JP3866204B2 - Communication quality notification device and wireless communication network compatible system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an apparatus for notifying a communication quality of a first wireless communication network to a second communication network, and in particular, a digital video / audio display device (for example, a digital television) existing on the second communication network. The present invention relates to a technique for transmitting data expressing the communication quality as compressed and encoded data such as MPEG format so that the communication quality can be displayed.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In a conventional communication quality display device for wireless communication, communication quality data determined by the wireless communication device (for example, radio wave strength and transmission error rate of the wireless communication network) is processed into video information and the processed data is processed. By displaying on the display unit in the wireless communication apparatus, communication quality data is notified to the user (see Patent Document 1). Therefore, there is no need to transmit the determined communication quality data to a communication device that exists on a communication network different from the wireless communication network.
[0003]
Further, as a conventional example of a wireless communication network that communicates between a first PC (Personal Computer) and a second PC, a first wireless communication device capable of determining communication quality and a first PC having a function of displaying communication quality data to a user The two devices are connected to each other by a first cable. The second PC that is the communication partner of the first PC is also connected to the second wireless communication apparatus by the second cable. The first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device communicate with each other via a wireless communication network. Accordingly, communication between the first PC and the second PC is performed via the first cable, the wireless communication network, and the second cable.
[0004]
By the way, for communication channels that use wired cables, the communication quality does not become unstable unlike wireless communication channels, so once a communication channel is established between the transmitting device and the receiving device, Can continue to communicate stably.
[0005]
However, in a communication path that uses radio, the communication quality may vary greatly depending on the installation position of the radio communication device. Therefore, it is necessary to install the radio communication device in an appropriate position where communication can be performed with better communication quality. is there.
[0006]
Therefore, in adjusting the installation positions of the first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device, communication quality data related to the wireless communication network determined by the first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device can be used. That is, the first wireless communication device transmits the determined communication quality data to the first PC via the first cable. The first PC receives the communication quality data and analyzes the data using the dedicated software installed, and displays the communication quality data on the display. The user can install the first wireless communication device in an appropriate position with reference to the displayed communication quality data, and thereby obtain a more preferable communication quality.
[0007]
On the other hand, in conventional communication of video data and audio data between digital AV devices, for example, an IEEE 1394 network connected by a wired cable is used. An example of such a case is a case where a digital television and a digital VTR are connected to each other via an IEEE 1394 network. In the case of an IEEE 1394 network connected by such a wired cable, there is no instability of communication quality like wireless communication. Once a communication channel is established between communication devices, stable communication is performed thereafter. It is possible to continue. Therefore, it is not necessary to monitor the communication quality of the communication path, and it is not necessary to transmit / receive the communication quality data via the network. Therefore, the communication standard between digital AV devices in the IEEE 1394 network is a rule for transmitting the communication quality data. Does not exist.
[0008]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-46763 (FIG. 1)
[0009]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In recent years, wireless communication represented by the IEEE 802.11 standard is becoming popular as a data communication method between a plurality of PCs. From the viewpoint of ease of wiring, a data communication method between digital AV devices is also known as a wireless communication method. Use is being considered.
[0010]
As described above, in wireless communication, the communication quality may vary greatly depending on the installation position of the wireless communication device. Therefore, it is necessary to install the wireless communication device in an appropriate position where communication can be performed with better communication quality. There is.
[0011]
Therefore, when wireless communication is used as a data communication method for a digital AV device (for example, a digital TV, a personal computer with a TV function, a digital video camera recorder), the first digital AV device and the first wireless communication device are separated. Then, the first digital AV device and the first wireless communication device are connected by a wired first IEEE 1394 network. The second digital AV device which is a communication partner is also connected to the second wireless communication device via the second IEEE 1394 network, and communication between the first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device is performed via the wireless communication network. Do.
[0012]
In such a connection form, it is not necessary to adjust the installation position of a device body that is difficult to change the installation position, such as a large-sized digital TV, and a relatively small and lightweight wireless communication device connected by a wired IEEE 1394 cable. Since only the installation position needs to be adjusted, the installation position can be easily adjusted.
[0013]
Further, in adjusting the installation position of the wireless communication device, the communication quality data of the wireless communication network determined by the wireless communication device can be used.
[0014]
However, in general, a wireless communication device does not include a means for notifying a user of communication quality data, such as a display device. For this reason, in order to notify the user of the communication quality data, it is necessary to transmit the communication quality data via a IEEE 1394 cable to a digital television having means for notifying the user.
[0015]
However, in the conventional digital AV equipment network using the IEEE 1394 network, there is a problem that the data format of the communication quality data, the communication method thereof, and the expression method for notifying the user of the communication quality data are not standardized. There is a point. Therefore, even if a communication quality data communication method and expression method are newly defined, such a new communication quality data communication method has already been released and put on the market, such as digital TV and other digital AV. A new problem emerges that the device cannot be supported.
