JP6189097B2 - Relay device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a relay device that relays communication between a communication terminal device and a predetermined server.

  A service provision mode in machine-to-machine (hereinafter referred to as “M2M”) includes an application on a communication terminal device (hereinafter referred to as “M2M communication terminal device”) used for M2M, and communication. There is a form in which a server connected to a network is developed and a service is provided by communication between the application and the server.

JP 2007-235732 A JP 2006-350694 A JP 2008-065650 A JP 2011-254394 A

By the way, if it is a communication terminal device which implements periodic location registration, it can be predicted that the communication terminal device is not present in the located area (non-residential state) by not performing periodic location registration for a predetermined period. . However, in the case of the M2M communication terminal device, it is considered that there is a communication terminal device that does not perform periodic position registration in order to avoid unnecessary communication. For this reason, even if the M2M communication terminal apparatus is in a state where it is recognized as being out of service due to, for example, failure or being out of service area, the server communicating with the M2M communication terminal apparatus is It is not possible to detect whether or not the M2M communication terminal apparatus is in a non-resident state. Further, a relay device that is provided in a communication network in which the M2M communication terminal device and the server are connected and relays communication between the two devices cannot detect that the M2M communication terminal device is in a non-service state. For this reason, since the server cannot recognize that the M2M communication terminal apparatus is in the non-resident state even if the M2M communication terminal apparatus is in the non-resident state, the server does not recognize the communication until the communication with the application provided in the M2M communication terminal apparatus is established. The communication request is repeatedly retransmitted to the relay device. Since the relay apparatus cannot recognize that the communication request target M2M communication terminal apparatus is in the non-resident state, the relay apparatus repeatedly executes the communication request to the M2M communication terminal apparatus. . This causes a problem that a load is applied to the communication network to which the server and the M2M communication terminal device are connected.
An object of the present invention is to provide a relay device that can prevent unnecessary signals from being transmitted to a communication network.

In order to achieve the above object, a relay device according to an aspect of the present invention is a communication terminal device in which one communication terminal device is recognized as being located but not located within the located area. Non-resident terminal device candidate determination unit that determines whether or not the candidate is a non-resident communication terminal device that is a communication terminal device that is recognized not to be located because it is not located in the located area. Whether or not the non-resident terminal communication terminal device, which is a communication terminal device determined by the non-resident terminal device candidate determination unit as a candidate for the non-resident communication terminal device, is in the present area. And a non-existing candidate terminal device confirmation unit for confirming whether or not.
According to such a configuration, it is possible to prevent unnecessary signals from being transmitted to the communication network.

The non-resident candidate terminal device confirmation unit transmits a communication confirmation signal to the non-resident candidate communication terminal device and receives a response signal from the non-resident candidate communication terminal device; and The non-resident terminal communication terminal device that does not respond to the communication confirmation signal may include a non-resident terminal device management unit that determines and manages the non-resident communication terminal device as the non-resident communication terminal device.
According to such a configuration, it is possible to identify one communication terminal device and transmit a communication confirmation signal.
The candidate non-resident terminal device candidate determining unit further includes a candidate determination information acquiring unit that acquires determination information used to determine whether or not the non-resident communication terminal device is a candidate, and acquiring the candidate determination information The unit transmits the acquired determination information to the non-resident terminal device candidate determination unit.
According to such a configuration, it is possible to determine whether or not the communication terminal device to be determined is a non-resident candidate communication terminal device based on predetermined determination information.

The candidate determination information acquisition unit includes a terminal device group management unit that groups and manages communication terminal devices in a similar environment among a plurality of communication terminal devices located in the located area, and the terminal device The group management unit obtains the total number of the non-existing communication terminal devices from the non-existing candidate terminal device confirmation unit, calculates the ratio of the non-existing communication terminal devices to the total number of communication terminal devices for each group, wherein the calculated the ratio as the determination information transmitted to the non-serving terminal device candidate determining unit.
According to such a configuration, it is possible to determine whether or not the determination target communication terminal device is a non-range candidate communication terminal device based on the presence state of another communication terminal device in a similar environment.

The candidate determination information acquisition unit further includes a server transmission signal monitoring unit that monitors a transmission signal from a predetermined server that communicates with the one communication terminal device, and the server transmission signal monitoring unit includes: The total number of transmission signals may be transmitted as the determination information to the non-resident terminal device candidate determination unit.
According to such a configuration, it is possible to determine whether or not the communication terminal device to be determined is a non-resident candidate communication terminal device based on the retransmission packet signal from the server.

The candidate determination information acquisition unit further includes a paging control unit that includes the one communication terminal device, and controls paging to be performed on a plurality of communication terminal devices located in the area where the candidate is located. The control unit executes the plurality of communication terminal devices including the terminal identification information of the one communication terminal device, and sets the number of times of the paging failure as the determination information to the non-resident terminal device candidate determination unit. Can be sent.
According to such a configuration, it is possible to determine whether or not the communication terminal device to be determined is a non-resident candidate communication terminal device based on the number of failed paging.

May further comprise an incoming call regulating portion for regulating an incoming call from a predetermined server for said non-serving communications terminal device. “Incoming call” here means reception of a transmission signal from a transmission device such as a predetermined server.
According to such a configuration, it is possible to prevent unnecessary signals from being transmitted to the communication network.
It may further include an incoming call restriction release unit for releasing the restriction of the incoming call from the predetermined server for the visited return communication terminal device that is the non-resident communication terminal device that has returned to the visited area.
According to such a configuration, when the communication terminal device returns to the service area, the communication terminal device and the server can be reconnected.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent unnecessary signals from being transmitted to the communication network.

It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of SGSN / GGSN3 as a relay apparatus by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows typically operation | movement of SGSN / GGSN3 as a relay apparatus by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of the non-existing area detection phase of the relay apparatus by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of the located area return detection phase of the relay apparatus by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of the interruption process in the in-zone return detection phase of the relay apparatus by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram (the 1) which shows an example of the regulation control after the detection of the non-locating communication terminal device in the relay apparatus by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram (the 2) which shows an example of the restriction | limiting control after the detection of the non-service area communication terminal device in the relay apparatus by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram (the 1) which shows an example of in-zone return control after the detection of the non-in-zone communication terminal device in the relay apparatus by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram (the 2) which shows an example of in-zone return control after the detection of the non-in-zone communication terminal device in the relay apparatus by one Embodiment of this invention.

(Schematic configuration of the relay device)
A relay device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. First, a schematic configuration of the relay device according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an SGSN / GGSN (serving / gate-general packet radio service support node) 3 as a relay device according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, a communication system 1 including an SGSN / GGSN 3 is shown for easy understanding.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system 1 includes an SGSN / GGSN 3, a server 5, and a plurality of communication terminal devices 7-1, 7-2,..., 7-i, 7-j,. 7-n (i, j, n are natural numbers having a relationship of i <j <n). In the following, the communication terminal devices 7-1, 7-2,..., 7-i, 7-j,..., 7-n are referred to as “communication terminal devices 7-1 to 7-n”. There is. The plurality of communication terminal devices 7-1 to 7-n are, for example, M2M communication terminal devices.

