JP2019220865A - Communication device and communication method - Google Patents

Abstract

To reduce packet loss in first communication operation, while restraining occurrence of communication fault in second communication operation, when executing coexistence operation.SOLUTION: A communication device 1 comprises a first communication circuit executing first communication operation by first radio communication standard, and a second communication circuit executing second communication operation by second radio communication standard. At least one of the first and second communication circuits can execute a specific communication operation requesting realtime. The communication device can execute coexistence operation for executing the first and second communication operations alternately by time sharing, and when executing coexistence operation, changes time distribution of the execution time of the first communication operation and the execution time of the second communication operation on the basis of presence or absence of a specific communication operation, and changes capability information of the first and second communication operations.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication device and a communication method.

  In recent years, a first communication operation according to a first wireless communication standard and a second communication operation according to a second wireless communication standard different from the first wireless communication standard are alternately executed in a time-sharing manner, Techniques relating to a communication operation that allows two types of communication operations to coexist (hereinafter, referred to as “coexistence operation”) have been put to practical use. By using the technology, for example, a real-time property corresponding to a stream distribution (a data distribution method for transmitting and receiving and reproducing audio data and moving image data in real time) and a voice call according to the first wireless communication standard is required. The specified communication operation (hereinafter, referred to as “real-time operation”) and the normal operation other than the real-time operation according to the second wireless communication standard can be performed simultaneously.

JP 2010-535461 A

  However, in the conventional communication method, when the coexistence operation of the first communication operation and the second communication operation is performed, each of the first communication operation and the second communication operation is compared with the case where the first communication operation or the second communication operation is performed alone. Since the execution time of the communication operation is shortened, a sufficient execution time cannot be secured in each communication operation, and packet loss may occur. In particular, when one of the communication operations is a real-time operation, the packet loss causes a sound skip or the like, and the problem becomes remarkable.

  In such a case, the packet loss in the real-time operation can be reduced by changing the time distribution of each communication operation to extend the execution time of the real-time operation. However, if the execution time of the real-time operation is increased, the execution time of the normal operation is shortened, so that the capability of the normal operation is changed, and there is a possibility that a communication failure occurs in the normal operation.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and when performing a coexistence operation of a real-time operation and a normal operation, reduces packet loss in the real-time operation and suppresses occurrence of communication failure in the normal operation. The purpose is to do.

  A communication device according to one embodiment includes a first communication circuit that executes a first communication operation according to a first wireless communication standard, and a second communication circuit that performs a second communication operation according to a second wireless communication standard different from the first wireless communication standard. A second communication circuit that executes a communication operation; and a control circuit that controls the first communication operation and the second communication operation. At least one of the first communication circuit and the second communication circuit is a real-time The control circuit can perform a coexistence operation of alternately performing the first communication operation and the second communication operation in a time-division manner with the first communication operation. And performing the coexistence operation, based on the presence or absence of the specific communication operation, the execution time of the first communication operation and the execution time of the second communication operation. By changing the time distribution with the execution time To, changing the first capability information of the communication operation and the second communication operation.

  According to the embodiments of the present invention, when performing a coexistence operation of a real-time operation and a normal operation, it is possible to reduce packet loss in the real-time operation and suppress occurrence of a communication failure in the normal operation.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a communication device. The figure which shows an example of capability information. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the communication device. 6 is a timing chart showing an example of a communication state 1. 9 is a timing chart showing an example of a communication state 3;

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description of the specification and the drawings according to the embodiments, components having substantially the same function and configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, and overlapping descriptions will be omitted.

  A communication device 1 according to one embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. The communication device 1 according to the present embodiment can execute a coexistence operation (a communication operation in which a communication operation according to a first wireless communication standard and a communication operation according to a second wireless communication standard are alternately performed in a time-division manner). Communication device. The communication device 1 can simultaneously execute the real-time operation and the normal operation by the coexistence operation. As described above, the real-time operation is a specific communication operation that requires a real-time property and corresponds to stream distribution and voice communication. The normal operation is a communication operation that does not require real-time properties (a communication operation other than the real-time operation), such as a normal data transmission / reception operation, an ACK transmission / reception operation, and a scanning operation using a beacon signal.

  First, the hardware configuration of the communication device 1 will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the communication device 1. The communication device 1 of FIG. 1 includes a first communication circuit 11, a second communication circuit 12, a control circuit 13, an antenna 14, and a switch circuit 15.

