WO2013046655A1

WO2013046655A1 - Wireless device

Info

Publication number: WO2013046655A1
Application number: PCT/JP2012/006133
Authority: WO
Inventors: 真琴永井; 土居　義晴; 浩司武村
Original assignee: 三洋電機株式会社
Priority date: 2011-09-30
Filing date: 2012-09-26
Publication date: 2013-04-04
Also published as: JP2014239267A

Abstract

A generation unit (36) generates a packet signal including data from one of multiple clients which are data providers and which each have a different priority level assigned thereto. A selection unit (34) selects one of a plurality of intervals to communicate the generated packet signal. Herein, an association is formed between priority levels and each of the plurality of intervals to be selected, in a manner such that communication opportunities increase as priority level increases. The selection unit (34) selects one interval from the intervals corresponding to the priority level of the client, which is the provider of the data included in the generated packet signal. A modulation/demodulation unit (24) and an RF unit (22) communicate the generated packet signal during the selected interval.

Description

Wireless device

The present invention relates to communication technology, and more particularly, to a radio apparatus that broadcasts a signal including predetermined information.

路 Road-to-vehicle communication is being studied to prevent collisions at intersections. In the road-to-vehicle communication, information on the situation of the intersection is communicated between the roadside device and the vehicle-mounted device. Road-to-vehicle communication requires the installation of roadside equipment, which increases labor and cost. On the other hand, if it is the form which communicates information between vehicle-to-vehicle communication, ie, onboard equipment, installation of a roadside machine will become unnecessary. In this case, for example, the current position information is detected in real time by GPS (Global Positioning System), etc., and the position information is exchanged between the vehicle-mounted devices so that the own vehicle and the other vehicle each enter the intersection. (See, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2005-202913 A JP 2010-21870 A

Even if multiple providers provide communication services, efficient communication is desired to improve frequency utilization efficiency.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a technique for efficiently executing broadcast transmission even when a plurality of operators provide communication services.

In order to solve the above problems, a wireless device according to an aspect of the present invention defines different priorities for each of a plurality of services, and includes data for any of the plurality of services. A generating unit that generates the generated packet signal, a selection unit that selects any one of a plurality of periods in order to broadcast the packet signal generated by the generation unit, and a generation unit that is selected by the selection unit And a notifying unit for notifying the packet signal generated in. Each of the plurality of periods to be selected by the selection unit is associated with a priority so that the notification opportunity increases as the priority is higher, and the selection unit generates a packet generated by the generation unit. One of the periods corresponding to the service priority for the data included in the signal is selected.

It should be noted that an arbitrary combination of the above-described components and a conversion of the expression of the present invention between a method, an apparatus, a system, a recording medium, a computer program, etc. are also effective as an aspect of the present invention.

According to the present invention, broadcast transmission can be efficiently executed even when a plurality of providers provide communication services.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the communication system which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the base station apparatus of FIG. FIGS. 3A to 3D are diagrams showing frame formats defined in the communication system of FIG. It is a figure which shows the data structure of the table memorize | stored in the selection part of FIG. FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams showing a format of a packet signal generated by the base station apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of the terminal device mounted in the vehicle of FIG. It is a figure which shows the data structure of the table memorize | stored in the transfer determination part of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the setting process of the road and vehicle transmission period in the base station apparatus of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the setting process of the road and vehicle transmission period in the base station apparatus which concerns on the modification of this invention. 10A and 10B are diagrams showing formats different from the example of FIG. 5 of the packet signal generated by the base station apparatus of FIG.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Prior to specific description of embodiments of the present invention, the knowledge that is the basis will be described. In a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) compliant with a standard such as IEEE 802.11, an access control function called CSMA / CA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access Avididance) is used. Therefore, in the wireless LAN, the same wireless channel is shared by a plurality of terminal devices. In such CSMA / CA, a packet signal is transmitted after confirming that no other packet signal is transmitted by carrier sense.

On the other hand, ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) is stipulated in, for example, 700 MHz band highway traffic system standards (General Electric Industries Association). When a wireless LAN is applied to inter-vehicle communication such as ITS, it is necessary to transmit information to an unspecified number of terminal devices, and therefore it is desirable that the signal be transmitted by broadcast. However, at an intersection or the like, an increase in the number of vehicles, that is, an increase in the number of terminal devices increases traffic, and therefore, an increase in packet signal collision is assumed. As a result, data included in the packet signal is not transmitted to other terminal devices. If such a situation occurs in vehicle-to-vehicle communication, the objective of preventing a collision accident at the intersection encounter will not be achieved. Furthermore, if the road-to-vehicle communication is executed in addition to the vehicle-to-vehicle communication, the communication forms are various. At that time, a plurality of operators may provide communication services using road-to-vehicle communication. Even when a plurality of providers provide communication services, efficient communication is desired in order to improve frequency utilization efficiency.

