Communication apparatus, communication system, communication method, and non-transitory computer readable medium

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10666502-B2
Application number	US-201716091580-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 6, 2017
Priority date	Apr 8, 2016
Publication date	May 26, 2020
Grant date	May 26, 2020

Abstract

A communication apparatus (10) according to the present disclosure includes a transmitting unit (11) configured to transmit a packet to a communication apparatus (20) at the other end through a communication line (31), a transmitting unit (12) configured to transmit a packet to the communication apparatus (20) at the other end through a communication line (32), a packet generation unit (13) configured to generate a plurality of packets by duplicating a packet, a monitoring unit (15) configured to monitor communication states of the communication lines (31, 32), and a control unit (14) configured to determine to transmit two or more of the plurality of duplicated packets to the communication apparatus (20) at the other end by using at least one of the communication lines (31, 32) according to the communication states.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A communication apparatus comprising:
at least one memory storing instructions, and
at least one processor configured to execute the instructions to:
transmit a packet to a second communication apparatus at the other end through a first communication line;
transmit a packet to the second communication apparatus at the other end through a second communication line;
generate a plurality of packets by duplicating a packet,
monitor communication, states of the first and second communication, lines; and
determine to transmit two or more of the plurality of duplicated packets to the communication apparatus at the other end by using at least one of the first and second communication lines according to communication states,
wherein
when it is determined that communication quality in the second communication line is lower than predetermined communication quality, the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to determine that two or more of the plurality of packets should be transmitted through the second communication line, and
when it is determined that the communication quality in the second communication line is higher than the predetermined communication quality, the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instruction to determine that no redundant packet should be transmitted through the second communication line.

2. The communication apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
when determining that a packet cannot be transmitted to the communication apparatus at the other end through the first communication line and a packet can be transmitted to the communication apparatus at the other end through the second communication line,
the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to determine that two or more of the plurality of packets should be transmitted through the second communication line.

3. The communication apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein when two or more packets are transmitted the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to set, a period longer than a predetermined period as an interval between transmissions of packets.

4. The communication apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein when packets are transmitted by using the first and second communication lines, the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to transmit a packet through the first communication line and then, after a predetermined period has elapsed, transmit a packet through the second communication line.

5. The communication apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the first communication line is a third communication line managed by a telecommunications carrier different from a telecommunications carrier managing the second communication line, a fourth communication line using a wireless communication method different from a wireless communication method used for the second communication line, or a fifth communication line using a frequency different from a frequency used for the second communication line.

6. The communication apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the first communication line is a mobile network line including a wireless communication line and the second communication line is a wired communication line.

7. The communication apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein each of the first and second communication lines is a wired communication line.

8. The communication apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to assign sequence numbers to packets transmitted through the first and second communication line, the sequence numbers indicating an order of the packets.

9. The communication apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to receive information about communication states of the first and second communication lines through the first and second communication lines.

10. The communication apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to receive information about communication states of the first and second communication lines from a management apparatus that manages the information about the communication states of the first and second communication lines.

11. A communication system comprising:
a transmitting apparatus configured to transmit two or more of a plurality of duplicated packets to a receiving apparatus by using at least one of first and second communication lines according to communication states of the first and second communication lines; and
the receiving apparatus configured to delete a duplicate packet when the receiving apparatus receives the plurality of duplicated packets through at least one of the first and second communication lines,
wherein,
when it is determined that communication quality in the second communication line is lower than predetermined communication quality, the transmitting apparatus is further configured to execute the instructions to determine that two or more of the plurality of packets should be transmitted through the second communication line, and
when it is determined that the communication quality in the second communication line is higher than the predetermined communication quality, the transmitting apparatus is further configured to execute the instruction to determine that no redundant packet should be transmitted through the second communication line.

12. A communication method comprising:
monitoring communication states of first and second communication lines;
generating a plurality of packets by duplicating a packet, and
transmitting two or more of a plurality of duplicated packets to a communication apparatus at the other end through the first and second communication lines by using at least one of the first and second communication lines according to the communication states,
wherein
when it is determined that communication quality in the second communication line is lower than predetermined communication quality, determining that two or more of the plurality of packets should be transmitted through the second communication line, and
when it is determined that the communication quality in the second communication line is higher than the predetermined communication quality, determining that no redundant packet should be transmitted through the second communication line.

Assignees

• Nec Corp
• Softbank Corp

Inventors

• Togo Shigetaka
• NISHIBORI Ryo

Classifications

• H04L41/0668 Primary

  by dynamic selection of recovery network elements, e.g. replacement by the most appropriate element after failure · CPC title

• H04L69/40

  for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity, e.g. service redundancy protocols, protocol state redundancy or protocol service redirection (management of faults, events, alarms or notifications in data switching networks H04L41/06) · CPC title

• H04L49/552

  by ensuring the integrity of packets received through redundant connections · CPC title

• H04L43/0811

  by checking connectivity · CPC title

• H04L12/1877

  Measures taken prior to transmission · CPC title