Wireless communication device, non-transitory computer readable medium, and wireless communication system

Abstract

There is provided a wireless communication device including a reception timing sense unit configured to sense reception timing information, a reception timing storage unit configured to store the reception timing information and to disclose and delete the stored reception timing information, a frame group arrival confirmation unit configured to confirm that a frame group arrives, a first frame group transmission unit, a second frame group transmission unit, a third frame group transmission unit, and a frame group transmission control unit configured to select any of the first frame group transmission unit, the second frame group transmission unit, and the third frame group transmission unit on the basis of the reception timing information and a result of frame group arrival confirmation, and to control a frame group transmission operation.

Claims

1. A wireless communication device that transmits a frame group including one or two or more types of frame at reception timing of a facing wireless communication device in response to a frame transmission request from an upper layer processing unit, and that operates according to a coordinated sampled listening (CSL) standard, the wireless communication device comprising: a processor, and a non-transitory storage medium containing program instructions, execution of which by the processor causes the wireless communication device to provide functions of a reception timing sense unit configured to sense reception timing information on the facing wireless communication device; a reception timing storage unit configured to store the reception timing information and to disclose and delete the stored reception timing information; a frame group arrival confirmation unit configured to confirm that a transmitted frame group arrives at the facing wireless communication device; a frame transmission unit configured to transmit the frame group; and a frame group transmission control unit configured to upon receiving the frame transmission request from the upper layer processing unit, access the reception timing storage unit to determine whether or not the reception timing information is present, upon determining that the reception timing information is stored in the reception timing storage unit, control the frame transmission unit to transmit the frame group with synchronous transmission to the facing wireless communication device, and to retransmit the frame group with asynchronous transmission if the frame group arrival confirmation unit fails to confirm that the transmitted frame group has arrived at the facing wireless communication device, and upon determining that the reception timing information is not stored in the reception timing storage unit, control the frame transmission unit to transmit the frame group with asynchronous transmission.

2. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein, when the frame group arrival confirmation unit fails to confirm the arrival of the frame group transmitted with the synchronous transmission by the frame transmission unit, the frame group transmission control unit causes the frame transmission unit to retransmit the frame group with the asynchronous transmission after the reception timing storage unit deletes reception timing information on the facing wireless communication device.

3. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein, when the frame group arrival confirmation unit fails to confirm the arrival of the frame group transmitted with the synchronous transmission by the frame transmission unit, the frame group transmission control unit notifies the upper layer processing unit of failure in transmission after the reception timing storage unit deletes reception timing information on the facing wireless communication device.

4. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein, when the frame group arrival confirmation unit fails to confirm the arrival of the frame group transmitted with the synchronous transmission by the frame transmission unit successively a plurality of times within a range that does not exceed a given number, the frame group transmission control unit notifies the upper layer processing unit of failure in transmission, and when the frame group arrival confirmation unit fails to confirm the arrival the given number of times, the frame group transmission control unit notifies the upper layer processing unit of failure in transmission after the reception timing storage unit deletes reception timing of the facing wireless communication device.

5. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein the frame group arrival confirmation unit confirms arrival of a frame group by receiving a reception response signal transmitted from the facing wireless communication device, wherein the reception timing sense unit analyzes the reception response signal and senses reception timing included in the reception response signal, wherein the frame transmission unit transmits a data frame after successively transmitting wakeup frames for a first period or longer when the asynchronous transmission is used, wherein the frame transmission unit transmits a data frame after successively transmitting the wakeup frames for a second period or longer when the synchronous transmission is used, and wherein the frame transmission unit transmits a data frame after successively transmitting wakeup frames for a third period or longer when the retransmission is performed.

6. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein the frame group arrival confirmation unit confirms arrival of a frame group by receiving a reception response signal transmitted from the facing wireless communication device, wherein the reception timing sense unit senses, as the reception timing information, time obtained by subtracting a period for which a frame group is transmitted from time at which the reception response signal is received, wherein the frame transmission unit places an interval for each transmission frame at least for receiving the reception response signal, and successively transmits data frames for a first period or longer when the asynchronous transmission is used, wherein the frame transmission unit places an interval for each transmission frame at least for receiving the reception response signal, and successively transmits data frames for a second period or longer when the synchronous transmission is used, and wherein the frame transmission unit places an interval for each transmission frame at least for receiving the reception response signal, and successively transmits data frames for a third period or longer when the retransmission is performed.

