CN108540991B

CN108540991B - Base station management method and device

Info

Publication number: CN108540991B
Application number: CN201710117699.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 倪华
Original assignee: ZTE Corp
Current assignee: ZTE Corp
Priority date: 2017-03-01
Filing date: 2017-03-01
Publication date: 2023-03-10
Anticipated expiration: 2037-03-01
Also published as: WO2018157694A1; CN108540991A

Abstract

The invention discloses a base station management method, which comprises the following steps: receiving a virtual resource request sent by a virtualization unit; determining hardware resources required by the base station management unit according to the virtual resource request and a mapping rule; and informing the virtualization unit and the resource allocation unit to create the base station management unit according to the virtual resource and the hardware resource required by the base station management unit, so as to realize the management of the base station. The invention also discloses a base station management device. The invention can realize the unified management of the base station and reduce the management cost of the base station.

Description

Base station management method and device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for managing a base station.

Background

In the specification of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), a management architecture for Network Function Virtualization (NFV) is defined. In the management architecture, a Virtual Network Function (VNF) is responsible for life cycle management of a VNF instance by a VNF Manager (VNF Manager, VNFM for short); a Network function Virtualization manager (NFVO) is responsible for the lifecycle management of the Network service; network Function Virtualization (NFVI) provides VNF with various available resources; the virtual device Manager (VIM) is responsible for controlling and managing the computing, storage, and network resources provided by the NFVI.

In NFV, network function virtualization can be implemented, and an important factor is that network function virtualization relies on hardware resources of general-purpose devices, and can be generalized and managed in a generalized manner. The hardware resources in the base station are different from those of the general-purpose equipment, and different manufacturers provide base stations of different models, which is complicated. Therefore, it is difficult to generalize the base station, and it is necessary to manage the base station using a different and dedicated Element Management System (EMS). This causes a problem that it is difficult to uniformly manage base stations of different manufacturers and different models, thereby increasing management cost.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention mainly aims to provide a base station management method and a base station management device, which aim to realize unified management on services supported by base stations of different manufacturers and different models so as to reduce the management cost.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a base station management method, including:

receiving a virtual resource request sent by a virtualization unit, wherein the virtual resource request is used for indicating virtual resources required by the creation of a base station management unit;

determining hardware resources required by the base station management unit according to the virtual resource request and a mapping rule, wherein the mapping rule is a corresponding relation between the hardware resources and predefined virtual resources;

and informing the virtualization unit and the resource allocation unit to create the base station management unit according to the virtual resource and the hardware resource required by the creation of the base station management unit so as to realize the management of the base station.

Preferably, before receiving the virtual resource request sent by the virtualization unit, the method further includes:

and receiving the mapping rule sent by the base station.

Preferably, the predefined virtual resources include: a virtual baseband defined according to the baseband capabilities of the base station, a virtual radio frequency defined according to the radio frequency capabilities of the base station, and a virtual antenna defined according to the antenna attributes of the base station.

Preferably, the notifying the virtualization unit and the resource allocation unit to create the base station management unit according to the virtual resource and the hardware resource required for creating the base station management unit includes:

informing the resource allocation unit to allocate the hardware resource acquired from the base station and required for creating the base station management unit to the virtualization unit;

and informing the virtualization unit to create the base station management unit according to the virtual resource required by creating the base station management unit.

Preferably, the receiving the virtual resource request sent by the virtualization unit includes:

and receiving a virtual resource request sent by the virtualization unit according to the base station management unit creation request.

Preferably, the base station management unit creation request includes: a requirement for virtual resources required for creating the base station management unit.

Preferably, the requirement for virtual resources required for creating the base station management unit includes: a requirement for the number of virtual resources required to create the base station management unit, and an attribute requirement for the virtual resources required to create the base station management unit.

Preferably, the virtualization unit includes: a virtual network function manager, VNFM, and a virtual network element manager, or the virtual unit includes: VNFM and network function virtualization manager NFVO;

correspondingly, the base station management unit creates a request to be sent to the VNFM by the NFVO or the virtual network element manager.

Preferably, the base station management unit is a virtual network function VNF.

Preferably, the resource allocation unit is a virtual device manager VIM.

The present invention also provides a base station management apparatus, including: virtual object mapping apparatus, the virtual object mapping apparatus comprising:

a receiving module, configured to receive a virtual resource request sent by a virtualization unit, where the virtual resource request is used to indicate a virtual resource required by a base station management unit;

a determining module, configured to determine, according to the virtual resource request and a mapping rule, a hardware resource required for creating the base station management unit, where the mapping rule is a correspondence between a hardware resource and a predefined virtual resource;

and the informing module is used for informing the virtualization unit and the resource allocation unit to create the base station management unit according to the virtual resource and the hardware resource required by the creation of the base station management unit so as to realize the management of the base station.

