KR20120063917A - Method and apparatus for providing stable communication in ubiquitous environment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A stable communication providing method in ubiquitous environment and apparatus thereof are provided to effectively avoid frequency interference generated by using a specific frequency band in adjacent environment through a ubiquitous health service communication by using plural transmission and reception apparatuses. CONSTITUTION: A channel state monitoring unit(120) monitors channel states of a first transmission and reception apparatus. A data transmission rate checking unit(130) checks transmission rates of data transmitted by the first transmission and reception apparatus. A selecting control unit(110) of a transmission and reception apparatus selects a second transmission and reception apparatus based on the checked data transmission rates. The selecting control unit of the transmission and reception apparatus transmits a response request packet to an external apparatus. When the reception signal strength of a response packet is under threshold values, the selecting control unit of the transmission and reception apparatus selects the second transmission and reception apparatus.

Description

Method and apparatus for providing stable communication in ubiquitous environment {METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING STABLE COMMUNICATION IN UBIQUITOUS ENVIRONMENT}

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing communication in a ubiquitous environment, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for providing stable communication of a ubiquitous communication device using a plurality of transceivers.

In recent years, society is facing an aging and well-being era, and the importance of health care is increasing. In addition, as wireless sensor network technology is developed, convenient and safe services in which information technology (IT) is incorporated into medical services The research to provide is actively underway.

Sensor network technology establishes autonomous network by installing sensor node with computing power and wireless communication capability in natural environment or special place, and transmits and receives sensing information obtained from each other. It is a technology that can be utilized.

The U-Health field, which is an application of such sensor technology and low-power short-range wireless communication technology, is in the spotlight recently. The U-Health service utilizes wired / wireless networking technology such as remote patient monitoring. Health care and medical services that can be used anywhere, anytime, and with the launch of u-health services, services that have been limited to one-time care in hospitals, will now be available throughout life, including at home.

In order to provide an efficient u-health service, IEEE 11073 is conducting standardization of medical devices and communication.In addition, IEEE 11073 standardization enables the collection, transmission, analysis, and feedback of biometric data in a standard manner. To ensure interoperability between personal health check devices and u-health services.

However, in recent years, as the spread of smart phones and the use of wireless communication devices are more frequent, resources of specific frequencies are limited, but the use of personal wireless data (3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc.) is increasing, which causes wireless communication. One of the services, the U-health service, also suffers from the problem of frequency interference that occurs when the use of a particular frequency is concentrated in another service or when another service first uses a particular frequency.

In particular, medical devices are related to human life, and the reliability and stability of wireless communication is more important than devices in other fields. Therefore, what frequency band to use for the u-health service determines the quality of communication.

One commonly used frequency band is the ISM band. The ISM band is a frequency band allocated for global use in industries such as industrial, scientific, and medical, and Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Zigbee use this ISM band.

The problem is that when using ISM bands for U-Health services, the use of channels in the same ISM band in the surrounding environment can interfere with communication due to frequency interference.

In the case of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, the power consumption is too high, which reduces power efficiency.

In addition, there are several frequency bands available for the U-Health service, such as the Wireless Medical Telemetry Service (WMTS), the Medical Implant Communication Service (MICS), and the Ultra Wide Band (Wireless USB).

WMTS is used in the bands 608-614 MHz, 1395-1400 MHz, and 1427-1432 MHz.

This is a frequency band mainly used to provide a wireless medical telemetry service that monitors and transmits health status information of a patient such as pulse, blood pressure, and body temperature to a doctor or a patient management center.

Only the US and Japanese governments allowed the use of the frequency, and it is not allowed in Korea, so it cannot be used. However, since there is a possibility of frequency distribution in Korea in the future, this may be considered as an auxiliary wireless communication frequency of a medical device.

MICS stands for Implantable Wireless Devices and is a low-power, high-speed system that operates in the 402-405 MHz band, between active medical implants or between active medical implants and external programmers / monitors / controllers. It is a frequency band for the purpose of providing radio frequency telemetry and data communication service.

MICS aims to communicate with devices close to the body recognition device, so the communication distance is short to be used for wireless communication for u-health service, but it has the advantage of being the only medical band distributed in Korea.

In addition, UWB or wireless USB has the advantage of being able to send a large amount of video data at high speed, but has the disadvantage of short communication distance.

Due to such a problem, if only one of the above-described frequency bands is used for communication used when providing a U-health service, and only corresponding communication is used, there is a problem in that sufficient communication stability cannot be guaranteed.

