WO2021039006A1

WO2021039006A1 - Wireless base station, wireless terminal, and wireless communication system

Info

Publication number: WO2021039006A1
Application number: PCT/JP2020/022035
Authority: WO
Inventors: 健吾松山
Original assignee: ソニー株式会社
Priority date: 2019-08-30
Filing date: 2020-06-04
Publication date: 2021-03-04

Abstract

This invention controls, for a plurality of wireless terminals which can wirelessly communicate using a plurality of frequency bands, the propriety of wireless communication on a particular frequency band, in accordance with the state of wireless communications by the plurality of wireless terminals.　This wireless communication system comprises a wireless base station and a plurality of wireless terminals. Each of the plurality of wireless terminals selects one of a first and a second frequency band to perform wireless communications. The wireless base station manages information relating to the plurality of wireless terminals. In accordance with the state of wireless communications by the plurality of wireless terminals, the wireless base station instructs one of the plurality of wireless terminals as to the propriety of wireless communication on the second frequency band.

Description

Wireless base stations, wireless terminals and wireless communication systems

This technology relates to wireless communication systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to a wireless communication system in which a plurality of wireless terminals perform wireless communication in any of a plurality of frequency bands, and a wireless terminal and a wireless base station in the wireless communication system.

In recent years, with the spread of wireless LAN (Local Area Network), it is common practice to build a wireless LAN environment at events and seminars where many people gather and open it to participants free of charge. At this time, a large number of terminals communicate wirelessly, which may cause radio wave interference or a waiting time for collision avoidance. That is, in such an environment, when distributing files such as event participation benefits and handouts at seminars, a plurality of terminals may access the access point all at once and the download may not proceed at all. In addition, due to the introduction of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) in education, lessons and training using tablet terminals have become widespread, but even in this case, the terminals of the students are all sent to the base station for file distribution. There are many cases of connection, and the same problem occurs.

On the other hand, it is conceivable to improve the wireless communication environment by using multiple frequency bands. For example, a wireless communication system that improves throughput in a network that applies different wireless communication methods has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP-A-2017-147554

In the above-mentioned conventional technology, a terminal that can use two types of wireless modes is assumed, and a large number of base stations that perform communication in one of the wireless modes are arranged to improve the throughput. However, this conventional technique is a technique of searching for a base station existing within the communicable range of the terminal and starting wireless communication, and it is not possible to switch the frequency band in one base station. Therefore, when the state of wireless communication changes due to the influence of other terminals during file transfer, it is not possible to switch the frequency band to improve the throughput.

This technology was created in view of this situation, and is specified for multiple wireless terminals capable of wireless communication using multiple frequency bands according to the state of wireless communication by the multiple wireless terminals. The purpose is to control the availability of wireless communication in the frequency band of.

The present technology has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and the first aspect thereof is the first and second wireless terminals capable of wireless communication using the first and second frequency bands. The second frequency band for any of the first and second wireless terminals according to the state of wireless communication between the wireless terminal information management unit that manages information related to the above and the first and second wireless terminals. It is a wireless base station and its wireless communication system including a wireless communication control processing unit that instructs whether or not wireless communication is possible in the above. This has the effect of instructing any of the wireless terminals whether or not to perform wireless communication in the second frequency band according to the state of wireless communication by the plurality of wireless terminals.

Further, in the first aspect, the wireless terminal environment determination unit for measuring the environment of each of the first and second wireless terminals is further provided, and the wireless communication control processing unit is the first and second wireless terminals. Priority is given according to the environment of the wireless terminal, and the wireless communication in the second frequency band is preferentially enabled for the higher priority of the first and second wireless terminals. You may instruct. This has the effect of preferentially instructing the wireless terminal having a high priority to enable wireless communication in the second frequency band.

Further, in the first aspect, the wireless terminal information management unit manages transmission information indicating a file transfer status in each of the first and second wireless terminals, and the wireless communication control processing unit manages the transmission information indicating the state of file transfer. You may instruct to enable wireless communication in the second frequency band based on the transmission information. This has the effect of instructing the activation of wireless communication in the second frequency band based on the state of file transfer.

Further, in the first aspect, the wireless communication control processing unit performs radio in the second frequency band with respect to the first and second wireless terminals whose transmission information does not indicate the end of transmission. You may instruct to enable communication. This has the effect of instructing the wireless terminal that has not indicated the end of transmission to enable wireless communication in the second frequency band.

Further, in the first aspect, the wireless communication control processing unit may control the number of wireless communication connections in the second frequency band so as to be within a predetermined number. This has the effect of maintaining the communication performance of wireless communication in the second frequency band.

Further, in the first aspect, the wireless communication control processing unit performs wireless communication in the second frequency band when a connection is made from the first wireless terminal by wireless communication in the second frequency band. May be instructed to enable. This has the effect of instructing the activation of wireless communication in the second frequency band triggered by the connection.

Further, in the first aspect, the wireless communication control processing unit notifies the second wireless terminal when the end of the file transfer in the second frequency band is notified from the first wireless terminal. The user may instruct the activation of wireless communication in the second frequency band. This has the effect of instructing the activation of wireless communication in the second frequency band when the file transfer is completed.

Further, in the first aspect, the wireless communication control processing unit notifies the second wireless terminal of the disconnection of the second frequency band when the first wireless terminal notifies the disconnection of the second frequency band. It may be instructed to enable wireless communication in the frequency band 2. This has the effect of instructing the other wireless terminals to enable wireless communication in the second frequency band, triggered by the disconnection of the second frequency band by a certain wireless terminal.

Further, in the first aspect, when the second wireless terminal requests the activation of the second frequency band, the wireless communication control processing unit refers to the second wireless terminal as described above. It may be instructed to enable wireless communication in the second frequency band. This has the effect of instructing the wireless terminal to activate the second frequency band in response to the request for activation of the second frequency band from the wireless terminal.

