JP2006324945A - Communication terminal apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication terminal apparatus having a comfortable communication environment and high cost performance by making it possible to select a communication line of a required condition without having a user being conscious of the selection. <P>SOLUTION: The communication terminal apparatus 100 capable of utilizing a plurality of communication lines with a communication party and capable of executing communication by using a communication identifier for specifying a communication line, communicates with the communication party by using a plurality of communication identifiers when a terminal application is operated, obtains information concerned with the communication quality of the communication lines, such as response time and a cancel rate, and selects a communication line to be used on the basis of the obtained information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention selects a communication path or a communication partner suitable for communication in a communication terminal device that can use a plurality of communication paths with a communication partner or select a partner from a plurality of server devices when receiving a service. The present invention relates to a method for selecting a communication identifier and a device configuration thereof.

  The Internet environment such as ADSL and CATV Internet always-on connection can be used at a low price, and connection to the Internet has begun to spread to ordinary households. And it has become commonplace to use e-mails and access the web from home.

  At present, personal computers (PCs) are mainly used as terminals, but it is considered that various terminals such as TVs and AV servers that can receive services from IP telephones and IP networks will be used in the future.

The notebook PC currently used at home is
(1) There are two types of connection environments: a constant connection environment of a wired LAN (Ethernet (registered trademark)) and a dial-up connection using a telephone line.
(2) In addition to a wired LAN (Ethernet (registered trademark)) interface, a wireless LAN card is inserted into an expansion slot and connected to a home router via a wireless LAN to use the Internet environment.
For example, one terminal has a plurality of network interfaces, or has a device capability capable of selecting a plurality of communication paths. In the future, it is expected that the number of communication channels that can use a plurality of communication paths to connect to a partner terminal or a service server from its own terminal will increase.

For example,
(A) A terminal having a wireless LAN interface that supports both 802.11b (2.4 GHz band) and 802.11a (5 GHz band) (b) A priority network that guarantees transfer quality, and in particular the quality A terminal connected to an environment in which an unguaranteed non-priority network can be selected. (C) A terminal capable of accessing each Internet via a wireless LAN and a mobile phone network even with the same radio. (D) A terminal capable of accessing both an IPv4 network and an IPv6 network. Etc.

  There are differences in transfer quality (delay and bandwidth), usage costs, and the like depending on the selected communication path.

  Conventionally, in a communication device using a plurality of communication paths, as shown in Patent Document 1, an exchange function such as an exchange or a node of a ring network selects a communication path for the purpose of effective use of a band or avoiding a communication failure. I was going. In the communication path selection device of the exchange of Patent Document 1, a diagnostic frame transmission unit that transmits a diagnostic frame registered in advance to a plurality of registered communication paths when a call is detected from a terminal; Selection means for selecting a communication path with the shortest response time to the above-described diagnostic frame based on a response from the communication partner, and means for transmitting data from the terminal for the above-mentioned call to the communication path selected by the selection means Have With this configuration, the delay time of voice communication can be shortened, and the transmission efficiency of the communication path is improved.

Further, at the present time, the user of the notebook PC may select either a wired LAN (for example, Ethernet (registered trademark)) or a wireless LAN (for example, 802.11b) when using the Internet. Despite being possible, it is used almost fixedly. That is, a person who normally uses a wireless LAN has an initial setting for using the wireless LAN. Only when the wireless LAN is not connected for some reason such as failure or initialization of the setting value, the use of the wired LAN may be attempted. When there is a problem with the always-on connection environment, dial-up connection is unavoidably used.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-28137 (Japanese Patent Application No. 8-179716)

  In Patent Document 1, since a process of detecting a call from a terminal and selecting a communication path is executed, even if the state of a communication path in use changes after a call is made, it must be continuously used. Similarly, if the determination is made only at the time of calling, the best network cannot be used when using an application that is connected to the network for a long time by the continuous connection of the Internet.

  The conventional PC usage also has the following problems. In other words, the communication channel may vary in the degree of congestion depending on the usage time zone, and in the case of a wireless LAN, the transmission quality may change due to the influence of radio wave interference from other devices. Since the communication path and the network card are selected when the application is turned on or when the application is started, the network state cannot be dynamically grasped and reflected in the communication path selection.

  As described above, the conventional method has a problem that a communication path that can be used by a terminal cannot be effectively used.

