JP3608503B2 - Mobile communication terminal device - Google Patents

Description

【００２０】
〔表１〕に示すように、縦方向には、一定間隔で取得するインターフェースの通信状況がイベントとして割り振られ、横方向には、現在使用しているインターフェース種別が「状態」として割り振られている。
本発明では、切り替え時に切替元及び切替先のインターフェースが、両方とも通信可能である期間が必要なため、インターフェースの状況を「受信良好」、「不安定」、「通信不可」の３つに分けて監視する。表では各状況を○、△、×で表示している。状態は、「無線ＬＡＮを使用中」と「ＰＨＳを使用中」の２つとする。実際には、「切り替え中」という状態も存在するが、簡略化のために切り替え中は状態遷移を起こすイベントの監視を行わないと仮定して、「切り替え中」状態は省略する。
【００２１】
ここで、〔表１〕を参照し、屋外（ＰＨＳ環境）から屋内（無線ＬＡＮ環境）へ移動した場合の動作を説明する。
最初はＰＨＳが屋外で使用されているため、良好な受信状態にある。しかし、無線ＬＡＮは受信が不可能なので、〔表１〕の縦軸の（２０７）×横軸の（２１１）の状況にある。次に、建物の中へ入る（屋内）と、ＰＨＳが受信良好な状態にあり、かつ無線ＬＡＮの電波は不安定ながらも受信可能になり、（２０４）×（２１１）の状況になる。この状況では、切替先の無線ＬＡＮが不安定で、切替元のＰＨＳが受信良好という状況にあるので、念のため、無線ＬＡＮへの切り替えは行わない。建物の中を移動するにつれて無線ＬＡＮの電波が受信良好になると、（２０１）×（２１１）となり、無線ＬＡＮへの切り替えが行われる。切り替え完了後は、状態が「無線ＬＡＮ使用中」に変わるため、（２０１）×（２１０）になる。
このように、ＰＨＳを屋内で使用中には、通信状況が○、△、×のいずれにおいても転送速度が高速である無線ＬＡＮに切り替える。また、無線ＬＡＮを使用中には、ＰＨＳでの通信状況が○であることを条件にして、通信状況が△又は×の状況のときには、通信が不安定、或いは行えない状況であるので、ＰＨＳに切り替える。なお、通信状況の悪い時ばかりでなく、通信異常が発生した場合（２０３、２０７、又は２０８）にもインターフェースの切り替えを行う。
【００２２】
図５は、メールプログラムを使用したときのＰＯＰによる処理の一般例を示す。
最初に、メールアプリケーション（メールプログラム）は、ソケット（Ｓ０ＣＫＥＴ）に対してコネクション要求を行い（Ｓ５０１）、１本のコネクションを生成する（Ｓ５０２）。コネクションの生立後は、この１本のコネクションを用いて、ユーザー名とパスワードによる認証（Ｓ５０３）、メールリストの取得（Ｓ５０４，５０５）、メールの要求及び実際のメール（メール１〜Ｎ）受信（Ｓ５０６〜５０９）、ＰＯＰの終了確認（Ｓ５１０）をシーケンシャルに行う。メールアプリケーションは、ＰＯＰが終了した時点で切断要求を行い（Ｓ５１１）ＳＯＣＫＥＴコネクションを切断し（Ｓ５１２）、通信を終了する。
【００２３】
このように、ＰＯＰでは、１つのコネクションの中で複数の独立した処理を時系列に行っている。したがって、これらの処理を別々のコネクションに分割したとしても、アプリケーションにおいては不都合を生じない。ただし、ＰＯＰでは、最初にユーザー認証、最後に終了確認を行う約束になっているため、コネクションを形成し直すたびに認証と終了確認のシーケンスを挿入する必要がある。
【００２４】
図６にコネクションの切断／再開を挿入したシーケンスを示す。
図６では、メールリストの取得処理とメール１の取得処理の間にコネクションの切断処理を挿入している。ＰＯＰでは、コネクションの最初に認証が必要なため、コネクションの切断前後でＰＯＰ終了処理とユーザー認証も挿入している。この間の処理は、メールアプリケーションの動作とは関係なく独自に行っているため、ユーザー認証に必要なユーザー名とパスワードは、最初の認証で使用した内容を保存しておき、この内容を再利用する必要がある。
【００２５】
図６において、メールアプリケーションは、ソケットに対してコネクション要求を行い（Ｓ６０１）、１本のコネクションを生成する（Ｓ６０２）。コネクションの生立後は、この１本のコネクションを用いて、ユーザー名とパスワードによる認証（Ｓ６０３）、メールリストの要求（Ｓ６０４）を行い、メールリスト１〜Ｎを取得（Ｓ６０５）する。この後、挿入したシーケンスが実行される。
