WO2013088685A1

WO2013088685A1 - Method, computer-readable storage medium, and communication terminal

Info

Publication number: WO2013088685A1
Application number: PCT/JP2012/007835
Authority: WO
Inventors: Norio Shimo; Shinichiro Tsuda
Original assignee: Sony Corp
Current assignee: Sony Corp
Priority date: 2011-12-13
Filing date: 2012-12-06
Publication date: 2013-06-20
Anticipated expiration: 2014-06-13
Also published as: JP2013125997A

Abstract

A display control device, method, and program. Two or more indicators may be displayed on a display of a communication terminal. Each of the two or more indicators may indicate information regarding a wireless communication service. The information regarding the wireless communication service may be derived from signals of a plurality of wireless communication devices. Additionally or alternatively, the information regarding the wireless communication services may regard actual use of the wireless communication service by two or more wireless communication devices.

Description

METHOD, COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM, AND COMMUNICATION TERMINAL

Cross-Reference to Related Applications

The present application builds upon concepts disclosed in a prior application by one or more of the inventors and/or the assignee, including the following: Japan Patent Application No. 2011-272176, titled "DISPLAY CONTROL DEVICE, DISPLAY CONTROL METHOD AND PROGRAM," filed December 13, 2011.

The present disclosure relates to a display control device, display control method and program.

Background and Related Art

Wireless communications services, such as cellular communications and wireless LAN (Local Area Network) communications, and communication terminals for using wireless communications services have recently come into wide use. The communication terminals, in general, use a set of antenna bars to display the signal strength of the wireless communications services. Thus, the user is able to know the intensity of radio signals that the communication terminals receive.

In addition, the communication terminals can inform the user of a variety of information by a screen display. For example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2005-354300 discloses a communication terminal which displays the direction of the communications partner in near distance wireless communications.

JP 2005-354300 A

Summary

However, the above-mentioned signal strength that the antenna bars indicate, in general, is the sum of radio-frequency energy in a reception band, which includes the energy of interfering waves as well as waves to be originally demodulated. That is, there are many cases in which the signal strength indicated by the antenna bars are different from the reception strength of the waves which originally have to be demodulated. Furthermore, the correlation between the signal strength and the quality of the actual communication rate in data communications is low. Therefore, there may be cases in which even at a high signal strength indicated by the antenna bars, the actual communication rate is low.

In this way, only with a display corresponding to a single indicator with regard to a wireless communications environment, it was difficult for the user to acquire enough information about the wireless communications environment. For example, if the antenna bars indicated that the signal strength was high, but the user observed that the actual data communication rate was low, the user might attribute the low communication rate to the wireless communication terminal, rather than the wireless communications environment. In such a case, the user might attempt to improve the low communication rate by purchasing a different wireless communication terminal yielding additional frustration when the new terminal exhibited the same low data communication rate as the user's first terminal. Also, if the wireless communications environment is a substantial cause of the low communication rate, but the user attributes the communication rate to other factors, the user might remain in a location with a high degree of congestion, rather than moving to a location with less interference. Accordingly, the inventors have recognized and appreciated that a user's wireless communication experience will be improved if a wireless communication device provides suitable information regarding the wireless communication service to the user (e.g., information from which the user can determine a course of action that will improve the quality of wireless communication such as moving to a less congested location).

Therefore, in the present disclosure, there are provided a novel and improved display control device, display control method and program which can provide the user with a variety of information about the wireless communications environment.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a method, including displaying an indicator on a display of a communication terminal, the indicator indicating information regarding congestion of a wireless communication service.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a method, including detecting, with a communication terminal, one or more radio signals in a frequency band of a wireless communication service; analyzing the one or more radio signals, with the communication terminal, to obtain values of attributes of radio-signal traffic in the frequency band of the wireless communication service; and while displaying a first indicator of a first value of a first of the attributes of the radio-signal traffic in the frequency band of the wireless communication service, displaying a second indicator of a second value of a second of the attributes of the radio-signal traffic in the frequency and of the wireless communication service, wherein the attributes relate to use of the frequency band of the wireless communication service by one or more wireless communication devices, and wherein the first and second indicators are displayed on a display of the communication terminal.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed, cause a communication terminal to perform a method, including displaying an indicator on a display of the communication terminal, the indicator indicating information regarding congestion of a wireless communication service.
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a communication terminal, including a display; a processor; and a memory operatively coupled to the processor, the memory storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the communication terminal to perform a method, including displaying an indicator on the display, the indicator indicating information regarding congestion of a wireless communication service.

According to the present disclosure as described above, it is possible to provide the user with a variety of information about the wireless communications environment.

Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of displaying signal strength. Fig. 3 is a functional block diagram showing a communication terminal according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of an object that indicates the degree of congestion. Fig. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of a display including an object that indicates the degree of congestion. Fig. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a modified example of the object that indicates the degree of congestion. Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the communication terminal according to the first embodiment. Fig. 8 is a functional block diagram showing a communication terminal according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of a lookup table. Fig. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the communication terminal according to the second embodiment. Fig. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of a display according to the second embodiment. Fig. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of the display according to the second embodiment. Fig. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing the hardware configuration of a communication terminal.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the appended drawings. Note that, in this specification and the appended drawings, structural elements that have substantially the same function and structure are denoted with the same reference numerals, and repeated explanation of these structural elements is omitted.

In addition, in the present specification and drawings, in some cases multiple components having substantially the same functional configuration are distinguished by adding different alphabet letters after the same reference numeral. For example, multiple structural features having substantially the same functional configuration are differentiated, if necessary, as

communication terminals

20A, 20B and 20C. However, if there is no particular need to distinguish the multiple features having substantially the same functional configuration, the same reference numeral is assigned thereto. For example, especially when there is no need to distinguish

communication terminals

20A, 20B and 20C, it is simply referred to as a communication terminal 20.