Further, in this first aspect, it is assumed that the second frequency band is a frequency band capable of communicating in a wider band than the first frequency band. More specifically, the first frequency band may be a microwave band, and the second frequency band may be a millimeter wave band. It is assumed that the wireless communication in the second frequency band has higher throughput performance than the wireless communication in the first frequency band, and file transfer is performed at high speed.

Further, the second aspect of the present technology is that the first wireless communication unit that performs wireless communication in the first frequency band and the second wireless communication unit that performs wireless communication in a second frequency band different from the first frequency band. This is a wireless terminal including the wireless communication unit of the above and a frequency band selection control processing unit that enables or disables wireless communication in the second frequency band in response to an instruction from the wireless base station. This has the effect of controlling the use of wireless communication in the second frequency band in response to an instruction from the wireless base station.

Further, in the second aspect, the frequency band selection control processing unit may notify the radio base station of the status of file transfer in the second frequency band. This has the effect of receiving instructions from the radio base station according to the file transfer status.

Further, in the second aspect, the frequency band selection control processing unit may notify the radio base station to that effect when the file transfer in the second frequency band is completed. This has the effect of receiving an instruction from the radio base station when the file transfer is completed.

Further, in the second aspect, the radio quality determination unit for determining the radio quality in the second frequency band is further provided, and the second radio communication unit has the radio quality in the second frequency band. When the level becomes lower than the predetermined level, the wireless communication in the second frequency band may be disconnected. This has the effect of disconnecting the wireless communication in the second frequency band at the wireless terminal according to the wireless quality in the second frequency band.

Further, in the second aspect, the frequency band selection control processing unit may request the radio base station to enable wireless communication in the second frequency band at the start of file transfer. .. This has the effect of notifying the wireless base station of the start timing of file transfer and instructing the activation of wireless communication in the second frequency band.

It is a figure which shows the whole configuration example of the wireless communication system 10 in embodiment of this technique. It is a figure which shows the configuration example of the radio base station 200 in embodiment of this technique. It is a figure which shows the example of the wireless terminal information stored in the wireless terminal information storage unit 240 in embodiment of this technique. It is a figure which shows the configuration example of the wireless terminal 100 in embodiment of this technique. It is a figure which shows the example of the frequency band switching procedure in the IEEE802.11ad standard. It is a figure which shows the field composition example of the action frame in the IEEE802.11 standard. It is a figure which shows the field composition example of the vendor-specific content using an action frame in the IEEE802.11 standard. It is a sequence diagram which shows the connection setup operation example of the wireless communication system 10 in the 1st Embodiment of this technique. It is a sequence diagram which shows the file transfer operation example of the wireless communication system 10 in the 1st Embodiment of this technique. It is a sequence diagram which shows another example of the file transfer operation of the wireless communication system 10 in the 1st Embodiment of this technique. It is a flow chart which shows the processing procedure example at the time of activation of the radio base station 200 in 1st Embodiment of this technique. It is a flow chart which shows the processing procedure example at the time of the file transfer of the radio base station 200 in the 1st Embodiment of this technique. It is a flow chart which shows the processing procedure example at the time of activation of the wireless terminal 100 in 1st Embodiment of this technology. It is a flow chart which shows the processing procedure example at the time of the file transfer of the wireless terminal 100 in the 1st Embodiment of this technique. It is a sequence diagram which shows the file transfer operation example of the wireless communication system 10 in the 2nd Embodiment of this technique.

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present technology (hereinafter referred to as embodiments) will be described. The explanation will be given in the following order.
1. 1. First Embodiment (Example in which a wireless base station determines whether or not a specific frequency band can be used when connecting from a wireless terminal)
2. 2. Second embodiment (example in which a wireless terminal requests a wireless base station to use a specific frequency band at the start of download)

<1. First Embodiment>
[Wireless communication system]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration example of the wireless communication system 10 according to the embodiment of the present technology.

The wireless communication system 10 includes a plurality of wireless terminals 100, a wireless base station 200, and a file server 300.

The wireless terminal 100 is a wireless communication device that performs wireless communication with the wireless base station 200. The wireless terminal 100 can perform wireless communication using a plurality of frequency bands. In this embodiment, a combination of a first frequency band and a second frequency band capable of wideband communication as compared with the first frequency band is assumed. Specifically, a microwave band (for example, 2.4 GHz band or 5 GHz band) is assumed as the first frequency band, and a millimeter wave band (for example, 60 GHz band) is assumed as the second frequency band.

The microwave band is a frequency band that has been used for a long time in the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11a standard and the g standard, and the ax standard has been established with the aim of further improving throughput. There is. On the other hand, the millimeter wave band is a frequency band newly used in the ad standard and the ay standard. The millimeter-wave band has a wider band than the microwave band, and has high communication throughput performance. Further, in the millimeter wave band, the communicable distance is shorter than that in the microwave band at the same power, but communication is possible without any problem in a line-of-sight environment with a distance of about 10 m. However, in these millimeter-wave band standards that use TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access), the number of connections is increased from the microwave band in order to avoid the insertion of guard time between terminal communications and maintain high throughput. It is common to reduce it. Therefore, many terminals cannot be connected at the same time, and base stations are scrambled for each other. Furthermore, since problems such as radio wave interference and collision avoidance occur in the millimeter wave band, communication performance deteriorates as the number of terminals increases.

The wireless base station 200 is a wireless communication device that performs wireless communication with a plurality of wireless terminals 100. The wireless base station 200 can perform wireless communication using a plurality of frequency bands, and as described above, in this embodiment, the combination of the first frequency band and the second frequency band is used. Suppose.

