Patent Description:
Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication, by which a vehicle communicates wirelessly with another vehicle or an object, enables the vehicle to acquire various types of information or to provide information to others. When a vehicle transmits data to a device such as a server on the Internet or a network that has been constructed by a service provider, the vehicle has to connect to a predetermined communication device such as, for example, a base station or an access point through which the vehicle is capable of connecting to the network. However, vehicles are not always in an environment where the connection to such a predetermined communication device is enabled. For this reason, it is supposed that a vehicle communicates with a predetermined communication device through, for example, another vehicle capable of connecting to such a predetermined communication device. <CIT> describes a configuration for connecting between vehicles to transfer data to a predetermined node. In <CIT>, a vehicle close to the predetermined node is identified by communication between the vehicles, and data is transferred to the vehicle close to the predetermined node.

Additionally, <CIT> discloses a terminal apparatus including a processing unit configured to determine which of a base station or a relay terminal is set as a transmission destination for each packet in accordance with whether or not a predetermined condition is satisfied. Further, it is referred to <CIT>.

In a case where a vehicle relays communication of another vehicle by using, for example, a paid communication service, the vehicle may bear a communication cost of the communication that has been performed by the vehicle for relaying the communication of another vehicle. Hence, there is a demand for a technique for determining whether the communication to be relayed by the vehicle is communication related to the vehicle itself or relay communication of another vehicle.

The present invention provides a technique capable of easily determining whether data transmitted and received by a communication device is data of relay communication.

A communication device according to one aspect of the present invention is a communication device according to claim <NUM>.

According to the present invention, it becomes possible to easily determine whether the data transmitted and received by the communication device is data of the relay communication.

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain principles of the invention.

Note, the following embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the claimed invention, and limitation is not made to an invention that requires a combination of all features described in the embodiments. Two or more of the multiple features described in the embodiments may be combined as appropriate. Furthermore, the same reference numerals are given to the same or similar configurations, and redundant description thereof is omitted.

<FIG> illustrates a configuration example of a system in the present embodiment. The present system is a wireless communication system in which vehicles <NUM> to <NUM>, which are capable of performing wireless communication, connect to a predetermined network such as the Internet, and perform communication. The vehicles <NUM> to <NUM> according to the present embodiment connect to a base station <NUM> of a cellular communication system, for example, and perform communication with a predetermined communication device. In addition, the vehicles <NUM> to <NUM> are, for example, configured to be capable of communicating with each other by connecting to each other in a communication method different from the cellular communication method for communicating with the base station <NUM>. Here, the communication method different from the cellular communication method is, for example, any communication method of cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X), wireless LAN, Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC), and Bluetooth (registered trademark). Note that although the cellular V2X is one aspect of the cellular communication method, it is not used for the communication between the base station and the terminal (that is, the vehicle <NUM> to the vehicle <NUM>), but is used for the communication between a device other than the base station and the terminal (the vehicle <NUM> to the vehicle <NUM>). Therefore, these communication methods are treated as different communication methods throughout the present embodiment and the scope of claims. Note that a combination of the cellular communication method and any other communication method is an example, and the vehicles <NUM> to <NUM> are configured to connect to a first device such as the base station <NUM> in a first communication method, and to be connectable with each other in a second communication method different from the first communication method. Note that in <FIG>, only one base station <NUM> and four vehicles <NUM> to <NUM> are illustrated, but it is needless to say that a large number of these devices can be present.

