JP2007228477A - Remote monitoring system of base station - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily and remotely detect the failure of a cooling fan, including a sudden failure before the cooling fan in a base station stops and conduct quick response with respect to the failure of the cooling fan. <P>SOLUTION: In the base station 1, a monitoring substrate 11 includes a microphone 11c and transfers the collected sound data within the base station 1 that contains operating sound of the cooling fan 12 to a sound discriminator for discriminating irregular sound. The sound discriminator discriminates whether irregular sound of the cooling fan 12 is generated, on the basis of the collected sound data and sends the discrimination results to a distant center station. The center station can detect, from the irregular sound discrimination results, whether irregular sound is being generated in the cooling fan 12 and grasps the contents or the like of the failure. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a remote monitoring system for remotely monitoring a base station of a communication network.

The plurality of base stations constituting the communication network are monitored by various monitoring methods because it is required as an important requirement not to stop functioning. The air cooling fan provided in the base station is one of the monitoring targets, and the following Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for monitoring the rotation abnormality of the cooling fan that cools the amplifier of the radio base station. In this monitoring technology, abnormalities of the cooling fan speed and deceleration rates classified in stages are displayed by LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) provided in the radio base station, and the monitor who patrols and monitors the radio base station turns on the LED. This is to confirm the abnormality of the cooling fan.
JP 2003-169029 A

  Failure of a cooling fan installed in a base station leads to a temperature rise in the base station that causes a malfunction, and is a serious failure that must be repaired as soon as possible. Double-triple measures such as stop operation are taken. On the other hand, although the technique of the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 can confirm that the occurrence of an abnormality of the cooling fan is near by the display of the LED, the monitoring person goes to the radio base station and confirms the lighting state of the LED. There is a problem that it takes time and effort to take quick measures. In addition, cooling fan failure is not only due to wear due to gradually changing rotation speed, but also due to sudden failure due to entry of foreign matter, etc., simply monitoring the rotation speed is insufficient. There is also a problem.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and makes it possible to easily detect remote cooling fan abnormalities including sudden abnormalities before the base station cooling fan stops, The purpose is to promptly respond to the abnormalities of the generated cooling fan.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, as a first solution relating to a remote monitoring system of a base station, a remote station that remotely monitors a base station of a communication network with a monitoring station provided apart from the base station. The monitoring system includes a detection unit that is provided in the base station and detects the operation sound of the cooling fan, and a determination unit that determines the noise of the cooling fan based on the operation sound of the cooling fan detected by the detection unit. A means is adopted in which the monitoring station monitors the operating state of the cooling fan based on the determination result of the determination means.

  Further, as a second solving means relating to the remote monitoring system of the base station, in the first solving means, the judging means is provided in the base station and transmits the judgment result of the cooling fan noise to the monitoring station. Adopt means.

  As a third solving means relating to the remote monitoring system of the base station, in the first solving means, the determining means is provided in the monitoring station, and the base station is configured to monitor the operation sound of the cooling fan detected by the detecting means. The method of transmitting to is adopted.

  As a fourth solving means relating to the remote monitoring system of the base station, in any of the first to third solving means, the discriminating means stores in advance normal operation sound data indicating normal operation sound of the cooling fan and detects it. A means is adopted in which the noise of the cooling fan is determined by comparing the operation sound detected by the means with normal operation sound data.

  As a fifth solving means relating to the remote monitoring system of the base station, in any one of the first to third solving means, the judging means discriminates the noise of the cooling fan based on a change in the operating sound of the cooling fan. Adopt the means to do.

  As a sixth solving means relating to the remote monitoring system of the base station, in any one of the first to fourth solving means, the determining means detects the noise of the cooling fan based on a change in the frequency of the operating sound of the cooling fan. A means of discriminating is adopted.

  As a seventh solving means relating to the remote monitoring system of the base station, in any one of the first to sixth solving means, the base station includes a test pseudo terminal having a microphone, and the microphone is operated with an operating sound of a cooling fan. A means for detecting is used.

