JP5876542B1 - COMMUNICATION CONTROL DEVICE, COMMUNICATION CONTROL SYSTEM, AND COMMUNICATION CONTROL METHOD - Google Patents

Abstract

Communication control is automatically controlled according to network congestion. An MME 20 corresponds to a congestion information receiving unit 21 that periodically receives congestion information indicating a degree of congestion of a P-CSCF 10 that relays wireless communication from a mobile terminal 40, and the congestion information corresponds to the P-CSCF 10. When the congestion information is received by the congestion information holding unit 23 and the congestion information receiving unit 21, the congestion information holding unit 23 updates the congestion information holding unit 23 to hold the congestion information. Based on the comparison between the congestion information before the update and the congestion information after the update, the communication restriction determination unit 22 that determines whether or not the restriction rate needs to be changed, and the communication restriction determination unit 22 changes the restriction rate. A regulation information notification unit 24 for notifying the mobile terminal 40 of regulation information indicating a regulation rate according to the congestion information held in the updated congestion information holding unit 23 when it is determined that it is necessary. That. [Selection] Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication control apparatus, a communication control system, and a communication control method that control communication.

  When disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis occur, calls are made all at once to confirm safety and so on, so it is assumed that congestion will occur on the network side. For example, in a 3G network, a system called DSAC (Domain Specific Access Control) that can perform communication regulation separately for voice communication (CS (Circuit Switched) domain) and packet communication (PS (Packet Switched) domain) is defined. Yes. Specifically, in DSAC, since it is possible to regulate for each domain, for example, it is possible to regulate only voice communication while enabling packet communication by regulating only the CS domain without regulating the PS domain. it can.

  Regarding such communication restriction, Patent Document 1 described below describes that communication can be restricted for each call type in CDMA2000. For example, it is described that a voice call is possible, but e-mail is subject to restriction for each call type such as being subject to communication restriction (see paragraphs 0010 and 0011 of Patent Document 1).

  On the other hand, since Voice over LTE (VoLTE), which provides voice service on LTE (Long Term Evolution), is provided by packet communication (PS domain), it can be separated from voice communication by dividing the restricted domain like DSAC. Packet communications cannot be regulated separately. For this reason, a regulation technique called SSAC (Service Specific Access Control) that can be regulated not for each domain but for each packet communication service has been developed.

JP 2006-186686 A

  For example, in the LTE described above, communication restriction can be performed on a service basis by SSAC. However, at present, restriction control according to the congestion state of the network cannot be automatically executed, and manual restriction by a maintenance person is not possible. Control is needed. In such manual regulation control, when communication is performed at the same time in the event of a disaster such as an earthquake or tsunami, serious congestion of the network occurs before the maintenance person manually executes the regulation control. In this case, there is a risk that the system of the network device will be down.

  An object of this invention is to provide the communication control apparatus, communication control system, and communication control method which can control automatically the communication regulation according to the congestion condition of a network in view of the said subject.

  The communication control apparatus according to the present invention is a communication control apparatus that executes communication restriction control for a plurality of mobile terminals, and periodically transmits congestion information indicating the degree of congestion of a higher-level network apparatus that relays wireless communication from the mobile terminals. When the congestion information is received by the congestion information receiving means, the congestion information holding means for holding the congestion information received by the congestion information receiving means in association with the upper network device, and the congestion information receiving means The congestion information holding means is updated by holding the congestion information in the congestion information holding means, and the congestion information held in the congestion information holding means before the update and the congestion information held in the congestion information holding means after the update are updated. Based on the comparison, it is necessary to change the restriction rate by the communication restriction judging means for judging whether or not the restriction ratio of the communication restriction needs to be changed and the communication restriction judging means. When it is determined that there is a restriction information notification for notifying the mobile terminal of restriction information instructing communication restriction at a restriction rate according to the degree of congestion indicated in the congestion information held in the updated congestion information holding means Means.

  The communication control method according to the present invention is a communication control apparatus that performs control of communication restriction for a plurality of mobile terminals, and stores congestion information indicating the degree of congestion of an upper network apparatus that relays wireless communication from the mobile terminals. A communication control method executed by a communication control device comprising a congestion information holding means for holding the information in association with the device, wherein the congestion information is received at the congestion information receiving step for periodically receiving the congestion information and the congestion information receiving step. The congestion information holding means is updated by holding the congestion information in the congestion information holding means, and the congestion information held in the congestion information holding means before the update and the congestion information holding means after the update are held. A communication restriction determination step for determining whether or not it is necessary to change the restriction ratio of the communication restriction based on the comparison with the congestion information to be transmitted; Restriction that instructs communication restriction at a restriction rate according to the degree of congestion indicated in the congestion information held in the updated congestion information holding means when it is determined that the restriction rate needs to be changed in the determination step A regulation information notification step of notifying the mobile terminal of information.

  In such a communication control apparatus or communication control method, when congestion information indicating the degree of congestion of the host network apparatus is received, the congestion information holding unit is updated. Further, based on a comparison between the congestion information held in the congestion information holding unit before the update and the congestion information held in the updated congestion information holding unit, it is determined whether or not the regulation rate needs to be changed. The When it is determined that the restriction rate needs to be changed, restriction information for instructing communication restriction at a restriction rate according to the degree of congestion of the upper network device is notified to the mobile terminal. As a result, communication restriction is performed on the mobile terminal side based on the restriction information. As described above, according to the communication control device or the communication control method, it is possible to automatically control the communication restriction according to the congestion state of the network without intervention of manual operation by a maintenance person or the like.

