JP7086851B2 - Server device and communication method - Google Patents

Description

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

It is being considered to utilize V2X (Vehicle to everything) communication in order to realize the sophistication of ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) services such as automatic driving or prevention of traffic accidents (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1).

V2X communication includes communication between vehicles (Vehicle) and vehicles (V2V communication), vehicles and infrastructure such as roadside units installed on traffic lights or signs, or cellular networks (Network). Communication (V2I communication / V2N communication), communication between a vehicle and a pedestrian (Pedestrian) (V2P communication), and the like.

Further, in V2X communication, introduction of a new communication method is being considered. For example, as an example of a communication system used for V2X communication, a wireless LAN such as IEEE802.11p, an LTE (Long Term Evolution), or a cellular network such as 5G (5th generation mobile communication system) can be mentioned.

In the future, toward the realization of V2X communication, the collection of environmental information indicating the road environment will become more active, and the amount of communication of sensor information (that is, UL: Uplink) data from vehicles will increase dramatically. Is assumed. Similarly, in V2X communication, it is expected that the capacity of download information (that is, downlink (DL: Downlink) data) such as in-car entertainment information or advanced map information will increase.

Hanbyul Seo, Ki-Dong Lee, Shinpei Yasukawa, Ying Peng, Philippe Sartori, “LTE evolution for vehicle-to-everything services,” IEEE Communication Magazine, vol. 54, no. 6, pp. 22-28, June 2016.

In V2X communication, it is required to communicate DL data to a terminal (sometimes referred to as a UE (User Equipment)) at a lower cost.

One aspect of the present invention is to provide a server device and a communication method capable of communicating DL data to a terminal at a lower cost in V2X communication.

In the server device according to one aspect of the present invention, the communication cost is less than the first threshold value based on the communication cost in the communication area where at least one terminal can communicate and the position of the at least one terminal. It includes a determination unit for determining a first terminal to receive downlink data in one communication area, and a communication unit for transmitting downlink data to the first terminal in the first communication area. ..

According to one aspect of the present invention, in V2X communication, DL data can be communicated to a terminal at a lower cost.

It is a figure which shows the configuration example of the communication system which concerns on one Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the configuration example of the ITS server which concerns on one Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the terminal which concerns on one Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the acquisition method of the cost information which concerns on one Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the acquisition method of the terminal information which concerns on one Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the transmission control method of DL data which concerns on one Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the control method of the transmission waiting or discarding of DL data which concerns on one Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the method of transitioning from the Idle state to the Connected state which concerns on one Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the other example of the method of transitioning from the Idle state to the Connected state which concerns on one Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the hardware composition of the server apparatus, the base station and the terminal which concerns on this invention.

(Background to the present invention)
In V2X communication, the traffic downloaded by the terminal is different from normal data communication, and the reduction of communication cost (sometimes called "bit cost" or simply "cost") is prioritized over the improvement of communication quality. Will be done. In addition, the download information in V2X communication includes information that is relatively low in urgency and is not required to be downloaded with low delay.

The "communication cost" is an index indicating how much the communication unit price can be communicated with the terminal. For example, the communication cost is at least one of the bit unit price used for communication per unit time, the amount of resources occupied in communication, and the frequency utilization efficiency per transmission (MCS (Modulation and Coding Scheme) or scheduling policy). It may be calculated based on. The parameters used for calculating the communication cost are not limited to these, and may be any parameters related to the communication charge charged to the terminal.

The present inventors have studied a communication method capable of transmitting DL data to a terminal at a lower cost in V2X communication.

The communication cost depends on the operating cost of the base station. Further, the operating cost of the base station is determined according to the communication amount at the peak time in the communication area and time in which the terminal can communicate. That is, as the amount of communication during peak hours increases, the operating cost of the base station increases, and as a result, the communication cost increases.

Therefore, in order to reduce the communication volume during peak hours, the communication unit price for a communication area or time with a large amount of communication and a high resource utilization rate is increased, and the communication unit price for a communication area or time with a small communication volume and a low resource utilization rate is increased. By lowering it, it is expected that operations that encourage communication in communication areas or times with low communication unit prices (for example, offload, peak shift, and bottom-up) will be performed in the future.

In downlink communication in V2X communication, low-latency download is not required, and transmission control that offloads the communication volume at least geographically or temporally is possible. Therefore, when the above operation is applied, By causing the terminal to receive DL data in a communication area or time with a low communication unit price, it is possible to meet the demand for reducing the communication cost in V2X communication.

The present inventors paid attention to this point and came to the present invention. Specifically, in the communication area (coverage) where the terminal can communicate, the area where the communication cost is low or the transmission time (timing) where the communication cost is low is specified, and the communication cost is low with respect to the terminal. It came to receive DL data by area or transmission time.

In V2X communication, it is not always necessary to uniquely determine the terminal that receives the download information. The ITS system utilizing V2X communication may transmit to an area where the communication cost is low or a terminal (vehicle) corresponding to the transmission time.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[Communication system configuration]
FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of a communication system according to the present embodiment. The communication system shown in FIG. 1 includes at least an ITS server (server device) 100, a core network node (core NW node) 200, a base station (sometimes referred to as an eNB) 300, and a terminal 400. For example, the core NW node 200, the base station 300, and the terminal 400 constitute, for example, a cellular network (for example, a 5G system or the like).

