JP5487641B2 - Femtocell information server, femtocell base station, femtocell information providing method and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a femtocell information server, a femtocell base station, a femtocell information providing method, and a program.

  On April 17, 2008, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications announced the “Handling Policy on Radio Law and Telecommunications Business Law Related Laws for Utilization of Femtocell Base Stations (Femtocell Ultra-Small Radio Base Stations)” Yes. The introduction of femtocells is being studied as a solution for so-called “dead areas” such as mobile phones.

  Specifically, the installation of such a femtocell base station in each home, public facility, or mountainous area has been studied. For example, in Patent Document 1, the above-described femtocell base station is provided in a home and used. It has been proposed to automatically operate a living room lighting, a door locking device, and the like at the timing when a person enters and exits.

JP 2008-283648 A

Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, “Handling policy on laws related to Radio Law and Telecommunications Business Law for utilization of femtocell base station (Femtocell ultra-compact wireless base station)”, [online], [February 18, 2009 Search], Internet <URL: http://www.soumu.go.jp/s-news/2008/pdf/080417_2_bs1.pdf>

  In the femtocell system, a radius of several tens of meters can be supported as a communication area. Therefore, when installed in a general home as in Patent Document 1, the area around the house is also an area where communication is possible.

  However, the communication area provided by the femtocell is information that only the installer can know, and it is completely used during periods when there are no regular users (users whose terminal ID is registered in the femtocell base station). However, there is a problem that the utilization rate is extremely lowered. On the other hand, in such a time zone where the femtocell is not used, even if the use is released to other than the regular user of the femtocell, it is considered that the situation that the regular user cannot receive the service does not occur. .

  The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances described above, and the object of the present invention is to provide a femtocell information server that can promote effective use of femtocells installed at home as described above. An object of the present invention is to provide a femtocell information providing method and program.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the femto holds femtocell information including femtocell location information and availability information indicating whether or not the use of the femtocell is limited to registered users. Based on availability information received from the cell information storage unit, the femtocell base station, the femtocell information update unit that updates the femtocell information, and accepts a femtocell search request specifying at least a position from the user terminal, Referring to femto cell information storage unit, searches the information of femto cell located around the designated position, met femtocell information server and a femto cell information retrieval unit in response to the user terminal From the femtocell base station, accepting a report of the utilization rate or the number of connected users of the femtocell base station, Stored in Emutoseru information storage unit, the information of the femto cell in response to the user terminal, the femto cell information server that provides to the user terminal, including utilization or per user of the femto cell is provided. Further, instead of the femtocell information including the femtocell usage rate or the number of connected users, a schedule as to whether or not the use of femtocells is limited to registered users can be received and provided to the user terminal.

  According to the 2nd viewpoint of this invention, the femtocell base station which transmits an availability state to the above-mentioned femtocell information server and updates femtocell information is provided.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, based on the availability state indicating whether or not the use of the femtocell received from the femtocell base station is limited to registered users, the location information of the femtocell, and Updating femtocell information including femtocell availability status information; receiving a report of the utilization rate or the number of connected users of the femtocell base station from the femtocell base station; and When the femtocell search request designating at least the location is received from the user terminal, the designated step is performed based on the location information of the femtocell registered in advance in the femtocell information storage unit. searching information of the femtocell, located in the peripheral position, utilization of the femtocell to the user terminal or Information providing method of the femto cell including the steps of responding femto cell information including the number of connection users, is provided. Further, instead of the femtocell information including the femtocell usage rate or the number of connected users, a schedule as to whether or not the use of femtocells is limited to registered users can be received and provided to the user terminal.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, based on the availability state indicating whether or not the use of the femtocell received from the femtocell base station is limited to registered users, the location information of the femtocell, and Processing to update femtocell information including femtocell availability status information, and from the femtocell base station, accepting a report of the utilization rate or the number of connected users of the femtocell base station, and the femtocell information and In the case of receiving a process for storing the associated information and a femto cell search request designating at least a position from the user terminal, the designated information is based on the femto cell position information registered in advance in the femto cell information storage unit. searching information of the femtocell, located in the peripheral position, utilization or connected user of the femtocell to the user terminal Program for executing a process of responding to a femto cell information including the number, to the server is provided. Further, instead of the femtocell information including the femtocell usage rate or the number of connected users, a schedule as to whether or not the use of femtocells is limited to registered users can be received and provided to the user terminal.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it becomes possible to permit utilization except a registered user under the agreement of the installer of a femtocell, and to improve the utilization factor of the femtocell installed in each place. In addition, according to the present invention, on the condition that the use of the femtocell to other than the registered user is permitted, installation of the femtocell base station is permitted, or a part of the installation cost of the femtocell base station is A new installation form such as a burden on the telecommunications carrier facilitates the installation of the femtocell and greatly improves the convenience for the user.