In addition, in order to use two or more frequency bands for communication, a plurality of transceivers must be added, and as the number of transceivers increases in a circuit, power consumption and size increase.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, the present invention provides a method and apparatus for avoiding the frequency interference when it occurs in accordance with the surrounding communication environment.

In another aspect, the present invention provides a method and apparatus that can provide the most stable communication in the minimum interference when frequency interference avoidance is impossible.

The present invention also provides a method and apparatus for reducing power consumption even when using a plurality of transceivers for use of a plurality of frequency bands.

The objects of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned objects, and other objects not mentioned can be clearly understood from the following description.

In order to achieve the above object, an apparatus for providing communication with an external device using a plurality of transceivers according to an aspect of the present invention, a channel state monitoring unit for monitoring the channel state of the first transceiver in use, the first transceiver A transceiver selection control unit for selecting a second transceiver to replace the first transceiver based on a data rate checker for checking a data rate of data transmitted and received through the at least one of the monitored channel state and the checked data rate; Include.

In order to achieve the above object, a method for providing communication with an external device using a plurality of transceivers according to an aspect of the present invention comprises the steps of (a) first selecting a transceiver using a dedicated frequency for a medical device as a first transceiver (b) monitoring a channel state of the first transceiver when communicating with the external device using the first transceiver; (c) a frequency of the first transceiver based on a monitoring result of the channel state; Selecting a two transceiver using a frequency with less interference and (d) if the second transceiver is selected, shutting off power supply to the first transceiver.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG.

The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. It is provided to fully inform the owner of the scope of the invention.

According to one of the problem solving means of the communication providing method and apparatus in the ubiquitous environment of the present invention, it is possible to effectively avoid the frequency interference that can occur when using a specific frequency band in the surrounding environment during the U-health service communication. .

In addition, even when using a plurality of transceivers it is possible to minimize the power consumption.

In addition, by using a plurality of transceivers, it is possible to prevent the use of a specific frequency band from being concentrated and to improve the communication stability of the u-health service.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a system for performing communication using a plurality of transceivers in a ubiquitous environment according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a personal health device (PHD) according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a flowchart illustrating a process of performing communication using a plurality of transceivers in a ubiquitous environment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily carry out the present invention.

The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein.

In the drawings, parts irrelevant to the description are omitted in order to clearly describe the present invention, and like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the specification.

For reference, in the entire specification, when a part is "connected" to another part, it is not only "directly connected" but also "electrically connected" with another element in between. Also includes.

Also, when an element is referred to as "comprising ", it means that it can include other elements as well, without departing from the other elements unless specifically stated otherwise.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a system for providing communication using a plurality of transceivers in a ubiquitous environment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, by applying the present invention to the U-Health (U-Health) service, it will be described a case where the U-Health service communication is performed in a stable communication environment.

The system for providing stable communication for the u-health service according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a personal health examination terminal 100 and a health information management terminal 200.

In describing each component, a personal health device 100 (hereinafter referred to as a 'PHD') 100 may be configured to display a user's physical information or a biosignal such as a weight scale, a blood pressure monitor, a thermometer, a blood glucose meter, and a heart rate monitor. It includes a device that can measure, and measures the biological signal of the user and transmits it to the health information management terminal (200).

In addition, the PHD 100 may display the measured user's biosignal on a display unit (screen) included in the PHD 100. 200).

In addition, the PHD 100 may display medical information, such as medical records, disease information, and doctor's diagnostic information, as well as the above-described physical information or biometric information, and transmit the same to the health information management terminal 200. The medical information may be received from the health information management terminal 200.

To this end, the PHD 100 includes a transceiver of a multi wireless communication method.

Here, the plurality of wireless communication methods include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, Wireless Medical Telemetry Service (WMTS), Medical Implant Communication Service (MICS), and Ultra Wide Band (UWB). ), And the PHD 100 may communicate with the health information management terminal 200 according to the IEEE 11073 PHD protocol using the wireless communication method described above.

For reference, the above-described body information, biometric information, and medical information will be referred to as "health information" below.

Hereinafter, the operation of the PHD 100 will be briefly described.

When the power of the PHD 100 is turned on, the PHD 100 selects a transceiver having the highest priority (hereinafter referred to as 'first transceiver') based on a predetermined priority and uses the selected first transceiver. The packet is transmitted to the health information management terminal 200 requesting a response in the maximum transmission range.