The ITS server 100 is an application server that provides an ITS service using V2X communication. For example, the ITS server 100 collects environmental information about the road environment in the communication area covered by the base station 300 from the terminals 400 mounted on each of the plurality of vehicles, and automatically operates or operates based on the collected environmental information. Performs processing related to ITS services such as traffic accident prevention. Further, the ITS server 100 transmits download information (DL data) related to the ITS service to the terminal 400. For example, as the download information, information common to each terminal 400 such as map information can be mentioned.

Further, the ITS server 100 includes information indicating the communication cost in each of the communication areas of the base station 300 (hereinafter referred to as "cost information") and information indicating the position of the terminal 400 (hereinafter referred to as "location information"). ), A terminal 400 for performing communication (hereinafter referred to as "low cost communication") that requires a low cost in a communication area and a transmission time in which the communication cost required for DL data communication is low is determined. Then, the ITS server 100 transmits DL data to the determined terminal 400 in a communication area and communication time capable of low-cost communication. Further, the ITS server 100 acquires information indicating the radio quality of the terminal 400 (hereinafter referred to as “quality information”), and the terminal 400 whose radio quality is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold (terminal 400 having good radio quality). ) May send DL data.

The ITS server 100 may acquire the cost information from the core NW node 200, or may hold the cost information preset according to the communication area or the transmission time.

Further, in the cost information, the communication cost may be associated with, for example, a combination of a communication area in which the terminal 400 can communicate and a transmission time in the communication area. In the cost information, either one of the communication area and the transmission time may be associated with the communication cost. Further, the cost information may be generated in the core NW node 200 or may be generated in the ITS server 100. When the cost information is generated by the ITS server 100, the ITS server 100 acquires parameters (position information of the terminal 400, billing information, etc.) necessary for generating the cost information from the core NW node 200.

The core NW node 200 accommodates at least one radio access network (base station 300). The core NW node 200 includes, for example, a location registration server 201 (for example, MME (Mobility Management Entity)) that registers the position of the terminal 400 in the communication area of the base station 300, and a billing server 202 that manages the billing of each terminal 400. , A gateway (GW) 203 that connects to an external system (eg, ITS server 100).

For example, the billing server 202 manages cost information in the communication area of each base station 300 in addition to the process of managing the billing of each terminal 400. By associating the position of the terminal 400 registered in the location registration server 201 with the billing information of the terminal 400 at the location, the billing server 202 communicates at what communication cost in each communication area. Is managed as cost information.

The base station 300 connects to a terminal 400 or a core NW node 200 existing in the communication area covered by the base station 300 to perform communication. Further, the base station 300 allocates a DL resource to the DL data from the ITS server 100 to the terminal 400, and transmits the DL data using the DL resource.

For example, the terminal 400 uploads UL data (environmental information) indicating the result of sensing performed by a sensor mounted on the vehicle to the ITS server 100 via the base station 300 and the core NW node 200. .. Further, the terminal 400 receives DL data (download information such as map information) from the ITS server 100.

The terminal 400 may support both low-cost communication such as V2X communication and communication that does not require low cost such as normal data communication (hereinafter referred to as "normal cost communication"). For example, each communication may be distinguished by a "cost class" in which communication (low-cost communication and normal-cost communication) is classified according to the required communication cost. For example, cost classes may be distinguished according to QCI (Quality of Service Class Identifier).

Further, for example, a plurality of logical connections (for example, bearer connection or PDN (Packet Data Network) connection) are made between the terminal 400 and the core NW node 200, and the cost class is distinguished for each logical connection. You may.

Further, in the base station 300, when a predetermined condition (for example, a condition relating to communication cost or communication quality) is satisfied, the upper layer (application layer, IP (Internet Protocol) layer, etc.) to the lower layer (physical (PHY) layer, MAC) are satisfied. The downlink transmission packet is passed to the (Medium Access Control) layer. Then, in the lower layer, the base station 300 may distinguish between low-cost communication and normal-cost communication in packet units or logical channel units, and may transmit packets. On the other hand, the base station 300 does not output the downlink transmission packet from the upper layer to the lower layer if the predetermined condition is not satisfied. By this process, it is possible to avoid unintentionally high cost communication.

[ITS server configuration]
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the ITS server 100 according to the present embodiment. The ITS server 100 shown in FIG. 2 has a configuration including a cost information acquisition unit 101, a terminal information acquisition unit 102, a determination unit 103, and a communication unit 104.

The cost information acquisition unit 101 acquires cost information indicating the communication cost in each of the communication areas of the base station 300 from the core NW node 200 via the communication unit 104. Specifically, the cost information acquisition unit 101 transmits signaling for inquiring about cost information to the core NW node 200 via the communication unit 104. Then, the cost information acquisition unit 101 outputs the cost information acquired by the inquiry to the determination unit 103.

The ITS server 100 may hold cost information in advance. In this case, the ITS server 100 does not require a process of acquiring cost information from the core NW node 200 (that is, the cost information acquisition unit 101).