  In the communication control device, the congestion information receiving means periodically receives congestion information of a plurality of upper network devices, and the communication regulation determining means is one of the upper network devices among the plurality of upper network devices by the congestion information receiving means. When the congestion information of the device is received, the congestion information holding unit is updated by holding the congestion information in the congestion information holding unit, and the congestion of each upper network device held in the congestion information holding unit before the update The minimum congestion level of the congestion level indicated in the information, and the minimum congestion level of the congestion level indicated in the congestion information of each higher-level network device held in the updated congestion information holding means If the two are different, it is determined that the restriction rate needs to be changed. When it is determined that the regulation rate needs to be changed depending on the stage, the degree of congestion that is the minimum of the degree of congestion shown in the congestion information of each higher-level network device held in the updated congestion information holding means Restriction information for instructing communication restriction at the corresponding restriction rate may be notified to the mobile terminal.

  Normally, when there are a plurality of higher level network devices, the process of relaying communication from the mobile terminal is assigned to the higher level network device with a low degree of congestion by a load balancer or the like. Therefore, the entire system will not stop unless all the upper network devices fall into a serious congestion state. Therefore, according to the communication control device, appropriate communication regulation can be executed based on the minimum degree of congestion among the degree of congestion of the plurality of higher order network devices. In other words, when the degree of minimum congestion changes, by executing communication regulation at a regulation rate according to the minimum degree of congestion, the system can effectively utilize the resources of the plurality of upper network devices as a whole. Communication restriction can be executed to suppress the entire stop.

  In the communication control device, the restriction information notifying unit selects, as a restriction target terminal, a proportion of mobile terminals corresponding to the restriction rate from among the plurality of mobile terminals, and prohibits a transmission process of the mobile terminal selected as the restriction target terminal. You may notify the regulation information which shows doing.

  As a result, it is possible to suppress transmission processing from the mobile terminals at a rate corresponding to the restriction rate, and it is possible to reliably execute communication restriction.

  A communication control system of the present invention is a communication control system that executes control of communication restriction for a plurality of mobile terminals, and includes the communication control device and a higher-level network device that relays wireless communication from the mobile terminal, The host network device generates load information indicating the degree of congestion of the own device based on the load measuring unit that measures the processing load of the own device and the processing load measured by the load measuring unit, and performs communication control on the congestion information. And congestion information notification means for periodically notifying the apparatus.

  In the communication control system, the host network device measures the processing load of the own device and periodically notifies the communication control device of congestion information indicating the degree of congestion based on the processing load. Then, the above-described processing is executed by the communication control device that has received the congestion information. Therefore, according to the communication control system, it is possible to automatically control the communication restriction according to the congestion status of the host network device without the manual operation of a maintenance person or the like.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the communication control apparatus, communication control system, and communication control method which can control automatically the communication regulation according to the congestion condition of a network can be provided.

It is a figure showing the whole communication control system composition concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the communication control system shown in FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of MME shown in FIG. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the communication control regarding the communication regulation in a communication control system. It is a figure which shows an example of the congestion information hold | maintained at a congestion information holding part. It is a figure which shows an example of the communication regulation with respect to a mobile terminal. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the communication control regarding the communication regulation in a communication control system.

  Embodiments according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Where possible, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a communication control system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The communication control system 1 according to the present embodiment configures an LTE (Long Term Evolution) network that provides a mobile terminal 40 with a packet switching service by wireless communication. The communication control system 1 provides a plurality of mobile terminals 40 with a function of connecting to an IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) network and controls communication restrictions. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication control system 1 includes a P-CSCF (Proxy-Call Session Control Function) 10, an MME (Mobility Management Entity) 20, and an eNB (Evolved Node B) 30. .

  Through the communication control by the communication control system 1, the mobile terminal 40 can connect to the IMS network and receive various services by wireless communication. Examples of the various services include a voice communication (VoLTE: Voice over LTE) service using a packet switching service in an LTE network, a data communication service (for example, data communication such as SMS and electronic mail), and the like. A connection request (call) to the IMS network transmitted from the mobile terminal 40 is transmitted to the P-CSCF 10 via the eNB 30 and the MME 20.

  The P-CSCF 10 is a device that performs session control between the mobile terminal 40 and the IMS network. The P-CSCF 10 is a communication network formed by the communication control system 1 (that is, wireless communication with the mobile terminal 40 via the MME 20 and the eNB 30). Access network) and the IMS network. Specifically, the P-CSCF 10 relays a SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) signal transmitted and received between the mobile terminal 40 and the IMS network.

  In the present embodiment, a P-CSCF pool P1 is formed by a plurality of P-CSCFs 10. The P-CSCF pool P1 is a collection of P-CSCFs 10 deployed to cover wireless communication in an area defined by a network operator or the like. The P-CSCF 10 is a higher-level network device that is positioned higher (on the IMS network side) than the MME 20 in the communication control system 1.