  The server 5 is a device that communicates with the application unit 7a mounted on the communication terminal devices 7-1 to 7-n via a communication network including the SGSN / GGSN3. The server 5 includes a server control unit 5a that controls the server 5 in an integrated manner. The server control unit 5a designates any one of the communication terminal devices 7-1 to 7-n and executes an incoming call request to the SGSN / GGSN3. Further, the server control unit 5a regulates the incoming request to the communication terminal device included in the restriction request signal based on the restriction request signal from the incoming call restriction control unit 37 (details will be described later) provided in the SGSN / GGSN3. It comes to show the function.

  The communication terminal device 7-1 includes an application unit 7a and a wireless unit 7b. The application unit 7a has applications that exhibit various functions. For example, when the communication terminal device 7-1 is a device installed in a vending machine, the application unit 7a has a function of transmitting information such as inventory status and sales of the vending machine to the server 5. ing. The communication terminal device 7-1 transmits the acquired information to the communication network side via the wireless unit 7b. Since the communication terminal device 7-1 includes the wireless unit 7b, the communication terminal device 7-1 is a wireless communication terminal device capable of wireless communication with the communication network. The communication terminal devices 7-2 to 7-n have the same configuration as the communication terminal device 7-1. In addition, the application part (not shown) provided in each of the communication terminal devices 7-2 to 7-n may be the same as or different from the communication terminal device 7-1.

  In addition to SGSN / GGSN3, the communication network is connected to a subscriber management server (Home Subscriber Server: HSS), a radio network controller (Radio Network Controller: RNC) connected to SGSN / GGSN3, and the RNC. Radio base stations (Base Transceiver Station: BTS) (both not shown).

  SGSN / GGSN3 is a device provided on the side of a communication network (hereinafter, the network may be abbreviated as “NW”). The SGSN / GGSN 3 functions as a relay device that relays communication between the server 5 and the plurality of communication terminal devices 7-1 to 7-n. SGSN / GGSN3 is a 3G (third generation mobile communication system) core network packet processing node (packet communication processing device). SGSN / GGSN3 has the functions of SGSN (Serving General Packet Radio Service Node No.) and GGSN (Gateway Generating Group) of SGSN (Serving General Packet Radio Code) that are defined on 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project). Execute the process. For example, when the communication terminal devices 7-1 to 7-n perform data communication, the SGSN / GGSN 3 transmits IP packets to IP (Internet Protocol) packets transmitted from the communication terminal devices 7-1 to 7-n. Processing such as so-called encapsulation, which is wrapped with another IP packet, is performed.

  The SGSN / GGSN 3 may be configured to have an SGSN (Serving GPRS Support Node) functional block and a GGSN (Gateway GPRS Support Node) functional block in one device. Or SGSN / GGSN3 may be comprised as a device with which the function of SGSN and the function of GGSN are different as a component apparatus which comprises a communication network.

In addition to the above functions, the SGSN / GGSN 3 has a function of preventing unnecessary incoming calls from the server 5 from being transmitted to the communication terminal devices 7-1 to 7-n. Hereinafter, the configuration of the SGSN / GGSN 3 in order to exhibit the function will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1, the SGSN / GGSN 3 includes a non-existing terminal device candidate determination unit 31, a non-existing candidate terminal device confirmation unit 33, a candidate determination information acquisition unit 35, an incoming call restriction control unit 37, And an incoming call restriction release unit 39.

(Schematic configuration of non-resident terminal device candidate determination unit 31)
The non-resident terminal device candidate determination unit 31 determines whether one communication terminal device is a candidate for a non-resident communication terminal device. Here, the non-resident communication terminal device is located in the located area because it is located in the located area but is not located in the located area. It is a communication terminal device that has been recognized as not being used. The non-existing terminal device candidate determination unit 31 determines a predetermined condition (details will be described later, for example, that the number of paging failures is a plurality of times, or the non-existing terminal occupation ratio is Those that satisfy a predetermined threshold) are provisionally registered as candidates for non-resident communication terminal devices. The non-resident terminal device candidate determining unit 31 specifies one communication terminal device from the determination information transmitted from the candidate determination information acquisition unit 35 described later, and the specified one communication terminal device is the non-resident communication terminal device. It is determined whether or not it is a candidate.

  Here, the located area is a visited area formed by a radio base station (not shown) which is a lower node under the control of SGSN / GGSN3. The radio base station forms a 3G coverage area by sending a cell identifier (for example, a cell ID) to a specific range. One communication terminal device is a target device that is a candidate for a non-resident communication terminal device. One communication terminal apparatus is a communication terminal apparatus that should be in the area. The one communication terminal device is a communication terminal device (hereinafter, also referred to as “fixed communication terminal device”) that remains in one place in the area where the service area is located. In addition, the one communication terminal apparatus moves within the area, but does not go outside the area (hereinafter referred to as “semi-fixed communication terminal apparatus”). Is). Examples of the fixed communication terminal device include a device provided in a vending machine, a device provided in a ticket vending machine, a device provided in various meters such as an electric meter, a gas meter, and a water meter. Moreover, as a semi-fixed communication terminal device, there are a device provided in a manufacturing device or a measuring instrument operating in one factory, a device provided in a route bus circulating in a certain range, and the like. In addition, unlike the general mobile phone device, the one communication terminal device does not perform periodic position registration. Alternatively, the one communication terminal device has a very long time interval (for example, the execution interval is one day) for executing the periodic position registration as compared with a general mobile phone device. In this example, the candidate determination target of the non-resident communication terminal among the communication terminal apparatuses 7-1 to 7-n corresponds to one communication terminal apparatus. The non-service area includes a state in which the communication terminal device exists in the service area but cannot communicate with the relay device due to an abnormality in the application unit, and a state in which the communication terminal device exists outside the service area. .

  When the fixed communication terminal device and semi-fixed communication terminal device are candidates for non-resident communication terminal devices due to abnormal operation of the application unit, failure of parts other than the application unit, or failure of wireless communication with the wireless base station, etc. There is. The fixed communication terminal device and the semi-fixed communication terminal device are recognized by the relay device (SGSN / GGSN3 in this example) when one communication terminal device is in the area but not in the area, It may be a candidate for a located communication terminal device. In addition, although the semi-fixed communication terminal device is originally used in a manner that does not go outside the service area, it rarely becomes a candidate for a non-service communication terminal device when it goes outside the service area. There is. For example, in the case of a semi-fixed communication terminal device installed in a measuring device operating in one factory, the measurement device is brought into another factory. May be temporarily operating at the other factory. Also, for example, in a semi-fixed communication terminal device provided on a route bus, for example, when the circulation route is changed due to road construction.

(Schematic configuration of the non-resident candidate terminal device confirmation unit 33)
The non-resident candidate terminal device confirmation unit 33 includes a non-resident candidate communication terminal device that is a communication terminal device determined by the non-resident terminal device candidate determination unit 31 as a candidate for a non-resident communication terminal device. It is designed to check whether or not you are in the area. The non-resident candidate terminal device confirmation unit 33 transmits a communication confirmation signal (for example, Ping (ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol)) to the non-resident candidate communication terminal device, and the presence of the non-resident candidate terminal device. The service area status (whether or not the user is in the service area) is checked. If the response to the communication confirmation signal cannot be confirmed, the non-resident candidate terminal device confirmation unit 33 registers the non-resident candidate communication terminal device that is the transmission destination of the communication confirmation signal as a non-resident communication terminal device.

