JP2015050638A - Radio base station device, control management device, load distribution method, and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce a processing load of a control management unit which centrally manages and controls function units, and enable the control management unit to perform stable processing and operation in order to realize continuous operation of the entire system.SOLUTION: A radio base station device comprises: a plurality of function units which execute various functions; and two control management units which operate as operating unit and standby unit, respectively, for controlling and managing operation of each function unit. The operating control management unit assigns a part of processing to the standby control management unit, when the processing load actually exceeds or probably exceeds a predetermined value.

Description

  The present invention relates to a radio base station apparatus, a control management apparatus, a load distribution method, and a computer program.

  A radio base station apparatus of a mobile communication system is composed of a plurality of functional units that execute various functions, and one functional unit sends control instructions and control requests to n functional units in a one-to-n relationship. It is the composition which can be summarized. In the following, one functional unit that collects control instructions and control requests is particularly referred to as a “control management unit”.

  The control management unit centrally manages the operation and control of each functional unit in the radio base station by performing a control instruction and a control request in a form in which n functional units are aggregated. A notification and reporting operation is performed for a functional unit installed as an upper station of the base station apparatus. The control management unit also regularly executes an operation management function for maintaining the normality of the apparatus.

  Since the control management unit has an important function in the radio base station apparatus, it is desirable to make it redundant. That is, two control management units whose operations can be switched with each other are provided, and one is used as an active system and the other is used as a standby system. A technique for making a control management system and a monitoring system redundant is not limited to mobile communication, and is generally known. For example, those disclosed in the following patent documents are known.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 07-255094 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-173587 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-353881

  However, even if the control management unit is made redundant, it is for switching to the other when a failure occurs on one side, and the actual processing is intensively performed by one control management unit in the operation system. For this reason, when the processing load of the control management unit increases, processing delays and omissions may occur. When processing delay occurs, the n functional units may be delayed in conjunction with each other, leading to a decrease in performance of the entire communication system. In addition, if an error occurs in processing performed with other function units, such as control and reporting, the function of the radio base station itself may be stopped due to the loss of control, resulting in a situation where normal operation cannot be continued. There is.

  The present invention solves such problems, reduces the processing load of the control management unit that centrally manages and controls each functional unit, and enables stable processing, operation, and continuous system operation. An object is to provide a device, a control management device, a load distribution method, and a computer program.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of functional units that execute various functions in mobile communication, one of which is an operation system and the other is a standby system, which controls the operation and management of the plurality of functional units. Two control managers, each of which waits for some processing when the processing load exceeds or may exceed a predetermined value during operation as an active system A radio base station apparatus is provided that is distributed to a system control management unit.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, there are a plurality of function units that execute various functions, and two control managements that perform operation control and operation management of the plurality of function units, one of which is an active system and the other is a standby system. When the processing load exceeds or exceeds the predetermined value during operation as the active system, some of the two control management sections control the standby system for some processes. There is provided a control management device characterized in that the control management device is assigned to each part.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, a load distribution method to two control management units that controls and manages the operation of a plurality of functional units that execute various functions, one of which is an active system and the other is a standby system. When one of the two control management units is operating as an active system and the processing load exceeds or may exceed the predetermined value, a part of the processing is a standby system. There is provided a load distribution method characterized by allocating to a control management unit.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the operations of a plurality of functional units that execute various functions are installed on two computers that are controlled and operated and managed by one operating system and the other standby system, respectively. In addition, if the processing load exceeds or may exceed the specified value during operation as an active system, a part of the processing is distributed to the standby system, and the standby system is processed from the active system while waiting When a computer program is distributed, a computer program is provided that executes a process that takes over the process and executes the process.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the processing load of a control management unit that centrally manages and controls each functional unit, and enables stable processing, operation, and continuous system operation.

It is a block block diagram of the radio base station apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the processing flow of a control management part. It is a figure explaining the relationship between the process of each control management part of an active system, and a standby system, and a shared memory. It is a figure explaining the relationship between the process of each control management part, and a shared memory in case a part of process is processed by a standby system.

  FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of a radio base station apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The radio base station apparatus 10 includes a plurality of functional units 11 to 15 that execute various functions in mobile communication, one of which is an active system and the other is a standby system, And two control management units 21 and 22 that perform operation management. The radio base station apparatus 10 also includes a shared memory 23 for taking over the processing information of the active system to the standby system when switching the two control management units 21 and 22 between the active system and the standby system. When the processing load exceeds or exceeds the predetermined value during operation as the active system, the two control management units 21 and 22 perform some processing on the standby control management unit 22, 22, respectively. 21 (swap). At this time, the shared memory 23 is used to share the control information between the active system and the standby system.

