JP2005341290A - COMMUNICATION SYSTEM AND RADIO COMMUNICATION DEVICE - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communications system for improving network use efficiency and economy by achieving the seamless integration of a mobile body communication network, an ad hoc network, and an IP network, and to provide a radio communications device. <P>SOLUTION: The radio communications device 10 includes an ad hoc communication means for building an ad hoc network 2 with another radio communication device existing around it and performing communication by radio with another radio communications device. A TDD-CDMA system, which is shared with the mobile body communication network 1, is adopted as the communication system, so as to use the same frequency band. The radio communications device 10 comprises as a radio interface: a first interface for performing communication with a base station as a radio interface; a second interface for performing communication with another radio communication device inside the ad hoc network; and a third interface for relaying communication between another radio communication device in the ad hoc network and the base station. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a wireless communication apparatus having a function capable of connecting to both an ad hoc network and a mobile communication network, and a communication system using the same.

  As is well known, in a mobile communication network, mobile stations are configured by wireless communication devices (User Equipment) such as mobile phones, personal computers, and PDAs, and data transmission between these mobile stations and base stations is performed wirelessly. It has become. Further, when performing a voice call or data communication between mobile stations, data is exchanged via a base station (Base Station) as shown in FIG. As communication systems used for such mobile communication, for example, GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), and the like are known.

  In the mobile communication network, the communication between the mobile station and the base station is bidirectional, and the communication method is a reciprocation method in which transmission and reception are performed simultaneously. As shown in FIG. 16, the recovery scheme includes FDD (Frequency Division Duplex) that uses different frequency bands for the uplink from the mobile station to the base station and the downlink from the base station to the mobile station. ) Method and the TDD (Time Division Duplex) method in which the uplink and downlink frequency bands are the same, but the upper and lower lines are switched in a very short time. In the TDD system, one frame is divided into a plurality of (for example, 15) time slots, and either uplink or downlink is assigned to each of the time slots. FIG. 17 shows a TDD-CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) frame configuration in which this TDD scheme is adopted as a recovery scheme. In this TDD-CDMA scheme, the ratio and arrangement of time slots allocated to the uplink and downlink. Can be appropriately set according to the traffic volume and the like.

  On the other hand, an ad hoc network is known as a wireless short-range data communication network. In this ad hoc network, as shown in FIG. 18, it is possible to perform direct communication between wireless communication devices within the reach of radio waves without intervening base stations. Therefore, according to the ad hoc network, there is no need for a base station or an access point, and there is an advantage that a network can be easily constructed even in a place without such communication facilities. As communication technologies for constructing such an ad hoc network, for example, Bluetooth and wireless LAN (IEEE802.11x) have been proposed.

However, in the past, since different communication schemes have been adopted for the ad hoc network and the mobile communication network, when trying to realize a wireless communication device that can be connected to both networks, the configuration of the wireless communication device is naturally complicated. Therefore, there is a problem that the cost increases correspondingly.
In addition, when switching the connection destination from one network (for example, an ad hoc network) to the other network (for example, a mobile communication network), since both communication methods are different, it takes time for handover. There was also.

  Furthermore, in recent years, with the spread of IP networks based on TCP / IP, it has become a challenge to seamlessly integrate IP networks with mobile communication networks and ad hoc networks. There is a strong demand to improve productivity and economy.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and has an ability to connect to both an ad hoc network and a mobile communication network, but can avoid an increase in cost without complicating the device configuration. And it aims at providing the radio | wireless communication apparatus which can perform the switching of the network to connect smoothly.
Furthermore, the present invention can realize seamless integration of mobile communication networks, ad hoc networks, and IP networks without incurring significant costs, thereby improving the efficiency and economics of network utilization. An object of the present invention is to provide a communication system and a wireless communication apparatus capable of performing the above.

  The invention described in claim 1 employs a TDD-CDMA system as a communication system between a base station of a mobile communication network and a radio communication apparatus constituting the mobile station, and the radio communication apparatus An ad hoc communication means for constructing an ad hoc network with another wireless communication apparatus existing in the network and wirelessly communicating with the other wireless communication apparatus is provided, and the communication system includes a TDD-CDMA system common to the mobile communication network. The first communication interface for communicating with the base station as a wireless interface to the wireless communication device, and another wireless communication device in the ad hoc network Communication between the base station and the second interface for performing communication and other wireless communication devices in the ad hoc network. A wireless communication device configured to be connectable as a client to an IP network authentication server, and communicate with the authentication server to a home location register of a mobile communication network. For this purpose, an interface is provided.

Here, TDD-CDMA is CDMA that uses the TDD scheme as a recovery scheme. CDMA is one of multiple access systems applying a spread spectrum system, and is a communication system called code division multiple access. CDMA includes a single carrier system that performs transmission using a single carrier wave and a multi-carrier system that uses a plurality of carrier waves to reduce the influence of fading. Specifically, examples of TDD-CDMA include TD-CDMA standardized by 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project).
Examples of the “wireless communication device constituting the mobile station” include a mobile phone, an information terminal such as a PDA (Personal Digital Assistance) having a connection function with a mobile communication network, and a personal computer.

  In addition, the “other wireless communication devices existing around” do not have, for example, a connection function with the mobile communication network in addition to the wireless communication device with the connection function with the mobile communication network as described above. Information terminals (computer, PDA, etc.), peripheral devices of information terminals (eg, headset, printer, mouse, display), etc. are also included. These wireless communication devices construct an ad hoc network with at least other wireless communication devices within the radio wave reach, and communicate with each other within the ad hoc network (hereinafter referred to as an ad hoc communication function). It has a name.)

