JP2024022698A - Communication device and communication method - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a communication device and a communication method that suppress deterioration in communication quality. [Solution] A transmitting device includes a transmission processing unit that transmits first data (TCP) and second data (UDP), and a transmission processing unit that transmits first data (TCP) and second data (UDP), and and a control unit that makes the second data transmitted from the controller redundant. [Selection diagram] Figure 2

Description

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

TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) is widely used in packet-switched communication performed via a network. A new protocol called QUIC (Quick UDP Internet Connections) is also becoming widely used. Congestion control algorithms such as TCP and QUIC control the packet transmission rate according to the effective bandwidth of the network. If the effective bandwidth is small and the line has plenty of bandwidth, the congestion window is gradually raised to increase the packet transmission rate. When the effective bandwidth of the network reaches the bandwidth of the line and there is no more room in the bandwidth of the line, packet losses and delays increase, and congestion is detected. If congestion is detected, the congestion window is reduced and the rate of packet transmission is reduced. Lost packets are retransmitted using the TCP retransmission algorithm. If there is no room for line bandwidth, there is a high possibility that packet loss will occur even in other communications that are being conducted in parallel with TCP, such as video communications using UDP. A mechanism is required to prevent the quality of other communications from deteriorating, such as when other communications have high priority.

M. Nagy et al., “Congestion Control using FEC for Conversational Multimedia Communication,” ACM MMSys’14, 2014

Embodiments of the present invention provide a communication device and a communication method that suppress deterioration in communication quality.

The communication device according to the present embodiment includes a transmission processing unit that transmits first data and second data, and a control unit that makes the second data redundant depending on the transmission status of the first data. Be prepared.

The communication device according to the present embodiment includes a reception processing unit that receives first data and receives second data, and transmits control information that makes the second data redundant based on the reception status of the first data. and a control section.

The communication device according to the present embodiment includes a first reception processing unit that receives first data addressed to the first device and second data addressed to the second device, and a first reception processing unit that receives the first data addressed to the first device. a first transmission processing unit that transmits the second data to the second device; and a first transmission processing unit that transmits the second data to the second device, and transmits control information that makes the second data redundant based on the reception status of the first data. and a second transmission processing unit that transmits data to the original third device.

The communication device according to the present embodiment includes a reception processing unit that receives first data addressed to the first device and second data addressed to the second device, and a reception processing unit that transmits the first data addressed to the first device. , a transmission processing unit that transmits the second data to the second device, the transmission processing unit informing the second device of the source of the second data based on the reception status of the first data. transmitting request information requesting redundancy of the second data transmitted from the third device.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a data communication system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a transmitting device according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example format of a DFCP packet. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example format of a DFMP packet. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example format of a data link layer packet. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of data flow synthesis in a data flow synthesis unit. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a receiving device according to a first embodiment. The figure which shows the example of redundancy. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation related to controlling the redundancy of packets transmitted from the transmitting device according to the present embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example in which packets are not made redundant as a comparative example of the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of making redundant packets transmitted from a transmitter according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of aggregating a plurality of DFCP packets into a DFMP packet. FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a receiving device according to modification 5. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a communication system according to a second embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a transmitting device according to a second embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a transmitting device according to a second embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a receiving device according to a second embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a communication sequence according to the second embodiment. 7 is a flowchart of an example of the operation of the receiving device according to the second embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a communication system according to a third embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a receiving device according to a third embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a receiving device according to a third embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a relay device according to a third embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a communication sequence according to a third embodiment. 7 is a flowchart of an example of the operation of the relay device according to the third embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a receiving device according to a fourth embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the communication sequence based on 4th Embodiment. 12 is a flowchart of an example of the operation of the relay device according to the fourth embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of each device in each embodiment.

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the drawings. The drawings schematically illustrate embodiments of the present disclosure as an example, and the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to the forms disclosed in the drawings. In the plurality of figures, the same elements are given the same reference numerals, and explanations of already explained elements are omitted as appropriate.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communication system according to this embodiment. The communication system in FIG. 1 includes a plurality of mobile bodies M equipped with transmitting devices 10 and a receiving device 20. The transmitting device 10 and the receiving device 20 correspond to an example of a communication device or a wireless communication device according to this embodiment.

The moving object M is any moving object such as a car, a robot, a ship, a drone, a mobile terminal (smartphone, tablet terminal, notebook PC, etc.), or a train. In this embodiment, the transmitting device 10 is mounted on a moving body, but the transmitting device 10 may be mounted on a fixed terminal or machine. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the mobile object M is a car. The vehicle may be either a vehicle that has a function to assist the user in driving, or a self-driving vehicle that autonomously makes decisions and drives.

Transmitting device 10 is connected to communication network 30 . The communication network 30 is, for example, a mobile network or a wireless LAN (Local Area Network). Examples of mobile networks include 3G networks, LTE networks, and next generation (5G) networks, but any type of network may be used. Further, the communication network 30 may be a wireless network or a wired network. Communication network 30 may include multiple types of networks. In this case, the transmitting device 10 may select a network to be used for communication with the receiving device 20 from among multiple types of networks. Although the transmitting device 10 performs wireless communication in this embodiment, it may be configured to perform wired communication. Communication network 30 may include one or more relay devices that relay data or packets. In this case, the mid-level device corresponds to an example of a communication device or a wireless communication device according to this embodiment. Note that a packet is a general expression of a unit of information transmission, and is not limited to a unit of information transmission of a specific protocol. For example, packet may be replaced by other terms such as frame, datagram, segment, etc.

The transmitting device 10 acquires data from one or more sensors provided on the mobile body M. One or more sensors detect data to provide to one or more applications at the receiving device. The data detected by each sensor belongs to a different data flow. The transmitting device 10 transmits data detected by each sensor to the receiving device 20. More specifically, the transmitting device 10 generates a packet containing data and transmits the generated packet to the receiving device 20. Examples of multiple sensors include cameras, GPS, LiDAR (Light Detecting And Ranging), speed sensors, acceleration sensors, sensors for detecting vehicle control information (engine rotation status, accelerator pedal depression status, etc.), sudden braking detection sensors, Includes sensors for detecting obstacles (falling objects, vehicles in front), etc.

The receiving device 20 is connected to the communication network 30 by wire or wirelessly. The receiving device 20 is placed in a mobile network, for example. The receiving device 20 may be an edge controller of a mobile network. The receiving device 20 receives data for one or more applications from the mobile M, more specifically, a packet containing the data. The receiving device 20 includes one or more applications that process data transmitted from the mobile body M. The receiving device 20 passes the data acquired from the mobile object M to the respective corresponding applications.

Examples of multiple applications include applications that generate high-definition maps, applications that generate engine control optimization models, applications that generate road safety information, and the like. Different applications may have different time constraints for data transmission. As an example, in applications that generate high-definition maps and applications that generate engine control optimization models, the time constraints for data transmission are long (one hour, one day, etc.). On the other hand, in applications that generate road safety information, the time constraints for data transmission are short (for example, 10 seconds or less). As an example, data with short time constraints corresponds to data with high priority, and data with long time constraints corresponds to data with low priority.

The receiving device 20 may function as a relay device. In this case, the receiving device 20 may transmit the data received from the transmitting device 10 of the mobile body M to another device (for example, a server) provided with one or more applications.

The transmitting device 10 and receiving device 20 of the mobile body M may communicate with each other via a relay device such as a base station or a router. For example, the transmitting device 10 wirelessly connects to a nearby base station by executing a predetermined connection process. The transmitting device 10 of the mobile body M communicates with the receiving device 20 via the connected base station. One or more routers may be arranged between the base station and the receiving device 20. The receiving device 20 may be connected to the base station wirelessly or by wire. The receiving device 20 may be connected to a plurality of base stations, or may be connected to a base station on a one-to-one basis.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the transmitting device 10. The transmitting device 10 corresponds to an example of a communication device or a wireless communication device according to this embodiment.

The transmitting device 10 includes a plurality of data acquisition sections 101A and 101B, a plurality of transmission buffer sections 102A and 102B, a transmission processing section 11, an information communication section 106, an antenna 107A, and an antenna 107B. The transmission processing section 11 includes a data flow synthesis section 103, a control section 104, a transmission section 105A, and a transmission section 105B. The transmitter 105A and the transmitter 105B may be physically the same circuit or may be separate circuits.

In the example of FIG. 2, two data acquisition units are provided, but three or more may be provided. Similarly, although two transmission buffer sections are provided, three or more may be provided. Although two transmitters are provided, three or more transmitters may be provided. Although two antennas are provided, one antenna or three or more antennas may be provided.

Data acquisition units 101A and 101B are connected to sensors 1A and 1B, respectively. Sensor 1A outputs data to be provided to application A. Sensor 1B outputs data to be provided to application B. In the example of FIG. 2, there are two sensors, but there may be three or more sensors.

Examples of multiple sensors include cameras, GPS, sensors that detect vehicle driving information (LiDAR (Light Detecting And Ranging), speed sensors, acceleration sensors, etc.), and vehicle control information (engine rotation status, accelerator pedal depression status, etc.) detection sensor, sudden braking detection sensor, obstacle (falling object, vehicle in front) detection sensor, etc. The sensor may output data at regular intervals in chronological order, or may output data at specific timing, such as when an event occurs. Examples of sensors are not limited to those mentioned above. For example, the sensor may detect data input from a user such as a passenger of a car via an operation unit.

Data output from each sensor at regular intervals or at a specific timing constitutes one data flow.

Data acquisition units 101A and 101B acquire data detected by sensors 1A and 1B. The data acquisition units 101A and 101B provide the acquired data to the transmission buffer units 102A and 102B. The data detected by the sensor includes, for example, sensor attribute information, detection time, and data itself.

Note that the data acquisition units 101A and 101B may perform a predetermined calculation (for example, calculation of an average value) on the data acquired from the sensors 1A and 1B, and provide the data after the calculation to the transmission buffer units 102A and 102B. Further, the data acquisition units 101A and 101B may perform predetermined calculations (for example, four arithmetic operations) based on data acquired from two or more sensors, and provide the data after the calculation to the transmission buffer units 102A and 102B.

The transmission buffer units 102A and 102B receive data from the data acquisition units 101A and 101B, and store the received data in internal storage areas. That is, the transmission buffer units 102A and 102B buffer the data acquired from the data acquisition units 101A and 101B. The transmission buffer units 102A and 102B manage the order in which data is received, and output the data in the order in which they are received. The transmission buffer sections 102A and 102B are storage devices having a storage area of a predetermined size, and are configured by a recording medium such as a memory or a hard disk, for example.

