WO2018139008A1 - Communication device, control method and program - Google Patents

Communication device, control method and program Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2018139008A1
WO2018139008A1 PCT/JP2017/040562 JP2017040562W WO2018139008A1 WO 2018139008 A1 WO2018139008 A1 WO 2018139008A1 JP 2017040562 W JP2017040562 W JP 2017040562W WO 2018139008 A1 WO2018139008 A1 WO 2018139008A1
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Prior art keywords
terminal
terminal device
signal
communication
confirmation response
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PCT/JP2017/040562
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French (fr)
Japanese (ja)
Inventor
幸一郎 北川
寛明 本間
恭宏 末柄
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株式会社Ｋｄｄｉ総合研究所
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Publication of WO2018139008A1 publication Critical patent/WO2018139008A1/en

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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W28/00—Network traffic management; Network resource management
    • H04W28/02—Traffic management, e.g. flow control or congestion control
    • H04W28/04—Error control
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W28/00—Network traffic management; Network resource management
    • H04W28/02—Traffic management, e.g. flow control or congestion control
    • H04W28/06—Optimizing the usage of the radio link, e.g. header compression, information sizing, discarding information
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W88/00—Devices specially adapted for wireless communication networks, e.g. terminals, base stations or access point devices
    • H04W88/02—Terminal devices
    • H04W88/04—Terminal devices adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02D—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES [ICT], I.E. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES AIMING AT THE REDUCTION OF THEIR OWN ENERGY USE
    • Y02D30/00—Reducing energy consumption in communication networks
    • Y02D30/70—Reducing energy consumption in communication networks in wireless communication networks

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a communication device, a control method, and a program, and specifically relates to transmission / reception of an acknowledgment when relay communication is performed.
  • D2D communication can also be used, for example, when relaying communication between a base station device and a predetermined terminal device. That is, the base station device transmits or receives a signal using a radio link established with the first terminal device, and the first terminal device performs D2D with the second terminal device. By communication, a signal from the base station apparatus is transferred to the second terminal apparatus, or a signal from the second terminal apparatus is transferred to the base station apparatus.
  • D2D communication can also be used, for example, when relaying communication between a base station device and a predetermined terminal device. That is, the base station device transmits or receives a signal using a radio link established with the first terminal device, and the first terminal device performs D2D with the second terminal device.
  • a signal from the base station apparatus is transferred to the second terminal apparatus, or a signal from the second terminal apparatus is transferred to the base station apparatus.
  • a terminal device that performs communication with a base station device with the help of a relay device may not necessarily be able to perform both transmission and reception of signals via the relay device.
  • the relay apparatus may transfer a signal received at a downlink frequency from the base station apparatus at an uplink frequency.
  • the terminal device does not have a capability of receiving a signal at an uplink frequency, the terminal device cannot receive the transferred signal. Therefore, for example, it is conceivable that the terminal apparatus directly performs communication regarding the downlink with the base station apparatus and performs only communication regarding the uplink via the relay apparatus.
  • the reception status of the signal in the receiving device is confirmed.
  • the problem is how to handle the confirmation response to do this. For example, when a base station apparatus receives a signal transmitted from a terminal apparatus to a relay apparatus in the uplink and relayed from the relay apparatus, it generally sends an acknowledgment to the relay apparatus that is the transmission source of the signal. Send. However, since the terminal device cannot receive the signal from the relay device, it cannot receive the confirmation response.
  • the present invention provides a technique for reliably transmitting / receiving an acknowledgment when an asymmetric communication path is used for signal transmission and reception.
  • a communication device includes: a receiving unit that receives a signal transmitted from a terminal device to a relay device and transferred from the relay device; and when the signal is successfully received, the relay device and the relay device Transmitting means for transmitting an acknowledgment to the terminal device by multicast.
  • FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of a wireless communication system according to this embodiment.
  • the wireless communication system includes, for example, a base station device (control device) 101 and terminal devices 102 and 103 that operate according to a cellular communication standard standardized by the third generation partnership project (3GPP).
  • 3GPP third generation partnership project
  • Each of the terminal devices 102 and 103 can communicate with the control device 101, and perform inter-terminal communication using, for example, radio resources allocated by the control device 101 (for example, specified by time and frequency). Can do.
  • the terminal devices 102 and 103 relay communication between the control device 101 and other terminal devices using the first communication with the control device 101 and the second communication between the terminals. It can function as a relay device.
  • the terminal apparatus is generally configured to receive a downlink signal from the base station apparatus, but can receive an uplink radio signal (for example, a frequency band different from the downlink is used). There is no necessity. For this reason, such a terminal device cannot receive an inter-terminal communication signal unless the terminal device operating as a relay device can transmit a downlink signal in the inter-terminal communication.
  • the base station apparatus can be configured to receive the uplink signal indirectly via the relay apparatus while directly transmitting the downlink signal to such a terminal apparatus. .
  • Such a configuration also allows the base station apparatus to increase the transmission power relatively, while the terminal apparatus may have a severe limitation on the usable transmission power (for example, due to a request for lower power consumption). Can be reasonable. That is, depending on the terminal device, even if the signal from the base station device can be received with sufficient quality, the signal transmitted by the device itself may not reach the base station device with sufficient quality. For this reason, the probability that the base station apparatus and the terminal apparatus can communicate with each other can be improved even if only uplink communication is performed by relay.
  • some terminal devices may not have a terminal-to-terminal communication function using cellular communication.
  • a terminal device may perform inter-terminal communication using another wireless access technology (RAT) such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy (BLE) or a wireless LAN complying with the IEEE 802.11 standard.
  • RAT wireless access technology
  • BLE Bluetooth Low Energy
  • a wireless LAN complying with the IEEE 802.11 standard.
  • Signals using such RATs often have lower transmission power than cellular communications, and it can also be assumed that cellular base station devices do not support such RATs. For this reason, even when different RATs are used in terminal-to-terminal communication, it may be beneficial to use a relay device in uplink communication.
  • FIG. 1 shows a state where such an asymmetric communication path is used. That is, when the terminal apparatus 102 receives an uplink signal from the terminal apparatus 103 and transfers the signal to the control apparatus 101, uplink communication between the terminal apparatus 103 and the control apparatus 101 is as follows. This is done indirectly via the terminal device 102. On the other hand, the terminal apparatus 103 can directly receive the downlink signal from the control apparatus 101 without passing through the terminal apparatus 102.
  • the terminal device 102 that can operate as a relay device can receive an uplink signal from the terminal device 103 and can transmit the signal to the control device 101 as an uplink signal. Can be selected.
  • the control apparatus 101 when such an asymmetric communication path is used between the uplink and the downlink, the control apparatus 101 receives an uplink signal received from the terminal apparatus 103 via the terminal apparatus 102. Then, a method for transmitting a confirmation response for confirming the reception status to the terminal device 103 will be considered.
  • a device that has received a signal transmits an acknowledgment to the device that has transmitted the signal. That is, in the wireless communication system as in the present embodiment, when the control apparatus 101 receives a signal from the terminal apparatus 103 from the terminal apparatus 102, the control apparatus 101 can transmit a confirmation response to the signal to the terminal apparatus 102. According to this, the terminal device 102 can confirm that the relayed signal has normally reached the control device 101.
  • the terminal device 102 cannot transfer the confirmation response to the terminal device 103.
  • the terminal device 103 here does not have the ability to receive a signal from the terminal device 102.
  • the terminal apparatus 102 can recognize that a signal to be transmitted to the terminal apparatus 103 should be transmitted from the control apparatus 101 by, for example, an instruction from the control apparatus 101.
  • the terminal device 102 transmits the signal to the control device 101, and transfers the signal from the control device 101 to the terminal device 103. Communication via the station device can be performed.
  • the signal to be transmitted to the terminal device 103 is the confirmation response transmitted from the control device 101.
  • the terminal apparatus 102 returns the signal transmitted from the control apparatus 101 to the control apparatus 101 and transfers it to the terminal apparatus 103.
  • transmission of originally unnecessary signals may increase and radio resources may be wasted.
  • the time until the confirmation response reaches the terminal device 103 is prolonged, and as a result, the terminal device 103 waits for the confirmation response for a long time, which may cause an unnecessary increase in power consumption in the terminal device 103.
  • the control apparatus 101 receives a data signal from the terminal apparatus 103 via the terminal apparatus 102 operating as a relay apparatus, and the terminal apparatus 102 and the terminal apparatus An acknowledgment signal is transmitted to 103 by multicast. Then, the terminal device 102 can prevent the confirmation response to the terminal device 103 from being transmitted to the control device 101. According to this, since the control apparatus 101 transmits an acknowledgment directly to the terminal apparatus 103 in response to the data signal received from the terminal apparatus 103 via the terminal apparatus 102, the terminal apparatus 103 can An acknowledgment can be received.
  • the terminal apparatus 102 since the control apparatus 101 transmits the same confirmation response to the terminal apparatus 102 by multicast, the terminal apparatus 102 confirms that the control apparatus 101 has successfully received the signal from the terminal apparatus 103 relayed by itself. I can know. Further, since the terminal device 102 does not return the confirmation response transmitted from the control device 101 to the control device 101, waste of radio resources can be prevented. Furthermore, when the terminal apparatus 102 transmits a data signal generated in the terminal apparatus 102 to the control apparatus 101, the terminal apparatus 102 can simultaneously receive a confirmation response from the control apparatus 101 for the data signal. Hereinafter, this procedure is referred to as procedure 1.
  • the control apparatus 101 transmits a confirmation response only to the terminal apparatus 103 by a unicast signal when receiving a data signal from the terminal apparatus 103 via the terminal apparatus 102 operating as a relay apparatus. Yes.
  • the terminal device 103 transfers this confirmation response to the terminal device 102.
  • the terminal apparatus 103 can An acknowledgment can be received.
  • the terminal device 102 can know from the signal from the terminal device 103 that the control device 101 has successfully received the signal from the terminal device 103 relayed by the terminal device 102.
  • procedure 2 since the terminal device 102 can receive the confirmation response regarding the data signal generated in the own device separately from the confirmation response from the terminal device 103, for example, the terminal device 102 does not wait to receive the confirmation response regarding the terminal device 103.
  • the next data signal can be transmitted.
  • this procedure is referred to as procedure 2.
  • the terminal device 102 transmits an acknowledgment for the data signal to the control device 101.
  • An acknowledgment may be transferred.
  • the terminal apparatus 102 can transmit the confirmation response to the terminal apparatus 103 to the control apparatus 101 before receiving the confirmation response regarding the transferred data signal from the control apparatus 101 at least regarding the transfer of the data signal.
