 303 transfers the packet to the connected virtual cellular base station 309 (step S305). The virtual cellular base station 309 transfers the packet to the core device 203 via the cellular network 20 (step S306). The core device 203 transfers the packet to the data server 512 via the VPN router 232 and the VPN router 511 (step S307). It should be noted that network settings such as routing required for each process are appropriately performed.

  FIG. 18 shows the contents of the downlink communication process S4. First, the data server 512 transfers the packet addressed to the virtual cellular terminal 303 to the core apparatus 203 via the VPN router 232 and the VPN router 511 (step S401). The core device 203 transfers the packet to the virtual cellular base station 309 via the cellular network 20 (step S402). The virtual cellular base station 309 transfers the packet to the destination virtual cellular terminal 303 (step S403). The virtual cellular terminal 303 converts the packet into a transmission packet to the wireless device 42 or the wired device 43 (step S404). The processing in step S404 assumes NAPT as an example. The virtual cellular terminal 303 transfers the packet to the packet distribution unit 301 (step S405). The packet distribution unit 301 transfers the packet to the wireless GW 14 or the wired GW 16 based on the description in the packet distribution table 302 (step S406). The wireless GW 14 or the wired GW 16 transfers the packet to the destination wireless device 42 or the wired device 43 (step S407). It should be noted that network settings such as routing required for each process are appropriately performed.

  FIG. 19 shows an example when the upstream communication process S3 is applied to the wireless device 42 (channel meter) of FIG. As shown in the figure, by adopting this embodiment, IoT data transmitted by a non-cellular device can be collected in a data server via a cellular network, so that the communication state of the non-cellular device is set to IoT-PF. Can be integrated and managed. Since the downlink communication process only replaces the transmission / reception destination of FIG. 19, the description is omitted.

  FIG. 20 shows an example when the upstream communication process S3 is applied to the wireless device 42 (thermometer), the wired device 43 (barometer), and the wired device 43 (hygrometer) in FIG. As shown in the figure, by adopting this embodiment, IoT data transmitted by a plurality of non-cellular devices can be collected in a data server as IoT data from a single cellular terminal. The communication state of the device can be managed collectively by IoT-PF. Since the downlink communication process only replaces the transmission / reception destination of FIG. 20, the description is omitted.

  FIG. 21 shows an example when the upstream communication process S3 is applied to the wired device 43 (monitoring camera with human sensor) of FIG. As shown in the figure, by adopting this embodiment, the IoT data transmitted by a single non-cellular device can be collected in the data server as IoT data from a plurality of cellular terminals. The communication state of a non-cellular device can be divided and managed by IoT-PF. Since the downlink communication process only replaces the transmission / reception destination in FIG. 21, the description is omitted.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 22 is a configuration diagram showing the IoT data collection system 602 of this embodiment. The IoT data collection system 602 detects the connection state between the IoT devices (42, 43) connected to the non-cellular network 10 and the non-cellular network 10 in the IoT data collection system 601 of FIG. A device management unit that changes the connection relationship controlled by the state and the virtual terminal accommodation control unit 306 is further provided. In the present embodiment, the device management unit is the communication status reception function 310.

  By adopting this configuration, the IoT data collection system 602 reflects the state change of the non-cellular communication system 1 in the operation of the cellular communication system connection apparatus 3 using the basic state change notification function of the non-cellular communication system. As a result, the communication state of the non-cellular devices 42 to 43 can be managed in the IoT-PF 23.

  Hereinafter, the configuration of the present embodiment will be described by focusing on differences from FIG.

  The communication state notification function 18 can be provided in each element in the non-cellular communication system 1 and has a function of notifying the communication state reception function 310 of the state of the non-cellular communication system as non-cellular communication system state information. As an example of the means for notification, SMNP (Simple Network Management Protocol) is assumed, which is a function normally possessed by devices in a general network.

  The communication state reception function 310 is a functional unit that exists in the cellular communication system connection apparatus 3, receives the non-cellular communication system state information notified from the communication state notification function 18, and is described in the communication state association table 311. Based on this, the terminal setting table 305 and the virtual terminal accommodation table 307 have a function of rewriting the contents.

  The communication state relevance table 311 is a functional unit that exists in the cellular communication system connection device 3, and how to rewrite the terminal setting table 305 and the virtual terminal accommodation table 307 when the non-cellular communication system state information is received. The rules are described.

  In addition to the functions of the packet distribution unit 301 in FIG. 1, the packet distribution unit 312 has a function of transferring to the communication state reception function 310 in the case of a packet of non-cellular communication system state information notified from the communication state notification function 18. Have.

  The contents added for the description of the present embodiment will be described. A MAC (Media Access Control) address of the device is described below the wireless device 42. In the wired line 17, the port number of the wired GW 16 used by the wired line is described.