  According to the present invention, the operation sound of the cooling fan provided in the base station is detected, the noise of the cooling fan is determined based on the detected operation sound, and the remote sound is determined based on the determination result of the noise. Since the operation state of the cooling fan is monitored, the abnormality appearing in the noise of the cooling fan can be monitored. This makes it possible to remotely and easily recognize cooling fan abnormalities, including sudden abnormalities, before the base station cooling fans stop, and to promptly respond to cooling fan abnormalities. it can.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a remote monitoring system for a base station according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, this remote monitoring system includes a base station 1 and a center station 2 (monitoring station) provided at a position separated from the base station 1. The base station 1 includes a control board 10, a monitoring board 11, a cooling fan 12, and a backplane 13 as shown in the figure. Although not shown in FIG. 1, the base station 1 is configured to enable communication with the center station 2 and other configurations (for example, a communication function with an antenna or an upper station) necessary as a base station of a mobile phone. Is provided as appropriate.

  The control board 10 has a base station control unit 10a. The base station control unit 10a functions as a main control unit that controls the operation of the base station 1 as a whole, and periodically sends a sound collection test request to the monitoring board 11 to instruct sound collection in the base station 1. give. The monitoring board 11 includes a board control unit 11a, a microphone control unit 11b, and a microphone 11c. The board control unit 11a gives a sound collection instruction to the microphone control unit 11b based on the sound collection test request from the control board 10, and causes the microphone 11c to collect sound in the base station 1. The microphone control unit 11b controls the microphone 11c based on a sound collection instruction from the board control unit 11a, acquires sound collection data obtained by sound collection by the microphone 11c, and supplies the collected sound data to the board control unit 11a.

  The microphone 11c is installed at a predetermined position where the operation sound of the cooling fan 12 can be detected. The microphone 11c performs a sound collection operation under the control of the microphone control unit 11b, and the sound in the base station 1 obtained by the sound collection. Is output to the microphone control section 11b. Thereby, sound collection data of the sound in the base station 1 including the operation sound of the cooling fan 12 is supplied to the board control unit 11a as sound collection data from the microphone control unit 11b. The cooling fan 12 is a fan provided in the base station 1 for forcibly air-cooling the control board 10, the monitoring board 11, the backplane 13, and a power supply device that supplies power to these parts.

  The backplane 13 is a wiring board that interconnects the control board 10, the monitoring board 11, the cooling fan 12, and the center station 2 that remotely monitors the base station 1. In the base station 1, the control board 10 and the monitoring board 11 are mounted on a rack together with boards provided for each of other application functions (such as a communication function with a mobile phone required for the base station 1 and a communication function with the center station 2). The board and the cooling fan 12 are housed and connected to the backplane 13, and the control board 10, the monitoring board 11, the cooling fan 12, and the center station 2 exchange signals via the backplane 13. The cooling fan 12 is controlled in its rotational drive operation by sending and receiving signals. As the cooling fan 12 for forcibly air-cooling the substrate in the base station 1, air is passed through the gap between the substrates above or below the rack. There are provided one or more fan trays that generate convection.

  The remote monitoring system monitors the operation sound of the cooling fan 12 in the base station 1 and monitors the abnormality of the cooling fan 12 by determining the abnormal sound of the cooling fan 12. The microphone 11c collects various sounds generated in the base station 1, but the sound source in the sound generation base station 1 is mainly the operation sound of the cooling fan 12, and the sound level is also generated by other devices. Is much larger than. Therefore, sounds generated by other devices can be ignored. The remote monitoring system includes a control unit 10, a monitoring substrate 11, or a center station 2 that includes a determination unit necessary for determining the abnormal noise of the cooling fan 12, sound collection data regarding sound in the base station, and a filter for audio signals. .

Next, the operation of the remote monitoring system configured as described above will be described in detail.
In the remote monitoring system, the board control unit 11a controls the microphone control unit 11b based on a periodic sound collection test request from the control board 10 to cause the microphone 11c to collect the sound in the base station 1. Then, the substrate control unit 11a acquires the sound collection data of the sound collected by the microphone 11c as the sound collection data corresponding to the sound collection test request via the microphone control unit 11b, and performs a determination process in which the determination unit detects an abnormal sound. By executing, the state of the cooling fan 12 is determined.

