JP6730383B2 - Server, mobile communication system, transmission timing control method, and program thereof - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a server for controlling transmission timing from a communication terminal device via a mobile communication network, a mobile communication system including the server, a method for controlling transmission timing, and a program thereof.

Conventionally, there is known a communication standard called LTE-Advanced Pro, which is an extension of 3GPP LTE (Long Term Evolution)-Advanced (see Non-Patent Document 1), which is a communication standard for mobile communication systems (see Non-Patent Document 2). .. In this LTE-Advanced Pro, specifications for providing communication of recent IoT (Internet of Things) devices have been established. Here, "IoT" is a general term for a form in which various things are connected to the Internet or a cloud computer system to perform control/information communication.

In the LTE-Advanced Pro, in order to support communication of a large number of IoT devices installed, the price of a communication terminal device of a mobile communication system is reduced and a coverage area capable of long-distance communication with a base station is expanded (hereinafter referred to as coverage expansion (CE )), the two new communication standards, category M1 (also referred to as “eMTC (enhanced Machine-Type Communications)”) and category NB1 (“NB-IoT (NarrowBand-IoT)”). I say.) is supported.

3GPP TS 36.300 V10.12.0 (2014-12). 3GPP TS 36.300 V13.5.0 (2016-09).

In the above mobile communication system, a large number of IoT devices each having a built-in communication terminal device for transmitting data to a mobile communication network are deployed and arranged, and data is transmitted from each of the communication terminal devices of the large number of IoT devices to the mobile communication network side. Is being considered for regular transmission. Concurrent congestion of the mobile communication network may occur due to simultaneous transmission of data from such a large amount of communication terminal devices of IoT devices.

A server according to an aspect of the present invention is a server that controls data transmission timings of a plurality of communication terminal devices that regularly transmit data via a base station of a mobile communication network, and each of the plurality of communication terminal devices. An acquisition unit that acquires communication status information indicating the status of data transmission that is periodically transmitted from the communication unit, and a transmission timing that specifies data transmission timing for at least a part of the plurality of communication terminal devices based on the communication status information. A determination unit that determines information, and a transmission unit that transmits a transmission request that requests data transmission based on the transmission timing information to at least a part of the plurality of communication terminal devices are provided.
In the server, the transmission timing information may be an offset time for shifting the regular data transmission timing from the communication terminal device.
Further, in the server, the communication status information may include data transmission history information having a data transmission frequency and a data amount in each of the plurality of communication terminal devices.
Further, in the server, the communication status information may include transmission timing setting information set for each of the plurality of communication terminal devices.
Further, in the server, the communication status information may include traffic information indicating a temporal change of traffic in a node that relays data transmission from the plurality of communication terminal devices. Here, the node may be the base station. Further, the determining unit calculates a time period during which the traffic in the node is low, and the transmitting unit determines that the traffic is about a communication terminal device that transmits data that does not require immediacy among the plurality of communication terminal devices. The transmission request may be transmitted so as to request data transmission in a small time zone.
Further, in the server, the transmission unit may transmit the transmission request so as to preferentially permit data transmission to a communication terminal device that transmits data requiring immediacy among the plurality of communication terminal devices. Good.
Further, in the server, the necessity of the immediacy of the data may be determined based on a QoS (Quality of Service) value set for each communication terminal device.
Further, in the server, the data transmission by the communication terminal device is performed through NIDD (Non-IP Data Delivery) communication built in the mobile communication network, and the transmission request is provided in the mobile communication network. It may be transmitted via a specified SCEF (Service Capability Exposure Function).

A mobile communication system according to another aspect of the present invention includes any one of the servers, and a billing device that performs a billing process on a usage fee of the communication service of the data transmission in the plurality of communication terminal devices. In the mobile communication system, the billing device has a privilege in the usage fee of the communication service of the data transmission for the communication terminal device that has transmitted the data at the data transmission timing specified by the transmission timing information according to the transmission request. Is added and the billing process is performed.