  In order to cope with this, an object of the present invention is to realize selection of a desired communication path from a plurality of communication paths that can be used from time to time without making the user aware of it.

  In order to solve the conventional problem, the first invention is a communication terminal device that can use a plurality of communication paths with a communication partner and performs communication using a communication identifier that specifies the communication path. The communication terminal device includes a state management unit that manages a selection state of a communication channel, a communication unit that performs predetermined communication with a communication channel specified by a communication identifier, and a determination unit that selects a communication channel. While the application is in operation, the state management means indicates to the communication means that the information is obtained by communicating with the communication partner using a plurality of communication identifiers, and the determination means is a communication path used based on the information obtained from the communication means. It is characterized by selecting.

  According to the first invention having the above-described configuration, the communication terminal apparatus performs communication based on information obtained by starting communication with a plurality of communication paths when selecting a communication path to be used from the available communication paths. In order to select a path, it is possible to select and use an appropriate communication path reflecting the communication path state. In particular, since the communication path is selected while the communication application is in operation, even if the state of the communication path changes when the terminal application is used, an appropriate communication path can be selected following the change.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the communication terminal device according to the first aspect, the communication identifier for specifying the communication path specifies destination address information.

  According to the second aspect, address information can be used as a communication identifier, so that a plurality of route paths can be designated and a suitable communication path can be selected from among them.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the communication terminal device according to the first aspect, the communication identifier for designating the communication path designates a version of IP communication.

  According to the third aspect of the invention, IP version information such as IPv4 and IPv6 can be used as a communication identifier, so that a suitable communication path can be selected even if the communication quality differs between versions.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the communication terminal device according to the first aspect, the communication identifier that specifies the communication path specifies the priority of the communication path.

  According to the fourth aspect of the invention, the priority area information in the communication header can be used as a communication identifier, so that a suitable communication path can be selected from a plurality of priority classes.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the communication terminal apparatus according to the first aspect, the communication identifier that specifies the communication path specifies a media access method.

  According to the fifth aspect, different media access methods such as a wired LAN and a wireless LAN can be indicated as communication identifiers, so that a suitable communication path can be selected from a plurality of media access methods.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the communication terminal device according to the first aspect, the communication identifier for designating the communication path designates a wireless LAN system having a different system.

  According to the sixth invention, a plurality of wireless LAN systems having different transmission bands or the like can be indicated as communication identifiers, and therefore a suitable communication path can be selected reflecting each communication quality at the time of selecting the communication path. it can.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the communication terminal apparatus according to the first aspect, the determining means selects a communication path based on information on a round trip time with the counterpart communication terminal apparatus.

  According to the seventh aspect, the round trip time with the partner communication terminal can be used as the communication path selection determination information, and a communication path with a small transmission path delay can be selected.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the communication terminal apparatus according to the first aspect, the determining means selects the communication path based on information on the response arrival time from the communication partner.

  According to the eighth aspect, the response arrival time from the communication partner can be used as the determination information for selecting the communication channel, and the communication channel can be selected based on a simple determination criterion by selecting the partner that has responded quickly. Can do.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the communication terminal device according to the first aspect, the determination unit selects the communication path based on information on the number of devices that pass through to the communication partner.

  According to the ninth aspect, the number of devices that are routed to the communication partner can be used as communication channel selection determination information, so that there are few devices that exist in the middle, such as relay devices, that is, communication channels with a small transmission delay. You can choose.

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the communication terminal apparatus according to the first aspect, the determining means selects the communication path based on information on the number of discards when communicating with the communication partner.

  According to the tenth aspect, the number of discards at the time of communication can be used as the communication path selection determination information, so that a communication path having a good communication quality with a small discard rate can be selected.

  An eleventh invention is characterized in that, in the communication terminal device according to claim 1, the determining means selects the communication path based on the cost information for using the communication path to the communication partner.

  According to the eleventh aspect, the communication path use cost can be used as the determination information for selecting the communication path, and thus a communication path with a low communication cost can be selected.

  According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the communication terminal device according to the first aspect, the determination unit selects a communication path based on information obtained a plurality of times from the same partner.

  According to the twelfth aspect of the present invention, information obtained from the same communication partner a plurality of times can be used as determination information for channel selection, so that reliable determination with little measurement error can be performed, that is, good quality. A communication path can be selected reliably.

