WO2010090179A1 - Communication system, information collection control apparatus, information collection control program, and information measurement control method - Google Patents

Abstract

A communication system servicing mobile terminals by means of a wireless communication network and provided with a network monitoring apparatus monitoring the communication quality of an entire area and a terminal information collection apparatus suppressing, according to the communication quality of the entire area, the propagation environment quality measurements, which are carried out by the mobile terminals in the area. With this configuration, the measurement load in the mobile terminals can be changed according to the communication quality of the entire area. For example, by forbidding mobile terminals from carrying out quality measurement operations according to the communication quality of the entire area, the measurement load of the mobile terminals can be reduced.

Description

COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, INFORMATION COLLECTION CONTROL DEVICE, INFORMATION COLLECTION CONTROL PROGRAM, AND INFORMATION MEASUREMENT CONTROL METHOD

The present invention relates to a communication system using a wireless communication network, and more particularly to a communication system that collects propagation environment quality from mobile terminals.

In a wireless communication network, it is common to store call processing logs in network-side equipment and use the log information for quality monitoring. As an example, in a radio base station controller of a mobile communication network based on the specifications of 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Program), quality information such as the number of radio access bearer establishment / handover attempts per unit time or the number of failures thereof Is measured and recorded for each wireless cell (see Non-Patent Document 1). Further, when a failure occurs in the radio base station or the radio base station control device, a failure detection mechanism incorporated in hardware or software of each facility outputs facility operation information. The network administrator performs comprehensive quality monitoring and failure monitoring by referring to the quality information, facility operation information, and the like collected from individual facilities by the network monitoring system.

In addition, information that is difficult to obtain from the network side equipment such as wireless quality distribution in the area and user distribution is collected by transmission on the user plane from the mobile terminal used by the user to monitor the quality of the wireless communication network. The technology used for the is also known. Examples of this type of technology include Device Management (DM), which is being standardized by Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) (see Non-Patent Document 2).

On the other hand, when collecting information (hereinafter referred to as propagation environment quality) such as communication quality and radio quality between the mobile terminal and the upper station, information measurement load on the mobile terminal becomes an issue. That is, if radio quality, communication quality, location information, and the like are frequently measured at the mobile terminal, the measurement load at the mobile terminal increases, leading to a reduction in the battery duration of the mobile terminal. Therefore, it is important to efficiently collect information from the mobile terminal and reduce the measurement load on the mobile terminal.

As a technique for reducing the measurement load in this mobile terminal, a technique for performing measurement in the mobile terminal only when a specific event or condition is satisfied has been proposed. For example, in Japanese Patent No. 3588056, the measurement frequency is reduced by setting the timing for measuring information to be out of the service area or when communication is abnormal (see Patent Document 1). In Japanese Patent No. 3590595, the measurement frequency is reduced by notifying the mobile terminal of information measurement start conditions and performing measurement only when the mobile terminal exists at a specific time or position (patent) Reference 2).

Japanese Patent No. 3588056 Japanese Patent No. 3590595

The communication quality measured by the mobile terminal may be deteriorated due to the operating state of the network side equipment as well as the case depending on the radio wave propagation environment around the mobile terminal.

In areas where quality degradation is caused by network-side equipment, such as planned outages or failures of network-side equipment, traffic congestion, etc., the cause can be identified by the monitoring information of the network-side equipment. Even in such a case, in a system that performs quality measurement in a mobile terminal, the measurement load on the mobile terminal increases due to unnecessary measurement.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to reduce a measurement load of propagation environment quality in a mobile terminal in a wireless communication system that collects propagation environment quality from the mobile terminal.

A communication system according to the present invention accommodates a mobile terminal via a wireless communication network and monitors a communication quality of the entire area and a propagation performed by the mobile terminal in the area according to the communication quality of the entire area. And an information collection control device that suppresses measurement of environmental quality. With such a configuration, the measurement load in the mobile terminal according to the present invention can be changed according to the communication quality of the entire area. For example, the measurement load on the mobile terminal can be reduced by prohibiting the quality measurement operation by the mobile terminal according to the communication quality of the entire area.

The information collection control device according to the present invention is installed in a communication system that accommodates mobile terminals via a wireless communication network. The information collection control device includes information acquisition means for acquiring the communication quality of the entire area, and information collection control means for suppressing the measurement of the propagation environment quality performed at the mobile terminal in the area according to the communication quality of the entire area. It has.

The information collection control device can be realized by causing a computer to execute an information collection control program.

The mobile terminal in the present invention is accommodated via a wireless communication network, and includes a position specifying means for detecting its own position and a quality measuring means for measuring the quality of the propagation environment between the upper stations. The quality measuring means is set to a measurement suppression mode in which the measurement of executable propagation environment quality is suppressed when the self-position is included in the area set according to the communication quality of the entire area.

The information measurement control method according to the present invention is a method for controlling the measurement of propagation environment quality performed by a mobile terminal accommodated in a wireless communication network. The information measurement control method according to the present invention includes the steps of acquiring communication quality of the entire area, and suppressing the measurement of propagation environment quality performed at mobile terminals in the area according to the communication quality of the entire area. . ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, in the radio | wireless communications system which collects propagation environment quality from a mobile terminal, the measurement load of propagation environment quality in a mobile terminal can be reduced.

The objects, effects, and features of the present invention will become more apparent from the description of the embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a communication system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the mobile terminal according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the terminal information collecting apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of facility operation information according to the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the quality information according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the terminal information collecting apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a terminal information collection instruction by the information collection control unit according to the present invention. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of area classification by the information collection control unit according to the present invention. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of the wireless quality information collected from the mobile terminal. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of communication quality information collected from a mobile terminal. FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the communication system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of claim information according to the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of a communication system according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following embodiment, a communication system using a mobile communication network based on a cellular system will be described as an example. The present invention is not limited to a cellular mobile communication network, but may be applied to other wireless communication networks such as a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) network or a WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) network. Is possible.