  The MME 20 is an exchange that accommodates one or more eNBs 30 and provides functions such as mobility control and bearer control in the LTE network. In the present embodiment, a plurality (two by way of example) of S1 pools P2 composed of a plurality of MMEs 20 are formed. Each S1 pool P2 is an aggregate of MMEs 20 arranged to cover wireless communication in an area predetermined by a network operator or the like. In the present embodiment, the MME 20 plays a role as a communication control device that executes control of communication restriction for a plurality of mobile terminals 40.

  The eNB 30 is a device that provides a function as a radio base station in the LTE network. That is, the eNB 30 performs radio communication with the mobile terminal 40 located in the area covered by the own device. In the present embodiment, the eNB 30 performs regulation by SSAC (Service Specific Access Control) on the mobile terminal 40 based on an instruction from the MME 20.

  The mobile terminal 40 is a terminal device that can perform wireless communication with the eNB 30 of the communication control system 1, and is a terminal device such as a smartphone, a tablet, or a mobile phone. In this embodiment, the mobile terminal 40 is a terminal device corresponding to SSAC, and autonomously suppresses the transmission process of the own terminal based on the restriction information notified from the eNB 30. Thereby, communication restrictions of the mobile terminal 40 are implement | achieved.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the communication control system 1 (P-CSCF 10, MME 20, and eNB 30). Each functional element of the communication control system 1 shown in FIG. 2 is a functional element for executing communication restriction control for a plurality of mobile terminals 40. As shown in FIG. 2, the P-CSCF 10 includes a load measurement unit 11 and a congestion information notification unit 12. The MME 20 includes a congestion information receiving unit 21, a communication restriction determination unit 22, a congestion information holding unit 23, and a restriction information notification unit 24. The eNB 30 includes a regulation information receiving unit 31 and a regulation information notification unit 32.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the MME 20. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the MME 20 includes one or more CPUs 201, a RAM 202 and a ROM 203 that are main storage devices, an input device 204, an output device 205, a communication module 206 for performing wireless communication, The computer system includes a hard disk drive and an auxiliary storage device 207 such as a semiconductor memory. The MME 20 is physically composed of one or more server devices.

  For example, each function of the MME 20 causes a communication module to operate the input device 204 and the output device 205 under the control of the CPU 201 by reading predetermined computer software on hardware such as the RAM 202 shown in FIG. This is realized by operating 206 and reading and writing data in the RAM 202 and the auxiliary storage device 207.

  The hardware configuration of the P-CSCF 10 and the eNB 30 is the same as the hardware configuration of the MME 20 described above. The hardware configuration of the mobile terminal 40 is the same as the hardware configuration of the MME 20 described above, except that hardware components are stored in one housing. For example, the mobile terminal 40 includes, as a hardware configuration, a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, an input / output device such as a touch panel, a numeric keypad, and a display, a wireless communication module that is a data transmission / reception device such as a network card, an SD card, and the like. And an auxiliary storage device.

  Hereinafter, each functional element of the communication control system 1 and the mobile terminal 40 illustrated in FIG. 2 will be described. First, each functional element of the P-CSCF 10 will be described. The load measuring unit 11 is a load measuring unit that measures the processing load of the own device (P-CSCF 10). The load measuring unit 11 monitors a processing load such as a CPU usage rate of the device itself and periodically acquires (measures) the CPU usage rate at a time interval set in advance by an administrator or the like. Note that the load measuring unit 11 may acquire the memory usage rate, the number of connection requests accepted per unit time, and the like as the processing load of the own device. Further, the load measuring unit 11 performs a calculation (for example, a predetermined calculation based on each measurement value) obtained by comprehensively considering the CPU usage rate, the memory usage rate, the number of connection requests per unit time and the like. May be acquired as the processing load of the device itself. The load measurement unit 11 passes the processing load of the own device acquired in this way to the congestion information notification unit 12.

  The congestion information notifying unit 12 generates congestion information indicating the degree of congestion of the own device based on the processing load acquired (measured) by the load measuring unit 11 and periodically notifies the MME 20 of the congestion information. It is a notification means. Here, the congestion information may be information that directly indicates the degree of congestion of the own device (for example, information that indicates the CPU usage rate), or information that indirectly indicates the degree of congestion (for example, the CPU usage rate). Information indicating a regulation rate calculated based on the above. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the congestion information is information indicating a restriction rate calculated based on a CPU usage rate or the like.

  As described above, the restriction rate calculated by the congestion information notification unit 12 is, for example, a restriction rate necessary for preventing the own apparatus from falling into a serious congestion state. Specifically, for example, regulations required to prevent the processing load (CPU usage rate, etc.) of the device itself from exceeding a risk threshold (a threshold that may cause a system down if the value exceeds the threshold). Rate. Such a regulation rate depends on the degree of processing load of the device itself. For example, when the processing load (for example, CPU usage rate) of the own device is somewhat lower than the danger threshold, it is not necessary to increase the restriction rate so much. However, when the processing load of the own device is close to the danger threshold, it is necessary to reduce the number of connection requests from the mobile terminal 40 by increasing the restriction rate and reduce the processing load of the own device. Therefore, the congestion information notification unit 12 executes, for example, a predetermined calculation process based on the processing load of the own device (a calculation process determined in advance by an administrator or the like), so that the congestion information (CPU usage rate or the like) described above is obtained. Information indicating the regulation rate calculated based on the information can be calculated.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining communication control related to communication restriction in the communication control system 1. As shown in FIG. 4, in this embodiment, the congestion information notification unit 12 of each P-CSCF 10 is assigned to one MME 20 (representative MME 20A) predetermined by an administrator or the like among the MMEs 20 belonging to each S1 pool P2. Only notify congestion information. This is because it is sufficient that processing by each functional element of the MME 20 described later is executed by one representative MME 20A, and it is not necessary to be executed by all the MMEs 20 belonging to each S1 pool P2.