  • the terminal apparatus 102 transmits a confirmation response to the terminal apparatus 103 to the control apparatus 101 before or in parallel with the transfer of the data signal from the terminal apparatus 103 to the control apparatus 101. Thereby, the terminal device 103 can receive the confirmation response by waiting for a short time.
  • control device 101 determines whether or not to execute any one of the above-described procedures 1 to 3 depending on whether or not the terminal device 103 can receive a signal from the terminal device 102. Also good. Taking Procedure 1 as an example, the control apparatus 101 can determine to transmit an acknowledgment to the terminal apparatus 102 and the terminal apparatus 103 by multicast when the terminal apparatus 103 cannot receive a signal from the terminal apparatus 102. The control device 101 acquires information indicating whether the terminal device 103 can receive a signal from the terminal device 102, for example, from a notification from the terminal device 103, or in some cases transferred by the terminal device 102. can do.
  • control device 101 may determine whether or not to execute any one of the above-described procedure 1 to procedure 3 depending on whether or not the terminal device 103 is performing a low power consumption operation.
  • Procedure 1 when the terminal device 103 is performing a low power consumption operation, the control device 101 can determine to transmit an acknowledgment to the terminal device 102 and the terminal device 103 by multicast.
  • the control device 101 can acquire information indicating whether or not the terminal device 103 is performing a low power consumption operation by, for example, a notification transferred from the terminal device 103 or, in some cases, the terminal device 102. it can.
  • control apparatus 101 indicates that the terminal apparatus 103 is performing a low power consumption operation, and that the reception period in the discontinuous reception mode (for example, the extended DRX (eDRX) mode defined by 3GPP) is constant. You may recognize by operating whether it is operating by the long cycle setting more than time. Further, the control device 101 may determine whether or not the low power consumption operation is being performed depending on whether or not the terminal device 103 has enabled PSM (Power Saving Mode).
  • PSM Power Saving Mode
  • the control apparatus 101 may determine to execute any one of the above-described procedure 1 and procedure 2. This is because, according to the above-described procedure 1 and procedure 2, the terminal device 102 does not need to perform signal transmission for transferring the confirmation response to the terminal device 103, so that power consumption can be suppressed.
  • control apparatus 101 transmits a confirmation response by unicast to the terminal apparatus 102, and the terminal apparatus 102 transmits the confirmation response. It can be determined to transfer to the terminal device 103.
  • control device 101 can notify the terminal device 102 and the terminal device 103 of the result of determination as to whether or not to execute the above-described processing. As a result, the terminal device 102 does not attempt to transmit an acknowledgment to the terminal device 103, and the power consumption of the terminal device 102 can be suppressed. Also, the terminal device 102 and the terminal device 103 can determine, for example, whether to wait for a multicast signal or a unicast signal.
  • the control device 101 may select one of the methods described above and transmit a confirmation response. In this case, the control device 101 can notify the terminal device 102 and the terminal device 103 which method to use.
  • FIG. 2 shows a hardware configuration example of the control device 101 and the terminal devices 102 to 103.
  • the control device 101 and the terminal devices 102 to 103 have a hardware configuration as shown in FIG. 2, and include, for example, a CPU 201, a ROM 202, a RAM 203, an external storage device 204, and a communication device 205.
  • a program for realizing the functions of the control device 101 and the terminal devices 102 to 103 recorded in any of the ROM 202, the RAM 203, and the external storage device 204 is the CPU 201. It is executed by.
  • the CPU 201 may be replaced by one or more processors such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), and a DSP (Digital Signal Processor).
  • ASIC Application Specific Integrated Circuit
  • FPGA Field Programmable Gate Array
  • DSP Digital Signal Processor
  • control device 101 and the terminal devices 102 to 103 control the communication device 205 by the CPU 201 to perform communication between the control device 101 and the terminal devices 102 to 103 or communication between terminals between the terminal devices 102.
  • the control device 101 and the terminal devices 102 to 103 are shown as having a single communication device 205, but are not limited thereto.
  • the control device 101 may include a communication device for communication between the control devices (base station devices) and a communication device between the terminal devices.
  • the terminal devices 102 to 103 include, for example, a communication device for cellular communication with the control device 101 and a communication device for communication different from cellular communication such as BLE for communication with other terminal devices. May be.
  • control device 101 and the terminal devices 102 to 103 may include dedicated hardware for executing each function, or a part of the control device 101 and the terminal devices 102 to 103 may be executed by the computer and the other part may be executed by a computer that operates the program. May be. All functions may be executed by a computer and a program.
  • FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the control device 101.
  • the control device 101 includes a wireless communication unit 301, an information acquisition unit 302, a response method determination unit 303, and a communication control unit 304 as its functions.
  • the wireless communication unit 301 can transmit and receive a wireless signal through cellular communication defined by 3GPP between at least the terminal devices 102 and 103.
  • the information acquisition unit 302 determines whether the terminal device 103 has a capability of receiving a signal from the terminal device 102 by inter-terminal communication from the terminal device 102 or the terminal device 103 via the wireless communication unit 301, for example. Information can be obtained. Further, the information acquisition unit 302 may acquire information on whether or not the terminal device 103 is performing a low power consumption operation from the terminal device 102 or the terminal device 103, for example. Further, the information acquisition unit 302 may acquire information on whether or not the terminal device 102 is performing a low power consumption operation from the terminal device 102. Note that when these pieces of information are acquired in advance or stored in advance, it is not necessary to acquire these pieces of information. For example, the terminal device 102 and the terminal device 103 register the above information in the network when establishing a connection with the cellular communication network, and the control device 101 performs the relaying by the terminal device 102. You may make it acquire this registered information.
  • the response method determination unit 303 transmits the confirmation response by any one of the above-described procedure 1 to procedure 3 based on the information acquired by the information acquisition unit 302, for example, or the terminal device 103 It is possible to determine whether or not to transmit the confirmation response for the terminal device 103 directly to the terminal device 103.
  • the control device 101 and the terminal devices 102 to 103 may be capable of supporting only one of the above-described procedures 1 to 3, and in this case, whether or not to execute the one procedure is determined. . Further, when the control device 101 and the terminal devices 102 to 103 can cope with two or more of the above-described procedures 1 to 3, it is determined whether or not to execute any of them. Can be done.
  • the information acquisition unit 302 and the response method determination unit 303 may be omitted.
  • the response method determined by the response method determination unit 303 is notified to the terminal device 102 and the terminal device 103 via the wireless communication unit 301. Further, the communication control unit 304 performs control for causing the wireless communication unit 301 to execute a confirmation response transmission procedure when a data signal is received from the terminal device 103 in accordance with the response method determined by the response method determining unit 303. Do.
  • FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the terminal apparatuses 102 to 103.
  • the terminal apparatuses 102 to 103 include a wireless communication unit 401, a response method acquisition unit 402, and a communication control unit 403.
  • the wireless communication unit 401 can transmit and receive a wireless signal at least with the control device 101 by cellular communication defined by 3GPP. In addition, the wireless communication unit 401 can perform inter-terminal communication with other terminal apparatuses using resources allocated by the control apparatus 101 according to a cellular communication protocol or according to a communication protocol different from cellular communication, for example. . Note that in the terminal device 103, for example, the wireless communication unit 401 may transmit a signal to the terminal device 102, but may not receive a signal from the terminal device 102.
  • the response method acquisition unit 402 acquires information about the method of transmitting the confirmation response from the control device 101 notified from the control device 101. Note that, in order to acquire this information, the response method acquisition unit 402 performs information on whether or not the terminal device 103 has a capability of receiving a signal from the terminal device 102 and the terminal device 103 performs a low power consumption operation. It is possible to notify the control device 101 of at least one of the information on whether or not there is. Note that the response method acquisition unit 402 of the terminal device 103 may directly transmit this information to the control device 101, or may transmit this information to the terminal device 102 and transfer this information to the control device 101. Good.
  • the response method acquisition unit 402 in the terminal device 102 can notify the control device 101 of information on whether or not the terminal device 102 is performing a low power consumption operation. In addition, when the control apparatus 101 can acquire such information separately, the response method acquisition part 402 does not need to notify these information.
  • the communication control unit 403 executes processing corresponding to the response procedure from the control device 101 to the signal transmitted from the terminal device 103 to the control device 101 based on the information acquired by the response method acquisition unit 402. For example, in procedure 1, after transmitting the data signal from the terminal device 103 to the control device 101, the terminal devices 102 to 103 wait for an acknowledgment response transmitted by a multicast signal. In step 2 and step 3, the terminal device 103 waits for an acknowledgment response to be transmitted from the control device 101 as a unicast signal. In step 2, when receiving the confirmation response from the control device 101, the terminal device 103 transfers the confirmation response to the terminal device 102 by inter-terminal communication.
  • the terminal device 102 waits for an acknowledgment to be transmitted from the terminal device 103 through the inter-terminal communication.
  • step 3 when receiving a data signal from the terminal device 103, the terminal device 102 first transmits a confirmation response to the data signal to the control device 101, and transfers this confirmation response from the control device 101 to the terminal device 103. Let At this time, the terminal device 102 transmits a data signal to the control device 101 in parallel with or after the confirmation response, for example, and then the confirmation response is transmitted from the control device 101 as a unicast signal. I will wait for you to come.
  • the control device 101 has the capability of the terminal device 103 to receive a signal from the terminal device 102, whether the terminal device 103 is performing a low power consumption operation, Information such as whether or not a low power consumption operation is being performed is acquired (S501). This information may be acquired from the terminal device 103 or may be acquired from a node in the cellular communication network to which the control device 101 is connected, for example. Based on the acquired information, the control apparatus 101 determines a procedure for transmitting an acknowledgment response to the data signal from the terminal apparatus 103 that is relayed by the terminal apparatus 102 and received by the control apparatus 101 (S502). Here, it is assumed that the control apparatus 101 has decided to execute the procedure 1.
  • the control device 101 notifies the determined response method to the terminal devices 102 to 103 (S503).
  • the terminal apparatuses 102 to 103 set the wireless communication unit 401 so as to perform processing corresponding to the procedure for the control apparatus 101 to transmit the confirmation response (S504).
  • the terminal apparatuses 102 to 103 receive data signals from the terminal apparatus 103 when they are relayed by the terminal apparatus 102 and transmitted to the control apparatus 101 ( S505 and S506) wait for an acknowledgment response to be transmitted as a multicast signal.
  • the control device 101 When the control device 101 receives the data signal, the control device 101 transmits a confirmation response to the data signal by a multicast signal (S507). In this case, since the terminal apparatuses 102 to 103 are waiting for the confirmation response to be transmitted by the multicast signal, they can receive the confirmation response.
  • the terminal apparatus 103 can An acknowledgment can be received.
  • the terminal apparatus 102 confirms that the control apparatus 101 has successfully received the signal from the terminal apparatus 103 relayed by itself. I can know.
