WO2010035577A1 - Communication system, call process device, communication method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

A communication system includes: a communication device which measures an index value serving as an index of a process load of a call process device and transmits result information indicating the measurement result to the call process device; and the call process device equipped with a process unit which can modify the process capability for processing a call of a mobile device so as to increase/decrease the power consumption and receives the result information from the communication device to control the process unit in accordance with the result information.

Description

COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, CALL PROCESSING DEVICE, COMMUNICATION METHOD, AND PROGRAM

The present invention relates to a technique for controlling the processing capability of a call processing device that processes a call of a mobile device.

The communication service area and capacity (number of users accommodated, cell radius, number of carriers / cells, etc.) of a radio base station device in a mobile communication system are generally in the time zone (the most busy time) when there are many users in the daytime. Determined by considering the traffic model. The capacity is related to the power consumption of the radio base station apparatus, and so much power is required to obtain a high capacity.

However, the number of users registered at night tends to be smaller than at daytime. In the time zone when the number of registered users is small, although the capacity may be low, the power utilization efficiency is low if the same capacity is maintained as in the most busy time. When the number of users decreases at night, the value of (accommodation capacity) / (number of users), that is, the value corresponding to the power consumption per user becomes relatively large, and the power consumption in the radio base station apparatus is inefficient. End up.

In order to improve power consumption efficiency, the base station apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 first estimates the number of mobile terminals in the service area. The base station apparatus turns on only the signal processing units necessary for processing the transmission / reception signals with the estimated number of mobile terminals among the plurality of signal processing units, and turns off the other signal processing units. Yes.

Also, the base station apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 2 stops the output of some carriers in stages when the number of registered mobile devices falls below a predetermined threshold.

JP 2003-347985 A JP 2008-109423 A

However, in the base station apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 or 2, the load is concentrated on the signal processing unit or the carrier that is turned on. In this case, when the number of users increases rapidly, there is a possibility that a high load state occurs and the processing capability of the signal processing unit or the like may be temporarily exceeded. Even in a high load state, the power of the signal processing unit is turned off, so that load distribution is difficult and it is impossible to cope with a sudden increase in load.

In addition, these base station apparatuses need to shift the mobile terminal that has used the resource of the circuit that turns off the power to the resource of the circuit that is kept on, and this transition process takes time. There was a thing.

Furthermore, when returning a signal processing unit or the like whose power has been turned off, it takes some time from when the power is turned on until the signal processing unit actually operates. It cannot cope with a sudden change in the number of mobile terminals.

As described above, the base station apparatus described in Patent Document 1 or 2 has a problem that load distribution is difficult and it is impossible to quickly cope with fluctuations in the number of mobile communication devices.

An object of the present invention is to provide a communication system that can easily distribute load, can quickly respond to fluctuations in the number of mobile communication devices, and can improve power consumption efficiency.

In order to achieve the above object, a communication system of the present invention measures an index value that is an index of a processing load of a call processing device, and transmits a result information indicating a result of the measurement to the call processing device; A processing unit that processes a call of a mobile device is variable, and includes a processing unit that increases or decreases power consumption by changing the processing capability, receives the result information from the communication device, and based on the result information, the processing unit A call processing device for controlling

The call processing device according to the present invention has a processing capacity for processing a call of a mobile device, a processing unit whose power consumption is increased or decreased by changing the processing capacity, and an index value that is an index of a processing load of the call processing device. A measurement result acquisition unit configured to acquire a measurement result; and a control unit configured to control the processing unit based on the result acquired by the measurement result acquisition unit.

The communication method of the present invention measures an index value that is an index of the processing load of the call processing device, transmits result information indicating the result of the measurement, and has a variable processing capability for processing a call of a mobile device, This is a method in which a call processing device including a processing unit whose power consumption is increased or decreased by a change in processing capacity receives the result information and controls the processing unit based on the result information.

The program of the present invention moves to a computer based on a measurement result acquisition procedure for acquiring a measurement result of an index value that is an index of a processing load of a call processing device, and the result acquired in the measurement result acquisition procedure. This is a program for executing a control procedure for controlling a processing unit in which the processing capacity for processing a machine call is variable and the power consumption is increased or decreased by changing the processing capacity.