Preferably, the receiving module is further configured to receive a mapping rule sent by the base station.

Preferably, the notifying module is configured to notify the resource allocating unit to allocate, to the virtualization unit, the hardware resource, which is acquired from the base station and is required to create the base station management unit; and informing the virtualization unit to create the base station management unit according to the virtual resource required by creating the base station management unit.

Preferably, the receiving module is configured to receive a virtual resource request sent by the virtualization unit according to a base station management unit creation request;

the base station management unit creation request includes: a requirement for virtual resources required for creating the base station management unit;

the requirement for virtual resources required for creating the base station management unit includes: a requirement for the number of virtual resources required to create the base station management unit, and an attribute requirement for the virtual resources required to create the base station management unit.

Preferably, the virtualization unit includes: a virtual network function manager VNFM and a virtual network element manager, or the virtual unit includes: VNFM and network function virtualization manager NFVO; correspondingly, the base station management unit creates a request to be sent to the VNFM by the NFVO or the virtual network element manager;

the base station management unit is a Virtual Network Function (VNF); the resource allocation unit is a virtual device manager (VIM).

The technical scheme of the invention has the following beneficial effects:

compared with the prior art, the invention can complete the virtualization of the base station aiming at different types of base stations of different manufacturers and carry out unified management in NFV. Hardware resources of the base station are defined in a virtual resource mode according to the capacity, and the requirements of related services of the base station on the hardware resources of the base station can be uniformly described in the virtual resource mode of the base station, so that the uniform management of the services of the base station is conveniently realized, and the management cost of the base station is greatly saved.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings needed to be used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious for those skilled in the art that other drawings can be obtained according to these drawings without creative efforts.

Fig. 1 is a flowchart of a base station management method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a flowchart of a base station management method according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a flowchart of a base station management method according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a block diagram of a base station management apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be described clearly and completely with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

The method of the embodiment of the invention can be deployed in a physical machine, a virtual machine or a container, wherein the physical machine is taken as an example, the physical machine comprises a cloud server, and the embodiment of the invention can be executed in the cloud server. The cloud server may include one or more processors, memory for storing data. The memory may be configured to store software programs and modules of application software, such as program instructions/modules corresponding to the base station management method in the embodiment of the present invention, and the processor may execute various functional applications and base station management by running the software programs and modules stored in the memory. The memory may include high speed random access memory, and may also include non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic storage devices, flash memory, or other non-volatile solid-state memory. In some examples, the memory may further include memory remotely located from the processor, which may be connected to a cloud server over a network. Examples of such networks include, but are not limited to, the internet, intranets, local area networks, mobile communication networks, and combinations thereof.

Example one

Fig. 1 is a base station management method provided in an embodiment of the present invention, where the base station management method is applied to a cloud server, and as shown in fig. 1, the base station management method includes:

step S101: receiving a virtual resource request sent by a virtualization unit, wherein the virtual resource request is used for indicating virtual resources required by the creation of a base station management unit;

step S102: determining hardware resources required by the base station management unit according to the virtual resource request and a mapping rule, wherein the mapping rule is a corresponding relation between the hardware resources and predefined virtual resources;

step S103: and informing the virtualization unit and the resource allocation unit to create the base station management unit according to the virtual resource and the hardware resource required by the base station management unit, so as to realize the management of the base station.

According to the method for managing the base stations, the base stations provided by different manufacturers and the base stations of different models do not need to adopt a plurality of EMS for management, but are uniformly managed by the virtualization unit. The capacity of the base station is defined in a virtual resource mode, so that the virtualization unit does not need to care about a manufacturer providing the base station, the model of the base station and the virtual resource, the unified management of the base station can be realized, and the management cost of the base station is reduced.

The implementation details of the steps of the method are as follows:

generally, base stations of different manufacturers and different models (different manufacturers or different models) are deployed in a communication network, where the base stations may include, for example, a baseband single board, a Radio Remote Unit (RRU), a physical antenna, and other hardware resources that can be managed by a VIM (the VIM is an infrastructure management system and needs to manage various different types of hardware devices), or the VIM is responsible for managing various different types of hardware devices. The virtualization unit, the resource allocation unit and the base station management unit in the method are located in a cloud server, and meanwhile, the cloud server further comprises a virtual object mapping device used for executing the steps.

Before step S101, the virtual object mapping apparatus first defines the capability and attribute of the base station as corresponding virtual resources, which are predefined virtual resources. Specifically, for example, the baseband capability of the base station may be defined as a virtual baseband, the radio frequency capability of the base station may be defined as a virtual radio frequency, and the antenna attribute of the base station may be defined as a virtual antenna. The virtual baseband may include baseband attributes of the base station, such as baseband processing capability, formats supported by the baseband, and capability of the virtual baseband to connect to a virtual radio frequency. The virtual radio frequency may include radio frequency properties of the base station, such as bandwidth, frequency point, power, transmission radius. The virtual antennas may include antenna properties of the base station, e.g., antenna position, antenna type, number of antennas, antenna orientation. In other embodiments, the capabilities of the base station may also include. . . . . . And may be defined as a corresponding virtual resource.