  As described above, the relay device according to the present embodiment (SGSN / GGSN 3 in this example) first determines that one communication terminal device is a non-resident communication terminal device as a candidate for the non-resident communication terminal device. Temporarily register, then confirm that it is a non-resident communication terminal device by satisfying a predetermined condition (details will be described later, for example, the non-resident candidate communication terminal device does not respond to the communication confirmation signal) Has a two-step structure. Thereby, the relay apparatus according to the present embodiment can quickly detect a non-resident communication terminal apparatus without wastefully transmitting a communication confirmation signal to a plurality of subordinate communication terminal apparatuses.

  Here, the configuration of the non-existing candidate terminal device confirmation unit 33 will be described more specifically. As shown in FIG. 1, the non-existing candidate apparatus confirmation unit 33 includes a communication confirmation signal transmission / reception unit 33a and a non-existing terminal apparatus management unit 33b.

(Schematic configuration of the communication confirmation signal transmitting / receiving unit 33a)
The communication confirmation signal transmitting / receiving unit 33a transmits a communication confirmation signal to the non-resident candidate communication terminal device and receives a response signal from the non-resident candidate communication terminal device. The communication confirmation signal transmission / reception unit 33a transmits whether or not the response signal is received within a predetermined period to the non-resident terminal device management unit 33b (details will be described later).
In this embodiment, Ping is used for communication confirmation. Ping is a program for diagnosing a TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) / IP network such as the Internet or an intranet. In Ping, when an IP address of a target device to be investigated whether or not it is connected to a communication NW is designated, data of about 32 bytes is normally transmitted using ICMP, and whether or not there is a reply from the target device. If there is a reply, the communication NW can be diagnosed based on data such as how long it takes. For this reason, in this embodiment, the communication confirmation signal transmitting / receiving unit 33a specifies the IP address of the non-existing candidate communication terminal device whose communication network communication is to be confirmed, thereby indicating the in-zone status of the non-existing candidate communication terminal device. Can be confirmed.

  Although details will be described later, in this embodiment, the communication confirmation signal transmitting / receiving unit 33a transmits a communication confirmation signal to a single non-resident candidate communication terminal device a plurality of times. Thereby, the non-resident candidate terminal device confirmation unit 33 is a non-resident candidate communication device that is not a non-resident communication terminal device when, for example, a communication failure occurs during transmission of the communication confirmation signal and a response signal cannot be transmitted. It is possible to prevent the terminal device from being erroneously determined as a non-resident communication terminal device. However, the communication confirmation signal transmission / reception unit 33a may be configured to transmit the communication confirmation signal only once to one non-resident candidate communication terminal device. In this case, when there are a large number of non-existing candidate communication terminal devices, it is possible to quickly determine whether or not these non-existing candidate communication terminal devices are non-existing communication terminal devices.

(Schematic configuration of the non-resident terminal device management unit 33b)
The non-resident terminal device management unit 33b provided in the non-resident candidate terminal device confirmation unit 33 determines that the non-resident candidate communication terminal device that does not respond to the communication confirmation signal is a non-resident communication terminal device. To manage. The non-resident terminal device management unit 33b determines whether or not the response signal transmitted from the communication confirmation signal transmission / reception unit 33a has been received. The terminal identification information of the communication terminal device (for example, MSISDN (Mobile Subscriber Integrated Network Number) or IP address) Are managed in association with. The non-resident terminal device management unit 33b associates the non-resident candidate communication terminal device that has not responded to Ping with the terminal identification information and determines and manages the non-resident terminal device management unit 33b. The non-resident terminal device management unit 33b also manages the total number of non-resident communication terminal devices. Further, the non-resident terminal device management unit 33b transmits the terminal identification information of the non-resident communication terminal device to the incoming call restriction control unit 37 (details will be described later). Thus, the incoming call restriction control unit 37 restricts incoming calls from the server 5 including the terminal identification information.

On the other hand, the non-resident terminal device management unit 33b deletes the non-resident candidate communication terminal device that responds to Ping from the non-resident communication terminal device candidates.
Further, the non-resident terminal device management unit 33b receives information indicating that a response signal from the non-resident communication terminal device that is determined and managed as the non-resident communication terminal device is received, and the communication confirmation signal transmitting / receiving unit 33a. , The non-resident communication terminal device managed in association with the terminal identification information included in the information is deleted, and the terminal identification information is transmitted to the incoming call restriction release unit 39 (details will be described later). . As a result, the incoming call restriction release unit 39 releases the incoming call restriction from the server 5 including the terminal identification information.

(Schematic configuration of candidate determination information acquisition unit 35)
The candidate determination information acquisition unit 35 provided in the SGSN / GGSN 3 is configured to acquire determination information used for determining whether or not the non-resident terminal device candidate determining unit 31 is a candidate for the non-resident communication terminal device. It has become. Further, the candidate determination information acquisition unit 35 transmits the acquired determination information to the non-resident terminal device candidate determination unit 31.
The candidate determination information acquisition unit 35 includes a terminal device group management unit 35a, a server transmission signal monitoring unit 35b, and a paging control unit 35c as a configuration for acquiring determination information. Thus, in this embodiment, the candidate determination information acquisition unit 35 is configured to be able to acquire three types of determination information.

(Schematic configuration of terminal device group management unit 35a)
The terminal device group management unit 35a is configured to manage communication terminal devices in a similar environment by grouping them among a plurality of communication terminal devices located in the located area. Here, the similar environment is the same location, the same area, the same device, and the like. The same location corresponds to the same building, for example. For example, the same area corresponds to an area having the same supply source such as power, gas or tap water, or the same communication area. The same device corresponds to the case where devices (for example, vending machines, ticket vending machines, power meters, route buses, etc.) equipped with communication terminal devices are the same. Therefore, a communication terminal device in a similar environment is provided in, for example, a communication terminal device provided in a vending machine installed in the same building, a power meter installed in a home under the jurisdiction of the same distribution station A communication terminal device or a communication terminal device installed on the same route bus is applicable. The terminal device group management unit 35a manages communication terminal devices in such a similar environment as a group. In FIG. 1, for example, when the communication terminal devices 7-1 to 7-i are in a similar environment and the communication terminal devices 7-j to 7-n are in a similar environment, the terminal device group management unit 35a The communication terminal devices 7-1 to 7-i are managed as communication terminal devices belonging to the group A, for example, and the communication terminal devices 7-j to 7-n are managed as communication terminal devices belonging to the group B, for example. The terminal device group management unit 35a manages the communication terminal device using the terminal identification information.

