JP6927895B2 - Relay device, terminal device, control method, and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a communication control technique when a terminal device communicates with a plurality of base station devices.

As described in Non-Patent Document 1, in 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), the terminal device communicates with the first base station device and the second under the control of the first base station device. Technology for performing communication with base station equipment in parallel has been standardized. Such parallel communication is called Dual Connectivity. Non-Patent Document 1 further stipulates that a relay device (for example, a terminal device) relays communication between a base station device and a terminal device. Further, it is assumed that relay communication is used in Dual Connectivity. That is, the terminal device performs communication with the first base station device and communication with the relay device connected to the second base station device under the control of the first base station device in parallel. sell.

3GPP, TS36.300, V12.10.0

In the configuration of Dual Connectivity using the relay device as described above, the base station device manages the communication between the terminal device and the base station device depending on the success or failure of packet transmission / reception in the upper layer. That is, the base station device cannot recognize the deterioration of the radio quality between the terminal device and the relay device while the packet transmission / reception is successful. Therefore, even if the wireless quality between the terminal device and the relay device deteriorates, as long as the packet transmission / reception is successful, the relay device connected to the terminal device is connected to another relay device. There was a problem that it was not possible to switch.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and the device that manages data transmission / reception between the terminal device and the base station device appropriately grasps the radio quality between the relay device and the terminal device. The purpose is to be able to.

The relay device according to one aspect of the present invention is a terminal device capable of wireless communication in parallel with the first base station device and the second base station device under the control of the first base station device, and the first. A relay device capable of relaying communication in at least a part of a section between the two base station devices, and communication in at least a part of the section between the terminal device and the second base station device. A receiving means for receiving a first signal including at least information about a radio quality report destination in the section between the relay device and the terminal device relayed by the relay device, and the radio. The radio quality information is sent to the acquisition means for acquiring the quality information, the determination means for determining the transmission destination of the radio quality information based on at least the information of the radio quality report destination, and the determined destination. It has a transmission means for transmitting a second signal including the above.

Further, the terminal device according to another aspect of the present invention is a terminal capable of wireless communication in parallel with the first base station device and the second base station device under the control of the first base station device. A device of radio quality between the relay device and the terminal device when the communication between the second base station device is relayed via the communication between the terminal device and the relay device. The radio quality information is based on at least the receiving means for receiving the first signal containing at least the information about the report destination, the acquisition means for acquiring the radio quality information, and the radio quality report destination information. It has a determination means for determining a transmission destination, and a transmission means for transmitting a second signal including the radio quality information to the determined transmission destination.

According to the present invention, the radio quality between the relay device and the terminal device can be appropriately grasped by the device that manages the data transmission / reception between the terminal device and the base station device.

The figure which shows the configuration example of a wireless communication system. The figure which shows the hardware configuration example of a relay device and a terminal device. The block diagram which shows the functional configuration example of a relay device and a terminal device. The figure which shows the 1st example of the process flow executed in a wireless communication system. The figure which shows the 2nd example of the process flow executed in a wireless communication system. The figure which shows the 3rd example of the process flow executed in a wireless communication system. The figure which shows the 4th example of the flow of processing executed in a wireless communication system. The figure which shows the 5th example of the process flow executed in a wireless communication system.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(System configuration)
FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of the wireless communication system according to the present embodiment. The wireless communication system includes, for example, a terminal device 101, a first base station device 102, a second base station device 103, and a relay device 104. The terminal device 101 can communicate with the first base station device 102 and the second base station device 103 in parallel under the control of the first base station device 102. In one example, this parallel communication can be performed in accordance with the provisions of Dual Connectivity of 3GPP, but is not limited to this, and can be performed by any method. The parallel communication here is sufficient as long as at least two or more connections are established in parallel, and communication does not have to be performed at the same time. The terminal device 101 performs control communication for general communication control with the first base station device 102, and performs data communication with the second base station device 103. For example, the first base station apparatus 102 forms a cell that covers a wide area, and the second base station apparatus 103 forms a cell that covers a narrow area, as compared with the first base station apparatus 102. Provides high-speed wireless communication. The first base station apparatus 102 is, for example, an LTE (Long Term Evolution) base station apparatus, and the second base station apparatus is, for example, a base station according to a cellular communication standard such as a fifth generation NR (New Radio). It is a device.