  However, the congestion information notification unit 12 may notify the congestion information to a plurality of MMEs 20 belonging to each S1 pool P2 in preparation for an unexpected failure of the representative MME 20A. Thereby, even when a failure occurs in the representative MME 20A, another MME 20 belonging to the same S1 pool P2 as the representative MME 20A can take over the processing. As a result, the communication control system 1 can double the processing, and the processing related to communication regulation can be more reliably executed.

  Subsequently, each functional element of the MME 20 (representative MME 20A) will be described. The congestion information receiving unit 21 is a congestion information receiving unit that periodically receives congestion information indicating the degree of congestion of the P-CSCF 10. Specifically, the congestion information receiving unit 21 receives the congestion information periodically notified from the congestion information notification unit 12 of each P-CSCF 10 belonging to the P-CSCF pool P1. When the congestion information receiving unit 21 receives the congestion information, the congestion information receiving unit 21 passes the congestion information to the communication restriction determination unit 22.

  The communication restriction determination unit 22 is a communication restriction determination unit that determines whether or not the current restriction rate needs to be changed based on the congestion information delivered from the congestion information reception unit 21. Specifically, when the congestion information receiving unit 21 receives the congestion information from the congestion information receiving unit 21 when the congestion information receiving unit 21 receives the congestion information, the communication restriction determination unit 22 sends the congestion information to the congestion information holding unit 23. The congestion information holding unit 23 is updated by holding it. Further, the communication restriction determination unit 22 changes the restriction rate based on the comparison between the congestion information held in the congestion information holding unit 23 before update and the congestion information held in the congestion information holding unit 23 after update. Determine whether it is necessary.

  Here, the congestion information holding unit 23 is a congestion information holding unit that holds the congestion information received by the congestion information receiving unit 21 in association with the P-CSCF 10. 5A to 5D are diagrams illustrating an example of congestion information held in the congestion information holding unit 23. FIG. Here, “# 1”, “# 2”, and “#N” are identifiers for identifying the P-CSCF 10. As shown in FIGS. 5A to 5D, for example, the congestion information holding unit 23 holds a congestion information management table that stores congestion information corresponding to each P-CSCF 10.

  The determination process by the communication restriction determination unit 22 in the present embodiment is based on the idea that the restriction rate is determined in accordance with the minimum degree of congestion among the degree of congestion of each P-CSCF 10. Normally, when there are a plurality of P-CSCFs 10, a process for relaying communication from the mobile terminal 40 is assigned to the P-CSCF 10 with a low degree of congestion by a load balancer (not shown). Therefore, the entire system will not stop unless all the P-CSCFs 10 are in a serious congestion state. Therefore, by determining the regulation rate so that the device with the lowest degree of congestion among the plurality of P-CSCFs 10 does not fall into a serious congestion state, the entire system can be effectively utilized while utilizing the resources of the plurality of P-CSCFs 10 as a whole. It is possible to execute communication restriction so as to suppress the stoppage.

  Hereinafter, the congestion information held in the congestion information holding unit 23 is the state shown in FIG. 5A (P-CSCF # 1 congestion information is 0%, P-CSCF # 2 congestion information is 50%, P -When the congestion information receiving unit 21 receives the congestion information (20%) of P-CSCF # 1 when the congestion information of CSCF # N is 80%), the determination by the communication restriction determining unit 22 Processing will be described. Note that in the state shown in FIG. 5A, the congestion information of P-CSCF # 1 with the smallest degree of congestion is 0%, and thus communication restriction for the mobile terminal 40 is not performed.

  The communication restriction determination unit 22 uses the congestion information receiving unit 21 to select one of the P-CSCFs 10 (P-CSCF # 1, P-CSCF # 2,..., P-CSCF # N). Here, as an example, when congestion information (20%) of P-CSCF # 1 is received, the congestion information holding unit 23 is updated by holding the congestion information in the congestion information holding unit 23 (FIG. 5 ( b)).

  The communication restriction determination unit 22 also minimizes the degree of congestion among the degrees of congestion shown in the congestion information (see FIG. 5A) of each P-CSCF 10 held in the congestion information holding unit 23 before update. (Hereinafter referred to as “first minimum value”). Note that, as described above, in the present embodiment, the degree of congestion indicated in the congestion information of each P-CSCF 10 is that the processing load of the P-CSCF 10 is greater than or equal to the risk threshold (that is, the P-CSCF 10 is serious). This is the regulation rate necessary to prevent the occurrence of congestion).

  When the congestion information holding unit 23 is configured to hold a log (past value) of the congestion information of each P-CSCF 10, the communication restriction determination unit 22 refers to the log to determine the P-CSCF # “0%” of 1 can be extracted as the first minimum value. When the congestion information holding unit 23 is configured to hold only the latest congestion information of each P-CSCF 10, the communication restriction determination unit 22 refers to the congestion information holding unit 23 before update in advance. By setting, the first minimum value can be extracted.

