JP3437746B2 - Communication control device and communication control method - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication control device suitable for application to, for example, a portable information communication device that is easy to carry.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When communicating between terminals using conventional networks such as the rapidly expanding Internet, it is necessary to know in advance an identifier such as an address for identifying a communicating party. there were. An IP address or host name on the Internet corresponds to this. Conversely, if the user does not know the IP address or host name of the other party, communication cannot be performed.

On the other hand, for example, Microsoft provided by Windows 95 of Microsoft Corporation in the US
By using the network browsing function, the user can simply click the icon without any preparation.
It is possible to know the terminal connected to the soft network and to start communication with the other party only by selecting the other party to communicate with. This Mi
In the reference function of the Microsoft network, one of the networks serves as a reference server, and each terminal connected to the network notifies the reference server of its existence at the time of startup, while the existence of another terminal is inquired by the server. Has been realized.

In the reference function of this Microsoft network, it is assumed that terminals that can communicate with the reference server can also directly communicate with each other.
However, when a network is formed using, for example, a wireless LAN, communication with the reference server does not always mean that the terminals can communicate with each other. There may be so-called hidden terminals. In such a case, since the reference function of the Microsoft network cannot know the existence of the hidden terminal, there is a problem that communication is started without knowing the hidden terminal, but communication is not possible.

In addition, when using a portable terminal having a wireless communication function, it is possible to move without shutting down the OS (operating system). In that case, in this Microsoft network, it is possible to move. Therefore, it may take several tens of minutes to detect that communication is no longer possible. As described above, the reference function of the Microsoft network has a problem in that it is not possible to quickly respond to the ever-changing changes in the network environment.

On the other hand, as a method for each terminal to know whether or not the terminals can communicate with each other, for example, there is a method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 7-232459. In this method, all terminals transmit the terminal identifier of the terminal that can communicate with the own terminal together with the identifier that the own terminal identifies. This allows each terminal to know not only the terminal with which it can communicate, but also the terminal with which another terminal can communicate. However, this method has a problem that the traffic of the network increases when the number of terminals existing in the network increases because all the terminals exchange information of terminals that can perform customs clearance. In addition, there is a problem that only the communicable information of the own terminal and the partner of one HOP destination (the partner with which no other terminal intervenes) can be received, and the communicable information of a plurality of HOPs cannot be acquired.

[0007]

As described above, in the conventional reference function of, for example, the Microsoft network, it is impossible to know the existence of the hidden terminal, and the communication is started without knowing the hidden terminal, and the network is not started. There was a problem that we could not respond quickly to changes in. In addition, for example, in the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 7-232459, in which each terminal knows whether or not they can communicate with each other, communication information between terminals can be used when the number of terminals in the network increases. There is a problem in that the traffic for notifying the message is increased and it is not possible to acquire the communicable information of the terminals at the plurality of HOP destinations.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and even when the number of terminals in the network is large, each terminal acquires the communicable information of each terminal without increasing the traffic, It is an object of the present invention to provide a communication control device that can also acquire the communicable information of a terminal of a HOP destination.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the communication control apparatus of the present invention is a terminal identification information receiving means for receiving terminal identification information for identifying the terminal transmitted by another terminal. And a communicable terminal information receiving unit that receives the communicable terminal information indicating the terminal with which the terminal can communicate, and the terminal identification information and the communicable terminal information received from the same terminal in association with each other. By providing the communicable information storage means for storing as environment information and the communicable information transmitting means for transmitting the stored communicable information to another terminal, the representative terminal among the many terminals can be replaced by another terminal. Storing the terminal identifiers related to the terminals and information on the terminals with which the terminals can communicate, and transmitting the information collectively reduces traffic while allowing each terminal to communicate with each other. It made it possible to know the opponent.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communication control device according to the first embodiment.

The receiving unit 101 is a unit that is connected to a network and receives a packet addressed to its own terminal and transmitted by another terminal. Among the received packets, the communication environment information processing includes the terminal identification information indicating the existence of the terminal, the communicable terminal information indicating the communicable terminal of the terminal, and the communication environment information that is the communicable terminal information of the other terminal. Part 1
Send to 02.