まず、メールアプリケーションとメールサーバーの間でメールリストの取得までの処理に対する終了の確認（Ｓ６０６）を行った後、切断要求６０６に対して切断処理（Ｓ６０８）が行われる。ついで、コネクション要求が出されると（Ｓ６０９）、コネクションが生成される（Ｓ６１０）。さらに、ユーザー名とパスワードによる認証処理が行われる（Ｓ６１１）。以後、図５で説明したように、メールの要求及び実際のメール（メール１〜Ｎ）受信（Ｓ６１２〜６１５）、ＰＯＰの終了確認（Ｓ６１６）をシーケンシャルに行う。メールアプリケーションは、ＰＯＰが終了した時点で切断要求を行い（Ｓ６１７）ＳＯＣＫＥＴコネクションを切断し（Ｓ６１８）、通信を終了する。
ここでは、コネクションの切断処理は、メールリスト取得処理とメール１の取得処理との間に挿入したが、これに限定されるものではなく、例えば、メール７とメール８の取得処理の間にコネクション切断処理を挿入することも可能である。
【００２６】
図７は、Ｗｅｂアクセスを行ったときのＨＴＴＰによる処理を示す。
まず、メールアプリケーションは、ソケット（Ｓ０ＣＫＥＴ）に対してコネクション要求を行い（Ｓ７０１）、１本のコネクションを生成する（Ｓ７０２）。ついで、メールアプリケーションは、メールサーバーに対してＷｅｂの画面情報要求を行い（Ｓ７０３）、「テキスト情報＋画像ファイル名」を取得する（Ｓ７０４）。ついで、メールアプリケーションから切断要求（Ｓ７０５）が出されると、切断処理が行われる（Ｓ７０６）。さらに、コネクション要求（Ｓ７０７，７０９，７１０）がある毎にコネクション１〜３の生成が行われる（Ｓ７０８，７１０，７１２）。ついで、メールアプリケーションからメールサーバーに対して画像要求が行われる（Ｓ７１３〜Ｓ７１５）が行われると、これに対する画像３の送信がメールサーバーから行われる（Ｓ７１６）。その後、切断要求があると（Ｓ７１７）、コネクション３の切断処理が行われる（Ｓ７１８）。ついで、メールサーバーから末送信の画像１，２の送信が行われる（Ｓ７１９，Ｓ７２０）。その後、切断要求があると（Ｓ７２１）、コネクション１の切断処理が行われ（Ｓ７２２）、次の切断要求（Ｓ７２３）に対してコネクション２の切断処理が行われる（Ｓ７２４）。
【００２７】
このように、図７の処理では、最初に１本のコネクションを形成し、テキスト情報のみを取得する。取得したテキストの中には画像を取得するために必要な情報が入っており、画像の数だけ別々のコネクションを形成し、実際に画像を取得する。画像が複数ある場合には、画像の数だけコネクションを形成する。各画像毎に異なるコネクションが形成されるので、要求した順番と取得できる順番は必ずしも一致しない。Ｗｅｂブラウザは、これら別々のコネクションにより取得したテキストや画像を合成し、図８のように、１つのＷｅｂ画面８０として表示する。Ｗｅｂブラウザの使用においては、比較的短時間のコネクションを数多く形成しているため、図６で説明したＰＯＰを使用の場合のように、作為的なコネクション切断の必要性は低い。
【００２８】
図９は、Ｗｅｂおよびメールアプリケーションを使用中、ＰＨＳから無線ＬＡＮに切り替えた場合のシーケンスの一例を示す。図中、Ｗｎ（ｎは整数）は、Ｗｅｂブラウザが使用するコネクションであり、Ｍｎ（ｎは整数）はメールアプリケーションが使用するコネクションである。
Ｗｅｂブラウザは、まず、コネクションＷ１によってテキスト情報を取得する。ブラウザはテキスト情報を解析し、さらに３つの画像を取得するために３本のコネクションＷ２，Ｗ３，Ｗ４を形成する。時刻Ｔ３で無線ＬＡＮへの切り替えが発生したとすると、時刻Ｔ３以前に開始したコネクションＷ２，Ｗ３はＰＨＳを使用し、Ｔ３以後に開始したコネクションＷ４は無線ＬＡＮを使用する。Ｗｅｂブラウザは、テキスト情報及び全ての画像情報を取得する時刻Ｔ５にて画面表示を完成することができる。
【００２９】
一方、メールアプリケーションは、メール受信のために１本のコネクションＭ１を形成する。コネクションの途中、時刻Ｔ３で無線ＬＡＮへの切り替えが発生したとすると、ＰＯＰを解析してコネクションの切断／再開可能位置の検出を開始する。時刻Ｔ４でコネクション切断／再開が可能になったとすると、図６で説明（Ｓ６０６〜Ｓ６１１）したように、ＰＨＳを使用していたコネクションＭ１を切断し、無線ＬＡＮに切り替え、新たなコネクションＭ２を形成し、メールの受信を継続する。これにより、メールアプリケーションのコネクション切断時刻Ｔ６より以前の時刻Ｔ４において、ＰＨＳから無線ＬＡＮへの切り替えが完了できるようになる。
