KR100751643B1 - Method for monitoring an abnormal operation of a mobile communication subscriber processing unit - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for monitoring an abnormal operation in a mobile communication subscriber processing apparatus is provided to monitor/process troubles on data paths of user data and an internal error of a subscriber processing apparatus and in real time, thereby smoothly operating communication devices. A method for monitoring an abnormal operation in a mobile communication subscriber processing apparatus comprises the following steps of: reading values of state registers for devices(S403); determining whether operation of the devices is normal on the basis of read values(S405); and executing the error processing function for at least one or more devices in sequence or at the same time when the operation of at least one device among the devices is not normal(S407).

Description

METHOD FOR MONITORING AN ABNORMAL OPERATION OF A MOBILE COMMUNICATION SUBSCRIBER PROCESSING UNIT}

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a redundant path between a subscriber processing device and a switching device.

2 is a schematic diagram illustrating redundancy on the transmit and receive paths in a multiplexer of a subscriber processing device.

3 is a schematic diagram showing an internal structure of a subscriber processing device according to the present invention;

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for monitoring abnormal operation of devices of a subscriber processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a method for monitoring abnormal operation on a path connected with a subscriber processing device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a schematic configuration diagram of communication equipment used in a general communication system.

<Explanation of Signs of Major Parts of Drawings>

301: diagnostic message transceiver

303: control unit

305 device error processing unit

307: Device Status Register

309: Devices

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a subscriber processing unit, and more particularly, to a method for monitoring and repairing abnormal operation of a mobile communication subscriber processing device in real time.

In general, a communication network is composed of a mobile communication system including a plurality of various communication equipment and a plurality of terminals. The mobile communication system may include, for example, a CDMA or WCDMA system, and in recent years, such a system provides a variety of services such as text messaging, financial settlement, home automation, and wireless Internet, away from conventional voice call-oriented services. It became. Accordingly, the subscriber terminal and the type of data transmitted and received by the terminal are also very diverse. In order to smoothly transmit and receive different types of user data for each subscriber terminal in the mobile communication system, a device for matching such user data, that is, a subscriber processing device, is used. in need.

6 is a schematic structural diagram schematically showing a connection between communication equipment used in such a communication system. The subscriber processing device 608 is connected to, for example, three subscriber devices 602, 604, 606 and a switching device 610. Subscriber devices 602, 604, and 606 are devices that process data received from each subscriber station. The subscriber station cannot be directly connected to the switching device 610 because transmission and reception formats and data formats used for each subscriber station may be different.

The subscriber processing device 608 converts the output data of the connected subscriber device 602, 604, 606 into a suitable data format that can be transmitted to the switching device 610, and converts the data received through the switching device 610 to the connected subscriber. A device 602, 604, and 606 converts the data into a data format that can be recognized, and outputs the matching device. Accordingly, each subscriber station can perform smooth data transmission and reception through the subscriber processing device. In addition, the subscriber processing device 608 may perform functions such as mapping the switching device 610 and alarm / reset / control of the subscriber devices 602, 604, and 606.

The switching device 610 transmits the user data received from the subscriber processing device 608 to another subscriber processing device or another switching device. It also performs a function of transmitting data received from another subscriber processing device or another switching device to the subscriber processing device 608.

In order to provide a smooth and continuous communication service on a mobile communication system composed of such a subscriber processing device and a switching device, each device is required to operate without errors. When an error occurs, these devices are detected and repaired in real time. It is necessary to do In particular, subscriber processing devices that match user data from different subscriber stations are more likely to cause errors as subscribers increase, and it is essential to secure stable operation of subscriber processing devices to improve the stability of the overall mobile communication system. .

As a general method for increasing the reliability of the service when an error is detected in the subscriber device, it is common to dualize the control device, the subscriber processing device, and the switching device in the configuration of communication equipment. With respect to the configuration of the redundant subscriber processing unit and the switching unit, one subscriber processing unit selectively receives the same signal from two switching units, and if one subscriber processing unit fails, the other subscriber processing unit replaces it. It will work. When each communication device is duplexed, when an error occurs in one communication device, it is possible for another communication device to handle the function instead, thereby increasing the reliability of the communication service.

