CN113938992A

CN113938992A - Threshold determination method and device

Info

Publication number: CN113938992A
Application number: CN202010671372.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 马艳君; 曹亘; 冯毅; 李福昌; 吕婷
Original assignee: China United Network Communications Group Co Ltd
Current assignee: China United Network Communications Group Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-07-13
Filing date: 2020-07-13
Publication date: 2022-01-14
Anticipated expiration: 2040-07-13
Also published as: CN113938992B

Abstract

The application provides a threshold determining method and device, relates to the technical field of communication, and can determine a more reasonable threshold of a communication parameter by analyzing historical data of the communication parameter in a preset time period corresponding to a scene type of a target cell because the communication parameter can represent whether the cell is in an idle time period or not and the communication parameters of the cells in different scene types are different in different time periods. Based on the threshold determined by the threshold determination method provided by the application, a more accurate idle time period of the cell can be determined. The method comprises the following steps: and determining the scene type of the target cell, wherein the scene type corresponds to a preset time period. Then, historical data of communication parameters of the target cell in a preset time period corresponding to the scene type is obtained. Thereafter, thresholds for the communication parameters are determined based on the historical data.

Description

Threshold determination method and device

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for determining a threshold.

Background

Compared with a fourth generation mobile communication (4G, 4th generation mobile networks) base station, the fifth generation mobile communication (5G, 5th generation mobile networks) base station has higher requirements on hardware and software capabilities of equipment and higher energy consumption. High energy consumption means high cost, so that in the 5G base station deployment, the idle time of a cell is determined, and then a corresponding energy-saving strategy is formulated, so as to achieve the purpose of saving energy consumption. Currently, idle periods of a cell are typically determined based on communication parameters (e.g., traffic volume of the cell). For example, when the traffic volume of the cell in a certain time period is less than a threshold, the time period may be determined as an idle period of the cell.

However, currently, when determining the idle period of a cell, the threshold of the communication parameter is manually and empirically set, so the determined idle period of the cell is not accurate.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a threshold determination method and device, which can determine a more reasonable threshold of a communication parameter, thereby improving the accuracy of determining the idle time period of a cell.

In order to achieve the purpose, the technical scheme is as follows:

in a first aspect, the present application provides a method for determining a threshold, including: and determining the scene type of the target cell, wherein the scene type corresponds to a preset time period. Then, historical data of communication parameters of the target cell in a preset time period corresponding to the scene type is obtained. Thereafter, thresholds for the communication parameters are determined based on the historical data.

Since the communication parameter may represent whether the cell is in an idle period (taking the communication parameter is the traffic of the cell as an example, when the traffic of the cell in a certain time period is low, it indicates that the time period is the idle period of the cell), and the communication parameters of the cells in different scene types are different in different time periods, the threshold of the more reasonable communication parameter may be determined by analyzing the historical data of the communication parameter in the preset time period corresponding to the scene type of the target cell. Therefore, based on the threshold determined by the threshold determination method provided by the application, a more accurate idle period of the cell can be determined.

In a second aspect, the present application provides a threshold determination apparatus, comprising: the device comprises a determining module and an obtaining module. The determining module is used for determining a scene type of the target cell, wherein the scene type corresponds to a preset time period. The acquisition module is used for acquiring historical data of communication parameters of the target cell in a preset time period. And the determining module is also used for determining the threshold value of the communication parameter according to the historical data acquired by the acquiring module.

In a third aspect, the present application provides a threshold determination apparatus, including a processor, which is coupled to a memory, and reads and executes instructions in the memory to implement the threshold determination method provided in the first aspect.

Optionally, the threshold determining means may further comprise a memory for storing program instructions and data of the threshold determining means. Further optionally, the threshold determining apparatus may further include a transceiver, configured to perform the step of transceiving data, signaling or information under the control of the processor of the threshold determining apparatus, for example, to obtain historical data of communication parameters of the target cell within a preset time period.

Alternatively, the threshold determination device may be a server, or may be a part of the server, for example, a system on chip in the server. The system-on-chip is adapted to support the threshold determining means to perform the functions referred to in the first aspect, e.g. to receive, transmit or process data and/or information referred to in the above threshold determining method. The chip system includes a chip and may also include other discrete devices or circuit structures.

In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium having stored therein instructions which, when executed by a computer, implement the threshold determination method as provided in the first aspect.

In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product comprising computer instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the threshold determination method according to the first aspect.

