JP7379032B2 - Wireless communication measurement/evaluation system and method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a wireless communication measurement/evaluation system and method, and includes, for example, a radio wave status display device that comprehensively evaluates the radio wave communication status of each wireless device in a multi-channel wireless communication system and visually displays the evaluation results. Wireless communication measurement/evaluation system and method.

Issues with wireless communication in factories, etc. include, for example, when building a wireless environment for each piece of equipment or equipment that uses wireless, it is necessary to stabilize the communication quality (connectivity, throughput) of each wireless device, investigate the cause of a problem, and solve the problem. These include speeding up countermeasures, making it easier to introduce new wireless applications, speeding up the response to changes such as line recombination, and ensuring security.
Approaches to correcting these issues include centralized management of wireless devices, selective use of wireless methods (frequency bands, protocols), and appropriate site surveys.

Applications that require the use of wireless technology in factories include shortening cycle times through process improvements by visualizing the operating status of large processing machines located within the factory.

For example, multiple add-on sensing devices (distance sensors, ammeters, ultrasonic microphones, cameras, etc.) installed in various parts of a large processing machine can be connected to a monitoring device via a wireless network.
Using multiple add-on sensing, we collect data from each part of the large processing machine,
The monitoring device uses AI technology to classify the operating status of large processing machines, and also identifies the classification of operator operations (tool exchange, equipment cleaning, operation panel operation, etc.) using images (positions of people and tools). Visualization of machining/non-machining time, for example, video display of machining/manual work, graphing of daily machining status, breakdown of non-machining time (finish confirmation, etc., stopping, cleaning, etc.) , operation panel).

In such applications, it is important to ensure the quality of wireless communication. To ensure such quality, it is necessary to appropriately use a wireless system that corresponds to the required transmission speed and reliability depending on the purpose. For example, when transferring files and images wirelessly via a computer, Wi-Fi (registered trademark) in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands is generally used. Although Wi-Fi allows for easy high-speed communication, there are many compatible devices and congestion often causes problems such as communication disconnections and reduced throughput. Therefore, in communications where the amount of data is not so large, such as sensor or device data, it is conceivable to apply wireless communication in the 920 MHz band, for example. Although the communication speed of 920MHz band wireless is slower than Wi-Fi, it has the characteristics of being resistant to obstacles and capable of communicating over longer distances due to the propagation characteristics of radio waves.

Furthermore, in order to ensure such quality, it is necessary to understand the radio wave conditions in the space where wireless communication is used. Techniques for displaying radio wave conditions include JP-A No. 2013-255133 (Patent Document 1) and Patent Document 2 (JP-A No. 2011-114416). The publication of Patent Document 1 describes a radio wave range display technology that includes a screen generation means that acquires the radio wave range of a communication device that transmits communication radio waves and generates a screen that displays the radio wave range at a predetermined position on a predetermined map. is disclosed. Patent Document 2 describes, “a device information storage unit 2a that stores wireless device information including installation locations, types, and identification codes regarding a plurality of wireless devices input by the user; and an image display device 4 including a display screen 4a. , a wireless communication unit 11a capable of transmitting and receiving signals via radio waves to and from multiple wireless devices on multiple channels with different frequencies; A digitization processing unit 3a that digitizes the radio wave conditions of a plurality of channels for each of a plurality of wireless devices using electric field strength values; The device is equipped with a display processing unit 3b that visualizes the radio wave state of the device and simultaneously displays it on the display screen 4a (see abstract).

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2013-255133 Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2011-114416

As mentioned above, as add-on sensing, it is possible to send and receive data using multiple radios with different wireless systems in order to take advantage of the characteristics of wireless, but it is necessary to understand the radio wave conditions for each wireless system used. However, there is a problem in that radio wave measurements are time-consuming. In addition, it is necessary to consider the environmental conditions for wireless communication and the content of communication, and there is a problem in that it is difficult to determine an appropriate wireless method. In other words, it stabilizes communication quality (connectivity, throughput), speeds up the investigation of causes and countermeasures when problems occur, makes it easier to introduce new wireless applications, speeds up response to changes such as line reconfiguration, and improves security. Issues remain in securing such facilities.

Such issues can only be discovered as a result of investigating and studying the wireless environments of various types of wireless equipment and device engineering.

Furthermore, to be more specific, when visualizing wireless communication, it is important to measure radio reception strength, noise intensity, packet error rate, round slip time, throughput, etc. using different wireless methods (sub-giga: 920Mhz, Wi-Fi) and different tools. Fi: 2.4/5 GHz), and the above-mentioned problems can only be known by taking measurements based on the measurement results and considering them.

Patent Document 1 describes generating a screen that displays the range that one radio wave can reach on a map. However, it has not been considered to visualize communication quality for each communication purpose, that is, to present communication quality according to usage conditions on a map and to generate an optimal map that can be used as a basis for determining communication quality. Not yet. In addition, the communication quality is determined by communication purpose. In other words, the measurement items are switched depending on the communication purpose, and the band usage status is learned from the observation of radio field strength and spectrum. No consideration is given to determining the communication quality for each application and improving the consistency (accuracy) with actual usage conditions.
Therefore, in Patent Document 1, the effect is limited to visualizing a single radio wave state and making it possible to determine the appropriate number of installed wireless LAN devices (access points), installation positions, and radio wave strength.