The communication environment information processing unit 102 has a terminal identification information processing unit 111 and a communicable terminal information processing unit 112, and the terminal identification information processing unit 111 extracts the terminal identifier from the packet passed from the receiving unit 101. Then, the communicable terminal information processing unit 112 extracts the communicable terminal information regarding the terminal having the terminal identifier extracted by the terminal identification information processing unit 111. Then, the communication environment information storage unit 103 is notified of the extracted terminal identifier and communicable terminal information.
In addition, the terminal identifier of the transmission source included in the packet is notified to the communicable terminal storage unit 106 as an identifier of a communicable terminal.

The communication environment information storage unit 103 stores the terminal identifier notified from the communication environment information processing unit 102 and the communicable terminal information of the terminal in association with each other.

The timer (1) 104 periodically sends a signal to the communication environment information acquisition unit 105.

Upon receiving the signal from the timer (1) 104, the communication environment information acquisition unit 105 acquires the terminal identifiers of the respective terminals stored in the communication environment information storage unit 103 and the communicable terminal information associated therewith. Then, a packet carrying the acquired information is generated, the destination is designated, and the packet is sent to the transmission unit 110. As the destination, the simplest method is to broadcast, but it is not limited to this.

The communicable terminal storage unit 106 stores the terminal identifier of the communicable terminal notified from the communication environment information processing unit 102.

The own terminal identifier setting unit 107 determines and stores the own terminal identifier. The method of determining the own terminal identifier is not particularly limited, and there is, for example, a method specified by the user.

The timer (2) 108 periodically sends a signal to the communicable terminal information acquisition unit 109.

Upon receiving a signal from the timer (2) 108, the communicable terminal information acquisition unit 109 acquires the communicable terminal information stored in the communicable terminal information storage unit 106, and a packet carrying the acquired information. Is generated, and the destination is designated and sent to the transmission unit 110. As the destination, the simplest method is to broadcast, but it is not limited to this.

The transmission unit 110 is the communication environment information acquisition unit 10.
5 or the address of the designated destination terminal is added to the packet sent from the communicable terminal information acquisition unit 109, and the packet is sent to the network.

FIG. 2 shows a packet format for transmitting / receiving the communicable terminal information and the communication environment information. The source terminal identifier is the terminal identifier of the terminal that transmits the packet, and the target terminal identifier is the terminal identifier of the terminal on which the communicable terminal information is listed. The communicable terminal information is a list of identifiers of communicable terminals of terminals having the target terminal identifier.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing a process when a packet of the communicable terminal information or communication environment information transmitted by another terminal is received.

When a packet is received (step A1),
First, the terminal identifier of the transmission source is extracted (step A2),
The extracted terminal identifier is registered in the communicable terminal storage unit 106 (step A3). Next, the terminal identifier of the terminal which is the target of the communicable terminal information and the communicable terminal information of the terminal are extracted (step A4) and registered in the communication environment information storage unit 103 (step A5).

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the processing when the timer (1) 104 is activated.

When started by the timer (1) 104,
First, the communication environment information is acquired from the communication environment information storage unit 103 (step B1). Then, a communication environment information packet for each terminal is generated from the acquired information (step B2 to step B3) and transmitted to the network (step B4).

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the processing when the timer (2) 108 is activated.

When activated by the timer (2) 18, first, the communicable terminal is acquired from the communicable terminal storage unit 106 (step C1). Then, a communicable terminal information packet is generated from the acquired information (step C2),
It is transmitted to the network (step C3).

Specific operation contents of the communication control device of the first embodiment will be described based on a specific network configuration example. FIG. 6 shows a specific network configuration example.
In FIG. 6, X, A1 to A3, and B1 to B3 are terminals to which the communication control device of the first embodiment is applied. However, X
In terminals other than, the timer (1) 104 is not set,
Therefore, communication environment information is not transmitted. The timer can be set or unset by a user, for example. The solid lines between the terminals in FIG. 6 indicate that they can directly communicate with each other. That is, X, A
4 units of 1, A2, A3 can communicate with each other, and
The four units X, B1, B2, and B3 can communicate with each other, but for example, direct communication between A1 and B1 is not possible.

Here, each terminal broadcasts its own terminal identification information and communicable terminal information. Although no communicable terminal is recognized when first started up, the communicable terminal is recognized by receiving a packet of communicable terminal information from another terminal. For example, A1 is A
2, by receiving packets from A3, X, A
Recognize that communication with 2, A3, and X is possible. A specific example of the communicable terminal information packet transmitted by A1 after this recognition is shown in FIG.

X receives a packet similar to the packet shown in FIG. 7 not only from A1 but also from A2, A3, B1, B2, B3. The received information is stored in the X communication environment information storage unit 103. A specific example of the stored information of X is shown in FIG.