The terminal information acquisition unit 102 acquires terminal information including position information indicating the position of the terminal 400 and quality information indicating the radio quality in the terminal 400 from the core NW node 200 via the communication unit 104. For example, the terminal information acquisition unit 102 may transmit a signaling for inquiring terminal information to the core NW node 200 or the terminal 400 via the communication unit 104 to acquire the terminal information, or the core NW node. Terminal information transmitted from the 200 or the terminal 400 at a predetermined timing or periodically may be acquired. Then, the terminal information acquisition unit 102 outputs the acquired terminal information to the determination unit 103.

The determination unit 103 has a terminal 400 for receiving DL data based on cost information input from the cost information acquisition unit 101 and terminal information (position information, quality information) input from the terminal information acquisition unit 102, and a terminal 400. , The communication area for transmitting the DL data to the terminal 400 to which the DL data is transmitted and the transmission time are determined.

For example, the determination unit 103 specifies a communication area and a transmission time (for example, a communication area and a transmission time in which the communication cost is less than a predetermined threshold value) of the communication cost classified as low cost among the communication costs included in the cost information. do. Then, the determination unit 103 determines the terminal 400 (that is, the terminal 400 capable of low-cost communication on the downlink) for receiving the DL data in the communication area where low-cost communication is possible and the transmission time.

Further, the determination unit 103 determines whether or not the radio quality shown in the quality information is equal to or higher than the threshold value (whether or not the radio quality is good) for the terminal 400 capable of low-cost communication. Then, the determination unit 103 determines the terminal 400, which has good wireless quality and is capable of low-cost communication, as the terminal to which the DL data is transmitted.

The determination unit 103 outputs the DL data transmission instruction to the terminal 400 determined as the DL data transmission destination to the communication unit 104.

The communication unit 104 transmits the DL data to the target terminal 400 according to the transmission instruction output from the determination unit 103.

Here, the case where the ITS server 100 determines the terminal 400 capable of low-cost communication for the communication area and the transmission time with low communication cost has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this process, and for example, the ITS server 100 may determine a terminal 400 capable of low-cost communication for either the communication area or the transmission time. For example, the ITS server 100 may specify a base station 300 having a transmission time capable of low-cost communication, and may determine a terminal 400 capable of communicating at the specified base station 300 at the transmission time.

[Terminal configuration]
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the terminal 400 according to the present embodiment. The terminal 400 shown in FIG. 3 has a configuration including a position information generation unit 401, a radio quality measurement unit 402, and a communication unit 403.

The position information generation unit 401 generates position information indicating the position of the own machine. For example, the position information generation unit 401 may position the position of its own machine by GPS (Global Positioning System) or the like and generate position information indicating the positioning result. Alternatively, the position information generation unit 401 may use information indicating an area in which the own machine exists (for example, cell ID, TA (Tracking Area), TA list, etc.) as position information. Alternatively, the position information generation unit 401 may acquire information indicating the traveling position (or planned traveling position) of the vehicle from the car navigation system of the vehicle on which the terminal 400 is mounted and use it as position information. The position information generation unit 401 outputs the position information to the communication unit 403.

The radio quality measuring unit 402 measures the radio quality between the own machine and the base station 300 to which the own machine is connected. Examples of radio quality include received power, RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator), RSRP (Reference Signal Received Power), SINR (Signal to Interference and Noise Ratio), RSRQ (Reference Signal Received Quality) and the like. The radio quality measuring unit 402 outputs quality information indicating the measured radio quality to the communication unit 403.

The communication unit 403 transmits the position information input from the position information generation unit 401, the quality information input from the radio quality measurement unit 402, or the UL data to the base station 300. Further, the communication unit 403 receives the DL data transmitted from the ITS server 100 via the base station 300.

[Communication system operation example]
Next, the communication control performed by each device of the above-mentioned communication system will be described in detail.

In the following, (i) a method of acquiring cost information and terminal information performed by the ITS server 100, (ii) a method of controlling transmission of DL data performed by the ITS server 100, and (iii) a terminal in the cost information used by the ITS server 100. The relationship between the location of the 400 and the communication cost will be described in detail.

[(I) Acquisition method of cost information and terminal information]
First, a method of acquiring cost information and terminal information performed by the ITS server 100 will be described.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an operation example of the communication system when the ITS server 100 acquires cost information.

In FIG. 4, in ST101, the ITS server 100 transmits a signaling for inquiring about cost information to the core NW node 200 (for example, the billing server 202).

In ST102, when the core NW node 200 receives the signaling for inquiring about the cost information from the ITS server 100, the core NW node 200 transmits the held cost information to the ITS server 100.

As described above, in FIG. 4, the acquisition of the cost information in ST 102 is carried out based on the inquiry from the ITS server 100.

The ITS server 100 may hold cost information according to each communication area and transmission time in advance. In this case, the process shown in FIG. 4 becomes unnecessary.

Next, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an operation example of the communication system when the ITS server 100 acquires terminal information.

In FIG. 5, in ST201, the terminal 400 reports the position information (for example, the service area or the positioning result) indicating the position of the terminal 400 to the core NW node 200. In ST202, the terminal 400 reports quality information indicating the radio quality in the terminal 400 to the core NW node 200.

In ST203, the core NW node 200 transmits the terminal information including the position information and the quality information of the terminal 400 reported in ST201 and ST202 to the ITS server 100.

