JP6114517B2 - Packet communication device, packet communication system, communication program, and wireless communication node - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a packet communication device, a packet communication system, and a wireless communication node, and more particularly, to a terminal that transmits a packet to a communication path constructed by a plurality of relay devices and is wirelessly connected to one of the plurality of relay devices. The present invention relates to an apparatus and a system that transmit the packet, and a wireless communication node that constructs an ad hoc communication path.

  In hospitals, a system for calling a patient is widely used. Some such call systems display on a display the number given to the patient. At the reception desk, a numbered ticket with a number is distributed to each patient. When calling the patient, a sound for calling attention is emitted and the number of the patient is displayed on the display installed in the waiting room. Each patient knows that he / she was called for examination or treatment by comparing the number displayed on the display with the number described on the distributed numbered ticket. In addition to hospitals, call systems are widely used in event venues, government offices that issue various certificates, and the like.

  In the above calling system, the person who is the target of the call needs to wait in a place where the display can be referred to. Therefore, in order to improve the convenience of the call target person, a system in which a wireless terminal is distributed to the call target person and the target person is called from the master station by the wireless terminal has been studied.

JP 2006-261874 A JP 2000-324125 A

  Patent Documents 1 and 2 describe a wireless communication system that can be used for a calling system. This wireless communication system is a so-called ad hoc wireless communication system, and a plurality of transmission / reception stations (wireless terminals) establish a communication path by transmitting and receiving information on the communication path to each other. When a transmitting / receiving station is distributed to a call target person and a call system is constructed, the call target person can move freely. However, when the transmitting / receiving stations frequently move or when the number of transmitting / receiving stations is large, the processing load on each transmitting / receiving station increases, making it difficult to quickly establish a communication path. This causes a problem that communication between the transmitting and receiving stations becomes uncertain.

  An object of the present invention is to reliably perform communication with a wireless terminal by simple processing.

A transmitter that transmits a packet to a wireless communication path constructed by a plurality of relays; a receiver that receives a packet from the wireless communication path; and a terminal that is wirelessly connected to one of the plurality of relays An information acquisition unit that acquires behavior tendency information of a holder of the terminal; a destination recognition unit that recognizes a relay device that is a destination of a call packet for the terminal among the plurality of relay devices based on the behavior tendency information; The transmission unit transmits the call packet with the relay device recognized by the destination recognition unit as a destination, and the destination recognition unit determines that the response packet transmitted from the terminal is the destination of the call packet. When there is no response from the repeater that has not been received by the receiver, a repeater that is different from the repeater that previously transmitted the call packet is Based on the behavior trend information, the destination packet is recognized as a destination of the call packet, and the destination recognition unit further determines the order in which the plurality of relay devices are recognized as the destination of the call packet. A repeater order storage unit that stores a plurality of repeater order patterns, and a repeater order pattern acquisition unit that acquires any one of the plurality of repeater order patterns according to the behavior tendency information. Recognizing, as a destination of the call packet, a relay device different from the relay device that previously transmitted the call packet, based on the repeater order pattern acquired according to the behavior tendency information. To do.

Also, preferably, the destination recognition unit, said a behavior trend information includes a map storage unit for storing a map associating the location information indicating the location of the potential by the terminal is present, the relay device The order storage unit stores an order table in which the repeater order pattern is associated with the location information, and the repeater order pattern acquisition unit refers to the map according to the behavior tendency information, and The location information associated with the behavior tendency information is obtained, and further, with reference to the order table, any one of the plural repeater order patterns is obtained.

The present onset Ming, in the packet communication apparatus, a transmission unit for transmitting a packet to the wireless communication path is constructed by a plurality of repeater, a receiving unit that receives a packet from the wireless communication path, said plurality of repeater For a terminal wirelessly connected to any of the above, an information acquisition unit that acquires behavior tendency information of a holder of the terminal, and a relay device that is a destination of a call packet for the terminal among the plurality of relay devices, A destination recognizing unit that recognizes based on behavior tendency information, and the transmitting unit transmits the call packet with the relay device recognized by the destination recognizing unit as a destination, and the destination recognizing unit receives from the terminal When the transmitted response packet is not received by the receiving unit from the repeater that is the destination of the call packet, the call packet is first received. Another repeater is a transmitted repeater to Tsu bets, based on the behavior trend information, recognized as the destination of the call packet, the packet communication device further includes a said terminal, can the terminal is present A terminal / location table in which location information representing a unique place is associated with each other, the terminal / location table storing the terminal / location table in which the terminal is associated with the location information based on the behavior tendency information A relay unit order pattern determining unit that determines a relay unit order pattern indicating an order when the destination packet is recognized as a destination of the call packet based on the number of corresponding terminals for each of the location information. And at the time of no response, based on the repeater order pattern, the call packet first Recognize another repeater as a destination of the call packets and transmitted repeater.

