JP2010010919A - Radio base station - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a means for suppressing power consumption in a radio base station of a mobile telephone. <P>SOLUTION: A radio base station 6 is connected to a personal computer 4 set in a cell and a network 1, and is connected to a mobile telephone 8 within the cell by a radio communication portion 13 by air. When recognizing a stopped state of the personal computer 4, the radio base station 6 changes to a sleep state. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a radio base station that performs communication control between a network and a mobile radio terminal such as a mobile phone.

The conventional radio base station transmits a poll from the radio base station, determines that a mobile terminal exists within the coverage of the radio base station when a response is received from the mobile phone, and broadcasts to the mobile phone. Data is transmitted (for example, refer to Patent Document 1).
Also, when the wireless base station receives an SLP-REQ message including a sleep interval section, a minimum size value, a maximum size value, and a monitoring section, which is transmitted when the mobile phone attempts to enter the sleep mode, it is already set. The sleep scheduling is executed by referring to the sleep control information, and the SLP-RSP message including the start time of the sleep mode, the approved minimum size value, the maximum size value, and the monitoring section is transmitted to the mobile phone. In some cases, the mobile phone is shifted to the sleep mode from the start time to control the sleep mode of the mobile phone (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
JP-A-8-79169 (paragraphs 0007-0009, FIG. 2) Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-80312 (paragraphs 0005-0008, FIG. 1)

In recent years, wireless LANs that provide a connection environment for connecting to a network such as the Internet have been rapidly spread indoors, such as in homes and offices. With the increase in speed of ADSL and the like, wireless access systems in access point devices and the like have also become popular. High-speed communication using a high frequency band used in Western countries has been demanded.
In addition, high-frequency radio waves are also used in mobile phones due to their high-speed communication. However, high-frequency radio waves are highly straight and difficult to reach indoors. The spread of wireless base stations installed indoors is desired in order to reduce costs associated with the expansion of company wireless network stations and the increase in the load on the communication lines.

  However, in the technique of the above-mentioned conventional patent document 1, since the radio base station constantly transmits polling and monitors the presence of the mobile phone, the technique of patent document 2 always carries the mobile phone. Because mobile phone sleep mode control is performed, power saving for wireless base stations is not taken into consideration, and there is a concern that power consumption will increase when wireless base stations installed indoors become widespread There is a problem.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide means for suppressing power consumption in a radio base station.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the present invention is a radio base station that is connected to a fixed terminal and a network installed in a cell and is wirelessly connected to a mobile radio terminal in the cell by a radio communication unit, Means for recognizing that the fixed terminal is in a dormant state; and means for transitioning to a sleep state when the dormant state is recognized.

  As a result, the present invention can accurately grasp the absence of a person in the cell of the radio base station from the stationary state of the fixed terminal, facilitate the determination of the transition to the sleep state, and The useless power consumption in the base station can be suppressed, and the effect that the power consumption of the radio base station can be reduced can be obtained.

  Embodiments of a radio base station according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of a communication system according to an embodiment, FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a radio base station according to the embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating power saving processing according to the embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system of the present embodiment is installed indoors in a home or office, and is connected to a network 1 such as the Internet or a telephone line. A subscriber telephone 3 that is a telephone for use, a personal computer 4 as a fixed terminal, a television 5, and a radio base station 6 are connected by wire, and the radio base station 6 and a relatively narrow cover range (for example, radius) (The inside of a circle of about 10 m. This cover range is called a cell.) The mobile phone 8 as a mobile radio terminal existing in the cell is connected so as to be communicable by radio.

The personal computer 4 and the television 5 of the present embodiment are installed in the cell of the radio base station 6.
The radio base station 6 may be built in the gateway 2.
The gateway 2 is a computer device having a communication language conversion function for connecting each device installed indoors and the network 1 so that they can communicate with each other, and also has a fixed terminal monitoring function and the like to be described later. Yes.

The radio base station 6 of the present embodiment is a small indoor radio base station used in a femtocell or the like.
In FIG. 2, reference numeral 11 denotes a control unit of the radio base station 6, which includes media access processing means, layer processing means, transmission power control means for controlling the power of the power amplifier of the radio communication unit 13 to be described later, and the like. A CPU on which an OS is mounted, and has a function of controlling each unit in the radio base station 6 to execute communication processing and the like.

The CPU on which this real-time multitasking OS is mounted corresponds to a CPU on which an OS having a waiting state such as a UNIX (registered trademark) system, a VxWorks system, or an ITRON system is mounted.
Reference numeral 12 denotes a storage unit, which is an internal memory or the like attached to the control unit 11, and stores a program executed by the control unit 11, various data used therefor, processing results by the control unit 11, and the like.

