JP4709056B2 - Transmission power control system and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent unnecessary consumption of electric power, achieve power saving, and reduce interference impact to neighboring radio networks. <P>SOLUTION: The invention is a method to determine an initial value of transmission power control. The system discriminates whether the usage mode is in tendency to be used in a mobile type or a fixed permanent type from history information, and executes an initial value determination method which is respectively suited them. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for determining an initial value of transmission power control in a wireless communication apparatus.

  In recent years, short-range wireless communication technologies such as WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) represented by 802.11b / 11g / 11a and Bluetooth have been installed in various products, and have become very familiar.

  These short-range wireless communication technologies are extremely useful and convenient because they wirelessly connect devices that were previously connected by wire and free us from problems such as installation locations and complicated cables.

  Because of these advantages, short-range wireless communication technology will continue to develop and will be installed in more products including home appliances as well as information devices.

  Some wireless communication devices have transmission power control in order to cope with a constantly changing communication environment (communication distance, communication partner, radio wave environment, obstacle, etc.). The transmission power control will be briefly described. After the power is turned on, the wireless communication apparatus sets an initial transmission power level and starts communication.

  After the communication is started, the transmission power is controlled to be increased or decreased according to the communication error rate or information from the counterpart device, so that the transmission output is controlled appropriately.

  The proper transmission output is the minimum transmission output necessary for continuing communication. If the transmission power is higher than necessary, the power consumption will increase, and it will interfere with and affect neighboring wireless networks.

  Conversely, if the transmission power is too small, communication with the communication partner will be affected, and in the worst case, communication will not be possible.

  Conventionally, as an initial value of transmission power control, a maximum value, a minimum value, or a predetermined value that can be allowed for transmission has been used.

  FIG. 6 shows a configuration of a wireless transmission processing unit in which a conventional transmission power control system is mounted.

  A frame processing unit 201 that frames data input from an application or protocol for wireless transmission, and a baseband processing unit 202 that converts frame data into a baseband signal are provided. Furthermore, a radio transmission unit 203 that converts a baseband signal into a radio signal and outputs the radio signal to an antenna, and transmission power control that controls the transmission output of the radio transmission unit 203 to an appropriate value based on information from the radio reception processing unit Unit 204 and initial value 205 of transmission power control are provided.

  By the way, the wireless communication apparatus is used in various environments, and can be roughly classified into a mobile type and a fixed permanent type when the usage form is classified.

  The fixed permanent type is a usage form in which the place of use is fixed and the connection partner is likely to be the same every time, so the communication distance and the required transmission power are almost the same each time (see FIG. 4). ).

  The mobile type is a usage pattern in which the place to be used is variable, the connection partner may change one after another, and the communication distance and necessary transmission power change variously (see FIG. 5).

  As described above, the usage forms can be classified into the mobile type and the fixed permanent type. However, usage examples of portable information devices and the like equipped with recent short-range wireless communication technology have become complicated and include the following. In other words, it communicates with home access points and wireless printers at some times, communicates with outdoor and hotspot access points at other times, and communicates directly with friends' portable information devices at other times. is there.

  In such a case, there is a usage pattern as a mobile type in some cases, and a usage pattern as a fixed permanent type in other cases. In addition, in the case of a user who performs wireless communication only in his / her home, or a user who does not have wireless communication-compatible equipment in his / her home and uses only outside, the usage form limited to the mobile type for users who are also in the same product In addition, a certain user takes a usage form limited to a fixed permanent type.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-177489 JP-A-11-261623

  In a wireless communication device that adopts a mobile type of usage, at the start of communication, it is not known what kind of communication distance to communicate with the counterpart device, so the initial value of transmission power control is necessary in order to communicate correctly from the start of communication. It is desirable to set a large value.

  Also, in the fixed permanent type of usage, at the start of communication, communication with the same counterpart device is usually performed, so the initial value of the transmission power control is empirically set so that the transmission output is not larger than necessary. It is desirable to set it to a value.

  However, in wireless communication devices where it is not possible to determine in general whether the mobile type or the fixed permanent type is used, it is necessary to appropriately select a method for determining the initial value of the transmission power control according to the usage form There was a problem that there was.

In the present invention, when the dispersion value or standard deviation value of the transmission power value in the past predetermined number of times is larger than a predetermined threshold value, the transmission power is based on the stored maximum value of transmission power value or the upper limit value of transmission power control. When the variance value or the standard deviation value is smaller than a predetermined threshold value, the average value of the stored transmission power values, the median value of the stored transmission power values, or the stored transmission power An initial value of the transmission power is determined based on the latest value.

According to the present invention, by determining the initial value of the transmission power in accordance with the variance value or standard deviation of past transmission power value, it prevents the consuming power needlessly, and realize power saving In addition, the influence of interference on neighboring wireless networks can be reduced.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. An embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG.

