JP6396378B2 - Communication control server, communication control method, relay device, and relay method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication control server, a communication control method, a relay device, and a relay method.

  Conventionally, in order to ensure communication quality between a terminal device and a macro cell base station in a building, it is known that a relay device is interposed between the terminal device and the macro cell base station.

  In this regard, Patent Documents 1 and 2 disclose a wireless communication system including a relay device that relays communication between a base station and a wireless terminal and is configured to be movable.

JP 2014-30186 A JP 2014-132757 A

  By the way, when a terminal device makes an emergency call to an emergency organization (for example, police or fire department), the terminal device includes location information of the terminal device via a macro cell base station that is currently located in the relay device. Make an emergency call.

  In a wireless communication system including the relay device configured to be movable as described above, the installation position of the relay device is determined in advance by the communication carrier before opening, and the tracking area code (TAC) associated with the address information, the charge Information such as a communication area (CA) and emergency service routing digits (ESRD) is given to the relay apparatus. The relay device notifies the terminal device of these pieces of information as notification information, so that the terminal device can detect its approximate position. However, if the relay device moves and belongs to another tracking area (TA), the relay device does not exist in the TA that the communication carrier knows, and the installation position of the relay device cannot be grasped. Therefore, it becomes impossible to grasp the position of the terminal device that communicates with the relay device.

  In this way, in the core network, it is managed that the relay device still exists in the original TA, so even if there is an emergency call from a terminal device that communicates with a relay device belonging to another TA There is no relay device ahead of the emergency vehicle. As described above, there is a problem in that the emergency organization cannot accurately grasp the position of the wireless terminal that has made an emergency call, and the initial response of the emergency organization is delayed.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and even when an emergency call is made via a movable relay device, the location information of the terminal device is accurately notified to the emergency organization. One of the purposes.

A communication control server according to an aspect of the present invention is a communication control server that controls communication of a relay device that relays communication between a terminal device and a macrocell base station, and at a plurality of different timings, An acquisition unit that acquires base station information including identification information of one or more macro cell base stations to be observed, and a communication control unit that controls communication of the relay device based on the base station information, the communication control unit includes: The first base station information of the macrocell base station, which is acquired in advance by the acquisition unit at the first timing when the relay device is activated and is associated in advance with the installation position of the relay device at the time of activation , and the first after the first timing When the second base station information acquired by the acquisition unit at two timings is different, communication between the relay device and the terminal device is stopped, and the communication control unit stops communication between the relay device and the terminal device. If There are, when the first base station information and the second base station information is common to resume communication between the relay device and the terminal device.

  In the communication control server, the acquisition unit periodically acquires base station information, the first base station information is base station information acquired last time, and the second base station information is base station information acquired this time. There may be.

A communication control method according to one aspect of the present invention is a communication control method for controlling communication of a relay device that relays communication between a terminal device and a macro cell base station, and at a plurality of different timings, Including the step of acquiring base station information including identification information of one or more macro cell base stations to be observed, and the step of controlling communication of the relay device based on the base station information . The first base station information of the macrocell base station that is previously associated with the installation position of the relay device at the time of activation , acquired at the first timing that is at the time of activation, and acquired at the second timing after the first timing. communication is stopped, and controls the step between the relay device and the terminal device when the second base station information are different, der if the communication between the relay device and the terminal device is stopped Te, when the first base station information and the second base station information is common to resume communication between the relay device and the terminal device.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, even when it is a case where an emergency call is made via the movable relay apparatus, the positional information on a terminal device can be correctly notified to an emergency organization.

1 is a schematic diagram of a mobile communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The block diagram of the femto core network (Femto Core Network) which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The sequence diagram explaining the procedure of the communication control process which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. The sequence diagram explaining the procedure of the communication control process which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the embodiment described below is merely an example, and there is no intention to exclude various modifications and technical applications that are not explicitly described below. That is, the present invention can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the spirit of the present invention. In the series of drawings, the same or similar parts are denoted by the same or similar reference numerals.