[0016]
The present invention has been made in view of such a problem situation, and its object is to determine communication quality data of a relatively long-distance wireless communication network determined by an internal wireless communication unit, Even in digital AV equipment (also referred to as a digital video / audio display device) such as an existing digital TV, the communication is performed via a wired network for digital AV equipment such as an IEEE 1394 network or a wireless communication network of a relatively short distance. An object of the present invention is to provide a communication quality notification device capable of notifying a user of quality data.
[0017]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
A communication quality notification device according to the present invention has an input terminal electrically connected to a wireless communication network, and communication quality of at least one kind of the wireless communication network from a wireless signal received via the wireless communication network A wireless communication unit that detects communication parameters and outputs communication quality data that provides detected communication quality parameters from its output terminal, and determination criterion table data that indicates the relationship between individual communication quality data values and individual communication quality levels A determination reference table data holding unit, and an input terminal connected to both output terminals of the wireless communication unit and the determination reference table data holding unit, and the communication quality data received from the wireless communication unit and the The communication product received by comparing with the determination reference table data read from the determination reference table data holding unit A wireless communication quality level determining unit for determining a communication quality level to which the data belongs and outputting communication quality level data giving a determination result from the output terminal; and an input connected to the output terminal of the wireless communication quality level determining unit A communication quality expression data output unit for outputting communication quality expression data expressing the communication quality of the wireless communication network from the output terminal according to the received communication quality level data, and the communication quality expression data An input end connected to the output end of the output unit, and an output end electrically connected to a communication network having either a wired or wireless communication method, and the received communication quality expression data A communication unit for transmitting to the communication network from an output end, wherein the communication quality expression data exists on the communication network and is a decoder In decodable compression encoding method in a digital video and audio display device of the video data and audio data compressed encoded I than having, formed from at least one of the data The communication quality expression data output unit stores a plurality of communication quality expression candidate data expressing different levels of communication quality as data compressed and encoded in advance by the compression encoding method. The communication quality expression candidate data corresponding to the communication quality level provided by the communication quality level data is selected as the communication quality expression data from the output unit and the plurality of communication quality expression candidate data provided by the data output unit Each of the plurality of communication quality expression candidate data is composed of at least one of video data and audio data. It is characterized by that.
[0018]
Also, a wireless communication network compatible system according to the present invention is electrically connected to the communication quality notification device and the output end of the communication unit of the communication quality notification device via a communication network and a decoder. And a digital video / audio display device with a built-in.
[0019]
The wireless communication network compatible system further includes a wireless communication device having an output end electrically connected to the input end of the wireless communication unit of the communication quality notification device via a wireless communication network.
[0020]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
(Embodiment 1)
The feature of the present embodiment is that “compressed encoded data in MPEG format (data consisting of video data and / or audio data) representing a communication state (communication quality) in a wireless communication network that performs wireless communication over a relatively long distance ) Is transmitted to the digital video / audio display device via wired communication or wireless communication over a relatively short distance. Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0021]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of a communication quality notification device 100 according to the present embodiment, together with an external wireless communication device 13 and an external digital video / audio display device 12. In the present embodiment and all the embodiments described later, an apparatus composed of the communication quality notification apparatus, the external digital video / audio display apparatus 12 and the external wireless communication apparatus 13 according to each embodiment is referred to as “ Collectively referred to as “wireless communication network compatible system”.
[0022]
In FIG. 1, a wireless communication device 13 located outside as viewed from the communication quality notification device 100 transmits wireless data (including image data and / or audio data) to the present device 100 via the wireless communication network 2. It is. For example, the wireless communication device 13 is provided on the roof of a house, and wireless data received via the antenna is communicated via the wireless communication network 2 to a communication quality notification device installed in a room in the house. Further transmission to 100. Therefore, the wireless communication device 13 also has a “function capable of detecting a parameter value indicating the communication quality of wireless data from the wireless data”, as in the wireless communication unit 1 described later. Of course, data transmission between the devices 13 and 100 is possible in both directions.
[0023]
Similarly, a digital video / audio display device 12 (here, the device 12 is a digital television as a representative example) located outside from the communication quality notification device 100 is a wired cable network such as the IEEE 1394 network 11. A device that performs two-way data communication with the communication quality notification device 100 (also referred to as a communication network), such as an I / O device such as an IEEE 1394 digital interface, an MPEG decoder, a monitor, or a printer. Such a display device and / or a sound generation device including a speaker is built in at least. For example, the digital video / audio display device 12 is disposed in the same room as the room in which the communication quality notification device 100 is disposed, or in a separate room. As specific examples of the digital video / audio display device 12, in addition to a typical digital TV, a personal computer having a TV function and a digital video camera recorder (digital VCR) can be listed.