It should be noted that all or part of the computer instructions may be stored on the computer readable storage medium. The computer readable storage medium may be packaged with the processor of the threshold determination device, or may be packaged separately from the processor of the threshold determination device, which is not limited in this application.

For the descriptions of the second, third, fourth and fifth aspects in this application, reference may be made to the detailed description of the first aspect; in addition, for the beneficial effects described in the second aspect, the third aspect, the fourth aspect and the fifth aspect, reference may be made to the beneficial effect analysis of the first aspect, and details are not repeated here.

In the present application, the names of the above threshold determination means do not limit the devices or functional modules themselves, and in actual implementation, these devices or functional modules may appear by other names. Insofar as the functions of the respective devices or functional blocks are similar to those of the present invention, they are within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents.

These and other aspects of the present application will be more readily apparent from the following description.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic flowchart of a threshold determining method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a graph illustrating a cumulative distribution function according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic flowchart of another threshold determination method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic flowchart of another threshold determination method provided in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic flowchart of another threshold determination method provided in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic flowchart of another threshold determination method provided in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a threshold determining apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a threshold determining apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

A threshold determining method and apparatus provided in the embodiments of the present application are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The term "and/or" herein is merely an association describing an associated object, meaning that three relationships may exist, e.g., a and/or B, may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone.

The terms "first" and "second" and the like in the description and drawings of the present application are used for distinguishing different objects or for distinguishing different processes for the same object, and are not used for describing a specific order of the objects.

Furthermore, the terms "including" and "having," and any variations thereof, as referred to in the description of the present application, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not limited to only those steps or elements but may alternatively include other steps or elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

It should be noted that in the embodiments of the present application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to mean serving as examples, illustrations or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described herein as "exemplary" or "e.g.," is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, use of the word "exemplary" or "such as" is intended to present concepts related in a concrete fashion.

In the description of the present application, the meaning of "a plurality" means two or more unless otherwise specified.

With the rapid development of mobile communication technology, fifth generation mobile communication (5G) base stations have entered a large-scale deployment phase. In order to meet the requirement of a 5G rich service scene, the 5G base station has higher requirements on hardware and software capabilities of equipment and higher energy consumption than the 4G base station. Taking S111 single station as an example, the power consumption of the 5G single station base station device reaches about 4 times of the power consumption of the 4G single station device. Since high energy consumption means high cost, reducing the operation energy consumption of the 5G base station becomes an urgent problem to be solved by each operator.

Conventionally, the idle period of a cell is determined based on communication parameters (e.g., traffic volume of the cell). For example, when the traffic volume of the cell in a certain time period is less than a threshold, the time period may be determined as an idle period of the cell. And then, a corresponding energy-saving strategy is formulated according to the determined idle time period of the cell so as to achieve the purpose of saving energy consumption.

It can be seen that the selection of the threshold value of the communication parameter is closely related to the accuracy of the idle period judgment. However, at present, when determining the idle time period of a cell, threshold values of communication parameters are manually set according to experience, so that the determined idle time period of the cell is inaccurate, and thus the formulation of an energy-saving strategy is influenced. For example, when the threshold of the communication parameter is set too high, and a busy hour may be determined to be idle by mistake, a corresponding energy saving policy is formulated according to an idle period determined by the threshold, which may cause network performance to be degraded, and user experience to be affected. For another example, when the threshold of the communication parameter is set too low, the idle time may be determined to be busy by mistake, and the purpose of energy saving cannot be achieved.

In view of the above problems in the prior art, embodiments of the present application provide a method and an apparatus for determining a threshold. According to the threshold determination method, the more reasonable threshold of the communication parameters can be determined by analyzing the historical data of the communication parameters of the cells under different scene types in different time periods. Therefore, based on the threshold determined by the threshold determination method provided by the application, a more accurate idle time period of the cell can be determined, and then a corresponding energy-saving strategy can be formulated according to the determined idle time period, so that the purpose of saving energy consumption is achieved.

The threshold determining method provided by the embodiment of the present application may be applied to a threshold determining device, where the threshold determining device may be a physical machine (such as a server) or a Virtual Machine (VM) deployed on the physical machine. For example, when a server executes the threshold determining method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the server may be one server or a server cluster composed of multiple servers, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

Referring to fig. 1, a threshold determining method provided in an embodiment of the present application includes:

s101, determining the scene type of the target cell by a threshold value determining device.

The scene type is an attribution scene under a cell coverage area, and communication parameters of cells under different scene types are generally different. Illustratively, scene types may include types of business, residential, scenic, transportation hub, school, and so forth.