The present disclosure will be described in the order of the items listed below.
1. The basic configuration of a communication system
2. The first embodiment
2-1. The configuration of a communication terminal according to the first embodiment
2-2. The operation of the communication terminal according to the first embodiment
3. The second embodiment
3-1. The configuration of a communication terminal according to the second embodiment
3-2. The operation of the communication terminal according to the second embodiment.
4. The configuration of hardware
5. Conclusion

<< 1. The configuration of a communication system >>
The technology according to the present disclosure, as will be described below as an example, can be carried out in various forms. In addition, a display control device according to each embodiment (communication terminal 20) includes:
A. an indicator acquisition unit (a congestion degree calculating unit 224, a signal strength measurement unit 228) acquiring different indicators with regard to the wireless communication environment of the same wireless communications service; and
B. a

display control unit

232 or 234 generating a display corresponding to each of the different indicators acquired by the indicator acquisition unit.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the communication system including a communication terminal 20 operating as such a display control device will be first described with reference to Fig. 1.

Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the communication system in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Fig. 1, the communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a plurality of communication terminals 20 and a plurality of base stations 30.

The base station 30 supplies a wireless communications service to the communication terminal 20. For example, the base station 30 relays data received from the communication terminal 20 towards a destination, and when receiving data addressed to the communication terminal 20, the base station 30 transmits the data to the communication terminal 20. In the example shown in Fig. 1, since

communication terminals

20A and 20B are present in the cell of a base station 30A, and a communication terminal 20C is present in the cell of a base station 30B, the communications by the

communication terminals

20A and 20B are controlled by the base station 30A, and the communications by the communication terminal 20C are controlled by the base station 30B.

In addition, the base station 30 is able to communicate with the communication terminal 20 by using Wireless Multiple Access, such as orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), etc. The code division multiple access will be briefly described below.

In the code division multiple access, 512 types of scrambling codes have been defined, and any one of the scrambling codes is assigned to each base station. The base station does a frequency spreading of transmission signals by orthogonal spreading codes (e.g., channelization codes) according to the type of the transmission signals and the communication terminal 20, and does a further frequency spreading by the assigned spreading code, and then transmits the signals. In addition, the types of the transmission signals include CPICH (Common Pilot Channel), Primary-CCPCH (Common Control Physical Channel), DPCH (Dedicated Physical Channel), SCH (Synchronization Channel) and the like.

In addition, the SCH includes a Primary SCH and Secondary SCH. The Primary and Secondary SCHs are placed at the leading section of each of 15 slots constituting a frame, and the Primary SCH is spread by the C_PSC (Primary Synchronization Code) and the secondary SCH is spread by the C_SSC (Secondary Synchronization Code).

The C_SSC is of 16 different kinds, and there are 64 combination patterns to be assigned to 15 slots. Any one of the 64 combination patterns is assigned to each base station, and according to the assigned pattern, the frequency spreading of the Secondary SCH in each slot is carried out to be transmitted. Moreover, 512 kinds of scrambling codes is classified into 62 groups, and each group is associated with any one of the 64 combination patters of C_SSC.

The communication terminal 20 can communicate a variety of contents with other devices via the base station 30. The various contents may include audio data, such as music, lectures and radio programs, video data such as movies, television programs, video programs, photographs, documents, Web pages, painting and diagrams, and games and software, and the like.

It should be noted that although the communication terminal 20 is presented in Fig. 1 as an example of a display control device, the display control device is not limited thereto. For example, the display control device may be an information processing apparatus, such as a personal computer (PC), a home video processing device (DVD recorder, VCR, etc.), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a home video game equipment, home appliances, and the like. In addition, the display control device may be an information processing apparatus, such as a mobile phone, a Personal Handy-phone System (PHS), a portable music playback device, a portable video processing apparatus, a portable game device, and the like.

In addition, the base station 30 may involve a variety of base stations, such as a macrocell base station (eNodeB), a Relay Node relaying communications between the macrocell base station and communication terminals, or a Femto cell (Home eNodeB), which is a small base station designated for a home.

In the mean time, general communication terminals indicate the signal strength of a wireless communications service by means of antenna bars. For example, the higher the signal strength, the more antenna bars the communication terminal displays, and if the signal strength is weak or there is no radio signal, the sign "Out-of-Range" is displayed, which enable the user to indentify the intensity of the radio signals that the communication terminal receives.

However, the signal strength indicated by the antenna bars, as described above, in general, is the sum of radio-frequency energy in a reception band (e.g., a frequency band), which includes the energy of interfering waves (for example, the energy of the communications by other terminals in the same cell and interference energy from other cells, etc.) as well as waves that should be originally demodulated. That is, in many cases the signal strength indicated by the antenna bars are different from the reception strength of the radio signals to be originally demodulated. Furthermore, the correlation between the signal strength and the quality of the effective communication rate (the actual communication speed) in data communications is low. Therefore, there may be cases in which even at a high signal strength indicated by the antenna bars, the actual communication rate is low.

In this way, only with a display corresponding to a single indicator with regard to the wireless communication environment, it was difficult for the user to acquire sufficient information about the wireless communication environment.

Therefore, the realization of the above described circumstances led to the creation of each embodiment of the present disclosure. According to each embodiment of the present disclosure, it is possible to deliver a variety of information about the wireless communication environment to the user. Hereinafter, each of the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail.

<< 2. The first embodiment >>
A communication terminal 20-1 according to the first embodiment measures and acquires the signal strength of a wireless communications service as a first indicator with regard to the wireless communication environment of the same wireless communications service, and acquires the degree of congestion of the wireless communications service as a second indicator. Then, the communication terminal 20-1 displays objects each corresponding to one of the signal strength and the degree of congestion. Thus, the user can identify not only the radio field of the wireless communications service but also the degree of congestion of the wireless communications service. Hereinafter, this will be described in detail with reference to Figs. 3 to 7.