Here, the terminal device 101 communicates with the second base station device 103 via the relay device 104. The relay device 104 transfers the signal addressed to the terminal device 101 transmitted from the second base station device 103 to the terminal device 101, and also transfers the signal addressed to the second base station device 103 transmitted from the terminal device 101 to the terminal device 101. Transfer to the second base station device 103. The relay device 104 may be a terminal device that communicates with the second base station device 103, or may be a communication device dedicated to relaying. Further, in FIG. 1, an example in which one relay device 104 exists in the path between the second base station device 103 and the terminal device 101 is described, but there are a plurality of relay devices in this path. May be included. That is, the second base station device 103 is connected to the first relay device, the first relay device is further connected to the second relay device, ..., The N-1 relay device is the Nth relay device. A configuration may be used in which the relay device is connected and the Nth relay device is connected to the terminal device 101 (however, N is a natural number).

The communication path indicating the data communication path between the second base station device 103 and the terminal device 101 is the first base station device 102, the second base station device 103, or these devices. It is managed by a separate device (for example, a higher-level device of the first base station device 102 and the second base station device 103). The path management device that performs such management can be determined by the type of Dual Connectivity. For example, when the data to be transmitted from the second base station device 103 to the terminal device 101 is transferred from the first base station device 102 to the second base station device 103, the first base station device 102 It can be a path management device. Further, when the data to be transmitted from the second base station device 103 to the terminal device 101 reaches the second base station device 103 without passing through the first base station device 102, the second base station device 103 And higher-level devices can be path management devices. The path management device controls, for example, whether to maintain the communication path or change to another communication path depending on whether or not the communication between the second base station device 103 and the terminal device 101 is successful. can do. However, although the path management device can know the success or failure of packet transmission / reception in the upper layer, it recognizes the deterioration even if the radio quality in the communication section is deteriorated even though the packet transmission / reception is successful. I can't. In particular, even if the second base station device 103 is a path management device, the path management device cannot recognize the radio quality between the relay device 104 and the terminal device 101. For this reason, by establishing and maintaining a communication path with insufficient wireless quality, communication is likely to be disconnected, and communication path switching may occur frequently.

In the present embodiment, for such a problem, the path management device can acquire radio quality information about one or more sections (links) between the second base station device 103 and the terminal device 101. The method for doing this will be described.

In the present embodiment, the relay device is between a terminal device that performs parallel communication with the first base station device and the second base station device under the control of the first base station device, and the second base station device. When relaying at least a part of the section, the path management device is notified of the radio quality for that section. For example, in FIG. 1, the relay device 104 passes the radio quality for the section between the terminal device 101 and the relay device 104 in order to relay the communication between the terminal device 101 and the second base station device 103. Notify the management device. Further, the relay device 104 may notify the path management device of the radio quality of the section between the second base station device 103 and the relay device 104.

The relay device 104 may measure the radio quality of the relay section by its own device, or demodulate the radio signal measured by another device constituting the section and notified to the relay device. Radio quality information may be obtained from within the radio signal. For example, in the example of FIG. 1, the relay device 104 may acquire the radio quality for the section between the terminal device 101 and the relay device 104 by measuring the radio wave transmitted by the terminal device 101. The radio quality information of this section measured by the terminal device 101 may be received, or both may be performed. Further, the relay device 104 can acquire the radio quality for the section between the second base station device 103 and the relay device 104 by measuring the radio wave transmitted by the second base station device 103.

In one example, the relay device 104 encodes the first radio quality for the section between the second base station device 103 and the relay device 104 with a predetermined number of bits, and between the terminal device 101 and the relay device 104. The second radio quality for the section may be encoded and transmitted with a number of bits smaller than the above-mentioned predetermined number of bits as information indicating the difference from the first radio quality. That is, information indicating how much the second radio quality deviates from the first radio quality may be reported. Further, the relationship between the first radio quality and the second radio quality may be reversed, or only the information of the difference value of these radio qualities may be reported. For example, when the relay device 104 transmits this report to the second base station device 103, the second base station device 103 measures the radio signal from the relay device 104 to obtain the above-mentioned first radio quality. And the second radio quality can be obtained from the first radio quality and the reported difference value. Note that these wireless quality notification methods are not limited to the method of transmitting information that defines the mutual relationship between a plurality of wireless qualities, and other methods such as a method of transmitting each of a plurality of wireless qualities with a predetermined number of bits can be used. It may be used.