  Further, the terminal device group management unit 35a acquires the total number of non-resident communication terminal devices from the non-resident terminal management unit 33b, and the total number of subordinate communication terminal devices (in this example, the communication terminal devices 7-1 to 7-7). The ratio of non-existing communication terminal devices to n (n) is calculated for each group (hereinafter, may be referred to as “non-existing terminal occupation ratio Gn”), and the calculated ratio is used as determination information. It is transmitted to the service area terminal candidate determination unit 31. For example, the terminal device group management unit 35a deletes the stored terminal identification information of the non-broadcasting communication terminal device at a predetermined timing, and all the non-broadcasting communication managed by the non-broadcasting terminal device management unit 33b. The terminal identification information of the terminal device is acquired. The terminal device group management unit 35a sorts the acquired terminal identification information into the corresponding groups, and calculates the number of non-resident communication terminal devices belonging to each group (the number of non-resident communication terminal devices in the group m). The terminal device group management unit 35a divides the calculated number of non-resident communication terminal devices by the total number of communication terminal devices belonging to each group (the total number of communication terminal devices in the group m). The terminal device group management unit 35a transmits the division result (non-resident terminal occupation ratio Gn in each group) to the non-resident terminal device candidate determining unit 31 as determination information.

  The non-existing terminal device candidate determination unit 31 that has received the determination information determines whether or not the non-existing terminal occupation ratio Gn included in the determination information is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold. If the non-resident terminal terminal candidate determination unit 31 determines that the non-resident terminal occupancy ratio Gn is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, the non-resident terminal occupancy ratio Gn belongs to the calculated group, and A communication terminal device (one communication terminal device) that is not determined to be a non-broadcasting candidate communication terminal device and a non-broadcasting candidate communication terminal device and is a determination target of the non-broadcasting candidate communication terminal device It is determined and stored as a non-resident candidate communication terminal device. On the other hand, if the non-resident terminal terminal candidate determination unit 31 determines that the non-resident terminal occupancy ratio Gn is smaller than a predetermined threshold, the non-resident terminal terminal occupancy ratio Gn belongs to the calculated group. And a communication terminal device that is not determined to be a non-broadcasting candidate communication terminal device and a non-broadcasting communication terminal device and is a determination target of the non-broadcasting candidate communication terminal device (one communication terminal device) ) Is not determined as a non-resident candidate communication terminal device.

(Schematic configuration of server transmission signal monitoring unit 35b)
The server transmission signal monitoring unit 35b communicates with one communication terminal device (in this example, at least one of the communication terminal devices 7-1 to 7-n) (an example of a predetermined server). The transmission signal (packet signal) from is monitored. The server transmission signal monitoring unit 35b transmits the total number of transmission signals as determination information to the non-resident terminal device candidate determination unit 31. The server transmission signal monitoring unit 35b functions as a traffic monitoring unit that monitors user plane (U-plane) traffic transmitted from the server 5 toward the communication terminal apparatuses 7-1 to 7-n.

The non-resident terminal device candidate determination unit 31 that has received the determination information determines whether the total number of packet signals included in the determination information has increased (for example, a rapid increase). If the packet signal is increasing, the non-resident terminal device candidate determination unit 31 determines that the retransmission packet signal is transmitted from the server 5 to the communication terminal device. That is, the non-resident terminal device candidate determining unit 31 repeats the retransmission packet signal without the server 5 completing the transmission of the packet signal because the destination communication terminal device is a non-resident communication terminal device. Judge that there is a possibility of sending. Based on the terminal identification information included in the packet signal, the non-resident terminal device candidate determination unit 31 identifies a communication terminal device as a transmission destination from the communication terminal devices 7-1 to 7-n, and identifies the identified communication terminal device Is stored and registered in a predetermined storage unit (not shown) as a non-resident candidate communication terminal device. On the other hand, if the non-resident terminal device candidate determination unit 31 determines that the packet signal has not increased, the non-existing terminal device candidate determination unit 31 acquires the next determination information without executing special processing, and obtains the acquired determination information. The presence or absence of an increase in the included packet signal is determined.
The non-resident terminal device candidate determination unit 31 does not determine whether or not the number of retransmission packet signals is increased for each communication terminal device, but determines whether or not the number of retransmission packets for a specific group is increased. It may be like this.

(Schematic configuration of the paging control unit 35c)
The paging control unit 35c includes one communication terminal device, and controls paging to be performed on a plurality of communication terminal devices 7-1 to 7-n located in the area where the paging control unit 35c is located. For example, the paging control unit 35c executes an output request for a paging signal including the terminal identification information of the one communication terminal device to the radio base station. As a result, the radio base station outputs a paging signal to the coverage area formed by itself. Here, the terminal identification information of the one communication terminal device included in the paging signal is the terminal identification information of the communication terminal device included in the incoming call request from the server 5. Further, the terminal identification information of the one communication terminal device included in the paging signal is also terminal identification information of the communication terminal device to be determined as to whether or not the communication terminal device is a non-resident candidate communication terminal device.

The paging control unit 35c uses, as determination information, the number of times paging failed for the plurality of communication terminal devices 7-1 to 7-n including the terminal identification information of the one communication terminal device. The data is transmitted to the candidate determination unit 31.
The non-resident terminal device candidate determination unit 31 that has received the determination information determines whether information indicating that the number of times of paging failure included in the determination information is a plurality of times is included. If the non-resident terminal device candidate determination unit 31 determines that information indicating that the number of times of paging failure is plural is included, the communication terminal device of the terminal identification information included in the paging is not It is determined that the terminal is a candidate communication terminal device, and is stored and registered in a predetermined storage unit (not shown). On the other hand, if it is determined that the number of failed paging is not a plurality of times (1 or 0), the non-resident terminal device candidate determination unit 31 acquires the next determination information without executing special processing. Then, the number of failures of the paging signal included in the acquired determination information is determined.

(Schematic configuration of incoming call restriction control unit 37)
An incoming call restriction control unit (an example of an incoming call restriction unit) 37 is configured to restrict incoming calls from the server 5 to non-resident communication terminal devices. In the present embodiment, “incoming call” means reception of a transmission signal from a transmission device such as a predetermined server. The incoming call restriction control unit 37 is configured to transmit a restriction request signal to the server control unit 5 a provided in the server 5 in order to restrict incoming requests to non-resident communication terminal devices. Alternatively, the incoming call restriction control unit 37 receives an incoming request from the server 5 for the non-service area determined communication terminal device, but discards the incoming request and regulates the incoming request.

(Schematic configuration of incoming call restriction release unit 39)
The incoming call restriction release unit 39 is configured to release the incoming call restriction from the server 5 for the visited return communication terminal device that is a non-visited communication terminal device that has returned to the visited area. The incoming call restriction release unit 39 transmits the communication confirmation signal to the non-resident communication terminal device via the communication confirmation signal transmission / reception unit 33a based on the table that defines the transmission interval of the communication confirmation signal (for example, Ping), and The return of the non-resident communication terminal device to the visited area (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “return to the visited area”) is confirmed. The table can be set in association with the characteristics and type of the communication terminal device, the group to which the communication terminal device belongs, and the like. Alternatively, the incoming call restriction release unit 39 transmits a communication confirmation signal (for example, Ping) to another communication terminal device belonging to the same group when a predetermined number or more of the communication terminal devices belonging to the same group have returned. You may come to confirm return. In this way, the incoming call restriction cancellation unit 39 may determine return to service in the state of other communication terminal devices belonging to the same group. Furthermore, the communication terminal device is set to send a trigger signal when returning from outside the service area to within the service area, and when the incoming call restriction canceling unit 39 receives the trigger signal, the communication terminal device returns to the service area. May be determined.