<2-1. The configuration of the communication terminal according to the first embodiment>
Fig. 3 is a functional block diagram showing the communication terminal 20-1 according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Fig. 3, the communication terminal 20-1 according to the first embodiment includes a communication unit 216, a correlation detection unit 220, congestion degree calculating unit 224, and a signal strength measurement unit 228, a display control unit 232 and a display unit 236.

(The communication unit)
The communication unit 216 is associated with one or more wireless communications services, and has the functions of a radio signal reception unit for receiving radio signals transmitted from the base station 30 which supplies an associated wireless communications service, and a transmission unit for transmitting radio signals to the base station 30. The communication unit 216, for example, can communicate in accordance with CDMA and OFDMA.

(The correlation detection unit)
The correlation detection unit 220 detects a correlation between a received signal received by the communication unit 216 and a plurality of scrambling codes, if a wireless communications service using CDMA is a target. The correlation outputs c₁-c_n of the respective scrambling codes obtained by the correlation detection unit 220 are supplied to the congestion degree calculating unit 224.

For example, the correlation detection unit 220 carries out correlation detection, called a three-step cell search. By this three-step cell search, the correlation detection unit 220 can identify a scrambling code having the greatest correlation output, that is, a base station with the lowest propagation loss. The three-step cell search will be briefly described below.

First, the correlation detection unit 220 detects correlation between a received signal and C_PSC and detects a reception timing of the Primary SCH (the first step). And the correlation detection unit 220 uses the reception timing of the Primary SCH detected at the first step to detect a pattern having the highest correlation with the received signal among the 64 combination patterns of C_SSC (the second step). As a result, a scrambling code group is identified, and synchronization on a frame basis can be secured. Then, the correlation detection unit 220 carries out correlation detection between each of the 8 kinds of scrambling codes included in the identified scramble code group and the received signal, and identifies a scrambling code having the highest correlation output (the third step).

In addition, the three-step cell search was described above as an example of the correlation detection of a received signal and a plurality of scrambling codes, but the correlation detection by the correlation detection unit 220 is not limited to the three-step cell search.

For example, when turning off the power of the communication terminal 20-1, the scrambling code information of the serving cell and the neighboring cells is preserved in the communication terminal 20-1. For this reason, when the communication terminal 20-1 is started, the correlation detection unit 220 may first carry out the correlation detection of the received signal and the preserved scrambling code. Also, if information about the scrambling code of the neighboring cells can be obtained from the broadcast information of the serving cell, the correlation detection unit 220 may perform the correlation detection between the received signal and the scrambling code of the neighboring cells.

(The congestion degree calculating unit)
The congestion degree calculating unit 224 calculates the degree of traffic congestion of the base station 30 providing a target wireless communications service based on a correlation value of each scrambling code that is supplied by the correlation detection unit 220 or a radio signal received by the communication unit 216. Hereinafter, the methods of calculating the congestion degree of a wireless communications service using CDMA and the congestion degree of a wireless communications service using OFDMA are described. However, the following methods of calculating the congestion degree are presented as examples, and other methods of calculating the congestion degree are applicable to the present embodiment.

- The congestion degree of a wireless communications service using CDMA -
In wireless communications services using CDMA, if the number of DPCH to be multiplexed (i.e., the number of communication terminals belonging in the base station) or the number of HS-DSCH (i.e., the number of high-speed downlink shared channels shared by a plurality of communication terminals in HSDPA) becomes large, each DPCH or each HS-DSCH will be spread, but the correlation output of each scrambling code will be considerably increased. Because of this, when the largest correlation output of a scrambling code is a, and the smallest among the correlation outputs of the other scrambling codes is b, it can be said that as the number of communication terminals increases and accordingly free space decreases or interference becomes larger, the ratio of the correlation output b to the correlation output a becomes larger.

Therefore, the congestion degree calculating unit 224, as shown in below Equation 1, calculates the ratio of the correlation output b to the correlation output a for the congestion degree k_cong of a wireless communications service by CDMA. In addition, instead of the smallest correlation output b, the value of total received power (RSSI: Received Signal Strength Indicator) or a value obtained by the RSSI divided by a diffusion rate can be used.

The congestion degree of a wireless communications service using OFDMA
In a wireless communications service using OFDMA, as part of control information, the allocation information of the sub-carriers of each frame is transmitted. For example, in Mobile WiMAX, sub-carrier allocation information called DL-MAP is transmitted.

Here, based on the sub-carrier allocation information received by the communication unit 216, the congestion degree calculating unit 224 calculates the ratio of the number of sub-carriers allocated to each communication terminal to the number of all sub-carriers of every frame for the congestion degree k_cong.

In addition, if the communication terminal 20 starts an application mainly using the resources of uplink, the congestion degree calculating unit 224 may calculate the ratio of the number of sub-carriers allocated to each communication terminal to the number of all sub-carriers in uplink for the congestion degree k_cong. Moreover, the congestion degree calculating unit 224 may calculate the average of the congestion degree k_cong of the downlink and the congestion degree k_cong of the uplink for the congestion degree k_cong of the wireless communications service.

In addition, in LTE using OFDMA for downlink, scheduling control information including scheduling information of uplink and the resource allocation of downlink is notified to each communication terminal 20-1 by using downlink control signals (Physical Downlink Control Channel, PDCCH), as with WiMAX. This PDCCH is placed in the first n (n = 3 or n<3) OFDM symbols of each downlink sub-frame. Therefore, it is possible that the congestion degree calculating unit 224 receives the first n OFDM symbols to obtain the information about the resource allocation to each communication terminal, and then calculates the ratio of the number of sub-carriers allocated to each communication terminal to the number of all sub-carriers for each frame, for the congestion degree k_cong.

(The signal strength measurement unit)
The signal strength measurement unit 228 measures the signal strength of radio signals received by the communication unit 216. For example, if a radio signal by CDMA is transmitted by the base station 30, the sum of total received power PTOTAL and interference power I from the other cells, as shown in below Equation 2, can be obtained as signal strength.