The relay device acquires the information of the report destination of the radio quality information from, for example, the first base station device or the second base station device for the notification of the radio quality. The report destination information may be information about a path management device that manages a communication path between the terminal device and the second base station device, or a remote device to which the relay device directly wirelessly transmits wireless quality information. It may be information that identifies. For example, the report destination information may specify a path management device such as a first base station device, a second base station device, or a higher-level device. Further, the report destination information is communication between the first base station device, the second base station device, the terminal device, and the second base station device as the information of the other device that directly transmits the radio quality information. In the path, the device on the second base station device side can be specified by one hop from the relay device. The report destination information is included in, for example, a first signal transmitted by a first base station device, a second base station device, or another device capable of relaying communication with these base stations. sell.

When the relay device receives the first signal, it acquires the information of the report destination included in the first signal, and determines the transmission destination of the radio quality information based on the information. For example, when the reporting destination information indicates the information of the remote device that directly transmits the radio quality information, the relay device determines the remote device as the transmission destination. In addition, when the relay device includes information that specifies the path management device, the relay device identifies a path for transmitting wireless quality information to the path management device, and transmits the device to be communicated by the relay device in that path. Can be decided first. In the example of FIG. 1, when the path management device is the first base station device 102, the relay device 104 determines the first base station device 102 as the transmission destination and directly to the first base station device 102. , Can decide to send radio quality information. Further, when the direct communication path to the first base station device 102 is not established, the relay device 104 determines the second base station device 103 or the terminal device 101 as the transmission destination, and uses these devices. The information may be transferred to the first base station apparatus 102. Further, when the path management device is the host device or the second base station device 103, the relay device 104 can determine the second base station device 103 as the transmission destination. In addition to the information to which the notified radio quality information is reported, the relay device 104 provides further information such as radio quality between the first base station device 102 and the second base station device 103, for example. The destination may be determined based on. For example, in the relay device 104, when the host device is the report destination of the radio quality information, the radio quality with the first base station device 102 is the radio quality with the second base station device 103. If it is higher than a predetermined level, the first base station device 102 may be determined as the transmission destination. Further, the relay device 104 is also used when the host device is the report destination of the radio quality information, for example, when the number of hops in the communication path to the second base station device 103 is a predetermined number or more. The base station apparatus 102 of the above may be determined as a transmission destination. Further, when the number of hops in the communication path to the second base station device 103 is a predetermined number or more, the relay device 104 may set the transmission destination to the second base station device 103. That is, when the number of hops in the communication path is equal to or greater than the predetermined number, the relay device 104 may decide to directly transmit the radio quality information to the second base station device 103 without using the communication path. ..

It should be noted that the first signal may further include instructions indicating that the radio quality should be reported (eg, after a predetermined frame) or information on the conditions under which the radio quality should be reported. When the relay device contains, for example, an instruction indicating that the radio quality should be reported in the first signal, the relay device measures the radio quality measured for the section relayed by the own device or another device measures the section. A second signal containing the radio quality information notified to is generated (for example, after a predetermined frame of the frame in which the first signal is received) and transmitted. Further, when the relay device contains information on the condition for reporting the radio quality in the first signal, the second signal includes the acquired radio quality information according to the condition being satisfied. Can transmit the signal of. The condition here includes that the acquired radio quality is below a predetermined level. For example, in FIG. 1, the relay device 104 monitors the radio quality between the terminal device 101 or the second base station device 103, and the radio quality corresponds to the radio quality falling below a predetermined level. Report. Further, the condition may be, for example, a condition relating to the timing of reporting. That is, the relay device can report the radio quality at a predetermined timing specified as a condition. The condition may include further other conditions. By using such a condition, the radio quality is not reported unless the condition is satisfied, so that it is possible to prevent the radio resource from being wasted.

In addition, the first signal may further include information indicating which section of radio quality should be reported. For example, whether the first radio quality for the section on the second base station device side as viewed from the relay device should be reported, the second radio quality for the section on the terminal device side should be reported, or the first radio quality. Information indicating whether both the and second radio quality should be reported can be included in the first signal. According to this, the radio quality information about the section specified on the network side is notified to the path management device, so that the path management device considers the state of the radio quality for each section and the second base station. The communication path from the device 103 to the terminal device 101 can be determined.