Next, the outline of the embodiment of the present invention will be described. Embodiments of the present invention relate to a communication system that performs vehicle-to-vehicle communication between terminal devices mounted on a vehicle, and also executes road-to-vehicle communication from a base station device installed at an intersection or the like to a terminal device. As inter-vehicle communication, the terminal device broadcasts a packet signal that stores information such as the speed or position of the vehicle. In addition, the other terminal device receives the packet signal and recognizes the approach of the vehicle based on the above-described information. Here, the base station apparatus repeatedly defines a frame including a plurality of subframes. The base station apparatus selects any of a plurality of subframes for road-to-vehicle communication, and broadcasts a packet signal in which control information and the like are stored during the period of the head portion of the selected subframe.

The control information includes information related to a period (hereinafter referred to as “road vehicle transmission period”) for the base station apparatus to broadcast the packet signal. The terminal device specifies a road and vehicle transmission period based on the control information, and transmits a packet signal by the CSMA method in a period other than the road and vehicle transmission period (hereinafter referred to as “vehicle transmission period”). Thus, since the road-to-vehicle communication and the vehicle-to-vehicle communication are time-division multiplexed, the collision probability of packet signals between them is reduced. That is, when the terminal device recognizes the content of the control information, interference between road-vehicle communication and vehicle-to-vehicle communication is reduced. Note that a terminal device that cannot receive control information from the base station device, that is, a terminal device that exists outside the area formed by the base station device transmits a packet signal by the CSMA method regardless of the frame configuration.

The provision of services by such road-to-vehicle communication can be provided by a plurality of operators. For this reason, business operators and services are associated with each other, but the following description will be made without distinguishing them. For example, when each business operator installs its own base station device and operates the base station device, data related to the service of the business operator is notified. Services provided by each of a plurality of businesses vary from highly public information such as traffic jam information or construction information to low public information such as advertisements. When the number of installed base station apparatuses increases, there is a possibility that a base station apparatus that cannot secure a road and vehicle transmission period will appear. At that time, if a base station device that provides highly public information cannot secure a road-to-vehicle transmission period, a highly public service is not provided. In order to cope with this, the base station apparatus according to the present embodiment executes the following processing.

Priority is given to each of a plurality of business operators in advance, for example, a high priority is given to a business operator that provides a highly public service. In addition, a priority is associated with each of the plurality of subframes included in the frame. The base station apparatus operated by the operator selects any one of the subframes associated with the priority of the operator and sets a road and vehicle transmission period in the selected subframe. Further, the number of subframes associated with a high priority is made larger than the number of subframes associated with a low priority.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a communication system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. This corresponds to a case where one intersection is viewed from above. The communication system 100 includes a base station device 10, a first vehicle 12a, a second vehicle 12b, a third vehicle 12c, a fourth vehicle 12d, a fifth vehicle 12e, a sixth vehicle 12f, and a seventh vehicle 12g, collectively referred to as a vehicle 12. , The eighth vehicle 12h, and the network 202. Here, only the first vehicle 12 a is shown, but each vehicle 12 is equipped with a terminal device 14. An area 212 is formed around the base station apparatus 10, and an outside area 214 is formed outside the area 212.

As shown in the figure, the road that goes in the horizontal direction of the drawing, that is, the left and right direction, intersects the vertical direction of the drawing, that is, the road that goes in the up and down direction, at the central portion. Here, the upper side of the drawing corresponds to the direction “north”, the left side corresponds to the direction “west”, the lower side corresponds to the direction “south”, and the right side corresponds to the direction “east”. The intersection of the two roads is an “intersection”. The first vehicle 12a and the second vehicle 12b are traveling from left to right, and the third vehicle 12c and the fourth vehicle 12d are traveling from right to left. Further, the fifth vehicle 12e and the sixth vehicle 12f are traveling from the top to the bottom, and the seventh vehicle 12g and the eighth vehicle 12h are traveling from the bottom to the top.

In the communication system 100, the base station apparatus 10 is fixedly installed at an intersection. The base station device 10 controls communication between terminal devices. Base station apparatus 10 repeatedly generates a frame including a plurality of subframes based on a signal received from a GPS satellite (not shown) or a frame formed by another base station apparatus 10 (not shown). Here, the road vehicle transmission period can be set at the head of each subframe. The base station apparatus 10 selects a subframe in which the road and vehicle transmission period is not set by another base station apparatus 10 from among a plurality of subframes in the frame. The base station apparatus 10 sets a road and vehicle transmission period at the beginning of the selected subframe.