  • the terminal device 102 does not return the confirmation response transmitted from the control device 101 to the control device 101, waste of radio resources can be prevented.
  • the terminal apparatus 102 transmits a data signal generated in the terminal apparatus 102 to the control apparatus 101, the terminal apparatus 102 can simultaneously receive a confirmation response from the control apparatus 101 for the data signal.
  • the processing flow from S501 to S506 is the same as that in FIG. 5, and therefore, the same reference numerals are assigned and detailed description is omitted.
  • the control apparatus 101 receives a data signal from the terminal apparatus 103 via the terminal apparatus 102, the control apparatus 101 transmits an acknowledgment to the terminal apparatus 103 by unicast (S601).
  • the terminal device 103 can receive the unicast confirmation response according to the setting in S504.
  • the terminal device 103 transfers this confirmation response to the terminal device 102 (S602).
  • the terminal apparatus 103 can An acknowledgment can be received. Also, the terminal device 102 can know from the signal from the terminal device 103 that the control device 101 has successfully received the signal from the terminal device 103 relayed by the terminal device 102. Further, since the terminal device 102 can receive the confirmation response regarding the data signal generated in the own device separately from the confirmation response from the terminal device 103, for example, the terminal device 102 does not wait to receive the confirmation response regarding the terminal device 103. The next data signal can be transmitted.
  • the processing flow from S501 to S505 is the same as that in FIG. 5, and therefore, the same reference numerals are given and detailed description is omitted.
  • the terminal device 102 receives the data signal from the terminal device 103, for example, before the transfer (S506), the terminal device 102 transmits a confirmation response to the data signal to the control device 101 (S701).
  • This confirmation response is transferred to the terminal device 103 by the control device 101 (S702).
  • the confirmation response is transmitted from the terminal apparatus 102 to the control apparatus 101 before the data signal transfer (S506).
  • the data signal transfer and the confirmation response transmission are performed in parallel. It may be performed at the same or substantially the same timing.
  • the control apparatus 101 transmits a confirmation response about the transferred data signal to the terminal apparatus 102 by unicast. (S703).
  • the terminal apparatus 102 does not transmit this confirmation response to the terminal apparatus 103, and the control apparatus 101 also does not transmit the confirmation response for the transferred data signal to the terminal apparatus 103.
  • the terminal device 103 can receive the confirmation response by waiting for a short time.
  • the terminal device 103 can receive the confirmation response by waiting for a short time, and as a result, the power consumption of the terminal device 103 can be reduced.
  • the terminal device 102 can also recognize whether the communication related to the relay is successful. In this way, according to the above-described procedure 1 to procedure 3, a confirmation response is efficiently transmitted to the terminal device 102 that is a relay device and the terminal device 103 that receives the relay provided by the terminal device 102. Become so.

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Abstract

If a signal transmitted from a terminal device to a relay device and transferred from the relay device is received successfully, this communication device transmits, via multicasting, an acknowledge to the relay device and the terminal device.

Description

通信装置、制御方法、及びプログラムCommunication device, control method, and program
　本発明は、通信装置、制御方法、及びプログラムに関するものであり、具体的には、中継通信が行われる場合の確認応答の送受信に関する。 The present invention relates to a communication device, a control method, and a program, and specifically relates to transmission / reception of an acknowledgment when relay communication is performed.
　第３世代パートナーシッププロジェクト（３ＧＰＰ）では、基地局装置が割り当てたリソースを用いた端末間通信（Ｄｅｖｉｃｅ　ｔｏ　Ｄｅｖｉｃｅ（Ｄ２Ｄ）通信）が規定されている。Ｄ２Ｄ通信は、例えば、基地局装置と所定の端末装置との間の通信を中継する際に用いることもできる。すなわち、基地局装置は、第１の端末装置との間で確立した無線リンクを用いて信号を送信し又は信号を受信し、第１の端末装置は、第２の端末装置との間でＤ２Ｄ通信によって、基地局装置からの信号を第２の端末装置へ転送し、又は第２の端末装置からの信号を基地局装置へ転送する。 In the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), communication between devices (Device to Device (D2D) communication) using resources allocated by the base station apparatus is defined. D2D communication can also be used, for example, when relaying communication between a base station device and a predetermined terminal device. That is, the base station device transmits or receives a signal using a radio link established with the first terminal device, and the first terminal device performs D2D with the second terminal device. By communication, a signal from the base station apparatus is transferred to the second terminal apparatus, or a signal from the second terminal apparatus is transferred to the base station apparatus.
　基地局装置との間の通信を中継装置の助けを得て行う端末装置は、必ずしも中継装置を介した信号の送信と受信との両方を行うことができるわけではない場合がある。例えば、中継装置は、基地局装置から下りリンクの周波数で受信した信号を、上りリンクの周波数で転送する場合がある。この場合、端末装置は、上りリンクの周波数での信号を受信する能力を有しない場合、その転送された信号を受信することができない。したがって、例えば、端末装置は、下りリンクに関する通信については基地局装置との間で直接行い、上りリンクに関する通信のみを中継装置を介して行うことが考えられる。 A terminal device that performs communication with a base station device with the help of a relay device may not necessarily be able to perform both transmission and reception of signals via the relay device. For example, the relay apparatus may transfer a signal received at a downlink frequency from the base station apparatus at an uplink frequency. In this case, if the terminal device does not have a capability of receiving a signal at an uplink frequency, the terminal device cannot receive the transferred signal. Therefore, for example, it is conceivable that the terminal apparatus directly performs communication regarding the downlink with the base station apparatus and performs only communication regarding the uplink via the relay apparatus.
　一方、上述のように、上りリンクと下りリンクで非対称な通信経路を用いる場合、上りリンクの通信経路と下りリンクの通信経路とが非対称である場合、受信側の装置における信号の受信状況を確認するための確認応答がどのように取り扱われるかが課題となる。例えば、基地局装置は、上りリンクで端末装置から中継装置へ伝送され、中継装置から中継された信号を受信した場合、一般的にはその信号の送信元である中継装置に対して確認応答を送信する。しかしながら、端末装置は中継装置からの信号を受信することができないため、その確認応答を受信することができない。 On the other hand, as described above, when an asymmetric communication path is used for the uplink and the downlink, when the uplink communication path and the downlink communication path are asymmetric, the reception status of the signal in the receiving device is confirmed. The problem is how to handle the confirmation response to do this. For example, when a base station apparatus receives a signal transmitted from a terminal apparatus to a relay apparatus in the uplink and relayed from the relay apparatus, it generally sends an acknowledgment to the relay apparatus that is the transmission source of the signal. Send. However, since the terminal device cannot receive the signal from the relay device, it cannot receive the confirmation response.
　本発明は、信号の送信と受信とにおいて非対称な通信経路が用いられる場合の確認応答の送受信を確実に行う技術を提供する。 The present invention provides a technique for reliably transmitting / receiving an acknowledgment when an asymmetric communication path is used for signal transmission and reception.
　本発明の一態様による通信装置は、端末装置から中継装置へ送信されると共に前記中継装置から転送された信号を受信する受信手段と、前記信号の受信に成功した場合に、前記中継装置と前記端末装置とに対してマルチキャストで確認応答を送信する送信手段と、を有する。 A communication device according to an aspect of the present invention includes: a receiving unit that receives a signal transmitted from a terminal device to a relay device and transferred from the relay device; and when the signal is successfully received, the relay device and the relay device Transmitting means for transmitting an acknowledgment to the terminal device by multicast.
　本発明によれば、信号の送信と受信とにおいて非対称な通信経路が用いられる場合の確認応答の送受信を確実に行うことが可能となる。 According to the present invention, it is possible to reliably transmit and receive confirmation responses when an asymmetric communication path is used for signal transmission and reception.
　本発明のその他の特徴及び利点は、添付図面を参照とした以下の説明により明らかになるであろう。なお、添付図面においては、同じ若しくは同様の構成には、同じ参照番号を付す。 Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the accompanying drawings, the same or similar components are denoted by the same reference numerals.
　添付図面は明細書に含まれ、その一部を構成し、本発明の実施の形態を示し、その記述と共に本発明の原理を説明するために用いられる。
無線通信システムの構成例を示す図である。 制御装置及び端末装置のハードウェア構成例を示す図である。 制御装置の機能構成例を示すブロック図である。 端末装置の機能構成例を示すブロック図である。 無線通信システムで実行される処理の流れの第１の例を示す図である。 無線通信システムで実行される処理の流れの第２の例を示す図である。 無線通信システムで実行される処理の流れの第３の例を示す図である。 The accompanying drawings are included in the specification, constitute a part thereof, show an embodiment of the present invention, and are used to explain the principle of the present invention together with the description.
It is a figure which shows the structural example of a radio | wireless communications system. It is a figure which shows the hardware structural example of a control apparatus and a terminal device. It is a block diagram which shows the function structural example of a control apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the function structural example of a terminal device. It is a figure which shows the 1st example of the flow of the process performed with a radio | wireless communications system. It is a figure which shows the 2nd example of the flow of the process performed with a radio | wireless communications system. It is a figure which shows the 3rd example of the flow of the process performed with a radio | wireless communications system.
　以下、図面を参照しながら本発明の実施形態について説明する。 Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
　（ネットワーク構成）
　図１に、本実施形態に係る無線通信システムの構成例を示す。本無線通信システムは、例えば、第３世代パートナーシッププロジェクト（３ＧＰＰ）で規格化されたセルラ通信規格に従って動作する、基地局装置（制御装置）１０１と端末装置１０２及び１０３とを含んで構成される。端末装置１０２及び１０３は、それぞれ、制御装置１０１と通信することができると共に、例えば制御装置１０１によって割り当てられた（例えば時間及び周波数によって指定される）無線リソースを用いて、端末間通信を行うことができる。端末装置１０２及び１０３は、このような制御装置１０１との間の第１の通信と端末間の第２の通信とを用いて、制御装置１０１と他の端末装置との間の通信を中継する中継装置として機能することができる。 (Network configuration)
FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of a wireless communication system according to this embodiment. The wireless communication system includes, for example, a base station device (control device) 101 and terminal devices 102 and 103 that operate according to a cellular communication standard standardized by the third generation partnership project (3GPP). Each of the terminal devices 102 and 103 can communicate with the control device 101, and perform inter-terminal communication using, for example, radio resources allocated by the control device 101 (for example, specified by time and frequency). Can do. The terminal devices 102 and 103 relay communication between the control device 101 and other terminal devices using the first communication with the control device 101 and the second communication between the terminals. It can function as a relay device.