In this case, the PHD 100 may give priority to a transceiver that uses a dedicated frequency of a medical device such as WMTS, MICS, or UWB, which has less frequency interference from other communication devices.

Thereafter, the PHD 100 checks the channel state of the first transceiver based on the response packet received from the health information management terminal 200 to the first transceiver. As a result of the check, if it is determined that the stable state, the PHD 100 may communicate with the health information management terminal 200 by using the first transceiver.

Thereafter, the PHD 100 periodically checks the channel state and the data rate of the first transceiver while using the first transceiver, so that the channel state is unstable or a data transmission of a larger capacity is required (for example, , When transmitting a moving image while transmitting text information), the PHD 100 may change the first transceiver currently being used to the second transmitter.

A detailed description of the PHD 100 will be described later with reference to FIG. 2.

Meanwhile, the health information management terminal 200 receives the health information of the user from the PHD 100, manages the received health information for each user, or transmits the diagnosis information of the doctor corresponding to the received health information to the PHD 100. Can transmit

For reference, the health information management terminal 200 may include one or more of a mobile communication terminal, medical equipment (hospital server, etc.), a desktop PC, a laptop PC, and a set-top box, and may use multiple separate point-to-point connections. Communicate with the PHD 100.

In addition, the health information management terminal 200 may include a transceiver of a multi wireless communication method for communication with the PHD (100).

Here, the plurality of wireless communication schemes are the same as those of the PHD 100, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, Wireless Medical Telemetry Service (WMTS), Medical Implant Communication Service (MICS), and the like. It may include one or more of Ultra Wide Band (UWB), the health information management terminal 200 may communicate with the PHD 100 in accordance with the IEEE 11073 PHD protocol using the wireless communication method described above. .

The health information management terminal 200 may drive the transceiver of the wireless communication system so that the PHD 100 may use any communication transceiver.

For reference, the health information management terminal 200 is based on the health information received from the PHD 100, diet management service, disease management service, fitness service, age-specific information service, etc. It may be linked with a service server (not shown) that provides various services such as.

2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the PHD 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Another PHD 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a transceiver selection controller 110, a channel state monitoring unit 120, a data rate checker 130, a transceiver 140, and a power controller 150. .

In describing each component, when the power supply of the PHD 100 is turned on, the transceiver selection controller 110 selects a first transceiver according to a predetermined priority, and transmits and receives selection information about the first transceiver. And a power control unit 150.

At this time, the transceiver selection control unit 110 may give priority to a transceiver that uses a dedicated frequency for medical devices such as WMTS, MICS, and UWB with less frequency interference from other communication devices.

In addition, the transceiver selection control unit 110 receives information on the channel state of the transceiver currently in use from the channel state monitoring unit 120, and selects another transceiver to replace the transceiver currently in use.

At this time, the transceiver selection control unit 110 may select the second transceiver according to a predetermined priority, the second transceiver may have a communication distance longer than the communication distance of the transceiver (first transceiver) currently in use.

For reference, wireless communication methods with long data transmission distances include Wi-Fi, Zigbee, WMTS, and MICS.

In addition, when the transceiver selection controller 110 receives the information on the increase in the data rate from the data rate checker 130, the transceiver selection controller 110 may select the third transceiver according to a predetermined priority, and the third transceiver is currently in use. It may have a data rate larger than the data rate of the (second transceiver).

For reference, wireless communication methods having a large data rate are in order of Zigbee, WMTS, and WMICS.

In addition, when another transceiver is selected to replace the transceiver currently being used, the transceiver selection control unit 110 transmits selection information about the transceiver to the transceiver 140 to operate the selected transceiver, and supplies power to the previous transceiver. In order to block the transmission, selection information about the transceiver is transmitted to the power control unit 150.

Meanwhile, the channel state monitoring unit 120 may determine a channel state of a transceiver currently in use, for example, a received signal strength indication (RSSI), a packet error rate (PER), and a signal to noise ratio. Ratio; SNR), etc., to determine if the result is above or below a predetermined threshold.

That is, when the received signal strength is less than the predetermined threshold, the packet error rate is more than the predetermined threshold or the signal-to-noise ratio is less than the predetermined threshold, the channel state monitoring unit 120 is a transceiver that is currently being used by the transceiver selection control unit 110 to the other transceiver. In order to be replaced by, information indicating this is transmitted to the transceiver selection control unit 110.