Subsequently, the virtual object mapping device receives mapping rules transmitted by different base stations. This step can be subdivided into two steps: in a first step, the virtual object mapping means sends rules for predefined virtual resources to the base station. And secondly, the base station formulates a corresponding relation between the predefined virtual resources and the hardware resources of the base station according to the rules of the predefined virtual resources, wherein the corresponding relation is a mapping rule. And thirdly, the virtual object mapping device receives the mapping rule sent by the base station.

The mapping rule may have the following situations: in the first case, a single hardware is mapped with a single virtual resource. For example, a rule of mapping a baseband board to a virtual baseband; a rule of mapping one RRU and one virtual radio frequency; and (3) a rule of mapping one physical antenna with one virtual antenna. In the second case, a rule that maps a portion of a single piece of hardware with a virtual resource. For example, a rule of mapping one microchip and one virtual baseband of the baseband single board; one antenna in one antenna array is mapped with one virtual antenna. In the third case, a plurality of hardware is formed into a resource pool and a rule of mapping the resource pool with a virtual resource. For example, a group of baseband boards form a baseband pool and a rule for mapping a virtual baseband with a stronger capability. It should be noted that the mapping rules of different base stations may be the same or different. It should also be noted that the mapping rule may be reported to the virtual object mapping apparatus in a message manner after the base station is started.

After the above steps are completed, step S101 will be executed.

In step S101, the virtual object mapping apparatus receives a virtual resource request transmitted by a virtualization unit. The virtualization unit includes a virtual network element manager and a VNFM, or includes a NFVO and a VNFM, which are explained in this embodiment by taking the NFVO and the VNFM as examples. The virtual resource request is used to indicate the virtual resources required by the virtualized unit, i.e. the virtual resources required for creating the VNF. Step S101 can be divided into three steps: a first step, the NFVO sends a VNF creation request to the VNFM; secondly, the VNFM generates a virtual resource request according to the VNF establishment request; and thirdly, the virtual object mapping device receives a virtual resource request sent by the VNFM.

The VNF creation request includes: the requirements for virtual resources needed to create VNFs. The requirements for virtual resources required for creating a VNF include: a requirement on the number of virtual resources required to create the VNF, an attribute requirement on the virtual resources required to create the VNF. The number of virtual resources required for creating the VNF may be, for example, a number of virtual baseband, virtual radio frequency, and virtual antenna, which is required for a certain cell. The attribute requirements for the virtual resources required for creating a VNF may for example specify the attributes of a virtual baseband, a virtual radio frequency, a virtual antenna, which is for a certain virtual resource. It should be noted that the requirement for the virtual resources required for creating the VNF is determined according to the specific situation of the cell controlled by the NFV, so when the situation of the cell controlled by the NFV changes, the requirement for the virtual resources required for creating the VNF also changes. It is further noted that the virtual resource request is decided according to the requirements for the virtual resources needed to create the VNF. For example, the base station capabilities required by the cell controlled by the NFV include: the base band capability (the base band supports the GSM system, the base band reference signal power is 14dBm, the maximum transmission power of the base band resource is 40 dBm), the radio frequency capability (the radio frequency power is 40W, the bandwidth is 20MHz, the GSM system is supported), and the antenna attribute (the number of the antennas is 4, and the antenna type is a dual-frequency antenna). The requirement for virtual resources required for VNF creation is determined according to the base station capabilities described above, and the virtual resource request is determined according to the requirement for virtual resources required for VNF creation.

In step S102, the virtual object mapping apparatus determines the hardware resource required for creating the base station management unit according to the virtual resource request and a mapping rule, where the mapping rule is a correspondence between the hardware resource and a predefined virtual resource. This step can be subdivided into the following two steps: the first step, the virtual object mapping apparatus determines, according to the virtual resource request, a virtual resource required for creating the VNF, and generates a corresponding virtual resource ID; and secondly, the virtual object mapping device determines hardware resources required for creating the VNF according to the mapping rule and the virtual resources required for creating the VNF.

For example, continuing with the example in step S101, the base station capability required by the cell controlled by the NFV includes: the base band capability (the base band supports the GSM system, the base band reference signal power is 14dBm, the maximum transmission power of the base band resource is 40 dBm), the radio frequency capability (the radio frequency power is 40W, the bandwidth is 20MHz, and the GSM system is supported), and the antenna attribute (the number of the antennas is 4, and the antenna type is a dual-frequency antenna). The requirement for virtual resources required for VNF creation is determined according to the base station capabilities described above, and the virtual resource request is determined according to the requirement for virtual resources required for VNF creation. Determining a virtual baseband, a virtual antenna and a virtual radio frequency required for creating the VNF according to a virtual resource request, and the capability of the virtual resource is the capability that a base station required by a cell controlled by the NFV should have.