By the function of the communication environment information acquisition unit 105, X periodically generates the communication environment information about each terminal stored in FIG. 8 according to the packet format shown in FIG. 2 and transmits them. This transmission may be broadcast. Alternatively, B1 to A1 to A3 terminals
Only the information of the terminal of B3 is A1 to the terminals of B1 to B3.
The amount of communication can be reduced by transmitting only the information of the A3 terminal. By receiving the communication environment information transmitted by X, each of the terminals A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, and B3 can know a terminal with which other terminals can directly communicate. For example, when A1 receives information about B2 from X, it can know that there is a terminal called B2 and that it can directly communicate with B1 and B3, but cannot directly communicate with A1, A2, and A3. . FIG. 9 shows a specific example of the contents stored in the communication environment information storage unit 103 of A1.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a communication control device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

The difference between the communication control device of the second embodiment and the communication control device of the first embodiment described above is that the communication environment information transmission judging unit 113 is newly added.
Here, the communication environment information transmission determination unit 113 will be mainly described.

In addition to the processing in the first embodiment, the communication environment information processing unit 102 compares the source terminal identifier in the packet with the target terminal identifier. Then, when the two are different, it is understood that the information is the communicable terminal information regarding the terminal other than the packet transmitting terminal, that is, the communication environment information. In that case, the communication environment information transmission determination unit 113 is notified.

The communication environment information transmission determining unit 113 determines whether or not to transmit the communication environment information, and when transmitting, sets the timer (1) 104. For example, the following method can be considered to determine whether to transmit the communication environment information. Wait for a while after starting the terminal, and check if there is another terminal that is transmitting communication environment information. When there is a terminal transmitting the communication environment information, the communication environment information processing unit 102 should receive the notification. If you are notified,
The timer (1) 104 is not set. On the contrary, if there is no notification even after waiting for a fixed time, the timer (1) 104 is set to transmit the communication environment information.

Specific operation contents of the communication control apparatus of the second embodiment will be described based on a specific network configuration example. FIG. 11 shows a specific network configuration example. In FIG. 11, X, Y, A1 to A3, and B1 to B3 are terminals to which the communication control device of the second embodiment is applied.
However, it is assumed that the terminals other than X and Y do not set the timer (1) 104 and therefore do not transmit the communication environment information. The solid lines between the terminals in FIG. 11 indicate that they can directly communicate with each other. That is, X,
Five units Y, A1 to A3 can communicate with each other, and
Five units of X, Y, B1 to B3 can communicate with each other,
For example, it is assumed that direct communication is not possible between A1 and B1.

First, X and Y are not activated, while
It is assumed that A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, B3 are activated. Here, when X starts, it continues to receive packets for a while. At this time, A1, A2, A3, B1, B2,
The packet of the communicable terminal information in which the source terminal identifier and the target terminal identifier match from B3 is received, but the communication environment information in which the transmitting terminal identifier and the target terminal identifier are different is not received. That is, it can be determined that there is no terminal transmitting the communication environment information, and X itself starts transmitting the communication environment information.

Next, assume that Y is activated. Y continues to receive packets for some time after its activation. At this time, Y does not transmit the communication environment information in order to receive the packet from X whose transmitting terminal identifier and target terminal identifier are different. As described above, it is possible to eliminate the waste of transmitting the same communication environment information by a plurality of terminals.

Further, for example, as shown in FIG. 12, it is assumed that X and B1 cannot communicate directly with each other. At this time, Y
Can recognize that the link between X and B1 is broken by the communicable terminal information from X or B1. In that case, Y transmits the communication environment information regarding A1 to A3 to B.
It may be started for 1.

In addition to the above-described method, for example, the communication environment information transmission determining unit 113 may determine whether to transmit the communication environment information by asking the user when the terminal is started, or not transmitting the communication environment information. It is also possible to set a default value as a default value and allow the user to change it on the way.

(Third Embodiment) Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. The difference between the communication control device of the third embodiment and the communication control device of the first embodiment described above is that FIG.
The communication environment information acquisition unit 105 shown in (1) is to generate a packet in which the communication environment information regarding a plurality of terminals is collected. The packet format used for that purpose is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 13, it has a field indicating the number of target terminals carrying the communicable terminal information, and the target terminal identifier and the communicable terminal information of the terminal are added by that number.