[Configuration of mobile communication system]
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a mobile communication system including a femtocell base station (relay device) according to an embodiment of the present invention. The mobile communication system 100 according to the present embodiment is an LTE mobile communication system exemplarily specified by 3GPP, and includes a radio network and a core network. The configuration of the wireless network and the configuration of the core network will be described in order below.

(Configuration of wireless network)
As shown in FIG. 1, the mobile communication system 100 includes a terminal device 10, a relay device 20, and a donor base station (macrocell base station) 30 as a configuration related to a wireless network. The wireless network, the LTE scheme is called E-UTRAN (E volved U niversal T errestrial R adio A ccess N etwork).

Terminal device 10, for example a smartphone, a mobile portable communication terminal such as a cellular phone, also called UE (U ser E quipment). In FIG. 1, the terminal device 10a that is located in the cell (communication range) formed by the relay device 20 and is connected to the terminal device 10a connected to the relay device 20 and the donor base station 30 is located in the donor base. The terminal device 10b connected to the station 30 is shown. Hereinafter, the terminal device 10 a and the terminal device 10 b are collectively referred to as the terminal device 10.

Relay device 20 is movable, also called ReNB (R epeater type eN ode B ), constitutes one of the nodes in a wireless network.

  The relay device 20 includes an access node (Access Node) 22 and a relay node (Relay Node) 24.

  The access node 22 is also called a femto base station, establishes wireless communication with the terminal device 10a, and provides a packet communication service (for example, a voice packet communication service, a multimedia service, etc.) to the terminal device 10a. The wireless communication between the access node 22 and the terminal device 10a is also referred to as an access link (AC). The cell formed by the access node 22 has a cell size smaller than that of the donor base station 30 and forms a communication area having a radius of several meters to several tens of meters.

  The access node 22 establishes wireless communication with the donor base station 30 via the relay node 24. The relay node 24 is also referred to as CPE (Customer Premises Equipment). Wireless communication between the relay node 24 and the donor base station 30 is also referred to as a backhaul (BH).

  Note that the access node 22 and the relay node 24 may be configured as separate nodes. When configured separately, the relay node 24 plays a role as a relay device according to the present invention.

The donor base station 30 is also called Donor eNB (Donor eNode B ), and establishes wireless communication with the access node 22 via the relay node 24. The donor base station 30 constructs a communication area having a radius of several hundred meters to several tens of kilometers. Hereinafter, the donor base station 30b and the donor base station 30c are collectively referred to as the donor base station 30.

(Core network configuration)
As shown in FIG. 1, the mobile communication system 100, a configuration of the core network, the first core network EPC (E volved P acket C ore ) 40, Femto Core Network (Femto Core Network) 50 (communication control server ), And a second core network EPC60. In addition, although this embodiment demonstrates as what is provided with the 1st core network EPC40 and the 2nd core network EPC60, you may comprise the core network EPC by one.

  The first core network EPC 40 is connected to the donor base station 30, for example, a function for managing the movement management, authentication, and packet communication data path setting processing of each terminal device 10 via the donor base station 30, and a wireless network It has a function to implement quality control.

The femto core network 50 is a network that performs various types of management regarding the relay device 20. Femto Core Network 50, for example, is connected to the femto OAM (Femto O perations A dministration M aintenace) 52, it has a function of operation of the relay apparatus 20, the management, maintenance.

  The second core network EPC 60 is, for example, a call connection control function for providing a mobile communication service, a service control function, a contract subscriber in a wireless network from an external network such as the Internet 70, or a wireless network. A function as an exchange for receiving a call to a subscriber who is roaming, a function for managing movement management, authentication, and packet communication data path setting processing of each terminal device 10 in the second core network EPC 60, and quality management Etc., and a function for executing control based on communication policy control and charging rules.

Here, the core network manages the installation position of the relay device 20 by, for example, the following method. Core network, the relay device 20, for example, cell donor base station 30b is formed, and, located in the composed cells donor base station 30c forms a tracking area TA (T racking A rea) (first 1Ta) In this case, the installation position of the relay device 20 is registered and managed as being located in the first TA. On the other hand, when the relay device 20 moves, the first TA is exited and, for example, newly located in the second TA composed of a cell formed by the donor base station 30c and a cell formed by the donor base station 30d. If it becomes, the installation position of the relay device 20 is registered (updated) and managed as being located in the second TA. Note that TA may be an area corresponding to a range where cells formed by a plurality of donor base stations overlap, or an area corresponding to a range of each cell formed by a plurality of donor base stations. It may be an area corresponding to a cell formed by a single donor base station.

  FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the femto core network 50 according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the femto core network 50 exemplarily includes an information processing unit 501 that performs information processing for controlling communication between the relay device 20 and the terminal device 10a, and an information acquisition unit described later. And a base station information recording unit 503 that records the base station information acquired by 505. The information processing unit 501 functionally includes an information acquisition unit 505 (acquisition unit) and a communication control unit 507.

The information acquisition unit 505 acquires base station information including position information of one or more donor base stations 30 observed by the relay apparatus 20 at a plurality of different timings. For example, base station information is the position information of the donor base station 30, TAC (T racking A rea C ode), CA (C harging A rea), ESRD (E mergency S ervice R outing D igits) or the like and the donor is identification information of the base station 30 ECGI and (E -UTRAN C ell G lobal I D), it may be information including. Here, the TAC is information for identifying the TA in the mobile communication system, and a unique TAC is assigned to one TA. The CA is a unit fee area common to communication carriers in a mobile communication system, and is set for each predetermined area (for example, Tokyo, Sendai, etc.). The ESRD is a number used for reporting to an emergency organization in a mobile communication system, and is a number that can identify a source base station, a cell, and the like.

  The communication control unit 507 controls communication of the relay device 20 based on base station information including position information of one or more donor base stations 30. For example, the communication control unit 507 acquires the first base station information including the position information of one or more donor base stations 30 acquired by the information acquisition unit 505 at the first timing, and the information acquisition unit 505 acquires at the second timing. When the second base station information including the position information of one or more donor base stations 30 is different, it is determined that the relay device 20 has moved from the TA based on the first base station information, and the relay device 20 and the terminal device Communication with 10a is stopped.

[Communication control processing]
<First Embodiment>
FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram illustrating a communication control process procedure for controlling communication between the relay device 20 and the terminal device 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
The outline of the communication control process according to the first embodiment is as follows. The relay apparatus 20 acquires and lists the identification information (ECGI) and position information of neighboring donor base stations using all selectable frequency bands, and transmits them to the femto core network 50. Then, when the identification information of the donor base station recorded in the list is different, the femto core network 50 determines that the relay device 20 has moved, and controls the communication of the relay device 20. Details of the communication control process according to the first embodiment will be described below.

  In the communication control processing flow, as a premise, the user of the mobile communication system downloads the communication control processing application software according to the embodiment of the present invention from a predetermined site of the network, for example, and executes it on the femto core network 50 Save as possible. When the execution of the communication control processing application software is instructed by the user, the program operation based on the communication control processing application software starts. Note that the relay device 20 also executes application software in advance so as to appropriately operate as an element of the mobile communication system.

  Further, in the communication control processing flow, as a premise, the terminal device 10a shown in FIG. 1 communicates with the relay device 20, for example, via the donor base station 30b or the donor base station 30c observed by the relay device 20, Communicate with external networks.

(Step S1)
The relay device 20 acquires the identification information and position information of the donor base station 30b and the donor base station 30c observed by the relay device 20.

(Step S3)
Based on the acquired identification information and position information of the donor base station 30b and the donor base station 30c, the relay device 20 has a donor base station list (a list of donor base stations arranged around the relay device 20). 1st base station information) is generated.

(Step S5)
The information acquisition unit 505 of the femto core network 50 illustrated in FIG. 2 acquires the donor base station list at the first timing.

  The first timing includes when the relay device 20 is activated. In this case, the first base station information includes base station information of the donor base station that is associated in advance with the installation position of the relay device 20 when the relay device 20 is activated.

(Step S7)
Thereafter, the relay device 20 that has moved to a predetermined position acquires the identification information and position information of the donor base station 30c and the donor base station 30d that are observed by the relay device 20. Here, since the donor base station 30b is no longer observed by the relay apparatus 20 due to the movement of the relay apparatus 20, the position information of the donor base station 30b that can be acquired in step S3 cannot be acquired.