  A frame processing unit 101 that converts data input from an application or protocol into a frame for wireless transmission and a baseband processing unit 102 that converts frame data into a baseband signal are provided.

  Also, a radio transmission unit 103 that converts a baseband signal into a radio signal and outputs it to an antenna, and a transmission power control unit that controls the transmission output of the radio transmission unit 103 to an appropriate value based on information from the radio reception processing unit 104 is provided.

  Further, for example, a history unit 105 that stores past transmission power values for a predetermined number of times, and determines whether the usage form is a fixed permanent type or a mobile type based on the history information stored in the history unit 105 Determination means 106 is provided.

  In addition, a wireless transmission processing unit 108 including an initial value determination unit 107 that determines an initial value of transmission power control based on a determination result of the determination unit 106, and receives a wireless signal and outputs data to an application or a protocol. And a wireless reception processing unit 109 is provided.

  In addition, a CPU 110 that controls the wireless transmission processing unit 108 and the wireless reception processing unit 109 and a memory 111 that stores various data and information are provided.

  FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the determination means 106. A history information analysis unit 106a that analyzes history information obtained by referring to the history unit 105, and a comparison determination unit 106b that compares the analysis result with a threshold value 106c to determine a usage pattern are provided.

  FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the initial value determining means. A usage pattern identification unit 107a that identifies the determination result of the determination unit 106 and a fixed permanent type initial value determination unit 107b that determines an initial value in a fixed permanent type usage pattern are provided. Furthermore, a mobile type initial value determination unit 107c that determines an initial value in a mobile type usage pattern and an initial value setting unit 107d that sets the determined initial value in the transmission power control unit are provided.

  Here, the operation of the transmission power control system of the present invention, that is, the transmission power control method will be described with reference to FIGS.

  First, an outline of the operation will be described.

The determination unit 106 analyzes the history information with reference to the history information of the history unit 105 that stores the past predetermined number of transmission power values as history information, and the past usage tendency is a fixed permanent type. Determine whether it is mobile or mobile.

  The initial value determining unit 107 selects an initial value determining method based on the determination result of the determining unit 106 and sets the obtained initial value in the transmission power control unit 104.

  Hereinafter, a more detailed operation will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

  At the start of wireless communication, in step S101, it is determined whether or not the designation of mobile type or fixed permanent type by the user or application already exists in the memory.

  If the determination result is specified, the process proceeds to step S105. In step S105, it is determined whether the specification is a fixed permanent type. If the designation is a fixed permanent type, the process proceeds to step S107. On the other hand, if the designation is not a fixed permanent type, it is determined that the type is a mobile type, and the process proceeds to step S106. If it is determined in step S101 that there is no instruction, the process proceeds to step S102.

  In step S102, the history information analysis unit 106a of the determination unit 106 refers to the history information stored in the history unit 105 and confirms whether the number of history information is less than a predetermined number.

  If not, the mobile type is determined, and the process proceeds to step S106. If the predetermined number of times is satisfied, the process proceeds to step S103.

  In step S103, the history information analysis unit 106a of the determination unit 106 analyzes the history information stored in the history unit 105.

  Specifically, the history information analysis unit 106a obtains a dispersion value of the transmission power value that is history information.

  Alternatively, in the case of the flowchart of FIG. 8, the history information analysis unit 106 a obtains a standard deviation value of the transmission power value that is history information.

Step S104 The comparison determination unit 106b, the variance value is an output value of the history information analysis section 106a, and a predetermined threshold value 106c that stores, was magnitude comparison, when the dispersion value is smaller than the threshold value 106c Is determined to be a fixed permanent type, and the process proceeds to S107. In other cases, the mobile type is determined, and the process proceeds to step S106.

Or, in the case of the flowchart of FIG. 8, and the standard deviation value is an output value of the history information analysis section 106a, and a predetermined threshold value 106c that is stored, it compares the values, if the variance value is smaller than the threshold value 106c Is determined to be a fixed permanent type, and the process proceeds to step S107. In other cases, the mobile type is determined, and the process proceeds to step S106.

  In step S106, the initial value is determined using the mobile type initial value determining unit 107c of the initial value determining means 107.

  Specifically, referring to the history information of the history means 105, the maximum value among the stored transmission power values is obtained, and this is set as the initial value.

  Alternatively, the upper limit value of transmission power control is set as the initial value.

  Alternatively, the maximum value of the past transmission power values stored in the history unit 105 is obtained and set as an initial value.

  In step S107, the initial value is determined using the fixed permanent initial value determination unit 107b of the initial value determination means 107.

  Specifically, referring to the history information of the history means 105, an average value of the stored transmission power values is obtained and set as an initial value.

  Alternatively, referring to the history information of the history means 105, the median value of the stored transmission power values is obtained and set as the initial value.