In addition, the scene type corresponds to a preset time period. The preset time period in the embodiment of the present application is a time period determined in advance by people, and the preset time periods of the cells with different scene types may be different. Illustratively, when the scene type is a business district, the preset time period is from 10 pm to 6 pm; when the scene type is a scenic spot, presetting a time period from 8 pm to 5 pm; when the scene type is the residential area, the preset time period is from 12 am to 6 am. It is understood that, in practical applications, the preset time period can be adjusted at any time according to practical situations.

In one possible implementation, the threshold determining apparatus may determine the scene type according to the initial station establishment information of the target cell.

It should be noted that the cell referred to in the embodiment of the present application may be understood as an area covered by one base station, and may also be understood as a sub-area obtained by dividing an area covered by a certain base station according to a certain rule. For the specific division rule, reference may be made to descriptions of related contents in the prior art, and details of the embodiments of the present application are not described herein again.

When the cell is an area covered by one base station, the threshold determining device may determine the scene type of the target cell according to the initial station establishment information of the base station corresponding to the target cell. When the cell is a sub-region obtained by dividing a region covered by a certain base station according to a certain rule, the threshold determining device may determine the scene type of the target cell according to the initial station establishment information of the base station to which the sub-region corresponding to the target cell belongs.

S102, the threshold value determining device obtains historical data of communication parameters of the target cell in a preset time period.

It can be seen that the preset time period in the embodiment of the present application is an idle time period preliminarily determined by human experience, and after the preset time period is determined according to the scene type of the cell, the threshold determination device may analyze historical data of communication parameters in the preset time period to determine a reliable threshold of the communication parameters, and then may determine, according to the threshold of the communication parameters, an idle time period of the target cell that is more accurate than the preset time period.

Alternatively, the communication parameter may be any one of Physical Resource Block (PRB) utilization, Control Channel (CC) utilization, radio utilization, traffic, and buffer data.

The PRB utilization rate, the CC utilization rate and the wireless utilization rate represent the utilization rate of the communication resources of the target cell in a preset time period. It is understood that, in practical applications, the communication parameter may also be other parameters used for indicating the utilization rate of the communication resource by the target cell within the preset time period. In addition, the PRB utilization may be an uplink PRB utilization or a downlink PRB utilization. The CC utilization may be an uplink CC utilization or a downlink CC utilization. The radio utilization may specifically be a utilization of bandwidth by the target cell within a preset time period. The traffic volume may be the number of users in the target cell within a preset time period. The traffic may be data traffic of all users in the target cell within a preset time period. The buffer data size may be a downlink buffer data size, or may be a downlink buffer data size, and is used to indicate a data size that the target cell can store in a preset time period.

S103, the threshold value determining device determines the threshold value of the communication parameter according to the historical data.

The historical data acquired by the threshold determining device may be a granularity unit taking a natural day as the acquired data, that is, acquiring the communication parameters of the target cell in each natural day corresponding to a preset time period. Of course, the historical data acquired by the threshold determination device may be in other interval time lengths as the granularity unit of the acquired data. For example, taking the preset time period from 12 am to 6 am as an example, the granularity unit of the collected data may be 1 hour, that is, the communication parameters are collected every 1 hour between 12 am and 6 am.

In addition, taking the example that the threshold value determining device collects the communication parameters once every 1 hour, the data collected by the threshold value determining device may be an average value of the corresponding communication parameters within 1 hour, or may be a weighted average value of the communication parameters within 1 hour.

In a possible implementation manner, the threshold determining means may determine the probability distribution of the historical data, and then determine the threshold of the communication parameter according to the probability distribution.

In a possible implementation manner, the process of "determining the threshold of the communication parameter according to the probability distribution" may include: the threshold value determining means may determine a cumulative distribution function curve of the historical data based on the probability distribution of the historical data, and then determine the threshold value of the communication parameter based on the cumulative distribution function curve.

For example, taking the communication parameter as the PRB utilization rate as an example, the threshold determining device may obtain the historical data by taking 1 hour as a granularity unit of the collected data, perform data statistics on the obtained historical data, determine the probability distribution of the historical data, and obtain the cumulative distribution function curve shown in fig. 2. As shown in fig. 2, the abscissa of the cumulative distribution function curve is the PRB utilization rate, and the ordinate is the probability, and it can be seen that when the PRB utilization rate is 1.3%, the probability reaches 0.9, and the PRB utilization rate of most historical data is below 1.3%, so that 1.3% can be used as the threshold of the PRB utilization rate. Of course, in practical applications, the PRB utilization rate corresponding to the probability of 0.95 (that is, 2.5%) may also be used as the threshold of the PRB utilization rate.