However, the conventional subscriber processing apparatus has performed an initial error recovery procedure such as partially detecting the presence or absence of an error of each device in the subscriber processing apparatus and reinitializing the device in which the error has occurred. For example, a method of detecting an error and resetting the circuit only for a specific circuit in the conventional subscriber processing apparatus has been typically used. In this manner, when an error occurs in a circuit missing from the detection object, error detection is impossible, and thus, the device is determined to be operating normally despite the poor service.

Some subscriber processing devices are configured to detect by the watch dog task only the normal operation of the software that drives and operates the hardware device without detecting an error of the hardware device. Even in this case, if an error occurs in the hardware device, the detection is impossible. Even when the devices inside the subscriber processing apparatus operate normally, a problem in matching with an externally connected switching apparatus cannot be detected.

Therefore, in the conventional subscriber processing apparatus, even if an error occurs, it is not detected or is detected after a considerable time has elapsed. The service is disconnected not only because of an error in the subscriber processing device but also due to a connection problem with an external device. Some devices take real-time error detection and action, but only apply to a specific device of the device, there is a problem that the service can not be avoided if an error occurs for the part of the device excluded from detection and monitoring.

There is a need for a method for integrated and efficient error detection in such subscriber processing devices. There is also a need to detect in real time a problem with registration with an external device connected to a subscriber processing device.

Therefore, in the present invention, when an error occurs in a subscriber processing device having a redundant structure or a service disconnection situation occurs between a subscriber processing device and an external device, another subscriber processing device which detects this in real time and continuously waits for service. It provides a way to provide.

According to a feature of the invention, there is provided a method for monitoring the operation of a subscriber processor comprising one or more devices, the method comprising the steps of a) reading values of status registers for the devices, b) reading Determining whether the operation of the devices is normal from the determined values, and c) if it is determined that the operation of one or more of the devices is not normal, perform error handling for the one or more devices. Executing sequentially or in parallel.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method performed in the subscriber processing device for monitoring the status of a path connecting the subscriber processing device and the switching device, the method comprising: a) returning the address to the subscriber processing device; Generating a diagnostic message, b) checking whether the transmitted diagnostic message is returned at least once to the subscriber processing device, while transmitting the diagnostic message a predetermined number of times through the path, c) the transmission And if it is determined that the diagnosed message has not been returned to the subscriber processing device at least once, determining that the path is abnormal.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

As described above, in the case where an error is detected in the subscriber device, in order to increase the reliability of the service, the subscriber processing device and the switching device are duplicated and generally operated. The configuration of the duplicated subscriber processing device and the switching device will be briefly described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 as follows.

As shown in Fig. 1, an exchange apparatus 100 each having a redundant structure is connected to, for example, first and second subscriber processing apparatuses 101 and 102. The subscriber processing device and the switching device are configured to have a redundant path with each other. For this purpose, the switching device is composed of one main device 100A and another auxiliary device 100B, and likewise, each of the subscriber processing devices 101 and 102 is the main device and the auxiliary devices 101A, 101B and 102A, 102B). A duplexer 111A, 111B, 112A, 112B is connected in front of each subscriber processor 101A, 101B, 102A, 102B.

Subscriber processing apparatus (101, 102) is a device for receiving data from service subscribers such as mobile communication or asymmetric data communication and transmitting data to subscribers, and can be recognized by those skilled in the art. It can include any device that exists. Switching device 100 is a device for switching the data from the subscriber processing device to a variety of data communication networks, including all devices that can be known to those skilled in the art.

