JP2013110605A - Wireless base station and system for detecting failure in wireless base station - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a wireless base station which can detect silent failure and a system which detects silent failure in the wireless base station.SOLUTION: A wireless LAN base station sets one of two AP chip sets (110 and 111) mounted therein as an access point and the other thereof as a station, sets test signals to the same frequency, and executes a return test of the test signals between the plurality of AP chip sets.

Description

  The present invention relates to a radio base station having a fault detection function and a system for detecting a fault in the radio base station.

  Nowadays, wireless communication terminals are used in many fields such as the Internet, Internet telephones, and network games. A wireless communication terminal can access an information network such as the Internet via a connection to an access point whose mutual connectivity is guaranteed by a wireless LAN. In communication services using a wireless LAN, simultaneous services in the 2.4 GHz band and the 5 GHz band are required, and such access points are appearing.

  The number of users of wireless communication terminals has increased explosively due to the advent of tablet computers and the rapid increase in needs for smartphones. Along with the increase in the number of users, the demand for improving the convenience of the system has also increased, and accordingly, a solution that complements area coverage with small access points with a high-speed wireless access network as the backbone of Internet access And the increase in data transmission speed has been promoted.

  For the convenience of the user, the stability of the wireless communication system is one of the important requirements. In order to operate the system stably, it is of course necessary not to cause a failure that would cause the system to stop operating, but even if a failure occurs, it can be detected quickly and It is important to remove and restore the system.

  Most wireless LAN base station systems employ a general-purpose chip set to realize a wireless LAN modulation / demodulation function. The chipset does not have a fault detection function, or even if it is implemented, the fault detection function is poor and cannot be recognized even if a fault occurs. There is a problem.

  As a first conventional technique for detecting a failure of a wireless LAN base station, a test for returning inside the apparatus in order to confirm the normality of the wireless apparatus is disclosed (see FIG. 10 of Patent Document 1 described later). I want.)

  In this conventional technique, in order to prevent the radio wave for the loopback test from being radiated from the transmitting / receiving antenna 5, the changeover switch 12 switches to the path to the attenuator 13, and receives the signal transmitted by the transmitter 2 during the empty slot period. The received signal processing unit 16 compares the received data with the data generated by the transmission signal processing unit 11, and determines that the received data is normal, and that the received data is abnormal if the two are different. In this conventional system, the loopback test can be performed inside the wireless device without preparing a dedicated transmitter / receiver for the loopback test.

As a second conventional technique for detecting a failure in a wireless LAN base station, a method of performing a loopback test by receiving a signal transmitted from one antenna by the other antenna is disclosed (Patent Document 2 described later). (See FIG. 11).

In this conventional technique, the interference wave detection unit 52 does not perform the loopback test when the interference wave level of the received signal is higher than the threshold value, and performs the loopback test when it is lower than the threshold value. As a result, a wireless loopback test is performed at a timing when no other station is communicating.

JP-A-8-19037 JP 2003-169030 A

  If the wireless LAN base station falls into a silent failure state, the connection from the wireless terminal is unexpectedly interrupted, and if the silent failure is not detected and left unattended, the wireless terminal cannot connect to the base station at all. There is a risk that it will lead to a major obstacle such as disappearance. Therefore, a communication service provider needs to quickly and surely detect a base station that has a silent failure and quickly remove the silent failure.

  In the first prior art described above, it is possible to determine whether the wireless device has failed, but since it is not possible to determine whether the transmitter or the receiver has failed, the silent failure can be detected reliably in the first place. In addition, there is a problem that recovery from silent failure does not proceed quickly.

  In the second conventional example, the wireless communication apparatus needs to receive the test wave while transmitting it. However, since the wireless LAN is a TDD system and the transmission / reception is switched by one antenna, the second conventional technique is used. The example cannot be simply applied to a wireless LAN base station system.

  Therefore, there has conventionally been a problem that there is no system that can quickly and reliably detect a silent failure of a wireless LAN base station constituting a multi-band compatible wireless LAN access point. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a radio base station capable of detecting a silent failure and a system for detecting a silent failure of the radio base station.

  To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a first access point circuit that forms a first access point for a first wireless terminal and a second access point that forms a second access point for a second wireless terminal. For a test signal for testing an access point circuit, a control circuit for controlling the first access point circuit and the second access point circuit, and the first access point circuit and the second access point circuit The control circuit causes the first access point circuit to transmit a first test signal to the second access point circuit via the test circuit. , Causing the second access point circuit to transmit a second test signal to the first access point circuit via the test circuit, and The first test signal pattern transmitted from the access point circuit and the first test signal pattern received by the second access point circuit are compared to obtain a first comparison result, and the second The second test signal pattern transmitted from the access point circuit is compared with the second test signal pattern received by the first access point circuit to obtain a second comparison result. The first access point circuit and the second access point circuit are diagnosed based on the comparison result and the second comparison result.