1. First Embodiment A configuration of a communication system according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a communication system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the communication system in the first embodiment includes radio base stations 20 and 21, mobile terminals 30 to 32, radio base station controller 50, mobile communication core network 70, network monitoring system 80 (network monitoring system). Device) and a terminal information collection device 100 (information collection control device).

The radio base station 20 uses the radio cell 10 as a communication service providing range, and accommodates the mobile terminal 30 in the radio cell 10 via the radio link 40, for example. The radio base station 21 uses the radio cell 11 as a communication service providing range, and accommodates mobile terminals 31 and 32 in the radio cell 11 via radio links 41 and 42, for example. The radio base stations 20 and 21 are connected to the mobile communication core network 70 via the radio base station control device 50. Thereby, the mobile terminals 30, 31, 32 in the radio cells 10, 11 are accommodated in the mobile communication core network 70 and other telephones (not shown) connected between them or connected to the mobile communication core network 70. Communication connection is established.

The radio base station control device 50 is connected to the subordinate radio base stations 20 and 21 via the wired links 60 and 61, and is connected to the upper mobile communication core network 70 via the wired link 62. The radio base station control device 50 transmits and receives communication traffic and control traffic between the radio base stations 20 and 21 and the mobile communication core network 70. At this time, the radio base station controller 50 records quality information based on the statistical information of call processing for each radio cell (for each radio base station). For example, when the mobile communication core network 70 has a 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Program) specification, the radio base station control device 50 performs the number of trials such as establishment of radio access bearers and handovers per unit time as in the prior art. Alternatively, quality information such as the number of failures is measured and recorded for each radio cell.

The network monitoring system 80 is connected to the radio base station controller 50 via the wired link 63, and monitors the operating status of the radio base station controller 50 and the subordinate radio base stations 20 and 21. Specifically, the network monitoring system 80 collects and manages the operation status of the network-side equipment exemplified by information on the failure of the radio base stations 20 and 21 and traffic congestion, information on the presence or absence of planned stoppage, and the like as equipment operation information. To do. The network monitoring system 80 collects quality information for each radio cell (for each radio base station) stored in the radio base station control device 50 and monitors the communication quality for each radio cell.

The mobile terminals 30 to 32 are radio communication terminals accommodated in the mobile communication core network 70 by being connected to the radio base stations 20 and 21 via radio links. The mobile terminals 30 to 32 can move between the radio cells 10 and 11 or between other radio cells (not shown), and are connected to a radio base station that provides a radio cell with high radio field intensity. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the mobile terminal 30 according to the present invention. With reference to FIG. 2, the structure of the mobile terminal 30 is demonstrated. Since the mobile terminals 31 and 32 have the same configuration as the mobile terminal 30, description thereof is omitted.

The mobile terminal 30 includes a control information acquisition unit 3001, a position specification unit 3002, a quality measurement unit 3003, a terminal information storage unit 3004, and a transmission unit 3005. The control information acquisition unit 3001, the position specifying unit 3002, the quality measurement unit 3003, the terminal information storage unit 3004, and the transmission unit 3005 are each executed by a computer and realized by a program (software) stored in a storage device. It may be realized by hardware or a combination of software and hardware.

The control information acquisition unit 3001 acquires a control signal or control information for determining whether or not to measure a propagation environment quality, which will be described later, via the wireless link 40. Here, the control information includes, for example, area information for specifying an area for suppressing the measurement of propagation environment quality performed in the mobile terminal 30 and an area permitted for the measurement.

The position specifying unit 3002 specifies its current position (self position). The position specifying unit 3002 preferably measures the current position simultaneously with measuring the propagation environment quality. As the position specifying unit 3002 (positioning function), a device that uses GPS (Global Positioning System), a device that estimates its own position from arrival time differences of incoming radio waves from a plurality of radio base stations, and the like can be suitably used. Alternatively, in the case of a mobile communication network based on the 3GPP specification, the location of each mobile station is determined by using a scramble code, a location area code, and a routing area code that are broadcast in a radio cell by a broadcast channel (BCH). You may specify.

The quality measuring unit 3003 measures radio quality and communication quality with the radio base station 20 (upper station). Examples of the radio quality measured by the quality measuring unit 3003 include a received signal strength (Received Signal Strength Indicator: RSSI) and a signal-to-interference ratio (Signal to Interference Ratio; SIR). The communication quality measured by the quality measuring unit 3003 includes, for example, the number of communications, the number of successful communications (or failures), and the average packet throughput. Hereinafter, the wireless quality and communication quality measured by the quality measurement unit 3003 are collectively referred to as propagation environment quality. The propagation environment quality may indicate one of radio quality and communication quality.

The quality measurement unit 3003 is set in a measurement permission mode in which the propagation environment quality can be measured or a measurement suppression mode in which the measurement is suppressed, according to a control signal or control information from the control information acquisition unit 3001. Specifically, the quality measurement unit 3003 switches between the measurement permission mode and the measurement suppression mode according to the control signal (mode switching signal) received via the wireless link 40. Here, the mode switching signal is issued from the radio base station control device 50 or the radio base station 20 in accordance with the area information output from the terminal information collection device 100 described later.

Alternatively, the quality measurement unit 3003 may be switched between the measurement permission mode and the measurement suppression mode based on area information indicating an area for suppressing the measurement of the propagation environment quality and the detection of the measurement position. At this time, the quality measuring unit 3003 acquires the current position by controlling the position specifying unit 3002, and determines whether or not the terminal itself exists in the area specified by the area information. When the mobile terminal 30 is in the measurement suppression area, the quality measurement unit 3003 is set in the measurement suppression mode, and the measurement of the propagation environment quality is suppressed until the mobile terminal 30 is out of the measurement suppression area for a predetermined period. Here, suppression of propagation environment quality measurement means, for example, that measurement of some or all of the measurement items among the measurement of propagation environment quality that can be performed in the mobile terminal 30 is prohibited, or It shows that it changes so that the execution frequency (for example, execution period) of a measurement may become small. On the other hand, when the mobile terminal 30 is outside the measurement suppression area or in the measurable area, the quality measurement unit 3003 is set to the measurement permission mode and propagates with the radio base station 20 at a predetermined period or a predetermined time. Measure environmental quality. In this case, the mobile terminal 30 can execute all the measurement items of the propagation environment quality that can be executed. The executable propagation environment quality measurement item may be set in advance, or may be set from the terminal information collection device 100 at an arbitrary time.