  That is, the ad hoc communication means of the wireless communication device according to the present invention detects surrounding wireless communication devices having the above ad hoc communication function, and information about the wireless communication devices (for example, node information such as ID and node type, spreading code, etc.) The communication channel assigned by the specific wireless communication device (master) after executing the process of acquiring the information from the specific wireless communication device (master) and storing it in the storage means By using this, communication is performed with other wireless communication devices in the ad hoc network.

  Examples of the IP network include the Internet and an intranet. The authentication server of this IP network acquires user information (user identification information and password) from the wireless communication device when the wireless communication device accesses the IP network, and the user is based on this user information. If the validity of the user is confirmed as a result of the verification, access to the IP network is permitted. On the other hand, if the validity of the user is not confirmed, the IP network Deny access to. As a verification method of validity, the authentication server obtains authentication data (for example, a random number, a secret key, a function value having such data as an argument) corresponding to the user information from the home location register (HLR), There are a method of verifying the validity of the user based on the authentication data and a method in which the authentication server requests the home location register to verify the validity and notifies the result. You may make it adopt.

  A communication system according to a second aspect of the present invention includes a base station of a mobile communication network, a radio communication apparatus that communicates with the base station in a TDD-CDMA system, and the radio communication apparatus is connected to the mobile communication network. A management device that receives user information of the wireless communication device via the base station and verifies the validity of the user of the wireless communication device based on the user information when accessing, and an IP network The wireless communication device includes an ad hoc communication means for establishing an ad hoc network with other wireless communication devices existing in the vicinity and performing wireless communication with the other wireless communication device. The means adopts a TDD-CDMA system common to the mobile communication network in communication with the other wireless communication device and uses the same frequency band. And a relay function for relaying communication between the other wireless communication device and the base station, and the wireless communication device is configured to be connectable to the authentication server as a client, When connecting to an IP network via a server, the user information is transmitted to the authentication server, and the authentication server has an interface for connecting to the management apparatus, and the user information is transmitted to the authentication server. When received from the wireless communication device, the validity of the user is verified in cooperation with the management device, and if the validity of the user is confirmed as a result of the verification, the wireless communication device On the other hand, the connection to the IP network is permitted.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, an ad hoc network is constructed with other wireless communication apparatuses existing in the vicinity, and the other wireless communication apparatus and any one of the TDD-CDMA system, the TDD-TDMA system, and the TDD-OFDM system are used. A wireless communication device that communicates with a base station of a mobile communication network in the same communication method and frequency band, and communicates with the other wireless communication devices in the ad hoc network and the base A relay means for relaying communication with the station, a first interface for communicating with the base station as a wireless interface, and a first interface for communicating with the other wireless communication device in the ad hoc network. 2 interfaces and communication between the base station and the other wireless communication device in the ad hoc network It is characterized in further comprising a third interface for.

  Here, TDD-TDMA is TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) that uses the TDD scheme as a reciprocal scheme, and TDMA is a plurality of callers that alternately switch the same frequency band for a short time. This is a shared multiple access method. Examples of adopting this TDD-TDMA include PHS (Personal Handyphone System). The TDD-OFDM scheme is OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) that uses the TDD scheme as a recovery scheme, and OFDM is a frequency interval at which the intensity of the modulated spectrum becomes zero. (A transmission scheme in which a plurality of carriers are arranged so that the respective spectra are orthogonal to each other). In this transmission method, one or a plurality of carrier waves are assigned to each sender.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the wireless communication device according to the third aspect, the wireless communication device further comprises an ad hoc communication unit that communicates with another wireless communication device in the ad hoc network through a second interface, and the ad hoc communication unit Comprises a node type setting means for searching whether or not a master exists in the ad hoc network and setting the node type of the wireless communication device to either master or slave based on the search result, Is set as a master, node information is obtained from each slave in the ad hoc network, and the network information of the entire ad hoc network is updated and stored in the storage means based on the node information, and the slave in the ad hoc network is also stored. When a communication channel assignment request is received from any of the above, The communication channel is allocated based on the network information stored in the means, and the communication channel assignment notification is transmitted to the slave that has made the assignment request, while the node type setting means sets the node type to the slave. When transmitting the node information to the master, and when communicating with the master or slave in the ad hoc network, by specifying the communication partner and transmitting the allocation request to the master, After obtaining the above assignment notification from the master, the communication is performed directly with the master or slave as the communication partner in accordance with this assignment notification.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the wireless communication apparatus according to the third aspect, the transmission protocol of the second interface is such that the layer 3 of the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) reference model is RRC (Radio Resource Control) and the layer 2 is It is composed of RLC (Radio Link Control) and MAC (Medium Access Control) sublayers. The logical channel connecting RLC and MAC is SH-CCH (Shared Control Channel) and DTCH (Dedicated Traffic Channel). FACH (Forward Access Channel), RACH (Random Access Channel), and DCH (Dedicated Channel) are used as transport channels to be connected, and S-CCPCH (Secondary Common Control Physical) is used as a physical channel for communication between layer 1 and the node. Channel), PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel), DPCH (Dedicated Physical Channel) Are used as control signal channels from the slave to the master, and SH-CCH, RACH, and PRACH are data channels from the master to the slave, and SH-CCH, FACH, and S-CCPCH are data channels. As a signal channel, DTCH, DCH, and DPCH are mapped respectively.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the wireless communication apparatus according to the third aspect, the relay means allocates a communication channel in cooperation with the base station, and uses the communication channel to perform ad hoc. A signal received from any one of the other wireless communication apparatuses and the base station in the network is converted into a protocol and transmitted to the other.

