JP6086000B2 - Information processing apparatus, communication control method, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a communication control method, and a program.

  In a video conference system (also referred to as a TV (TV) conference system or a television conference system) that transmits and receives large-capacity conference data such as video data and audio data in real time via a network, a conference to be transmitted In order to keep the amount of data within the network band, a technique for switching the CODEC method according to the network band is known (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  However, in the technique as described above, when a sudden change occurs in the usable network bandwidth, there is a possibility that the switching of the CODEC method is not in time and transmission data cannot be transmitted correctly.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus, a communication control method, and a program that can cope with a rapid change in network bandwidth.

In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, an information processing apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention is an information processing apparatus connected to a network, and each network has a usable bandwidth of the network. A storage unit that stores a band table in which band information indicating network information that can identify the network that is at least one of a network address of the network and a MAC (Media Access Control) address of a default gateway of the network is associated; acquiring the band information associated with the network information of the network to which the information processing apparatus is connected from the bandwidth table, based on the acquired bandwidth information, the communication control unit for controlling communication through the network And comprising.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to cope with a sudden change in network bandwidth.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the video conference system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the terminal device according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of band information according to the present embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a bandwidth table according to the present embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of communication control according to the present embodiment. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the network information acquisition process executed by the terminal device of this embodiment. FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a communication control process executed by the terminal device according to the present embodiment. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the bandwidth monitoring process executed by the terminal device of this embodiment.

  Hereinafter, an information processing apparatus, a communication control method, and a program according to embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following embodiment, a case where the present invention is applied to a video conference system will be described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a video conference system 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the video conference system 1 includes a server device 10 and terminal devices 20-1 and 20-2 (an example of an information processing device).

  The server device 10 is disposed at the base 1 and is connected to a LAN (Local Area Network) 11 at the base 1. The terminal device 20-1 is arranged at the base 2 and connected to a LAN (Local Area Network) 21 at the base 2. The terminal device 20-2 is disposed at the base 3 and connected to a LAN (Local Area Network) 31 at the base 3.

  The LAN 11 includes a router, a switching hub, and a LAN cable. The LAN 21 and the LAN 31 include a router and a LAN cable, respectively. LAN 11, LAN 21, and LAN 31 are connected to the Internet 2.

  The server device 10 relays transmission / reception of video data, audio data, and the like (hereinafter also referred to as “conference data”) between the terminal devices 20-1 and 20-2. The server device 10 may encode the conference data requested to be relayed and transfer it to the transfer destination, or may decode the encoded conference data requested to be relayed and transfer it to the transfer destination. In addition to the conference data relay function, the server device 10 also has a conference control function for controlling the start and end of the conference between the terminal devices 20-1 and 20-2. Omitted.

  The terminal devices 20-1 and 20-2 transmit and receive conference data via the server device 10. In the present embodiment, the terminal devices 20-1 and 20-2 are assumed to be portable terminals such as dedicated terminals for video conferences, notebook PCs (Personal Computers), smartphones, and tablets, but are not limited thereto. It is not something. In the following description, when there is no need to distinguish between the terminal devices 20-1 and 20-2, they may be simply referred to as the terminal device 20. In this embodiment, the case where there are two terminal devices 20 will be described as an example. However, the number of terminal devices 20 is not limited to this, and may be any number as long as there are a plurality of terminal devices 20.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the terminal device 20 according to the present embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the terminal device 20 includes an imaging unit 101, a voice input unit 103, a display unit 105, a voice output unit 107, an operation unit 109, a communication unit 111, a storage unit 113, and a control. Unit 120.

  The image pickup unit 101 picks up images of participants in a conference using the terminal device 20, and includes an image pickup device such as a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) or a charge coupled device (CCD), a lens, and the like. Can be realized.

  The voice input unit 103 is used to input voice or the like spoken by a conference participant who uses the terminal device 20, and can be realized by a voice input device such as a microphone.

  The display unit 105 displays various screens such as conference materials and conference images (images of conference participants), and can be realized by a display device such as a liquid crystal display or a touch panel display. In the case of a dedicated terminal for video conference, the display unit 105 may be provided separately.

  The audio output unit 107 outputs audio uttered by a conference participant other than the conference participant who uses the terminal device 20, and can be realized by an audio output device such as a speaker.