[0024]
The communication quality notification device 100, which is the core part of the present embodiment, includes the following units. That is, the wireless communication unit 1 has an input terminal electrically connected to the wireless communication network 2, and performs wireless communication with an external wireless communication device 13 via the wireless communication network 2. In addition, the unit 1 detects communication quality parameters of at least one type of wireless communication network from a wireless signal received via the wireless communication network 2, and outputs communication quality data D1 that gives a detected communication quality parameter to its output terminal. It also has a function to output more.
[0025]
The determination reference table data holding unit (for example, a disk drive circuit such as a memory circuit or HDD) 4 uses a table value (lookup) as a reference value for determining the communication quality of the wireless signal received by the wireless communication unit 1. Table) as a digital storage device. That is, the determination criterion table data D4 held by the same unit 4 gives a correlation between individual communication quality data values and individual communication quality levels (giving a communication quality level value to which each communication quality data value belongs). .
[0026]
The wireless communication quality level determination unit 3 has input terminals connected to both output terminals of the wireless communication unit 1 and the determination reference table data holding unit 4, and the communication quality data D 1 received from the wireless communication unit 1. Is compared with the determination criterion table data D4 read from the determination criterion table data holding unit 4, and the received communication quality data D1 Has a circuit function for determining the communication quality level to which the data belongs, and outputting the communication quality level data D3 giving the determination result from its output terminal.
[0027]
On the other hand, the communication quality expression data output unit 14 of the apparatus 100 has an input terminal connected to the output terminal of the wireless communication quality level determination unit 3, and “depends on the value of the received communication quality level data D3. The circuit function of “outputting communication quality expression data D8 expressing the communication quality of the wireless communication network 2 from its output end” is exhibited. It should be noted that the communication quality expression data D8 has already been compressed by a compression encoding method (corresponding to the MPEG method here) that can be decoded by the digital video / audio display device 12 existing on the communication network 11. That is, it is encoded data (consisting of at least one of video data and audio data). Specifically, in the present embodiment, the communication quality level of the wireless communication network 2 is divided into three levels (first level L1: high quality level) according to the configuration examples of the holding unit 4 and the determination unit 3 described above. , The second level L2: medium quality level, and the third level L3: low quality level), the circuit unit 14 corresponds to (1) the first to third communication quality levels corresponding to the three communication quality levels. The communication quality display MPEG data output units 5 to 7 and (2) MPEG data selection switch 8 are included. Here, (1) MPEG data output units (for example, memory circuits) 5 to 7 for displaying first to third communication quality display indicate that “three (first to third) communications expressing different levels of communication quality respectively. A data output unit that holds the quality expression candidate data D5, D6, and D7 as data that has been compression-encoded in advance by the MPEG compression encoding method ”is formed. Each of the first to third communication quality expression candidate data D5, D6, and D7 includes at least one of video data and audio data. More specifically, the high-quality display MPEG data output unit 5 performs communication quality notification MPEG data (first communication quality expression candidate) indicating that “the wireless signal received by the wireless communication unit 1 has high quality”. Data) D5 is output to the MPEG data selection switch 8. Further, the intermediate quality display MPEG data output unit 6 outputs communication quality notification MPEG data (second communication quality expression candidate data) D6 expressing that “the wireless signal received by the wireless communication unit 1 is of medium quality”. , And output to the MPEG data selection switch 8. Further, the low quality display MPEG data output unit 7 outputs communication quality notification MPEG data (third communication quality expression candidate data) D7 expressing that “the wireless signal received by the wireless communication unit 1 is of low quality”. , And output to the MPEG data selection switch 8. Then, the MPEG data selection switch 8 of (2) switches the switch based on the communication quality determined by the wireless communication quality level determination unit 3, thereby the first data output units 5-7 provided by the first to third data output units 5-7. The communication quality expression candidate data corresponding to the communication quality level (L1 to L3) given by the communication quality level data D3 is selected as the communication quality expression data D8 from the third communication quality expression candidate data D5 to D7 and output. It has the function to do.
[0028]
The IEEE 1394 communication unit 9 is connected to the output end of the communication quality expression data output unit 14, that is, the input end connected to the output end of the MPEG data selection switch 8, and the output end of the mode changeover switch 10 described later. It has an input end and an output end electrically connected to the wired communication network 11, and transmits the received communication quality expression data D8 from the output end onto the communication network 11 in the communication quality notification mode described later. It has the function to do. Here, the IEEE 1394 communication unit 9 performs bidirectional communication with an external IEEE 1394 communication device 12 via the IEEE 1394 network 11.
[0029]
Furthermore, the mode switch 10 is a circuit that exhibits a function of switching the operation mode of the communication quality notification device 100.
[0030]
Next, the operation in the communication quality notification device 100 (based on the communication quality of the wireless communication network 2 is selected, the communication quality notification MPEG data is selected, and the selected communication quality notification MPEG data D8 is sent from the IEEE 1394 communication unit 9 to the outside. Operation to transmit to the digital television 12) will be described.