According to the present invention, in the communication system, since the call processing device controls the processing unit based on the measurement result of the index value, the power consumption of the call processing device can be made efficient according to the change in the processing load. In addition, since the power of the processing unit is not turned off, load distribution is easy, and it is possible to respond quickly to changes in the number of mobile devices.

1 is an overall view showing a configuration of a communication system according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the base station apparatus of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a line graph which shows the time change of the number of mobile apparatuses with which the position was registered. It is a flowchart which shows the measurement transmission process of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the measurement process of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the threshold determination process of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the transmission process of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the base station apparatus of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the electric power control process of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the measurement process of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the base station apparatus of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the electric power control process of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the base station apparatus of the 4th Embodiment of this invention.

(First embodiment)
A first embodiment for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an overall view showing a configuration of a communication system 1 of the present embodiment. Referring to FIG. 1, the communication system 1 includes antennas 20 and 21, a base station device 30, a base station control device 40, and an exchange 50. A mobile device 10 is connected to the communication system 1.

The mobile device 10 is a mobile communication device such as a mobile phone device. The mobile device 10 can register its own location information (location registration) in the base station device 30, the base station control device 40, or the exchange 50. In addition, after the location registration, the mobile device 10 can start communication with another communication device via the base station device 30 or the like.

Antennas 20 and 21 are communication antennas such as diversity antennas. Antennas 20 and 21 cover jurisdiction areas A1 and A2, and are connected to base station apparatus 30.

The base station device 30 (call processing device) is a wireless communication device that processes calls originated by a plurality of mobile devices (such as 10) in the jurisdiction area A1 or A2.

The base station control device 40 controls one or more base station devices (30, etc.).

The exchange 50 (communication device) provides a communication service such as a connection service to the telephone network to the mobile device (10). In addition, the switching center 50 measures the number of mobile devices whose positions are registered in the switching center 50 or the like at a predetermined cycle.

The exchange 50 compares the measured value (index value) with the thresholds A and B each time the number of units is measured. Then, the switching center 50 determines whether or not a change in which the measurement value is equal to or less than the threshold values A and B or a change in which the measurement value is greater than the threshold values A and B has occurred, and the result is sent to the base station device 30. Send.

The configuration of the base station device 30 will be described in detail. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the base station device 30. As shown in FIG. Referring to the figure, the base station device 30 includes a transmission / reception unit 310, a call processing unit 320, and a control unit 330.

The transmission / reception unit 310 receives information indicating whether or not there has been a predetermined change in the number of mobile devices from the switching center 50.

The call processing unit 320 includes a baseband processor 321 such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a DSP (Digital Signal Processor). The call processing unit 320 uses the baseband processor 321 to process a call that has occurred in a location-registered mobile device (such as 10).

The control unit 330 changes the processing capability (power consumption) of the call processing unit 320 when receiving a notification from the switching center 50 that the predetermined number of mobile devices has changed. Specifically, when the control unit 330 receives a notification that the measurement value is equal to or less than the threshold value A or B, the control unit 330 decreases the processing capacity by a predetermined amount. In addition, when receiving a notification that the measured value exceeds the threshold value A or B, the control unit 330 increases the processing capacity by a predetermined amount.

Here, the control unit 330 controls the processing capability of the call processing unit 320 by changing the core voltage of the baseband processor 321 or the operation clock, for example.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing an example of a change in the number of mobile stations registered as time passes. The vertical axis of the graph in the figure is the number of mobile devices whose positions are registered, and the horizontal axis is time. Referring to the figure, the number of mobile devices (measured values) is reduced at night compared to daytime.

At night, when the number of mobile units decreases below the threshold A, the call processing volume decreases as the number of units decreases. Therefore, the base station apparatus 30 reduces the processing capability of the base processor 321 by a predetermined amount. When the measured value decreases below the lower threshold B, the base station device 30 further reduces the processing capability of the base processor 321 by a predetermined amount.

When approaching dawn and the number of mobile units becomes greater than the threshold B, the call processing volume increases as the number of mobile units increases. Therefore, the base station apparatus 30 increases the processing capability of the baseband processor 321 by a predetermined amount. When the measured value becomes larger than the threshold value A, the base station device 30 restores the processing capability of the baseband processor 321 to the original.

