Radio communication apparatus, radio communication system and radio communication method

1. A radio communication apparatus for conducting radio communication with another radio communication apparatus by transmission of continuous signals, comprising:

a control unit that conducts changeover control to change a modulation scheme according to a state of a transmission path and automatic transmitter power control to control a transmission level of another radio communication apparatus to set a reception level of a reception signal to be received by the own apparatus to a predetermined value, wherein the control unit

controls, in a situation in which a changeover is conducted from a first modulation scheme to a second modulation scheme under the modulation scheme changeover control, to keep the transmission level of another radio communication apparatus at a predetermined value under the automatic transmitter power control, and

conducts, in a situation in which resetting is conducted from the second modulation scheme to the first modulation scheme under the modulation scheme changeover control, before the resetting at least one of transmission level reduction control to stepwise lower by a predetermined value the transmission level kept at the predetermined value under the automatic transmitter power control and reception level confirmation control to confirm a state of the reception level for a fixed period of time.

2. The radio communication apparatus in accordance with claim 1 , further comprising:

a reception level detector that detects the reception level, wherein

in a situation in which lowering of the reception level is detected by the reception level detector, the control unit controls to increase, until the reception level reaches a preset first threshold value, the transmission level of another radio communication apparatus to a maximum value of an output level of the automatic transmitter power control to keep the transmission level at the maximum value.

3. The radio communication apparatus in accordance with claim 2 , characterized in that in a situation wherein, after the reception level is lowered and reaches the first threshold value, lowering of the reception level is again detected by the reception level detector and the reception level reaches a preset second threshold value, the control unit controls to conduct a changeover from the first modulation scheme to the second modulation scheme and to simultaneously increase the transmission level controlled to be kept at the maximum value further by a predetermined value to keep the transmission level at a fixed value.

4. The radio communication apparatus in accordance with claim 2 , characterized in that in a situation wherein, after the changeover from the first modulation scheme to the second modulation scheme, rising of the reception level is detected by the reception level detector and the reception level reaches the first threshold value, the control unit conducts at least one of the transmission level reduction control and the reception level confirmation control.

5. The radio communication apparatus in accordance with claim 2 , wherein the transmission level reduction control reduces the transmission level controlled to be kept at the maximum value by the control unit, stepwise by a predetermined value down, to a predetermined output level, and

the control unit resets, after reducing the transmission level to the predetermined output level by the transmission level reduction control, the second modulation scheme to the first modulation scheme by the modulation scheme changeover control.

6. The radio communication apparatus in accordance with claim 2 , wherein the reception level confirmation control confirms for a fixed period of time that the reception level detected by the reception level detector exceeds the first threshold value, and

the control unit resets, after confirming by the reception level confirmation control that the reception level detected by the reception level detector exceeds the first threshold value for a fixed period of time, the second modulation scheme to the first modulation scheme by the modulation scheme changeover control.

7. The radio communication apparatus in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the control unit resets, after conducting at least one of the transmission level reduction control and the reception level confirming control, the second modulation scheme to the first modulation scheme by the modulation scheme changeover control and simultaneously controls by the automatic transmitter power control the transmission level of another radio communication apparatus to set the reception level of the reception signal to be received by the own apparatus to a predetermined value.

8. The radio communication apparatus in accordance with claim 1 , further comprising a digital cross connect unit capable of setting a signal having high priority.

9. The radio communication apparatus in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the control unit conducts the modulation scheme changeover control and modulation rate changeover control to change a modulation rate.

10. A radio communication system in which radio communication is conducted between an uplink station and a downlink station through transmission of continuous signals, the radio communication system comprising:

the uplink station comprises

a modulation scheme changeover unit that changes a modulation scheme according to a state of a transmission path,

an automatic transmitter power control request unit that requests the downlink station to control a transmission level of the downlink station to set a reception level of a reception signal to be received by the own station to a predetermined value, and

a reception level confirmation unit that confirms the reception level for a fixed period of time;

the downlink station comprises

second control unit that controls a transmission level of a transmission signal to be transmitted from the own station based on the request from the automatic transmitter power control request unit;

the uplink station

requests, in a situation in which a changeover is conducted from a first modulation scheme to a second modulation scheme by the modulation scheme changeover unit, the downlink station to conduct control to keep the transmission level of the downlink station at a predetermined value by the automatic transmitter power control request unit and

conducts, in a situation in which resetting is conducted from the second modulation scheme to the first modulation scheme by the modulation scheme changeover, before the resetting at least one of an operation to request the downlink station to conduct control to stepwise lower by a predetermined value the transmission level controlled to be kept at the predetermined value by the automatic transmitter power control request unit and an operation to confirm a state of the reception level for a fixed period of time by the reception level confirmation; and

the downlink station

controls, based on the request from the automatic transmitter power control request unit, the transmission level of the transmission signal to be transmitted from the own station by the automatic transmitter power control unit.