The communication environment information processing unit 102 of the terminal which receives this packet first extracts the number of target terminal identifiers, and then extracts the pairs of the target terminal identifier and the communicable terminal information by the number of the target terminal identifiers. The same processing as in the first embodiment is performed.

For example, FIG. 6 used in the description of the first embodiment.
In the network configuration shown in, X is B for A1 to A3.
FIG. 14 shows specific packet contents when the communication environment information regarding 1 to B3 is transmitted. As a result, A1 to A
It is possible to reduce the processing amount of packet transmission and reception and the amount of traffic sent to the network as compared with the case where the terminal No. 3 receives information on the terminals B1 to B3 in separate packets.

(Fourth Embodiment) Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of a communication controller according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

The difference between the communication control device of the fourth embodiment and the communication control device of the first embodiment described above is that the timer (1) 104 is eliminated and the communication environment information transmission request unit 11
4 and the communication environment information transmission request receiving unit 115 are newly added. Hereinafter, this difference will be mainly described.

The communication environment information transmission request unit 114 generates a packet for requesting the transmission of the communication environment information to another terminal. The packet to be generated carries information indicating which terminal the communication environment information is desired. As a method of acquiring the packet generation time and the information to be included in the packet, for example, there is a method of acquiring from the user. The generated packet is also sent to the transmission unit 110 so as to be transmitted as specified by the user if specified by the user, or by broadcast if not specified.

In addition to the processing in the first embodiment, the receiving unit 101 receives a communication environment information transmission request packet from the network, and when receiving, notifies the communication environment information transmission request reception unit 115 of that fact.

Communication environment information transmission request receiving section 115 extracts the communication environment information transmission request content from the communication environment information packet received from receiving section 101. The content of the transmission request includes which terminal the communication environment information is transmitted to, specifically, whether it is transmitted only to a certain specific terminal, or whether it is transmitted to all the stored terminals. Then, the extracted contents and the information of the transmission request source terminal are sent to the communication environment information acquisition unit 105.

When the communication environment information acquisition unit 105 is notified from the communication environment information transmission request reception unit 115 that the transmission request of the communication environment is made, together with the transmission request content and the request source terminal, the communication environment information acquisition unit 105 responds to the transmission request content. Communication environment information storage unit 10
The communicable terminal information of the necessary terminal is acquired from 3, and a packet carrying communication environment information is generated. Then, the transmission unit 110 is instructed to perform transmission to the transmission request source terminal.

Specific operation contents of the communication control device of the fourth embodiment will be described based on the configuration example of the network shown in FIG. 6 used in the description of the first embodiment. In FIG. 6, X,
A1 to A3 and B1 to B3 are terminals to which the communication control device of the fourth embodiment is applied. Here, for example, it is assumed that the terminal A1 requests the communication environment information regarding all the terminals registered in X to X at the request of the user. Upon receiving the communication environment information transmission request from A1, X generates communication environment information of A2, A3, B1 to B3, and sends it to A1. As a result, it becomes possible to transmit the communication environment information as needed.

(Fifth Embodiment) Next, a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram of a communication control apparatus according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention.

The difference between the communication control device of the fifth embodiment and the communication control device of the first embodiment described above is that the timer (1) 104 is eliminated and the communication environment information processing unit 102 transfers to the communication environment information acquisition unit 105. The control information flow is added. Hereinafter, this difference will be mainly described.

The communication environment information processing unit 102 first extracts the terminal identifier and the communicable terminal information regarding the terminal having the terminal identifier from the packet passed from the receiving unit 101. Then, it is checked whether the same content as the extracted content has already been registered in the communication environment information storage unit. If registered, this packet is discarded. On the other hand, when the terminal identifier is not registered, the terminal identifier is newly registered, and when the terminal identifier is already registered but the communicable terminal information differs between the content extracted from the packet and the content of the communication environment information storage unit. In this case, the contents of the communication environment information storage unit 103 are updated. When new registration or update is performed, the communication environment information acquisition unit 1
Notify that to 05.

When the communication environment information processing unit 102 is notified by the communication environment information processing unit 102 that the communication environment information storage unit 103 is newly registered or updated, the communication environment information acquisition unit 105 carries a packet containing communication environment information about the terminal. Generating and transmitting unit 11
Send to 0.

FIG. 17 is a flow chart showing a process when a packet of the communicable terminal information or communication environment information transmitted by another terminal is received.