In the relay device, which section has the radio quality to be reported, especially when the communication path between the second base station device 103 and the terminal device 101 is formed in a multi-hop configuration of 3 hops or more. The identification information for indicating the above can be included in the above-mentioned second signal and transmitted. This identification information may be, for example, the identification information of the relay device, the identification information of another device forming the section together with the relay device, or the number of hops of the section from the second base station device. For example, in the example of FIG. 1, for the section between the relay device 104 and the terminal device 101, the identification information of the relay device 104 and the terminal device 101 and the number of hops from the second base station device 103 "2". Etc. can be used as identification information for the section.

The above method has been described as an example of a configuration in which the relay device reports wireless quality information, but the terminal device may perform the same processing. That is, the terminal device receives the first signal including the information of the report destination of the wireless quality information, acquires the wireless quality in the section between the terminal device and the relay device that directly performs wireless communication, and is described above. The destination of the second signal including the radio quality information may be determined based on the information of the report destination, and the second signal may be transmitted to the determined destination.

(Device configuration)
Subsequently, a hardware configuration example and a functional configuration example of the relay device according to the present embodiment will be described. As described above, since the terminal device can report the radio quality information by the same method as the relay device, the terminal device can have the same configuration as the relay device.

FIG. 2 shows an example of hardware configuration of the relay device and the terminal device. In one example, the relay device and the terminal device have a hardware configuration as shown in FIG. 2, and include, for example, a CPU 201, a ROM 202, a RAM 203, an external storage device 204, and a communication device 205. In the relay device and the terminal device, the CPU 201 executes, for example, a program recorded in any one of the ROM 202, the RAM 203, and the external storage device 204, which realizes each function of the relay device and the terminal device as described above.

Then, the relay device and the terminal device control the communication device 205 by, for example, the CPU 201 to communicate with other devices. For example, the communication device 205 of the relay device can perform wireless communication with the base station device, the terminal device, and other relay devices based on communication standards such as 4th generation LTE and 5th generation NR. Further, the communication device 205 of the terminal device follows the procedure of Dual Connectivity, and at least a part of the communication between the first base station device and the second base station device (or the second base station device and the terminal device). It is possible to execute parallel communication with a relay device that relays a section. In the configuration of FIG. 2, a schematic diagram is shown in which the relay device and the terminal device have one communication device 205, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the relay device has a first communication between the device on the base station device side in the communication path between the terminal device and the base station device and a second communication with the device on the terminal device side in the communication path. For the above, it may have two communication devices. Also, the terminal device may have two communication devices to establish a plurality of connections.

The relay device and the terminal device may be provided with dedicated hardware for executing each function, or a part of the relay device and the terminal device may be executed by the hardware and the other part may be executed by the computer running the program. Also, all functions may be performed by a computer and a program.

FIG. 3 shows an example of functional configurations of the relay device and the terminal device according to the present embodiment. In one example, the relay device and the terminal device include a communication unit 301, a report information acquisition unit 302, a radio quality acquisition unit 303, a transmission destination determination unit 304, and a radio quality reporting unit 305. The relay device and the terminal device have functions other than those shown in FIG. 3 that the normal relay device and the terminal device have, but these functions are omitted here for the sake of simplicity. ..

The communication unit 301 is a functional unit for performing wireless communication in accordance with standards such as LTE and NR. The communication unit 301 has a function of encoding, modulating, and frequency-converting the data to be transmitted to form and transmit a wireless signal, and receives the wireless signal to perform frequency conversion, demodulation, and data decoding of the wireless signal. It has at least a function to perform. Further, the communication unit 301 can establish at least two wireless communication links in parallel. For example, the communication unit 301 of the terminal device establishes a wireless communication link with each of the first base station device and the second base station device (relay device for relaying communication with the second base station device). And parallel communication can be performed. Further, the communication unit 301 of the relay device is connected to the device (second base station device or other relay device) on the second base station device side in the communication path between the second base station device and the terminal device. The first communication and the second communication with the device (terminal device or other relay device) on the terminal device side in the communication path can be performed in parallel.

The report information acquisition unit 302 is a wireless quality report destination from the first signal received by the communication unit 301 from the path management device (for example, the first base station device, the second base station device, or the host device). Get information. The information of the radio quality report destination may be, for example, information of the path management device or information of the other device that directly transmits the radio quality information. In addition, the information of the path management device may be indicated by the information of the type of Dual Connectivity. When the report information acquisition unit 302 includes an instruction indicating that the radio quality should be reported (for example, after a predetermined frame) or information on conditions for reporting the radio quality, the first signal , Get this instruction or information. When this instruction or information is included in the first signal, the report information acquisition unit 302 transfers this instruction or information to the radio quality reporting unit 305. Further, when the first signal includes information on which communication section the radio quality should be reported, the report information acquisition unit 302 acquires the information and sends the information to the radio quality acquisition unit 303. Forward.