A method according to another aspect of the present invention is a method for controlling data transmission timings of a plurality of communication terminal devices that regularly transmit data via a base station of a mobile communication network, wherein the plurality of communication terminal devices are provided. Acquiring communication status information indicating the status of data transmission periodically transmitted from each, and transmission timing for designating data transmission timing for at least a part of the plurality of communication terminal devices based on the communication status information Determining information, and transmitting a transmission request for requesting data transmission based on the transmission timing information to at least a part of the plurality of communication terminal devices.
Further, a program according to still another aspect of the present invention causes a computer or a processor to control the data transmission timing of a plurality of communication terminal devices that regularly transmit data via a base station of a mobile communication network. A program code for acquiring communication status information indicating the status of data transmission that is periodically transmitted from each of the plurality of communication terminal devices, and the plurality of communications based on the communication status information. A program code for determining transmission timing information designating data transmission timing for at least a part of the terminal device, and a transmission request for requesting data transmission based on the transmission timing information to at least a part of the plurality of communication terminal devices. And a program code for sending the.

According to the present invention, even when a large number of communication terminal devices that regularly transmit data are arranged, the occurrence of congestion in the mobile communication network due to the simultaneous transmission of data from the large number of communication terminal devices is suppressed. There is an effect that it is possible.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a mobile communication system according to the present embodiment and data transmission timing control. The explanatory view for explaining the difference of the coverage area of the broadband communication mode and the IoT communication mode of the mobile communication system concerning this embodiment. The functional block diagram which shows an example of schematic structure of the principal part of the management server which concerns on this embodiment. It is a flow chart which shows an example of data transmission timing control concerning this embodiment. Explanatory drawing which shows the schematic structure of the mobile communication system which concerns on this embodiment, and another example of data transmission timing control. FIG. 6A is an explanatory diagram showing a change over time of traffic when the low traffic time zone is not effectively utilized in the mobile communication system according to the comparative example. FIG. 6B is an explanatory diagram showing a time change of traffic when the low traffic time zone is effectively utilized in the mobile communication system according to the present embodiment.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a mobile communication system according to the present embodiment. The mobile communication system of this embodiment includes one or more base stations 20 that wirelessly communicate with a plurality of communication terminal devices 10 (10A, 10B, 10C), a core network 30, an application server (AS) 40, and a management server. 50 and a billing server 60 as a billing device. A plurality of ASs 40 may be provided depending on the type of application. The management server 50 and the billing server 60 may be managed and operated by a mobile communication operator of the mobile communication network 1, for example.

The communication terminal device 10 is also called, for example, a mobile station or a user device (UE), can perform wireless communication with the base station 20 by a predetermined wireless communication method, and can be connected to the mobile communication network 1 side. The communication terminal device (hereinafter, referred to as “UE” in the present embodiment) 10 is configured as, for example, a communication module, and is used as a sensor device used in various industries such as medical care, agriculture, electric power, water and sewage, automobiles, and transportation. It may be incorporated into various IoT devices.

In the present embodiment, the UE 10 periodically transmits various data, which are measured or obtained for various environments and devices by various sensors, to the AS 40 and the like via the mobile communication network 1 at predetermined transmission timing (hereinafter, Also referred to as "regular notification". The time interval of regular notification from the UE 10 may not be constant. For example, the regular notification from the UE 10 may be at a predetermined time interval (for example, every 10 minutes, every 30 minutes, every one day, or every three days), or the data to be transmitted in the UE 10 is predetermined. It may be a timing when a number (for example, 100) is collected. Further, the regular notification from the UE 10 may be at the timing of 0 minute 00 second and 30 minute 00 second every hour.

Although only three UEs 10 are shown in FIG. 1 for convenience of illustration, the number of UEs 10 may be two, or four or more.

The base station 20 constitutes a radio access network (RAN), and is also called, for example, an eNodeB, a gNodeB, or the like, or a macro cell base station, a small cell base station, or the like depending on the size of the cell formed by itself. The base station 20 includes, for example, a radio unit (RRH) that transmits and receives radio signals and a baseband unit (BBU) that performs digital baseband signal processing. For example, the RRH converts the digital baseband signal received from the BBU into an RF signal, amplifies the power to a predetermined signal level, and transmits the RF signal to the UE 10. Further, the RRH converts the RF signal received from the UE 10 into a digital baseband signal and transmits the digital baseband signal to the BBU.

The core network 30 is also referred to as EPC (Evolved Packet Core) in LTE/LTE-Advanced, for example, and the base station 20 is connected via a predetermined communication interface to the MME (Mobility Management Entity) 31 and HSS (Home Subscriber Server). 32 and various nodes such as PCRF (Policy and Charging Rules Function) 33.

