KR20130067983A - Method for managing power of user equipment in mobile communication system supporting multiple mode - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A power management method of a user terminal in a mobile communication system supporting multiple modes is provided to reduce power by effectively managing a user terminal. CONSTITUTION: A GPS(Global Positioning System) communication mode receiving the location of a user terminal from a satellite is converted into an on mode(S205). The location of the user terminal is received by using the satellite. Cellular mobile communication based on the location of the user terminal and a map and the distance of the user terminal are displayed(S215). When the base station providing cellular mobile communication is existed, a base station searching mode is converted into the on mode(S220). The GPS communication mode is converted into the set initial mode. [Reference numerals] (AA) Start; (BB) End; (S200) Download a map; (S205) GPS communication ON; (S210) Base station searching OFF; (S215) Display the existence of a base station and a distance from a terminal; (S220) Base station searching ON & GPS communication OFF

Description

METHOD FOR MANAGING POWER OF USER EQUIPMENT IN MOBILE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM SUPPORTING MULTIPLE MODE}

The present invention relates to a mobile communication system, and more particularly, to a method for a user terminal to transmit and receive a signal at low power in a mobile communication system supporting multiple modes.

A user terminal such as a smart phone has enhanced performance and functions of a processor, a memory, an operating system, and a communication technology to improve user convenience. However, the development of battery technology, which determines the duration of use of a user terminal, which is complicated and has improved performance, is relatively slow, and has been pointed out as one of the biggest complaints of users.

In the existing mobile communication technology, even when the user terminal moves away from the base station or moves to an environment in which an error rate increases, the user terminal that wants to transmit and receive data continuously searches for the base station. In addition, even when the user terminal is located in an area where it is difficult to search for the base station, attempting to search the base station consumes unnecessary power. Rather, if the base station is not found, the user terminal further increases the transmit power. Therefore, when the user terminal moves to an area where there is little base station or an environmental factor such as fading or noise, the power consumption efficiency is very poor. In order for the user terminal to periodically search without prior information on the base station or to detect a signal transmitted from the base station, the communication module of the user terminal operates continuously.

Therefore, when the search of the base station is difficult, a method for efficiently managing power by the user terminal is required.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for efficiently managing a user terminal to save power in a mobile communication system supporting multiple modes.

Another technical problem of the present invention is to maximize the use of resources included in the user terminal and to minimize the unnecessary waste of power for the base station search.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method in which a communication mode of a user terminal is switched manually or automatically according to a surrounding base station environment.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a method for managing power by a user terminal in a wireless communication system includes downloading a map indicating a distribution of a base station from a server, and searching a base station capable of cellular mobile communication. Switching to the OFF mode; switching the GPS communication mode indicating the reception of the position of the user terminal from the satellite to the on mode; receiving the position of the user terminal using the satellite; Indicating whether there is a base station capable of cellular mobile communication and a distance from the user terminal based on the position of the user terminal; and if the base station capable of cellular mobile communication exists, switching the base station search mode to an ON mode. And switching the GPS communication mode to a preset initial mode. If the user terminal moves away from the nearest base station or the channel condition deteriorates and the nearest base station is not found, the period of receiving the position of the user terminal using the satellite is more than a preset period. Change it long.

According to the present invention, power consumption efficiency of a mobile communication terminal supporting multiple modes can be improved.

1 is a diagram showing a network configuration to which the present invention is applied.
2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method of managing power when transmitting and receiving a signal in a mobile communication system supporting multiple modes according to the present invention.
3 is a network diagram illustrating another example of a method of managing power when transmitting and receiving a signal in a mobile communication system supporting multiple modes.

Hereinafter, some embodiments will be described in detail with reference to exemplary drawings. In adding reference numerals to the components of each drawing, it should be noted that the same reference numerals are assigned to the same components as much as possible even though they are shown in different drawings. In the following description of the embodiments of the present invention, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present disclosure rather unclear.

In describing the components of the present specification, terms such as first, second, A, B, (a), and (b) may be used. These terms are intended to distinguish the constituent elements from other constituent elements, and the terms do not limit the nature, order or order of the constituent elements. If a component is described as being "connected", "coupled" or "connected" to another component, that component may be directly connected or connected to that other component, but there is another component between each component. It will be understood that may be "connected", "coupled" or "connected".

There are two methods for managing power savings of the user terminal (or mobile communication terminal) described in the present invention. There is a method (Example 1) using an external communication network and a method (Example 2) using an algorithm inside a user terminal.

First, it is possible to reduce the power of the user terminal by the method (External Approach) by the external communication network (Example 1). A user terminal of a mobile communication system supporting multiple modes includes various communication means by an external communication network. For example, there are cellular mobile communication, Wi-Fi (Wireless LANs), Bluetooth, Bluetooth (Frequency Modulation), and GPS (Global Positioning System). With the expansion of Wi-Fi zones, the development of mesh networks and mobile vehicle Wi-Fi, the use of Wi-Fi is expanding to the outdoors, and with the development of Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) technology, mobile communication devices such as cellular terminals are used instead of landline phones indoors. It is possible to use.