Next, the operation of the communication system 1 will be described.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the measurement transmission process of the exchange 50. This measurement transmission process starts when the switching center 50 is activated or when a predetermined application is executed. Referring to the figure, the exchange 50 executes a measurement process (step S1), executes a threshold determination process (step S3), and executes a transmission process (step S5). After step S5, the switching center 50 ends the measurement transmission process.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the measurement process. Referring to the figure, switching center 50 determines whether a measurement process is first started or whether a predetermined time has elapsed since the previous measurement date (step S11).

If the predetermined time has elapsed (step S11: YES), the switching center 50 measures the number of mobile devices (10) whose positions are registered in the switching center 50 and records the measured values (step S13). .

If the predetermined time has not elapsed (step S11: NO) or after step S13, the exchange 50 stops the measurement process.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing threshold determination processing. Referring to the figure, switching center 50 determines whether or not the previous measurement value is greater than threshold value A and the current measurement value is less than or equal to threshold value A (step S31).

If the measured value falls across the threshold A (step S31: YES), the switching center 50 determines whether or not the current measured value is equal to or less than the threshold B (step S32). If the current measurement value is not less than or equal to the threshold value B (step S32: NO), the switching center 50 turns on the event flag A1 (step S33). The event flag A1 is a flag indicating whether or not the measured value has dropped across the threshold A, and the initial value is off.

If it has not fallen across the threshold value A (step S31: NO), the switching center 50 determines whether or not the previous measurement value is larger than the threshold value B and the current measurement value is less than or equal to the threshold value B ( Step S35).

When the measured value falls across the threshold value B (step S35: YES), or when the current threshold value is B or less (step S32: YES), the switching center 50 turns on the event flag B1 (step S35). S37). The event flag B1 is a flag indicating whether or not the measured value has dropped across the threshold value B, and the initial value is OFF.

If it has not fallen across the threshold value B (step S35: NO), the switching center 50 determines whether or not the previous measurement value is equal to or less than the threshold value B and the current measurement value is greater than the threshold value B. (Step S39).

If the measured value rises across the threshold value B (step S39: YES), the switching center 50 determines whether or not the current measured value is greater than the threshold value A (step S40). If the current measurement value is not greater than the threshold value A (step S40: NO), the switching center 50 turns on the event flag B2 (step S41). The event flag B2 is a flag indicating whether or not the measured value has risen across the threshold value B, and the initial value is OFF.

If it has not risen across the threshold value B (step S39: NO), the switching center 50 determines whether or not the previous measurement value is less than or equal to the threshold value A and the current measurement value is greater than the threshold value A (step). S43).
When the measured value rises across the threshold A (step S43: YES), or when the current threshold is larger than A (step S40: YES), the switching center 50 turns on the event flag A2 (step S45). ). The event flag A2 is a flag indicating whether or not the measured value has risen across the threshold value A, and the initial value is off.

If the measured value does not rise across the threshold A (step S43: NO), the switching center 50 ends the threshold determination process after step S33, S37, S41, or S45.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the transmission process. Referring to the figure, switching center 50 determines whether any of event flags A1, B1, B2, and A2 is on (step S51).

If any of the event flags is on (step S51: YES), the switching center 50 determines the result of the threshold determination process, that is, information indicating the values of the event flags A1, B1, B2, and A2 (hereinafter, “ "Result information") is transmitted to the base station apparatus 30. After transmission, all the event flags A1, B1, B2, and A2 are turned off (step S53).

If none of the event flags are off (step S51: NO), or after step S53, the switching center 50 ends the transmission process.

Subsequently, the operation of the base station apparatus 30 will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the base station device 30. This operation starts when the transmission / reception unit 310 of the base station device 30 receives the result information from the exchange 50. Referring to the figure, the control unit 330 executes control processing (step T3), and the call processing unit 320 processes calls that have occurred in the management areas A1 and A2 (step T5).

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the control process. Referring to the figure, control unit 330 determines whether or not event flag A1 indicated by the result information is on (step T31).

If the event flag A1 is on, that is, if the measurement value falls across the threshold A (step T31: YES), the control unit 330 lowers the processing capacity (power consumption) of the call processing unit 320 by a predetermined amount (step T33). ).

If the event flag A1 is off (step T31: NO), the control unit 330 determines whether or not the event flag B1 indicated by the result information is on (step T35).

