JP2012085129A - Radio communication apparatus and control method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a radio communication apparatus having a plurality of antennas, capable of achieving efficient power consumption based on a connection state of a wireless LAN slave unit, and to provide a control method therefor.SOLUTION: When the radio communication apparatus is started, only one transmitter-receiver circuit is made effective among the plurality of transmitter-receiver circuits and the other transmitter-receiver circuits are made ineffective. When a wireless LAN slave unit is connected with the radio communication apparatus, the plurality of transmitter-receiver circuits of the radio communication apparatus are made effective.

Description

  The present invention relates to a wireless communication apparatus that communicates using a plurality of antennas and a method for controlling the wireless communication apparatus.

    In recent years, wireless LAN access points corresponding to the wireless LAN standard IEEE802.11n have been realized. A wireless LAN access point corresponding to IEEE 802.11n includes a plurality of antennas and transmission / reception circuits for transmitting data in parallel in a plurality of series. For this reason, since power consumption becomes large compared with a wireless LAN access point provided with a single antenna and transmission / reception circuit, a mechanism for suppressing power consumption has been devised.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a wireless LAN base station apparatus that uses a timer to pause other than one antenna and a transceiver at night when the communication load is low.

JP 2004-153766 A

  However, since the system of Patent Document 1 uses time setting by a timer as a condition for suspending an antenna of a wireless LAN access point, even if a state where the wireless LAN slave unit is not actually connected continues for a long time, the timer setting is performed. There was a problem that the antennas and the like could not be paused except during the given time.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide wireless communication capable of efficiently dissipating power based on a connection state of a wireless LAN slave unit in a wireless communication apparatus including a plurality of antennas. An apparatus and a method for controlling a wireless communication apparatus are provided.

  The present invention is a wireless communication apparatus that includes a plurality of antennas and a plurality of transmission / reception circuits connected to the plurality of antennas, and that supports a wireless communication system that transmits a plurality of series of data in parallel from the plurality of antennas, It is characterized in that at least one of the plurality of wireless circuits is disabled and the plurality of transmission / reception circuits are enabled when a slave unit is connected to the own device.

  The present invention is a method for controlling a wireless communication apparatus that includes a plurality of antennas and a plurality of transmission / reception circuits connected to the plurality of antennas, and that supports a communication system that transmits a plurality of series of data in parallel from the plurality of antennas. When at least one of the plurality of wireless circuits of the wireless communication device is disabled and a slave unit is connected to the wireless communication device, the plurality of transmission / reception circuits of the wireless communication device are enabled. It is characterized by that.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, in a radio | wireless communication apparatus provided with a some antenna, based on the connection state of a wireless LAN subunit | mobile_unit, it can be made to consume power efficiently.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a sequence in which a wireless LAN slave unit connects to a wireless LAN access point. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the wireless communication apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the wireless communication apparatus. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the state of the transmission / reception circuit of the wireless communication apparatus at the stage where the wireless LAN slave unit does not belong. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state of the transmission / reception circuit of the wireless communication apparatus after the wireless LAN slave unit belongs. FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining a modification of the embodiment of the present invention.

  In the communication standard IEEE802.11n, high-speed data transmission is realized by using a MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) technique or the like that transmits data from a plurality of antennas in parallel in parallel. The wireless communication apparatus of the present invention includes a wireless LAN access point corresponding to the communication standard IEEE 802.11n.

  Usually, the wireless LAN access point periodically transmits a beacon including location information. The wireless LAN slave device that has detected this beacon transmits an Authentication frame to the wireless LAN access point as shown in FIG. 1 (F1). In response to this, the wireless LAN access point returns an Authentication frame to the wireless LAN slave unit (F2). Next, the wireless LAN slave device transmits an Association frame to the wireless LAN access point (F3). In response, the wireless LAN access point returns an Association frame to the wireless LAN slave unit (F4). Thereby, the attribution (connection) of the wireless LAN slave unit to the wireless LAN access point is completed. Since the frames transmitted and received in the sequence are transmitted in a single sequence, it is not necessary to have a plurality of transmission / reception circuits that function in the wireless LAN access point in the sequence. The wireless communication device of the present invention enables only one transmission / reception circuit among a plurality of wireless circuits while the wireless LAN slave unit does not belong, and enables the plurality of transmission / reception circuits after the wireless LAN slave unit belongs. It is to make.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the wireless communication device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. The wireless communication apparatus 1 includes a plurality of transmission / reception circuits (wireless circuits) 10-1 to 10-3, antennas 20-1 to 20-3, and a control unit 30.

  The transmission / reception circuits 10-1 to 10-3 are connected to the antennas 20-1 to 20-3, respectively, and transmit / receive data via the antennas 20-1 to 20-3.

  The control unit 30 enables (turns on) one transmission / reception circuit among the plurality of transmission / reception circuits 10-1 to 10-3 when the wireless LAN slave unit is not connected to the own device, and sets other transmission / reception circuits to Disable (off). In addition, when a wireless LAN slave device is connected to the own device, the control unit 30 enables (turns on) the plurality of transmission / reception circuits 10-1 to 10-3.

  FIG. 2 shows the components related to wireless communication, which is a feature of the present invention in the wireless communication device 1, and the other components included in the wireless communication device 1 are the same as those of a general wireless communication device, It is not specifically shown here.

  Next, the operation of radio communication apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, when the wireless communication device 1 is activated, the control unit 30 enables (turns on) only one transmission / reception circuit among the plurality of transmission / reception circuits 10-1 to 10-3 and disables other transmission / reception circuits ( Off) (step S31).

  Next, the control unit 30 waits for the wireless LAN slave device to be connected to the own device (step S32).