For example, when the terminal 400 receives the signaling for inquiring the location information or the quality information from the ITS server 100, the terminal 400 may report the location information and the quality information to the core NW node 200 in ST201 and ST202. Alternatively, the terminal 400 may report the position information and the quality information to the core NW node 200 in ST201 and ST202 at a predetermined timing or periodically independently of the operation of the ITS server 100.

Further, for example, among a plurality of terminals 400, the terminal 400 that requires low cost (terminal 400 subject to cost reduction) has location information (for example, area in the area) or area as compared with the terminal 400 that is not subject to cost reduction. Quality information may be reported to the core NW node 200 in a narrow area or frequently. When the terminal 400 to be cost-reduced reports the location information or the quality information in a narrow area, the ITS server 100 can acquire the more accurate location information or the quality information of the terminal 400. Further, since the terminal 400 to be cost-reduced reports the location information or the quality information at a high frequency, the ITS server 100 can acquire the location information or the quality information reflecting the current situation of the terminal 400, and the DL data can be obtained. The accuracy of transmission control can be improved.

Further, for example, the core NW node 200 may transmit the terminal information to the ITS server 100 each time the position information of the terminal 400 is registered in the location registration server 201, and the terminal of the terminal 400 which is the target of low-cost communication may be transmitted. Information may be periodically transmitted to the ITS server 100.

The time-series order of the cost information acquisition operation (ST101, ST102) shown in FIG. 4 and the terminal information acquisition operation (ST201 to ST203) shown in FIG. 5 is not particularly limited. The ITS server 100 may inquire in the order of terminal information and cost information, or may inquire both cost information and terminal information at the same time.

[(Ii) DL data transmission control method]
Next, a method of controlling transmission of DL data to the terminal 400 in the ITS server 100 will be described.

When transmitting DL data from the ITS server 100, the terminal 400 is in a state of being connected (accessed) to the base station 300 (Connected state) and in a state of not being connected to the base station 300 (Idle state). It is assumed that there is a case.

Hereinafter, the operation of the terminal 400 in each connection state will be described.

<When the terminal 400 is in the Connected state>
First, the case where the terminal 400 is in the Connected state will be described.

6A and 6B are diagrams showing an example of DL data transmission control when the terminal 400 is in the Connected state.

In FIGS. 6A and 6B, in ST301, the ITS server 100 can perform low-cost communication based on the cost information and terminal information (location information, quality information) acquired as shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. It is determined whether or not there is a terminal 400 to which DL data is transmitted in the area (position determination). Alternatively, in the cost information, when the communication cost is associated with the combination of the communication area and the transmission time in the communication area, the ITS server 100 has DL data in the combination of the communication area and the transmission time capable of low cost communication. It may be determined whether or not the terminal 400 to be the transmission destination of the above exists.

Further, the ITS server 100 determines whether or not the wireless quality of the terminal 400 is good based on the quality information (quality determination).

As a result of the determination, as shown in FIG. 6A, when there is a terminal 400 capable of low-cost communication (determination result: YES), the ITS server 100 can perform low-cost communication with the terminal 400 in ST302. DL data is transmitted in a communication area or transmission time.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6B, when the terminal 400 capable of low-cost communication does not exist (determination result: NO), the ITS server 100 does not perform the DL data transmission process. For example, the ITS server 100 holds DL data for a certain period of time (stands for transmission). If the terminal 400 is determined to be capable of low-cost communication while holding the DL data (during transmission standby), the ITS server 100 may transmit the DL data in the same manner as in FIG. 6A.

The terminal 400 discards the DL data (packet) when a certain period of time has elapsed from holding the DL data (for example, when the timer expires) or when it is determined to discard the DL data (ST303).

In this way, the ITS server 100 has a communication area or transmission time (communication area or transmission time in which the communication cost is less than the threshold value) capable of low-cost communication based on cost information, location information of the terminal 400, and quality information. Determines the terminal 400 to which the DL data is transmitted. By this process, the terminal 400 can receive DL data at low cost and with good wireless quality.

Further, the ITS server 100 predicts, for example, a position where the terminal 400 will move in the future, and based on the position of the destination of the terminal 400, the terminal becomes a transmission destination of DL data in a communication area where low-cost communication is possible. 400 may be determined. For example, the ITS server 100 may predict the future position of the terminal 400 by using the travel plan in the car navigation system of the vehicle on which the terminal 400 is mounted as the position information. When the terminal 400 to which the DL data is transmitted exists in the communication area where low-cost communication is possible, the ITS server 100 may secure (reserve) the DL data reception opportunity for the terminal 400. .. By this processing, the ITS server 100 can more flexibly control the transmission of DL data using low-cost communication by using not only the current position of the terminal 400 but also the position to be moved in the future.

As described above, the ITS server 100 can transmit DL data only to the terminals 400 existing in the communication area where low-cost communication is possible, and the communication cost at each terminal 400 can be reduced.

<When the terminal 400 is in the Idle state>
Next, the case where the terminal 400 is in the Idle state will be described.

When the terminal 400 is in the Idle state, the terminal 400 transitions to the Connected state and receives DL data. As a condition for transitioning from the Idle state to the Connected state, the downlink (DL: Downlink) reception process may be a trigger.

The following methods can be mentioned as conditions for transitioning to the Connected state by the DL reception trigger. The terminal 400 transitions from the Idle state to the Connected state according to the following conditions.

