JP7271781B2 - Wireless communication device and wireless communication method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a wireless communication apparatus and a wireless communication method for performing communication using any one of a plurality of communication methods, and in particular, it is possible to guarantee communication quality for a plurality of services while improving the efficiency of wireless transmission. The present invention relates to a wireless communication device and a wireless communication method that can

[Description of prior art]
The various types of data that exist on networks have different characteristics, and the required quality is also different. For example, VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) has a small data size, but is required to continuously secure a constant bandwidth. If this is not achieved, voice fluctuations and delays will occur.
In addition, SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) data of e-mail does not require a certain bandwidth and is not greatly affected by delays and the like. However, when packet loss occurs, retransmission of data occurs, and the increase in traffic may affect other data communications.

In response to these problems, we define the type of communication as a service, such as voice communication such as VoIP and email communication, and determine the priority of communication bandwidth and data output according to the type of service, and provide the appropriate quality for each service. A technique for guaranteeing is QoS (Quality of Service).

[Outline of QoS: Fig. 9]
An outline of QoS will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of QoS.
As shown in FIG. 9, the required quality differs depending on the type of service such as voice, video, and mail.
In order to realize QoS, there are two functions: (1) a priority discrimination function that discriminates services and stores data for each classification (service type, category), and (2) a scheduling function that controls the data output order. necessary.

A method called DiffServ is adopted as the priority determination function, and a PQ (Priority Queuing) or LLQ (Low Latency Quality) scheduling method is generally adopted as the scheduling function.

In the example of FIG. 9, a communication device 61 ( For example, a router that relays packets between networks) is provided with the above-mentioned priority determination function and scheduling function, so that communication in the right network from communication terminals (IP telephone terminals, PCs, etc.) in the left network It implements QoS for transmission data (IP packets) to terminals.

In a wireless network constructed by IEEE 802.11 (wireless LAN (Local Area Network)), a method called EDCA (Enhanced Distributed Channel Access), which controls the wireless transmission waiting time according to the priority of data, is the mainstream. It's becoming

[Conventional communication device: FIG. 10]
In a conventional communication device, QoS is realized by a QoS function section provided in a network section that interfaces with a communication terminal.
A configuration of a conventional QoS function unit will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a conventional QoS function unit.
As shown in FIG. 10, the QoS function unit includes an input scheduler 81 arranged in a packet input unit that receives input of IP packets, and a priority-based (service-based) packet queue 82 that stores the input IP packets. , an output scheduler 83 provided in a packet output unit for extracting IP packets from the packet queue 82 .
The input scheduler 81 implements a QoS priority determination function by DiffServ or the like. Also, the output scheduler 83 implements a data scheduling function by the PQ method.

When an IP packet is input, the input scheduler 81 adds (inserts) data to the corresponding packet queue 82 according to the value (type of service) of the TOS (Type of Service) field of the IP packet.
The output scheduler 83 takes out IP packets in order from the packet queue 82 having the highest priority and delivers them to the radio access control unit. Also, the wireless standby time of each packet queue 82 is passed to the wireless access controller.

[Wireless LAN frame: FIG. 11]
A schematic configuration of a wireless LAN frame will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a wireless LAN frame.
As shown in FIG. 11, a wireless LAN frame is composed of a frame header, an IP packet header, and an IP packet payload.
An IP packet consists of an IP packet header (20 bytes) and an IP packet payload (4 bytes to 1480 bytes).
The IP packet header includes information such as TOS indicating the service type of the packet, packet length, packet ID, source IP address, and destination IP address.

[Conventional transmission frame: FIG. 12]
Next, a transmission frame in a conventional communication device will be explained using FIG. FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a conventional transmission frame.
As shown in FIG. 12, conventional transmission frames are created in IP packet units. In other words, a preamble and various headers are attached to each IP packet, and an FCS (Frame Check Sequence: error detection code) is added to the end.

Therefore, when the IP packet size is small, overhead such as preamble and header information becomes large.
In particular, in the case of short data such as VoIP (voice) and acknowledgment (ACK), the efficiency drops significantly.

[Related technology]
Japanese Patent No. 4838956 (Patent Literature 1) is a conventional technology related to communication devices.
Patent Literature 1 describes a communication apparatus that determines the number of concatenated IP packets according to the usage rate of subcarriers when transmitting using one of a plurality of communication schemes.

Japanese Patent No. 4838956

As described above, in the conventional wireless communication device, since a transmission frame is created for each IP packet, when the IP packet size is small, the proportion of the preamble, header, etc. becomes large and the transmission efficiency decreases. There was a problem.

In addition, conventional wireless communication devices guarantee communication quality by changing the priority of each service. There was a problem of difficulty.

Note that Patent Document 1 does not describe dividing IP packets of a plurality of types of services, multiplexing them, and transmitting them according to the transmission capacity determined by the communication method or the like.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a wireless communication apparatus and a wireless communication method capable of improving transmission efficiency and ensuring equivalent communication quality for a plurality of services. .