The SGSN / GGSN 3 includes a non-existing terminal device candidate determination unit 31, a non-existing candidate terminal device confirmation unit 33, a candidate determination information acquisition unit 35, an incoming call restriction control unit 37, and an incoming call restriction release unit 39. You may comprise so that it may be provided in any one of the functional block (or apparatus) of SGSN and the functional block (or apparatus) of GGSN.
Since the functional block (or device) of GGSN serves as a connection point with other external packet networks (in this example, server 5), for example, the SGSN functional block (or device) of SGSN / GGSN3 has these five configurations. Is preferably provided in the functional block (or device) of the GGSN, the relay unit that relays the candidate determination information acquisition unit 35, the incoming call restriction control unit 37, the incoming call restriction release unit 39, and the server 5.

Since the SGSN functional block (or device) accommodates the communication terminal devices 7-1 to 7-n, the radio base stations (not shown) and the radio network control device, for example, the SGSN / GGSN3 GGSN functional block (or device) ) Has these five configurations, a relay unit that relays between the non-existing candidate terminal device confirmation unit 31 and the communication terminal devices 7-1 to 7-n is an SGSN functional block (or device). It is desirable to be provided.
Moreover, SGSN / GGSN3 may isolate | separate and provide these five structures in the SGSN side and the GGSN side. In this case, for example, the non-existing candidate terminal device confirmation unit 31 is provided in the SGSN functional block (or device), and the candidate determination information acquisition unit 35, incoming call restriction control unit 37, and incoming call restriction release unit 39 are GGSN functional blocks ( It is desirable that the non-resident terminal device candidate determination unit 31 is provided in one of the SGSN function block (or device) and the GGSN function block (or device).

  As described above, according to the relay device according to the present embodiment, a communication terminal device (for example, an M2M device) that does not perform periodic position registration or has a longer execution interval of periodic position registration than a mobile communication terminal device. Even if the mobile terminal becomes out of service due to a failure or the like, a communication request from the server for an application installed in the communication terminal device can be suppressed, so that it is possible to prevent a load from being applied to the communication network.

(Repeater operation)
Next, the operation of the relay device according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. First, the outline of the operation of the relay device according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating the operation of the relay device according to the present embodiment. The upper part of the figure in FIG. 2 shows the operation in the non-resident area detection phase for detecting the non-resident communication terminal apparatus, and the lower part of the figure shows the resident area for returning the non-resident communication terminal apparatus to the area. The operation of the return detection phase is shown. In addition, the passage of time is shown from the left to the right in the figure.

  As shown in the upper part of FIG. 2, in the non-existing area detection phase, the non-existing area detection determination (step 1) is executed at every time interval T1. The time interval T1 is set to one day, for example. That is, the out-of-service area detection determination (step 1) is executed once a day. The non-existing area detection determination (step 1) is executed by the non-existing terminal apparatus candidate determining unit 31 (see FIG. 1), and a determination process as to whether or not the communication terminal apparatus is a non-existing communication terminal apparatus candidate. It is. In this example, in the first non-existing area detection determination (step 1), the communication terminal device is not a candidate for the non-existing communication terminal device (in FIG. In the second non-service area detection determination (step 1), the communication terminal device is a candidate for the non-service area communication terminal device (in FIG. 2, in the service area). It is determined that it is represented by “NG” indicating that it is not in a range.

  When a candidate for a non-resident communication terminal device is detected, the relay device according to the present embodiment subsequently performs non-resident detection detection (step 2). The non-existing area detection determination (step 2) is executed by the non-existing candidate terminal apparatus confirming unit 33 (see FIG. 1) to determine whether or not the non-existing candidate communication terminal apparatus exists in the existing area. This is a confirmation determination process. In this example, the non-service area detection determination (step 2) is executed twice at the time interval T2. The time interval T2 is set to several seconds, for example. In this example, in any of the first and second non-resident detection detections (step 2), the non-resident candidate communication terminal device is not located in the located area (in FIG. 2, represented by “NG”). Has been determined). As a result, the relay device determines the non-broadcast candidate communication terminal device as a non-broadcast communication terminal device and registers it in the non-broadcast terminal device management unit 33b (see FIG. 1). Restrict incoming calls to Thereafter, the relay device shifts to the in-zone return detection phase.

  As shown in the lower part of FIG. 2, in the in-zone return detection phase, the in-zone return detection determination is executed at time interval T3, and it is determined that the in-zone return detection determination does not return to the in-zone. Then, in-zone return detection determination is executed at time interval T4. Here, the in-zone return detection determination is a determination process performed by the incoming call restriction cancellation unit 39 (see FIG. 1) to determine whether the non-in-zone communication terminal apparatus has returned to the in-zone area. In this example, the non-resident communication terminal device has not returned to the visited area in any of the first area (time interval T3) and the second area (time interval T4) in the area return detection determination (in FIG. 2, In the third area (time interval T3) in-area return detection determination, the non-in-zone communication terminal apparatus returns to the area (in FIG. 2, “Ping OK”). ”). Thus, the relay device deletes the non-resident communication terminal device determined to return to the area from the non-resident terminal management unit 33b and cancels the incoming call restriction on the restored communication terminal device. Thereafter, the relay device shifts to a non-existing area detection phase.

Next, details of the operation of the non-existing area detection phase in the relay device according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation flow in the non-existing area detection phase in the relay device according to the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 3, in the non-service area detection phase, first, counting of the time interval T1 is started (step S1), and the process proceeds to step S3. In step S1, for example, a control unit (not shown) provided in the SGSN / GGSN 3 serving as a relay device and comprehensively controlling the SGSN / GGSN 3 starts counting up a counter that counts the time interval T1.
In step S3 following step S1, it is determined whether or not the time interval T1 has timed out. For example, the control unit repeatedly executes step S3 until the count number of the counter becomes equal to the time interval T1, and determines that a timeout has occurred when the count number becomes equal to the time interval T1, and proceeds to step S5.

  In step S5 subsequent to step S3, non-existing area detection determination (step 1) is executed. When it is determined that the communication terminal device is a candidate for the non-resident communication terminal device in the non-resident detection determination (step 1) (No in step S5), the process proceeds to step S7, and the communication terminal device is the non-resident communication terminal. If it is determined that the device is not a candidate (Yes in step S5), the process proceeds to step S9. In step S5, the non-resident terminal device candidate determination unit 31 is included in the transmission number of packet signals included in the determination information transmitted from the server transmission signal monitoring unit 35b and the determination information transmitted from the paging control unit 35c. Based on at least one of the number of paging failures, it is determined whether or not the communication terminal device is a candidate for a non-resident communication terminal device.

  In step S9 following Yes in step S5, it is determined whether or not the non-resident terminal occupation ratio Gn of the group to which the determination target communication terminal device belongs is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold A (%), and the non-resident terminal If it is determined that the occupation ratio Gn is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold A (%), the process proceeds to step S7, and if it is determined that the non-resident terminal occupation ratio Gn is less than the predetermined threshold A (%), the process proceeds to step S1. In step S9, for example, the non-resident terminal device candidate determining unit 31 includes the non-resident terminal occupation ratio Gn of the group to which the communication terminal device belongs included in the determination information transmitted from the terminal device group managing unit 35a and a predetermined value. Is compared with the threshold value A. If the non-resident terminal device candidate determination unit 31 determines that the non-resident terminal occupation ratio Gn is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold A, the non-resident terminal device candidate determination unit 31 selects a determination target communication terminal device belonging to the group as a non-resident communication terminal device candidate. Register with.