Meanwhile, the virtual object mapping device generates a virtual resource ID corresponding to a virtual resource required for creating the VNF. The virtual resource ID is used for the virtual object mapping apparatus to feed back to the VNFM, so that the VNFM knows the number and attributes of virtual resources required for creating the VNF. For example, creating a certain VNF requires a virtual baseband whose attributes are: the base band supports GSM system, the power of base band reference signal is 14dBm, and the maximum transmission power of base band resource is 40dBm. The virtual resource ID of the virtual baseband with such number and attribute is 10001, and if the virtual resource ID is fed back to the VNFM, the VNFM can acquire information of the virtual baseband required for creating the VNF, and based on this, the VNFM will create the VNF.

The mapping rule indicates a correspondence between predefined virtual resources and hardware devices of the base station, and the number and attributes of the virtual resources required for creating the VNF are known, so the hardware resources required for creating the VNF are also known. For example, the mapping rule is a rule for mapping a baseband board and a virtual baseband, and the virtual resources required for creating the VNF are: a virtual baseband, the virtual baseband having the following properties: the base band supports GSM system, the power of base band reference signal is 14dBm, and the maximum transmission power of base band resource is 40dBm. At this time, hardware resources required for creating the VNF are: a baseband single board, the hardware single board having the following attributes: the base band supports GSM system, the power of base band reference signal is 14dBm, and the maximum transmission power of base band resource is 40dBm.

In step S103, the virtual object mapping apparatus notifies the virtualization unit and the resource allocation unit to create the base station management unit according to the virtual resource and the hardware resource required for creating the base station management unit, so as to manage the base station. Step S103 can be divided into the following two steps: the virtual object mapping device informs a resource allocation unit to acquire hardware resources required by creating a base station management unit from a base station to allocate to a virtualization unit; and secondly, the virtual object mapping device informs the virtualization unit to create the base station management unit according to the virtual resource required by the base station management unit. The resource allocation unit is a VIM, the allocated hardware resources are required by a VNFM (i.e., hardware resources required to create the VNF), and the base station management unit is a VNF.

Regarding the first step, an example of allocating hardware resources is specifically described. For example, when allocating hardware resources of a base station, first, a base station list meeting system requirements is searched according to the system of the virtual baseband. And then selecting a base station with a proper position from the base station list according to the position of the virtual antenna. And then checking hardware resources which are not allocated to the base station for use, matching whether the requirements of the virtual baseband, the virtual radio frequency and the virtual antenna are met or not according to a mapping rule from the hardware resources to the virtual resources, and if so, allocating the VNFM. If not, the base station with the closest position can be searched, and whether the hardware resources provided by the two base stations can meet the requirements or not is evaluated (a part of the hardware resources are respectively selected from the two base stations). If the position is not satisfied, gradually enlarging the searching range according to the position nearest principle. And if the condition can not be met finally, returning that the hardware resource is failed to be allocated.

Since there may be a case where the hardware resource allocation fails, the virtual object mapping apparatus may transmit a result of the hardware resource allocation to the VNFM in the virtualization unit. When the hardware resource allocation is successful, sending a message of successful hardware resource allocation to the VNFM, and informing the VNFM to create the VNF according to the virtual resource required by the VNF creation; and when the hardware resource allocation fails, sending a message of the hardware resource allocation failure to the VNFM, and ending the process.

Regarding the second step, the virtual object mapping apparatus notifies the VNFM to create a VNF, which may specifically include: the virtual object mapping device sends the virtual resource ID to the VNFM; and notifying the VNFM to create the VNF according to the virtual resource ID. After the VNFM receives the virtual resource ID, the VNFM may determine, according to the correspondence between the virtual resource ID and the virtual resource, the virtual resource required to create the VNF, and then, the VNFM may create the VNF using the virtual resource. So far, after the VNF is created, the VNF may be used to perform unified management on base stations of different manufacturers and different models.

After step S103, the VNFM sends a result of creating the VNF to the NFVO, and meanwhile, needs to send information of a virtual baseband, a virtual radio frequency, and a virtual antenna required for creating the VNF to the NFVO. Thus, the NFVO can view information of the virtual baseband, virtual radio frequency, and virtual antenna.

According to the method for managing the base station, the base stations provided by different manufacturers and the base stations of different models do not need to adopt a plurality of EMS for management, and only need to be managed uniformly in the NFV. By defining the capability of the base station by adopting the virtual resources, the virtual network element management system or the NFVO does not need to concern manufacturers providing the base station, does not need to concern the model of the base station, and only needs to concern the virtual resources, so that the unified management of the base station can be realized, and the management cost of the base station is reduced.