Further, the core network 30 has an S-GW (Serving Gateway) and a P-GW (Packet Data Network Gateway), which are nodes that perform packet transfer, and a SCEF (Service Capability Exposure) node.

The MME 31 is a node that accommodates the base station 20 and performs wireless communication network control, mobility control, handover control, user authentication control, and the like. Based on the registration information of the HSS 32, the MME 31 transfers the data transmitted via the base station 20 to the SCEF 34 that performs the NIDD data transfer described later, or transmits the data addressed to the UE 10 and transmitted from the SCEF 34. The control information such as a request is transferred to the base station 20. Further, the MME 31 has a function of collecting and storing information such as communication log information and communication control parameters for each of the plurality of UEs 10 and the plurality of base stations 20.

The HSS 32 is a database of information on users (subscribers) who use a communication service using a mobile communication system, and manages user contract information and authentication information of the UE 10, for example, and sends these information to the MME 31 upon location registration. Notice.

The PCRF 33 determines, for example, a QoS (Quality of Service) value or a charging system for data transmitted and received by the UE 10 based on the contract information of the user. The QoS value determined by the PCRF 33 is defined as, for example, a nine-stage QCI (QoS Class Identifier) (=1 to 9), and may be notified to nodes such as the P-GW, S-GW, SCEF 34, and the base station 20. it can. Each node performs QoS control on the data packet transmitted/received by the user according to the notified QoS value.

The QoS value may be set according to whether immediacy of the data transmitted from the UE 10 is necessary. For example, a high QoS value may be set for the UE 10 that transmits data that requires immediacy, and a low QoS value may be set for the UE 10 that transmits data that does not require immediacy. Here, the immediacy of data is a characteristic that data acquired by a sensor or the like in the UE 10 is required immediately by the AS 40. Examples of data that require immediacy include, for example, environmental measurement data such as temperature and humidity measured by the UE 10 installed in farmland or a greenhouse in the agricultural field, and vital data of patients to be remote-treated in the medical field. Examples include measurement data of signatures (for example, blood pressure, body temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate). In addition, data that does not require immediacy include power consumption and water consumption that are measured once a month with a power meter or water meter installed at home.

The P-GW and S-GW assign the IP address to the UE 10 and perform the packet data transfer process. The P-GW, for example, issues the IP address to the UE 10, authenticates the user regarding connection to the packet network, and creates communication usage data (for example, CDR: Call Data Record) for QoS control and accounting according to the instruction of the PCRF 33. , DHCP server function and the like. The S-GW serves as an anchor point of the RAN including the base station 20 and the like, and relays user packet data between the P-GW forest.

The SCEF (Service Capability Exposure Function) 34 is a node having an interface for providing a part of 3GPP communication service to a third-party application provider. The SCEF 34 serves as a connection point for the packet network provided with the AS 40, and performs a transfer process of data transmission from the UE 10 by NIDD (Non-IP Data Delivery) which transfers data without acquiring an IP address described later. Further, the SCEF 34 creates communication usage data (for example, CDR) for accounting for data transmission from the UE 10 by NIDD.

Further, in the present embodiment, control information such as a transmission request for requesting data transmission (regular notification) to each UE 10 at a predetermined data transmission timing can be notified from the SCEF 34 to each UE 10 via a control channel, for example. ..

The transmission request including the transmission timing information may be included in the paging information received by each UE 10 when waiting for an incoming call. When the UE 10 includes, for example, S-TMSI (SAE Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity) as the terminal identification information of the UE in the received paging information, the UE 10 determines that the paging information is included in the UE and is included in the paging information. Based on the transmission timing information, the transmission target data is transmitted to the AS 40 via the base station 20 at a predetermined transmission timing. In addition, each UE 10 may be in a sleep state by suspending power supply to some circuits when waiting for an incoming call in order to reduce power consumption. Each UE 10 receives the paging information including the transmission request having the transmission timing information at the time of waiting for the incoming call, supplies power to the entire circuit triggered by the reception, and activates a predetermined application to transmit the data to be transmitted. It may be controlled to return to the sleep state after the data transmission is completed.

Further, in the present embodiment, the communication status information indicating the status of data transmission (regular notification) periodically transmitted from each of the plurality of UEs 10 is transmitted from each UE 10 or base station 20 to the management server 50 via the MME 31 and the SCEF 34. Can be transferred. The communication status information includes, for example, information such as communication log information and communication control parameters of each UE 10 and base station 20, transmission timing setting information set in each UE 10, frequency and amount of data transmission in each UE 10. Data transmission history information and the like.

