JP2009200864A - Communication testing device, method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

A processing procedure to be executed between a communication terminal and a wireless communication module for performing wireless communication can be efficiently verified.
A terminal-side communication processing unit virtually implements an interface function of a wireless communication module that is originally connected to a communication terminal. The connection request reception processing unit 12 notifies the communication terminal 20 of network identification information and receives a connection request. The address registration processing unit 13 associates the process of notifying the communication terminal 20 of the local IP address necessary for communication through the connection service network for which connection is requested, and the local IP address and the unique IP address of the communication terminal 20. The process of requesting the connection server 40 to register the address correspondence information 41 is executed. At this time, the server 40 is notified of one predetermined server communication IP address instead of the IP address notified to the communication terminal 20.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication test apparatus, method, and program for verifying processing when a communication terminal communicates through a wireless communication network, and in particular, provides a wireless connection service to a communication terminal through one or more wireless base stations. Processing for a communication terminal to communicate with an external IP network through a connection service network to be provided and a connection server for providing a connection service between one or more connection service networks and an external IP (Internet Protocol) network The present invention relates to a communication test apparatus, method, and program for verification.

  In recent years, WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) has attracted attention as a wireless communication standard for providing wireless broadband services. The WiMAX standard specification was formulated by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) 802.16 Committee, and this specification includes IEEE 802.16-intended for Fixed Wireless Access (FWA). Two types are defined: 2004 (fixed version WiMAX) and IEEE 802.16e (mobile WiMAX) using assumptions in a mobile unit. The WiMAX Forum, a non-profit organization, is promoting international standardization for network interconnection and product certification.

  According to the WiMAX technology, a communication terminal can access a wireless base station using microwaves and perform high-speed IP communication. Furthermore, in the mobile WiMAX, even when the communication terminal moves at a high speed, the IP communication can be used without interruption.

  In mobile WiMAX, a communication terminal provides an FA (Foreign Agent) in an ASN (Access Service Network) that aggregates a plurality of radio base stations that provide a radio access function, and provides an IP connection service through each ASN (Connectivity Service Network). IP communication is possible via the HA (Home Agent). Mobile WiMAX employs a protocol called MIP (Mobile-IP) as a procedure for communicating without interruption even when the IP address changes as the communication terminal moves. In Mobile WiMAX, CMIP (Client MIP) that has a function for IP address resolution at the time of terminal movement on the communication terminal side and PMIP (Proxy MIP) that has a similar function on the ASN side are provided. It is prescribed.

  As a technology related to communication by a wireless mobile terminal, an RF (Radio Frequency) signal from a base station is received and converted into a baseband signal, and based on propagation data in a radio wave propagation path to the base station and the wireless mobile terminal. There is a propagation environment simulation device that simulates a propagation environment to a virtual wireless mobile terminal by using a configuration in which a transmission signal is processed, converted into an RF signal, and output to the wireless mobile terminal (for example, a patent) Reference 1).

Also, it has a function of simulating a plurality of base stations surrounding the wireless mobile terminal by using the baseband transmission / reception unit of the common channel and the dedicated channel, and is exchanged between the base station controlled by this function and the wireless mobile terminal There has been a virtual field test apparatus that performs a virtual field test of a wireless mobile terminal by generating a radio signal according to a virtual radio wave propagation path environment (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
JP 2004-304302 A JP-A-2005-244690

  By the way, a typical communication terminal applied to mobile WiMAX is connected to a communication module having an RF and baseband processing function via a predetermined interface and performs wireless communication via the communication module. It consists of a host function to control. The software installed in the host function must control the communication module according to a procedure defined by the mobile WiMAX, and realize connection / disconnection to / from the WiMAX network. In addition, the communication module must be controlled in accordance with the procedure defined in the above-mentioned CMIP and PMIP in order to assign an IP address to be used at the time of communication or to resolve an IP address when the communication terminal moves.

  However, in the mobile WiMAX, the communication procedure between the ASN or CSN and the communication module is specified, but the interface between the communication module and the host function is not particularly specified, and differs depending on the specification of the communication terminal. . For this reason, in order to ensure that each communication terminal can reliably connect to the WiMAX network and communicate, it is necessary to sufficiently verify beforehand the control procedure of the communication module by the software of the host function.

  In order to verify the software of the host function, it can be said that an environment in which a wireless communication environment is actually prepared by connecting to a communication module and actually communicating with a communication partner via ASN or CSN is optimal. However, it is economically expensive to actually prepare all these devices. Also, until these devices are prepared, the verification of the host function software cannot be started, and the work efficiency is lowered.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and a communication test apparatus and method that enable a communication terminal to efficiently verify a processing procedure to be executed with a wireless communication module for performing wireless communication. And to provide a program.

  To achieve the above object, a connection service network that provides a wireless connection service to a communication terminal through one or more wireless base stations, and a connection service between the one or more connection service networks and an external IP network are provided. A communication test apparatus for verifying a process for the communication terminal to communicate with a communication partner device on the external IP network through the connection server. The communication test apparatus is a connection interface provided in the communication terminal and communicates with the connection interface for connecting the communication terminal to a wireless communication module for wireless connection to the wireless base station. A terminal-side communication processing unit, and network identification information for identifying the connection service network to which the communication terminal can be virtually connected to the communication terminal through the terminal-side communication processing unit in response to a user input operation. When a connection request is received at the connection request reception processing unit and the connection request reception processing unit that receives a connection request to the connection service network from the communication terminal through the terminal side communication processing unit, a connection is requested. Corresponding to the connection service network required for communication through the connection service network A process of notifying the communication terminal of the local IP address through the terminal-side communication processing unit, and registration of address correspondence information in which the local IP address and the unique IP address of the communication terminal are associated with each other. An address registration processing unit that executes a process requested to the connection server by the process, and after completion of the registration process of the address correspondence information, is transmitted from the communication counterpart device to the unique IP address of the communication terminal, When an IP packet received by proxy at the connection server and transferred to the local IP address registered in the address correspondence information by the connection server is received, transmission information to be transmitted from the received IP packet to the communication terminal is transmitted. Take out and transfer to the communication terminal through the terminal side communication processing unit Having an IP packet transfer processing unit. In addition, the address registration processing unit may use a virtual IP address that is a virtual address defined in advance in the connection service network requested to be connected as the local IP address to be notified to the communication terminal. As the local IP address used and notified to the connection server, one server communication IP address determined in advance for communication with the connection server is used.

  Here, the terminal-side communication processing unit communicates with a connection interface provided in the communication terminal. This connection interface is for a communication terminal to connect to a wireless communication module for wireless connection to a wireless base station. The connection request reception processing unit notifies the communication terminal of network identification information for identifying a connection service network to which the communication terminal can be virtually connected, through the terminal-side communication processing unit, according to a user input operation. The notified connection request to the connection service network is received from the communication terminal through the terminal side communication processing unit.

  When the connection request is received by the connection request reception processing unit, the address registration processing unit executes processing for enabling the communication terminal to communicate through the connection service network. That is, the address registration processing unit notifies the communication terminal of a local IP address corresponding to the connection service network, which is necessary for communication through the connection service network for which connection is requested, through the terminal side communication processing unit. Then, a process of requesting the connection server to register address correspondence information in which the local IP address is associated with the unique IP address of the communication terminal is executed by an IP packet. Further, in the above processing, the address registration processing unit uses a virtual IP address that is a virtual address previously defined in the connection service network to which connection is requested as the local IP address notified to the communication terminal. To do. On the other hand, as the local IP address notified to the connection server, one server communication IP address determined in advance for communication with the connection server is used.

  The IP packet transfer processing unit, after completing the registration process of the address correspondence information by the address registration processing unit, transmits the IP packet transmitted from the communication partner device to the unique IP address of the communication terminal via the connection server that has received the proxy. Receive. At this time, the IP packet received by the connection server is transferred to the IP packet transfer processing unit as a packet addressed to the local IP address registered in the address correspondence information. The IP packet transfer processing unit extracts transmission information to be transmitted to the communication terminal from the received IP packet, and transfers it to the communication terminal through the terminal side communication processing unit.

  According to the above communication test apparatus, the processing procedure to be executed between the communication terminal and the wireless communication module in order to perform wireless communication with the communication partner device on the external network can be efficiently verified without performing wireless communication. it can.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[Outline of communication test equipment]
FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an outline of a communication test apparatus according to an embodiment.

  The communication test apparatus 10 illustrated in FIG. 1 is an apparatus for verifying processing for the communication terminal 20 to communicate with a communication counterpart device 31 connected to the external IP network 30. The connection server 40 is a server for providing a connection service with the external IP network 30 to a network under the connection server 40.

  The communication terminal 20 to be tested by the communication test apparatus 10 originally connects to one or more wireless connection service networks under the connection server 40 by wireless, so that the external IP network is connected through the connection server 40. IP communication with a communication counterpart device 31 on the network 30. Here, one or more wireless base stations that provide wireless access means to the communication terminal 20 are connected to each wireless connection service network.

  In order for the communication terminal 20 to be able to perform IP communication with the communication counterpart device 31, the following procedure is required. First, the communication terminal 20 is registered in a predetermined device (for example, the wireless base station) on the connection service network to which the wireless base station belongs through a wireless base station that can be wirelessly connected. Next, the address correspondence information 41 in which the local IP address corresponding to the connection service network and the unique IP address of the communication terminal 20 are associated is registered in the connection server 40 through the connection service network.

  When the above procedure is normally completed, IP communication can be performed between the communication terminal 20 and the communication partner device 31. For example, when an IP packet destined for the unique IP address of the communication terminal 20 is transmitted from the communication partner device 31, the IP packet is received by proxy in the connection server 40. The connection server 40 refers to the address correspondence information 41, generates an IP packet destined for the local IP address corresponding to the unique IP address, and transmits the IP packet to the relay device between the connection service network.