  The invention according to claim 7 is a mobile communication network base station, a mobile station that communicates with the base station in a TDD-CDMA system, and the mobile station accesses the mobile communication network when the mobile station accesses the mobile communication network. A management device that receives station user information via the base station and verifies the legitimacy of the user of the mobile station based on the user information, an authentication server for an IP network based on TCP / IP, The mobile station is configured to be connectable as a client to the authentication server, and when connecting to the IP network via the authentication server, the user information is transmitted to the authentication server. The authentication server has an interface for connecting to the management device, and when the user information is received from the mobile station, And verifying the legitimacy of the user and permitting the mobile station to connect to an IP network when the legitimacy of the user is confirmed as a result of the verification. Is.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the communication system according to the seventh aspect, the management device is a home location register having a subscriber information database.

  A ninth aspect of the present invention is the communication system according to the seventh aspect, wherein the user information is stored in a SIM card attached to the mobile station.

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the communication system according to the seventh aspect, the mobile station establishes an ad hoc network with other wireless communication devices existing around and communicates with the other wireless communication devices wirelessly. A wireless communication device that performs the same, and uses the same frequency band by adopting the TDD-CDMA method common to the mobile communication network for communication in an ad hoc network. .

  According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the communication system according to the tenth aspect, the mobile station includes a relay unit that relays communication between the other radio communication device in the ad hoc network and the base station. In addition, the first to third interfaces are mounted as wireless interfaces, communicate with the base station via the first interface, and other wireless communication devices in the ad hoc network via the second interface. When relaying communication between the other wireless communication device in the ad hoc network and the base station, the communication with the base station is performed via the third interface. It is characterized by.

According to the present invention, the communication system in the ad hoc network and the mobile communication network is unified and the same frequency band is used, so that it is possible to avoid complication of the device configuration and increase in cost and to connect to the network. Can be smoothly switched, and seamless integration of the ad hoc network and the mobile communication network can be realized.
In addition, since the TDD scheme is adopted as the recovery scheme, the frequency can be effectively used as compared with the case where the FDD scheme is adopted as the retransmission scheme, and the ratio of time slots allocated to the uplink and the downlink. By changing, it is possible to easily adjust the communication speed of the uplink and the downlink, and it is possible to efficiently cope with an asymmetric data communication service in which the communication speeds of the uplink and downlink are different.

In addition, since the wireless communication devices in the ad hoc network communicate with each other, the load on the mobile communication network can be reduced, thereby improving the communication efficiency of the entire network.
In addition, since an interface for relaying communication between other wireless communication devices in the ad hoc network and the base station is provided, for example, when there is a wireless communication device in the ad hoc network that does not reach the base station In addition, a wireless communication device in an ad hoc network in which radio waves reach the base station can be used as a relay device, and thereby, the communication range of the wireless communication device that does not reach the base station can be expanded. .

Furthermore, since the authentication server is provided with an interface for communicating with the mobile communication network management device (home location register), mutual use of authentication information between the mobile communication network and the IP network can be achieved. it can.
Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize seamless integration of a mobile communication network, an ad hoc network, and an IP network without incurring a large cost, thereby improving the efficiency and economy of network use. Can be made.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of a communication system according to the present invention, in which reference numeral 1 is a mobile communication network and reference numeral 2 is an ad hoc network.
The mobile communication network 1 employs a UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) architecture, and as shown in FIG. 2, a core network (Core Network) 5 and a terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN). ) 6, and is roughly configured by a mobile station (UE: User Equipment) 10. An Iu interface is used as an interface between the core network 5 and the terrestrial radio access network 6, and a Uu interface is used as an interface between the terrestrial radio access network 6 and the mobile station 10.

  The core network 5 includes a mobile switching center (MSC) 33 that performs call routing and the like, and a gateway mobile switching center (GMSC) that provides an interface to a PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) and the like. 34, a SGSN (Serving GPRS Support Node) 35 for performing location management and security management of each mobile station, a GGSN (Gateway GPRS Support Node) 36 having a gateway function with the IP network 3, and a subscriber information database A home location register (HLR) 37 and an authentication center (AuC) that executes authentication processing of a mobile station in cooperation with the home location register 37 are configured.

  The terrestrial radio access network 6 includes a plurality of radio network subsystems (RNS: Radio Network Subsystem). Each radio network subsystem includes a radio network controller (RNC: Radio Network Controller Equipment) 31 and the radio network controller. A plurality of base stations 30 (Node B) connected to the apparatus. As shown in FIG. 1, a communication area called a cell 1A is allocated to each base station 30, and a mobile station existing in the cell 1A and the base station 30 communicate with each other wirelessly. In the communication, the TDD-CDMA system is used.

  The ad hoc network 2 is a small-scale network that can directly communicate with each other between wireless communication apparatuses existing in a specific local area without the intervention of a base station 30 or an access point. As shown in FIG. 3, some of the wireless communication devices constituting the ad hoc network 2 have a communication function with the base station 30 of the mobile communication network 1 and also function as a mobile station of the mobile communication network 1. The first wireless communication device 10 and the second wireless communication device 20 that does not have a communication function with the base station 30 of the mobile communication network 1 are included. The first wireless communication device 10 includes a personal computer, a PDA, a mobile phone, and the like having the above communication functions, and the second wireless communication device 20 includes, for example, information terminals such as personal computers and workstations, Peripheral devices (for example, a headset, a printer, a mouse) and the like are configured.