Further, the invention described in Patent Document 2 "comprehensively and visually displays the radio wave status of each wireless device in a multi-channel wireless communication system", that is, a radio wave status display device including the wireless communication device 11. 1. Equipped with wireless communication devices (wireless equipment) 23, 24 and wireless relay devices 21, 22, visually displays the radio wave status based on the field strength of multiple radio waves transmitted from each communication device, In order to determine the location of wireless relay equipment, etc., it is necessary to visualize the quality prediction results for each purpose of communication, as in Cited Document 1, and to change the measurement items depending on the purpose of communication to improve communication quality. No consideration is given to determining the actual usage conditions and improving the agreement (accuracy) with actual usage conditions. Therefore, it is possible to comprehensively and visually recognize the radio wave status of each wireless device in a multi-channel wireless communication system.Furthermore, the user can determine the location of wireless devices, wireless relay devices, etc. according to the radio wave environment. The effect remains that the location can be determined easily.

Judgment of communication quality is currently based on fixed indicators, and it is necessary to reflect the actual usage situation (type of data, communication frequency, number of terminals, terminal location, noise, etc.), but this is not taken into account. do not have.
Furthermore, directly participating in a user network currently in use and conducting a communication test (active measurement) poses a problem with existing networks and security issues, which poses a high hurdle.

Therefore, the present invention is a technology that visualizes quality prediction results for each purpose of communication. It also learns the band usage status from the observation of radio wave strength and spectrum by simply receiving communications without participating in the user network in use (Passive measurement), and based on the results, The objective is to provide a technology that can determine communication quality for each communication application, speed up measurement, standardize procedures, and improve the rate of agreement (accuracy) with actual usage conditions.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention evaluates communication quality based on radio wave measurement information, and creates and displays the results as a quality map.

For example, one of the representative wireless communication measurement/evaluation systems and methods of the present invention is
In a wireless evaluation system equipped with an access point, a wireless measurement device, a radio wave measurement user terminal, and a wireless evaluation device,
The wireless evaluation device includes:
a function of collecting radio wave measurement information obtained by measuring the radio waves of the access point with the radio measurement device via the radio wave measurement user terminal 13 and evaluating the wireless quality of the radio waves based on the collected radio measurement information; It has a function to generate a map indicating quality, and calculates a QI value for each wireless system and channel, which indicates a communication quality measure based on expected communication speed and delay based on the collected radio wave information and communication conditions. calculation means,
Throughput calculation means for calculating the assumed throughput from the QI value;
Expected delay calculation means for calculating expected delay from the QI value;
communication quality visualization means for heat mapping the QI value and visualizing it as a quality map;
comprising a display means for superimposing the quality map on a floor screen,
The present invention is characterized in that radio wave quality can be identified in the quality map.

According to the present invention, it is possible to visualize the radio wave conditions of multiple different radio wave systems, enable appropriate site surveys, speed up measurement, standardize procedures, and improve the rate of agreement (accuracy) with actual usage conditions. be able to.
Problems, configurations, and effects other than those described above will be made clear by the following description of the embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a wireless communication measurement/evaluation system. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a radio wave measurement user terminal that constitutes a part of the wireless communication measurement/evaluation system. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a wireless measurement device that constitutes a part of a wireless communication measurement and evaluation system. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the overall processing procedure of the wireless communication measurement and evaluation system. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the processing function of the communication condition input function section in the wireless communication measurement/evaluation system. 2 is a flowchart illustrating processing functions such as a wireless measurement function section, a traffic pattern generation function section, and a wireless quality preliminary evaluation function section in the wireless evaluation device. 7 is a flowchart illustrating the processing function of the wireless measurement function unit in the wireless evaluation device. 14 is a flowchart illustrating the functions of the wireless quality calculation function section 14113 and the wireless quality visualization function section 14114 of the wireless evaluation device 14. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example in which a quality map calculated and generated by a wireless quality calculation function unit and a wireless quality visualization function unit in a wireless evaluation device is displayed overlaid on a floor plan. The figure which shows the data structure example of the usage regulation DB in a wireless communication measurement and evaluation system. The figure which shows the data structure example of the communication condition definition DB by application in a wireless communication measurement and evaluation system. The figure which shows the example of a structure of wireless standard DB data in a wireless communication measurement and evaluation system. The figure which shows the example of a structure of wireless preliminary evaluation record DB data in a wireless communication measurement and evaluation system. The figure which shows the example of a structure of communication quality calculation count DB data in a wireless communication measurement and evaluation system. The figure which shows the example of a structure of communication prediction count DB data in a wireless communication measurement and evaluation system. The figure which shows the example of a structure of QI value recording DB data in a wireless communication measurement and evaluation system. The figure which shows the data structure example of the radio|wireless measurement record DB in a radio|wireless communication measurement and evaluation system.

First, the applicant carried out radio wave surveys at multiple customer factory sites to determine the number, location, and radio field strength of appropriate wireless LAN devices (access points) to be installed, and to design channels. A commercially available site that visualizes LAN environment design, on-site radio wave coverage, throughput, external waves, facilitates the construction and operation of a comfortable wireless LAN environment free of troubles such as radio wave interference and insufficient signal strength, and visualizes radio wave conditions. Verified using a survey tool.