  FIG. 23 shows the contents of the communication state association table 311 in the present embodiment. The communication state association table 311 includes a notification source and notification contents of non-cellular communication system state information, and rewriting contents of the terminal setting table 305 and virtual terminal accommodation table 307 for the non-cellular communication system state information. .

  Other setting contents in the present embodiment are the same as those shown in FIGS.

  The operation of this embodiment will be described below.

  FIG. 24 shows the content of the non-cellular communication system state reflection process S5 in which the change in the state of the non-cellular communication system is reflected in the operation of the cellular communication system connection apparatus 3. First, when detecting a change in the state of the non-cellular communication system 1, the communication state notification function 18 transmits the detected content to the communication state reception function 310 as non-cellular communication system state information (step S501). Next, the communication state reception function rewrites the contents of the terminal setting table 305 and the virtual terminal accommodation table 307 based on the received non-cellular communication system state information and the description of the communication state association table (step S502). Furthermore, the virtual terminal control unit 304 and the virtual terminal accommodation control unit 306 control the accommodation states of the virtual cellular terminal 303 and the virtual cellular terminal 303 based on the contents of the rewritten terminal setting table 305 and virtual terminal accommodation table 307 ( Step S503). Finally, the virtual cellular terminal 303 performs control communication with the cellular communication system based on the control content of step S503 (step S504). For example, in the case where the activation state of the virtual cellular terminal 303 is turned off or the connection between the virtual cellular terminal 303 and the virtual cellular base station 309 is disconnected, the process of step S504 is performed using LTE detect procedure defined in 3GPP. As an example, it is assumed that when only the virtual cellular base station 309 in which the virtual cellular terminal 303 is accommodated is changed, LTE Handover procedure defined in 3GPP is executed.

  The operation of reflecting the state change of the non-cellular communication system in the IoT-PF is the same as the management process S2 in the first embodiment.

  An actual operation example of the non-cellular communication system state reflection process S3 will be described with some specific examples.

[Case A]
Case A is a case where the connection between the wireless device 42 (water channel meter) and the wireless GW # AA is disconnected.
When the connection of the wireless device 42 (water channel meter) is disconnected, the communication state notification function #AA notifies the communication state reception function 310 that the connection disconnection of MAC: CCCC... Is detected as non-cellular communication system state information. Transmit (step S501). The communication state reception function 310 determines that the received non-cellular communication system information matches the # 1 entry of the communication state relation table 311 and changes the connection state of the virtual cellular terminal # 1 in the virtual terminal accommodation table 307 to no connection. (Step S502). As a result of step S502, the contents of the virtual terminal accommodation table 307 are changed as shown in FIGS. The virtual terminal accommodation control unit 306 disconnects the connection between the virtual cellular terminal # 1 and the virtual cellular base station #X based on the content of FIG. 25 (step S503). The virtual cellular terminal # 1 performs LTE detect procedure communication with the cellular communication system 2 based on the control content of step S503 (step S504). Thereafter, the IoT-PF 23 executes a management process S2.

  FIG. 26 shows the contents of the IoT device management DB 231 after performing the non-cellular communication system state reflection process S3 and the management process S2 in case A. As shown in the figure, by adopting this embodiment, it can be seen that in the IoT-PF 23, it is possible to grasp the situation where the connection between the wireless device 42 (water channel meter) and the wireless GW # AA is disconnected.

[Case B]
Case B is a case where the wireless device 42 (channel meter) moves and the connection destination is changed from the wireless GW # AA to the wireless GW # BB.
When the wireless device 42 (water channel meter) changes the connection destination from the wireless GW # AA to the wireless GW # BB, the non-cellular communication that the communication state notification function #AA detects the disconnection of the MAC: CCCC. It is transmitted to the communication status reception function 310 as system status information. At the same time, the communication state notification function #BB transmits to the communication state reception function 310 that the connection establishment of MAC: CCCC... Has been detected as non-cellular communication system state information (step S501). The communication status receiving function 310 determines that the received non-cellular communication system information matches the # 6 entry of the communication status related table 311, and the virtual cellular base station of the virtual cellular terminal # 1 in the virtual terminal accommodating table 307 is virtualized. Change to cellular base station #Y (step S502). As a result of step S502, the contents of the virtual terminal accommodation table 307 are changed as shown in FIGS. The virtual terminal accommodation control unit 306 changes the connection destination of the virtual cellular terminal # 1 to the virtual cellular base station #Y based on the content of FIG. 27 (step S503). The virtual cellular terminal # 1 performs LTE Handover procedure communication with the cellular communication system 2 based on the control content of Step S503 (Step S504). Thereafter, the IoT-PF 23 executes a management process S2.