In Fig. 1, the exchange apparatus 100A, 100B includes connection ports 1, 2 for communicating with different subscriber processing apparatuses 101, 102. For example, the port 1 of the original switching device 100A of the redundant switching device 100 is for communicating with the subscriber processing device 101, and the port 2 is for communicating with the subscriber processing device 102. . In FIG. 1, a case of two subscriber processing apparatuses is described for convenience of description, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

The first and second subscriber processing units 101, 102 each have a redundant structure. That is, the first subscriber processing unit 101 has a primary subscriber processing unit 101A and an auxiliary subscriber processing unit 101B, and the second subscriber processing unit 102 has a primary subscriber processing unit 102A and an auxiliary subscriber processing unit. Has 102B. Each subscriber processing apparatus 101A, 101B, 102A, 102B is connected to the duplexers 111A, 111B, 112A, 112B. Each redundancy 111A, 111B, 112A, 112B has a port for connection with the redundant exchange devices 100A, 100B. For example, the duplexer 111A connected to the subscriber processing apparatus 101A has a port 1AA for connecting with the switching apparatus 100A and a port 1AB for connecting with the switching apparatus 100B.

In FIG. 1, the flow shown in bold solid lines between the subscriber processing units 101A, 101B, 102A, 102B and the duplexers 111A, 111B, 112A, 112B is a downlink indicating the flow of data from the switching unit to the subscriber processing unit. (downstream), and the flow indicated by the dotted line indicates an uplink indicating the data flow from the subscriber processing device to the switching device. Hereinafter, the redundant structure will be described in detail for each of the uplink and the downlink.

First, the downlink from the switching device to the subscriber processing device will be described. Each of the switching devices 100A and 100B, which is duplicated into two devices, transmits respective user data to the first and second subscriber processing devices 101 and 102. Specifically, from the port 1 of the A device 100A and the B device 100B of the redundant exchange device 100, the A device is connected to the first subscriber processing device 101 through the duplexers 111A and 111B. And the same user data to the B devices 101A and 101B. At this time, the device A of the first subscriber processing apparatus displays the port for receiving user data from the B switching apparatus as 1AB. Similarly, the port B for receiving the user data from the A switching device by the B device of the second subscriber processing device is indicated by 2BA. Each of the duplicated subscriber processing devices 101A and 101B receives user data from the switching devices 100A and 100B. Subscriber processing device 101A receives multiplexed user data from multiplexer 111A. That is, as shown in Fig. 2, the selector 201 of the multiplexer 111A receives the signal AA_RX received from the switching device 100A from the switching device 100A through the 1AA port and from the switching device 100B. The signal AB_RX received through the 1AB port is multiplexed to output the composite signal A_RX of the subscriber processing apparatus 101A. Similarly, the subscriber processing apparatus 101B also outputs the synthesized signal. Thus, in the event of an error in each subscriber processing device, another normal subscriber processing device may operate to maintain the user data path at all times.

As such, the subscriber processing apparatus receives the same user data from different switching apparatuses, and may select and process only one of these data. In this case, the conditions for selecting the reception link may be different for each system. In general, a link that operates normally by reading a sync message, 10bit / 8bit coding, CRC, etc. inserted into a signal is selected. If both receive links are normal, the signals from the switching device 100A can be preferentially or arbitrarily selected, or the two signals can be combined appropriately.

In the uplink from subscriber processing units 101A, 101B, 102A, 102B to switching devices 100A, 100B, subscriber processing units 101A, 101B carry the same data to both switching units 100A, 100B. send. As can be seen from the transmission path of Fig. 2, the transmission signal A_TX from the subscriber processing apparatus 101A and the transmission signal B_TX from the subscriber processing apparatus 101B are multiplexed by the transmission distributor 203, The synthesized signal is output to the switching device 100A (AA_TX) and output to the switching device 100B (AB_TX). Although the first subscriber processing apparatus 101 has been described, the second subscriber processing apparatus 102 operates similarly.

3 shows a schematic structure of a subscriber processing device according to the present invention, which operates in an environment having such a redundant connection structure. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the subscriber processing apparatus 300 may include a diagnostic message transceiver 301, a controller 303, a device error processor 305, a device status register 307, and a plurality of devices ( 309). Although only the components for detecting and recovering a malfunction of the subscriber processing apparatus 300 are mentioned above, the subscriber processing apparatus 300 includes all components well known to those skilled in the art. do.