By performing cellular communication with the base station <NUM>, the vehicles <NUM> to <NUM> are capable of transmitting, for example, information that has been acquired by sensors of the respective vehicles to a device such as a predetermined information processing server. The information processing server is capable of performing various types of processing such as control for automated driving with this information. In addition, by performing the cellular communication with the base station <NUM>, the vehicles <NUM> to <NUM> are capable of acquiring various types of information such as driving control information and service information in accordance with the locations of the vehicles from a server that holds, for example, predetermined information. On the other hand, for example, in a case where the vehicle <NUM> is present at a cell end, the vehicle <NUM> is not capable of performing large-capacity communication due to a large propagation loss between the base station <NUM> and the vehicle <NUM>, and in some cases, the vehicle <NUM> may not be capable of performing communication with the base station <NUM> at all. For this reason, for example, any one of the vehicle <NUM> to the vehicle <NUM> relays communication of the vehicle <NUM>, so that the vehicle <NUM> can perform communication with the base station <NUM>. Note that in the following, it is assumed that the vehicle <NUM> relays the communication between the vehicle <NUM> and the base station <NUM>.

In the cellular communication system, a meter rate charging system is applied, in some cases. In this situation, when the vehicle <NUM> relays the communication of the vehicle <NUM>, the cellular communication system including the base station <NUM> regards the communication of the vehicle <NUM> as the communication of the vehicle <NUM>, and may charge the vehicle <NUM> the cost (fee) of the communication. For this reason, there is a demand for a mechanism capable of determining whether the communication (user data) between the vehicle <NUM> and the base station <NUM> is the communication of the vehicle <NUM> itself or the communication of the vehicle <NUM>. On the other hand, the communication between the vehicle <NUM> and the vehicle <NUM> can be performed in a communication method different from the communication between the vehicle <NUM> and the base station <NUM>. Hence, the base station <NUM> cannot identify the vehicle <NUM>, in some cases.

Accordingly, in the present embodiment, the vehicle <NUM> sets identification information regarding quality of service in the communication of the user data of the vehicle <NUM> to a value that is not used as the identification information of quality of service in the communication of the user data between the vehicle <NUM> and the base station <NUM>. Then, the vehicle <NUM> associates a set value of the identification information regarding the quality of service with the user data, and performs communication between the vehicle <NUM> and the base station <NUM>. For example, with regard to the user data that has been received from the vehicle <NUM>, the vehicle <NUM> generates a signal obtained by associating the user data with the identification information of the quality of service, and transmits the signal to the base station <NUM>. In addition, with regard to user data that has been received from the base station <NUM>, identification information of the quality of service is confirmed, and the user data having the identification information of the quality of service that is associated with the vehicle <NUM> is transferred to the vehicle <NUM>.

Here, the identification information of the quality of service may be, for example, quality of service (QoS) class identifier (QCI) in long term evolution (LTE) or <NUM> QoS identifier (5QI) in a fifth generation (<NUM>) communication system. That is, in the present embodiment, a value that is not included in ranges of a QCI value or a 5QI value is used for the communication of the user data between a conventional base station and a terminal, that is, a value the meaning or priority of which is not defined in the QCI value or the 5QI value in the conventional communication is used as a value for the relay transmission. For example, in a case where <NUM> to <NUM> is used as the QCI value for direct communication between the base station and the terminal, <NUM> to <NUM> may be used for the relay communication. For example, the vehicle <NUM> associates QCI = <NUM> for the user data of the vehicle <NUM>. For the communication of the self-device, the vehicle <NUM> associates a QCI value in accordance with a service content requested in the communication. Note that each value in a range available to the relay communication may be associated with information of the quality of service in the relay communication. That is, the identification information of the quality of service such as the QCI may indicate not only whether the associated user data is user data of the vehicle <NUM> or the user data of the relay communication of the vehicle <NUM> but also information of the quality of service of the relay communication of the vehicle <NUM>.