　このような無線通信システムでは、一部の端末装置は、必ずしも信号の送信と受信との両方を、中継装置を介して行うことができるわけではない場合がある。例えば、端末装置は、一般に基地局装置からの下りリンクの信号を受信することができるように構成されるが、（例えば下りリンクと異なる周波数帯が用いられる）上りリンクでの無線信号を受信できる必要は必ずしもない。このため、このような端末装置は、中継装置として動作する端末装置が端末間通信において下りリンクの信号を送信することができない限りは、端末間通信の信号を受信できないこととなる。この場合、基地局装置は、このような端末装置に対して下りリンクの信号は直接送信しながら、上りリンクの信号については中継装置を介して間接的に受信するような構成をとることができる。このような構成は、基地局装置は送信電力を比較的大きくすることができる一方で、端末装置は使用可能な送信電力に（例えば低消費電力化等の要請により）厳しい制限がありうる点でも、合理的でありうる。すなわち、端末装置によっては、基地局装置からの信号を十分な品質で受信できても、自装置が送信した信号が基地局装置に十分な品質で届かない場合がありうる。このため、上りリンクの通信のみが中継で行われるだけでも、基地局装置と端末装置とが通信可能となる確率を向上させることができるようになる。 In such a wireless communication system, some terminal devices may not always be able to perform both signal transmission and reception via a relay device. For example, the terminal apparatus is generally configured to receive a downlink signal from the base station apparatus, but can receive an uplink radio signal (for example, a frequency band different from the downlink is used). There is no necessity. For this reason, such a terminal device cannot receive an inter-terminal communication signal unless the terminal device operating as a relay device can transmit a downlink signal in the inter-terminal communication. In this case, the base station apparatus can be configured to receive the uplink signal indirectly via the relay apparatus while directly transmitting the downlink signal to such a terminal apparatus. . Such a configuration also allows the base station apparatus to increase the transmission power relatively, while the terminal apparatus may have a severe limitation on the usable transmission power (for example, due to a request for lower power consumption). Can be reasonable. That is, depending on the terminal device, even if the signal from the base station device can be received with sufficient quality, the signal transmitted by the device itself may not reach the base station device with sufficient quality. For this reason, the probability that the base station apparatus and the terminal apparatus can communicate with each other can be improved even if only uplink communication is performed by relay.
　さらに、一部の端末装置は、セルラ通信による端末間通信機能を有しない場合がある。このような端末装置は、Ｂｌｕｅｔｏｏｔｈ（登録商標）　Ｌｏｗ　Ｅｎｅｒｇｙ（ＢＬＥ）やＩＥＥＥ８０２．１１規格に従う無線ＬＡＮ等、他の無線アクセス技術（ＲＡＴ）を用いて、端末間通信を行うことがありうる。このようなＲＡＴを用いた信号は、セルラ通信と比して使用可能な送信電力が低い場合が多く、また、セルラの基地局装置がこのようなＲＡＴに対応していないことも想定されうる。このため、端末間通信において異なるＲＡＴが用いられる場合にも、上りリンクでの通信において中継装置を使用することが有益でありうる。 Furthermore, some terminal devices may not have a terminal-to-terminal communication function using cellular communication. Such a terminal device may perform inter-terminal communication using another wireless access technology (RAT) such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy (BLE) or a wireless LAN complying with the IEEE 802.11 standard. Signals using such RATs often have lower transmission power than cellular communications, and it can also be assumed that cellular base station devices do not support such RATs. For this reason, even when different RATs are used in terminal-to-terminal communication, it may be beneficial to use a relay device in uplink communication.
　図１は、このような非対称な通信経路が用いられる状態を示している。すなわち、端末装置１０２が、端末装置１０３からの上りリンクの信号を受信して、その信号を制御装置１０１に転送することで、端末装置１０３と制御装置１０１との間の上りリンクの通信は、端末装置１０２を介して間接的に行われている。一方で、端末装置１０３は、制御装置１０１からの下りリンクの信号を、端末装置１０２を介さずに直接受信することができる。なお、中継装置として動作可能な端末装置１０２は、端末装置１０３からの上りリンクの信号を受信することができ、その信号を上りリンクの信号として制御装置１０１へ送信することができる端末装置の中から選択されうる。 FIG. 1 shows a state where such an asymmetric communication path is used. That is, when the terminal apparatus 102 receives an uplink signal from the terminal apparatus 103 and transfers the signal to the control apparatus 101, uplink communication between the terminal apparatus 103 and the control apparatus 101 is as follows. This is done indirectly via the terminal device 102. On the other hand, the terminal apparatus 103 can directly receive the downlink signal from the control apparatus 101 without passing through the terminal apparatus 102. The terminal device 102 that can operate as a relay device can receive an uplink signal from the terminal device 103 and can transmit the signal to the control device 101 as an uplink signal. Can be selected.
　ここで、本実施形態では、このような上りリンクと下りリンクで非対称な通信経路が用いられる場合に、制御装置１０１が、端末装置１０３から端末装置１０２を経て受信した上りリンクの信号に対して、受信状況を確認するための確認応答を端末装置１０３へ送信する手法について検討する。一般に、信号を受信した装置は、その信号の送信元の装置に対して確認応答を送信する。すなわち、本実施形態のような無線通信システムでは、制御装置１０１は、端末装置１０３からの信号を端末装置１０２から受信すると、その信号に対する確認応答を端末装置１０２に送信しうる。これによれば、端末装置１０２は、中継した信号が正常に制御装置１０１へと届いたことを確認することができる。しかしその一方で、端末装置１０２は、端末装置１０３へとその確認応答を転送することはできない。ここでの端末装置１０３は、端末装置１０２からの信号を受信する能力を有しないからである。このようなシステムでは、端末装置１０２は、端末装置１０３へ送信すべき信号は制御装置１０１から送信すべきことを例えば制御装置１０１からの指示によって認識しうる。この場合、端末装置１０２は、端末装置１０３へ送信すべき信号が存在する場合はその信号を制御装置１０１へと送信し、制御装置１０１から端末装置１０３へとその信号を転送させる、通常の基地局装置を介した通信を行いうる。しかしながら、この場合、端末装置１０３へ送信すべき信号は、制御装置１０１から送信された確認応答である。このため、端末装置１０２は、制御装置１０１が送信した信号を、制御装置１０１に戻し、端末装置１０３へと転送させることとなる。この場合、本来不必要な信号の伝送が増えて無線リソースが浪費されうる。また、端末装置１０３に確認応答が届くまでの時間が長期化してしまい、結果として端末装置１０３が確認応答を長い間待ち受けることによって、端末装置１０３における消費電力の不必要な増大を招きうる。 Here, in the present embodiment, when such an asymmetric communication path is used between the uplink and the downlink, the control apparatus 101 receives an uplink signal received from the terminal apparatus 103 via the terminal apparatus 102. Then, a method for transmitting a confirmation response for confirming the reception status to the terminal device 103 will be considered. In general, a device that has received a signal transmits an acknowledgment to the device that has transmitted the signal. That is, in the wireless communication system as in the present embodiment, when the control apparatus 101 receives a signal from the terminal apparatus 103 from the terminal apparatus 102, the control apparatus 101 can transmit a confirmation response to the signal to the terminal apparatus 102. According to this, the terminal device 102 can confirm that the relayed signal has normally reached the control device 101. However, on the other hand, the terminal device 102 cannot transfer the confirmation response to the terminal device 103. This is because the terminal device 103 here does not have the ability to receive a signal from the terminal device 102. In such a system, the terminal apparatus 102 can recognize that a signal to be transmitted to the terminal apparatus 103 should be transmitted from the control apparatus 101 by, for example, an instruction from the control apparatus 101. In this case, when there is a signal to be transmitted to the terminal device 103, the terminal device 102 transmits the signal to the control device 101, and transfers the signal from the control device 101 to the terminal device 103. Communication via the station device can be performed. However, in this case, the signal to be transmitted to the terminal device 103 is the confirmation response transmitted from the control device 101. For this reason, the terminal apparatus 102 returns the signal transmitted from the control apparatus 101 to the control apparatus 101 and transfers it to the terminal apparatus 103. In this case, transmission of originally unnecessary signals may increase and radio resources may be wasted. Further, the time until the confirmation response reaches the terminal device 103 is prolonged, and as a result, the terminal device 103 waits for the confirmation response for a long time, which may cause an unnecessary increase in power consumption in the terminal device 103.
　本実施形態に係る制御装置１０１は、このような課題に対して、端末装置１０３から、中継装置として動作している端末装置１０２を介してデータ信号を受信した場合に、端末装置１０２及び端末装置１０３に対して、マルチキャストで確認応答信号を送信する。そして、端末装置１０２は、端末装置１０３に対する確認応答を制御装置１０１へ送信しないようにしうる。これによれば、制御装置１０１は、端末装置１０３から端末装置１０２を介して受信したデータ信号に対して、端末装置１０３へ直接確認応答を送信するため、端末装置１０３は、短期間の待ち受けによって確認応答を受信することができる。また、制御装置１０１が、マルチキャストによって、端末装置１０２へも同じ確認応答を送信するため、端末装置１０２は、自装置が中継した端末装置１０３からの信号の制御装置１０１における受信が成功したことを知ることができる。また、制御装置１０１から送信された確認応答を端末装置１０２が制御装置１０１に戻すことがないため、無線リソースの浪費を防ぐことができる。さらに、端末装置１０２は、自装置内で発生したデータ信号を制御装置１０１へ送信した場合に、そのデータ信号に対する制御装置１０１からの確認応答を同時に受信することもできる。以下では、この手順を手順１と呼ぶ。 In response to such a problem, the control apparatus 101 according to the present embodiment receives a data signal from the terminal apparatus 103 via the terminal apparatus 102 operating as a relay apparatus, and the terminal apparatus 102 and the terminal apparatus An acknowledgment signal is transmitted to 103 by multicast. Then, the terminal device 102 can prevent the confirmation response to the terminal device 103 from being transmitted to the control device 101. According to this, since the control apparatus 101 transmits an acknowledgment directly to the terminal apparatus 103 in response to the data signal received from the terminal apparatus 103 via the terminal apparatus 102, the terminal apparatus 103 can An acknowledgment can be received. In addition, since the control apparatus 101 transmits the same confirmation response to the terminal apparatus 102 by multicast, the terminal apparatus 102 confirms that the control apparatus 101 has successfully received the signal from the terminal apparatus 103 relayed by itself. I can know. Further, since the terminal device 102 does not return the confirmation response transmitted from the control device 101 to the control device 101, waste of radio resources can be prevented. Furthermore, when the terminal apparatus 102 transmits a data signal generated in the terminal apparatus 102 to the control apparatus 101, the terminal apparatus 102 can simultaneously receive a confirmation response from the control apparatus 101 for the data signal. Hereinafter, this procedure is referred to as procedure 1.