Optionally, after determining the threshold of the communication parameter, the idle period of the target cell may be determined according to the threshold of the communication parameter. For example, if 1.3% is used as the threshold of the PRB utilization, if the PRB utilization in a certain time period is less than 1.3%, the time period may be determined as an idle period.

In the threshold determining method provided in the embodiment of the present application, because the communication parameter may represent whether the cell is in an idle period (taking the communication parameter is the traffic of the cell as an example, when the traffic of the cell in a certain time period is low, it indicates that the time period is the idle period of the cell), and the communication parameters of the cells in different scene types in different time periods are different, the threshold of the more reasonable communication parameter may be determined by analyzing the historical data of the communication parameter in the preset time period corresponding to the scene type of the target cell. Therefore, based on the threshold determined by the threshold determination method provided by the application, a more accurate idle period of the cell can be determined.

In summary of the above description, as shown in fig. 3, step S101 in fig. 1 may be replaced with S1011:

s1011, the threshold value determining device determines the scene type according to the initial station building information of the target cell.

Alternatively, as shown in fig. 4, step S103 in fig. 1 may be replaced with S1031-S1032:

and S1031, the threshold value determining device determines the probability distribution of the historical data.

S1032, the threshold value determining device determines the threshold value of the communication parameter according to the probability distribution.

Alternatively, as shown in fig. 5, step S1032 in fig. 4 may be replaced with S10321-S10322:

s10321, determining a cumulative distribution function curve of the historical data according to the probability distribution by a threshold value determining device.

S10322, the threshold value determining device determines the threshold value of the communication parameter according to the cumulative distribution function curve.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 6, the threshold determining method provided in the embodiment of the present application further includes:

s104, the threshold value determining device determines the idle time period of the target cell according to the threshold value of the communication parameter.

As shown in fig. 7, an embodiment of the present application further provides a threshold determining apparatus 01, where the threshold determining apparatus 01 may include: a determination module 11 and an acquisition module 12.

The determining module 11 executes S101 and S103 in the above method embodiment, and the obtaining module 12 executes S102 in the above method embodiment.

Specifically, the determining module 11 is configured to determine a scene type of the target cell. Wherein the scene type corresponds to a preset time period.

An obtaining module 12, configured to obtain historical data of communication parameters of a target cell in a preset time period.

The determining module 11 is further configured to determine a threshold of the communication parameter according to the historical data acquired by the acquiring module 12.

Optionally, the determination module 11 comprises a first determination submodule and a second determination submodule. The first determining submodule is configured to determine a probability distribution of the historical data acquired by the acquiring module 12. And the second determining submodule is used for determining the threshold value of the communication parameter according to the probability distribution determined by the first determining submodule.

Optionally, the second determining submodule is specifically configured to: a cumulative distribution function curve of the historical data is determined based on the probability distribution, and then a threshold of the communication parameter is determined based on the cumulative distribution function curve.

Optionally, the communication parameter is any one of a physical resource block utilization rate, a control channel utilization rate, a radio utilization rate, a traffic volume, and a buffer data volume.

Optionally, the determining module 11 is further configured to: and determining the idle time period of the target cell according to the threshold value of the communication parameter.

Optionally, the determining module 11 is further specifically configured to: and determining the scene type according to the initial station establishment information of the target cell.

Optionally, the threshold determining apparatus 01 further comprises a storage module. The storage module is used for storing the program code of the threshold value determining device 01 and the like.

As shown in fig. 8, an embodiment of the present application further provides a threshold determination device, which includes a memory 41, a processor 42, a bus 43, and a communication interface 44; the memory 41 is used for storing computer execution instructions, and the processor 42 is connected with the memory 41 through a bus 43; when the threshold determination means is operated, the processor 42 executes computer-executable instructions stored by the memory 41 to cause the threshold determination means to perform the threshold determination method as provided in the above-described embodiments.

In particular implementations, processor 42(42-1 and 42-2) may include one or more Central Processing Units (CPUs), such as CPU0 and CPU1 shown in FIG. 8, as one example. And, as an example, the threshold determination means may comprise a plurality of processors 42, such as processor 42-1 and processor 42-2 shown in fig. 8. Each of the processors 42 may be a single-Core Processor (CPU) or a multi-Core Processor (CPU). Processor 42 may refer herein to one or more devices, circuits, and/or processing cores that process data (e.g., computer program instructions).