On the other hand, if a radio signal by OFDMA is transmitted from the base station 30, the signal strength measurement unit 228 may acquire the signal strength of a pilot signal or a preamble signal used for the determination of the base station 30 or frame synchronization.

(The display control unit)
The display control unit 232 generates a display image and displays the image on the display unit 236. In particular, the display control unit 232 according to the present embodiment generates a display image containing objects corresponding to the signal strength acquired by the signal strength measurement unit 228 and the degree of congestion calculated by the congestion degree calculating unit 224, respectively. For example, the stronger the signal strength, the greater number of antenna bars the display control unit 232 generates, as shown in Fig. 2. In addition, the display control unit 232 generates an object that indicates the degree of congestion calculated by the congestion degree calculating unit 224. Hereinafter, a specific example of the object that indicates the degree of congestion will be described with reference to the drawings.

Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of the object that indicates the degree of congestion. As shown in Fig. 4, the display control unit 232 may generate objects of different characters and colors and the like according to the degrees of congestion calculated by the congestion degree calculating unit 224.

For example, if the degree of congestion is equal to or greater than a first predetermined value, the congestion degree calculating unit 224 may generate an object 40A, a large portion of whose area is colored in red, along with the word "full," as shown in Fig. 4. In addition, if the degree of congestion is equal to or greater than a second predetermined value and less than the first predetermined value, the congestion degree calculating unit 224 may generate an object 40B, about the half of whose area is colored in yellow, along with the word "medium," as shown in Fig. 4. In addition, if the degree of congestion is less than the second predetermined value, the congestion degree calculating unit 224 may generate an object 40C, a small portion of whose area is colored in blue, along with the word "empty," as shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of the display image including an object that indicates the degree of congestion. The display control unit 232 may display the object 40 indicating the above described degree of congestion alongside the antenna bars 50 indicating the signal strength on the display unit 236. With such a configuration, the user can identify the degree of congestion of the wireless communications service, in addition to the signal strength of the wireless communications service.

Note that the configuration of the object that indicates the degree of congestion is not limited to the examples described with reference to Figs. 4 and 5. Modified examples of the object showing the degree of congestion will be described below with reference to Fig. 6.

Fig. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a modified example of the object that indicates the degree of congestion. As shown in Fig. 6, the display control unit 232 may generate objects configured of arrows having different line types, thicknesses, and colors depending on the degree of congestion calculated by the congestion degree calculating unit 224.

For example, if the degree of congestion is equal to or greater than a first predetermined value, the congestion degree calculating unit 224 may generate an object 40'A configured of a red arrow of a relatively thin line type with broad missing areas, as shown in Fig. 6. In addition, if the degree of congestion is equal to or greater than a second predetermined value and less than the first predetermined value, the congestion degree calculating unit 224 may generate an object 40'B configured of a yellow arrow in a line type that is thicker and has less missing areas than that of the object 40'A, as shown in Fig. 6. In addition, if the degree of congestion is less than the second predetermined value, the congestion degree calculating unit 224 may generate an object 40'C configured of a blue arrow thicker than the object 40'B, as shown in Fig. 6. Such a configuration enables the user to intuitively understand that the lower the degree of congestion, the faster the communication speed.

<2-2. The operation of the communication terminal according to the first embodiment>
The configuration of the communication terminal 20-1 according to the first embodiment has been described above. The operation of the communication terminal 20-1 according to the first embodiment will be subsequently discussed with reference to Fig. 7.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the communication terminal 20-1 according to the first embodiment. As shown in Fig. 7, the communication terminal 20-1 first receives radio signals transmitted from the base station 30 via the communication unit 216 (S300).

And, the signal strength measurement unit 228 measures and acquires the signal strength of the radio signals received by the communication unit 216 (S310), and the congestion degree calculating unit 224 calculates the degree of traffic congestion of the base station 30 (S320).

Then, the display control unit 232 generates a display image including objects corresponding to the signal strength acquired by the signal strength measurement unit 228 and the degree of congestion calculated by the congestion degree calculating unit 224, respectively, and then displays the objects on the display unit 236 (S330).

In this way, the communication terminal 20-1 according to the first embodiment displays the objects corresponding to the signal strength and the degree of congestion, respectively, hence the user can identify not only the signal strength of the wireless communications service and the degree of congestion of the wireless communications service.

<< 3. The second embodiment >>
Now, the second embodiment of the present disclosure will be described. The communication terminal 20-2 according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure generates, depending on the situation, a display indicating estimation results with regard to the actual content communications, such as estimates of communication speed and communication time, in addition to displays corresponding to multiple indicators relating to the wireless communication environment. From such a display, the user can grasp in advance what the communications would be like if the content communications are actually carried out.

<3-1. The configuration of the communication terminal according to the second embodiment>
Fig. 8 is a functional block diagram showing the communication terminal 20-2 according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Fig. 8, the communication terminal 20-2 according to the second embodiment includes a communication unit 216, a correlation detection unit 220, a congestion degree calculating unit 224, a signal strength measurement unit 228, a display control unit 234, a display unit 236, a communication speed estimating unit 240, a storage unit 244, and a communication time estimating unit 248. The functions of the communication unit 216, correlation detection unit 220, congestion degree calculating unit 224, and signal strength measurement unit 228 are the same as those described with regard to the first embodiment, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted herein.

(The communication speed estimating unit and storage unit)
The communication speed estimating unit 240 estimates the communication speed in the actual content communications, based on the degree of congestion that has been calculated by the congestion degree calculating unit 224. For example, the communication speed estimating unit 240 estimates the communication speed by using a lookup table stored in the storage unit 244. A specific example of the method of estimating the communication speed along with a lookup table will be described below.

If the degree of congestion calculated by the congestion degree calculating unit 224 is expressed on a scale of 0 (empty state) to 1 (upper limit congestion state), the communication speed estimating unit 240 can estimate the communication speed in accordance with the lookup table shown in Fig. 9.