The subscriber processing apparatus 300 includes a controller 303 for controlling the overall operation. The device status register 307 monitors the normal operating state of one or more devices 309 (devices 1 to N) mounted in the subscriber processing apparatus 300. Each device may be blocks that implement the functionality of a subscriber processor, and may be implemented by hardware, software, or a combination thereof. Each device typically provides a state operating value, for example, in the form of a read-only register, so that its operating state is externally known. Of course, in addition to this method includes all methods that can be recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art.

The control unit 303 is connected to the device error processing unit 305 which periodically reads the device status register 307, for example, and performs a processing operation according to the value of the read device status register 307 during the entire operation. The device error processing unit 305 may be, for example, in the form of an application function when implemented in software. In this case, the control unit 303 calls an application program interface (API) so that the application function may be executed. Can be performed. The subscriber processing apparatus 300 includes a diagnostic message transmission / reception unit 301 which transmits and receives a message in order to check a connection state with an external device under the control of the controller 303.

Hereinafter, the malfunction detection operation of the subscriber processing apparatus 300 will be described in detail. When the subscriber processing apparatus 300 is supplied with power, initialization of each device (device 1 to device N) is performed. Initialization of such a device is typically performed by writing a specific value in an initialization register assigned corresponding to each device.

After the initialization of each device is successfully performed, the controller 303 executes a program for periodically checking the devices 309. By executing the inspection program, the controller 303 can determine whether the respective devices 309 operate normally. As a result of the normal operation check of the device 309, if it is determined that an error occurs in a specific device, the device error processing unit 305 is executed to perform a recovery procedure for the error.

Specifically, when the initialization of the devices 309 is terminated and all functions start to operate normally in order to detect an error of the device 309 in the subscriber processing apparatus, the control unit 303 controls all the devices 309 in the apparatus. The device status register 307 is read at predetermined time intervals in order to check whether or not is operating normally. The predetermined time interval is determinable in the range that does not apply excessive load to the operation of the overall system resource due to the periodic reading of the device status register 309, preferably several seconds, more preferably about 0.1 Can be set in seconds. In this case, the checkable device state information may be different for each device. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the state information may include, for example, whether the main clock of the device is operated, whether the device has an input / output interface normally operated, and a parity error on user path data ( parity error) and normal power supply to each device. If it is determined that an error has occurred in a specific device as a result of reading the device status register 307, the controller 303 causes the device error processing unit 305 to execute a countermeasure according to a malfunction in the corresponding device.

A method for checking an error of the device 309 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 4 as follows. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for monitoring abnormal operation of devices of a subscriber processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. When the initialization of each device is completed in step S401, the controller 303 periodically reads the device status register 307 indicating whether all devices 309 are errored (step S403). The method of periodically reading the device status register 307 can be implemented by reading the status register 307 again after waiting for a predetermined time period after one read (step S409).

From the value of the device status register 307 corresponding to each device 309, it is determined in real time whether each device is operating normally (step S405). The device status register 307 is, for example, a read-only register composed of a plurality of bits, each of which may be configured to correspond to a different device, and if an error occurs in the corresponding device, The value may be set to a value indicating an error occurrence. For example, if the value of the corresponding bit is '1', the device status register 307 may be set in advance so as to indicate normal operation and '0' to indicate an error operation. It is possible by all means that the possessor can know.

As a result of reading the device status register 307, when it is determined that the operations of all the devices are normal, the device status register 307 is read again after waiting for a predetermined time in step S409. As described above, the predetermined time can be set to about 0.1 seconds. By repeating the step of reading the register after waiting a predetermined time, it is possible to periodically monitor whether or not each device 309 is operating normally.