In addition, when the second transceiver to replace the first transceiver currently being used by the transceiver selection controller 110 is selected, the channel state monitoring unit 120 checks the channel state of the second transceiver and checks the checked value of the first transceiver. It is determined whether it is better than the value, and the result is transmitted to the transceiver selection control unit 110.

As described above, the channel state monitoring unit 120 monitors the channel state of the transceiver currently being used to determine whether the communication state is stable or unstable. However, the channel state monitoring unit 120 transmits the monitored content to the transceiver. Transmission to the selection control unit 110, the transceiver selection control unit 110 may determine whether the communication status is stable or unstable.

Meanwhile, the data rate checker 130 checks the data rate transmitted from the PHD 100 to the health information management terminal 200 or the data rate transmitted from the health information management terminal 200 to the PHD 100, and in advance, When data exceeding the predetermined threshold is transmitted, information informing of this is transmitted to the transceiver selection controller 100.

In addition, when the data rate checker 130 receives a separate message indicating that a file such as a high quality image or a video is transmitted from the health information management terminal 200, the data rate checker 130 may transmit it to the transceiver selection controller 100.

In the above description, the data rate checker 130 checks the data rate transmitted and received through the transceiver currently being used to determine whether the data rate exceeds the predetermined threshold. However, the data rate checker 130 determines the data rate. Transmitting to the transceiver selection control unit 110, the transceiver selection control unit 110 may determine whether the data rate exceeds a predetermined threshold.

On the other hand, the transceiver 140 may include a transceiver using one or more communication methods of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, WMTS, MICS and UWB, the wireless communication method It may communicate with the health information management terminal 200 in accordance with the IEEE 11073 PHD protocol.

On the other hand, the power control unit 150 cuts the power supply of the transceiver before the change according to the instructions of the transceiver selection control unit 110, to minimize the power consumption even when using a plurality of transceivers.

2 refers to a hardware component such as software or an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) or ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), and performs predetermined roles .

However, 'components' are not meant to be limited to software or hardware, and each component may be configured to be in an addressable storage medium or may be configured to reproduce one or more processors.

Thus, by way of example, an element may comprise components such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components and task components, processes, functions, attributes, procedures, Routines, segments of program code, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuitry, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables.

Components and the functionality provided within those components may be combined into a smaller number of components or further separated into additional components.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a process of providing communication using a plurality of transceivers in a ubiquitous environment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, the flowchart of FIG. 3 will be described with reference to the configuration of the system shown in FIG. 1.

First, when the power of the PHD 100 is turned on, the PHD 100 preferentially selects the 'first transceiver' using the frequency for the medical device (S301), and responds with the maximum transmission range using the selected first transceiver. The request packet is transmitted to the health information management terminal 200.

Through this, the PHD 100 may check whether the first transmitter is operating normally. If the packet received from the health information management terminal 200 is unstable, the PHD 100 may be larger than the communication distance of the first transceiver. A transceiver using another communication scheme having a long communication distance may be selected (S302).

After the step S302, the PHD 100 periodically checks the channel state of the response packet received by the first transceiver (S303).

In this case, the PHD 100 may receive a received signal strength (RSSI), a packet error rate (PER), a signal to noise ratio (SNR), or the like above a predetermined threshold or a predetermined threshold. If it is less than one, it is determined whether frequency interference occurs in the communication between the first transceiver and the health information management terminal 200, that is, whether the communication is stable or unstable.

As a result of step S303, if it is determined that the channel state of the first transceiver is stable, the PHD 100 communicates with the health information management terminal 200 by using the first transceiver (S304).

If, as a result of step S303, interference of another frequency occurs and it is determined that the channel state of the first transceiver is unstable, the PHD 100 selects a second transceiver having a good channel state according to the priority, and selects the first transceiver. The power supply is cut off (S305).

In this case, the PHD 100 may select a transceiver having a communication distance longer than that of the transceiver (first transceiver) currently being used as the second transceiver.

After step S304 or step S305, the PHD 100 checks the data rate of the transceiver currently being used, and if the data rate exceeds the predetermined threshold, the PHD 100 changes the currently used transceiver to the third transceiver (S306).

In this case, the PHD 100 may preferentially select a transceiver using a communication method having a large data rate, or may select a third transceiver by further considering the priority and data transmission distance for a dedicated frequency of a medical device. .