  The wireless communication unit 13 is an A / D converter, a DA converter, an LNA (Low Noise Amplifier) that adjusts the power of a reception signal or a transmission signal, various filters, and an output of power controlled by transmission power control means of the control unit 11. An electric circuit having a power amplifier or the like for transmitting a signal, such as a function for transmitting a signal such as polling generated by the control unit 11 from the antenna, and a signal from the mobile phone 8 received by the antenna to the control unit 11 It has functions.

A clock unit 14 includes a frequency generator having a crystal oscillator and the like, and has a function of counting time based on the generated frequency and outputting it to the control unit 11.
The storage unit 12 of the wireless base station 6 uses the wireless communication unit 13 to check the existence of the mobile phone 8 in the cell and to store communication data such as mail and calls between the mobile phone 8 and the external network 1. An ordinary communication processing program having a function of performing communication control between the mobile phone 8 existing in the cell and the network 1 by mediating transmission / reception and the like by matching the destination and the like will be described with reference to FIG. A base station processing execution program to which a power saving processing program having a function of performing power processing is added is stored in advance, and the control unit 11 executes this step according to the steps of the base station processing execution program executed by the real-time multitask OS. Each functional means as hardware of the example radio base station 6 is formed.

  The storage unit 12 also has a periodic confirmation time (in this embodiment, a predetermined time interval) for periodically confirming the incoming state from the network 1 and the mobile phone 8 in the sleep state in the power saving process. In addition, a mobile terminal registration area for registering a terminal identifier including a telephone number or a mail address of the mobile phone 8 existing in the cell is secured.

  The gateway 2 is connected to a normal communication language conversion processing program having a communication language conversion function for converting data exchanged between each indoor device and the external network 1 into each communication language. When the detected fixed terminal (in this embodiment, the personal computer 4) is monitored to detect whether or not the personal computer 4 has transitioned to the sleep state, the wireless base station 6 is A gateway business execution program to which a terminal monitoring processing program having a fixed terminal monitoring function for transmitting a dormant state notification is added is installed in advance, and the gateway 2 of this embodiment is executed according to the steps of the gateway business execution program executed by the gateway 2. Each functional means as hardware is formed.

Note that the hibernation state of the personal computer 4 refers to the hibernation state defined by the sleep state of the power saving standard ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface).
The above mobile phone has a function for transmitting a registration request in response to polling transmitted from the radio base station 6 and a function for transmitting and receiving communication data such as mail and telephone calls. Are installed in advance, and each functional means as hardware of the mobile phone 8 of this embodiment is formed by steps of the mobile business execution program executed by the mobile phone 8.

Hereinafter, the power saving process in the radio base station according to the present embodiment will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG.
When the radio base station 6 is turned on, the base station processing execution program stored in the storage unit 12 of the radio base station 6 is automatically activated, and the control unit 11 performs wireless communication according to the base station processing execution program. The base station 6 is put into operation.

S1, the control unit 11 of the radio base station 6 controls and operates the power supplied to the power amplifier of the radio communication unit 13 by its transmission power control means in order to communicate with the mobile phone 8 existing in the cell. The power is adjusted to an appropriate power level, and polling is transmitted by the radio communication unit 13 using the output radio wave of the operating state.
S2, after sending the polling, the control unit 11 monitors the incoming response from the mobile phone 8 in the cell, and when the wireless communication unit 13 receives the response from the mobile phone 8, the control unit 11 proceeds to step S3. . When a response from the mobile phone 8 is not received, the process proceeds to step S4.

S <b> 3, the control unit 11 that receives the response from the mobile phone 8 executes normal communication processing with the mobile phone 8 according to the communication processing program.
Below, the main communication processing performed between the control part 11 of the wireless base station 6 and the mobile telephone 8 is demonstrated.
1) A mobile phone 8 that is newly powered on or handed in to a new cell is assigned a terminal identifier when it receives polling for the first time after the power is turned on or after hand-in by the mobile business execution program. Send the registration request.

Upon receiving the registration request, the control unit 11 saves and registers the terminal identifier attached to the registration request in the mobile terminal registration area of the storage unit 12.
2) The mobile phone 8 that has completed preparations for transmission of communication data such as e-mails and telephone calls has received a terminal identifier such as the destination mobile phone 8 as the destination when polling is received for the first time after the preparation is completed. Send data.