If it is determined in step S405 that one or more devices do not operate normally, an error processing routine corresponding to the device in which an error has occurred is executed (step S407). In order to execute the error handling routine, the controller 303 calls a device error handling task to perform an appropriate action. At this time, the device that caused the error and the type of error are specified so that the external system operator can log the correct error cause. When an error occurs in one or more devices, the error for each device may be processed sequentially or in parallel for each device. In addition, when the subscriber processing apparatus cannot recover within a short time due to the device that has failed, it is possible to transfer control to operate the other waiting subscriber processing apparatus which is redundant.

As described above, when an error occurs in the internal device of the subscriber processing apparatus, it may detect the error and perform appropriate recovery processing. The disconnection of the service of the communication equipment may occur due to an error in the matching part between the subscriber processing device and the external switching device as well as an error inside the subscriber processing device. The error on the path with the external device cannot be detected by the monitoring method inside the device as described above, and a separate diagnostic message for diagnosing the external data path must be generated by the controller and applied to the data path. By periodically sending and receiving a diagnostic message on the data path and monitoring it, it is possible to determine whether other data is transmitted without error on the path.

Hereinafter, a method for monitoring an abnormal operation on a path connected to a subscriber processing device using a diagnostic message will be described with reference to FIG. 5. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method for monitoring abnormal operation on a path connected with a subscriber processing device according to another embodiment of the present invention. In step S501, the control unit 303 of the subscriber processing apparatus generates a diagnostic message having its reply address as its own. The control unit 303 can set the reply address to itself by writing its port number in the destination exchange port number field of the diagnostic message. The diagnostic message according to an embodiment of the present invention may include information of a reception port selected by the subscriber processing apparatus 300. For example, when the receiving port of the first subscriber processing apparatus 101 of FIG. 1 is the A port (1AA or 1BA), the diagnostic message includes 1, and when the receiving port is the B port (1AB or 1BB), the diagnostic message May include 2. Such a diagnostic message is merely an example, and the diagnostic message may include any form including information of the receiving port of the first subscriber processing apparatus 101.

After the transmission counter value is initialized (Send_Count = 0) in step S503, the generated diagnostic message is transmitted to the switching device via the external data path (step S505). After transmitting the diagnostic message, the transmission counter is incremented by 1 in step S507 (Send_Count = Send_Count + 1). The diagnostic message transmitted as described above is output to the switching apparatus when the external data path is normal, and the switching apparatus returns the diagnostic message to the subscriber processing apparatus which sent the diagnostic message with reference to the destination switch port number of the received diagnostic message. .

In the meantime, the subscriber processing apparatus checks whether or not a diagnostic message has been received after waiting for a predetermined time period (step S509). If it is determined in step S511 that the diagnostic message has been received by the subscriber processing device, it means that there is no error in the data path between the subscriber processing device and the switching device, so that the transmission counter value is reinitialized and step S503 described above. To step S509 again. In this way it is possible to periodically check whether an error occurs in the data path between the subscriber processing device and the switching device.

If it is determined in step S511 that the diagnostic message has not been received by the subscriber processing apparatus, it is checked in step S513 whether the transmission counter value exceeds a predetermined value, for example, three times. If it is determined that the transmission counter value has not yet exceeded 3, the flow returns to step S505 to retransmit the same diagnostic message. Since the transmission counter value is reset only when receiving the transmitted diagnostic message, the transmission counter value is increased by one each time the transmission message is transmitted without receiving the transmitted diagnostic message.

If it is determined in step S513 that the transmission counter exceeds 3, it means that the diagnostic counter has not been returned to the subscriber processing apparatus even though the diagnostic message has been transmitted three or more times. Therefore, when the transmission counter value exceeds a specific value, for example, 3, the diagnostic message has not been received three or more times, and thus, it is interpreted that a problem has occurred in the data path. Accordingly, the diagnostic failure processing function is called to allow the control section 303 to take appropriate measures (step S515). At this time, the control unit may initialize the transmission counter value back to 0 to continuously monitor the data path.