If the event flag B1 is on, that is, if the measured value has dropped across the threshold B (step T35: YES), the control unit 330 further reduces the processing capability of the call processing unit 320 by a predetermined amount. When there is a rapid change from the measured value larger than the threshold A so as to fall below the threshold B, the control unit 330 decreases the predetermined amount so as to be equal to or less than the value corresponding to the threshold B (step T37).

If the event flag B1 is off (step T35: NO), the controller 330 determines whether or not the event flag B2 is on (step T39).

If the event flag B2 is on, that is, if the measured value rises across the threshold value B (step T39: YES), the control unit 330 increases the processing capacity of the call processing unit 320 by a predetermined amount (step T41).

If the event flag B2 is off (step T39: NO), the control unit 330 further increases the processing capacity of the call processing unit 320 by a predetermined amount to return to the value before the decrease. If there is a sudden change exceeding the threshold A from the measured value equal to or less than the threshold B, the processing unit 330 increases the predetermined amount so as to be equal to or greater than the value corresponding to the threshold A (step T43).

After steps T33, T37, T41, T43, the control unit 330 ends the control process.

In this embodiment, two threshold values are set. However, one threshold value may be set, or three or more threshold values may be set to control the processing capability more finely.

Further, in this embodiment, the base station device 30 changes the power consumption based on the change in the number of mobile stations registered for location, but any other value can be used as an index of the processing load of the base station device 30. Control may be performed based on a change in the measured value.

In the present embodiment, the switching center 50 is configured to perform the measurement transmission process, but the base station control device 40 may be configured to perform this process.

In the present embodiment, the base station apparatus 30 is configured to change the processing capacity based on the change in the number of mobile devices. However, if the wireless communication apparatus performs call processing, other apparatuses may change the processing capacity. May be performed.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, in the communication system 1, the base station device 30 (call processing device) determines the call processing unit based on the measurement result of the number of mobile devices (index values) whose positions are registered. Since 320 (processing unit) is controlled, the power consumption of the base station apparatus 30 can be made more efficient according to changes in the processing load. In addition, since the power of the call processing unit 320 is not turned off, load distribution is easy, and it is possible to respond quickly to fluctuations in the number of mobile devices.

Since the base station device 30 increases or decreases the processing capacity when the index value changes across the threshold and does not require complicated judgment, the base station device 30 can quickly control the call processing unit 320.

(Second Embodiment)
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the measurement process of the present embodiment. Referring to the figure, the measurement process of the present embodiment is the same as the measurement process of the first embodiment except that the amount of transmitted / received data is measured instead of the number of mobile stations registered in position.

When the predetermined time has elapsed (step S11: YES), the switching center 50, instead of the number of mobile devices, the base station control unit 310 measures the amount of data transmitted / received to / from the registered mobile device (step S13a). .

According to the present embodiment, since the base station apparatus 30 uses the amount of transmitted / received data as an index value of the processing load and changes the processing capacity based on the change, more accurate control can be performed according to the call processing amount. .

(Third embodiment)
A third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 11 and FIG.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the base station device 30b of the present embodiment. Referring to the figure, the base station device 30b differs from the configuration of the base station device 30 of the first embodiment in that the call processing unit 320 includes signal processing units 322 and 323 and performs load distribution. .

The signal processing units 322 and 323 have the same processing capability and share the processing of calls generated in the jurisdiction areas A1 and A2. Further, only one of the signal processing units 322 and 323 can process a call generated in the jurisdiction areas A1 and A2.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the control processing of this embodiment. Referring to the figure, control unit 330 determines whether or not event flag A1 indicated by the result information is on (step T31).

If the event flag A1 is turned on, that is, the measured value has dropped across the threshold A (step T31: YES), the signal processing unit 322 is shifted to the sleep mode (step T33b). Here, the sleep mode is a state in which power consumption is suppressed without energizing the signal processing unit as much as possible.

If the event flag A1 is off (step T31: NO), the control unit 330 determines whether or not the event flag B1 indicated by the result information is on (step T35).

If the event flag B1 is on, that is, if the measured value has dropped across the threshold value B (step T35: YES), the control unit 330 causes the signal processing unit 323 to transition to the sleep mode (step T37b).

If the event flag B1 is off (step T35: NO), the controller 330 determines whether or not the event flag B2 is on (step T39).

If the event flag B2 is on, that is, if the measured value rises across the threshold value B (step T39: YES), the control unit 330 returns the signal processing unit 323 from the sleep mode (step T41b).