The present invention, which solves the problems of the conventional example, is a communication device that performs communication using one of a plurality of communication methods, wherein a transmission processing unit that performs transmission processing performs wireless transmission. A transmission unit, a packet queue that performs QoS processing on indivisible IP packets, a multiplexing communication function unit that performs processing to divide and concatenate IP packets that can be divided, and whether or not an input IP packet can be divided. a data type determination unit that outputs to the packet queue if it cannot be divided, and outputs it to the multiplexing communication function unit if it can be divided; The multiplexing communication function unit divides the divisible IP packet input from the data type determination unit to generate multiplexed cells, and at the time of transmission, the set radio A plurality of multiplexed cells are concatenated according to the communication capacity specified according to the communication system and output to the output scheduler.

Further, in the communication apparatus according to the present invention, the multiplexing communication function unit includes a frame/cell conversion unit that divides an input IP packet to generate multiplexed cells, and a transmission information cell queue that holds the multiplexed cells. , a retransmission cell queue that holds multiplexed cells that may be retransmitted, and a plurality of multiplexed cells acquired from the retransmission cell queue and the transmission information cell queue according to the communication capacity at the time of transmission, are concatenated, and an output scheduler and a cell connecting portion for outputting to.

Further, in the communication apparatus according to the present invention, the cell connection unit preferentially acquires multiplexed cells to be retransmitted from the retransmission cell queue at the time of transmission.

Further, in the communication apparatus of the present invention, when the data amount of the multiplexed cells to be retransmitted obtained from the retransmission cell queue is less than the communication capacity, the cell connection unit obtains the multiplexed cells from the transmission information cell queue. , the multiplexed cells obtained from the transmission cell queue and the multiplexed cells obtained from the transmission information cell queue are concatenated and output.

Further, in the communication apparatus of the present invention, when the data amount of the multiplexed cells connected from the cell connection unit is less than the communication capacity, the output scheduler acquires the IP packets that cannot be divided from the packet queue. , with concatenated multiplexed cells.

Further, the present invention is a communication method in a communication device that performs communication using any one of a plurality of communication methods, wherein a transmission processing unit determines whether or not an input IP packet can be divided, If division is possible, the IP packet is divided, a header including the destination is added, multiplexed cells are generated, and a plurality of multiplexed cells are concatenated according to the communication capacity specified according to the set wireless communication system. multiplexed cells to be retransmitted are preferentially acquired, and when the data amount of the multiplexed cells to be retransmitted is less than the communication capacity, divided multiplexed cells are acquired. , the multiplexed cells to be retransmitted and the divided multiplexed cells are concatenated, and when the data amount of the concatenated multiplexed cells reaches the upper limit of the communication capacity, the data amount of the concatenated multiplexed cells is transmitted. If the communication capacity is not met, the undivided IP packets are obtained and transmitted together with the concatenated multiplexed cells .

According to the present invention, there is provided a communication device that performs communication using one of a plurality of communication methods, wherein a transmission processing unit that performs transmission processing includes a transmission unit that performs wireless transmission and an IP packet that cannot be divided. A packet queue that performs QoS processing, a multiplexing communication function unit that performs processing to divide and concatenate IP packets that can be divided, and a judgment as to whether or not an input IP packet can be divided. a data type determination unit that outputs to the packet queue and outputs to the multiplex communication function unit if division is possible; and an output scheduler that acquires data from the packet queue and the multiplex communication function unit and outputs the data to the transmission unit as transmission data. and the multiplexing communication function unit divides the divisible IP packet input from the data type determination unit to generate multiplexed cells, and at the time of transmission, the communication specified according to the set wireless communication method Since the communication device is configured to concatenate a plurality of multiplexed cells according to the capacity and output them to the output scheduler, even IP packets of different services can be concatenated and transmitted in the same frame, Compared to generating a frame for each IP packet, it improves transmission efficiency by reducing the proportion of preambles and headers, achieves the same QoS (delay) for multiple services, and furthermore, has a data volume that matches the communication capacity. , there is an effect that the transmission efficiency can be further improved.

Further, according to the present invention, the multiplexing communication function unit includes a frame/cell conversion unit that divides an input IP packet to generate multiplexed cells, a transmission information cell queue that holds the multiplexed cells, and a multiplexing unit. A retransmission cell queue that holds cells that may be retransmitted, and a plurality of multiplexed cells are obtained from the retransmission cell queue and the transmission information cell queue according to the communication capacity at the time of transmission, concatenated, and output to the output scheduler. Since the above communication device is provided with the cell connection unit, multiplexed cells can be connected and retransmitted as necessary, and the reliability of communication can be guaranteed.