The measured propagation environment quality is recorded in the terminal information storage unit 3004 in association with the measurement time. At this time, the measured propagation environment quality is preferably recorded in the terminal information storage unit 3004 in association with the self-position at the time of the measurement.

The transmitting unit 3005 transmits the measured propagation environment quality as terminal information to the terminal information collecting apparatus 100 in response to a predetermined cycle or a request from the terminal information collecting apparatus 100. The transmission of terminal information may be performed every time the propagation environment quality is measured, or may be performed at a predetermined cycle or time. In the latter case, the measurement results recorded in the terminal information storage device 3004 are transmitted together.

Further, the transmission unit 3005 is set to a transmission permission mode in which transmission of propagation environment quality is possible or a transmission suppression mode in which the transmission is suppressed in accordance with a control signal or control information from the control information acquisition unit 3001. Also good. Specifically, the transmission unit 3005 switches between the transmission permission mode and the transmission suppression mode according to the mode switching signal received via the wireless link 40. Alternatively, the transmission unit 3005 may be switched between a transmission permission mode and a transmission suppression mode based on area information indicating an area for suppressing transmission of propagation environment quality. When the mobile terminal 30 is in the transmission suppression area, the transmission unit 3005 is set to the transmission suppression mode, and does not transmit the propagation environment quality until the mobile terminal 30 leaves the transmission suppression area for a predetermined period. On the other hand, when the mobile terminal 30 is outside the transmission suppression area or in the transmittable area, the transmission unit 3005 is set to the transmission permission mode. In this case, the propagation environment quality measured according to a predetermined period or time is transmitted to the terminal information collection device 100.

The measurement and transmission of the propagation environment quality and the measurement position in the mobile terminal 30 may be performed at a predetermined cycle, or may be performed according to a predetermined event such as a call start, a call end, or a handover, or the terminal information control apparatus 100 Alternatively, it may be performed in accordance with an instruction from the radio base station controller 50.

In the present invention, the measurement of the propagation environment quality in the mobile terminals 30 to 32, the position measurement at the time of measurement, and the transmission of the terminal information (propagation environment quality, etc.) are controlled by the terminal information collection device 100. Hereinafter, a mode in which the measurement and transmission of propagation environment quality information are controlled simultaneously will be described as an example, but only one of them may be controlled.

The terminal information collection device 100 is connected to the mobile communication core network 70 (or the wireless base station control device 50 or an external network not shown) via the wired link 64, and the propagation environment quality (wireless quality or communication quality), position information, etc. Are collected from the mobile terminals 30-32.

Details of the configuration of the terminal information collection device 100 in the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the terminal information collecting apparatus 100 according to the present invention. The terminal information collection apparatus 100 includes a facility operation information acquisition unit 1001, a quality information acquisition unit 1002, an area classification unit 1003, an information collection control unit 1004, a terminal information collection unit 1005, and a terminal information storage unit 1006. The facility operation information acquisition unit 1001, the quality information acquisition unit 1002, the area classification unit 1003, the information collection control unit 1004, and the terminal information collection unit 1005 are each realized by a program (software) executed by a computer and stored in a storage device. Alternatively, it may be realized by hardware or a combination of software and hardware. The terminal information storage unit 1006 is realized by a storage device exemplified by a hard disk or a portable recording medium.

The facility operation information acquisition unit 1001 acquires the facility operation information 200 from the network monitoring system 80 via the wired link 65. FIG. 4 shows an example of the facility operation information 200. Referring to FIG. 4, facility operation information 200 includes date and time 201, facility identifier 202, operation state 203, and operation state detailed information 204. The equipment identifier 202 is an identifier that identifies a network-side equipment (eg, a radio base station). The date and time 201 indicates the date and time when the operating state of the network side equipment specified by the equipment identifier 202 has changed. The operation state 203 is information indicating the operation state of the network side equipment after the date and time 201. For example, the operation state 203 includes information indicating whether the network side equipment is operating such as normal operation, planned stoppage, traffic congestion, or failure. The detailed information 204 on the operating state includes information such as the reason when the network side equipment is not operating (for example, the failure location and the reason for failure), the reason for the planned stoppage, and the period. The network administrator may confirm the details of the operating state of the network side equipment by referring to the operating state detailed information 204, and may correct the operating state 203 as necessary. Further, “determination of whether or not the network-side equipment is operating normally”, which will be described later, may be performed with reference to only the operating state 203. For this reason, the operation state detailed information 204 may not be included in the facility operation information 200. Furthermore, the network side equipment does not necessarily have to be a radio base station, and may be a radio base station control device, a device on the mobile communication core network side, a relay line, or a component of those devices.

The facility operation information acquisition unit 1001 analyzes the acquired facility operation information 200 and determines whether or not the network side facility is operating normally. The determination result is output to the area classification unit 1003. For example, the radio base stations A and E operate normally (normal operation), the radio base station B stops planned (non-operation), the radio base station C traffic congestion (abnormal), and the radio base station D fails (non-operation) ) Is output to the area classification unit 1003 as a determination result.