  These first and second wireless communication devices 10 and 20 construct an ad hoc network 2 with other wireless communication devices 10 and 20 existing in the vicinity, and communicate with each other between the wireless communication devices in the ad hoc network 2. It has an ad hoc communication function to perform, and adopts the same frequency band by adopting a TDD-CDMA method common to the communication method in the mobile communication network 1 as its communication method. In the communication, the communication in the ad hoc network 2 is performed in synchronization with the communication in the mobile communication network 1. In addition, the first wireless communication device 10 has a relay function for relaying communication between other wireless communication devices in the ad hoc network 2 and the base station 30.

  The first wireless communication device 10 also includes a wireless communication device 10A configured to be connectable as a client to an authentication server configuring the IP network (Internet or intranet) 3. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the wireless communication device 10A is connected to an ISP (Internet Service Provider) access point that provides an Internet connection service via a telephone network, ISDN, ADSL, CATV, a dedicated line, or the like. It can be connected to the Internet via an ISP AAA (Authentication Authorization Accounting) server 40. The AAA server 40 is provided with an Au interface as an interface with the home location register 37. For example, when the first wireless communication device 10 accesses either the mobile communication network 1 or the IP network 3, the user information of the first wireless communication device 10 between the AAA server 40 and the HLR 37 via this Au interface. And authentication data are exchanged to perform SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) authentication.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of the first wireless communication apparatus. As shown in FIG. 4, the first wireless communication device 10 includes a transmitter 11, a receiver 12, an antenna 13, a control unit 14, and a storage unit 15. Although not shown, the first wireless communication apparatus 10 is equipped with a SIM card storing user identification information (IMSI: International Mobile Subscriber Identity).
The transmitter 11 includes a transmission data processing unit 11a that generates a transmission signal, a primary modulation unit 11b that primarily modulates a carrier wave with the transmission signal, and a modulation signal obtained by the primary modulation using a spreading code (orthogonal spreading code). A diffusion unit 11c that performs (secondary modulation) and an amplification unit 11d that amplifies the diffusion-modulated signal are provided. That is, the transmission signal generated by the transmission data processing unit 11a is primarily modulated by the primary modulation unit 11b using a predetermined modulation method, then spread-modulated by the spreading code by the spreading unit 11c, and then transmitted to the amplification unit 11d. It is amplified and radiated as radio waves from the antenna 13.

  On the other hand, the receiver 12 includes a band filter 12a that removes unnecessary noise components included in the received signal received from the antenna 13, a demodulator 12b that demodulates the received signal that has passed through the band filter 12a into a baseband signal, Interference signal is removed by joint detection (Joint Detection) using channel estimation unit 12c that obtains channel estimation value from midamble included in baseband signal and channel estimation value and spreading code of each wireless communication device An interference signal removing unit (interference signal removing unit) 12d, and a received data processing unit 12e that performs various processes based on the demodulated signal from which the interference signal is removed. Note that a unique midamble is assigned in advance to each of the wireless communication devices 10 and 20, and the channel estimation value of each wireless communication device can be derived from the midamble included in the received signal. The interference signal removal unit 12d generates a system matrix by performing convolution multiplication of the spreading code assigned to each wireless communication device and the channel estimation value, and multiplies the baseband signal by the system matrix to generate a demodulated signal. To get to.

  The control unit 14 controls the transmitter 11 and the receiver 12 based on various kinds of information stored in the storage unit 15. The control unit 14 controls switching between transmission and reception and output control of transmission power ( Power control), switching control between the ad hoc network 2 and the mobile communication network 1, synchronization control, and the like are performed. For example, when communicating with the base station 30 of the mobile communication network 1 or another wireless communication device in the ad hoc network 2 using a wireless line, transmission and reception are performed based on a preset time slot allocation. Switching is performed, and communication is performed by the TDD method.

  When starting communication with other wireless communication apparatuses in the ad hoc network 2, the magnitude of the interference signal is increased for each time slot set in the uplink (Uplink) and downlink (Downlink) of the mobile communication network 1. Each time is measured, and based on the measured value, a process of selecting a time slot with a smaller amount of interference as a time slot used in communication within the ad hoc network 2 is performed. Furthermore, when communicating with other wireless communication devices in the ad hoc network 2, the ad hoc network 2 is matched with the communication timing in the mobile communication network 1 based on the synchronization information received from the base station 30. Communication timings with other wireless communication devices are set. Further, when communicating with other wireless communication devices in the ad hoc network 2, the interference level is detected from the received signal input to the receiver 12, and the transmission power is adjusted according to the interference level. ing.

In this embodiment, the transmitter 11, the receiver 12, the antenna 13, the control unit 14, the storage unit 15 and the like constitute an ad hoc communication unit according to the present invention.
On the other hand, the second wireless communication device 20 also has the same transmitter, receiver, antenna, control unit, and storage unit as those of the first wireless communication device 10, and the other communication units in the ad hoc network 2 have these communication means. It is possible to communicate with a wireless communication apparatus using a wireless line without the intervention of the base station 30.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a Uu interface (first interface) is used as a radio interface for communication between the first radio communication device 10 and the base station 30, and the radio communication devices 10 and 20 in the ad hoc network 2 are connected to each other. For communication, an Eu interface (second interface) is used as a wireless interface. When the wireless communication device set as the master of the ad hoc network 2 relays communication between the wireless communication device set as the slave and the base station 30, the wireless communication device set as the master and the base A Uu * interface (third interface) obtained by extending the Uu interface is used for communication with the station 30.