【００３０】
なお、上記の実施例においては、ＰＨＳと無線ＬＡＮの切り替えについて説明したが、本発明は上記２つのインターフェースに限定されるものではない。例えば、携帯電話と無線ＬＡＮ間での切り替え、無線ＬＡＮと無線ＬＡＮ間での切り替え、等の物理インターフェースを用いた構成にも本発明を適用することができる。
また、端末装置としてノートパソコンを例にしたが、本発明はノートパソコンに限定されるものではなく、複数の異なる方式の通信インターフェースを備えたモバイル機器、ＰＤＡ（Ｐｅｒｓｏｎａｌ Ｄｉｇｉｔａｌ Ａｓｓｉｓｔａｎｔｓ ）機器等に適用可能である。
【００３１】
【発明の効果】
以上より明らかなように、本発明の携帯通信端末装置によれば、コネクション管理部によって各コネクションの開始や切断が監視され、データの送受信中にコネクションの切断や再開を行ってもアプリケーションに影響を与えないコネクションの分割可能位置を検出するとコネクションの切り替えが行われ、切替監視制御部によって物理インターフェースのそれぞれが通信可能な状態にあるか否かが監視され、物理インターフェースの切り替えが可能な位置を検出したときにコネクションの切り替えを指示し、この指示に応じて物理インターフェースの切り替えが行われ、更に、切替監視制御部から切替指示があったとき使用中の側から不使用の物理インターフェースへの切り替えが行われる。したがって、通信アプリケーションに影響を与えることなく（既に継続しているコネクションは物理インターフェースの変更をせず、新コネクションの開始を契機として物理インターフェースが切り替えられるため）、高速にインターフェースを切り替えることが可能になる。また、現用の物理インターフェースよりも高速になる物理インターフェースが存在するときには、高速側が選択されるので、伝送時間を短縮することができる。
【図面の簡単な説明】
【図１】本発明による携帯通信端末装置を示すブロック図である。
【図２】第１の物理インターフェースから第２の物理インターフェースへ切り替えを行った場合の動作を示すシーケンス図である。
【図３】本発明の実施例の構成を示すブロック図である。
【図４】図３の切替監視制御部による切り替え監視制御の処理を示すフローチャートである。
【図５】メールプログラムを使用したときのＰＯＰによる処理の一般例を示すタイミングチャートである。
【図６】コネクションの切断／再開を挿入したシーケンスを示すタイミングチャートである。
【図７】Ｗｅｂアクセスを行ったときのＨＴＴＰによる処理を示すタイミングチャートである。
【図８】図７の処理を行った後のＷｅｂ画面を示す画面図である。
【図９】Ｗｅｂおよびメールアプリケーションを使用中、ＰＨＳから無線ＬＡＮに切り替えた場合のシーケンスの一例を示すタイミングチャートである。
【符号の説明】
１０１，３０１ コネクション型通信アプリケーション
１０２ コネクション管理部
１０３ アプリケーション主導コネクション制御部
１０４ データ解析部
１０５ バッファ
１０６ データ解析主導コネクション制御部
１０７ インターフェース選択部
１０８，１０９ 物理的インターフェース
１１０ 切り替え監視制御部
３０１ アプリケーション
３０２ ソケット
３０３ ソケット管理部
３０４ 解析部
３０５ バッファ
３０６ コネクション切断／開始挿入部
３０７ インターフェース選択部[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a portable communication terminal device, and in particular, a single portable communication terminal device such as a notebook personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a notebook personal computer) includes a plurality of different interfaces, The present invention relates to a portable communication terminal device that enables switching of an interface.