  The operation unit 109 is used by a conference participant who uses the terminal device 20 to perform various operation inputs, and can be realized by an input device such as a mouse, a keyboard, a touch pad, and a touch panel.

  The communication unit 111 communicates with an external device such as the server device 10 via the Internet 2 and can be realized by a communication device such as a NIC (Network Interface Card) regardless of wired or wireless.

  The storage unit 113 stores various programs executed by the terminal device 20 and data such as a bandwidth table used for various processes performed by the terminal device 20. The bandwidth table will be described later. The storage unit 113 is a storage device that can store magnetically, optically, and electrically, such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), an SSD (Solid State Drive), a memory card, an optical disk, and a RAM (Random Access Memory). It can be realized by at least one of the following.

  The control unit 120 controls each unit of the terminal device 20. For example, the control unit 120 may cause a processing device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) to execute a program, that is, may be realized by software, or may be an IC (Integrated Circuit) or other hardware, or software and hardware may be used together. The control unit 120 includes a monitoring unit 121, an acquisition unit 123, and a communication control unit 125.

  The monitoring unit 121 monitors the bandwidth of the network to which the terminal device 20 is connected. And the monitoring part 121 produces | generates band information from the monitoring result, matches with the network information of the said network, and registers it into a band table.

  That is, if the terminal device 20 is connected to the LAN 21, the monitoring unit 121 monitors the bandwidth of the LAN 21, and if the terminal device 20 is connected to the LAN 31, the monitoring unit 121 uses the bandwidth of the LAN 31. To monitor.

  For example, while the terminal device 20 is being used for a video conference, the monitoring unit 121 periodically transmits a ping to a router that configures the connected LAN (for example, every minute), and the response of the ping A usable bandwidth in the LAN is identified from the time, and bandwidth information indicating the usable bandwidth of the LAN is generated. That is, the bandwidth information indicates the available bandwidth of the network for each time.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of band information according to the present embodiment. In the example illustrated in FIG. 3, it is assumed that the usage status of the network (LAN) has increased rapidly after 17:00. Therefore, in the band information shown in FIG. 3, the measurement band from 12:00 to 17:00 (band that can be used by the terminal device 20) is 10 Mbps (bits per second), and the measurement band after 17:00 is 5 Mbps. It has become.

  Then, the monitoring unit 121 associates the generated bandwidth information with the network information of the network to which the terminal device 20 is connected, and adds it to the bandwidth table stored in the storage unit 113. The network information of the network to which the terminal device 20 is connected is acquired by the acquisition unit 123 described later. In the present embodiment, the network information is a network address of the network to which the terminal device 20 is connected (the IP address and subnet mask of the terminal device 20), but is not limited to this.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a bandwidth table according to the present embodiment. In the example illustrated in FIG. 4, the bandwidth table is a set of records in which bandwidth information and network information (IP address and subnet mask of the terminal device 20) are associated with each network. In the present embodiment, as described above, the terminal device 20 is assumed to be a portable terminal and may be connected to various LANs. Therefore, the bandwidth table includes network addresses (terminals) of various LANs. The IP address and subnet mask of the device 20 are stored. Further, in FIG. 4, the description of specific values of the band information is omitted, but actually, information specifying the contents as described in FIG. 3 is described.

  The acquisition unit 123 acquires network information of the network when the terminal device 20 is connected to the network. Specifically, the acquisition unit 123 acquires network information of the LAN when the terminal device 20 is connected to the LAN, such as when the terminal device 20 is activated. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the acquisition unit 123 acquires network information via an external device such as a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) server, but the present invention is not limited to this.

  The communication control unit 125 acquires the band information associated with the network information of the network to which the terminal device 20 is connected from the band table stored in the storage unit 113, and based on the acquired band information The communication with the other terminal device 20 via the is controlled.

  Specifically, the communication control unit 125 acquires the band information associated with the network information corresponding to the network information acquired by the acquisition unit 123 from the band table.

  Specifically, the communication control unit 125 obtains a network address from the IP address and subnet mask obtained by the obtaining unit 123, and obtains a network address for each pair of IP address and subnet mask in the bandwidth table. Then, the communication control unit 125 acquires, from the band table, band information associated with the IP address and subnet mask pair from which the network address obtained from the IP address and subnet mask acquired by the acquisition unit 123 can be derived.