  The Eu interface is a radio interface newly established for the ad hoc network 2. As shown in FIG. 5, the transmission protocol of this radio interface is layer 3 (network layer) is RRC (Radio Resource Control), and layer 2 (data link layer). ) Is composed of RLC (Radio Link Control) and MAC (Medium Access Control) sublayers. The RLC layer and the MAC layer are connected by a logical channel, and the MAC layer and layer 1 (physical layer) are connected by a transport channel. Communication between layer 1 and the node is performed by a physical channel.

  SH-CCH (Shared Control Channel) and DTCH (Dedicated Traffic Channel) for logical channels, FACH (Forward Access Channel), RACH (Random Access Channel) and DCH (Dedicated Channel) for transport channels, and S for physical channels. -CCPCH (Secondary Common Control Physical Channel), PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel), and DPCH (Dedicated Physical Channel) are employed.

  SH-CCH, RACH and PRACH are mutually associated as channels for control signals from the slave to the master, and SH-CCH, FACH and S-CCPCH are mutually associated as channels for control signals from the master to the slave. It is associated. Further, DTCH, DCH, and DPCH are associated with each other as channels for data signals between nodes.

  For SH-CCH, in the case of traffic from the slave to the master (when RACH is mapped), the transparent transmission mode is selected by RLC, and the RLC header becomes unnecessary. On the other hand, in the case of traffic from the master to the slave (when the FACH is mapped), an unacknowledged transmission mode is selected by RLC, and an RLC header is required. Further, since SH-CCH is a channel that is mapped only to RACH and FACH in the MAC layer, a MAC header is not required.

  In contrast, a continuous data stream of DTCH is segmented into transmission blocks at the RLC layer and then mapped to DCH at the MAC layer. At that time, if DTCH multiplexing is not performed in the MAC layer, the transparent transmission mode is selected in the RLC layer and the MAC layer, and protocol control information is not added, so the RLC header and the MAC header are unnecessary. It becomes. However, a MAC header is required when DTCH multiplexing is performed in the MAC layer.

Next, the setup process of the ad hoc network 2 will be described. Here, the wireless communication device 10 will be described as a node X.
As shown in FIG. 6, this process is performed when the communication mode is switched to the ad hoc mode (step S1) or when the SIR (Signal to Interference Ratio) of the ad hoc network 2 is higher than that of the mobile communication network 1. It starts when the ratio is stronger.
First, the node X searches for whether or not a master exists in the ad hoc network 2, and based on the search result, performs processing for setting the node type of the node X to either master or slave (node) Type setting means). That is, the node X performs a process of detecting a pilot signal (control signal) transmitted from the master via the FACH (step S2). As a result, if the pilot signal can be detected, the node type is set to slave. If the pilot signal cannot be detected, the node type is set to master (step S6).

Here, when the node type is set to slave, the node X uses the RACH to transmit a connection request to the network and node information (for example, the ID and address of the node X) to the master. Is performed (step S3).
When the master receives a connection request to the network and node information from the node X, based on the received node information, the network information (node information of each slave and master, scrambled used) in the storage unit (storage means) Code and channelization code, information about common channels, etc.). After that, the node X receives ACK (connection permission response) from the master via the FACH (step S4), and then performs a process of acquiring the network information from the master and storing it in the storage unit (step S5). As a result, the node X is incorporated in the ad hoc network 2 as a slave.

  On the other hand, when the node type is set to the master, the node X repeatedly transmits (broadcasts) the pilot signal at predetermined intervals using the FACH (step S7), and the control signal output from the slave The network information is periodically updated and the slave communication state is detected while monitoring the network. As a result, the ad hoc network 2 having the node X as a master is constructed, and the ad hoc network 2 is maintained and managed by the node X.

Next, a transmission process performed when transmitting a data signal in the ad hoc network 2 constructed as described above will be described.
For example, when a radio communication device (Source UE) set as a slave detects that there is a packet waiting to be transmitted in an RLC buffer, first, the radio communication device (Source UE) is shown in FIG. As described above, a process of transmitting a communication channel allocation request (Capacity Request) to the master using the RACH is performed.
In response to this, the master refers to the network information in the storage unit, assigns a communication channel to the DCH by the RRC scheduling function, and uses the FACH to send a communication channel assignment notification (Allocation Message). Then, a process of transmitting to each of the wireless communication device (Source UE) and the wireless communication device (Target UE) that is the communication partner is performed.
When the wireless communication device (Source UE) and the wireless communication device (Target UE) receive the communication channel assignment notification from the master, the wireless communication device (Source UE) directly transmits and receives the data signal (RLC block) using the assigned communication channel. Do.

  Note that network resources allocated as communication channels include time slots and spreading codes. The time slot is obtained by dividing a TDD-CDMA radio frame into a plurality of frames, and here, 15 time slots (ST1 to ST15) are provided. In addition, two types of spreading codes are used: a scrambling code and a channelization code. The scramble code is an identification code assigned to each cell 1A of the mobile communication network 1, and a code different from the code assigned to each cell 1A is given as an identification code common to the ad hoc network 2. Yes. On the other hand, an OVSF (Orthogonal Variable Spreading Factor) code having a spreading factor of 16 is used as a channelization code used in the ad hoc network 2. In this channelization code, a plurality of (for example, 16) codes are secured in advance, part of which is assigned for control signals and the rest for data signals.