Example two

Fig. 2 is a base station management method provided in the second embodiment of the present invention, and the second embodiment is further implemented in the first embodiment. The first embodiment focuses on how the base station management unit is created, and the second embodiment is a management method of the base station after the base station management unit is created and the capability of the cell controlled by the NFV is changed. As shown in fig. 2, the steps of the base station management method are as follows:

step S201: the virtual object mapping device receives an updated virtual resource request sent by a virtualization unit;

step S202: the virtual object mapping device determines updated virtual resources and hardware resources required by the virtualization unit according to the mapping rule and the updated virtual resource request;

step S203: the virtual object mapping device informs a resource allocation unit to allocate the updated hardware resources required by the virtualization unit, which are acquired from a base station, to the virtualization unit;

step S204: the virtual object mapping means informs the virtualization unit to create an updated base station management unit.

According to the method for managing the base station, when the cell capacity is changed, the virtualization unit does not need to pay attention to the manufacturer and the model of the base station, and can adapt to the change of the cell capacity only by paying attention to the virtual resources and modifying the number, the attributes and the like of the virtual resources. Therefore, the base station management method of the embodiment facilitates the management of the base station when the cell capability is changed, thereby reducing the management cost.

The implementation details of the steps of the method are as follows:

in step S201, the virtual object mapping apparatus receives an updated virtual resource request sent by a virtualization unit. The step can be divided into three steps: a first step, the NFVO sends an updated VNF creation request to the VNFM; a second step, the VNFM generates an updated virtual resource request according to the updated VNF creation request; thirdly, the virtual object mapping device receives the updated virtual resource request sent by the VNFM.

In step S202, the virtual object mapping apparatus determines the updated virtual resource and hardware resource required by the virtualization unit according to the mapping rule and the updated virtual resource request. The mapping rule is exactly the same as in the first embodiment, and the updated virtual resource request is determined according to an updated requirement for the virtual resource, and the updated requirement for the virtual resource is determined according to an updated create VNF request. The process of determining the virtual resources and the hardware resources required for creating the updated VNF is the same as in the embodiment, and details are not described here. Since the virtual resource request changes, the virtual resource required to create the updated VNF changes, and the virtual resource ID corresponding to the virtual resource also changes. For example, the virtual resource ID corresponding to the virtual resource originally required to create the VNF is 10001, and the virtual ID corresponding to the virtual resource required to create the updated VNF may be 10002. It should be noted that, since the virtual resource request is changed, the virtual resources and hardware resources required for creating the VNF are changed, and for this reason, the VNF created according to the changed virtual resources and hardware resources may adapt to the new cell capability.

In step S203, the virtual object mapping apparatus notifies a resource allocation unit to allocate the updated hardware resource required for the virtualization unit acquired from the base station to the virtualization unit. This step is similar to a part of step S103, except that the hardware resources acquired and allocated by the VIM are changed.

Before step S204, the virtual object mapping apparatus sends the result of hardware resource allocation to the VNFM in the virtualization unit. When the hardware resource allocation is successful, sending a message of successful hardware resource allocation to the VNFM, and starting to execute step S204; and when the hardware resource allocation fails, sending a message of the hardware resource allocation failure to the VNFM, and ending the process.

In step S204, the virtual object mapping apparatus notifies the virtualization unit to create an updated base station management unit. This step is similar to step S106, except that the virtual resource ID sent by the virtual object mapping apparatus is changed, and the corresponding VNFM can create a VNF adapted to the new cell capability.

According to the method for managing the base station, when the cell capacity is changed, the virtual network element management system or the NFVO does not need to pay attention to the manufacturer and the model of the base station, and can adapt to the change of the cell capacity only by paying attention to the virtual resources and modifying the number, the attribute and the like of the virtual resources. Therefore, the base station management method of the embodiment facilitates the management of the base station when the cell capability is changed, thereby reducing the management cost.

EXAMPLE III

Fig. 3 is a base station management method according to a third embodiment of the present invention, which is further implemented in the first embodiment and the second embodiment. In this embodiment, creation and modification of the base station management unit are explained by specific examples. As shown in fig. 3, the base station management method includes the following steps:

step S301: base station a and base station B are deployed in a communication network.

In this embodiment, the base station a may include, for example, a baseband single board (a baseband supports an lte fdd scheme, a baseband reference signal power is 14dBm, and a maximum transmission power of a baseband resource is 40 dBm), an RRU (a radio frequency power is 40W, a bandwidth is 20MHz, and an lte fdd scheme is supported), and four physical antennas (an antenna type is a dual-frequency antenna). The base station B may include, for example, a baseband single board (baseband supports LTETDD system, baseband reference signal power is 14dBm, and maximum transmission power of baseband resource is 40 dBm), an RRU (radio frequency power 40W, bandwidth 20MHz, and supports LTETDD system), and four physical antennas (the antenna type is a dual-frequency antenna).