1 is a diagram showing a network configuration to which the present invention is applied.

Referring to FIG. 1, a network includes at least one user terminal, a base station, a satellite, and a wireless LAN access point (AP). The user terminal may support a multi-mode communication method, and may support GPS communication through satellites, cellular mobile communication through a base station, Wi-Fi communication using an AP, or peer-to-peer communication between a terminal and the terminal. The scope of the present invention is not limited to the above communication scheme.

In addition, the network may further comprise a server. The user terminal may previously receive information related to a location of a relay station such as a cellular base station or an AP from the server. For example, a base station map indicating the location of the base station can be downloaded. Smartphone users can download base station maps in advance from the iPhone's App Store or Android phones' Android Store.

As an example, in order to explain the configuration and operation of the present invention, a mobile terminal uses a cellular mobile communication method as a first communication means and uses GPS communication as a second communication means to improve power consumption. do. The present invention is not limited thereto, and the first communication means or the second communication means may be any one of GPS, cellular mobile communication, Wi-Fi communication, or P2P communication.

When the user terminal enters an area where the density of the base station is high (for example, a city center) and enters an area where the base station is low in density, that is, an area where the search of the base station is difficult, the user terminal stops searching for the base station. Or reduce the frequency of base station search.

If the user terminal cannot connect with the base station because the adjacent base station is not found, the user terminal switches the cellular mobile communication mode to the low power mode or cuts off the power supply of the cellular mobile communication module to reduce power consumption. At this time, the user terminal turns on the GPS communication module to receive current location information from the satellite and periodically calculates the distance to the adjacent base station based on the base station map previously stored in the user terminal.

Based on the calculation result, if it is determined that the distance between the user terminal and the base station is within a signal coverage range, the user terminal turns on the cellular mobile communication module and starts searching for the base station. At this time, the user terminal turns off the GPS communication module or switches to a preset initial mode.

Meanwhile, the base station map stored in advance in the user terminal is updated when the new base station is opened or the base station related information is updated and stored in the server, and the user terminal downloads the base station map to provide the change information of the base station, etc. I can receive it. For example, a method of updating a navigation map of a car may be applied. As new roads, buildings and names change, the navigation map provider updates this information and the user downloads and uses the updated map from time to time.

2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method of managing power when transmitting and receiving a signal in a mobile communication system supporting multiple modes according to the present invention. It uses cellular mobile communication and GPS communication.

Referring to FIG. 2, the terminal downloads a map indicating the distribution of the base station from the server in advance before performing communication (S200). This is because the location of the base station can be searched based on the base station map previously stored in the user terminal. When the service operator or the service provider uploads the base station map to the server, the user terminal may download it to the terminal in advance and store it in the memory.

The GPS communication mode indicating that the position of the user terminal is received from the satellite is switched to the on mode (S205). GPS communication is simpler than cellular mobile communication and consumes less power, thereby improving power consumption efficiency. If the cellular mobile communication with the base station is very good, the user terminal can switch the GPS communication mode to the off mode by itself.

If the user terminal is located in a range where cellular mobile communication is not possible with the base station as a result of periodically searching for the location of the user terminal through GPS communication, if cellular mobile communication is not possible, a base station capable of cellular mobile communication may be provided. The base station search mode instructing to search is switched to the off mode (S210). This is because continuously searching even when it is impossible to communicate with the base station is a big source of power waste. However, it is not limited to performing step S210 after step S205, and step S205 may be performed after step S210 is performed first.

The user terminal that does not search for a base station receives a base station continuously from the satellite (in a predetermined period), and the base station capable of cellular mobile communication located around the position of the user terminal based on the pre-downloaded map. It is determined whether there exists, and displays the distance between the base station to which the searched cellular movement can communicate and the user terminal (S215). Based on the base station map, the nearest neighboring candidate group is searched for from the location of the user terminal, and based on this, the user terminal may move to an area where cellular mobile communication is possible.

As an example, when the user terminal moves away from the nearest base station, the frequency of receiving the position of the user terminal from the satellite may be changed to be longer than a preset period to further improve power consumption efficiency.

When a base station capable of cellular mobile communication is found through GPS communication, the base station search mode is switched to an ON mode, and the GPS communication mode is switched to a preset initial mode (S220). The user terminal in which the base station search mode is switched to the on mode is connected to the base station after searching for the base station.

As another example, when the connection with the base station is unstable, the GPS communication mode may be maintained in an on mode to prepare for cellular cellular communication in advance.

