Radio communication terminal and communication method
View Patent ↗A radio communication terminal, being used in a radio communication systems in which the transmission rate varies depending on radio wave conditions and communication statuses of other users, comprises a reception module which receives packets transmitted by a base station in an idle state of the radio communication terminal, a signal processing module which estimates a transmission rate available in communication based on the packets received by the reception module, and a display module which displays information indicating the transmission rate estimated by the signal processing module.
1. A radio communication terminal which communicates packets with a base station, comprising:
a reception means which receives the packets transmitted by the base station in an idle state of the radio communication terminal;
a signal processing means which calculates an estimated transmission rate available after a communication path is established, based on information included in the packets received by the reception means; and
a display means which displays information indicating the estimated transmission rate calculated by the signal processing means;
wherein:
each packet includes a broadcast message area and a communication information area, and
each of the areas is composed of a plurality of slots as units of time division;
wherein:
each slot of the broadcast message area and the communication information area contains a pilot signal, and
information indicating the number of radio communication terminals connected with the base station is stored in a slot of the broadcast message area;
wherein the signal processing means includes:
a determination means which obtains a parameter regarding signal quality from the pilot signal and determines a transmission rate to be requested of the base station based on the parameter;
an acquisition means which acquires the number of radio communication terminals connected with the base station from the information indicating the number of radio communication terminals; and
a measuring means which measures the number of used slots and the number of idle slots by referring to the communication information, wherein:
the transmission rate available in communication is estimated from the requested transmission rate, the number of radio communication terminals, the number of used slots and the number of idle slots.
2. The radio communication terminal according to claim 1 , wherein the parameter regarding signal quality is a C/I ratio.
3. The radio communication terminal according to claim 1 , wherein the transmission rate available in communication is obtained by the following formula:
REQUESTED
TRANSMISSION
RATE
×
{
NUMBER
OF
IDLE
SLOTS
+
{
NUMBER
OF
USED
DATA
SLOTS
(
NUMBER
OF
CONNECTED
TERMINALS
+
1
)
}
NUMBER
OF
USED
DATA
SLOTS
+
NUMBER
OF
IDLE
SLOTS
}
.
4. A radio communication terminal which communicates packets with a plurality of base stations, comprising:
a reception means which receives the packets transmitted by each of the base stations in an idle state of the radio communication terminal;
a signal processing means which calculates an estimated transmission rate available after a communication path is established with each of the base stations based on information included in the packets received by the reception means and selects the highest one of the estimated transmission rates; and
a display means which displays information indicating the estimated transmission rate selected by the signal processing means;
wherein:
each of the packets includes a broadcast message area and a communication information area,
each of the areas is composed of a plurality of slots as units of time division;
each slot of the broadcast message area and the communication information area contains a pilot signal, and
information indicating the number of radio communication terminals connected with the base station is stored in a slot of the broadcast message area; and
wherein the signal processing means includes:
a determination means which obtains a parameter regarding signal quality from the pilot signal and determines a transmission rate to be requested of each of the base stations that transmitted the packets based on the parameter;
an acquisition means which acquires the number of radio communication terminals connected with each of the base stations that transmitted the packets based on the information indicating the number of radio communication terminals; and
a measuring means which measures the number of used slots and the number of idle slots by referring to the communication information of each packet, wherein:
the transmission rate available in communication is estimated from the requested transmission rate, the number of radio communication terminals, the number of used slots and the number of idle slots obtained from each packet, and the highest transmission rate is selected from the estimated transmission rates.
5. The radio communication terminal according to claim 4 , wherein the parameter regarding signal quality is a C/I ratio.
6. The radio communication terminal according to claim 4 , wherein the transmission rate available in communication is obtained by the following formula:
REQUESTED
TRANSMISSION
RATE
×
{
NUMBER
OF
IDLE
SLOTS
+
{
NUMBER
OF
USED
DATA
SLOTS
(
NUMBER
OF
CONNECTED
TERMINALS
+
1
)
}
NUMBER
OF
USED
DATA
SLOTS
+
NUMBER
OF
IDLE
SLOTS
}
.
7. A communication method for a radio communication terminal having a signal processing means which processes signals received from a plurality of base stations and a display means which displays results of the processing, comprising the steps of:
receiving a signal from each of the base stations that is in an idle state of the radio communication terminal;
obtaining a parameter regarding signal quality from each of the received signals;
determining a transmission rate to be requested of each of the base stations that transmitted the signal based on the parameter;
acquiring the number of base stations connected with each of the base stations that transmitted the signal based on first information contained in each received signal;
counting the number of used slots and the number of idle slots based on second information contained in each received signal;
calculating estimated transmission rates available after connection paths are established based at least on the requested transmission rate, the number of terminals, the number of used slots and the number of idle slots obtained from each received signal;
selecting the highest estimated transmission rate from among the calculated estimated transmission rates;
displaying information indicating the selected highest estimated transmission rate on the display means; and
requesting the base stations that are capable of communicating at the selected highest estimated transmission rate to establish a connection in response to a request for call origination.
8. The communication method according to claim 7 , wherein the parameter regarding signal quality is a C/I ratio.
9. The communication method according to claim 7 , wherein the transmission rate available in communication is obtained by the following formula:
REQUESTED
TRANSMISSION
RATE
×
{
NUMBER
OF
IDLE
SLOTS
+
{
NUMBER
OF
USED
DATA
SLOTS
(
NUMBER
OF
CONNECTED
TERMINALS
+
1
)
}
NUMBER
OF
USED
DATA
SLOTS
+
NUMBER
OF
IDLE
SLOTS
}
.