The base station apparatus 10 broadcasts a packet signal during the set road and vehicle transmission period. In the road and vehicle transmission period, a plurality of packet signals may be notified. In addition, as data to be included in the packet signal, for example, dynamic data and static data are defined. Dynamic data is data whose contents are frequently updated, and static data is data whose update frequency is lower than that of dynamic data. The former is data with high real-time property, and the latter can be said to be data with low real-time property. For example, dynamic data is information on road alignment, area, and obstacles, and static data is sensor position, sensor information, and signal information. Note that the packet signal also includes information related to the timing at which the road and vehicle transmission period is set or control information related to the frame.

Since the terminal device 14 is mounted on the vehicle 12 as described above, the terminal device 14 is movable. When the terminal device 14 receives the packet signal from the base station device 10, the terminal device 14 generates a frame based on the control information included in the packet signal, in particular, the information on the timing when the road-to-vehicle transmission period is set or the information on the frame. To do. As a result, the frame generated in each of the plurality of terminal devices 14 is synchronized with the frame generated in the base station device 10. The terminal device 14 notifies the packet signal during the vehicle transmission period. Although the vehicle transmission period will be described later, it can be said that this is a period different from the road and vehicle transmission period in the frame. Here, CSMA / CA is executed in the vehicle transmission period.

The terminal device 14 acquires data and stores the data in a packet signal. The data includes, for example, information related to the location. The terminal device 14 also stores control information received from the base station device 10 in the packet signal. That is, the control information transmitted from the base station device 10 is transferred by the terminal device 14. On the other hand, when it is estimated that the terminal apparatus 14 exists outside the area 214, the terminal apparatus 14 notifies the packet signal by executing CSMA / CA regardless of the frame configuration.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the base station apparatus 10. The base station apparatus 10 includes an antenna 20, an RF unit 22, a modem unit 24, a processing unit 26, a control unit 28, and a network communication unit 30. Further, the processing unit 26 includes a frame defining unit 32, a selecting unit 34, and a generating unit 36.

The RF unit 22 receives a packet signal from the terminal device 14 (not shown) or another base station device 10 by the antenna 20 as a reception process. The RF unit 22 performs frequency conversion on the received radio frequency packet signal to generate a baseband packet signal. Further, the RF unit 22 outputs a baseband packet signal to the modem unit 24. In general, baseband packet signals are formed by in-phase and quadrature components, so two signal lines should be shown, but here only one signal line is shown for clarity. Shall be shown. The RF unit 22 also includes an LNA (Low Noise Amplifier), a mixer, an AGC, and an A / D conversion unit.

The RF unit 22 performs frequency conversion on the baseband packet signal input from the modem unit 24 as a transmission process, and generates a radio frequency packet signal. Further, the RF unit 22 transmits a radio frequency packet signal from the antenna 20 during the road-vehicle transmission period. The RF unit 22 also includes a PA (Power Amplifier), a mixer, and a D / A conversion unit.

The modem unit 24 demodulates the baseband packet signal from the RF unit 22 as a reception process. Further, the modem unit 24 outputs the demodulated result to the processing unit 26. The modem unit 24 also modulates the data from the processing unit 26 as a transmission process. Further, the modem unit 24 outputs the modulated result to the RF unit 22 as a baseband packet signal. Here, since the communication system 100 corresponds to the OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) modulation method, the modem unit 24 also executes FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) as reception processing and IFFT (Inverse TransFastFast) as transmission processing. Also execute.

The frame defining unit 32 receives a signal from a GPS satellite (not shown), and acquires time information based on the received signal. In addition, since a well-known technique should just be used for acquisition of the information of time, description is abbreviate | omitted here. The frame defining unit 32 generates a plurality of frames based on the time information. For example, the frame defining unit 32 generates ten “100 msec” frames by dividing the “1 sec” period into ten on the basis of the timing indicated by the time information. By repeating such processing, the frame is defined to be repeated. The frame defining unit 32 may detect control information from the demodulation result and generate a frame based on the detected control information. Such processing corresponds to generating a frame synchronized with the timing of the frame formed by another base station apparatus 10.