Note that the vehicle <NUM> may acquire the value of the identification information of the quality of service used for the communication of the user data of the vehicle <NUM> from notification from the base station <NUM>, for example. In one example, the base station <NUM> can notify the vehicle <NUM> of the range of QCI values available to the relay communication, by broadcasting or individual signaling. In addition, for example, the base station <NUM> may make a setting for the communication of the vehicle <NUM> through the vehicle <NUM> at the time of connection with the vehicle <NUM>, and may notify the vehicle <NUM> of the value of the identification information of the quality of service that has to be used for the relay communication for the vehicle <NUM>. When making the setting after identifying that the communication is the relay communication for the vehicle <NUM>, the base station <NUM> is capable of identifying a value corresponding to the quality of service requested by the user data of the vehicle <NUM>, and notifying the vehicle <NUM> of the value. Note that the base station <NUM> may notify beforehand the vehicle <NUM> of information indicating a correspondence relationship between the quality of service of the relay communication and the value that has to be used, and the vehicle <NUM> may select the value of the identification information of the quality of service to be associated with the user data of the relay communication, based on the information that has been notified. In addition, one value that has been optionally selected from a certain value range may be associated with the user data of the relay communication, regardless of the quality of service. In this case, only whether the user data is the user data of the relay communication is identified by the identification information of the quality of service. In this case, for example, in every communication device to be relayed through, a different value can be used for the identification information of the quality of service, even for communication of the same quality of service. Note that the vehicle <NUM> may acquire the value of the identification information of the quality of service used for the communication of the user data of the vehicle <NUM> from notification from the vehicle <NUM>, for example. In one example, the vehicle <NUM> may notify the vehicle <NUM> of the value of the identification information corresponding to the quality of service requested by the self-device. In addition, the vehicle <NUM> may randomly select one value from the range of values of the identification information regarding the quality of service corresponding to the relay communication, and may notify the vehicle <NUM> of the selected value. Further, the vehicle <NUM> may randomly select one value from the range of values of the identification information regarding the quality of service corresponding to the relay communication, and may set the selected value to a value for the relay communication of the vehicle <NUM>.

Note that the vehicle <NUM> may generate a signal obtained by associating terminal identification information in the cellular communication system of the vehicle <NUM> with the user data to be subject to the relay communication. Such terminal identification information is, for example, temporary mobile subscriber identity (TMSI) or globally unique temporary identifier (GUTI). On the other hand, since the vehicle <NUM> performs communication with the vehicle <NUM> in a communication method different from the cellular communication method, it is supposed that the vehicle <NUM> does not know the terminal identification information of the vehicle <NUM>. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the vehicle <NUM> can acquire the terminal identification information of the vehicle <NUM> from the vehicle <NUM>. This enables the relay communication to be performed by use of the terminal identification information in the cellular communication method of the vehicle <NUM>, which connects to a communication method other than the cellular communication method, and consequently enables the network side such as the base station <NUM> to recognize the vehicle <NUM> as a communication partner device. Accordingly, in the cellular communication system, it becomes possible to charge the vehicle <NUM> the cost of the communication.

Note that the vehicle <NUM> can establish different data wireless bearers respectively for the user data of the self-device and the user data of the vehicle <NUM>, and can transmit and receive the use data using the data wireless bearers. For example, in a case where the identification information regarding the quality of service is associated with the user data of the vehicle <NUM> in a format by which the quality of service is identifiable, the vehicle <NUM> can establish a data wireless bearer corresponding to the quality of service, and can relay the communication of the user data. On the other hand, for example, in a case where the quality of service for the user data of the vehicle <NUM> is not identified, the vehicle <NUM> may transmit and receive the user data of the relay communication by using the data wireless bearer that has been established for the user data transmitted by the self-device. Note that, even in a case where the quality of service of the user data of the vehicle <NUM> is identified, the vehicle <NUM> may transmit and receive the user data of the vehicle <NUM> by using the data wireless bearer for transmission and reception of the user data of the self-device.

Hereinafter, the configuration and operations of the vehicle <NUM>, which performs such processing, will be described. Note that in the present embodiment, processing to be performed by the vehicle <NUM> is described, but the other vehicles (the vehicle <NUM>, the vehicle <NUM> to the vehicle <NUM>) can also perform similar processing. In addition, the "vehicle" is merely one aspect of the communication device, and the discussion according to the present embodiment is applicable to a wireless communication device in any aspect.