  In addition, the packet communication device according to the present invention preferably includes a specifying unit that specifies a repeater to which the terminal is wirelessly connected based on the response packet.

  Moreover, the packet communication apparatus according to the present invention preferably includes the plurality of repeaters.

In addition, the present invention is a communication program that is read by a packet communication device that includes a transmission unit that transmits a packet to a wireless communication path constructed by a plurality of repeaters and a reception unit that receives the packet from the wireless communication path In addition, for a terminal wirelessly connected to one of the plurality of relay devices, an information acquisition process for acquiring behavior tendency information of a holder of the terminal, and a call packet for the terminal among the plurality of relay devices A process of causing the packet communication device to execute destination recognition processing for recognizing a relay device as a destination based on the behavior tendency information, and transmitting the call packet with the relay device recognized by the destination recognition processing as a destination In the destination recognition process, the response packet transmitted from the terminal is the destination of the call packet. From the repeater, when no response has not been received by the receiving unit, another repeater and repeater that transmitted the call packet earlier, based on the behavior trend information, as a destination of said call packet see contains no response during treatment recognized, the packet communication device further includes a plurality of repeater, the repeater that stores plural kinds of repeater sequence pattern that defines the order in which recognized as a destination of said call packet An order storage unit, and a repeater order pattern acquisition unit that acquires any one of the plurality of repeater order patterns according to the behavior tendency information, and the no-response process includes the behavior tendency information Based on the repeater order pattern acquired in response to the call packet, a repeater that is different from the repeater that previously transmitted the call packet is addressed to the call packet. Characterized in that it comprises a recognizing process as. In addition, the present invention is a communication program that is read by a packet communication device that includes a transmission unit that transmits a packet to a wireless communication path constructed by a plurality of repeaters and a reception unit that receives the packet from the wireless communication path. In addition, for a terminal wirelessly connected to one of the plurality of relay devices, an information acquisition process for acquiring behavior tendency information of a holder of the terminal, and a call packet for the terminal among the plurality of relay devices A process of causing the packet communication device to execute destination recognition processing for recognizing a relay device as a destination based on the behavior tendency information, and transmitting the call packet with the relay device recognized by the destination recognition processing as a destination In the destination recognition process, the response packet transmitted from the terminal is the destination of the call packet. A relay device different from the relay device that transmitted the call packet first is recognized as the destination of the call packet based on the behavior tendency information when there is no response from the relay device that has not been received by the receiving unit. The packet communication device further includes a terminal / location table in which the terminal is associated with location information indicating a place where the terminal may exist, A terminal / location table storage unit that stores a terminal / location table in which the location information is associated based on the behavior tendency information, and is recognized as the destination of the call packet based on the number of corresponding terminals for each of the location information A repeater order pattern determination unit for determining a repeater order pattern indicating the order in which to perform, The no-response process includes a process of recognizing a repeater different from the repeater that transmitted the call packet first as a destination of the call packet based on the repeater order pattern. To do.

The related technology according to the present invention is a wireless communication node that communicates with a packet communication device, constructs an ad hoc communication path as the wireless communication path, and is used as each of the plurality of relay devices, A packet transmission unit that transmits a packet; a packet reception unit that receives a packet; and a terminal communication unit that performs wireless communication with the terminal wirelessly connected to the wireless communication node, together with the wireless communication node When the packet receiver receives a call packet destined for the wireless communication node from another node that constructs the ad hoc communication path, the terminal communication unit transmits a local call packet to the terminal. A local response packet transmitted from the terminal in response to the local call packet is received by the terminal communication unit. When in the that is, the packet transmission unit, and transmits the response packet to the calling packet to the other nodes.

  According to the present invention, communication with a wireless terminal can be reliably performed with simple processing.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the radio | wireless terminal calling system which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows a terminal ID / location table notionally. It is a figure which shows notionally the relay machine address / location table. It is a figure which shows an order table notionally. It is a flowchart which shows the process which a host computer performs. It is a figure which shows the process which a host computer and a relay machine perform.

(1) Configuration of Wireless Terminal Calling System FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the wireless terminal calling system according to the embodiment of the present invention. The wireless terminal calling system includes a host computer 10, a parent device P0, relay devices R1 to R5, and a wireless terminal T. The host computer 10 and the parent device P0 are connected by wire, and each includes a wire transmitter and a wire receiver for transmitting and receiving packets to and from each other. Each of parent device P0 and relay devices R1 to R5 includes a wireless transmitter that transmits a packet and a wireless receiver that receives the packet. Master device P0 and relay devices R1 to R5 constitute an ad hoc wireless communication system. Each relay device includes a wireless communication device for performing wireless communication with the wireless terminal T, and each wireless terminal T is communicatively connected to the parent device P0 via one of the relay devices R1 to R5.