FIGS. 3A to 3D show frame formats defined in the communication system 100. FIG. FIG. 3A shows the structure of the frame. The frame is formed of N subframes indicated as the first subframe to the Nth subframe. This can be said that the terminal device 14 forms a frame by multiplexing a plurality of subframes that can be used for notification for a plurality of hours. For example, when the frame length is 100 msec and N is 8, a subframe having a length of 12.5 msec is defined. N may be other than 8. The description of FIGS. 3B to 3D will be described later, and returns to FIG.

The selection unit 34 selects a subframe in which a road and vehicle transmission period is to be set from among a plurality of subframes included in the frame. More specifically, the selection unit 34 receives a frame defined by the frame defining unit 32. Here, prior to description of subframe selection processing, priority given to a provider will be described. Although one base station apparatus 10 is shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of base station apparatuses 10 are actually installed at various intersections. These base station apparatuses 10 are not installed by a single operator, but are installed by a plurality of operators. The business operator provides a communication service by installing the base station device 10.

As described above, the public nature of communication services varies, and the urgency of communication services varies. In general, it is desired that a communication service with high publicity or urgency be preferentially provided. In order to cope with this, the communication system 100 defines a plurality of priorities. For example, a high priority is assigned to a public or highly urgent communication service, and a low priority is assigned to a reverse communication service. This is equivalent to the fact that different priorities are defined for each of a plurality of business operators that provide data. Moreover, when the base station apparatus 10 is installed for every provider, it is equivalent to the priority being prescribed | regulated for every base station apparatus 10. FIG.

Also, each of a plurality of subframes included in the frame is associated with a priority. FIG. 4 shows the data structure of the table stored in the selection unit 34. As illustrated, a priority column 220 and a subframe column 222 are included, and the priority and the subframe are associated with each other. It is assumed that the number of subframes in FIG. 3A is “16”, and three levels of “high”, “medium”, and “low” are defined as priorities. Further, subframes 1 to 16 are associated with high priority, subframes 6 to 16 are associated with medium priority, and subframe 11 is associated with low priority. ~ 16 are associated.

That is, subframes 1 to 5 are periods that can be occupied by high-priority operators, and subframes 6 to 10 are periods that can be shared by high-priority and medium-priority operators. 11 to 15 are periods that can be shared by all the operators. As described above, the subframes and the priorities are associated with each other so that the notification opportunity increases as the priority increases. In addition, the subframe corresponding to the low priority also corresponds to the high priority in an overlapping manner. The priority and the subframe may be associated with each other on a one-to-one basis. Returning to FIG.

The selection unit 34 selects one of a plurality of subframes in order to broadcast the packet signal. Here, the selection unit 34 selects a subframe corresponding to the priority of the operator according to the table shown in FIG. Select one from the frame. For example, an instruction regarding a subframe to be selected is received from the outside. When the priority of the operator of the base station apparatus 10 is “medium”, when receiving an instruction to select subframes 1 to 5, the selection unit 34 discards the instruction. On the other hand, when receiving an instruction to select a subframe associated with the priority of the operator of the base station apparatus 10, the selection unit 34 selects a subframe corresponding to the instruction. Depending on the instruction, a plurality of subframes may be selected.

Alternatively, the selection unit 34 may automatically select a subframe. At this time, the selection unit 34 inputs a demodulation result from another base station device 10 or the terminal device 14 (not shown) via the RF unit 22 and the modem unit 24. The selection part 34 extracts the demodulation result from the other base station apparatus 10 among the input demodulation results. The selection unit 34 specifies the subframe that has not received the demodulation result by specifying the subframe that has received the demodulation result.

This corresponds to specifying a subframe in which the road and vehicle transmission period is not set by another base station apparatus 10, that is, an unused subframe. When there are a plurality of unused subframes, the selection unit 34 selects one subframe at random. When there are no unused subframes, that is, when each of a plurality of subframes is used, the selection unit 34 acquires reception power corresponding to the demodulation result, and gives priority to subframes with low reception power. Select Even in this case, the selection target is limited as shown in FIG. 4 according to the priority.

FIG. 3B shows a configuration of a frame generated by the first base station apparatus 10a. In order to clarify the description, in FIGS. 3B to 3D, the high-priority base station apparatus 10 is the target of the description. The first base station apparatus 10a sets a road and vehicle transmission period at the beginning of the first subframe. Moreover, the 1st base station apparatus 10a sets a vehicle transmission period following the road and vehicle transmission period in a 1st sub-frame. The vehicle transmission period is a period during which the terminal device 14 can notify the packet signal. That is, the first base station apparatus 10a can notify the packet signal in the road and vehicle transmission period which is the first period of the first subframe, and the terminal apparatus in the vehicle and vehicle transmission period other than the road and vehicle transmission period in the frame. It is specified that 14 can broadcast the packet signal. Furthermore, the first base station apparatus 10a sets only the vehicle transmission period from the second subframe to the Nth subframe.