The control unit 104 controls reading and transmission of data from the transmission buffer units 102A and 102B. The control unit 104 controls reading of data from the transmission buffer units 102A and 102B according to the time constraints of the application. Further, the control unit 104 controls data reading from the transmission buffer unit 102A so as to transmit data at a transmission rate according to the value of the TCP congestion window in the transmission unit 105A. Further, the control unit 104 makes the data transmitted from the transmitting unit 105B redundant, depending on the data transmission status in the transmitting unit 105A. Details of the operation of the control unit 104 will be described later.

The transmission processing section 11 reads data from the transmission buffer sections 102A and 102B under the control of the control section 104, and transmits the read data. The transmission processing section 11 includes a data flow synthesis section 103, a transmission section 105A, and a transmission section 105B. The data read from the transmission buffer section 102A and transmitted corresponds to, for example, first data transmitted to the receiving device 20, and the data read from the transmission buffer section 102B and transmitted corresponds to, for example, the second data transmitted to the receiving device 20.

The data flow synthesis section 103 reads data from the transmission buffer sections 102A and 102B under the control of the control section 104. The data flow synthesis unit 103 generates DFMP packets by processing the read data according to a data flow control protocol (DFCP) and a data flow multiplexing protocol (DFMP). The details of the operation for generating a DFMP packet will be described below.

First, the data flow synthesis unit 103 generates a DFCP packet by adding a DFCP header, which is a data flow control protocol (DFCP) header, to data read from the transmission buffer unit (102A or 102B). More specifically, a sequence number (referred to as a local sequence number) is assigned to the data read from the transmission buffer section. The local sequence number is, for example, a number that increases by a constant value (for example, 1) for each DFCP packet. Further, a time (time stamp) is acquired from a clock inside or outside the transmitting device 10, and the acquired time is set as the transmission time of the data or DFCP packet. A DFCP header including a local sequence number, transmission time, and flow ID is generated. The generated DFCP header is added to the data read from the transmission buffer section, thereby generating a DFCP packet. The flow ID is an identifier that identifies a data flow. Data corresponding to the same flow ID is data acquired from the same sensor, data read from the same transmission buffer section, or data provided to the same application.

FIG. 3 shows an example format of a DFCP packet. A DFCP packet includes a DFCP header and a payload section. The payload section stores data read from the transmission buffer section. The DFCP header includes a flow ID, local sequence number, transmission time, etc. TS (time stamp) in the figure represents the transmission time. The DFCP header may include other fields. For example, there may be a field containing information regarding the priority of data included in the payload portion of the DFCP packet. Alternatively, there may be a type field indicating whether the data included in the payload section is stream data such as video data or non-stream data such as event data. There may also be a checksum field for error detection. In addition, fields such as version, header length, payload length, and reserve may be included.

The data flow synthesis unit 103 generates a DFMP packet by adding a DFMP header to the DFCP packet. More specifically, the data flow synthesis unit 103 determines a sequence number (referred to as a global sequence number) to be assigned to a DFCP packet. A global sequence number is a sequence number that is independent of local sequence numbers. The data flow synthesis unit 103 determines consecutive sequence numbers each time it generates a DFCP packet, regardless of whether the data is read from the transmission buffer unit 102A or 102B. The DFMP sequence number is, for example, a number that increases by a constant value (for example, 1). A local sequence number is a sequence number that is independent for each application, whereas a global sequence number is a sequence number that is common to multiple applications. By using a common global sequence number for multiple applications (ie, multiple data flows), it is possible to combine multiple data flows.

Further, the data flow synthesis unit 103 acquires a time (time stamp) from a clock inside or outside the transmitting device 10, and sets the acquired time as the transmission time of the data or DFMP packet. The data flow synthesis unit 103 generates a DFMP header including a global sequence number and a transmission time, and adds the DFMP header to the DFCP packet, thereby creating a DFMP packet. The same time as the transmission time included in the DFCP header may be used as the transmission time included in the DFMP header.

In this way, every time data is read from the transmission buffer units 102A and 102B, the data flow synthesis unit 103 adds a DFCP header including a local sequence number to the read data, and further adds a DFMP header including a global sequence number. . This generates a DFMP packet.

FIG. 4 shows an example format of a DFMP packet. A DFMP packet includes a DFMP header and a payload section. A DFCP packet is stored in the payload section. As described above, the DFMP header includes the global sequence number and transmission time. TS in the figure represents the transmission time. The DFMP header may include other fields. For example, fields such as version, header length, payload length, and reserve may be included.

The transmitting units 105A and 105B communicate with the receiving device 20 via the communication network 30. The transmitting unit 105A communicates with the receiving device 20 using a communication protocol having a congestion control algorithm. Hereinafter, communication performed using a communication protocol having a congestion control algorithm will be referred to as communication with congestion control. The transmitter 105B communicates with the receiver 20 using a communication protocol that does not have a congestion control algorithm. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the transmitter 105A uses TCP and the transmitter 105B uses UDP.

The data flow synthesis unit 103 provides the generated DFMP packet to the transmission unit 105A or 105B. Specifically, the data flow synthesis unit 103 sends the DFMP packet generated based on the data read from the transmission buffer unit 102A (for example, low-priority data that does not have strict time constraints for high-definition map generation) to the transmission unit 105A. Provided to. A DFMP packet generated based on data read from the transmission buffer section 102B (for example, high priority data with strict time constraints for reporting real-time traffic conditions) is provided to the transmission section 105B.

The transmitting unit 105A and the transmitting unit 105B add a transport layer header, a network layer header, and a data link layer header to the DFMP packet provided from the data flow combining unit 103, thereby creating a data link layer packet. In this example, the transmitter 105A uses TCP as a transport layer, and the transmitter 105B uses UDP. The transport layer may further include an encryption protocol in addition to TCP or UDP. The network layer includes, for example, IP (Internet Protocol). The data link layer includes, for example, Ethernet (registered trademark) or IEEE802.11 protocols. Note that not all of these layers are essential.

FIG. 5 shows an example format of a data link layer packet. This example includes an Ethernet header, an IP header, a UDP header or TCP header, a DFMP header, a DFCP header, a payload section, and an Ethernet FCS (Frame Check Sequence). The payload section stores data detected by the sensor (that is, data of the payload section of the DFCP packet). DFMP and DFCP are higher-level protocols than IP (Internet Protocol) and higher-level protocols than UDP or TCP.

The transmitting unit 105A performs physical layer processing on the data link layer packet provided from the data flow combining unit 103, and adds a physical layer header. The transmitter 105A transmits the packet to which the physical layer header is added via the antenna 107A. More specifically, the transmitter 105A modulates and DA converts the packet into an analog signal, extracts a signal in a desired band, and up-converts the extracted signal to a radio frequency. The transmitter 105A amplifies the radio frequency signal using an amplifier, and transmits the amplified radio frequency signal via the antenna 107A. The transmitter 105A may perform encoding in at least one of the transport layer, network layer, data link layer, and physical layer. The packet transmitted from the transmitter 105A corresponds to first data transmitted to the receiving device 20, for example.

Examples of codes used for encoding include erasure correction codes and error correction codes other than erasure correction codes. Examples of erasure correction codes include RS codes, rateless codes, BCH codes, fountain codes, Tornado codes, LT (Luby Transform) codes, Raptor codes, RaptorQ codes, Zigzag decodable codes, ZD fountain codes, or XOR codes. Examples of error correction codes other than erasure correction codes include convolutional codes, turbo codes, LDPC codes, Polar codes, and the like.

The transmitting unit 105B performs physical layer processing on the data link layer packet provided from the data flow combining unit 103, and generates a physical layer packet. The transmitter 105B transmits the physical layer packet via the antenna 107B. More specifically, the transmitter 105B modulates and converts the packet into an analog signal, extracts a signal in a desired band, and up-converts the extracted signal to a radio frequency. The transmitter 105B amplifies the radio frequency signal using an amplifier, and transmits the amplified radio frequency signal via the antenna 107B. The transmitter 105B may perform encoding in at least one of a transport layer, a network layer, a data link layer, and a physical layer. Examples of codes used for encoding are the same as in the case of the transmitter 105A. The packet transmitted from the transmitter 105B corresponds to the second data transmitted to the receiving device 20, for example.

The information communication unit 106 receives a response packet containing feedback information regarding reception of the DFMP packet or DFCP packet from the receiving device 20. The feedback information is, for example, a DFMP message or a DFCP message. Examples of feedback information include communication quality information of DFMP packets or retransmission requests of DFCP packets.

The control unit 104 receives feedback information from the information communication unit 106, and controls data reading from the transmission buffer units 102A and 102B based on the feedback information. For example, when a DFCP packet retransmission request is received, data related to the local sequence number requested for retransmission is read, and the DFCP packet with the same local sequence number is retransmitted. In addition, if a notification is received that the communication quality is low as communication quality information of DFMP packets (for example, the packet loss rate is above a threshold, the fluctuation of packet arrival delay time is above a threshold, etc.), data of a low priority application is sent. Control may be performed to lower the rate.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a specific example of data flow synthesis performed in the data flow synthesis unit 103. Data 3 to 6 are stored in the transmission buffer section 102A as data related to application A in this order. It is assumed that the flow ID of application A is "1". The data of application A is transmitted at a transmission rate according to TCP congestion control (for example, congestion window) in the transmitter 105A.

Data 53, 52, and 54 are stored in the transmission buffer unit 102B as data related to application B in this order. It is assumed that the flow ID of application B is "2". Application B data is transmitted, for example, at a constant transmission rate.

Data flow synthesis section 103 reads data from transmission buffer sections 102A and 102B according to their respective transmission rates. The data flow synthesis unit 103 adds a DFCP header including a flow ID for each application to the read data in the order in which the data is read out, thereby creating a DFCP packet. Then, a DFMP header including a global sequence number is added to form a DFMP packet. The local sequence numbers of the DFCP header are consecutive for each flow ID (ie, for each application). The global sequence number of the DFMP header is continuous for each generated DFMP packet, regardless of the flow ID.

In the example in the figure, the DFCP header containing "FID:1" is the DFCP header with flow ID 1, and the DFCP header containing "FID:2" is the DFCP header with flow ID 2. . "Seq: XXX" means that the global sequence number of the DFMP header is XXX. The illustration of the local sequence number of the DFCP header is omitted. Additionally, a timestamp or the like may be included in at least one of the DFCP header and DFMP header.