  The communication restriction determination unit 22 also minimizes the degree of congestion among the degrees of congestion shown in the congestion information (see FIG. 5B) of each P-CSCF 10 held in the updated congestion information holding unit 23. (Hereinafter referred to as “second minimum value”). In this case, the communication restriction determination unit 22 extracts “20%” of P-CSCF # 1 as the second minimum value.

  After extracting the first minimum value and the second minimum value, the communication restriction determination unit 22 compares both, and determines that it is necessary to change the restriction rate for the mobile terminal 40 if they are different. More specifically, in the present embodiment, since the second minimum value indicates the restriction rate to be set in the communication control system 1, the communication restriction determination unit 22 determines that the first minimum value and the second If the minimum value is different, it is determined that the regulation rate needs to be changed to the second minimum value. When it is determined that the restriction rate needs to be changed to the second minimum value, the communication restriction determination unit 22 passes information indicating the second minimum value to the restriction information notification unit 24. In the example shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the first minimum value is “0%” and the second minimum value is “20%”. The unit 22 determines that the regulation rate needs to be changed to the second minimum value “20%”, and passes information indicating the regulation rate (20%) to the regulation information notification unit 24.

  The restriction information notification unit 24 is a restriction information notification unit that notifies the mobile terminal 40 of restriction information that instructs communication restriction at the restriction rate acquired from the communication restriction determination unit 22. Specifically, the restriction information notification unit 24 acquires the restriction rate (20%) from the communication restriction determination unit 22 when the communication restriction determination unit 22 determines that the restriction rate needs to be changed. Control information for instructing communication control at the control rate is notified to the mobile terminal 40 via the eNB 30. That is, the restriction information notification unit 24 performs communication at a restriction rate according to the degree of congestion that is the minimum of the degree of congestion indicated in the congestion information of each P-CSCF 10 held in the updated congestion information holding unit 23. The restriction information instructing restriction is notified to the mobile terminal 40 via the eNB 30.

  More specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the restriction information notification unit 24 of each representative MME 20 </ b> A notifies restriction information to each eNB 30 subordinate to the own apparatus. Each eNB 30 receives the notification of the restriction information from the representative MME 20A, and notifies the mobile terminal 40 located in the area covered by the own device of the instruction of communication restriction.

  For example, if the congestion information (30%) of P-CSCF # 1 is received by the congestion information receiving unit 21 when the congestion information held in the congestion information holding unit 23 is in the state shown in FIG. Of the congestion levels of the plurality of P-CSCFs 10, the minimum congestion level changes from “20%” to “30%”. Therefore, in this case, the restriction information notifying unit 24 notifies the eNB 30 of restriction information that instructs communication restriction at a restriction rate (30%) corresponding to the minimum degree of congestion.

  Further, when the congestion information held in the congestion information holding unit 23 is in the state shown in FIG. 5C, the congestion information (0%) of the P-CSCF # 1 is received by the congestion information receiving unit 21. The minimum degree of congestion of the plurality of P-CSCFs 10 changes from “30%” to “0%”. Therefore, in this case, the restriction information notifying unit 24 notifies the eNB 30 of restriction information instructing communication restriction (that is, cancellation of communication restriction) at a restriction rate (0%) corresponding to the minimum degree of congestion. Will be.

  Note that the congestion information (30%) of P-CSCF # 2 was received by the congestion information receiving unit 21 when the congestion information held in the congestion information holding unit 23 is in the state shown in FIG. In this case, the minimum degree of congestion among the degrees of congestion of the plurality of P-CSCFs 10 remains “20%” and does not change. Therefore, in this case, since it is not determined by the communication restriction determination unit 22 that the restriction rate needs to be changed, the restriction information notification unit 24 does not notify the eNB 30 of restriction information. In the present embodiment, the notification of the restriction information from the restriction information notification unit 24 to the eNB 30 is thus executed only when it is necessary to change the restriction rate. In other words, useless notification processing from the MME 20 to the eNB 30 is not performed.

  Subsequently, each functional element of the eNB 30 will be described. The restriction information receiving unit 31 is means for receiving the restriction information notified from the MME 20 (the restriction information notifying unit 24). When the restriction information receiving unit 31 receives the restriction information from the MME 20, the restriction information receiving unit 31 delivers the restriction information to the restriction information notification unit 32.

  The restriction information notification unit 32 is means for notifying the mobile terminal 40 of a communication restriction instruction by SSAC based on the restriction information acquired from the restriction information receiving unit 31. Specifically, the restriction information notification unit 32 activates (starts) communication restriction by SSAC to the mobile terminal 40 based on the restriction information acquired from the restriction information receiving unit 31, changes the restriction rate, and releases the communication restriction. Instruct.

(Activation of communication regulations)
When the restriction information notifying unit 32 obtains the restriction information from the restriction information receiving unit 31 when the mobile terminal 40 has not been notified of the communication restriction instruction by the SSAC (when communication restriction is not performed), the restriction information notification unit 32 Based on the indicated restriction rate, communication restriction for the mobile terminal 40 is activated.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of communication restrictions on the mobile terminal 40. The mechanism of communication restriction for the mobile terminal 40 by SSAC will be described with reference to FIG. As illustrated in FIG. 6, when the restriction information notification unit 32 of each eNB 30 obtains restriction information instructing communication restriction at a restriction rate “20%”, a plurality of areas located within the area covered by the own device For example, group numbers 1 to 10 are assigned equally to the mobile terminals 40. Subsequently, since the restriction rate is 20%, the restriction information notification unit 32 randomly extracts two (20%) group numbers from the ten groups 1 to 10. Here, as an example, the restriction information notification unit 32 extracts the group numbers 1 and 2. Subsequently, the restriction information notification unit 32 provides each mobile terminal 40 with SSAC information (regulation information) including a group number assigned to each mobile terminal 40 and a group number (1, 2) that is subject to communication restriction by SSAC. ).