  FIG. 1 shows an example in which this system is installed in a hospital building. The host computer 10 and the parent machine P0 are installed at the reception desk A. The relay machines R1 and R2 are installed in the internal medicine waiting room INT and the surgical waiting room SRG, respectively. The relay machine R3 is installed in the medicine department window PHM, the relay machine R4 is installed in the entrance ENT, and the relay machine R5 is installed in the parking lot PRK. Each wireless terminal T is distributed to patients at the reception desk A, for example.

(2) Construction of communication path The master unit P0 and the relay apparatuses R1 to R5 perform preliminary wireless communication with each other to construct a communication path. Here, the state in which the communication path is established means that each of the parent device P0 and the relay devices R1 to R5 is a communication node, and the route information regarding the communication branch connecting the communication nodes is the parent device P0 and the relay device R1. The state recognized in ~ R5. The communication branch is conceptually drawn with a line between the communication nodes such that one communication node excludes packets received from other than the other communication node. After the communication path is established, base unit P0 and relay apparatuses R1 to R5 perform packet wireless transmission along the communication path according to the path information.

  In the example shown in FIG. 1, a communication branch 01 is formed between the parent device P0 and the relay device R1. A communication branch 12 is formed between the relay device R1 and the relay device R2, and a communication branch 03 is formed between the parent device P0 and the relay device R3. Further, a communication branch 34 is formed between the relay machine R3 and the relay machine R4, and a communication branch 45 is formed between the relay machine R4 and the relay machine R5. In the wireless terminal call system, packets are transmitted and received according to the communication path indicated by each communication branch.

  For example, the host computer 10 executes control for establishing a communication path for the parent device P0 and performs preliminary wireless communication with the parent device P0 and the relay devices R1 to R5. Is done. In this case, for example, a control packet for communication path construction is transmitted / received between the parent device P0 and the first repeater, and further, control is performed between the first repeater and the second repeater. Packets are sent and received. A control packet is transmitted / received between the second repeater and the third repeater, and a control packet is transmitted / received between the kth repeater and the (k + 1) th repeater. Is done. As described above, control packets for establishing a communication path are transmitted and received in a chain manner from the parent device P0 to a plurality of relay devices. Base unit P0 and each repeater construct a communication path according to the information included in the control packet.

  Each of the plurality of wireless terminals T is wirelessly connected to one of the relay devices R1 to R5. After the communication path is established, the host computer 10, the parent device P0, and the relays R1 to R5 transmit packets to the wireless terminal T via the established communication path.

(3) Call process The call process is a process for transmitting a call packet to the wireless terminal T owned by the patient to be called. Here, the call packet includes control information that causes the wireless terminal T to execute a call operation. The calling operation is, for example, an operation for alerting the patient, such as sounding an alarm, light emission of a light emitter such as a light bulb or a light emitting diode, and a message display on the display. The wireless terminal T that has received the call packet performs a call operation according to the control information included in the call packet. The patient knows that he / she has been called by executing a calling operation by the wireless terminal T owned by the patient.

  As shown in FIG. 1, one repeater is installed in each of the internal medicine waiting room INT, the surgical waiting room SRG, the drug department window PHM, the entrance ENT, and the parking lot PRK. A plurality of wireless terminals T are scattered in the internal medicine waiting room INT, the surgical waiting room SRG, the medicine department window PHM, the entrance ENT, and the parking lot PRK. Each wireless terminal T moves with the patient who is the holder.

  Each wireless terminal T selects one of the relay devices R1 to R5 that has a good communication state, and performs wireless communication with the selected relay device. Therefore, in the calling process, the host computer 10 transmits a calling packet to one of the plurality of relay devices as a destination, and transmits the calling packet to the wireless terminal T to be called through the relay device. . The wireless terminal T that has received the call packet transmits a response packet to the host computer 10 via the relay station that has transmitted the call packet. As a result, the host computer 10 recognizes that the calling operation has been executed by the wireless terminal T to be called.

  However, the relay device for the wireless terminal T to be called is not recognized by the host computer 10 before executing the calling process. In addition, since the wireless terminal T to be called may move with the patient, the repeater for the wireless terminal T to be called is switched as the wireless terminal T moves. In this case, even if a call packet is transmitted to a repeater that has been in wireless communication with the wireless terminal T to be called in the past, the wireless terminal T receives the call packet and does not execute the call operation.