If the event flag B2 is OFF (step T39: NO), the control unit 330 returns the signal processing unit 322 from the sleep mode (step T43b).

After step T33b, T37b, T41b, or T43b, the control unit 330 ends the control process.

In this embodiment, the call processing is shared by the two signal processing units, but the load may be distributed to two or more signal processing units.

In this embodiment, the signal processing unit is shifted to the sleep mode. However, if the power consumption is minimized, the base station device 30b sets the signal processing unit to a mode other than the sleep mode when the processing amount changes. The operation mode may be shifted to.

As described above, according to this embodiment, since the operation mode of the signal processing unit is changed, the base station device 30b can further reduce power consumption.

(Fourth embodiment)
A fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the operation of the base station device 30 of the present embodiment. Referring to the figure, the operation of the base station device 30 of the present embodiment is the same as the operation of the base station device 30 of the first embodiment, except that the base station device 30 executes the measurement transmission process of the exchange 50. It is.

The controller 330 executes measurement processing (step T1) and executes threshold determination processing (step T2). Then, steps T3 and T5 are executed. The processes at steps T1 and T2 are the same as the processes at steps S1 and S3.

In this embodiment, the base station device 30 is configured to execute the measurement process and the threshold determination process. However, the base station device performs only the threshold determination process, and the switching center 50 and the base station control apparatus 40 perform the measurement process. It is good also as a structure to perform.

As described above, according to this embodiment, since the measurement process and the threshold determination process are performed in the base station apparatus 30, a quicker control can be performed. In addition, since it is not necessary to transmit / receive result information to / from a higher-level device (40, 50), the amount of communication can be reduced.

This application claims the benefit of priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-244064 filed on September 24, 2008, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Communication system 10 Mobile device 20, 21 Antenna 30 Base station apparatus 40 Base station control apparatus 50 Switching center 310 Base station control part 320 Call processing part 321 Baseband processor 322, 323 Signal processing part 330 Control part S1-S3, S11- S13, S31 to S47, S51 to S53, T3 to T5, T31 to T43, S13b, T33b, T37b, T41b, T43b Step A1, A2 Jurisdiction area

Claims (14)

A communication device that measures an index value that is an index of a processing load of the call processing device, and transmits result information indicating a result of the measurement to the call processing device;
A processing unit that processes a call of a mobile device is variable, and includes a processing unit that increases or decreases power consumption by changing the processing capability, receives the result information from the communication device, and based on the result information, the processing unit A call processing device for controlling
A communication system. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the call processing device controls the processing unit when the index value changes across a predetermined threshold. The communication system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the index value is the number of the mobile devices whose positions are registered. The communication system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the index value is a data transmission / reception amount between the mobile device and the call processing device. The communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the call control device changes the processing capability by changing a core voltage of the processing unit. The communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the call processing device changes the processing capability by changing an operation clock of the processing unit. A processing unit for processing a call of a mobile device is variable, and a processing unit whose power consumption is increased or decreased by changing the processing capability;
A measurement result acquisition means for acquiring a result of measuring an index value serving as an index of a processing load of the call processing device;
Control means for controlling the processing unit based on the result obtained by the measurement result obtaining means;
A call processing apparatus. The call processing device according to claim 7, wherein the control unit controls the processing unit when the index value changes across a predetermined threshold value. The call processing device according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the index value is the number of mobile communication devices whose positions are registered. The call processing device according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the index value is a data transmission / reception amount between the mobile device and the call processing device. The call processing device according to any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein the control unit changes the processing capability by changing a core voltage of the processing unit. The call processing device according to any one of claims 7 to 11, wherein the control unit changes the processing capability by changing an operation clock of the processing unit. A processing capability for processing a call of a mobile device is variable, and an index value serving as an index of a processing load of a call processing device including a processing unit whose power consumption is increased or decreased by changing the processing capability is measured,
Sending result information indicating the result of the measurement;
The call processing device receives the result information;
A communication method for controlling the processing unit based on the result information. On the computer,
A measurement result acquisition procedure for acquiring a measurement result of an index value serving as an index of a processing load of the call processing device; and a processing capability for processing a call of a mobile device based on the result acquired in the measurement result acquisition procedure. A control procedure for controlling a processing unit that is variable and whose power consumption is increased or decreased by changing the processing capacity;
A program that executes

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