Specification
DESCRIPTION COMMUNICATION SYSTEM AND COMMUNICATING METHOD
Field
[0001] The present invention relates to a communication system having a plurality of communication devices, in which different priorities are set to frames to be transmitted depending on their types, and various frames are transmitted and transferred based on the priorities.
Background
[0002] FIG. 7 depicts operations of communication devices in a conventional communication system.
In a conventional route-searching method, when a communication device 2 searches for a communication route to another communication device 4 in an ad-hoc network, the communication device 2 transmits to its neighboring communication devices 1, 3, and 5, a route-search message addressed to the communication device 4. The communication device 4 having received the route-search message addressed to the communication device 4 itself transmits a route-search response message to the communication device 2 that is a transmission source. The communication devices 1, 3, and 5 having received the route-search message not addressed to the devices themselves transfer the received route-search message to their neighboring communication devices (communication devices 2 to 4 in the case of the communication device 5).
[0003] In this manner, the communication devices 1 and 3 to 5 having received the route-search message transmitted from the communication device 2 intend to transmit the route-search message or the route-search response message at the same timing, and therefore a frame (transmission data, message data) collision is likely to occur on a transmission medium (a radio communication line), which raises the possibility that the route-search response message transmitted from the coinmunication device 4 is not properly received by the destination communication device 2.
[0004] FIG. 8 depicts frame transmission timings of a conventional communication device.
According to the IEEE 802.lie wireless LAN standard, transmission timings of various frames are different depending on frame types. Furthermore, a random transmission waiting time provided to each communication device suppresses occurrence of a frame collision on a transmission medium.
[0005] In a media access method (IEEE 802.lie wireless LAN standard) that enables a communication terminal to access a communication medium according to CSMA/CA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Avoidance), a plurality of frame transmission intervals (inter-frame spaces (IFSs)) are defined thereby to perform preferential control of media accesses (wireless communication timings) depending on the types of frames.
According to the IEEE 802.lie, the IFSs defined therein include a short inter-frame space (SIFS) used for transmission of an Ack signal for a certain frame, a point coordination function inter-frame space (PIFS) used for transmission of a polling frame that is transmitted from an arbitrary access point to each terminal, a distributed coordination function inter-frame space (DIFS) used for transmission of a data frame, and an arbitration inter-frame space (AIFS) by which different frame spaces can be set depending on an access category (AC) corresponding to the frame's priority.
In this manner, the frame transmission intervals are differentiated depending on the frame types, and a higher-priority frame is transmitted at an earlier timing, thereby providing preferential control based on the types of frames to be transmitted.
[0006] As shown in FIG. 7, the communication terminals 1 and 3 to 5 having received the route-search message at the same time from the communication device 2 intend to transmit the route-search message (transfer) or the route-search response message (a next frame) substantially at the same time. To these communication terminals 1 and 3 to 5, different numbers of slot times within a contention window that is constituted by a plurality of the slot times set in advance are assigned for the route-search message (a data frame, a busy medium) transmitted from the communication device 2 after the DIFS or the AIFS has passed. Based on the slot times, a next frame to be transmitted from each communication terminal is transmitted. In this way, different numbers of the slot times are assigned to the respective communication terminals and thus different transmission waiting times are randomly provided to the respective communication terminals, which suppress multiple frame collisions caused because the plural communication terminals transmit the data frame at the same timing.
[0007] When a communication device (A) has transmitted a frame (A) based on the slot times assigned thereto and then the transmission of the frame (A) from the communication device (A) is not completed even after the slot times of another communication device (B) have passed, the communication device (B) refrains the transmission of a frame (B) intended to be transmitted. After the transmission of the frame (A) is completed, an arbitrary number of slot times within a next contention window set anew following the frame (A) is assigned to the communication device (B). [0008] According to a method of providing the contention window in the conventional technology, when the SIFS, the PIFS, or the DIFS is set to a busy medium as a frame previously transmitted, the corresponding contention window involves a long transmission waiting time, which means that there are provided many slot times.
When an i-priority AIFS is set to a previous busy medium, the corresponding contention window is shorter and involves less slot times than that in the case of the SIFS, the PIFS, or the DIFS. However, the slot times in the contention window corresponding to the SIFS, the PIFS, or the DIFS and the slot times in the contention window corresponding to the AIFS are provided in such a manner that some of the slot times in the both contention windows overlap with each other in timing, and therefore, on actual transmission of the next frame, a higher-priority frame may be transmitted later than a comparatively lower-priority frame that is to be transmitted after the AIFS,
[0009] When a j-priority AIFS is set to a previous busy medium, the corresponding contention window is much shorter and involves much less slot times than those in the case of the i^^-priority AIFS. However, the slot times in the contention window corresponding to the i^'^-priority AIFS and those corresponding to the j-priority AIFS are set in such a manner that some of the slot times in the both contention windows overlap with each other in timing, and therefore, on actual transmission of a next frame, a comparatively higher-priority frame may be transmitted later than a comparatively lower-priority frame that is to be transmitted after the j priority AIFS.
Citation List Non Patent Literature
[0010] Non Patent Literature 1: IEEE Standard 802,11 Summary
Technical Problem
[0011] As described above, the length of the contention window is set differently depending on priorities of frames, in which there is a problem that a higher-priority frame is not always transmitted preferentially because the contention windows set for frames with different priorities are provided to partially overlap with another one in timing.
[0012] The present invention has been achieved to solve the above problems and an object of the present invention is to obtain a communication system and a communicating method in which contention windows set for frames having different priorities do not overlap with one another in timing, thereby ensuring that a higher-priority frame is always transmitted preferentially.