  The mobile terminal 40 notified of the SSAC information from the restriction information notification unit 32 refers to the SSAC information, and determines whether or not the group number assigned to the own terminal matches the group number subject to SSAC communication restriction. judge. A mobile terminal 40 (terminal subject to restriction) whose group number assigned to its own terminal matches the group number subject to communication restriction by SSAC is autonomously communicated by the SSAC control function incorporated in the own terminal in advance. The transmission of (VoLTE voice communication) is restricted. As a result, the mobile terminal 40 to which the group numbers 1 and 2 are assigned enters a state where voice communication cannot be transmitted (transmission is impossible). On the other hand, since the mobile terminal 40 to which the group numbers 3 to 10 are assigned is not a restriction target terminal, communication restriction by SSAC is not executed. Thereby, the mobile terminal 40 to which the group numbers 3 to 10 are assigned is set in a state in which voice communication can be transmitted (transmission is possible). Thus, voice communication of 20% of the plurality of mobile terminals 40 (the mobile terminals 40 with group numbers 1 and 2) is restricted.

  Here, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the restriction information notification unit 32 may change the group number subject to communication restriction by SSAC every predetermined period (for example, several tens of seconds). For example, the restriction information notifying unit 32 sets the group numbers 9 and 10 to SSAC after a predetermined period has elapsed since the transmission of SSAC information in which the group numbers 1 and 2 are set to the group numbers subject to communication restriction by SSAC. SSAC information set to the group number subject to communication restriction by may be transmitted to each mobile terminal 40 (see the right side of FIG. 6). As a result, the subject of communication restriction by SSAC is switched from the mobile terminal 40 with group numbers 1 and 2 to the mobile terminal 40 with group numbers 9 and 10.

  Thus, by periodically changing the group number that is subject to communication restriction by SSAC, it is possible to suppress a situation in which only communication of the mobile terminal 40 to which a specific group number is assigned is continuously restricted. Thereby, the inconvenience that voice communication cannot be performed among users of each mobile terminal 40 can be distributed, and the occurrence of a situation in which only the user of a specific mobile terminal 40 feels inconvenience is suppressed. Can do.

  Note that the communication restriction for the mobile terminal 40 may be performed by a method other than the method described above. For example, the restriction information notification unit 32 may notify each mobile terminal 40 of the restriction rate indicated in the restriction information, and each mobile terminal 40 may autonomously execute communication restriction based on the notified restriction rate. . In this case, each mobile terminal 40 is based on the notified restriction rate (for example, 20%) so that the restriction rate of the terminal itself (the rate at which a voice communication call request is prohibited) becomes the notified restriction rate. Transmission of voice communication may be restricted. As an example of such communication restriction, each mobile terminal 40 may execute the communication restriction so that voice communication cannot be transmitted for two minutes corresponding to 20% of a predetermined period (for example, 10 minutes, for example).

(Change in regulation rate)
The restriction information notifying unit 32 sends restriction information for instructing communication restriction at a restriction rate different from the current restriction rate before the communication restriction is released after the communication restriction is activated. When receiving from the MME 20 via 31, the communication restriction instruction by SSAC (notification of SSAC information to each mobile terminal 40) is executed based on the restriction rate indicated in the received restriction information. Thereby, the communication regulation based on the regulation rate indicated in the latest regulation information received from the MME 20 is appropriately executed.

(Removal of communication restrictions)
When the restriction rate indicated in the received restriction information is “0%”, the restriction information notification unit 32 notifies each mobile terminal 40 of SSAC information indicating that the communication restriction by SSAC is to be released. When each mobile terminal 40 is notified of such SSAC information, for example, SSAC information (information indicating a restriction rate other than 0%) that has been notified from the restriction information notification unit 32 before being notified of the SSAC information. ) Is deleted from the memory or the like of the own terminal, and the communication restriction of the own terminal is released. Thereby, the cancellation | release of the communication regulation by SSAC is performed appropriately.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a communication control operation (including a communication control method according to an embodiment of the present invention) related to communication restriction in the communication control system 1 described above. With reference to FIG. 7, a flow of communication control processing related to communication restriction in the communication control system 1 will be described.

  First, the load measuring unit 11 of each P-CSCF 10 measures its own processing load (step S1). Subsequently, congestion information indicating the degree of congestion of the own device based on the processing load measured by the load measuring unit 11 (information indicating the restriction rate in the present embodiment) is periodically transmitted by the congestion information notifying unit 12. The MME 20 (representative MME 20A) of the S1 pool P2 is notified. The congestion information notified to each MME 20 is received by the congestion information receiving unit 21 of each MME 20 (step S2, congestion information receiving step).

