KR100298347B1 - A communication system using daisy chained base stations and a test method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a communication system including a daisy-chain base station and a test method thereof, comprising: a plurality of base stations daisy-chained with each other through one relay line to provide a communication service to a mobile terminal within a certain area; And a base station controller for transmitting message packets to and receiving message packets from the plurality of base stations to control the plurality of base stations, each of which receives only packets received by itself among the incoming message packets. And bypasses the remaining packets to the next base station. In addition, when the base station controller generates and transmits a packet for testing of the daisy chained base stations to the base stations, the at least one daisy chained base station performs a test on the relay line by looping back the packet for the test. Reduce waste and improve stability.

Description

A communication system including a daisy-chain base station and a test method therefor {A COMMUNICATION SYSTEM USING DAISY CHAINED BASE STATIONS AND A TEST METHOD THEREOF}

The present invention relates to a mobile communication system including a plurality of base stations, and more particularly, to a mobile communication system and a test method for connecting a plurality of base stations in a daisy chain method.

A typical cellular mobile communication system includes a base station transceiver subsystem (BTS) for providing a mobile communication service to a mobile terminal in a certain area (cell), and a plurality of base station controllers (BSCs) for controlling a plurality of base stations. And a Mobile Switching Center (MSC) for connecting a plurality of base station controllers to other subscriber systems.

1 is a diagram illustrating a network configuration of a mobile communication system according to the prior art, and as shown, a base station controller (BSC) 100 is connected to each of a plurality of base stations 10 to 90 using a relay line. As described above, the mobile communication network according to the related art has a radial structure in which a plurality of base stations are connected to one corresponding base station controller using trunk lines, respectively. The base station controller 100 uses an unchannelized packetized inter-processor communication (IPC) protocol of E1 (Unchannelized-E1) method for efficient data transmission on a relay line.

As described above, when a base station controller and a plurality of base stations are connected to each other using a single relay line, especially in a base station having a very small call capacity, waste of the relay line becomes very large compared to the capacity of the relay line. For example, a small base station supporting only one frequency channel needs about 20 traffic channels, and the traffic packets that can be accommodated by one E1 relay line are about 90 channels except for a signaling packet. Therefore, in the case of a small capacity base station, if one relay line is used for each base station, the capacity of the relay line is wasted.

The present invention has been made to solve the problems of the prior art operating as described above, by using a daisy chain base station that can increase the use efficiency of the relay line by connecting a plurality of small capacity base station with the base station controller in a daisy chain method An object of the present invention is to provide a communication system.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for testing each base station connected in a daisy chain manner.

Communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention created to achieve the above object,

A plurality of base stations connected to each other in a daisy chain manner by using one relay line to provide a communication service to a mobile terminal in a certain area; A base station controller for transmitting message packets to and receiving message packets from the plurality of base stations for controlling the plurality of base stations,

Each of the plurality of base stations selects and receives only packets received from the base station among the incoming message packets, and bypasses the remaining packets to the next base station.

1 is a network diagram of a mobile communication system including a radial base station according to the prior art.

2 is a network diagram of a mobile communication system including a base station connected in a daisy chain manner according to the present invention;

3 is a connection diagram of a mobile communication system including a base station connected in a daisy chain manner according to the present invention.

4 is a diagram illustrating a virtual path and a base station connected in a daisy chain method sharing a relay line according to the present invention.

5 is a diagram illustrating node allocation of a HINA for a base station connected in a daisy chain manner according to the present invention.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail the operating principle of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. Like reference numerals refer to the same elements as shown in the drawings, even though they may be shown on different drawings. In describing the present invention below, specific descriptions of related well-known functions or configurations are provided in the summary of the present invention. If it is determined that it can be unnecessarily blurred, detailed description thereof will be omitted. Terms to be described later are terms defined in consideration of functions in the present invention, and may be changed according to intentions or customs of users or operators. Therefore, the definition should be made based on the contents throughout the specification.

2 illustrates a network configuration of a mobile communication system including a base station connected in a daisy chain manner according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, four base stations 60, 70, 80, 90 are daisy chained to the base station controller 100, and also the base stations 20, 30 and base station 40 ( 50 is also daisy chained to the base station controller 100, respectively. That is, the method improves the use efficiency of the relay line by connecting the small base stations to the base station controller in a daisy chain manner using one relay line.

Since the traffic capacity of one E1 relay line is about 90 channels and the capacity of a small base station is about 20 channels, it can be seen that according to Equation 1 below, up to four base stations can be daisy chained.

20 (traffic channel / base station, link) × 4 (base station)

= 80 (traffic channel / link) ≤ 90 (traffic channel / link)

3 shows a connection diagram of a mobile communication system using a daisy chain base station according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the base station controller 100 and 110 are managed by one base station manager (BSM) 200, and the base station controller 100 and 110 are each LCIN (Link Communication Interface). Node assembly (410) (400) configures a mobile communication network, and the base station management system 200 configures the mobile communication network through a gateway communication interface node assembly (GCIN) (300). The LCIN 410 and 400 are connected to the GCIN 300 through a relay line.