Solution to Problem
In order to solve above-mentioned problems and achieve the object of the present invention, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication system comprising: a first communication terminal; a second communication terminal; and a third communication terminal, wherein the first communication terminal transmits message data addressed to the third communication terminal to a plurality of communication terminals, the second communication terminal receives the message data, confirms a destination of the received message data, and transfers the received message data to other communication devices when the confirmed destination is not the second communication terminal itself, the third communication terminal receives the message data, confirms the destination of the received message data, and transmits response data corresponding to the received message data to the first communication terminal that is a transmission source of the received message data when the confirmed destination is the third communication terminal itself, a priority for transmission of the response data is set higher than that of the transferred message data, and a period of time from reception of the message data until the transmission of the corresponding response data is shorter than a period of time from reception of the message data until transfer of the message data.
Advantageous Effects of Invention
[0014] According to the communication system of the present invention, the transfer of high-priority data can be carried out always earlier than the transfer of low-priority data.
Brief Description of Drawings
[0015] FIG. 1 depicts frame transmission timings in a communication device according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 depicts operations of communication devices in a communication system to which the present invention is applied.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of data transmitted by the communication devices in the communication system to which the present invention is applied.
FIG. 4 depicts frame transmission timings in a communication device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 depicts frame transmission timings in a communication device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 depicts frame transmission timings in a communication device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 depicts operations of communication devices in a conventional communication system.
FIG. 8 depicts frame transmission timings in the conventional communication system.
Description of Embodiments
[0016] Exemplary embodiments of a communication system and a communicating method according to the present invention will be explained below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention is not limited to the embodiments. [0017] First embodiment.
FIG. 1 depicts frame transmission timings in a communication device (a communication terminal) according to the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, when TO denotes a transmission interval to a next frame (an Ack frame, for example) corresponding to a busy medium (a previous frame), Tl denotes an (transmission time) interval until transmission of a next frame such as a route-search response message corresponding to the busy medium, CWlxTs denotes a contention window corresponding to a transmission waiting time for the next frame such as the route-search response message, T2 denotes an (transmission time) interval until transmission of a next frame such as a route-search message corresponding to the busy medium, CW2xTs denotes a contention window corresponding to a transmission waiting time for the next frame such as the route-search message, and Ts denotes each of a plurality of slot times constituting the contention windows, conditions of T0
Documents
Application Documents
| # |
Name |
Date |
| 1 |
6873-CHENP-2012 POWER OF ATTORNEY 06-08-2012.pdf |
2012-08-06 |
| 1 |
6873-CHENP-2012-AbandonedLetter.pdf |
2019-03-12 |
| 2 |
6873-CHENP-2012-FER.pdf |
2018-09-10 |
| 2 |
6873-CHENP-2012 FORM-5 06-08-2012.pdf |
2012-08-06 |
| 3 |
6873-CHENP-2012.pdf |
2012-08-08 |
| 3 |
6873-CHENP-2012 FORM-3 06-08-2012.pdf |
2012-08-06 |
| 4 |
6873-CHENP-2012 FORM-2 06-08-2012.pdf |
2012-08-06 |
| 4 |
6873-CHENP-2012 ABSTRACT 06-08-2012.pdf |
2012-08-06 |
| 5 |
6873-CHENP-2012 FORM-18 06-08-2012.pdf |
2012-08-06 |
| 5 |
6873-CHENP-2012 CLAIMS 06-08-2012.pdf |
2012-08-06 |
| 6 |
6873-CHENP-2012 FORM-1 06-08-2012.pdf |
2012-08-06 |
| 6 |
6873-CHENP-2012 CORRESPONDENCE OTHERS 06-08-2012.pdf |
2012-08-06 |
| 7 |
6873-CHENP-2012 ENGLISH TRANSLATION 06-08-2012.pdf |
2012-08-06 |
| 7 |
6873-CHENP-2012 DESCRIPTION (COMPLETE) 06-08-2012.pdf |
2012-08-06 |
| 8 |
6873-CHENP-2012 DRAWINGS 06-08-2012.pdf |
2012-08-06 |
| 9 |
6873-CHENP-2012 ENGLISH TRANSLATION 06-08-2012.pdf |
2012-08-06 |
| 9 |
6873-CHENP-2012 DESCRIPTION (COMPLETE) 06-08-2012.pdf |
2012-08-06 |
| 10 |
6873-CHENP-2012 CORRESPONDENCE OTHERS 06-08-2012.pdf |
2012-08-06 |
| 10 |
6873-CHENP-2012 FORM-1 06-08-2012.pdf |
2012-08-06 |
| 11 |
6873-CHENP-2012 FORM-18 06-08-2012.pdf |
2012-08-06 |
| 11 |
6873-CHENP-2012 CLAIMS 06-08-2012.pdf |
2012-08-06 |
| 12 |
6873-CHENP-2012 FORM-2 06-08-2012.pdf |
2012-08-06 |
| 12 |
6873-CHENP-2012 ABSTRACT 06-08-2012.pdf |
2012-08-06 |
| 13 |
6873-CHENP-2012.pdf |
2012-08-08 |
| 13 |
6873-CHENP-2012 FORM-3 06-08-2012.pdf |
2012-08-06 |
| 14 |
6873-CHENP-2012-FER.pdf |
2018-09-10 |
| 14 |
6873-CHENP-2012 FORM-5 06-08-2012.pdf |
2012-08-06 |
| 15 |
6873-CHENP-2012-AbandonedLetter.pdf |
2019-03-12 |
| 15 |
6873-CHENP-2012 POWER OF ATTORNEY 06-08-2012.pdf |
2012-08-06 |
Search Strategy