The radio quality acquisition unit 303 acquires the radio quality of the radio link established by the own device with respect to the communication path between the second base station device and the terminal device. For example, the wireless quality acquisition unit 303 of the terminal device measures the wireless quality between the relay device directly connected to the terminal device, thereby measuring the wireless quality of the wireless link between the terminal device and the relay device. Get information. The wireless quality acquisition unit 303 of the terminal device receives the wireless quality information measured by the relay device directly connected to the terminal device from the relay device via, for example, the communication unit 301, thereby and the terminal device. Information on the radio quality of the wireless link to and from the relay device may be acquired. Further, the wireless quality acquisition unit 303 of the relay device obtains the first wireless quality of the wireless link between the device that is on the terminal device side of the own device and is directly connected to the relay device in the communication path. get. Further, the radio quality acquisition unit 303 of the relay device is a device on the second base station device side of the own device in the communication path, and is a second device for a wireless link between the relay device and the device directly connected to the relay device. You can also get the wireless quality of. The radio quality acquisition unit 303 of the intermediate device can acquire these radio qualities by the measurement by its own device or by receiving the measurement result by another device, as in the case of the terminal device described above. When the radio quality acquisition unit 303 of the relay device transfers information on the communication section for which the radio quality should be reported from the report information acquisition unit 302, the first radio quality and the second radio quality are obtained according to the information. It is possible to obtain radio quality of either or both of the radio quality of. If the information of the communication section for which the radio quality should be reported is not transferred, the radio quality for the preset section is acquired.

The destination determination unit 304 is the transmission destination of the second signal including the radio quality information acquired by the radio quality acquisition unit 303, based on at least the radio quality report destination information acquired by the report information acquisition unit 302. Determine the device. When the report destination information indicates the information of the remote device that directly transmits the radio quality information, the transmission destination determination unit 304 determines the remote device as the transmission destination. Further, when the transmission destination determination unit 304 includes information for designating the path management device, the transmission destination determination unit 304 should specify a path for transmitting wireless quality information to the path management device, and the relay device should communicate in that path. The device can be determined as the destination. The destination determination unit 304 transmits based on the information of the report destination of the notified radio quality information, for example, further information such as the radio quality and the number of hops in the communication path to the device of the report destination. You may decide the destination.

The radio quality reporting unit 305 transmits a second signal including the radio quality information acquired by the radio quality acquisition unit 303 to the destination device determined by the transmission destination determination unit 304 via the communication unit 301. do. The radio quality reporting unit 305 transmits the second signal after a predetermined frame in which the first signal is received, in accordance with the instruction transferred from the report information acquisition unit 302 indicating that the radio quality should be reported, for example. As such, the communication unit 301 can be controlled. Further, the radio quality reporting unit 305 determines, for example, whether or not the condition is satisfied according to the condition for reporting the radio quality transferred from the report information acquisition unit 302, and if the condition is satisfied, the first. The communication unit 301 can be controlled so as to transmit the signal of 2. In one example, the radio quality reporting unit 305 receives a second signal when the radio quality value acquired by the radio quality acquisition unit 303 falls below a predetermined level or when conditions such as a designated timing are satisfied. Is transmitted, the communication unit 301 is controlled. If the wireless quality reporting unit 305 does not acquire the above-mentioned instructions and conditions from the reporting information acquisition unit 302, the radio quality reporting unit 305 transmits the second signal according to a predetermined timing and conditions set in advance. Controls the communication unit 301. Further, the radio quality reporting unit 305 may include identification information indicating which communication section the radio quality to be reported is related to in the second signal. This identification information may be, for example, the identification information of the relay device, the identification information of another device forming the section together with the relay device, or the number of hops of the section from the second base station device.

(Processing flow)
Subsequently, the flow of processing executed in the wireless communication system having the relay device or the terminal device as described above will be described with some examples. In the following example, the case where the system as shown in FIG. 1 is used will be described.