For example, if the degree of congestion is > 0.7, the communication speed estimating unit 240 refers to the lookup table shown in Fig. 9, and multiplies the ideal bit rate 5 Mbps by the correction factor 0.6, thereby estimating the communication speed to be 3 Mbps. Also, if the degree of congestion is < 0.3, the communication speed estimating unit 240 refers to the lookup table shown in Fig. 9, and multiplies the ideal bit rate 1 Mbps by the correction factor 0.6, thereby estimating the communication speed to be 0.6 Mbps. If the degrees of congestion can be associated with ideal bit rates and correction factors, as shown in the lookup table of Fig. 9, it is possible to update the lookup table by adjusting the correction factor, but it is also possible to associate the degree of congestion directly with the communication speed.

In addition, the degree of congestion calculated by the congestion degree calculating unit 224 is not necessarily expressed on a scale of 0 (empty state) to 1 (upper limit congestion state). For example, the degree of congestion k_cong calculated by Equation 1 may be expressed on a scale of 0.1 (empty state) to 0.3 (upper limit congestion state). Thus, in the case where the degree of congestion calculated by the congestion degree calculating unit 224 is not expressed on a scale of 0 (empty state) to 1 (upper limit congestion state), the communication speed estimating unit 240 may normalize the degree of congestion calculated by the congestion degree calculating unit 224 such that the empty state becomes 0 and the upper limit congestion state becomes 1. For example, the degree of congestion calculated by Equation 1 is expressed on a scale of 0.1 (empty state) to 0.3 (upper limit congestion state), the communication speed estimating unit 240 can carry out the normalization in accordance with the following Equation 3.

(Communication time estimating unit)
The communication time estimating unit 248 estimates communication speed based on a relationship between the volume of contents obtained through the wireless communications service and the communication speed estimated by the communication speed estimating unit 240. For example, the communication time estimating unit 248 estimates the communication time by dividing the volume of the contents by the communication speed estimated by the communication speed estimating unit 240. In addition, in the case of downloading contents, the communication time amounts to the download time, while the present embodiment is also applicable to the case of uploading contents, and in this case the communication time amounts to the upload time.

(The display control unit)
During content communications, the display control unit 234 has information about a communications service provider, the communication speed estimated by the communication speed estimating unit 240 and the communication time estimated by the communication time estimating unit 248, etc., displayed on the display unit 236.

However, it may be bothersome to the user if estimation results of the communication time or speed are to be displayed in all content communications. For this reason, the display control unit 234 may control each part so that only if the volume of target contents of communications exceeds a set value (for example, 100 kB), the estimation results of the communication time and/or communication speed are displayed as a warning sign. Alternatively, the display control unit 234 may be configured to control the warning sign only if the communication time estimated by the communication time estimating unit 248 exceeds a set value (for example, 10 seconds). In addition, the volume of contents or communication time considered preferable for the warning sign can vary, depending on the user, and therefore the above set values of the volume and time can be ones set in advance by the user.

<3-2. The operation of the communication terminal according to the second embodiment>
The configuration of the communication terminal 20-2 according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure has been described above. Now, along with a specific example of the warning sign, the operation of the communication terminal 20-2 according to the second embodiment will be described.

Fig. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the communication terminal 20-2 in accordance with the second embodiment. Figs. 11 and 12 are explanatory diagrams showing specific examples of the display according to the second embodiment. As shown in Fig. 10, the communication terminal 20-2 first receives radio signals transmitted from the base station 30 via the communication unit 216 (S300).

Then, the display control unit 234 generates a display image including objects corresponding to the signal strength acquired by the signal strength measurement unit 228 and the degree of congestion calculated by the congestion degree calculating unit 224, respectively, and displays the image on the display unit 236 (S330). For example, the display control unit 234 may be adapted to display antenna bars 50 indicating the signal strength and an object 40 or 40' indicating the degree of congestion, as shown in Fig. 11(1) or Fig. 12(1).

Then, if the communication terminal 20-2 downloads contents (S340), the display control unit 234 determines whether the volume of such contents exceeds a set value of volume (S350). Then, if the volume of the contents exceeds the set value of volume, the communication speed estimating unit 240 estimates the communication speed in the actual content communications, based on a lookup table stored in the storage unit 244, and the display control unit 234 displays the name of the communications service provider 62 and the communication speed on the display unit 236, as shown in Fig. 11(2) or Fig. 12(2).

In addition, the communication time estimating unit 248 estimates the communication time, based on the relationship between the volume of the contents obtained through the wireless communications service and the communication speed estimated by the communication speed estimating unit 240, and the display control unit 234 has the estimation results of the communication time displayed. For example, the display control unit 234 displays estimated communication time 66 on the display unit 236, as shown in Fig. 11(3) and Fig. 12(3).

In addition, above was described an example of performing the display or estimation of the communication speed when the volume of contents exceeds a set value of volume, though the display control unit 234 may display the communication speed on the display unit 236, even when it is not in content communications.

<< 4. The configuration of hardware>>
The embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above. The information processing described above, such as estimation processing and display processing, is implemented by software in cooperation with the hardware of the communication terminal 20 described below.

Fig. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the hardware of the communication terminal 20. As shown in Fig. 13, the communication terminal 20 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 201, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 202, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 203, an input device 208, an output device 210, a storage device 211, a drive, an image pickup device 213 and a communication device 215.

The CPU 201 serves functions as an arithmetic processing unit and a control unit to control the overall operation of the communication terminal 20 according to various types of programs. In addition, the CPU 201 may also be a microprocessor. The ROM 202 stores programs used by the CPU 201 and operation parameters, etc. The RAM 203 temporarily stores the programs used by the CPU 201 and parameters appropriately changing according to the execution of the programs, etc. They are connected to one another by a host bus including a CPU bus and the like.