The quality information acquisition unit 1002 acquires the quality information 210 for each network-side facility (for example, for each wireless cell) from the network monitoring system 80 via the wired link 65. An example of the quality information 210 is shown in FIG. Referring to FIG. 5, quality information 210 includes date and time 205, equipment identifier 202, quality state 211, and quality state detailed information 212. The network monitoring system 80 acquires the communication quality for each radio cell from the radio base station controller 50 at a predetermined date and time or at a predetermined cycle. The date and time 205 included in the quality information 210 indicates the date and time when the radio base station controller 50 measured the communication quality of the radio cell belonging to (accommodating) the network side equipment specified by the equipment identifier 202. The quality state 211 is information indicating the communication quality acquired in the network monitoring system 80 or the analysis result thereof. For example, the quality state is information indicating whether or not the statistical communication quality in the radio cell is normal (abnormal). Alternatively, the quality state acquisition unit 1002 may acquire quality statistics values such as a call loss rate and a handover success rate in the radio cell from the network monitoring system 80 as the quality state 211. If the quality state 212 is abnormal, the detailed quality state information 212 includes details indicating the details, that is, what kind of call processing is abnormal. For example, the quality information acquisition unit 1002 acquires an increase in the call loss rate, an increase in the handover failure rate, an increase in the abnormal completion rate, etc. from the network monitoring system 80 as the quality state detailed information 212.

The quality information acquisition unit 1002 outputs information (quality state 211) indicating whether or not the communication quality for each radio cell is normal based on the acquired quality information 210 to the area classification unit 1003. Here, when the quality state 211 acquired by the quality information acquisition unit 1002 from the network monitoring system 80 is a quality statistical value for each wireless cell, the quality information acquisition unit 1002 indicates that the communication quality of the wireless cell is normal from the quality state 211. It may be determined whether or not there is, and the determination result may be output to the area classification unit 1003.

The area classification unit 1003 classifies the service area of the mobile communication network into an area where quality degradation has occurred due to a failure of the network side equipment or a planned stoppage, and another area. The area classified here may be composed of one radio cell or a plurality of radio cells. The size of the area is preferably set in advance.

The area classification unit 1003 refers to the acquired quality state 211, and when all the radio cells constituting the area are normal, the area classification unit 1003 classifies the area as a normal area where quality degradation has not occurred, and the quality state 211 is abnormal. Is classified as an abnormal area where communication quality has deteriorated. The area classification unit 1003 refers to the operation status of the network side equipment acquired from the equipment operation information acquisition unit 1001 and verifies whether the cause of quality degradation in the abnormal area is in the network side equipment (for example, a radio base station). . As a result, when the cause of deterioration is in the network side equipment, the area is classified as an abnormal area caused by the network side equipment separately from other abnormal areas. Information regarding areas classified according to the presence or absence of communication quality deterioration and the cause of deterioration is preferably recorded in a storage device (not shown). This information is preferably output so as to be visible on a display device (not shown).

The terminal information collection unit 1005 collects terminal information such as propagation environment quality (wireless quality and communication quality) and position information from the mobile terminals 30 to 32 via the wired link 64. The collected terminal information is recorded in the terminal information storage unit 1006. By using the terminal information recorded in the terminal information storage unit 1006, it is possible to map a location with good or deteriorated wireless quality or communication quality on a map. By utilizing this, it is possible to analyze a non-communication area and its cause in the communication system.

The information collection control unit 1004 determines the mobile terminal that provides the terminal information (propagation environment quality in the mobile terminal), the content of the terminal information to be collected, or the measurement frequency of the terminal information. Specifically, the information collection control unit 1004 determines whether to collect terminal information for each area classified by the area classification unit 1003, determines whether to permit measurement of terminal information, or sets terminal information to be collected (measured). Determine the content. For example, the information collection control unit 1004 suppresses collection (measurement) of terminal information from mobile terminals in an abnormal area caused by network side equipment, and collects terminal information from mobile terminals in other abnormal areas ( The radio base station controller 50 is controlled so as to permit the measurement). Further, the information collection control unit 1004 may control the radio base station control apparatus 50 so as to suppress collection (measurement) of terminal information from mobile terminals in a normal area.

The radio base station control device 50 permits the mobile terminal in the area permitted to be collected by the terminal information collection device 100 to measure the terminal information and collects the terminal information from the mobile terminal. Also, the radio base station control device 50 controls the radio base stations 20 and 21 so as to suppress the terminal information measurement operation for some or all mobile terminals in the area instructed to suppress information collection. At this time, the radio base station control device 50 manages information (for example, position coordinates and area code) that specifies a measurement suppression area that suppresses measurement of terminal information and a measurement permission area that permits measurement of terminal information. Output to the radio base stations 20 and 21.

The terminal information collecting operation in the first embodiment of the communication system according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the terminal information collecting apparatus 100 in the first embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 6, terminal information collection apparatus 100 acquires quality information for each area by quality information acquisition section 1002 (step S1), and determines whether or not quality degradation has occurred for each area (step S2). ). The minimum unit of the area is one radio cell, but the area may be divided by using a plurality of radio cells as one unit, or all radio cells under the radio base station control apparatus may be collectively handled as one area.

The information collection control unit 1004 suppresses the measurement of terminal information and the collection of information from the mobile terminal in the mobile terminal existing in the normal area where it is determined that no quality degradation has occurred (steps S2 No and S6). Here, the suppression of information collection from mobile terminals is performed by a method of limiting mobile terminals that collect (measure) terminal information to a part of mobile terminals among mobile terminals that exist in the area, and information that is collected (measured). A method for limiting to some information, a method for controlling not to collect any information (measurement) from all mobile terminals belonging to the area, a method for controlling to reduce the frequency of information collection (measurement), etc. Either of these can be employed.

As a method of limiting the collection target of terminal information (permitted measurement target) to some mobile terminals, select at random, limit to specific model terminals, communication service contract type (corporate user or individual user, specific service contract) Limitation by the user). For example, in the case of a mobile communication network based on the 3GPP specifications, these must be realized by linking with devices on the core network side such as HLR (Home Location Register) and VLR (Visitor Location Register) that have a subscriber information management function. Can do.