11. The radio communication system in accordance with claim 10 , wherein

the uplink station comprises

a reception level detector that detects the reception level, wherein

in a situation in which lowering of the reception level is detected by the reception level detector, the automatic transmitter power control request unit requests the downlink station to conduct control to increase, until the reception level reaches a preset first threshold value, the transmission level of the downlink station to a maximum value of an output level of the automatic transmitter power control to keep the transmission level at the maximum value.

12. The radio communication system in accordance with claim 11 , wherein

the uplink station

requests, in a situation wherein, after the reception level is lowered and reaches the first threshold value, lowering of the reception level is again detected by the reception level detector and the reception level reaches a preset second threshold value, the downlink station to conduct control, by the automatic transmitter power control request means unit, to conduct a changeover from the first modulation scheme to the second modulation scheme and to simultaneously increase the transmission level controlled to be kept at the maximum value further by a predetermined value to keep the transmission level at a fixed value.

13. The radio communication system in accordance with claim 11 , wherein

the uplink station

conducts, in a situation wherein, after the changeover from the first modulation scheme to the second modulation scheme by the modulation scheme changeover means unit, rising of the reception level is detected by the reception level detector means and the reception level reaches the first threshold value, at least one of an operation to request the downlink station to conduct control to stepwise lower by a predetermined value the transmission level controlled to be kept at the predetermined value by the automatic transmitter power control request means and an operation to confirm a state of the reception level for a fixed period of time by the reception level confirmation unit.

14. The radio communication system in accordance with claim 10 , wherein

the uplink station

requests the downlink station to reset, after conducting at least one of the operation to request the downlink station to conduct control to stepwise lower by a predetermined value the transmission level controlled to be kept at the predetermined value by the automatic transmitter power control request unit and the operation to confirm a state of the reception level for a fixed period of time by the reception level confirmation unit, the second modulation scheme to the first modulation scheme by the modulation scheme changeover unit and to simultaneously control by the automatic transmitter power control request unit the transmission level of the transmission signal from the downlink station to set the reception level of the reception signal to be received by the own station to a predetermined value and

the downlink station

controls, based on the request from the automatic transmitter power control request unit, the transmission level of the transmission signal to be transmitted from the own station by the automatic transmitter power control unit.

15. A radio communication method for conducting radio communication with a radio communication apparatus by transmission of continuous signals, the radio communication method comprising:

conducting modulation scheme changeover control to change a modulation scheme according to a state of a transmission path and automatic transmitter power control to control a transmission level of the radio communication apparatus to set a reception level of a reception signal to a predetermined value,

controlling, in a situation in which a changeover is conducted from a first modulation scheme to a second modulation scheme under the modulation scheme changeover control, to keep the transmission level of another radio communication apparatus at a predetermined value under the automatic transmitter power control, and

conducting, in a situation in which resetting is conducted from the second modulation scheme to the first modulation scheme under the modulation scheme changeover control, before the resetting at least one of transmission level reduction control to stepwise lower by a predetermined value the transmission level kept at the predetermined value and reception level confirmation control to confirm a state of the reception level for a fixed period of time.

16. The radio communication method in accordance with claim 15 , further comprising:

detecting the reception level, and

controlling, in a situation in which lowering of the reception level is detected, to increase, until the reception level reaches a preset first threshold value, the transmission level of the radio communication apparatus to a maximum value of an output level of the automatic transmitter power control to keep the transmission level at the maximum value.

17. The radio communication method in accordance with claim 16 , further comprising, in that in a situation wherein, after the reception level is lowered and reaches the first threshold value, lowering of the reception level is again detected and the reception level reaches a preset second threshold value, a step for controlling to conduct a changeover from the first modulation scheme to the second modulation scheme and to simultaneously increase the transmission level controlled to be kept at the maximum value further by a predetermined value to keep the transmission level at a fixed value.

18. The radio communication method in accordance with claim 16 , further comprising, in that in a situation wherein, after the changeover from the first modulation scheme to the second modulation scheme, rising of the reception level is detected and the reception level reaches the first threshold value, a step for conducting at least one of the transmission level reduction control and the reception level confirmation control.

19. The radio communication method in accordance with claim 15 , further comprising, in that the method resets, after conducting at least one of the transmission level reduction control and the reception level confirming control, a step for resetting the second modulation scheme to the first modulation scheme by the modulation scheme changeover control and simultaneously controlling by the automatic transmitter power control the transmission level of another radio communication apparatus to set the reception level of the reception signal to be received by the own apparatus to a predetermined value.