[0002]
[Prior art]
When a mobile communication terminal device, for example, a notebook personal computer is used in a mobile environment, there is a case where it is desired to change a communication interface (interface) while using an application. For example, when a laptop computer is used indoors from the outdoors, a PHS (Personal Handyphone System) that is a portable transmission medium is used outdoors, and a wireless LAN (Local Area) that has a higher transmission speed than the PHS indoors. It is common to use a network) or a wired LAN to reduce the transmission time. Alternatively, it is also common to use a wireless LAN by bringing a notebook computer into a conference room and performing communication using a wired LAN wired to a desk when the user moves to his / her department. In any case, it is essential that the mobile communication terminal apparatus has two types of communication interfaces and software.
In general, when a user uses the above-described method, the work performed by the user is as follows.
(I) The communication application in use, such as a web browser or electronic mail (E-mail, E-mail), is terminated.
(Ii) Enable the switching destination communication interface.
(Iii) The communication application of (i) is restarted, and communication is performed using the new (switched-destination) communication interface enabled in (ii).
[0003]
In a mail application, all mails are received (transmitted) through a communication path (connection) with one communication interface. Therefore, if one mail has a capacity of 100 Kbytes (bytes), 100 mail transmission is 10 Mbytes, and wireless LAN, PHS, cellular phone, wired LAN until this 10 Mbyte communication is completed. The physical interface such as a telephone modem (modem) or ISDN (Integrated Service Digital Network) cannot be switched. When PHS is used, since the data transfer rate is 64 Kbps, it takes 20 minutes or more to complete reception. If communication is to be interrupted, there is a method of forcibly terminating the mail application during connection, connecting to a high-speed wired LAN (or wireless LAN), and then receiving (sending) mail again. However, the interruption of the connection does not guarantee the complete reception of the data, so this method should be avoided if possible.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, according to the conventional mobile communication terminal device, since switching to a plurality of interfaces is performed manually, it is difficult not only to perform switching quickly, but if switching is performed during application execution, reception data may be lost. There is. Similarly, data loss occurs when the communication status of a physical interface in use deteriorates.
[0005]
In a mobile environment, there is a request to switch between these multiple interfaces during application execution. On the other hand, the appearance of mobile technology and mobile devices is relatively recent, and there has been no mobile communication terminal device for mobile devices that does not affect the application and can be automatically switched at high speed. .
There are several patent gazettes regarding interface switching, all of which are for duplicating the interface, and when one goes down, the other is switched to the other to enable continuous use of the same interface. .
[0006]
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a mobile portable communication terminal device capable of switching an interface automatically at high speed without affecting a communication application.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention has at least two types of physical interfaces of wired and wireless or different types of wireless and wireless that operate according to a connection-type application, and can be used indoors and outdoors by itself. In the mobile communication terminal device, whether or not each of the two-system physical interfaces is in a communicable state and detects a position where the two-system physical interface can be switched, Of the connection-oriented application A switching monitoring control unit for instructing switching of connections, and each of the two physical interfaces. Commenced communication And monitoring the disconnection, and switching the connection when detecting a severable position of the connection that does not affect the application even if the connection is disconnected or restarted during data transmission / reception, Provided is a portable communication terminal device comprising a connection management unit for switching from a physical interface in use among the two physical interfaces to a designated physical interface if a switching instruction is issued from a switching monitoring control unit To do.
[0008]
According to this configuration, the start and disconnection of each connection is monitored by the connection management unit, and when a connection splittable position that does not affect the application even if the connection is disconnected or restarted during data transmission / reception is detected, Connection switching is performed. On the other hand, the switching monitoring control unit monitors whether or not each of the physical interfaces is in a communicable state, and instructs the switching of the connection when a position where the physical interface can be switched is detected. Then, the physical interface is switched, and further, based on the switching instruction from the switching monitoring control unit, switching from the used side to the unused side of the two types of physical interfaces is performed. Therefore, it is possible to switch the interface at high speed without automatically affecting the communication application at the timing of switching both the connection and the physical interface. In addition, communication via a higher-speed physical interface becomes possible.
[0009]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a portable communication terminal device according to the present invention.
A connection-type communication application 101 such as a Web browser or e-mail is software for performing communication having a connection start / disconnection procedure. The connection type communication application 101 is executed by the connection management unit 102. The connection management unit 102 corresponds to each of a plurality of connections.
The one connection management unit 102 includes an application initiated connection control unit 103, a data analysis unit 104, a buffer 105, a data analysis initiated connection control unit 106, and an interface selection unit 107. Physical interfaces 108 and 109 are connected to the interface selection unit 107 of the connection management unit 102. These are connected to networks 111 and 112 such as a wireless unit and a LAN. A switching monitoring control unit 110 is connected to the physical interface 109 and the connection management unit 102.