In addition, when the PHD 100 is changed to the third transceiver, the PHD 100 may minimize power consumption by cutting off the power supply to the transceiver previously used.

After step S306, the PHD 100 may communicate with the health information management terminal 200 using the third transceiver.

Accordingly, the present invention selects an optimal frequency and an optimal transmission / reception protocol in consideration of the distance between the PHD 100 and the health information management terminal 200, the packet transmission reliability, and the occurrence of interference caused by surrounding frequencies. It is possible to enable stable and reliable wireless communication of important data transmission and reception related to (health).

The foregoing description of the present invention is intended for illustration, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be easily modified in other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features of the present invention. will be.

It is therefore to be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative in all aspects and not restrictive.

For example, each component described as a single entity may be distributed and implemented, and components described as being distributed may also be implemented in a combined form.

The scope of the present invention is shown by the following claims rather than the above description, and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalents should be construed as being included in the scope of the present invention. do.

100: personal medical examination terminal
110: transceiver selection control unit
120: channel monitoring unit
130: data rate check unit
140: transceiver
150: power control unit
200: health information management terminal

Claims (14)

A communication device for providing communication with an external device using a plurality of transceivers,
A channel state monitoring unit for monitoring a channel state of a first transceiver in use,
A data rate checker which checks a data rate of data transmitted and received through the first transceiver;
A transceiver selection controller for selecting a second transceiver to replace the first transceiver based on at least one of the monitored channel state and the checked data rate
.
The method of claim 1,
The transceiver selection control unit transmits a response request packet to the external device and, when the received signal strength of the response packet for the request is less than a predetermined threshold, replaces the second transceiver to replace the first transceiver. Communication device to choose.
The method of claim 2,
And the transceiver selection control unit preferentially selects, as the second transceiver, a transceiver using a communication method having a long communication distance among the plurality of transceivers.
The method of claim 1,
The transceiver selection controller includes one or more of a received signal strength indication (RSSI), a packet error rate (PER), and a signal to noise ratio (SNR) when communicating with the external device. And select a second transceiver to replace the first transceiver based on the channel state of the first transceiver.
The method of claim 4, wherein
And the transceiver selection controller selects a second transceiver to replace the first transceiver when the received signal strength is below a predetermined threshold, when the packet error rate is above a predetermined threshold or the signal to noise ratio is below a predetermined threshold. .
The method of claim 1,
And the transceiver selection controller selects a third transceiver to replace the first transceiver when the data rate exceeds a predetermined threshold.
The method according to claim 6,
And the transceiver selection control unit preferentially selects, among the plurality of transceivers, a transceiver using a communication method having a large data rate as the third transceiver.
The method of claim 1,
A power controller to block power supply to the first transmitter when the second transceiver is selected
The communication device further comprises.
The method of claim 1,
The first transmitter and the second transmitter are Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, Wireless Medical Telemetry Service (WMTS), Medical Implant Communication Service (MICS), and Ultra Wide Band (UWB). Communication device using one or more communication schemes.
In the method for providing communication with an external device using a plurality of transceivers,
(a) first selecting a transceiver using a dedicated frequency for a medical device as a first transceiver,
(b) monitoring a channel state of the first transceiver when communicating with the external device using the first transceiver,
(c) selecting, based on the monitoring result of the channel condition, a two transceiver using a frequency which is subject to interference less than the frequency of the first transceiver; and
(d) if the second transceiver is selected, shutting off power supply to the first transceiver
.
11. The method of claim 10,
The step (c)
Check one or more of received signal strength, packet error rate and signal-to-noise ratio through the first transceiver,
The received signal strength is below a predetermined threshold,
The packet error rate is above a predetermined threshold or
Selecting a second transceiver to replace the first transceiver when the signal to noise ratio is less than a predetermined threshold.
The method of claim 11,
The step (c) checks one or more of received signal strength, packet error rate and signal to noise ratio through the selected second transceiver, and selects the second transceiver if one or more is better than that of the first transceiver. .
The method of claim 11,
In the step (c), when the received signal strength is less than a predetermined threshold, first, a transceiver using a communication method having a long communication distance among the plurality of transceivers is first selected as the second transceiver.
11. The method of claim 10,
The step (c)
Checking the data rate and
If the data rate exceeds a predetermined threshold, selecting a transceiver using a communication method having a large data rate as the third transceiver from among the plurality of transceivers, and cutting off power supply of the first transceiver
.

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