　制御装置１０１は、これに代えて、中継装置として動作している端末装置１０２を介して端末装置１０３からのデータ信号を受信した場合に、ユニキャスト信号によって、端末装置１０３のみに確認応答を送信しうる。そして、この場合、端末装置１０３は、この確認応答を端末装置１０２に対して転送する。これによれば、制御装置１０１は、端末装置１０３から端末装置１０２を介して受信したデータ信号に対して、端末装置１０３へ直接確認応答を送信するため、端末装置１０３は、短期間の待ち受けによって確認応答を受信することができる。また、端末装置１０２は、端末装置１０３からの信号によって、自装置が中継した端末装置１０３からの信号の制御装置１０１における受信が成功したことを知ることができる。さらに、端末装置１０２は、自装置において発生したデータ信号に関する確認応答を、この端末装置１０３からの確認応答とは別個に受信しうるため、例えば端末装置１０３に関する確認応答を受信するのを待たずに次のデータ信号を送信することができる。以下では、この手順を手順２と呼ぶ。 Instead, the control apparatus 101 transmits a confirmation response only to the terminal apparatus 103 by a unicast signal when receiving a data signal from the terminal apparatus 103 via the terminal apparatus 102 operating as a relay apparatus. Yes. In this case, the terminal device 103 transfers this confirmation response to the terminal device 102. According to this, since the control apparatus 101 transmits an acknowledgment directly to the terminal apparatus 103 in response to the data signal received from the terminal apparatus 103 via the terminal apparatus 102, the terminal apparatus 103 can An acknowledgment can be received. Also, the terminal device 102 can know from the signal from the terminal device 103 that the control device 101 has successfully received the signal from the terminal device 103 relayed by the terminal device 102. Further, since the terminal device 102 can receive the confirmation response regarding the data signal generated in the own device separately from the confirmation response from the terminal device 103, for example, the terminal device 102 does not wait to receive the confirmation response regarding the terminal device 103. The next data signal can be transmitted. Hereinafter, this procedure is referred to as procedure 2.
　さらに、手順１及び手順２に代えて、端末装置１０２が、端末装置１０３からのデータ信号の受信に成功した時点で、制御装置１０１へそのデータ信号に対する確認応答を送信し、制御装置１０１にその確認応答を転送させてもよい。端末装置１０２は、少なくともデータ信号の転送に関して、その転送したデータ信号に関する確認応答を制御装置１０１から受信するよりも前に、端末装置１０３への確認応答を制御装置１０１へと送信しうる。例えば、端末装置１０２は、端末装置１０３からのデータ信号を制御装置１０１へ転送する前又はこの転送と並行して、端末装置１０３への確認応答を制御装置１０１へと送信する。これにより、端末装置１０３は、短期間の待ち受けによって確認応答を受信することができる。なお、端末装置１０３に対する確認応答が端末装置１０２から送信された時点において制御装置１０１がこのデータ信号の受信に成功するか否かは不明である。しかしながら、少なくとも端末装置１０２においてはこのデータ信号の受信に成功しており、この結果、仮に制御装置１０１においてこのデータ信号の受信に失敗しても、端末装置１０２が再送すれば足りる。制御装置１０１は、端末装置１０２から、端末装置１０３への確認応答とは別個に又は並行して送信された、端末装置１０３からのデータ信号を受信すると、そのデータ信号に対する確認応答を、端末装置１０２のみに送信する。これにより、端末装置１０２は、自装置が中継した端末装置１０３からの信号の制御装置１０１における受信が成功したか否かを知ることができる。なお、端末装置１０２は、この確認応答が端末装置１０２と制御装置１０１との間の通信のみに関するものであるため、この確認応答を端末装置１０３へ転送することはない。以下では、この手順を手順３と呼ぶ。 Further, instead of the procedure 1 and the procedure 2, when the terminal device 102 succeeds in receiving the data signal from the terminal device 103, the terminal device 102 transmits an acknowledgment for the data signal to the control device 101. An acknowledgment may be transferred. The terminal apparatus 102 can transmit the confirmation response to the terminal apparatus 103 to the control apparatus 101 before receiving the confirmation response regarding the transferred data signal from the control apparatus 101 at least regarding the transfer of the data signal. For example, the terminal apparatus 102 transmits a confirmation response to the terminal apparatus 103 to the control apparatus 101 before or in parallel with the transfer of the data signal from the terminal apparatus 103 to the control apparatus 101. Thereby, the terminal device 103 can receive the confirmation response by waiting for a short time. It is unknown whether the control device 101 succeeds in receiving this data signal when the confirmation response to the terminal device 103 is transmitted from the terminal device 102. However, at least the terminal apparatus 102 has successfully received this data signal. As a result, even if the control apparatus 101 fails to receive this data signal, the terminal apparatus 102 only needs to retransmit. When the control device 101 receives a data signal from the terminal device 103 that is transmitted from the terminal device 102 separately or in parallel to the confirmation response to the terminal device 103, the control device 101 sends the confirmation response to the data signal to the terminal device. Send to 102 only. Thereby, the terminal apparatus 102 can know whether or not the control apparatus 101 has successfully received the signal from the terminal apparatus 103 relayed by the terminal apparatus 102. The terminal device 102 does not transfer the confirmation response to the terminal device 103 because the confirmation response relates only to communication between the terminal device 102 and the control device 101. Hereinafter, this procedure is referred to as procedure 3.
　なお、制御装置１０１は、端末装置１０３が端末装置１０２からの信号を受信することができるか否かによって、上述の手順１～手順３のいずれかの処理を実行するか否かを決定してもよい。手順１を例にとると、制御装置１０１は、端末装置１０３が端末装置１０２からの信号を受信できない場合に、端末装置１０２及び端末装置１０３に対してマルチキャストで確認応答を送信すると決定しうる。制御装置１０１は、端末装置１０３が端末装置１０２からの信号を受信することができるか否かを示す情報を、例えば端末装置１０３からの、場合によっては端末装置１０２によって転送された、通知によって取得することができる。 Note that the control device 101 determines whether or not to execute any one of the above-described procedures 1 to 3 depending on whether or not the terminal device 103 can receive a signal from the terminal device 102. Also good. Taking Procedure 1 as an example, the control apparatus 101 can determine to transmit an acknowledgment to the terminal apparatus 102 and the terminal apparatus 103 by multicast when the terminal apparatus 103 cannot receive a signal from the terminal apparatus 102. The control device 101 acquires information indicating whether the terminal device 103 can receive a signal from the terminal device 102, for example, from a notification from the terminal device 103, or in some cases transferred by the terminal device 102. can do.
　また、制御装置１０１は、端末装置１０３が低消費電力動作を行っているか否かによって、上述の手順１～手順３のいずれかを実行するか否かを決定してもよい。手順１を例にとると、制御装置１０１は、端末装置１０３が低消費電力動作を行っている場合は、端末装置１０２及び端末装置１０３に対してマルチキャストで確認応答を送信すると決定しうる。なお、制御装置１０１は、端末装置１０３が低消費電力動作を行っているか否かを示す情報を、例えば端末装置１０３からの、場合によっては端末装置１０２によって転送された、通知によって取得することができる。また、制御装置１０１は、端末装置１０３が低消費電力動作を行っていることを、端末装置１０３が不連続受信モード（例えば３ＧＰＰで定められている拡張ＤＲＸ（ｅＤＲＸ）モード）における受信周期が一定時間以上の長周期設定で動作しているか否かによって認識してもよい。また、制御装置１０１は、端末装置１０３がＰＳＭ（Ｐｏｗｅｒ　Ｓａｖｉｎｇ　Ｍｏｄｅ）を有効としているか否かによって、低消費電力動作を行っているか否かを判定してもよい。 Further, the control device 101 may determine whether or not to execute any one of the above-described procedure 1 to procedure 3 depending on whether or not the terminal device 103 is performing a low power consumption operation. Taking Procedure 1 as an example, when the terminal device 103 is performing a low power consumption operation, the control device 101 can determine to transmit an acknowledgment to the terminal device 102 and the terminal device 103 by multicast. Note that the control device 101 can acquire information indicating whether or not the terminal device 103 is performing a low power consumption operation by, for example, a notification transferred from the terminal device 103 or, in some cases, the terminal device 102. it can. Further, the control apparatus 101 indicates that the terminal apparatus 103 is performing a low power consumption operation, and that the reception period in the discontinuous reception mode (for example, the extended DRX (eDRX) mode defined by 3GPP) is constant. You may recognize by operating whether it is operating by the long cycle setting more than time. Further, the control device 101 may determine whether or not the low power consumption operation is being performed depending on whether or not the terminal device 103 has enabled PSM (Power Saving Mode).
　また、制御装置１０１は、例えば端末装置１０２が低消費電力動作を行っている場合に、上述の手順１～手順２のいずれかを実行することを決定してもよい。上述の手順１～手順２によれば、端末装置１０２は、端末装置１０３への確認応答の転送のための信号伝送を行う必要がないため、消費電力を抑えることができるからである。 In addition, for example, when the terminal apparatus 102 is performing a low power consumption operation, the control apparatus 101 may determine to execute any one of the above-described procedure 1 and procedure 2. This is because, according to the above-described procedure 1 and procedure 2, the terminal device 102 does not need to perform signal transmission for transferring the confirmation response to the terminal device 103, so that power consumption can be suppressed.
　なお、制御装置１０１は、上述の手順１～手順３のいずれかを実行すると決定しなかった場合は、端末装置１０２に対してユニキャストで確認応答を送信し、端末装置１０２がその確認応答を端末装置１０３へ転送すると決定しうる。 Note that if the control apparatus 101 does not decide to execute any one of the above steps 1 to 3, the control apparatus 101 transmits a confirmation response by unicast to the terminal apparatus 102, and the terminal apparatus 102 transmits the confirmation response. It can be determined to transfer to the terminal device 103.
　なお、制御装置１０１は、上述の処理を実行するか否かの決定の結果を、端末装置１０２及び端末装置１０３へ通知しうる。これにより、端末装置１０２は、端末装置１０３への確認応答の送信を試みることがなくなり、端末装置１０２の消費電力の消費を抑えることが可能となる。また、端末装置１０２及び端末装置１０３は、例えば、マルチキャスト信号を待ち受けるのかユニキャスト信号を待ち受けるのかを判定することができる。 Note that the control device 101 can notify the terminal device 102 and the terminal device 103 of the result of determination as to whether or not to execute the above-described processing. As a result, the terminal device 102 does not attempt to transmit an acknowledgment to the terminal device 103, and the power consumption of the terminal device 102 can be suppressed. Also, the terminal device 102 and the terminal device 103 can determine, for example, whether to wait for a multicast signal or a unicast signal.