Wherein the hardware devices of the base station A and the base station B can be managed by VIM.

Step S302: the virtual object mapping device defines virtual resources of the base station, and respectively defines the base band capability, the radio frequency capability and the antenna attribute of the base station as a virtual base band, a virtual radio frequency and a virtual antenna.

Step S303: the virtual object mapping device receives the mapping rules transmitted by the base station A and the base station B.

In this embodiment, the mapping rule is that a baseband single board is mapped to a virtual baseband, one RRU is mapped to a virtual radio frequency, and one physical antenna is mapped to one virtual antenna.

Step S304: the EMS or NFVO sends a VNF creation request to the VNFM.

In this embodiment, the VNF creation request includes a requirement for a virtual resource required for creating the VNF, where the requirement for the virtual resource is: a virtual baseband (a baseband supports an LTEFDD system, a baseband reference signal power is 14dBm, a maximum transmission power of baseband resources is 40 dBm), a virtual radio frequency (a radio frequency power is 40W, a bandwidth is 20MHz, and the LTEFDD system is supported), and four virtual antennas (an antenna type is a dual-frequency antenna) are required.

Step S305: and according to the VNF creation request, the VNFM generates a virtual resource request.

Step S306: the virtual object mapping device receives a virtual resource request sent by the VNFM.

In this embodiment, the virtual resource request indicates the virtual resources required for creating the VNF.

Step S307: and determining the virtual resource required by the VNF and the corresponding virtual resource ID according to the virtual resource request.

In this embodiment, the virtual resource required by the VNF is a virtual baseband (the baseband supports an lte fdd format, the baseband reference signal power is 14dBm, the maximum transmission power of the baseband resource is 40dbm, and the ID is 30001), a virtual radio frequency (the radio frequency power is 40W, the bandwidth is 20MHz, the lte fdd format is supported, and the ID is 30002), and four virtual antennas (the antenna type is a dual-frequency antenna, and the ID is 30003).

Step S308: and determining hardware resources required for creating the VNF according to the mapping rule and the virtual resources required for creating the VNF.

In this embodiment, the mapping rule refers to step S303, and the virtual resource required for creating the VNF refers to step S307, so that it is known that the hardware resource required for creating the VNF in this embodiment is: the system comprises a baseband single board (a baseband supports an LTEFDD system, a baseband reference signal power is 14dBm, and a baseband resource maximum transmission power is 40 dBm), an RRU (radio frequency power is 40W, a bandwidth is 20MHz, and the LTEFDD system is supported), and four physical antennas (the antenna type is a dual-frequency antenna).

Step S309: the virtual object mapping means informs the VIM to acquire the hardware resources required to create the VNF.

Step S310: the virtual object mapping means informs the VIM to allocate hardware resources required for creating the VNF to the VNFM.

For allocating hardware resources, firstly, according to the standard of the virtual baseband with ID 30001, the base station meeting the standard condition is searched as base station a. Secondly, looking up the unallocated hardware resources in the base station A, and finding that the virtual resources required for creating the VNF can be matched with one baseband single board, one RRU and four physical antennas in the base station A according to the mapping rule. And the VIM allocates one baseband single board, one RRU and four physical antennas in the base station A to the VNFM.

Step S311: and the virtual object mapping device sends the result of hardware resource allocation to the VNFM in the virtualization unit. When the hardware resource allocation is successful, sending a message of successful hardware resource allocation to the VNFM, and starting to execute step S312; and when the hardware resource allocation fails, sending a message of the hardware resource allocation failure to the VNFM, and ending the process.

Step S312: the virtual object mapping apparatus sends the virtual resource ID to the VNFM.

Step S313: the virtual object mapping means informs the VNFM to create the VNF according to the virtual resource ID.

Through the above steps, creation of a base station management unit (i.e. creation of a VNF) may be implemented so that the VNF manages base stations required by a cell. However, the capabilities of the cells change over time, and the capabilities of the base stations are required to change. For example, if the cell originally supports lte fdd, but now supports lte tdd, the VNF for managing the base station needs to be changed accordingly.

Step S314: the EMS or NFVO sends an updated VNF creation request to the VNFM.

In this embodiment, the updated VNF creation request includes a request specifying an updated requirement for the virtual resource, where the updated requirement for the virtual resource is: a virtual baseband (a baseband supports an LTETDD system, the power of a baseband reference signal is 14dBm, the maximum transmission power of a baseband resource is 40 dBm), a virtual radio frequency (the radio frequency power is 40W, the bandwidth is 20MHz, and the LTETDD system is supported), and four virtual antennas (the antenna type is a dual-frequency antenna) are required. I.e. the cell changes from originally supporting lte fdd to currently supporting lte tdd.