Further, according to the present invention, since the cell connection unit is the communication device that preferentially acquires the multiplexed cells to be retransmitted from the retransmission cell queue at the time of transmission, the multiplexed cells that need to be retransmitted are preferentially transmitted. This has the effect of guaranteeing the reliability of communication.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a communication method in a communication device that performs communication using one of a plurality of communication methods, wherein a transmission processing unit determines whether or not an input IP packet can be divided. If it can be divided, the IP packet is divided, a header including the destination is added, multiplexed cells are generated, and multiplexed cells are generated according to the communication capacity specified according to the set wireless communication system. A multiplexed cell to be retransmitted is preferentially acquired by a method of concatenating and transmitting multiple cells, and when the data amount of the multiplexed cell to be retransmitted is less than the communication capacity, divided multiplexed cells are acquired. Then, the multiplexed cells to be retransmitted and the divided multiplexed cells are concatenated, and when the data amount of the concatenated multiplexed cells reaches the upper limit of the communication capacity, the data of the concatenated multiplexed cells is transmitted. If the volume is less than the communication capacity, the communication method acquires IP packets that cannot be divided and transmits them together with concatenated multiplexed cells. It can be concatenated and transmitted in the same frame, which improves transmission efficiency by reducing the ratio of preambles and headers compared to when a frame is generated for each IP packet, and provides the same QoS (delay) for multiple services. Further, transmission efficiency can be further improved by transmitting data in an amount that matches the communication capacity. Therefore, multiplexed cells requiring retransmission can be preferentially transmitted, and reliability of communication can be guaranteed .

2 is a configuration block diagram of the present communication device; FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of a QoS function unit 15 of this communication device; FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the concept of a transmission frame of this communication device; FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the format of a multiplexed cell; 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a transmission section of a multiplex communication function section 24; FIG. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a user information table; 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a receiving section of a multiplexed communication function section 24; FIG. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing an example of data acquisition during transmission; 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of QoS; FIG. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a conventional QoS function unit; FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a wireless LAN frame; FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a conventional transmission frame;

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[Outline of Embodiment]
In the wireless communication device according to the embodiment of the present invention (this communication device), at the time of transmission, the cell dividing unit divides the IP packets of a plurality of services, and the cell connecting unit divides the divided information (multiplexed cells). are multiplexed (concatenated) and output to the output scheduler, and the radio access control unit acquires the concatenated information from the output scheduler. As a result, even if there is an IP packet with a small size, it is inserted into the same frame as other information and transmitted, so that the transmission efficiency can be improved. service, the same communication quality (delay) can be realized.

Also, in this communication apparatus, the cell connection unit preferentially acquires multiplexed cells that require retransmission, acquires multiplexed cells other than retransmissions if there is a margin in the transmittable capacity, and further acquires , the output scheduler acquires undivided IP packets, and it is possible to improve the transmission efficiency by effectively using the transmittable capacity while guaranteeing the reliability of communication.

[Configuration of this communication device: Fig. 1]
The configuration of this communication device will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of this communication device.
As shown in FIG. 1, the communication device 1 includes a network section 11, a radio access control section 12, a radio signal processing section 13, and a high frequency section .
The network unit 11 mainly serves as an interface with the communication terminal 2 such as an IP telephone terminal or a PC and the control terminal 3, and exchanges IP packets with the wireless access control unit 12 and sets the communication method.

As will be described later, the network unit 11 of this device obtains the available communication capacity (transmittable capacity, communication capacity) that increases or decreases according to the communication method and line state, and notifies the radio access control unit 12 of it.

The radio access control unit 12 monitors whether the radio line is in use, and if usable (the line is unused), outputs the IP packet input from the network unit 11 to the radio signal processing unit 13. . Also, in wireless communication, it is determined whether or not the data has certainly reached the other party, and if necessary, retransmission control is performed.

The radio signal processing unit 13 and the radio frequency unit 14 apply processing such as correction code addition and modulation to the IP packet input from the radio access control unit 12, and transmit the IP packet to the radio space through an antenna.
In the configuration of the communication device 1 shown in FIG. 1, the part that performs transmission processing corresponds to the transmission processing unit described in the claims, and the configuration is a combination of the radio access control unit 12, the radio signal processing unit 13, and the high frequency unit 14. corresponds to the transmitting unit described in the claims.

The network unit 11 further includes a QoS function unit 15 and a communication method function unit 16. FIG.
The QoS function unit 15 performs processing for guaranteeing communication quality, and is equipped with an input scheduler, a packet queue, and an output scheduler as in the prior art. It has a conversion communication function unit 24 .
Also, the QoS function unit 15 of this communication device acquires the amount of data corresponding to the communication capacity specified by the radio access control unit 12 at the time of transmission, and outputs the data to the radio access control unit 12 .

The data type determination unit 22 reads the source IP address from the header of the input IP packet, inquires of the multiplexing communication function unit 24 whether or not multiplexing is possible, and sorts and outputs the IP packets based on the result. do.
Here, "multiplexing" means dividing an IP packet into specific lengths and concatenating a plurality of divided data (cells).
The operation of the data type determination unit 22 will be described later.