Specifically, among the plurality of base stations 300, the base station that transmits the paging (hereinafter referred to as the paging transmission base station) is selected based on the communication cost in addition to the location registration area of the terminal 400. Specifically, from the base stations 300 that can be connected to the terminal 400, the base station 300 having an area with a low communication cost (for example, the minimum communication cost) is selected.

Then, the paging transmission base station transmits the paging to the terminal 400. The terminal 400 transitions from the Idle state to the Connected state with the reception of the paging as a trigger.

Here, as a method for determining the base station 300 for transmitting the paging to the terminal 400 as the paging transmission base station, for example, the following methods (1) and (2) can be mentioned.

(1): Determination method performed by the core NW node 200 FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a method of determining a paging transmission base station in the determination method (1).

In FIG. 7, in ST401, the ITS server 100 transmits a packet of a higher layer (for example, an IP layer) to the core NW node 200. The header of this packet contains cost information regarding communication costs in the plurality of base stations 300.

In ST402, the core NW node 200 confirms the packet header from the ITS server 100 and specifies the cost information (for example, cost class) of the plurality of base stations 300 that can be connected to the terminal 400.

In ST403, the core NW node 200 selects a paging transmission base station from a plurality of base stations 300 based on cost information. For example, the core NW node 200 may select a base station 300 whose cost class satisfies a predetermined condition (communication cost is less than a predetermined threshold value) as a paging transmission base station.

In ST404, the core NW node 200 instructs the base station 300 selected as the paging transmission base station to transmit the paging to the terminal 400.

In ST405, the base station 300 (Paging transmission base station) that has received the Paging transmission instruction transmits the Paging to the terminal 400. Upon receiving the paging, the terminal 400 transitions from the Idle state to the Connected state.

(2): Determination method performed by the base station 300 FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a method of determining a paging transmission base station in the determination method (2).

In FIG. 8, in ST501, the ITS server 100 transmits a packet to the core NW node 200.

In ST502, the core NW node 200 selects a paging transmission base station (candidate) from a plurality of base stations 300, for example, based on the location registration area of the terminal 400 to which the packet received from the ITS server 100 is transmitted. ..

In ST503, the core NW node 200 instructs the base station 300 selected as the paging transmission base station to transmit the paging to the terminal 400.

In ST504, the base station 300 that has received the paging transmission instruction transmits the paging to the terminal 400, for example, based on the cost class or QCI (QoS Class Identifier) for each logical connection (for example, bearer or PDN connection). Judge whether or not. For example, the base station 300 may determine that the paging is transmitted to the terminal 400 when the cost class of its own station satisfies a predetermined condition (communication cost is less than a predetermined threshold value).

When it is determined to transmit the paging (ST504: YES), in ST505, the base station 300 transmits the paging to the terminal 400. Upon receiving the paging, the terminal 400 transitions from the Idle state to the Connected state.

On the other hand, when it is determined that the paging is not transmitted (ST504: NO), in ST506, the base station 300 requests the core NW node 200 to reselect the paging transmission base station (candidate). Upon receiving the reselection request of the Paging transmission base station, the core NW node 200 reselects the Paging transmission base station in the same manner as in ST502, for example.

The conditions for transitioning to the Connected state by the DL reception trigger have been described above.

As described above, in the DL reception trigger, the core NW node 200 or the base station 300 selects the paging transmission base station based on the cost class. By this process, after transitioning to the Connected state, the terminal 400 can receive DL data from the ITS server 100 at low cost via the base station 300 having an area having a low communication cost.

The determination methods (1) and (2) may be combined.

[(Iii) Relationship between the position of the terminal 400 and the communication cost]
Next, the relationship between the communication cost in the cost information used by the ITS server 100 and the position of the terminal 400 will be described.

Specifically, the billing server 202 in the core NW node 200 associates the position (communication area) with which the terminal 400 communicates with the communication cost (communication charge, etc.) of the terminal 400 at the position. Further, the billing server 202 may further associate the time when the terminal 400 communicates with the communication cost of the terminal 400 at that time.

For example, the billing server 202 acquires the location information of the terminal 400 by the following method.

(1) Use of terminal location registration The location registration server 201 notifies the billing server 202 of the location registration area of the terminal 400. For example, the location registration server 201 may notify the billing server 202 at the timing when the location registration area of the terminal 400 is updated or periodically.

(2) Use of Positioning Information The billing server 202 acquires the position of the terminal 400 positioned by the terminal 400 or the position of the terminal 400 positioned by the positioning server (not shown). For example, the billing server 202 may acquire the position information of the terminal 400 from the terminal 400 or the positioning server at the timing when the position of the terminal 400 is updated or periodically.

By these processes, the billing server 202 pays the communication cost required for the terminal 400 to communicate the DL data at the position where the terminal 400 receives the DL data (that is, the communication area of the base station 300) or the terminal 400 receives the DL data. It can be managed as cost information in association with the received time. By acquiring the cost information from the billing server 202, the ITS server 100 can specify the area where the low-cost communication is possible and the time when the low-cost communication is possible in each base station 300. For example, the billing server 202 determines the communication cost, communication area (position of the terminal 400), and communication time to be managed as cost information when the position of the terminal 400 is changed or when the terminal 400 communicates and is charged. By updating, the accuracy of cost information can be improved.