  For example, the relay device converts the destination of the received IP packet into a unique IP address, transmits the IP packet to the connection service network, and transmits the IP packet to the communication terminal 20 through the radio base station. Alternatively, the relay device assigns a predetermined IP address (may be a local IP address) to the communication terminal 20 from its own side as an IP address for communication with the communication terminal, and transmits an IP packet to this IP address. May be.

  Further, by executing such a procedure, even when the communication terminal 20 moves to a different connection service network, it becomes possible to continue IP communication with the communication counterpart device 31. For example, when the communication terminal 20 moves to a different connection service network, the address correspondence information 41 is re-registered with respect to the connection server 40 using a new local IP address corresponding to the destination connection service network. Thereby, when an IP packet addressed to the unique IP address of the communication terminal 20 is transmitted from the communication counterpart device 31, the connection server 40 can transfer the IP packet to the connection service network to which the communication terminal 20 is moved. It becomes like this.

In addition, as an example of the network service having such specifications, mobile WiMAX described later can be applied.
The communication test apparatus 10 of FIG. 1 virtually realizes the functions of the wireless base station and the relay device on the connection service network and the wireless communication module connected to the communication terminal 20 among the above configurations, The communication terminal 20 can verify the process for communicating with the communication partner device 31. However, at this time, the communication terminal 20 does not actually perform wireless communication (that is, does not use a wireless communication module), and virtually realizes a transmission / reception procedure of information necessary for the wireless communication processing. , Make it easy to test.

As shown in FIG. 1, the communication test apparatus 10 includes a terminal-side communication processing unit 11, a connection request reception processing unit 12, an address registration processing unit 13, and an IP packet transfer processing unit 14.
The terminal-side communication processing unit 11 performs transmission / reception of data (referred to as communication data) necessary for communication with the communication partner device 31 with the communication terminal 20 according to a predetermined communication procedure. This communication procedure is defined in the communication terminal 20 in order to transmit / receive communication data to / from a wireless communication module for wireless connection to a wireless base station.

  By using such a terminal-side communication processing unit 11, the communication terminal 20 and the communication test apparatus 10 (specifically, the connection request reception processing unit 12 can be used without performing wireless communication with the communication terminal 20 through the wireless communication module. Communication data can be exchanged between the address registration processing unit 13 and the IP packet transfer processing unit 14).

  The connection request reception processing unit 12 notifies the communication terminal 20 of network identification information for identifying a connection service network to which the communication terminal 20 can be virtually connected through the terminal-side communication processing unit 11 in accordance with a user input operation. . The notified connection service network connection request is received from the communication terminal 20 through the terminal-side communication processing unit 11. Note that the network identification information corresponds to, for example, NAP (Network Access Provider), NSP (Network Service Provider) defined by mobile WiMAX.

  The connection request reception processing unit 12 virtually realizes the process of registering the communication terminal 20 itself in a predetermined device (for example, a radio base station) on the connection service network.

  When the connection request reception processing unit 12 receives a connection request, the address registration processing unit 13 executes processing for enabling the communication terminal 20 to communicate through the connection service network. Specifically, a process of notifying the communication terminal 20 of a local IP address corresponding to the connection service network, which is necessary for communication through the connection service network for which connection is requested, through the terminal-side communication processing unit 11; Processing for requesting the connection server 40 to register the address correspondence information 41 in which the local IP address and the unique IP address of the communication terminal 20 are associated with each other is executed by an IP packet.

  Here, in the communication test apparatus 10, the IP communication between the connection service network and the communication terminal 20 is not actually performed. For this reason, the local IP address notified to the communication terminal 20 side by the address registration processing unit 13 is a virtual IP address. Hereinafter, this IP address is referred to as a “virtual IP address”.

  On the other hand, IP communication can be performed between the communication test apparatus 10 and the connection server 40. At this time, if communication is performed using a virtual IP address defined for each connection service network, when the communication terminal 20 moves between different connection service networks, the virtual IP address to be used must also be different. Don't be. If such a process is realized between one communication test apparatus 10 and the connection server 40, the process becomes complicated.

  Therefore, the address registration processing unit 13 uses a virtual IP address defined in advance in the connection service network to which connection is requested as the local IP address to be notified to the communication terminal 20. The local IP address notified to the connection server 40 for registering the address correspondence information 41 is one IP address determined in advance for communication with the connection server 40 (hereinafter referred to as server communication IP address). Is used. Thereby, while simplifying the communication process between the communication test apparatus 10 and the connection server 40, the process when the communication terminal 20 moves between different connection service networks can be virtually realized.

  The IP packet transfer processing unit 14 performs a process of relaying an IP packet transmitted / received between the communication terminal 20 and the communication partner device 31 after the registration process of the address correspondence information 41 by the address registration processing unit 13 is completed. As an example, when an IP packet is transmitted from the communication partner device 31 to the unique IP address of the communication terminal, the IP packet is received via the connection server that received the proxy. At this time, the IP packet received by the connection server 40 is transferred to the IP packet transfer processing unit 14 as a packet addressed to the local IP address (that is, the server communication IP address) registered in the address correspondence information 41. This IP packet is, for example, an IP packet addressed to a local IP address obtained by encapsulating a header of an IP packet addressed to a unique IP address. The IP packet transfer processing unit 14 extracts transmission information to be transmitted to the communication terminal 20 from the received IP packet by performing decapsulation, for example, and transfers the information to the communication terminal 20 through the terminal side communication processing unit 11.

  According to the communication test apparatus 10 described above, a series of information necessary for communication with the communication partner device 31 is transmitted in a state in which the communication terminal 20 is directly connected to the communication terminal 20 through, for example, a wired communication interface without requiring actual wireless communication. It is possible to verify whether or not the communication terminal 20 operates in a normal procedure at that time by reproducing the procedure in a pseudo manner. Further, in the communication between the communication test apparatus 10 and the connection server 40, only one IP address is assigned to the communication test apparatus 10, so that these communication processes can be simplified. Therefore, the test procedure can be simplified and the cost required for the test can be reduced.

  Next, a specific example of the communication test apparatus will be described. Here, a case where the above-described communication test apparatus is applied to a network system to which mobile WiMAX is applied will be described. Before describing the communication test apparatus, an outline of such a network system will be described first.

[System configuration of WiMAX network]
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a general system configuration of the WiMAX network.
As shown in FIG. 2, in a WiMAX network system, a communication terminal (MN: Mobile Node) 100 is connected to an external IP network 310 such as the Internet or another carrier network through an ASN (ASN 200a, 200b in the figure) and a CSN 300. It communicates with a connected counterpart device (CN: Correspondent Node) 320.

  The ASN is a network that provides a radio access function to the communication terminal 100, and includes a plurality of radio base stations (BS) and an ASN gateway connected thereto. In FIG. 2, the ASN 200a is provided with three BSs 211 to 213, and the ASN 200b is also provided with three BSs 221 to 223. Further, since the functions of the ASN gateway 230 provided in each of the ASNs 200a and 200b are the same, the same reference numerals are given here. The ASN gateway 230 is a device that relays between the BS and the CSN 300 within the same ASN, and includes an FA 231, an AAA (Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting) proxy 232, a PMIP (Proxy MIP) client 233, and a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration). Protocol) Each function of the proxy 234 is provided.

  The CSN 300 is a network that provides an IP connection service to the communication terminal 100 through its subordinate ASN, and includes the functions of the HA 301, AAA server 302, and DHCP server 303. Among these, HA 301 is a home address (HoA: Home of Address) used by communication terminal 100 in a home link (network to which communication terminal 100 originally belongs) and a care-of address used in an external link (destination network of communication terminal 100). It holds binding information (Binding Cashe Entry) in association with (CoA: Care of Address). The HA 301 allocates an IP packet to the destination network of the communication terminal 100 based on this binding information. When the FA 231 of the ASN gateway 230 detects the communication terminal 100 that has moved within the ASN area to which the ASN gateway 230 belongs, the FA 231 relays the location registration for the HA 301 of the CSN 300 from the communication terminal 100.

  In mobile WiMAX, MIP is employed as a communication protocol corresponding to the change of the IP address accompanying the movement of the communication terminal 100 as described above. In mobile WiMAX, CMIP having a function for IP address resolution at the time of terminal movement on the communication terminal 100 side and PMIP having a similar function on the ASN side are defined. In CMIP, an MIP client function is provided on the communication terminal 100 side. On the other hand, in PMIP, a DHCP client function is provided on the communication terminal 100 side, and a PMIP client function is provided on the ASN side. This communication protocol is defined in a document “IP Mobility Support for IPv4” issued in August 2002 from RFC (Request For Comment) 3344 of IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force).

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating functions of the communication terminal.
The communication terminal 100 has a configuration in which communication modules for realizing wireless communication are connected via a predetermined interface. In the example of FIG. 3, this communication module is represented as a WiMAX device 150, and USB (Universal Serial Bus) is used as an example for an interface with the communication terminal 100. The communication terminal 100 side functions as a USB host, and the WiMAX device 150 side functions as a USB device. In addition, as other examples of such an interface, a card bus (Cardbus), a PCI (Peripheral Components Interconnect) bus, etc. are applicable.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a communication terminal 100 includes an OS (Operating System) 101, a device driver 102 for operating a device such as a USB interface, and a USB host processing unit for executing communication processing as a USB host. 103 functions are provided. In addition, as software executed on the OS 101, a WiMAX network connection agent 104 that is software for connecting to and communicating with a WiMAX network, an MIP client 105 and a DHCP client 106 for supporting IP address resolution when a terminal moves, An application 107 that requires IP communication is provided.

  The WiMAX device 150 includes an RF processing unit 151 for wireless communication, a baseband PHY (Physical layer) / MAC (Media Access Control) processing unit 152, and USB device processing for executing communication processing as a USB device. Part 153.