<Processing example 1>
FIG. 4 shows a first example of the processing flow according to the present embodiment. In this example, the first base station device 102 is a path management device, and data transmitted to the terminal device 101 other than the control communication is transferred from the first base station device 102 to the second base station device 103. After that, it is assumed that the data is transmitted from the second base station device 103 to the terminal device 101 via the relay device 104. In this example, the first base station device 102 transmits the first signal including at least the information of the radio quality report destination to the relay device 104 (S401). In this case, the radio quality report destination is the first base station device 102, which is a path management device. The first signal may be transmitted directly from the first base station device 102 to the relay device 104, or may be transmitted to the relay device 104 via the second base station device 103. good. Then, the relay device 104, for example, relays the data communication between the second base station device 103 and the terminal device 101 (S402), and determines the wireless quality of the wireless link between the terminal device 101 and the own device. Measure (S403). The measurement of the radio quality may be performed in the terminal device 101, and the measurement result may be notified to the relay device 104. At this time, the relay device 104 may also measure the radio quality between the second base station device 103 and its own device. After that, the relay device 104 acquires a second signal including radio quality information in S401 according to a predetermined timing or satisfying the conditions specified by the first signal, for example, to report the radio quality. It is transmitted to the first base station apparatus 102 based on the above information (S404). The second signal including the radio quality information may be directly transmitted from the relay device 104 to the first base station device 102, but for example, the second base station device 103 (in some cases). May be transmitted to the first base station device 103 via the terminal device 101). That is, the relay device 104 determines, for example, whether a wireless link is established between the own device and the first base station device 102, and determines the transmission destination of the second signal according to the determination result. You may.

By doing so, a wireless link between the terminal device 101 and the relay device 104 (in some cases, a second base station device 103 and the relay device 104) to the first base station device 102, which is a path management device, can be obtained. The wireless quality of the wireless link between and) is notified. Therefore, the first base station device 102 (path management device) appropriately sets the communication path to the terminal device 101 based on the reported radio quality, and the communication path is switched frequently. Can be prevented.

<Processing example 2>
FIG. 5 shows a second example of the processing flow according to the present embodiment. In this example, an example is shown in which the second base station device 103 or the higher-level device is a path management device, and transmission data other than control communication is transmitted to the terminal device 101 without going through the first base station device 102. Will be sent to. The same processing steps as in FIG. 4 are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted. In this processing example, the second base station apparatus 103 transmits the first signal including at least the information of the radio quality report destination to the relay apparatus 104 (S501). When the path management device is a higher-level device, the higher-level device may notify the second base station device 103 of the radio quality report destination information before transmitting the first signal of S501. (S502). Here, when the second base station device 103 recognizes in advance that the host device is the path management device, or when the path management device is the second base station device 103, the processing of S502 is omitted. Will be done. After that, the relay device 104 acquires the radio quality information about the wireless link established by the own device, and notifies the information to the second base station device 103 (S503). When the host device is a path management device, this information is transferred from the second base station device 103 to the host device (S504). In this way, when the second base station device 103 or the higher-level device is a path management device, radio quality information can be transmitted from the relay device 104 to the path management device.

For example, when the first base station device 102 performs control communication for the relay device 104 and the higher-level device is a path management device, the wireless quality from the higher-level device to the first base station device 102. The information of the report destination is notified, and the information can be notified from the first base station device 102 to the relay device 104. In this case, the radio quality information may also be notified from the relay device 104 to the first base station device 102, and may be notified from the first base station device 102 to the higher-level device, or the relay device 104 may be notified to the first base station device 102. The radio quality information may be transmitted to the second base station device 103 instead of the base station device 102, and the information may be transferred from the second base station device 103 to the higher-level device.

Further, for example, when the first base station device 102 performs control communication for the relay device 104 and the second base station device 103 is a path management device, the second base station device 103 Can notify the first base station device 102 of the information of the radio quality report destination, and the first base station device 102 can notify the relay device 104 of the information. In this case, the relay device 104 may transmit the radio quality information to the second base station device 103, or the radio quality information is notified from the relay device 104 to the first base station device 102. After that, the first base station device 102 may notify the second base station device 103.

According to the above processing, a wireless link between the terminal device 101 and the relay device 104 (in some cases, a second base station device) to the second base station device 103 or the higher-level device which is the path management device. The radio quality of the wireless link) between 103 and the repeater 104) is notified. Therefore, the path management device can appropriately set the communication path to the terminal device 101 based on the reported radio quality, and can prevent the communication path from being switched frequently.