  In this configuration, each of the functional units 11 to 15 and the control pipeline units 21 and 22 is configured by an individual hardware unit. Each hardware unit is loaded with software that controls the unit to realize each function. With these software, the function units 11 to 15 execute various functions in mobile communication in accordance with instructions from the control management units 21 and 22, and the control management units 21 and 22 control, instruct, and manage operations of the radio base station apparatus. I do.

  Connections between the function units 11 to 15, the control management units 21 and 22, and the shared memory 23 in FIG. 1 are conceptual. Actually, they may be connected by a common bus or may be connected to each other in the form of Nimes. Further, the shared memory 23 does not have to be an individual memory, and may be, for example, a partial memory space of the memory used by the control management units 21 and 22 in the processing.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a processing flow of the control management units 21 and 22.

  The control managers 21 and 22 can switch operations with each other, and one is used as an active system and the other is used as a standby system (step S1). Normally, one of the control management units 21 and 22 (for example, the control management unit 21) operates as an active system. The other control management unit (for example, 22) operates as a backup when the active control management unit (for example, 21) cannot operate normally, and is on standby while the active control management unit (for example, 21) is in operation. . Switching between the active system and the standby system is performed by interrupt processing. In the following description, it is assumed that the control management unit 21 is an active system and the control management unit 22 is a standby system.

  The active control management unit 21 performs various processes necessary for operating the radio base station apparatus 10 such as own operation management after startup, apparatus operation management, control to the function units 11 to 15 and request instructions. Is executed (step S11). If the load on the control management unit 21 increases and exceeds or exceeds the predetermined value (Yes in step S12), a part of the processing is distributed to the standby control management unit 22 ( Step S13). If the load has not increased (No in step S12), normal processing (step S11) as an active system is continued.

  The process executed by the control management unit 21 includes a process of constantly consuming CPU (Central Processing Unit) resources (hereinafter referred to as “steady process”) and a process that occurs in a burst manner. Processing that occurs in a burst manner may cause an increase in processing load. On the other hand, in the steady process, the consumption of CPU resources does not fluctuate so much and does not cause an increase in processing load. Therefore, a steady process is preferable as the process to be distributed. This is because even if such a steady process is assigned to the standby control management unit 22, a large load is not applied to the standby control management unit 22. Further, the process is distributed when, for example, the processing load exceeds 80% of the maximum processable load, or when the increase rate of the processing load exceeds a predetermined value. A plurality of criteria can also be used for processing distribution.

  After the process distribution (step S13), the control management unit 21 continues to execute the remaining processes (step S14). When the load decreases (Yes in step S15) or when an abnormality occurs in the processing in the standby control management unit 22 (Yes in step S16), the load is distributed to the standby control management unit 22. The process is taken over (step S17), and the process returns to the normal process as the active system (step S11). Unless No in step S15 and No in step S16, the control management unit 21 continues step S14.

  The standby control management unit 22 executes a process for maintaining a minimum operating state (step S21), and when there is a process distribution from the active control management unit 21 (Yes in step S22). ) Only, the distributed processing is executed on the shoulder (step S23). When an abnormality of the process is detected during execution of the distributed process (step S24), the process result is notified to the active control management unit 21 via the shared memory 23 (step S25). Requests and reports of processing from the standby system to the active system are performed in bursts when the request or report becomes necessary. Steps S23 to S25 are executed until there is an instruction from the active control management unit 21 to take over the process that is taking over (until Yes in step S26). Return to processing.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining processing executed in the CPUs of the control management units 21 and 22 and access to the shared memory 23.

  In the example of FIG. 3, the active control management unit 21 executes processes A to F. The process A is an operating system serving as a base of software that operates on each hardware unit. The process B is an operation management function of itself and is a process that needs to be operated at least in itself. Processes C to F are various processes for operating the radio base station apparatus 10.

  For example, while continuing operation as a radio base station, the active control management unit 21 needs to constantly monitor whether the functional units 11 to 15 are operating normally. For this monitoring, the control management unit 21 confirms the normality of the path with the functional units 11 to 15 at regular time intervals, and whether the functional units 11 to 15 accurately return a response to the request. Execute processing such as operation status confirmation. This process needs to be executed at regular intervals as long as the operation as a radio base station is continued, and the CPU resource of the control management unit 21 is constantly consumed. This process is referred to as process C. The process C also executes recovery control for the function unit and control for notifying an abnormal state to a higher-level station or the like when an abnormality of the function unit 11 to 15 is detected. Similar to the process C, there are various measurement processes as a steady process that needs to be continuously operated. This processing is referred to as processing F.

  On the other hand, the standby control management unit 22 executes only the minimum processes a and b corresponding to the processes A and B. Since the control management unit 21 has a high CPU operating state and a vacant resource of the CPU, the control management unit 22 only holds a state in which its own functional unit operates at a minimum. Most of the CPU resources are also vacant.