A file server 300 is connected to the wireless base station 200. The file server 300 is a server that holds files, and transfers files in response to a request from the wireless terminal 100. Here, it is assumed that participants access the files all at once at a specific event such as distributing a large file, a seminar using ICT, a class, or a conference presentation. The plurality of users download a specific file from the file server 300 via the wireless base station 200 by their wireless terminal 100. At this time, the user starts downloading the file at the same time to some extent. The wireless terminal 100 connects to the wireless base station 200 according to a predetermined wireless standard, accesses the file server 300 via the wireless base station 200, and downloads a file. The connection between the wireless base station 200 and the file server 300 may be either wired or wireless.

[Wireless base station]
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the radio base station 200 according to the embodiment of the present technology.

The radio base station 200 includes

antennas

211 and 212, a first frequency band radio communication unit 221 and a second frequency band radio communication unit 222, and a first frequency band connection processing unit 231 and a second frequency band connection processing unit 232. The wireless terminal information storage unit 240, the file temporary storage processing unit 260, the wireless terminal environment determination unit 250, and the wireless communication control processing unit 290 are provided.

The first frequency band wireless communication unit 221 is a circuit that performs wireless communication in the first frequency band. The second frequency band wireless communication unit 222 is a circuit that performs wireless communication in the second frequency band. The antenna 211 is an antenna that is connected to the first frequency band wireless communication unit 221 and performs wireless communication in the first frequency band. The antenna 212 is an antenna that is connected to the second frequency band wireless communication unit 222 and performs wireless communication in the second frequency band. The first frequency band connection processing unit 231 connects to the first frequency band wireless communication unit 221 and performs connection processing with the wireless terminal 100 by the first frequency band. The second frequency band connection processing unit 232 connects to the second frequency band wireless communication unit 222 and performs connection processing with the wireless terminal 100 by the second frequency band.

The wireless terminal information storage unit 240 holds information about the wireless terminal 100 registered as a wireless communication partner. The wireless terminal information stored in the wireless terminal information storage unit 240 will be described later. The wireless terminal information storage unit 240 is an example of the wireless terminal information management unit described in the claims.

The file temporary storage processing unit 260 performs a process of temporarily storing a specific file supplied from the file server 300.

The wireless terminal environment determination unit 250 determines the environment of the wireless terminal 100, which is a wireless communication partner. The environment of the wireless terminal 100 may correspond to the communication performance in a specific frequency band, the distance from the wireless base station 200, and the like. The environment of the wireless terminal 100 measured by the wireless terminal environment determination unit 250 is stored in the wireless terminal information storage unit 240 as wireless terminal information.

The wireless communication control processing unit 290 controls wireless communication with a plurality of wireless terminals 100. The wireless communication control processing unit 290 enables or disables wireless communication in the second frequency band for any of the plurality of wireless terminals 100 according to the state of wireless communication by the plurality of wireless terminals 100. Instruct. For example, when a certain wireless terminal 100 is connected by both the first frequency band and the second frequency band, the wireless communication control processing unit 290 instructs the wireless terminal 100 to communicate in the second frequency band. .. However, when the number of connected wireless terminals in the second frequency band reaches the allowable number of connected wireless terminals, the wireless terminals 100 to be connected are selected from the priorities set based on the communication parameters held in the wireless terminal information storage unit 240 and prioritized. Instructs the low-degree wireless terminal 100 to invalidate the connection in the second frequency band.

Further, when the wireless communication control processing unit 290 receives the end notification of the second frequency band from the wireless terminal 100 for which the download (file transfer) has been completed, the wireless terminal information storage indicating that the file of the wireless terminal 100 has been transferred. Record in section 240. Then, from the candidates of the wireless terminal 100 that has not been transferred yet, the wireless terminal 100 having the highest priority is instructed to enable the second frequency band.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of wireless terminal information stored in the wireless terminal information storage unit 240 according to the embodiment of the present technology.

The wireless terminal information storage unit 240 stores the following items as wireless terminal information for each wireless terminal 100. The 5 GHz MAC address 241 is a MAC (Medium Access Control) address of the first frequency band wireless communication unit 221. The 60 GHz MAC address 242 is the MAC address of the second frequency band wireless communication unit 222. Note that these MAC addresses may be other address information or the like as long as the wireless terminal 100 can be identified in each collection number band.

The 60 GHz transmitted flag 243 is a flag indicating whether or not the file in the file transfer has been transmitted. The 60 GHz connection state 244 is information indicating the connection state of whether or not the connection is made by the second frequency band wireless communication unit 222. The 60 GHz transmitted flag 243 is an example of the transmitted information described in the claims.

The 60 GHz transmission beam sector 245 is information regarding the beam direction in wireless communication in the second frequency band. The 60 GHz transmission beam SNR246 is a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the radio beam in the second frequency band. 2.4 GHz / 5 GHz RSSI 247 is the received signal strength (RSSI: Received Signal Strength Indicator) in the first frequency band. The distance 248 from the base station is the distance from the radio base station 200.

Priority 249 is a priority among wireless terminals 100 for using the second frequency band. The priority 249 is determined by the wireless communication control processing unit 290 based on the above-mentioned 60 GHz

transmission beam sector

245, 60 GHz transmission beam SNR 246, 2.4 GHz / 5 GHz RSSI 247, distance 248 from the base station, and the like. In this example, the smaller the value of priority 249, the higher the priority.

[Wireless terminal]
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the wireless terminal 100 according to the embodiment of the present technology.

The wireless terminal 100 includes

antennas

111 and 112, a first frequency band wireless communication unit 121 and a second frequency band wireless communication unit 122, a first frequency band connection processing unit 131, and a second frequency band connection processing unit 132. A second frequency band radio quality determination unit 152, a file reception processing unit 160, and a frequency band selection control processing unit 190 are provided.