The billing server 202 is not limited to the case where the position where the terminal 400 receives the DL data is associated with the communication cost and the communication cost itself actually required is associated with the communication cost. For example, it is assumed that the billing server 202 reports the predicted position of the movement route of the terminal 400 as the position where the terminal 400 communicates. In this case, if the position where the terminal 400 actually communicates is different from the predicted position, the billing server 202 may associate the predicted position with a value obtained by adding a predetermined value (penalty) to the actual communication cost. .. By this processing, the communication cost associated with the predicted position becomes higher than the actual communication cost, so that the reliability of the predicted position becomes low, and the ITS server 100 has an area where low-cost communication is possible for the predicted position. It becomes difficult to judge.

[Effect of embodiment]
As described above, the ITS server 100 has a communication area or time (communication cost is a threshold) at which low-cost communication is possible based on the communication cost in the communication area where at least one terminal 400 can communicate and the position of the terminal 400. A terminal 400 (destination of DL data) to receive DL data is determined in a communication area or time less than that, and DL data is transmitted to the determined terminal 400 in a communication area or time capable of low-cost communication. .. By this process, each terminal 400 can receive DL data in a communication area or time at which the communication cost is lower.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, in V2X communication, DL data can be communicated to the terminal 400 at a lower cost.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described above.

(Hardware configuration)
The block diagram used in the description of the above embodiment shows a block of functional units. These functional blocks (components) are realized by any combination of hardware and / or software. Further, the means for realizing each functional block is not particularly limited. That is, each functional block may be realized by one physically and / or logically coupled device, or directly and / or indirectly by two or more physically and / or logically separated devices. (For example, wired and / or wireless) may be connected and realized by these plurality of devices.

For example, the server device, each device in the core NW node, the base station (radio base station), the terminal (user terminal), and the like in one embodiment of the present invention are used as computers for processing the communication method of the present invention. It may work. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the server device, each device in the core NW node, the base station, and the terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention. The above-mentioned server device 100, core NW node 200, base station 300, and terminal 400 physically include a processor 1001, a memory 1002, a storage 1003, a communication device 1004, an input device 1005, an output device 1006, a bus 1007, and the like. It may be configured as a computer device.

In the following description, the word "device" can be read as a circuit, a device, a unit, or the like. The hardware configuration of the server device 100, the core NW node 200, the base station 300, and the terminal 400 may be configured to include one or more of the devices shown in the figure, or may not include some of the devices. It may be configured.

For each function in the server device 100, the core NW node 200, the base station 300, and the terminal 400, the processor 1001 performs an operation by loading predetermined software (program) on the hardware such as the processor 1001 and the memory 1002. It is realized by communication by the communication device 1004 or by controlling the reading and / or writing of data in the memory 1002 and the storage 1003.

Processor 1001 operates, for example, an operating system to control the entire computer. The processor 1001 may be configured by a central processing unit (CPU) including an interface with peripheral devices, a control device, an arithmetic unit, a register, and the like. For example, the cost information acquisition unit 101, the terminal information acquisition unit 102, the determination unit 103, the position information generation unit 401, the radio quality measurement unit 402, and the like may be realized by the processor 1001.

Further, the processor 1001 reads a program (program code), a software module or data from the storage 1003 and / or the communication device 1004 into the memory 1002, and executes various processes according to these. As the program, a program that causes a computer to execute at least a part of the operations described in the above-described embodiment is used. For example, the determination unit 103 of the server device 100 may be stored in the memory 1002 and realized by a control program operating in the processor 1001, and may be realized in the same manner for other functional blocks. Although it has been described that the various processes described above are executed by one processor 1001, they may be executed simultaneously or sequentially by two or more processors 1001. Processor 1001 may be mounted on one or more chips. The program may be transmitted from the network via a telecommunication line.

The memory 1002 is a computer-readable recording medium, and is composed of at least one such as a ROM (Read Only Memory), an EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM), an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM), and a RAM (Random Access Memory). May be done. The memory 1002 may be referred to as a register, a cache, a main memory (main storage device), or the like. The memory 1002 can store a program (program code), a software module, or the like that can be executed to implement the wireless communication method according to the embodiment of the present invention.

The storage 1003 is a computer-readable recording medium, for example, an optical disk such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc ROM), a hard disk drive, a flexible disk, an optical magnetic disk (for example, a compact disk, a digital versatile disk, a Blu-ray). It may consist of at least one (registered trademark) disk), smart card, flash memory (eg, card, stick, key drive), floppy (registered trademark) disk, magnetic strip, and the like. The storage 1003 may be referred to as an auxiliary storage device. The storage medium described above may be, for example, a database, server or other suitable medium containing memory 1002 and / or storage 1003.

The communication device 1004 is hardware (transmission / reception device) for communicating between computers via a wired and / or wireless network, and is also referred to as, for example, a network device, a network controller, a network card, a communication module, or the like. For example, the above-mentioned communication units 104, 403 and the like may be realized by the communication device 1004.

The input device 1005 is an input device (for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, a switch, a button, a sensor, etc.) that receives an input from the outside. The output device 1006 is an output device (for example, a display, a speaker, an LED lamp, etc.) that outputs to the outside. The input device 1005 and the output device 1006 may have an integrated configuration (for example, a touch panel).