  This is because the network address is the same in the same LAN, and if the network address is the same, it is considered that they are connected to the same network, and the change in the usable bandwidth in the network is considered to change in the same way. It is.

  For example, when the IP address acquired by the acquisition unit 123 is 192.168.0.3 and the subnet mask is 255.255.255.0, the network address is 192.168.8.0. In the bandwidth table shown in FIG. 4, the network address with the IP address of 192.168.1.5 and the subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 is 192.168.1. The network address with the IP address of 192.168.0.7 and the subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 is 192.168.8.0. The network address with the IP address of 10.0.20.13 and the subnet mask of 255.0.0.0 is 10. For this reason, the communication control unit 125 shows the bandwidth information associated with the IP address 192.168.0.7 and the subnet mask 255.255.255.0 with the network address 192.168.8.0 in FIG. Obtain from the bandwidth table.

  And the communication control part 125 controls communication via a network so that the band of the network which the terminal device 20 uses becomes below the band which the band information acquired in each time slot | zone shows.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of communication control according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, it is assumed that the communication control unit 125 has acquired the band information shown in FIG. In this case, in the time zone from 12:00 to 17:00, the bandwidth (measurement bandwidth) usable by the terminal device 20 is 10 Mbps, and the bandwidth usable by the terminal device 20 in the time zone after 17:00 is 5 Mbps. It can be seen that the band that can be used by the terminal device 20 sharply decreases at 17:00.

  For this reason, as shown in FIG. 5, the communication control unit 125 controls communication via the network so that the bandwidth used by the terminal device 20 is around 10 Mbps in the time zone after 12:00. When the communication control unit 125 approaches 17:00, the communication control unit 125 controls communication via the network so that the bandwidth used by the terminal device 20 gradually decreases. The time zone after 17:00 is determined by the terminal device 20. Communication via the network is controlled so that the band to be used is around 5 Mbps.

  Note that control of communication via a network includes, for example, resolution adjustment of image data, adjustment of frame rate, and compression of audio data. Thereby, the communication control part 125 can control communication via a network so that the band which the terminal device 20 uses becomes a target band.

  When the communication control unit 125 transmits the conference data to another terminal device 20, the communication control unit 125 acquires the video data captured by the imaging unit 101, and the terminal device 20 uses the conference data that is the acquired video data, such as encoding. And adjusting the conference data to the target bandwidth, adding the destination information (for example, the IP address of the other terminal device 20) of the conference data to the adjusted conference data, and the communication unit 111 to the server device 10 Send to. Thereby, the server apparatus 10 transfers the encoded conference data to the other terminal apparatus 20.

  When a conference participant who uses the terminal device 20 is speaking, the control unit 120 further acquires audio data from the audio output unit 107, and the acquired video data and audio data become conference data. .

  Further, when receiving the conference data from the other terminal device 20, the control unit 120 receives the conference data transferred from the other terminal device 20 by the server device 10 via the communication unit 111 and decodes the received conference data. Then, the video based on the video data included in the decoded conference data is displayed on the display unit 105. When the decoded conference data includes audio data, the control unit 120 outputs audio based on the audio data from the audio output unit 107.

  The video conference by the video conference system 1 is realized by the control unit 120 of each terminal device 20 repeatedly performing such a conference data transmission operation and reception operation.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the network information acquisition process executed by the terminal device 20 according to the present embodiment.

  First, based on a user operation from the operation unit 109, the control unit 120 activates the terminal device 20 (step S101).

  Subsequently, the acquisition unit 123 acquires network information of the LAN when the communication control unit 125 establishes a connection with the LAN (step S103).

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of a communication control process executed by the terminal device 20 of the present embodiment, and FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of a bandwidth monitoring process executed by the terminal device 20 of the embodiment. FIG. Note that the communication control process shown in FIG. 7 and the bandwidth monitoring process shown in FIG. 8 are always performed during a video conference.

  The communication control process shown in FIG. 7 will be described.

  First, the control unit 120 starts a conference based on an instruction from the server device 10 (step S201).