  Therefore, in the calling process, the calling packet is transmitted to any one of the relay devices R1 to R5 according to a predetermined order. After that, when the response packet is not transmitted from the wireless terminal T to be called and the response packet is not received by the host computer 10, the call packet is transmitted to another relay device according to a predetermined order. Thereafter, when a response packet is transmitted from the call target wireless terminal T and the response packet is received by the host computer 10, the host computer 10 recognizes that the call operation has been executed by the call target wireless terminal T. In addition, the host computer 10 identifies the repeater with which the wireless terminal T to be called performs wireless communication, and recognizes the location of the owner of the wireless terminal T.

  For example, it is assumed that the predetermined order is the order of the relays R2, R1, R3, R4, and R5, and the patient to be called is at the pharmacy department window PHM. In this case, the wireless terminal T to be called is in the medicine department window PHM. The host computer 10 first transmits a call packet with the relay R2 as the destination in accordance with a predetermined order. At this time, the wireless terminal T to be called does not perform wireless communication with the relay R2 and is in a state of performing wireless communication with the relay R3. Therefore, the response packet is not transmitted from the wireless terminal T to the host computer 10. Next, in accordance with a predetermined order, the host computer 10 transmits a calling packet with the relay device R1 as a destination. Since the wireless terminal T to be called does not perform wireless communication with the relay R1, the response packet is not transmitted from the wireless terminal T to the host computer 10 in this case as well. Next, in accordance with a predetermined order, the host computer 10 transmits a calling packet with the relay device R3 as a destination. The wireless terminal T to be called is performing wireless communication with the relay R3 and receives a call packet from the relay R3. Then, a call operation is executed according to the received call packet, and a response packet is transmitted to the host computer 10 via the relay R3. As a result, the host computer 10 recognizes that the calling operation is executed by the wireless terminal T to be called, and recognizes that the patient having the wireless terminal T is at the medicine department window PHM.

  The order of the repeaters that are the destination of the call packet is determined based on behavior trend information corresponding to the wireless terminal T as described later, for example. Further, the order may be the order in which the number of wireless terminals T performing wireless communication is large.

  Hereinafter, the calling process will be specifically described. First, preparation processing executed by the wireless terminal T and the host computer 10 to execute call processing will be described, and then detailed processing executed in the wireless terminal call system will be described.

(3-1) Preparation Process of Wireless Terminal T The wireless terminal T stores a terminal ID (Identification data). The terminal ID is information for specifying the wireless terminal T in the wireless terminal calling system. The terminal ID may be information such as a Mac address stored in the wireless terminal T when the wireless terminal T is manufactured, or may be information that can be freely stored by the user. When the terminal ID is stored in the wireless terminal T, for example, when the wireless terminal T is delivered to the patient at the reception window A, the terminal ID is assigned to the wireless terminal T and stored. The storage of the terminal ID in the wireless terminal T is performed, for example, by a process executed by the host computer 10 in response to a user operation while the wireless terminal T is connected to the host computer 10.

(3-2) Preparation Process of Host Computer 10 A preparation process executed in advance by the host computer 10 in order to execute a calling process will be described. The host computer 10 acquires the terminal ID of the wireless terminal T and the behavior tendency information of the patient who owns the wireless terminal T based on the user's operation. The behavior tendency information is information representing the behavior tendency of the patient, and includes, for example, information on a department name, a disease name, a place where the patient is likely to wait, and the like. Acquisition of the terminal ID and behavior tendency information of the wireless terminal T is performed, for example, when the wireless terminal T is delivered to the patient at the reception desk A. In this case, the host computer 10 reads the terminal ID of the wireless terminal T delivered to the patient and the behavior tendency information according to the contents of the reception procedure performed by the patient according to the operation of the user.

  The host computer 10 obtains a location code corresponding to the behavior tendency information as information indicating a place that is likely to be a patient waiting place. This process is performed by referring to the behavior trend information / location map 12. In the behavior trend information / location map 12, the correspondence relationship between the behavior trend information and the location code is stored in advance. The location code in this table is defined in advance as information indicating the patient's standby location, that is, the position of the wireless terminal T. In this embodiment, the same code as the code given to the place where the patient waits is used, and “INT”, “SRG”, “PHM”, “ENT”, and “PRK” are defined as the location codes. Yes. These location codes indicate the internal medicine waiting room INT, the surgical waiting room SRG, the drug department window PHM, the entrance ENT, and the parking lot PRK, respectively.

  After acquiring the terminal ID and the behavior trend information, the host computer 10 refers to the behavior trend information / location map 12 and obtains a location code corresponding to the behavior trend information. Then, the terminal ID and the location code are associated with each other and stored in the terminal ID / location table 14.