  Furthermore, the second aspect of the present invention comprises a radio base station to which a radio terminal is connected and a monitoring device for the radio base station, wherein the radio base station and the monitoring device are connected via a communication network. A fault monitoring system for a radio base station, wherein the radio base station includes a first access point circuit forming a first access point for a first radio terminal and a second access point for a second radio terminal A second access point circuit for forming the first access point circuit, a control circuit for controlling the first access point circuit and the second access point circuit, the first access point circuit and the second access point circuit, A test circuit for a test signal for testing the control circuit, wherein the control circuit passes through the test circuit from the first access point circuit to the second access point. A first test signal is transmitted to the path, and a second test signal is transmitted from the second access point circuit to the first access point circuit via the test circuit, and from the first access point circuit, A first comparison result is obtained by comparing the transmitted pattern of the first test signal with the pattern of the first test signal received by the second access point circuit, and the second access point circuit. The second test signal pattern transmitted from the first access point circuit is compared with the second test signal pattern received by the first access point circuit to obtain a second comparison result, and the first comparison result A diagnosis of the first access point circuit and the second access point circuit is executed based on the second comparison result, and the diagnosis result is transmitted to the monitoring device. To.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the radio base station which can detect a silent failure, and the system which detects the silent failure of a wireless base station can be provided.

1 is a block diagram of a wireless network according to a first embodiment of the present invention and including a dual-band wireless LAN base station. FIG. FIG. 3 is a first sequence diagram of operations of the wireless LAN base station according to FIG. 1. FIG. 6 is a second sequence diagram of the operation of the wireless LAN base station according to FIG. 1. 2 is a flowchart of a normality confirmation method for a wireless LAN base station according to FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a block diagram corresponding to FIG. 1 in which the switch is switched in a direction to connect the access point circuit of the wireless LAN base station according to FIG. 1 to the antenna. FIG. 7 is a first sequence diagram according to another embodiment of a normality test for the wireless LAN base station according to FIG. 1. FIG. 6 is a second sequence diagram according to another embodiment of a normality test for the wireless LAN base station according to FIG. 1. 8 is a flowchart of a normality confirmation method for a wireless LAN base station corresponding to FIGS. 6 and 7. It is a block diagram which concerns on the modification of FIG.

  Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described. In describing an embodiment of the present invention, a wireless network including a wireless LAN base station corresponding to a frequency band of 2.4 GHz band and 5 GHz band will be described below as an example.

  When a wireless LAN base station is used as an infrastructure facility, the wireless LAN base station is required to simultaneously provide communication services for both the 2.4 GHz band and the 5 GHz band. In order to realize this, a dual-band wireless LAN base station includes a first chipset that supports 2.4 GHz band communication and a second chip that supports both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz band communication. A chipset is mounted. Each of these chipsets constitutes an AP (access point) function unit. Hereinafter, the former chip set is abbreviated as “AP1”, and the latter chip set is abbreviated as “AP2”.

  When the wireless LAN base station having the multi-AP function described above diagnoses its own normality, AP1 and AP2 are set to the same frequency band (2.4 GHz), and AP1 is set as an access point (AP). The first mode in which AP2 is a station (STA) and the second mode in which AP2 is set to AP and AP1 is set to STA are executed to switch transmission / reception of test signals between AP1 and AP2. Execute the loopback test. The wireless LAN base station can execute, as the loopback test, a mode that does not pass through the antenna and a mode that passes through the antenna.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a wireless network including the above-described dual-band wireless LAN base station. The wireless network includes a wireless LAN base station 100, an Internet network 101, and a monitoring device 102.

  The wireless LAN base station 100 is a wireless device that enables the wireless LAN terminal 103 to access the Internet network 101 via a wireless interface. The wireless LAN base station 100 is roughly divided into an AP function unit 100A and a test circuit unit 104. The AP function unit includes AP1 (110) and AP2 (111), an AP controller 112, a memory 113, and a line interface 114.

  The AP controller 112 controls each of AP1 (110) and AP2 (111). In addition to the wireless communication program, the memory 113 stores in advance various control programs and one or more wireless channels that can communicate with the AP1 (110) and AP2 (111). The line interface 114 is an interface for connecting the AP controller 112 and the Internet network 101.