  Subsequently, the communication control unit 125 confirms whether the network information corresponding to the network information acquired by the acquisition unit 123 exists in the bandwidth table illustrated in FIG. 4 (Step S203). The band information stored in the band table shown in FIG. 4 is band information corresponding to the band measured and measured at the time of the video conference held before the conference is performed in S201, for example.

  When the corresponding network information exists in the bandwidth table (Yes in step S203), the communication control unit 125 acquires the bandwidth information associated with the relevant network information from the bandwidth table. Based on the acquired bandwidth information, the communication control unit 125 controls communication via the network so that the bandwidth of the network used by the terminal device 20 is equal to or less than the bandwidth indicated by the bandwidth information acquired in each time zone. (Step S205). Thereby, since it is based on the past bandwidth information in the area of the network address to which the terminal device 20 belongs, it becomes possible to control to an appropriate bandwidth corresponding to the network. For example, the present invention can also be applied when the user carries the terminal device 20-1 at the base 2 and moves into the network at the base 3. In this case, an appropriate band is set in the terminal device 20-1 based on the band information of the network of the base 3.

  On the other hand, if the corresponding network information does not exist in the bandwidth table (No in step S203), the communication control unit 125 performs default communication control so that the bandwidth used by the terminal device 20 is a predetermined bandwidth. Communication via the network is controlled (step S207). With this default communication control, for example, bandwidth information set at 2 Mbps is set in advance and used.

  Next, the bandwidth monitoring process shown in FIG. 8 will be described.

  First, the control unit 120 starts a conference based on an instruction from the server device 10 (step S301). Note that the processing in step S301 is the same as the processing in step S201 in the flowchart of FIG.

  Subsequently, the monitoring unit 121 measures the bandwidth of the network that can be used by the terminal device 20 (step S303). And the monitoring part 121 repeats the process of step S303 regularly until a meeting is complete | finished (it is No at step S305).

  Subsequently, when the conference ends (Yes in Step S305), the monitoring unit 121 generates band information from the measurement result of the network band, adds the band information to the band table in association with the network information of the terminal device 20 (Step S305). S307).

  As described above, in this embodiment, since the usable bandwidth of the network is managed for each network, it is possible to grasp how the usable bandwidth of the network to which the terminal device is connected has changed in the past. By controlling communication via the network in accordance with the change, it is possible to cope with a sudden change in the network bandwidth. As a result, the terminal device can smoothly transmit and receive the conference data, and can contribute to the smooth progress of the conference.

  In addition, since the usable bandwidth for each network is an actual measurement value that is an actual monitoring (measurement) result, the credibility is high, and it is possible to improve the accuracy of dealing with a sudden change in the network bandwidth.

(Modification)
In addition, this invention is not limited to said each embodiment, A various deformation | transformation is possible.

(Modification 1)
In the above embodiment, an example in which a network address is used as network information has been described. However, a MAC (Media Access Control) address of a default gateway may be used. Note that the MAC address of the default gateway is acquired from the default gateway by the acquisition unit 123 when the terminal device 20 is connected to the network.

  The default gateway corresponds to a router constituting the LAN to which the terminal device 20 is connected. That is, if the terminal device 20 is connected to the LAN 21, the acquisition unit 123 acquires the MAC address from the router that configures the LAN 21, and if the terminal device 20 is connected to the LAN 31, the acquisition unit 123. Obtains the MAC address from the router constituting the LAN 31.

  In more detail, the acquisition unit 123 acquires an IP address from the default gateway, and specifies the MAC address of the default gateway by ARP (Address Resolution Protocol). The IP address of the default gateway may be set manually by the administrator, or automatically set by the DHCP server.

  For example, when a private address is used as the IP address of the terminal device 20, even if the network (LAN) of the connection destination is changed, the IP address is not changed, and the network address is duplicated when connecting to another network (LAN). May end up. In this case, the method of the above embodiment is not preferable because communication control is performed based on bandwidth information in different networks. On the other hand, since the MAC address of the default gateway is a value unique to the LAN, the above situation can be avoided.

  As described above, according to the first modification, even when a private address is used as the IP address, the terminal device can correctly grasp how the available bandwidth in the network has changed in the past. By controlling the communication via the network according to the situation, it is possible to cope with a sudden change in the network bandwidth.

(Modification 2)
Moreover, you may combine the said embodiment and the modification 1. That is, as the network information, the network address and the MAC address of the default gateway may be used together.