The input device 208 includes input means for the user to input information, such as a mouse, a keyboard, a touch panel, a button, a microphone, a switch, a lever, etc., an input control circuit to generate input signals based on the input made by the user and output the signals to the CPU 201. The user of the communication terminal 20 can enter various kinds of data into the communication terminal 20 and give instructions of processing operations thereto by operating the input device 208.

The output device 210, for example, includes a display device, such as a liquid crystal display device (LCD), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), and lamps and the like. In addition, the output device 210 includes an audio output device, such as speakers and headphones. For example, the display device displays captured images or created images, etc. On the other hand, the audio output device converts voice data and outputs it.

The storage device 211 is a device for data storage, configured as an example of the storage unit of the communication terminal 20 according to the present embodiment. The storage device 211 may include a storage medium, a recording device for recording data into the storage medium, a readout device for reading out data from the storage medium, a deleting device to delete the data that has been recorded in the storage medium, and the like. This storage device 211 stores various kinds of data and programs executed by the CPU 201.

The drive 212 is a reader-writer for the storage medium, which can be built into the communication terminal 20 or externally attached thereto. The drive 212 reads out the information recorded in a removable storage medium 24, such as a mounted magnetic disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, or semiconductor memory, etc., and outputs it to the RAM 203. In addition, the drive 212 can also write information into the removable storage medium 24.

The image pickup device 213 includes an imaging optical system, such as an image taking lens collecting light and a zoom lens, etc., and a signal conversion element, such as a CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) or a CCD (Charge Coupled Device). The imaging optical system collects light emitted from a subject to form an image of the subject in a signal conversion section, and the signal conversion element converts the formed subject image to electrical image signals.

The communication device 215 is, for example, a communication interface including a device for communications which enables access to a network 12. In addition, the communication device 215 may be a communication device compatible with either a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) or LTE (Long Term Evolution), or otherwise may be a wired communication device performing communications via wires.

In addition, the network 12 is a wireless or wired transmission line for information transmitted from a device connected to the network 12. For example, the network 12 may include a public network, such as the Internet, a telephone network, a satellite communication network, and other various types of local area networks (LANs) including Ethernet (registered trademark) and wide area networks (WANs). In addition, the network 12 may also include a dedicated line network, such as an IP VPN (Internet Protocol Virtual Private Network).

<< 5. Conclusion >>
The embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above. The communication terminal 20-1 according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure measures and acquires the signal strength of the wireless communications service as a first indicator of the wireless communication environment
of the same wireless communications service, and acquires the degree of congestion of the wireless communications service as a second indicator. Then, the communication terminal 20-1 displays objects corresponding to the signal strength and the degree of congestion, respectively, which enables the user to identify not only the signal strength of the wireless communications service but also the degree of congestion of the wireless communications service.

In addition, the communication terminal 20-2 according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure generates a display indicating estimation results of actual communications, such as estimates of communication speed and communication time, depending on the situation, in addition to displays corresponding to multiple indicators relating to the wireless communication environment. From such a display, the user can understand in advance what the communications would be like if the content communications are actually carried out.

It should be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications, combinations, sub-combinations and alterations may occur depending on design requirements and other factors insofar as they are within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.

For example, each step in the processing of the communication terminal 20 of the present disclosure is not necessarily processed in the time series corresponding to the order shown in the flowcharts. For example, each step in the processing of the communication terminal 20 may be processed in a different order than the order as described in the flowcharts, or may be executed in parallel.

Moreover, it is also possible to write a computer program which enables the hardware of the communication terminal 20, such as the CPU 201, ROM 202 and RAM 203, to serve the same functions as the respective parts of the communications terminal 20 described above. Also, a storage medium storing such a computer program may be provided.

