JPH07321735A - Wireless channel monitor and control method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] The device cost is reduced, the frequency characteristics are suitable for the wireless system to be monitored, and the monitoring process is performed in a short time to prevent the detection omission of a single channel, thereby preventing data loss in the field. A wireless channel monitor capable of facilitating collection and a control method thereof are provided. [Configuration] A personal computer 1, a transmitter / receiver 21, a synthesizer 22 that oscillates radio waves of a set frequency, and a detector 23 that detects a reception level in the transmitter / receiver 21 having a frequency equal to the oscillation frequency of the synthesizer 22 are provided. The personal computer 1 sets the frequency corresponding to the channel number stored in advance in the synthesizer 22 at specific time intervals, detects the reception level of the frequency in the detection unit 23, and displays the channel number and the reception level. Further, a wireless channel monitor and a control method thereof are provided, in which frequencies corresponding to a plurality of channel numbers are sequentially scanned and set and detected.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a radio channel monitor for measuring a radio channel used in a radio system such as mobile communication, and particularly, to reduce the device cost.
A wireless channel monitor having a frequency characteristic suitable for a wireless system to be monitored, capable of performing monitoring processing in a short time to prevent detection failure of a single channel, and facilitating field data collection, and a control method thereof. Regarding

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A frequency band (channel) used in a mobile communication wireless system such as an automobile telephone is responsive to a call connection request from a mobile station (for example, a car telephone) or an incoming call connection request to the mobile station. A "call channel" that is allocated and used at any time, and a "control channel" that is commonly used in the entire system such as location registration from mobile stations, call connection requests, and simultaneous selective calling from base stations to mobile stations, Although not necessary for the system, there are derivative channels caused by the modulation.

Conventionally, as a radio channel monitor for measuring the presence or absence of these channels, that is, the utilization status,
There was one using a frequency analyzer (Spectrum Analyzer).

A commonly used heterodyne type frequency analyzer adjusts the local oscillator according to the channel to be measured, and the difference between the frequency component of the signal under measurement and the frequency of the local oscillator becomes the frequency component of the bandpass filter. The presence or absence of a specific channel has been measured by sequentially detecting such frequency components. Incidentally, the measurement result of the frequency analyzer is displayed on the display unit or the like in frequency.

[0005]

However, the conventional radio channel monitor described above has a problem that it is expensive because it is a general-purpose measuring instrument using a frequency analyzer.

Further, when the frequency band used in the wireless system is wide, it is inconvenient because all channels cannot be measured at a time depending on the performance of the measuring instrument.

Further, since the measurement result of the frequency analyzer is displayed in frequency, the radio channel monitor needs a process of converting the frequency into a channel number, and it takes a single time to spend time in the conversion process. There was a problem that the channel (used for a short time) might be overlooked.

Further, the conventional radio channel monitor has a problem that it is difficult to collect data in the field because the device is large.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has a frequency detection characteristic suitable for a radio system for monitoring, which reduces the device cost, and also performs a monitoring process in a short time so that a single-shot channel can be obtained. It is an object of the present invention to provide a wireless channel monitor and a control method thereof, which can prevent detection omissions in the field and facilitate data collection in the field.

[0010]

The invention according to claim 1 for solving the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, in a radio channel monitor, corresponds to a receiving section for receiving frequencies of a plurality of channels and the plurality of channels. A synthesizer that oscillates a frequency, a detector that mixes the frequency received by the receiver and the frequency oscillated by the synthesizer to detect a channel, the frequency set in the synthesizer, and the timing of the setting at a specific time interval. And a display unit for displaying the frequency reception status of a plurality of channels.

According to a second aspect of the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems of the conventional example, in the method of controlling a radio channel monitor according to the first aspect, the control section sets the oscillation frequency in the synthesizer, and the detection section The channel is detected by mixing the frequency received by the receiving unit and the frequency oscillated by the synthesizer, and the control unit performs the operation of setting the oscillation frequency at a specific time interval.

According to a third aspect of the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems of the conventional example, in the wireless channel monitor according to the first aspect, an extension capable of connecting a receiving unit, a synthesizer and a detecting unit to a personal computer. Installed on the board,
The control unit is provided in the personal computer, and the display unit is a display unit for the personal computer.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention for solving the problems of the conventional example, in the control method of the wireless channel monitor according to the first aspect, the vertical axis represents time on the display unit,
It is characterized in that the presence or absence of reception of each channel for each time is displayed by a specific mark on the coordinate whose horizontal axis represents the channel.