  The wireless LAN terminal 103 is connected to the wireless LAN base station 100 via a wireless interface, and is connected to a communication network such as the Internet network 101 via a line interface 114. The wireless LAN base station 100 is a wireless device for connecting the wireless LAN terminals 103 to each other or to other networks, and has a router function for relaying / connecting between networks.

  The monitoring device 102 is connected to the line interface 114 via the Internet network 101 and has a function of remotely monitoring and controlling the wireless LAN base station 100.

  AP1 (110) is a switch (SW) 130 for switching uplink / downlink signals, a downlink signal transmitter (Tx) 132, an uplink signal receiver (Rx) 134, a BB 136 for performing BB signal processing, and an uplink / downlink signal. An MDM 138 that performs modulation / demodulation and an I / O 140 that is an interface with the AP controller 112 are provided. The internal block of AP2 (111) is the same as that of AP1 (110).

  AP1 (110) and AP2 (111) transmit / receive data to / from the wireless LAN terminal 103 through a preset wireless channel through ANT1 (150) and ANT2 (151), respectively. The AP controller 112 performs various controls such as communication control of the AP1 (110) and AP2 (111) by executing various programs in the memory 113.

  As described above, the wireless LAN base station 100 includes the test circuit unit 104 in addition to the AP function unit 100A. The test circuit unit 104 includes directional couplers CPLs 160 and 161 and DETs (power detectors) 162 and 163. The DET is connected to the AP controller 112 and can read the downlink radio signal power output from the AP1 (110) and the AP2 (111).

  The test circuit unit 104 further includes RF-SWs 170 and 171, and attenuators 172 and SW173. RF-SW 170 is a high-frequency SW that switches whether AP1 (110) is connected to ANT1 (150) or terminated. Similarly, the RF-SW 171 switches whether AP2 (111) is connected to ANT2 (151) or terminated.

  The attenuator 172 is mounted between the CPLs 160 and 161 and attenuates the test signal extracted by the CPL. In SW 173, a test signal output from AP1 (110) or AP2 (111) when normality is confirmed by a loopback test in a route including an antenna passes through ANT1 and ANT2 to AP2 (111) or AP1 (110). The route is switched so that it does not flow directly.

  Based on FIG. 1, a first mode of a normality confirmation method based on a loopback test in the wireless LAN base station 100 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the AP controller 112 switches the RF-SWs 170 and 171 to the termination side. In describing the first form of the normality confirmation method, FIG. 2-4 is further used.

  FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram when the AP controller 112 sets AP1 (110) as AP and AP2 (111) as STA. FIG. 3 shows AP1 (110) as SATP and AP2 (111). FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the normality confirmation method including FIGS. 2 and 3. The sequence diagrams of FIGS. 2 and 3 focus on the operation of the entire wireless LAN base station, whereas the flowchart of FIG. 4 focuses on the operation of the AP controller 112. Steps 300 to 306 in FIG. 4 correspond to the sequence diagram in FIG. 2, and steps after step 307 correspond to the sequence diagram in FIG.

  First, the monitoring apparatus 102 of the communication service user sends a normality confirmation start instruction 200 to the AP controller 112 of the specific wireless LAN base station 100 via the Internet network 101 (step 200 in FIG. 2). When the AP controller 112 receives the instruction (step 300 in FIG. 4), AP1 (110) is set to AP, AP2 (111) is set to STA (setting at the time of test: step 301 in FIG. 4), and AP1 (110 ) And AP2 (111) are set to the same radio channel (frequency). In the form of FIG. 1, it is 2.4 GHz.

  The AP controller 112 reads the test pattern stored in the memory 113 and sends a test signal transmission instruction including the test pattern to the AP1 (110) (step 201 in FIG. 2 and step 302 in FIG. 4). After receiving the test signal transmission instruction, AP1 (110) transmits the test pattern to the MDM 138 via the I / O 140.

  The AP1 (110) generates a digital test signal in the MDM 138 and BB 136 based on the test pattern, and converts the test signal into an analog wireless signal in Tx132. AP1 (110) transmits an analog wireless signal (test signal) (step 202 in FIG. 2 and step 303 in FIG. 4).

  Since RW-SW 170 is grounded without connecting AP1 (110) to ANT1, the test signal transmitted from AP1 (110) passes through CPL160, attenuator 172, SW173, DET2, and CPL161. AP2 (111) is reached (step 304 in FIG. 4). The AP controller 112 controls the switch (SW) 173 so that the test signal flows through this route.