When the packet is received (step D1),
The communication environment terminal information regarding the terminal identifier and the terminal having the terminal identifier is extracted (step D2). Next, it is checked whether the same content as the extracted content is registered in the communication environment information storage unit 103 that stores the content of the communication environment information received so far (step D3).

If it has been registered (YE in step D3)
S), discard the packet and end this process. On the other hand, if the terminal identifier itself is not registered (NO in step D3), it is newly registered in the communication environment information storage unit 103 (step D4), and the terminal identifier is already registered but extracted from the packet. When the communicable terminal information differs between the content and the content of the communication environment information storage unit 103 (step D
No of 3), the content of the communication environment information storage unit 103 is updated (step D4). When new registration or update is performed, a packet carrying communication environment information regarding the terminal that has performed the registration or update is generated (step D5) and transmitted to the network (step D6).

Specific operation contents of the communication control device of the fifth embodiment will be described based on a specific network configuration example. Here, consider a case where the network configuration is such that a new terminal B4 is started up as shown in FIG. 18 from the state shown in FIG. 6 used in the description of the first embodiment. FIG.
Among them, A1 to A3 and B1 to B4 are communication control devices having the configuration shown in FIG. 1 of the first embodiment, and a timer (1)
Since 104 is not set, the communication environment information is not transmitted. On the other hand, it is assumed that X is a communication control device having the configuration shown in FIG.

Immediately after starting up, B4 broadcasts the communicable terminal information in a state in which it is not a communicable terminal. The packet at that time is shown in FIG.

Upon receiving this packet and checking the communication environment information storage unit 103, X finds that there is no registration for B4, and broadcasts the communication environment information for B4 or sends it only to A1 to A3. The packet at that time is shown in FIG. As a result, A1 to A3
Can know the existence of the terminal of B4 and that there is no terminal with which B4 can communicate. After that, B4 is X, B1-B
By receiving the packet of the communicable terminal information of No. 3,
X, B1 to B3 are registered in the communicable terminal of No. 4. Next, the communicable terminal information transmitted by B4 is as shown in FIG. When X receives the packet shown in FIG. 21 and checks the communication environment information storage unit 103, it is found that there is registration for B4, but the communication enabled terminal information for B4 is different, and the communication environment information for B4 is broadcast, Alternatively, it is transmitted only to A1 to A3. The packet at that time is shown in FIG. As a result, A1 to A3 are B
It can be seen that the terminal No. 4 can communicate with X and B1 to B3.

(Sixth Embodiment) Next, a sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 23 is a block diagram of a communication controller according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention.

The communication group setting section 116 is a section for managing a plurality of terminals by dividing them into a plurality of logical groups. In a communication group, one terminal is the representative terminal of that group. As a method of dividing a group, there is a method in which a user explicitly inputs a group ID to each terminal and terminals having the same group ID belong to the same communication group, but the method is not particularly limited. The representative terminal of each communication group can also be determined by the user's designation, but is not particularly limited.
At the time of dividing the communication group, it is assumed that a communication path through which only terminals belonging to the same communication group can transmit and receive is allocated. This can be realized, for example, by assigning a different multicast address to each communication group. Also, a communication path through which representative terminals of the group can transmit and receive is assigned. After being divided into communication groups, it directly communicates with terminals in the same communication group using the assigned communication path, and communicates with terminals in other communication groups via the representative terminal of each communication group. Do. When the own terminal is the representative terminal of the communication group, the timer (1) 104 is set to transmit the communication environment information to the terminals in the communication group to which the own terminal belongs and the representative terminals of the other communication groups.

The receiving section 101 is connected to the network and is a section for receiving a packet addressed to its own terminal and transmitted by another terminal. Among the received packets, the communication environment information processing includes the terminal identification information indicating the existence of the terminal, the communicable terminal information indicating the communicable terminal of the terminal, and the communication environment information that is the communicable terminal information of the other terminal. Part 1
Send to 02. If it is the representative terminal of a communication group, it transfers packets addressed to terminals belonging to communication groups other than the communication group to which it belongs and packets addressed to terminals within its own communication group from representative terminals of other communication groups. Send to Department 117.

The communication environment information processing unit 102 has a terminal identification information processing unit 111 and a communicable terminal information processing unit 112, and the terminal identification information processing unit 111 extracts the terminal identifier from the packet passed from the receiving unit 101. Then, the communicable terminal information processing unit 112 extracts the communicable terminal information regarding the terminal having the terminal identifier extracted by the terminal identification information processing unit 111. Then, the communication environment information storage unit 103 is notified of the extracted terminal identifier and communicable terminal information.
In addition, the terminal identifier of the transmission source included in the packet is notified to the communicable terminal storage unit 106 as an identifier of a communicable terminal.

