PATH CONTROL DEVICE, PATH CONTROL SYSTEM, PATH CONTROL METHOD, AND NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM

• US 20120020222A1
• Filed: 03/26/2010
• Published: 01/26/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: Nishioka, Jun
• Granted Patent: US 9,503,958 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/235
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/12 based on transmission quality or channel quality

Abstract

Provided are a path control device and a path control method for maintaining a constant communication quality between wireless links in a network including a plurality of wireless links with varying transmission rates. A path control device 900 for a plurality of wireless links connecting a plurality of communication devices includes an information management unit 901 that stores a correlation of communication quality between the wireless links; and a path selecting unit 902 that selects a path of a flow by using the correlation of communication quality between the wireless links. The path selecting unit 902 selects a path using the correlation of communication quality between the wireless links, thereby maintaining the communication quality of the entire path constant.

Claims

1. A path control device for a plurality of wireless links connecting a plurality of communication devices, the path control device comprising:

a information management unit that stores a correlation of communication quality between the plurality of wireless links; and

a path selecting unit that selects a path of a flow using the correlation of communication quality between the plurality of wireless links,

wherein the path selectins unit selects a redundant path as the path of the flow from among wireless links having a certain correlation or lower with a wireless link constituting a normal path.

2. The path control device according to claim 1, wherein the path selecting unit selects a normal path and a redundant path as paths of the flow.

3. The path control device according to claim 1, wherein the communication quality includes a history of a modulation mode used in the plurality of wireless links.

4. The path control device according to claim 1, wherein the communication quality includes a history of information indicating a radio wave environment of the plurality of wireless links.

5. The path control device according to claim 3, wherein the history of the modulation mode used includes at least one of a history correlating the modulation mode with a value, and a history correlating a change in the modulation mode with a value.

6. The path control device according to claim 4, wherein the information indicating the radio wave environment includes at least one of bit error rate (BER), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and carrier-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (CINR).

7. The path control device according to claim 1, wherein the path selecting unit divides the plurality of wireless links into a plurality of groups according to a magnitude of a correlation of communication quality between the wireless links, and selects the path of the flow using wireless links belonging to the same group.

10. The path control device according to claim 3, wherein when a normal path includes a plurality of wireless links, the information management unit selects, as the communication quality, a modulation mode with a lowest transmission rate for each time, and calculates a correlation coefficient using the communication quality selected.

11. The path control device according to claim 4, wherein when a normal path includes a plurality of wireless links, the information management unit selects, as the communication quality, a worst radio wave environment for each time, and calculates a correlation coefficient using the communication quality selected.

8. (canceled)

9. The path control device according to claim 8, wherein

the information management unit calculates a correlation coefficient between the wireless link used for the normal path and another wireless link by using communication qualities of the plurality of wireless links, and

the path selecting unit selects, as the redundant path, a wireless link with the calculated correlation coefficient satisfying a predetermined condition.

12. A path control system comprising:

a plurality of communication devices that communicate with each other using a plurality of wireless links; and

a path control device that selects a path of a flow using a correlation of communication quality between the plurality of wireless links.

13. The path control system according to claim 12, wherein the path control device is mounted in at least one of the plurality of communication devices.

14. A path control method for a network in which a plurality of communication devices communicate with each other using a plurality of wireless links, the path control method comprising:

selecting a path of a flow using a correlation of communication quality between the plurality of wireless links.

15. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program for controlling a path of a network in which a plurality of communication devices communicate with each other using a plurality of wireless links, the program causing a computer to execute processing for selecting a path of a flow using a correlation of communication quality between the plurality of wireless links.

16. A path control device for a plurality of wireless links connecting a plurality of communication devices, the path control device comprising:

a information management unit that stores a correlation of communication quality between the plurality of wireless links; and

a path selecting unit that selects a path of a flow using the correlation of communication quality between the plurality of wireless links,

wherein the path selecting unit divides the plurality of wireless links into a plurality of groups according to a magnitude of a correlation of communication quality between the wireless links, and selects the path of the flow using wireless links belonging to the same group.