As a result, it was found that there were issues in the following points.
(1) Speeding up measurement Since position measurement cannot be performed indoors, it is necessary to manually specify measurement points, which is time-consuming.
Depending on the person taking the measurement, there may be discrepancies in the specified position on the screen or walking speed, which may lead to re-doing or deviations in accuracy.

It is also necessary to measure all areas horizontally.
(2) Standardization of site survey procedures Not compatible with anything other than Wi-Fi (920MHz band wireless, etc.). Each wireless measurement tool has a different usage procedure, and using multiple tools for each measurement point is time-consuming. (3) Consistency with actual usage conditions Quality judgment is based on fixed indicators. , it is necessary to reflect the actual usage situation (data type, communication frequency, number of terminals, terminal location, environmental conditions such as noise, etc.).
However, directly participating in the user network currently in use and conducting a communication test is difficult due to problems with the existing network and security issues.

In order to solve problems (2) and (3) above, the present invention is a technology that visualizes quality prediction results for each purpose of communication, and generates an optimal map to be used as quality judgment material and uses it on the map. In addition to selecting conditions and presenting measurement methods according to them, it also learns the band usage status from observing radio field strength and spectrum, and based on the results, determines, evaluates, and displays communication quality for each communication purpose. .
In other words, the measurement items are switched depending on the purpose and use of communication, the quality prediction results are visualized, and the communication quality is determined and displayed.

Specific examples will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a wireless communication measurement/evaluation system 1, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a radio wave measurement user terminal 13 forming a part of the wireless communication measurement/evaluation system 1, and FIG. , is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a wireless evaluation device 14 that constitutes a part of the wireless communication measurement and evaluation system.

The wireless communication measurement/evaluation system 1 includes a plurality of wireless base stations (hereinafter referred to as access points) 11, a plurality of wireless measurement devices 12, a plurality of radio wave measurement user terminals 13, a wireless evaluation device 14, and a memory. It consists of a device 15. The radio wave measurement user terminal 13 is connected to the radio evaluation device 14 via the network 16. Furthermore, when performing active measurement, the access point 11 is connected to the wireless evaluation device 14 via the network 16. The wireless communication measurement/evaluation system 1 may include a noise evaluation device that evaluates the noise state of radio waves.

The access point 11 is, for example, an access point (access point) that is placed at each location in a factory or the like and relays radio waves from devices with various wireless communication functions (devices such as distance sensors, ammeters, ultrasonic microphones, and cameras). (hereinafter sometimes referred to as AP).

The wireless measurement device 12 has a function of receiving wireless radio waves from the access point (AP) 11, for example, multiple frequencies (WiFi/920MHz, 2.4GHz, 5GHz, etc.), and has a function of receiving radio waves from the access point (AP) 11. The state of radio waves transmitted and received between the terminals is measured and output as radio measurement information to the radio wave measurement user terminal 13.
When performing active measurement, the access point 11 is connected to the wireless evaluation device 14 via the network 16. Further, the wireless measuring device 12 is linked up via wireless. During measurement, communication data generated by the traffic pattern generation function unit 14116 of the wireless evaluation device 14 is transmitted from the access point, and the wireless measurement device 12 receives the data to evaluate the communication quality at that time. When performing passive measurement, the access point 11 is connected to a user network not shown in FIG. 1 and is in a state of wireless communication with a user terminal, and the wireless measurement device 12 intercepts the communication, Evaluate communication quality.

The radio wave measurement person terminal 13 is a terminal used by a radio wave measurement person who operates the radio measurement device 12, and receives radio measurement information measured by the radio measurement device 12, and transmits it to the radio evaluation device 14 via the network 16. A function to display a map showing communication quality (or wireless quality) created based on the communication quality scale (hereinafter referred to as QI or QI value) evaluated by the wireless evaluation device 14 on the floor plan. have The radio wave measurement user terminal 13 is, for example, a personal computer including a CPU 1311, a memory 1312, a network IF 1313 (wired/wireless LAN/cellular), a peripheral device IF 1315, a controller 1314, an auxiliary storage device 1315, etc., as shown in FIG. .

The peripheral device IF 1315 is an interface that is connected to the wireless evaluation device 14 and the noise evaluation device 17 (for example, a spectrum analyzer) and transmits and receives data to and from both devices.

The radio evaluation device 14 has a function of collecting a plurality of pieces of radio measurement information measured by the radio measurement device 12 via the radio measurement user terminal 13 and evaluating the communication quality of radio waves based on the collected radio measurement information. It has a function to generate a map (quality map) indicating communication quality. The radio evaluation device 14 may be incorporated into the radio wave measurement user terminal 13.

The wireless evaluation device 14 includes, for example, a wireless evaluation server 141 including a CPU 1411, a memory 1412, a network IF 1413 (wired/wireless LAN/cellular), a controller 1414, an auxiliary storage device 1415, and the like, as shown in FIG.