  FIG. 28 shows the contents of the IoT device management DB 231 after the non-cellular communication system state reflection process S3 and the management process S2 in case B. As shown in the figure, by adopting this embodiment, in the IoT-PF 23, it is possible to grasp the situation in which the wireless device 42 (water channel meter) has moved and the connection destination has been changed from the wireless GW # AA to the wireless GW # BB. I understand that I can do it.

[Case C]
Case C is a case where the link between the OLT 12 and the ONU 13 is broken and all the wired devices 43 cannot be connected to the non-cellular network system.
When the link between the OLT 12 and the ONU 13 is disconnected, the communication state notification function #DD transmits the fact that the link with the ONU has been disconnected to the communication state reception function 310 as non-cellular communication system state information (step S501). . The communication state receiving function 310 determines that the received non-cellular communication system information matches the # 8 entry of the communication state related table 311 and determines the activation states of the virtual cellular terminal # 3 and the virtual cellular terminal # 4 in the terminal setting table 305. It is changed to off (step S502). As a result of step S502, the contents of the terminal setting table 305 are changed as shown in FIGS. The virtual terminal control unit 304 turns off the activation states of the virtual cellular terminal # 3 and the virtual cellular terminal # 4 based on the content of FIG. 29 (step S503). The virtual cellular terminal # 3 and the virtual cellular terminal # 4 perform LTE detect procedure communication with the cellular communication system 2 based on the control content of step S503 (step S504). Thereafter, the IoT-PF 23 executes a management process S2.

  FIG. 30 shows the contents of the IoT device management DB 231 after the non-cellular communication system state reflecting process S3 and the management process S2 are performed in the case C. As shown in the figure, by adopting this embodiment, in the IoT-PF 23, it is possible to grasp the situation in which the link between the OLT 12 and the ONU 13 is broken and all the wired devices 43 cannot be connected to the non-cellular network system. Recognize.

  The reason why the activation state of the virtual cellular terminal # 2 is not turned off in this case is that the communication of the wireless device (thermometer) in the virtual cellular terminal # 2 remains normal. However, in some cases, the activation state of the virtual cellular terminal # 2 may be turned off when communication with one or more IoT devices belonging to the virtual cellular terminal 303 becomes impossible. As described above, the state change of the non-cellular communication system and the contents of table rewriting can be freely set according to the use situation and requirements.

(Embodiment 3)
FIG. 31 is a configuration diagram showing the IoT data collection system 603 of the present embodiment. The IoT data collection system 603 is such that at least one of the virtual cellular terminals 303 of the IoT data collection system 601 of FIG. The virtual dual terminal 313 further has a function of handling transmission / reception packets of the IoT device connected to the non-cellular network as transmission / reception packets of the non-cellular network.

  By adopting this configuration, the IoT data collection system 603 manages the non-cellular devices 42 to 43 with the IoT-PF 23, while the IoT data transmitted by the non-cellular devices 42 to 43 is transmitted to the data server via the non-cellular communication system 10. 512 can be transmitted.

  Hereinafter, the configuration of the present embodiment will be described by focusing on differences from FIG.

  The virtual dual terminal 313 is a functional unit existing in the cellular communication system connection device 3, and is connected to a cellular communication unit 313-1 having the same communication function as the virtual cellular terminal 303 and a non-cellular communication system to transmit packets. A non-cellular communication unit 313-2 for transmitting and receiving, and a system distribution unit 313-3 having a function of distributing packets received by the virtual dual terminal 313 to the cellular communication unit 313-1 or the non-cellular communication unit 313-2. The

  The virtual terminal control unit 314 has a function of controlling the operation of the virtual dual terminal according to the description of the terminal setting table 315 in addition to the function of the virtual terminal control unit 304 of FIG.

  The terminal setting table 315 describes operation settings of the virtual dual terminal 313 in addition to the functions of the terminal setting table of FIG.

  The packet distribution unit 316 has a function of distributing packets to the virtual dual terminal 313 in addition to the function of the packet distribution unit 301 of FIG.

  FIG. 32 shows the contents of the packet distribution table 302 in the present embodiment. Except for the specific description, it is the same as FIG. 3 and will not be described.

  FIG. 33 shows the contents of the terminal setting table 315 in the present embodiment. The difference from FIG. 3 is that the setting for the virtual dual terminal 313 is described. Specifically, the information of the packet identifier communicated by the non-cellular communication unit 313-1 and the information of the packet identifier communicated by the cellular communication unit 313-2 are described.

  The other setting contents in this embodiment are the same as the contents shown in FIGS.

  The actual operation of this embodiment will be described below.