FIG. 3C shows a configuration of a frame generated by the second base station apparatus 10b. The second base station apparatus 10b sets a road and vehicle transmission period at the beginning of the second subframe. Also, the second base station apparatus 10b sets the vehicle transmission period from the first stage of the road and vehicle transmission period in the second subframe, from the first subframe and the third subframe to the Nth subframe. FIG. 3D shows a configuration of a frame generated by the third base station apparatus 10c. The third base station apparatus 10c sets a road and vehicle transmission period at the beginning of the third subframe. Also, the third base station apparatus 10c sets the vehicle transmission period from the first stage of the road and vehicle transmission period in the third subframe, the first subframe, the second subframe, and the fourth subframe to the Nth subframe. As described above, the plurality of base station apparatuses 10 select different subframes, and set the road and vehicle transmission period at the head portion of the selected subframe. Returning to FIG. The selection unit 34 outputs the selected subframe number to the generation unit 36.

The generation unit 36 receives a subframe number from the selection unit 34. The generation unit 36 sets a road and vehicle transmission period in the subframe of the received subframe number, and generates a packet signal to be notified during the road and vehicle transmission period. When a plurality of packet signals are transmitted in one road and vehicle transmission period, the generation unit 36 generates them. The packet signal is composed of, for example, control information and a data payload. The control information includes a subframe number in which a road and vehicle transmission period is set. The control information includes information related to priority. In the information on priority, the priority itself may be indicated, or information for identifying a business operator may be used. Moreover, the production | generation part 36 stores the data from the provider who installed this base station apparatus 10 in a data payload. These data are acquired from the network 202 (not shown) by the network communication unit 30.

5 (a)-(b) show the format of the packet signal generated by the base station apparatus 10. FIG. FIG. 5A shows a physical frame format. In the physical frame, “PLCP preamble”, “signal”, “service”, “MAC header”, “RSU control header”, “payload”, “FCS”, and “tail bit” are arranged in order from the top. A physical frame corresponds to the packet signal described above.

The “PLCP preamble” is a known signal defined in the physical layer, the “signal” is a control signal defined in the physical layer, and the “MAC header” is a control signal defined in the MAC layer. It is. The “RSU control header” is a control signal commonly used in road-to-vehicle communication and vehicle-to-vehicle communication, and details will be described later. A “payload” is a data signal. Therefore, it can be said that a data signal is arranged in the packet signal following the control signal.

FIG. 5B is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the RSU control header generated by the generation unit 36. The RSU control header includes “protocol version”, “transmission node type”, “transfer count / reuse count”, “reserve”, “TSF timer”, “RSU transmission period length”, “carrier type”, “reserve” Is arranged. The protocol version indicates the version of the corresponding protocol. The transmission node type indicates the type of the transmission node. Base station apparatus 10 and terminal apparatus 14 are defined as types of transmission nodes. The transfer count / reuse count indicates an index of validity when the RSU control header is transferred by the terminal device 14, and the TSF timer indicates the transmission time.

The RSU transmission period length indicates the length of the road and vehicle transmission period, and can be said to be information on the road and vehicle transmission period. The operator type is information for identifying the operator who installed the base station apparatus 10, and can be said to be information for indicating the above-described priority. For example, “0b00” is a high priority operator, “0b01” is a medium priority operator, “0b10” is a first low priority operator, and “0b11” is a second low priority operator. Is done. Returning to FIG. The processing unit 26 broadcasts the packet signal to the modem unit 24 and the RF unit 22 during the road and vehicle transmission period. The control unit 28 controls processing of the entire base station device 10.

This configuration can be realized in terms of hardware by a CPU, memory, or other LSI of any computer, and in terms of software, it can be realized by a program loaded in the memory, but here it is realized by their cooperation. Draw functional blocks. Accordingly, those skilled in the art will understand that these functional blocks can be realized in various forms only by hardware, or by a combination of hardware and software.

FIG. 6 shows the configuration of the terminal device 14 mounted on the vehicle 12. The terminal device 14 includes an antenna 50, an RF unit 52, a modem unit 54, a processing unit 56, and a control unit 58. The processing unit 56 includes a timing specifying unit 60, a transfer determination unit 62, an acquisition unit 64, a generation unit 66, and a notification unit 70. The timing identification unit 60 includes an extraction unit 72 and a carrier sense unit 74. The antenna 50, the RF unit 52, and the modem unit 54 execute the same processing as the antenna 20, the RF unit 22, and the modem unit 24 in FIG. Here, the difference will be mainly described.