It is a figure showing the structure of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the femtocell information hold | maintained at the femtocell information server of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram showing operation | movement of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram showing operation | movement of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the femtocell information hold | maintained at the femtocell information server of the 1st Embodiment of this invention.

  First, the outline of the present invention will be described. The femtocell information server according to the present invention receives the availability status received from the femtocell base station installed in each home or facility described above, and updates the femtocell information storage unit (steps in FIGS. 2 and 3). (Refer to S001 to S003). The availability state includes at least two states: when the use of the femtocell is limited to the registered user (dedicated state) and when the use of the femtocell is not limited to the registered user (non-exclusive). There shall be.

  Then, when the femtocell information server receives a femtocell search request specifying at least a position from the user terminal, the femtocell information server is arranged around the specified position based on the femtocell position information registered in advance in the femtocell information storage unit. The information of the femtocell located is searched, and the femtocell information including the availability state is returned to the user terminal (see steps S101 to S105 in FIG. 4).

  As described above, the user in the insensitive area can know that the femtocell base station installed in each home or facility exists in the vicinity and can be used.

[First Embodiment]
Next, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, a femtocell information server 10, a femtocell base station 20, a macrocell base station 30, and a mobile terminal 40 are shown.

  The femtocell information server 10 includes a broadband communication unit 11 that performs communication with the macrocell base station 30 and the femtocell base station 20, and femtocell information that holds femtocell information including femtocell location information and availability status. A database (femtocell information DB) 12 and a femtocell information search unit 13 that searches for desired femtocell information from the femtocell information DB12 and responds thereto are provided.

  Note that the above-described femtocell information DB 12 and a database management system (not shown) correspond to the above-described femtocell information storage unit and femtocell information update unit. These can also be realized by a computer program that causes the femtocell information server 10 to execute processing for updating relevant femtocell information from the femtocell information DB 12 and processing for retrieving desired femtocell information from the femtocell information DB12.

  FIG. 2 is an example of femtocell information held in the femtocell information DB 12. In the example of FIG. 2, the ID unique to each femtocell base station, the position of each femtocell expressed in latitude and longitude, the availability status (proprietary / public), and the most recent usage reported from each femtocell base station It is related to rate. The femtocell information server 10 has a function of updating the availability status (proprietary / public) of the corresponding femtocell when receiving the availability status together with the femtocell base station ID from the femtocell base station 20.

  The femtocell base station 20 changes to a broadband communication unit 21 that communicates with the femtocell information server 10 using a broadband line, a wireless communication unit 22 that performs wireless communication with the mobile terminal 40, and the availability state of the own station. If there is a femtocell information server 10, a femtocell information transmitting unit 23 that transmits the availability status together with the femtocell base station ID, and a mobile terminal ID that can occupy its own station (this femtocell) The exclusive ID registration unit 24 to be held and, when operating in the exclusive state, the connection ID is compared with the terminal ID of the portable terminal 40 that has received the connection request and the terminal ID registered in the exclusive ID registration unit 24. An availability determination unit 25 for determining and a setting storage unit 26 for storing settings such as an availability state are provided.

  In this embodiment, when operating in the open state, the availability determination unit 25 is described as permitting the connection in principle without comparing the terminal IDs, but for example, the use of the femtocell base station 20 2nd ID (for example, a communication carrier issues only to a user who paid a certain additional fee) is issued to the user of the portable terminal 40 and is in a public state. A certain condition may be imposed on the portable terminal 40 that can use the femtocell by requesting the second ID.