<FIG> illustrates a hardware configuration example of a communication device mounted on the vehicle <NUM> in the present embodiment. The communication device includes a general-purpose computer in one example, and the computer includes, for example, a CPU <NUM>, a memory <NUM>, a storage device <NUM>, a communication circuit <NUM>, and an input and output circuit <NUM>. Note that <FIG> illustrates a configuration example of hardware according to the present embodiment, and illustrations of the other configurations are omitted. The CPU <NUM> is, for example, a central processing unit (CPU) that performs processing to be described later and that controls the entire device, by executing a program stored in the memory <NUM>. Note that the CPU <NUM> can be substituted by any one or more processors such as a micro processing unit (MPU) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The memory <NUM> holds a program for causing the communication device to perform various types of processing, and functions as a work memory at the time of executing the program. In one example, the memory <NUM> is a random access memory (RAM) or a read-only memory (ROM). The storage device <NUM> is, for example, a detachable external storage device, a built-in hard disk drive, or the like, and holds various types of information. The communication circuit <NUM> performs signal processing related to communication, acquires various types of information from an external device through a communication network, and transmits the various types of information to the external device. Note that the information that has been acquired by the communication circuit <NUM> can be stored in, for example, the memory <NUM> or the storage device <NUM>. Note that the communication device can include a plurality of communication circuits <NUM>. The input and output circuit <NUM> controls, for example, outputs of screen information to be displayed on a display device, not illustrated, audio information to be output from a speaker, and receiving of user inputs via a keyboard, a pointing device, or the like. Note that the input and output circuit <NUM> may control a device that integrally inputs into and outputs from a touch panel or the like. Note that the configuration of <FIG> is an example, and for example, the communication device may include dedicated hardware for performing the above-described processing.

<FIG> illustrates a functional configuration example of a communication device provided in the vehicle <NUM>. The communication device includes, a quality identification information setting unit <NUM>, a terminal identification information setting unit <NUM>, a relay communication unit <NUM>, and an information acquisition unit <NUM> as its functions. Note that these functional units may be implemented, for example, by the CPU <NUM> executing a program stored in the memory <NUM> or the storage device <NUM>, or may be implemented by dedicated hardware. Note that since the detailed operations of the respective functional units have been described above, only the functions are outlined here, and the detailed descriptions are omitted.

The quality identification information setting unit <NUM> sets the identification information regarding the quality of service as conventionally, for communication with the base station of the communication device itself. In addition, when relaying the communication between another communication device and a base station, the quality identification information setting unit <NUM> sets a value that is not used in the communication of the self-device to be identification information regarding the quality of service of the relay communication. The quality identification information setting unit <NUM> conducts control so that a signal in which each setting value is associated with corresponding user data is generated. When performing the relay communication for another communication device, the terminal identification information setting unit <NUM> sets terminal identification information of such another communication device for user data to be subject to the relay communication. For example, the terminal identification information setting unit <NUM> conducts control so that a signal in which each setting value is associated with corresponding user data is generated. The relay communication unit <NUM> performs communication with the base station including the relay communication. For example, the relay communication unit <NUM> newly establishes a data wireless bearer for transmission and reception of the user data of another communication device, or applies a wireless bearer for transmission and reception of the user data of the self-device, and transmits and receives the user data. In addition, the relay communication unit <NUM> performs communication with another communication device in a communication method different from the communication method for communicating with the base station. The information acquisition unit <NUM> acquires various types of information necessary for the relay communication. The quality identification information setting unit <NUM> acquires information of a range of values of the identification information regarding the quality of service available to the relay communication and the terminal identification information of another communication device from the base station or another communication device. In addition, the information acquisition unit <NUM> may acquire information by reading the information from a storage device in the self-device as necessary.

