Patent Grant
8670404
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a technique for downloading identical information to plural mobile terminals, and particularly to an information downloading apparatus and a mobile terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the above-described technical field, broadcasting technology for realizing simultaneous transmissive communication with respect to all mobile terminals, or multicast technology for realizing simultaneous transmissive communication with respect to mobile terminals that belong to a predetermined group may be used, for example.
Referring back to
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-224648 relating to information downloading discloses a technique for creating a broadcast channel that is dedicated to broadcasting using a predetermined time slot from time slots provided for a control channel and a communication (message) channel, and transmitting broadcast data via this broadcast channel to thereby simultaneously transmit the broadcast data to plural mobile terminals.
However, in such prior art example, the time slots used for the information downloading implements a fixed signal format that is set beforehand. Thereby, the amount of information to be downloaded and the transmission time are likely to be restricted by the pre-set time slots. To transmit additional information that cannot be accommodated within a predetermined time slot, the information may be divided into different time slots of super frames and transmitted using each time slot assigned to the current group that appears in each super frame 14. The information may then be recombined at the reception side. However, in such case, additional processes are required for dividing and recombining the information. This is inconvenient for a mobile terminal, which is preferably configured to conserve energy consumption. Also, another problem is the fact that much time is required for all the information to be accumulated at the reception side.
Alternatively, instead of dividing and transmitting information in accordance with the format of the super frames, for example, weather forecast information that is originally intended to be transmitted using one time slot may be transmitted using two time slots (i.e., during the period from time t1 to time t3) so that the weather forecast information may be transmitted at once instead of having to be divided. However, in such case, the baseball information may not be transmitted at transmission time t2 as is originally intended (since the weather forecast information is being transmitted), and thereby, this information may not be transmitted until the next transmission time t2 of time slot 2 in the next super frame 14. Accordingly, when attempting to transmit more than the predetermined amount of information, the information downloading time for the current group or another group may be increased, and thereby, the efficient downloading may not always be realized.
It is also noted that information to be transmitted does not always require one time slot's worth of communication resources. However, even in the case of downloading information that does not reach the capacity of one time slot, since a pre-set fixed signal format is used, information resources are allotted in time slot units. Thus, efficient downloading may not always be obtained in regard to communication resource usage efficiency, for example.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to improve downloading efficiency of transmission data.
The present invention, according to one aspect, provides an information downloading apparatus that downloads differing sets of information to predetermined groups to which a mobile terminal may belong, the apparatus including:
a buffer configured to receive sets of transmission data addressed to the groups;
a scheduler configured to select from a plurality of information channels an information channel for transmitting a set of transmission data of the sets of transmission data received at the buffer, the selection being made so that the sets of transmission data with differing destination addresses are transmitted using differing information channels; and
a transmission unit for transmitting the set of transmission data using the selected information channel, the transmission unit being configured to transmit to each of the groups, through a control channel, information pertaining to whether a set of transmission data exists, the information channel to be used if the set of transmission data exists, and a data length of the set of transmission data, the control channel including a plurality of time slots that are associated with the groups.
The present invention, according to another aspect, provides an information downloading apparatus that downloads differing sets of information to predetermined groups to which a mobile terminal belongs, the apparatus including:
a buffer configured to receive sets of transmission data addressed to the groups;
a scheduler configured to determine a transmission timing for transmitting the sets of transmission data to the groups according to data length information of the sets of transmission data stored in the buffer; and
a transmission unit for transmitting the sets of transmission data through an information channel according to conditions set by the scheduler, the transmission unit being configured to transmit to each of the groups, through a control channel, information pertaining to whether a set of transmission data exists, a transmission timing for the set of transmission data if the set of transmission data exists, and a data length of the set of transmission data, the control channel including a plurality of time slots that are associated with the groups.
The present invention, according to another aspect, provides, an information downloading apparatus, including:
a control channel having a plurality of time slots; and
an information channel for downloading download information that is assigned to the time slots of the control channel;
wherein the time slots of the control channel include identification information for specifying the information channel that is to be used to download a set of download information.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the set of download information to be downloaded by the information channel may be transmitted after a predetermined offset time period elapses with respect to a corresponding time slot of the control channel.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, the identification information of the control channel may include information pertaining to a channel number and a data length.