  According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the communication terminal device according to the first aspect, the determination unit selects the communication path based on the determination criterion after confirming the normal operation of the communication partner or the device on the intermediate path. .

  According to the thirteenth aspect of the invention, when the communication partner terminal or the device on the way is paused, the original measurement packet is sent after being shifted to the operating state temporarily. It is also possible to select a device in

  A fourteenth aspect of the invention is a communication terminal apparatus that can receive the same communication service from a plurality of communication partners and performs communication using a communication identifier that designates the communication partner. A state management means for managing the selected state, a communication means for performing predetermined communication with the communication partner specified by the communication identifier, and a determination means for selecting the communication partner, and the communication application in the communication terminal device is in operation In addition, the state management means indicates to the communication means that the information is obtained by communicating with the communication partner using a plurality of communication identifiers, and the determination means selects the communication partner to be used based on the information obtained from the communication means. It is characterized by.

  According to the fourteenth aspect of the invention, the first to thirteenth aspects of the invention can select the communication path, whereas the communication partner can be selected.

  By selecting a communication path under desired conditions without making the user aware of it, it is possible to provide a comfortable (low delay) communication environment and communication with good cost performance. In particular, even if the communication channel quality changes during communication, the communication channel can be selected following the change, and a comfortable communication environment can be provided.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
In the present embodiment, as a plurality of communication paths, a communication path selection method is shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 by taking as an example one that can specify the use of priority communication that can guarantee transfer delay quality and non-priority communication that is not. It explains using.

  1 is an explanatory diagram of a communication system including a communication terminal device and a communication path connecting the communication terminal device, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the communication terminal device, and FIG. 3 is a communication during communication of a terminal application in the communication terminal device. FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining an operation procedure in the communication terminal apparatus, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an outline of a header in an IP packet for explaining an identifier for designating a communication path, FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining measurement points when measuring response time in order to select one of a plurality of communication paths, and FIG. 7 is a measurement example of response time between measurement points defined in FIG. It is explanatory drawing shown.

  In FIG. 1, reference numerals 100 and 101 denote communication terminal apparatuses, 500 a communication network connecting the communication terminal apparatus 100 and the communication terminal apparatus 101, and 501 and 502 between the communication terminal apparatuses 100 and 101 in the communication network 500. Each communication path for exchanging data is shown.

  In FIG. 2, 11 is a communication identifier designating unit for designating a communication identifier to be used for a communication unit to be described later, and 12 is a determination unit for determining a communication path to be used based on information received from the communication unit to be described later. , 13 is a state management means for managing the state of the communication terminal apparatus, such as whether or not a communication path to be used by the communication terminal apparatus is determined, 14 is a measurement packet data generation means for generating data transmitted in the measurement packet, and 20 is a communication A communication identifier selection unit 31 including an identifier designation unit 11, a determination unit 12, a state management unit 13, and a measurement packet data generation unit 14, and a transmission 31 adds a communication identifier to transmission data based on the designated communication identifier and transmits the transmission data. Means 32, a receiving means for receiving data addressed to its own communication terminal device from the communication network, and 40 a communication means comprising a transmitting means 31 and a receiving means 32 50 is an available communication identifier database (usable communication identifier DB) for storing a communication identifier indicating a communication path that can be used by the communication terminal apparatus 100, and 70 is a terminal application of the communication terminal apparatus 100. Each of the above means exists in the communication terminal device 100.

  The operation of the communication identifier selection unit 20 in the communication terminal device 100 configured as described above will be described below.

  In the present embodiment, it is assumed that communication terminal apparatus 100 can use, as a plurality of communication paths, a communication path (priority communication path 501) that can guarantee transfer delay quality and a non-priority communication path (non-priority communication path 502). Then, it is assumed that a priority communication identifier ID-PRI and a non-priority communication identifier ID-NON are defined as communication identifiers for identifying each communication path and stored in the available communication identifier database 50. The value corresponding to the communication identifier is stored in the field indicating the priority control of the header of the IP packet shown in FIG. 5, and can be clearly shown to the communication network. In the case of IPv4 packet, the TOS field is defined, and in the case of IPv6, the flow label area is defined as the area indicating the priority.