  Such a femtocell base station 20 is installed after an operator such as a communication carrier confirms the installation location based on a user request for installation of the femtocell base station. Prior to shipment of the femtocell base station 20, a carrier such as a communication carrier registers the femtocell information in the femtocell information DB 12 of the femtocell information server 10.

  The macrocell base station 30 includes a broadband communication unit 31 that communicates with the femtocell information server 10 using a broadband line, and a wireless communication unit 32 that performs wireless communication with the mobile terminal 40.

  The portable terminal 40 includes a wireless communication unit 41 that communicates with the macrocell base station 30 and the femtocell base station 20, a terminal ID storage unit 42 that holds an ID (terminal ID) unique to the portable terminal, and the femtocell information server 10 On the other hand, a femtocell information request unit 43 that requests transmission of femtocell information that meets the conditions, and a femtocell information output unit 44 that outputs femtocell information received from the femtocell information server 10 are provided. The femtocell information request unit can be realized by an application program for the mobile terminal 40 that accesses the femtocell information server 10 via the wireless communication unit 41.

  Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing an operation until the femtocell base station 20 is installed, the availability state is set, and the contents are reflected in the femtocell information server 10.

  Referring to FIG. 3, first, a person who installed the femtocell base station 20 (hereinafter, abbreviated as “installer”) accesses the setting storage unit 26 via the user interface of the femtocell base station 20 to determine whether or not it can be used. Select the status (proprietary / public) and set. If the exclusive state is selected at this time, the installer registers the terminal ID of the portable terminal that can be used exclusively by the femtocell (step S001).

  The femtocell base station 20 that has received the change in the settings transmits availability information set by the installer together with the femtocell base station ID to the femtocell information server 10 (step S002). Thereafter, the femtocell base station 20 notifies the femtocell of a signal for notifying the mobile terminal 40 of the presence of the femtocell at regular time intervals.

  The femtocell information server 10 that has received the availability status information refers to the femtocell information DB 12 and updates the availability status information of the record having the corresponding femtocell base station ID (step S003).

  Thereby, the femtocell information server 10 can provide the general user with the location information of the femtocell and the availability of the femtocell.

  Further, the femtocell base station 20 measures its own utilization rate at predetermined time intervals, and transmits it to the femtocell information server 10 together with the femtocell base station ID (step S004).

  The femtocell information server 10 that has received the utilization rate refers to the femtocell information DB 12 and updates the utilization rate of the record having the corresponding femtocell base station ID (step S005).

  As a result, the femtocell information server 10 can provide the utilization rate to general users in addition to the location information of the femtocell and the availability of the femtocell. The general user can make a determination to move from a publicly available femtocell to a femtocell with a low usage rate.

  FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing an operation until the user of the mobile terminal 40 receives a desired femtocell from the femtocell information server 10 and starts using it. Referring to FIG. 4, first, the user of the mobile terminal 40 uses the femtocell information request unit 43 of the mobile terminal 40 to send a message requesting information on the public femtocell in the vicinity or at an arbitrary location to the macrocell base station 30. (Step S101).

  The macrocell base station 30 that has received the message requesting the information on the femtocell corresponding to the specified condition conforms to the conditions (position and disclosure state) specified by the user of the mobile terminal 40 with respect to the femtocell information server 10. A message requesting information on femtocells to be transmitted is transmitted (step S102).

  The femtocell information server 10 that has received the message requesting the femtocell information corresponding to the specified condition refers to the femtocell information DB 12 and obtains information about the femtocell that meets the specified condition (location, disclosure state). Extracted and transmitted to the macrocell base station 30 (step S103).

  The macro cell base station 30 that has received the response transmits the femto cell information received from the femto cell information server 10 to the mobile terminal 40 (step S104).

  The portable terminal 40 receives the femtocell information, and outputs the femtocell position and utilization rate to the femtocell information output unit 44 in response to a user request (step S105).

  The user of the portable terminal 40 moves to a desired femtocell with reference to the output femtocell position and utilization rate.

  When the user of the mobile terminal 40 moves to a desired femtocell, the mobile terminal 40 receives a signal for notifying the presence of the femtocell transmitted from the femtocell base station 20, and sets its own terminal ID to the femtocell base station. 20 (step S201).