The CPU 1411 executes each process described later, and the memory 1412 is temporarily used when the CPU 1411 executes each process. The network IF 1413 (wired/wireless LAN/cellular) is connected to the radio wave measurement user terminal 13 via the network 16 and sends and receives data to and from the radio wave measurement user terminal 13. The controller 1414 transmits a quality map and the like to the radio wave measurer terminal 13 via the network IF 16 and controls the quality map so that it can be displayed on the display device 1316 of the radio wave measurer terminal 13. Auxiliary storage device 1415 stores various data required by wireless evaluation server 141.

The CPU 1411 in the wireless evaluation device 14 (wireless evaluation server 141) includes a wireless quality preliminary evaluation function section 14111, a wireless measurement function section 14112, a wireless quality calculation function section 14113, a wireless quality visualization function section 14114, a communication condition input function section 14115, and a traffic It includes a pattern generation function section 14116 and the like. The processing of each functional unit will be described later.

The storage device 15 is a device consisting of a database that stores wireless information measured by the wireless measurement device 12, communication quality information evaluated by the wireless evaluation device 14, etc., and includes, for example, a wireless standard DB 151, a communication quality calculation count DB 152, It consists of a storage including a communication prediction count DB 153, a floor drawing DB 154, a usage regulation DB 155, a radio measurement record DB 156, a radio preliminary evaluation record DB 157, an application-based communication condition definition DB 158, a QI value evaluation record DB 159, and the like. The storage device 15 may be configured to also serve as the auxiliary storage device 1415 shown in FIG. The data structure of each DB will be described later.

The wireless quality preliminary evaluation function unit 14111 performs a wireless quality preliminary evaluation function (active measurement), that is, based on the wireless measurement information (measurement position, access point list, radio field strength of the connection destination, etc.) collected from the radio wave measurement user terminal 13. Prior evaluation of wireless quality is carried out, for example, by observing noise in the same channel band other than the connected access point for a certain period of time, measuring the effective bandwidth and round trip delay for each communication purpose, and measuring QI (Quality), which is a communication quality measure described later. Processing such as learning the coefficients for QI calculation in the formula for calculating Index (QI value) is executed. This process is performed in an environment where radio waves can be transmitted. Accordingly, communication data generated by the traffic pattern generation function section 14116 of the wireless evaluation device 14 is transmitted from the access point, and the data is received by the wireless measurement device 12. At that time, the execution bandwidth (throughput) and round trip delay (RTT) are measured, and QI calculation coefficients are derived from the results and stored in the wireless preliminary evaluation record DB 157 as the result of the wireless quality preliminary evaluation.

QI is a communication quality measure based on the predicted communication speed and delay assumed from passive measurement data and communication conditions, and is output for each wireless system and channel.
QI is obtained by calculating an index representing the quality of wireless communication from the strength of the access point and the time occupancy rate of noise exceeding the radio field strength of the access point on the same channel.
An example is shown below.

<QI calculation formula example>
(1) QI = a x radio field strength from AP + b x time occupancy rate of noise exceeding the radio field strength of AP on the same channel

Depending on the conditions, one or more of the following requirements may be added to the above formula.
(1) + c × Number of APs that share the same channel or use adjacent channels (2) + d × Number of APs that have the same SSID (Service Set Identifier), output on different channels, and have radio field strength above a certain level ( 3) +e x time occupancy rate of noise that exceeds the radio field intensity of different channel output APs with the same SSID Here, the coefficients a to j in the QI calculation formula are determined according to the wireless system used.
Note that the coefficients a to h are stored in the communication quality calculation count DB 152.

Using the above formula, calculate the QI (value between 0 and 1.0), and for example, for each communication purpose, if the QI value is 0.7 or more, it is "good", if it is 0.5 or more, it is "acceptable", and if it is less than 0.5, it is "poor". By setting a threshold value such as '', it is possible to obtain an approximate quality tendency of the wireless state.

The wireless measurement function section 14112 also has a wireless measurement function (Passive), that is, wireless measurement information (measurement position, access point list/AP list) collected from the radio wave measurement user terminal 13, radio wave strength of the connected access point, etc.). In this case, for example, noise in the same channel band at a point other than the connected access point is observed for a certain period of time, and the results are stored in the wireless measurement record DB 156 of the storage.

The radio quality calculation function unit 14113 calculates QI (QI value) and RTT (loud trip time), that is, the expected A process of calculating throughput and THP (throughput), that is, an assumed delay RTT value is executed.

The expected throughput value and expected delay RTT value are calculated from the QI value using the following formula.
(1) Expected throughput THP_exp=h x Logical throughput of wireless standard used x QI
(2) Expected delay RTT_exp = h x base delay determined by the wireless standard used x QI

Here, the wireless standard to be used is determined by the user's selection of the access point 11.
Coefficients h and j in the calculation formulas for the assumed throughput value and the assumed delay RTT value are stored in the communication prediction coefficient DB 153.

Note that as variations, for example, the distance from the access point 11, the density of the access points 11, etc. may be taken into consideration. Further, a deep learning method may be applied to these calculations. In this case, for example, radio wave intensity, noise intensity, number of access points, and noise time occupancy rate are used as explanatory variables, and communication delay and communication speed are used as objective variables, and images of each are learned.

The wireless quality visualization function unit 14114 receives the calculation result (QI value) of the wireless quality calculation function unit 14113 and executes processing to generate a wireless communication quality map. The generated quality map is transmitted to the radio wave measurer terminal 13 via the network 16 and displayed on the display device 1316 (display) of the radio wave measurer terminal 13. The quality map (see FIG. 10) will be described later.