[Processing for section 1 in FIG. 3]
In this section, data (data 2, data 3) from the terminal application 70 is transmitted from the communication means 40 with the identifier ID-PRI via the communication path identifier selection means 20. That is, this terminal is currently communicating with the communication terminal apparatus 101 of the other party via the priority communication path 501.

[Processing of section 2 in FIG. 3]
In section 2, a measurement packet is transmitted to select a communication path while the application is running.

  First, the communication identifier selection unit 20 inputs an available communication identifier from the available communication identifier database 50 (S1001). This time, it is assumed that two types of identifiers, ID-PRI and ID-NON, can be used. The communication identifier selection means 20 changes the identifier between ID-PRI and ID-NON, and transmits the measurement packet to the communication terminal apparatus 101 of the other party twice to measure the response time. 40. In the communication unit 40, the transmission unit 31 transmits a measurement packet in which a value corresponding to the communication identifier ID-PRI is assigned to the TOS field to the communication terminal device 101 of the other party. Next, the transmission means 31 stores the value corresponding to the communication identifier ID-NON in the TOS field and similarly transmits it as a measurement packet. Further, the transmission unit 31 measures the transmission times of both measurement packets and notifies the determination unit 12 (S1002, S1003, S1004).

  A router (not shown) in the communication network 500 determines a communication path to transfer by looking at the TOS field in the IP header. When the communication identifier transmitted from the transmission unit 31 corresponds to ID-PRI, the packet reaches the communication terminal apparatus 101 that is the communication partner via the priority communication path 501. A packet whose communication identifier corresponds to ID-NON reaches the communication terminal device 101 via the non-priority communication path 502.

  The communication terminal apparatus 101 creates a return measurement packet in which information corresponding to the communication identifier in the received measurement packet is stored in the payload, and sends it back to the communication terminal apparatus 100.

  The packet returned from the communication terminal apparatus 101 is received by the receiving means 32. Based on the information corresponding to the communication identifier stored in the received measurement pocket, the receiving means 32 determines which communication identifier is assigned and corresponding to the measurement packet transmitted. Then, the arrival time of the measurement packet corresponding to the identifier ID-PRI and the arrival time corresponding to the identifier ID-NON are measured and notified to the determination unit 12 (S1005).

  As an example of the measurement packet, there is a method using ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol). This ICMP protocol is generally implemented in an IP communication terminal, and when an ICMP request message is received, all the information in the received message is sent back to the source terminal as it is using the ICMP echo response message. It will work. The communication terminal apparatus 100 sends an ICMP echo request message as a measurement packet to the communication terminal apparatus 101 of the other party. Then, since the communication terminal device 101 sends back an ICMP echo response message to the communication terminal device 100, the communication terminal device 100 can determine which measurement packet is the response, and thus a round trip delay time from transmission to reception. Can be measured.

  Hereinafter, the determination method (S1006) in the determination unit 12 will be described. Now, as shown in FIG. 6, the transmission time and reception time of the measurement packet corresponding to the communication identifier ID-PPI are t1, t2, respectively, and the transmission time and reception time of the measurement packet corresponding to the communication identifier ID-NON are Let them be t3 and t4, respectively. Then, the response time TP of the measurement packet that has arrived and sent back via the priority communication path 501 is t2-t1, and similarly arrives and is sent back via the non-priority communication path 502. The response time TN of the received measurement packet is t4-t3.

  In FIG. 7A, a measurement packet is first transmitted with a communication identifier ID-NON (time t3), and then a measurement packet is transmitted with a communication identifier ID-PRI (time t1). As a result, the measurement packet is received at t4 and t2, respectively. It is a figure that came back. On the other hand, FIG. 7B is a diagram in which the measurement packets are transmitted in the same order, but the arrivals are in the order of t2 and t4. FIG. 6A shows a case where the effect is not seen or not remarkable even when passing through the priority communication path 501, and FIG. 5B shows that the measurement packet via the priority communication path 501 is quickly transmitted to the partner communication terminal apparatus 101. This is the case when it arrives and is returned. In the case as shown in FIG. 5B, it can be clearly seen that the packet via the priority communication path 501 is transmitted in a short time, that is, with a low delay. In this case, the determination means 12 uses the identifier ID-PRI. Judge that it is good to put on. On the other hand, in the case of FIG. 5A, no significant difference is observed, and if the communication cost is the same, it is determined that the communication identifier ID-PRI is good. However, if the communication cost using the priority communication path 501 is high. Therefore, it is determined that the communication identifier ID-NON is good because it is not worth paying the communication cost.