  Alternatively, referring to the history information of the history means 105, the latest value among the stored transmission power values is acquired, and this is set as the initial value.

  In step S108, the initial value setting unit 107d sets the initial value determined by the fixed permanent initial value determination unit 107b or the mobile initial value determination unit 107c to the transmission power control unit 104 as a transmission power value.

  The initial value of transmission power control is set by the processing flow as described above.

  Here, the timing at which the history unit 105 acquires the transmission power value as history information will be described.

  The log | history means 105 memorize | stores the transmission power value at the time of transmission power control reaching an equilibrium state, or after that, every time a radio | wireless communication part is started.

  Or the log | history means 105 memorize | stores the transmission power value after the time when transmission power control reaches an equilibrium state, or after that, whenever an application is started.

  Or the log | history means 105 memorize | stores the average value of the transmission power value from the time of transmission power control reaching an equilibrium state, or after it, every time a radio | wireless communication part is started.

  Or the log | history means 105 memorize | stores the average value of the transmission power value from the time of transmission power control reaching an equilibrium state, or after it, every time an application is started.

  Or the log | history means 105 memorize | stores the median value of the transmission power value from the time of transmission power control reaching an equilibrium state, or after it, every time a radio | wireless communication part is started.

  Or the log | history means 105 memorize | stores the median value of the transmission power value from the time of transmission power control reaching an equilibrium state, or after that, whenever an application is started.

  As described above, the history unit 105 acquires and stores history information.

  With the configuration and operation as described above, the transmission power control method according to the embodiment of the present invention can be implemented.

  The embodiment of the present invention can be realized by, for example, a computer executing a program. Also, means for supplying a program to a computer, for example, a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM recording such a program, or a transmission medium such as the Internet for transmitting such a program is also applied as an embodiment of the present invention. Can do. The above program can also be applied as an embodiment of the present invention. The above program, recording medium, transmission medium, and program product are included in the scope of the present invention.

It is a figure which shows the structural example of the radio | wireless transmission process part which mounted the transmission power control system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of a determination means. It is a figure which shows the structural example of an initial value determination means. It is a figure which shows the usage pattern image of a fixed permanent type. It is a figure which shows a mobile type usage pattern image. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the conventional radio | wireless transmission process part. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the transmission power control method which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows another example of the transmission power control method which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

101: Frame processing unit 102: Baseband processing unit 103: Radio transmission unit 104: Transmission power control unit 105: History unit 106: Determination unit 107: Initial value determination unit 108: Radio transmission processing unit 109: Radio reception processing unit 110: CPU
111: Memory

Claims (10)

A transmission power control system used in a wireless communication device,
Storage means for storing past transmission power values;
An acquisition means for acquiring a dispersion value or a standard deviation value of a predetermined number of transmission power values stored in the storage means ;
When the variance value or standard deviation value acquired by the acquisition unit is larger than a predetermined threshold value, the initial value of the transmission power based on the maximum value of the transmission power value stored in the storage unit or the upper limit value of the transmission power control When the variance value or standard deviation value acquired by the acquisition unit is smaller than a predetermined threshold value, the average value of the transmission power values stored in the storage unit or the transmission power stored in the storage unit Determining means for determining an initial value of the transmission power based on a median value or the latest value of the transmission power value stored in the storage means ;
A transmission power control system comprising: The transmission power control system according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit stores a transmission power value when the transmission power control is in an equilibrium state. 2. The transmission according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit stores a transmission power value when the transmission power control reaches an equilibrium state or after the equilibrium state is reached each time the wireless communication unit is activated. Power control system. The storage means stores a transmission power value when transmission power control reaches an equilibrium state or after an equilibrium state is reached each time an application for data transmission is activated. The described transmission power control system. The storage means stores an average value or a median value of transmission power values when the transmission power control reaches an equilibrium state or after reaching an equilibrium state every time the wireless communication unit is activated. The transmission power control system according to claim 1. The storage means stores an average value or a median value of transmission power values when the transmission power control reaches an equilibrium state or after reaching an equilibrium state every time an application for data transmission is started. The transmission power control system according to claim 1, wherein: When the transmission power value stored in the storage means is less than the predetermined number of times, the determination means is based on the maximum transmission power value or the upper limit value of transmission power control stored in the storage means. The transmission power control system according to claim 1, wherein an initial value of transmission power is determined. When the determination means is designated by a user or an application, the initial value of the transmission power is determined based on the maximum value of the transmission power value stored in the storage means or the upper limit value of transmission power control according to the designation. Based on the determination, or the average value of the transmission power values stored in the storage means, the median value of the transmission power values stored in the storage means, or the latest value of the transmission power values stored in the storage means The transmission power control system according to claim 1, wherein an initial value of transmission power is determined. Radio communication apparatus characterized by having a transmission power control system according to any one of claims 1 to 8. A program for causing a computer to function as the wireless communication device according to claim 9.

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