The present invention, according to another aspect, provides an information downloading apparatus including:
a control channel having a plurality of time slots; and
an information channel for downloading download information that is assigned to the time slots of the control channel;
wherein the time slots of the control channel include identification information for specifying a download timing for downloading a set of download information.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, the identification information may include information pertaining to an offset time period with respect to a corresponding time slot of the control channel, the offset information being used to prevent overlapping of differing sets of download information.
The present invention, according to another aspect, provides an information downloading apparatus that downloads differing sets of information to predetermined groups to which a mobile terminal belongs, the apparatus including:
a channel selecting unit (scheduler) configured to select from a plurality of information channels an information channel for transmitting a set of transmission data, the selection being made so that sets of transmission data with differing destination addresses are transmitted through differing information channels; and
a transmission unit for transmitting the set of transmission data using the selected information channel, the transmission unit being configured to transmit to each of the groups, through a control channel, information pertaining to whether a set of transmission data exists, an information channel to be used if the set of transmission data exists, and a data length of the set of transmission data, the control channel including a plurality of time slots that are associated with the groups.
The present invention, according to another aspect, provides an information downloading apparatus that downloads differing sets of information to predetermined groups to which a mobile terminal belongs, the apparatus including:
a transmission timing determination unit (scheduler) configured to determine a transmission timing for transmitting sets of transmission data addressed to the groups according to data length information of the sets of transmission data;
a transmission unit for transmitting the sets of transmission data through an information channel according to conditions set by the transmission timing determination unit, the transmission unit being configured to transmit to each of the groups, through a control channel, information pertaining to whether a set of transmission data exists, a transmission timing of the set of transmission data if the transmission data exists, and a data length of the set of transmission data, the control channel including a plurality of time slots that are associated with the groups.
In the following, preferred embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is noted that, for the sake of convenience, the preferred embodiments of information downloading apparatuses illustrated below are described as being implemented in a base station apparatus that establishes wireless communication with a mobile terminal. However, the information downloading apparatus of the present invention is not limited to such an arrangement and may be implemented in a base station control apparatus that controls the base station, or some other superordinate apparatus of the base station, for example. Alternatively, at least a portion of the functions of the information downloading apparatus of the present invention may be implemented in the base station and/or a superordinate apparatus of the base station.
The buffer 302 may be coupled to an information channel 1 generating unit 314, an information channel 2 generating unit 316, or an information channel 3 generating unit 318 via a selector 312. The information channels correspond to communication resources that may be allotted using frequencies and spread codes, for example. In the present embodiment, predetermined channel numbers are used to identify the information channels; however, it is noted that the present invention is not limited to the use of channel numbers and any identification information that is capable of identifying an information channel may be used. The selector 312 uses a channel number from the scheduler 304 as well as timing information from the information channel timing generating unit 320 to conduct a selection operation. As is illustrated, the control channel generating unit 308, the selector 312, the information channel generating units 314, 316, and 318 for the information channels 1, 2, and 3, respectively, are comprehensively included in the transmission unit 306. That is, the output of the transmission unit 306 includes the output from the control channel generating unit 308, and the respective outputs from the information channel generating units 314, 316, and 318 for the information channels 1, 2, and 3. These outputs are output from an antenna (not shown) as a control channel and information channels, respectively.
In the following, the operation of the information downloading apparatus 300 is described. The buffer 302 receives transmission data that are transmitted as download information, and provides information pertaining to the amount of transmission data (buffer amount) for each multicast group to the scheduler 304. In turn, the scheduler 304 first determines whether download information exists for each group (information existence), and reports the determination result to the control channel generating unit 308. If it is determined that there is no download information for a given group, control data indicating the fact that no download data exist are generated at the control channel generating unit 308.
On the other hand, if it is determined that download information exists for a given group, the scheduler 304 selects from plural information channels one information channel that is suitable for downloading the corresponding information based on the data length of the transmission data. That is, after a predetermined period of time elapses from the end of the time slot (information channel) for the given group, an information channel that is capable of transmitting the download information is selected. In a case where there are plural information channels as candidates for conducting the transmission, the information channel with a smaller channel number may be selected in the present example. However, it is noted that this arrangement is not a prerequisite of the present invention and any of the any information channel suitable for the corresponding download information transmission may be used. Also, it is noted that in the present example, the predetermined period of time corresponds to a fixed offset time period that is set in the system beforehand. After the selection of the appropriate information channel, information pertaining to the selected information channel is conveyed to the control channel generating unit 308. In this way, information pertaining to the existence of transmission data, and in the case where the transmission data exist, the information channel to be used and the data length of the transmission data are transmitted to each group via a control channel.