  The first communication circuit 11 is a circuit that executes a communication operation with the opposite terminal 2 that is a communication partner according to a first wireless communication standard. The communication operation performed by the first communication circuit 11 is referred to as a first communication operation. The execution time of the first communication operation is referred to as execution time T1. The first wireless communication standard is, for example, a wireless local area network (WLAN) such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) (hereinafter, referred to as “BT”), Wi-Fi (registered trademark), WiMAX (registered trademark), or LTE. Yes, but not limited to this. Further, the opposite terminal 2 can be any communication device that can communicate according to the first wireless communication standard.

  The second communication circuit 12 is a circuit that executes a communication operation with the opposite terminal 3 that is a communication partner according to the second wireless communication standard. The communication operation performed by the second communication circuit 12 is referred to as a second communication operation. The execution time of the second communication operation is referred to as execution time T2. The second wireless communication standard can be any wireless communication standard different from the first wireless communication standard. The second wireless communication standard is, for example, WLAN such as BT and Wi-Fi, WiMAX, or LTE, but is not limited thereto. Further, the opposite terminal 3 may be any communication device that can communicate according to the second wireless communication standard.

  In the present embodiment, at least one of the first wireless communication standard and the second wireless communication standard may be a wireless communication standard that can execute a real-time operation.

  The control circuit 13 is a circuit that controls the first communication operation of the first communication circuit 11 and the second communication operation of the second communication circuit 12, respectively. The control circuit 13 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), a connection interface for connecting to the first communication circuit 11 and the second communication circuit 12, and a flash memory. An auxiliary storage device is provided. The functions of the control circuit 13 are realized by the CPU executing a program stored in the ROM or the like on the RAM. The operation of the control circuit 13 will be described later.

  The control circuit 13 stores various information for executing the first communication operation and the second communication operation. The information stored by the control circuit 13 includes identification information (such as a MAC address) of the communication device 1 and a plurality of preset capability information. The capability information is information indicating a set of capabilities of the communication device 1 (settings that the communication device 1 can support). The capability includes a protocol, a profile, an application, a data format, a link, a packet type, a resolution of data to be transmitted / received, a compression ratio, and a sampling rate (hereinafter, referred to as “protocol or the like”) that the communication device 1 can support. Since the capability information includes these settings, the capability information is information relating to communication quality, data quality (image quality, sound quality, and the like), time required for processing, and the like. The control circuit 13 stores the communication state, the execution time (time distribution) of each communication operation, and each capability information in association with each other.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the capability information stored in the control circuit 13. The communication state 1 in FIG. 2 is a communication state in which the communication device 1 is not performing a real-time operation, and the communication state 2 is a communication state in which the communication device 1 is performing a real-time operation by the first communication circuit 11. State 3 is a communication state in which the communication device 1 is executing a real-time operation by the second communication circuit 12. In the communication state 1, both the first communication operation and the second communication operation are normal operations. In communication state 2, the first communication operation is a real-time operation, and the second communication operation is a normal operation. In communication state 3, the first communication operation is a normal operation, and the second communication operation is a real-time operation.

  In the example of FIG. 2, the time distribution (T1: T2) in the communication state 1 is “5: 5 (default value)”, the time distribution (T1: T2) in the communication state 2 is “8: 2”, The time distribution (T1: T2) in the communication state 3 is “2: 8”. As described above, in the present embodiment, the time distribution (T1: T2) of the first communication operation and the second communication operation is set so that the execution time of the real-time operation becomes longer. The time distribution is not limited to the example in FIG.

  In the example of FIG. 2, the capability information of the first communication operation and the second communication operation in the communication state 1 is “functioning (default value)”. In the communication state 2, the capability information of the first communication operation is “functional high”, and the capability information of the second communication operation is “functional low”. In the communication state 3, the capability information of the first communication operation is “function low”, and the capability information of the second communication operation is “function high”. “Low function” is capability information including low-function capability, “in function” is capability information including medium-function capability, and “high function” is capability information including high-function capability. .

  High-performance capabilities are capabilities with high communication quality and data quality and long processing times. A low-performance capability is a capability that has lower communication quality and data quality and requires less processing time than a high-performance capability.