By the diagnostic failure processing function, the controller 303 may specify the device in question and the type of error and notify the other waiting subscriber processing device that is redundant, and transfer all control authority to the redundant device. The manner of notifying the other subscriber processing device may be implemented by, for example, inter-processor communication (IPC). Such a communication method between subscriber processing devices may include all methods known to those skilled in the art.

When an error occurs in one device or a link occurs in a link due to a link between a subscriber processing device and a switching device having a redundant configuration as described above, the control authority is transferred to another subscriber processing device. The service can be reliably performed.

According to the present invention as described above, by detecting and processing the error in the subscriber processing device and the problem on the path of the user data in real time, it is possible to quickly determine the error state of the subscriber processing device and the communication equipment can operate smoothly. Conventional error detection methods do not deal with various causes of failure, and even if an error occurs in the device, not only can it be confirmed, but there may be a problem of malfunctioning communication equipment. According to the present invention, any failure in the device is detected. Therefore, it can be quickly dealt with by transmitting it to the external device and the operator, thereby preventing the malfunction of the exchanger in advance.

The foregoing embodiments illustrate some of the various embodiments that apply the principles of the invention. It should be understood that this is only what is shown. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Claims (11)

A method for monitoring the operation of a subscriber processing device including one or more devices, the method comprising: a) reading the values of status registers for the devices, b) determining from the read values whether the operation of the devices is normal, and c) if it is determined that the operation of one or more of the devices is not normal, executing error handling functions for the one or more devices sequentially or in parallel Method for monitoring the operation of the subscriber processing device comprising a. The method of claim 1, A method for monitoring the operation of a subscriber processor that periodically repeats steps a) to c) after waiting a predetermined time. The method of claim 1, Executing the error handling function comprises invoking a device error handling task. A method performed in the subscriber processing device to monitor the status of a path connecting the subscriber processing device and the switching device, a) generating a diagnostic message having a reply address as said subscriber processing device; b) checking whether the transmitted diagnostic message is returned at least once to the subscriber processing device, while transmitting the diagnostic message a predetermined number of times through the path, c) determining that the path is abnormal if it is determined that the transmitted diagnostic message has not been returned to the subscriber processing device at least once. Method for monitoring the status of the path connecting the subscriber processing device and the switching device comprising a. The method of claim 4, wherein d) if it is determined that the path is abnormal, further comprising performing an abnormal processing function for the path, the method for monitoring the status of the path connecting the subscriber processing device and the switching device. The method of claim 4, wherein And the subscriber processing device monitors a state of a path connecting the subscriber processing device and the switching device connected to the switching device. The method of claim 5, The subscriber processing apparatus and the switching apparatus connect the subscriber processing apparatus and the switching apparatus separately provided with the auxiliary subscriber processing apparatus and the auxiliary switching apparatus to cope with abnormal operation on the path between the subscriber processing apparatus and the switching apparatus. Method for monitoring the state of the. The method of claim 7, wherein The performing of the abnormal processing function for the path may include: stopping the operation of the subscriber processing device and causing the auxiliary subscriber processing device to operate, and monitoring the state of the path connecting the subscriber processing device and the switching device. Way. The method of claim 7, wherein And wherein said subscriber processing device selectively receives messages from said switching device and said secondary switching device. The method of claim 5, The step of performing an abnormal processing function for the path is performed by inter-process communications (IPC) invoking an error processing task. Method for monitoring the status. A method performed in the subscriber processing device to monitor the status of a path connecting the subscriber processing device and the switching device, a) generating a diagnostic message having a reply address as said subscriber processing device; b) sending said diagnostic message via said path, c) checking whether the diagnostic message is returned to the subscriber processing device within a predetermined time; d) if it is determined that the diagnostic message has not been returned to the subscriber processing apparatus, retransmitting the diagnostic message a predetermined number of times of transmission; and e) determining that the path is abnormal when all of the retransmitted diagnostic messages are not returned. And monitoring the status of a path connecting said subscriber processing device and said switching device.

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