7. The wireless communication device according to claim 5, wherein the second period is shorter than the first period.

8. The wireless communication device according to claim 5, wherein the third period is shorter than the first period and longer than the second period.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium containing wireless communication program instructions, execution of which by a processor causes a wireless communication device to transmit a frame group including one or two or more types of frame at reception timing of a facing wireless communication device in response to a frame transmission request from an upper layer processing unit and to operate according to a coordinated sampled listening (CSL) standard, the wireless communication program instructions comprising: instructions to implement, by the processor, a reception timing sense unit configured to sense reception timing information on the facing wireless communication device; instructions to implement, by the processor, a reception timing storage unit configured to store the reception timing information and to disclose and delete the stored reception timing information; instructions to implement, by the processor, a frame group arrival confirmation unit configured to confirm that a transmitted frame group arrives at the facing wireless communication device; instructions to implement, by the processor, a frame transmission unit configured to transmit the frame group; and instructions to implement, by the processor, a frame group transmission control unit configured to upon receiving the frame transmission request from the upper layer processing unit, access the reception timing storage unit to determine whether or not the reception timing information is present, upon determining that the reception timing information is stored in the reception timing storage unit, control the frame transmission unit to transmit the frame group with synchronous transmission to the facing wireless communication device, and to retransmit the frame group with asynchronous transmission if the frame group arrival confirmation unit fails to confirm that the transmitted frame group has arrived at the facing wireless communication device, and upon determining that the reception timing information is not stored in the reception timing storage unit, control the frame transmission unit to transmit the frame group with asynchronous transmission.

10. A wireless communication system comprising: a plurality of wireless communication devices, wherein the wireless communication device according to claim 1 is applied as a wireless communication device that serves as a structural element of the wireless communication system.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a wireless communication device according to a first embodiment;

(2) FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a frame transmission operation of the wireless communication device according to the first embodiment;

(3) FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a frame transmission operation (retransmission) of the wireless communication device according to the first embodiment;

(4) FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a wireless communication device according to a second embodiment;

(5) FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a frame transmission operation (retransmission) of the wireless communication device according to the second embodiment;

(6) FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram imaging communication with frame asynchronous transmission; and

(7) FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram imaging communication with frame synchronous transmission.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT(S)

(8) Hereinafter, referring to the appended drawings, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. It should be noted that, in this specification and the appended drawings, structural elements that have substantially the same function and structure are denoted with the same reference numerals, and repeated explanation thereof is omitted.

(A) First Embodiment

(9) A wireless communication device, a wireless communication program, a wireless communication system according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the appended drawings.

(10) (A-1) Configuration According to First Embodiment

(11) FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a wireless communication device 10 according to the first embodiment.

(12) FIG. 1 illustrates that the wireless communication device 10 includes a frame transmission unit 11, a transmission destination reception timing sense unit 12, a frame arrival confirmation unit 13, a reception timing storage unit 14, and a frame transmission method control unit 15.

(13) The wireless communication device according to the first embodiment can also have units other than the frame transmission unit formed of hardware. In addition, the units can also be implemented by software (wireless communication program) to be executed by a CPU in combination with the CPU. Whichever implementation method is adopted, the function can be illustrated in FIG. 1.

(14) The frame transmission unit 11 is connected to the frame transmission method control unit 15 and the frame arrival confirmation unit 13. The frame transmission unit 11 transmits a frame in a communication method for any of the frame asynchronous transmission and the frame synchronous transmission on the basis of an instruction from the frame transmission method control unit 15.

(15) The transmission destination reception timing sense unit 12 is connected to the reception timing storage unit 14. The transmission destination reception timing sense unit 12 senses the reception timing of a reception node that is a transmission destination. In addition, the transmission destination reception timing sense unit 12 stores the sensed reception timing in the reception timing storage unit 14. The transmission destination reception timing sense unit 12 can adopt, for example, a technique of analyzing reception timing information written in a reception response signal ACK and setting the reception timing as the reception timing of a transmission destination as a technique of sensing reception timing. The transmission destination reception timing sense unit 12 may further use, as the reception timing of a transmission destination, the time at which a reception response signal ACK is received.

(16) The frame arrival confirmation unit 13 is connected to the frame transmission unit 11 and the frame transmission method control unit 15. The frame arrival confirmation unit 13 confirms the arrival of a frame and notifies the frame transmission method control unit 15 of a result of the frame arrival confirmation. Examples of specific frame arrival confirmation methods include the frame arrival confirmation unit 13 confirming reception of a reception response signal ACK corresponding to a transmitted frame.