The communication environment information storage unit 103 stores the terminal identifier notified from the communication environment information processing unit 102 and the communicable terminal information of the terminal in association with each other.

The timer (1) 104, when set by the communication group setting unit 116, periodically sends a signal to the communication environment information acquisition unit 105.

Upon receiving the signal from the timer (1) 104, the communication environment information acquisition unit 105 receives the terminal identifiers of the respective terminals stored in the communication environment information storage unit 103, the communicable terminal information associated therewith, and the communicable information. The communicable terminal information of the own terminal stored in the terminal storage unit 106 is acquired, a packet carrying the acquired information is generated, and the terminal in the communication group to which the own terminal belongs and the representative terminal of the other communication group are generated. The transmission unit 110 is instructed to send.

The communicable terminal storage unit 106 stores the terminal identifier of the communicable terminal notified from the communication environment information processing unit 102.

The self-terminal identifier setting unit 107 determines and stores the self-terminal identifier.

The timer (2) 108 periodically sends a signal to the communicable terminal information acquisition unit 109.

Upon receiving the signal from the timer (2) 108, the communicable terminal information acquisition unit 109 acquires the communicable terminal information stored in the communicable terminal information storage unit 106, and a packet carrying the acquired information. Is generated, and the transmitting unit 110 is instructed to send it to a terminal in the same communication group as the own terminal.

The packet transfer unit 117 instructs the transmission unit 110 to send the packet addressed to the terminal belonging to the other communication group passed from the receiving unit 101 to the representative terminal of the communication group to which the destination terminal belongs. Also, it instructs the transmitting unit 110 to send the packet addressed to the terminal in the own communication group, which is sent from the other communication group and is delivered from the receiving unit 101, to the terminal.

The transmission section 110 includes the communication environment information acquisition section 10
5. The packet sent from the communicable terminal information acquisition unit 109 or the packet transfer unit 117 is sent out to the network so as to reach the instructed partner.

Specific operation contents of the communication control device of the sixth embodiment will be described based on a network configuration example shown in FIG. Here, there are three communication groups, a communication group A to which the terminals A1 to A4 belong, a communication group B to which the terminals B1 to B4 belong, and a communication group C to which the terminals C1 to C4 belong, and terminals within the same communication group. Shall be able to communicate directly. The representative terminals of the communication group are A1, B1 and C1, respectively.
1 and C1 can directly communicate with each other. Also, for example, A
2 communicates with B2 via A1 and B1.

First, in the communication group A, each terminal sends the communicable terminal information of its own terminal to the other terminals belonging to the communication group A. For example, A1 does not recognize a communicable terminal immediately after starting and transmits communicable terminal information without a communicable terminal. After that, A1 receives the communicable terminal information from A2, A3, and A4, so that A2, A3, and A4 are stored in the communicable terminal storage unit 106. After that, A1 periodically transmits the communicable terminal information as shown in FIG. 25 to the communication group A. Similarly, the other terminals also recognize the communicable terminal and periodically transmit the communicable terminal information to the communication group A. FIG. 26 shows the contents of the communication environment information storage unit 103 of A1 after exchanging the communicable terminal information in the communication group A a sufficient number of times.

A1 periodically transmits the communication environment information in the communication group A to the representative terminals B1 and C1 of the other communication groups. On the contrary, A1 receives the communication environment information in the communication groups B and C from B1 and C1. The communication environment information from B1 is shown in FIG. By receiving and processing this, A1 has the contents of the communication environment information storage unit 103 as shown in FIG. In addition, the communicable terminal storage unit 106 stores A2
-A4 and B1-B4. As for transmission and reception of the communication environment information between the representative terminals, as shown in FIG. 27, the communication environment information regarding a plurality of terminals is collectively transmitted in one packet, and when periodically transmitted, there is no change from the previously transmitted information. In this case, the traffic transmitted to the network can be reduced by transmitting only the unchanged information.