  For example, the second wireless communication standard is BT, and as a link for the second communication circuit 12 to transmit and receive voice data, an SCO (low-function capability) and an eSCO that can transmit and receive voice data with higher sound quality than the SCO are used. When (high-performance capability) is available, “functional low” including SCO and “functional high” including SCO and eSCO can be set as capability information of the second communication operation.

  The second wireless communication standard is BT, and HV1 (low-function capability), HV2 (medium-function capability), and HV3 (high-function) are packet types for the second communication circuit 12 to transmit and receive voice data. When a functional capability is available, the capability information of the second communication operation may be “functional low” including HV1, “functional” including HV1 and HV2, and “functional” including HV1, HV2, and HV3. Function height ".

  In the present embodiment, the capability information of each communication operation in each communication state is set so as to include capabilities that can be supported by the communication operation during the execution time of the communication operation. For example, the capability information of the second communication operation in the communication state 2 is set so as to include the capability that can be supported by the second communication operation during the execution time T2 corresponding to the time distribution “2”. Similarly, the capability information of the second communication operation in the communication state 3 is set so as to include the capability that can be supported by the second communication operation during the execution time T2 corresponding to the time distribution “8”. Since the execution time T2 in the communication state 3 is longer than the execution time T2 in the communication state 2, in the second communication operation, the communication state 3 can cope with the high-performance capability more than the communication state 2. Become. As a result, as shown in FIG. 2, as the capability information of the second communication operation in the communication state 3, the capability information (ie, the capability information including the capability having a higher function than the capability information of the second communication operation in the communication state 2 (low function)) Function height) is set. This is the same for the first communication operation.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the capability information of each communication operation is set such that the capability information of the communication operation for performing the real-time operation includes a higher-performance capability than the capability information of the communication operation for performing the normal operation. Is done. Note that the default value of the capability information set to the communication state 1 may be “functional high”.

  The antenna 14 is connected to the first communication circuit 11 or the second communication circuit 12 via the switch circuit 15, and transmits and receives wireless signals. That is, the antenna 14 is shared by the first communication circuit 11 and the second communication circuit 12.

  The switch circuit 15 connects the antenna 14 to the first communication circuit 11 or the second communication circuit 12. Switching of the connection by the switch circuit 15 is controlled by the control circuit 13.

  Note that the hardware configuration of the communication device 1 is not limited to the example of FIG. For example, in the example of FIG. 1, it is assumed that the first communication circuit 11 and the second communication circuit 12 are independent communication modules, but the first communication circuit 11 and the second communication circuit 12 are integrated. Communication module may be used. Further, the first communication circuit 11 and the second communication circuit 12 may be communication circuits such as cognitive radio whose functions are defined by software. Also, in the example of FIG. 1, it is assumed that the first communication circuit 11 and the second communication circuit 12 are controlled by one control circuit 13, but the first communication circuit 11 and the second communication circuit 12 The functions of the control circuit 13 may be realized by controlling two independent control circuits, and the two control circuits cooperating with each other.

  Next, the operation of the communication device 1 will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the communication device 1.

  The communication device 1 starts a coexistence operation when one of the first communication circuit 11 and the second communication circuit is performing a communication operation with the opposite terminal 2 and the other is requested to connect from the opposite terminal 3. (Step S101).

  When both the first communication operation and the second communication operation are normal operations (step S102: NO), the control circuit 13 determines the time distribution of the execution times T1 and T2 as the time distribution corresponding to the communication state 1 ( (Default value) (step S103). In the example of FIG. 2, the time distribution is set to “5: 5”.

  Next, the control circuit 13 selects capability information corresponding to the communication state 1 (step S104). In the example of FIG. 2, “functioning” is selected as the capability information of the first communication operation and the second communication operation.

  Subsequently, the control circuit 13 wirelessly transmits the selected capability information and time distribution of the first communication operation to the opposite terminal 2 via the first communication circuit 11 (step S105). Similarly, the control circuit 13 wirelessly transmits the selected capability information and time distribution of the second communication operation to the opposite terminal 3 via the second communication circuit 12 (step S105).