On the other hand, when it is determined as an abnormal area in which quality degradation has occurred, the equipment operation information acquisition unit 1001 acquires the equipment operation information from the network monitoring system 80 (steps S2 Yes, S3), the network side equipment failure, planned stoppage, etc. Then, it is determined whether or not the quality deterioration is caused by the network side equipment (step S4). When the operation status of the network-side equipment in the area is normal, that is, when the cause of quality deterioration is not in the network-side equipment, the information collection control unit 1004 collects terminal information for mobile terminals existing in the area. Instruct (permit) (steps S4 No, S5). In addition, when the cause of the quality degradation is a failure of the network side equipment or a planned stoppage, the information collection control unit 1004 suppresses information collection from the mobile terminals existing in the area and measurement of terminal information (steps S4 Yes, S6). .

With reference to FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, the case where the equipment operation information acquisition unit 1001 and the quality information acquisition unit 1002 acquire the equipment operation information 200 and the quality information 210 shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. Details of the information collection control operation will be described. In the area classification unit 1003, as shown in FIG. 7, a terminal collection category 221 is set for each radio base station. Here, the collection of terminal information from the radio cell of the radio base station E in which the quality state is abnormal although the network side equipment is operating normally is permitted, and the measurement of the terminal information in the mobile terminal is permitted. Collection and measurement of terminal information from radio cells other than those (radio base stations A to D) are suppressed. Here, as shown in FIG. 8, the radio cell of the radio base station A is the area a, the radio cell of the radio base station B is the area b, the radio cells of the radio base stations C and D are the area c, and the radio base station E If the wireless cell is area d, only area d is classified as an area for collecting terminal information (measurement permission area), and the other areas a to c are classified as areas for suppressing terminal collection (measurement suppression area). . Here, as shown in FIG. 8, the area classification unit 1003 records the area classification date and time 206, the equipment identifier 202, the area identifier 231, and the area classification 232 (collection classification (suppression or permission) for each area) in association with each other. It is preferable to do.

Next, the details of the terminal information collection control method will be described. As a specific information collection control method, area information indicating an area (measurement suppression area) in which quality degradation is predicted due to a network side equipment failure or planned stoppage is distributed from the information collection control unit 1004 to the mobile terminal. Another example is a method of suppressing information collection (measurement or transmission of propagation environment information) when a mobile terminal enters the area.

Distribution of area information indicating an area in which quality degradation is predicted (measurement suppression area) is acquired by a mobile terminal accessing the terminal information collection device 100 via a mobile communication network, and the terminal information collection device 100 is a radio base station. A mode of broadcasting in the radio cells 10 and 11 via 20, 21 and also including radio cells (not shown) around the radio cells 10 and 11 via radio base stations (not shown) around the radio base stations 20 and 21 A form of broadcasting is conceivable. For example, a dominant area of a radio base station during normal operation of the network, that is, an area where the radio wave from the radio base station is most strongly received is estimated by a radio wave propagation simulator as a radio cell area corresponding to the radio base station in advance. Set. For example, when a failure of the radio base station occurs, the terminal information collection device 100 distributes the radio cell area as a measurement suppression area to the mobile terminal.

For example, when the radio base station 20 stops, in the dominant area (radio cell 10) of the radio base station 20, the radio base station 20 is connected to a radio base station 21 different from the radio base station 20 to be originally connected to perform radio communication. There is a high possibility that In this case, there is a high possibility that the communication quality in the mobile terminal 30 is deteriorated due to unstable radio wave quality. When the mobile terminal 30 has a positioning function, it can be determined whether or not the own terminal is present in the measurement suppression area, and information collection control (stopping or execution of measurement operation or transmission operation) is performed based on the determination result. Can do. In addition, when an abnormality occurs in the device on the mobile communication core network 70 side, communication may become unstable even if the dependent radio base stations 50 and 51 are operating normally. In this case, the mobile terminals 30 to 32 can identify the radio base stations 20 and 21 using the scrambling code, the location area code, and the routing area code, and suppress information collection (measurement and transmission).

The mobile terminals 30 to 32 detect their own positions by using GPS, estimating due to arrival time differences of incoming radio waves from a plurality of radio base stations, and determining whether they are within the measurement suppression area. Also, when using a mobile communication network based on the 3GPP specifications, it uses the Scramble Code, Location Area Code, and Routing Area Code that are broadcast in the radio cell by the broadcast channel (BCH), and is the measurement suppression area. You may determine whether it is in. Furthermore, the terminal information collection device 100 distributes only the position of the radio base station where the failure has occurred or the radio base station where the planned stoppage is scheduled to the mobile terminal, not the information on the measurement suppression area or the measurement permission area. May be. In this case, the mobile terminals 30 to 32 obtain the distance between the position of the radio base station and the position of the own terminal, and suppress information collection (measurement or transmission) when the distance is within a certain value. Thereby, the terminal information collection process of the mobile terminal located in the measurement suppression area can be suppressed.

Next, specific examples of terminal information collected from mobile terminals are shown in FIGS. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of the radio quality information 240 collected from the mobile terminal. The mobile terminals 30 to 32 in the measurement permission area measure the current position 242, the received signal strength (Received Signal Strength Indicator: RSSI) 243, the signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) 244, and the measurement result and The date / time 207 when the measurement is performed and the terminal identifier 241 for identifying itself are associated with each other and transmitted as the wireless quality information 240 to the terminal information collecting apparatus 100. The mobile terminals 30 to 32 transmit the radio quality information 240 according to a predetermined time or a predetermined cycle, or according to a user operation, or the terminal information collection device 100 or the radio base station control device You may transmit according to the request | requirement from 50.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the communication quality information 250 collected from the mobile terminal. The mobile terminals 30 to 32 in the measurement permission area measure the communication count 252, the communication success (or failure) count 253, and the packet average throughput 254, and the measurement result is the date and time 208 when the measurement is performed, the scramble code 251, and itself. Is transmitted to the terminal information collecting apparatus 100 as the communication quality information 250 in association with the terminal identifier 241 for identifying. The mobile terminals 30 to 32 transmit the communication quality information 250 according to a predetermined time or a predetermined period, or according to a user operation, or the terminal information collection device 100 or the radio base station control device 50. You may transmit according to the request | requirement from.