  The determination result in the determination means 12 is notified to the state management means 13. Then, in the state management means 13, it will be in the state which the communication terminal device determined the communication path. Subsequently, the communication identifier designating unit 11 instructs the transmission unit 31 to use the determination result in the determining unit 12 in this terminal application (S1007).

  In addition, the timing which performs the process of said area 2 is not specifically limited. Typically, the communication identifier to be used is determined by performing the processing of section 2 when the application is activated or after the input of the usable communication identifier (S1001), and thereafter, the processing of section 2 is performed at regular time intervals and used. There is a method of determining the communication identifier to be used, but the determination interval of the communication identifier to be used may be variable. Further, it is not always necessary to determine the communication identifier to be used when the application is activated. When the application is activated, a predetermined communication identifier is used. After that, when the processing of section 2 is performed, the communication identifier obtained as a result is used. You may do it.

[Processing of section 3 in FIG. 3]
After the determination means 12 instructs the transmission means 31 to use the identifier ID-NON (S1007), the data (data 6, data 7) from the terminal application is given the identifier ID-NON by the transmission means 31. And sent out.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, during communication of a terminal application, a plurality of measurement packets are sent to a partner terminal device via an available communication path, and the response time is measured, so that The change with time can be known, so that it is possible to switch to a low-delay communication path and perform comfortable inter-terminal communication.

  In this embodiment, the measurement packet is sent only once. However, the determination may be made based on the result of sending the measurement packet a plurality of times.

  In addition, since accurate measurement is not possible if a device in the middle of a communication path is in a dormant state, measurement is performed after a communication device in the path of the communication path is activated to a normal state by sending a packet to the communication path once. Can also be considered. As a result, it is possible to include a device in a dormant state as a selection target, or to make a correct determination by performing measurement in a normal operating state.

  Moreover, the determination in the determination means 14 may change the determination reference according to the kind of terminal application.

(Embodiment 2)
In the first embodiment, the communication terminal apparatus has one network interface. When a priority packet and a non-priority packet are transmitted from the network interface, the communication network passes each packet through the priority communication path and the non-priority communication path. Was controlled as follows. In the present embodiment, a case will be described in which the communication terminal apparatus has a plurality of network interfaces, and packets are transmitted from the terminal through physically different communication paths.

  Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 8, FIG. 9, and FIG.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram of a communication system including a communication terminal device and an access point, FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram of the communication terminal device in the present embodiment, and FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a transmission sequence in the communication terminal device.

  In FIG. 8, reference numeral 120 denotes a communication terminal apparatus, which has both 802.11b and 802.11a as communication interfaces. Reference numeral 200 denotes an access point (AP), which supports both 802.11b and 802.11a. Reference numeral 510 denotes an Internet network, and reference numeral 121 denotes a communication partner terminal of the communication terminal apparatus 120.

  The communication terminal device 120 communicates with the communication partner terminal 121 via the access point 200 and the Internet network 510.

  In FIG. 9, reference numeral 41 denotes a communication means, which has both 802.11b and 802.11a interfaces. Which interface is used is specified by a communication identifier specified by the communication identifier specifying means 11. The blocks having the same numbers as those in FIG. 2 have the same functions as the respective blocks in FIG.

  Both 802.11b and 802.11a are wireless LAN standards, but the former uses the 2.4 GHz band and the maximum speed is 11 Mbps, and the latter uses the 5 GHz band and the maximum speed is 54 Mbps. 802.11b is slower than 802.11a, but has the advantage of reaching far. 802.11a is often used for video transfer and the like because of its wide bandwidth. In other words, 802.11a has a maximum speed higher than that of 802.11b, but is occupied by video transfer and may actually have a small available bandwidth.

  A method for selecting a wireless LAN interface in communication terminal apparatus 120 configured as described above will be described below.

  In the first embodiment, the communication state of the communication path is investigated in the section 2 of FIG. 3, and in the section 2, the packet carrying the data of the terminal application and the investigation packet are mixed and illustrated. FIG. 10 shows only the survey packet.