The multiplexing communication function unit 24 divides IP packets that can be multiplexed into a predetermined length to generate multiplexed cells, concatenates them, and outputs them to the radio access control unit 12 .
Further, the multiplexed communication function unit 24 holds, among the multiplexed cells to be transmitted, those that may be retransmitted for retransmission.
The multiplex communication function unit 24 will be described later.

The communication system function unit 16 performs control to switch the communication system based on information about the communication system and the line state from the control terminal 3 .
Specifically, for example, when communication method instruction information for instructing a communication method (access method) to be used for wireless communication, a data carrier, or the like is input from the dedicated control terminal 3, the communication method function unit 16 The settings of the radio access control unit 12, the radio signal processing unit 13, and the high frequency unit 14 are switched according to the input communication method instruction information. Setting information corresponding to a plurality of communication methods is stored in advance in each part of the communication device.
This makes it possible to change the communication method while the power is on.

Further, the communication system function unit 16 obtains the communication capacity (transmission capacity) according to the determined communication system, and notifies the radio access control unit 12 of it.
The communication capacity may be stored in advance in association with the communication method, or may be calculated. The calculation can be performed by a method similar to that of Patent Document 1, for example.

[Overview of the QoS function unit 15 of this communication device: FIG. 2]
Next, an overview of the QoS function unit 15 of this communication device will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an overview of the QoS function unit 15 of this communication device.
As shown in FIG. 2, the QoS function unit 15 of the network unit 11 of this communication device includes an input scheduler 21, a data type determination unit 22, a packet queue 23, a multiplex communication function unit 24, and an output scheduler 25. It has
Among these, the data type determination unit 22 and the multiplex communication function unit 24 are newly provided. Also, the operation of the output scheduler 25 is partially different from the conventional one.

The operation of the QoS function unit 15 will be briefly described.
In the QoS function unit 15 of this communication device, the IP packets input from the input scheduler 21 are sorted by the data type determination unit 22 depending on whether multiplexing is possible. Second, if multiplexing is not possible, the packets are output to the packet queue 23 and stored in queues for each type of service, as in the conventional case.
Here, multiplexable/non-multiplexable corresponds to divisible/non-divisible described in the claims.

An IP packet input to the multiplex communication function unit 24 is divided into a plurality of multiplex cells and stored in queues.
When there is a data acquisition request from the radio access control unit 12 , the output scheduler 25 acquires data from the multiplex communication function unit 24 and the packet queue 23 and outputs the data to the radio access control unit 12 .
At that time, the output scheduler 25 preferentially acquires the multiplexed cells of the multiplexed communication function unit 24, and if there is a margin in the transmission capacity (if the transmission capacity is not reached), further acquires IP packets from the packet queue. I am trying to This operation will be described later.

[Concept of transmission frame of this communication device: Fig. 3]
Next, the concept of the transmission frame of this communication apparatus will be explained using FIG. FIGS. 3A and 3B are explanatory diagrams showing the concept of transmission frames of this communication device, where FIG. 3A shows a conventional transmission frame and FIG. 3B shows a transmission frame of this communication device.
Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 3(a), a transmission frame was created for each IP packet, so the proportion of preamble and header information was large. In the transmission frame, multiple IP packets are multiplexed and inserted into one transmission frame.

In other words, a plurality of IP packets with different destinations and services are inserted into the multiplexed frame shown in FIG. 3(b). As a result, the information amount of the preamble and header can be greatly reduced, and the transmission efficiency can be improved.
In particular, when small IP packets such as VoIP and acknowledgment are transmitted, the effect of improving efficiency is significantly increased.
Also, even if equivalent communication quality (delay) is requested for a plurality of services, it can be satisfied.

[Multiplexed cell format: Fig. 4]
Here, the format of the multiplexed cells inserted into the multiplexed frame will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the format of a multiplexed cell.
A multiplexed cell is information obtained by dividing an IP packet into a predetermined length and adding a header, and is generated by the multiplexed communication function unit 24 .

The upper part of FIG. 4 shows the IP packet data (including the IP packet header) input to the multiplex communication function unit 24 . The data of an IP packet has a size of 24 bytes to 1500 bytes.

When generating a multiplexed cell, IP packet data is divided into 64-byte units to generate FragmentIPv4 Packets, each of which has a header. In the example of FIG. 4, N multiplexed cells (multiplexed cells #1 to #N) are generated by dividing the original IP packet into N pieces and adding headers to them.

The content of the header of the multiplexed cell will be explained.
The header portion of the multiplexed cell comprises an 8-byte Destination Node Address field, a 2-byte Frame Cont field, a 5-byte UserID field, a 1-byte User ARQ field, and a 16-byte User Sequence Number field.