  The congestion information received by the congestion information receiving unit 21 is passed to the communication restriction determination unit 22. The communication restriction determination unit 22 updates the congestion information holding unit 23 by holding the congestion information in the congestion information holding unit 23, and the congestion information held in the congestion information holding unit 23 before update and the congestion after update Based on the comparison with the congestion information held in the information holding unit 23, it is determined whether or not the restriction rate needs to be changed (steps S3 and S4, communication restriction determination step).

  Specifically, the communication restriction determination unit 22 executes the following process in step S4. That is, the communication restriction determination unit 22 extracts the minimum congestion level (first minimum value) from the congestion levels indicated in the congestion information of each P-CSCF 10 held in the congestion information holding unit 23 before update. To do. Further, the communication restriction determination unit 22 determines the minimum congestion level (second minimum value) from the congestion levels indicated in the congestion information of each P-CSCF 10 held in the updated congestion information holding unit 23. Extract. Then, the communication restriction determination unit 22 compares the first minimum value and the second minimum value, and if both are different (that is, the minimum degree of congestion of all P-CSCF 10 congestion levels changes). If it is determined that the restriction rate of the communication restriction for the mobile terminal 40 needs to be changed (step S4: YES).

  In step S4, when the first minimum value and the second minimum value are different (step S4: YES), information indicating the second minimum value is transferred from the communication restriction determination unit 22 to the restriction information notification unit 24. Passed as information indicating the restriction rate to be set. Thereafter, the restriction information notification unit 24 notifies the eNB 30 of restriction information that instructs communication restriction at the restriction rate (step S5, restriction information notification step).

  In step S4, when the first minimum value and the second minimum value match (step S4: NO), the restriction information notification by the restriction information notification unit 24 (step S5) is not executed, and the MME 20 As for the process related to communication restriction, it waits until the congestion information from the P-CSCF 10 is received.

  The restriction information notified by the restriction information notification unit 24 is received by the restriction information receiving unit 31 of the eNB 30 (step S5) and transferred to the restriction information notification unit 32. Subsequently, based on the restriction information, the restriction information notification unit 32 notifies the mobile terminal 40 of SSAC information (regulation information) instructing activation of communication restriction by SSAC, change of restriction rate, and cancellation of communication restriction. (Step S6).

  The mobile terminal 40 notified of the SSAC information by the eNB 30 executes communication regulation activation, change, cancellation, and the like based on the SSAC information (step S7).

  In the communication control system 1 described above, when congestion information indicating the degree of congestion of the P-CSCF 10 (information indicating a restriction rate as an example in the present embodiment) is received by the congestion information receiving unit 21, the communication restriction determining unit 22. As a result, the congestion information holding unit 23 is updated. In addition, the communication restriction determination unit 22 changes the restriction rate based on the comparison between the congestion information held in the congestion information holding unit 23 before update and the congestion information held in the updated congestion information holding unit 23. It is determined whether it is necessary. When it is determined by the communication restriction determination unit 22 that the restriction rate needs to be changed, restriction information that instructs communication restriction at a restriction rate according to the degree of congestion of the P-CSCF 10 by the restriction information notification unit 24 Is notified to the mobile terminal 40 via the eNB 30. That is, SSAC information based on the restriction information is notified from the eNB 30 to the mobile terminal 40, and communication restriction based on the SSAC information is performed on the mobile terminal 40 side.

  As described above, according to the MME 20 according to the present embodiment, it is possible to automatically control the communication restriction according to the congestion state of the P-CSCF 10 without intervention of manual operation by a maintenance person or the like. Specifically, when a disaster such as an earthquake or a tsunami occurs, it is possible to automatically perform communication regulation according to the congestion state of the network (processing load of the P-CSCF 10 or the like). Thereby, provision of the communication service with respect to the user of the mobile terminal 40 can be continued, suppressing generation | occurrence | production of the communication failure by the system down of P-CSCF10.

  In addition, as described above, the restriction information notification unit 24 selects, as the restriction target terminals, the mobile terminals 40 having a proportion corresponding to the restriction rate from the plurality of mobile terminals 40 via the eNB 30. The SSAC information indicating that the outgoing processing of the mobile terminal 40 is prohibited is notified. Thereby, the transmission process from the mobile terminal 40 of the ratio according to a control rate can be suppressed, and communication control can be performed reliably.

  Further, in the communication control system 1, the P-CSCF 10 measures the processing load of the own device by the load measuring unit 11, and the congestion information notifying unit 12 indicates the congestion information indicating the degree of congestion based on the processing load to the MME 20 (representative MME 20A). ) Regularly. Then, the MME 20 that has received the congestion information executes processing by the above-described congestion information receiving unit 21, communication restriction determination unit 22, congestion information holding unit 23, and restriction information notification unit 24. Therefore, according to the communication control system 1, it is possible to automatically control the communication restriction according to the congestion status of the P-CSCF 10 without intervention of a manual operation by a maintenance person or the like.

  Further, only voice communication (VoLTE) among packet communications provided in the LTE network can be automatically regulated by communication regulation by SSAC. Thereby, the resource of packet communication can be used effectively. In other words, even if voice communication is not possible, the disaster message board on the Internet can be used, so that it is possible to confirm the safety of more users of the mobile terminals 40 in the event of a disaster or the like.

  The present invention has been described in detail based on the embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. The present invention can be variously modified without departing from the gist thereof.