[0010]
The application initiated connection control unit 103 processes a connection start / disconnection request from the connection-type communication application 101. The data analysis unit 104 detects a connection splittable position so that the application is not affected even if the connection is disconnected / resumed during data transmission / reception. The buffer 105 temporarily stores data to prevent data loss when disconnecting / starting by the data analysis initiative connection control unit 106. The data analysis initiative connection control unit 106 executes disconnection / start of the connection regardless of the operation of the application initiative connection control unit 103 based on the switching instruction from the switching monitoring control unit 110 and the severable position information from the analysis unit 104. .
[0011]
The interface selection unit 107 selects the physical interfaces 108 and 109 to be used according to an instruction from the switching monitoring control unit 110. In this selection determination, the interface selection unit 107 performs selection control only when a new connection is started by the connection control unit 103 or the data analysis initiative connection control unit 106, and the physical interface once selected is not changed while the connection is continued.
The switching monitoring control unit 110 monitors the states (communication enabled / disabled) of the physical interfaces 108 and 109 and determines interface switching based on the concept of “automatic switching to an interface capable of higher speed communication”.
[0012]
FIG. 2 shows a sequence when switching from the first physical interface (physical IF1) to the second physical interface (physical IF2) at time T2. The horizontal axis represents time T, one connection is represented by one horizontal line, the start of this connection is indicated by black circles, and the end is indicated by black squares. In addition, “/” in the middle of the horizontal line indicates the division possible position detected by the data analysis unit 104.
The connections C1 and C2 use the physical IF 1 because the connection ends before the switching start time T2. Although connection C2 can be divided at time T1, since switching instruction to switching to physical IF2 is not issued from switching monitoring controller 110, switching to physical IF2 is not performed, and communication is performed using physical IF1.
[0013]
The connection C3 starts before the switching start time T2 and ends after the switching start time T2. However, since there is no splittable position on the way (because the data analysis unit 104 has not detected the connection splittable position), the switching start time T2 Thereafter, communication is performed using the physical IF1. The connection C4 starts before the switching start time T2, and ends at the end time T4 after the switching start time T2. However, the connection C4 can be divided at the switching completion time T3 before the end time T4 (the connection splittable position is detected). Therefore, the connection using the physical IF1 is disconnected, a new connection C7 using the physical IF2 is generated, and communication is performed by taking over the physical IF1.
Since the connections C5 and C6 are started after the switching start time T2, the physical IF2 is used. By using the connection division position T3 of the connection C4, the switching is completed at a time T3 earlier than the end time T4 of the original connection (connection C4). After time T3, the use of the physical IF1 is prohibited.
[0014]
The processing in the present invention is roughly classified as follows.
(1) When a physical interface is switched, a time is used in which both the switching source interface and the switching destination interface can be used.
(2) Monitor the connection and select a physical interface for each connection.
(3) The currently connected connection uses the switching source physical interface as it is, and sequentially moves from the new connection to the switching destination physical interface.
(4) By detecting a position that does not affect the application even if a disconnection / start is inserted in the middle of the connection, and dividing the connection separately from the operation of the application, it is possible to quickly switch to the physical interface of the switching destination. Move the connection.
With the above processing, the physical interface can be switched in a short time without affecting the application.
[0015]
〔Example〕
Next, examples will be described.
FIG. 3 shows the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.
Here, a notebook personal computer is used as the terminal device, and the notebook personal computer has a PHS interface and a wireless LAN interface. Both of these interfaces can be connected to the Internet, and are switched from PHS to wireless LAN while using a Web browser and email as applications. Furthermore, it is assumed that the protocol used by the application is TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol).
[0016]
The application 301 is a web browser and e-mail. The socket (S0CKET) 302 manages connections, and the socket 302 includes a socket management unit 303, an analysis unit 304, a buffer 305, a connection disconnection / start insertion unit 306, and an interface selection unit 307. TCP / IP manages connections based on the concept of sockets, which are uniquely identified by the following values.
Socket = (source IP address + destination IP address + source port number + destination port number)
The port number is uniquely determined for each application. An example of the port number is shown below.
HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol, an upper protocol of TCP / IP and used by Web browsers): 80
・ POP (Post Office Protocol, protocol for receiving e-mail): 109 or 110
Since a socket, which is a TCP / IP connection concept, includes an IP address, in a situation where an IP address is assigned in a one-to-one correspondence with an interface, the physical interface is changed in the middle of the connection, that is, IP The address cannot be changed. In order to change the physical interface, it is necessary to disconnect and reconstruct the connection.
