JP2003199160A - Wireless communication apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a wireless communication apparatus capable of automatically selecting an optimum wireless communication means depending on the pressure of interference of a radio wave during transmission so as to make efficient transmission even when a plurality of wireless communication means are intermingled and in use at the same frequency band. <P>SOLUTION: The wireless communication apparatus 10 includes: an IEEE802.11b wireless section 4 and an IEEE802.11b base band section 5 in charge of a wireless LAN in compliance with the IEEE802.11b; and an IEEE802.11b wireless section 4 and an IEEE802.11b base band section 5 in charge of wireless communication in compliance with the Bluetooth, which use the same frequency band, and a control section 6 periodically monitors the presence of radio wave interference according to the IEEE802.11b and selects the Bluetooth from the wireless LAN when detecting radio wave interference to conduct communication. When no radio wave interference is detected, the communication in compliance with the IEEE802.11b is continued. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wireless communication device, and more particularly, to IEEE802.80, which is used in the same frequency band.
The present invention relates to a wireless communication device that automatically switches between 11b and Bluetooth according to the presence or absence of radio wave interference to enable efficient data transmission.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Personal computers (hereinafter referred to as personal computers) have become popular, and the number of personal computers in a home is increasing. Also, the purpose of using personal computers has shifted from the conventional use as a word processor to the use of the Internet. In response to such a situation, in the home (or in the office, etc.), an increasing number of users are constructing and operating a home LAN (Local Area Network) by interconnecting a plurality of personal computers. But,
Conventionally, a home LAN has been constructed by connecting personal computers to each other and personal computers to peripheral devices with a LAN cable. For this reason, LAN cables are routed from room to room, and LANs between the first and second floors are connected.
It is not easy to route the cables, and construction such as making holes in the wall is required. Furthermore, connecting a LAN cable is troublesome for those who have no knowledge of hardware.

There is a wireless communication means for eliminating such annoyance, and the wireless communication means has been attracting attention in recent years.
AN (specifically IEEE 802.11b) or Blue
There is tooth. These are capable of wirelessly constructing a LAN or connection between devices, and can eliminate the inconvenience of wiring or connection by a cable.

A wireless LAN based on IEEE (IEEE is an abbreviation for American Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11b uses a spread spectrum radio wave in the 2.4 GHz band and can be operated without a license. IEEE8
The communication speed of 02.11b is 100 Mbps (maximum) of a wired LAN (specifically, Ethernet (registered trademark))
Although the transmission speed is lower than 11 Mbps (maximum), the transmission distance is about 30 m (indoor) to 60 m (outdoor), and its communication protocol is the same as that of a wired LAN (Ethernet (registered trademark)). Especially, Microsoft's latest OS, W
Since it is standardly supported by Windows (registered trademark) XP, it is expected to be widely used.

On the other hand, Bluetooth is an Ericsson of Sweden.
, IBM in the United States, Intel in the United States, Nokia in Finland, Toshiba in Japan, and a power-saving short-distance that has been standardized since 1998 by five companies,
An international standard for bidirectional wireless connection technology, 2.4 GHz
A frequency band called ISM (Industrial Science Medical) that does not require a wireless license is used, which enables transmission of voice data and asynchronous data in a short range of about 10 m. Bluetooth aims to differentiate itself from other wireless connection technologies by lowering its price and power consumption, and not only personal computers but also PDAs (Persons)
al Digital Assistant), mobile phone, digital camera,
It allows easy connection between different models such as home appliances. Unlike conventional communication technology, in Bluetooth, in order to achieve convenience, all of the layers up to the upper layer are based on the concept of core (protocol part of the physical layer and data link layer) and profile (part used by the user). It is standardized. The communication method is a spread spectrum frequency hopping method (FH
Method), a network can be configured with up to 32 compatible devices, and "one-to-many" (one master unit and up to seven slave units) can be installed in any device. Communication is possible.

[0006] For example, Bluetooth wireless technology, incorporated into both mobile phones and laptops, can eliminate the tedious cables used today to connect laptops to mobile phones. In addition, the printer,
Personal digital assistants (PDAs), desktop computers,
Facsimile machines, keyboards, joysticks, and other digital devices can be integrated into the Bluetooth system. IEEE8 for mobile phones
When equipped with 02.11b or Bluetooth,
It will be possible to edit the phone book using a personal computer, and to easily access the Internet using the keyboard of the personal computer.

As described above, the wireless LAN (IEEE80
2.11b) is an alternative to wired LAN, while Bl
uetooth has the feature that it is suitable for small-sized devices because it does not select any model and has low power consumption. On the other hand, I
Compared with Bluetooth, EEE 802.11b
In addition to high digital transfer speed, there are many features that can be connected to the network (up to 1024).

By the way, IEEE 802.11b wireless L
Since AN and Bluetooth are used in the same frequency band of 2.4 GHz band, it is known that interference easily occurs with other wireless communication operating in that frequency band. The characteristics of both methods are IEEE802.1
1b is weak against radio wave interference because the modulation method is a direct spreading method, and Bluetooth is strong against radio wave interference because the modulation method is a frequency hopping method (because frequency hopping is performed 1600 times per second). , Because the probability of collision at the frequency used is low).