The memory 41 may be, but is not limited to, a read-only memory 41 (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a Random Access Memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, optical disc storage (including compact disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, blu-ray disc, etc.), magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. The memory 41 may be self-contained and coupled to the processor 42 via a bus 43. The memory 41 may also be integrated with the processor 42.

In a specific implementation, the memory 41 is used for storing data in the present application and computer-executable instructions corresponding to software programs for executing the present application. The processor 42 may determine various functions of the device by running or executing software programs stored in the memory 41, as well as invoking data stored in the memory 41.

The communication interface 44 is any device, such as a transceiver, for communicating with other devices or communication networks, such as a control system, a Radio Access Network (RAN), a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), and the like. The communication interface 44 may include a receiving unit implementing a receiving function and a transmitting unit implementing a transmitting function.

The bus 43 may be an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, an extended ISA (enhanced industry standard architecture) bus, or the like. The bus 43 may be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is shown in FIG. 8, but this is not intended to represent only one bus or type of bus.

As an example, in connection with fig. 7, the acquiring means in the threshold determining means performs the same function as the receiving unit in fig. 8, and the storing means in the threshold determining means performs the same function as the memory in fig. 8.

For the explanation of the related contents in this embodiment, reference may be made to the above method embodiments, which are not described herein again.

Through the above description of the embodiments, it is clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and simplicity of description, the foregoing division of the functional modules is merely used as an example, and in practical applications, the above function distribution may be completed by different functional modules according to needs, that is, the internal structure of the device may be divided into different functional modules to complete all or part of the above described functions. For the specific working processes of the system, the apparatus and the unit described above, reference may be made to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and details are not described here again.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, where instructions are stored in the computer-readable storage medium, and when the instructions are executed by a computer, the computer is enabled to execute the threshold determining method provided in the foregoing embodiment.

The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any combination thereof. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a RAM, a ROM, an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), a register, a hard disk, an optical fiber, a CD-ROM, an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, any suitable combination of the foregoing, or any other form of computer readable storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. Of course, the storage medium may also be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). In embodiments of the present application, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

The above description is only an embodiment of the present application, but the scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present disclosure should be covered by the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method of threshold determination, comprising:

determining the scene type of a target cell; the scene type corresponds to a preset time period;

acquiring historical data of communication parameters of the target cell in the preset time period;

and determining the threshold value of the communication parameter according to the historical data.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the threshold value for the communication parameter based on the historical data comprises:

determining a probability distribution of the historical data;

and determining the threshold value of the communication parameter according to the probability distribution.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining the threshold for the communication parameter based on the probability distribution comprises:

determining a cumulative distribution function curve of the historical data according to the probability distribution;

and determining the threshold value of the communication parameter according to the cumulative distribution function curve.

4. The method according to any of claims 1-3, wherein the communication parameter is any one of physical resource block utilization, control channel utilization, radio utilization, traffic, and buffer data volume.

5. The threshold determination method of claim 4, further comprising:

and determining the idle time period of the target cell according to the threshold value of the communication parameter.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the determining the scene type of the target cell comprises:

and determining the scene type according to the initial station establishment information of the target cell.

7. A threshold determination device, comprising:

the determining module is used for determining the scene type of the target cell; the scene type corresponds to a preset time period;

an obtaining module, configured to obtain historical data of communication parameters of the target cell in the preset time period;

the determining module is further configured to determine the threshold of the communication parameter according to the historical data acquired by the acquiring module.

8. The threshold determination device of claim 7, wherein the determination module comprises a first determination submodule and a second determination submodule;

the first determining submodule is used for determining the probability distribution of the historical data acquired by the acquiring module;

the second determining submodule is configured to determine the threshold of the communication parameter according to the probability distribution determined by the first determining submodule.

9. The threshold determination apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the second determination submodule is specifically configured to:

10. The apparatus of any one of claims 7-9, wherein the communication parameter is any one of a physical resource block utilization, a control channel utilization, a radio utilization, a traffic volume, and a buffer data volume.

11. The threshold determination device of claim 10, wherein the determination module is further configured to:

12. The threshold determination device according to claim 11, wherein the determination module is further configured to:

13. A threshold determination device comprising a memory, a processor, a bus, and a communication interface; the memory is used for storing computer execution instructions, and the processor is connected with the memory through the bus;

when the threshold determination device is running, the processor executes the computer-executable instructions stored by the memory to cause the threshold determination device to perform the threshold determination method of any one of claims 1-6.

14. A computer-readable storage medium having stored therein instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the threshold determination method of any one of claims 1-6.