Next, processing when the master in the ad hoc network 2 relays communication between another wireless communication device and the base station 30 (UTRAN 6) will be described.
For example, when a radio communication device (Source UE) set as a slave detects that there is a packet waiting to be transmitted to the UTRAN 6 in the RLC buffer, first, the radio communication device (Source UE) As shown in FIG. 8, a process of transmitting a communication channel allocation request (Capacity Request) to the master using RACH is performed.

In response to this, the master refers to the network information in the storage unit, assigns a communication channel to the DCH using the RRC scheduling function, and uses the RACH to issue a communication channel assignment request (Capacity Request). A process of transmitting to the UTRAN 6 is performed.
The UTRAN 6 uses the scheduling function to perform communication channel allocation for the DCH and performs processing for transmitting a communication channel allocation notification (Allocation Message) to the master using the FACH.
Thereafter, the master uses FACH to perform processing for transmitting a communication channel allocation notification (Allocation Message) to the wireless communication device (Source UE).

  When receiving a communication channel assignment notification from the master, the wireless communication device (Source UE) transmits and receives a data signal (RLC block) to and from the master using the communication channel assigned by the master. When the master receives a data signal addressed to UTRAN from a radio communication device (Source UE), the master transfers the received data signal to UTRAN 6 using a communication channel assigned by UTRAN 6. Similarly, when the master receives a data signal addressed to the radio communication device (Source UE) from the UTRAN 6, the master uses the communication channel allocated by itself to transfer the received data signal to the radio communication device (Source UE) via the DCH. Perform the process. Thereby, the data signal exchanged between the radio communication apparatus (Source UE) and the UTRAN 6 is relayed by the master.

Next, processing when the master in the ad hoc network 2 relays communication between another wireless communication device and the IP network 3 will be described.
For example, when a wireless communication device (Source UE) set as a slave detects that a packet waiting to be transmitted to the IP network 3 exists in the RLC buffer, first, the wireless communication device (Source UE) ) Performs processing for transmitting a communication channel allocation request (Capacity Request) to the master using RACH, as shown in FIG.

In response to this, the master establishes a session with the IP network 3, refers to the network information in the storage unit, assigns a communication channel to the DCH using the RRC scheduling function, and then sets the FACH. The communication channel allocation notification (Allocation Message) is transmitted to the wireless communication apparatus (Source UE).
When receiving a communication channel assignment notification from the master, the wireless communication device (Source UE) transmits and receives a data signal (RLC block) to and from the master using the communication channel assigned by the master. When the master receives a data signal (RLC block) addressed to the IP network 3 from the radio communication device (Source UE), the master converts the received data signal from the radio communication protocol to the IP protocol, and transmits the IP signal as an IP packet to the IP network 3. To do. On the other hand, when the master receives a data signal (IP packet) addressed to the wireless communication device (Source UE) from the IP network 3, the master converts the received data signal from the IP protocol to the wireless communication protocol, and uses the RLC block to perform the wireless communication device. The process which transmits to (Source UE) is performed. Thereby, the data signal exchanged between the radio communication apparatus (Source UE) and the IP network 3 is relayed by the master.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 10, the wireless communication device 10 set as the master includes a connection module to the mobile communication network 1, a connection module to the ad hoc network 2, a connection module to the IP network 3, and an ad hoc network. 2 and a protocol conversion module between the mobile communication network 1 and a protocol conversion module between the ad hoc network 2 and the IP network 3. The connection module to the mobile communication network 1 is provided with a Uu * interface, the connection module to the ad hoc network 2 is provided with an Eu interface, and the connection module to the IP network 3 is provided with a wired interface.

Next, a transmission protocol used when the wireless communication apparatus 10 accesses a network other than the ad hoc network 2 will be described.
First, when the wireless communication device 10 directly accesses the mobile communication network 1, the communication mode of the wireless communication device 10 is set to the cellular mode, and the Uu interface is used for communication with the base station 30. At this time, a standard transmission protocol and an authentication mechanism are used in UMTS, and the wireless communication device 10 is independent from the ad hoc network 2.

  On the other hand, when the wireless communication device 10 accesses the mobile communication network 1 via the master of the ad hoc network 2 (a wireless communication device having a communication function with the base station 30 of the mobile communication network 1), wireless communication is performed. The Eu interface is used for communication between the apparatus 10 (UE) and the master, and the Uu * interface is used for relaying transmission data from the master to the base station 30. When transmitting a data signal, the protocol stack of the radio communication apparatus 10 (UE), in order from the lower level, as shown in FIG. , TCP / UDP, (RTP), which is an application layer, and signals exchanged between the radio communication apparatus 10 (UE) and the UTRAN 6 are relayed in the layer 2 by the master. On the other hand, when transmitting a control signal for authentication, as shown in FIG. 12, the physical layer (3G PHY), MAC, RLC, RRC, GMM / SM / SMS, and AKA / SIM are used in order from the bottom. Control signals are relayed at the RRC layer by the master. For authentication of the wireless communication device 10, user information (such as user identification information) stored in the SIM card of the wireless communication device 10 is used, and this user information passes through the master, UTRAN 6, SGSN 35 and GGSN 36. Thus, standard SIM / USIM (Universal SIM) authentication is performed in UMTS.

