Communication system, control device, and node device

• US 9,210,608 B2
• Filed: 03/27/2013
• Issued: 12/08/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: Inao, Yuichi, Nakaya, Yuuta, Katou, Etsuko
• Primary Examiner(s): Lai, Andrew
• Assistant Examiner(s): Andrews, Leon
• Application Number:
  US13/851,406
• Publication Number:
  US 20130208598A1
• Time in Patent Office: 986 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/125 based on throughput or bandwidth
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0236 radio quality, e.g. interference, losses or delay
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/22 for handling the traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/12 based on transmission quality or channel quality
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A wireless communication system is provided. A control device includes: a receiver configured to be able to receive information from radio frequency channels; a processor that judges whether a first channel is congested, and generates switchover instruction information when the first channel is judged to be congested; and a transmitter that transmits the switchover instruction information. Each node device includes: a receiver that receives information through the first channel; a transmitter that transmits information through a transmission channel; and a processor that recognizes whether a hop count from the control device is one, selects a second channel and specifies it as the transmission channel in a first case in which the receiver receives the switchover instruction information from the control device and the hop count is recognized as one, and specifies the first channel as the transmission channel in a second case in which the first case does not hold.

Claims

1. A wireless communication system comprising:

a control device; and

a plurality of node devices, wherein

the control device includes;

a first receiver configured to be able to receive information simultaneously from a plurality of radio frequency channels;

a first processor that

judges whether a first channel in the plurality of radio frequency channels is congested, and

generates switchover instruction information to instruct at least one of the plurality of node devices to switch a transmission channel from the first channel to another channel, when the first channel is judged to be congested; and

a first transmitter that transmits the switchover instruction information, and

each of the plurality of node devices includes;

a second receiver that receives information from the control device or another node device through the first channel;

a second transmitter that transmits information addressed to the control device through a channel specified as the transmission channel in the plurality of radio frequency channels;

a memory that stores path information, transmission information or reception information; and

a second processor that

recognizes whether a hop count from the control device is one based on identification information for identifying whether the hop count from the control device is one, the identification information being included in the path information, header information of the transmission information, header information of the reception information or the switchover instruction information,

selects a second channel other than the first channel in a first case in which the second receiver receives the switchover instruction information from the control device and the hop count is recognized as one,

specifies the second channel as the transmission channel for the second transmitter in the first case, and

specifies the first channel as the transmission channel for the second transmitter in a second case in which the first case does not hold.

2. The wireless communication system according to claim 1, wherein

the first processor judges whether the first channel is congested using at least one of:

a difference between a schedule specified in advance for transmission of the information from the plurality of node devices to the control device and a time point at which the information is actually transmitted from the plurality of node devices to the control device;

a number of node devices which are among the plurality of node devices and are registered with the control device as transmitting the information to the control device; and

a combination of reception power in the control device and an error rate of the information transmitted from the plurality of node devices to the control device.

3. The wireless communication system according to claim 1, wherein

in the first case, the second processor re-selects one of the plurality of radio frequency channels newly as the second channel each time a transmission is made from the second transmitter, and

re-selection of the second channel in the first case is performed at random, according to a round robin algorithm, or based on a use state of each of the plurality of radio frequency channels.

4. The wireless communication system according to claim 1, wherein

the switchover instruction information includes channel specification information for specifying the second channel, and

the second processor selects the second channel according to the channel specification information.

5. The wireless communication system according to claim 1, wherein

the switchover instruction information includes prohibition information for specifying a prohibited channel to be excluded from a candidate for the second channel in the plurality of radio frequency channels, and

the second processor selects a channel other than the prohibited channel as the second channel according to the prohibition information.

6. The wireless communication system according to claim 1, wherein

the first processor repeatedly judges whether the first channel is congested,

when the first processor judges that the congestion has been solved in a new judgment performed after a previous judgment in which the first channel has been judged to be congested, the first processor generates restore instruction information to give an instruction to restore the transmission channel to the first channel,

the first transmitter transmits the restore instruction information, and

the second processor of each of the plurality of node devices restores the transmission channel specified for the second transmitter to the first channel when the second receiver receives the restore instruction information.

7. The wireless communication system according to claim 1, wherein

the identification information includes node information for identifying each of one or more node devices whose hop count from the control device is one, and

when the second receiver of a certain node device receives the switchover instruction information and the certain node device is identified by the node information, the second processor of the certain node device recognizes that the hop count of the certain node device from the control device is one.

8. A control device used in a wireless communication system including a plurality of node devices, the control device comprising:

a receiver configured to be able to receive information simultaneously from a plurality of radio frequency channels;

a processor that

judges whether a first channel in the plurality of radio frequency channels is congested by using at least statistics information of time points at which the control device receives the information transmitted from the plurality of node devices or a combination of reception power in the control device and an error rate of the information transmitted from the plurality of node devices to the control device, and

when judging that the first channel is congested, generates switchover instruction information for instructing one or more node devices whose hop count from the control device is one in the plurality of node devices to switch a transmission channel used in transmitting information to the control device from the first channel to a second channel; and

a transmitter that transmits the switchover instruction information.

9. The control device according to claim 8, wherein

using the information received by the receiver, the processor recognizes the one or more node devices whose hop count is one,

the processor registers the one or more recognized node devices, and the processor includes identification information for identifying the one or more registered node devices in the switchover instruction information.

10. A node device comprising:

a receiver that receives information from a control device or another node device by wireless communication through a first channel;

a transmitter that transmits information addressed to the control device through a channel specified as a transmission channel in a plurality of radio frequency channels including the first channel;

a memory that stores path information, transmission information or reception information; and

a processor that

recognizes whether a hop count from the control device is one based on identification information for identifying whether the hop count from the control device is one, the identification information being included in the path information, header information of the transmission information, header information of the reception information or switchover instruction information for an instruction to switch the transmission channel from the first channel to another channel,

selects a second channel other than the first channel for each transmission from the transmitter in a first case in which the hop count is recognized as one and the receiver receives, from the control device, the switchover instruction information,

specifies the second channel as the transmission channel for the transmitter for each transmission from the transmitter in the first case, and

specifies the first channel as the transmission channel for the transmitter in a second case in which the first case does not hold.