[0031]
First, the wireless communication unit 1 can detect the communication quality of wireless communication when performing wireless communication with an external wireless communication device 13 via the wireless communication network 2. For example, the wireless communication unit 1 monitors the wireless signal received from the wireless communication device 13 to detect the radio field intensity of the received signal, and further detects the error rate by performing error detection on the received signal. It can be detected as one type of parameter that gives the communication quality.
[0032]
Furthermore, the wireless communication unit 1 can also detect the modulation method and / or coding rate of the wireless signal on the wireless communication network 2 as one type of communication quality parameter for wireless communication. That is, depending on the wireless communication system, the wireless communication device 13 on the transmission station side determines the modulation method and / or coding rate of the wireless signal on the wireless communication network 2 based on the information of the radio wave intensity and the error rate detected by itself. It may be changed to an optimal value. In this case, the radio communication unit 1 on the receiving station side can detect the changed modulation scheme and / or coding rate by analyzing the received signal. Analysis for detecting such a modulation scheme and / or coding rate is performed as follows.
[0033]
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the structure of a PLCP (Physical Layer Convergence Protocol) frame in IEEE 802.11a, which is a wireless communication standard, that is, the data structure of a wireless signal on the wireless communication network 2. As shown in the figure, in the RATE field 501 of the PLCP frame, a value indicating the modulation method and / or coding rate of the data body to be transmitted contained in the DATA field 502 is stored. For example, while the coding rate of data included in each field from the PLCP Preamble field to the Tail field is 6 Mbps, the coding rate of the data body to be transmitted in the DATA field 502 is 54 Mbps. Data indicating this is included in the RATE field 501. Therefore, the wireless communication unit 1 can easily detect the value indicating the changed modulation method and / or coding rate by monitoring the RATE field 501 in the received signal.
[0034]
The wireless communication unit 1 can measure the throughput by monitoring a received signal transmitted as a continuation of the PLCP frame structure for a certain period and measuring the amount of data successfully communicated within the certain period. Is possible. This throughput can also be used as a parameter representing the communication quality of wireless communication.
[0035]
As described above, the wireless communication unit 1 can use the detected values of the radio wave intensity, error rate, modulation method, coding rate, and throughput as communication quality parameters for wireless communication, and among these usable parameters, Then, at least one parameter value is transmitted to the wireless communication quality level determination unit 3 as communication quality data D1.
[0036]
The wireless communication quality level determination unit 3 reads the determination standard table data D4 for determining the communication quality level read from the determination standard table data holding unit 4, and the communication quality data D1 transmitted from the wireless communication unit 1. The communication quality data D1 The communication quality level of the wireless communication network 2 to which the parameter value given by belongs belongs. Then, the wireless communication quality level determination unit 3 operates (controls) the switch 8 by transmitting data D3 giving the determined communication quality level to the MPEG data selection switch 8. Here, as an example of FIG. 1, the table provided by the determination criterion table data D4 is 1) When the value of the communication quality data D1 belongs to the group L1, the communication quality level is “high quality”. 2) The communication quality data D1 The communication quality level is “medium quality” when the value of belongs to the group L2, and 3) the communication quality level is “low quality” when the value of the communication quality data D1 belongs to the group L3. . At this time, when the wireless communication quality level determination unit 3 determines that the value of the received communication quality data D1 belongs to, for example, the group L1 in the table, “the high quality display MPEG data output unit 5 is selected. A signal D3 having a level commanded to the MPEG data selection switch 8 is output.
[0037]
Based on the value (command level) of the communication quality level data D3 transmitted from the wireless communication quality level determination unit 3, the MPEG data selection switch 8 is connected to the high quality display MPEG data output unit 5, the medium quality display MPEG. One communication quality expression candidate MPEG data is selected from the first to third communication quality expression candidate MPEG data D5 to D7 output from the data output unit 6 and the low quality display MPEG data output unit 7, respectively. Then, the selected MPEG data is transmitted to the IEEE 1394 communication unit 9 as communication quality expression MPEG data D8. As described above, the first to third communication quality notification MPEG data output from the high quality display MPEG data output unit 5, the medium quality display MPEG data output unit 6, and the low quality display MPEG data output unit 7. D1 to D3 are data formed by compressing and encoding a video signal and / or an audio signal expressing communication quality by the MPEG method.
[0038]
Here, FIG. 3 shows an example of a video image when the first communication quality expression candidate MPEG data D5 output from the high quality display MPEG data output unit 5 is decoded on the digital television 12 side. Further, FIG. 4 shows an example of video when the second communication quality expression candidate MPEG data D6 output from the intermediate quality display MPEG data output unit 6 is decoded on the digital television 12 side. Furthermore, FIG. 5 shows an example of video when the third television quality expression candidate MPEG data D7 output from the low quality display MPEG data output unit 7 is decoded on the digital television 12 side. In the video examples of FIGS. 3 to 5, the user is notified of the communication quality of the wireless communication network 2 by using character information and graphic information. Of course, the communication quality may be notified to the user by either one of character information or graphic information.