When the DFMP packet with the global sequence number XXX is written as DFMP packet XXX, the data flow synthesis unit 103 outputs DFMP packet 001, DFMP packet 002, DFMP packet 003, and DFMP packet 004 in this order. DFMP packet 001 includes data 1 read from transmission buffer section 102A, and is sent to transmission section 105A. The DFMP packet 002 includes data 51 read from the transmission buffer section 102B, and is sent to the transmission section 105B. DFMP packet 003 includes data 2 read from transmission buffer section 102A, and is sent to transmission section 105A. The DFMP packet 004 includes data 52 read from the transmission buffer section 102B, and is sent to the transmission section 105B. The transmitting unit 105A adds various headers and the like to each DFMP packet input from the data flow combining unit 103 to form a physical layer packet, and transmits the packet to the receiving device 20 via the antenna 107A. The transmitting unit 105B adds various headers and the like to each DFMP packet input from the data flow combining unit 103 to form a physical layer packet, and transmits the packet to the receiving device 20 via the antenna 107B.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the receiving device 20. The receiving device 20 includes data processing units (applications) 201A and 201B, reception buffer units 202A and 202B, a data flow separation unit 203, receiving units 205A and 205B, an information communication unit 206, and antennas 207A and 207B. The receiving device 20 corresponds to an example of a wireless communication device or a communication device according to this embodiment. In this embodiment, the receiving device 20 performs wireless communication, but a configuration in which wired communication is performed is not excluded.

In the example of FIG. 7, there are two data processing units, but there may be three or more. Similarly, there are two reception buffer sections, but there may be three or more. Further, although there are two receiving sections, there may be three or more receiving sections.

The receiving units 205A and 205B receive the DFMP packet transmitted from the transmitting device 10 via the communication network 30. More specifically, receiving units 205A and 205B receive radio signals via antennas 207A and 207B, amplify the received signals, and down-convert them to a baseband frequency. A signal in a desired band is extracted from the down-converted signal, and the extracted signal is AD converted. Demodulates the digital signal obtained by AD conversion. The receiving units 205A and 205B process and remove various headers from the demodulated packets (physical layer packets) to obtain DFMP packets. The receiving units 205A and 205B provide the acquired DFMP packets to the data flow separation unit 203.

The data flow separation unit 203 detects packet loss based on the header of the DFMP packet. The data flow separation unit 203 identifies the missing global sequence number based on the global sequence number included in the header of the DFMP packet. For example, if global sequence numbers 001, 003, 004, and 005 are detected, but global sequence number 002 is not detected for a certain period of time, global sequence number 002 is set as the missing global sequence number. In this case, the data flow separation unit 203 determines that a packet loss of the DFMP packet with global sequence number 002 has occurred.

Note that packet loss occurs when a DFMP packet is lost during the route of the communication network 30 and does not reach the receiving device 20, when an error is detected in a lower layer protocol of DFMP, or when a packet is lost due to error correction. This includes cases where recovery is not possible. Note that if the lower layer protocol has automatic retransmission control and the packet is correctly received by retransmission, it will not be considered a packet loss.

The data flow separation unit 203 generates communication quality information of the DFMP packet based on the reception status of the DFMP packet. As an example, the packet loss rate of DFMP packets or the fluctuation information of packet arrival time delay is calculated. The information communication unit 206 transmits a response packet including feedback information including communication quality information of the DFMP packet to the transmitting device 10 via the communication network 30. Any communication protocol used for transmitting the feedback information may be used, such as a 5G mobile communication standard, a 4G mobile communication standard, a wireless LAN standard, or another communication standard.

The data flow separation unit 203 obtains a DFCP packet by removing the DFMP header from the DFMP packet. The data flow separation unit 203 identifies an application to which data included in the payload of the DFCP packet should be delivered based on the flow ID included in the header of the DFCP packet. The data flow separation unit 203 provides the data included in the payload of the DFCP packet to the reception buffer unit 202 corresponding to the specified application.

The data flow separation unit 203 also inspects the local sequence number of the DFCP header. When there is a missing local sequence number, the data flow separation unit 203 generates a retransmission request for the DFCP packet targeting the local sequence number. Furthermore, when a checksum is included in the DFCP header, error detection processing may be performed on the DFCP packet, and when an error is detected, a retransmission request for the DFCP packet may be generated. The information communication unit 206 transmits a response packet containing the generated retransmission request as feedback information to the transmitting device 10 via the communication network 30. Note that if the data in the payload of the DFCP packet is of a type that does not require data integrity, a configuration in which a retransmission request is not sent is also possible.

The reception buffer units 202A and 202B store the data provided from the data flow separation unit 203 in internal storage areas. That is, the reception buffer units 202A and 202B buffer the data provided from the data flow separation unit 203. The reception buffer units 202A and 202B output the buffered data in the order received from the data flow separation unit 203. Depending on the type of data to be output, the method for outputting data from the reception buffer section may be different. As an example, the reception buffer sections 202A and 202B may output data in response to a request from the data processing sections 201A and 201B. Alternatively, the reception buffer sections 202A and 202B may output data immediately after receiving the data. Alternatively, the reception buffer units 202A and 202B may output the buffered data at regular time intervals. The reception buffer sections 202A and 202B are storage devices having a storage area of a predetermined size. The reception buffer units 202A and 202B are configured, for example, by a recording medium such as a memory or a hard disk.

The data processing units 201A and 201B are application execution units that process data provided from the reception buffer units 202A and 202B by respectively executing applications. As an example, the data processing unit 201A includes an application A and a CPU, and the CPU executes the application A. The data processing unit 201B includes, for example, an application B and a CPU, and the CPU executes the application B. Examples of applications include generation of high-definition maps, generation of optimization models for engine control, and generation of road safety information, but these are just examples; there are many other applications.

Here, TCP congestion control performed by the transmitter 105A in the transmitter 10 will be described. Congestion control algorithms include those based on packet loss, those based on delay, and those based on a combination thereof; here, a congestion control algorithm based on packet loss will be taken as an example. In TCP congestion control, a congestion window is set to a small value at the start of communication as a slow start, and packets are transmitted. The congestion window defines the number of packets that can be sent consecutively. For example, if the congestion window value is X, then X packets are transmitted. When the transmitting unit 105A receives an ACK from the receiving destination, the transmitting unit 105A gradually widens the congestion window and increases the number of transmittable packets. As a result, if the communication network 30 has sufficient bandwidth, the transmission rate can be gradually increased, achieving best effort communication. When the usage bandwidth (effective bandwidth) of the communication network 30 reaches its upper limit and there is no more bandwidth available in the communication network 30, packet loss occurs. When a packet loss is detected, TCP decreases the congestion window and lowers the packet transmission rate. Lost packets are retransmitted. When a packet loss occurs, a packet loss may occur even in the communication (UDP communication in this example) of the transmitter 105B that is being performed simultaneously with TCP, and the quality of communication may deteriorate. In particular, when the transmitter 105B is communicating high-priority data, it is necessary to suppress packet loss and prevent the quality of communication from deteriorating. The control unit 104 performs an operation to suppress deterioration in communication quality of the transmitting unit 105B due to congestion control of the transmitting unit 105A.

Specifically, the control unit 104 monitors the transmission status of packets (eg, TCP packets) in the transmission unit 105A, and makes the packets transmitted from the transmission unit 105B redundant depending on the transmission status. For example, the control unit 104 monitors the transmission frequency (for example, transmission rate) of packets in the transmission unit 105A, and controls the redundancy of packets transmitted from the transmission unit 105B according to the transmission rate. That is, the control unit 104 increases the redundancy of the packet transmitted from the transmitting unit 105B in accordance with the increase in the packet transmission rate at the transmitting unit 105A. When the transmission rate of the transmitter 105A increases (for example, when the congestion window expands), it is predicted that packet loss will occur in the communication of the transmitter 105B in the future, and the quality of communication will deteriorate. Therefore, by increasing the redundancy of the packets transmitted from the transmitting unit 105B in advance, the possibility that data will be correctly received by the receiving device 20 is increased even if a packet loss occurs in the future. When the transmission rate exceeds a threshold value, the redundancy of the packet may be increased. The degree of redundancy is determined in advance in association with a threshold value. A plurality of threshold values may be provided and the redundancy may be changed in stages. If the transmission frequency of packets in the transmitter 105A is low, the control unit 104 may decide not to perform packet redundancy in the transmitter 105B (not to increase redundancy).

The control unit 104 may use the TCP congestion window value as the value representing the transmission rate or transmission frequency in the transmission unit 105A. In this case, the control unit 104 obtains the congestion window value from the transmitting unit 105A. The congestion window value may be acquired at fixed time intervals, or may be acquired every time the congestion window value is changed. The control unit 104 may increase the redundancy as the congestion window value increases. The redundancy level may be increased when the congestion window value exceeds a threshold value. In this case, the degree of redundancy is determined in advance in association with the threshold value. A plurality of threshold values may be provided and the redundancy may be changed in stages.

When the control unit 104 measures the transmission frequency (for example, transmission rate) in a protocol layer lower than TCP, the controller 104 acquires the transmission frequency value from the lower protocol layer and uses it as a substitute for the TCP packet transmission frequency. Alternatively, the acquired transmission frequency may be used. For example, when measuring the MAC frame transmission frequency in the data link layer, the MAC frame transmission frequency may be used.

When the communication of the transmitter 105B is started before that of the transmitter 105A, the control unit 104 detects the start of the communication (for example, TCP communication) of the transmitter 105A, that is, the start of congestion control. At this point, the redundancy of the packet transmitted from the transmitter 105B may be increased. For example, after detecting the start of communication, the redundancy level may be increased at a constant slope, and after a certain period of time has elapsed or the redundancy level has reached a predetermined value, the redundancy level may be kept constant. Thereby, packets can be made redundant at an early stage, and deterioration in communication quality of the transmitter 105B can be more reliably suppressed.

As a method of increasing packet redundancy, the same data (DFCP packets with the same local sequence number) may be repeatedly transmitted. In other words, the same data is transmitted multiple times. Even if some packets are lost, as long as other packets are successfully delivered, the receiving device 20 can correctly acquire the data, so deterioration in communication quality can be suppressed. If redundancy is defined as the ratio of the number of transmitted packets after redundancy to the number of transmitted packets before redundancy, if the redundancy is 2, all data (DFCP packets) are transmitted twice, and the redundancy is If is 1.5, the same data will be transmitted twice at a rate of one out of every two. When transmitting the same data multiple times, assume that each DFCP packet containing the same data uses a different global sequence number. However, it is not excluded to use the same global sequence number for each DFCP packet.

FIG. 8 shows a specific example of redundancy. An example will be shown in which the data flow synthesis unit 103 makes redundant packets provided to the transmission unit 105B. In the illustrated example, the data flow synthesis unit 103 reads data 52 from the transmission buffer unit 102B and copies the data 52. A DFCP packet containing the data 52 and a DFCP packet containing the copied data are generated. The local sequence number of each DFCP packet is the same 005. Although the data 52 is copied here, the DFCP packet may be copied after the DFCP packet including the data 52 is generated.

The data flow synthesis unit 103 determines mutually different global sequence numbers 007 and 008 for each DFCP packet, and adds a DFMP header including the global sequence number 007 to one DFCP packet to form a DFMP packet 007. Similarly, a DFMP header including global sequence number 008 is added to the other DFCP packet to form DFMP packet 008. The DFMP packets 007 and 008 are provided to the communication unit 108B. The transmitting unit 105B performs transport layer, IP layer, data link layer, and physical layer processing on the DFMP packets 007 and 008, respectively, to generate radio frequency signals, and transmits the generated signals via the respective antennas. do. Even if one of the two transmitted DFMP packets suffers a packet loss, the other DFMP packet is correctly received by the receiving device 20, thereby compensating for the deterioration in communication quality due to the packet loss. Can be done.