The radio quality information 240 and communication quality information 250 measured in the mobile terminals 30 to 32 are used to identify the cause of quality degradation that cannot be identified from the monitoring information of the network side equipment of the radio communication network. It is possible to utilize for.

As described above, according to the present invention, an area where quality degradation is caused by network-side equipment such as a network-side equipment failure or planned outage, or terminal information is measured without quality degradation. It is possible to reduce the measurement load on the mobile terminal by suppressing information collection from the mobile terminal existing in a normal area that is not necessary.

2. Second Embodiment A configuration of a communication system according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the communication system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the drawings, the same reference numerals as those in the first embodiment denote the same, similar, or equivalent components, and the detailed description thereof will be omitted. The second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that complaint information from the end user is used as quality information of the wireless communication network. In the following, the communication system in the second embodiment will be described with respect to the configuration and operation different from those in the first embodiment.

The communication system in the second embodiment has a configuration in which a complaint management device 90 is added to the communication system shown in FIG. The claim monitoring device 90 is connected to the terminal information collection device 100 and the network monitoring system 80 via a wired link 65. The complaint monitoring device 90 collects complaints from end users and totals the number of complaints generated and the contents of complaints for each network-side facility. The aggregation result is transmitted to the terminal information collection device 100.

Claims can be collected from the user by means of a call center, a dedicated WEB page, SMS (Short Message Service) or the like. The complaint collected includes information such as the date and time of occurrence of quality degradation, location (address, latitude / longitude, etc.), radio wave condition (number of antennas, etc.), content of quality degradation (disconnected during call, one-way call, call unavailable, etc.) be able to.

In addition, the dominant area (wireless cell) of the radio base station during normal operation of the network, that is, the area where the radio wave from the radio base station is most strongly received is obtained by a radio wave propagation simulator or field measurement, and is included in the dominant area. By associating the claims with the radio base station, the number of complaints generated for each radio base station can be tabulated. As a simpler method, the number of complaints generated for each radio base station may be totaled by associating the complaint with the radio base station closest to the place where the complaint occurs.

The quality information acquisition unit 1002 in the terminal information collection device 100 receives the complaint information related to communication quality from the complaint management device 90, and displays the complaint occurrence status (contents of complaints and the number of complaints generated) for each area at a predetermined date and time 209 or at a predetermined cycle. Aggregation is performed to determine whether or not the area has quality degradation. For example, as shown in FIG. 12, the complaint information regarding communication quality is classified for each radio base station, and it is determined whether the quality state 211 is normal or abnormal based on the number of complaints generated for each radio base station. For example, the quality information acquisition unit 1002 sets a predetermined threshold for the number of complaint occurrences 261, and determines that the quality state 211 is abnormal when the threshold is exceeded.

Next, the terminal information collection operation in the second embodiment will be described. In the second embodiment, the quality information for each area acquired in step S1 shown in FIG. 6 is different from that in the first embodiment. Specifically, in the first embodiment, quality degradation for each area is determined based on call processing statistical information collected from the radio base station control device 50, whereas in the second embodiment, the claim management device Judgment is made based on the complaint information held by the end user 90. That is, as described above, when many claims are generated, it is determined that quality degradation has occurred. Other operations are the same as those in the first embodiment, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted.

In the communication system according to the second embodiment, since the complaint information from the end user is used as the quality information of the wireless communication network, the measurement is performed even in the case where the mobile terminal is deteriorated in quality so that the signs on the network-side equipment do not appear easily. It is possible to efficiently collect terminal information while suppressing the load.

As described above, in the communication system according to the present invention, when the cause of the deterioration of the communication quality of the entire area is the network side equipment, the measurement at the mobile terminal is suppressed by suppressing the information collection from the mobile terminal existing in the area. The load can be reduced. Moreover, the measurement load on the mobile terminal can be further reduced by suppressing information collection from the mobile terminal existing in a normal area where the communication quality of the entire area is not degraded. Whether the communication quality of the entire area is deteriorated may use the communication quality exemplified in the call loss rate or the like for each network side equipment, or may use the complaint status from the end user.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, but the specific configuration is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and changes within a scope not departing from the gist of the present invention are included in the present invention. . The configuration of the mobile communication network shown in FIG. 1 is an example, and another configuration, for example, a form in which a part of a wired link is replaced with a wireless link may be used.

The mobile terminal according to the present invention may normally measure and transmit terminal information (propagation environment quality) at a predetermined time or cycle, and stop the measurement and transmission under control from the terminal information collection device 100. For example, when the mobile terminal is outside the measurement suppression area, the terminal information is periodically measured and transmitted as a default, and when entering the measurement suppression area, the measurement operation is stopped. Or the mobile terminal which concerns on this invention may perform the said measurement and transmission by control from the terminal information collection apparatus 100 normally, without measuring and transmitting terminal information by predetermined time or a period. For example, when the mobile terminal is outside the measurement permission area, the terminal information is not periodically measured and transmitted as a default, and when entering the measurement permission area, the periodic measurement and transmission operation is started. When the above-described method is applied, the terminal information collection device 100 only needs to notify either the measurement permission area or the measurement suppression area, so that the processing load for performing terminal information collection control is reduced.

In the above-described embodiment, the terminal information collection apparatus 100 determines whether or not the mobile terminal 30 can measure, but the mobile terminal 30 may make the determination. In this case, the mobile terminal 30 accesses the terminal information collection device 100, acquires the network side facility operation information and quality information of the area corresponding to its own location as control information, and uses this to determine whether or not measurement is possible. Alternatively, all of the network side facility operation information and quality information may be distributed to the mobile terminal 30, and the determination may be performed on the terminal side using this.