[0017]
The socket management unit 303 starts / disconnects a connection in response to a request from an application. In this embodiment, since TCP / IP is used as a protocol, a TCP communication protocol SYN (Synchronize Flag) / FIN (Final) is issued and an ACK (acknowledge) process is performed on a lower layer. The analysis unit 304 analyzes the POP protocol used in the e-mail, and detects a position that does not affect the application even if the socket connection is disconnected in the middle of the protocol. An application using the POP protocol may (a) keep the connection for a relatively long time. (B) If pre-processing and post-processing are appropriately performed, the application can be disconnected even when the connection is disconnected / resumed. Is suitable as a specific example of the present invention.
The connection disconnection / start insertion unit 306 issues a TCP communication protocol SYN / FIN to the lower layer according to the disconnectable position information from the POP analysis unit 304 and the instruction from the switching monitoring control unit 312, and Disconnect / resume on the way. Since the connection management is performed by the socket management unit 303, when there is a disconnection / resumption by the connection disconnection / start insertion unit 306 during the connection, the socket management information held by the socket management unit 303 is updated.
The buffer 305 temporarily stores data in order to prevent data loss while the connection disconnection / start insertion unit 306 disconnects or starts a connection. The interface selection unit 307 switches between the PHS interface 310 and the wireless LAN interface 311 according to an instruction from the switching monitoring control unit 312.
The IP layers 308 and 309 have a one-to-one correspondence with the PHS interface 310 and the wireless LAN interface 311 which are physical interfaces, and have different IP addresses (in the case of PHS, “206.30.12.113”, In the case of a wireless LAN, “133.206.40.158”) is possessed. The PHS interface 310 and the wireless LAN interface 311 are physical interfaces.
The switching monitoring control unit 312 monitors the state (communication enabled / disabled) of the PHS interface 310 and the wireless LAN interface 311 and determines interface switching.
[0018]
FIG. 4 shows a process of switching monitoring control by the switching monitoring control unit 312. In the figure, S represents a step.
A timer for acquiring the interface status at a fixed time interval is prepared (S401), the timeout is determined, and the communication status of the wireless LAN interface 311 and the PHS interface 310 is acquired for each timeout (S403, 104). Based on this acquisition result and the switching state transition table shown in [Table 1] (S405), switching between the wireless LAN interface 311 and the PHS interface 310 is executed.
[0019]
[Table 1]

[0020]
As shown in [Table 1], in the vertical direction, the interface communication status acquired at regular intervals is assigned as an event, and in the horizontal direction, the currently used interface type is assigned as “status”. .
In the present invention, the switching source interface and the switching destination interface need to have a period during which communication is possible at the time of switching. Therefore, the status of the interface is divided into “good reception”, “unstable”, and “communication impossible”. To monitor. In the table, each situation is indicated by ○, △, ×. There are two states: “using wireless LAN” and “using PHS”. Actually, there is a state of “switching”, but for the sake of simplicity, it is assumed that an event that causes a state transition is not monitored during switching, and the “switching” state is omitted.
[0021]
Here, with reference to [Table 1], the operation when moving from the outdoors (PHS environment) to the indoors (wireless LAN environment) will be described.
Initially, PHS is used outdoors, so it is in good reception. However, since the wireless LAN cannot receive, the situation is (207) on the vertical axis and (211) on the horizontal axis in [Table 1]. Next, when entering the building (indoor), the PHS is in a good reception state, and the radio wave of the wireless LAN can be received even though it is unstable, resulting in a situation of (204) × (211). In this situation, since the switching-destination wireless LAN is unstable and the switching-source PHS is in good reception, switching to the wireless LAN is not performed as a precaution. When the wireless LAN radio wave becomes better received as it moves through the building, (201) × (211) is obtained, and switching to the wireless LAN is performed. After switching is completed, the state changes to “in use of wireless LAN”, so (201) × (210).
In this way, when the PHS is used indoors, the wireless LAN is switched to a high transfer rate regardless of whether the communication status is ◯, Δ, or X. Also, when using the wireless LAN, the communication status is P or is not possible when the communication status is △ or × on the condition that the communication status in PHS is ○. Switch to. Note that the interface is switched not only when the communication status is bad, but also when a communication error occurs (203, 207, or 208).
[0022]
FIG. 5 shows a general example of processing by POP when a mail program is used.
First, the mail application (mail program) issues a connection request to the socket (S0CKET) (S501), and generates one connection (S502). After the connection is established, this single connection is used to authenticate with a user name and password (S503), obtain a mail list (S504, 505), receive a mail request, and receive an actual mail (mails 1 to N). (S506 to 509), POP completion confirmation (S510) is performed sequentially. The mail application issues a disconnection request when the POP ends (S511), disconnects the SOCKET connection (S512), and ends the communication.