  When the wireless communication device 10 accesses the IP network 3 via the master of the ad hoc network 2 (wireless communication device connected to the IP network 3 by wire or wirelessly), as shown in FIG. An Eu interface is used for communication between the communication apparatus 10 (UE) and the master. The master has a protocol conversion module that converts a wireless communication protocol into an IP protocol. After the data signal and control signal received from the wireless communication apparatus 10 (UE) are converted into a protocol by this module, the LAN, PPP (Point to Point Protocol), PPPoE (PPP over Ethernet (registered trademark)), etc. are used for transmission to the IP network 3.

  At the time of authentication of the wireless communication device 10, user information stored in the SIM card or user information input from the input unit of the wireless communication device 10 is transmitted to the AAA server 40 via the master, and the AAA server 40 As the authentication process is performed, as shown in FIG. 14, between the AAA server 40 and the HLR 37, the user information stored in the SIM card and the corresponding authentication data (using a challenge such as a random number or a challenge) The generated response and the like are exchanged, and the HLR 37 also performs an authentication process in a challenge and response system based on AKA (Authentication and Key Agreement). If the validity of the user identification information is confirmed as a result of the authentication processing, the AAA server 40 permits the wireless communication apparatus 10 to connect to the IP network 3, while the user identification information Is not confirmed, a process for rejecting the connection to the IP network 3 is performed.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the communication system in the ad hoc network 2 and the mobile communication network 1 is unified and the same frequency band is used, so that the apparatus configuration is complicated and the cost is increased. In addition, the network to be connected can be switched smoothly, and seamless integration of the ad hoc network 2 and the mobile communication network 1 can be realized.
In addition, since the TDD scheme is adopted as the recovery scheme, the frequency can be effectively used as compared with the case where the FDD scheme is adopted as the retransmission scheme, and the ratio of time slots allocated to the uplink and the downlink. By changing, it is possible to easily adjust the communication speed of the uplink and the downlink, and it is possible to efficiently cope with an asymmetric data communication service in which the communication speeds of the uplink and downlink are different.

In addition, since the wireless communication devices in the ad hoc network 2 communicate with each other, the load on the mobile communication network 1 can be reduced, thereby improving the communication efficiency of the entire network.
In addition, since a Uu * interface is provided for relaying communication between another wireless communication device in the ad hoc network 2 and the base station 30, for example, a wireless communication device that does not reach the base station 30 has a radio communication device in the ad hoc network 2. If the radio communication device in the ad hoc network 2 that reaches the base station 30 can be used as a relay device, the communication of the radio communication device that does not reach the base station 30 can be used. The range can be expanded.

Further, since the AAA interface 40 is provided with an Au interface for communicating with the home location register 37 of the mobile communication network 1, mutual use of authentication information is attempted between the mobile communication network 1 and the IP network 3. be able to.
Therefore, according to the present embodiment, seamless integration of the mobile communication network 1, the ad hoc network 2 and the IP network 3 can be realized without incurring a great deal of cost. Economic efficiency can be improved.

  In the present embodiment, a common TDD-CDMA system is adopted for communication in the ad hoc network 2 and communication between the base station and the mobile station of the mobile communication network 1 to use the same frequency band. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the communication method used in the ad hoc network 2 and the mobile communication network 1 may be, for example, TDD-TDMA as long as it is a common communication method based on TDD. A scheme, a TDD-OFDM scheme, or the like may be used.

It is a conceptual diagram which shows one Embodiment of the communication system which concerns on this invention. It is a schematic block diagram of the communication system of FIG. It is a schematic block diagram which shows an example of an ad hoc network. It is a block diagram which shows the principal part structure of the 1st radio | wireless communication apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows the protocol structure used by the communication in an ad hoc network. It is a flowchart which shows the setup process of an ad hoc network. It is a figure which shows the flow of a signal at the time of performing communication in an ad hoc network. It is a figure which shows the signal flow at the time of relaying communication between the other radio | wireless communication apparatus in an ad hoc network, and UTRAN. It is a figure which shows the flow of a signal at the time of relaying communication between the other radio | wireless communication apparatuses in an ad hoc network, and an IP network. It is a block diagram which shows the function which the master of FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 has. It is a figure which shows the transmission protocol at the time of accessing a mobile communication network via the master of an ad hoc network. It is a figure which shows the transmission protocol at the time of authenticating a slave via the master of an ad hoc network. It is a figure which shows the transmission protocol at the time of accessing an IP network via the master of an ad hoc network. It is a figure which shows the transmission protocol at the time of authenticating a slave via the master of an ad hoc network, and an IP network. It is a schematic block diagram which shows an example of a mobile communication network. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating a TDD system and a FDD system. It is a figure which shows an example of the frame structure of TDD-CDMA. It is a schematic block diagram which shows an example of an ad hoc network.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Mobile communication network 2 Ad hoc network 3 IP network 10 1st radio | wireless communication apparatus (mobile station)
30 Base station 37 Home location register (management device)
40 AAA server (authentication server)

Claims (11)