  Thereafter, the control circuit 13 performs negotiation with the opposite terminal 2 via the first communication circuit 11, and determines a communication method of the first communication operation (a protocol used in the first communication operation, etc.) (Step S106). . Accordingly, a communication method that can be supported by the execution time T1 of the first communication operation is determined as the communication method of the first communication operation. Similarly, the control circuit 13 performs negotiation with the opposite terminal 3 via the second communication circuit 12, and determines a communication method of the second communication operation (such as a protocol used in the second communication operation) (step S106). ). The negotiation and the method of determining the communication method are arbitrary. Accordingly, a communication method that can be supported by the execution time T2 of the second communication operation is determined as the communication method of the second communication operation.

  Thereafter, the first communication circuit 11 and the second communication circuit 12 follow the determined communication scheme until the coexistence operation ends (step S108: NO) or the real-time operation starts (step S102: NO). The first communication operation and the second communication operation are executed (step S107). When one communication ends, the first communication circuit 11 and the second communication circuit 12 end the coexistence operation (step S108: YES), and continue the other communication. The operation when the real-time operation is started will be described later.

  FIG. 4 is a timing chart showing an example of the communication state 1. In the example of FIG. 4, the first wireless communication standard is WLAN, and the second wireless communication standard is BT. As illustrated in FIG. 4, during the execution of the coexistence operation, the communication device 1 alternately performs the first communication operation (WLAN) and the second communication operation (BT) in a period T in a time division manner. Execute. In the communication state 1, the time distribution of the execution times T1 and T2 is “5: 5”. In addition, the communication method of the first communication operation and the second communication operation is determined from the capabilities (protocols and the like) included in “under function”. In the example of FIG. 4, the first communication operation is performed before the second communication operation, but the order may be reversed.

  On the other hand, at the start of the coexistence operation or during the execution of the coexistence operation in the communication state 1, when the opposite terminal 2 or the opposite terminal 3 is requested to start the real-time operation (step S102: YES), the control circuit 13 executes The time distribution of the times T1 and T2 is set to the time distribution corresponding to the communication state 2 or the communication state 3 (step S109). Hereinafter, it is assumed that the start of the real-time operation is requested as the second communication operation. In this case, the control circuit 13 sets the time distribution of the execution times T1 and T2 to the time distribution corresponding to the communication state 3. In the example of FIG. 2, the time distribution is set to “2: 8”.

  Next, the control circuit 13 selects capability information corresponding to the communication state 3 (step S110). In the example of FIG. 2, “functional low” is selected as capability information of the first communication operation, and “functional high” is selected as capability information of the second communication operation.

  Subsequently, the control circuit 13 wirelessly transmits the capability information and the time distribution of the selected first communication operation to the opposite terminal 2 via the first communication circuit 11 (Step S111). Similarly, the control circuit 13 wirelessly transmits the capability information and the time distribution of the selected second communication operation to the opposite terminal 3 via the second communication circuit 12 (step S111).

  Thereafter, the control circuit 13 performs negotiation with the opposite terminal 2 via the first communication circuit 11, and determines a communication method (a protocol used in the first communication operation) of the first communication operation (step S112). . Accordingly, a communication method that can be supported by the execution time T1 of the first communication operation is determined as the communication method of the first communication operation (normal operation). Similarly, the control circuit 13 performs negotiation with the opposite terminal 3 via the second communication circuit 12, and determines a communication method of the second communication operation (a protocol used in the second communication operation, etc.) (step S112). ). The negotiation and the method of determining the communication method are arbitrary. Accordingly, a communication method that can be supported by the execution time T2 of the second communication operation is determined as the communication method of the second communication operation (real-time operation).

  Thereafter, the first communication circuit 11 and the second communication circuit 12 execute the first communication operation and the second communication operation according to the determined communication scheme (step S113). When the real-time operation ends (step S114: YES) or when the coexistence operation ends (step S115: YES), the first communication circuit 11 and the second communication circuit 12 perform the first communication according to the determined communication method. The operation and the second communication operation end.

  FIG. 5 is a timing chart showing an example of the communication state 3. In the example of FIG. 5, the first wireless communication standard is WLAN, and the second wireless communication standard is BT. As shown in FIG. 5, during the execution of the coexistence operation, the communication device 1 alternately performs the first communication operation (WLAN) and the second communication operation (BT) in a time division during a period T. Execute. In the communication state 3, the time distribution of the execution times T1 and T2 is “2: 8”. Further, the communication method of the first communication operation is determined from the capabilities (protocols and the like) included in “low function”, and the communication method of the second communication operation is the capabilities (protocol and the like) included in “high function”. Is determined from By determining the communication method of the first communication operation from among the low-performance capabilities included in “functional low”, a communication method that can cope during the execution time T1 even if the execution time T1 is short; That is, it is possible to determine a communication method in which a communication failure hardly occurs. In the example of FIG. 5, the first communication operation is executed before the second communication operation, but the order may be reversed.