Step S315: generating, by the VNFM, an updated virtual resource request according to the updated VNF creation request.

Step S316: the virtual object mapping device receives an updated virtual resource request sent by the VNFM.

Step S317: the virtual object mapping device determines, according to the updated virtual resource request, the virtual resource required to create the updated VNF and the corresponding virtual resource ID.

In this embodiment, the virtual resources required to create the updated VNF are: the antenna comprises a virtual baseband (the baseband supports an LTEFDD system, the power of a baseband reference signal is 14dBm, the maximum transmission power of baseband resources is 40dBm, and the ID is 30004), a virtual radio frequency (the radio frequency power is 40W, the bandwidth is 20MHz, the LTEFDD system is supported, and the ID is 30005), and four virtual antennas (the antenna type is a dual-frequency antenna, and the ID is 30003).

Step S318: the virtual object mapping device determines hardware resources required for creating the updated VNF according to the mapping rule and virtual resources required for creating the updated VNF.

The mapping rule in this embodiment refers to step S303, and the virtual resource required to create the updated VNF in this embodiment refers to step S317, so that it can be known that the hardware resource required to create the updated VNF in this embodiment is: the system comprises a baseband single board (a baseband supports an LTETDD system, a baseband reference signal power is 14dBm, and a baseband resource maximum transmission power is 40 dBm), an RRU (radio frequency power is 40W, a bandwidth is 20MHz, and the LTETDD system is supported), and four physical antennas (the antenna type is a dual-frequency antenna).

Step S319: the virtual object mapping means informs the VIM of the hardware resources needed to acquire the VNF that created the update.

Step S320: the virtual object mapping means informs the VIM to allocate hardware resources required for creating the updated VNF to the VNFM.

For the allocation of hardware resources, first, according to the standard of the virtual baseband with ID 30004, the base station that meets the standard condition is searched as base station B. Secondly, looking up the unallocated hardware equipment in the base station B, and finding that the virtual resources required by the updated VNF can be matched with one baseband single board, one RRU and four physical antennas in the base station B according to the mapping rule.

Step S321: and the virtual object mapping device sends the result of hardware resource allocation to the VNFM in the virtualization unit. When the hardware resource allocation is successful, sending a message of successful hardware resource allocation to the VNFM, and starting to execute step S322; and when the hardware resource allocation fails, sending a message of the hardware resource allocation failure to the VNFM, and ending the process.

Step S322: the virtual object mapping apparatus transmits the updated virtual resource ID to the VNFM.

Step S323: the virtual object mapping means informs the VNFM to create the updated VNF according to the updated virtual resource ID.

Through the above steps, modification of the base station management unit (i.e. modification of the VNF) can be realized, and when the cell capability changes, the base station management unit does not need to pay attention to a specific vendor providing the base station and a model of the base station, and the updated VNF can meet the capability of the current cell only by changing parameters of the virtual resource.

Therefore, the base station management method of the embodiment can uniformly manage the base stations without being limited by differences among the base stations, and reduces the management cost.

Example four

Fig. 4 is a base station management apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 1, where the base station management apparatus is located in a cloud server, and the base station management apparatus includes: virtual object mapping means.

The virtual object mapping apparatus includes:

a receiving module 401, configured to receive a virtual resource request sent by a virtualization unit, where the virtual resource request is used to indicate a virtual resource required by creating a base station management unit. Specifically, the receiving module 401 is configured to receive a virtual resource request sent by the virtualization unit according to a base station management unit creation request; the base station management unit creation request includes: a requirement for virtual resources required for creating the base station management unit; the requirement for virtual resources required for creating the base station management unit includes: a requirement for the number of virtual resources required to create the base station management unit, and an attribute requirement for the virtual resources required to create the base station management unit.

The receiving module 401 is further configured to receive a mapping rule sent by a base station.

A determining module 402, configured to determine, according to the virtual resource request and a mapping rule, a hardware resource required for creating the base station management unit, where the mapping rule is a correspondence between a hardware resource and a predefined virtual resource. Wherein the predefined virtual resources include: a virtual baseband defined according to the baseband capabilities of the base station, a virtual radio frequency defined according to the radio frequency capabilities of the base station, and a virtual antenna defined according to the antenna attributes of the base station.

A notifying module 403, configured to notify the virtualization unit and the resource allocation unit to create the base station management unit according to the virtual resource and the hardware resource required by creating the base station management unit, so as to implement management on a base station. Specifically, the notifying module 403 is configured to notify the resource allocating unit to allocate, to the virtualization unit, the hardware resource, which is acquired from the base station and is required to create the base station management unit; and informing the virtualization unit to create the base station management unit according to the virtual resource required by creating the base station management unit.