  FIG. 2 conceptually shows an example of the terminal ID / location table 14. In this example, the terminal ID is represented by a two-digit code, and is represented by “GT”, “IU”, “WS”, “MJ”, “QL”, “PG”, “JR”. , “SRG”, “PRK”, “INT”, “INT”, “INT”, “ENT”, “SRG”,... . The terminal ID / location table 14 has significance as a table in which a terminal ID is associated with a location code indicating a place where the wireless terminal T having the terminal ID is likely to exist.

  The host computer 10 also has a repeater address / location table 16 and executes processing for storing the contents of this table. The repeater address / location table 16 is a table in which the address of the repeater is associated with the location code indicating the installation location of the repeater.

  The host computer 10 communicates with each repeater and acquires a location code from each repeater. This communication is performed using a communication path that has already been established. The location code of the repeater may be stored in advance in the repeater by the user. The host computer 10 stores an address and a location code in association with each repeater in the repeater address / location table 16.

  Thus, instead of the host computer 10 storing the contents of the relay machine address / location table 16 by communication with each relay machine, the host computer 10 stores the contents of the relay machine address / location table 16 by a user operation. It may be memorized.

  FIG. 3 conceptually shows an example of the repeater address / location table 16. In this example, the address of the repeater is represented by a two-digit code. The addresses “R1”, “R2”, “R3”, “R4”, and “R5” are addresses assigned to the relays R1, R2, R3, R4, and R5, respectively. Address codes “INT”, “SRG”, “PHM”, “ENT”, and “PRK” correspond to addresses “R1”, “R2”, “R3”, “R4”, and “R5”, respectively. It is attached.

  The host computer 10 has an order table 18 in which a transmission code order pattern and a repeater order pattern are associated with a location code indicating a place where a radio terminal T to be called is likely to exist. This order table 18 transmits the calling packet to the internal medicine waiting room INT, the surgical waiting room SRG, the medicine department window PHM, the entrance ENT and the parking lot PRK and the calling packet to the relay devices R1 to R5 in the calling process. Indicates the order. The transmission position order pattern is information representing the order in which packets are transmitted by the order of location codes. The repeater order pattern is information representing the order of transmitting packets by the address of the repeater. FIG. 4 shows an example of the order table 18. “INT → SRG → PHM → ENT → PRK” is associated with a location code “INT” indicating a place where there is a high possibility that the radio terminal T to be called exists. Further, the location code “INT” is associated with “R1 → R2 → R3 → R4 → R5” as a repeater order pattern. When there is a high possibility that the wireless terminal T to be called exists in the internal medicine waiting room INT, these call packets are transmitted in the order of the internal medicine waiting room INT, the surgical waiting room SRG, the drug department counter PHM, the entrance ENT, and the parking lot PRK. It shows that.

  Similarly, “SRG → INT → PHM → ENT → PRK” is associated with the location code “SRG” as a transmission order pattern. Further, “R2 → R1 → R3 → R4 → R5” is associated as the repeater order pattern.

  The location code “PHM” is associated with “PHM → ENT → PRK → INT → SRG” as a transmission order pattern. Further, “R3 → R4 → R5 → R1 → R2” is associated as the repeater order pattern.

  The location code “ENT” is associated with “ENT → PRK → PHM → INT → SRG” as a transmission order pattern. Further, “R4 → R5 → R3 → R1 → R2” is associated as the repeater order pattern.

  The location code “PRK” is associated with “PRK → ENT → PHM → INT → SRG” as a transmission order pattern. Further, “R5 → R4 → R3 → R1 → R2” is associated as the repeater order pattern.

  In these examples, a location code indicating a place where a radio terminal T to be called is likely to be present, that is, a repeater installed at a location indicated by a location code described in the leftmost column. In this case, the transmission order is the first. And the transmission order with respect to the repeater installed in the other place is determined in the order close to the place shown by the location code described in the leftmost column.

  Information about the association between the location code and the transmission position order pattern is stored in advance in the order table 18 by a user operation or the like before the calling process is performed. Further, the information about the association between the location code and the repeater order pattern is obtained by converting the transmission position order pattern into the repeater order pattern based on the repeater address / location table 16. That is, the contents are stored in the repeater address / location table 16 by the above-described processing, and the repeater order pattern is obtained and stored in the order table 18.

(3-3) Execution of Call Process (3-3-1) Process Performed by Host Computer 10 FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of the process executed by the host computer 10 in the call process. The process based on this flowchart is executed by a program read into the host computer 10. The user inputs the terminal ID of the wireless terminal T held by the patient to be called into the host computer 10 and performs an operation for causing the wireless terminal T to execute the calling operation. The host computer 10 reads the terminal ID input by the user's operation as the calling terminal ID (S101). Then, the location code associated with the calling terminal ID is acquired with reference to the terminal ID / location table 14 (S102).