　また、制御装置１０１は、端末装置１０３が端末装置１０２からの信号を受信できない場合に、上述のいずれかの方法を選択して確認応答を送信してもよい。この場合、制御装置１０１は、端末装置１０２及び端末装置１０３へと、どの方法を用いるかを通知しうる。 In addition, when the terminal device 103 cannot receive a signal from the terminal device 102, the control device 101 may select one of the methods described above and transmit a confirmation response. In this case, the control device 101 can notify the terminal device 102 and the terminal device 103 which method to use.
　（装置構成）
　続いて、上述のような処理を行う制御装置１０１及び端末装置１０２～１０３の構成について説明する。 (Device configuration)
Next, the configuration of the control device 101 and the terminal devices 102 to 103 that perform the processing as described above will be described.
　図２に、制御装置１０１及び端末装置１０２～１０３のハードウェア構成例を示す。制御装置１０１及び端末装置１０２～１０３は、一例において、図２に示すようなハードウェア構成を有し、例えば、ＣＰＵ２０１、ＲＯＭ２０２、ＲＡＭ２０３、外部記憶装置２０４、及び通信装置２０５を有する。制御装置１０１及び端末装置１０２～１０３では、例えばＲＯＭ２０２、ＲＡＭ２０３及び外部記憶装置２０４のいずれかに記録された、上述のような制御装置１０１及び端末装置１０２～１０３の各機能を実現するプログラムがＣＰＵ２０１により実行される。なお、ＣＰＵ２０１は、ＡＳＩＣ（特定用途向け集積回路）、ＦＰＧＡ（フィールドプログラマブルゲートアレイ）、ＤＳＰ（デジタルシグナルプロセッサ）等の１つ以上のプロセッサによって置き換えられてもよい。 FIG. 2 shows a hardware configuration example of the control device 101 and the terminal devices 102 to 103. In one example, the control device 101 and the terminal devices 102 to 103 have a hardware configuration as shown in FIG. 2, and include, for example, a CPU 201, a ROM 202, a RAM 203, an external storage device 204, and a communication device 205. In the control device 101 and the terminal devices 102 to 103, for example, a program for realizing the functions of the control device 101 and the terminal devices 102 to 103 recorded in any of the ROM 202, the RAM 203, and the external storage device 204 is the CPU 201. It is executed by. The CPU 201 may be replaced by one or more processors such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), and a DSP (Digital Signal Processor).
　そして、制御装置１０１及び端末装置１０２～１０３は、例えばＣＰＵ２０１により通信装置２０５を制御して、制御装置１０１及び端末装置１０２～１０３との間の通信又は端末装置１０２間の端末間通信を行う。なお、図２では、制御装置１０１及び端末装置１０２～１０３は、１つの通信装置２０５を有するような概略図を示しているが、これに限られない。例えば、制御装置１０１は、制御装置（基地局装置）間の通信用の通信装置及び端末装置との間の通信装置を有してもよい。また、端末装置１０２～１０３は、例えば制御装置１０１との間のセルラ通信用の通信装置と、他の端末装置との通信用のＢＬＥ等のセルラ通信と異なる通信用の通信装置とを有してもよい。 Then, the control device 101 and the terminal devices 102 to 103, for example, control the communication device 205 by the CPU 201 to perform communication between the control device 101 and the terminal devices 102 to 103 or communication between terminals between the terminal devices 102. In FIG. 2, the control device 101 and the terminal devices 102 to 103 are shown as having a single communication device 205, but are not limited thereto. For example, the control device 101 may include a communication device for communication between the control devices (base station devices) and a communication device between the terminal devices. The terminal devices 102 to 103 include, for example, a communication device for cellular communication with the control device 101 and a communication device for communication different from cellular communication such as BLE for communication with other terminal devices. May be.
　なお、制御装置１０１及び端末装置１０２～１０３は、各機能を実行する専用のハードウェアを備えてもよいし、一部をハードウェアで実行し、プログラムを動作させるコンピュータでその他の部分を実行してもよい。また、全機能がコンピュータとプログラムにより実行されてもよい。 Note that the control device 101 and the terminal devices 102 to 103 may include dedicated hardware for executing each function, or a part of the control device 101 and the terminal devices 102 to 103 may be executed by the computer and the other part may be executed by a computer that operates the program. May be. All functions may be executed by a computer and a program.
　図３は、制御装置１０１の機能構成例を示す図である。制御装置１０１は、その機能として、無線通信部３０１、情報取得部３０２、応答方法決定部３０３、及び通信制御部３０４を有する。無線通信部３０１は、少なくとも端末装置１０２及び１０３との間で、３ＧＰＰによって規定されたセルラ通信によって、無線信号を送信し、受信することができる。 FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the control device 101. The control device 101 includes a wireless communication unit 301, an information acquisition unit 302, a response method determination unit 303, and a communication control unit 304 as its functions. The wireless communication unit 301 can transmit and receive a wireless signal through cellular communication defined by 3GPP between at least the terminal devices 102 and 103.
　情報取得部３０２は、例えば、端末装置１０２又は端末装置１０３から、無線通信部３０１を介して、端末装置１０３が、端末間通信によって端末装置１０２からの信号を受信する能力を有するか否かの情報を取得しうる。また、情報取得部３０２は、例えば、端末装置１０２又は端末装置１０３から、端末装置１０３が低消費電力動作を行っているか否かの情報を取得してもよい。さらに、情報取得部３０２は、端末装置１０２から、端末装置１０２が低消費電力動作を行っているか否かの情報を取得してもよい。なお、これらの情報が事前に取得されている場合や事前に記憶されている場合には、これらの情報の取得が行われる必要はない。例えば、端末装置１０２及び端末装置１０３は、セルラ通信ネットワークとの接続を確立する際に上述の情報をネットワーク内に登録しておき、制御装置１０１は、端末装置１０２による中継が行われる際に、この登録された情報を取得するようにしてもよい。 The information acquisition unit 302 determines whether the terminal device 103 has a capability of receiving a signal from the terminal device 102 by inter-terminal communication from the terminal device 102 or the terminal device 103 via the wireless communication unit 301, for example. Information can be obtained. Further, the information acquisition unit 302 may acquire information on whether or not the terminal device 103 is performing a low power consumption operation from the terminal device 102 or the terminal device 103, for example. Further, the information acquisition unit 302 may acquire information on whether or not the terminal device 102 is performing a low power consumption operation from the terminal device 102. Note that when these pieces of information are acquired in advance or stored in advance, it is not necessary to acquire these pieces of information. For example, the terminal device 102 and the terminal device 103 register the above information in the network when establishing a connection with the cellular communication network, and the control device 101 performs the relaying by the terminal device 102. You may make it acquire this registered information.
　応答方法決定部３０３は、例えば情報取得部３０２が取得した情報に基づいて、上述の手順１～手順３のいずれかによって確認応答を送信するようにするか、又は、端末装置１０２に端末装置１０３のための確認応答を送信して端末装置１０３へは直接確認応答を送信しないようにするか、を決定しうる。制御装置１０１と端末装置１０２～１０３は、上述の手順１～手順３のいずれか１つのみに対応可能であってもよく、この場合、その１つの手順を実行するか否かが決定される。また、制御装置１０１と端末装置１０２～１０３が上述の手順１～手順３のうちの２つ以上に対応可能な場合は、それらのいずれかを実行するか、又は、いずれも実行しないかが決定されうる。 The response method determination unit 303 transmits the confirmation response by any one of the above-described procedure 1 to procedure 3 based on the information acquired by the information acquisition unit 302, for example, or the terminal device 103 It is possible to determine whether or not to transmit the confirmation response for the terminal device 103 directly to the terminal device 103. The control device 101 and the terminal devices 102 to 103 may be capable of supporting only one of the above-described procedures 1 to 3, and in this case, whether or not to execute the one procedure is determined. . Further, when the control device 101 and the terminal devices 102 to 103 can cope with two or more of the above-described procedures 1 to 3, it is determined whether or not to execute any of them. Can be done.
　なお、上述の手順１～手順３のいずれかを実行することが事前に定まっていてもよく、この場合は、情報取得部３０２及び応答方法決定部３０３は省略されてもよい。 In addition, it may be determined in advance that any one of the above-described procedure 1 to procedure 3 is executed, and in this case, the information acquisition unit 302 and the response method determination unit 303 may be omitted.
　応答方法決定部３０３によって決定された応答方法は、無線通信部３０１を介して、端末装置１０２及び端末装置１０３へと通知される。また、通信制御部３０４は、応答方法決定部３０３によって決定された応答方法に従って、端末装置１０３からのデータ信号を受信した場合の確認応答の送信手順を無線通信部３０１に実行させるための制御を行う。 The response method determined by the response method determination unit 303 is notified to the terminal device 102 and the terminal device 103 via the wireless communication unit 301. Further, the communication control unit 304 performs control for causing the wireless communication unit 301 to execute a confirmation response transmission procedure when a data signal is received from the terminal device 103 in accordance with the response method determined by the response method determining unit 303. Do.
　図４は、端末装置１０２～１０３の機能構成例を示す図である。端末装置１０２～１０３は、一例において、無線通信部４０１、応答方法取得部４０２、及び通信制御部４０３を含んで構成される。 FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the terminal apparatuses 102 to 103. In one example, the terminal apparatuses 102 to 103 include a wireless communication unit 401, a response method acquisition unit 402, and a communication control unit 403.
　無線通信部４０１は、少なくとも制御装置１０１との間で、３ＧＰＰによって規定されたセルラ通信によって、無線信号を送信し、受信することができる。また、無線通信部４０１は、制御装置１０１によって割り当てられたリソースを用いてセルラ通信プロトコルに従って又は例えばセルラ通信と異なる通信プロトコルに従って、他の端末装置との間での端末間通信を行うことができる。なお、例えば端末装置１０３などでは、無線通信部４０１は、端末装置１０２に対して信号を送信することができる一方で、端末装置１０２からの信号を受信できない場合がありうることに留意されたい。 The wireless communication unit 401 can transmit and receive a wireless signal at least with the control device 101 by cellular communication defined by 3GPP. In addition, the wireless communication unit 401 can perform inter-terminal communication with other terminal apparatuses using resources allocated by the control apparatus 101 according to a cellular communication protocol or according to a communication protocol different from cellular communication, for example. . Note that in the terminal device 103, for example, the wireless communication unit 401 may transmit a signal to the terminal device 102, but may not receive a signal from the terminal device 102.