The AS 40 is, for example, a server that executes various data processes required to provide various applications using communication via the mobile communication network 1. For example, the AS 40 of this embodiment is a server having a database function of collecting and storing data transmitted from many UEs 10 and performing various analyzes.

The management server 50 is a server that manages and controls the data transmission timings of many UEs 10 that regularly transmit data via the base station 20. The management and control of the data transmission timing will be described later.

The billing server 60 performs, for example, a billing process for data transmission from the UE 10 to the AS 40 based on communication usage data (for example, CDR) of the UE 10 received from the SCEF 34 and the like and registration information of the HSS 32.

The mobile communication system of this embodiment supports NIDD (Non-IP Data Delivery). NIDD is a function defined by the 3GPP standard (see, for example, TS23.401 V15.4.0 (2018-06), TS23.682 V15.5.0 (2018-06)), and UE (UE ) Is a function that enables data transfer without operating the IP stack or acquiring an IP address. By using this NIDD, secure data transfer is possible with less attacks from the Internet, and the transmission data amount for transferring the same amount of information in the mobile communication network 1 can be reduced.

In order to reduce the load of data processing in the mobile communication network 1, a MEC (Mobile Edge Computing) server 70 that performs a part of the data processing in the mobile communication network 1 may be provided inside or near the base station 20. The MEC server 70 may have a part of the data processing function of the management server 50. For example, the MEC server 70 may have a function of managing the data transmission timing of the UE 10 existing in the cell of the base station corresponding to the server 70.

Further, the mobile communication system of the present embodiment supports the coverage extension (CE) of the category M1 (eMTC) and the category NB1 (NB-IoT) so that the UE 10 can communicate in the IoT communication mode.

The IoT communication mode is a communication mode in which IoT communication is performed with a base station, for example, a communication mode based on the LTE-Advanced Pro eMTC or NB-IoT standard (see Non-Patent Document 2), or This is a communication mode of large-scale machine type communication (5G mMTC: mass Machine-Type Communications) proposed in the fifth generation mobile communication.

The broadband communication mode is a communication mode in which broadband communication is performed with a base station in a broadband communication area narrower than an IoT communication area in which communication is possible in the IoT communication mode. For example, the third generation (3G) mobile communication, LTE. , LTE-Advanced or LTE-Advanced Pro standards-based communication mode, or a new wireless access technology (5G (New Radio)) communication mode proposed for fifth-generation mobile communication.

The UE 10 of the present embodiment may be compatible with both the broadband communication mode and the IoT communication mode, or may be compatible with only the IoT communication mode.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a difference in coverage area between the broadband communication mode (first communication mode) and the IoT communication mode (second communication mode) of the mobile communication system according to the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 2, the base station 20 includes a coverage area (broadband communication area) 21 for broadband communication mode communication and a coverage area (IoT communication area) 22 for communication in IoT communication mode. The coverage area 22 in the IoT communication mode is set to be wider than the coverage area 21 in the wideband communication mode mode by, for example, 3 to 5 times in the cell radius and 9 to 25 times in the cell area.

For example, the UE 10 of this embodiment is configured to be compatible with both the broadband communication mode and the IoT communication mode. When the UE 10 is located in the coverage area 21 in the broadband communication mode, the UE 10 performs communication in the broadband communication mode. Then, when the UE 10 moves from the coverage area 21 in the broadband communication mode to the coverage area 22 in the IoT communication mode, the communication mode is switched from the broadband communication mode to the IoT communication mode, and the communication in the IoT communication mode is performed.

In the mobile communication system of the present embodiment, when a large number of IoT devices or user devices incorporating the UE 10 that regularly transmits data to the AS 40 (for example, 00 minutes and 30 minutes each hour) are deployed, a large number of UEs 10 are generated. The same radio resource is used at the same time, which may cause congestion. In particular, in a cell supporting the above-mentioned coverage extension (CE), the number of UEs 10 connected to the same base station tends to increase rapidly, so that congestion easily occurs. In addition, the data transmitted from the UE 10 of each IoT device often does not require immediacy in the data such as the amount of power used as electricity. Furthermore, since the plurality of UEs 10 connected to the base station 20 are often used by different users (customers), it is difficult to request coordinated control for data transmission from each of the plurality of UEs 10.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, as shown below, the management server 50 manages and controls the data transmission timings transmitted from each of the plurality of UEs 10 to the base station 20.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a main part of the management server according to the present embodiment. Further, FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the data transmission timing control according to the present embodiment.
The information acquisition unit 501 of the management server 50 acquires, for each UE, communication status information (transmission behavior) indicating the status of regular notification from the plurality of UEs 10A, 10B, 10C (S101).