The modem unit 54 receives a packet signal from another terminal device 14 or the base station device 10 (not shown) in the reception process. As described above, the modem unit 54 and the processing unit 56 receive a packet signal from the base station apparatus 10 during the road-to-vehicle transmission period, and receive packet signals from other terminal apparatuses 14 during the vehicle-to-vehicle transmission period. To do.

The extraction unit 72 specifies the timing of the subframe in which the road and vehicle transmission period is arranged when the demodulation result from the modem unit 54 is a packet signal from the base station device 10 (not shown). Specifically, the extraction unit 72 determines whether or not the packet signal is from the base station apparatus 10 based on the control information included in the packet signal. In addition, the extraction unit 72 generates a frame based on the subframe timing and the timing information included in the control information. As a result, the extraction unit 72 generates a frame synchronized with the frame formed in the base station device 10. When the notification source of the packet signal is another terminal device 14, the extraction unit 72 omits the synchronized frame generation process.

The extraction unit 72 specifies the remaining vehicle transmission period after specifying the road and vehicle transmission period in use based on the control information. The extraction unit 72 outputs information on frame and subframe timing and vehicle transmission period to the carrier sense unit 74. On the other hand, when the extraction unit 72 does not receive a packet signal from the base station apparatus 10, that is, when a frame synchronized with the base station apparatus 10 is not generated, the extraction unit 72 selects a timing unrelated to the frame configuration. When the extraction unit 72 selects a timing unrelated to the frame configuration, the extraction unit 72 instructs the carrier sense unit 74 to perform carrier sensing unrelated to the frame configuration. This corresponds to the operation outside the area 214 in FIG.

The carrier sense unit 74 receives information on frame and subframe timing and vehicle transmission period from the extraction unit 72. The carrier sense unit 74 determines the transmission timing by starting CSMA / CA within the vehicle transmission period. On the other hand, when the carrier sense unit 74 is instructed to perform carrier sense from the extraction unit 72, the carrier sense unit 74 determines the transmission timing by executing CSMA / CA without considering the frame configuration. The carrier sense unit 74 notifies the modem unit 54 and the RF unit 52 of the determined transmission timing, and broadcasts the packet signal.

The transfer determination unit 62 controls transfer of control information. The transfer determination unit 62 extracts information to be transferred from the control information. The transfer determination unit 62 generates information to be transferred based on the extracted information. Although the description of this process is omitted here, the maximum number of transfers is determined according to the priority of the provider that provides the data included in the packet signal. More specifically, it is stipulated that the higher the carrier priority, the greater the number of transfers of some information included in the packet signal. FIG. 7 shows the data structure of the table stored in the transfer determination unit 62. As illustrated, a priority column 230 and a transfer count column 232 are included, and the priority and the transfer count are associated with each other. Three transfers are associated with high priority, two transfers are associated with medium priority, and one transfer is associated with low priority. It has been. Returning to FIG.

If the number of transfers has not reached the value shown in FIG. 7, the transfer determination unit 62 outputs information to be transferred, that is, a part of the control information, to the generation unit 66. The acquisition unit 64 includes a GPS receiver (not shown), a gyroscope, a vehicle speed sensor, and the like. Based on data supplied from these, the location of the vehicle 12 (not shown), that is, the position of the vehicle 12 on which the terminal device 14 is mounted, the progress The direction, the moving speed, etc. (hereinafter collectively referred to as “position information”) are acquired. The existence position is indicated by latitude and longitude. Since a known technique may be used for these acquisitions, description thereof is omitted here. The GPS receiver, gyroscope, vehicle speed sensor, and the like may be outside the terminal device 14. The acquisition unit 64 outputs the position information to the generation unit 66.

The generation unit 66 receives position information from the acquisition unit 64 and receives a part of control information from the transfer determination unit 62. The generation unit 66 generates a packet signal by storing part of the control information in the control information and storing the position information in the payload. The notification unit 70 acquires a packet signal from the base station device 10 (not shown) in the road and vehicle transmission period, and acquires a packet signal from another terminal device 14 (not shown) in the vehicle and vehicle transmission period. As a process for the acquired packet signal, the notification unit 70 notifies the driver of the approach of another vehicle 12 (not shown) or the like via a monitor or a speaker according to the content of the data stored in the packet signal. The control unit 58 controls the operation of the terminal device 14.