  In this communication terminal 100, when IP communication is required when the application 107 is executed, the communication terminal 100 is connected to the WiMAX network through the WiMAX device 150 according to the processing procedure generated by the WiMAX network connection agent 104, and communicates with the communication partner device 320. Communication takes place. At this time, various kinds of information necessary for communication with the WiMAX network are transferred between the communication terminal 100 and the WiMAX device 150 through the USB cable according to the USB communication procedure.

  In order for such communication terminal 100 to be able to communicate through the WiMAX network, a two-step procedure of connection / registration of communication terminal 100 to the network provided by the BS and location registration of communication terminal 100 to HA is necessary. It becomes. The communication terminal 100 is wirelessly connected to the BS by the former procedure, and an IP address is assigned to the communication terminal 100 by the latter procedure, and communication with the communication counterpart device 320 existing in the external IP network 310 is possible. It becomes a state.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a connection / registration procedure of a communication terminal with respect to the WiMAX network.
For details on the connection procedure to the WiMAX network, refer to the document “WiMAX End-to-End Network Systems Architecture (Stage 2: Architecture Tenets, Reference Model and Reference Points), Release 1.1. 0 ”. Here, the connection procedure will be schematically described with reference to FIG. Note that the interface between the communication terminal and the WiMAX device connected thereto is not standardized, and the procedure for exchanging information between them is arbitrarily determined according to the specifications of the communication terminal and the WiMAX device.

  According to the above document, four steps of “NAP Discovery”, “NSP Discovery”, “NSP Selection”, and “ASN Attachment” are defined as a procedure for the communication terminal 100 to connect to the WiMAX network. When connecting to the WiMAX network, the communication terminal 100 first scans a message called DL-MAP advertised from the BS (IEEE 802.16 MAC message), and identifies ID information identifying each NAP and NSP contained therein. To get. Note that NAP refers to a provider that provides a radio access line for the communication terminal 100 and manages base stations and ASN gateways. NSP refers to a provider that provides an IP connection service to the communication terminal 100 and manages the CSN.

  In the example of FIG. 4, the WiMAX device 150 detects DL-MAP from the two BSs 211 and 212, passes each ID information of NAP and NSP to the communication terminal 100, and notifies that the network has been detected. is doing. The above procedures are “NAP Discovery” and “NSP Discovery” (step S11).

  The communication terminal 100 that has received the NAP and NSP determines whether to connect to the detected network or which network to select as the connection destination according to the policy. This procedure is “NSP Selection” (step S12). If it is determined to connect to any one of the networks, a process for requesting registration of the terminal is executed with respect to the BS (BS 211 in this example) corresponding to the network. This procedure is “ASN Attachment” (step S13).

  Receiving the request for terminal registration, the BS 211 registers information on the requesting communication terminal 100 and outputs a response signal to the WiMAX device 150 (step S14). As a result, wireless communication is possible between the communication terminal 100 and the BS 211, and then the communication terminal 100 performs location registration processing for the HA 301 through the BS 211. As will be described with reference to the next figure, the location registration processing is processing for registering the binding information between the HoA and CoA for the communication terminal 100 in the HA 301 through the FA 231 of the ASN gateway 230. HoA is a fixed IP address assigned from the HA 301. CoA is a local IP address distributed in the movement destination network, and is commonly used under one ASN.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing a communication procedure when a communication terminal is handed over. Hereinafter, the location registration processing for the HA and the flow of the IP packet at the time of handover will be briefly described by taking CMIP as an example with reference to FIG.

  In the initial state of FIG. 5, it is assumed that the communication terminal 100 exists within the network area of the BS 211 under the control of the ASN 200a. At this time, the HoA of the communication terminal 100 and the CoA corresponding to the ASN 200a are registered in the HA 301 as binding information. When the HA 301 receives a packet transmitted from the communication partner device 320 to the HoA of the communication terminal 100, the HA 301 encapsulates the IP header, extracts the CoA by referring to the binding information, and extracts the encapsulated information from the CoA. The packet is transferred to the FA 231 of the ASN 200a as an IP packet as a destination. The FA 231 of the ASN 200a decapsulates the received packet, extracts a packet addressed to HoA, and transfers it to the communication terminal 100 via the BS 211 as an IP packet addressed to HoA. In FIG. 5, the flow of the IP packet as described above is represented as a dotted arrow L1.

  Next, it is assumed that the communication terminal 100 has moved under the ASN 200b. At this time, the communication terminal 100 scans the DL-MAP advertised from the BS under the ASN 200b in accordance with the procedure described in FIG. 4, and detects a connectable network. In this example, a network with BS 221 is selected, and communication terminal 100 is registered with BS 221.

  Next, location registration processing for the HA 301 is executed. In the case of CMIP, first, an agent advertisement (Agent Advertisement) is transmitted from the FA 231 of the ASN 200b to the communication terminal 100 via the BS 221. This agent advertisement includes a CoA corresponding to the ASN 200b. In FIG. 5, the flow of agent advertisement at this time is shown as a solid line arrow L2.

  The communication terminal 100 acquires the CoA from the received agent advertisement, transmits a location registration message (Registration Request) using this CoA and its own HoA to the HA 301 of the CSN 300 via the FA 231 of the ASN 200b, and performs location registration. Request. The HA 301 performs location registration processing, that is, updates binding information in response to a request. In FIG. 5, the flow of the location registration message at this time is shown as a solid line arrow L3.

  After the update of the binding information is completed and a response is made from the HA 301 to the communication terminal 100, the IP packet addressed to the HoA of the communication terminal 100 from the communication counterpart device 320 is encapsulated by the HA 301 and updated. The packet is forwarded to the FA 231 of the ASN 200b as an IP packet destined for CoA. The FA 231 of the ASN 200b decapsulates the received packet, extracts an IP packet addressed to the HoA, and transfers it to the communication terminal 100 via the BS 221 as an IP packet destined for the HoA.

  When an IP packet addressed to the communication partner device 320 is transmitted from the communication terminal 100, the FA 231 of the ASN 200b that receives the packet performs encapsulation and transmits it to the HA 301 of the CSN 300. The HA 301 performs decapsulation of the received IP packet and transmits the extracted IP packet to the communication counterpart device 320. In FIG. 5, the flow of IP packets transmitted and received as described above is represented as a dotted arrow L4.

  With the above procedure, the communication terminal 100 can always perform IP communication with the communication partner using the HoA even when moving to another network. That is, in order to enable handover of the communication terminal 100, binding information between the CoA and the HoA needs to be registered in the HA 301. As a result, transmission / reception of IP packets to / from the communication terminal 100 is all performed via the HA 301, and the HA 301 distributes IP packets to the destination network of the communication terminal 100 with reference to the registered binding information. become.

[Specific configuration example of communication test equipment]
Next, the communication test apparatus (WiMAX test apparatus) according to the embodiment will be described in detail.

  FIG. 6 is a system configuration diagram including the WiMAX test apparatus according to the embodiment. In FIG. 6, blocks corresponding to those in FIG. 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.

  The WiMAX test apparatus 400 illustrated in FIG. 6 emulates the above-described ASN function, and does not use an actual wireless environment (that is, without using the WiMAX device 150 for wireless communication). This enables testing of WiMAX communication processing with the HA.

  The WiMAX test apparatus 400 has a function of communicating through a connection interface with respect to the WiMAX device 150 provided in the communication terminal 100 so that the test can be performed without using a wireless environment. Here, following the example of FIG. 3, the WiMAX test apparatus 400 includes a USB device processing unit 401 for functioning as a USB device with the communication terminal 100 as a USB host. WiMAX test apparatus 400 is connected to communication terminal 100 through a USB cable.

  Further, the WiMAX test apparatus 400 has a function of performing IP communication with the CSN HA in order to realize the ASN function. In the example of FIG. 6, the WiMAX test apparatus 400 includes an Ethernet I / F processing unit 402 that performs communication processing according to Ethernet (registered trademark). The WiMAX test apparatus 400 uses a LAN (Local Area Network) cable. Via the CSN. Here, as the CSN of the connection partner via the LAN cable, a server that realizes the HA function in an actual WiMAX network may be used, but the CSN 300a shown in FIG. 6 virtually realizes the HA function. It is assumed that this is a test server device that includes an HA processing unit 351 and a communication partner side processing unit 352 that virtually realizes processing on the communication partner side.

  In the present embodiment, it is assumed that, for example, “1.0.0.1” is assigned in advance to the Ethernet I / F in the WiMAX test apparatus 400 as the IP address used for communication. Since this IP address is an IP address that is actually used during communication between the WiMAX test apparatus 400 and the CSN 300a, in the following description, this IP address will be referred to as the “real IP address”.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the WiMAX test apparatus.
The WiMAX test apparatus 400 is realized, for example, as a PC (personal computer) as shown in FIG. The PC includes a CPU 411, a RAM 412, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 413, a graphic processing unit 414, an input interface 415, a USB interface 416, and an Ethernet interface 417, which are connected to each other via a bus 418. .

  The CPU 411 controls the entire PC. The RAM 412 temporarily stores at least part of a program to be executed by the CPU 411 and various data necessary for processing by the program. The HDD 413 stores an OS (Operating System), application programs, and various data.

  A monitor 414 a is connected to the graphic processing unit 414. The graphic processing unit 414 displays an image on the screen of the monitor 414a in accordance with a command from the CPU 411. For example, input devices such as a keyboard 415a and a mouse 415b are connected to the input interface 415. The input interface 415 transmits a signal from the input device to the CPU 411 via the bus 418.