<Processing example 3>
FIG. 6 shows a third example of the processing flow according to the present embodiment. This example differs from the processing example 1 in that the terminal device 101, not the relay device 104, reports the radio quality. It should be noted that although the terminal device 101 can communicate directly with the first base station device 102, it may not be able to communicate directly with the second base station device 103.

In this example, the first base station device 102 transmits the first signal including at least the information of the radio quality report destination to the terminal device 101 (S601). In this case, the radio quality report destination is the first base station device 102, which is a path management device. Then, the terminal device 101, for example, communicates data with the relay device 104 that relays the communication with the second base station device 103 (S602), and between the own device and the relay device 104. The radio quality is measured for the radio link (S603). After that, the terminal device 101 acquires a second signal including radio quality information in S601 according to, for example, satisfying a predetermined timing or a condition specified by the first signal, and reports the radio quality. It is transmitted to the first base station apparatus 102 based on the above information (S604). The second signal including the radio quality information may be directly transmitted from the terminal device 101 to the first base station device 102, but for example, the relay device 104 and the second base station device. It may be transmitted to the first base station apparatus 103 via 103.

As a result, the first base station device 102, which is a path management device, is notified of the radio quality of the wireless link between the terminal device 101 and the relay device 104. Then, the first base station device 102 (path management device) appropriately sets the communication path to the terminal device 101 based on the reported radio quality, and prevents the communication path from being switched frequently. be able to.

<Processing example 4>
FIG. 7 shows a fourth example of the processing flow according to the present embodiment. In this example, an example is shown in which the second base station device 103 or the higher-level device is a path management device, and transmission data other than control communication is transmitted to the terminal device 101 without going through the first base station device 102. Will be sent to. The same processing steps as in FIG. 6 are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted. In this process, the terminal device 101 is designated as the second base station device 103 or the higher-level device in the information of the radio quality report destination of S601. The first base station device 102 can acquire the information of the radio quality report destination from the host device (S701). Further, when the second base station device 103 is a path management device, the first base station device 102 acquires the information of the radio quality report destination from the second base station device 103. May be good. In this example, the first signal including the information of the radio quality report destination is transmitted by the first base station device 102, but the second base station device 103 relays, for example, the first signal. It may be transmitted to the terminal device 101 via the device 104.

The terminal device 101 transmits a second signal including radio quality information to the second base station device 103 via the relay device 104 (S701). When the host device is a path management device, this information is transferred from the second base station device 103 to the host device (S702). In this way, when the second base station device 103 or the higher-level device is a path management device, radio quality information can be transmitted from the terminal device 101 to the path management device.

When the terminal device 101 reports the radio quality information to the second base station device 103 or the higher-level device, the terminal device 101 may go through the first base station device 102. The processing flow in that case is shown in FIG. When the first base station device 102 receives the second signal from the terminal device 101, the first base station device 102 transfers the second signal to the path management device (second base station device 103 or higher-level device) (S801, S802). ). Such processing is performed, for example, when the radio quality of the wireless link between the terminal device 101 and the relay device 104 is at a low level, or when the communication path between the terminal device 101 and the second base station device 103 is used. It can be executed when the number of hops is more than a predetermined number. As a result, the terminal device 101 can reliably report the radio quality information to the path management device depending on the situation. Then, the path management device can appropriately set the communication path to the terminal device 101 based on the reported radio quality, and can prevent the communication path from being switched frequently.

As described above, the radio quality between the relay device and the terminal device can be appropriately grasped by the path management device that manages the data transmission / reception between the terminal device and the base station device.

The typical configuration and processing flow according to the present embodiment have been described above, but these are merely examples, and various aspects of the embodiments described in the present specification within the scope of the claims. Modifications and modifications are naturally included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims (15)