  The attenuator 172 selects the attenuation amount of the test signal so as to match the dynamic ranges of the transmitters and receivers of AP1 (110) and AP2 (111) and the condition of the coupling amounts of the CPLs 160 and 161. When a simple test circuit is used to transmit and receive test signals, if a loopback test is performed without setting the test signal to an appropriate level on the transmission side, the signal is saturated and the signal is received correctly. You may not be able to confirm normality. For this purpose, the attenuator 172 attenuates the test signal and transmits and receives the test signal, thereby enabling normality confirmation.

  For example, when the output of the transmitter (Tx) of AP1 (110) is 20 dBm and the maximum reception level of the receiver (Rx) of AP2 (111) is −30 dBm, the AP1 (110) transmitter and AP2 (111) The amount of attenuation between the receivers must be 20 dBm − (− 30 dBm) = 50 dB or more. When the coupling amounts of CPL160 and CPL161 are, for example, 20 dB, respectively, 40 dB is attenuated by CPL160 and CPL161, so that 50 dB-40 dB = 10 dB.

  After AP2 (111) converts the received test signal into a digital signal via SW131 and Rx135 to BB137, MDM 139 demodulates the test pattern from the digital signal.

  Upon receiving the test signal reception report request from the AP controller 112 (step 206 in FIG. 2), AP2 (111) sends the demodulated test pattern to the AP controller 112 via the I / O 141 as the test signal reception report 207. Send (step 207 in FIG. 2).

  When the AP controller records the demodulated test pattern in the memory 113 (step 213 in FIG. 2), the AP controller instructs the AP 1 (110) to stop transmitting the test signal (step 209 in FIG. 2). When AP1 (110) receives the stop command, transmission of the test signal is stopped (step 210 in FIG. 2).

  Next, the AP controller 112 performs normality diagnosis (step 211 in FIG. 2). The AP controller 112 reads the test pattern transmitted from the AP1 (110) and the test pattern received by the AP2 (111) from the memory 113, and collates the two to check the normality (step 211 in FIG. 2). )I do.

  The normality diagnosis (211) here is executed depending on whether or not the test pattern transmitted from the AP1 (110) by the AP controller 112 matches the test pattern received by the AP2 (111) (see FIG. Step 305 of 4).

  When the AP controller 112 detects that the patterns do not match, it determines that at least one of the transmitter (Tx) 132 of the AP1 (110) and the receiver (Rx) 135 of the AP2 (111) is abnormal. After the determination result is stored in the memory 113, the process proceeds to step 314 in FIG.

  On the other hand, if the AP controller 112 determines that both patterns match, the process proceeds to the normality diagnosis continuation process after step 307 (FIG. 4). The AP controller 112 first sets AP2 (111) to AP and AP1 (110) to STA. Next, the AP controller 112 reads the test pattern stored in the memory 113 and sends a test signal transmission instruction including the test pattern to the AP 2 (111) (step 201 in FIG. 3 and step 307 in FIG. 4).

  After receiving the test signal transmission instruction, AP2 (111) transmits the test pattern to the MDM 139 via the I / O 141. AP2 (111) generates a digital test signal in MDM139 and BB137 based on the test pattern, and converts the test signal into an analog radio signal in Tx133. AP2 (111) transmits an analog wireless signal (test signal) (step 202 in FIG. 3 and step 308 in FIG. 4). The test signal transmitted from AP2 (111) is transmitted to AP1 (110) via CPL161, DET2 (163), SW173, attenuator 172, and CPL160. AP1 (110) receives the test signal (step 309 in FIG. 4).

  The test signal received by the AP 1 (110) reaches the BB 136 via the SW 130 and Rx 134 and is converted into a digital signal, and then the MDM 138 demodulates the test pattern from the digital signal.

  Upon receiving the test signal reception report request from the AP controller 112 (step 206 in FIG. 3), AP1 (110) sends the demodulated test pattern to the AP controller 112 via the I / O 140 as a test signal reception report. (Step 207 in FIG. 3).

  When the AP controller 112 records the demodulated test pattern in the memory 113 (step 213 in FIG. 2), the AP controller 112 instructs AP2 (111) to stop transmission of the test signal (step 209 in FIG. 3). When AP2 (111) receives the stop command, the test signal transmission is stopped (step 210 in FIG. 3).

  Next, the AP controller 112 performs normality diagnosis (step 211 in FIG. 3). The AP controller 112 reads the test pattern transmitted from the AP2 (111) and the test pattern received by the AP1 (110) from the memory 113, collates them, and performs normality diagnosis (step 211 in FIG. 3). ).