Examples of abnormal noise discrimination processing in the discrimination unit include the following forms.
(1) Sound in the base station 1 in a normal state is collected in advance as a sample, and the sampled sound is periodically compared with the sound of the sound collection data fetched from the microphone 11c. When an abnormality occurs in the cooling fan 12, the operation sound changes, and in the abnormal state due to the abnormality, the sound in the base station 1 differs from that in the normal state. It discriminate | determines that it has generate | occur | produced and notifies the center station 2 of the discrimination | determination result from the control board 10 thru | or the monitoring board | substrate 11. FIG. In the notification of the determination result, for example, the cooling fan is transmitted by transmitting the sound collection data of the sound determined to be abnormal sound, the sound collection date and time, and actually listening to the sound of the sound collection data received by the center station 2. 12 states are determined. If the center station 2 confirms the actual sound, the situation can be estimated even when the noise is generated due to a factor other than the abnormality of the cooling fan 12.

(2) When sound collection data of abnormal sound due to deterioration of the cooling fan 12 can be collected in advance as a sample, the abnormal sound is discriminated by checking the correlation between the sound collection data of the sample abnormal sound and the sound collection data. (In addition to whether or not abnormal noise has occurred, it can be determined whether or not the abnormal noise is due to deterioration of the cooling fan 12). Thereby, the noise of the cooling fan 12 can be detected more accurately, and the determination result is notified to the center station 2 as more accurate information indicating the abnormality of the cooling fan 12.
(3) Among the collected sounds in the base station 1, sounds in the frequency band of the operating sound of the cooling fan 12 are monitored, and abnormal noise is generated when the sound level or frequency changes. It determines that it is a thing and notifies the center station 2.

  In the base station in the normal state, the normal rotation sound of the cooling fan 12 and the switching sound of the relay switch are generated internally, but only the rotation sound of the fan is always generated at a certain level. For this reason, since the sound in the base station 1 can be mainly regarded as the operation sound of the cooling fan 12, the abnormal noise of the cooling fan 12 can be determined by the above forms (1) and (2). . However, in order to make this determination, it is necessary to prepare the collected sound data of the sample sound and sample abnormal sound in advance. Therefore, the sound collection database storing the collected sound data of the sample sound and sample abnormal sound Etc. in advance.

  On the other hand, the form (3) is a form in which the operation sound of the cooling fan 12 is extracted from the sound in the base station 1 and the abnormal sound is discriminated by paying attention only to the operation sound of the cooling fan 12. That is, among the sounds generated inside the base station 1, the rotation sound, which is the normal operation sound of the cooling fan 12, is a low frequency sound, while the other switching sounds of the relay switch have a high frequency. Since it is a metal sound, the operation sound of the cooling fan 12 can be extracted from the sound in the base station 1 by using a sound signal filter that cuts the metal sound of the high frequency component and passes the operation sound of the fan. . Therefore, in the form (3), a low-pass filter whose pass band is the frequency band of the operating sound of the cooling fan 12 is provided in the audio signal output unit, the microphone control unit 11b, the substrate control unit 11a, or the like of the microphone 11c, and the low-pass filter. By acquiring the sound collection data through the filter, the operation sound of the cooling fan 12 is extracted from the sound in the base station 1.

  As the frequency band of the operation sound of the cooling fan 12, a frequency band including a basic frequency of normal rotation sound of the cooling fan 12 and a specific sound frequency characterizing the operation sound of the other cooling fan 12 is selected, and the frequency band The fan sound level and fan sound frequency are monitored to detect abnormal sounds. For example, when the fan sound level of the sound collection data is increased or decreased, it is determined that an abnormal sound of the cooling fan 12 is generated. Further, when the rotation of the cooling fan 12 is attenuated, the rotation sound is lowered. Therefore, when the fan sound frequency of the sound collection data is lowered, it is determined that the noise of the cooling fan 12 is generated. Further, when a foreign object enters the cooling fan 12, the operating sound of the cooling fan 12 changes to a sound whose fundamental frequency deviates from the original fundamental frequency. Therefore, when such a change is recognized in the fan sound frequency of the sound collection data. Then, it is determined that the noise of the cooling fan 12 has occurred.