  The host computer 10 refers to the order table 18 and obtains the repeater order pattern corresponding to the location code associated with the calling terminal ID (S103). Then, the address of the earliest repeater in the repeater order pattern is recognized as the destination address (S104). The host computer 10 generates a call packet including the terminal ID and control information (S105). Then, the destination address is included in the call packet (S106), and the call packet is transmitted to the communication path constituted by the parent device P0 and the relay devices R1 to R5 (S107).

  The wireless terminal response communication (S108) will be described later, but an outline thereof will be described here. First, when the relay device that is the destination of the call packet receives the call packet, the relay device transmits a local call packet to the wireless terminal T. When the wireless terminal T having the calling terminal ID is in the vicinity of the relay device that is the destination of the calling packet and is in a state of performing wireless communication with the relay device, the wireless terminal T transmits a local calling packet from the relay device. Receive. In response to this, the wireless terminal T performs a calling operation and transmits a local response packet to the relay device that is the transmission source of the calling packet. The repeater transmits a response packet to the host computer 10 via the communication path used for transmitting the call packet and the parent device P0.

  On the other hand, if the wireless terminal T to be called does not exist in the vicinity of the relay device that is the destination of the calling packet and is not in wireless communication with the relay device, the wireless terminal T receives the calling packet, and The response packet is not transmitted. As a result, no response packet is received by the host computer 10.

  In step S109, the host computer 10 determines whether a response packet has been received within a predetermined time (S109). When a response packet is received within a predetermined time, the host computer 10 stores information associating the calling terminal ID with the location code of the relay station as the destination as the position information of the wireless terminal T to be called (S110). In addition, the host computer 10 may specify a repeater corresponding to the wireless terminal T to be called, and perform processing for storing the address and processing for storing the location of the owner of the wireless terminal T.

  On the other hand, when the response packet is not received within the predetermined time, the host computer 10 recognizes the address of the next relay station in the relay station order pattern acquired in step S103 as the destination address (S111), and the step The process returns to S105. As a result, the processes in steps S105 to S109 and S111 are repeated until a response packet is received.

  If the destination address in step S106 is the last address in the repeater order pattern, the next address in the order in step S111 is the earliest address. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 4, “R2 → R1 → R3 → R4 → R5” is associated with the location code “SRG” as the repeater order pattern. In this case, if the destination address in step S106 is the last address “R5”, the next address in step S111 is the earliest address “R2”. Thus, in step S111, each address in the repeater order pattern is cyclically referred to until a response packet is received.

(3-3-2) Wireless Terminal Response Communication FIG. 6 shows the flow of processing executed by the host computer 10 and the relay device in wireless terminal response communication. The host computer 10 transmits a call packet to the parent device P0 (201). The parent device P0 transmits the call packet to the relay device RD that is the destination among the relay devices R1 to R5 via the communication path X (S202).

  Here, the communication path X is configured by a communication branch interposed between the parent device P0 and the destination relay device RD. For example, when the relay R1 shown in FIG. 1 is the destination relay RD, the communication path X is a communication path constructed by the communication branch 01. When the relay R2 is the destination relay RD, the communication path X is a communication path constructed by the communication branches 01 and 12. When the relay R5 is the destination relay RD, the communication path X is a communication path constructed by the communication branches 03, 34, and 45.

  When receiving the call packet, the relay RD wirelessly transmits the call packet as a local call packet (S203).

  When receiving a local call packet including its own terminal ID as a calling terminal ID, the wireless terminal T executes a calling operation according to the call control information included therein (S204). Then, a local response packet is transmitted to the relay RD that wirelessly transmitted the call packet (S205).

  The relay device RD that has received the local response packet transmits the response packet to the parent device P0 via the communication path X (S206). The parent device P0 transmits a response packet to the host computer 10 (207). The host computer 10 refers to the repeater address / location table 16, acquires the location code of the repeater as the destination, and stores the location code as the position information of the wireless terminal T to be called (S208).

(3-3-3) Effect Obtained by Calling Process According to such a process, even if a patient holding the wireless terminal T moves, a process for calling the wireless terminal T can be executed. In hospitals, patients with infectious diseases such as influenza and measles are desired to wait in a place isolated from other patients such as cars parked in the parking lot PRK. In the present embodiment, even when the patient is waiting in the car at the parking lot PRK, the wireless terminal T owned by the patient is called. This reduces the labor of hospital staff and patients with infectious diseases.

  Moreover, the order which makes relay machine R1-R5 a destination is determined according to a call subject's action tendency. As a result, the call packet is preferentially transmitted to a repeater in a place where the call target person is highly likely to wait, that is, a place where the call target wireless terminal T is likely to exist. Therefore, the process for causing the wireless terminal T to execute the calling operation is quickly performed.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the repeaters R1 to R5 are fixedly used. As a result, the communication path to be constructed is maintained constant unless the arrangement positions of these relays are changed. Thereby, transmission / reception of a packet is reliably performed.