Destination Node Address is information indicating a destination communication station address.
Frame Cont is information indicating the head cell, middle cell, end cell, or single cell of the divided IP packet, and is used when restoring the multiplexed cell to the original IP packet on the receiving side.

The userID is information for identifying a source user (a communication station within its own network).
User ARQ (Auto Repeat reQuest) is information specifying whether or not an acknowledgment is requested.
User Sequence Number is information indicating a cell number, and is managed for each user ID described above.
Fragment IPv4 Packet is IP packet information divided into predetermined lengths (here, 64 bytes), and an IP header is always inserted in the leading cell or single cell.

In this way, since the multiplexed cells generated by this communication device are each designated with the destination, the order of the multiplexed cells, etc., even if they are inserted into separate frames and transmitted, they can be properly transmitted and received. It is.

[Configuration of multiplex communication function unit (transmitting unit): FIG. 5]
The multiplex communication function unit 24 of this communication device mainly includes a transmission function unit (transmitting unit) that performs transmission processing and a reception function unit (receiving unit) that performs reception processing. First, the configuration of the transmission section of the multiplex communication function section 24 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the transmission section of the multiplex communication function section 24. As shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the transmission section of the multiplex communication function section 24 includes a communication control section 31, a frame/cell conversion section 34, a transmission information cell queue 35, a retransmission cell queue 36, and a cell connection section 37. ing.

Before describing each section of the transmission section of the multiplex communication function section 24, the operation of the data type determination section 22 will be described.
The data type determination unit 22 outputs the source IP address of the input IP packet to the communication control unit 31 of the multiplexing communication function unit 24, and inquires whether multiplexing is possible (multiplexing valid/invalid), IP packets are distributed to the packet queue 23 or the frame/cell conversion unit 34 based on the multiplexing valid/invalid information from the communication control unit 31 . Multiplexing enabled/disabled corresponds to divisible/indivisible described in the claims.
Specifically, the data type determination unit 22 outputs the IP packet to the frame/cell conversion unit 34 when multiplexing valid is received from the communication control unit 31, and when multiplexing invalid is received, the data type determination unit 22 outputs , to the packet queue 23 .

The communication control unit 31 controls multiplexing and retransmission.
The communication control unit 31 also has a user information table 32 and a multiplexing correspondence node information table 33 as information for determining whether IP packets input to the QoS function unit 15 can be multiplexed. .

[Example of user information table: Fig. 6]
An example of the user information table 32 will now be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a user information table.
The user information table 32 stores IP addresses of transmission sources that can be multiplexed, and information on retransmission valid/invalid for each user (IP address).
As shown in FIG. 6, the user information table 32 stores user numbers, source IP addresses, and valid/invalid retransmission (with/without retransmission) in association with each other.

In other words, IP packets transmitted from users registered in the user information table 32 can be divided into multiplexed cells. This indicates that there is a possibility of

The multiplexing correspondence node information table 33 stores information of multiplexing correspondence nodes among communication stations serving as communication destinations. The information on the multiplexing compatible node is obtained by extracting the information on the multiplexing valid node from the node information (node address and multiplexing valid/invalid) notified from the radio access control unit 12 .
Here, "multiplexing enabled" for a node indicates that the original IP packet can be restored when a multiplexed frame is received, and the "multiplexing capable node" has a configuration that enables it. node.

Then, the communication control unit 31 determines whether or not the transmission source IP address input from the data type determination unit 22 is registered in the user information table 32, and furthermore, determines whether the multiplexing support node information table 33 is registered. Determine whether one or more node information is stored.

When the transmission source IP address is registered in the user information table 32 and the information of the multiplexing corresponding node is stored in the multiplexing corresponding node information table 33, the communication control unit 31 determines the data type determination unit 22 to output multiplexing valid (multiplexing possible).
Otherwise, output multiplexing invalid (multiplexing disabled).

In addition, the communication control unit 31 outputs retransmission enable/disable information set for each user to the transmission information cell queue 35 described later.

The frame/cell converter 34 divides the input IP packet frame as shown in FIG. If the original IP packet is short, only one multiplexed cell may be generated (single cell).
The frame/cell conversion section 34 corresponds to the cell division section described above.

The transmission information cell queue 35 stores multiplexed cells for transmission.
A retransmission cell queue 36 stores multiplexed cells that may be retransmitted.
Further, the retransmission cell queue 36 acquires a frame number list from the radio access control unit 12 via the cell linking unit 37, and holds the multiplexed cells input from the transmission information cell queue 35 in correspondence with the frame numbers. back. When the radio access control unit 12 designates a frame number requiring retransmission, the corresponding multiplexed cell is output.

When receiving a data acquisition request from the radio access control unit 12, the cell linking unit 37 acquires multiplexed cells from the retransmission cell queue 36 and the transmission information cell queue 35, links them, and outputs them to the output scheduler 25 as linked cells. .

