Communication Apparatus And Communication System

• US 20080207130A1
• Filed: 02/27/2008
• Published: 08/28/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Brother Industries Limited)
• Original Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Brother Industries Limited)
• Inventors: Kunii, Tadahiro
• Granted Patent: US 8,958,749 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/62
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/0085 using test signal generators
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/23 Indication means, e.g. displays, alarms, audible means
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/309 Measuring or estimating channel quality parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/382 for resource allocation, admission control or handover

Abstract

A communication apparatus including a first communicator which communicates with a first other communication apparatus by using a plurality of frequency channels defined within a frequency band such that the frequency channels are switched from one to another, a detector which detects, with respect to each of the frequency channels, a value of a parameter for evaluating a quality of a communication between the communication apparatuses, a determiner which determines, on the basis of the value of the parameter detected with respect to a corresponding one of the frequency channels by the detector, whether the quality of the communication between the communication apparatuses made by using each of the frequency channels is not poorer than a first threshold, and a communication controller which sends the first other communication apparatus data by means of the first communicator, once when a good-quality frequency channel is used, and repeatedly a plurality of times when a poor-quality frequency channel is used.

Claims

1. A communication apparatus comprising:

a first communicator which communicates with a first other communication apparatus by using a plurality of frequency channels defined within a frequency band such that the frequency channels are switched from one to another;

a detector which detects, with respect to each of the frequency channels, a value of a parameter for evaluating a quality of a communication between the communication apparatuses;

a determiner which determines, on the basis of the value of the parameter detected with respect to a corresponding one of the frequency channels by the detector, whether the quality of the communication between the communication apparatuses made by using each of the frequency channels is not poorer than a first threshold; and

at least one of (a) a communication controller which sends the first other communication apparatus data by means of the first communicator, once when a good-quality frequency channel is used, and repeatedly a plurality of times when a poor-quality frequency channel is used, the good-quality frequency channel being the frequency channel the quality of the communication made by using which is determined by the determiner to not be poorer than the first threshold, and the poor-quality frequency channel being the frequency channel the quality of the communication made by using which is determined by the determiner to be poorer than the first threshold, and (b) a requester which requests, by means of the first communicator, the first other communication apparatus to send data to the communication apparatus, once when the good-quality frequency channel is used, and repeatedly a plurality of times when the poor-quality frequency channel is used.

2. The communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein at least one other threshold is set at a value lower than the first threshold in order that a plurality of regions corresponding to a plurality of quality ranks are defined by the thresholds,

wherein the determiner determines which rank the quality of the communication made by using each poor-quality frequency channel falls within,

and wherein the communication controller sends the first other communication apparatus the data such that the number of times to send the data increases as the quality rank of the poor-quality frequency channel used lowers.

3. The communication apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the communication controller ceases to use a frequency channel which is determined by the determiner to fall within the lowest quality rank.

4. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the detector detects, as the value of the parameter, a data error rate of the data received from the first other communication apparatus.

5. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a second communicator which is different from the first communicator and communicates with a second other communication apparatus by using a frequency channel defined within the frequency band.

6. A communication system including a base unit and a cordless handset at least one of which is constituted by the communication apparatus according to claim 1.

7. A communication system including a base unit and a cordless handset at least one of which is constituted by the communication apparatus according to claim 2.

8. A communication system including a base unit and a cordless handset at least one of which is constituted by the communication apparatus according to claim 3.

9. A communication system including a base unit and a cordless handset at least one of which is constituted by the communication apparatus according to claim 4.

10. A communication system including a base unit and a cordless handset at least one of which is constituted by the communication apparatus according to claim 5.