(4) Transmission of calling packet based on the number of wireless terminals In the above-described embodiment, the order in which the relay devices R1 to R5 are the destination is determined according to the behavior tendency of the person to be called. Instead of such a process, a process of determining the order in which the relay terminals R1 to R5 are destined as the destination may be executed in the descending order of the number of wireless terminals T that perform wireless communication.

  In this case, the host computer 10 refers to the terminal ID / location table 14, and the associated terminal ID is associated with the location codes “INT”, “SRG”, “PHM”, “ENT”, and “PRK”. Many orders are determined as transmission position order patterns. For those with the same number of associated terminal IDs, priority is given to the larger number of associated terminal IDs in the past stored contents of the terminal ID / location table 14. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the order in which the terminal IDs are associated with each other is INT → SRG → PRK → ENT → PHM, and this order is a transmission position order pattern. Here, it is assumed that PRK and ENT have the same number of terminal IDs associated with each other and are the same, but PRK is given priority based on past storage.

  The host computer 10 refers to the repeater address / location table 16 and converts the transmission position order pattern determined in this way into a repeater order pattern. As a result, the transmission position order pattern INT → SRG → PRK → ENT → PHM is converted into the repeater order pattern R1 → R2 → R5 → R4 → R3. The host computer 10 employs a transmission position order pattern determined in the order of the number of wireless terminals T performing wireless communication, instead of the transmission position order pattern acquired in step S103 of FIG.

(5) Application Example In the above embodiment, the wireless terminal calling system is installed in a hospital building. The wireless terminal calling system may be installed at an event venue, a government office that issues various certificates, a shopping mall, or the like.

  For example, in an event venue where new products are released, a relay machine is arranged in each of a plurality of product display rooms. The host computer 10 and the parent device P0 are arranged in a management room where a person who organizes events is stationed.

  The wireless terminal T is distributed to the staff who explains in each product exhibition room. When the host computer 10 causes the staff to own the wireless terminal T, the host computer 10 stores information on the product field handled by the staff as behavior tendency information. The behavior tendency / location map 12 of the host computer 10 is associated with the location code of the product exhibition room corresponding to the product field. According to such a configuration, the wireless terminal T owned by each staff can be called by the same process as the process when the wireless terminal calling system is installed in a hospital building.

  At the event venue, a wireless terminal calling system may be used for calling event participants. In a shopping center, a wireless terminal calling system may be used to call a customer who is waiting for clothes or packaging.

  In the embodiment described above, the parent device P0 and each relay device establish a wireless communication path. Instead of such a configuration, the parent device P0 and each relay device may be configured to construct a wired communication path. In the above embodiment, the host computer 10 and the parent device P0 are separate devices. However, the host computer 10 and the parent device P0 may be integrally configured as the same device.

  10 host computer, 12 behavior tendency / location map, 14 terminal ID / location table, 16 relay machine address / location table, 18 order table, A reception desk, INT internal medicine waiting room, SRG surgical waiting room, PHM drug department counter, ENT entrance, PRK parking lot, P0 base unit, R1 to R5, RD repeater, T wireless terminal, X communication path.

Claims (7)