  The USB interface 416 is a communication module for transmitting and receiving signals through a USB cable in accordance with the USB standard. The Ethernet interface 417 is a communication module for transmitting and receiving signals through a LAN cable according to the Ethernet standard. In the present embodiment, the USB interface 416 is connected to the communication terminal 100 via a USB cable, and the Ethernet interface 417 is connected to the CSN 300a via a LAN cable.

  In the PC configured as described above, a program for realizing the function as the WiMAX test apparatus 400 is stored in, for example, the HDD 413. Then, the function of the WiMAX test apparatus 400 is realized by executing this program by the CPU 411. Note that the functions of the WiMAX test apparatus 400 are not limited to the PC having such a configuration, and can be realized by various information processing apparatuses. Further, part or all of this function may be realized by dedicated hardware.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of functions provided in the WiMAX test apparatus.
The WiMAX test apparatus 400 includes a command control unit 421, a terminal connection control unit 422, an FA processing unit 423, an IP packet transfer unit 424, a terminal interface processing unit 425, and an HA interface processing unit 426. These functional blocks are realized by the CPU 411 executing a predetermined program. In addition, the BS management table 430 is stored in the storage device (for example, the HDD 413) of the WiMAX test apparatus 400.

  In the BS management table 430, information on BS virtually defined by the WiMAX test apparatus 400 is registered. Further, the BS management table 430 manages the connection state of the communication terminal 100 to the network under the BS. The BS management table 430 will be described in detail later with reference to FIG.

  The command control unit 421 receives a control command for controlling the state of the WiMAX communication test in accordance with a user operation input. For example, the communication terminal 100 receives a control command for controlling the connection state when connecting to a network under the BS, and updates the BS management table 430 according to the control command. At this time, you may make it notify directly to the terminal connection control part 422 that the connection state changed.

  The terminal connection control unit 422 emulates a processing procedure executed between the WiMAX device 150 and the BS and between the BS and the FA when the communication terminal 100 connects to the WiMAX network. Emulates processing at the WiMAX device 150 and BS. For example, a communication process with the communication terminal 100 when the communication terminal 100 connects to a network under the BS, a relay process of a control message when the communication terminal 100 registers a location in the HA after the connection is completed, and the like are emulated.

The FA processing unit 423 emulates FA processing. For example, the above location registration control message and IP packet relay processing are emulated.
The IP packet transfer unit 424 emulates an IP packet transfer process between the communication terminal 100 and the FA after the location registration to the HA is completed.

  The terminal interface processing unit 425 transmits / receives signals to / from the communication terminal 100 through a connection interface for connecting to the WiMAX device 150, and between the communication terminal 100, the terminal connection control unit 422, and the IP packet transfer unit 424. To relay information. As described above, USB is adopted as this connection interface in this embodiment, and the terminal interface processing unit 425 has a processing function for functioning as a USB device (that is, the USB device processing unit 401 shown in FIG. 6). Function).

  The HA interface processing unit 426 is a processing function for connecting to the CSN 300a and communicating with the HA processing unit 351, and corresponds to the Ethernet interface processing unit 402 shown in FIG.

  In the WiMAX test apparatus 400, the terminal connection control unit 422 and the IP packet transfer unit 424 mainly implement the BS function of wirelessly communicating with the communication terminal 100 and relaying information between the FA. However, since the terminal interface processing unit 425 can directly communicate with the communication terminal 100 by wire through the connection interface for the WiMAX device 150 included in the communication terminal 100, both the function of the WiMAX device 150 and the wireless communication function of the BS are omitted. ing. For this reason, it is possible to verify whether the software installed in the communication terminal 100 can normally execute WiMAX communication without preparing an actual wireless communication environment with the BS.

Next, FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a data configuration example of the BS management table.
As shown in FIG. 9, a plurality of BSs identified by “BS numbers” can be virtually defined in the BS management table 430. In the following description, the BS with the BS number n is referred to as “BS # n”.

  In the BS management table 430, NAP-ID, NSP-ID, virtual CoA, and state information are registered for each BS. The NAP-ID and NSP-ID are information for identifying a provider that provides a network under each BS. The virtual CoA indicates a CoA virtually allocated to the communication terminal 100 connected to the network under each BS.

  When a plurality of NAP-IDs and NSP-IDs are notified, the communication terminal 20 can recognize that wireless networks provided by different BSs exist if the NAP-IDs are different. Further, if the NSP-ID is different, it can be recognized that the network is from the BS in a different ASN. In the example of FIG. 9, since the NAP-ID and NSP-ID for all BSs are different, BSs installed by different operators are registered. Also, different virtual CoAs are set for each BS, and in this case, a network under one BS can be regarded as one ASN in the WiMAX network system.

  The status information indicates that the test target communication terminal 100 exists in the network area under each BS as “range”, and indicates that the test terminal 100 does not exist as “out of range”. This state information is appropriately set from the command control unit 421 in accordance with a user input operation.

  The command control unit 421 accepts a control command corresponding to a “BS in-range instruction”, “BS out-of-area instruction”, “handover instruction”, or the like in accordance with a user input operation. Then, the state information of the BS management table 430 is set according to these control commands.

  The “BS range indication” is a control command for requesting a transition to a state in which the communication terminal 100 has moved within the network range under the designated BS. Upon receiving this control command, the command control unit 421 sets the status information corresponding to the designated BS number to “inside”.

  The “BS out-of-range instruction” is a control command for requesting a transition from the network area under the designated BS to the outside of the network area. Upon receiving this control command, the command control unit 421 sets the status information corresponding to the designated BS number to “out of service”.

  The “handover instruction” is a control command for requesting a transition from a network area under a designated BS to a state in which the communication terminal 100 has moved to a network area under another BS. When this control command is received, the command control unit 421 sets the status information corresponding to the BS number of the BS to be moved to “range”, and sets the status information corresponding to the BS number of the BS before moving to “out of range”. Set to "".

  The terminal connection control unit 422 starts connection processing between the communication terminal 100 and the WiMAX network when the state information in the BS management table 430 is changed according to these control commands. That is, according to the WiMAX test apparatus 400, it is possible to virtually reproduce the state in which the communication terminal 100 is moved into a desired ASN range by a user input operation, and the WiMAX device 150 at the time of the state transition is reproduced. By emulating the operations from A to FA, it is possible to verify the processing to be executed by the communication terminal 100 at the time of state transition.

  As described above, the WiMAX standard does not particularly define the connection interface standard between the communication terminal 100 and the WiMAX device 150 (wireless communication module) and the transmission / reception procedure thereof. In the WiMAX test apparatus 400, instead of omitting the wireless communication function of the WiMAX device 150, the interface function between the communication terminal 100 and the BS provided in the WiMAX device 150 is realized by the terminal interface processing unit 425. The

  Specifically, the USB standard is applied as a general-purpose communication interface standard included in the communication terminal 100 to connect to the WiMAX device 150. That is, the terminal interface processing unit 425 of the WiMAX test apparatus 400 has a lower layer interface function for functioning as a USB device when the communication terminal 20 is a USB host.

  Further, between the communication terminal 100 and the WiMAX device 150, information (communication information) necessary for the communication terminal 100 to communicate with the communication partner device 320 is mutually interpreted between the communication terminal 100 and the WiMAX device 150. The communication processing procedure for delivery is determined. In other words, the terminal interface processing unit 425 of the WiMAX test apparatus 400 also has an upper layer interface function for passing such communication information to and from the communication terminal 100 above the lower layer interface by USB. Yes. Further, in this higher layer interface function, the communication information received from the communication terminal 100 is converted into information that can be interpreted by the terminal connection control unit 422 and the IP packet transfer unit 424, and transmitted to them, and the terminal connection control unit The communication information transmitted from the 422 and the IP packet transfer unit 424 must be converted into information interpretable by the communication terminal 100 and transmitted to the communication terminal 100 side.

  In the terminal interface processing unit 425, “network monitoring instruction”, “network detection notification”, “terminal registration request”, “IP packet transmission”, as an example of an information transfer procedure defined in such an interface function (particularly, an upper layer interface function). Each interface of “IP packet reception” is defined.

  The network monitoring instruction interface defines a process for instructing the WiMAX device 150 from the communication terminal 100 to start the network monitoring process. When the terminal interface processing unit 425 receives a network monitoring process start request from the communication terminal 100 according to this interface, the terminal interface processing unit 425 requests the terminal connection control unit 422 to detect a connectable network.

  The network detection notification interface defines a process for notifying the communication terminal 100 from the WiMAX device 150 that a network has been detected. Upon receiving notification of network detection from the terminal connection control unit 422, the terminal interface processing unit 425 notifies the communication terminal 100 that the network has been detected according to this interface.

  The terminal registration request interface stipulates processing for requesting the WiMAX device 150 from the communication terminal 100 to register a terminal with a desired BS after network detection. When the terminal interface processing unit 425 receives a registration request for the designated BS from the communication terminal 100 according to this interface, the terminal interface processing unit 425 requests the terminal connection control unit 422 to register the terminal with the BS.

  The IP packet transmission interface defines a process for requesting the WiMAX device 150 from the communication terminal 100 to transmit an IP packet. When the terminal interface processing unit 425 receives information (IP data) to be transmitted as an IP packet from the communication terminal 100 according to this interface, the terminal interface processing unit 425 transfers the IP data to the terminal connection control unit 422 or the IP packet transfer unit 424. Requests the FA or HA to transmit as an IP packet.

  The IP packet reception interface defines a process for notifying the communication terminal 100 of reception of an IP packet from the WiMAX device 150. When the terminal interface processing unit 425 receives IP data in the IP packet transmitted from the FA or HA to the communication terminal 100 from the terminal connection control unit 422 or the IP packet transfer unit 424 according to this interface, the IP data Is transferred to the communication terminal 100.