  In this way, even if a router used in one LAN is used in another LAN due to a change in the LAN configuration, etc., the terminal device can use any available bandwidth in the network in the past. Therefore, it is possible to cope with a sudden change in the network bandwidth by controlling communication via the network in accordance with the change.

(Modification 3)
In the above embodiment and each modification, when network information is already registered in the bandwidth table, the bandwidth information associated with the network information may be updated with the bandwidth information generated by the monitoring unit 121. The bandwidth information associated with the network information may be updated with the bandwidth information obtained by averaging the bandwidth information generated by the monitoring unit 121 and the bandwidth information associated with the network information. In this way, the accuracy of the band information can be improved.

(Hardware configuration)
The hardware configuration of the terminal device 20 of the embodiment and each modification will be described. The terminal device 20 of the embodiment and each modification includes a control device such as a CPU, a storage device such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM, an external storage device such as an HDD and an SSD, a display device such as a display, a mouse and a keyboard. And a communication device such as a NIC, an imaging device such as a digital camera, a sound input device such as a microphone, and a sound output device such as a speaker, and can be realized with a hardware configuration using a normal computer.

  The program executed in the terminal device 20 of the above embodiment and each modified example is a file in an installable format or an executable format, and is a CD-ROM, CD-R, memory card, DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), flexible disk. The program is stored in a computer-readable storage medium such as (FD).

  Further, the program executed by the terminal device 20 of the above embodiment and each modified example may be provided by being stored on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet and downloaded via the network. Further, the program executed by the terminal device 20 of the above embodiment and each modification may be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet. In addition, the program executed by the terminal device 20 of the above-described embodiment and each modification may be provided by being incorporated in advance in a ROM or the like.

  The program executed by the terminal device 20 of the embodiment and each modification has a module configuration for realizing the above-described units on a computer. As actual hardware, the control device reads out a program from an external storage device to the storage device and executes the program, whereby the above-described units are realized on a computer.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Video conference system 2 Internet 10 Server apparatus 11, 21, 31 LAN
20-1, 20-2 (20) Terminal device 101 Imaging unit 103 Audio input unit 105 Display unit 107 Audio output unit 109 Operation unit 111 Communication unit 113 Storage unit 120 Control unit 121 Monitoring unit 123 Acquisition unit 125 Communication control unit

JP 2002-359651 A

Claims (6)

An information processing apparatus connected to a network,
For each network, band information indicating a usable band of the network, network information capable of identifying the network that is at least one of a network address of the network and a MAC (Media Access Control) address of a default gateway of the network A storage unit for storing the associated bandwidth table;
Acquiring the band information associated with the network information of the network to which the information processing apparatus is connected from the bandwidth table, based on the acquired bandwidth information, the communication control unit for controlling communication through the network When,
An information processing apparatus comprising: Monitors the bandwidth of the network to which the information processing apparatus is connected, and generates the bandwidth information of the network, in association with the network information of the network, further comprising a monitoring unit to be registered in the band table wherein Item 4. The information processing apparatus according to Item 1. Further comprising: an obtaining unit obtaining the network information of the network when connecting with the network,
Said communication control unit, the bandwidth information associated with the network information corresponding to the network information acquired by the acquiring unit acquires from the bandwidth table, based on the acquired bandwidth information, via the network The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, which controls communication. The bandwidth information indicates the available bandwidth of the network every hour,
The information according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the communication control unit controls communication via the network such that a bandwidth of the network is equal to or less than a bandwidth indicated by the bandwidth information in each time zone. Processing equipment. For each network, band information indicating a usable band of the network, network information capable of identifying the network that is at least one of a network address of the network and a MAC (Media Access Control) address of a default gateway of the network from the storage unit that stores band table associating acquires bandwidth information processing apparatus associated with the network information of the network to be connected, based on the acquired bandwidth information, via the network communication A communication control method including a communication control step for controlling the communication. For each network, band information indicating a usable band of the network, network information capable of identifying the network that is at least one of a network address of the network and a MAC (Media Access Control) address of a default gateway of the network from the storage unit that stores band table associating acquires bandwidth information processing apparatus associated with the network information of the network to be connected, based on the acquired bandwidth information, via the network communication A program for causing a computer to execute a communication control step for controlling the computer.

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