JP2010239420A - Converter and information conversion method - Google Patents

Abstract

Information is converted between an IP network and a non-IP network without causing a change in terminals of the non-IP network and without causing a shortage of communication bandwidth or a significant time delay in the non-IP network. .
A conversion table memory 206 stores a conversion table for each communication partner and transmission content. The header creation unit 205 selects information corresponding to the information indicating the address output from the communication partner selection unit 203 and the information indicating the type of transmission content output from the transmission content selection unit 204 from the conversion table. The header creation unit 205 creates the control signal portion of the non-network signal with reference to the contents of the selected conversion table. The synthesizing unit 207 divides the data output from the demultiplexing unit 202 into a predetermined length, and synthesizes the divided data and the control signal portion created by the header creation unit 205 to generate a non-IP network information signal. .
[Selection] Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a converter and an information conversion method for converting information between an IP (Internet Protocol) network and a non-IP network.

  With the spread of Internet devices in recent years, development of IP multicast communication for realizing multicast communication on the Internet (IP network) has been performed. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a group communication method for realizing a group communication service such as a video group conference on TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) / IP by using IP multicast communication.

  In addition, since IP multicast communication has been developed, multicast communication in non-IP networks that do not use the Internet has also become widespread.

Note that multicast communication is a technique for simultaneously transmitting data to a group of some communication devices among communication devices connected to a network. Multicast communication is the most suitable technique for group communication because each user who joins the group can simultaneously acquire session contents without duplicating packets, thereby optimizing the use of network bandwidth. .
JP-A-10-336176

  However, there is no system that connects an IP (wireless) network terminal and a multicast group of a non-IP network via the Internet or a system that connects a plurality of multicast groups of a non-IP network via the Internet.

  An IP network has a very large maximum communication capacity, and can compress a large amount of data by compressing information (several Mbps). However, a non-IP network has a very large maximum communication capacity compared to an IP network. Small and low transmission rate (several to tens of kbps).

  Therefore, when the IP network and the non-IP network are simply connected and the IP network information (IP packet) is directly transmitted to the multicast group of the non-IP network, the amount of information in the header portion of the IP packet is large. In a non-IP network, a shortage of communication bandwidth and a significant time delay occur.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and without changing the terminal of the non-IP network, without causing a shortage of communication bandwidth or a significant time delay in the non-IP network, It is an object of the present invention to provide a converter and an information conversion method capable of converting information with a network.

  The converter of the present invention is a converter that converts information between an IP (Internet Protocol) network and a non-IP network, and includes a parameter of a header of an IP packet and a control signal portion of a signal of the non-IP network. A conversion table memory for storing a conversion table indicating a correspondence relationship between each parameter, and header generation for creating a control signal portion of the signal of the non-IP network from the header information of the IP packet with reference to the conversion table Means.

  The information conversion method of the present invention is an information conversion method for converting information between an IP (Internet Protocol) network and a non-IP network, and selects a communication partner of the IP packet from header information of the input IP packet A communication partner selection step, a transmission content selection step of selecting transmission content from the header information of the IP packet, and control of each parameter of the IP packet header and a signal of the non-IP network for each communication partner and the group performing communication The conversion corresponding to the communication partner selected by the communication partner selection unit and the transmission content selected by the transmission content selection unit from the conversion table memory for storing the conversion table indicating the correspondence relationship between each parameter of the signal part. Refer to the conversion table selection process for selecting a table and the selected conversion table. To adopt a method comprising a header generation step of generating a control signal portion of the signal of the non-IP network from the header information of the IP packet.

  According to the present invention, for each communication partner and each group that performs communication, a conversion table indicating a correspondence relationship between each parameter of the header of the IP packet and each parameter of the control signal portion of the signal of the non-IP network is prepared. By referring to the selected conversion table and creating the control signal portion of the signal of the non-IP network from the header information of the IP packet, the communication bandwidth of the non-IP network can be changed without changing the terminal of the non-IP network. Information can be converted between an IP network and a non-IP network without causing shortages or significant time delays.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
1.1 System Configuration FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention. The system shown in FIG. 1 includes an IP network connection terminal 101, an IP network terminal 102, an IP wireless network terminal 103, a non-IP-A (analog) wireless base / terminal 111, and a non-IP-A wireless terminal 112. And a non-IP-D (digital) type radio base / terminal 121 and a non-IP-D type radio terminal 122.