The control unit 11 that has received the communication data from the mobile phone 8 transmits the communication data to which the destination terminal identifier is attached to the network 1 via the gateway 2.
When the communication data is voice data for a call, a call is performed between these after receiving a reception confirmation from the other party.
3) If the mobile phone 8 receives polling from both the radio base station 6 that controls the communication of the current cell and the radio base station 6 that controls the communication of the adjacent cell, To determine whether to move from the current cell to an adjacent cell, and when a polling of the current radio base station 6 is received, a handover notification with a terminal identifier is transmitted to the radio base station 6, The current radio base station 6 is notified of the handover.

The control unit 11 that has received the handover notification deletes the terminal identifier attached to the handover notification from the mobile terminal registration area of the storage unit 12 and deletes the registration, and also transmits to the radio base station 6 of the adjacent cell to the gateway 2. The mobile phone 8 transmits a movement notification with the terminal identifier of the mobile phone 8 to the effect that the mobile phone 8 moves from its own cell to the adjacent cell via the network 1.
In this way, normal communication processing is executed between the control unit 11 and the mobile phone 8.

S4, the control unit 11 monitors the arrival of the movement notification from the adjacent radio base station 6 via the network 1, and moves to step S5 when the movement notification is received via the gateway 2. When the movement notification is not received, the process proceeds to step S6.
In S5, the control unit 11 that has received the movement notification waits for reception of a registration request with the terminal identifier notified by the movement notification from the mobile phone 8, and the wireless communication unit 13 adds the terminal identifier. When the registration request is received, the terminal identifier is stored and registered in the mobile terminal registration area of the storage unit 12, and the process proceeds to step S6.

If the registration request is not received even after a predetermined time has elapsed, it is determined that the cell has moved to another cell, and the process proceeds to step S6.
S6, the control unit 11 selectively monitors the arrival of communication data such as mails and calls transmitted via the network 1 while referring to the terminal identifier registered in the mobile terminal registration area of the storage unit 12. When the communication data addressed by the terminal identifier registered from the network 1 is received via the gateway 2, the process proceeds to step S7. When communication data from the network 1 is not received, the process proceeds to step S8.

In S7, the control unit 11 that has received the communication data from the network 1 transmits the received communication data to the mobile phone 8 having the destination terminal identifier by the wireless communication unit 13, and proceeds to Step S10. The subsequent operation is the same as 2) above.
S8. If the current state is the first or second sleep state (details will be described later), the control unit 11 proceeds to step S17 via the connector B. If the current state is not the sleep state, the process proceeds to step S9.

S9, the control unit 11 monitors the arrival of the dormant state notification from the gateway 2, and proceeds to step S10 when the dormant state notification is received from the gateway 2. If no sleep state notification is received, the process proceeds to step S19.
This dormant state notification is performed when the gateway 2 detects the transition to the dormant state by monitoring the transition to the dormant state of the connected personal computer 4 by the fixed terminal monitoring function of the terminal monitoring processing program. It is transmitted to the radio base station 6 to notify the suspension.

If a plurality of personal computers 4 are connected, a sleep state notification is transmitted to the radio base station 6 when any one of the sleep states is detected.
In S10, the control unit 11 that has recognized the dormant state of the personal computer 4 by receiving the dormant state notification from the gateway 2 has the terminal identifier registered in the mobile terminal registration area of the storage unit 12 by the power saving processing program. If the terminal identifier is not registered, it is determined that there is no mobile phone 8 in the cell, and the process proceeds to step S11. When the terminal identifier is registered, it is determined that the mobile phone 8 exists in the cell, and the process proceeds to step S12.

In S11, the control unit 11 that determines that the mobile phone 8 is not present in the cell causes the radio base station 6 to transition to the first sleep state, and proceeds to step S14.
That is, the control unit 11 stops power supplied to the power amplifier of the wireless communication unit 13 by the transmission power control means, sets the wireless communication unit 13 in the power stop mode, and reduces its own power consumption. In addition, the task in the executable state of the base station process execution program is set as a task for periodic confirmation in steps S15 and S16, which will be described later, and other tasks such as step S1 are set from the executable state to the waiting state. And the base station processing execution program is shifted to the power saving mode, and then the process proceeds to step S15.

S13, the control unit 11 that has determined that the mobile phone 8 is present in the cell transmits polling by the wireless communication unit 13 in the same manner as in step S1 in order to confirm the operation state of the mobile phone 8 in the cell. .
S14, after sending the polling, the control unit 11 waits for a response from the mobile phone 8 in the cell, and if there is no response from the mobile phone 8 even after a predetermined time has passed, Mobile phone 8 is in a standby state (which means a state in which power is turned on but communication data is not sent or received or polling is not responded), and the process proceeds to step S14.