  In step S7 after No in step S5 or Yes in step S9, the communication terminal device determined to be a candidate for a non-resident communication terminal device in step S5 or step S7 is registered as a non-resident candidate communication terminal device. . Furthermore, a communication confirmation signal is transmitted to the communication terminal device, and the process proceeds to step S11. In step S <b> 7, for example, the non-resident terminal device candidate determination unit 31 stores the terminal identification information of the communication terminal device in the storage unit that stores the terminal identification information of the non-resident candidate communication terminal device. In step S7, for example, the communication confirmation signal transmission / reception unit 33a transmits a communication confirmation signal (for example, Ping) to the communication terminal device.

In step S7 or step S11 after step S23, which will be described later, it is determined whether or not there is a response to the communication confirmation signal. If there is a response, the process proceeds to step S13. The process proceeds to S15. In step S11, for example, the communication confirmation signal transmitting / receiving unit 33a determines whether or not there is a response within a predetermined period to the communication confirmation signal transmitted in step S7.
In step S13 after Yes in step S11, the non-resident candidate communication terminal device registered in step S7 is deleted from registration as a non-resident candidate communication terminal device, and the process proceeds to step S1. In step S13, for example, the non-resident terminal device candidate determination unit 31 deletes the terminal identification information stored in step S7 from the storage unit that stores the terminal identification information of the non-resident candidate communication terminal device.

  In step S15 after No in step S11, in order to increase the transmission count s of the communication confirmation signal by “1”, “s + 1” is substituted into the current transmission count “s”, and the process proceeds to step S17. In step S15, for example, the communication confirmation signal transmission / reception unit 33a reads the transmission count s stored in the predetermined storage unit based on the absence of a response to the communication confirmation signal transmitted in step S7, and sets the read value to “ 1 ”is added, and the added value is stored again in the original storage unit.

  In step S17 following step S15, it is determined whether or not the number of transmissions s of the communication confirmation signal is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold B. If it is determined that the number of transmissions s is greater than or equal to the predetermined threshold B, the process proceeds to step S19. If it is determined that the number of transmissions s is less than the predetermined threshold B, the process proceeds to step S21. In step S17, for example, the communication confirmation signal transmission / reception unit 33a reads the number of transmissions s stored in a predetermined storage unit, and compares the read number of transmissions s with a predetermined threshold B.

  In step S19 following step S17, the non-resident candidate communication terminal device registered in step S7 is registered as a non-resident communication terminal device, incoming calls to the non-resident communication terminal device are restricted, and the non-resident communication terminal The total number Xn of devices is increased by “1”, and the processing of the non-existing area detection phase is terminated. In step S19, for example, the non-resident terminal device management unit 33b stores the terminal identification information of the non-resident terminal device in the predetermined storage unit. In step S19, the non-resident terminal device management unit 33b reads the total number Xn of non-resident communication terminal devices stored in the predetermined storage unit, adds “1” to the read value, and uses the added value as the original value. Re-store in the storage section. Furthermore, in step S19, the incoming call restriction control unit 37 restricts incoming calls from the server 5 to the non-resident communication terminal device.

In step S21 after No in step S17, counting of the time interval T2 is started, and the process proceeds to step S23. In step S21, for example, the SGSN / GGSN 3 as a relay device is provided, and the control unit of the SGSN / GGSN 3 starts counting up a counter that counts the time interval T2.
In step S23 following step S21, it is determined whether or not the time interval T2 has timed out. For example, the control unit repeatedly executes step S23 until the count number of the counter becomes equal to the time interval T2, and determines that a timeout has occurred when the count number becomes equal to the time interval T2, and proceeds to step S11. If transfering it to step S11, SGSN / GGSN3 will transmit a communication confirmation signal to a non-locating candidate communication terminal device. If there is no response to the communication confirmation signal, the SGSN / GGSN 3 repeatedly transmits the communication confirmation signal at the time interval T2 until the number of transmissions of the communication confirmation signal is equal to the threshold value B (step S21, step S23). , Steps S11, S15, S17 and S21).

  Next, details of the operation of the in-zone return detection phase in the relay device according to the present embodiment will be described using FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation flow of the in-zone return detection phase in the relay device according to the present embodiment. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of interrupt processing in the in-zone return detection phase in the relay device according to the embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 4, in the in-zone return detection phase, first, counting of the time interval T3 is started (step S101), and the process proceeds to step S103. In step S101, for example, a control unit (not shown) that is provided in the SGSN / GGSN3 as a relay device and controls the SGSN / GGSN3 in an integrated manner activates a counter that counts the time interval T3.
In step S103 following step S101, it is determined whether or not there is interrupt processing. When it is determined that there is interrupt processing (Yes), the process proceeds to step S105 and it is determined that there is no interrupt processing (No). The process proceeds to step S107. In step S103, for example, the control unit executes the interrupt process shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 5A, in the group interrupt process, first, it is determined whether or not the non-resident terminal occupation ratio Gn of the group to which the non-resident communication terminal device belongs is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold D (%). (Step S201). If it is determined that the non-resident terminal occupation ratio Gn is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold D (%) (Yes), the process proceeds to step S203, and the non-resident terminal occupation ratio Gn is less than the predetermined threshold D (%). (No), the group interrupt process is terminated without executing step S203 described later. In step S201, for example, the non-resident terminal device candidate determining unit 31 includes the non-resident terminal occupation ratio Gn of the group and the predetermined threshold D (%) included in the determination information transmitted from the terminal device group managing unit 35a. Compare
In step S203 following step S201, the counting of the time interval T3 is stopped, and the group interrupt process is ended. In step S203, for example, the control unit of SGSN / GGSN3 stops the counter that counts the time interval T3.

As shown in FIG. 5B, in the return trigger interrupt process, it is first determined whether or not a return return trigger has been received from a non-existing communication terminal device (step S301). When it is determined that the in-zone return trigger has been received (Yes), the process proceeds to step S303, and when it is determined that the in-zone return trigger has not been received (No), the return trigger interrupt is performed without executing step S303 described later. End the process. In step S301, for example, the incoming call restriction cancellation unit 39 determines whether or not a return trigger sent by any non-resident communication terminal device has been received.
In step S303 following step S301, the counting of the time interval T3 is stopped, and the group interrupt process is ended. In step S303, for example, the control unit of SGSN / GGSN3 stops the counter that counts the time interval T3.

Returning to FIG. 4, in the interrupt processing executed in step S103, it is determined in step S201 of the group interrupt processing that the non-resident terminal occupation ratio Gn is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold D (%), or the return trigger interrupt processing If it is determined in step S301 that a return trigger has been received, the control unit determines that an interrupt process has been performed. In addition, the control unit stores in a predetermined storage unit whether the content of the interrupt processing is group interrupt processing or return trigger interrupt processing.
In step S105 after Yes in step S103, the contents of the interrupt process are determined. If it is determined that there is a group interrupt process, the process proceeds to step S111. If it is determined that there is a return trigger interrupt process, step S113 is performed. Migrate to In step S105, the control unit of the SGSN / GGSN 3 reads the content of the interrupt process stored in step S103, and determines whether the content is a group interrupt process or a return trigger interrupt process.