  When the wireless LAN slave device that detects the beacon transmitted by the wireless communication device 1 completes the connection sequence shown in FIG. 1 and is connected to the wireless communication device 1 (step S32, YES), the control unit 30 includes a plurality of The transmission / reception circuits 10-1 to 10-3 are enabled (ON) (step S33).

  Next, the control unit 30 waits for the connection of the wireless LAN slave unit to be disconnected (step S34). For example, when there is no communication for a certain time, it may be determined that the connection of the corresponding wireless LAN slave unit has been disconnected.

  When detecting disconnection of the wireless LAN slave unit (step S34: YES), the control unit 30 determines whether there is another wireless LAN slave unit connected (step S35).

  When it is determined that there is another wireless LAN slave device connected (step S24: YES), the control unit 30 returns to step S34 and waits for the wireless LAN slave device to be disconnected.

  If it is determined that there is no connected wireless LAN slave device (step S24: NO), the control unit 30 returns to step S31, and the control unit 30 selects one of the plurality of transmission / reception circuits 10-1 to 10-3. Disable (turn off) other transmission / reception circuits.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, at the stage where the wireless LAN slave unit does not belong to the wireless LAN access point (wireless communication device), only one transmission / reception circuit is enabled as shown in FIG. After the assignment of the wireless LAN slave unit is completed, as shown in FIG. 5, by enabling a plurality of transmission / reception circuits, it is possible to reduce power consumption when the wireless LAN slave unit is not connected. be able to.

  Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments, the present invention is not necessarily limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the technical idea.

  For example, a plurality of transmission / reception circuits may be validated when a slave unit connected to the wireless communication apparatus 1 supports a communication method for transmitting a plurality of series of data in parallel, as in IEEE 802.11n. The operation of the wireless communication apparatus 1 in this case will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, when the wireless communication device 1 is activated, the control unit 30 enables (turns on) only one transmission / reception circuit among the plurality of transmission / reception circuits 10-1 to 10-3 and disables other transmission / reception circuits ( Off) (step S61).

  Next, the control unit 30 waits for the wireless LAN slave device to be connected to the own device (step S62).

  When the wireless LAN slave device that detects the beacon transmitted by the wireless communication device 1 completes the connection sequence shown in FIG. 1 and is connected to the wireless communication device 1 (step S62, YES), the control unit 30 It is determined whether the device is compatible with a predetermined communication method (in this example, IEEE 802.11n) (step S63). For example, data may be transmitted / received to / from the wireless LAN slave device, and it may be determined whether the wireless LAN slave device is compatible with a predetermined communication method based on a preamble signal of data received from the wireless LAN slave device.

  When it is determined that the wireless LAN slave device is compatible with IEEE802.11n (step S63: YES), the control unit 30 enables (turns on) the plurality of transmission / reception circuits 10-1 to 10-3 (step S64). If it is determined that the wireless LAN slave device does not support IEEE802.11n (step S63: NO), the process returns to step S62.

  After enabling the plurality of transmission / reception circuits 10-1 to 10-3 in step S64, the control unit 30 waits for the connection of the wireless LAN slave unit to be disconnected (step S65).

  When detecting disconnection of the wireless LAN slave unit (step S65: YES), the control unit 30 determines whether there is another wireless LAN slave unit connected (step S66).

  If it is determined that there is another wireless LAN slave device connected (step S66: YES), the process returns to step S65, and the control unit 30 waits for the wireless LAN slave device to be disconnected.

  If it is determined that there is no wireless LAN slave device connected (step S66: NO), the control unit 30 returns to step S31, and the control unit 30 selects one of the plurality of transmission / reception circuits 10-1 to 10-3. Disable (turn off) other transmission / reception circuits.

  In this way, by enabling a plurality of transmission / reception circuits when a wireless LAN slave device connected to the wireless communication device 1 supports a communication method for transmitting a plurality of series of data in parallel as in IEEE 802.11n, Further power saving can be achieved.

  In the above-described embodiment, the number of antennas and transmission / reception circuits included in the wireless communication device 1 is three. However, the number of antennas and transmission / reception circuits is arbitrary.

  Further, the communication method for transmitting the above-described plurality of series of data in parallel is not limited to IEEE 802.11n.

  Further, as described above, the control unit 30 of the wireless communication device of the present invention described above can be configured by hardware, but can also be realized by a computer program. In this case, the processor may read out and execute a program or the like stored in the memory, thereby realizing functions and operations similar to those in the above-described embodiment. Also, only some functions of the above-described embodiments can be realized by a computer program.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Radio | wireless communication apparatus 10-1 to 10-3 Transmission / reception circuit 20-1 to 20-3 Antenna 30 Control part

Claims (4)

A wireless communication apparatus that includes a plurality of antennas and a plurality of transmission / reception circuits connected to the plurality of antennas, and that supports a wireless communication system that transmits a plurality of series of data in parallel from the plurality of antennas,
Disable at least one of the plurality of wireless circuits, and when the slave unit is connected to the own device, enable the plurality of transmission / reception circuits,
A wireless communication apparatus. Enabling the plurality of transmission / reception circuits when the slave connected to the own device corresponds to a wireless communication system that transmits a plurality of series of data in parallel from the plurality of antennas;
The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1. A control method for a wireless communication device, comprising a plurality of antennas and a plurality of transmission / reception circuits connected to the plurality of antennas, and corresponding to a communication method for transmitting a plurality of series of data in parallel from the plurality of antennas,
Disable at least one of the plurality of wireless circuits of the wireless communication device,
When a slave unit is connected to the wireless communication device, the plurality of transmission / reception circuits of the wireless communication device are enabled.
A wireless communication method. Enabling the plurality of transmission / reception circuits when the slave unit connected to the wireless communication device supports a wireless communication method for transmitting a plurality of series of data in parallel from the plurality of antennas;
The wireless communication method according to claim 3.

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