In the example of FIG. 8, when transmitting the same data multiple times, all the data is transmitted from the transmitter 105B, but some data is transmitted from the transmitter 105B, and the remaining part of the data is sent to other transmitters. It may also be sent by the department. At this time, it is also possible to use different communication methods, such as the transmitter 105B using a mobile line and the other transmitters using a different communication method than the mobile line, for example, using a wireless LAN. The receiving device 20 side also needs to include a receiving section corresponding to the other transmitting section.

The method of changing the redundancy of a packet is not limited to changing the number of times data is transmitted. For example, when a packet is subjected to erasure correction coding in the transmitter 105B, the coding rate of the erasure correction code may be changed. For example, when the packet transmission rate in the transmitter 105A increases, the encoding rate in the transmitter 105B may be reduced. That is, the number of redundant packets (or parity packets) generated by erasure correction coding is increased. Among the generated redundant packets, if a predetermined number or more of redundant packets according to the coding rate reach the receiving device 20, the receiving device 20 can correctly decode the packets, so that data can be correctly delivered to the receiving device 20 by redundancy. Can be done. The protocol layer that performs erasure correction coding may be any of the transport layer, IP layer, data link layer, and physical layer. Alternatively, it is not excluded to perform erasure correction coding on at least one of DFMP and DFCP, or to perform erasure correction coding on the application layer. When encoding an error correction code such as a convolutional code, it is also possible to change the coding rate of the error correction code.

When a packet is made redundant, the receiving unit 205B or data flow separation unit 203 of the receiving device 20 restores the original packet or original data from the redundant packet and outputs the restored data. As for the restoration method, a method suitable for the packet redundancy method may be used.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of an example of an operation related to controlling the redundancy of a packet transmitted from the transmitter 105B of the transmitter 10 according to the present embodiment. The control unit 104 monitors the packet transmission status in the congestion-controlled communication (first communication) by the transmitting unit 105A (S101). For example, the packet transmission frequency is monitored and the TCP congestion window value is acquired from the transmitter 105A.

The control unit 104 determines the redundancy of packets in the communication (second communication) of the transmitter 105B according to the packet transmission status (for example, the frequency of packet transmission being monitored) in the transmitter 105A (S102). As an example, a larger value of the congestion window determines a higher degree of redundancy. Furthermore, the smaller the congestion window value, the lower the redundancy is determined. The control unit 104 may decide to increase the redundancy of the packet at the time when it is detected that the first communication by the transmitting unit 105A has started. If the transmission frequency of packets in the transmitter 105A is low, the control unit 104 may decide not to perform packet redundancy in the transmitter 105B (not to increase redundancy). The control unit 104 may decide to stop packet redundancy when detecting that the first communication has ended. The control unit 104 outputs instruction information to the data flow synthesis unit 103 to generate a DFCP packet with the determined redundancy (S102).

The data flow synthesis unit 103 makes the DFCP packet redundant according to the instruction information received from the control unit 104 (S103). For example, when the redundancy is 2, each time data is read from the transmission buffer unit 102B, two DFCP packets (DFCP packets with the same local sequence number) containing the data are generated. The data flow synthesis unit 103 adds a DFMP header to each DFCP packet to form a DFMP packet, and provides the DFMP packet to the transmission unit 105B (S103). The transmitting unit 105B performs various lower layer processing on the DFMP packet provided from the data flow combining unit 103 to generate a physical layer packet. By making DFCP packets redundant, TCP packets are also made redundant. The transmitting unit 105B performs encoding processing on the physical layer packet as necessary, and then performs modulation processing, DA conversion, analog processing, etc. to generate an analog radio frequency signal, and the generated radio frequency signal. Send.

The effects of this embodiment will be explained using FIGS. 10 and 11.

FIG. 10 shows an example in which packets transmitted from the transmitter 105B are not made redundant as a comparative example of this embodiment. The transmitter 105B has been transmitting physical layer packets including DFCP packets at a constant rate since before time 0. Packet redundancy is not performed. The bandwidth used for communication by the transmitter 105B at this time is the bandwidth BW1, as shown in graph G2.

At time 0, TCP communication of the transmitter 105A starts. Due to TCP congestion control, the value of the congestion window gradually increases, thereby gradually increasing the packet transmission rate. As the transmission rate increases, the bandwidth used by the transmitter 105A also increases, as shown in graph G1.

When the total used bandwidth of the transmitting unit 105A and the transmitting unit 105B shown in graph G3 reaches the available bandwidth of the communication network shown in graph G4, packets are transmitted in at least one of the communication of the transmitting unit 105A and the communication of the transmitting unit 105B. A loss occurs (see the dashed circle in the diagram).

When a packet loss occurs in the communication of the transmitter 105A, the value of the congestion window decreases because ACK is not received from the receiver 20, and the transmission rate of the transmitter 105A decreases. Thereafter, the increase in the value of the congestion window, the packet loss, and the decrease in the value of the congestion window are repeated, so that the transmission rate of the transmitter 105A increases or decreases, and communication of the transmitter 105A is performed.

When a packet loss occurs in communication by the transmitter 105B, DFCP retransmission occurs, resulting in a delay. In the transmitter 105B, high-priority communication is performed in which data is transmitted at short time intervals, for example, and it is desirable to avoid delays as much as possible. However, due to TCP congestion control, packet loss occurs in communication by the transmitter 105B, and communication quality deteriorates.

FIG. 11 shows an example of making redundant packets transmitted from the transmitter 105B according to this embodiment. The transmitter 105B has been transmitting physical layer packets including DFCP packets at a constant rate since before time 0. Packet redundancy is not performed. At this time, the bandwidth used for communication by the transmitter 105B is the bandwidth BW1, as shown in graph G12.

Communication by the transmitter 105A is started at time t11, and the congestion window value gradually increases due to TCP congestion control, so that the packet transmission rate gradually increases. As the transmission rate increases, the bandwidth used by the transmitter 105A also increases, as shown in graph G11.

The control unit 104 makes the packets transmitted from the transmitting unit 105B redundant based on the value of the congestion window. Specifically, the redundancy of packets transmitted from the transmitter 105B is increased in accordance with the increase in the congestion window value. As an example, when the start of communication by the transmitter 105A is detected, the redundancy is increased, and when it reaches a predetermined value, the predetermined value is maintained until the communication by the transmitter 105A ends. As shown in graph G12, from time t11, the transmission rate of packets (including redundant packets) transmitted by transmitter 105B increases, and the bandwidth used by transmitter 105B also increases.

When the total used bandwidth of the transmitting unit 105A and the transmitting unit 105B shown in graph G13 reaches the available bandwidth of the communication network shown in graph G14, packets are transmitted in at least one of the communication of the transmitting unit 105A and the communication of the transmitting unit 105B. A loss occurs (see the dashed circle in the diagram).

When a packet loss occurs in the communication of the transmitter 105A, the value of the congestion window decreases because ACK is not received from the receiver 20, and the transmission rate of the transmitter 105A decreases. While the increase in the congestion window value, the packet loss, and the decrease in the congestion window value are repeated, the transmission rate of the transmitter 105A increases or decreases, and the communication of the transmitter 105A ends at time t12. When the communication of the transmitter 105A ends, the redundancy of the packet of the transmitter 105B gradually decreases, and at time t13, the redundancy of the communication of the transmitter 105B is stopped (for example, the redundancy becomes 1).

Even when a packet loss occurs in the communication of the transmitter 105B, the communication of the transmitter 105B is made redundant. Therefore, even if some of the redundant packets are lost, the receiving device 20 can correctly acquire data. This reduces the chance of retransmission and suppresses deterioration in the quality of communication by the transmitter 105B.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, data in communication by the transmitter 105B is made redundant depending on the data transmission status (for example, data transmission rate) in the transmitter 105A. Thereby, when the transmission rate of the transmitter 105A increases, it is possible to suppress the quality of communication in the transmitter 105B from deteriorating.

(Modification 1)
In the first embodiment, the transmitter 105B did not perform communication with congestion control, but the transmitter 105B may perform communication with congestion control similarly to the transmitter 105A. Also in this case, the same effects as in the first embodiment can be obtained.

(Modification 2)
In the first embodiment, DFMP and DFCP were used for the communication of the transmitting unit 105A, but it is not necessary to use DFCP and DFCP for the communication of the transmitting unit 105A. In this case, the transmitting section 105A may directly read data from the transmitting buffer section 102A.

(Modification 3)
In the first embodiment, DFMP and DFCP are used for communication between the transmitting section 105A and the transmitting section 105B, but DFMP may not be used for communication between the transmitting section 105A and the transmitting section 105B, and only DFCP may be used.

(Modification 4)
In the first embodiment, one DFCP packet was included in one DFMP packet, but two or more DFCP packets may be aggregated.

FIG. 12 shows an example in which a plurality of DFCP packets (DFCP packet 1 and DFCP packet 2 in this example) are aggregated into a DFMP packet. The flow ID of DFCP packet 1 and the flow ID of DFCP packet 2 are different from each other. However, it is also possible for each DFCP packet to have the same flow ID. The data flow synthesis unit 103 aggregates the packets. The data flow synthesis unit 103 can thereby reduce header overhead compared to the case where a DFMP header and a header of a lower protocol thereof are added to each DFCP packet. In the example of FIG. 12, the number of DFCP packets is two, but it may be three or more.

(Modification 5)
The receiving device 20 determines the redundancy of the packet in the transmitting unit 105B of the transmitting device 10 according to the packet receiving status (for example, the receiving rate or the receiving frequency) in the receiving unit 205A of the receiving device 20. The receiving device 20 transmits control information instructing the determined redundancy (control information for making the packet redundant with the determined redundancy) to the transmitting device 10. It can be estimated that the higher the reception rate at the receiver 205A, the higher the transmission rate at the transmitter 105A of the transmitter 10. Therefore, the receiving device 20 determines a higher degree of redundancy for the transmitter 105B as the reception rate at the receiver 205A increases.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a receiving device 20 according to a fifth modification. The data flow separation unit 203 of the receiving device 20 includes a control unit 211 that monitors the reception frequency (reception rate) of packets in the receiving unit 205A. The data flow separation unit 203, the reception unit 205A, and the reception unit 205B constitute the reception processing unit 21. For example, the control unit 211 measures the reception rate of DFMP packets received from the reception unit 205A, and determines a higher degree of redundancy for the transmission unit 105B of the transmission device 10 as the reception rate is higher. It can be estimated that the higher the reception rate of DFMP packets, the higher the reception rate of packets (for example, TCP packets) at the reception unit 205A, that is, the higher the transmission rate of packets at the transmission unit 105A.