[0014]

According to the first aspect of the invention, the control section instructs the synthesizer to set the oscillation frequency at a specific time interval, and the detection section mixes the frequency received by the reception section and the frequency oscillated by the synthesizer. Channel detection,
Since the display unit is a wireless channel monitor that displays the frequency reception status of multiple channels, the reception status of multiple channels can be sequentially displayed on the display unit at specific time intervals, and the monitoring of multiple channels can be performed easily. .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the operation of mixing the frequency received by the receiving section and the frequency oscillated by the synthesizer to detect a channel is performed at specific time intervals. Since the control method is used, the reception status of a plurality of channels can be sequentially displayed on the display unit at a specific time interval, and the monitoring of a plurality of channels can be easily performed.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the receiving unit, the synthesizer, and the detecting unit include a personal computer (PC).
Since the wireless channel monitor according to claim 1 is provided on an expansion board that can be connected to the computer, the control unit is provided inside the PC, and the display unit is the display unit for the PC, the cost is lower than that of the device using the frequency analyzer. Therefore, if an expansion board suitable for the frequency characteristic is set, the frequency detection characteristic suitable for the wireless system to be monitored can be provided, and if the PC is a notebook type PC, data collection in the field can be facilitated. can do.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, the display section displays the plurality of channels with specific marks corresponding to the time axis. Therefore, the detection result is displayed in frequency. Therefore, the monitoring process can be performed in a shorter time, and it is possible to prevent detection omission of a single channel.

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of a wireless channel monitor according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the wireless channel monitor of this embodiment includes a small personal computer (personal computer) 1 such as a notebook type, an expansion board 2 having a function of a wireless unit of an active wireless system,
It is composed of a display unit 3 such as a CRT or a liquid crystal display.

As shown in FIG. 1, the expansion board 2 includes a transceiver unit 21 for receiving a plurality of channels, a synthesizer 22 as a local oscillator for oscillating radio waves of a set frequency, and an incoming signal received by the transceiver unit 21. The antenna 24 is composed of a detection unit 23 that mixes an electric wave and an oscillating electric wave from the synthesizer 22 to detect whether an electric wave having a frequency equal to that of the oscillating electric wave of the synthesizer 22 has arrived.

Then, the expansion board 2 having the above-mentioned configuration is incorporated in the personal computer 1, and the expansion board 2 is controlled by the software of the personal computer. That is, personal computer 1
Controls the synthesizer 22 to set a channel for reception detection at a specific time interval to oscillate a radio wave of a specific frequency, and the detecting unit 23 detects the presence or absence of an incoming radio wave corresponding to the frequency of the set channel, 1, the reception level is sent to 1, and the personal computer 1 displays the reception level for each channel on the display unit 3 at regular time intervals. Specifically, a control unit centering on a CPU is provided in the personal computer 1 and is program-controlled.

In particular, in the wireless channel monitor of this embodiment, the personal computer 1 sets a plurality of specific channels in the synthesizer 22 at specific time intervals, so that the channels set in the synthesizer 22 are sequentially scanned. According to this scanning, the reception levels of a plurality of channels can be detected.

Next, each component of the wireless channel monitor of this embodiment will be described concretely. The synthesizer 22 provided on the expansion board 2 of the present embodiment uses the same local oscillator as the local oscillator of the radio unit used in the radio system to be monitored, and the oscillation frequency characteristic is adapted to the channel of the radio system. I am trying to do it. Therefore, it is possible to make the detector for the monitored system suitable for the monitored system, such as the resolution and the measurement range at the time of detection, and reduce the apparatus cost.

The detecting unit 23 is a device for measuring the frequency by utilizing the principle of the heterodyne detection, and the unknown frequency fx and the frequency f of the synthesizer 22 which is the local oscillator.
The beat frequencies f0 to fx which are the difference between the two are generated, and the beat frequencies are detected and amplified for detection. Here, when fx = f0, the beat frequencies f0 to fx become 0, so the synthesizer
By setting the frequency of 2 to the channel to be detected, the presence or absence of the reception level on that channel can be obtained. In other words, the beat frequency is 0
In this case, it means that the radio wave having the frequency corresponding to the set channel in the synthesizer 22 has been received, and the reception level becomes “present”.