A transmitter that transmits a packet to a wireless communication path constructed by a plurality of relay devices;
A receiver for receiving a packet from the wireless communication path;
For a terminal wirelessly connected to any one of the plurality of repeaters, an information acquisition unit that acquires behavior tendency information of a holder of the terminal;
A destination recognition unit for recognizing a relay device as a destination of a call packet for the terminal among the plurality of relay devices based on the behavior tendency information;
The transmitter is
Sending the call packet with the relay device recognized by the destination recognition unit as a destination;
The destination recognition unit
When the response packet transmitted from the terminal has not been received by the receiving unit from the relay device that is the destination of the call packet, a relay device that is different from the relay device that transmitted the call packet first is used. , Based on the behavior tendency information, as the destination of the call packet,
The destination recognition unit further includes:
A relay unit order storage unit that stores a plurality of relay unit order patterns that determine the order when recognizing the destination of the call packet for the plurality of relay units;
A repeater order pattern acquisition unit that acquires any one of the plurality of repeater order patterns according to the behavior tendency information;
At the time of no response, based on the repeater order pattern acquired according to the behavior tendency information, recognize a repeater that is different from the repeater that previously transmitted the call packet as the destination of the call packet; A packet communication device. The packet communication device according to claim 1 ,
The destination recognition unit
A map storage unit that stores a map that associates the behavior tendency information with location information that represents a place where the terminal may exist;
The repeater order storage unit is
Storing an order table in which the repeater order pattern is associated with the location information;
The repeater order pattern acquisition unit
The location information associated with the behavior tendency information is obtained by referring to the map according to the behavior tendency information, and further, any one of the plurality of repeater order patterns with reference to the order table. A packet communication apparatus, characterized by: In packet communication equipment,
A transmitter that transmits a packet to a wireless communication path constructed by a plurality of relay devices;
A receiver for receiving a packet from the wireless communication path;
For a terminal wirelessly connected to any one of the plurality of repeaters, an information acquisition unit that acquires behavior tendency information of a holder of the terminal;
A destination recognition unit for recognizing a relay device as a destination of a call packet for the terminal among the plurality of relay devices based on the behavior tendency information;
The transmitter is
Sending the call packet with the relay device recognized by the destination recognition unit as a destination;
The destination recognition unit
When the response packet transmitted from the terminal has not been received by the receiving unit from the relay device that is the destination of the call packet, a relay device that is different from the relay device that transmitted the call packet first is used. , Based on the behavior tendency information, as the destination of the call packet,
The packet communication device further includes:
A terminal / location table in which the terminal is associated with location information representing a place where the terminal may exist, and the terminal is associated with the location information based on the behavior tendency information A terminal / location table storage unit for storing a location table
The destination recognition unit
A repeater order pattern determining unit that determines a repeater order pattern indicating an order when recognizing as a destination of the call packet based on the number of corresponding terminals for each of the location information,
The packet communication apparatus, wherein when there is no response, a relay device different from the relay device that transmitted the call packet first is recognized as the destination of the call packet based on the repeater order pattern. In the packet communication apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3 ,
A packet communication apparatus comprising: a specifying unit that specifies a relay to which the terminal is wirelessly connected based on the response packet. The packet communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 ,
The plurality of repeaters;
A packet communication system comprising: A transmitter that transmits a packet to a wireless communication path constructed by a plurality of relay devices;
A receiver for receiving a packet from the wireless communication path;
A communication program loaded into a packet communication device comprising:
For a terminal wirelessly connected to any of the plurality of relay devices, an information acquisition process for acquiring behavior tendency information of the holder of the terminal;
Causing the packet communication device to perform destination recognition processing for recognizing a relay device as a destination of a call packet for the terminal among the plurality of relay devices based on the behavior tendency information,
Causing the transmitter to execute a process of transmitting the call packet with the relay device recognized by the destination recognition process as a destination;
The destination recognition process includes
Response packet transmitted from the terminal, from said destination and the relay apparatus of the calling packet, the no-response time that was not received by the receiving unit, another relay device is a relay device that has transmitted the call packet previously and based on the behavior trend information, see contains no response during treatment recognized as the destination of said call packet,
The packet communication device further includes:
A relay unit order storage unit that stores a plurality of relay unit order patterns that determine the order when recognizing the destination of the call packet for the plurality of relay units;
A repeater order pattern acquisition unit that acquires any one of the plurality of repeater order patterns according to the behavior tendency information;
The non-response process is:
Including a process of recognizing a repeater different from the repeater that has transmitted the call packet first as the destination of the call packet based on the repeater order pattern acquired according to the behavior tendency information. A communication program. A transmitter that transmits a packet to a wireless communication path constructed by a plurality of relay devices;
A receiver for receiving a packet from the wireless communication path;
A communication program loaded into a packet communication device comprising:
For a terminal wirelessly connected to any of the plurality of relay devices, an information acquisition process for acquiring behavior tendency information of the holder of the terminal;
Causing the packet communication device to perform destination recognition processing for recognizing a relay device as a destination of a call packet for the terminal among the plurality of relay devices based on the behavior tendency information,
Causing the transmitter to execute a process of transmitting the call packet with the relay device recognized by the destination recognition process as a destination;
The destination recognition process includes
Response packet transmitted from the terminal, from said destination and the relay apparatus of the calling packet, the no-response time that was not received by the receiving unit, another relay device is a relay device that has transmitted the call packet previously and based on the behavior trend information, see contains no response during treatment recognized as the destination of said call packet,
The packet communication device further includes:
A terminal / location table in which the terminal is associated with location information representing a place where the terminal may exist, and the terminal is associated with the location information based on the behavior tendency information A terminal / location table storage unit for storing a location table;
A repeater order pattern determining unit that determines a repeater order pattern indicating an order when recognizing the destination of the call packet based on the number of corresponding terminals for each of the location information,
The non-response process is:
A communication program comprising processing for recognizing a repeater different from the repeater that has transmitted the call packet first as a destination of the call packet based on the repeater order pattern .

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