(17) The reception timing storage unit 14 is connected to the transmission destination reception timing sense unit 12 and the frame transmission method control unit 15. The reception timing storage unit 14 stores, in pairs, reception timing sensed by the transmission destination reception timing sense unit 12 and information on a reception node that is a transmission destination. The information stored in the reception timing storage unit 14 is disclosed and deleted at the demand of the frame transmission method control unit 15.

(18) The frame transmission method control unit 15 is connected to the frame transmission unit 11, the frame arrival confirmation unit 13, and the reception timing storage unit 14. The frame transmission method control unit 15 exerts control to acquire reception timing information from the reception timing storage unit 14. In addition, the frame transmission method control unit 15 exerts control to decide which of the synchronous transmission and the asynchronous transmission is used for transmission of a frame to the frame transmission unit 11. Moreover, the frame transmission method control unit 15 exerts control to acquire frame arrival confirmation information from the frame arrival confirmation unit 13.

(19) Although it is not illustrated, the wireless communication system according to the first embodiment is obtained by disposing a plurality of wireless communication devices including the wireless communication device 10 configured as illustrated in FIG. 1. A single wireless communication device 10 among them wirelessly communicates with another wireless communication device.

(20) (A-2) Operation According to First Embodiment

(21) Next, an operation of the wireless communication device 10 according to the first embodiment chiefly for transmission will be described with reference to the appended drawings. A wireless communication device will be referred to as “node” as necessary in the following description.

(22) A frame reception operation of a wireless communication device on the reception side which is a transmission destination is the same as a frame reception operation of the conventional (technology described in IEEE802.15.4e) wireless communication device, so that the description will be omitted.

(23) FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a frame transmission operation of the wireless communication device 10.

(24) If the frame transmission method control unit 15 receives a frame transmission request from an upper layer not illustrated, the frame transmission method control unit 15 accesses the reception timing storage unit 14 and examines whether or not the reception timing of a transmission destination is present (S101 and S102).

(25) If a result of the examination shows that the reception timing information on the transmission destination is stored in the reception timing storage unit 14, the frame transmission method control unit 15 notifies the frame transmission unit 11 of the use of the frame synchronous transmission, which uses the reception timing as a frame transmission method (S103).

(26) If a result of the examination shows that the reception timing information is not stored in the reception timing storage unit 14, the frame transmission method control unit 15 notifies the frame transmission unit 11 of the use of the frame asynchronous transmission (S104).

(27) The frame transmission unit 11 transmits a frame with any of the frame synchronous transmission and the frame asynchronous transmission, of which the frame transmission method control unit 15 has notified the frame transmission unit 11 (S105).

(28) Next, a retransmission operation of the wireless communication device 10 which is performed after a frame is transmitted with the frame synchronous transmission will be described.

(29) FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a frame transmission operation (retransmission) of a wireless communication device.

(30) The frame arrival confirmation unit 13 senses that the frame arrival confirmation is not possible (S201). For example, reception of no reception response signal ACK from a transmission destination serves as means for sensing that frame arrival confirmation is not possible, the reception response signal ACK corresponding to a frame transmitted within a given time. If the frame arrival confirmation unit 13 senses that frame arrival confirmation is not possible, the frame transmission method control unit 15 determines that a transmission destination falls out of synchronization.

(31) The frame arrival confirmation unit 13 deletes reception timing information on a transmission destination which is stored in the reception timing storage unit 14 (S202).

(32) Furthermore, the frame transmission method control unit 15 instructs the frame transmission unit 11 to retransmit a frame with the frame asynchronous transmission (S203).

(33) The frame transmission unit 11 retransmits a frame with the frame asynchronous transmission (S204).

(34) (A-3) Advantageous Effects of First Embodiment

(35) According to the first embodiment, the following advantageous effects can be attained.

(36) According to the first embodiment, a transmission node deletes synchronization information on a transmission destination which is stored in the reception timing storage unit 14, and performs the frame asynchronous transmission when the frame synchronous transmission results in failure (the transmission node falls out of synchronization). Accordingly, it becomes possible to deliver a frame to a reception node that is not synchronized.

(37) Meanwhile, according to a second embodiment, a transmission node can communicate with a reception node. It is thus possible for the transmission destination reception timing sense unit 12 to sense the reception timing of a transmission destination again and to store the sensed content in the reception timing storage unit 14. Thereafter, the transmission node can perform the CSL synchronous communication again with the reception node, thereby allowing the efficiency of the communication network to be enhanced.

