Communication device
Provided is a communication device for measuring a usable bandwidth without delay in transmission of primary data. The relay device according to an embodiment of the present invention, when measuring a usable bandwidth in communication with another relay device, processes a user packet including a user data to be transmitted to the other relay device so as to be changed into a specific packet size while the user data is maintained as it is, and utilizes it as a measurement packet. Accordingly, even though it is a measurement packet for performing measurement of a bandwidth, since it includes user data, it may be treated in the same manner as a user packet thereby enabling an efficient use of a communication network in communication. Also, even though UDP is used, since a usable bandwidth can be measured, it is possible to measure a bandwidth even though streaming data is distributed while preventing any influences on the distribution.
1. A communication device, comprising:
a setting unit that is configured to set a test bandwidth indicative of a transmission rate to be tested in a communication with another device;
an acquisition unit that is configured to acquire a user packet in which user data indicative of contents to be transmitted to the other device is packetized;
a processing unit that is configured to assign measurement information indicative of the test bandwidth which is set by the setting unit to the user packet acquired by the acquisition unit, and to process the user packet to prepare a measurement packet so that a packet size of the measurement packet becomes a packet size corresponding to the test bandwidth; and
a transmission unit that is configured to transmit the measurement packet prepared by the processing unit to the other device at intervals determined so as to come into an environment in the test bandwidth which is set by the setting unit.
2. The communication device according to claim 1 , further comprising
a resultant information receiving unit that is configured to receive resultant information which is transmitted from the other device which has received the measurement packet transmitted by the transmission unit, the resultant information being indicative of a result of comparing the test bandwidth with a reception-side transmission rate calculated in accordance with a reception aspect of the measurement packet.
3. The communication device according to claim 2 , wherein
the setting unit is configured to change setting of the test bandwidth in accordance with the resultant information received by the resultant information receiving unit.
4. The communication device according to claim 1 , wherein
the transmission unit is configured to transmit at least predetermined number of measurement packets, and when the number of measurement packets to be transmitted is insufficient as the number of the user packets does not reach the predetermined number, the transmission unit transmits a measurement packet prepared by processing a user packet including user data of a user packet which have been already transmitted.
5. A communication device, comprising:
a reception unit that is configured to receive a measurement packet in which user data indicative of contents to be transmitted by another device is packetized, to which measurement information indicative of a test bandwidth indicating a transmission rate to be tested in a communication with the other device is assigned, and which is processed so as to become a packet size according to the test bandwidth;
an extracting unit that is configured to extract a user packet before processed, from the measurement packet received by the reception unit; and
a measurement unit that is configured to measure a reception bandwidth indicative of a reception-side transmission rate from the other device based on a reception aspect of the measurement packet received by the reception unit.
6. The communication device according to claim 5 , further comprising
a resultant information transmitting unit that is configured to transmit resultant information indicative of a result of comparing the reception bandwidth measured by the measurement unit with the test bandwidth indicated by the measurement information assigned to the measurement packet received by the reception unit.
7. The communication device according to claim 5 , wherein
the extracting unit is configured to discard a measurement packet received by the reception unit without performing an extraction from the measurement packet, when a user packet part before processed in the measurement packet received by the reception unit is identical to a user packet part before processed in a measurement packet which has been already received before.