  The femtocell base station 20 determines whether or not to permit the use of the femtocell based on the availability state and the received terminal ID (step S202). Specifically, when set to the open state, the femtocell base station 20 permits the connection of the mobile terminal 40 that has transmitted the terminal ID. On the other hand, when the exclusive state is set, the femtocell base station 20 compares the terminal ID received from the mobile terminal 40 with the exclusive mobile terminal ID registered in the exclusive ID registration unit 24, and the result is obtained. Judgment of availability based on

  Thereafter, the user of the mobile terminal 40 can enjoy various communication services using the femtocell.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, not only the femtocells that can be used, but also the usage rate can be confirmed, so that the user of the mobile terminal 40 can select a femtocell that allows more comfortable communication. Become.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention that is automatically switched according to a schedule as to whether or not the use of the femtocell base station 20 is limited to registered users will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Hereinafter, differences from the above-described first embodiment will be described.

  The setting storage unit 26 of the femtocell base station 20 according to the present embodiment stores the operation schedule set by the installer as the availability state, and allows the registered user to use the femtocell based on the operation schedule. Judge whether to limit. The femtocell information transmission unit 23 of the femtocell base station 20 restricts the use of the femtocell to the registered user in the femtocell information server 10 when the operation schedule is initially registered or when the schedule is changed. The schedule information indicating whether or not there is is transmitted.

  FIG. 5 is an example of femtocell information held in the femtocell information DB 12 of the femtocell information server 10 according to the second embodiment of this invention. In the example of FIG. 5, for each femtocell, an operation schedule specifying a time zone and a date is registered as the availability status (exclusive / public).

  And the femtocell information server 10 will transmit the information of the femtocell which exists in the periphery of the said designated position, if the request | requirement of the information of the femtocell which designates only a position is received from the portable terminal 40, for example. At this time, it is assumed that the femtocell information transmitted from the femtocell information server 10 to the portable terminal 40 includes the operation schedule described above.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the user of the mobile terminal 40 can select a femto cell by checking an available time zone and date among femto cells at a specified position. For example, the user of the mobile terminal 40 selects and moves a femto cell that is a little far from the desired position but has a long usable time, rather than a femto cell that is closest to the desired position but has only a short usable time. It becomes possible.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and further modifications, substitutions, and adjustments may be made without departing from the basic technical idea of the present invention. Can be added. For example, in the above-described embodiment, each femtocell base station 20 has been described as having a transmission function in the availability state. However, the location of the public femtocell that is always available to the public is determined. It can also be registered in the femtocell information DB 12. In this way, the user of the portable terminal 40 can add the use of a public femtocell as one of the options.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, each femtocell base station 20 measures the usage rate and transmits it to the femtocell information server 10. However, the number of mobile terminals located in the area instead of the usage rate is described. Alternatively, an index or the like representing the congestion status of the cell may be calculated and transmitted to the femtocell information server 10 and provided to the user of the mobile terminal 40.

10 Femtocell Information Server 11 Broadband Communication Department 12 Femtocell Information Database (Femtocell Information DB)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 13 Femtocell information search part 20 Femtocell base station 21 Broadband communication part 22 Wireless communication part 23 Femtocell information transmission part 24 Dedicated ID registration part 25 Use availability determination part 26 Setting memory | storage part 30 Macrocell base station 31 Broadband communication part 32 Wireless communication Unit 40 Mobile terminal 41 Wireless communication unit 42 Terminal ID storage unit 43 Femtocell information request unit 44 Femtocell information output unit

Claims (11)