The data length may correspond to an arbitrary value. The data length may be specified by the number of time slots as well as the number of bits, bytes, chips, and other forms of time units. In this way, large amounts of data may be consecutively downloaded. Also, precise resource allocation may be conducted with respect to small amounts of data that may not completely take up one slot.
Referring back to
In the following description, it is assumed that the correspondence between a time slot and a multicast group as indicated in
In the above example, if the scheduler 304 is configured to select an information channel with a smaller channel number in a case where plural usable information channels exist, the information channel 1 may be used instead of the information channel 3 to transmit the stock information. Also, it is noted that although the predetermined offset time period Td is illustrated as being equivalent to the time period of one time slot in the present embodiment, such an arrangement is not a prerequisite of the present invention, and any suitable time period may be set as the offset time period.
The units 508 and 510 are includes in an extraction unit 512, which is configured to extract control data other than data pertaining to the existence of download information. The output from the unit 510 concerned with the channel number is coupled to a switching unit 514 for switching to a channel designated by the unit 510 from among plural information channels. The output of the channel switching unit 514 is input to an information channel decoding unit 516 that is configured to output information data. The channel switching unit 514 and the information channel decoding unit 516 form a reception unit 518 for receiving the download information at the appropriate reception timing using the information channel designated by the control channel.
In the following, the operation of the mobile terminal 500 is described. The mobile terminal 500 receives control data for the multicast group to which it belongs through intermittent reception. Upon subscribing to a multicast group, the mobile terminal 500 acquires information pertaining to the time slot and the corresponding information thereof that it is to acquire. Using this information, the control channel timing generating unit 507 generates the reception timing for conducting the intermittent reception. A reception signal that is received from an antenna is demodulated by a demodulating circuit (not shown), and control data from a control channel are input to the control channel decoding unit 502, and decoded thereat. Then, the determination unit 504 determines whether download information exists. If it is determined that download information does not exist, this determination result is reported to the information channel generating unit 506, and the mobile terminal 500 waits for the arrival of the next set of control data. On the other hand, if it is determined that download information exists, the extraction unit 512 extracts additional information from the control data pertaining to the data length of the download information, and the information channel to be used for the information downloading (channel number). The information pertaining to the existence of the download information and the data length thereof are conveyed to the information channel generating unit 506. The information pertaining to the information channel to be used for the information downloading is conveyed from the extracting unit 512 to the channel switching unit 514 so that the channel may be set to the appropriate information channel. Then, the decoding unit 516 receives the download information based on the reception timing from the information channel generating unit 506, and decodes the received information to obtain information data.
For example, assuming that the mobile terminal 500 belongs to the group for news information, the mobile terminal 500 receives control data for time slot 0, decodes the data at the control channel decoding unit 502, and determines that download information exists at the determination unit 504. Thus, the extracting unit 512 extracts further information on the transmission data to determine that the data length of the transmission data is 20 ms, and the information channel 1 is to be used to conduct the information downloading. Then, the mobile terminal 500 receives the news information that is transmitted after the predetermined offset time period elapses from the end of the time slot 0 using the information channel 1.
According to the present embodiment, plural information channels are used to transmit download information. The information channel to be used for transmitting download information for a given group is conveyed to each group through a control channel. The manner in which the plural information channels are to be used may be suitably determined by the scheduler 304 within the information downloading apparatus 300 so that downloading efficiency may be improved.
It is noted that the embodiment described above is illustrated as having three information channels. However, the present invention is not limited to this arrangement, and any number of information channels that are defined by a frequency, a code, or a combination thereof, for example, may be used. Also, it is noted that although a common channel that may be shared by all users is conventionally used as the information channel, in some cases, a unique channel that is exclusively used by a single user may be used as well. That is, the information channel is concerned with appropriately transmitting download information, and thereby, the present invention may use a common channel or a unique channel, or use a unique channel when such channel is already established and use a common channel when a unique channel is not established. On the other hand, the control channel is concerned with controlling the intermittent operations of mobile terminals belonging to various groups, and thereby, a common channel shared by these mobile terminals and including time division time slots has to be used as the control channel.