The communication condition input function unit 14115 executes processing for inputting parameters for each communication purpose (image, sensor, audio, PC, PLC, control, etc.) selected by the user.

The traffic pattern generation function unit 14116 generates a traffic pattern.

A quality map is, for example, displaying the communication quality calculated by the wireless quality calculation function unit 14113 on a floor screen showing the location of each equipment in the room, and also displays the quality according to the QI value. "Good", "Acceptable", "Bad", etc. are displayed in a visually distinguishable manner, for example, by color coding.

The quality map also shows usage conditions, communication usage (images, sensors, audio, etc.), and communication quality (QI: actually measured radio wave intensity, noise intensity, noise time occupancy rate, and predicted value) that serve as indicators for displaying the map. (round-trip delay, throughput, etc.), wireless system (2.4GHz, 5GHz, 920MHz radio reception strength (RSSI), packet error rate (PER), loud trip time (RTT), throughput, etc.) , these are displayed so that they can be selected by the user. The noise intensity (SNR) and noise time occupancy rate are measured and evaluated by the noise evaluation device 17.

In addition, when you click on a desired point on the map with a mouse or other device operating the radio wave measurement device, a process is executed to display measurement results and various numerical values in the vicinity of the clicked position, noise conditions at the time of measurement, etc. . An example map will be described later.

Each of the above functional units is executed according to an internally stored program. The details will be described later.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the overall processing procedure of the wireless communication measurement and evaluation system. The operation based on the flowchart of FIG. 4 is as follows.

Step S14115:
The wireless communication measurement/evaluation system first inputs various prerequisite data in advance using the communication condition input function section 14115 (see FIG. 5).

Step S14112:
The wireless communication measurement/evaluation system executes preliminary measurement (Active) using a wireless measurement function section 14112, a traffic pattern generation function section 14116, and a wireless quality preliminary evaluation function section 14111 (see FIG. 6). As mentioned above, preliminary measurements should be performed in an environment where radio waves can be transmitted.

Step S14112':
The wireless communication measurement/evaluation system executes actual measurement (Passive) using the wireless measurement function unit 14112 (see FIG. 7). Actual measurements are performed when investigating the status of radio waves in an environment where radio waves cannot be transmitted.

Step S14113:
In the wireless communication measurement/evaluation system, a wireless quality calculation function unit 14113 calculates an index indicating wireless quality from the results of actual measurement, and a wireless quality visualization function unit 14114 executes visualization processing based on the calculation results (see FIG. 8). ).

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the functions of the communication condition input function section 14115 in the wireless communication measurement and evaluation system. The operation based on the flowchart of FIG. 5 is as follows.

Step S141151:
The communication condition input function unit 14115 defines parameters for specifying communication conditions according to the application, and stores the results in the application specification DB 155.

Step S141152:
The communication condition input function unit 14115 defines communication conditions for each application and stores the results in the communication definition DB 158 for each application.

Step S141153:
The communication condition input function unit 14115 specifies a floor plan and reads it from the floor plan DB 154.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing functions of the wireless measurement function section 14112, traffic pattern generation function section 14116, wireless quality preliminary evaluation function section 14111, etc. in the wireless evaluation device 14.
The operation based on the flowchart of FIG. 6 is as follows.

Step S141121:
First, the wireless measurement function unit 14112 determines a measurement position for measuring wireless radio waves. This position determination is performed, for example, by the user inputting position information (coordinates x, y) indicating the measured position from the radio wave measurer terminal 13, or by utilizing existing indoor position measurement technology.

Step S141122:
The wireless measurement function unit 14112 inputs connection destination access point information (wireless type ID, SSID).

Step S141123:
The wireless measurement function unit 14112 acquires an access point list (AP list/including access point information: SSID, RSSI, Channel) collected by the radio wave measurement user terminal 13.

Step S141124:
The wireless measurement function unit 14112 acquires the radio wave intensity of the connection destination access point (including connection destination access point information: SSID, RSSI, Channel) collected by the radio wave measurement user terminal 13.

Step S141125:
The wireless measurement function unit 14112 observes noise (noise level, noise occupancy rate) in the same channel band other than the connected access point for a certain period of time.

Step S141161:
The traffic pattern generation function unit 14116 specifies the communication purpose and sends out the packet.

Step S141111:
The wireless quality preliminary evaluation function unit 14111 receives the packet sent in step S141161, and measures the number of received packets, the number of packet losses, the effective bandwidth, and the round trip delay.

Step S141112:
The wireless quality preliminary evaluation function unit 14111 determines a Quality Index (QI) from the measurement results in step S14111, and learns coefficients for calculating the QI based on the measurement conditions.

Step S14113:
The wireless quality preliminary evaluation function unit 14111 calculates a coefficient for predicting communication performance from the QI value, and proceeds to step S1417.

Step S1417:
The wireless quality preliminary evaluation function unit 14111 determines whether all desired patterns have been executed.
If the determination result is that the execution has not been completed (No), the process returns to step S141161 and steps S141111 to AS141113 are repeated.
If the execution has been completed (Yes), the process advances to step S1418.