The information storage unit 502 stores the communication status information acquired from each of the plurality of UEs 10A, 10B, and 10C in association with the identification information of the UE (for example, terminal identification information, user identification information).

The communication status information may include data transmission history information having a data transmission frequency and a data amount in each of the plurality of UEs 10. Further, the UE that acquires the communication status information may be all of the plurality of UEs 10 existing in the cell of the target base station 20, or may be a part thereof. For example, the communication status information may be acquired only for the UE 10 of low QoS that does not require the immediacy of data, and the communication status information may not be acquired for the high QoS UE 10 that requires the immediacy of data.

Next, the determination unit 503 of the management server 50 analyzes based on the acquired communication status information, acquires the regular transmission time for each of the plurality of UEs 10A, 10B, and 10C, and specifies the data transmission timing. Information is determined (S102). The transmission timing information is determined so that the transmission timings from the UEs 10 are offset from each other. For example, the transmission timing information of each UE 10 may be determined such that the greater the frequency of regular notification of the UE 10 or the larger the amount of regular notification data, the greater the amount of deviation of the data transmission timing from the regular transmission time. .. In addition, the transmission timing information of each UE 10 is set so that the larger the frequency of the periodic notification of the UE 10 or the larger the amount of data of the regular notification, the larger the number of UEs having different deviations from the regular transmission time of the data transmission timing. May be determined. Note that the transmission timing information may be determined only for the UE 10 with low QoS that does not require data immediacy.

The transmission timing information may be an offset time (for example, delay time ΔTd) with respect to the regular transmission time preset in each UE 10. In the example of FIG. 1, the regular transmission times of the UEs 10a, 10B, and 10C are the same every 10 minutes. Then, as the offset time of the transmission timing information, the delay time ΔTd=3 seconds is determined for the first UE 10A, the delay time ΔTd=7 seconds is determined for the second UE 10B, and the delay time ΔTd=10 is determined for the third UE 10C. Seconds have been decided.

Next, the transmission unit 504 of the management server 50 transmits a transmission request for requesting data transmission based on the determined transmission timing information for each of the plurality of UEs 10A, 10B, 10C (S103). The transmission request includes, for example, an offset time (for example, delay time ΔTd) as transmission timing information, and is transmitted to each UE via a control channel.

The offset time (for example, the delay time ΔTd) may be included in the transmission request only for the UE 10 with low QoS that does not require the immediacy of data. Further, the offset time (for example, the delay time ΔTd) may be forcibly set to zero seconds for the high QoS UE 10 that requires the immediacy of data.

Each of the plurality of UEs 10A, 10B, 10C that has received the transmission request activates an application for data transmission, and transmits data so as to transmit data at the transmission timing specified by the transmission timing information included in the transmission request. Control the process. For example, the first UE 10A transmits data at a timing delayed from the regular transmission time by a delay time ΔTd=3 seconds. The second UE 10B transmits data at a timing delayed by the delay time ΔTd=7 seconds from the regular transmission time. Then, the third UE 10C transmits data at a timing deviated from the regular transmission time by a delay time ΔTd=10 seconds.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, even if a large number of UEs 10 that regularly transmit data are arranged, the occurrence of congestion in the mobile communication network 1 due to the simultaneous transmission of data from the large number of UEs 10 is suppressed. be able to. Particularly, when different users (individuals or operators) use the plurality of UEs 10 connected to the base station 20, cooperative control may be requested for data transmission from each of the plurality of UEs 10. Even if it is difficult, the management server 50 managed and operated by the mobile communication operator can centrally manage the data transmission timing from each UE 10, so that the occurrence of congestion in the mobile communication network 1 can be more reliably suppressed.

Note that, as shown in FIG. 5, the transmission timing control for delaying the regular transmission time by the delay time ΔTd may be performed only for the UEs 10A, 10B, 10C that do not require the immediacy of data for which a low QoS value is set. .. Then, for the UE 10D that requires the immediacy of data for which a high QoS value is set, even if the transmission request is received, a predetermined regular transmission that is set in advance without applying the delay time included in the transmission request. You may make it transmit data at time. As a result, the immediacy of the data transmitted from the UE 10D can be ensured.