If there is a response such as a registration request or a handover notification from any mobile phone 8 within a predetermined time, or if any mobile phone 8 in the cell is transmitting / receiving communication data, that is, in the cell When at least one of the mobile phones 8 is in the active state, it is determined whether or not the operation state is continued, and the process returns to step S1 to continue monitoring incoming calls according to the operation state.
In S14, the control unit 11 that has determined that all the mobile phones 8 in the cell are in the standby state shifts the radio base station 6 to the second sleep state, and proceeds to Step S15.

  That is, the control unit 11 uses the transmission power control means to reduce the power supplied to the power amplifier of the wireless communication unit 13 by the inner loop control and the outer loop control, and to reduce the power output by the wireless communication unit 13. In order to set the reduction mode and reduce its own power consumption, the base station processing execution program is shifted to the power saving mode similar to step S11, and then the process proceeds to step S15.

  S15, the control unit 11 that has shifted the radio base station 6 to the first or second sleep state, counts the elapsed time since the clock unit 14 has shifted to the first or second sleep state, When the elapsed time becomes equal to or longer than the periodic confirmation time (about 1 second in this embodiment) stored in the storage unit 12, it is determined that the confirmation time for the incoming state has arrived, and the process proceeds to step S16. If the elapsed time is less than the regular confirmation time, the elapsed time is continuously counted.

  In S16, the control unit 11 that has determined that the incoming state confirmation time has arrived sets each task in the wait state of the base station processing execution program to an executable state in order to confirm the incoming state from the mobile phone 8 and the network 1. Temporarily return to step S1 via connector A, polling in step S1, monitoring of incoming response from mobile phone 8 in step S2, monitoring of incoming movement notification in step S4, network 1 in step S6 When the incoming state of the communication data from is selectively monitored and the current state is the first or second sleep state, the process proceeds to step S17 via the connector B in step S8.

In this case, the polling transmission in step S1 is transmitted with the output of the operation state when the wireless communication unit 13 is in the power stop mode, and is transmitted with the decreased output when the wireless communication unit 13 is in the power reduction mode.
S17. If at least one incoming call is confirmed during the confirmation of the incoming call state, the control unit 11 determines the end of the sleep state and proceeds to step S18.

If the incoming call is not confirmed, the wireless communication unit 13 and the base station process execution program are again shifted to the original first or second sleep state, and the process returns to step S15 to continue the first or second sleep state. And start counting a new elapsed time.
S18, the control unit 11 that has determined the end of the sleep state returns the power supplied to the power amplifier of the wireless communication unit 13 to the power in the operating state using the transmission power control means, and sets the wireless communication unit 13 in the power stop mode. Alternatively, after setting the operating state from the power reduction mode and each task of the base station processing execution program that has been temporarily returned to the return state, the wireless base station 6 is woken up and the wireless base station 6 is released from the sleep state. Returning to step S1, monitoring based on the operation state is resumed.

S19, the control part 11 complete | finishes execution of a base station process execution program, when it detects that the power supply of the wireless base station 6 was interrupted | blocked. If it is not detected that the power is shut off, the process returns to step S1 to continue monitoring based on the operating state.
In a normal case, since the radio base station 6 operates with the power on, the power cut-off is limited to when the radio base station 6 is moved or when a failure is repaired.

In this way, the power saving process is executed by the power saving process program of the base station process execution program of this embodiment.
As described above, in this embodiment, when the radio base station 6 is changed to the sleep state, the sleep state of the personal computer 4 installed in the cell is recognized and the change to the sleep state is determined. It is possible to accurately grasp the absence of a person in the cell of the wireless base station 6 by the sleep state of the personal computer 4 due to going to bed, going out, office holidays, going out of employees, returning home, etc. Thus, it can be easily determined that the transition to the sleep state is possible.

This is particularly effective in the case of a small indoor radio base station where the cell is limited to a relatively narrow range.
Further, in this embodiment, when the sleep state of the personal computer 4 is recognized, the wireless base station 6 is shifted to the sleep state in conjunction with this, so that wasteful power consumption in the wireless base station 6 can be suppressed. Therefore, the power consumption of the radio base station 6 can be reduced.