The control unit 211 may acquire information regarding the reception rate of TCP packets from the receiving unit 205A, and determine the redundancy based on the acquired information. Information regarding the reception rate of TCP packets may be calculated based on the status of ACK responses to packets received from the transmitter 105A. Alternatively, when TCP packets are temporarily stored in a buffer such as a memory, it may be calculated based on the storage status of TCP packets in the buffer.

The control unit 211 may decide to increase the redundancy when detecting that the reception unit 205A has started communication with congestion control with the transmission unit 105A of the transmission device 10. Similar to the first embodiment, the redundancy may be increased at a constant slope from the start of communication with congestion control, and once the redundancy reaches a predetermined value, the redundancy may be maintained at the predetermined value until the communication ends. .

The control unit 211 transmits control information instructing redundancy to the transmitting device 10 via the information communication unit 206. Control information may be included in the response packet. The control unit 104 of the transmitting device 10 receives control information via the information communication unit 106, and makes the packets transmitted from the transmitting unit 105B redundant based on the received control information.

When the control unit 211 detects the start of the congestion-controlled communication, it may transmit data notifying the start of the congestion-controlled communication (start data of the congestion-controlled communication) to the transmitting device 10 . Initiation data may be included in the response packet. When the congestion-controlled communication ends, the control unit 211 may transmit data notifying the communication (end data of the congestion-controlled communication) to the transmitting device 10. Termination data may be included in the response packet. When the transmitter 105B of the transmitter 10 receives the start data, it makes the packets in the transmitter 105B redundant in the same manner as in the first embodiment. When the transmitter 105B receives the end data, it stops controlling the redundancy.

(Modification 5)
In the embodiment described above, TCP is used as a protocol having a congestion control algorithm, but other protocols such as QUIC (Quick UDP Internet Connections) may be used.

(Second embodiment)
In the second embodiment, the receiving device 20 communicates with multiple transmitting devices simultaneously. The receiving device 20 communicates with one transmitting device using TCP without using DFMP and DFCP, and communicates with another transmitting device (the transmitting device according to this embodiment) using DFMP and DFCP using UDP or TCP. do. The receiving device 20 determines redundancy of packets transmitted from other transmitting devices according to the packet reception status (for example, reception frequency or reception rate) in TCP with one transmitting device. A packet received from one transmitting device corresponds to, for example, first data received from the one transmitting device, and a packet received from another transmitting device corresponds to, for example, second data received from the other transmitting device. do. For example, upon detecting the start of TCP communication (start of congestion control) with one transmitting device, the receiving device 20 may decide to make packets transmitted from other transmitting devices redundant. The receiving device 20 transmits control information instructing redundancy to other transmitting devices. This embodiment will be described in detail below.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of a communication system according to the second embodiment. A transmitting device 50 that performs communication using TCP without using DFMP and DFCP, and the transmitting device 10 according to the present embodiment are connected to the receiving device 20 via the relay device 40. Relay device 40 is included in communication network 30 in FIG. Although one relay device 40 is shown in the figure, the number of relay devices 40 may be two or more. In this example, it is assumed that there is one transmitting device 50, but there may be two or more transmitting devices 50.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of the transmitting device 50. The transmitting device 50 includes a data acquisition section 101A, a transmission buffer section 102A, a transmitting section 105A, and an antenna 107A. The data acquisition unit 101A is connected to the sensor 1A. The transmitting section 105A is connected to the transmitting buffer section 102A. A data flow synthesis unit 103 that performs processing related to DFCP and DFMP is not provided. The operation of each element in FIG. 15 is the same as the element with the same name as in FIG. 2 in the first embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram of the transmitting device 10. The transmitter 10 includes a data acquisition section 101B, a transmission buffer section 102B, a data flow synthesis section 103, a control section 104, a transmission section 105B, an information communication section 106, and an antenna 107A. The data acquisition unit 101B is connected to the sensor 1B. The operation of each element in FIG. 16 is the same as the element with the same name as in FIG. 2 in the first embodiment. In the example of FIG. 16, only the configuration (sensor 1B, data acquisition unit 101B, transmission buffer unit 102B) that processes one data flow is shown, but as in the first embodiment, it is possible to process two or more data flows. (See FIG. 2).

FIG. 17 is a block diagram of the receiving device 20. Although it has the same configuration as Modification 5 of the first embodiment (see FIG. 13), the reception buffer section 202A is directly connected to the reception section 205A. The reception buffer unit 202A acquires data for application A from the reception unit 205A, and stores the acquired data in an internal buffer. The data flow separation unit 203 does not receive DFMP packets from the reception unit 205A. Below, differences with Modification Example 5 will be mainly explained.

The data flow separation unit 203 of the receiving device 20 includes a control unit 211 that monitors the packet reception status (for example, reception frequency or reception rate) in the reception unit 205A. For example, the control unit 211 measures the reception rate of packets (for example, TCP packets) in the reception unit 205A, and determines a higher redundancy for the transmission unit 105B of the transmission device 10 as the reception rate is higher. It can be estimated that the higher the TCP packet reception rate, the higher the transmission rate of the transmitter 105A.

The control unit 211 may acquire information regarding the reception rate of TCP packets from the receiving unit 205A, and determine the redundancy based on the acquired information. Information regarding the reception rate of TCP packets may be calculated based on the status of ACK responses to packets received from the transmitter 105A. Alternatively, when TCP packets are temporarily stored in a buffer such as a memory, it may be calculated based on the storage status of TCP packets in the buffer.

The control unit 211 may decide to increase the redundancy when detecting that the reception unit 205A has started communication with congestion control with the transmission unit 105A of the transmission device 10. For example, the degree of redundancy may be increased at a constant slope from the start of communication with congestion control, and once the degree of redundancy reaches a predetermined value, the degree of redundancy may be maintained at the predetermined value until the communication ends.

The control unit 211 transmits control information instructing redundancy to the transmitting device 10 via the information communication unit 206. Control information may be included in the response packet. The control unit 104 of the transmitting device 10 receives the control information via the information communication unit 106, and makes the packets in the transmitting unit 105B redundant based on the received control information.

When the control unit 211 detects the start of the congestion-controlled communication in the receiving unit 205A, the control unit 211 may transmit data notifying the start of the congestion-controlled communication (start data of the congestion-controlled communication) to the transmitting device 10. . Initiation data may be included in the response packet. When the congestion-controlled communication ends, the control unit 211 may transmit data notifying the communication (end data of the congestion-controlled communication) to the transmitting device 10. Termination data may be included in the response packet. When the control unit 104 of the transmitting device 10 receives the start data, it makes the packets in the transmitting unit 105B redundant in the same manner as in the first embodiment. When the control unit 104 of the transmitting device 10 receives the termination data, it stops the redundancy control.

FIG. 18 shows an example of a communication sequence according to the second embodiment. The receiving device 20 starts communicating with the transmitting device 10. For example, communication (for example, UDP communication or TCP communication) of high-priority data to be provided to application B at fixed short intervals is started (S111).

After starting communication with the transmitting device 10, the receiving device 20 starts communication with congestion control (for example, TCP communication) with the transmitting device 50 (S112). The receiving device 20 transmits to the transmitting device 10 data notifying that the congestion-controlled communication with the transmitting device 50 has started (congestion-controlled communication start data) (S113). This start data corresponds to an example of control information instructing redundancy. When the transmitting device 10 receives the start data, it makes the data transmitted to the receiving device 20 redundant (increases the degree of redundancy). That is, the transmitting device 10 increases the redundancy of the packet to be transmitted and transmits the redundant packet (S113A).

When the receiving device 20 ends the congestion-controlled communication with the transmitting device 50 (S114), the receiving device 20 sends data notifying the transmitting device 10 that the congestion-controlled communication with the transmitting device 50 has ended (congestion-controlled communication end data). ) is transmitted to the transmitting device 10 (S115). This end data corresponds to an example of control information instructing the end of redundancy. When the transmitting device 10 receives the end data, it ends the redundancy of the data transmitted to the receiving device 20 (for example, returns the redundancy to the initial value without redundancy).

In the example of FIG. 18, the receiving device 20 transmits the start and end of communication with congestion control as control information, but the receiving device 20 may transmit control information indicating redundancy.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart of an example of the operation of the receiving device 20 according to the second embodiment. The receiving unit 205A of the receiving processing unit 21 receives a packet containing data (such as a TCP packet) from the transmitting unit 105A of the transmitting device 10 based on a communication protocol (such as TCP) having a congestion control algorithm (S121). The receiving unit 205A sends the data included in the received packet to the receiving buffer unit 202A. The control unit 211 of the receiving device 20 generates control information that instructs the transmitting unit 105B of the transmitting device 10 to make packets redundant, depending on the reception status of data (packets) in the receiving unit 205A (S122). For example, the control unit 211 of the receiving device 20 generates control information when detecting that communication using TCP in the receiving unit 205A of the receiving device 20 has started (S122). The control unit 211 transmits the generated control information to the transmitting device 10 via the information communication unit 206 (S123). The control unit 104 of the transmitting device 10 receives the control information via the information communication unit 106, and makes the packets transmitted from the transmitting unit 105B redundant.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, data in the transmitter 105B of the transmitter 10 is made redundant depending on the data reception status (for example, data reception rate) in the receiver 205A in the receiver 20. Thereby, when the transmission rate of the transmitter 105A of the transmitter 10 increases, it is possible to suppress the quality of communication in the transmitter 105B of the transmitter 10 from deteriorating.

(Third embodiment)
In the third embodiment, a relay device 40 that relays communication between the transmitting device 10 (see FIG. 16) and the receiving device 20 controls making data transmitted from the transmitting device 10 redundant. The relay device 40 relays communication between a transmitting device 50 (see FIG. 15) that performs communication with congestion control and a receiving device that receives data from the transmitting device 50, and also relays communication between the transmitting device 10 and the receiving device 20. to be relayed. The relay device 40 controls redundancy of data transmitted from the transmitter 10, depending on the reception status of data relayed by congestion control communication. This embodiment will be described in detail below.

FIG. 20 is a block diagram of a communication system according to the third embodiment. A transmitting device 50 that communicates using TCP without using DFMP and DFCP, and a receiving device 60 that communicates with the transmitting device 50 are connected via a relay device 40. Further, the transmitting device 10 according to this embodiment and the receiving device 20 according to this embodiment are connected via a relay device 40. Relay device 40 is included in communication network 30 in FIG. Although one relay device 40 is shown in the figure, the number of relay devices 40 may be two or more. In this example, it is assumed that there is one transmitting device 50 and one receiving device 60, but there may be two or more transmitting devices 50 and two or more receiving devices 60.

The block diagram of the transmitting device 50 is the same as that shown in FIG. 15 described above. Since the operation of the transmitting device 50 is the same as that in FIG. 15, the explanation will be omitted.