A femtocell information storage unit that holds femtocell information including position information of the femtocell and availability information indicating whether or not the use of the femtocell is limited to registered users;
A femtocell information update unit for updating the femtocell information based on the availability state received from the femtocell base station;
Accepts at least a femtocell search request specifying a location from a user terminal, refers to the femtocell information storage unit, searches for information on femtocells located around the specified location, and responds to the user terminal A femtocell information search unit comprising a femtocell information search unit ,
From the femtocell base station, accept a report of the utilization rate or the number of connected users of the femtocell base station, and store it in the femtocell information storage unit,
A femtocell information server provided to the user terminal by including the femtocell usage rate or the number of connected users in the femtocell information responding to the user terminal . A femtocell information storage unit that holds femtocell information including position information of the femtocell and availability information indicating whether or not the use of the femtocell is limited to registered users;
A femtocell information update unit for updating the femtocell information based on the availability state received from the femtocell base station;
Accepts at least a femtocell search request specifying a location from a user terminal, refers to the femtocell information storage unit, searches for information on femtocells located around the specified location, and responds to the user terminal A femtocell information search unit comprising a femtocell information search unit,
From the femtocell base station, accepting a schedule whether or not the use of the femtocell is limited to registered users, and storing it in the femtocell information storage unit,
The femtocell information server provided to the user terminal by including the schedule of the femtocell in the femtocell information responding to the user terminal . The femtocell information search unit searches for femtocells that are located around the specified location and can be used at a specified time from a user terminal, and responds to the user terminal. 1 or 2 femtocell information servers. The femtocell information storage unit according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein information on a public femtocell that is open to the public is registered in the femtocell information storage unit. Each time the setting of the availability state indicating whether or not the use of the femtocell is limited to registered users is changed, the availability status is set to the femtocell information server according to any one of claims 1 to 4. A femtocell base station that automatically transmits. When the setting of the availability state indicating whether or not the use of the femtocell is limited to registered users is changed, the availability state is automatically transmitted to the femtocell information server according to claim 1 , A femtocell base station that automatically transmits its own utilization rate or the number of connected users at predetermined time intervals. The femtocell base station which transmits the schedule which shows whether the use of the said femtocell is limited to a registered user with respect to the femtocell information server of Claim 2 , and judges the availability from a portable terminal according to the said schedule . Including femtocell location information and femtocell availability status information based on availability status received from the femtocell base station indicating whether or not usage of the femtocell is limited to registered users. Updating the femtocell information;
Receiving from the femtocell base station a report of the utilization rate or the number of connected users of the femtocell base station, and storing it in association with the femtocell information;
When a femto cell search request designating at least a location is received from a user terminal, based on the femto cell location information registered in advance in the femto cell information storage unit, femto cell locations around the designated location Searching information, and responding to the user terminal with femtocell information including the femtocell usage rate or the number of connected users , a femtocell information providing method. Including femtocell location information and femtocell availability status information based on availability status received from the femtocell base station indicating whether or not usage of the femtocell is limited to registered users. Updating the femtocell information;
  Receiving from the femtocell base station a schedule as to whether or not the use of the femtocell is limited to registered users, and storing it in association with the femtocell information;
  When a femto cell search request designating at least a location is received from a user terminal, based on the femto cell location information registered in advance in the femto cell information storage unit, femto cell locations around the designated location Searching for information, and responding to the user terminal with femtocell information including a schedule as to whether or not use of the femtocell is limited to registered users. Including femtocell location information and femtocell availability status information based on availability status received from the femtocell base station indicating whether or not usage of the femtocell is limited to registered users. Processing to update femtocell information;
From the femtocell base station, a process of accepting a report of the utilization rate or the number of connected users of the femtocell base station, and storing it in association with the femtocell information;
When a femto cell search request designating at least a location is received from a user terminal, based on the femto cell location information registered in advance in the femto cell information storage unit, femto cell locations around the designated location The program which makes a server perform the process which searches information, and responds the femtocell information containing the utilization rate or the number of connected users with respect to the said user terminal. Including femtocell location information and femtocell availability status information based on availability status received from the femtocell base station indicating whether or not usage of the femtocell is limited to registered users. Processing to update femtocell information;
  A process of accepting a schedule as to whether or not the use of the femtocell is limited to registered users from the femtocell base station, and storing it in association with the femtocell information;
  When a femto cell search request designating at least a location is received from a user terminal, based on the femto cell location information registered in advance in the femto cell information storage unit, femto cell locations around the designated location A program for retrieving information and causing the server to execute a process of responding to the user terminal with femtocell information including a schedule indicating whether or not use of the femtocell is limited to registered users.

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