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EP-4432717-B1 - COMMUNICATION CONTROL DEVICE, COMMUNICATION CONTROL METHOD, AND COMMUNICATION CONTROL PROGRAM

EP4432717B1EP 4432717 B1EP4432717 B1EP 4432717B1EP-4432717-B1

Inventors

  • AOYAGI KENICHIRO

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20211111

Claims (9)

  1. A communication control apparatus (3) comprising: a movement information acquisition unit (31) configured to acquire movement information concerning the movement of a relay station (RN) that can communicate with a base station (111, 131) and expand the communication cell (112, 132) provided by the base station (111, 131); a cell communication quality information acquisition unit (342) configured to acquire communication quality information of a communication cell (112, 132); an activity history information collection unit (32) configured to collect activity history information of at least one of a communication device communicating with the base station (111, 131), the relay station (RN), and other relay stations, wherein the movement information acquisition unit (31) is configured to estimate the movement information of the relay station (RN) based on the activity history information; an expansion cell selection unit (33) configured to select a communication cell (112, 132) to be expanded by the moving relay station (RN) based on the movement information and the communication quality information, wherein the expansion cell selection unit (33) is configured to select a communication cell (112, 132) to be expanded based on the communication quality normalized by the communication demand where communication resources are insufficient despite high communication demand; and a connection control unit (35) configured to connect the relay station (RN) to the base station (111, 131) that provides the selected communication cell (112, 132), wherein the communication demand is recognized based on the activity history information collected by the activity history information collection unit (32).
  2. The communication control apparatus (3) according to claim 1, wherein the relay station (RN) is configured to be installed to a movable object.
  3. The communication control apparatus (3) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the movement information includes at least one of the following: the movement route of the relay station (RN), the arrival time of the relay station (RN) at each location on the movement route, the traffic condition on the movement route, the movement speed of the relay station (RN), the movement direction of the relay station (RN), and the current position of the relay station (RN).
  4. The communication control apparatus (3) according to any of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a cell placement information acquisition unit (341) configured to acquire cell placement information concerning the placement of a plurality of communication cells, wherein the expansion cell selection unit (33) is configured to select a communication cell (112, 132) to be expanded by the moving relay station (RN) based on the movement information and the cell placement information.
  5. The communication control apparatus (3) according to any of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a cell expansion restriction information acquisition unit (343) configured to acquire cell expansion restriction information concerning the expansion restriction of a communication cell (112, 132), wherein the expansion cell selection unit (33) is configured to select a communication cell (112, 132) to be expanded by the moving relay station (RN) based on the movement information and the cell expansion restriction information.
  6. The communication control apparatus (3) according to any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the communication cells include a terrestrial communication cell provided on the ground by a terrestrial base station installed on the ground, and a non-terrestrial communication cell provided on the ground by a flying non-terrestrial base station.
  7. The communication control apparatus (3) according to claim 6, wherein the non-terrestrial base station is a communication satellite flying in outer space.
  8. A communication control method comprising: Acquiring, by a movement information acquisition unit (31), movement information concerning the movement of a relay station (RN) that can communicate with a base station (111, 131) and expand the communication cell (112, 132) provided by the base station (111, 131); acquiring communication quality information of a communication cell (112, 132) by a cell communication quality information acquisition unit (342); collecting, by an activity history information collection unit (32), activity history information of at least one of a communication device communicating with the base station (111, 131), the relay station (RN), and other relay stations, wherein the movement information of the relay station (RN) based on the activity history information is estimated by the movement information acquisition unit (32), selecting a communication cell (112, 132) to be expanded by the moving relay station (RN) based on the movement information and the communication quality information, wherein a communication cell (112, 132) to be expanded is selected by an expansion cell selection unit (33), based on the communication quality normalized by the communication demand where communication resources are insufficient despite high communication demand, wherein the communication demand is recognized based on the activity history information collected by the activity history information collection unit (32); and connecting the relay station (RN) to the base station (111, 131) that provides the selected communication cell (112, 132).
  9. A communication control program causing a computer to perform the communication control method according to claim 8.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present disclosure relates to communication control technology in wireless communication system. 2. Description of the Related Art The number, types, and applications of wireless communication devices, represented by smartphones and Internet of Things (IoT) devices, continue to increase, and wireless communication standards continue to be expanded and improved. For example, the commercial service of the fifth generation mobile communication system known as "5G" started in 2018, and the standards are still being developed by the 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project). Efforts are also underway to develop standards for "6G" or the sixth generation mobile communication system, which would be the next generation of wireless communication standards following 5G. Mobile communication networks for portable communication devices such as smartphones and cell phones (hereinafter collectively referred to as "communication device(s)") are usually constructed by communication cells (hereinafter referred to as "terrestrial communication cell(s)") provided by base stations installed on the ground (hereinafter referred to as "terrestrial base station(s)"). However, mobile communication cannot be performed outside terrestrial communication cells, and the quality of mobile communications might be low depending on time and/or place even within terrestrial communication cells. To solve the issues, relay stations may be used, which can communicate with terrestrial base stations to expand the terrestrial communication cells. A communication device in the vicinity of a relay station can communicate indirectly with the terrestrial base station via the relay station, even if it cannot communicate directly with the terrestrial base station. In other words, relay stations relay communication radio waves between terrestrial base stations and communication devices. US2015195757A1 discloses to decide when and where to perform a handover of a mobile relay mounted on a train based on the mobility information (i.e. route) of the mobile relay. "3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects; Study on Vehicle-Mounted Relays; Stage 1 (Release 18)",3GPP DRAFT; SP-211048, discloses that a 5G System shall be able to support mobile relay traffic load balancing across satellite and terrestrial access links, for mobile base station relays that use both NR satellite access and NR terrestrial access as relay link at the same time. Patent Literature 1: JP-A-2006-352894 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Since most of the conventional relay stations are fixedly installed at a certain location on the ground, it was difficult to flexibly change the configuration of the wireless communication system. Then, it might be assumed to make the relay stations movable, but since the moving relay stations pass through many communication cells placed on the ground, there is a risk that communication cells with low need to be expanded might be expanded while communication cells with high need to be expanded might not be expanded. The present disclosure was made in consideration of the situation, and the purpose is to provide a communication control apparatus and the like that enables a moving relay station to expand an appropriate communication The invention is set out in the annexed indepenent cell. claims, with further details defined in the dependent claims. In order to solve the above issue, a communication control apparatus in a certain aspect of the present disclosure includes: a movement information acquisition unit that acquires movement information concerning the movement of a relay station that can communicate with a base station and expand the communication cell provided by the base station; an expansion cell selection unit that selects a communication cell to be expanded by the moving relay station based on the movement information; and a connection control unit that connects the relay station to the base station that provides the selected communication cell. According to the aspect, the communication cell to be expanded is selected based on the movement information of the relay station, so that the moving relay station can expand the appropriate communication cell. Another aspect of the present disclosure is a communication control method. The method includes: acquiring movement information concerning the movement of a relay station that can communicate with a base station and expand the communication cell provided by the base station; selecting a communication cell to be expanded by the moving relay station based on the movement information; and connecting the relay station to the base station that provides the selected communication cell. In addition, any combination of the above components, and any conversion of the expression of the present disclosure among methods, devices, systems, recording media, computer programs, and the like, is also valid as a