  On the other hand, in step S107 next to No in step S103, it is determined whether or not the time interval T3 has timed out. If it is determined that the time has expired, the process proceeds to step S109. For example, the control unit of the SGSN / GGSN 3 determines whether or not the count number of the counter is equal to the time interval T3, determines that it has timed out if it is equal, and determines that it has not timed out if it is not equal.

  In step S109 following Yes in step S107, in order to increase the T3 count number t3 obtained by counting the time interval T3 by “1”, “t3 + 1” is substituted for the current count number “t3”, and the process proceeds to step S111. To do. In step S109, for example, the control unit of SGSN / GGSN3 reads the T3 count number t3 stored in the predetermined storage unit based on the time interval T3 timed out in step S107, and sets the read value to “1”. Addition is performed, and the added value is stored again in the original storage unit. The T3 count number t3 is used for setting the time length of the time interval T3, for example. In this example, for example, the time interval T3 is set to be longer as the T3 count number t3 is larger.

  In step S109, “group” in step S105 or in step S111 next to “Yes” in step S121, which will be described later, it is determined whether or not there is a response to the communication confirmation signal. If it is determined that there is not, the process proceeds to step S115. In step S111, for example, the communication confirmation signal transmission / reception unit 33a transmits a communication confirmation signal including the terminal identification information of the communication terminal device to be returned to the service area, and determines whether there is a response within a predetermined period.

  In step S105 “return trigger” or step S113 following step S111, the registration as the non-resident communication terminal device is deleted, the incoming call restriction to the non-resident communication terminal device is canceled, and the non-resident communication terminal The total number of devices is decremented by “1” and the in-zone return detection phase ends. In step S113, for example, the non-resident terminal device management unit 33b deletes the terminal identification information of the non-resident communication terminal device determined to have returned to the existing region from the predetermined storage unit. In step S113, the non-resident terminal device management unit 33b reads the total number Xn of non-resident communication terminal devices stored in the predetermined storage unit, subtracts “1” from the read value, and uses the subtracted value as the original value. Re-store in the storage section. Further, in step S113, the incoming call restriction release unit 39 controls the incoming call restriction control unit 37 so as to release the incoming call restriction from the server 5 for the non-resident communication terminal device that has returned to the area. As a result, the incoming call restriction control unit 37 releases the restriction on the requested incoming call.

  On the other hand, in step S115 after No in step S111, in order to increase the transmission count u of the communication confirmation signal by “1”, “u + 1” is substituted for the current transmission count “u”, and the process proceeds to step S117. . In step S115, for example, the communication confirmation signal transmitting / receiving unit 33a reads the number of transmissions u stored in the predetermined storage unit based on the absence of a response to the communication confirmation signal transmitted in step S111, and sets the read value to “ 1 ”is added, and the added value is stored again in the original storage unit.

In step S117 subsequent to step S115, it is determined whether or not the transmission count u of the communication confirmation signal is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold C. If it is determined that the transmission count u is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold C, the process proceeds to step S101. If it is determined that the transmission count u is less than the predetermined threshold C, the process proceeds to step S119. In step S117, for example, the communication confirmation signal transmission / reception unit 33a reads the transmission count u stored in a predetermined storage unit, and compares the read transmission count u with a predetermined threshold C.
In step S119 following step S117, counting of the time interval T4 is started, and the process proceeds to step S121. In step S119, for example, the control unit of SGSN / GGSN3 starts counting up a counter that counts the time interval T4.

  In step S121 following step S119, it is determined whether or not the time interval T4 has timed out. For example, the control unit repeatedly executes step S121 until the count number of the counter becomes equal to the time interval T4. If the count number becomes equal to the time interval T4, the control unit determines that a timeout has occurred, and proceeds to step S111. If transfering it to step S111, SGSN / GGSN3 will transmit a communication confirmation signal to a non-locating communication terminal device. If there is no response to the communication confirmation signal, the SGSN / GGSN 3 repeatedly transmits the communication confirmation signal at the time interval T4 until the number of transmissions of the communication confirmation signal is the same as the threshold C (steps S119 and S121). Step S111, Step S115, Step S117 and Step S119).

By the way, in the case of group interrupt processing, it is only clear that a certain percentage of the communication terminal devices belonging to the group have returned to the service area. Whether or not it is unknown. For this reason, the relay device according to the present embodiment transmits a communication confirmation signal to the non-resident communication terminal device when the content of the interrupt processing is group interrupt processing, It is configured to determine whether or not the area has been returned (flow from step S105 to step S111).
On the other hand, in the case of the return trigger interrupt process, the return trigger is a signal transmitted from the communication terminal device that has returned to the area to the relay device, so it is clear that the communication terminal device has returned to the area. For this reason, the relay device according to the present embodiment deletes the registration as the non-resident communication terminal device without transmitting the communication confirmation signal to the non-resident communication terminal device when the content of the interrupt processing is a return trigger. (Step S105 to step S113).

Next, the incoming call restriction process after detecting the non-resident communication terminal apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 6 and FIG. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram of incoming call restriction processing.
As shown in FIG. 6, for example, it is assumed that an abnormality has occurred in the application unit 7a installed in the communication terminal device 7-1 and the application unit 7a has stopped (step S401).
The SGSN / GGSN 3 detects the communication terminal device 7-1 as a non-existing communication terminal device by operating according to the non-existing region detection phase shown in FIG. 3 (step S403).
The incoming call restriction control unit 37 provided in the SGSN / GGSN 3 transmits an incoming call restriction request to the server 5 in order to restrict incoming calls from the server 5 to the communication terminal device 7-1 (step S405).

The server 5 that has received the incoming call restriction request restricts incoming calls to the communication terminal device 7-1 (step S407). As a result, the server 5 does not transmit a retransmission packet signal to the communication terminal device 7-1, so that congestion of the communication network including the SGSN / GGSN 3 can be prevented.
The incoming call restriction control unit 37 of the SGSN / GGSN 3 in this example indirectly executes incoming call restriction by requesting the server 5 for incoming call restriction and executing the incoming call restriction on the server 5 side.

FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram of another example of incoming call restriction processing.
The processing in step S501 and step S503 in this example is the same as the processing in step S401 and step S403 shown in FIG.
The SGSN / GGSN 3 in this example does not transmit the incoming call restriction request to the server 5. As shown in FIG. 7, the SGSN / GGSN 3 causes the incoming call restriction control unit 37 to discard the incoming call request (step S505) from the server 5 to the communication terminal apparatus 7-1, so that the server 5 sends the communication terminal apparatus 7-1. Is restricted (step S507).
Since the incoming call restriction control unit 37 of the SGSN / GGSN 3 in this example discards the incoming call request transmitted from the server 5, the incoming call restriction control unit 37 directly executes incoming call restriction.