(B) Second Embodiment

(38) Next, a wireless communication device, a wireless communication program, and a wireless communication system according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the appended drawings.

(39) (B-1) Configuration According to Second Embodiment

(40) FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the wireless communication device according to the second embodiment, and units that are the same as the units in FIG. 1 in the first embodiment or correspond to the units in FIG. 1 in the first embodiment are denoted with the same or corresponding reference numerals.

(41) FIG. 4 illustrates that a wireless communication device 10A according to the second embodiment includes a frame transmission unit 11, a transmission destination reception timing sense unit 12, a frame arrival confirmation unit 13, a reception timing storage unit 14, and a frame transmission method control unit 15A.

(42) Different from the wireless communication device 10 according to the first embodiment, the wireless communication device 10A according to the second embodiment does not include the frame transmission method control unit 15, but includes the frame transmission method control unit 15A instead as its structural element.

(43) The frame transmission method control unit 15A is basically the same as the frame transmission method control unit 15. However, when the frame synchronous transmission results in failure, the frame transmission method control unit 15A does not perform retransmission, but notifies an upper layer not illustrated of the failure.

(44) (B-2) Operation According to Second Embodiment

(45) Next, an operation of the wireless communication device 10A according to the second embodiment will be described.

(46) As in first embodiment, a transmission operation of the wireless communication device 10A according to the second embodiment is performed in accordance with the flowchart of FIG. 2.

(47) Next, a retransmission operation of the wireless communication device 10 which is performed after a frame is transmitted with the frame synchronous transmission will be described.

(48) FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a frame transmission operation (retransmission) of the wireless communication device 10A.

(49) The processes in step S301 and step S302 are the same as the processes in step S201 and step S202 discussed above, so that the description will be omitted. Next, the following process in step S303 will be described.

(50) The frame transmission method control unit 15A exerts control to notify an upper layer that frame transmission results in failure (NO_ACK) (S303).

(51) After notifying the upper layer of NO_ACK, the wireless communication device 10A finishes the process.

(52) (B-3) Advantageous Effects of Second Embodiment

(53) According to the second embodiment, the following advantageous effects can be attained.

(54) According to the second embodiment, when the frame synchronous transmission results in failure (a transmission node falls out of synchronization), the transmission node does not retransmit a data frame, but notifies an upper layer of the failure in the transmission instead, deletes synchronization information on a transmission destination which is stored in the reception timing storage unit 14, and finishes the process. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent a frame from being transmitted (retransmitted) in vain to a node that is not synchronized.

(55) According to the second embodiment, it is possible to decrease effects on the surroundings and the upper layer even when the synchronous transmission results in failure. Thus, it becomes possible to enhance network efficiency.

(C) Other Embodiments

(56) In addition to each of the embodiments described above, modified examples below are also possible.

(57) (C-1) An example of the CSL is described as a power-saving communication method in each of the embodiments above. However, when a short preamble MAC protocol for duty-cycled wireless sensor networks (X-MAC) is used, the present invention is also applicable.
(C-2) When the frame synchronous transmission results in failure, retransmission is performed with the frame asynchronous transmission in the first embodiment. However, a wakeup frame transmission period does not have to be extended as much as a wakeup frame transmission period for the frame asynchronous transmission, but the wakeup frame transmission period may be extended a little (e.g. several times as long as a wakeup frame transmission period for the frame synchronous transmission) and transmission may be performed. This allows overhead to be lowered and allows retransmission to be performed with power-saving communication.

(58) Note that the wireless communication method of the embodiments described above can be configured by software. In the case of configuring by software, the program that implements at least part of the sound collection and reproduction method may be stored in a non-transitory computer readable medium, such as a flexible disk or a CD-ROM, and may be loaded onto a computer and executed. The recording medium is not limited to a removable recording medium such as a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and may be a fixed recording medium such as a hard disk apparatus or a memory. In addition, the program that implements at least part of the a wireless communication method may be distributed through a communication line (also including wireless communication) such as the Internet. Furthermore, the program may be encrypted or modulated or compressed, and the resulting program may be distributed through a wired or wireless line such as the Internet, or may be stored a non-transitory computer readable medium and distributed.

(59) Heretofore, preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the appended drawings, but the present invention is not limited thereto. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and alterations may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.