FIG. 6A is an explanatory diagram showing a time change of traffic when the low traffic time zone is not effectively utilized in the mobile communication system according to the comparative example, and FIG. 6B is the mobile communication according to the present embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the time change of the traffic at the time of utilizing effectively the low traffic time zone in a system.

As shown in FIG. 6(A), when a large number of UEs 10 make regular notifications to the AS 40 via the mobile communication network 1, the traffic passing through the base station 20 and the core network 30 changes greatly throughout the day, and a certain specific Traffic may concentrate at time Ts. Here, the traffic can be defined as, for example, the amount of data passing in a unit time.

Therefore, in the management server 50 of this embodiment, the data transmission timing from each UE 10 may be controlled so that the traffic passing through the base station 20 and the core network 30 is flattened as shown in FIG. 6B. For example, the information acquisition unit 501 acquires, from a node such as the base station 20 or the MME 31 that relays data transmission from each UE 10, traffic information indicating a temporal change in traffic at that node. The deciding unit 503 calculates a quiet time zone in which the traffic in the node is low (for example, time zones t1 to t2 and time zones t3 to t4 in FIG. 6). Then, the transmission unit 504 requests data transmission in the off-peak time periods t1 to t2 and t3 to t4 where the calculated traffic is small for the UE10 that transmits data that does not require immediacy among the plurality of UEs 10. To send the send request.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the billing server 60 uses the communication service for data transmission of the UE 10 that has transmitted data at the data transmission timing designated by the transmission timing information according to the transmission request transmitted from the management server 50. May be given a privilege to perform the charging process. For example, as an option for controlling data transmission on the side of the UE 10, a transmission request including transmission timing information shifted so as to be delayed by a delay time ΔTd for each UE from a predetermined regular notification time to prevent congestion is received from the management server 50. At this time, according to the transmission request including the transmission timing information, it is possible to select whether to perform data transmission with a delay of ΔTd from the predetermined regular notification time or to perform data transmission according to the predetermined regular notification time. Keep it. Then, in the billing process by the billing server 60, the privilege of discounting the usage fee for data transmission is given to the UE 10 that executes data transmission with a delay of ΔTd from the predetermined regular notification time according to the transmission request including the transmission timing information. The charging process may be performed as described above. This facilitates cooperation from the user side of the UE 10 with respect to the data transmission timing control for preventing the congestion performed by the mobile communication operator side.

The processing steps and the components of the mobile communication system, server, base station and communication terminal device (UE (user device), mobile station) described in this specification can be implemented by various means. For example, these steps and components may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof.

Regarding hardware implementation, in order to realize the above steps and components in a substance (for example, various wireless communication devices, various base station devices such as eNodeB and gNode, communication terminal devices, hard disk drive devices, or optical disk drive devices). Means such as processing units used may be one or more application specific ICs (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processors (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable. A gate array (FPGA), processor, controller, microcontroller, microprocessor, electronic device, other electronic unit designed to perform the functions described herein, a computer, or a combination thereof. May be implemented in.

Further, regarding firmware and/or software implementation, each unit used to implement the above-mentioned components is a program (for example, a code such as a procedure, a function, a module, an instruction, etc.) that executes the function described in this specification. ) May be implemented. In general, any computer/processor readable medium embodying firmware and/or software code, means, such as a processing unit, used to implement the steps and components described herein. May be used to implement. For example, firmware and/or software code may be stored in memory and executed by a computer or processor, eg, in a controller or storage. The memory may be mounted inside the computer or the processor, or may be mounted outside the processor. The firmware and/or software code may be, for example, random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM), programmable read only memory (PROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM). ), FLASH memory, floppy disk, compact disk (CD), digital versatile disk (DVD), magnetic or optical data storage device, etc. Good. The code may be executed by one or more computers or processors and may cause the computers or processors to perform the functional aspects described herein.

Further, the medium may be a non-transitory recording medium. Further, the code of the program may be readable and executable by a computer, a processor, or another device or machine, and its format is not limited to a particular format. For example, the code of the program may be any of source code, object code and binary code, or may be a mixture of two or more of these codes.