The first frequency band wireless communication unit 121 is a circuit that performs wireless communication in the first frequency band. The second frequency band wireless communication unit 122 is a circuit that performs wireless communication in the second frequency band. The antenna 111 is an antenna that is connected to the first frequency band wireless communication unit 121 to perform wireless communication in the first frequency band. The antenna 112 is an antenna that is connected to the second frequency band wireless communication unit 122 and performs wireless communication in the second frequency band. The first frequency band connection processing unit 131 connects to the first frequency band wireless communication unit 121 and performs connection processing with the radio base station 200 by the first frequency band. The second frequency band connection processing unit 132 connects to the second frequency band wireless communication unit 122 and performs connection processing with the radio base station 200 by the second frequency band. The first frequency band wireless communication unit 121 is an example of the first wireless communication unit described in the claims. The second frequency band wireless communication unit 122 is an example of the second wireless communication unit described in the claims.

The second frequency band wireless quality determination unit 152 measures the quality of wireless communication in the second frequency band. When the quality of the wireless communication measured by the second frequency band wireless quality determination unit 152 becomes lower than a predetermined level, the second frequency band wireless communication unit 122 disconnects the wireless communication in the second frequency band. You may do so. Further, the second frequency band wireless communication unit 122 may disconnect the connection in the second frequency band, if necessary, depending on the file download status. The second frequency band radio quality determination unit 152 is an example of the radio quality determination unit described in the claims.

The file reception processing unit 160 performs processing for receiving (downloading) the file transferred from the file server 300.

The frequency band selection control processing unit 190 controls to select the frequency band used for wireless communication in the wireless terminal 100. The wireless terminal 100 independently connects to the wireless base station 200 in the first frequency band and the second frequency band. At this time, normally, wireless communication is performed in the first frequency band, but wireless communication is performed in the second frequency band according to an instruction from the radio base station 200. Further, the wireless terminal 100 discards the connection in the second frequency band in response to the invalidation instruction of the second frequency band from the wireless base station 200, and thereafter to the wireless base station 200 in the second frequency band. Suppress the connection. Further, the wireless terminal 100 resumes the connection in the second frequency band in response to the activation instruction of the second frequency band from the wireless base station 200. After the file download is completed, the connection in the second frequency band is invalidated, and the radio base station 200 is notified of the end of the download.

[FST]
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a frequency band switching procedure in the IEEE802.11ad standard.

The IEEE802.11ad standard defines a frequency band switching procedure called FST (Fast Session Transfer). In this FST, while the wireless terminal 100 and the wireless base station 200 are connected in two frequency bands, communication is performed at only one frequency, and switching can be performed seamlessly. Retransmission is not required before and after switching, and the process can be continued as it is.

In the following embodiments, it is assumed that this standard is used for frequency switching. The radio base station 200 shall use the FST Setup Request frame 801 for the communication instruction in the second frequency band. As a response to this, the wireless terminal 100 returns an FST Setup Response frame 802. Further, the communication instruction in the first frequency band shall be given by the FST confirmation request (FST Ack Request) frame 803. As a response to this, the wireless terminal 100 returns an FST confirmation response (FST Ack Response) frame 804.

[Action frame]
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a field configuration of an action frame in the IEEE802.11 standard.

In the action frame of the IEEE802.11 standard, vendor-specific content can be specified. In the following embodiment, it is assumed that this action frame is used to request or instruct the activation or invalidation of the second frequency band.

The action frames are frame control (Frame Control) 510, interval (Duration) 530, destination address (Destination Address) 540, source address (Source Address) 550, sequence control (Sequence Control) 570, and frame body (Frame Body) 580. , FCS (Frame Check Sequence) 590.

The frame control 510 corresponding to the header includes protocol version 511, type 512, subtype 513, destination information (To DS) 514, source information (From DS) 515, fragment (More Fragment) 516, retry 517, and power control (power control). It consists of fields of Power Management (518), Additional Data (More Data) 519, Protected Frame (Protected Frame) 521, and Order (Order) 522. Of these, when the type 512 indicates "00" and the subtype 513 indicates "1011", it is determined to be an action frame. Then, when the category 581 of the frame body 580 indicates "127", the vendor-specific content 600 is included following the OUI (Organizationally Unique Identifier) 582.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a field configuration example of vendor-specific content using an action frame in the IEEE802.11 standard.

In this embodiment, the vendor-specific content 600 includes a 1-byte frequency band identifier 610 and a 1-byte frequency band control 620. The frequency band identifier 610 is a field indicating a frequency band. In this embodiment, the frequency band identifier 610 indicates, for example, "5" in order to request or instruct the activation or invalidation of the 60 GHz band as the second frequency band. Further, an enable flag 621 is provided as the first bit of the frequency band control 620, and either enablement or invalidation is specified by the enable flag 621.

By using this action frame, the wireless base station 200 instructs the wireless terminal 100 to enable or disable the 60 GHz band. Further, the wireless terminal 100 requests the wireless base station 200 to enable or disable the 60 GHz band.

[motion]
FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram showing an example of connection setup operation of the wireless communication system 10 according to the first embodiment of the present technology.

In this example, three wireless terminals 100 are assumed, and they are represented as wireless terminals 101 to 103 in order to distinguish them from each other. Further, in this example, the allowable number of terminals connected in the 60 GHz band is set to one, and the wireless terminal 100 having the highest priority is allowed to be connected in the 60 GHz band.

The radio base station 200 issues beacons in two frequency bands after activation. Then, after each of the wireless terminals 101 to 103 is activated, they are connected to the wireless base station 200 in order in two frequency bands.

First, the wireless terminal 101 first connects to the wireless base station 200 in two frequency bands (811, 812). The wireless base station 200 registers the wireless terminal 101 in the wireless terminal information storage unit 240, confirms the number of connected devices, and determines the priority (813). Then, the above-mentioned FST setup is performed (814). As a result, after that, the wireless terminal 101 performs wireless communication at 60 GHz.