[0039]
As described above, the communication quality notifying apparatus 100 in FIG. 1 holds three types of MPEG data D5 to D7 for communication quality expression candidates, and outputs one of them as the communication quality expression MPEG data D8. Thus, although three-stage communication quality expression can be performed, it is needless to say that the communication quality notification device according to the present embodiment is not limited to such a configuration example. That is, “an arbitrary number of communication quality representation candidate MPEG data is held, and one candidate MPEG data is output as the communication quality representation MPEG data from among them. It is possible to configure the communication quality notification device according to the present embodiment so that it can be performed.
[0040]
A mode changeover switch 10 in FIG. 1 switches data to be transmitted from the IEEE1394 communication unit 9 to the external digital television 12 via the IEEE1394 network 11 in response to an external command input. That is, the mode switch 10 switches between the “bridge mode” and the “communication quality notification mode”.
[0041]
When the bridge mode is selected, the communication quality notification device 100 operates as a network bridge that enables data communication between the wireless communication network 2 and the IEEE 1394 network 11. In this case, for example, when a signal instructing to receive a program of a certain channel is issued from the digital television 12 in response to a user operation, the IEEE 1394 communication unit 9 transmits such a command signal to the wireless communication unit 1. The wireless communication unit 1 transmits the received command signal to the wireless communication device 13 via the wireless communication network 2.
[0042]
On the other hand, when the communication quality notification mode is selected, the IEEE 1394 communication unit 9 sends the MPEG data D8 for communication quality expression selected and output by the MPEG data selection switch 8 to the external digital television via the IEEE 1394 network 11. 12 is transmitted. Since the digital television 12 having the IEEE 1394 interface has a built-in MPEG decoder, the MPEG data D8 for communication quality expression transmitted from the IEEE 1394 communication unit 9 is decoded, and when the data D8 includes video data, When the communication quality notification video is displayed on the screen and the data D8 includes audio data, the communication quality notification audio can be played from the speaker. As a result, the communication quality of the wireless communication network 2 can be notified to the user.
[0043]
<Advantage 1>
As described above, according to the present embodiment, communication quality expression data compressed and encoded in a compression encoding format that can be decoded even by an existing digital video and audio display device is displayed on the digital video and audio display side Therefore, it is possible to reliably notify the communication quality of the wireless communication network 2 to the user who uses the existing or new digital video / audio display device in the wireless communication network compatible system.
[0044]
<Advantage 2>
Moreover, according to the present embodiment, since a plurality of MPEG data for communication quality expression candidates are held in advance, communication quality expression of a plurality of stages can be performed. Is not required to be provided in the communication quality notification device 100, and there is an advantage that the circuit scale of the device 100 can be reduced.
[0045]
(Embodiment 2)
The feature point of the communication quality expression data output unit that plays the core part of the present embodiment is, “After generating an analog communication quality notification signal according to the communication quality level data received from the wireless communication quality level determination unit, The communication quality notifying signal is output by compressing and encoding the communication quality notification signal using the MPEG compression encoding method. Hereinafter, the communication quality expression data output unit according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0046]
FIG. 6 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of a wireless communication network compatible system including the communication quality notification device 200 according to the present embodiment. The system of the present embodiment is different from that of the first embodiment only in the configuration of the communication quality expression data output unit 24, and there is no difference in the other components. Accordingly, in FIG. 6, circuit elements having the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 exhibit the same configuration / function as the corresponding elements in FIG. 1. Will be omitted, and the explanation will be developed focusing on the different circuit elements.
[0047]
As shown in FIG. 6, the communication quality expression data output unit 24 includes a communication quality notification signal output unit 22 and an MPEG encoder 23. Among them, the communication quality notification signal output unit 22 receives an analog communication quality notification signal D22 that can express the communication quality corresponding to the communication quality level given by the communication quality level data D3, for receiving the communication quality level data D3. It has a function to generate and output accordingly. Here, the analog communication quality notification signal D22 includes at least one of video data and audio data. For example, the part 22 is realized by a computer controlled by software (program) created and installed in advance.
[0048]
On the other hand, the MPEG encoder 23 compresses the communication quality notification signal D22 received from the communication quality notification signal output unit 22 by a compression encoding method (MPEG method) that can be decoded by the digital television 12. And a compression encoding circuit that outputs the data after compression encoding as communication quality expression data D23.
[0049]
Next, the operation in the communication quality notification device 200 according to the present embodiment (the operation of transmitting MPEG data D23 for notifying the communication quality of the wireless communication network 2 from the IEEE 1394 communication unit 9 to the external digital television 12) will be described.