Additionally, the present technology may also be configured as below.
(1) A display control device comprising:
an indicator acquisition unit for acquiring different indicators with regard to a wireless communication environment of the same wireless communications service; and
a display control unit for generating a display corresponding to each of the different indicators.
(2) The display control device according to (1), wherein the indicator acquisition unit comprises:
a measurement unit for measuring the signal strength of the wireless communications service as a first indicator; and
a congestion degree calculating unit for calculating a degree of congestion of the wireless communications service as a second indicator.
(3) The display control device according to (2), wherein the display control unit generates a display indicating the signal strength as a display corresponding to the first indicator, and generates a display indicating the degree of congestion as a display corresponding to the second indicator.
(4) The display control device according to (2) or (3), further comprising a communication speed estimating unit for estimating communication speed based on the degree of congestion calculated by the congestion degree calculating unit, wherein the display control unit generates a display indicating the estimated communication speed estimated by the communication speed estimating unit.
(5) The display control device according to (4), further comprising a communication time estimating unit for estimating communication time from a relationship between the volume of communication data acquired via the wireless communications service and the communication speed estimated by the communication speed estimating unit, wherein the display control unit further generates a display indicating the communication time estimated by the communication time estimation unit.
(6) The display control device according to (4) or (5), wherein the display control unit generates a display indicating the communication speed, if the volume of communication data exceeds a set value of volume.
(7) The display control device according to (5), wherein the display control unit generates a display indicating the communication speed or communication time, if the communication time estimated by the communication time estimating unit exceeds a set value of time.
(8) The display control device according to any one of (2) to (7), further comprising a correlation detection unit for detecting correlation between radio signals received from a base station which transmits frequency-spread radio signals by scrambling codes and each of a plurality of scrambling codes, wherein the congestion degree calculating unit calculates the degree of congestion from a relationship between the largest one of the correlations detected by the correlation detection unit and another correlation.
(9) The display control device according to (8), wherein the other correlation is a value obtained by dividing the radio signals received from a plurality of base stations by a diffusion rate.
(10) The display control device according to any one of (2) to (7), wherein based on information obtained from radio signals received from a base station which transmits radio signals by OFDMA, the congestion degree calculating unit calculates the number of assigned sub-carriers relative to the number of all sub-carriers, as the degree of congestion.
(11) A display control method comprising:
acquiring different indicators with regard to a wireless communication environment of the same wireless communications service; and
generating a display corresponding to each of the different indicators.
(12) A program for causing a computer to function as:
an indicator acquisition unit for acquiring different indicators with regard to a wireless communication environment of the same wireless communications service; and
a display control unit for generating a display corresponding to each of the different indicators.
(A1) A method comprising: displaying an indicator on a display of a communication terminal, the indicator indicating information regarding congestion of a wireless communication service.
(A2) The method of (A1), wherein the information regarding congestion of the wireless communication service comprises information regarding congestion in a frequency band of the wireless communication service.
(A3) The method of (A2), wherein the information regarding congestion in the frequency band of the wireless communication service is correlated with an actual or estimated data communication rate between the communication terminal and a base station of the wireless communication service.
(A4) The method of (A2), further comprising: detecting, with the communication terminal, one or more radio signals in the frequency band of a wireless communication service; and calculating, with the communication terminal, a degree or level of the congestion of the wireless communication service based on data extracted from the detected signals, wherein the information regarding the congestion of the wireless communication service comprises the level or degree of congestion.
(A5) The method of (A1), wherein: displaying the indicator comprises displaying an image, and the information regarding the congestion of the wireless communication service comprises a level or degree of congestion.
(A6) The method of (A5), wherein: the image comprises an area with a shaded portion, and a property of the shaded portion indicates the level or degree of congestion.
(A7) The method of (A6), wherein the property of the shaded portion that indicates the level or degree of congestion comprises a color of the shaded portion, a percentage of the area occupied by the shaded portion, and/or a ratio between a dimension of the shaded portion and a corresponding dimension of the area.
(A8) The method of (A5), wherein: the image comprises an arrow, and a property of the arrow indicates the level or degree of congestion.
(A9) The method of (A8), wherein the property of the arrow that indicates the level or degree of congestion comprises a color of the arrow, a thickness of the arrow, a line type of the arrow, a length of the arrow, and/or a segmentation of the arrow.
(A10) The method of (A5), wherein a property of the displayed image is selected based on a comparison of the level and/or degree of congestion to one or more threshold values.
(A11) The method of (A5), further comprising displaying, on the display of the communication terminal, an indication of an actual or estimated quality of communication between the communication terminal and a base station of the wireless communication service, wherein the quality of communication comprises a throughput, rate, and/or duration of the communication.
(A12) A method comprising: detecting, with a communication terminal, one or more radio signals in a frequency band of a wireless communication service; analyzing the one or more radio signals, with the communication terminal, to obtain values of attributes of radio-signal traffic in the frequency band of the wireless communication service; and while displaying a first indicator of a first value of a first of the attributes of the radio-signal traffic in the frequency band of the wireless communication service, displaying a second indicator of a second value of a second of the attributes of the radio-signal traffic in the frequency and of the wireless communication service, wherein the attributes relate to use of the frequency band of the wireless communication service by one or more wireless communication devices, and wherein the first and second indicators are displayed on a display of the communication terminal.
(A13) The method of (A12), wherein the one or more radio signals include at least one radio signal transmitted by a base station.
(A14) The method of (A12), wherein the values of the attributes of the radio-signal traffic change over time.
(A15) The method of (A12), wherein the first indicator comprises a first image and the second indicator comprises a second image.
(A16) The method of (A15), wherein: the first attribute of the radio-signal traffic relates to radio-frequency energy in the frequency band of the wireless communication service; and the first indicator indicates an amount, level, and/or degree of the radio-frequency energy.
(A17) The method of (A15), wherein: the second attribute of the radio-signal traffic relates to congestion; and the second indicator indicates a level and/or degree of the congestion.
(A18) The method of (A17), wherein: the image comprises an area with a shaded portion, and a property of the shaded portion indicates the level or degree of congestion.
(A19) The method of (A17), wherein: the image comprises an arrow, and a property of the arrow indicates the level or degree of congestion.
(A20) The method of (A17), wherein a property of the displayed image is selected based on a comparison of the level and/or degree of congestion to one or more threshold values.
(A21) The method of (A17), further comprising displaying, on the display of the communication terminal, an indication of an actual or estimated quality of communication between the communication terminal and the base station, wherein the quality of communication comprises a throughput, rate, and/or duration of the communication.
(A22) A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed, cause a communication terminal to perform a method comprising: displaying an indicator on a display of the communication terminal, the indicator indicating information regarding congestion of a wireless communication service.
(A23) The method of (A22), wherein the information regarding congestion of the wireless communication service comprises information regarding congestion in a frequency band of the wireless communication service.
(A24) The method of (A23), wherein the information regarding congestion in the frequency band of the wireless communication service is correlated with an actual or estimated data communication rate between the communication terminal and a base station of the wireless communication service.
(A25) The method of (A23), further comprising: detecting one or more radio signals in the frequency band of a wireless communication service; and calculating a degree or level of the congestion of the wireless communication service based on data extracted from the detected signals, wherein the information regarding the congestion of the wireless communication service comprises the level or degree of congestion.
(A26) The method of (A22), wherein displaying the indicator comprises displaying an image, and the information regarding the congestion of the wireless communication service comprises a level or degree of congestion.
(A27) The method of (A26), wherein: the image comprises an area with a shaded portion, and a property of the shaded portion indicates the level or degree of congestion.
(A28) The method of (A26), wherein: the image comprises an arrow, and a property of the arrow indicates the level or degree of congestion.
(A29) The method of (A26), wherein a property of the displayed image is selected based on a comparison of the level and/or degree of congestion to one or more threshold values.
(A30) The method of (A26), further comprising displaying an indication of an actual or estimated quality of communication between the communication terminal and a base station of the wireless communication service, wherein the quality of communication comprises a throughput, rate, and/or duration of the communication.
(A31) A communication terminal comprising: a display; a processor; and a memory operatively coupled to the processor, the memory storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the communication terminal to perform a method comprising: displaying an indicator on the display, the indicator indicating information regarding congestion of a wireless communication service.
(A32) The device of (A31), wherein the information regarding congestion of the wireless communication service comprises information regarding congestion in a frequency band of the wireless communication service.
(A33) The device of (A32), wherein the information regarding congestion in the frequency band of the wireless communication service is correlated with an actual or estimated data communication rate between the communication terminal and a base station of the wireless communication service.
(A34) The device of (A32), wherein the method further comprises: detecting one or more radio signals in the frequency band of a wireless communication service; and calculating a degree or level of the congestion of the wireless communication service based on data extracted from the detected signals, wherein the information regarding the congestion of the wireless communication service comprises the level or degree of congestion.
(A35) The device of (A31), wherein: displaying the indicator comprises displaying an image, and the information regarding the congestion of the wireless communication service comprises a level or degree of congestion.
(A36) The device of (A35), wherein: the image comprises an area with a shaded portion, and a property of the shaded portion indicates the level or degree of congestion.
(A37) The device of (A35), wherein: the image comprises an arrow, and a property of the arrow indicates the level or degree of congestion.
(A38) The device of (A35), wherein a property of the displayed image is selected based on a comparison of the level and/or degree of congestion to one or more threshold values.
(A39) The device of (A35), wherein the method further comprises displaying an indication of an actual or estimated quality of communication between the communication terminal and a base station of the wireless communication service, wherein the quality of communication comprises a throughput, rate, and/or duration of the communication.