Further, the personal computer 1 stores the channel number and the frequency set in the synthesizer 22 in association with each other in accordance with the wireless system to be monitored, and the receiving unit detects the reception level for the set frequency. The channel number and the reception level at that time are displayed on the display unit 3.

As described above, by using the personal computer, the channel number at the time of detection by the detecting section 23 can be easily obtained, and the corresponding channel number can be specified simultaneously with the detection of the reception level. It is possible to detect even a single channel without overlooking.

That is, in the wireless channel monitor of this embodiment, the operator inputs the channel number and frequency data of the wireless system to be monitored from the personal computer 1 in advance, and the personal computer 1 sets one channel number. The synthesizer 22 oscillates the corresponding frequency, the detection unit 23 detects the reception level of the frequency in the radio wave received by the reception unit 21 and sends it to the personal computer 1, and the personal computer 1 identifies the channel number at the time of detection. Display unit 3
However, the reception level is displayed.

When the detection of one channel is completed, the personal computer 1 sets the frequency of the next channel in the synthesizer 22 and causes the synthesizer 22 to oscillate the next frequency. The channels are detected, and n channels are sequentially detected.

Further, in this embodiment, the personal computer 1 is provided with a timer (not shown) to count the processing allocation time t (t = T / n) per channel. The frequency is set to the synthesizer 22 for each. Then, when the reception levels of the n channels have been detected, the first channel is returned again to start the next scanning, and the detection is sequentially performed for each channel. As a result, the reception level is detected by sequentially scanning n channels at fixed time intervals T, and the change over time of the reception level for each channel is displayed on the display unit 3.

Next, the channel detection method which is the control method of the wireless channel monitor of this embodiment will be specifically described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a channel detection method in the channel monitor of this embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 2, first, the personal computer 1
According to the channel number of the system to be monitored and the frequency corresponding to it, which are input in advance, the synthesizer 22
Then, the frequency corresponding to the first channel number (here, channel 1) is set (102). Next, the process allocation time t per channel is set as a timer value (104).

In response to the signal from the personal computer 1, the synthesizer 22 of the expansion board 2 oscillates a radio wave of the set frequency (106), and the transmitter / receiver 21 receives the incoming radio wave (1
08). Then, the detection unit 23 detects the reception level of the set frequency (110) and sends the reception level to the personal computer 1, the personal computer 1 identifies the channel number at the time of detection, and displays the channel number on the display unit 3. The presence or absence of the reception level is displayed (112).

Then, it is judged whether or not the timer value is 0 (114), and if it is 0, it is judged whether or not the scanning up to the nth channel N is completed (116). Sets the frequency of the next channel to the synthesizer 22 (118), and returns to the step 104,
The above process is repeated up to channel N for scanning.

When the scanning up to the channel N is completed, the process returns to the step 102, the frequency of the channel 1 is set again in the synthesizer 22, and the next scanning is started. As a result, the reception levels of channel 1 to channel N are sequentially detected and displayed at fixed time intervals T. In this way, the channel detection is performed by the wireless channel monitor of this embodiment.

Next, a display example on the wireless channel monitor of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Figure 3
It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a display of the channel monitor of a present Example. As shown in FIG. 3, the vertical axis represents time and the horizontal axis represents channels, and the reception level for each constant time T is displayed for each channel. The “*” mark indicates the reception level “present”. For example, channel 1 is in the time zone T
Received between 1 and T5, channel 2 is in time zone T6 to T
It indicates that it was received over 7. in this way,
Since the channel number is displayed instead of the frequency display, it is easy to understand, and which channel is being used and how it is being used can be seen at a glance.

According to the radio channel monitor and its control method of the present embodiment, the transmitting / receiving unit 21 is provided in the small personal computer 1.
And a synthesizer 2 that oscillates radio waves of the set frequency
2 and an expansion board 2 including a detection unit 23 that detects a reception level of a radio wave having a frequency equal to the oscillating radio wave of the synthesizer 22 in the transmission / reception unit 21.
However, since the frequency corresponding to the channel number stored in advance is set in the synthesizer 22 and the reception level of the frequency is detected by the detection unit 23, the device is downsized, the device cost is reduced, and the field is reduced. There is an effect that it is possible to easily collect data in.