Step S1408:
The wireless evaluation device 14 determines whether the above-described steps have been performed for all desired positions. If the determination result is that the execution has not been completed (No), the process returns to step S141121, and if the execution has been completed (Yes), the process ends.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating the processing procedure of the wireless measurement function (Passive) in the wireless measurement function section 14112 of the wireless evaluation device 14.
The operation based on the flowchart of FIG. 7 is as follows.

Step S141121':
First, a measurement position for measuring wireless radio waves is determined. This position determination is performed by the user inputting position information (coordinates x, y) from the radio wave measurement user terminal 13, or by utilizing existing indoor position measurement technology.

Step S141122':
The wireless measurement function unit 14112 acquires an access point list (AP list) collected by the radio wave measurement user terminal 13.

Step S141123':
The wireless measurement function unit 14112 acquires the radio wave intensity of the connection destination access point collected by the radio wave measurement user terminal 13.

Step S141124':
The wireless measurement function unit 14112 observes noise in the same channel band other than the connected access point for a certain period of time.

Step S141125':
The wireless measurement function unit 14112 stores the results at each step in the wireless measurement record DB 156 of the storage device 15.

Step S141126':
The wireless measurement function unit 14112 determines whether each of the above steps has been performed for all required positions. If the determination result is that the execution has not been completed (No), the process returns to step S141121', and if the execution has been completed (Yes), the process ends.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating the functions of the wireless quality calculation function section 14113 and the wireless quality visualization function section 14114 of the wireless evaluation device 14.
The operation based on the flowchart of FIG. 8 is as follows.

Step S141131:
The wireless quality calculation function unit 14113 calculates the QI value from the learned QI value calculation formula.

Step S141132:
The wireless quality calculation function unit 14113 calculates an expected throughput value from the QI value.

Step S141133:
The wireless quality calculation function unit 14113 calculates the expected delay RTT value from the QI value.

Step S141141:
The wireless quality visualization function unit 14114 generates a quality map , for example, a heat map, indicating the communication quality of radio waves from the calculated values.

Step S141142:
The wireless quality visualization function unit 14114 transmits the quality map together with the floor plan in the floor plan DB 154 to the radio wave measurer terminal 13 via the network 16, and displays the quality map on the display device 1316 in an overlapping manner.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example in which a quality map calculated and generated by the wireless quality calculation function unit 14113 and the wireless quality visualization function unit 14114 of the wireless evaluation device 14 is displayed overlaid on a floor plan.

The quality map 101 is displayed, for example, on the floor screen 102 in such a way that the ranges are distinguishably distinguished according to large, medium, and small QI values, and are easily visually distinguishable by color. For example, locations with large QI values are displayed in yellow, locations with medium QI values are displayed in light blue, and locations with small QI values are displayed in light purple.

In addition, the quality map 101 includes communication applications (images, sensors, audio, PC for OA, PLC, control, etc.), communication quality (QI), measured radio field strength, measured radio field strength, and measured noise from the map screen. It is preferable to display the occupancy rate, the round-trip delay of predicted values, the throughput of predicted values, etc. so that they can be selected. Furthermore, it is preferable to display the wireless system (2.4 GHz, 920 MHz, 5 GHz RSSI, PER, PRT, Throughput, etc.).

In addition, it is preferable that when a desired location is clicked on the quality map 101, the quality result at the clicked location is displayed so that the content can be grasped in detail. For example, when point P1 is clicked, quality results including pre-input conditions and judgment results as shown below are displayed in a pop-up.

<Conditions entered in advance>
Client: 01
Communication use: Camera Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Frame rate: 10fps
Requested throughput: 512Kbps
<Judgment result>
Channel: 1
QI value: 0.3
Throughput: 200kbps
Allowable delay: 120ms
Verdict: NG

The determination is based on throughput and allowable delay.
Using the quality map described above, it is possible to easily understand not only the radio wave situation, that is, the wireless radio field strength, but also the communication quality.

Next, each DB of the storage device 15 will be explained.
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure in the usage specification DB 155.

The usage regulation DB 155 has a usage regulation table 1551. The usage regulation table 1551 stores usage such as communication, and includes areas for storing information such as an ID 15511 for identifying a client, a communication usage 15512, and parameter contents 15513.

Communication applications include, for example, images, sensors, audio, PC, PLC, and control, and the parameters include image size, data size, required bandwidth, number of transmission frames, transmission frequency, allowable delay, and compression rate, as shown in the figure. etc.