Next, an example of a flow of processing performed by the above-described communication system will be described. Here, an example of a case where the vehicle <NUM> relays communication of the vehicle <NUM> will be described. Note that in the following processing example, a description will be given with regard to an example of a case where QCI (identification information regarding the quality of service) and TMSI (terminal identification information), which have to be used, of the vehicle <NUM> are notified from the vehicle <NUM> to the vehicle <NUM>. However, this is an example, and these pieces of information may be notified from the base station <NUM>, or for example, the vehicle <NUM> may determine the QCI that has to be used. Further, 5QI or another type of identification information may be used instead of QCI, and GUTI or another type of identification information may be used instead of TMSI. Note that details of each process to be described later have been described above. Therefore, in the description here, only the flow of the processing is outlined, and the detailed description is not repeated. The present processing is implemented by, for example, the CPU <NUM> executing a program stored in the memory <NUM> or the storage device <NUM>.

First, before the vehicle <NUM> relays the communication of the vehicle <NUM>, the vehicle <NUM> notifies the vehicle <NUM> of the QCI and the TMSI that have to be used in the relay communication (S501). This notification can be given, for example, when the vehicle <NUM> establishes a wireless connection with the vehicle <NUM> in another communication method different from the cellular communication method, and transmits and receives setting information for the relay communication using such a wireless connection. However, this is an example, and this notification may be given, for example, in the communication for the setting at the time of establishing the connection. In addition, as described above, the QCI value or the like may be notified from the base station <NUM> to the vehicle <NUM>, or may be held by the vehicle <NUM> beforehand. Further, for example, in a case where the vehicle <NUM> relays data transmitted from the vehicle <NUM> without processing, the vehicle <NUM> can be configured to generate and transmit data for cellular communication in which the TMSI value and the QCI value are set. In this case, the vehicle <NUM> does not have to acquire the QCI value or the TMSI value at this timing.

Thereafter, it is assumed that user data is generated in the vehicle <NUM> (S502). The vehicle <NUM> transmits the user data to the vehicle <NUM> (S503). The vehicle <NUM> transfers the user data to the base station <NUM>, by using the QCI for relay communication and the TMSI of the vehicle <NUM> that have been acquired beforehand. Note that although not illustrated in <FIG>, when the vehicle <NUM> transmits the user data of the self-device, the vehicle <NUM> can transmit the user data to be relayed by using the data wireless bearer same with the user data or separately establishing a data wireless bearer. Note that the vehicle <NUM> may form, for example, a frame including the user data in a frame format of the cellular communication method, may generate a packet including the frame as a payload and simply attached with a header of the communication method between the vehicle <NUM> and the vehicle <NUM>, and may transmit the packet to the vehicle <NUM>. In this case, the vehicle <NUM> can remove the header, can obtain a frame for the cellular communication, and can transfer the frame to the base station <NUM> without change.

In addition, the vehicle <NUM> can receive the user data from the base station <NUM> (S505). For example, the vehicle <NUM> is capable of identifying the corresponding QCI value from on which data wireless bearer the user data has been received, and is capable of identifying whether the user data is addressed to the self-device or the vehicle <NUM>. Further, the vehicle <NUM> is also capable of identifying whether the user data is addressed to the self-device or the vehicle <NUM>, based on the TMSI value associated with the user data. Then, in a case where the user data is addressed to the vehicle <NUM>, the vehicle <NUM> transfers the user data to the vehicle <NUM>.

Claim 1:
A communication device that is connected, as a terminal device, to a base station (<NUM>) of a cellular communication system and that relays communication between the base station (<NUM>) and another terminal device of the cellular communication system, wherein the communication device comprises:
setting means configured to set, as service quality identification information, a first value from a first range of numbers for user data generated in the communication device, and a second value from a second range of numbers that does not overlap the first range and for user data received from the other terminal device; and
transmission means configured to transmit the user data generated in the communication device with the service quality identification information in which the first value is set, and transmit the user data received from the other terminal device with the service quality identification information in which the second value is set.