  Of the above-described interfaces, the “network monitoring instruction”, “network detection notification”, and “terminal registration request” interfaces are used for information transmission / reception processing between the WiMAX device 150 and the BS using an IEEE 802.16 MAC message. It corresponds. Each interface of “IP packet transmission” and “IP packet reception” corresponds to information transmission / reception processing by the IP packet between the WiMAX device 150 and the BS.

Next, processing in each unit of the WiMAX test apparatus 400 will be described. First, FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a processing sequence when a communication terminal connects to a WiMAX network.
As described above, when the communication terminal 100 communicates through the WiMAX network, the communication terminal 100 is first registered with the BS. In the WiMAX test apparatus 400, such terminal registration processing for the BS is virtually realized by the terminal connection control unit 422. The terminal connection control unit 422 displays such a registration state as “not connected” when the communication terminal 100 is not connected, “monitoring” when monitoring a connectable network, It is managed as “registration” when registration is completed.

  The terminal connection control unit 422 prepares a scenario (processing procedure) for connection with the communication terminal 100 in advance, receives reception information from the communication terminal 100 via the terminal interface processing unit 425, and changes the status according to the information. Make a transition. Then, an appropriate response is returned as necessary. A virtual BS defined in the BS management table 430 is prepared as a BS that can be connected to the communication terminal 100.

  FIG. 10 shows a processing procedure until the communication terminal 100 normally registers with the BS. In the initial state, the communication terminal 100 is in an “unconnected” state where it is not registered in any BS. At this time, the status information of all BSs defined in the BS management table 430 is “out of service” (step S101).

  From this state, when information instructing network monitoring is transmitted from the communication terminal 100 to the terminal interface processing unit 425 in accordance with the network monitoring instruction interface described above (step S102), the terminal interface processing unit 425 receives the received information. And instructs the terminal connection control unit 422 to monitor the network (step S103). Receiving this instruction, the terminal connection control unit 422 changes the registration state to the “monitoring” state and monitors the state information in the BS management table 430 (step S104). Note that the state in step S104 corresponds to the state in which the WiMAX device 150 is scanning the DL-MAP message from the BS.

  In this state, when a control command corresponding to the “BS # 1 in-range instruction” is supplied to the command control unit 421 in response to a user input operation, the command control unit 421 accesses the BS management table 430. (Step S105), the status information corresponding to BS # 1 in the BS management table 430 is updated to “in-range” (Step S106).

  When detecting the update of the state information, the terminal connection control unit 422 notifies the terminal interface processing unit 425 that the network under BS # 1 has been detected according to the above-described network detection notification interface (step S107). At this time, the NAP-ID and NSP-ID corresponding to BS # 1 are read from the BS management table 430 and transmitted to the terminal interface processing unit 425.

  The terminal interface processing unit 425 interprets the reception information from the terminal connection control unit 422 and notifies the communication terminal 100 that the network under BS # 1 has been detected, and the NAP-ID and NSP-ID. (Step S108). The communication terminal 100 holds the received NAP-ID and NSP-ID.

  In the example of FIG. 10, the user's input operation further requests that the status information of BS # 2 in the BS management table 430 be “range”, and in response to this request, the processing procedure similar to the above is performed. The communication terminal 100 is notified that the network under BS # 2 has been detected. The processes at this time are steps S109 to S112 in the figure, and correspond to the above steps S105 to S108, respectively, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted here. In these processes, the status information corresponding to BS # 2 in the BS management table 430 is updated to “range”, and the NAP-ID and NSP-ID corresponding to BS # 2 are read from the BS management table 430. Then, the communication terminal 100 is notified.

  The communication terminal 100 selects a desired one from the detected networks according to its own policy. Here, as an example, it is assumed that the priority of the network provider corresponding to BS # 2 is high. For example, this corresponds to a case where the user of the communication terminal 100 has a contract with a network provider that manages BS # 2. In this case, if normal processing is performed in the communication terminal 100, the communication terminal 100 requests the terminal interface processing unit 425 to perform terminal registration for the BS # 2 in accordance with the above-described terminal registration request interface (step S113).

  The terminal interface processing unit 425 interprets the received information, and requests the terminal connection control unit 422 to register a terminal for BS # 2 (step S114). In response to this request, the terminal connection control unit 422 shifts the registration state to the “registration” state for BS # 2 (step S115).

Next, FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a processing sequence for assigning an IP address to a communication terminal operated by PMIP.
In PMIP, the function of registering the location in the HA and receiving the IP address assignment is provided on the ASN side, not on the communication terminal 100 side. In order to perform IP communication, the communication terminal 100 receives supply of an IP address used for communication from the ASN side by the function of the DHCP client 106. In the WiMAX test apparatus 400, the location registration function for the HA included in the ASN and the DHCP server function for the communication terminal 100 are emulated by the terminal connection control unit 422 and the FA processing unit 423.

  In the initial state of FIG. 11, terminal registration is performed for BS # 2 by the procedure of FIG. 10 described above (step S201). When the terminal registration is completed, the PMIP-operated communication terminal 100 transmits a DHCP request message (DHCP Request) according to the above-described IP packet transmission interface, and requests acquisition of an IP address (step S202). The terminal interface processing unit 425 interprets the information received from the communication terminal 100 and transfers a DHCP request message to the terminal connection control unit 422 (step S203).

  Upon receiving the DHCP request message, the terminal connection control unit 422 generates a location registration message (MIP Registration Request) for requesting location registration from the HA. At this time, the real IP address (1.0.0.1) previously assigned for communication through the Ethernet interface 417 is set as the CoA address stored in the location registration message (step S204). Then, the IP packet storing such a location registration message is transmitted to the FA processing unit 423 (step S205). At this time, the terminal connection control unit 422 enters a standby state for a response to the location registration message.

  The FA processing unit 423 transmits the IP packet from the terminal connection control unit 422 to the CSN 300a through the HA interface processing unit 426 (not shown) (step S206). In the CSN 300a, the HA processing unit 351 receives the location registration message in the IP packet, and the HA processing unit 351 registers the binding information between the HoA and CoA (here, the real IP address) of the communication terminal 100 (step S207). . When the registration is completed, a location registration response message (MIP Registration Reply) is transmitted to the WiMAX test apparatus 400 (step S208).

  When receiving the location registration response message through the HA interface processing unit 426 (not shown), the FA processing unit 423 transfers this message to the terminal connection control unit 422 (step S209). The terminal connection control unit 422 that has received the location registration response message reads out the virtual CoA corresponding to BS # 2 from the BS management table 430, and stores the DHCP CoA of BS # 2 in accordance with the IP packet reception interface described above. (DHCP ACK) is generated (step S210). Then, this DHCP response message is transmitted to the terminal interface processing unit 425 (step S211).

  The terminal interface processing unit 425 interprets the reception information from the terminal connection control unit 422, extracts the DHCP response message, and transmits it to the communication terminal 100 (step S212). As a result, the communication terminal 100 can communicate with the BS # 2 using the received virtual CoA as its own IP address. Then, an MIP connection (MIP tunnel) is established between the FA processing unit 423 and the HA processing unit 351.

  By the way, the communication terminal 100 that has been assigned an IP address by the above procedure treats this IP address as its own IP address. In the IP packet transmission / reception test using the WiMAX test apparatus 400, the IP packet using the assigned IP address is transmitted between the communication terminal 100 and the IP packet transfer unit 424 of the WiMAX test apparatus 400 as described above. The packet is delivered in a procedure according to the IP packet transmission interface and the IP packet reception interface. Thereby, IP packet transmission / reception processing between the communication terminal 100 and the BS (and FA) is virtually realized.

  Hereinafter, the processing at the time of the IP packet transmission test from the communication terminal 100 to the communication terminal 100 will be described using FIG. 12, and the processing at the time of the IP packet transmission test from the communication partner to the communication terminal 100 will be described using FIG. Here, instead of the actual communication partner, the communication partner side processing unit 352 virtually implements the operation on the communication partner side.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a processing sequence for IP packet transmission from a communication terminal operated by PMIP to a communication partner.
The communication terminal 100 transmits IP data to be transmitted to the communication partner to the WiMAX test apparatus 400 according to the above-described IP packet transmission interface (step S251). The terminal interface processing unit 425 of the WiMAX test apparatus 400 interprets information received from the communication terminal 100 to extract IP data, transfers the IP data to the IP packet transfer unit 424, and requests transmission to the communication partner. (Step S252).

  The IP packet transfer unit 424 that has received the IP data transmission request extracts the IP data from the received information from the terminal interface processing unit 425 and converts it into an IP packet destined for the communication partner (step S253). Then, the IP packet is transferred to the FA processing unit 423 to request transmission to the communication partner (step S254).

  The FA processing unit 423 that has received the transmission request encapsulates the IP header of the IP packet, and generates an IP packet addressed to the HA that stores the encapsulated data (step S255). Then, the IP packet is transmitted to the CSN 300a via the HA interface processing unit 426 (not shown) (step S256).

  The HA processing unit 351 of the CSN 300a decapsulates the IP packet from the WiMAX test apparatus 400, and regenerates the IP packet destined for the communication partner (step S257). Then, the IP packet is transferred to the communication partner processing unit 352 (step S258).

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a processing sequence for a communication terminal operated by PMIP to receive an IP packet from a communication partner.
When an IP packet destined for the HoA of the communication terminal 100 is transmitted from the communication partner processing unit 352 (step S271), the HA processing unit 351 receives this IP packet by proxy according to the mobile IP specification. Then, the IP header of the received IP packet is encapsulated, and based on the binding information, an IP packet destined for the FA addressed to CoA (here, the real IP address) (that is, addressed to the WiMAX test apparatus 400) is generated (step) S272), and transmits to the WiMAX test apparatus 400 (step S273).