The processing of each layer of the reception processing is included in the modulation / demodulation unit 54 and the processing unit 56 of FIG. 6, and the reception of the radio signal is included in the RF unit 52 of FIG. In addition, the packet division / combination layer to the PHY layer are combined as baseband processing, and the reception of radio signals is combined as RF processing. These execute processing corresponding to each layer shown in FIG.

The operation of the communication system 100 configured as above will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a road and vehicle transmission period setting process in the base station apparatus 10. If the operator has a high priority (Y in S10), the selection unit 34 sets a road and vehicle transmission period in any of the subframes 1 to 16 (S12). If it is not a high priority business operator (N in S10) but a medium priority business operator (Y in S14), the selection unit 34 transmits the road to any of the subframes 6 to 16. A period is set (S16). If the operator is not the medium-priority business operator (N in S14), the selection unit 34 sets the road and vehicle transmission period in any of the subframes 11 to 16 (S18).

In the description so far, the road and vehicle transmission period is set in a subframe assigned in advance according to the priority of the operator. When the amount of data to be transmitted increases, the base station apparatus 10 in the modification sets the road and vehicle transmission period in another subframe in addition to the already assigned subframe. At that time, the base station apparatus 10 selects a subframe assigned to a priority lower than its own priority, and sets an additional road and vehicle transmission period. For example, when the priority of the base station apparatus 10 is “high”, an additional road and vehicle transmission period is set in one of the subframes assigned to the priority “medium” or “low”. Is done.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a road and vehicle transmission period setting process in the base station apparatus 10 according to the modification of the present invention. If the allocated road and vehicle transmission period length is smaller than the period necessary for transmitting data (Y in S30), the base station apparatus 10 executes data transmission in the road and vehicle transmission period in the allocated subframe. (S32). The base station apparatus 10 selects a road and vehicle transmission period with a lower priority (S34). If the selection is successful (Y in S36), the base station apparatus 10 transmits the remaining data (S38). On the other hand, if the selection is not successful (N in S36), the base station apparatus 10 discards the remaining data (S40). If the allocated road and vehicle transmission period length is not shorter than the period necessary for transmitting data (N in S30), the base station apparatus 10 performs data transmission in the road and vehicle transmission period in the allocated subframe. Execute (S42).

According to the embodiment of the present invention, the priority of the operator is associated with the subframe in advance, and the road and vehicle transmission period is set by selecting the subframe according to the priority. It is easy to select different subframes between different operators. In addition, since subframes corresponding to the priorities are used, broadcast transmission can be efficiently executed even when a plurality of carriers provide communication services. In addition, since the notification opportunity increases as the priority is higher, data can be easily notified. In addition, since the subframes corresponding to the low priority also correspond to the high priority, the number of subframes corresponding to the high priority can be increased.

Also, since the subframes corresponding to the low priority also correspond to the high priority, the number of unused subframes can be reduced. In addition, since information on priority is included in the packet signal, the operator can be easily identified. Also, the higher the priority, the greater the number of transfers, so that high priority data can be transmitted over a wide area. In addition, since the number of transfers is reduced if the priority is low, the transfer process can be simplified. Further, it is possible to effectively use frequencies while providing services according to priority. In addition, when the amount of data to be transmitted becomes large, an additional road and vehicle transmission period is set in a subframe with a low priority, so the data volume increases while suppressing the impact on operators with a high priority. It can correspond to.

The present invention has been described based on the embodiments. This embodiment is an exemplification, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to each of those constituent elements or combinations of processing processes, and such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention. .

In the embodiment of the present invention, the transfer determination unit 62 specifies the number of transfers based on the priority, and performs transfer if the specified number of transfers has not been reached. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, if the priority of the operator is low, the transfer determination unit 62 may determine whether or not to transfer according to the received power. For example, when the priority is low and the reception power is lower than the threshold value, the transfer determination unit 62 performs transfer according to the table of FIG. On the other hand, when the priority is low, if the received power is equal to or higher than the threshold value, the transfer determining unit 62 does not execute the transfer even if the specified transfer count has not been reached. According to this modification, since there is no transfer from the terminal device 14 that has received the packet signal in the vicinity of the base station device 10, the frequency can be used effectively.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the format of the packet signal generated by the base station apparatus 10 may be the format shown in FIGS. 10 (a)-(b). FIG. 10A shows the format of a physical frame. The physical frames are “PLCP preamble”, “signal”, “service”, “MAC header”, “LLC header”, “IR control header”, “layer 7 header”, “EL header”, “payload” in order from the top. ”,“ FCS ”, and“ tail bit ”. A physical frame corresponds to the packet signal described above.