FIG. 21 is a block diagram of the receiving device 60. The receiving device 60 includes an antenna 207A, a receiving section 205A, a receiving buffer section 202A, and a data processing section 201A. A data flow separation unit that performs processing related to DFCP and DFMP is not provided. The operation of each element in FIG. 21 is the same as the element with the same name in FIG. 17, so the explanation will be omitted.

The block diagram of the transmitting device 10 is the same as that shown in FIG. 16 described above. Since the operation of the transmitting device 10 is the same as that in FIG. 16, the explanation will be omitted.

FIG. 22 is a block diagram of the receiving device 20. The configuration of the receiving device 20 is the same as that of the receiving device 20 of FIG. 7 in the first embodiment except that the antenna 207A, the receiving section 205A, the receiving buffer section 202A, and the data processing section 201A are removed. The receiving device 20 in FIG. 22 has a configuration for receiving data of one flow. However, the receiving device 20 according to this embodiment may have the same configuration as in FIG. 7 (configuration for receiving data of multiple flows).

FIG. 23 is a block diagram of the relay device 40. The relay device 40 includes a reception processing section 301 (first reception processing section), a transmission processing section 302 (first transmission processing section), a reception processing section 303 (second reception processing section), and a transmission processing section 304 (second reception processing section). 2 transmission processing section) and a relay processing section 310. Relay processing section 310 includes a control section 311. The reception processing section 301 , reception processing section 303 , transmission processing section 302 , and transmission processing section 304 are connected to the communication network 30 .

The reception processing unit 301 receives packets from the transmitting device 50 (see FIG. 15) and the transmitting device 10 (see FIG. 16), performs physical layer and data link layer processing on the received packets, and then sends the packets to the relay processing unit. Pass it to 310. A packet received from the transmitting device 50 corresponds to first data received from the transmitting device 50, as an example, and a packet received from the transmitting device 10 corresponds to second data received from the transmitting device 10, as an example. The packets received from the transmitting device 10 are packets that have undergone processing such as DFMP and DFCP. A packet received from the transmitting device 50 is a packet that has been processed by a communication protocol (eg, TCP) having a congestion control algorithm. The relay processing unit 310 processes the IP header of the packet passed from the reception processing unit 301, and determines the forwarding destination of the packet (port to output the packet) based on the routing table. The transmission processing unit 302 performs data link layer and physical layer processing on the packet whose transfer destination has been determined by the relay processing unit 310, and transmits the processed packet to the determined transfer destination. In this example, a packet addressed to the receiving device 20 is received from the transmitting device 10, and the packet is transmitted from the transmission processing section 302 according to the transfer destination determined by the relay processing section 310. The transmitted packets are received by the receiving device 20 after passing through other relay devices as necessary. Further, a packet addressed to the receiving device 60 is received from the transmitting device 50, and the packet is transmitted from the transmission processing section 302 according to the transfer destination determined by the relay processing section 310. The transmitted packets are received by the receiving device 60 after passing through other relay devices as necessary.

The receiving unit 205A of the receiving device 60 (see FIG. 21) receives the packet from the transmitting device 50 relayed by the relay device 40 via the antenna 207A. The receiving unit 205A provides the data included in the packet to the data processing unit 201A via the receiving buffer unit 202A.

The receiving unit 205B of the receiving device 20 (see FIG. 22) receives the packet from the transmitting device 10 relayed by the relay device 40 via the antenna 207B. The data flow separation unit 203 performs DFMP and DFCP processing on the received packet, and then provides the data included in the packet to the data processing unit 201B via the reception buffer unit 202B. The data flow separation unit 203 transmits a response packet addressed to the transmitting device 10 and containing feedback information regarding DFMP or DFCP. ACK of DFMP or DFCP may be transmitted as feedback information. The response packet may include DFMP communication quality information in addition to the ACK.

The reception processing unit 303 of the relay device 40 (see FIG. 21) receives the response packet from the reception device 20, performs physical layer and data link layer processing, and then sends the processed response packet to the relay processing unit 310. provide. The relay processing unit 310 determines the transfer destination of the response packet based on the IP header of the response packet. The transmission processing unit 304 transmits the response packet according to the determined transfer destination. The transmitted response packet is received by the transmitting device 10 (see FIG. 16) via another relay device as necessary. The control unit 104 of the transmitting device 10 receives the response packet via the information communication unit 106, and performs processing related to DFMP or DFCP based on feedback information included in the response packet (for example, retransmission of the DFCP packet, etc.).

In the relay device 40, the control unit 311 of the relay processing unit 310 monitors the packet reception status in the reception processing unit 301 regarding communication between the transmitting device 50 and the receiving device 60 (communication with congestion control). The control unit 311 determines the redundancy of the packet transmitted from the transmitting device 10, or determines the start or end of redundancy processing, depending on the reception status. The control unit 311 generates control information including the degree of redundancy or the start or end of redundancy processing. The control unit 311 includes the generated control information in a response packet received from the receiving device 20 via the reception processing unit 303. For example, control information is stored in a predetermined field of the DFMP header of the response packet. For example, when the control information indicates the start of redundancy processing, a bit "1" indicating redundancy on, for example, is stored in a predetermined field. When the control information indicates the end of the redundancy process, an off bit "0" is stored in a predetermined field. The initial value of the predetermined field is "0". When the control information indicates redundancy, the value of redundancy is stored in a predetermined field.

The relay processing unit 310 determines the transfer destination of the response packet based on the IP header of the response packet in which control information is stored. The transmission processing unit 304 transmits a response packet containing control information according to the determined transfer destination. The response packet storing the control information is an example of data including the control information and a response message from the receiving device 20. The response packet is received by the transmitting device 10 after passing through another relay device as necessary.

The control unit 104 of the transmitting device 10 (see FIG. 16) receives the response packet via the information communication unit 106, and makes the data (packet) transmitted from the transmitting unit 105B redundant based on the control information included in the response packet. do. Details of redundancy control are the same as those in the first or second embodiment.

FIG. 24 shows an example of a communication sequence according to the third embodiment. The receiving device 20 starts communicating with the transmitting device 10. The receiving device 20 starts communication (for example, UDP communication or TCP communication) of high-priority data to be provided to application B at fixed short intervals, for example (S131).

After that, the receiving device 60 starts communication with congestion control (for example, TCP communication) with the transmitting device 50 (S132). Relay device 40 detects that transmitter 50 has started communication with congestion control. The relay device 40 receives the response packet from the receiving device 20 (S133), and includes data notifying the start of the congestion-controlled communication (start data of the congestion-controlled communication) in the response packet (S134). The relay device 40 transmits the response packet to the transmitter 10 (S134). The start data corresponds to an example of control information indicating detection of congestion control or control information explicitly or implicitly instructing redundancy. Even if redundancy is not explicitly instructed, if the transmission device 10 is notified of the detection of congestion control and the transmission device 10 starts redundancy when it receives the notification of detection of congestion control, It can be said that this implicitly instructs redundancy. The control information explicitly or implicitly instructing redundancy may be a flag indicating detection of congestion control. When the transmitting device 10 receives the start data, it controls redundancy of the data transmitted to the receiving device 20 (increases the degree of redundancy). That is, the transmitting device 10 increases the redundancy of the packet to be transmitted and transmits the redundant packet (S134A).

When the receiving device 60 ends the congestion-controlled communication with the transmitting device 50 (S135), the relay device 40 detects that the transmitting device 50 has ended the congestion-controlled communication. The relay device 40 receives the response packet from the receiving device 20 (S136), and includes data notifying the end of the congestion-controlled communication (end data of the congestion-controlled communication) in the response packet (S137). The relay device 40 transmits the response packet to the transmitter 10 (S137). This termination data corresponds to an example of control information indicating detection of termination of congestion control or control information explicitly or implicitly instructing termination of redundancy. When the transmitting device 10 receives the end data, it ends controlling the redundancy of the data transmitted to the receiving device 20.

In the example of FIG. 24, the relay device 40 transmits the start and end of communication with congestion control as control information, but the relay device 40 may transmit control information indicating redundancy.

Further, in the example of FIG. 24, the relay device 40 includes the control information in the response packet, but the control information may be transmitted in a separate packet from the response packet. In this case, information necessary for creating various headers, such as the IP address of the transmitting device 10, may be acquired from the response packet.

FIG. 25 is a flowchart of an example of the operation of the relay device 40 according to the third embodiment. The control unit 311 in the relay processing unit 310 of the relay device 40 monitors the reception status of data (packets) of the communication with congestion control (first communication) performed between the transmitting device 50 and the receiving device 60 (S141). The control unit 311 generates control information that instructs redundancy of packets transmitted in the communication (second communication) of the transmitting device 10, depending on the reception status of data (packets) (S142). For example, when the control unit 311 detects that TCP communication has started between the transmitting device 50 and the receiving device 60, it generates control information that notifies the start of the congestion-controlled communication. The control unit 311 includes the generated control information in a response packet received from the receiving device 20, and transmits the response packet to the transmitting device 10 (S143). The control unit 104 of the transmitting device 10 receives the control information via the information communication unit 106, and makes the packets transmitted from the transmitting unit 105B redundant.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the relay device 40 monitors the data reception status in congestion-controlled communication performed between the transmission device 50 and the reception device 60, and depending on the data reception status, the relay device 40 Controls redundancy of data sent from Thereby, when the transmission rate of the transmitting device 50 increases due to congestion control, it is possible to suppress the quality of communication of the transmitting device 10 from deteriorating.

(Fourth embodiment)
In the fourth embodiment, the relay device 40 transmits request information requesting data redundancy in the transmitting device 10 to the receiving device 20, depending on the reception status of packets from the transmitting device 50. For example, the relay device 40 includes request information in a packet relayed to the receiving device 20. The receiving device 20 generates control information instructing packet redundancy (for example, information indicating detection of the start of congestion control) based on the request information, and transmits the control information to the transmitting device 10. For example, the receiving device 20 transmits a response packet containing control information to the transmitting device 10.

The block diagram of the communication system of the fourth embodiment is the same as that of the third embodiment, FIG. 20. The block diagram of the transmitting device 50 is the same as FIG. 15 in the third embodiment. The block diagram of the transmitting device 10 (third device) is shown in FIG. 16, which is the same as in the third embodiment. The block diagram of the receiving device 60 (first device) is shown in FIG. 21, which is the same as in the third embodiment.

A block diagram of the relay device 40 is shown in FIG. 23, which is the same as in the third embodiment. The operation of the control unit 311 is different.

FIG. 26 is a block diagram of the receiving device 20 (second device). A control section 212 is added to the block diagram (FIG. 22) of the receiving device 20 of the third embodiment. Operations other than the control unit 212 are the same as in the third embodiment.