  In FIG. 1, the IP network connection terminal 101, the IP network terminal 102, and the IP wireless network terminal 103 constitute an IP network. The non-IP-A wireless base / terminal 111 and the non-IP-A wireless terminal 112 constitute a non-IP network for analog communication. The non-IP-D type radio base / terminal 121 and the non-IP-D type radio terminal 122 constitute a non-IP network for digital communication.

  The IP network connection terminal 101 performs wired communication by IP with the IP network terminal 102. The IP network connection terminal 101 performs wireless communication by IP with the IP wireless network terminal 103. Note that the IP network connection terminal 101 can simultaneously communicate with a plurality of IP network terminals 102 and a plurality of IP wireless network terminals 103, and can perform multicast communication.

  The non-IP-A type wireless base / terminal 111 performs analog wireless communication not based on IP, such as a transceiver, with the non-IP-A type wireless terminal 112. Note that the non-IP-A type wireless base / terminal 111 can simultaneously communicate with a plurality of non-IP-A type wireless terminals 112 and can perform multicast communication.

  The non-IP-D type wireless base / terminal 121 performs digital wireless communication not based on IP, such as a mobile phone, with the non-IP-D type wireless terminal 122. The non-IP-D type radio base / terminal 121 can simultaneously communicate with a plurality of non-IP-D type radio terminals 122 and can perform multicast communication.

  The non-IP-A type radio base / terminal 111 and the non-IP-D type radio base / terminal 121 are equipped with a converter 200, and the IP network connection terminal 101 and the Internet (IP network) via the converter 200. Communicate with.

  The converter 200 converts the header portion of the IP network information (IP packet) output from the IP network connection terminal 101 into the control signal portion of the non-IP network signal, and converts the non-IP network signal to the non-IP network signal. It transmits to the terminal 112 (122). The converter 200 converts the control signal portion of the non-IP network signal output from the terminal 112 (122) of the non-IP network into an IP packet header, and transmits the IP packet to the IP network connection terminal 101. .

  In the case of analog communication, the control signal portion of the non-IP network signal is pre-communication information such as DCS (Digital Code Squelch), a selected frequency, a Tone signal superimposed on the audio signal, and the like. In this case, it is a header part.

1.2 Internal Configuration of Converter FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the converter according to one embodiment of the present invention. A converter 200 shown in FIG. 1 includes an interface 201, a separation unit 202, a communication partner selection unit 203, a transmission content selection unit 204, a header creation unit 205, a conversion table memory 206, a synthesis unit 207, and a transmission. The determination unit 208 is mainly composed of an interface 209, a separation unit 210, a combining unit 211, and a transmission timing control unit 212.

  The interface 201 receives the information packet transmitted from the IP network connection terminal 101 and outputs it to the separation unit 202. In addition, the interface 201 transmits the IP packet output from the transmission timing control unit 212 to the IP network connection terminal 101.

  The separation unit 202 separates the IP network information (IP packet) output from the interface 201 into a header part and a data part, outputs the header to the communication partner selection unit 203 and the transmission content selection unit 204, and synthesizes the data Output to the unit 207.

  The communication partner selection unit 203 reads the address (MAC address, IP address) of the partner to which the packet is delivered from the header of the IP packet output from the separation unit 202, and this address is the address of the non-IP network to which the converter 200 belongs. It is confirmed whether or not it is registered in the conversion table of the conversion table memory 206 as a multicast group address. When the address is registered, the communication partner selection unit 203 outputs information indicating the address to the header creation unit 205. On the other hand, when the address is not registered, the communication partner selection unit 203 outputs information indicating that to the header creation unit 205 and the synthesis unit 207.

  Further, the communication partner selection unit 203 specifies the address of the partner to which the IP packet is delivered from the control signal portion of the non-network signal output from the separation unit 210, and this address is the non-IP network to which the converter 200 belongs. It is confirmed whether it is registered in the conversion table of the conversion table memory 206 as the address of the multicast group. When the address is registered, the communication partner selection unit 203 outputs information indicating the address to the header creation unit 205. On the other hand, when the address is not registered, the communication partner selection unit 203 outputs information indicating that to the header creation unit 205 and the synthesis unit 211.