　応答方法取得部４０２は、制御装置１０１から通知された、制御装置１０１からの確認応答の送信の方法についての情報を取得する。なお、応答方法取得部４０２は、この情報の取得のために、端末装置１０３が端末装置１０２からの信号を受信する能力を有するか否かの情報と端末装置１０３が低消費電力動作を行っているか否かの情報との少なくともいずれかを制御装置１０１へ通知しうる。なお、端末装置１０３の応答方法取得部４０２は、この情報を制御装置１０１へ直接送信してもよいし、端末装置１０２へこの情報を送信して、この情報を制御装置１０１へ転送させてもよい。また、端末装置１０２における応答方法取得部４０２は、端末装置１０２が低消費電力動作を行っているか否かの情報を、制御装置１０１へ通知しうる。なお、制御装置１０１がこれらの情報を別途取得可能な場合は、応答方法取得部４０２は、これらの情報の通知を行わなくてもよい。 The response method acquisition unit 402 acquires information about the method of transmitting the confirmation response from the control device 101 notified from the control device 101. Note that, in order to acquire this information, the response method acquisition unit 402 performs information on whether or not the terminal device 103 has a capability of receiving a signal from the terminal device 102 and the terminal device 103 performs a low power consumption operation. It is possible to notify the control device 101 of at least one of the information on whether or not there is. Note that the response method acquisition unit 402 of the terminal device 103 may directly transmit this information to the control device 101, or may transmit this information to the terminal device 102 and transfer this information to the control device 101. Good. Further, the response method acquisition unit 402 in the terminal device 102 can notify the control device 101 of information on whether or not the terminal device 102 is performing a low power consumption operation. In addition, when the control apparatus 101 can acquire such information separately, the response method acquisition part 402 does not need to notify these information.
　通信制御部４０３は、応答方法取得部４０２によって取得された情報に基づいて、端末装置１０３から制御装置１０１へ送信された信号に対する制御装置１０１からの応答手順に対応する処理を実行する。例えば、端末装置１０２～１０３は、手順１では、端末装置１０３からのデータ信号を制御装置１０１へ送信後に、マルチキャスト信号によって確認応答が送信されてくるのを待ち受ける。また、端末装置１０３は、手順２及び手順３において、制御装置１０１からユニキャスト信号で確認応答が送信されてくるのを待ち受ける。端末装置１０３は、手順２では、制御装置１０１からの確認応答を受信すると、端末間通信で、端末装置１０２に対して確認応答を転送する。端末装置１０２は、手順２では、端末装置１０３からの端末間通信で確認応答が送信されてくるのを待ち受ける。端末装置１０２は、手順３では、端末装置１０３からのデータ信号を受信すると、まずそのデータ信号に対する確認応答を制御装置１０１へ送信し、制御装置１０１から端末装置１０３へと、この確認応答を転送させる。このとき、端末装置１０２は、例えばこの確認応答と並行して又はこの確認応答の後に、データ信号を制御装置１０１へと送信し、その後、ユニキャスト信号で制御装置１０１から確認応答が送信されてくるのを待ち受ける。 The communication control unit 403 executes processing corresponding to the response procedure from the control device 101 to the signal transmitted from the terminal device 103 to the control device 101 based on the information acquired by the response method acquisition unit 402. For example, in procedure 1, after transmitting the data signal from the terminal device 103 to the control device 101, the terminal devices 102 to 103 wait for an acknowledgment response transmitted by a multicast signal. In step 2 and step 3, the terminal device 103 waits for an acknowledgment response to be transmitted from the control device 101 as a unicast signal. In step 2, when receiving the confirmation response from the control device 101, the terminal device 103 transfers the confirmation response to the terminal device 102 by inter-terminal communication. In the procedure 2, the terminal device 102 waits for an acknowledgment to be transmitted from the terminal device 103 through the inter-terminal communication. In step 3, when receiving a data signal from the terminal device 103, the terminal device 102 first transmits a confirmation response to the data signal to the control device 101, and transfers this confirmation response from the control device 101 to the terminal device 103. Let At this time, the terminal device 102 transmits a data signal to the control device 101 in parallel with or after the confirmation response, for example, and then the confirmation response is transmitted from the control device 101 as a unicast signal. I will wait for you to come.
　（処理の流れ）
　続いて、図５を用いて、手順１が用いられる場合の、無線通信システムにおいて実行される処理の流れについて説明する。 (Process flow)
Next, the flow of processing executed in the wireless communication system when procedure 1 is used will be described with reference to FIG.
　まず、制御装置１０１は、例えば端末装置１０２から、端末装置１０３が端末装置１０２からの信号を受信する能力を有するか、端末装置１０３が低消費電力動作を行っているか否か、端末装置１０２が低消費電力動作を行っているか否か、のうちの少なくともいずれか等の情報を取得する（Ｓ５０１）。なお、この情報は端末装置１０３から取得されてもよいし、たとえば制御装置１０１が接続するセルラ通信のネットワーク内のノードから取得されてもよい。そして、制御装置１０１は、取得した情報に基づいて、端末装置１０２によって中継されて制御装置１０１が受信した端末装置１０３からのデータ信号に対する確認応答の送信手順を決定する（Ｓ５０２）。ここでは、制御装置１０１は、手順１を実行することを決定したものとする。制御装置１０１は、決定した応答方法を、端末装置１０２～１０３へと通知する（Ｓ５０３）。そして、端末装置１０２～１０３は、この通知に応じて、制御装置１０１が確認応答を送信する手順に対応する処理を行うように、無線通信部４０１を設定する（Ｓ５０４）。この場合は、応答方法として手順１を採用すると制御装置１０１が決定したため、端末装置１０２～１０３は、端末装置１０３からのデータ信号が端末装置１０２によって中継されて制御装置１０１へ送信された場合（Ｓ５０５、Ｓ５０６）は、確認応答がマルチキャスト信号で送信されてくるのを待機するようにする。 First, for example, from the terminal device 102, the control device 101 has the capability of the terminal device 103 to receive a signal from the terminal device 102, whether the terminal device 103 is performing a low power consumption operation, Information such as whether or not a low power consumption operation is being performed is acquired (S501). This information may be acquired from the terminal device 103 or may be acquired from a node in the cellular communication network to which the control device 101 is connected, for example. Based on the acquired information, the control apparatus 101 determines a procedure for transmitting an acknowledgment response to the data signal from the terminal apparatus 103 that is relayed by the terminal apparatus 102 and received by the control apparatus 101 (S502). Here, it is assumed that the control apparatus 101 has decided to execute the procedure 1. The control device 101 notifies the determined response method to the terminal devices 102 to 103 (S503). In response to this notification, the terminal apparatuses 102 to 103 set the wireless communication unit 401 so as to perform processing corresponding to the procedure for the control apparatus 101 to transmit the confirmation response (S504). In this case, since the control apparatus 101 determines that the procedure 1 is adopted as the response method, the terminal apparatuses 102 to 103 receive data signals from the terminal apparatus 103 when they are relayed by the terminal apparatus 102 and transmitted to the control apparatus 101 ( S505 and S506) wait for an acknowledgment response to be transmitted as a multicast signal.
　制御装置１０１は、このデータ信号を受信すると、このデータ信号に対する確認応答をマルチキャスト信号で送信する（Ｓ５０７）。この場合、端末装置１０２～１０３は、マルチキャスト信号で確認応答が送信されてくるのを待ち受けているため、この確認応答を受信することができる。 When the control device 101 receives the data signal, the control device 101 transmits a confirmation response to the data signal by a multicast signal (S507). In this case, since the terminal apparatuses 102 to 103 are waiting for the confirmation response to be transmitted by the multicast signal, they can receive the confirmation response.
　これによれば、制御装置１０１は、端末装置１０３から端末装置１０２を介して受信したデータ信号に対して、端末装置１０３へ直接確認応答を送信するため、端末装置１０３は、短期間の待ち受けによって確認応答を受信することができる。また、制御装置１０１が、マルチキャストによって、端末装置１０２へも同じ確認応答を送信するため、端末装置１０２は、自装置が中継した端末装置１０３からの信号の制御装置１０１における受信が成功したことを知ることができる。また、制御装置１０１から送信された確認応答を端末装置１０２が制御装置１０１に戻すことがないため、無線リソースの浪費を防ぐことができる。さらに、端末装置１０２は、自装置内で発生したデータ信号を制御装置１０１へ送信した場合に、そのデータ信号に対する制御装置１０１からの確認応答を同時に受信することもできる。 According to this, since the control apparatus 101 transmits an acknowledgment directly to the terminal apparatus 103 in response to the data signal received from the terminal apparatus 103 via the terminal apparatus 102, the terminal apparatus 103 can An acknowledgment can be received. In addition, since the control apparatus 101 transmits the same confirmation response to the terminal apparatus 102 by multicast, the terminal apparatus 102 confirms that the control apparatus 101 has successfully received the signal from the terminal apparatus 103 relayed by itself. I can know. Further, since the terminal device 102 does not return the confirmation response transmitted from the control device 101 to the control device 101, waste of radio resources can be prevented. Furthermore, when the terminal apparatus 102 transmits a data signal generated in the terminal apparatus 102 to the control apparatus 101, the terminal apparatus 102 can simultaneously receive a confirmation response from the control apparatus 101 for the data signal.
　次に、図６を用いて、手順２が用いられる場合の、無線通信システムにおいて実行される処理の流れについて説明する。 Next, the flow of processing executed in the wireless communication system when procedure 2 is used will be described with reference to FIG.
　本処理において、Ｓ５０１～Ｓ５０６までの処理の流れは、図５と同様であるため、同じ参照番号を付して詳細な説明については省略する。なお、本処理では、手順２が用いられることが決定され、端末装置１０２～１０３において、それに応じた設定が行われる。端末装置１０３からのデータ信号が、端末装置１０２を介して制御装置１０１において受信されると、制御装置１０１は、ユニキャストで、端末装置１０３に対して確認応答を送信する（Ｓ６０１）。端末装置１０３は、Ｓ５０４での設定によって、このユニキャストでの確認応答を受信することができる。端末装置１０３は、制御装置１０１から確認応答を受信すると、この確認応答を端末装置１０２へと転送する（Ｓ６０２）。これによれば、制御装置１０１は、端末装置１０３から端末装置１０２を介して受信したデータ信号に対して、端末装置１０３へ直接確認応答を送信するため、端末装置１０３は、短期間の待ち受けによって確認応答を受信することができる。また、端末装置１０２は、端末装置１０３からの信号によって、自装置が中継した端末装置１０３からの信号の制御装置１０１における受信が成功したことを知ることができる。さらに、端末装置１０２は、自装置において発生したデータ信号に関する確認応答を、この端末装置１０３からの確認応答とは別個に受信しうるため、例えば端末装置１０３に関する確認応答を受信するのを待たずに次のデータ信号を送信することができる。 In this processing, the processing flow from S501 to S506 is the same as that in FIG. 5, and therefore, the same reference numerals are assigned and detailed description is omitted. In this process, it is determined that the procedure 2 is used, and the terminal devices 102 to 103 make settings corresponding to the procedure. When the control apparatus 101 receives a data signal from the terminal apparatus 103 via the terminal apparatus 102, the control apparatus 101 transmits an acknowledgment to the terminal apparatus 103 by unicast (S601). The terminal device 103 can receive the unicast confirmation response according to the setting in S504. Upon receiving the confirmation response from the control device 101, the terminal device 103 transfers this confirmation response to the terminal device 102 (S602). According to this, since the control apparatus 101 transmits an acknowledgment directly to the terminal apparatus 103 in response to the data signal received from the terminal apparatus 103 via the terminal apparatus 102, the terminal apparatus 103 can An acknowledgment can be received. Also, the terminal device 102 can know from the signal from the terminal device 103 that the control device 101 has successfully received the signal from the terminal device 103 relayed by the terminal device 102. Further, since the terminal device 102 can receive the confirmation response regarding the data signal generated in the own device separately from the confirmation response from the terminal device 103, for example, the terminal device 102 does not wait to receive the confirmation response regarding the terminal device 103. The next data signal can be transmitted.