Differences from the third embodiment will be explained below. In the relay device 40, the control unit 311 of the relay processing unit 310 monitors the packet reception status in the reception processing unit 301 regarding communication between the transmitting device 50 and the receiving device 60 (communication with congestion control). The packet received from the transmitting device 50 corresponds to the first data received from the transmitting device 50, for example. The control unit 311 determines the redundancy of the packet transmitted from the transmitting device 10, or determines the start or end of redundancy processing, depending on the reception status. The control unit 311 generates request information that requests the receiving device 20 to transmit control information including the degree of redundancy or the start or end of redundancy processing to the transmitting device 10. The request information is information that requests the receiving device 20 to control redundancy of packets transmitted from the transmitting device 10. The control unit 311 includes the generated request information in a packet relayed to the receiving device 20. For example, request information is stored in a predetermined field of a DFMP header of a packet to be relayed. The packet to be relayed includes data of the packet (second data) received from the transmitting device 10 and request information. The packet to be relayed corresponds to the third data to be relayed to the receiving device 20, for example.

Relay processing section 310 transmits the packet containing the request information to receiving device 20 via transmission processing section 304. The transmitted packet is received by the receiving device 20 after passing through other relay devices as necessary.

The control unit 212 of the receiving device 20 detects request information from the packet from the transmitting device 10, and generates control information instructing redundancy of the packet transmitted from the transmitting device 10 according to the request information. The control unit 212 includes control information in the response packet, and transmits the response packet including the control information via the information communication unit 206. The transmitted response packet is received by the transmitting device 10 via the relay device 40. The control unit 104 of the transmitting device 10 receives control information via the information communication unit 106, and makes the packets transmitted from the transmitting unit 105B redundant based on the received control information.

FIG. 27 shows an example of a communication sequence according to the fourth embodiment. The receiving device 20 starts communicating with the transmitting device 10. For example, communication of high-priority data (for example, UDP communication or TCP communication) to be provided to application B at fixed short intervals is started (S151).

After that, the receiving device 60 starts communication with congestion control (for example, TCP communication) with the transmitting device 50 (S152). Relay device 40 detects that transmitter 50 has started communication with congestion control. The relay device 40 stores request information requesting the receiving device 20 to control redundancy in the packet received from the transmitting device 10, and transfers the packet containing the request information to the receiving device 20 (S153). The receiving device 20 stores control information for controlling redundancy of the response packet transmitted to the transmitting device 10, and transmits the response packet storing the control information (S154). The control information is, for example, data that notifies the start of communication with congestion control (start data of communication with congestion control). The response packet is received by the transmitting device 10 via the relay device 40. The transmitting device 10 increases the redundancy of the packet to be transmitted and transmits the redundant packet (S156).

When the receiving device 60 ends the congestion-controlled communication with the transmitting device 50 (S157), the relay device 40 detects that the transmitting device 50 has ended the congestion-controlled communication. The relay device 40 stores request information requesting the receiving device 20 to reduce the redundancy or stop redundancy of the packet transmitted from the transmitting device 10 in the packet received from the transmitting device 10, and stores the request information in the packet received from the transmitting device 10. The stored packet is transferred to the receiving device 20 (S158). The receiving device 20 stores the control information in the response packet transmitted to the transmitting device 10, and transmits the response packet storing the control information (S159). The control information is, for example, data that notifies the end of communication with congestion control (end data of communication with congestion control). The response packet is received by the transmitting device 10 via the relay device 40. When the transmitting device 10 receives the end data, it ends controlling the redundancy of the data transmitted to the receiving device 20.

In the example of FIG. 27, the receiving device 20 transmits the start and end of communication with congestion control as control information, but the receiving device 20 may transmit control information indicating redundancy.

Further, in the example of FIG. 27, the relay device 40 includes the control information in the response packet, but the control information may be transmitted in a packet other than the response packet.

FIG. 28 is a flowchart of an example of the operation of the relay device 40 according to the fourth embodiment. The control unit 311 in the relay processing unit 310 of the relay device 40 monitors the reception status of data (packets) of the communication with congestion control (first communication) performed between the transmitting device 50 and the receiving device 60 (S161). The control unit 311 generates request information requesting redundancy of packets transmitted in the communication (second communication) of the transmitting device 10 according to the reception status of data (packets) (S162). For example, when the control unit 311 detects that TCP communication has started between the transmitter 50 and the receiver 60, the controller 311 instructs the receiver to transmit control information notifying the start of the communication to the transmitter 10. 20 is generated. The control unit 311 includes the generated request information in a packet relayed to the receiving device 20, and transmits the packet including the request information to the receiving device 20 (S163). The control unit 212 of the receiving device 20 generates a response packet including control information (for example, information indicating detection of the start of congestion control) instructing redundancy of the packet, according to the request information included in the packet. The control unit 212 transmits the response packet to the transmitting device 10 via the information communication unit 206. The control unit 104 of the transmitting device 10 receives control information via the information communication unit 106. The control unit 104 controls the redundancy of packets transmitted from the transmitter 105B based on the control information.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the relay device 40 monitors the data reception status in the congestion-controlled communication performed between the transmitting device 50 and the receiving device 60. The relay device 40 transmits request information to the receiving device 20 requesting control of redundancy of data transmitted from the transmitting device 10, depending on the reception status of the data. The receiving device 20 transmits control information to the transmitting device 10 instructing redundancy of data transmitted from the transmitting device 10 in accordance with the request information. Thereby, when the transmission rate of the transmitting device 50 increases due to congestion control, it is possible to suppress the deterioration of the communication quality of the transmitting device 10.

(Fifth embodiment)
Part or all of each device (the transmitting device 10 or the receiving device 20) in the above-described embodiments may be configured with hardware, such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). It may be configured by information processing of software (program) executed by. In the case where the software is configured by software information processing, the software that realizes at least some of the functions of each device in the above-described embodiments may be stored on a flexible disk, CD-ROM (Compact Disc-Read Only Memory), or USB (Universal Software information processing may be executed by storing the information in a non-temporary storage medium (non-temporary computer-readable medium) such as Serial Bus (Serial Bus) memory and reading it into a computer. Further, the software may be downloaded via a communication network. Furthermore, information processing may be performed by hardware by implementing software in a circuit such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array).

The type of storage medium that stores software is not limited. The storage medium is not limited to a removable one such as a magnetic disk or an optical disk, but may be a fixed storage medium such as a hard disk or memory. Further, the storage medium may be provided inside the computer or may be provided outside the computer.

FIG. 29 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of each device (transmitting device 10 or receiving device 20) in the embodiment described above. Each device includes, for example, a processor 91, a main storage device 92 (memory), an auxiliary storage device 93 (memory), a network interface 94, and a device interface 95, which are connected via a bus 96. It may be realized as a computer 90.

Although the computer 90 in FIG. 29 includes one of each component, it may include a plurality of the same components. Furthermore, although one computer 90 is shown in FIG. 29, the software may be installed on multiple computers, and each of the multiple computers may execute the same or different part of the software. Good too. In this case, a form of distributed computing may be used in which each computer communicates via the network interface 94 or the like to execute processing. In other words, each device (the transmitting device 10 or the receiving device 20) in the embodiment described above is a system that realizes functions by one or more computers executing instructions stored in one or more storage devices. It may be configured as Alternatively, the information transmitted from the terminal may be processed by one or more computers provided on the cloud, and the processing results may be sent to the terminal.

Various calculations of each device (the transmitting device 10 or the receiving device 20) in the embodiments described above are executed in parallel using one or more processors or multiple computers via a network. Good too. Further, various calculations may be distributed to a plurality of calculation cores within the processor and executed in parallel. Further, a part or all of the processing, means, etc. of the present disclosure may be executed by at least one of a processor and a storage device provided on a cloud that can communicate with the computer 90 via a network. In this way, each device in the embodiments described above may be in the form of parallel computing using one or more computers.

The processor 91 may be an electronic circuit (processing circuit, processing circuitry, CPU, GPU, FPGA, ASIC, etc.) including a computer control device and an arithmetic device. Further, the processor 91 may be a semiconductor device or the like including a dedicated processing circuit. The processor 91 is not limited to an electronic circuit using an electronic logic element, but may be realized by an optical circuit using an optical logic element. Further, the processor 91 may include an arithmetic function based on quantum computing.

The processor 91 can perform arithmetic processing based on data and software (programs) input from each device in the internal configuration of the computer 90, and can output calculation results and control signals to each device. The processor 91 may control each component making up the computer 90 by executing the OS (Operating System) of the computer 90, applications, and the like.

Each device (the transmitting device 10 or the receiving device 20) in the embodiment described above may be realized by one or more processors 91. Here, the processor 91 may refer to one or more electronic circuits arranged on one chip, or one or more electronic circuits arranged on two or more chips or two or more devices. You can also point. When using multiple electronic circuits, each electronic circuit may communicate by wire or wirelessly.

The main storage device 92 is a storage device that stores instructions and various data to be executed by the processor 91, and information stored in the main storage device 92 is read out by the processor 91. The auxiliary storage device 93 is a storage device other than the main storage device 92. Note that these storage devices are any electronic components capable of storing electronic information, and may be semiconductor memories. Semiconductor memory may be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory. The storage device for storing various data in each device (the transmitting device 10 or the receiving device 20) in the above-described embodiments may be realized by the main storage device 92 or the auxiliary storage device 93, and may be implemented by the main storage device 92 or the auxiliary storage device 93, which is built in the processor 91. It may also be realized by a built-in memory. For example, the temporary storage units 140 and 240 in the embodiments described above may be realized by the main storage device 92 or the auxiliary storage device 93.

A plurality of processors may be connected (combined) to one storage device (memory), or a single processor may be connected to one storage device (memory). A plurality of storage devices (memories) may be connected (combined) to one processor. Each device (the transmitting device 10 or the receiving device 20) in the embodiments described above is configured with at least one storage device (memory) and a plurality of processors connected (coupled) to the at least one storage device (memory). In the case of a plurality of processors, at least one processor may be connected (coupled) to at least one storage device (memory). Further, this configuration may be realized by a storage device (memory) and a processor included in a plurality of computers. Furthermore, a configuration in which a storage device (memory) is integrated with a processor (for example, a cache memory including an L1 cache and an L2 cache) may be included.

The network interface 94 is an interface for connecting to the communication network 97 wirelessly or by wire. As the network interface 94, an appropriate interface such as one that complies with existing communication standards may be used. The network interface 94 may exchange information with an external device 98A connected via the communication network 97. Note that the communication network 97 may be any one of a WAN (Wide Area Network), a LAN (Local Area Network), a PAN (Personal Area Network), etc., or a combination thereof, and can be used to connect the computer 90 and the external device 98A. It is sufficient that information is exchanged between them. Examples of WAN include the Internet, examples of LAN include IEEE802.11 and Ethernet (registered trademark), and examples of PAN include Bluetooth (registered trademark) and NFC (Near Field Communication).

The device interface 95 is an interface such as a USB that is directly connected to the external device 98B.