  The normality diagnosis here is executed based on whether or not the test pattern transmitted from the AP2 (111) by the AP controller 112 matches the test pattern received by the AP1 (110) (step 310 in FIG. 3). ). When the AP controller 112 detects that the patterns do not match, it determines that at least one of the transmitter (Tx) 133 of AP2 (111) and the receiver (Rx) 134 of AP1 (110) is abnormal. The determination result is stored in the memory 113.

If the result of step 310 in FIG. 4 is affirmative, the AP controller 112 determines that AP1 (110) and AP2 (111) are normal (step 313 in FIG. 4), and stores them in the memory 113.
Next, the AP controller 112 reads out the determination results at Steps 305 and 310 in FIG. 4 and the determination result at Step 113 from the memory 113 and notifies the monitoring device 102 via the Internet network 101. According to this notification, for the wireless LAN base station that enables multi-band communication, the monitoring device is normal for all of the plurality of AP chip sets, or the transmitter of one chip set and the receiver of the other chip set At least one of them can know the abnormality. That is, since the wireless LAN base station shown in FIG. 1 performs bidirectional transmission / reception of test signals between AP1 and AP2, the AP chip that could not be detected by conventional one-way transmission of test signals. It becomes possible to reliably detect silent failures.

  Next, a second form of the normality confirmation test will be described. The second embodiment is different from the first embodiment as follows. The first form is an internal loop test of a wireless LAN base station that does not go through antennas (ANT1, ANT2), whereas the second form has a loop test through an antenna. It has been implemented. The test signal output from the ANT1 150 is transmitted to the ANT 2151 via the wireless interface.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, the AP controller 112 switches the switch (RF-SW) 170 in the direction connecting to ANT1, and switches the switch (RF-SW) 171 in the direction connecting to ANT2. Further, the AP controller 112 prevents the test signal output from the AP1 (110) or AP2 (111) from flowing to the AP2 (111) or AP1 (110) when the normality is confirmed by the loopback test on the route including the antenna. Then, the switch SW173 is turned off.

  The sequence and flowchart of the normality confirmation test in the second mode are the same as those in the first mode. By conducting the normality test based on the second form following the normality test based on the first form, normality of AP1 (110) and AP2 (111) based on the normality test based on the first form If the abnormality is determined in the AP (AP1, AP2) based on the normality test based on the second form after the confirmation of the sex, the monitoring apparatus 102 will at least detect ANT1 and ANT2 of the wireless LAN base station 100. It becomes possible to recognize that there is an abnormality on one side.

  Normality confirmation by communication between AP1 (110) and AP2 (111) on the path including the antenna is performed by the dynamic ranges of the transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) of AP1, AP2, and ANT1 (150) and ANT2. It is necessary that the condition of the amount of coupling in (151) is consistent. For example, when the output of the transmitter of AP1 (110) is 20 dBm and the maximum reception level of the receiver of AP2 (111) is −30 dBm, the combined amount of ANT1 (150) and ANT2 (151) is −50 dB or less. There is a need. Otherwise, when the AP 28111) receives the test signal, the receiver may be saturated and cannot be normally received.

  In the loopback test of communication between AP function units in the route including the antenna, a radio signal transmitted from one AP is received via the other AP to check the normality. Perform the test. For this reason, even if it is the TDD system which switches one antenna with a switch, normality can be confirmed. Also, by performing a folding test inside the apparatus, it is possible to check normality without affecting the surroundings without blowing radio waves from the antenna.

  Next, the 3rd form of a normality confirmation test is demonstrated. In this embodiment, the power detectors DET1 (162) and DET2 (163) are used for the normality test. This embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In this description, FIGS. 6 to 8 are used. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram when the AP controller 112 sets AP1 (110) as AP and AP2 (111) as STA, and FIG. 7 shows AP1 (110) as STA and AP2 (111). FIG. 8 is a flowchart according to the normality confirmation method including FIGS. 6 and 7.

  The sequence according to FIGS. 6 and 7 focuses on the operation of the entire wireless LAN base station, whereas the flowchart according to FIG. 8 focuses on the operation of the AP controller 112. Steps 300 to 702 in FIG. 8 correspond to the sequence diagram in FIG. 6, and the subsequent steps correspond to the sequence diagram in FIG. Hereinafter, FIGS. 6 to 8 will be described. However, the same parts as those in FIGS. 2 to 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted, and the description will be continued with a focus on the differences.

  6, AP1 (110) transmits a test signal to AP2 (111) (202 in FIG. 6), and AP controller 112 sends a test signal transmission report request to AP1 (110) (step 500 in FIG. 6). , CPL 160 extracts a portion of the test signal and sends it to DET1 (162). The DET1 (162) detects the power of the test signal and sends the detection result to the AP controller 112 (step 501 in FIG. 6). The AP controller 112 records the test signal power received by the DET1 (162) in the memory 113 (step 502 in FIG. 6).