  The transmission content selection unit 204 reads the type of data transmission content (voice communication or data communication) from the header of the IP packet output from the separation unit 202, and sets the information indicating the type of the read transmission content to the header creation unit 205. Output to.

  Also, the transmission content selection unit 204 reads the type of data transmission content (voice communication or data communication) from the control signal portion of the non-network signal output from the separation unit 210, and indicates the type of transmission content read. Information is output to the header creation unit 205.

  The header creation unit 205 indicates information indicating the address output from the communication partner selection unit 203 and the type of transmission content output from the transmission content selection unit 204 from the conversion table stored in the conversion table memory 206. Select the one that corresponds to the information. Then, the header creation unit 205 creates the control signal portion of the non-network signal by referring to the content of the selected conversion table and outputs it to the synthesis unit 207, or creates the header of the IP packet and creates the synthesis unit 211 is output. The header creation unit 205 does not operate when information indicating that no address is registered is input from the communication partner selection unit 203.

  The conversion table memory 206 stores a conversion table for each communication partner (including a group that performs multicast communication) and transmission contents. In the conversion table, each parameter of the header of the IP packet, each parameter of the control signal portion of the non-network signal, and the correspondence relationship between each parameter of the header of the IP packet and each parameter of the control signal portion of the non-network signal Is registered. Details of the conversion table stored in the conversion table memory 206 and the header creation processing in the header creation unit 205 will be described later.

  The combining unit 207 divides the data output from the separating unit 202 into a predetermined length, and generates a non-IP network information signal by combining the divided data and the control signal portion output from the header creating unit 205 Then, the data is output to the transmission permission / inhibition determination unit 208. The combining unit 207 does not operate when information indicating that an address is not registered is input from the communication partner selection unit 203. Details of the composition processing in the composition unit 207 will be described later.

  The transmission propriety determination unit 208 outputs the signal output from the combining unit 207 to the interface 209 if it is within the time limit conforming to the wireless standard. On the other hand, the transmission permission determination unit 208 discards the signal output from the combining unit 207 when the time limit conforming to the wireless standard is exceeded.

  The interface 209 inputs a signal transmitted from the terminal 112 (122) of the non-IP network and outputs it to the separation unit 210. In addition, the interface 209 transmits the signal output from the transmission permission determination unit 208 to the terminal 112 (122) of the non-IP network.

  The separation unit 210 separates the non-IP network signal output from the interface 209 into a header part and a data part, and outputs the control signal part of the non-network signal to the communication partner selection unit 203 and the transmission content selection unit 204. The data is output to the synthesis unit 211.

  The combining unit 211 concatenates the data output from the separation unit 210 to a predetermined length, combines the combined data and the header output from the header creation unit 205 to generate an IP packet, and transmits a transmission timing control unit. It outputs to 212. Note that the composition unit 211 does not operate when information indicating that an address is not registered is input from the communication partner selection unit 203. Details of the composition processing in the composition unit 211 will be described later.

  The transmission timing control unit 212 outputs the IP packet output from the combining unit 211 to the interface 201 at a timing conforming to the communication standard.

1.3 Specific Description of Header Generation Processing Next, the conversion table stored in the conversion table memory 206 and the header generation processing in the header generation unit 205 will be specifically described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a conversion table stored in the conversion table memory 206. 3A and 3B show a conversion table between the IP network and the non-IP-A type wireless network, and FIG. 3C shows a conversion table between the IP network and the non-IP-D type wireless network. 3A and 3B differ only in the column of association / conversion. The association / conversion column in FIG. 3A shows a case where the type of transmission content is data communication, and the association / conversion column in FIG. 3B shows a case where the type of transmission content is voice communication. The column of association / conversion in FIG. 3C shows a case where the type of transmission content is voice communication.

  In the communication partner selection unit 203, it is confirmed that the MAC address and IP address of the header of the IP packet are the same as the MAC address and IP address of the conversion table in FIG. 3A, and in the transmission content selection unit 204, When it is read that the type is data communication, the header creation unit 205 creates information corresponding to the header for analog communication of the non-IP network according to the conversion table of FIG. 3A.