According to the present embodiment, the offset may be changed with respect to each group in transmitting download information. The length (duration) of the offset is reported to each group through the control channel. Also, the offset may be suitably determined by the scheduler 304 within the information downloading apparatus 300 so that information downloading efficiency may be improved.
A third embodiment of the present invention generally corresponds to a combination of the features of the first embodiment and the second embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, in the present embodiment, plural information channels are used, and the offset is arranged to be variable. It is noted that the elements of the present embodiment that are identical to those of the first and/or second embodiment are assigned the same numerical references and descriptions thereof are omitted.
According to the present embodiment, plural information channels are used, and the offset may differ depending on each group upon transmitting download information. In this way, efficient information downloading may be realized, and information may be quickly downloaded while improving the usage efficiency of communication resources for the information channels. It is noted that in the first example, information may be quickly downloaded to each group but the usage efficiency of each individual information channel is low. In the second embodiment, the information channel usage efficiency is very high but the information downloading timing is delayed compared to the first embodiment. According to the present embodiment, a time directional offset and a frequency (or spread code) may be dynamically assigned according to the amount of transmission data that are stored in the buffer. Since the channel number of the information channel and the offset may be suitably adjusted in the present embodiment, the scheduler 1004 may be configured to select a suitable channel number and a suitable offset value for each downloading operation.
According to the present embodiment, features and advantages that are similar to those of the third embodiment are realized, and additionally, the control channel is divided into a main control channel and a sub control channel. For example, a conventional paging indicator channel (PICH) may be used as the main control channel for transmitting information pertaining to the existence of the transmission data, and an associated S-CCP channel may be used as the sub control channel for transmitting other information. Accordingly, in the present embodiment, conventional technology may be applied to achieve desired effects of the present invention with relative ease.
In the present embodiment, a scheduler 1504 determines whether download information exists, the offset, the channel number, and the data length of the download information as in the previously described embodiments. Then, information on the data length is supplied to an input on one side of an adder 1503. The input on the other side of the adder 1503 is coupled to an output of a buffer 302. This adder 1503 may attach the information pertaining to the data length as header information for the download information. The download information having the information pertaining to the data length attached thereto is conveyed to a suitable information channel generating unit through a selector 312, and is transmitted therefrom.
According to the present embodiment, the control channel generating unit of the transmission unit uses plural time slots that may temporally overlap to transmit information on the existence of download information, the information channel to be used if the download information exists, the transmission timing of transmission data, and the data length of the transmission data to plural groups. By providing plural control channels as in the present embodiment, the control data for plural groups may be transmitted in a parallel manner. The present embodiment may be particularly advantageous for systems in which a relatively large number of groups exist.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the scheduler may be configured to select an information channel from plural information channels and determine to conduct transmission of transmission data with the selected information channel so that transmission data with differing destinations may be transmitted through differing information channels. The transmission unit may be configured to transmit to each group, information pertaining to the existence of transmission data, the information channel to be used if the transmission data exist, and the data length of the transmission data through the control channel. The control channel includes plural time slots that are each associated with one of plural groups. Download information for the respective groups may be quickly downloaded through plural information channels so that the data downloading efficiency may be improved.
Also, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the scheduler may be configured to determine the transmission timing for transmitting the transmission data for each group based on the data length of the transmission data that is stored in the buffer. The transmission unit may be configured to transmit for each group, information pertaining to the existence of transmission data, the transmission timing if the transmission data exist, and the data length of the transmission data through the control channel. The transmission timing (start time and end time) may be determined according to a given data length, and thereby, data downloading efficiency may be improved.
An information downloading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention may be implemented in a base station that conducts wireless communication with a mobile terminal, or alternatively, the information downloading apparatus may be implemented in a superordinate apparatus that controls the base station, for example. The information downloading apparatus may be made up of one single apparatus, or plural apparatuses. For example, the scheduler (304, 704, 1004, 1504) and the transmission unit (306) may be provided in separate apparatuses. In other words, the information downloading apparatus of the present invention may be realized in any form so long as its characteristic features may ultimately be realized.
It is noted that preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above; however, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and variations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
This application corresponds to a U.S. continuation application filed under 35 USC 111(a) claiming benefit under 35 USC 120 and 365 (c) of PCT application JP2002/009725, filed on Sep. 20, 2002 and is related to and claims benefit of U.S. Ser. No. 11/020,629, filed Dec. 27, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,054,795, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
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