[0050]
First, the wireless communication unit 1 transmits the detected communication quality data D1 to the wireless communication quality level determination unit 3. Then, the wireless communication quality level determination unit 3 determines the communication quality level of the wireless communication network 2 from the communication quality data D1, and transmits the communication quality level data D3 to the communication quality notification signal output unit 22. These operations are as described in the first embodiment.
[0051]
Next, the communication quality notification signal output unit 22 responds to the communication quality level data D3 transmitted from the wireless communication quality level determination unit 3 and expresses the communication quality level as analog data. Generate and output (consisting of video and / or audio signals).
[0052]
For example, it is assumed that the determination criterion table is composed of the example described in the first embodiment, and the communication quality notification signal D22 is composed of a video signal. At this time, if the transmitted communication quality level is at a sufficiently high quality level (group L1 level), the communication quality notification signal output unit 22 follows the preset program as shown in FIG. A video signal is generated as the communication quality notification signal D22. Alternatively, when the communication quality level is at the medium quality level (group L2 level), the communication quality notification signal output unit 22 generates a video signal as shown in FIG. Alternatively, when the communication quality level is at a low quality level (group L3 level), the unit 22 generates a video signal as shown in FIG.
[0053]
After that, the communication quality notification signal output unit 22 transmits the generated communication quality notification signal D22 (video signal and / or audio signal) to the MPEG encoder 23.
[0054]
The MPEG encoder 23 compresses and encodes the communication quality notification signal D22 transmitted from the communication quality notification signal output unit 22 using the MPEG method, and generates communication quality expression MPEG data D23. Then, the MPEG encoder 23 transmits the generated communication quality representation MPEG data D23 to the IEEE 1394 communication unit 9.
[0055]
<Advantages>
In communication quality notification apparatus 200 according to the present embodiment, communication quality notification signal (video signal and / or audio signal) D22 is generated in one unit called communication quality notification signal output unit 22, so communication quality If the signal generation capability of the notification signal output unit 22 is high, various patterns of communication quality notification signals D22 can be generated. Therefore, it is possible to increase the pattern of the communication quality expressing MPEG data D23 output from the communication quality notifying device 200. As a result, the pattern of the video signal and / or the audio signal decoded by the digital television 12 is increased. There is an advantage that the communication quality can be notified more precisely.
[0056]
(Embodiment 3)
The feature point of the communication quality expression data output unit serving as the core of the present embodiment is “determining whether or not to output communication quality expression data according to the quality of the communication quality determined by the wireless communication quality level determination unit” In the point. Hereinafter, based on the drawings, the present embodiment will be described focusing on the feature points.
[0057]
FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a system including communication quality notification apparatus 300 according to the present embodiment. In the figure, the components that realize the above-described feature points are an on / off switch 33 and a communication quality notification MPEG data output unit 32. Accordingly, each of the other circuit elements is the same as the corresponding circuit element in the first embodiment (FIG. 1), and description thereof is omitted below.
[0058]
In FIG. 7, a communication quality notification MPEG data output unit 32 outputs a piece of communication quality expressing MPEG data (consisting of video data and / or audio data) D32 generated in advance and held in the unit 32. .
[0059]
The on / off switch 33 switches the connection of the switch according to the level of the communication quality level data D3, thereby transmitting or not transmitting the MPEG data D32 transmitted from the communication quality notification MPEG data output unit 32 to the IEEE 1394 communication unit. Implement the function to determine.
[0060]
Next, operation in communication quality notifying apparatus 300 according to the present embodiment (operation for transmitting MPEG data D32 notifying the communication quality of wireless communication network 2 from IEEE 1394 communication unit 9 to external digital television 12 and operation for not transmitting) Is described.
[0061]
First, the wireless communication unit 1 transmits the detected communication quality data D1 to the wireless communication quality level determination unit 3. In response, the wireless communication quality level determination unit 3 determines the communication quality level to which the received communication quality data D1 belongs through the comparison process as described above. Then, the wireless communication quality level determination unit 3 determines that “the determined communication quality level is sufficient or higher than the minimum wireless communication quality that the wireless communication network 2 should have”. If possible, the on / off switch 33 is switched so that the MPEG data D32 output from the communication quality notification MPEG data output unit 32 is directly transmitted to the IEEE1394 communication unit 9 via the on / off switch 33. Conversely, if the wireless communication quality level determination unit 3 determines that the determined communication quality level is not sufficient, the MPEG data D32 output from the communication quality notification MPEG data output unit 32 is turned on / off switch 33. The on / off switch 33 is switched so as not to be transmitted to the IEEE 1394 communication unit 9 via.