3 is a network diagram illustrating another example of a method of managing power when transmitting and receiving a signal in a mobile communication system supporting multiple modes. It relates to power management when sending and receiving signals in a Wi-Fi AP network.

Referring to FIG. 3, the user terminal previously downloads an AP map uploaded by a service operator to a server. The AP map is a map representing the distribution of APs, similar to the base station map described above.

For example, when a user terminal performing Wi-Fi communication moves to a location where the AP is not detected, the user terminal searches for the location of the AP through GPS communication or cellular mobile communication, and determines whether the AP communication module is supplied with power or switched to low power mode. do.

As another example, a user terminal performing Wi-Fi communication may search for a base station to perform cellular mobile communication through the AP. As the number of cellular mobile communication base stations searchable by the user terminal increases, the accuracy of searching through the AP increases. This is because the common area of the signal arrival distances of the cellular mobile communication base stations is determined by the area where the mobile terminal is located.

AP1 is included in the signal coverage of base stations 1, 2 and 3, AP2 is included in the signal coverage of base stations 2 and 3, AP3 is included in the signal coverage of base stations 1 and 3, and AP4. Is included within the signal coverage of base station 1 and base station 2, AP5 is included within the signal coverage of base station 2, AP6 is included within the signal coverage of base station 3, and AP7 is included within the signal coverage of base station 1. In this case, it is assumed that the user terminal is closest to AP1.

If AP1 is unavailable (or does not exist), AP2, AP3 or AP4 is the AP closest to the user terminal. Then AP4, AP5 and AP6 are adjacent APs.

For example, if the user terminal can communicate with any one of AP1, AP2, AP3, or AP4, the user terminal may perform a search of the base station, or otherwise stop the search of the base station.

As another example, the user terminal may perform an operation of adjusting the search period of the base station as follows instead of determining whether to perform or stop the search of the base station. If there is an AP1 that can communicate with the user terminal, since the base station is likely to be searched, the search period of the base station is set to a relatively short period (P1). Similarly, if there is one of AP2, AP3 or AP4 that can communicate with the user terminal, the search period of the base station is set to a medium level period P2. If one of AP5, AP6, or AP7 that can communicate with the user terminal exists, the search period of the base station is set to a relatively long period (P3). If there is no AP that can communicate, the search period of the base station is set to the longest period P4 (or the search of the base station is stopped). That is, the search period of the base station is set to "P1 <P2 <P3 <P4".

Second, power of the user terminal may be reduced by using an internal algorithm of the user terminal (Example 2).

For example, if the base station is not searched for a predetermined time (or number of searches) at the user terminal, the user terminal may increase the base station search period by itself to reduce power consumption. In addition, when the base station is not searched for a predetermined time in the user terminal, the user terminal may end the search and switch to the low power state, or may stop the power supply and switch to the standby state.

As another example, when the user terminal moves out of the signal coverage provided by the base station of the communication mode currently in use, the user terminal switches to a communication mode supporting a longer distance connection. For example, when the user terminal in the Wi-Fi mode moves out of the signal coverage provided by the AP, the user terminal may switch to the GPS communication mode or the cellular communication mode. As such, when the communication mode of the user terminal is switched, the communication module of the previously used communication mode is switched to the low power mode or the power supply is stopped. The user terminal is connected to the base station in the switched new communication mode and transmits and receives.

At this time, the communication mode for a longer distance connection may be a communication mode using a separate low frequency communication, and uses a transmission frequency determined by a protocol between the base station and the user terminal. For example, the user terminal of the mobile communication mode using the 2 GHz band frequency switches to the communication mode of the 700 MHz band frequency at the edge of the signal range of the base station to continuously communicate with the base station.

The above description is merely illustrative of the technical idea of the present invention, and those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains may make various modifications and changes without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention are intended to illustrate rather than limit the scope of the present invention, and the scope of the technical idea of the present invention is not limited by these embodiments. The protection scope of the present invention should be interpreted by the following claims, and all technical ideas within the equivalent scope should be interpreted as being included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims (1)

In a method for managing power by a user terminal in a wireless communication system,
Downloading a map indicating a distribution of base stations from a server;
Switching a base station search mode to an OFF mode indicative of searching for a base station capable of cellular mobile communication;
Switching a GPS communication mode to an on mode indicative of receiving a location of a user terminal from a satellite;
Receiving a location of the user terminal using the satellite and displaying whether there is a base station capable of cellular mobile communication and a distance from the user terminal based on the map and the location of the user terminal;
Switching the base station search mode to an on mode if the base station capable of cellular mobile communication exists, and switching the GPS communication mode to a preset initial mode;
When the user terminal moves away from the nearest base station or the channel condition is deteriorated and the nearest base station cannot be searched, the period for receiving the position of the user terminal using the satellite is greater than a preset period. The power management method of the user terminal, characterized in that the longer change.

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