Note that this application claims priority based on the Japanese application number 2009-022745, and the disclosure of the Japanese application number 2009-022745 is incorporated by reference into the present application.

Claims (48)

1. In a communication system accommodating mobile terminals via a wireless communication network,
   A network monitoring device for monitoring the communication quality of the entire area;
   An information collection control device that suppresses measurement of propagation environment quality performed by a mobile terminal in the area according to the communication quality of the entire area;
   A communication system comprising:
2. The communication system according to claim 1,
   The information collection control device prohibits at least a part of the measurement of the propagation environment quality performed by at least one mobile terminal in the area according to the communication quality of the entire area.
3. The communication system according to claim 1 or 2,
   The information collection control device sets a measurement frequency of propagation environment quality in at least one mobile terminal in the area according to communication quality of the entire area.
4. The communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
   The information collection control device sets measurement contents of propagation environment quality in at least one mobile terminal in the area according to communication quality of the entire area.
5. The communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
   The network monitoring device monitors the operating state of the network side equipment that controls communication within the area,
   The information collection control device suppresses measurement of propagation environment quality performed at a mobile terminal in the area according to the operating state.
6. The communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
   The information collection control device refers to the operating state to determine whether or not the cause of communication quality failure in the area is in the network equipment, and the cause of communication quality failure in the area is the network. A communication system that prohibits at least a part of the measurement of propagation environment quality performed by at least one mobile terminal in the area when it is in a side facility.
7. The communication system according to claim 5 or 6,
   The information collection control device refers to the operating state to determine whether or not the cause of communication quality failure in the area is in the network equipment, and the cause of communication quality failure in the area is the network. A communication system that permits measurement of at least a part of the measurement of propagation environment quality performed by at least one mobile terminal in the area when it is not a side facility.
8. The communication system according to any one of claims 5 to 7,
   The information collection control device sets a measurement frequency of propagation environment quality in at least one mobile terminal in the area according to the operating state.
9. The communication system according to any one of claims 5 to 8,
   The information collection control device sets measurement contents of propagation environment quality in at least one mobile terminal in the area according to the operating state.
10. The communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 9,
    The network monitoring device acquires quality information based on call processing statistical information in the area as communication quality of the entire area.
11. The communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 10,
    Further comprising a complaint monitoring device for collecting complaint information from the mobile terminal;
    The network monitoring device analyzes a communication quality of the entire area based on the claim information.
12. The communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 11,
    The information collection control device includes:
    An area classification means for classifying the mobile terminal into a first area that suppresses measurement of propagation environment quality and another area;
    Notification means for notifying the mobile terminal of the first area;
    With
    The mobile terminal notified of the first area is set to a measurement suppression mode in which measurement of propagation environment quality with an upper station is suppressed when its current location is within the first area.
13. The communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 12,
    An area classification means for classifying the mobile terminal into a second area that permits measurement of propagation environment quality and another area;
    Notification means for notifying the mobile area of the second area;
    With
    The mobile terminal notified of the second area is set to a measurement permission mode for measuring at least a part of feasible propagation environment quality measurements when its current location is within the second area. system.
14. The communication system according to claim 12 or 13,
    A communication system further comprising a mobile terminal having position specifying means for specifying its own position.
15. The communication system according to claim 14,
    The position specifying means specifies a self-position using a GPS (Global Positioning System).
16. The communication system according to claim 14,
    The position specifying means specifies a self-position based on a notified area code.
17. The communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 16,
    The propagation environment quality includes a communication quality between the mobile terminal and an upper station.
18. The communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 17,
    The propagation environment quality includes a wireless quality between the mobile terminal and an upper station.
19. The communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 18,
    The area is a communication system comprising at least one radio cell.
20. In an information collection control device installed in a communication system that accommodates mobile terminals via a wireless communication network,
    Information acquisition means for acquiring the communication quality of the entire area;
    Information collection control means for suppressing at least a part of the measurement of the propagation environment quality performed by the mobile terminal in the area according to the communication quality of the entire area;
    An information collection control device comprising:
21. The information collection control device according to claim 20,
    When the communication quality of the entire area is good, the information collection control means prohibits at least a part of the measurement of the propagation environment quality performed by at least one mobile terminal in the area. Control device.
22. In the information collection control device according to claim 20 or 21,
    The information collection control unit sets a measurement frequency of propagation environment quality in at least one mobile terminal in the area according to communication quality of the entire area.
23. In the information collection control device according to any one of claims 20 to 22,
    The information collection control unit sets measurement contents of propagation environment quality in at least one mobile terminal in the area according to the communication quality of the entire area.
24. In the information collection control device according to any one of claims 20 to 23,
    The information acquisition means acquires an operating state of network-side equipment that controls communication in the area,
    The information collection control unit suppresses measurement of propagation environment quality performed at a mobile terminal in the area according to the operating state.
25. In the information collection control device according to claim 24,
    With reference to the operating state, further comprising a determination means for determining whether or not the cause of communication quality failure in the area is the network side equipment,
    The information collection control means, when the cause of poor communication quality in the area is in the network equipment, at least a part of the measurement of propagation environment quality performed in at least one mobile terminal in the area Information collection control device that prohibits measurement.
26. In the information collection control device according to claim 24,
    With reference to the operating state, further comprising a determination means for determining whether or not the cause of communication quality failure in the area is the network side equipment,
    The information collection control means, if the cause of poor communication quality in the area is not the network equipment, at least a part of the measurement of propagation environment quality performed in at least one mobile terminal in the area An information collection control device that permits measurement.
27. The information collection control device according to any one of claims 24 to 26,