The external device 98A is a device connected to the computer 90 via a network. External device 98B is a device directly connected to computer 90.

The external device 98A or the external device 98B may be an input device, for example. The input device is, for example, a device such as a camera, microphone, motion capture, various sensors, keyboard, mouse, or touch panel, and provides the acquired information to the computer 90. Alternatively, the device may be a device including an input section, a memory, and a processor, such as a personal computer, a tablet terminal, or a smartphone.

Further, the external device 98A or the external device 98B may be an output device, for example. The output device may be a display device such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), a PDP (Plasma Display Panel), or an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) panel, or output audio or the like. It may also be a speaker or the like. Alternatively, the device may be a device including an output unit, a memory, and a processor, such as a personal computer, a tablet terminal, or a smartphone.

Further, the external device 98A or the external device 98B may be a storage device (memory). For example, the external device 98A may be a network storage or the like, and the external device 98B may be a storage such as an HDD.

Further, the external device 98A or the external device 98B may be a device having some functions of the components of each device (the transmitting device 10 or the receiving device 20) in the embodiments described above. That is, the computer 90 may transmit or receive part or all of the processing results of the external device 98A or 98B.

In this specification (including claims), the expression "at least one (one) of a, b, and c" or "at least one (one) of a, b, or c" (including similar expressions) When used, it includes any of a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, or a-b-c. Further, each element may include multiple instances, such as a-a, a-b-b, a-a-b-b-c-c, etc. Furthermore, it also includes adding other elements other than the listed elements (a, b and c), such as having d as in a-b-c-d.

In this specification (including claims), when expressions such as "using data as input/based on data/in accordance with/according to" (including similar expressions) are used, unless otherwise specified, This includes cases where various data itself is used as input, and cases where various data subjected to some processing (for example, noise added, normalized, intermediate representation of various data, etc.) are used as input. In addition, if it is stated that a certain result is obtained "based on/according to/according to data", this includes cases where the result is obtained only based on the data, and other data other than the data, It may also include cases where the results are obtained under the influence of factors, conditions, and/or states. In addition, if it is stated that "data will be output", if there is no special notice, various data itself may be used as output, or data that has been processed in some way (for example, data with added noise, normal This also includes cases in which the output is digitized data, intermediate representations of various data, etc.).

In this specification (including the claims), when the terms "connected" and "coupled" are used, the terms "connected" and "coupled" refer to direct connection/coupling and indirect connection/coupling. , electrically connected/coupled, communicatively connected/coupled, functionally connected/coupled, physically connected/coupled, etc., without limitation. intended as a term. The term should be interpreted as appropriate depending on the context in which the term is used, but forms of connection/coupling that are not intentionally or naturally excluded are not included in the term. Should be construed in a limited manner.

In this specification (including the claims), when the expression "A configured to B" is used, it means that the physical structure of element A is capable of performing operation B. configuration, and includes a permanent or temporary setting/configuration of element A being configured/set to actually perform operation B. good. For example, if element A is a general-purpose processor, the processor has a hardware configuration that can execute operation B, and can perform operation B by setting a permanent or temporary program (instruction). It only needs to be configured to actually execute. In addition, if element A is a dedicated processor or a dedicated arithmetic circuit, the circuit structure of the processor is configured to actually execute operation B, regardless of whether control instructions and data are actually attached. It is sufficient if it has been implemented.

In this specification (including the claims), when terms meaning inclusion or possession (for example, "comprising/including" and "having", etc.) are used, the object of the term It is intended as an open-ended term, including the case of containing or possessing something other than the object indicated. If the object of a term meaning inclusion or possession is an expression that does not specify a quantity or suggests a singular number (an expression with a or an as an article), the expression shall be interpreted as not being limited to a specific number. It should be.

In this specification (including the claims), expressions such as "one or more" or "at least one" are used in some places, and quantities are specified in other places. Even if an expression is used that suggests no or singular (an expression with the article a or an), it is not intended that the latter expression means "one". In general, expressions that do not specify a quantity or imply a singular number (expressions with the article a or an) should be construed as not necessarily being limited to a particular number.

In this specification, if it is stated that a specific effect (advantage/result) can be obtained with respect to a specific configuration of a certain embodiment, unless there is a reason to the contrary, one or more other components having the configuration may be used. It should be understood that the same effect can also be obtained with the embodiment. However, it should be understood that the presence or absence of the said effect generally depends on various factors, conditions, and/or states, and that the said effect is not necessarily obtained by the said configuration. The effect is only obtained by the configuration described in the Examples when various factors, conditions, and/or states, etc. are satisfied, and in the claimed invention that specifies the configuration or a similar configuration. However, this effect is not necessarily obtained.

In this specification (including the claims), when terms such as "maximize" are used, it refers to finding a global maximum value, finding an approximate value of a global maximum value, or finding a local maximum value. and approximating the local maximum value, and should be interpreted as appropriate depending on the context in which the term is used. It also includes finding approximate values of these maximum values probabilistically or heuristically. Similarly, terms such as "minimize" are used to refer to finding a global minimum, finding an approximation to a global minimum, finding a local minimum, and finding a local minimum. It includes approximations of values and should be interpreted as appropriate depending on the context in which the term is used. It also includes finding approximate values of these minimum values probabilistically or heuristically. Similarly, terms such as "optimize" are used to refer to finding a global optimum, finding an approximation to a global optimum, finding a local optimum, and determining a local optimum. It includes approximations of values and should be interpreted as appropriate depending on the context in which the term is used. It also includes finding approximate values of these optimal values probabilistically or heuristically.

In this specification (including claims), when multiple pieces of hardware perform a predetermined process, each piece of hardware may cooperate to perform the predetermined process, or some of the hardware may perform the predetermined process. You may do all of the above. Further, some hardware may perform part of a predetermined process, and another piece of hardware may perform the rest of the predetermined process. In this specification (including claims), when expressions such as "one or more hardware performs the first process, and the one or more hardware performs the second process" are used , the hardware that performs the first processing and the hardware that performs the second processing may be the same or different. In other words, the hardware that performs the first processing and the hardware that performs the second processing may be included in the one or more pieces of hardware. Note that the hardware may include an electronic circuit, a device including an electronic circuit, or the like.

In this specification (including claims), when multiple storage devices (memories) store data, each storage device (memory) among the multiple storage devices (memories) stores only part of the data. It may be stored, or the entire data may be stored.

Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail above, the present disclosure is not limited to the individual embodiments described above. Various additions, changes, substitutions, and partial deletions are possible without departing from the conceptual idea and spirit of the present invention derived from the content defined in the claims and equivalents thereof. For example, in all the embodiments described above, when numerical values or formulas are used in the explanation, they are shown as examples, and the invention is not limited to these. Further, the order of each operation in the embodiment is shown as an example, and the order is not limited to this.

1A sensor, 1B sensor, 10 transmitting device, 11 transmitting processing section, 20 receiving device, 21 receiving processing section, 30 communication network, 40 relay device, 50 transmitting device, 60 receiving device, 90 computer, 91 processor, 92 main storage device , 93 auxiliary storage device, 94 network interface, 95 device interface, 96 bus, 97 communication network, 98A external device, 98B external device, 101A data acquisition section, 101B data acquisition section, 102A transmission buffer section, 102B transmission buffer section, 103 Data flow synthesis section, 104 control section, 105A transmission section, 105B transmission section, 106 information communication section, 107A antenna, 107B antenna, 108B communication section, 140 temporary storage section, 201A data processing section, 201B data processing section, 202A reception buffer section, 202B reception buffer section, 203 data flow separation section, 205A reception section, 205B reception section, 206 information communication section, 207A antenna, 207B antenna, 211 control section, 212 control section, 301 reception processing section, 302 transmission processing section, 303 reception processing unit, 304 transmission processing unit, 310 relay processing unit, 311 control unit,

Claims (21)

a transmission processing unit that transmits the first data and transmits the second data;
A control unit that makes the second data redundant depending on the transmission status of the first data. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit makes the second data redundant depending on the transmission frequency of the first data. The communication device according to claim 2, wherein the control unit increases the redundancy of the second data as the frequency of transmission of the first data increases. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit makes the second data redundant when detecting the start of transmission of the first data. The communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the transmission processing unit transmits the first data based on a communication protocol having a congestion control algorithm. The communication device according to claim 5, wherein the control unit makes the second data redundant based on a congestion window value that determines the number of pieces of the first data that can be transmitted. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit makes the second data redundant by increasing the number of times the second data is repeatedly transmitted. The transmission processing unit encodes the second data and transmits the encoded second data,
The communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the control unit makes the second data redundant by reducing the coding rate of the second data. The communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the transmission processing section includes a first transmission section that transmits the first data and a second transmission section that transmits the second data. a reception processing unit that receives the first data and receives the second data;
A control unit configured to transmit control information for making the second data redundant based on a reception status of the first data. The communication device according to claim 10, wherein the reception processing unit receives second data made redundant according to the control information, and restores the second data based on the second data made redundant. The communication device according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the control unit transmits the control information that makes the second data redundant depending on the reception frequency of the first data. The reception processing unit receives the first data based on a communication protocol having a congestion control algorithm,
The communication device according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein the control unit transmits the control information when detecting that communication using the communication protocol has started. a first reception processing unit that receives first data addressed to the first device and receives second data addressed to the second device;
a first transmission processing unit that transmits the first data to the first device and transmits the second data to the second device;
a second transmission processing unit that transmits control information for making the second data redundant to a third device that is a transmission source of the second data, based on a reception status of the first data;
Communication device. comprising a second reception processing unit that receives a message in response to the second data;
The communication device according to claim 14, wherein the second transmission processing unit transmits third data including the control information and the message to the third device. a reception processing unit that receives first data addressed to the first device and receives second data addressed to the second device;
a transmission processing unit that transmits the first data to the first device and transmits the second data to the second device,
The transmission processing unit transmits request information requesting redundancy of the second data transmitted from a third device that is a transmission source of the second data to the second device based on the reception status of the first data. Communication equipment. The communication device according to claim 16, wherein the transmission processing unit transmits third data including the request information and the second data to the second device. transmitting the first data, transmitting the second data,
A communication method in which the second data is made redundant depending on the transmission status of the first data. receiving first data; receiving second data;
A communication method, comprising transmitting control information for making the second data redundant based on a reception status of the first data. receiving first data addressed to the first device; receiving second data addressed to the second device;
transmitting the first data to the first device; transmitting the second data to the second device;
transmitting control information for making the second data redundant to a third device that is a source of the second data, based on the reception status of the first data;
Communication method. receiving first data addressed to the first device; receiving second data addressed to the second device;
transmitting the first data to the first device; transmitting the second data to the second device;
transmitting request information requesting redundancy of the second data transmitted from a third device that is a transmission source of the second data to the second device based on the reception status of the first data;
Communication method.

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