  When the communication terminal device 120 starts to investigate the communication state of the communication path with the counterpart terminal 121, as described in the first embodiment, the measurement packet is transmitted by changing the identifier. In the present embodiment, the identifier corresponds to the communication interface. When the identifier ID-11b is specified by the communication identifier specifying unit 11, the communication unit 41 transmits a packet by 802.11b. On the other hand, when the identifier is ID-11a, the packet is transmitted by 802.11a. In the first embodiment, the measurement packet arrives at the other party divided into the priority communication path 501 and the non-priority communication path 502. However, in this embodiment, the 802.11b and 5 GHz bands using the 2.4 GHz band are used. The access point 200 is divided into 802.11a communication paths using the.

  In the access point 200, the measurement packet received from the wireless LAN (802.11b or 802.11a) is transferred to the Internet network 510 side. The measurement packet reaches the counterpart communication terminal 121.

  Thereafter, similar to the processing in the first embodiment, the measurement packet is returned to the communication terminal device 120 on the transmission side, and the determination unit 12 in the communication terminal device 120 selects a preferable transmission path.

As a determination criterion in the determination means 12,
(1) Choosing the one with the smaller average response time as a result of transmitting measurement packets multiple times on each communication path (2) Packets resulting from transmitting measurement packets multiple times on each communication path It may be possible to choose the one with the smaller number of discarded items. Here, the reason why the measurement is performed a plurality of times in (1) is that it is considered that the measurement error is large, such as the occurrence of noise and the re-transmission.

  Once the determination unit 12 selects a communication path that has been determined to be preferable and the state management unit 13 indicates the state, the communication identifier designating unit 11 thereafter sends the transmission unit 31 to always use the selected ID. Notice.

  By the method as described above, it is possible to check the degree of congestion of the communication path during communication of the terminal application, and automatically select a communication path with a small packet delay or a communication path with a small packet loss.

  It should be noted that if a packet that returns a response from the access point 200 is selected as the measurement packet from the communication terminal device 120, a transmission delay error for passing through the Internet network 510 can be omitted, and a more accurate response time difference can be eliminated. Can be requested.

  In this embodiment, two types of wireless LAN interfaces, 802.11b and 802.11a, have been described as usable communication interfaces. However, the following various LANs and media access methods may be used. Good.

(A) Wireless (such as 802.11a / b / g) and wired LAN (such as Ethernet (registered trademark))
(B) Always-on LAN and dial-up connection (C) Various wireless communication systems such as wireless LAN, cellular phone network, BlueTooth, near field communication standard (NFC), etc. (Embodiment 3)
In the description so far, it has been assumed that the communication partner is a specific communication terminal device. In the present embodiment, the communication partner provides the same service, but this corresponds to the case where the devices are different or the installation location is different.

  FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a communication system for explaining the present embodiment.

  In FIG. 11, reference numeral 100 denotes a communication terminal device, which has the same configuration as that in the first embodiment. Reference numerals 220, 230, and 240 denote server apparatuses that provide services provided by the communication terminal apparatus 100. Reference numeral 520 denotes an Internet network that connects the communication terminal apparatus 100, the server apparatus 220, the server apparatus 230, and the server apparatus 240.

  In the first embodiment, the communication terminal apparatus 100 communicates with the communication terminal apparatus 101 that is the communication partner via the priority communication path 501 and the non-priority communication path 502. The identifier identifies the connection partner.

  A method for investigating whether there is a server apparatus suitable for receiving a considerable service in the background while receiving a communication service will be described below.

  First, it is assumed that the communication terminal device 100 receives a communication service with the server device 220 as a communication partner.

  A server device that can provide a service equivalent to the service provided by the server device 220 is checked from the available communication identifier database 50, and the result is the server device 230 and the server device 240 in addition to the currently used server device 220. Suppose that In this embodiment, the communication identifier corresponds to the address of the communication partner server device, and is ID-220, ID-230, and ID-240, respectively. The communication identifier selection unit 20 notifies the transmission unit 31 to transmit the measurement packet corresponding to the three communication identifiers (ID-220, ID-230, ID-240).

  The transmission unit 31 transmits the three measurement packets with destination addresses corresponding to the identifiers added to the header, and notifies the determination unit 12 of the transmission time.

  The receiving unit 32 that has received a response to each measurement packet notifies the determination unit 12 of the response time. The determination means 12 compares the response times corresponding to the respective IDs, and determines that the communication path is free with the earliest one. The determination result is transmitted to the communication identifier designating unit 11, and thereafter, the transmission unit 31 is notified to use the selected communication identifier.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to use a server device suitable for the server device that provides the same service without any special operation by the user.