At this time, the cell linking unit 37 acquires multiplexed cells so that the data amount approaches the transmission capacity as much as possible. The transmission capacity is determined by the communication system function unit 16 according to the communication system, bandwidth, and line conditions, and is notified from the radio access control unit 12 to the cell connection unit 37 when a data acquisition request is made.
In this manner, the present communication apparatus inserts and transmits data up to the upper limit of the transmission capacity, thereby further improving the transmission efficiency.
Also, the cell linking unit 37 preferentially acquires multiplexed cells that need to be retransmitted from the retransmission cell queue 36, and acquires multiplexed cells from the transmission information cell queue 35 if there is sufficient transmission capacity.

[Transmission operation of the multiplex communication function unit: FIG. 5]
The operations of the data type determination unit 22 and the multiplex communication function unit 24 at the time of transmission will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 5. FIG.
When an IP packet is input to the QoS function unit 15 of the network unit 11 shown in FIG. 1, the data type determination unit 22 shown in FIG. Inquires whether or not multiplexing is possible with the source IP address attached.

The communication control unit 31 determines whether or not the input source IP address is registered in the user information table 32, and whether or not the information of the multiplexing corresponding node is stored in the multiplexing corresponding node information table 33. , when the source IP address is registered in the user information table 32 and the node information is stored in the multiplexing support mode information table 33, the IP packet can be multiplexed (multiplexing enabled), and the data type Respond to decision unit 22 .
If the source IP address is not registered in the user information table 32 or the node information is not stored in the node information table 33 corresponding to multiplexing, it responds that multiplexing is not possible (multiplexing is invalid).

If the IP packet is valid for multiplexing, it is output to the frame/cell conversion unit 34 by the data type determination unit 22. If the IP packet is invalid for multiplexing, it is output to the packet queue 23 similar to the conventional one. .
An IP packet input to the frame/cell converter 34 is divided into multiplexed cells and stored in a transmission information cell queue 35 .

Further, the communication control unit 31 monitors the frame/cell conversion unit 34, and when an IP packet is input, acquires user information (source IP address), refers to the user information table 32, and Retransmission valid/invalid information is stored in the transmission information cell queue 35 .
That is, the transmission information cell queue 35 waits in a state in which multiplexed cells with retransmission valid/invalid information are stored.

When there is a data acquisition request from the radio access control unit 12 , the output scheduler 25 first acquires data from the multiplex communication function unit 24 before acquiring data from the packet queue 23 .
At that time, the output scheduler 25 obtains a list of frame numbers assigned by the radio access control unit 12 at the time of transmission, and stores the list in the retransmission cell queue 36 via the cell connection unit 37 .

Then, the cell linking unit 37 associates the acquired multiplexed cell of the transmission information cell queue 35 with the frame number in the frame number list. At the same time, it confirms whether or not the obtained multiplexed cell is valid for retransmission, and if it is valid for retransmission, inserts the multiplexed cell into the retransmission cell queue 36 and updates the frame number list.
As a result, multiplexed cells to be retransmitted are specified when a retransmission request with a frame number is issued from a device on the receiving side.

After that, the cell concatenation unit 37 acquires and concatenates multiplexed cells according to the communication capacity specified by the radio access control unit 12, and outputs the concatenated multiplexed cells (concatenated cells) to the output scheduler 25. .

Here, the acquired cell connection unit 37 preferentially acquires the multiplexed cell corresponding to the retransmission frame number specified by the radio access control unit 12 from the retransmission cell queue 36 . Then, if there is still enough capacity, a multiplexed cell to be newly transmitted is acquired from the transmission information cell queue 35 and concatenated.
If there is still a margin in the communication capacity even after concatenating multiplexed cells (retransmission, non-retransmission), the output scheduler 25 acquires the IP packet from the packet queue 23 and sends it to the radio access control unit together with the concatenated cells. output to 12.
In this manner, the transmission operation of the communication apparatus is performed.

In the above example, it is assumed that concatenated cells and IP packets are inserted until the upper limit of the communication capacity is reached regardless of the destination. When the destination of the IP packet is a unicast address, the output scheduler 25 acquires and transmits a multiplexed cell or IP packet with a matching destination.
Otherwise, it is retrieved and sent regardless of destination.

[Configuration of multiplex communication function unit (receiving unit): FIG. 7]
Next, the configuration of the receiving section of the multiplex communication function section 24 will be explained using FIG. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the receiving section of the multiplex communication function section 24. As shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, the receiving section of the multiplex communication function section 24 includes a cell disassembling section 41, a reception information cell queue 42, and a cell/frame converting section 43. FIG.
The cell decomposing unit 41 decomposes the received concatenated cells into multiplexed cells.
The received information cell queue 42 stores demultiplexed multiplexed cells.
The cell/frame converter 43 appropriately acquires multiplexed cells from the received information cell queue and restores the IP packet.