[0023]
As described above, in the POP, a plurality of independent processes are performed in time series in one connection. Therefore, even if these processes are divided into separate connections, there is no inconvenience in the application. However, in the POP, since it is promised to perform user authentication first and end confirmation last, it is necessary to insert an authentication and end confirmation sequence every time a connection is re-established.
[0024]
FIG. 6 shows a sequence in which disconnection / resumption of connection is inserted.
In FIG. 6, a connection disconnection process is inserted between the mail list acquisition process and the mail 1 acquisition process. Since POP requires authentication at the beginning of a connection, POP end processing and user authentication are also inserted before and after disconnection of the connection. Since the processing during this time is performed independently regardless of the operation of the mail application, the user name and password required for user authentication are saved in the initial authentication and reused. There is a need.
[0025]
In FIG. 6, the mail application makes a connection request to the socket (S601), and generates one connection (S602). After the connection is established, authentication with a user name and password (S603) and a mail list request (S604) are performed using this single connection, and mail lists 1 to N are acquired (S605). Thereafter, the inserted sequence is executed.
First, after confirming the end of the processing up to the acquisition of the mail list between the mail application and the mail server (S606), the disconnection process (S608) is performed for the disconnection request 606. Next, when a connection request is issued (S609), a connection is generated (S610). Further, an authentication process using a user name and a password is performed (S611). Thereafter, as described with reference to FIG. 5, a request for mail, reception of actual mail (mails 1 to N) (S612 to 615), and confirmation of completion of POP (S616) are performed sequentially. The mail application issues a disconnection request when the POP ends (S617), disconnects the SOCKET connection (S618), and ends the communication.
Here, the connection disconnection process is inserted between the mail list acquisition process and the mail 1 acquisition process, but is not limited to this. For example, the connection disconnection process is performed between the mail 7 and mail 8 acquisition processes. It is also possible to insert a cutting process.
[0026]
FIG. 7 shows processing by HTTP when Web access is performed.
First, the mail application makes a connection request to the socket (S0CKET) (S701) and generates one connection (S702). Next, the mail application makes a Web screen information request to the mail server (S703), and acquires “text information + image file name” (S704). Next, when a disconnection request (S705) is issued from the mail application, disconnection processing is performed (S706). Further, connections 1 to 3 are generated every time there is a connection request (S707, 709, 710) (S708, 710, 712). Next, when an image request is made from the mail application to the mail server (S713 to S715), the image 3 is transmitted from the mail server (S716). Thereafter, when there is a disconnection request (S717), the connection 3 disconnection processing is performed (S718). Next, the last-send images 1 and 2 are transmitted from the mail server (S719 and S720). Thereafter, when there is a disconnection request (S721), connection 1 disconnection processing is performed (S722), and connection 2 disconnection processing is performed in response to the next disconnection request (S723) (S724).
[0027]
As described above, in the process of FIG. 7, one connection is first formed and only text information is acquired. The acquired text contains information necessary for acquiring an image, and separate connections are formed by the number of images, and the image is actually acquired. When there are a plurality of images, connections are formed by the number of images. Since a different connection is formed for each image, the requested order does not necessarily match the order that can be acquired. The Web browser combines the texts and images acquired through these separate connections and displays them as one Web screen 80 as shown in FIG. In the use of the Web browser, since a number of relatively short-time connections are formed, the necessity for intentional connection disconnection is low as in the case of using the POP described with reference to FIG.
[0028]
FIG. 9 shows an example of a sequence when the PHS is switched to the wireless LAN while using the Web and mail application. In the figure, Wn (n is an integer) is a connection used by the Web browser, and Mn (n is an integer) is a connection used by the mail application.
First, the Web browser acquires text information through the connection W1. The browser analyzes the text information and forms three connections W2, W3, and W4 to obtain three more images. If switching to the wireless LAN occurs at time T3, the connections W2 and W3 started before time T3 use PHS, and the connection W4 started after T3 uses the wireless LAN. The Web browser can complete the screen display at time T5 when the text information and all the image information are acquired.
[0029]
On the other hand, the mail application forms one connection M1 for mail reception. If switching to the wireless LAN occurs at the time T3 in the middle of the connection, the POP is analyzed, and detection of a connection disconnection / resumable position is started. If it becomes possible to disconnect / restart the connection at time T4, as described in FIG. 6 (S606 to S611), the connection M1 that used PHS is disconnected, switched to the wireless LAN, and a new connection M2 is formed. And continue to receive mail. As a result, the switching from the PHS to the wireless LAN can be completed at time T4 before the connection disconnection time T6 of the mail application.