  When the abnormal sound is determined from the fan sound level or the fan sound frequency in this way, it can be immediately determined that an abnormality has occurred in the cooling fan 12 based on the determination result, and any abnormality has occurred. You can also determine if you are. For example, when the fan sound frequency becomes low, it can be determined that the rotation of the cooling fan 12 is attenuated, and the basic frequency of the fan sound frequency changes, or the fan sound level or the fan sound frequency changes abruptly. If it is determined that a sudden abnormality has occurred in the cooling fan 12 due to entry of foreign matter or the like, it can be determined. Thereby, in the form of (3), the determination unit not only determines the abnormal noise, but also determines the state of the cooling fan 12 based on the determination result, and in addition to the abnormal noise of the cooling fan 12, the cooling fan The center station 2 is notified of the occurrence of 12 abnormalities and the content of the abnormalities.

  In this remote monitoring system, the abnormal noise (abnormality) of the cooling fan 12 is monitored by the determination process based on the operation sound of the cooling fan 12 as described above, but the determination process according to the forms (1) to (3) above is performed. These may be used in combination as appropriate. Since the operation sound of the cooling fan 12 provided in the base station 1 represents the operation state of the cooling fan 12 sensitively, according to these determination processes, a sudden abnormality is included before the cooling fan 12 stops. The abnormality of the cooling fan 12 can be easily detected by the center station 2, and a quick response to the abnormality of the generated cooling fan 12 can be achieved.

  About the discrimination | determination part which performs a discrimination | determination process, the monitoring board | substrate 11 may have, the control board | substrate 10 may have, and the center station 2 may have. In short, the collected sound data in the base station 1 is transferred to the discriminating unit, and the discriminating unit performs the above discriminating process for comparing with the sample sound and monitoring the change of the operating sound. It is sufficient if it can be notified.

  For example, in the case where pre-sampled sound collection data such as the sample sound or sample abnormal sound is prepared in advance and the discrimination processing is performed by the discrimination unit according to the form (1) or (2) above, all the remote monitoring systems are applied. When common pre-sampled data can be used in the base station 1, remote monitoring can be carried out more efficiently if the center station 2 is provided with sound collection data and a determination unit. On the other hand, when individual sound collection data is required in each base station 1 due to the influence of other sounds in the installation environment of each base station 1, the monitoring board 11 or the control board 10 in each base station 1 is used. The remote monitoring can be carried out more efficiently if the discrimination section and the sound collection data specific to each base station 1 are provided.

  Next, an explanation will be given of the remote monitoring execution operation for determining the noise of the cooling fan 12 as described above and monitoring the state of the cooling fan 12 in a remote place. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a flow of an operation for monitoring the cooling fan 12 of the base station 1 in the center station 2, and “(a) When the monitoring board 11 includes a determination unit” and “(b) control”. The three cases of “when there is a discriminator on the board 10” and “(c) when there is a discriminator at the center station 2” are taken as examples. Represents. In these cases, the monitoring board 11 regularly collects the sound in the base station 1 in response to a sound collection test request from the control board 10, and the subsequent operation is the location where the determination unit is installed. It is different depending on.