  The FA processing unit 423 of the WiMAX test apparatus 400 decapsulates the IP packet from the CSN 300a, regenerates the IP packet addressed to the communication terminal 100 (step S274), and delivers it to the IP packet transfer unit 424 ( Step S275). The IP packet transfer unit 424 extracts the IP data from the received IP packet, and changes the IP data to the transmission data for the terminal interface processing unit 425 according to the above-described IP packet reception interface (step S276). Then, the transmission data is transferred to the terminal interface processing unit 425 to request transmission to the communication terminal 100 (step S277). The terminal interface processing unit 425 extracts IP data from the reception information from the IP packet transfer unit 424, and transmits it to the communication terminal 100 as reception data from the communication partner (step S278).

  In the case of the above PMIP, when the communication terminal 100 is handed over to a different BS according to the network detection procedure shown in FIG. 10, after the terminal registration for the BS is executed, the processing shown in FIG. Will be re-executed. In this procedure, virtual CoAs corresponding to different BSs are read from the BS management table 430 and assigned to the communication terminal 100. However, in the communication process between the terminal connection control unit 422 and the CSN 300a side, the same real IP address that has been set in advance is used, so the same process as in FIG. 11 is performed. In this case, the HA processing unit 351 performs binding information registration processing using exactly the same HoA and CoA (real IP address).

  As described above, in the communication processing between the WiMAX test apparatus 400 and the CSN 300a side, communication is always performed using the same real IP address, so that only one WiMAX test apparatus 400 can be used to connect the communication terminal 100 to a plurality of networks. A processing procedure when one of the (ASN) is connected can be virtually realized. That is, it is not necessary to prepare the WiMAX test apparatus 400 individually for each virtually connected network. Further, it is not necessary to connect the WiMAX test apparatus 400 and the CSN 300a using different IP addresses for each network, and the communication processing procedure between the WiMAX test apparatus 400 and the CSN 300a can be simplified.

Next, FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a processing sequence for assigning an IP address to a communication terminal operated by CMIP.
After the terminal registration process to the BS shown in FIG. 10, the communication terminal 100 operated by CMIP uses the MIP client 105 to register the IP address (CoA) corresponding to the connected network with the HA (MIP registration). ) Needs to be performed. In an actual WiMAX network, such an operation is started when an agent advertisement message (Agent Advertisement) is transmitted from the BS to the communication terminal 100 after terminal registration is completed. In the WiMAX test apparatus 400, this operation is started under the control of the terminal connection control unit 422 that detects the completion of terminal registration.

  In the initial state of FIG. 14, terminal registration is performed for BS # 2 by the procedure of FIG. 10 described above (step S301). The terminal connection control unit 422 that has detected the terminal registration reads out the virtual CoA corresponding to BS # 2 from the BS management table 430 as the CoA corresponding to the connected ASN, and creates an agent advertisement message in which this virtual CoA is set. (Step S302). Then, according to the above-described IP packet reception interface, the agent advertisement message is delivered to the terminal interface processing unit 425, and a transmission to the communication terminal 100 is requested (step S303). The terminal interface processing unit 425 extracts the agent advertisement message from the reception information from the terminal connection control unit 422 and transmits it to the communication terminal 100 (step S304).

  The communication terminal 100 that has received the agent advertisement message generates a location registration message (MIP Registration Request) in which the advertised virtual CoA and its HoA are set, and transmits this message to the WiMAX test apparatus 400 in accordance with the IP transmission interface described above. To request transfer to the HA (step S305). The terminal interface processing unit 425 interprets the information received from the communication terminal 100, extracts the location registration message, transfers it to the terminal connection control unit 422, and requests transmission to the HA (step S306).

  The terminal connection control unit 422 changes the CoA (here, virtual CoA) in the received location registration message to a real IP address (step S307). Then, an IP packet storing the changed location registration message is generated and transferred to the FA processing unit 423 (step S308). The FA processing unit 423 transmits the received IP packet to the CSN 300a through the HA interface processing unit 426 (not shown) (step S309).

  Upon receiving the location registration message from the WiMAX test apparatus 400, the HA processing unit 351 of the CSN 300a registers the binding information between the HoA and CoA (here, the actual IP address) set in the message (step S310). When the registration is completed, a location registration response message (MIP Registration Reply) is transmitted to the WiMAX test apparatus 400 (step S311).

  When receiving the location registration response message through the HA interface processing unit 426 (not shown), the FA processing unit 423 transfers this message to the terminal connection control unit 422 (step S312). The terminal connection control unit 422 that has received the location registration response message transmits the location registration response message to the terminal interface processing unit 425 according to the above-described IP packet reception interface, and requests transmission to the communication terminal 100 (step S313). . The terminal interface processing unit 425 interprets the reception information from the terminal connection control unit 422, extracts the location registration response message, and transmits it to the communication terminal 100 (step S314). With the above processing, the location registration operation to the HA is completed, and the communication terminal 100 becomes ready to communicate with the BS using the HoA. Further, an MIP connection (MIP tunnel) is established between the FA processing unit 423 and the HA processing unit 351.

  In the case of CMIP, the procedure of IP communication between the communication terminal 100 and the communication partner after the completion of the location registration is that the HoA is used instead of the virtual CoA as the IP address of the communication terminal 100 itself. The procedure is the same as for PMIP. However, since communication using an IP address is not actually performed between the communication terminal 100 and the WiMAX test apparatus 400, the IP address of the communication terminal 100 itself does not need to be delivered during the test. . That is, even in the case of CMIP, the procedure of IP communication between the communication terminal 100 and the communication partner after the location registration is completed can be the same as the procedure shown in FIGS.

FIGS. 15 to 16 are diagrams showing a processing sequence for assigning an IP address when a communication terminal operated by CMIP is handed over.
FIGS. 15 to 16 illustrate processing when handover is performed from BS # 2 to BS # 3 as an example. In the initial state, the communication terminal 100 is registered with BS # 2 (step S351), and the communication terminal 100 holds a virtual CoA corresponding to BS # 2 as a CoA.

  In this state, when a control command corresponding to the “handover instruction” from BS # 2 to BS # 3 is supplied to the command control unit 421 in accordance with a user input operation, the command control unit 421 The management table 430 is accessed (step S352), the status information corresponding to BS # 2 in the BS management table 430 is updated to “out of range”, and the status information corresponding to BS # 3 is updated to “range” (step) S353).

  When the terminal connection control unit 422 detects such an update of the state information, the terminal connection control unit 422 transitions the registration state of the terminal to the “registration state” in BS # 3 (step S354). The handover instruction from the command control unit 421 may be directly transferred to the terminal connection control unit 422 so that the terminal connection control unit 422 updates the BS management table 430.

  Thereafter, according to the same procedure as steps S302 to S314 in FIG. 14, the IP address is assigned to the communication terminal 100 (location registration to the HA). That is, the terminal connection control unit 422 that has detected the terminal registration for BS # 3 reads the virtual CoA corresponding to BS # 3 from the BS management table 430, and creates an agent advertisement message in which this virtual CoA is set (step S355). . Then, the agent advertisement message is transmitted to the communication terminal 100 via the terminal interface processing unit 425 (steps S356 and S357).

  In the communication terminal 100 that has received the agent advertisement message, a location registration message in which the advertised virtual CoA and its own HoA are set is generated, and this location registration message is transmitted to the terminal connection control unit via the terminal interface processing unit 425. It is transmitted to 422 (steps S358 and S359). The terminal connection control unit 422 changes the virtual CoA in the received location registration message to a real IP address (step S360), and delivers the IP packet storing the changed location registration message to the FA processing unit 423 (step S361). ). The FA processing unit 423 transmits the received IP packet to the CSN 300a (step S362), and in the CSN 300a that has received the IP packet, the HA processing unit 351 registers the binding information between the HoA of the communication terminal 100 and the real IP address ( Step S363). The information registered at this time is the same information as when the location was registered through BS # 2 before the handover instruction.

  When registration is completed, a location registration response message is transmitted from the HA processing unit 351 to the WiMAX test apparatus 400 (step S364). In the WiMAX test apparatus 400 that has received this message, the FA processing unit 423, the terminal connection control unit The location registration message is transferred to the communication terminal 100 via 422 and the terminal interface processing unit 425 (steps S365 to S367). Thereby, the location registration operation to the HA is completed, and the communication terminal 100 can perform WiMAX communication with the communication partner using the virtual CoA of BS # 3 as the CoA.

  In the above-described location registration in the case of CMIP, an agent advertisement message is transmitted to the communication terminal 100 in response to the update of the status information in the BS management table 430 according to the user's operation input. To register the location for the HA. That is, it is possible to verify whether or not the communication terminal 100 operates normally as an MIP client.

  In addition, in the location registration operation (and the subsequent IP communication operation with the communication partner), the WiMAX test apparatus is configured by the address conversion function of the terminal connection control unit 422, although the address used by the communication terminal 100 as the CoA is different. 400 always communicates with the CSN 300a using the same real IP address. For this reason, by using only one WiMAX test apparatus 400, the processing procedure when the communication terminal 100 moves between a plurality of networks (ASN) can be virtually realized. That is, it is not necessary to prepare the WiMAX test apparatus 400 individually for each virtually moved network. Further, it is not necessary to connect the WiMAX test apparatus 400 and the CSN 300a using different IP addresses for each network, and the communication processing procedure between the WiMAX test apparatus 400 and the CSN 300a can be simplified.

  10 to 16 described above show processing procedures when the communication terminal 100 is able to communicate normally through the WiMAX network at each test stage. However, in the WiMAX test apparatus 400, the terminal connection control unit 422, the FA processing unit 423, the IP packet transfer unit 424, and the like can execute a processing procedure at the time of abnormality determined in advance at each stage. For example, in each unit, an error response is made when information is received from the communication terminal 100 side. It is also possible to verify whether or not the communication terminal 100 can normally detect an error when an error occurs by executing such an abnormal processing procedure according to a user input operation.