  The normality diagnosis (step 504 in FIG. 6) executed by the AP controller 112 is based on steps 700 and 305 in FIG. In step 700 of FIG. 8, the AP controller 112 reads the detection value from the DET1 (162) from the memory 113 and determines whether or not a test signal is received from the AP1 (110) based on this. If the detected value from DET1 (162) is a level equal to or lower than the threshold value, it is determined that the Tx 132 of AP1 (110) has failed because the test signal cannot be confirmed, and the determination result is stored in the memory 113.

  If the result of step 700 is affirmative, the AP controller 112 proceeds to step 305, compares the test pattern transmitted from AP1 (110) with the test pattern received by AP2 (111), and determines whether or not they match. Determine. If this determination is denied, it is determined that Rx135 of AP2 (111) is abnormal, and the determination result is stored in the memory 113.

  When the AP controller 112 affirms both step 700 and step 305, the step AP1 (110) is set to STA and AP2 (111) is set to AP, and a loopback test is performed (steps 201, 202 and 202 in FIG. 7). Steps 307-309).

  In FIG. 7, AP2 (111) transmits a test signal to AP1 (110) (202 in FIG. 7), and the AP controller 112 sends a test signal transmission report request to AP2 (111) (step 500 in FIG. 7). , CPL 161 extracts a part of the test signal and sends it to DET2 (163). The DET2 (163) detects the power of the test signal and sends the detection result to the AP controller 112 (step 501 in FIG. 7). The AP controller 112 records the test signal power received by the DET2 (163) in the memory 113 (step 502 in FIG. 7).

  Next, the AP controller 112 performs normality diagnosis. In step 703 of FIG. 8, the AP controller 112 reads the detection value from the DET2 (163) from the memory 113 to determine whether or not a test signal is received from the AP2 (111), and determines based on this. If the detected value from DET2 (163) is a level equal to or lower than the threshold value, it is determined that the Tx 133 of AP2 (111) is out of order because the test signal cannot be confirmed, and the determination result is stored in the memory 113 (FIG. 8 step 704).

  If the affirmative determination is made in step 703, the AP controller 112 proceeds to step 310, where the test pattern transmitted from the AP2 (111) and the test pattern received by the AP1 (110) are collated to determine whether they match. Determine. If this determination is denied, it is determined that the Rx 134 of AP1 (110) is abnormal, and the determination result is stored in the memory 113 (step 705 in FIG. 8).

  On the other hand, if the AP controller 112 makes an affirmative determination in step 310, it is assumed that both AP1 (110) and AP (111) are normal (step 313), and the AP controller 12 reads the determination result from the memory and monitors this. 102 (step 212 in FIG. 7 and step 314 in FIG. 8).

  According to the third embodiment of the normality test, in the first and second embodiments, it can be understood that any one of the plurality of AP function units of the wireless LAN base station has a failure. On the other hand, it is possible to identify which AP function unit has a fault, and it is possible to identify which one of the transmitter (Tx) and the receiver (Rx) is faulty. The wireless LAN base station 100 performs the loopback test via the antennas (ATN1 (150), ATN2 (151)) after the normality test according to the third embodiment and the second embodiment described above. It can be implemented similarly.

  If the AP controller can detect power with DET1, it can detect a failure of ANT1 (150). Further, if the AP controller can detect the power with DET2, the AP controller can detect the failure of ANT2 (151).

  FIG. 9 is a modification of FIG. FIG. 1 is provided with DET1 (162) and DET2 (163) as power detectors, whereas FIG. 2 is a unified DET800. Reference numerals 804 and 806 denote test signals. Is divided into a route flowing between AP1 (110) and AP2 (111) and a route flowing between AP1 (110) or AP2 (111) and DET800.

  After setting AP1 (110) to AP and AP2 (111) to STA, the AP controller 112 first connects the SW 134 to the AP1 (110) side, and performs step 700 of FIG. Run. Next, after setting AP2 (111) to AP and AP1 (110) to STA, the AP controller 112 first connects the SW 134 to the AP2 (111) side, and 703 in FIG. Execute. According to the modification shown in FIG. 9, since a plurality of DETs can be unified into one DET, the circuit configuration can be simplified accordingly.