Further, in this embodiment, when the transition to the sleep state is determined, if the mobile phone 8 is not present in the cell, the wireless communication unit 3 is shifted to the power stop mode. It is possible to increase the suppression effect.
Furthermore, in this embodiment, when the mobile phone 8 is present in the cell when determining the transition to the sleep state, when all the mobile phones 8 are in the standby state, the wireless communication unit 3 is set in the power reduction mode. Therefore, even if the mobile phone 8 is present in the cell due to misplacement or the like, the power consumption of the radio base station 6 can be suppressed.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, since the incoming state from the mobile phone 8 and the network 1 is periodically checked after the transition to the sleep state, the mobile phone 8 does not lose sight of the radio base station 6 and the mobile phone 8 Can be prevented from repeating transmission of a signal for cell search, transmission of a cell registration request, and the like.
In this embodiment, the sleep state notification for recognizing the sleep state of the personal computer 4 has been described as being transmitted from the gateway 2. However, when the sleep state of the personal computer 4 is confirmed, the wireless base station 6 A request for confirming the status of the personal computer 4 may be transmitted to the gateway 2, and it may be recognized by the reply from the gateway 2 whether or not the personal computer 4 is in a dormant state.

In this case, when the wireless base station 6 and the personal computer 4 are connected by a LAN or the like, the wireless base station 6 directly detects the state of the personal computer 4 and recognizes whether it is in a dormant state. You may do it.
In the present embodiment, the fixed terminal is described as the personal computer 4, but the fixed terminal may be a television 5 installed in the cell. Even if it does in this way, it can grasp | ascertain accurately that the person no longer exists in a cell.

In this case, it is preferable that the television 5 detects that the channel operation is not performed for a predetermined time, etc., and makes the television 5 transition to a sleep state.
Alternatively, the personal computer 4 as a fixed terminal and the television 5 may be used in combination, and the power saving process described above may be executed when any one of the fixed terminals enters a sleep state.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, it has been described that, when the wireless base station 6 is in the sleep state in step S16, an incoming response from the mobile phone 8 or an incoming communication data from the network 1 is monitored. 6 directly monitors the state of the personal computer 4 (for example, the wireless base station 6 and the personal computer 4 are connected via a LAN or the like), and the personal computer 4 is out of the sleep state (the personal computer 4 is moved). In the case of (state), the control unit 11 may end the sleep state of the radio base station 6 and transition to the operation state.

  As described above, in this embodiment, a wireless base station that is connected to a personal computer and a network installed in a cell and connected wirelessly to a mobile wireless terminal in the cell by a wireless communication unit When the state is recognized, the sleep state is entered, so that the presence of a person in the cell of the radio base station can be accurately grasped by the sleep state of the personal computer. Therefore, it is possible to easily determine the transition of the wireless base station, suppress unnecessary power consumption in the wireless base station, and reduce the power consumption of the wireless base station.

  In the above embodiment, the radio base station is described as a small indoor radio base station for mobile phones used in femtocells, but even if it is a small indoor radio base station for mobile phones used in Picocell, Wireless base stations for mobile phones as wireless base stations used in 3G (3G), 3.5G, 4G, or PHS, mobile phones used in 3.9G such as WiMAX and next-generation PHS An access point device as a wireless base station or a wireless base station used in a wireless LAN may be used. If the present invention is applied to these wireless base stations, the same effects as described above can be obtained.

  Although the mobile wireless terminal is described as a mobile phone, the mobile wireless terminal is not limited to the above, and may be a mobile device that is connected to a wireless base station by radio, such as an electronic system notebook, a personal communication device, or a portable information device. That's fine.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the communication system of the embodiment, FIG. The block diagram which shows the radio base station of execution example The flowchart which shows the power-saving process of an Example

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Network 2 Gateway 3 Subscription telephone 4 Personal computer 5 Television 6 Wireless base station 8 Mobile phone 11 Control part 12 Storage part 13 Wireless communication part 14 Clock part

Claims (3)

A wireless base station that connects to a fixed terminal installed in a cell and a network, and wirelessly connects to a mobile wireless terminal in the cell by a wireless communication unit,
Means for recognizing that the fixed terminal is in a dormant state;
Means for making a transition to a sleep state when the sleep state is recognized. In claim 1,
Means for determining the presence or absence of the mobile radio terminal in a cell;
If it is determined that the mobile radio terminal is not present in a cell, the sleep state is set to a power stop mode of the radio communication unit;
Means for confirming the operating state of the mobile radio terminal when it is determined that the mobile radio terminal exists in a cell;
A wireless base station comprising: means for setting the sleep state to a power reduction mode of the wireless communication unit when all the mobile wireless terminals are in a standby state in the confirmation of the operation state. In claim 1 or claim 2,
Means for periodically confirming the incoming state from the mobile radio terminal and the network after transitioning to the sleep state;
A radio base station comprising means for making a transition to an operation state when there is at least one incoming call in the confirmation of the incoming call state.

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