  Further, the processing functions provided in the WiMAX test apparatus 400 can be realized by a computer. In that case, a program describing the processing contents of the processing functions that the WiMAX test apparatus 400 should have is provided. And the said processing function is implement | achieved on a computer by running the program with a computer. The program describing the processing contents can be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. Examples of the computer-readable recording medium include a magnetic recording device, an optical disk, a magneto-optical recording medium, and a semiconductor memory.

  When the program is distributed, for example, a portable recording medium such as an optical disk on which the program is recorded is sold. It is also possible to store the program in a storage device of a server computer and transfer the program from the server computer to another computer via a network.

  The computer that executes the program stores, for example, the program recorded on the portable recording medium or the program transferred from the server computer in its own storage device. Then, the computer reads the program from its own storage device and executes processing according to the program. The computer can also read the program directly from the portable recording medium and execute processing according to the program. Further, each time the program is transferred from the server computer, the computer can sequentially execute processing according to the received program.

(Supplementary Note 1) A connection service network that provides a wireless connection service to a communication terminal through one or more wireless base stations, and a connection service between the one or more connection service networks and an external IP (Internet Protocol) network In the communication test apparatus for verifying the process for the communication terminal to communicate with the communication counterpart device on the external IP network through the connection server
A terminal-side communication processing unit that communicates with the connection interface for connecting the communication terminal to a wireless communication module for wireless connection to the wireless base station, which is a connection interface provided in the communication terminal When,
In response to a user input operation, network identification information for identifying the connection service network to which the communication terminal is virtually connectable is notified to the communication terminal through the terminal-side communication processing unit, and A connection request reception processing unit that receives a connection request from the communication terminal through the terminal side communication processing unit;
When a connection request is received by the connection request reception processing unit, a local IP address corresponding to the connection service network necessary for communication through the connection service network for which connection is requested is given to the communication terminal. And a process of requesting the connection server to register address correspondence information in which the local IP address and the unique IP address of the communication terminal are associated with each other are executed. An address registration processing unit;
After the registration process of the address correspondence information is completed, it is transmitted from the communication counterpart device to the unique IP address of the communication terminal, received by proxy at the connection server, and registered in the address correspondence information by the connection server When an IP packet transferred to the local IP address is received, transmission information to be transmitted to the communication terminal is extracted from the received IP packet, and transferred to the communication terminal through the terminal-side communication processing unit A processing unit;
Have
The address registration processing unit uses, as the local IP address notified to the communication terminal, a virtual IP address that is a virtual address previously defined in the connection service network requested to be connected. The communication test apparatus uses one server communication IP address determined in advance for communication with the connection server as the local IP address to be notified to the connection server.

(Supplementary Note 2) The address registration processing unit
When a connection request is received in the connection request reception processing unit, the virtual IP address is notified to the communication terminal through the terminal side communication processing unit as the local IP address corresponding to the connection service network for which connection is requested. And
After the notification of the virtual IP address, when receiving registration request information for registering the virtual IP address and the unique IP address as the address correspondence information from the communication terminal through the terminal-side communication processing unit, The registration request information obtained by converting a virtual IP address into the server communication IP address is stored in an IP packet and transmitted to the connection server.
The communication test apparatus according to supplementary note 1, wherein:

(Supplementary Note 3) The address registration processing unit
State information indicating whether or not the communication terminal can be connected to the connection service network corresponding to each of the network identification information and the virtual IP address defined for each connection service network. It is possible to refer to the held connection management table,
The connection management table updated when the connection service network in which the communication terminal is connectable is changed according to a user input operation and the connection management table is updated according to the change. The terminal-side communication processing unit reads out the virtual IP address corresponding to the connection service network that has newly become connectable, and uses the virtual IP address as the local IP address corresponding to the connection service network. Through the communication terminal,
After the notification of the virtual IP address, when registration request information for registering the virtual IP address and the unique IP address as the address correspondence information is newly received from the communication terminal through the terminal-side communication processing unit, The registration request information obtained by converting the virtual IP address converted into the server communication IP address is stored in an IP packet and transmitted to the connection server.
The communication test apparatus according to Supplementary Note 2, wherein

(Supplementary Note 4) The address registration processing unit
When an address request for requesting notification of the local IP address is received from the communication terminal through the terminal-side communication processing unit after the connection request is received in the connection request reception processing unit, the unique IP address and the local IP address Registration request information for registering the server communication IP address as an address as the address correspondence information is stored in an IP packet and transmitted to the connection server,
When response information for the registration request information is received from the connection server, the virtual IP address corresponding to the connection service network requested for connection from the communication terminal is changed to the local IP address for communication with the connection service network. As a notification to the communication terminal through the terminal side communication processing unit,
The communication test apparatus according to supplementary note 1, wherein:

(Supplementary Note 5) The connection request reception processing unit
A connection management table in which state information indicating whether or not the communication terminal is connectable to the connection service network corresponding to each of the network identification information is held in association with the network identification information. Can be referenced,
When the state information is set so that the communication terminal can be connected to a plurality of the connection service networks according to a user input operation, the connection service network that is in a connectable state To each of the network identification information corresponding to the communication terminal through the terminal side communication processing unit,
The address registration processing unit
When a connection request is transmitted from the communication terminal to the connection request reception processing unit to the connection service network corresponding to any one of the network identification information notified by the connection request reception processing unit. Performing communication processing of the local IP address corresponding to the connection service network requested to be connected to the communication terminal, and registration processing of the address correspondence information including the local IP address with respect to the connection server.
The communication test apparatus according to any one of Supplementary Notes 1, 2, and 4, wherein:

  (Supplementary Note 6) When the connection request reception processing unit receives a monitoring request for the connection service network connectable from the communication terminal through the terminal side communication processing unit, the connection request reception processing unit refers to the state information in the connection management table, and connects The communication test apparatus according to appendix 5, wherein the network identification information corresponding to the connection service network in a possible state is notified to the communication terminal through the terminal-side communication processing unit.

  (Supplementary Note 7) In the network identification information, in addition to the first identification information for identifying the connection service network, second identification information for identifying the plurality of connection service network groups connected to the connection server is included. The communication test apparatus according to appendix 5 or 6, wherein the connection management table includes network identification information and status information that can be set for each radio base station.

  (Supplementary Note 8) The IP packet transfer processing unit transmits an IP packet addressed to the unique IP address of the communication terminal from the communication counterpart device, and the IP packet is received by proxy at the connection server. When the IP packet addressed to the IP address for server communication encapsulated in the header of the IP packet is generated and transmitted, the transmitted IP packet is received, and the encapsulated IP packet is decapsulated and decapsulated. 8. The communication test apparatus according to any one of appendices 1 to 7, wherein the transmission information is extracted from an IP packet and transferred through the terminal-side communication processing unit.

(Supplementary Note 9) A connection service network that provides a wireless connection service to a communication terminal through one or more wireless base stations, and a connection server that provides a connection service between the one or more connection service networks and an external IP network In the communication test method in the communication test apparatus for verifying the process for the communication terminal to communicate with the communication partner device on the external IP network,
The communication test apparatus is a connection interface provided in the communication terminal and communicates with the connection interface for connecting the communication terminal to a wireless communication module for wireless connection to the wireless base station. A terminal-side communication processing unit
The connection request reception processing unit notifies the communication terminal of network identification information for identifying the connection service network to which the communication terminal is virtually connectable through the terminal side communication processing unit in response to a user input operation. Then, a connection request receiving step for receiving a connection request to the connection service network from the communication terminal through the terminal side communication processing unit,
When a connection request is received in the connection request reception processing unit, the address registration processing unit assigns a local IP address corresponding to the connection service network, which is necessary for communication through the connection service network for which connection is requested, to the communication Request for registration of address correspondence information in which a process of notifying a terminal through the terminal-side communication processing unit and the local IP address and the unique IP address of the communication terminal are associated with each other by an IP packet. An address registration step for executing the processing to be performed;
After the registration processing of the address correspondence information is completed, an IP packet transfer processing unit is transmitted from the communication counterpart device to the unique IP address of the communication terminal, and is proxy-received at the connection server. When an IP packet transferred to the local IP address registered in the address correspondence information is received, transmission information to be transmitted to the communication terminal is extracted from the received IP packet, and the terminal side communication process is performed on the communication terminal An IP packet transfer step for transferring through a section;
Including
In the address registration step, as the local IP address to be notified to the communication terminal, a virtual IP address that is a virtual address previously defined in the connection service network requested to be connected is used. As the local IP address notified to the connection server, one server communication IP address determined in advance for communication with the connection server is used.

(Supplementary Note 10) A connection service network that provides a wireless connection service to a communication terminal through one or more wireless base stations, and a connection server that provides a connection service between the one or more connection service networks and an external IP network In the communication test program for verifying the process for the communication terminal to communicate with the communication partner device on the external IP network,
Computer
A terminal-side communication processing unit that communicates with the connection interface for connecting the communication terminal to a wireless communication module for wireless connection to the wireless base station, which is a connection interface provided in the communication terminal ,
In response to a user input operation, network identification information for identifying the connection service network to which the communication terminal is virtually connectable is notified to the communication terminal through the terminal-side communication processing unit, and A connection request reception processing unit that receives a connection request from the communication terminal through the terminal-side communication processing unit;
When a connection request is received by the connection request reception processing unit, a local IP address corresponding to the connection service network necessary for communication through the connection service network for which connection is requested is given to the communication terminal. And a process of requesting the connection server to register address correspondence information in which the local IP address and the unique IP address of the communication terminal are associated with each other are executed. Address registration processing section,
After the registration process of the address correspondence information is completed, it is transmitted from the communication counterpart device to the unique IP address of the communication terminal, received by proxy at the connection server, and registered in the address correspondence information by the connection server When an IP packet transferred to the local IP address is received, transmission information to be transmitted to the communication terminal is extracted from the received IP packet, and transferred to the communication terminal through the terminal-side communication processing unit Processing section,
Function as
The address registration processing unit uses, as the local IP address notified to the communication terminal, a virtual IP address that is a virtual address previously defined in the connection service network requested to be connected. The communication test program uses one server communication IP address determined in advance for communication with the connection server as the local IP address to be notified to the connection server.