IEEE 802.11b and Bluetooth
Since th is used in the same frequency band, it is possible to share an antenna or the like, and a communication device or a mobile phone in which both types are installed in one device (apparatus) is used so that both can be used. No. 2001-217853 and Japanese Patent Application No. 200
No. 0-277023. IEEE802.
When both 11b and Bluetooth are used at the same time, radio frequency interference occurs because a part of the used frequency range overlaps. Therefore, only one of them is used, and simultaneous use is not performed. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 217853, there are IEEE802.11b and Bluetooth as interconnection devices as control means.
By connecting each wireless system of th and controlling the control means from the outside by a control signal, transmission is performed by only one of them to prevent radio wave interference.

Further, in Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-277023, a portable telephone terminal device, a GPS terminal device, and Bl
In a complex information terminal device equipped with Bluetooth, when these three are set to be turned on, the management information stored in advance is read, two are turned on based on the set value, and the other one is turned off. To In particular,
The mobile phone terminal is always on and the GPS terminal and B
For Bluetooth, only one of them is turned on for a certain period of time.

[0011]

However, according to the conventional wireless communication device, Bluetooth and IEEE80 are used.
2.11b both, or Bluetooth and GPS
When both terminals are installed in one device, which one to use (to select) depends on the device side (or system side)
Therefore, the optimum communication method is not selected according to the communication situation. Therefore, when there is no radio wave interference, high-speed IEEE 802.11b
Although it is desirable to use Bluetooth, which has a low communication speed when radio wave interference occurs but is strong against radio wave interference, IEEE 802.11b is actually used even though radio wave interference occurs. Is selected,
There was a situation in which Bluetooth was selected even though radio wave interference did not occur, and data transmission could not be performed efficiently.

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to monitor the presence or absence of radio wave interference during transmission even when a wireless LAN and Bluetooth are used in a mixed manner in the same frequency band, and determine the optimum value according to the result. It is to provide a wireless communication device capable of performing efficient transmission by automatically selecting one of them.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention uses I in the same frequency band.
First wireless communication means conforming to EEE 802.11b and Bl
In a wireless communication device provided with a second wireless communication unit based on Bluetooth, the first wireless communication unit periodically monitors whether or not radio wave interference has occurred, and when the radio wave interference is detected, the communication is performed by the first wireless communication device. The wireless communication is characterized by comprising control means for switching from one wireless communication means to the second wireless communication means and for continuing the communication by the first wireless communication means when the radio wave interference is not detected. Provide a device.

According to this structure, the control means is IEEE
The presence or absence of radio wave interference is monitored by the first wireless communication means conforming to 802.11b, and if there is no radio wave interference, the use of IEEE802.11b, which has a high communication speed, is continued, and when the radio wave interference is detected, the communication speed is changed. It is automatically switched to use Bluetooth, which is strong against radio wave interference even at a low speed. Therefore, the optimum wireless communication means is automatically selected according to the presence or absence of radio wave interference, and efficient transmission can be performed.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a wireless communication device of the present invention. The wireless communication device 10 includes an antenna 1 and a Blu.
Bluetooth wireless unit 2, Bluetooth baseband unit 3, IEEE802.11b wireless unit 4, IEEE8
02.11b baseband unit 5, control unit 6 as control means, signal conversion unit 7, and external interface (I
The F) unit 8 is provided.

The Bluetooth wireless unit 2 is a Bluetooth
Data is transmitted and received wirelessly according to the ooth standard, and IE
The IEEE 802.11b wireless unit 4 is IEEE 802.11b.
Sends and receives data wirelessly according to the standard. Radio section 2,
4, the receiving side is configured to include a receiving circuit, an intermediate frequency circuit, a demodulator, etc., the transmitting side is a power amplifier circuit, a mixing circuit,
It has a waveform processing circuit, etc.
There is a difference in the modulation / demodulation method between OOTH and IEEE 802.11b. Further, a circuit for managing the state of the control register by the control signal is also provided.

Bluetooth baseband (baseba
nd) part 3 and IEEE 802.11b baseband part 5
Generates a signal to be inserted into the payload portion of the packet data for transmitting the data from the control unit 6, and
Bluetooth wireless unit 2 and IEEE 802.11
b The process of extracting the data of the payload portion of the packet received by the wireless unit 4 is performed. These baseband units are configured to include a circuit unit that performs error correction / detection and decryption on received data, and a circuit that performs error detection coding, encryption, error correction coding, etc. on transmission data. But Bluet
Since oooth and IEEE 802.11b have different standards, there are differences in protocols and interfaces.

The control unit 6 comprises a CPU, controls the entire wireless communication device 10, and executes a connection process between the wireless communication side and an external device. The signal conversion unit 7 is Bl
Signal conversion between a baseband signal of Bluetooth and IEEE 802.11b and a transmission signal by the external I / F unit 8 is performed.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the configuration of a system using the wireless communication device 10 shown in FIG. A dial-up wireless station 11 is connected to the wireless communication device 10 having the configuration of FIG. 1, and wireless communication is performed between the two. Wireless station for dial-up 1
1 has a built-in modem 11a, and a telephone line 12 is connected to this modem 11a. The telephone line 12
The Internet 14 is connected via the provider 13.