The foremost base stations 10 and 60 directly connected to the base station controller 100 and 110 constitute the mobile communication network through base station communication interface node assembly (BCIN) 500 and 510, respectively. . The BCIN 500 and 510 are connected to the LCIN 410 through a relay line.

Base station 10 does not form a daisy chain, but base stations 60, 70, 80, 90 form a daisy chain. Base stations 70, 80, and 90 connected in a daisy chain manner are connected to BCINs 510, 520, and 530 of the preceding base stations through their BCINs 520, 530, and 540, respectively.

The base stations 60 to 90 that are daisy chained together operate logically independently as well as sharing one relay line. That is, the base stations 60 to 90 are each connected to the base station controller 100 through a virtual path. 4 shows a virtual path between the base station controller 100 and the base stations 60 to 90. 4, base station 0 (60) is connected to the base station controller 100 through the actual path 0 (Path0) (1) and base station 1 (70) is connected to the base station 0 (60) through the actual path 1 (2). And base station 2 80 is connected to base station 1 70 via actual path 2 (3). In this way, a plurality of base stations can be connected to one base station controller as long as the capacity of the relay line allows.

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

The operation of each base station connected in a daisy chain method is basically the same as that of a general base station, but the base station controller 100 transmits a message packet to a desired base station among the plurality of base stations 60 to 90 constituting the daisy chain. Must be able to deliver To this end, the base station controller 100 transmits a message packet to the base stations 60 to 90 that are daisy chained through a single shared port. Base stations 60 to 90 that are daisy chained analyze the destination address of the transmitted message packet and receive only the message packet corresponding to them, and bypass the remaining packets to the next base station.

As an embodiment for transmitting a message packet to the base stations 60 to 90 to which the base station controller 100 is daisy chained, the base station controller 100 is connected to the base stations 60 to 90 constituting the daisy chain. Multiplex the address of the message packets to be converted into a virtual address. The base stations 60 to 90 select only their own address among the multiplexed addresses in order to receive only their own message packet among the message packets inputted through the relay line. For this multiplexing, a separate multiplexing device should be provided in the LCIN 410 of the base station controller 100.

As another embodiment for transmitting the message packet to the base stations 60 to 90 connected in a daisy chain manner by the base station controller 100, if the addresses of the base stations 60 to 90 constituting the daisy chain have a certain form. Each of the base stations 60 to 90 may select its own message packet through address masking without separately address multiplexing. The form of a maskable base station address is shown in Table 1 below.

Base station address BTS # 0 XXX00XX BTS # 1 XXX01XX BTS # 2 XXX10XX BTS # 3 XXX11XX

As shown in Table 1, if any specific bits (lower third and fourth bits) of an 8-bit base station address can be used to distinguish four base stations connected in a daisy chain manner, the lower third and fourth bits in each base station By masking them only, you can tell if the packet is yours.

Meanwhile, the base station not only receives the message packet from the base station controller but also needs to transmit the message packet to the base station controller. Such a message packet should not be sent to another base station. Therefore, the BCIN of each base station must simultaneously perform masking for checking whether the message is received by the relay server and mixed message for checking whether the message is generated and transmitted to the base station controller.

The types of address masking transmitted between the base station controller and the base station or between the base station and the base station are shown in Tables 2 and 3, respectively.

Node A (BSC↔BTS) NA (Node Address) 0x 080CC0 MA (Masking Address) 0x FC3FFF Composite Masking Address (CMA) 0x 003F

Node B (BTS↔BTS) NA (Node Address) 0x 080CC0 MA (Masking Address) 0x 0BFFFF Composite Masking Address (CMA) 0x 000F

A system start up loading procedure of the base stations 60 to 90 connected in a daisy chain manner will be described with reference to FIG. 3 as follows.

Since each base station 60 to 90 can be initialized after the first base station is initialized first, the system loading is performed in order from the first base station 60. This system loading is performed by HIPA (High capacity IPC Processor board Assembly) in charge of loading in BCIN, LCIN and GCIN.

The HIPA 514 of the base station BCIN 510 located at the forefront loads a system program from the HIPA 414 of the LCIN 410 and is a node of a high speed IPC node board assembly (HINA) 512 that is responsible for allocating and connecting nodes. If is opened to the BCIN 520 of the next stage, the HIPA 524 of the base station 70 of the next stage is loaded with the system program, and then in order to open the nodes of the HINA (532) 542. After the nodes are opened, the BTS control processor (BCP) that controls the base stations 60 to 90 is loaded. In this case, the nodes can be loaded in any order.

As described above, since the daisy chained base stations are connected to the base station controller through the base station of the previous stage, if the relay line of any one of the base station problems, all of the base stations of the next stage will not be able to operate. Therefore, for the safety of the system, redundant relay lines connecting the base stations constituting the daisy chain are configured.

Meanwhile, the relay line test method of the mobile communication system configured as described above will be described below.

Conventional trunk line test method uses the last channel among the 32 channels constituting one trunk line as the channel for the test. However, the present invention cannot use the above scheme because the channels of the relay line are allocated to different base stations.