Next, the wireless terminal 102 connects to the wireless base station 200 (815, 816). Since the 60 GHz band of the wireless base station 200 has already reached the connection allowable amount, the wireless base station 200 performs priority determination after registering the wireless terminal 102 in the wireless terminal information storage unit 240 (817). At this time, since the wireless terminal 102 has a lower priority than the wireless terminal 101 that is already connected, a 60 GHz invalidation instruction is transmitted to the wireless terminal 102 (818).

Next, the wireless terminal 103 connects to the wireless base station 200 (821, 822). The radio base station 200 similarly determines the priority (823). In this case, since the wireless terminal 103 has a higher priority than the wireless terminal 101, the wireless base station 200 sends a 60 GHz invalidation instruction to the wireless terminal 101 (824) to invalidate the wireless communication by 60 GHz (825). ). Then, the connection with the wireless terminal 103 at 60 GHz is continued, and the FST setup is performed (826).

By the above operation, the

wireless terminals

101 and 102 are in a state of performing wireless communication at 5 GHz, and the wireless terminal 103 is in a state of performing wireless communication at 60 GHz.

FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a file transfer operation of the wireless communication system 10 according to the first embodiment of the present technology.

The

wireless terminals

101 and 102 are downloaded at 5 GHz, and the wireless terminals 103 are downloaded from the file server 300 via the wireless base station 200 (831 to 836). In general, 60 GHz wireless communication is faster, so it is assumed that the wireless terminal 103 first completes the download. When the download is completed, the wireless terminal 103 disables 60 GHz (838) and transmits a 60 GHz end notification to the wireless base station 200 (837).

After receiving the end notification from the wireless terminal 103, the wireless base station 200 sets the 60 GHz transmitted flag 243 of the wireless terminal 103 to ON (transmitted), and determines the wireless terminal 100 indicating the next priority (839). ). As a result, a 60 GHz activation instruction is transmitted to the wireless terminal 101 indicating the next priority (841).

After receiving the 60 GHz activation instruction, the wireless terminal 101 connects to the wireless base station 200 at 60 GHz (843).

After the wireless terminal 101 is connected, the wireless base station 200 shifts to a state of performing wireless communication using 60 GHz by FST (844). The wireless terminal 101 continues to download the file at 60 GHz (845, 846). When the download is completed, the wireless terminal 101 disables 60 GHz (848) and transmits a 60 GHz end notification to the wireless base station 200 (847).

After that, similarly, the wireless terminal 102 continues to download the file at 60 GHz (855, 856), and the download is completed.

When the wireless base station 200 confirms that the 60 GHz transmitted flag 243 of all the wireless terminals 100 registered in the wireless terminal information storage unit 240 is set to ON (transmitted) (859), the process ends. ..

In this example, the wireless base station 200 downloads the file every time, but the once downloaded file may be saved in its own file temporary storage processing unit 260 to perform the same operation as the cache memory.

FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing another example of the file transfer operation of the wireless communication system 10 according to the first embodiment of the present technology.

The 60 GHz band has the characteristic of being vulnerable to obstacles, and the throughput may become extremely slow depending on the situation. In this example, the operation when the file download is stagnant due to such a characteristic will be described.

In this example, two wireless terminals 100 are assumed, and they are represented as

wireless terminals

101 and 102 in order to distinguish them from each other. The wireless terminal 101 downloads at 60 GHz (863, 864), and the wireless terminal 102 downloads at 5 GHz (861, 862).

When the download does not proceed at the wireless terminal 101 (865), the wireless terminal 101 disconnects from the wireless base station 200 at 60 GHz and notifies the wireless base station 200 (866). As soon as the wireless base station 200 detects it, it instructs the wireless terminal 101 to perform wireless communication in the 5 GHz band (867). As a result, the wireless terminal 101 continues downloading in the 5 GHz band (868, 869).

The wireless base station 200 lowers the priority 249 of the wireless terminal 101 in the wireless terminal information storage unit 240 (871). As a result, the wireless terminal 102 having a relatively high priority is instructed to perform wireless communication in the 60 GHz band (872).

After that, when the wireless base station 200 receives the end notification of the 60 GHz band from the wireless terminal 102 (878), the wireless base station 200 again instructs the wireless terminal 101 to perform wireless communication in the 60 GHz band (882). As a result, the wireless terminal 101 downloads in the 60 GHz band if it can be downloaded at a speed higher than 5 GHz (884, 885).

FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing an example of a processing procedure at the time of starting the radio base station 200 according to the first embodiment of the present technology.

Each time there is a connection from the wireless terminal 100 (step S911), the wireless base station 200 determines whether or not the wireless terminal 100 is registered in the wireless terminal information storage unit 240, and if it is not registered (step S911). S912: No), registration is performed (step S913). Then, the priority of the wireless terminal 100 is generated and stored in the priority 249 of the wireless terminal information storage unit 240 (step S914).

When the connection of the wireless terminal 100 is in the first frequency band and is not connected in the second frequency (step S915: No, step S918: No), only registration in the wireless terminal information storage unit 240 is completed.

When the connection of the wireless terminal 100 is in the second frequency band (step S915: Yes), the number of wireless terminal connections in the current second frequency band is compared with the allowable number of wireless terminal connections (step S916). At this time, if the number of wireless terminal connections is equal to or less than the allowable number of wireless terminal connections (step S916: Yes), the connection is continued. On the other hand, if the number of wireless terminal connections exceeds the allowable number of wireless terminal connections (step S916: No), the wireless terminal registered in the wireless terminal information storage unit 240 and currently connected in the second frequency band (connecting this time). The priorities of the wireless terminals 100) are compared. Then, the invalidation instruction of the second frequency is transmitted to the wireless terminal having the lowest priority (step S917).