    The information collection control unit sets a measurement frequency of propagation environment quality in at least one mobile terminal in the area according to the operating state.
28. In the information collection control device according to any one of claims 24 to 27,
    The information collection control unit sets measurement contents of propagation environment quality in at least one mobile terminal in the area according to the operating state.
29. In the information collection control device according to any one of claims 20 to 26,
    The information acquisition control device, wherein the information acquisition unit acquires quality information based on statistical information of call processing in the area as communication quality of the entire area.
30. In the information collection control device according to any one of claims 20 to 29,
    Further comprising an area classification means for classifying the mobile terminal into a first area that suppresses measurement of propagation environment quality and another area;
    The information collection control unit notifies the mobile terminal of the first area.
31. In the information collection control device according to any one of claims 20 to 30,
    Further comprising area classification means for classifying the mobile terminal into a second area that permits measurement of propagation environment quality and another area;
    The information collection control unit notifies the mobile terminal of the second area.
32. An information collection control program for causing a computer to function as the information collection control device according to any one of claims 20 to 31.
33. In a mobile terminal accommodated via a wireless communication network,
    Position specifying means for detecting self-position;
    Quality measurement means for measuring the quality of the propagation environment between the upper station and
    Comprising
    The quality measuring means is set to a measurement suppression mode in which measurement of feasible propagation environment quality is suppressed when the self-location is included in an area set according to communication quality of the entire area.
34. The mobile terminal according to claim 33,
    The quality measurement means is a measurement suppression that suppresses feasible propagation environment quality measurement when the self-location is included in an area set according to an operating state of network-side equipment that controls communication in the area. Mobile terminal set to mode.
35. The mobile terminal according to claim 33 or 34,
    Further comprising information acquisition means for acquiring area information indicating an area where measurement of the propagation environment quality is prohibited,
    The quality measurement unit is set to a measurement suppression mode in which measurement of propagation environment quality that can be performed is suppressed when the self-location is included in an area specified by the area information.
36. The mobile terminal according to claim 33 or 34,
    It further comprises information acquisition means for acquiring the communication quality of the entire area to which it belongs,
    The quality measuring means is set to a measurement suppression mode in which measurement of executable propagation environment quality is suppressed based on the communication quality.
37. The mobile terminal according to claim 34, wherein
    It further comprises information acquisition means for acquiring the operation status of the network side equipment that controls the communication in the area to which it belongs,
    The quality measurement means is set to a measurement suppression mode in which measurement of executable propagation environment quality is suppressed based on the operation status.
38. In a method for controlling measurement of propagation environment quality performed by a mobile terminal accommodated in a wireless communication network,
    Obtaining the communication quality of the entire area;
    Suppressing the measurement of the propagation environment quality performed at the mobile terminal in the area according to the communication quality of the entire area;
    An information measurement control method comprising:
39. The information measurement control method according to claim 38,
    Suppressing the measurement of the propagation environment quality in the mobile terminal according to the communication quality of the entire area,
    An information measurement control method comprising a step of prohibiting at least a part of measurement of propagation environment quality performed by at least one mobile terminal in the area when the communication quality of the entire area is good.
40. The information measurement control method according to claim 38 or 39,
    The step of suppressing the measurement of the propagation environment quality in the mobile terminal according to the communication quality of the entire area includes the measurement frequency of the propagation environment quality in at least one mobile terminal in the area according to the communication quality of the entire area. An information measurement control method comprising the steps of:
41. In the information measurement control method according to any one of claims 38 to 40,
    The step of suppressing the measurement of the propagation environment quality in the mobile terminal according to the communication quality of the entire area includes the measurement contents of the propagation environment quality in at least one mobile terminal in the area according to the communication quality of the entire area. An information measurement control method comprising the steps of:
42. In the information measurement control method according to any one of claims 38 to 41,
    Monitoring the operational status of network-side equipment that controls communications within the area;
    A step of suppressing measurement of propagation environment quality performed at a mobile terminal in the area according to the operating state.
43. The information measurement control method according to claim 42,
    Suppressing the measurement of propagation environment quality in the mobile terminal according to the operating state,
    Determining whether or not the network side equipment is the cause of communication quality failure in the area with reference to the operating state;
    A step of prohibiting at least a part of measurement of propagation environment quality performed in at least one mobile terminal in the area when the cause of communication quality failure in the area is in the network side equipment; An information measurement control method.
44. The information measurement control method according to claim 42 or 43,
    Suppressing the measurement of propagation environment quality in the mobile terminal according to the operating state,
    Determining whether or not the network side equipment is the cause of communication quality failure in the area with reference to the operating state;
    Permitting measurement of at least a part of the propagation environment quality among at least one mobile terminal in the area when the cause of communication quality failure in the area is not the network-side equipment. Method.
45. In the information measurement control method according to any one of claims 42 to 44,
    The step of suppressing the measurement of the propagation environment quality in the mobile terminal according to the communication quality of the entire area sets the measurement frequency of the propagation environment quality in at least one mobile terminal in the area according to the operating state. An information measurement control method comprising steps.
46. In the information measurement control method according to any one of claims 42 to 44,
    The step of suppressing the measurement of the propagation environment quality in the mobile terminal according to the communication quality of the entire area sets the measurement contents of the propagation environment quality in at least one mobile terminal in the area according to the operating state. An information measurement control method comprising steps.
47. In the information measurement control method according to any one of claims 38 to 46,
    Classifying the mobile terminal into a first area that suppresses measurement of propagation environment quality and another area;
    Notifying the mobile terminal of the first area, and
    The mobile terminal notified of the first area is set to a measurement suppression mode in which measurement of feasible propagation environment quality measurement is suppressed when its current location is within the first area. .
48. In the information measurement control method according to any one of claims 38 to 46,
    Classifying the mobile terminal into a second area allowing measurement of propagation environment quality and another area;
    Notifying the mobile terminal of the second area, and
    The mobile terminal notified of the second area is set to a measurement permission mode for measuring at least a part of feasible propagation environment quality measurements when its current location is within the second area. Measurement control method.

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