At least between the second base station apparatus and the terminal apparatus capable of wirelessly communicating in parallel with the first base station apparatus and the second base station apparatus under the control of the first base station apparatus. It is a relay device that can relay communication in a part of the section.
When relaying communication in at least a part of a section between the terminal device and the second base station device, the radio quality in the section between the relay device and the terminal device relayed by the relay device. A receiving means for receiving a first signal containing at least information about the report destination of
The acquisition means for acquiring the wireless quality information and
A determination means for determining the destination of the radio quality information based on at least the information of the radio quality report destination, and
A transmission means for transmitting a second signal including the radio quality information to the determined destination, and
A relay device characterized by having. The information regarding the radio quality report destination is information regarding the device that manages the communication path between the terminal device and the second base station device.
The relay device according to claim 1. The first signal further includes an instruction indicating that the radio quality information should be reported, or a condition for reporting the radio quality information.
The relay device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the relay device is characterized by the above. The conditions include that the radio quality is below a predetermined level.
The relay device according to claim 3, wherein the relay device is characterized by the above. Should the first signal report the first radio quality for the section on the side of the second base station device as seen from the relay device, or the section on the side of the terminal device as seen from the relay device? Further including information indicating whether the radio quality of 2 should be reported or whether both the first radio quality and the second radio quality should be reported.
The relay device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the relay device is characterized by the above. The second signal further includes information for identifying the section relayed by the relay device, information for identifying the relay device, or information for identifying a device communicating with the relay device in the section.
The relay device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the relay device is characterized by the above. A terminal device capable of wireless communication in parallel with the first base station device and the second base station device under the control of the first base station device.
When the communication between the second base station device is relayed via the communication between the terminal device and the relay device, the information regarding the report destination of the radio quality between the relay device and the terminal device is provided. A receiving means for receiving at least the first signal including
The acquisition means for acquiring the wireless quality information and
A determination means for determining the destination of the radio quality information based on at least the information of the radio quality report destination, and
A transmission means for transmitting a second signal including the radio quality information to the determined destination, and
A terminal device characterized by having. The information regarding the radio quality report destination is information regarding a device that manages a communication path between the second base station device and the terminal device.
The terminal device according to claim 7. The first signal includes an instruction indicating that the radio quality information should be reported, or a condition for reporting the radio quality information.
The terminal device according to claim 7 or 8. The conditions include that the radio quality is below a predetermined level.
The terminal device according to claim 9. The second signal further includes information identifying the terminal device.
The terminal device according to any one of claims 7 to 9. At least between the second base station apparatus and the terminal apparatus capable of wirelessly communicating in parallel with the first base station apparatus and the second base station apparatus under the control of the first base station apparatus. It is a control method of a relay device that can relay communication in a part of a section.
When the receiving means relays communication in at least a part of a section between the terminal device and the second base station device, the relay device relays the relay device and the terminal device. A receiving process that receives a first signal that contains at least information about the radio quality report destination in the section, and
The acquisition process in which the acquisition means acquires the wireless quality information, and
A determination step in which the determination means determines the transmission destination of the radio quality information based on at least the information of the radio quality report destination.
A transmission step in which the transmission means transmits a second signal including the radio quality information to the determined transmission destination, and
A control method characterized by having. A method for controlling a terminal device capable of wirelessly communicating in parallel with the first base station device and the second base station device under the control of the first base station device.
Report of radio quality between the relay device and the terminal device when the receiving means relays the communication between the second base station device and the communication between the terminal device and the relay device. A receiving process that receives a first signal containing at least information about the destination, and
The acquisition process in which the acquisition means acquires the wireless quality information, and
A determination step in which the determination means determines the transmission destination of the radio quality information based on at least the information of the radio quality report destination.
A transmission step in which the transmission means transmits a second signal including the radio quality information to the determined transmission destination, and
A control method characterized by having. At least between the second base station apparatus and the terminal apparatus capable of wirelessly communicating in parallel with the first base station apparatus and the second base station apparatus under the control of the first base station apparatus. To a computer equipped with a relay device that can relay communication in some sections,
When relaying communication in at least a part of a section between the terminal device and the second base station device, the radio quality in the section between the relay device and the terminal device relayed by the relay device. Receive a first signal that contains at least information about the report destination of
Obtain the wireless quality information,
The destination of the radio quality information is determined based on at least the information of the radio quality report destination.
A second signal including the radio quality information is transmitted to the determined destination.
Program for. To a computer provided in a terminal device capable of wirelessly communicating in parallel with the first base station device and the second base station device under the control of the first base station device.
When the communication between the second base station device is relayed via the communication between the terminal device and the relay device, the information regarding the report destination of the radio quality between the relay device and the terminal device is provided. Receive at least the first signal that contains
Get the wireless quality information
The destination of the radio quality information is determined based on at least the information of the radio quality report destination.
A second signal including the radio quality information is transmitted to the determined destination.
Program for.

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