If the wireless terminal 100 is already connected even in the first frequency band (step S918: Yes), the wireless communication in the second frequency band is instructed and the process ends (step S919). If the wireless terminal 100 is not connected in the first frequency band (step S918: No), the process ends promptly.

As a result, it is possible to maintain a communicable state at any time while suppressing the number of wireless terminals connected in the second frequency band.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart showing an example of a processing procedure at the time of file transfer of the radio base station 200 according to the first embodiment of the present technology.

The wireless base station 200 itself does not know about the file transfer, and the file is transferred from the file server 300 to the wireless terminal 100 (step S931).

When the connection in the second frequency band is disconnected from some wireless terminals without receiving the end notification (step S932: Yes), it is determined that the connection in the second frequency band is unstable. , Instruct wireless communication in the first frequency band (step S941), and lower the connection priority in the second frequency band (step S942).

When the end notification of the second frequency band is received from the wireless terminal 100 for which the file reception is completed (step S932: No, step S933: Yes), the transmitted flag of the wireless terminal 100 stored in the wireless terminal information storage unit 240 is turned on. Set to (Sent) (step S934). Then, if there is another wireless terminal whose transmitted flag is off (transmission not completed) (step S935: Yes), the second frequency activation instruction is transmitted to the wireless terminal having the highest priority among them (step S935: Yes). S936). Then, when the wireless terminal is connected in the second frequency band (step S937), the communication in the second frequency band is instructed (step S938).

In this way, while performing wireless communication in the first frequency band as a whole, wireless communication is performed in the second frequency band in order to speed up file transfer as a whole.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart showing an example of a processing procedure at the time of starting the wireless terminal 100 according to the first embodiment of the present technology.

When the wireless terminal 100 is on standby in the first frequency band (step S951) and file reception starts (step S952: Yes), the startup process is terminated and the process proceeds to the file reception process. On the other hand, when the communication instruction in the second frequency band is received from the radio base station 200 without starting the file reception (step S952: No) (step S953: Yes), the communication setting in the second frequency band is performed (step S952: Yes). Step S961), standby in the second frequency band (step S962). Further, when the radio base station 200 receives an instruction to invalidate the second frequency band without receiving a communication instruction in the second frequency band (step S953: No) (step S954: Yes), the second frequency band is disconnected. Then (step S955), and wait in the first frequency band (step S956).

While the wireless terminal 100 is on standby in the first frequency band (step S956), the wireless base station 200 receives an activation instruction in the second frequency band without starting file reception (step S957: No). (Step S958: Yes), the wireless terminal 100 makes a connection in the second frequency band (step S959).

When the communication is set in the second frequency band (step S961), it stands by in the second frequency band (step S962). During that time, when file reception starts (step S963: Yes), the process at startup is terminated and the process proceeds to file reception processing. On the other hand, if the file reception is not started (step S963: No) and the radio base station 200 receives an instruction to invalidate the second frequency band (step S954: Yes), the second frequency band is disconnected (step S955). ), Stand by in the first frequency band (step S956).

FIG. 14 is a flow chart showing an example of a processing procedure at the time of file transfer of the wireless terminal 100 according to the first embodiment of the present technology.

The wireless terminal 100 waits for the start of file reception (step S971), and receives and downloads the file from the file server 300 according to the instruction from the user (step S972).

When the file download is completed (step S976), the second frequency end notification is transmitted regardless of the frequency band being communicated (step S977), and if the second frequency band is valid, it is invalidated (step S978). ..

While wireless communication is being performed in the second frequency band (step S973: Yes), the wireless quality is checked (step S974). At this time, if there is a problem with the wireless quality (step S974: problem), the connection of the second frequency band is disconnected (step S975), and the wireless communication is continued in the first frequency band (step S972).

As described above, according to the first embodiment of the present technology, the second frequency band (from the wireless base station 200 to any wireless terminal 100, depending on the state of wireless communication by the plurality of wireless terminals 100). It is possible to instruct whether or not wireless communication is possible in the millimeter wave band).

[Modification example]
In the above-described embodiment, when the download in the 60 GHz band is completed in the wireless terminal 100, the 60 GHz transmitted flag 243 is set to be turned on to disable the 60 GHz wireless communication, but the download is not necessarily completed. It does not have to be. For example, the 60 GHz transmitted flag 243 may be set to on when 80% of the file capacity is transferred to disable 60 GHz wireless communication and lower the priority. This gives the other wireless terminal 100 an opportunity to use the 60 GHz band, which may improve the overall transfer efficiency depending on the communication environment.

<2. Second Embodiment>
In the first embodiment described above, it was assumed that all the wireless terminals 100 would download the same file all at once. On the other hand, in the second embodiment, every time each of the wireless terminals 100 starts downloading one file, a request for activation of the second frequency band is transmitted to the wireless base station 200 to indicate the intention. By doing so, you can download multiple files as many times as you like. Further, as a result, different files can be downloaded for each wireless terminal 100, and only a specific wireless terminal 100 can download the file.

Since the overall configuration of the wireless communication system is the same as that of the first embodiment described above, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[motion]
FIG. 15 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a file transfer operation of the wireless communication system 10 according to the second embodiment of the present technology.

Each of the wireless terminals 101 to 103 transmits a request for activation of the second frequency band to the wireless base station 200 each time the download is started. The radio base station 200 that has received the activation request determines whether or not to activate the second frequency band based on the priority. When the wireless base station 200 receives a 60 GHz activation request from the wireless terminal 100, it remains as it is if the 60 GHz transmitted flag 243 of the wireless terminal 100 is off, and if the 60 GHz transmitted flag 243 is on, the 60 GHz transmitted flag 243 is turned on. Turn off 243. Then, the wireless base station 200 performs a file transfer operation when there is even one wireless terminal 100 indicating that the 60 GHz transmission completed flag 243 is off. As a result, the radio base station 200 can grasp the download timing and can control a plurality of downloads.