The communication environment information regarding the terminals in the communication group B is transmitted to A2 to A4 by A1, and A2 to A4.
The communicable terminal information of B1 to B4 is also registered in the communication environment information storage unit 103 of No. 4. Also in this case, similar to the transmission and reception of the communication environment information between the representative terminals, the communication environment information regarding a plurality of terminals is collectively transmitted in one packet, or when periodically transmitted, there is no change from the previously transmitted information. In this case, if only the unchanged information is transmitted, the traffic sent to the network is reduced. Further, like A1, in A2 to A4, the target terminal identifiers B1 to B4 in the packet are added as communicable terminals. Therefore, the subsequent communicable terminal information transmitted by A1 to A4 includes B1 to B4. On the contrary, the communicable terminal information transmitted from B1 to B4 includes A1
~ A4 are included. As a result, after sufficient communication environment information is transmitted and received, it is recognized that A1 to A4 and B1 to B4 can communicate with each other. For example, the content of the communication environment information storage unit 103 of A1 is shown in FIG. As shown.

The terminals belonging to the communication group C are also registered in the communication environment information storage unit 103 while following the same process, and finally A1 to A4, B1 to B4, C1 to C.
All terminals can know that all four terminals can communicate with each other.

By thus dividing the transmission and reception of the communication environment information into the communication groups and collectively transmitting the communication environment information in the communication groups, all the terminals can equally share the communication environment information without dividing into the communication groups. The amount of traffic sent to the network can be reduced as compared with the case of transmitting and receiving.

If the representative terminal of the communication group is changed, the same process as above is followed in the network including the new representative terminal.

The method described in the above-described embodiments is applied as a program that can be executed by a computer to a storage medium such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, or a semiconductor memory and applied to various devices, or by a communication medium. It is also possible to transmit and apply to various devices. A computer that realizes this device reads the program recorded in the recording medium, and the operation is controlled by this program to execute the above-described processing.

[0088]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, even when the number of terminals in the network is large, each terminal keeps the traffic low and obtains the communicable terminal information of other terminals. can do. In addition, when there is a change in the communicable terminal information, that information is quickly transmitted to each terminal.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a communication control device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a format of a communicable terminal information packet of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing processing when a packet of communicable terminal information or communication environment information transmitted by another terminal of the first embodiment is received.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing processing when the timer (1) of the first embodiment is activated.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing processing when the timer (2) of the first embodiment is activated.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a network configuration example of the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a specific example of a communicable terminal information packet of the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a specific example of communication environment information stored in the terminal X according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a specific example of communication environment information stored in the terminal A1 of the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram of a communication control device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a network configuration example of the second embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a network configuration example after a state change of the second embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a format of a communicable terminal information packet of the communication control device according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a specific example of a communicable terminal information packet of the third embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a configuration diagram of a communication control device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a configuration diagram of a communication control device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing processing when a packet of communicable terminal information or communication environment information transmitted by another terminal of the fifth embodiment is received.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a network configuration example of the fifth embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a specific example of a communicable terminal information packet broadcast immediately after the terminal B4 of the fifth embodiment is started up.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a specific example of a communicable terminal information packet regarding a terminal B4 broadcast when the terminal X of the fifth embodiment receives the communicable terminal information shown in FIG. 19;

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a case where the terminal B4 of the fifth embodiment is X, B1 to B3.
The figure which shows the specific example of the communicable terminal information packet transmitted after receiving the packet of the communicable terminal information.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing a specific example of a communicable terminal information packet regarding a terminal B4 broadcast when the terminal X of the fifth embodiment receives the communicable terminal information shown in FIG. 21;

FIG. 23 is a configuration diagram of a communication control device according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing a network configuration example of the sixth embodiment.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a specific example of a communicable terminal information packet that the terminal A1 of the sixth embodiment periodically transmits to the communication group A.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing a specific example of communication environment information stored in the terminal A1 of the sixth embodiment.

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing a specific example of a communication environment information packet transmitted / received between representative terminals of the sixth embodiment.

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing a specific example of communication environment information stored by the terminal A1 of the sixth embodiment after receiving the communication environment information packet shown in FIG. 27;

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing a specific example of communication environment information stored by the terminal A1 of the sixth embodiment after transmitting / receiving sufficient communication environment information.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 ... Receiving unit, 102 ... Communication environment information processing unit, 103
... communication environment information storage unit, 104 ... timer (1), 105
... communication environment acquisition unit, 106 ... communicable terminal storage unit, 10
7 ... Own terminal identifier setting unit, 108 ... Timer (2), 10
9 ... Communicatable terminal information acquisition unit, 110 ... Transmission unit, 111
... terminal identification information processing unit, 112 ... communicable terminal information processing unit, 113 ... communication environment information transmission determination unit, 114 ... communication environment information transmission request unit, 115 ... communication environment information transmission request receiving unit, 116 ... communication group setting unit 117 ... Packet transfer unit.