  FIG. 34 shows the contents of the upstream communication process S6. The contents of steps S601 to S602 are the same as steps S301 to S302. The packet distribution unit 316 transfers the packet to the system distribution unit 313-3 in the virtual cellular terminal 303 or the virtual dual terminal 313 (step S603). The system distribution unit 313-3 distributes the packet to the cellular communication unit 313-1 or the non-cellular communication unit 313-2 based on the description in the terminal setting table 315 (step S604). In the case of a packet distributed to the non-cellular communication unit 313-2, the non-cellular communication unit 313-2 transfers the packet to the data server 512 via the non-cellular network 10 and the Internet 50 (step S605). In the case of a packet distributed to the cellular communication unit, the cellular communication unit 313-1 transfers the packet to the connected virtual cellular base station (step S606). The contents of steps S607 to S608 are the same as the contents of steps S306 to S307.

  FIG. 35 shows an example when the upstream communication process S6 is applied to the wired device 43 (monitoring camera with human sensor) of FIG. By adopting this embodiment, not only IoT data transmitted by a single non-cellular device is transmitted as IoT data from a cellular terminal, but also a cellular communication system and a non-cellular communication system are selectively used according to the content of communication. Therefore, the communication state of the non-cellular device can be managed by IoT-PF while using the non-cellular communication system.

1: Non-cellular communication system 10: Non-cellular network 11: Transfer device 12: OLT
13: ONU
14: Wireless GW
15: Radio wave 16: Wired GW
17: Wired 2: Cellular communication system 20: Cellular network 21: Cellular base station 22: Cellular radio wave 23: IoT-PF
201: Base station DB
202: Subscriber DB
203: Core device 204: Radio control device 231: IoT device management DB
232: VPN router 233: device management table 3: cellular communication system connection device 301: packet distribution unit 302: packet distribution table 303: virtual cellular terminal 304: virtual cellular terminal control unit 305: terminal setting table 306: virtual terminal accommodation control unit 307: Virtual terminal accommodation table 308: Virtual base station control unit 309: Base station setting table 310: Virtual cellular base station 311: Communication state association table 312: Packet distribution unit 313: Virtual dual terminal 314: Virtual terminal control unit 315: Terminal setting table 316: Packet sorting unit 4: IoT device 41: Cellular device 42: Wireless device 43: Wired device 5: Internet unit 51: Cloud 52: VPN
511: VPN router 512: data servers 601-603: IoT data collection system

Claims (6)

One or more virtual cellular terminals having a function of handling transmission / reception packets of a communication device connected to a non-cellular network as transmission / reception packets of the cellular network;
One or more virtual cellular base stations that connect the virtual cellular terminal and a core device in the cellular network;
A packet distribution unit that distributes transmission / reception packets of the communication device connected to the non-cellular network to the virtual cellular terminal;
A virtual that controls a connection relationship between the virtual cellular terminal and the virtual cellular base station, and transfers a transmission / reception packet of a communication device connected to the non-cellular network to and from the cellular network as a transmission / reception packet of the cellular network. A terminal accommodation control unit;
A cellular communication system connection device comprising:   Device management for detecting a connection state between the communication device connected to the non-cellular network and the non-cellular network and controlling the virtual terminal accommodation control unit to change the activation state of the virtual cellular terminal and the connection relation The cellular communication system connection device according to claim 1, further comprising a unit.   The virtual cellular terminal further has a function of transferring a transmission / reception packet of a communication device connected to the non-cellular network to the non-cellular network as a transmission / reception packet of the non-cellular network. The cellular communication system connection device described. Placed between cellular and non-cellular networks,
One or more virtual cellular terminals having a function of handling transmission / reception packets of a communication device connected to the non-cellular network as transmission / reception packets of the cellular network, and connecting the virtual cellular terminal and a core device in the cellular network 1 Form the above virtual cellular base station,
A communication device connected to the non-cellular network by distributing transmission / reception packets of the communication device connected to the non-cellular network to the virtual cellular terminal and controlling a connection relationship between the virtual cellular terminal and the virtual cellular base station A communication system including a cellular communication system connection device that transfers a transmission / reception packet of the cellular network as a transmission / reception packet of the cellular network. One or more virtual cellular terminals having a function of handling transmission / reception packets of a communication device connected to a non-cellular network as transmission / reception packets of a cellular network, and one or more connecting the virtual cellular terminal and a core device in the cellular network Forming a virtual cellular base station,
A communication device connected to the non-cellular network by distributing transmission / reception packets of the communication device connected to the non-cellular network to the virtual cellular terminal and controlling a connection relationship between the virtual cellular terminal and the virtual cellular base station A method for connecting to a cellular communication system, wherein the transmission / reception packet is transferred to and from the cellular network as a transmission / reception packet of the cellular network.   The program for functioning a computer as a cellular communication system connection apparatus in any one of Claim 1 to 3.

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