20 communication terminal
30 base station
216 communication unit
220 correlation detection unit
224 congestion degree calculating unit
228 signal strength measurement unit
232, 234 display control unit
236 display unit
240 communication speed estimating unit
244 storage unit
248 communication time estimating unit

Claims

A method comprising:
displaying an indicator on a display of a communication terminal, the indicator indicating information regarding congestion of a wireless communication service.
The method of claim 1, wherein the information regarding congestion of the wireless communication service comprises information regarding congestion in a frequency band of the wireless communication service.
The method of claim 2, wherein the information regarding congestion in the frequency band of the wireless communication service is correlated with an actual or estimated data communication rate between the communication terminal and a base station of the wireless communication service.
The method of claim 2, further comprising:
detecting, with the communication terminal, one or more radio signals in the frequency band of a wireless communication service; and
calculating, with the communication terminal, a degree or level of the congestion of the wireless communication service based on data extracted from the detected signals,
wherein the information regarding the congestion of the wireless communication service comprises the level or degree of congestion.
The method of claim 1, wherein:
displaying the indicator comprises displaying an image, and
the information regarding the congestion of the wireless communication service comprises a level or degree of congestion.
The method of claim 5, wherein:
the image comprises an area with a shaded portion, and
a property of the shaded portion indicates the level or degree of congestion.
The method of claim 6, wherein the property of the shaded portion that indicates the level or degree of congestion comprises a color of the shaded portion, a percentage of the area occupied by the shaded portion, and/or a ratio between a dimension of the shaded portion and a corresponding dimension of the area.
The method of claim 5, wherein:
the image comprises an arrow, and
a property of the arrow indicates the level or degree of congestion.
The method of claim 8, wherein the property of the arrow that indicates the level or degree of congestion comprises a color of the arrow, a thickness of the arrow, a line type of the arrow, a length of the arrow, and/or a segmentation of the arrow.
The method of claim 5, wherein a property of the displayed image is selected based on a comparison of the level and/or degree of congestion to one or more threshold values.
The method of claim 5, further comprising displaying, on the display of the communication terminal, an indication of an actual or estimated quality of communication between the communication terminal and a base station of the wireless communication service, wherein the quality of communication comprises a throughput, rate, and/or duration of the communication.
A method comprising:
detecting, with a communication terminal, one or more radio signals in a frequency band of a wireless communication service;
analyzing the one or more radio signals, with the communication terminal, to obtain values of attributes of radio-signal traffic in the frequency band of the wireless communication service; and
while displaying a first indicator of a first value of a first of the attributes of the radio-signal traffic in the frequency band of the wireless communication service, displaying a second indicator of a second value of a second of the attributes of the radio-signal traffic in the frequency and of the wireless communication service,
wherein the attributes relate to use of the frequency band of the wireless communication service by one or more wireless communication devices, and
wherein the first and second indicators are displayed on a display of the communication terminal.
The method of claim 12, wherein the one or more radio signals include at least one radio signal transmitted by a base station.
The method of claim 12, wherein the values of the attributes of the radio-signal traffic change over time.
The method of claim 12, wherein the first indicator comprises a first image and the second indicator comprises a second image.
The method of claim 15, wherein:
the first attribute of the radio-signal traffic relates to radio-frequency energy in the frequency band of the wireless communication service; and
the first indicator indicates an amount, level, and/or degree of the radio-frequency energy.
The method of claim 15, wherein:
the second attribute of the radio-signal traffic relates to congestion; and
the second indicator indicates a level and/or degree of the congestion.
The method of claim 17, wherein:
the image comprises an area with a shaded portion, and
a property of the shaded portion indicates the level or degree of congestion.
The method of claim 17, wherein:
the image comprises an arrow, and
a property of the arrow indicates the level or degree of congestion.
The method of claim 17, wherein a property of the displayed image is selected based on a comparison of the level and/or degree of congestion to one or more threshold values.
The method of claim 17, further comprising displaying, on the display of the communication terminal, an indication of an actual or estimated quality of communication between the communication terminal and the base station, wherein the quality of communication comprises a throughput, rate, and/or duration of the communication.
A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed, cause a communication terminal to perform a method comprising:
displaying an indicator on a display of the communication terminal, the indicator indicating information regarding congestion of a wireless communication service.
A communication terminal comprising:
a display;
a processor; and
a memory operatively coupled to the processor, the memory storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the communication terminal to perform a method comprising:
displaying an indicator on the display, the indicator indicating information regarding congestion of a wireless communication service.