The dial-up wireless station 11 is similar to the wireless communication device 10 in that the IEEE802.
It is equipped with each wireless unit and baseband unit for 11b and Bluetooth, IEEE802.11b
It is possible to determine which of Bluetooth and Bluetooth is used for communication. For this reason, the dial-up wireless station 11 uses the IEEE802.
While being responsive to the wireless communication device 10 on the side capable of receiving 11b or Bluetooth, it is connected to the Internet 14 via the telephone line 12. The configuration shown in FIG.
This is merely an example, and instead of the dial-up wireless station 11, for example, a personal computer, a mobile phone, a PDA, etc.
It may be configured to connect the like. In this case, the telephone line 12 and the Internet 14 are connected as needed.

FIG. 3 illustrates the process of the present invention. 1 to 3
The operation of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In addition, in FIG. 3, step is represented by S. When the wireless communication device 10 wirelessly connects to the dial-up wireless station 11 and tries to connect to the Internet 14 via the modem 11a and the telephone line 12, a communication start request is first made (S101). Wireless communication device 1
The first wireless connection at 0 is always I, which has a high transmission speed.
This is performed using EEE 802.11b (S10
2). Therefore, in the wireless communication device 10, the IE
IEEE802.11b wireless unit 4 and IEEE802.11
Communication is performed using the b baseband unit 5. At this time,
Radio interference is detected by IEEE 802.11b, but the detection method is RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicat
or: received signal strength display signal) or whether data can be normally transmitted / received may be used. The detection of this radio wave interference shall be performed periodically,
Unless radio wave interference is detected, the wireless section communicates by IEEE802.11b, which has a high transmission speed, and connects to the Internet 14.

When radio wave interference is detected in IEEE802.11b (S103, S104), the control unit 6 immediately switches the wireless communication means from IEEE802.11b to Bluetooth.
Switch to Bluetooth, Bluetooth wireless unit 2 and B
The Bluetooth baseband unit 3 is activated, and the Blu
Communication is carried out by means of Ethernet (S105). In this way, while performing communication by Bluetooth, IEEE
Radio interference detection by E802.11b is periodically executed in parallel. Then, when the radio wave interference is detected by IEEE802.11b (S106), Bl continues.
Bluetooth communication is executed (S107). When no radio wave interference is detected (S104), the control unit 6
Switches from the Bluetooth side to the IEEE802.11b side and performs communication according to IEEE802.11b (S110). When a communication stop request is issued during the processing of S108 and S110 (S109, S110), the communication is stopped (S112). If there is no communication stop request,
The process is returned to S105 or S110, and the subsequent processes are repeatedly executed. Furthermore, when the absence of radio wave interference is detected in S107, the process returns to S102, and the subsequent processes are repeatedly executed.

Although the wireless communication device 10 is configured as a single device in FIG. 1, it may be configured as an adapter or the like, or may be built in a personal computer, a mobile phone, a PDA or the like.

[0024]

As is apparent from the above, according to the wireless communication apparatus of the present invention, the presence or absence of radio wave interference is periodically detected by IEEE802.11b, and when there is no radio wave interference, a high transmission rate of IEEE802. 11b is used for communication, and if there is radio wave interference, a control means for controlling to use Bluetooth with low probability of radio wave interference even if the transmission speed is low is provided, so that efficient communication is provided. As a result, it is possible to avoid a communication stop due to radio wave interference.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a wireless communication device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a connection diagram showing a configuration example of a system using the wireless communication device 10 shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a process of the wireless communication device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 antenna 2 Bluetooth wireless unit 3 Bluetooth baseband section 4 IEEE802.11b wireless unit 5 IEEE 802.11b baseband section 6 control unit 7 Signal converter 8 External interface (IF) section 10 wireless communication device 11 Wireless station for dial-up 11a modem 12 telephone lines 13 Internet 14 Internet

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. I used in the same frequency band
First wireless communication means conforming to EEE 802.11b and Bl
In a wireless communication device provided with a second wireless communication means based on Bluetooth, the first wireless communication means periodically monitors the occurrence of radio wave interference, and when the radio wave interference is detected, the communication is performed by the first radio communication apparatus. The wireless communication is characterized by comprising control means for switching from one wireless communication means to the second wireless communication means and for continuing the communication by the first wireless communication means when the radio wave interference is not detected. apparatus. 2. The control means switches from the second wireless communication means when the first wireless communication means detects that there is no radio wave interference after switching to the second wireless communication means. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein the wireless communication device is switched to the first wireless communication unit. 3. The control means determines the presence or absence of the radio wave interference by checking an RSSI (received signal strength indication signal) or by checking whether or not data can be normally transmitted and received. Alternatively, the wireless communication device according to item 2. 4. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit includes an interface unit for connecting to an external device by wire.