It is a figure for demonstrating the outline | summary of the communication test apparatus which concerns on embodiment. 1 is a diagram illustrating a general system configuration of a WiMAX network. It is a block diagram which shows the function with which a communication terminal is provided. It is a figure which shows the procedure of the connection / registration of the communication terminal with respect to a WiMAX network. It is a figure which shows roughly the communication procedure in case a communication terminal hands over. 1 is a system configuration diagram including a WiMAX test apparatus according to an embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the hardware structural example of a WiMAX test apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the function with which a WiMAX test apparatus is provided. It is a figure which shows the data structural example of BS management table. It is a figure which shows the processing sequence at the time of a communication terminal connecting to a WiMAX network. It is a figure which shows the process sequence for allocation of the IP address to the communication terminal operate | used by PMIP. It is a figure which shows the process sequence for the IP packet transmission from the communication terminal operated by PMIP to a communicating party. It is a figure which shows the processing sequence for the communication terminal operated by PMIP to receive the IP packet from a communicating party. It is a figure which shows the process sequence for allocation of the IP address to the communication terminal operate | used with CMIP. FIG. 10 is a diagram (No. 1) illustrating a processing sequence for assigning an IP address when a communication terminal operated by CMIP performs handover. FIG. 10 is a diagram (No. 2) illustrating a processing sequence for assigning an IP address when a communication terminal operated by CMIP performs handover.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Communication test apparatus 11 Terminal side communication processing part 12 Connection request reception processing part 13 Address registration processing part 14 IP packet transfer processing part 20 Communication terminal 30 External IP network 31 Communication partner apparatus 40 Connection server 41 Address correspondence information

Claims (7)

A connection service network that provides a wireless connection service to a communication terminal through one or more wireless base stations, and a connection server that provides a connection service between the one or more connection service networks and an external IP (Internet Protocol) network; In the communication test apparatus for verifying the process for the communication terminal to communicate with the communication partner device on the external IP network,
A terminal-side communication processing unit that communicates with the connection interface for connecting the communication terminal to a wireless communication module for wireless connection to the wireless base station, which is a connection interface provided in the communication terminal When,
In response to a user input operation, network identification information for identifying the connection service network to which the communication terminal is virtually connectable is notified to the communication terminal through the terminal-side communication processing unit, and A connection request reception processing unit that receives a connection request from the communication terminal through the terminal-side communication processing unit;
When a connection request is received by the connection request reception processing unit, a local IP address corresponding to the connection service network necessary for communication through the connection service network for which connection is requested is given to the communication terminal. And a process of requesting the connection server to register address correspondence information in which the local IP address and the unique IP address of the communication terminal are associated with each other are executed. An address registration processing unit;
After the registration process of the address correspondence information is completed, it is transmitted from the communication counterpart device to the unique IP address of the communication terminal, received by proxy at the connection server, and registered in the address correspondence information by the connection server When an IP packet transferred to the local IP address is received, transmission information to be transmitted to the communication terminal is extracted from the received IP packet, and transferred to the communication terminal through the terminal-side communication processing unit A processing unit;
Have
The address registration processing unit uses, as the local IP address notified to the communication terminal, a virtual IP address that is a virtual address previously defined in the connection service network requested to be connected. The communication test apparatus uses one server communication IP address predetermined for communication with the connection server as the local IP address to be notified to the connection server. The address registration processing unit
When a connection request is received in the connection request reception processing unit, the virtual IP address is notified to the communication terminal through the terminal side communication processing unit as the local IP address corresponding to the connection service network for which connection is requested. And
After the notification of the virtual IP address, when receiving registration request information for registering the virtual IP address and the unique IP address as the address correspondence information from the communication terminal through the terminal-side communication processing unit, The registration request information obtained by converting a virtual IP address into the server communication IP address is stored in an IP packet and transmitted to the connection server.
The communication test apparatus according to claim 1. The address registration processing unit
State information indicating whether or not the communication terminal can be connected to the connection service network corresponding to each of the network identification information and the virtual IP address defined for each connection service network. It is possible to refer to the held connection management table,
The connection management table updated when the connection service network in which the communication terminal is connectable is changed according to a user input operation and the connection management table is updated according to the change. The terminal-side communication processing unit reads out the virtual IP address corresponding to the connection service network that has newly become connectable, and uses the virtual IP address as the local IP address corresponding to the connection service network. Through the communication terminal,
After the notification of the virtual IP address, when registration request information for registering the virtual IP address and the unique IP address as the address correspondence information is newly received from the communication terminal through the terminal-side communication processing unit, The registration request information obtained by converting the virtual IP address converted into the server communication IP address is stored in an IP packet and transmitted to the connection server.
The communication test apparatus according to claim 2. The address registration processing unit
When an address request for requesting notification of the local IP address is received from the communication terminal through the terminal-side communication processing unit after the connection request is received in the connection request reception processing unit, the unique IP address and the local IP address Registration request information for registering the server communication IP address as an address as the address correspondence information is stored in an IP packet and transmitted to the connection server,
When response information for the registration request information is received from the connection server, the virtual IP address corresponding to the connection service network requested for connection from the communication terminal is changed to the local IP address for communication with the connection service network. As a notification to the communication terminal through the terminal side communication processing unit,
The communication test apparatus according to claim 1. The connection request reception processing unit
A connection management table in which state information indicating whether or not the communication terminal is connectable to the connection service network corresponding to each of the network identification information is held in association with the network identification information. Can be referenced,
When the state information is set so that the communication terminal can be connected to a plurality of the connection service networks according to a user input operation, the connection service network that is in a connectable state To each of the network identification information corresponding to the communication terminal through the terminal side communication processing unit,
The address registration processing unit
When a connection request is transmitted from the communication terminal to the connection request reception processing unit to the connection service network corresponding to any one of the network identification information notified by the connection request reception processing unit. Performing communication processing of the local IP address corresponding to the connection service network requested to be connected to the communication terminal, and registration processing of the address correspondence information including the local IP address with respect to the connection server.
The communication test apparatus according to any one of claims 1, 2, and 4. The communication through a connection service network that provides a wireless connection service to a communication terminal through one or more wireless base stations, and a connection server that provides a connection service between the one or more connection service networks and an external IP network. In a communication test method in a communication test apparatus for verifying a process for a terminal to communicate with a communication partner device on the external IP network,
The communication test apparatus is a connection interface provided in the communication terminal and communicates with the connection interface for connecting the communication terminal to a wireless communication module for wireless connection to the wireless base station. A terminal side communication processing unit
The connection request reception processing unit notifies the communication terminal of network identification information for identifying the connection service network to which the communication terminal is virtually connectable through the terminal side communication processing unit in response to a user input operation. Then, a connection request receiving step for receiving a connection request to the connection service network from the communication terminal through the terminal side communication processing unit,
When a connection request is received in the connection request reception processing unit, the address registration processing unit assigns a local IP address corresponding to the connection service network, which is necessary for communication through the connection service network for which connection is requested, to the communication Requests the connection server by IP packet to register the process of notifying the terminal through the terminal-side communication processing unit and the address correspondence information in which the local IP address is associated with the unique IP address of the communication terminal. An address registration step for executing the processing to be performed;
After the registration processing of the address correspondence information is completed, an IP packet transfer processing unit is transmitted from the communication counterpart device to the unique IP address of the communication terminal, and is proxy-received at the connection server. When an IP packet transferred to the local IP address registered in the address correspondence information is received, transmission information to be transmitted to the communication terminal is extracted from the received IP packet, and the terminal side communication process is performed on the communication terminal An IP packet forwarding step for forwarding through a section;
Including
In the address registration step, as the local IP address to be notified to the communication terminal, a virtual IP address that is a virtual address previously defined in the connection service network requested to be connected is used. As the local IP address to be notified to the connection server, one server communication IP address determined in advance for communication with the connection server is used. The communication through a connection service network that provides a wireless connection service to a communication terminal through one or more wireless base stations, and a connection server that provides a connection service between the one or more connection service networks and an external IP network. In a communication test program for verifying processing for a terminal to communicate with a communication partner device on the external IP network,
Computer
A terminal-side communication processing unit that communicates with the connection interface for connecting the communication terminal to a wireless communication module for wireless connection to the wireless base station, which is a connection interface provided in the communication terminal ,
In response to a user input operation, network identification information for identifying the connection service network to which the communication terminal is virtually connectable is notified to the communication terminal through the terminal-side communication processing unit, and A connection request reception processing unit that receives a connection request from the communication terminal through the terminal-side communication processing unit;
When a connection request is received by the connection request reception processing unit, a local IP address corresponding to the connection service network necessary for communication through the connection service network for which connection is requested is given to the communication terminal. And a process of requesting the connection server to register address correspondence information in which the local IP address and the unique IP address of the communication terminal are associated with each other are executed. Address registration processing section,
After the registration process of the address correspondence information is completed, it is transmitted from the communication counterpart device to the unique IP address of the communication terminal, received by proxy at the connection server, and registered in the address correspondence information by the connection server When an IP packet transferred to the local IP address is received, transmission information to be transmitted to the communication terminal is extracted from the received IP packet, and transferred to the communication terminal through the terminal-side communication processing unit Processing section,
Function as
The address registration processing unit uses, as the local IP address notified to the communication terminal, a virtual IP address that is a virtual address previously defined in the connection service network requested to be connected. The communication test program uses one server communication IP address determined in advance for communication with the connection server as the local IP address to be notified to the connection server.

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