The operation of the multiplex communication function unit (receiving unit) will be described.
The concatenated cells received and demodulated by the antenna, high frequency section 14 and radio signal processing section 13 of FIG. be.

The reception information cell queue 42 identifies the multiplexed cell that is the head of the IP packet based on the Frame Cont field of the multiplexed cell format, and extracts the total length from the IP header inserted in the multiplexed cell.
The reception information cell queue 42 then calculates the range of Sequence Numbers of multiplexed cells required for restoring the IP packet.

The reception information cell queue 42 determines whether or not all multiplexed cells corresponding to the range of the calculated Sequence Number have been received based on the header information of the multiplexed cells. 43, a notification of all multiplexed cell reception completion is output.

When the cell/frame converter 43 receives the all-reception completion notification of the multiplexed cells, it acquires all the multiplexed cells corresponding to the range of the Sequence Number from the reception information cell queue 42 and arranges them in a predetermined order except for the headers. to recover the IP packet from the multiplexed cell.
In this manner, the operation of the receiving section of the multiplex communication function section 24 of the present communication apparatus is performed.

[Data acquisition during transmission: Fig. 8]
Next, an example of data acquisition during transmission by this communication apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram showing an example of data acquisition during transmission.
As shown in FIG. 8, the radio access control unit 12 constantly monitors radio signals to check whether communication is possible (S1).
When determining that communication is possible, the radio access control unit 12 outputs a data acquisition request to the cell connection unit 37 via the output scheduler 25 (S2). The data acquisition request contains communication capacity information and a frame number to be retransmitted.

The cell connection unit 37 first acquires a multiplexed cell (retransmission cell) corresponding to the frame number to be retransmitted from the retransmission cell queue 36 (S3). Here, it is assumed that the data amount of retransmission cells is 40% of the communication capacity.

The cell linking unit 37 compares the obtained data amount with the communication capacity, recognizes that there is still 60% free space, and obtains a multiplexed cell from the transmission information cell queue 35 (S4). Here, it is assumed that data for 60% of the communication capacity has been acquired.

The cell linking unit 37 determines that data of 100% of the communication capacity has been acquired, and links the multiplexed cells acquired from the retransmission cell queue 36 and the transmission information cell queue 35 (S5). is transmitted (output) to the radio access control unit 12 (S6).
Then, the radio access control unit 12 assembles a radio frame and radio-transmits it at 100% capacity (S7).
As described above, in this communication apparatus, since the multiplexed cells are captured so that the amount of data in the frame becomes the upper limit of the communication capacity, the ratio of preambles and headers is reduced, and the transmission efficiency can be further improved. is.

In another example, when a data acquisition request is received from the radio access control unit 12 (S11) and the cell connection unit 37 acquires multiplexed cells to be retransmitted from the retransmission cell queue 36 (S12), the data amount is Suppose it is 40% of the capacity.

Next, it is assumed that when the cell linking unit 37 acquires multiplexed cells from the transmission information cell queue 35, they are equivalent to 20% of the communication capacity (S13).
In this case, only 60% of the communication capacity has been acquired, and there is still free capacity, but if the number of multiplexed cells to be transmitted has ended, the cells are concatenated at this point (S14) and the concatenated cells are output. Output to the scheduler 25 (S15).

The output scheduler 25 recognizes that the data volume of the concatenated cells is 60% of the communication capacity, acquires IP packets for 40% of the communication capacity from the packet queue 23 (S16), and wirelessly distributes them together with the concatenated cells. Output to the access control unit 12 .
Then, the radio access control unit 12 inserts data corresponding to 100% of the communication capacity into the frame and performs radio transmission (S17).
In this manner, data acquisition at the time of transmission in the communication device is performed.

[Effects of Embodiment]
According to this communication device and this communication method, the transmission function unit (transmission unit) of the QoS function unit 15 includes a data type determination unit 22 that determines whether or not an IP packet to be transmitted can be divided, and an IP packet that cannot be divided. a packet queue 23 that performs QoS processing, a multiplexing communication function unit 24 that performs multiplexing processing for dividing and concatenating divisible IP packets, and data is acquired from the packet queue 23 and the multiplexing communication function unit 24. In the multiplex communication function unit 24, the frame/cell conversion unit 34 divides IP packets of a plurality of services, adds a specific header, and converts multiplexed cells into multiplexed cells. is generated and stored in the transmission information cell queue 35, and multiplexed cells that may be retransmitted are stored in the retransmission cell queue 36. When the cell connection unit 37 receives a data acquisition request from the radio access control unit 12, the radio Acquiring multiple multiplexed cells from the retransmission cell queue 36 or the transmission information cell queue 35 according to the communication capacity specified according to the communication method, concatenates them, generates concatenated cells, and transmits them through the output scheduler 25 to the radio access control unit. 12, IP packets of a plurality of services can be concatenated and inserted into one frame for transmission. To improve transmission efficiency by reducing the ratio of preambles and headers, realize equivalent QoS (delay) for a plurality of services, and further improve transmission efficiency by transmitting data in an amount that matches the communication capacity. There is an effect that can be done.