[0062]
For example, in the determination criterion table, the communication quality of a value equal to or higher than a certain reference value belongs to the group L1 indicating “a sufficient quality level for the minimum wireless communication quality that the wireless communication network 2 should have”. A communication quality having a value less than the above reference value has a relationship that it belongs to the group L2 indicating "an insufficient quality level for the minimum wireless communication quality that the wireless communication network 2 should have". . At this time, the wireless communication quality level determination unit 3 detects that the reception data D1 belongs to the group L1 by comparing (1) the data D1 with the determination reference table, and for example, a signal D3 of level “1”. Is output. As a result, the on / off switch 33 connects the receiving terminal of the MPEG data D32 to the output terminal, and transmits the MPEG data D32 to the IEEE 1394 communication unit 9 as the data D33. On the contrary, when the wireless communication quality level determination unit 3 detects that the received data D1 belongs to the group L2 by comparing the data D1 with the determination reference table, the signal of level “0” is detected. D3 is output. As a result, the on / off switch 33 performs a switching operation to disconnect the connection between the receiving terminal of the MPEG data D32 and its output terminal.
[0063]
Alternatively, when the determination reference table data holding unit 4 has a three-step determination reference table (three groups of high, medium, and low quality) as exemplified in the first embodiment, the wireless communication quality level determination unit 3 receives Only when the data D1 belongs to the high quality group L1, the signal D3 of level "1" is output. As a result, the on / off switch 33 is switched to connect the receiving terminal of the MPEG data D32 and its output terminal to each other. The operation may be performed.
[0064]
As described above, the communication quality notification MPEG data D32 held by the communication quality notification MPEG data output unit 32 and always output to the on / off switch 33 is the "wireless communication unit 1 in the bridge mode. When the received data is continuously transmitted to the digital television 12 via the IEEE 1394 communication unit 9, it indicates that the communication quality of the wireless communication network 2 is sufficient. " is there.
[0065]
FIG. 8 shows a screen displayed on the digital television 12 as an example of the communication quality notification MPEG data output from the communication quality notification MPEG data output unit 32. In this example, a radio wave pattern 903 simulating radio waves reciprocates between a symbol 901 of the first wireless communication device and a symbol 902 of the second wireless communication device in FIG.
[0066]
When the communication quality notification MPEG data D33 is continuously transmitted to the digital television 12, an image in which the radio wave pattern 903 continues to move between both symbols 901 and 902 is displayed on the screen of the digital television 12. . On the other hand, when the transmission of the communication quality notification MPEG data D33 is stopped, the digital television 12 freezes or blacks out the screen. For this reason, the user can determine whether or not the communication quality of the wireless communication network 2 is sufficient by viewing the screen of the digital television 12.
[0067]
The communication quality notification MPEG data output from the communication quality notification MPEG data output unit 32 may be audio data. In that case, the communication quality notification MPEG data is, for example, continuous sound data. When it is determined that the wireless communication in the wireless communication network 2 is of sufficient quality, a continuous sound is generated by transmitting the MPEG data for communication quality notification, and the wireless communication in the wireless communication network 2 is of sufficient quality. If it is determined that there is not, the sound is stopped by stopping the transmission of the MPEG data for communication quality notification.
[0068]
In addition, since it is possible to determine whether the communication quality of the wireless communication network 2 is sufficient by transmitting or not transmitting the MPEG data for communication quality notification, the wireless communication in the wireless communication network 2 is sufficient. MPEG data for communication quality notification is not transmitted when it is determined that the quality is high, and MPEG data for communication quality notification is transmitted when it is determined that the wireless communication in the wireless communication network 2 is not of sufficient quality. You may do it.
[0069]
<Advantages>
In the communication quality notification device according to the present embodiment, the communication quality is notified depending on whether or not the communication quality notification MPEG data output from the communication quality notification MPEG data output unit 32 is output to the digital television 12. Therefore, the communication quality expressing MPEG data composed of at least one type of pattern may be held in the communication quality notification MPEG data output unit 32. Therefore, the circuit configuration of the communication quality notification MPEG data output unit 32 is simplified. There is an advantage to get.
[0070]
(Appendix)
While the embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed and described in detail above, the above description exemplifies aspects to which the present invention can be applied, and the present invention is not limited thereto. In other words, various modifications and variations to the described aspects can be considered without departing from the scope of the present invention.
[0071]
1) For example, when the digital video / audio display device has a JPEG decoder, the communication quality expression data output from the communication quality expression data output unit is set to video data compressed and encoded in the JPEG format. In that sense, the compression encoding format included in the communication quality expression data is not limited to the MPEG format in the first to third embodiments.
[0072]
2) For example, in each embodiment, when the communication quality expression MPEG data output from the communication quality expression data output unit includes audio data or consists only of audio data, at least one of volume, scale, and tone Therefore, it is possible to realize expression of communication quality by voice.