  In the above-described embodiment, the normality confirmation of the wireless LAN base station 100 may be started, for example, when a maintenance worker inputs a normality confirmation execution command to the monitoring apparatus 102. The normality diagnosis execution command includes designation of the test target wireless LAN base station 100 and diagnosis target wireless LAN base station. It is also possible to set a test start time in the monitoring device 102 and start normality confirmation at the set time.

  After executing the normality check, the AP controller 112 interrupts or ends the normality check and notifies the monitoring apparatus 102 of an alarm when detecting an abnormality in at least one of the AP1 (110) and AP2 (111). It may be. Further, after detecting an abnormality in at least one of AP1 (110) and AP2 (111), the AP controller 112 or the monitoring device 102 resets the normality diagnosis and re-executes the normality confirmation. Good. If an abnormality is still detected after re-execution, the AP controller 112 ends the normality confirmation and notifies the monitoring device 102 of an alarm. The number of re-implementations until the alarm notification can be arbitrarily set for the wireless LAN base station 100 by the communication service provider.

  In the above-described embodiment, the internal folding test that does not pass through the antenna is given priority over the test that passes through the antenna, but the latter may be performed prior to the former. In this case, if there is no abnormality in the normality test, it can be seen that the AP functions including the antenna are all normal and not in silent failure.

  The attenuator 172 may be a variable attenuator. The Tx output power range is set to 0 dBm to +20 dBm, and the Rx received power range is set to −80 dBm to −20 dBm. The difference between using a fixed attenuator and a variable attenuator is as follows. When a fixed attenuator is used, for example, if the variable range of Tx output power is 0 dBm to 20 dBm, the coupling amount of CPL160 and CPL161 is +20 dB, and the attenuation amount of the fixed attenuator is 20 dB, the received Rx power is −60 dBm to It is possible to check normality between -40 dBm. When the variable attenuator is used, for example, when the setting range of the attenuation amount of the variable attenuator is 0 dB to 40 dB, the Rx reception power ranges from −80 dBm near the reception sensitivity point to −20 dBm near the receiver saturation input point. It is possible to confirm normality in a wide range.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 4 described above, the flowchart may be changed so that the determination of step 310 is executed even if the determination of step 305 is denied. Further, in the flowchart of FIG. 8, the flowchart may be changed so that the determination at the downstream of the flowchart is executed even if the determinations of steps 700, 305, and 703 are respectively denied. Thereby, the monitoring device 102 can comprehensively know the abnormality of the entire wireless LAN device.

  According to the above-described embodiment, the AP controller 112 executes diagnosis of a plurality of access point circuits and antennas. However, this diagnosis may be performed by the monitoring device. In such a case, the wireless LAN base station 100 transmits the test signal transmission pattern and reception pattern and the test signal detection data in the DETs 1 and 2 from the wireless LAN base station to the monitoring device.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100: Wireless LAN base station, 101: Internet network, 102: Monitoring apparatus, 103: Wireless terminal, 104: Test circuit part, 110: AP1, 111: AP2, 112: AP controller, 113: Memory, 114: Line interface 130: SW, 131: SW, 132: TX, 133: TX, 134: RX, 135: RX, 136: BB, 137: BB, 138: MDM, 139: MDM, 140: I / O, 141: I / O, 150: ANT1, 151: ANT2, 160: CPL, 161: CPL, 162: DET1, 163: DET2, 170: RF-SW, 171: RF-SW, 172: (variable) attenuator, 173: SW

Claims (13)