First, it is assumed that all of the wireless terminals 101 to 103 have completed the download and are performing wireless communication in the 5 GHz band (711). Then, it is assumed that the

wireless terminals

102, 103, and 101 start downloading files different from each other in this order.

First, the wireless terminal 102 downloads by wireless communication in the 5 GHz band (712, 713). The wireless terminal 102 transmits a 60 GHz activation request to the wireless base station 200 at the start of download (714). Upon receiving the 60 GHz activation request, the radio base station 200 determines the 60 GHz transmitted flag 243 and the priority 249 (715), and transmits the 60 GHz activation instruction to the wireless terminal 102 (716).

The wireless terminal 102 that has received the 60 GHz activation instruction enables wireless communication in the 60 GHz band (717) and connects (718). Similar to the first embodiment described above, the frequency band is switched by FST (719), and the wireless terminal 102 continues downloading by wireless communication in the 60 GHz band (721, 722).

After that, the wireless terminal 103 downloads by wireless communication in the 5 GHz band (723, 724). The wireless terminal 103 transmits a 60 GHz activation request to the wireless base station 200 at the start of download (725). The radio base station 200 that has received the 60 GHz activation request determines the 60 GHz transmitted flag 243 and the priority 249 (726), but since the wireless terminal 102 shows a higher priority, it responds to the 60 GHz activation request. Make it not exist.

Similarly, the wireless terminal 101 downloads by wireless communication in the 5 GHz band (731, 732). The wireless terminal 101 transmits a 60 GHz activation request to the wireless base station 200 at the start of download (733). The radio base station 200 that has received the 60 GHz activation request determines the 60 GHz transmitted flag 243 and the priority 249 (734), but since the wireless terminal 102 shows a higher priority, it responds to the 60 GHz activation request. Make it not exist.

After that, the wireless terminal 102 finishes the download, invalidates the wireless communication in the 60 GHz band (735), and transmits the 60 GHz band end notification to the wireless base station 200 (736). Upon receiving the 60 GHz band end notification, the radio base station 200 determines the 60 GHz transmission completed flag 243 and the priority 249 (737), and transmits a 60 GHz activation instruction to the wireless terminal 101 showing the next highest priority (s). 738). After that, the same processing is performed.

As described above, according to the second embodiment of the present technology, a plurality of files are transmitted by transmitting an activation request for the second frequency band each time each of the wireless terminals 100 starts downloading one file. Can be downloaded as many times as you like. Further, different files can be downloaded for each wireless terminal 100, and only a specific wireless terminal 100 can download the file.

Note that the above-described embodiment shows an example for embodying the present technology, and the matters in the embodiment and the matters specifying the invention in the claims have a corresponding relationship with each other. Similarly, the matters specifying the invention within the scope of claims and the matters in the embodiment of the present technology having the same name have a corresponding relationship with each other. However, the present technology is not limited to the embodiment, and can be embodied by applying various modifications to the embodiment without departing from the gist thereof.

Further, the processing procedure described in the above-described embodiment may be regarded as a method having these series of procedures, and as a program for causing a computer to execute these series of procedures or as a recording medium for storing the program. You may catch it. As this recording medium, for example, a CD (Compact Disc), MD (MiniDisc), DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), memory card, Blu-ray disc (Blu-ray (registered trademark) Disc) or the like can be used.

It should be noted that the effects described in the present specification are merely examples and are not limited, and other effects may be obtained.

The present technology can have the following configurations.
(1) A wireless terminal information management unit that manages information on first and second wireless terminals capable of wireless communication using the first and second frequency bands.
A wireless communication control process that instructs any of the first and second wireless terminals to perform wireless communication in the second frequency band according to the state of wireless communication by the first and second wireless terminals. A wireless base station equipped with a unit.
(2) Further provided with a wireless terminal environment determination unit for measuring the environment of each of the first and second wireless terminals.
The wireless communication control processing unit assigns a priority according to the environment of the first and second wireless terminals, and gives priority to the higher priority of the first and second wireless terminals. The radio base station according to (1) above, which specifically instructs the activation of wireless communication in the second frequency band.
(3) The wireless terminal information management unit manages transmission information indicating a file transfer status in each of the first and second wireless terminals.
The wireless base station according to (1) or (2), wherein the wireless communication control processing unit instructs the activation of wireless communication in the second frequency band based on the transmission information.
(4) The wireless communication control processing unit instructs the first and second wireless terminals to enable wireless communication in the second frequency band for those whose transmission information does not indicate the end of transmission. The radio base station according to (3) above.
(5) The wireless base station according to any one of (1) to (4) above, wherein the wireless communication control processing unit controls the number of wireless communication connections in the second frequency band so as to fall within a predetermined number.
(6) The wireless communication control processing unit instructs the activation of wireless communication in the second frequency band when a connection by wireless communication in the second frequency band occurs from the first wireless terminal. The radio base station according to any one of (1) to (5) above.
(7) The wireless communication control processing unit notifies the second wireless terminal of the end of file transfer in the second frequency band when the first wireless terminal notifies the second frequency. The wireless base station according to any one of (1) to (5) above, which instructs the activation of wireless communication in the band.
(8) When the first wireless terminal notifies the second wireless terminal of disconnection of the second frequency band, the wireless communication control processing unit wirelessly notifies the second wireless terminal in the second frequency band. The radio base station according to any one of (1) to (5) above, which instructs the activation of communication.
(9) When the second wireless terminal requests the activation of the second frequency band, the wireless communication control processing unit requests the second wireless terminal to activate the second frequency band in the second frequency band. The radio base station according to any one of (1) to (5) above, which instructs the activation of wireless communication.
(10) The radio base station according to any one of (1) to (9), wherein the second frequency band is a frequency band capable of communicating in a wider band than the first frequency band.
(11) The radio base station according to any one of (1) to (9), wherein the first frequency band is a microwave band and the second frequency band is a millimeter wave band.
(12) With the first wireless communication unit that performs wireless communication in the first frequency band,
A second wireless communication unit that performs wireless communication in a second frequency band different from the first frequency band,
A wireless terminal including a frequency band selection control processing unit that enables or disables wireless communication in the second frequency band in response to an instruction from a wireless base station.
(13) The wireless terminal according to (12), wherein the frequency band selection control processing unit notifies the wireless base station of the status of file transfer in the second frequency band.
(14) The wireless terminal according to (12) or (13), wherein the frequency band selection control processing unit notifies the wireless base station of the completion of file transfer in the second frequency band.
(15) Further provided with a radio quality determination unit for determining radio quality in the second frequency band.
The second radio communication unit disconnects the radio communication in the second frequency band when the radio quality in the second frequency band becomes lower than a predetermined level (12) to (14). The wireless terminal described in any of.
(16) The frequency band selection control processing unit requests the radio base station to enable wireless communication in the second frequency band at the start of file transfer, any of the above (12) to (15). The wireless terminal described in.
(17) With a plurality of wireless terminals capable of wireless communication by selecting either the first or second frequency band,
A wireless communication system including a wireless base station that instructs any of the plurality of wireless terminals whether or not wireless communication is possible in the second frequency band according to the state of wireless communication by the plurality of wireless terminals.