(Step S9)
The relay device 20 has a donor base station list (second base station) indicating a list of donor base stations arranged around the relay device 20 based on the acquired position information of the donor base station 30c and the donor base station 30d. Information).

(Step S11)
The information acquisition unit 505 acquires the donor base station list at the second timing.

(Step S13)
The communication control unit 507 includes a donor base station 30c list (first base station information) acquired by the information acquisition unit 505 at the first timing and a donor base station 30b list (first base station information) acquired by the information acquisition unit 505 at the second timing ( Therefore, the communication between the relay device 20 and the terminal device 10a is stopped. For example, the communication control unit 507 is different from the donor base station list including the donor base station 30b and the donor base station 30c and the donor base station list including the donor base station 30c and the donor base station 30d. It is determined that the mobile device has moved, and a control signal for stopping communication between the relay device 20 and the terminal device 10a is transmitted to the relay device 20.

(Step S15)
When receiving the control signal from the femto core network 50, the relay device 20 stops communication with the terminal device 10a.

  On the other hand, even if the relay device 20 moves, when the communication control unit 507 determines that the first base station information and the second base station information acquired by the information acquisition unit 505 are common, the relay device 20 and the terminal device Communication with 10a continues.

  In the above description, the communication control process for stopping communication between the relay device 20 and the terminal device 10a has been described with reference to FIG. 3, but the femto core network 50 is connected between the relay device 20 and the terminal device 10a. Communication can be resumed. That is, the communication control unit 507 illustrated in FIG. 2 is a case where communication between the relay device 20 and the terminal device 10a is stopped, and the first base station information and the second base station information are common. Then, the communication between the relay device 20 and the terminal device 10a is resumed. In this case, the communication control unit 507 transmits a control signal for resuming communication between the relay device 20 and the terminal device 10a to the relay device 20.

  Further, the information acquisition unit 505 may periodically acquire the first base station information and the second base station information. In this case, the first base station information may be base station information acquired last time, and the second base station information may be base station information acquired this time.

Second Embodiment
In the second embodiment, the relay device 20 (relay device) controls communication between the relay device 20 and the terminal device 10, and the femto core network 50 (communication control server) This is different from the first embodiment that controls communication with the terminal device 10. In other words, in the second embodiment, the communication control process is performed only in the wireless network, whereas in the first embodiment, the communication control process is performed in both the wireless network and the core network.

  FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram illustrating a communication control process procedure for controlling communication between the relay device 20 and the terminal device 10 according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  In the communication control processing flow, as a premise, the user of the mobile communication system can download the communication control processing application software according to the embodiment of the present invention from, for example, a predetermined site of the network and execute it on the relay device 20 Save it like so. When the execution of the communication control processing application software is instructed by the user, the program operation based on the communication control processing application software starts.

  In the communication control processing flow, as a premise, the terminal device 10a communicates with the relay device 20, and communicates with an external network via the donor base station 30b or the donor base station 30c observed by the relay device 20. To do. Note that the relay device 20 acquires in advance base station information including identification information and position information of the donor base station 30b and the donor base station 30c observed by the relay device 20 when communication is started.

(Step S21)
The relay apparatus 20 acquires base station information including identification information and position information of the donor base station 30b and the donor base station 30c observed by the relay apparatus 20. Here, the base station information may be listed as a donor base station list indicating a list of donor base stations arranged around the relay apparatus 20.

(Step S23)
The relay device 20 acquires the donor base station 30b and the base station information of the donor base station 30c observed in the relay device 20 acquired in step S21, and the relay device 20 acquired in advance when starting communication. The base station information of the donor base station 30b and the base station information of the donor base station 30c observed in (1) is compared. Here, since both base station information is common, the relay apparatus 20 determines that both base station information is not different.