The virtualization unit may include: a virtual network function manager VNFM and a virtual network element manager, or the virtual unit includes: VNFM and network function virtualization manager NFVO; correspondingly, the base station management unit creates a request to be sent to the VNFM by the NFVO or the virtual network element manager. The base station management unit may be a virtual network function, VNF; the resource allocation unit may be a virtual device manager, VIM.

EXAMPLE five

The fifth embodiment of the invention also provides a storage medium. Alternatively, in the present embodiment, the storage medium may be configured to store program codes for performing the following steps:

Optionally, in this embodiment, the storage medium may include, but is not limited to: a U-disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a removable hard disk, a magnetic or optical disk, and other various media capable of storing program codes.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the processor executes the method steps described in the above embodiments according to the program code stored in the storage medium.

Optionally, for specific examples in this embodiment, reference may be made to the examples described in the above first embodiment, second embodiment, third embodiment, and optional implementation, and this embodiment is not described herein again.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the modules or steps of the present invention described above may be implemented by a general purpose computing device, they may be centralized in a single computing device or distributed across a network of multiple computing devices, and alternatively, they may be implemented by program code executable by a computing device, such that they may be stored in a memory device and executed by a computing device, and in some cases, the steps shown or described may be executed out of order, or separately as individual integrated circuit modules, or multiple modules or steps thereof may be implemented as a single integrated circuit module. Thus, the present invention is not limited to any specific combination of hardware and software.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the above description is only for the convenience of understanding the present invention, and is not intended to limit the present invention. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for base station management, comprising:

determining hardware resources required for creating the base station management unit according to the virtual resource request and a mapping rule, wherein the mapping rule is a corresponding relation between the hardware resources and predefined virtual resources, the hardware resources include a baseband single board, a radio remote unit and a physical antenna, and the predefined virtual resources include: a virtual baseband defined according to the baseband capability of the base station, a virtual radio frequency defined according to the radio frequency capability of the base station, and a virtual antenna defined according to the antenna attribute of the base station;

and informing the virtualization unit and the resource allocation unit to create the base station management unit according to the virtual resource and the hardware resource required by the creation of the base station management unit.

2. The base station management method of claim 1, wherein prior to receiving the virtual resource request sent by the virtualized unit, the method further comprises:

and receiving the mapping rule sent by the base station.

3. The method for managing a base station according to claim 1, wherein the notifying the virtualized unit and the resource allocation unit of creating the base station management unit according to the virtual resource and the hardware resource required for creating the base station management unit comprises:

4. The base station management method of claim 1, wherein the receiving the virtual resource request sent by the virtualization unit comprises:

5. The base station management method of claim 4, wherein the base station management unit creation request comprises: the requirement to create virtual resources required by the base station management unit.

6. The base station management method of claim 5, wherein the requirement for virtual resources required to create the base station management unit comprises: a requirement for the number of virtual resources required to create the base station management unit, and an attribute requirement for the virtual resources required to create the base station management unit.

7. The base station management method according to any of claims 1-6, wherein said virtualized unit comprises: a virtual network function manager VNFM and a virtual network element manager, or the virtualization unit includes: VNFM and network function virtualization manager NFVO;

8. The base station management method according to any of claims 1-6, wherein the base station management unit is a virtual network function, VNF.

9. The base station management method according to any of claims 1-6, wherein the resource allocation unit is a virtual device manager, VIM.

10. A base station management apparatus, comprising: virtual object mapping apparatus, the virtual object mapping apparatus comprising:

a determining module, configured to determine, according to the virtual resource request and a mapping rule, a hardware resource required for creating the base station management unit, where the mapping rule is a correspondence between a hardware resource and a predefined virtual resource, the hardware resource includes a baseband single board, a radio remote unit, and a physical antenna, and the predefined virtual resource includes: a virtual base band defined according to the base band capability of the base station, a virtual radio frequency defined according to the radio frequency capability of the base station, and a virtual antenna defined according to the antenna attribute of the base station;

11. The base station management apparatus of claim 10, wherein the receiving module is further configured to receive a mapping rule sent by a base station.

12. The base station management apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the notifying module is configured to notify the resource allocating unit to allocate, to the virtualization unit, the hardware resource acquired from the base station and required to create the base station management unit; and informing the virtualization unit to create the base station management unit according to the virtual resource required by creating the base station management unit.

13. The base station management apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the receiving module is configured to receive a virtual resource request sent by the virtualized unit according to a base station management unit creation request;

the requirement for virtual resources required for creating the base station management unit includes: a requirement for the number of virtual resources required to create the base station management unit, and a requirement for an attribute of the virtual resources required to create the base station management unit.

14. The base station management apparatus according to any of claims 10-13, wherein the virtualization unit comprises: a virtual network function manager VNFM and a virtual network element manager, or the virtualization unit includes: VNFM and network function virtualization manager NFVO; correspondingly, the base station management unit creates a request to be sent to the VNFM by the NFVO or the virtual network element manager;