Further, according to the present communication apparatus and the present communication method, when acquiring multiplexed cells, the cell connection unit 37 preferentially acquires multiplexed cells that require retransmission from the retransmission cell queue 36, and when the communication capacity is not reached, Since the multiplexed cells are acquired from the transmission information cell queue 35, the information requiring retransmission is preferentially transmitted, and the reliability of communication can be guaranteed.

Further, according to the present communication apparatus and the present communication method, even if the cell connection unit 37 acquires multiplexed cells from the retransmission cell queue 36 and the transmission information cell queue 35 and generates concatenated cells, the amount of data thereof does not exceed the communication capacity. If not, the output scheduler 25 acquires the IP packet from the packet queue 23 and puts it together with the concatenated cell. Therefore, while maintaining the communication quality, the communication capacity is effectively used to improve the transmission efficiency. There are effects that can be improved.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is suitable for a wireless communication apparatus and a wireless communication method capable of improving transmission efficiency when performing communication using any one of a plurality of communication schemes and ensuring equivalent communication quality for a plurality of services. there is

Reference Signs List 1, 61 communication device 2 communication terminal 3 control terminal 11 network unit 12 radio access control unit 13 radio signal processing unit 14 high frequency unit 15 QoS function unit 21,81 Input scheduler 22 Data type determination unit 23, 82 Packet queue 24 Multiplex communication function unit 25, 83 Output scheduler 31 Communication control unit 32 User information table 33 Support for multiplexing Node information table 34 Frame/cell conversion unit 35 Transmission information cell queue 36 Retransmission cell queue 37 Cell connection unit 41 Cell separation unit 42 Reception information cell queue 43 Cell/frame conversion unit

Claims (6)

A communication device that performs communication using one of a plurality of communication methods,
A transmission processing unit that performs transmission processing,
a transmitter that performs wireless transmission;
a packet queue for QoS processing of indivisible IP packets;
a multiplexing communication function unit that performs a process of dividing and concatenating IP packets that can be divided;
a data type determination unit that determines whether an input IP packet can be divided, outputs the IP packet to the packet queue if it cannot be divided, and outputs it to the multiplex communication function unit if it can be divided;
an output scheduler that acquires data from the packet queue and the multiplex communication function unit and outputs the data to the transmission unit as transmission data;
The multiplexing communication function unit divides the divisible IP packet input from the data type determination unit, adds a header including a destination to generate multiplexed cells, and at the time of transmission, the set wireless communication system a communication device that concatenates a plurality of said multiplexed cells in accordance with a communication capacity specified according to said request and outputs the result to said output scheduler. The multiplex communication function unit
a frame/cell converter that divides an input IP packet to generate multiplexed cells;
a transmission information cell queue holding the multiplexed cells;
a retransmission cell queue that holds cells that may be retransmitted among the multiplexed cells;
2. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a cell concatenator that acquires a plurality of multiplexed cells from said retransmission cell queue and said transmission information cell queue, concatenates them, and outputs the multiplexed cells to an output scheduler at the time of transmission according to communication capacity. 3. The communication device according to claim 2, wherein the cell connection unit preferentially acquires multiplexed cells to be retransmitted from the retransmission cell queue at the time of transmission. When the amount of data of the multiplexed cells to be retransmitted obtained from the retransmission cell queue is less than the communication capacity, the cell connection unit obtains the multiplexed cells from the transmission information cell queue and uses them as the multiplexed cells obtained from the retransmission cell queue. 4. The communication apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the multiplexed cells obtained from the transmission information cell queue are concatenated and output. An output scheduler acquires an indivisible IP packet from a packet queue and outputs it together with the concatenated multiplexed cell when the amount of data of the concatenated multiplexed cell from the cell concatenator is less than the communication capacity. 5. A communication device according to claim 4. A communication method in a communication device that performs communication using any one of a plurality of communication methods,
The transmission processing unit
Determining whether or not an input IP packet can be divided, and if it can be divided, divides the IP packet, adds a header including a destination to generate a multiplexed cell, and conforms to the set wireless communication system. A method of connecting and transmitting a plurality of the multiplexed cells according to the communication capacity specified according to the
a multiplexed cell to be retransmitted is preferentially acquired, and when the amount of data in the multiplexed cell to be retransmitted is less than the communication capacity, the divided multiplexed cell is acquired and the multiplexed cell to be retransmitted is acquired; concatenating the multiplexed cells with the divided multiplexed cells, and transmitting when the amount of data in the concatenated multiplexed cells reaches the upper limit of the communication capacity;
A communication method of acquiring an IP packet that cannot be divided and transmitting it together with the concatenated multiplexed cell when the amount of data in the concatenated multiplexed cell is less than the communication capacity.

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