WIRELESS TERMINAL AND BASE STATION SWITCHING METHOD

• US 20190320374A1
• Filed: 09/29/2017
• Published: 10/17/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/13/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: KATO, Osamu, SHIMIZU, Noriyuki, YOSHINO, Masaaki, SHINGU, Hideki
• Granted Patent: US 11,076,332 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/08 Reselecting an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/322 by location data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/36 by user or terminal equipment
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/20 Selecting an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/02 Selection of wireless resources by user or terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/56 based on priority criteria
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals

Abstract

A wireless terminal that: for previous communications between the wireless terminal and base stations, stores as a communication history at least position information for the wireless terminal and information pertaining to each base station; acquires the position information for the wireless terminal and, on the basis of the position information for the wireless terminal and the stored communication history, derives from multiple base stations at least a connection subject base station to be used in data communication and a connection standby base station, which is the base station having the next highest connection priority after the connection subject base station;

and performs data communication when a trial connection with the connection subject base station has succeeded, and switches the connection subject base station to be used in data communication to the connection standby base station when communication with the connection subject base station is interrupted.

Claims

1. A wireless terminal that is capable of performing communication with a plurality of base stations, the wireless terminal comprising:

a storage unit that stores a communication history having at least location information on the wireless terminal and information pertaining to the base station at the time of communication in the past with each of the base stations;

an acquisition unit that acquires the location information on the wireless terminal;

a derivation unit that derives at least a connection subject base station for data communication and a connection standby base station from among the base stations, based on the location information on the wireless terminal acquired by the acquisition unit and the communication history stored in the storage unit, the connection subject base station having the highest priority for connection, and the connection standby base station having the next higher priority for connection which is second to the highest priority for connection;

a communication unit that performs the data communication with the connection subject base station in a case where an attempt for connection to the connection subject base station succeeds; and

a base station management unit that performs switching a connection subject base station that is to be used for the data communication to the connection standby base station, in a case where communication with the connection subject base station is interrupted.

2. The wireless terminal according to claim 1,

wherein the derivation unit derives the connection subject base station and the connection standby base station in order of decreasing the number of times of allocation, from n (n is an integer that is equal to or greater than 2) communication histories in which a distance that is based on the location information on the wireless terminal acquired by the acquisition unit and the location information on the wireless terminal in the communication history is short.

3. The wireless terminal according to claim 2,

wherein the derivation unit derives the connection subject base station and the connection standby base station in order of decreasing the number of times of allocation, from the n communication histories, in a case where the distance is equal to or below a prescribed threshold.

4. The wireless terminal according to claim 1,

wherein in the storage unit, the communication history further has information on an amount of data communication with each of the base stations, and

wherein the derivation unit derives the connection subject base station and the connection standby base station in order of decreasing the amount of data communication, from n (n is an integer that is equal to or greater than 2) communication histories in which a distance that is based on the location information on the wireless terminal and the location information on the wireless terminal in the communication history is short.

5. The wireless terminal according to claim 1, further comprising:

an update unit that stores information pertaining to the connection subject base station pertaining to the data communication, as the communication history that is associated with the location information on the wireless terminal, in the storage unit, when the data communication with the connection subject base station is performed.

6. The wireless terminal according to claim 1,

wherein in a case where the attempt for the connection to the connection subject base station that is derived by the derivation unit does not succeed, the derivation unit derives the connection standby base station that is derived, as the connection subject base station to perform the data communication.

7. The wireless terminal according to claim 1,

wherein the information pertaining to the base station includes information that a communication interruption base station that is based on interruption of communication with the wireless terminal is present, and

wherein, in a case where a signal from the communication interruption base station is received by the communication unit, the derivation unit derives the communication interruption base station, as the connection standby base station or as a connection standby candidate base station that has the next higher priority for connection, which is second to the priority for connection of the connection standby base station.

8. The wireless terminal according to claim 1,

wherein the derivation unit derives one or more connection standby candidate base stations that have the next higher priority for connection, which are second to the priority for connection of the connection standby base station, based on n (n is an integer that is equal to or greater than 2) communication histories in which a distance that is based on the location information on the wireless terminal and the location information on the wireless terminal in the communication history.

9. The wireless terminal according to claim 1, further comprising:

a monitoring unit that detects interruption of communication with the connection subject base station,

wherein, in a case where the interruption of the communication with the connection subject base station is detected, the base station management unit performs switching from the connection subject base station to a communication interruption base station that has a lower priority for connection to the wireless terminal than the priorities for connection of the connection subject base station and the connection standby base station.

10. The wireless terminal according to claim 2,

wherein the communication history further includes information that is the number of occurrence times of interruption of communication between the connection subject base station and the wireless terminal, and

wherein the derivation unit derives the connection subject base station and the connection standby base station, from n communication histories in which the distance is short, based on a difference between the number of times of allocation and the information that is the number of occurrence times of the interruption of the communication.

11. The wireless terminal according to claim 2,

wherein the location information on the wireless terminal has a latitude, a longitude, and an altitude indicating a location of the wireless terminal, and

wherein the derivation unit derives the distance with a preference for the altitude, from among the latitude, the longitude, and the altitude.

12. A base station switching method in a wireless terminal that is capable of performing communication with a plurality of base stations, the base station switching method comprising:

a step of storing a communication history having at least location information on the wireless terminal and information pertaining to the base station, at the time of communication in the past with each of the base stations;

a step of acquiring the location information on the wireless terminal;

a step of deriving at least a connection subject base station for data communication and a connection standby base station from among the base stations, based on the location information on the wireless terminal acquired by the acquisition unit and the communication history stored in the storage unit, the connection subject base station having the highest priority for connection, and the connection standby base station having the next higher priority for connection which is second to the highest priority for connection;

a step of performing the data communication with the connection subject base station in a case where an attempt for connection to the connection subject base station succeeds; and

a step of performing switching a connection subject base station that is to be used for the data communication to the connection standby base station, in a case where communication with the connection subject base station is interrupted.