The “PLCP preamble” is a known signal defined in the physical layer, the “signal” is a control signal defined in the physical layer, and the “MAC header” is defined in the MAC sublayer of layer 2. Control signal. The “LLC header” is a control signal defined in the LLC sublayer of layer 2, and the “IR control header” is a control signal commonly used in road-to-vehicle communication and vehicle-to-vehicle communication. Details will be described later. To do. “Layer 7 header” is a control signal defined in layer 7, and “EL header” is a control signal defined in the packet division / combination layer. A “payload” is a data signal. Therefore, it can be said that a data signal is arranged in the packet signal following the control signal.

FIG. 10B is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an IR control header generated by the generation unit 36. In the IR control header, “version”, “identification information”, “synchronization information”, “reservation”, “transmission time”, “road-to-vehicle communication period information”, and “extended area” are arranged in order from the top. The version indicates the version of the corresponding protocol. The identification information indicates the type of the transmission node. Base station apparatus 10 and terminal apparatus 14 are defined as types of transmission nodes. The synchronization information indicates synchronous / asynchronous identification with respect to the control cycle. The transmission time indicates timer information when the transmitting radio transmits a packet signal.

Road-to-vehicle communication period information indicates the start position and length of the road-to-vehicle transmission period, and can be said to be information related to the road-to-vehicle transmission period. The operator type is set in any 2 bits of the extended area. The operator type is information for identifying the operator who installed the base station apparatus 10, and can be said to be information for indicating the above-described priority. For example, “0b00” is a high priority operator, “0b01” is a medium priority operator, “0b10” is a first low priority operator, and “0b11” is a second low priority operator. Is done.

The outline of one embodiment of the present invention is as follows. A wireless device according to an aspect of the present invention generates a packet signal in which different priorities are defined for each of a plurality of services and includes data for any of the plurality of services And a selection unit that selects one of a plurality of periods, and a packet signal generated by the generation unit in the period selected by the selection unit in order to notify the packet signal generated by the generation unit A notification unit. Each of the plurality of periods to be selected by the selection unit is associated with a priority so that the notification opportunity increases as the priority is higher, and the selection unit generates a packet generated by the generation unit. One of the periods corresponding to the service priority for the data included in the signal is selected.

According to this aspect, the priority of the service is associated with the subframe in advance, and the road and vehicle transmission period is set by selecting the subframe corresponding to the priority. It is easy to select another subframe.

The period corresponding to the low priority may overlap with the high priority. In this case, since the subframe corresponding to the low priority also corresponds to the high priority, the number of unused subframes can be reduced.

The generation unit may include information on priority in the packet signal. In this case, since information on the priority is included in the packet signal, it is possible to easily determine the service.

The higher the service priority for the data included in the packet signal generated by the generation unit, the greater the number of transfers of some information included in the packet signal. In this case, the higher the priority, the greater the number of transfers, so that data with a higher priority can be transmitted over a wide area.

If the priority of the service with respect to the data included in the packet signal generated in the generation unit is low, it may be determined whether to transfer according to the received power. In this case, since there is no transfer from another wireless device that has received the packet signal in the vicinity of the wireless device, the frequency can be used effectively.

10 base station devices, 12 vehicles, 14 terminal devices, 20 antennas, 22 RF units, 24 modulation / demodulation units, 26 processing units, 28 control units, 30 network communication units, 32 frame definition units, 34 selection units, 36 generation units, 50 Antenna, 52 RF section, 54 modulation / demodulation section, 56 processing section, 58 control section, 60 timing identification section, 62 transfer determination section, 64 acquisition section, 66 generation section, 70 notification section, 72 extraction section, 74 carrier sense section, 100 Communications system.

Claims

A different priority is defined for each of a plurality of services, and a generation unit that generates a packet signal including data for any of the plurality of services,
A selection unit that selects one of a plurality of periods in order to broadcast the packet signal generated in the generation unit;
A notification unit for reporting the packet signal generated in the generation unit in a period selected by the selection unit;
Each of the plurality of periods to be selected by the selection unit is associated with a priority so that the notification opportunity increases as the priority is higher,
The radio apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the selection unit selects any one of a period corresponding to a priority of service for data included in the packet signal generated by the generation unit.
The radio apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the period corresponding to the low priority corresponds to the high priority in an overlapping manner.
The wireless device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the generation unit includes information on priority in a packet signal.
The radio apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the higher the service priority for the data included in the packet signal generated by the generation unit, the greater the number of transfers of some information included in the packet signal. .
4. The radio apparatus according to claim 3, wherein if the service priority with respect to the data included in the packet signal generated by the generation unit is low, it is determined whether or not to transfer according to the received power.