Further, each device such as the processor 1001 and the memory 1002 is connected by a bus 1007 for communicating information. The bus 1007 may be composed of a single bus or may be composed of different buses between the devices.

Further, the server device 100, the core NW node 200, the base station 300 and the terminal 400 include a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP: Digital Signal Processor), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), a PLD (Programmable Logic Device), and an FPGA (FPGA). It may be configured to include hardware such as Field Programmable Gate Array), and a part or all of each functional block may be realized by the hardware. For example, the processor 1001 may be implemented on at least one of these hardware.

(Information notification, signaling)
Further, the notification of information is not limited to the embodiment / embodiment described in the present specification, and may be performed by other methods. For example, information notification includes physical layer signaling (eg, DCI (Downlink Control Information), UCI (Uplink Control Information)), higher layer signaling (eg, RRC (Radio Resource Control) signaling, MAC (Medium Access Control) signaling, etc. It may be carried out by broadcast information (MIB (Master Information Block), SIB (System Information Block)), other signals, or a combination thereof. Further, the RRC signaling may be referred to as an RRC message, and may be, for example, an RRC Connection Setup message, an RRC Connection Reconfiguration message, or the like.

(Applicable system)
Each aspect / embodiment described herein includes LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE-A (LTE-Advanced), SUPER 3G, IMT-Advanced, 4G, 5G, 5G + (5G plus), FRA (Future Radio). Access), W-CDMA (registered trademark), GSM (registered trademark), CDMA2000, UMB (Ultra Mobile Broadband), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.11 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, UWB (Ultra-WideBand), Bluetooth®, and other systems that utilize suitable systems and / or extended next-generation systems based on them.

(Processing procedure, etc.)
The processing procedures, sequences, flowcharts, and the like of each aspect / embodiment described in the present specification may be rearranged in order as long as there is no contradiction. For example, the methods described herein present elements of various steps in an exemplary order and are not limited to the particular order presented.

(Operation of base station)
In some cases, the specific operation performed by the base station in the present specification may be performed by its upper node. In a network consisting of one or more network nodes having a base station, various operations performed for communication with the terminal are performed on the base station and / or other network nodes other than the base station (eg, for example). It is clear that it can be done by MME (Mobility Management Entity), S-GW (Serving Gateway), etc., but not limited to these). Although the case where there is one network node other than the base station is illustrated above, it may be a combination of a plurality of other network nodes (for example, MME and S-GW).

(I / O direction)
Information, signals, etc. can be output from the upper layer (or lower layer) to the lower layer (or upper layer). Input / output may be performed via a plurality of network nodes.

(Handling of input / output information, etc.)
The input / output information and the like may be stored in a specific place (for example, a memory) or may be managed by a management table. Information to be input / output may be overwritten, updated, or added. The output information and the like may be deleted. The input information or the like may be transmitted to another device.

(Judgment method)
The determination may be made by a value represented by one bit (0 or 1), by a true / false value (Boolean: true or false), or by comparing numerical values (for example, a predetermined value). It may be done by comparison with the value).

(software)
Software, whether called software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or other names, is an instruction, instruction set, code, code segment, program code, program, subprogram, software module. , Applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, execution threads, procedures, features, etc. should be broadly interpreted.

Further, software, instructions, and the like may be transmitted and received via a transmission medium. For example, the software may use wired technology such as coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twist pair and digital subscriber line (DSL) and / or wireless technology such as infrared, wireless and microwave to website, server, or other. When transmitted from a remote source, these wired and / or wireless technologies are included within the definition of transmission medium.

(Information, signal)
The information, signals, etc. described herein may be represented using any of a variety of different techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, chips, etc. that may be referred to throughout the above description are voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, light fields or photons, or any of these. It may be represented by a combination of.

The terms described herein and / or the terms necessary for understanding the present specification may be replaced with terms having the same or similar meanings. For example, the channel and / or symbol may be a signal. Also, the signal may be a message. Further, the component carrier (CC) may be referred to as a carrier frequency, a cell, or the like.

(System, network)
The terms "system" and "network" used herein are used interchangeably.

(Parameters, channel names)
Further, the information, parameters, etc. described in the present specification may be represented by an absolute value, a relative value from a predetermined value, or another corresponding information. .. For example, the radio resource may be indexed.

The names used for the parameters mentioned above are not limited in any way. Further, mathematical formulas and the like using these parameters may differ from those expressly disclosed herein. Since the various channels (eg, PUCCH, PDCCH, etc.) and information elements (eg, TPC, etc.) can be identified by any suitable name, the various names assigned to these various channels and information elements are in any respect. However, it is not limited.

(base station)
A base station can accommodate one or more (eg, three) cells (also referred to as sectors). When a base station accommodates multiple cells, the entire base station coverage area can be divided into multiple smaller areas, each smaller area being a base station subsystem (eg, a small indoor base station RRH: Remote). Communication services can also be provided by Radio Head). The term "cell" or "sector" refers to a portion or all of the coverage area of a base station and / or base station subsystem that provides communication services in this coverage. In addition, the terms "base station,""eNB,""cell," and "sector" may be used interchangeably herein. A base station may also be referred to by terms such as fixed station, NodeB, eNodeB (eNB), access point, femtocell, and small cell.