A TDD-CDMA method is adopted as a communication method between a base station of a mobile communication network and a wireless communication device constituting the mobile station, and other wireless communication devices existing around the wireless communication device Ad hoc communication means for establishing an ad hoc network and communicating wirelessly with the other wireless communication devices described above is provided, and the same frequency band is used by adopting a TDD-CDMA method common to the mobile communication network as the communication method. Communication system
As a wireless interface, the wireless communication apparatus has a first interface for communicating with the base station, a second interface for communicating with other wireless communication apparatuses in the ad hoc network, and other interfaces in the ad hoc network. A third interface for relaying communication between the wireless communication device and the base station is provided, the wireless communication device is configured to be connectable as a client to an IP network authentication server, and the authentication server includes: A communication system comprising an interface for communicating with a home location register of a mobile communication network. A mobile communication network base station;
A wireless communication apparatus that communicates with the base station in a TDD-CDMA system;
When the wireless communication device accesses the mobile communication network, the user information of the wireless communication device is received via the base station, and the validity of the user of the wireless communication device is verified based on the user information. A management device to be verified;
An authentication server constituting an IP network,
The wireless communication device includes an ad hoc communication unit that establishes an ad hoc network with other wireless communication devices existing in the vicinity and performs wireless communication with the other wireless communication device, and the ad hoc communication unit includes the other wireless communication device. When communicating with a communication device, the same frequency band is adopted by adopting a TDD-CDMA system common to the mobile communication network, and relay for relaying communication between the other wireless communication device and the base station Has function,
Further, the wireless communication device is configured to be connectable to the authentication server as a client, and transmits the user information to the authentication server when connecting to the IP network via the authentication server,
The authentication server has an interface for connecting to the management device, and verifies the validity of the user in cooperation with the management device when the user information is received from the wireless communication device. If the validity of the user is confirmed as a result of the verification, the communication system is characterized by permitting the wireless communication device to connect to the IP network. While constructing an ad hoc network with other wireless communication devices existing in the vicinity, and communicating with the other wireless communication devices in any one of TDD-CDMA, TDD-TDMA, and TDD-OFDM communication methods, A wireless communication device that communicates with a base station of a mobile communication network in the same communication method and frequency band,
A relay unit that relays communication between the other wireless communication device in the ad hoc network and the base station;
As a wireless interface, a first interface for communicating with the base station, a second interface for communicating with the other wireless communication device in the ad hoc network, and the other wireless communication device in the ad hoc network, A wireless communication device comprising: a third interface for relaying communication between the base stations. Having ad hoc communication means for communicating with other wireless communication devices in the ad hoc network via the second interface;
The ad hoc communication means is
It is searched whether or not there is a master in the ad hoc network, and based on the search result, comprising a node type setting means for setting the node type of the wireless communication device to either master or slave,
When the node type is set to master, node information is obtained from each slave in the ad hoc network, and the network information of the entire ad hoc network is updated based on the node information and stored in the storage means. When a communication channel assignment request is received from any of the slaves, the communication channel is assigned based on the network information stored in the storage means, and the communication channel is assigned to the slave that has made the assignment request. While sending an assignment notification for
When the node type is set to slave by the node type setting means, the node information is transmitted to the master, and when communicating with the master or slave in the ad hoc network, the communication partner is designated and By transmitting an allocation request to the master, the allocation notification is acquired from the master, and then, according to the allocation notification, direct communication is performed with a master or slave as a communication partner. Item 4. The wireless communication device according to Item 3. The transmission protocol of the second interface is composed of RRC in layer 3 of the OSI reference model, and RLC and MAC sublayers in layer 2.
SH-CCH and DTCH are used for logical channels connecting RLC and MAC, FACH, RACH, and DCH are used for transport channels connecting MAC and layer 1, and SCH is used for physical channels that communicate between layer 1 and nodes. -CCPCH, PRACH, DPCH are respectively adopted,
As control signal channels from the slave to the master, SH-CCH, RACH and PRACH are used as channels for control signals from the master to the slave, and SH-CCH, FACH and S-CCPCH are used as channels for data signals. The radio communication apparatus according to claim 3, wherein DTCH, DCH, and DPCH are mapped to each other.   The relay means allocates a communication channel in cooperation with the base station, and uses the communication channel to receive from the other wireless communication device in the ad hoc network and the base station. 4. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the signal is converted into a protocol and transmitted to the other. A mobile communication network base station;
A mobile station communicating with the base station in a TDD-CDMA system;
Management for receiving the mobile station user information via the base station and verifying the validity of the mobile station user based on the user information when the mobile station accesses the mobile communication network Equipment,
A communication system comprising an authentication server for an IP network based on TCP / IP,
The mobile station is configured to be connectable as a client to the authentication server, and transmits the user information to the authentication server when connecting to the IP network via the authentication server,
The authentication server has an interface for connecting to the management device, and when the user information is received from the mobile station, in cooperation with the management device, verifies the validity of the user, As a result of the verification, when the validity of the user is confirmed, the mobile station is allowed to connect to the IP network for the mobile station.   8. The communication system according to claim 7, wherein the management device is a home location register having a subscriber information database.   The communication system according to claim 7, wherein the user information is stored in a SIM card attached to the mobile station.   The mobile station is a wireless communication device that establishes an ad hoc network with other wireless communication devices existing in the vicinity and communicates wirelessly with the other wireless communication device, and the mobile communication is performed during communication within the ad hoc network. 8. The communication system according to claim 7, wherein the same frequency band is used by adopting a TDD-CDMA system common to the network. The mobile station includes relay means for relaying communication between the other radio communication device in the ad hoc network and the base station,
As the wireless interface, the first to third interfaces are mounted, communicate with the base station via the first interface, and communicate with the other wireless communication devices in the ad hoc network via the second interface. And
When relaying communication between the other wireless communication device in the ad hoc network and the base station, communication is performed with the base station via a third interface. Item 11. The communication system according to Item 10.

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