A first access point circuit forming a first access point for a first wireless terminal;
A second access point circuit forming a second access point for the second wireless terminal;
A control circuit for controlling the first access point circuit and the second access point circuit;
A test circuit for a test signal for testing the first access point circuit and the second access point circuit;
A wireless base station comprising:
The control circuit includes:
Transmitting a first test signal from the first access point circuit to the second access point circuit via the test circuit;
Transmitting a second test signal from the second access point circuit to the first access point circuit via the test circuit;
A first comparison result is obtained by comparing the pattern of the first test signal transmitted from the first access point circuit with the pattern of the first test signal received by the second access point circuit. ,
Comparing the pattern of the second test signal transmitted from the second access point circuit with the pattern of the second test signal received by the first access point circuit to obtain a second comparison result;
Diagnosing the first access point circuit and the second access point circuit based on the first comparison result and the second comparison result;
Radio base station. The control circuit includes:
The state of the first access point circuit and the second access point circuit is determined based on the first comparison result and the second comparison result, and the determination result is sent to a monitoring device. The radio base station described.   The apparatus further comprises a first antenna connected to the first access point circuit via the test circuit, and a second antenna connected to the second access point circuit via the test circuit. 1. A radio base station according to 1. The control circuit includes:
Transmitting the first test signal through the first antenna, then through the second antenna, and further through the test circuit to the second access point circuit;
Transmitting the second test signal through the second antenna, then through the first antenna, and further through the test circuit to the first access point circuit;
The radio base station according to claim 1. The test circuit includes:
Preventing the first test signal from being transmitted from the first access point circuit to the second access point circuit without passing through the first antenna and the second antenna;
Preventing the second test signal from being transmitted from the second access point circuit to the first access point circuit without passing through the second antenna and the first antenna;
Having a switch,
The radio base station according to claim 4. The test circuit includes:
A first detector for detecting the first test signal;
A second detector for detecting the second test signal;
Comprising
The radio base station according to claim 1. The first comparison result does not match the pattern of the first test signal transmitted by the first access point circuit and the pattern of the first test signal received by the second access point circuit. If there,
The control circuit determines that at least one of the transmitter of the first access point circuit and the receiver of the second access point circuit is abnormal,
The second comparison result indicates that the pattern of the second test signal transmitted by the second access point circuit does not match the pattern of the second test signal received by the first access point circuit. Is
The control circuit determines that at least one of a receiver of the second access point circuit and a transmitter of the first access point circuit is abnormal;
The radio base station according to claim 1. The first comparison result matches the pattern of the first test signal transmitted by the first access point circuit and the pattern of the first test signal received by the second access point circuit. ,
The second comparison result matches the pattern of the second test signal transmitted by the second access point circuit and the pattern of the second test signal received by the second access point circuit. When,
The control circuit determines that the first access point circuit and the second access point circuit are normal;
The radio base station according to claim 1. The control circuit includes:
If the first detector cannot detect the first test signal, determine that the transmitter of the first access point circuit is abnormal;
If the second detector cannot detect the previous second test signal, determine that the transmitter of the second access point circuit is abnormal;
The radio base station according to claim 6. The control circuit includes:
After the first detector detects the first test signal,
When the pattern of the first test signal transmitted from the first access point circuit and the pattern of the first test signal received by the second access point circuit are collated and the pattern does not match, Determining that the receiver of the second access point circuit is abnormal;
The radio base station according to claim 9. The control circuit includes:
After the second detector detects the second test signal,
When the pattern of the second test signal transmitted from the second access point circuit is compared with the pattern of the second test signal received by the first access point circuit, and the pattern does not match, Determining that the receiver of the first access point circuit is abnormal;
The radio base station according to claim 9. The control circuit further comprises: a first antenna connected to the first access point circuit via the test circuit; and a second antenna connected to the second access point circuit via the test circuit. Is
After determining that the first access point circuit and the second access point circuit are normal,
Transmitting the first test signal through the first antenna, then through the second antenna, and further through the test circuit to the second access point circuit;
Transmitting the second test signal through the second antenna, then through the first antenna, and further through the test circuit to the first access point circuit;
The pattern of the first test signal transmitted from the first access point circuit and the second access point circuit received from the test circuit via the first antenna and the second antenna Compare with the pattern of the first test signal,
The pattern of the second test signal transmitted from the second access point circuit, the second antenna, and the first antenna received from the test circuit to the first access point circuit via the first antenna. Compare with the pattern of the second test signal,
If the result of the comparison of at least one of the first test signal pattern and the second test signal pattern is that the patterns do not match,
Determining that there is an abnormality in at least one of the first antenna and the second antenna;
The radio base station according to claim 8. A wireless base station to which a wireless terminal connects;
A monitoring device of the radio base station;
Prepared,
The wireless base station and the monitoring device are connected via a communication network;
A failure monitoring system for a radio base station,
The radio base station is
A first access point circuit forming a first access point for a first wireless terminal;
A second access point circuit forming a second access point for the second wireless terminal;
A control circuit for controlling the first access point circuit and the second access point circuit;
A test circuit for a test signal for testing the first access point circuit and the second access point circuit;
With
The control circuit includes:
Transmitting a first test signal from the first access point circuit to the second access point circuit via the test circuit;
Transmitting a second test signal from the second access point circuit to the first access point circuit via the test circuit;
A first comparison result is obtained by comparing the pattern of the first test signal transmitted from the first access point circuit with the pattern of the first test signal received by the second access point circuit. ,
Comparing the pattern of the second test signal transmitted from the second access point circuit with the pattern of the second test signal received by the first access point circuit to obtain a second comparison result;
Performing a diagnosis of the first access point circuit and the second access point circuit based on the first comparison result and the second comparison result;
Transmitting the diagnosis result to the monitoring device;
Radio base station fault monitoring system.

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