  Note that the communication device 1 may dynamically change the time distribution and the communication method during the execution of the first communication operation and the second communication operation. In addition, the communication device 1 terminates the first communication operation and the second communication operation to change the time distribution and the communication method, disconnects from the opposite terminals 2 and 3, and then reconnects to the opposite terminals 2 and 3. It may be done at the time.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when executing the coexistence operation of the first communication operation and the second communication operation, the control circuit 13 executes the execution time T1, The time distribution of T2 is changed. Specifically, when one of the first communication operation and the second communication operation is a real-time operation, the control circuit 13 sets the execution times T1 and T2 so that the execution time of the real-time operation becomes longer. Change the time distribution. Thereby, the time distribution of the execution times T1 and T2 can be optimized, and the packet loss in the real time operation can be reduced.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, when performing the coexistence operation of the first communication operation and the second communication operation, the control circuit 13 performs the first communication operation and the second communication operation based on the presence or absence of the real-time operation. The capability information of the second communication operation is changed. Specifically, when one of the first communication operation and the second communication operation is a real-time operation, the control circuit 13 changes the capability information so that the capability of the normal operation becomes a low function. Thereby, the capability information of the normal operation can be optimized, and the occurrence of the communication failure in the normal operation can be suppressed.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the configuration shown here, such as a combination of the configuration described in the above embodiment with other elements. These points can be changed without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and can be appropriately determined according to the application form.

1: Communication device 2: Counter terminal 3: Counter terminal 11: First communication circuit 12: Second communication circuit 13: Control circuit 14: Antenna 15: Switch circuit

Claims (8)

A first communication circuit that performs a first communication operation according to a first wireless communication standard;
A second communication circuit that performs a second communication operation according to a second wireless communication standard different from the first wireless communication standard;
A control circuit for controlling the first communication operation and the second communication operation;
With
At least one of the first communication circuit and the second communication circuit is capable of executing a specific communication operation requiring real-time property,
The control circuit includes:
The first communication circuit and the second communication circuit can execute a coexistence operation of alternately executing the first communication operation and the second communication operation in a time-division manner,
When executing the coexistence operation, the time distribution between the execution time of the first communication operation and the execution time of the second communication operation is changed based on the presence or absence of the specific communication operation, and A communication device that changes the capability information of the communication operation of the second communication operation and the second communication operation. The control circuit according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit sets the capability information so that the capability information of the specific communication operation includes a capability with a higher function than the capability information of a normal operation other than the specific communication operation. Communication device. The communication device according to claim 2, wherein the capability includes at least one of a protocol, a profile, an application, a data format, a link, a packet type, a resolution of transmitted / received data, a compression ratio, and a sampling rate. The control circuit, when executing the coexistence operation including the specific operation, transmits the capability information to an opposite terminal, and determines a communication method of the first communication operation and the second communication operation. The communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The control circuit, when performing the coexistence operation including the specific operation, disconnect from the opposite terminal, determine the communication method of the first communication operation and the second communication operation, and then the opposite terminal The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the communication device is reconnected. 6. The control circuit according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit sets the time distribution so that the execution time of the specific communication operation is longer than the execution time of a normal operation other than the specific communication operation. The communication device according to claim 1. The communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the specific communication operation is a communication operation corresponding to a stream distribution or a voice call. A first communication circuit that performs a first communication operation according to a first wireless communication standard;
A second communication circuit that performs a second communication operation according to a second wireless communication standard different from the first wireless communication standard;
A control circuit for controlling the first communication operation and the second communication operation;
With
At least one of the first communication circuit and the second communication circuit is a communication method of a communication device capable of executing a specific communication operation requiring real-time performance,
The control circuit comprises:
Causing the first communication circuit and the second communication circuit to execute a coexistence operation of alternately performing the first communication operation and the second communication operation in a time-division manner;
When executing the coexistence operation, the time distribution between the execution time of the first communication operation and the execution time of the second communication operation is changed based on the presence or absence of the specific communication operation, and And a communication method for changing capability information of the second communication operation.

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