[0030]
In the above embodiment, switching between PHS and wireless LAN has been described, but the present invention is not limited to the above two interfaces. For example, the present invention can be applied to a configuration using a physical interface such as switching between a mobile phone and a wireless LAN, switching between a wireless LAN and a wireless LAN, or the like.
In addition, although a notebook personal computer is taken as an example of a terminal device, the present invention is not limited to a laptop personal computer, and can be applied to mobile devices, PDA (Personal Digital Assistants) devices, and the like having a plurality of different types of communication interfaces. It is.
[0031]
【The invention's effect】
As is clear from the above, according to the mobile communication terminal device of the present invention, the connection management unit monitors the start and disconnection of each connection, and even if the connection is disconnected or restarted during data transmission / reception, the application is affected. When a divideable position of a connection that is not given is detected, the connection is switched, and the switching monitoring control unit monitors whether each physical interface is in a communicable state and detects a position where the physical interface can be switched. In response to this instruction, the switching of the physical interface is performed, and when the switching monitoring control unit instructs to switch, the switching from the used side to the unused physical interface is performed. Done. Therefore, it is possible to switch the interface at high speed without affecting the communication application (because the physical interface is switched at the start of a new connection without changing the physical interface for the connection that has already been continued) Become. Also, when there is a physical interface that is faster than the current physical interface, the high-speed side is selected, so that the transmission time can be shortened.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a mobile communication terminal device according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram showing an operation when switching from a first physical interface to a second physical interface;
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a flowchart showing a process of switching monitoring control by the switching monitoring control unit of FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a timing chart showing a general example of processing by POP when a mail program is used.
FIG. 6 is a timing chart showing a sequence in which disconnection / resumption of connection is inserted.
FIG. 7 is a timing chart showing processing by HTTP when Web access is performed.
FIG. 8 is a screen diagram illustrating a Web screen after performing the processing of FIG. 7;
FIG. 9 is a timing chart showing an example of a sequence when the PHS is switched to the wireless LAN while using the Web and mail application.
[Explanation of symbols]
101,301 connection-type communication application
102 Connection management section
103 Application-driven connection controller
104 Data analysis unit
105 buffers
106 Data analysis led connection control unit
107 Interface selection unit
108,109 Physical interface
110 switching monitoring control unit
301 Application
302 socket
303 Socket Management Department
304 Analysis unit
305 buffers
306 Connection disconnection / start insertion part
307 Interface selection unit

Claims (7)

In a mobile communication terminal device that is equipped with at least two types of physical interfaces of wired and wireless that operate according to a connection-type application or different types of wireless and wireless, and can be used indoors and outdoors by itself,
It is monitored whether or not each of the two types of physical interfaces is in a communicable state, and when a position where the two types of physical interfaces can be switched is detected, switching of the connection of the connection type application is instructed. A switching monitoring control unit;
When the communication start and disconnection of each of the two types of physical interfaces is monitored, and the division possible position of the connection that does not affect the application even if the connection is disconnected or restarted during data transmission / reception is detected A connection management unit that switches the connection and switches from a physical interface in use among the two types of physical interfaces to a designated physical interface if a switching instruction is issued from the switching monitoring control unit. A portable communication terminal device. The connection management unit is configured to execute an application-initiated connection control unit that executes a process for starting or disconnecting the connection in response to a request for starting or disconnecting the connection from the application;
A data analysis unit for detecting a connection splittable position where disconnection or resumption of the connection during data transmission / reception does not affect the application;
A data analysis initiative connection control unit for disconnecting or starting the connection based on the switching instruction from the switching monitoring control unit and the severable position information from the data analysis unit;
The mobile communication terminal device according to claim 1, further comprising an interface selection unit that selects a designated physical interface among the two types of physical interfaces in accordance with an instruction from the switching monitoring control unit. The mobile communication terminal apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the connection management unit includes a plurality of sockets. The switching monitoring control unit includes a timer that starts at a fixed interval, monitors the communication status of each of the two physical interfaces every time the timer times out, and communicates with a physical interface other than the physical interface in use 2. The portable communication terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the switching instruction is issued when it is determined that the situation is good. 5. The mobile communication terminal apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the switching monitoring control unit sets three types of reception statuses: good reception, unstable, and communication failure. The mobile communication terminal apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the connection-type application is a Web browser or an e-mail. 2. The mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein the two-system physical interface is a PHS, a mobile phone, a car phone, or a wireless LAN, and the wired system is a telephone modem, a wired LAN, or an ISDN. Communication terminal device.

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