10 Wireless communication system 100 to 103

Wireless terminals

111, 112 Antenna 121 1st frequency band wireless communication unit 122 2nd frequency band wireless communication unit 131 1st frequency band connection processing unit 132 2nd frequency band connection processing unit 152 2nd frequency band Radio quality judgment unit 160 File reception processing unit 190 Frequency band selection control processing unit 200

Radio base station

211, 212 Antenna 221 First frequency band wireless communication unit 222 Second frequency band wireless communication unit 231 First frequency band connection processing unit 232 No. 2 frequency band connection processing unit 240 wireless terminal information storage unit 250 wireless terminal environment judgment unit 260 file temporary storage processing unit 290 wireless communication control processing unit 300 file server

Claims

A wireless terminal information management unit that manages information about first and second wireless terminals capable of wireless communication using the first and second frequency bands.
A wireless communication control process that instructs any of the first and second wireless terminals to perform wireless communication in the second frequency band according to the state of wireless communication by the first and second wireless terminals. A wireless base station equipped with a unit.
A wireless terminal environment determination unit for measuring the environment of each of the first and second wireless terminals is further provided.
The wireless communication control processing unit assigns a priority according to the environment of the first and second wireless terminals, and gives priority to the higher priority of the first and second wireless terminals. The radio base station according to claim 1, wherein the wireless communication is instructed to be enabled in the second frequency band.
The wireless terminal information management unit manages transmission information indicating a file transfer status in each of the first and second wireless terminals.
The wireless base station according to claim 1, wherein the wireless communication control processing unit instructs the activation of wireless communication in the second frequency band based on the transmission information.
A claim in which the wireless communication control processing unit instructs the first and second wireless terminals to enable wireless communication in the second frequency band for those whose transmission information does not indicate the end of transmission. 3. The radio base station described.
The wireless base station according to claim 1, wherein the wireless communication control processing unit controls so that the number of wireless communication connections in the second frequency band falls within a predetermined number.
Claim 1 in which the wireless communication control processing unit instructs the activation of wireless communication in the second frequency band when a connection by wireless communication in the second frequency band occurs from the first wireless terminal. Described radio base station.
When the wireless communication control processing unit notifies the second wireless terminal of the end of file transfer in the second frequency band from the first wireless terminal, the wireless communication control processing unit wirelessly notifies the second wireless terminal in the second frequency band. The radio base station according to claim 1, which instructs the activation of communication.
When the first wireless terminal notifies the second wireless terminal of disconnection of the second frequency band, the wireless communication control processing unit enables the second wireless terminal to perform wireless communication in the second frequency band. The radio base station according to claim 1, which indicates the conversion.
When the second wireless terminal requests the activation of the second frequency band, the wireless communication control processing unit transmits the wireless communication in the second frequency band to the second wireless terminal. The radio base station according to claim 1, which instructs activation.
The radio base station according to claim 1, wherein the second frequency band is a frequency band capable of communicating in a wider band than the first frequency band.
The radio base station according to claim 1, wherein the first frequency band is a microwave band and the second frequency band is a millimeter wave band.
With the first wireless communication unit that performs wireless communication in the first frequency band,
A second wireless communication unit that performs wireless communication in a second frequency band different from the first frequency band,
A wireless terminal including a frequency band selection control processing unit that enables or disables wireless communication in the second frequency band in response to an instruction from a wireless base station.
The wireless terminal according to claim 12, wherein the frequency band selection control processing unit notifies the wireless base station of the status of file transfer in the second frequency band.
The wireless terminal according to claim 12, wherein the frequency band selection control processing unit notifies the wireless base station to that effect when the file transfer in the second frequency band is completed.
A radio quality determination unit for determining radio quality in the second frequency band is further provided.
The wireless terminal according to claim 12, wherein the second wireless communication unit disconnects wireless communication in the second frequency band when the wireless quality in the second frequency band becomes lower than a predetermined level.
The wireless terminal according to claim 12, wherein the frequency band selection control processing unit requests the wireless base station to enable wireless communication in the second frequency band at the start of file transfer.
With a plurality of wireless terminals capable of wireless communication by selecting either the first or second frequency band,
A wireless communication system including a wireless base station that instructs any of the plurality of wireless terminals whether or not wireless communication is possible in the second frequency band according to the state of wireless communication by the plurality of wireless terminals.