Application-specific communication conditions that define actual parameters are defined based on the usage specification table 1551, and stored in the application-specific communication condition definition DB 158. The parameters include, for example, ID (001), 00 (image), 1920*1080, 15 fps, 30%, ID (002): 01 (sensor), 120 bytes, 0.1 transmit/sec, etc.
Then, based on the usage regulations and usage-specific communication condition definitions, traffic at the time of Active measurement is generated.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure in the application-specific communication condition definition DB 158.
The usage-based communication condition definition DB 158 has a usage-based communication condition definition table 1581. The usage-specific communication condition definition table 1581 stores usage-specific communication condition definitions, and includes an area for storing usage ID 15811, usage (designation of usage regulation ID) 15812, and parameter content 15813.
In this example, in the case of application ID: 001, the application "00 (image)" and parameter contents (1920*1080, 15fps, 30%) are shown, and in the case of application ID: 002, the application "01 (sensor)" and the parameter are shown. The content (1 bytes, 0.1 transmit/sec) is shown, and based on these, traffic at the time of Active measurement is generated.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure in the wireless standard DB 151.
The wireless standard DB 151 has a wireless standard table 1511. The wireless standard table 1511 stores wireless standards, and is an area for storing information such as id 15111, type 15112, classification 15113, frequency band 15114, maximum negotiation speed 15115, used channel width 15116, and base delay 15117. including.
Types include Wi-Fi, SubG (920MHz band wireless), etc.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of the wireless preliminary evaluation record DB 157.
The wireless preliminary evaluation record DB 157 has a wireless preliminary evaluation record table 1571. The wireless preliminary evaluation record table 1571 stores measurement results measured in advance using the active method, and includes ID 15711, coordinate x 15712, coordinate y 15713, measurement height 15714, wireless type ID 15715, noise level for each channel 15716, and for each channel. Noise occupancy rate 15717, connected access point (SSID, RSSI, Ch) 15718, other access points 15719, usage ID 15720, number of received packets 15721, number of received bytes 15722, throughput (average, variance) 15723, delay (average, variance) ) 15724 and other areas for storing each information.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of the communication quality calculation count DB 152.
The communication quality calculation count DB 152 has a communication quality calculation count table 1521. The communication quality calculation count table 1521 stores coefficients a to e when calculating a QI value, and includes areas 15211 to 15215 for storing a plurality of coefficients a to e.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of the communication prediction count DB 153.
The communication prediction count DB 153 defines a correlation coefficient between communication quality and throughput/communication delay, and stores a communication prediction count table 1531 that stores coefficients h and j for predicting throughput and delay based on the QI value. have The communication prediction count table 1531 includes areas 15311 to 15312 that store a plurality of coefficients h to i.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of the QI value recording DB 159.
The QI value recording DB 159 has a QI value recording table 1591. The QI value recording table 1591 records communication quality evaluation results (channel, QI value, throughput value, allowable delay value) for conditions input in advance (use, resolution, frame rate, requested throughput), and judgment results (( Good: OK, Acceptable: OK, Unsatisfactory: NG), etc., and includes an area for storing id 15911, coordinate x 15912, coordinate y 15913, and QI value 15914.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure in the wireless measurement record DB 156.
The wireless measurement record DB 156 has a wireless measurement record table 1561. The wireless measurement record table 1561 includes id 15611, measurement position coordinates x, y 15612, measurement height (m) 15614, wireless type id 15615, noise level [dB] for each channel (Ch) 15616, noise occupancy rate 15617, and connection. Contains areas to store information such as the SSID name of the destination AP, (identification name of the access point in wireless LAN), radio wave reception strength RSSI, channel Ch15618, SSID name of other AP list, radio wave reception strength RSSI, channel Ch15619, etc. .

According to the embodiments described above, it is possible to visualize the radio wave conditions of a plurality of different radio wave systems, to enable an appropriate site survey, and to easily check and judge the communication quality results.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and includes various modifications. Further, the above-described embodiments have been described in detail to explain the present invention in an easy-to-understand manner, and the present invention is not necessarily limited to having all the configurations described. Furthermore, it is possible to replace a part of the configuration of one embodiment with the configuration of another embodiment, and it is also possible to add the configuration of another embodiment to the configuration of one embodiment. Further, it is possible to add, delete, or replace a part of the configuration of each embodiment with other configurations. Further, each of the above-mentioned configurations, functions, processing units, processing means, etc. may be partially or entirely realized in hardware by designing, for example, an integrated circuit. Furthermore, each of the above configurations, functions, etc. may be realized by software by a processor interpreting and executing a program for realizing each function.

Information such as programs, tables, files, etc. that implement each function may be stored in a memory, a recording device such as a hard disk, an SSD (Solid State Drive), or a recording medium such as an IC card, SD card, or DVD. Further, the control lines and information lines are shown to be necessary for explanation purposes, and not all control lines and information lines are necessarily shown in the product. In reality, almost all components may be considered to be interconnected. Further, each of the above-mentioned configurations, functions, processing units, processing means, etc. may be partially or entirely realized in hardware by designing, for example, an integrated circuit.

1 Wireless communication measurement/evaluation system 11 Access point 12 Wireless measurement device 13 Radio wave measurement user terminal 14 Wireless evaluation device 14111 Wireless quality preliminary evaluation function section 14112 Wireless measurement function section 14113 Wireless quality calculation function section 14114 Wireless quality visualization function section 14115 Communication conditions Input function section 14116 Traffic pattern generation function section
1 5 Storage device 151 Wireless standard DB
152 Communication quality calculation coefficient DB
153 Communication prediction coefficient DB
154 Floor drawing DB
155 Usage regulations DB
156 Wireless measurement record DB
157 Wireless preliminary evaluation recording unit 158 Application-specific communication condition definition DB
159 QI value evaluation record DB
16 Network 17 Noise evaluation device

Claims (6)