Also, the description of the embodiments disclosed herein is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present disclosure. Various modifications to this disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scope of this disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure should not be limited to the examples and designs described herein, but should be admitted to the widest extent consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Mobile communication network 10 (10A, 10B, 10C, 10D) UE (communication terminal device)
20 base station 30 core network 40 application server 50 management server 60 billing server 501 information acquisition unit 502 information storage unit 503 determination unit 504 transmission unit

Claims (10)

A server that controls the data transmission timing of a plurality of communication terminal devices that periodically transmit data via a base station of a mobile communication network,
An acquisition unit that acquires communication status information indicating the status of data transmission that is periodically transmitted from each of the plurality of communication terminal devices,
A determination unit that determines, based on the communication status information, transmission timing information that specifies data transmission timing for at least a portion of the plurality of communication terminal devices;
At least a part of the plurality of communication terminal devices, a transmission unit for transmitting a transmission request for requesting data transmission based on the transmission timing information,
The communication status information includes traffic information indicating a time change of traffic in a node that relays data transmission from the plurality of communication terminal devices,
The determining unit calculates a time period when the traffic in the node is low,
The transmission unit transmits the transmission request so as to request data transmission in a time period when the traffic is low, with respect to a communication terminal device that transmits data that does not require immediacy among the plurality of communication terminal devices. A server characterized by. In the server of claim 1,
A server characterized in that the transmission timing information is an offset time for shifting a periodic data transmission timing from the communication terminal device. In the server according to claim 1 or 2,
The server is characterized in that the communication status information includes data transmission history information having a data transmission frequency and a data amount in each of the plurality of communication terminal devices. The server according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The server is characterized in that the communication status information includes transmission timing setting information set for each of the plurality of communication terminal devices. The server according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The server is characterized in that the transmission unit determines the transmission timing information so as to preferentially permit data transmission for a communication terminal device that transmits data requiring immediacy among the plurality of communication terminal devices. .. The server according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The server is characterized in that the presence/absence of immediacy of the data is judged based on a QoS (Quality of Service) value set for each of the communication terminal devices. The server according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
Data transmission by the communication terminal device is performed via communication of NIDD (Non-IP Data Delivery) constructed in the mobile communication network,
The server is characterized in that the transmission request is transmitted via an SCEF (Service Capability Exposure Function) provided in the mobile communication network. A mobile communication system,
A server according to any one of claims 1 to 7;
For the communication terminal device that has performed data transmission at the data transmission timing specified by the transmission timing information in accordance with the transmission request, the billing device adds a privilege to the usage fee of the communication service for data transmission and performs billing processing. A mobile communication system characterized by performing. A method for controlling the data transmission timing of a plurality of communication terminal devices that periodically transmit data via a base station of a mobile communication network,
The server is communication status information indicating a status of data transmission periodically transmitted from each of the plurality of communication terminal apparatuses, and indicates a temporal change of traffic in a node that relays data transmission from the plurality of communication terminal apparatuses. Acquiring the communication status information including traffic information,
The server determines transmission timing information designating data transmission timing for at least a part of the plurality of communication terminal devices based on the communication status information;
The server transmits a transmission request for requesting data transmission based on the transmission timing information to at least a part of the plurality of communication terminal devices;
The server calculating a time period during which the traffic in the node is low ;
The server transmits the transmission request so as to request data transmission in a time zone when the traffic is low, with respect to a communication terminal device that transmits data that does not require immediacy among the plurality of communication terminal devices, A method comprising: A program for causing a computer or a processor to control data transmission timings of a plurality of communication terminal devices that periodically transmit data via a base station of a mobile communication network,
Communication status information indicating a status of data transmission periodically transmitted from each of the plurality of communication terminal apparatuses, and traffic information indicating a temporal change of traffic in a node that relays data transmission from the plurality of communication terminal apparatuses. A program code for acquiring the communication status information including
Program code for determining transmission timing information designating data transmission timing for at least a part of the plurality of communication terminal devices based on the communication status information,
At least a part of the plurality of communication terminal devices, a program code for transmitting a transmission request requesting data transmission based on the transmission timing information,
Program code for calculating a time period when the traffic in the node is low ,
For a communication terminal device that transmits data that does not require immediacy among the plurality of communication terminal devices, a program code for transmitting the transmission request so as to request data transmission in a time zone when the traffic is low, A program characterized by having.

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