  In “(a) When the monitoring substrate 11 has a determination unit”, the determination unit of the monitoring substrate 11 detects the noise of the cooling fan 12 based on the sound collection data acquired by the monitoring substrate 11 in response to the sound collection test request. Determine. Then, the monitoring board 11 sends a sound collection result normal / abnormal notice for notifying the determination result to the control board 10, and the control board 10 transfers the sound collection result normal / abnormal notice to the center station 2. As the sound collection result normal / abnormal notification, for example, whether or not an abnormal sound of the cooling fan 12 has occurred, whether the state of the cooling fan 12 is normal or abnormal, and what abnormality has occurred in the cooling fan 12 (rotation of rotation) Information such as attenuation or sudden abnormality) may be notified, and sound collection data may be included in the notification information as necessary. In “(b) When the control board 10 has a determination unit”, the sound collection data acquired by the monitoring board 11 is transferred to the control board 10 as sound collection data notification. Then, the determination unit of the control board 10 determines the noise of the cooling fan 12, and the control board 10 transmits a sound collection result normal / abnormal notice to the center station 2. In “(c) When the discriminating unit is in the center station 2”, the sound collection data acquired by the monitoring board 11 is transferred to the control board 10 as a sound collection data notice, and the control board 10 sends the sound collection data notice to the center. Transfer to station 2. Then, the discrimination unit of the center station 2 discriminates the noise of the cooling fan 12, and the center station 2 obtains the discrimination result similar to the information of the sound collection result normal / abnormal notice.

  In the center station 2, the sound collection result normal / abnormal notice information is acquired in this way, and it is determined whether the operation is normal or abnormal according to the operation sound of the cooling fan 12. As a result, remote monitoring of the base station 1 that monitors abnormalities of the cooling fan 12 by abnormal noise is carried out. In particular, both abnormalities due to deterioration over time of the cooling fan 12 that appear in the attenuation of rotation and abnormalities such as sudden failures are observed. Can be remotely monitored and detected, and when an abnormality occurs, the cooling fan 12 can be replaced or repaired at an early stage. In addition, although a failure of the cooling fan 12 immediately causes an increase in temperature in the base station 1 or the like, the deterioration of the cooling fan 12 can be detected by abnormal noise before detecting a complete failure of the cooling fan 12. Preparation for replacing the fan 12 can be advanced in advance.

  By the way, as one of the control techniques of the base station, there is a technique in which a pseudo test terminal is built in the base station and the radio unit is monitored and tested from a remote location like the center station 2. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an outline of the configuration of the base station 3 incorporating the test pseudo terminal. As illustrated, the base station 3 includes a base station main control unit 30 that controls the operation of the entire base station 3, an antenna 31 connected to the radio unit of the base station main control unit 30, and the base station main control unit 30 and the antenna. A test pseudo-terminal 32 is connected between 31.

  The test pseudo-terminal 32 is equipped with an interface such as UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver / Transmitter (Universal Asynchronous Receiver / Transmitter)) or USB (Universal Serial Bus (Universal Serial Bus)). A test request is received from the station main controller 30 and a result response is transmitted to the base station main controller 30. However, the test pseudo terminal 32 is provided in the vicinity of the base station 3 and is connected by wire between the base station main control unit 30 and the antenna 31, but the communication with the base station main control unit 30 is performed wirelessly. There is also.

  In such a configuration, the test pseudo-terminal 32 performs a transmission / reception operation test (for example, a call test or a call test) via the radio unit test path in the drawing in response to a test request from the base station main control unit 30. I do. The base station main control unit 30 receives the test result as a result response, so that it can be confirmed whether or not the operation of the radio unit at the antenna input / output terminal is normal.

  For example, a base station of a data communication network based on 1xEV-DO (1x Evolution Data Only) includes a TAT (Test Access Terminal (pseudo terminal function)) board corresponding to the test pseudo terminal 32, and This is an example. The base station monitors and tests the radio unit while controlling what test is performed between the TAT board and the base station main control unit. For example, a signal output from the wireless unit to the outside is input to an AT (Access Terminal) on the TAT board, and the wireless unit is tested by the function of the AT as a mobile terminal.