  In the above description, the measurement packet is transferred to the server device and the response time is observed. However, as the measurement packet, data related to the load and processing time of the partner server may be returned. Then, in addition to the communication path delay and packet loss, it is possible to compare the service processing time in consideration of the processing time in the server device.

  The communication apparatus according to the present invention can select a communication path with good use conditions such as delay, discard, and usage fee from a plurality of communication paths that can be used by the communication apparatus without special operation by the user of the communication apparatus. The present invention can be applied to various network devices, particularly terminal devices having network functions in homes that are assumed to be used by amateurs.

  For example, the present invention can be applied to a case where an interface used in a wireless terminal having a plurality of air interfaces is automatically selected, or a network used by a communication terminal that can connect to both IPv4 and IPv6 networks is selected.

Explanatory drawing of the communication system for demonstrating Embodiment 1. FIG. Configuration diagram of communication terminal apparatus according to Embodiment 1 Explanatory diagram of a sequence for explaining the first embodiment The flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the communication terminal device for demonstrating Embodiment 1. FIG. Overview of IP packet header The figure explaining the measurement point of the response time measurement in Embodiment 1 Explanatory drawing which shows the example of a response time measurement in Embodiment 1. Explanatory drawing of the communication system for demonstrating Embodiment 2. FIG. Configuration diagram of communication terminal apparatus according to Embodiment 2 The flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the communication terminal device for describing Embodiment 2. Explanatory drawing of the communication system for demonstrating Embodiment 3. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Communication identifier designation | designated means 12 Judgment means 13 State management means 14 Measurement packet data generation means 20 Communication identifier selection means 31 Transmission means 32 Reception means 40,41 Communication means 50 Available communication identifier database 70 Terminal application 100,101,120,121 Communication terminal device 200 Access point 220, 230, 240 Server device 500 Communication network 501 Priority communication path 502 Non-priority communication path 510, 520 Internet network

Claims (14)

A communication terminal device that can use a plurality of communication paths with a communication partner and performs communication using a communication identifier that specifies a communication path,
The communication terminal device
State management means for managing the communication path selection state;
A communication means for performing predetermined communication with the communication path specified by the communication identifier;
Determining means for selecting a communication path;
Comprising
While the communication application in the communication terminal device is running,
The state management means indicates to the communication means to obtain information by communicating with the communication partner using a plurality of communication identifiers,
A communication terminal apparatus, wherein the determining means determines a communication path to be used by the communication application by selecting a communication path to be used based on information obtained from the communication means. 2. The communication terminal apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication identifier for specifying the communication path specifies destination address information. The communication terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the communication identifier for designating a communication path designates a version of IP communication. 2. The communication terminal apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication identifier for designating the communication path designates the priority of the communication path. 2. The communication terminal apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication identifier for specifying the communication path specifies a media access method. The communication terminal apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication identifier for designating a communication path designates a wireless LAN system having a different system. The communication terminal apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit selects a communication path based on information on a round trip time with the counterpart communication terminal apparatus. The communication terminal apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit selects a communication path based on information on a response arrival time from a communication partner. The communication terminal apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit selects a communication path based on information on the number of devices that pass through to a communication partner. The communication terminal apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit selects a communication path based on information on a discard number when communicating with a communication partner. The communication terminal apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit selects a communication path based on cost information for using a communication path to a communication partner. 2. The communication terminal apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit selects a communication path based on information obtained a plurality of times from the same partner. The communication terminal apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit selects a communication path based on a determination criterion after confirming normal operation of a communication partner or a device on an intermediate path. A communication terminal device that can receive the same communication service from a plurality of communication partners and performs communication using a communication identifier that designates the communication partner,
The communication terminal device
State management means for managing the communication partner selection state;
A communication means for performing predetermined communication with a communication partner specified by a communication identifier;
A determination means for selecting a communication partner;
Comprising
While the communication application in the communication terminal device is running,
The state management means indicates to the communication means to obtain information by communicating with the communication partner using a plurality of communication identifiers,
The communication terminal apparatus, wherein the determination unit determines a communication partner of the communication application by selecting a communication partner to be used based on information obtained from the communication unit.

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