(Step S25)
Thereafter, the relay device 20 that has moved to a predetermined position acquires the identification information and position information of the donor base station 30c and the donor base station 30d that are observed by the relay device 20. Here, since the donor base station 30b is no longer observed by the relay device 20 due to the movement of the relay device 20, it is possible to acquire the identification information and position information of the donor base station 30b that can be acquired in step S21. Can not.

(Step S27)
The relay device 20 acquires the base station information of the donor base station 30c and the donor base station 30d observed in the relay device 20 acquired in step S25, and the donor base observed in the relay device 20 acquired in step S21. The base station information of the station 30b and the donor base station 30c is compared. Here, since both base station information differs, the relay apparatus 20 judges that the relay apparatus 20 moved.

(Step S29)
When both base station information is different, the relay device 20 notifies the terminal device 10a of the base station information of the donor base station 30c and the donor base station 30d observed in the relay device 20 acquired in step S25.

〔effect〕
As described above, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the communication control unit 507 acquires the first base station information acquired by the information acquisition unit 505 at the first timing and the information acquisition unit 505 at the second timing. When the second base station information is different, the communication between the relay device 20 and the terminal device 10 is stopped. Therefore, even when an emergency call is made via the movable relay device 20, the location information of the terminal device 10 can be accurately notified to the emergency organization.

  According to the second embodiment of the present invention, the relay device 20 acquires base station information including position information of one or more donor base stations 30 that are observed at a plurality of different timings, and stores the acquired base station information. The terminal device 10 that is in service is notified. Therefore, even when an emergency call is made via the movable relay device 20, the location information of the terminal device 10 can be accurately notified to the emergency organization.

[Other Embodiments]
Although the present invention has been described by the embodiments as described above, it should not be understood that the description and drawings constituting a part of this disclosure limit the present invention. From this disclosure, various alternative embodiments, examples and operational techniques should be apparent to those skilled in the art.

  In the above embodiment, the LTE standard mobile communication system has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention can be applied to other communication standards and communication standards established in the future. .

  In addition, at least one of the configurations of the base station information recording unit 503, the information acquisition unit 505, and the communication control unit 507 included in the femto core network 50 according to the embodiment of the present invention is the first core network EPC 40 or the second The core network EPC 60 may be provided.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Terminal device 20 ... Relay device 22 ... Access node 24 ... Relay node 30 ... Donor base station (macrocell base station)
40 ... 1st core network EPC
50 ... Femto core network 60 ... Second core network EPC
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Mobile communication system 501 ... Information processing part 503 ... Base station information recording part 505 ... Information acquisition part 507 ... Communication control part

Claims (3)

A communication control server that controls communication of a relay device that relays communication between a terminal device and a macrocell base station,
An acquisition unit for acquiring base station information including identification information of one or more macro cell base stations observed by the relay apparatus at a plurality of different timings;
A communication control unit for controlling communication of the relay device based on the base station information;
With
The communication control unit is a first base station of a macro cell base station, which is acquired in advance by the acquisition unit at a first timing when the relay device is activated and is associated in advance with an installation position of the relay device at the time of activation. When the information is different from the second base station information acquired by the acquisition unit at a second timing after the first timing, the communication between the relay device and the terminal device is stopped ,
The communication control unit is a case where communication between the relay device and the terminal device is stopped, and when the first base station information and the second base station information are common, the relay Resuming communication between a device and the terminal device;
Communication control server. The acquisition unit periodically acquires the base station information,
The first base station information is previously acquired base station information, and the second base station information is currently acquired base station information.
The communication control server according to claim 1 . A communication control method for controlling communication of a relay device that relays communication between a terminal device and a macrocell base station,
Obtaining base station information including identification information of one or more macro cell base stations observed by the relay apparatus at a plurality of different timings;
Controlling communication of the relay device based on the base station information;
Including
The step of controlling includes first base station information of a macro cell base station that is acquired in advance at a first timing when the relay apparatus is activated, and is associated in advance with an installation position of the relay apparatus at the time of activation ; When the second base station information acquired at the second timing after the first timing is different, stop the communication between the relay device and the terminal device ,
The controlling step is a case where communication between the relay device and the terminal device is stopped, and when the first base station information and the second base station information are common, the relay A communication control method for resuming communication between a device and the terminal device .