  In the remote monitoring system, the microphone 11c is installed in the base station 1 to detect abnormal noise and monitor the abnormality of the cooling fan 12. However, regarding the base station incorporating such a test pseudo terminal, Can be easily implemented. In other words, since the test pseudo terminal built in the base station only needs to be able to perform a monitoring test of the radio unit such as incoming / outgoing calls, it usually has only a limited basic function and other functions. There is no need. However, mobile terminals equipped with various functions such as a camera, a microphone, a speaker, and an acceleration sensor are widely used as seen in recent mobile phones and the like, and have high functionality and high performance. ing. In a test terminal such as a TAT board, since such a function is simply deleted as unnecessary, it is easy to install it without deleting it using recent mobile terminal technology. A monitoring board having a microphone function like the board 11 can be easily configured. Therefore, in a base station with a built-in test pseudo terminal, a function that has been deleted as a function unnecessary in the past can be made effective by installing a microphone function for recording sound in the base station in the test pseudo terminal. The above-described remote monitoring of the base station, which is utilized to monitor fan abnormality, can be implemented.

  Specifically, the monitoring board 11 is equipped with a mobile terminal function unit that assumes the function of the test pseudo terminal as equivalent to the microphone control unit 11b. The mobile terminal function unit has a microphone function provided in a mobile phone or the like, and the sound collection unit of the microphone function corresponds to the microphone 11c and is placed at a predetermined position where the operation sound of the cooling fan 12 can be detected. Provide. Thereby, the configuration of the remote monitoring system can be realized by using a test pseudo-terminal, and the state of the cooling fan is monitored by a remote center station or the like by collecting the sound in the base station as described above. This makes it possible to respond quickly to abnormalities. Conventionally, there was no need for a test pseudo terminal equipped with a microphone function, but by using the microphone function to monitor the sound in the base station, it is possible to quickly and accurately determine cooling fan abnormalities. It is possible to realize remote monitoring of a base station that can be performed.

  In the above remote monitoring system, when a plurality of cooling fans are provided in the base station, the external stereo microphones that collect the operation sounds of these cooling fans at a plurality of locations in the base station are used as the above-described microphones. It may be provided as. According to such an external stereo microphone, the position of the cooling fan where an abnormality has occurred can be identified from the sound collected at each location. Moreover, in the above remote monitoring system, since abnormality of a cooling fan is monitored with an operation sound, it is not necessary to provide LED etc. which display an operation state within a base station for every cooling fan.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the base station 1 of the mobile telephone in the remote monitoring system of the base station which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a flow of an operation in which a remote center station monitors an abnormality of the cooling fan 12 of the base station 1 in an embodiment of the present invention. In one Embodiment of this invention, it is the figure which showed the outline of the structure of the base station 3 incorporating the pseudo | simulation terminal for a test.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 3 ... Base station, 2 ... Center station, 10 ... Control board, 11 ... Monitoring board, 11b ... Microphone control part, 11c ... Microphone, 12 ... Cooling fan, 32 ... Pseudo terminal for test

Claims (7)

A remote monitoring system for remotely monitoring a base station of a communication network with a monitoring station provided apart from the base station,
A detecting means provided in the base station for detecting the operation sound of the cooling fan;
Discriminating means for discriminating abnormal noise of the cooling fan based on the operating sound of the cooling fan detected by the detecting means;
A remote monitoring system for a base station, wherein the monitoring station monitors the operating state of the cooling fan based on the determination result of the determining means.   The base station remote monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit is provided in the base station, and transmits a determination result of the noise of the cooling fan to the monitoring station.   The base station remote monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit is provided in a monitoring station, and the base station transmits the operation sound of the cooling fan detected by the detection unit to the determination unit of the monitoring station.   The discrimination means stores in advance normal operation sound data indicating a normal operation sound of the cooling fan, and determines the noise of the cooling fan by comparing the operation sound detected by the detection means with the normal operation sound data. The base station remote monitoring system according to claim 1.   The base station remote monitoring system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the determining means determines an abnormal noise of the cooling fan based on a change in an operating sound of the cooling fan.   The remote monitoring system for a base station according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the determining means determines an abnormal sound of the cooling fan based on a change in a frequency of an operating sound of the cooling fan.   The base station remote monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the base station includes a test pseudo terminal having a microphone, and the microphone serves as detection means for detecting an operation sound of a cooling fan.

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