  Specifically, the header creation unit 205 selects a tone corresponding to the MAC address and the IP address, and generates a Tone signal. Further, the header creation unit 205 superimposes deemed audio data corresponding to UDP (User Datagram Protocol) on the Tone signal.

  In addition, the header creation unit 205 selects FM (Frequency Modulation) as the communication method, selects ADPCM (Adaptive Differential Pulse Code Modulation) as the IP-side audio codec, and selects real-time audio corresponding to the FM modulation method and 8 kHz conversion. Then, the band limit is selected to be 12.5 kHz so as to correspond to the FM communication standard. Then, the header creation unit 205 instructs the synthesis unit 207 of the selected information.

  Further, the communication partner selection unit 203 confirms that the tone of information corresponding to the header for analog communication of the non-IP network is the same as the low frequency tone of the conversion table of FIG. When it is read that the type of transmission content is data communication, the header creation unit 205 creates an IP packet header according to the conversion table of FIG. 3A.

  Specifically, the header creation unit 205 selects a MAC address and an IP address corresponding to the tone, and selects multicast information adapted to the group. Then, a header having such information is created.

  Also, the header creation unit 205 selects FM as the communication method, selects ADPCM as the IP-side audio codec, and synthesizes the received FM demodulated signal into a packet size corresponding to the communication standard by quantizing the received FM demodulated signal with the ADPCM method. The unit 211 is instructed.

  Note that the communication partner selection unit 203 confirms that the MAC address and IP address of the header of the IP packet are the same as the MAC address and IP address of the conversion table of FIG. 3B, and the transmission content selection unit 204 performs transmission. When it is read that the content type is voice communication, the header creation unit 205 creates information corresponding to the analog communication header of the non-IP network according to the conversion table of FIG. 3B.

  Further, the communication partner selection unit 203 confirms that the MAC address and IP address of the header of the IP packet are the same as the MAC address and IP address of the conversion table of FIG. 3C, and the transmission content selection unit 204 transmits When it is read that the content type is voice communication, the header creation unit 205 creates information corresponding to the header for analog communication of the non-IP network according to the conversion table of FIG. 3C.

1.4 Specific Description of Combining Process Next, the combining process in the combining unit 207 and the combining unit 211 will be specifically described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a frame format of information of IP packets and non-IP networks. 4A shows the frame format of the IP packet, FIG. 4B shows the frame format of the non-IP-A type wireless network, and FIG. 4C shows the frame format of the non-IP-D type wireless network.

  As shown in FIG. 4A, a header of a frame of an IP packet is added before Payload (data portion). The header is divided into a physical layer header (PHY-I), a MAC layer header (MAC), an Internet layer header (IP), and a transport layer header (TCP or UDP). The header of each layer stores a control signal for exchanging with the same layer at the transmission destination.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a frame format of the header of the MAC layer. As shown in FIG. 5, the MAC layer header control signal is 56 + 8 + 48 + 48 + 16 + 32 = 302 bits.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a frame format of the TCP header, and FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a frame format of the UDP header. The control signal combining the IP header and the TCP header is 160 bits, and the control signal combining the IP header and the UDP header is 64 bits.

  Thus, an IP packet has large header information. If this is attempted to be extended as it is to a non-IP network having a very small maximum communication capacity and a low transmission rate, overhead due to header information and the like is large, resulting in a shortage of communication bandwidth and a significant time delay.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the header creation unit 205 creates a control signal part of a non-network signal, and the synthesis unit 207 synthesizes the control signal part and data. The synthesizing unit 207 processes the data as necessary (for example, once the data is in a general-purpose form and then in a form conforming to the standard), and then combines the control signal portion and the data. Synthesize.

  Specifically, in the non-IP-A type wireless network, as shown in FIG. 4B, for example, DCS is added before voice such as FM, or a Tone signal is superimposed. Further, in the non-IP-D type wireless network, as shown in FIG. 4B, a physical layer header (PHY-D) and a MAC layer header (M: 48 bits) are added before the data.

  When the header creation unit 205 creates an IP packet header, the synthesis unit 211 synthesizes the IP packet header and data as shown in FIG. 4A.