  The shared memory 23 is used to take over the processing information controlled in the active system to the standby system when an abnormality occurs in the active system and the switching control to the standby system occurs. Therefore, in the normal operation state, access from the active control management unit 21 is frequently performed, but there is almost no access from the standby control management unit 22.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining processing executed in the CPUs of the control management units 21 and 22 and access to the shared memory 23 when a part of the processing is performed in the standby system.

  When free resources of the CPU of the active control management unit 21 are in a severe state (Yes in step S12 in FIG. 2), a steady process such as processes C and F is not performed in a normal operation state. Distribution is performed as processing of the system control management unit 22 (step S13). By allocating and processing the CPU resources of the standby control management unit 22, it becomes possible to secure free resources in the CPU of the active control management unit 21. The processes C and F newly allocated to the standby control management unit 22 are continued using the CPU resource of the control management unit 22 (step S23).

  When abnormality of the functional units 11 to 15 is detected in the process C or the process F (Yes in step S24), the control management unit 22 notifies the control management unit 21 of the processing result using the shared memory 23. (Step S25). The control management unit 21 appropriately responds to the processing distributed to the control management unit 22 based on the request / report from the control management unit 22 that comes in bursts (steps S16 and S17). As a result, control equivalent to the processing that was operating in the operational system can be performed.

  Further, by generating a request / report operation from the standby control management unit 22 in a burst manner only when an event of the corresponding functional unit occurs, an interruption to the active system is performed while normal operation continues. As a result, the processing load on the active control management unit 21 can be further reduced.

  According to the embodiment described above, even in a state where the software processing load of the active control management unit 21 in the radio base station apparatus 10 is high, the steady process executed by the control management unit 21 is controlled. By carrying out by distributing to the management unit 22, the steady load of the control management unit 21 is reduced. As a result, processing in the control management unit 21 is reduced, and processing delay can be prevented. As a result, there is no possibility of missing processing, and the radio base station can be operated stably.

  The present invention is particularly suitable for the distribution of the control management load in the radio base station apparatus, but the control and operation management of the operation of a plurality of functional units that execute various functions is performed in one operation system and the other in the standby system. It is also possible to use a general control management device provided with two function units (control management unit).

  In addition, the operations of a plurality of functional units that execute various functions are installed on two computers that are controlled and operated and managed as an active system, one operating system and the other a standby system. If the processing load exceeds or may exceed the specified value, the process that distributes part of the process to the standby system and the process that is allocated from the active system during standby as the standby system Also, the present invention can be implemented as a computer program that executes a process that takes over and executes the process. Such a computer program is stored in a computer-readable recording medium that stores the computer program in a non-temporary manner, or via a communication line, in a hardware unit such as the control management units 21 and 22. Can be installed on a computer.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Radio base station apparatus 11-15 Function part 21,22 Control management part 23 Shared memory

Claims (9)

A plurality of functional units that execute various functions in mobile communication; and two control management units that perform operation control and operation management of the plurality of functional units, one of which is an active system and the other is a standby system,
Each of the two control management units allocates a part of the processing to the standby control management unit when the processing load exceeds or may exceed the predetermined value during operation as the active system. A wireless base station device characterized.   The radio base station apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a shared memory for taking over the processing information of the active system to the standby system when the two control management units are switched between the active system and the standby system. When allocating a radio base station apparatus, the control information is shared between the active system and the standby system using the shared memory.   3. The radio base station apparatus according to claim 1, wherein as the part of processing, processing that is continuously continued at a constant time interval is distributed.   The radio base station apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein when a processing abnormality is detected in the standby system during execution of the process assigned to the standby system, the processing result is transmitted to the active system. A radio base station apparatus.   5. The radio base station apparatus according to claim 4, wherein when an abnormality is detected in the standby process, the operation control management unit takes over and executes the process.   6. The radio base station apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing request and report from the standby system to the active system are performed in bursts when the request or report becomes necessary. A wireless base station device characterized. A plurality of functional units that execute various functions, and two control management units that perform operation control and operation management of the plurality of functional units, one of which is an active system and the other is a standby system,
Each of the two control management units allocates a part of the processing to the standby control management unit when the processing load exceeds or may exceed the predetermined value during operation as the active system. Control management device characterized. A method of distributing the load to two control management units that controls and manages the operation of a plurality of functional units that execute various functions, one of which is an active system and the other is a standby system,
If one of the two control management units is operating as an active system and the processing load exceeds or exceeds the predetermined value, a part of the processing is performed as a standby system. A load distribution method characterized by allocating to the other control management unit. The operation of a plurality of functional units that execute various functions is installed on two computers that are controlled and operated and managed by one operating system and the other standby system,
In the two computers,
When the processing load exceeds or exceeds the specified value during operation as the active system, a process for distributing a part of the processing to the standby system,
When processing is distributed from the active system during standby as a standby system, processing to take over that processing and execute,
A computer program characterized by causing

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