(Terminal)
Terminals may be mobile stations, subscriber stations, mobile units, subscriber units, wireless units, remote units, mobile devices, wireless devices, wireless communication devices, remote devices, mobile subscriber stations, access terminals, mobile terminals, depending on the trader. , Wireless terminal, remote terminal, handset, user agent, mobile client, client, UE (User Equipment), or some other suitable term.

(Meaning and interpretation of terms)
The terms "determining" and "determining" as used herein may include a wide variety of actions. "Judgment" and "decision" are, for example, judgment, calculation, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (for example, table). , Searching in a database or another data structure), ascertaining can be considered as a "judgment" or "decision". Also, "judgment" and "decision" are receiving (for example, receiving information), transmitting (for example, transmitting information), input (input), output (output), and access. It may include (for example, accessing data in memory) to be regarded as "judgment" or "decision". In addition, "judgment" and "decision" are considered to be "judgment" and "decision" when the things such as solving, selecting, choosing, establishing, and comparing are regarded as "judgment" and "decision". Can include. That is, "judgment" and "decision" may include considering some action as "judgment" and "decision".

The terms "connected", "coupled", or any variation thereof, mean any direct or indirect connection or connection between two or more elements and each other. It can include the presence of one or more intermediate elements between two "connected" or "combined" elements. The connection or connection between the elements may be physical, logical, or a combination thereof. As used herein, the two elements are by using one or more wires, cables and / or printed electrical connections, and, as some non-limiting and non-comprehensive examples, radio frequencies. By using electromagnetic energies such as electromagnetic energies with wavelengths in the region, microwave region and light (both visible and invisible) regions, they can be considered to be "connected" or "coupled" to each other.

The phrase "based on" as used herein does not mean "based on" unless otherwise stated. In other words, the statement "based on" means both "based only" and "at least based on".

Any reference to elements using designations such as "first", "second", etc. as used herein does not generally limit the quantity or order of those elements. These designations can be used herein as a convenient way to distinguish between two or more elements. Thus, references to the first and second elements do not mean that only two elements can be adopted there, or that the first element must somehow precede the second element.

The "part" in the configuration of each of the above devices may be replaced with a "means", a "circuit", a "device" and the like.

As long as "including", "comprising", and variations thereof are used herein or within the scope of the claims, these terms are as comprehensive as the term "comprising". Intended to be targeted. Moreover, the term "or" as used herein or in the claims is intended to be non-exclusive.

Throughout this disclosure, if articles are added by translation, for example, a, an, and the in English, these articles are not explicitly indicated by the context to be otherwise. It shall include more than one.

(Variations of aspects, etc.)
Each aspect / embodiment described in the present specification may be used alone, in combination, or may be switched and used according to the execution. Further, the notification of predetermined information (for example, the notification of "being X") is not limited to the explicit one, but is performed implicitly (for example, the notification of the predetermined information is not performed). May be good.

Although the present invention has been described in detail above, it is clear to those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described in the present specification. The present invention can be implemented as modifications and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as determined by the description of the scope of claims. Therefore, the description of the present specification is for the purpose of exemplary explanation and does not have any limiting meaning to the present invention.

This patent application claims its priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2016-214488 filed on November 1, 2016, and the entire contents of Japanese Patent Application No. 2016-214488 are incorporated in the present application. do.

One aspect of the invention is useful for mobile communication systems.

100 ITS server 101 Cost information acquisition unit 102 Terminal information acquisition unit 103 Decision unit 104, 403 Communication unit 200 Core NW node 201 Location registration server 202 Billing server 203 GW
300 Base station 400 Terminal 401 Location information generation unit 402 Wireless quality measurement unit

Claims (5)

The communication cost is less than the first threshold based on the communication cost associated with the combination of the communication area in which the at least one terminal can communicate and the transmission time in the communication area, and the position of the at least one terminal. A determination unit that determines a first terminal to receive downlink data in the communication area and transmission time in a certain first combination.
A communication unit that transmits downlink data to the first terminal in the communication area and transmission time in the first combination.
Equipped with
The determination unit further determines whether or not the radio quality in the first terminal is equal to or higher than the second threshold value.
The communication unit transmits downlink data to the first terminal when the radio quality is equal to or higher than the second threshold value.
Server device. The communication unit acquires the position information of the at least one terminal and the quality information indicating the radio quality in the at least one terminal from the at least one terminal.
The lower the communication cost required for the at least one terminal, the higher the frequency of reporting the location information and the quality information.
The server device according to claim 1. The determination unit predicts the position of the destination of the at least one terminal, and determines the first terminal based on the predicted position of the destination.
The server device according to claim 1. When the predicted destination position and the position where the first terminal receives the downlink data are different, the communication cost of the communication area corresponding to the predicted destination position is a predetermined value. Is updated to the value obtained by adding
The server device according to claim 3. The server device is
A first, where the communication cost is less than a threshold, based on the communication cost associated with the combination of the communication area with which the at least one terminal can communicate and the transmission time in the communication area, and the position of the at least one terminal. Determine the first terminal to receive the downlink data in the communication area and transmission time in the combination of
Downlink data is transmitted to the first terminal in the communication area and transmission time in the first combination.
It is determined whether or not the radio quality in the first terminal is equal to or higher than the second threshold value.
When the radio quality is equal to or higher than the second threshold value, downlink data is transmitted to the first terminal.
Communication method.

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