　次に、図７を用いて、手順３が用いられる場合の、無線通信システムにおいて実行される処理の流れについて説明する。 Next, the flow of processing executed in the wireless communication system when procedure 3 is used will be described with reference to FIG.
　本処理において、Ｓ５０１～Ｓ５０５までの処理の流れは、図５と同様であるため、同じ参照番号を付して詳細な説明については省略する。端末装置１０２は、端末装置１０３からのデータ信号を受信すると、例えばその転送（Ｓ５０６）の前に、このデータ信号に対する確認応答を制御装置１０１へと送信する（Ｓ７０１）。この確認応答は、制御装置１０１によって、端末装置１０３へと転送される（Ｓ７０２）。なお、図７では、データ信号の転送（Ｓ５０６）の前に、確認応答が端末装置１０２から制御装置１０１へ送信されるとしたが、このデータ信号の転送と確認応答の送信は、並行して同じ又は略同じタイミングで行われてもよい。端末装置１０２が、端末装置１０３からのデータ信号を制御装置１０１へと転送すると、制御装置１０１は、この転送されたデータ信号についていの確認応答を、端末装置１０２に対してユニキャストで送信する（Ｓ７０３）。端末装置１０２は、この確認応答を端末装置１０３へと送信することはなく、また、制御装置１０１も、この転送されたデータ信号に対する確認応答を端末装置１０３へと送信することはない。これは、端末装置１０２においてデータ信号の受信に成功した場合には、それ以降は端末装置１０３が関与せずに、端末装置１０２と制御装置１０１との間だけでこのデータ信号を送受信することができるため、中継に関する確認応答を端末装置１０３へ通知する必要が必ずしもないからである。これにより、端末装置１０３は、短期間の待ち受けによって確認応答を受信することができる。 In this processing, the processing flow from S501 to S505 is the same as that in FIG. 5, and therefore, the same reference numerals are given and detailed description is omitted. When the terminal device 102 receives the data signal from the terminal device 103, for example, before the transfer (S506), the terminal device 102 transmits a confirmation response to the data signal to the control device 101 (S701). This confirmation response is transferred to the terminal device 103 by the control device 101 (S702). In FIG. 7, the confirmation response is transmitted from the terminal apparatus 102 to the control apparatus 101 before the data signal transfer (S506). However, the data signal transfer and the confirmation response transmission are performed in parallel. It may be performed at the same or substantially the same timing. When the terminal apparatus 102 transfers the data signal from the terminal apparatus 103 to the control apparatus 101, the control apparatus 101 transmits a confirmation response about the transferred data signal to the terminal apparatus 102 by unicast. (S703). The terminal apparatus 102 does not transmit this confirmation response to the terminal apparatus 103, and the control apparatus 101 also does not transmit the confirmation response for the transferred data signal to the terminal apparatus 103. This is because when the data signal is successfully received in the terminal device 102, the data signal can be transmitted and received only between the terminal device 102 and the control device 101 without the terminal device 103 thereafter. This is because it is not always necessary to notify the terminal device 103 of the confirmation response regarding the relay. Thereby, the terminal device 103 can receive the confirmation response by waiting for a short time.
　このように、上述の手順１～手順３によれば、端末装置１０３が短期間の待ち受けによって確認応答を受信することができ、結果として端末装置１０３の消費電力を低減することができる。また、いずれの手順においても、端末装置１０２にも確認応答が送信されるため、端末装置１０２も中継に係る通信が成功したかを認識することができる。このようにして、上述の手順１～手順３によれば、中継装置である端末装置１０２と、端末装置１０２による中継の提供を受ける端末装置１０３とに対して、効率的に確認応答が送信されるようになる。 As described above, according to the above-described procedure 1 to procedure 3, the terminal device 103 can receive the confirmation response by waiting for a short time, and as a result, the power consumption of the terminal device 103 can be reduced. In any procedure, since the confirmation response is also transmitted to the terminal device 102, the terminal device 102 can also recognize whether the communication related to the relay is successful. In this way, according to the above-described procedure 1 to procedure 3, a confirmation response is efficiently transmitted to the terminal device 102 that is a relay device and the terminal device 103 that receives the relay provided by the terminal device 102. Become so.
　以上、本実施形態に係る代表的な構成及び処理の流れについて説明したが、これらは一例にすぎず、請求の範囲に記載された範囲での、本明細書に記載された実施形態に対する様々な変形及び変更も、本発明の権利範囲内に当然に含まれるものである。 The representative configuration and the flow of processing according to the present embodiment have been described above. However, these are merely examples, and various modifications to the embodiments described in the present specification can be made within the scope described in the claims. Modifications and changes are naturally included within the scope of the present invention.
　本発明は上記実施の形態に制限されるものではなく、本発明の精神及び範囲から離脱することなく、様々な変更及び変形が可能である。従って、本発明の範囲を公にするために、以下の請求項を添付する。 The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, in order to make the scope of the present invention public, the following claims are attached.
　本願は、２０１７年１月２４日提出の日本国特許出願特願２０１７－０１０５７７を基礎として優先権を主張するものであり、その記載内容の全てを、ここに援用する。 This application claims priority on the basis of Japanese Patent Application No. 2017-010577 filed on Jan. 24, 2017, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Claims (8)

  1. 　端末装置から中継装置へ送信されると共に前記中継装置から転送された信号を受信する受信手段と、
    　前記信号の受信に成功した場合に、前記中継装置と前記端末装置とに対してマルチキャストで確認応答を送信する送信手段と、
    　を有することを特徴とする通信装置。     Receiving means for receiving a signal transmitted from the terminal device to the relay device and transferred from the relay device;
    A transmission means for transmitting an acknowledgment by multicast to the relay device and the terminal device when the signal is successfully received;
    A communication apparatus comprising:
  2. 　前記通信装置は、前記中継装置と前記端末装置とに対してマルチキャストで確認応答を送信するか否かを決定する決定手段をさらに有する、
    　ことを特徴とする請求項１に記載の通信装置。     The communication apparatus further includes a determination unit that determines whether or not to transmit an acknowledgment to the relay apparatus and the terminal apparatus by multicast.
    The communication apparatus according to claim 1.
  3. 　前記決定手段は、前記端末装置が前記中継装置からの信号を受信できない場合に、前記中継装置と前記端末装置とに対してマルチキャストで確認応答を送信すると決定する、
    　ことを特徴とする請求項２に記載の通信装置。     The determining unit determines to transmit a confirmation response by multicast to the relay device and the terminal device when the terminal device cannot receive a signal from the relay device;
    The communication device according to claim 2.
  4. 　前記決定手段は、前記端末装置が低消費電力動作を行っている場合に、前記中継装置と前記端末装置とに対してマルチキャストで確認応答を送信すると決定する、
    　ことを特徴とする請求項２又は３に記載の通信装置。     The determining unit determines to transmit a confirmation response by multicast to the relay device and the terminal device when the terminal device is performing a low power consumption operation;
    The communication apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, wherein
  5. 　前記決定手段は、前記中継装置と前記端末装置とに対してマルチキャストで確認応答を送信すると決定しなかった場合は、前記中継装置に対してユニキャストで確認応答を送信し、前記中継装置は当該確認応答を前記端末装置へ転送すると決定する、
    　ことを特徴とする請求項２から４のいずれか１項に記載の通信装置。     If the determination unit does not determine to transmit an acknowledgment by multicast to the relay device and the terminal device, the determination unit transmits an acknowledgment by unicast to the relay device, and the relay device Determining to transfer an acknowledgment to the terminal device;
    The communication apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the communication apparatus is characterized in that:
  6. 　前記送信手段は、前記決定手段における決定の結果を通知する信号を、前記端末装置と前記中継装置とに送信する、
    　ことを特徴とする請求項２から５のいずれか１項に記載の通信装置。     The transmitting means transmits a signal notifying the result of determination in the determining means to the terminal device and the relay device;
    The communication device according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein:
  7. 　通信装置の制御方法であって、
    　端末装置から中継装置へ送信されると共に前記中継装置から転送された信号を受信することと、
    　前記信号の受信に成功した場合に、前記中継装置と前記端末装置とに対してマルチキャストで確認応答を送信することと、
    　を有することを特徴とする制御方法。     A communication device control method comprising:
    Receiving a signal transmitted from the terminal device to the relay device and transferred from the relay device;
    When the reception of the signal is successful, sending a confirmation response by multicast to the relay device and the terminal device;
    A control method characterized by comprising:
  8. 　通信装置に備えられたコンピュータに、
    　端末装置から中継装置へ送信されると共に前記中継装置から転送された信号を受信させ、
    　前記信号の受信に成功した場合に、前記中継装置と前記端末装置とに対してマルチキャストで確認応答を送信させる、
    　ためのプログラム。     In the computer equipped with the communication device,
    The signal transmitted from the terminal device to the relay device and transferred from the relay device is received,
    When the reception of the signal is successful, a confirmation response is transmitted by multicast to the relay device and the terminal device.
    Program for.
PCT/JP2017/040562 2017-01-24 2017-11-10 Communication device, control method and program WO2018139008A1 (en)

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Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP2008118499A (en) * 2006-11-07 2008-05-22 Fujitsu Ltd Wireless base station, relay station, relay method
JP2010537592A (en) * 2007-08-27 2010-12-02 ノーテル・ネットワークス・リミテッド Method and communication apparatus in radio communication system

Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP2008118499A (en) * 2006-11-07 2008-05-22 Fujitsu Ltd Wireless base station, relay station, relay method
JP2010537592A (en) * 2007-08-27 2010-12-02 ノーテル・ネットワークス・リミテッド Method and communication apparatus in radio communication system

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* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
"Discussion on UE-to-NW Relay Concurrent Processes", 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 MEETING #81 R1-152628, 16 May 2015 (2015-05-16), XP050973066 *

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