1.5 Effect of this Embodiment As described above, according to this embodiment, each parameter of the header of the IP packet and each of the control signal part of the signal of the non-IP network are determined for each communication partner and each group performing communication. By preparing a conversion table indicating the correspondence between the parameters and referring to the selected conversion table, the control signal portion of the signal of the non-IP network is created from the header information of the IP packet. It is possible to convert information between the IP network and the non-IP network without changing the terminal and without causing a shortage of communication bandwidth or a significant time delay in the non-IP network.

  The present invention is suitable for use in a base station device, a terminal device, and a relay station device used for mobile communication of the OFDM transmission scheme.

The figure which shows the structure of the system which concerns on one embodiment of this invention The block diagram which shows the structure of the converter which concerns on one embodiment of this invention The figure which shows an example of the conversion table preserve | saved at the conversion table memory of the converter which concerns on one embodiment of this invention The figure which shows the frame format of the information of the IP packet input into the converter which concerns on one embodiment of this invention, and a non-IP network The figure which shows the frame format of the header of a MAC layer The figure which shows the frame format of the TCP header The figure which shows the frame format of the UDP header

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 IP network connection terminal 102 IP network terminal 103 IP wireless network terminal 111 Non-IP-A (analog) type wireless base / terminal 112 Non-IP-A type wireless terminal 121 Non-IP-D (digital) type wireless base / terminal 122 Non- IP-D type wireless terminal 200 converter 201, 209 interface 202, 210 separation unit 203 communication partner selection unit 204 transmission content selection unit 205 header creation unit 206 conversion table memory 207, 211 synthesis unit 208 transmission availability determination unit 212 transmission timing control Part

Claims (8)

A converter for converting information between an IP (Internet Protocol) network and a non-IP network,
A conversion table memory for storing a conversion table indicating a correspondence relationship between each parameter of the header of the IP packet and each parameter of the control signal portion of the signal of the non-IP network;
A header creating means for creating a control signal portion of the signal of the non-IP network from the header information of the IP packet with reference to the conversion table;
A converter comprising: A communication partner selection means for selecting a communication partner of the IP packet from the header information of the input IP packet;
Transmission content selection means for selecting transmission content from the header information of the IP packet,
The conversion table memory stores a conversion table for each communication partner and group performing communication,
The header creation means creates a control signal portion of a signal of a non-IP network with reference to a conversion table corresponding to the communication partner selected by the communication partner selection means and the transmission content selected by the transmission content selection means.
The converter according to claim 1. The communication partner selection means selects the communication partner of the non-IP network signal from the control signal part of the input non-IP network signal,
The transmission content selection means selects transmission content from a control signal portion of the signal of the non-IP network,
The header creating means creates header information of the IP packet with reference to a conversion table corresponding to the communication partner selected by the communication partner selecting unit and the transmission content selected by the transmission content selecting unit;
The converter according to claim 2.   The apparatus further comprises first combining means for dividing the data of the IP packet into a predetermined length and combining the divided data and a control signal portion created by the header creating means to generate a signal of a non-IP network. 2. The converter according to 2.   If it is within the time limit conforming to the wireless standard, the signal output from the first combining means is output to the non-IP network. If the time limit conforming to the wireless standard is exceeded, the first combining means is output. The converter according to claim 4, further comprising a transmission permission / rejection determination unit that discards the signal output from.   4. A second synthesizing unit that couples data of the non-IP network signal to a predetermined length, and synthesizes the concatenated data and header information created by the header creating unit to generate an IP packet. The listed converter.   7. The converter according to claim 6, further comprising transmission timing control means for outputting the IP packet output from the second combining means to the IP network at a timing conforming to a communication standard. An information conversion method for converting information between an IP (Internet Protocol) network and a non-IP network,
A communication partner selection step of selecting a communication partner of the IP packet from the header information of the input IP packet;
A transmission content selection step of selecting transmission content from header information of the IP packet;
From a conversion table memory for storing a conversion table indicating a correspondence relationship between each parameter of the header of the IP packet and each parameter of the control signal portion of the signal of the non-IP network, for each communication partner and group performing communication, A conversion table selection step of selecting a conversion table corresponding to the communication partner selected by the communication partner selection means and the transmission content selected by the transmission content selection means;
A header creating step of creating a control signal portion of the signal of the non-IP network from the header information of the IP packet with reference to the selected conversion table;
An information conversion method comprising:

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