Next, the return-to-service processing after detecting the non-service communication terminal device will be described with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 8 and FIG.
FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram of the area return processing. As shown in FIG. 8, the SGSN / GGSN 3 detects that the communication terminal devices 7-1 and 7-2 have returned to the service area by operating according to the service area return detection phase shown in FIGS. Step S601).
The incoming call restriction release unit 39 of the SGSN / GGSN 3 transmits an incoming call restriction release request to the server 5 via the incoming call restriction control unit 37 (step S603). Further, the incoming call restriction release unit 39 notifies the restriction release request of the reconnection available time to the communication terminal devices 7-1 and 7-2.

  The server 5 that has received the incoming call restriction release request releases the incoming call restriction to the communication terminal devices 7-1 and 7-2. The server 5 transmits the incoming request to the communication terminal device 7-1 after x seconds (after the reconnectable time of the communication terminal device 7-1) after receiving the incoming call restriction release request (step S605). An incoming request to the communication terminal device 7-2 is transmitted y seconds after the incoming call restriction release request is received (after the reconnectable time of the communication terminal device 7-2) (step S607). As described above, the SGSN / GGSN 3 can distribute incoming calls to the communication terminal apparatuses 7-1 and 7-2.

FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram of another example of the area return processing. As shown in FIG. 9, the SGSN / GGSN 3 operates according to the in-zone return detection phase shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 to detect that the communication terminal devices 7-1 and 7-2 have returned to the zone ( Step S701).
The SGSN / GGSN 3 distributes connection suspension times to the communication terminal device with respect to incoming calls from the server 5 and reconnects them to the communication terminal devices 7-1 and 7-2. For this reason, the SGSN / GGSN 3 detects the communication terminal device 7 after x seconds (after the connection hold time of the communication terminal device 7-1 has elapsed), for example, after detecting the return of the presence of the communication terminal devices 7-1 and 7-2. -1 (step S703), y seconds after detecting the return of the presence of the communication terminal devices 7-1 and 7-2 (after the connection hold time of the communication terminal device 7-2 elapses) An incoming call request is transmitted to communication terminal device 7-2 (step S705). As described above, the SGSN / GGSN 3 can distribute incoming calls to the communication terminal apparatuses 7-1 and 7-2.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made.
For example, in the above embodiment, when paging to the communication terminal device fails a plurality of times, a communication confirmation signal is transmitted thereafter, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, when the paging to the communication terminal device fails a plurality of times, the relay device may omit the subsequent communication confirmation signal and register the communication terminal device as a non-resident communication terminal device . In this case, of the multiple times of paging, the first half of the paging corresponds to the determination process of the non-resident communication terminal device candidate in the non-resident terminal device candidate determination unit, and at least the second half of the paging including the last paging is absent. This corresponds to the confirmation process of the non-existing candidate terminal apparatus in the area candidate terminal apparatus confirmation unit.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, SGSN / GGSN3 as a relay apparatus is a terminal device group management part 35a, a server transmission signal monitoring part 35b, and a paging control part as a component which acquires the determination information in the information acquisition part 35 for candidate determinations. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, if the SGSN / GGSN 3 has at least one of these three as the constituent elements for obtaining the determination information, the non-existing terminal device candidate determination unit 31 does not have one communication terminal device. It can be determined whether or not it is a candidate for the area communication terminal device.

  The present invention can be embodied as a computer program. For example, the function of each part of SGSN / GGSN3 as the relay device according to the above embodiment can be realized as a communication program. Thus, some or all of the present invention can be incorporated into hardware or software (including firmware, resident software, microcode, state machines, gate arrays, etc.). Furthermore, the present invention may take the form of a computer program product on a computer-usable or computer-readable storage medium, which incorporates computer-usable or computer-readable program code. It is done. In the context of this specification, a computer usable or computer readable medium includes, stores, communicates, propagates, programs that are used by or in conjunction with an instruction execution system, apparatus or device, Alternatively, any medium that can be transported can be used.

  The scope of the present invention is not limited to the illustrated and described exemplary embodiments, but includes all embodiments that provide the same effects as those intended by the present invention. Furthermore, the scope of the invention is not limited to the combinations of features of the invention defined by the claims, but can be defined by any desired combination of particular features among all the disclosed features.

1 Communication System 3 SGSN / GGSN (Relay Device)
5 Server 5a Server control unit 7-1 to 7-n Communication terminal device 31 Non-existing terminal device candidate determination unit 33 Non-existing candidate terminal device confirmation unit 33a Communication confirmation signal transmission / reception unit 33b Non-existing terminal device management unit 35 Candidate Determination information acquisition unit 35a Terminal device group management unit 35b Server transmission signal monitoring unit 35c Paging control unit 37 Incoming call restriction control unit 39 Incoming call restriction release unit

Claims (6)

One communication terminal device is located in the area but is not located because it is recognized not to be located within the area. A non-resident terminal device candidate determination unit that determines whether or not the candidate is a non-resident communication terminal device that is a recognized communication terminal device;
Whether or not a non-resident area communication terminal device that is a communication terminal apparatus determined to be a candidate for a non-resident area communication terminal device by the non-resident area terminal device candidate determination unit is located in the in-area area. A non-range candidate terminal device confirmation unit to be confirmed ;
A candidate determination information acquisition unit that acquires determination information used to determine whether or not the non-resident terminal device candidate determination unit is a candidate for the non-resident communication terminal device;
The candidate determination information acquisition unit transmits the acquired determination information to the non-resident terminal device candidate determination unit,
The candidate determination information acquisition unit has a terminal device group management unit that groups and manages communication terminal devices in a similar environment among a plurality of communication terminal devices located in the area where the region is located,
The terminal device group management unit obtains the total number of non-resident communication terminal devices from the non-resident candidate terminal device confirmation unit, and sets the ratio of the non-resident communication terminal devices to the total number of communication terminal devices for each group. Calculate and transmit the calculated ratio as the determination information to the non-resident terminal device candidate determination unit
Relay apparatus according to claim. The non-local candidate terminal device confirmation unit
A communication confirmation signal transmitting / receiving unit for transmitting a communication confirmation signal to the non-resident candidate communication terminal device and receiving a response signal from the non-resident candidate communication terminal device;
And a non-resident terminal device management unit that determines and manages the non-resident candidate communication terminal device that does not respond to the communication confirmation signal as the non-resident communication terminal device. Item 4. The relay device according to Item 1. The candidate determination information acquisition unit further includes a server transmission signal monitoring unit that monitors a transmission signal from a predetermined server that communicates with the one communication terminal device,
It said server transmitting signal monitoring unit relay device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that to transmit the total number of the transmission signal to the non-serving terminal device candidate determining unit as the determination information. The candidate determination information acquisition unit further includes a paging control unit that includes the one communication terminal device, and controls paging to be performed on a plurality of communication terminal devices located in the area where the candidate is located.
The paging control unit is executed for the plurality of communication terminal devices including terminal identification information of the one communication terminal device, and the non-resident terminal device candidate determination is performed using the number of times of the paging failure as the determination information. The relay device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the relay device transmits to the unit. The relay apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , further comprising an incoming call restricting unit that restricts incoming calls from a predetermined server to the non-resident communication terminal apparatus. The communication apparatus further comprises an incoming call restriction releasing unit for releasing restriction of the incoming call from the predetermined server for the visited return communication terminal device that is the non-located communication terminal device that has returned to the visited area. 5. The relay device according to 5 .

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