Further, by using, as the synthesizer 22, a local oscillator of the radio unit used in the radio system to be monitored, the device cost can be reduced and the resolution and the measurement range at the time of detection can be reduced. And the like are suitable for the monitored system, and there is an effect that the detector can be used exclusively for the monitored system.

The frequencies corresponding to a plurality of channel numbers are sequentially set in the personal computer 1, the detection level of the expansion board 2 is detected by the detection unit 23 at regular intervals, and the personal computer 1 further determines the channel numbers at the time of detection. Since the specified channel number and the detected reception level are displayed on the display unit 3, the process can be performed quickly to display the channel number and the reception level without displaying the frequency as in the conventional case. Therefore, even a single-shot channel can be detected without being overlooked, and further, there is an effect that it is possible to easily display changes over time in the reception levels of a plurality of channels.

Further, when monitoring a different wireless system, the expansion board 2 is replaced with one equipped with a synthesizer 22 having a frequency characteristic suitable for the wireless system.
It suffices to input the frequency data of the channel to be detected to the personal computer 1, and there is an effect that a wireless channel monitor adaptable to various systems can be realized at low cost.

Further, since auxiliary storage means such as a hard disk, floppy disk, memory card or the like can be used, there is an effect that data can be collected and stored for a long time.

[0040]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the control unit instructs the synthesizer to set the oscillation frequency at specific time intervals, and the detection unit detects the frequency received by the receiving unit and the frequency oscillated by the synthesizer. Since it is a wireless channel monitor that mixes channels and detects the frequency reception status of multiple channels on the display unit, the reception status of multiple channels can be sequentially displayed on the display unit at specific time intervals. There is an effect that it is possible to easily monitor.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the operation of detecting the channel by mixing the frequency received by the receiving section and the frequency oscillated by the synthesizer is performed at specific time intervals. Since the control method is used, it is possible to sequentially display the reception status of a plurality of channels on the display unit at a specific time interval, and it is possible to easily monitor a plurality of channels.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the receiving section, the synthesizer, and the detecting section are provided with a personal computer (PC).
Since the wireless channel monitor according to claim 1 is provided on an expansion board that can be connected to the computer, the control unit is provided inside the PC, and the display unit is the display unit for the PC, the cost is lower than that of the device using the frequency analyzer. Therefore, if an expansion board suitable for the frequency characteristic is set, the frequency detection characteristic suitable for the wireless system to be monitored can be provided, and if the PC is a notebook type PC, data collection in the field can be facilitated. There is an effect that can be.

According to the invention of claim 4, since the display section uses the radio channel monitor according to claim 1 in which a plurality of channels are displayed with specific marks in correspondence with the time axis, the detection result is displayed in frequency. Therefore, the monitoring process can be performed in a shorter time, and there is an effect that the omission of detection of a single channel can be prevented.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of a wireless channel monitor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a channel detection method in the wireless channel monitor according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example on the wireless channel monitor of the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Personal computer, 2 ... Expansion board, 3
... Display unit, 21 ... Transceiver unit, 22 ... Synthesizer,
23 ... Detector, 24 ... Antenna

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A receiving unit that receives frequencies of a plurality of channels, a synthesizer that oscillates frequencies corresponding to the plurality of channels, a frequency that is received by the receiving unit and a frequency that is oscillated by the synthesizer are mixed, and A radio channel comprising: a detection unit for performing detection, a control unit for instructing a frequency to be set in the synthesizer and a timing of the setting at specific time intervals, and a display unit for displaying a frequency reception status of a plurality of channels. monitor. 2. The control unit sets an oscillation frequency in the synthesizer, the detection unit mixes the frequency received in the reception unit with the frequency oscillated in the synthesizer to detect a channel, and the control unit The method of controlling a radio channel monitor according to claim 1, wherein the operation of setting the oscillation frequency is performed at a specific time interval. 3. A receiver, a synthesizer, and a detector are provided on an expansion board connectable to a personal computer, a controller is provided in the personal computer, and a display is a display for the personal computer. The wireless channel monitor according to claim 1, wherein: 4. The display unit displays the presence or absence of reception of each channel with a specific mark on a coordinate in which the vertical axis represents time and the horizontal axis represents a channel. A method for controlling the described wireless channel monitor.