In a wireless communication measurement and evaluation system equipped with an access point, a wireless measurement device, a radio wave measurement user terminal, and a wireless evaluation device,
The wireless evaluation device includes:
A function of collecting radio measurement information obtained by measuring the radio waves of the access point with the radio measurement device via the radio wave measurement user terminal and evaluating the communication quality of the radio waves based on the collected radio measurement information. It has a function to generate a map indicating quality, and calculates a QI value indicating a communication quality measure based on expected communication speed and delay for each wireless system and channel based on the collected passive wireless measurement information and communication conditions. QI value calculation means,
Throughput calculation means for calculating an expected throughput from the QI value;
Expected delay calculation means for calculating expected delay from the QI value;
communication quality visualization means for heat mapping the QI value and visualizing it as a quality map;
comprising display means for superimposing the quality map on a floor screen and displaying it on a display device of the radio wave measurement person terminal ;
A wireless communication measurement/evaluation system characterized in that radio wave quality can be identified using the quality map. In the wireless communication measurement/evaluation system according to claim 1,
The QI value is
Determined by calculating an index representing the quality of wireless communication from the strength of the access point and the time occupancy rate of noise exceeding the radio field strength of the access point on the same channel,
The assumed throughput is
Determined using the theoretical throughput of the wireless standard to be used and the QI value,
The expected delay is determined by the base delay determined by the wireless standard selected by the user and the QI value,
The wireless communication measurement and evaluation system is characterized in that the communication quality visualization means displays the magnitude of the QI value on the floor screen by distinguishing it by color. In a wireless communication measurement and evaluation system equipped with an access point, a wireless measurement device, a radio wave measurement user terminal, and a wireless evaluation device,
The wireless evaluation device includes:
It has a wireless quality preliminary evaluation function unit, a wireless measurement function unit, a wireless quality calculation function unit, a wireless quality visualization function unit, and a communication condition input function unit ,
During active measurement, the wireless quality preliminary evaluation function unit observes noise in the same channel band other than the connected access point for a certain period of time based on the wireless measurement information collected from the radio wave measurement user terminal, and Executing another effective band, measurement of round trip delay , learning process of coefficients for QI calculation in a calculation formula for calculating QI (Quality Index; QI value) indicating a communication quality measure,
The wireless measurement function unit executes a process of observing noise in the same channel band for a certain period of time at a point other than the connected access point based on the wireless measurement information collected from the radio wave measurement user terminal during passive measurement ,
The wireless quality calculation function unit executes a process of calculating an expected throughput value and an expected delay RTT value from the QI value based on the results of the wireless quality preliminary evaluation function unit and the wireless measurement function unit,
The radio quality visualization function unit receives the calculation result (QI value) from the radio quality calculation function unit, generates a quality map , transmits the generated quality map to the radio wave measurement user terminal, and transmits the generated quality map to the radio wave measurement user terminal. Execute processing to display on the display device ,
The communication condition input function unit executes processing for inputting parameters for each communication purpose selected by the user.
A wireless communication measurement/evaluation system characterized by: In the wireless communication measurement/evaluation system according to claim 3,
The wireless measurement information includes a measurement location, an access point list, and a radio field strength of a connected access point,
The QI value is
In addition to the strength of the access point and the time occupancy rate of noise exceeding the radio field strength of the access point on the same channel, one or more of the following (1) to (3):
(1) the number of access points that share the same channel or utilize adjacent channels;
(2) The number of access points with the same SSID that output on different channels and have radio wave strength above a certain level,
(3) Obtained by calculating an index representing the quality of wireless communication from the time occupancy rate of noise that exceeds the radio field strength of different channel output APs with the same SSID,
The assumed throughput value is
Determine using the theoretical throughput and QI value of the wireless standard to be used,
The expected delay is
The base delay and
A wireless communication measurement/evaluation system characterized in that the QI value is obtained. In a wireless communication measurement and evaluation method in a wireless communication measurement and evaluation system equipped with an access point, a wireless measurement device, a radio wave measurement user terminal, and a wireless evaluation device,
The wireless evaluation device includes:
Collecting radio measurement information obtained by measuring the radio waves of the access point with the radio measurement device via the radio wave measurement user terminal , and evaluating the communication quality of the radio waves based on the collected radio measurement information;
generating a map indicating communication quality;
a QI value calculation step of calculating a QI value indicating a communication quality measure based on expected communication speed and delay based on the collected passive wireless measurement information and communication conditions for each wireless system and channel;
a throughput calculation step of calculating an expected throughput from the QI value;
an expected delay calculation step of calculating an expected delay from the QI value;
a wireless quality visualization step of converting the QI value into a heat map and visualizing it as a quality map;
executing a display step of superimposing the quality map on a floor screen and displaying it on a display device of the radio wave measurement person terminal ;
A wireless communication measurement/evaluation method characterized in that radio wave quality can be identified using the quality map. In the wireless communication measurement and evaluation method according to claim 5,
The QI value calculation step includes:
Calculating and obtaining an index representing the quality of wireless communication from the strength of the access point and the time occupancy rate of noise exceeding the radio field strength of the access point on the same channel,
The throughput calculation step is calculated based on the logical throughput and QI of the wireless standard to be used,
The expected delay calculation step calculates the base delay determined by the wireless standard selected by the user and
Determined using the above QI value,
The radio communication measurement and evaluation method is characterized in that the radio quality visualization step displays the magnitude of the QI value on the floor screen by distinguishing it by color.

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