  For example, in the present embodiment, the congestion information notification unit 12 of the P-CSCF 10 causes the processing load of the own device to be greater than or equal to the risk threshold as congestion information indicating the degree of congestion of the own device (that is, the P-CSCF 10 is serious). In the above description, the MME 20 is notified of information indicating a regulation rate that is necessary to prevent a state of being congested. However, as described above, the congestion information may be information that directly indicates the degree of congestion of the own device (for example, information that indicates a CPU usage rate). Even when such congestion information is used, the communication restriction determination unit 22 can determine whether or not the restriction rate needs to be changed based on the congestion information by the above-described processing procedure. In this case, a process for calculating the restriction rate based on the congestion information (CPU usage rate or the like) is required. Such a process is performed by the MME 20 (for example, the restriction information notification unit 24) or the eNB 30 (for example, the restriction information). Any one of the notification units 32 and the like) may be executed based on a calculation rule set in advance by an administrator or the like.

  In the present embodiment, the determination process for determining whether or not the restriction rate needs to be changed based on the congestion information of the P-CSCF 10 has been described as being executed by the communication restriction determination unit 22 of the MME 20. However, the eNB 30 may perform the determination process. For example, the MME 20 transfers the congestion information notified from the P-CSCF 10 to the eNB 30 as it is, and the eNB 30 performs the above-described functional elements of the MME 20 (the congestion information receiving unit 21, the communication regulation determining unit 22, the congestion information holding unit 23, and Processing corresponding to the regulation information notification unit 24) may be executed. In this case, the eNB 30 functions as a communication control device in the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Communication control system, 10 ... P-CSCF (high-order network apparatus), 11 ... Load measurement part, 12 ... Congestion information notification part, 20 ... MME (communication control apparatus), 21 ... Congestion information reception part, 22 ... Communication regulation Determination unit, 23 ... congestion information holding unit, 24 ... restriction information notification unit, 30 ... eNB, 40 ... mobile terminal.

Claims (5)

A communication control device that executes control of communication restriction for a plurality of mobile terminals,
Congestion information receiving means for periodically receiving congestion information indicating the degree of congestion of the host network device that relays wireless communication from the mobile terminal;
Congestion information holding means for holding the congestion information received by the congestion information receiving means in association with the higher-level network device;
When the congestion information is received by the congestion information receiving means, the congestion information holding means is updated by holding the congestion information in the congestion information holding means, and the congestion information holding means before update is held in the congestion information holding means. Communication restriction determination means for determining whether or not it is necessary to change the restriction rate of the communication restriction based on a comparison between the congestion information to be updated and the congestion information held in the updated congestion information holding means;
When it is determined by the communication restriction determination means that the restriction rate needs to be changed, communication at a restriction rate according to the degree of congestion indicated in the congestion information held in the updated congestion information holding means Restriction information notification means for notifying the mobile terminal of restriction information for instructing restriction;
A communication control device comprising: The congestion information receiving means periodically receives the congestion information of a plurality of the upper network devices,
The communication restriction determination unit causes the congestion information holding unit to hold the congestion information when the congestion information of any one of the plurality of upper network devices is received by the congestion information receiving unit. And updating the congestion information holding means, and the minimum congestion degree of the congestion levels indicated in the congestion information of each of the upper network devices held in the congestion information holding means before the update, and after the update Compare the degree of congestion that is the minimum of the degree of congestion shown in the congestion information of each of the higher-level network devices held in the congestion information holding means, and change the restriction rate if they are different Judge that it is necessary,
The restriction information notifying means includes the congestion information of each of the higher-level network devices held in the updated congestion information holding means when it is determined by the communication restriction determining means that the restriction rate needs to be changed. Notifying the mobile terminal of restriction information instructing communication restriction at a restriction rate according to the degree of congestion that is the minimum of the degree of congestion shown;
The communication control device according to claim 1. The restriction information notifying unit selects, as a restriction target terminal, a proportion of mobile terminals corresponding to the restriction rate from the plurality of mobile terminals, and prohibits a transmission process of the mobile terminal selected as the restriction target terminal. Notifying the regulation information indicating
The communication control apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. A communication control system that executes communication restriction control for a plurality of mobile terminals,
The communication control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A host network device that relays wireless communication from the mobile terminal, and
The upper network device is:
Load measuring means for measuring the processing load of the own device;
Congestion information notifying means for generating congestion information indicating the degree of congestion of the own device based on the processing load measured by the load measuring means, and periodically notifying the communication control device of the congestion information,
Communication control system. A communication control apparatus that executes communication restriction control for a plurality of mobile terminals, and stores congestion information indicating a degree of congestion of an upper network apparatus that relays wireless communication from the mobile terminals in association with the upper network apparatus A communication control method executed by a communication control device comprising congestion information holding means for
A congestion information receiving step for periodically receiving the congestion information;
When congestion information is received in the congestion information receiving step, the congestion information holding unit is updated by holding the congestion information in the congestion information holding unit, and is also held in the congestion information holding unit before update. A communication restriction determination step for determining whether or not it is necessary to change the restriction rate of the communication restriction based on a comparison between the congestion information and the congestion information held in the updated congestion information holding means;
When it is determined in the communication restriction determination step that the restriction rate needs to be changed, communication at a restriction rate corresponding to the degree of congestion indicated in the congestion information held in the updated congestion information holding means A regulation information notification step of notifying the mobile terminal of regulation information for instructing regulation;
Including a communication control method.

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