Continuation of the front page (56) References Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-139747 (JP, A) Radia Perlman, translated by Akira Kato, Interconnections-On bridges and routers, Nihon, Softbank, May 31, 1995, p210 −222 (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04L 12/56 H04L 12/28

Claims (9)

(57) [Claims] 1. A communication control device applied to at least one terminal among a plurality of terminals connected to a network, wherein the plurality of terminals are divided into a plurality of logical groups and managed.
Communication group setting means, terminal identification information receiving means for receiving terminal identification information for identifying the terminal transmitted by another terminal, and communication indicating a terminal with which the other terminal transmits communication Communicable terminal information receiving means for receiving communicable terminal information, communication environment information storage means for associating the terminal identification information and communicable terminal information received from the same terminal, and storing as communication environment information, the stored communication environment The information to which the communication control device belongs
Belongs to other terminals in the same group and other groups
A communication control device comprising: communication environment information transmitting means for transmitting to a representative terminal . 2. A communication environment information transmission determining means for determining whether or not to transmit the communication environment information stored in the communication environment information storage means according to a predetermined condition. The communication control device according to claim 1. 3. The communication environment information transmitting means collectively transmits the communication environment information regarding a plurality of terminals stored in the communication environment information storing means into one or a plurality of packets. 2. The communication control device according to item 2. 4. A communication environment information transmission request receiving unit for receiving a communication environment information transmission request from another terminal, wherein the communication environment information transmitting unit receives the communication environment information transmission request when the communication environment information transmission request is received. 4. The communication control device according to claim 1, wherein the communication environment information stored in the communication environment information storage means is transmitted. 5. The communication environment information update detection means for detecting an update of the communication environment information stored in the communication environment information storage means is further provided, and the communication environment information is detected when the update of the communication environment information is detected. 4. The communication control device according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the transmission means transmits the communication environment information stored in the communication environment information storage means. 6. A communication environment information receiving means for receiving the communication environment information transmitted by the communication control device according to claim 1, which is provided in another terminal, and a communication environment information storage for storing the received communication environment information. And a communication control device. 7. A plurality of terminals connected to a network is one.
In a communication system in which one or a plurality of representative terminals are selected for each communication group while being grouped into one or a plurality of communication groups, the terminal selected as the representative terminal is a terminal transmitted by another terminal. The terminal identification information receiving means for receiving the terminal identification information for identifying the terminal and the communicable terminal information receiving means for receiving the communicable terminal information indicating the terminal with which the other terminal can communicate are the same. A communication environment information storage unit that associates the terminal identification information and the communicable terminal information received from the terminal as communication environment information and stores the stored communication environment information in the same group to which the terminal belongs.
Other terminal in the group and communication environment information transmitting means for transmitting to a representative terminal belonging to another group, terminals other than the one selected as the representative terminal are selected at least as representative terminals belonging to the same communication group. Identification information transmitting means for transmitting its own terminal identification information for identifying itself to the identified terminal, and own communication indicating the terminal capable of communicating with at least the terminal selected as the representative terminal belonging to the same communication group A communication system, comprising: a communicable terminal information transmitting means for transmitting the communicable terminal information. 8. A communication control method applied to at least one or more terminals among a plurality of terminals connected to a network, wherein the plurality of terminals are divided into a plurality of logical groups, and the other terminals are divided. The terminal identification information transmitted from the terminal for receiving the terminal identification information for identifying the terminal, the other terminal transmitting the terminal information for the communicable terminal indicating the terminal with which the terminal can communicate, and the terminal identification information received from the same terminal. And the communicable terminal information is associated and stored as communication environment information, and the stored communication environment information is stored in the same group to which the terminal belongs.
And a representative terminal belonging to another group in the group . 9. A program for executing the networked communication control by a plurality of at least one or more terminals in the terminal divides the plurality of terminals to a plurality of logical groups, other The terminal that has received from the same terminal the terminal identification information for identifying the terminal that the other terminal transmits, and the other terminal that has received the communicable terminal information indicating the terminal with which the terminal can communicate. The identification information and the communicable terminal information are stored in association with each other, and the stored communication environment information is stored in the same group to which the terminal belongs.
Computer-readable recording medium recording a program for operating a computer to transmit to other terminals in a group and representative terminals belonging to other groups .