[0073]
3) The communication method between the communication quality expression data output unit and the digital video / audio display device is not limited to the wired cable method such as the IEEE 1394 network used in the first to third embodiments. That is, when the communication distance between the communication quality expression data output unit and the digital video / audio display device is shorter than the communication distance between the wireless communication device 13 and the wireless communication unit 1, for example, the communication quality expression data output unit and the digital video / audio display device When the video / audio display device is arranged in the same room, even if the communication between the two is performed by wireless communication, the quality deterioration of the wireless communication can be ignored. Therefore, in such a case, a communication network between the wireless communication unit on the digital video / audio display device side in the communication quality expression data output unit and the digital video / audio display device may be constructed as a wireless communication network. . In this sense, the wired communication network such as the IEEE 1394 network described in the first to third embodiments and the wireless communication network of the present modification are collectively referred to as “communication quality expression data output unit”. "Communication network between digital video and audio display devices". Accordingly, the IEEE 1394 communication unit 9 in the first to third embodiments and the wireless communication unit on the video / audio display device side of the present modification are collectively referred to as “communication unit” in the present invention.
[0074]
4) The communication quality expression data output units 14, 24, 34 or the communication quality notification devices 100, 200, 300 themselves described in the first to third embodiments may be realized by a computer. In the present invention, a configuration of an electrical circuit in a hardware resource called a computer controlled by such software is also a modified example within the range.
[0075]
【The invention's effect】
According to the communication quality notification device and the wireless communication network compatible system according to the present invention, the data (video data and / or audio data) expressing the communication quality of the wireless communication network is decoded for the digital video / audio display device on the communication network. Since the data is transmitted over the communication network as possible compression-coded data, the data (video data and / or audio data) representing the communication quality of the wireless communication network is decoded on the digital video / audio display device. As a result, it is possible to reliably notify the user of the communication quality of the wireless communication network.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of a communication quality notification apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a PLCP frame structure in IEEE802.11a.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a decoded video of data output from a communication quality notification device according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a decoded video of data output from the communication quality notification device according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a decoded video of data output from the communication quality notification device according to the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of a communication quality notification apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of a communication quality notification apparatus according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a decoded video of data output from a communication quality notification device according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Wireless communication part, 2 Wireless communication network, 3 Wireless communication quality level judgment part, 4 Judgment reference table holding part, 5 High quality notification MPEG data output part, 6 Medium quality notification MPEG data output part, 7 Low quality notification use MPEG data output unit, 8 MPEG data selection switch, 9 IEEE 1394 communication unit, 10 mode changeover switch, 11 IEEE 1394 network, 12 external digital television, 13 external wireless communication device, 22 communication quality notification signal generation unit, 23 MPEG encoder , 32 Communication quality notification MPEG data output unit, 33 ON / OFF switch, 501 RATE field, 502 DATA field, 901 pattern of first wireless communication device, 902 pattern of second wireless communication device, 903 radio wave pattern, 100, 200, 300 Communication quality notification device.

Claims (3)

A communication unit having an input terminal electrically connected to the wireless communication network and detecting a communication quality parameter of at least one wireless communication network from a wireless signal received via the wireless communication network; A wireless communication unit that outputs communication quality data giving a quality parameter from its output end;
A criterion table data holding unit that holds criterion table data that gives the relationship between individual communication quality data values and individual communication quality levels;
The determination read from the communication quality data received from the wireless communication unit and the determination reference table data holding unit, having input ends connected to both output ends of the wireless communication unit and the determination reference table data holding unit A wireless communication quality level determination unit that compares the reference table data, determines the communication quality level to which the received communication quality data belongs, and outputs the communication quality level data that gives the determination result from the output end;
An output terminal connected to the output terminal of the wireless communication quality level determination unit, and corresponding to the received communication quality level data, communication quality expression data representing the communication quality of the wireless communication network is output to the output terminal. A communication quality expression data output unit that outputs more,
The received communication having an input terminal connected to the output terminal of the communication quality expression data output unit and an output terminal electrically connected to a communication network having either a wired or wireless communication method A communication unit for transmitting quality expression data from the output terminal to the communication network,
The communication quality representation data is video data and audio data that are compressed and encoded by a compression encoding method that can be decoded by a digital video and audio display device that exists on the communication network and has a decoder. , Ri comprises at least one of data,
The communication quality expression data output unit
A data output unit for holding a plurality of communication quality expression candidate data expressing different levels of communication quality, as data that has been compression encoded by the compression encoding method in advance,
The communication quality expression candidate data corresponding to the communication quality level provided by the communication quality level data is selected as the communication quality expression data from the plurality of communication quality expression candidate data provided by the data output unit and output. With a selection switch,
Each of the plurality of communication quality expression candidate data is composed of at least one of video data and audio data.
Communication quality notification device. The communication quality notification device according to claim 1 ,
A digital video / audio display device that is electrically connected to the output end of the communication unit of the communication quality notification device via a communication network and includes a decoder;
Wireless communication network compatible system. A wireless communication network compatible system according to claim 2 ,
The wireless communication device further comprising a wireless communication device having an output terminal electrically connected to the input terminal of the wireless communication unit of the communication quality notification device via a wireless communication network,
Wireless communication network compatible system.

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