The on-line test for daisy-chained base station links (BLNK) is replaced by the existing on-line base station link test (TST_BLNK). That is, when the HIPA 414 of the LCIN 410 generates and transmits a packet for testing, the HIPA 514, 524, 534 and 544 of each BCIN 510, 520, 530, 540. In the loop, the packet is looped back and the relay line and the node are tested. The trunk line test may be performed at system start-up, at a time specified by the operator, or periodically.

The test method of the relay line according to the present invention can be divided into two. First of all, the test method based on the entire loop starts from the next stage 90 or the first stage 60 of the plurality of base stations 60 to 90 connected by daisy-chaining the test packet generated by the base station controller 100. To loop back in order.

Secondly, the test method using the individual loops loops back the test packet generated at the base station controller 100 only at one base station. For example, when performing the individual loop test for base station 1 70 in FIG. 4, the test packet is looped back from base station 1 70 through base station 0 60 and again through the base station controller 60 through base station 0 60. Return to 100).

The base station controller 100 detects a failure of the relay line by checking whether an error occurs in the looped test packet.

If the above test finds a faulty relay line, another redundant route should be used. The HINAs 512, 522, 532 and 542 of the BCIN 510, 520, 530, 540 manage the redundant relay lines as two bridges. Figure 5 shows the node allocation of the HINA for the base station connected in a daisy chain method according to the present invention. As shown, relay line 0 and relay line 2 constitute bridge 0 and relay line 1 and relay line 3 constitute bridge 1. Bridge 0 and Bridge 1 are redundant, and if one bridge fails, another bridge can be used.

The invention can be variously modified and can take various forms and only the specific embodiments thereof are described in the detailed description of the invention. It is to be understood, however, that the present invention is not limited to the specific forms mentioned in the detailed description of the invention, but rather includes all modifications, equivalents, and substitutions within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. It should be understood to do.

The present invention operating as described above reduces the waste of relay lines by connecting a plurality of base stations supporting small capacity in a daisy chain manner using one relay line. In addition, by providing a method for testing base stations connected in a daisy chain method, when a failure occurs in one base station, another redundant relay line can be used immediately to improve the stability of the relay line.

Claims (8)

In the cellular mobile communication system for providing a communication service to the mobile terminal, A plurality of base stations connected to each other in a daisy chain manner by using one relay line to provide a communication service to a mobile terminal in a certain area; A base station controller for transmitting message packets to and receiving message packets from the plurality of base stations for controlling the plurality of base stations, The base station controller multiplexes and transmits addresses of message packets transmitted to the plurality of base stations, Each of the plurality of base stations selects and receives only a message packet having its own address by demultiplexing a message packet received from the base station controller among the incoming message packets and bypasses the remaining packets to the next base station. And a daisy chain base station. In the cellular mobile communication system for providing a communication service to the mobile terminal, A plurality of base stations connected to each other in a daisy chain manner by using one relay line to provide a communication service to a mobile terminal in a certain area; A base station controller for transmitting message packets to and receiving message packets from the plurality of base stations for controlling the plurality of base stations, Each of the plurality of base stations selects and receives only a message packet having its own address by masking a predetermined portion of addresses of the message packets received from the base station controller among the incoming message packets, and receives the remaining packets in the following stage. A communication system comprising a daisy chain base station bypassing the base station. The communication system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the address of the message packets has a form capable of distinguishing the plurality of base stations from each other. The base station according to claim 1 or 2, wherein each of the plurality of base stations includes a daisy chain base station, which bypasses the remaining packets except the ones generated by the message packets to a next base station. Communication system. 5. The communication system of claim 4, wherein the base stations include daisy-chained base stations that select packets they generate by masking the addresses of the message packets. 6. The daisy chain method according to any one of claims 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, wherein the relay line connecting the plurality of base stations is redundant in case of a failure. A communication system comprising a base station. A method for testing a relay line in a cellular mobile communication system providing a communication service to a mobile terminal, the method comprising: Message packets to a plurality of base stations connected to each other in a daisy chain using a single relay line to provide a communication service to a mobile terminal in a certain area, and to at least one of the plurality of base stations to control the plurality of base stations And a base station controller for transmitting messages and receiving message packets from the plurality of base stations; Generating, by the base station controller, a message packet and transmitting the message packet to the plurality of base stations; Each of the plurality of base stations selecting and receiving only a packet having its own address from among the message packets received from the base station controller, and bypassing the remaining packets to a next base station; Repeating the received message packet to the base station controller if each of the plurality of base stations is a message packet received from the base station controller; Way. A method for testing a relay line in a cellular mobile communication system providing a communication service to a mobile terminal, the method comprising: Message packets to a plurality of base stations connected to each other in a daisy chain using a single relay line to provide a communication service to a mobile terminal in a certain area, and to at least one of the plurality of base stations to control the plurality of base stations And a base station controller for transmitting messages and receiving message packets from the plurality of base stations; Generating, by the base station controller, a packet for a test of a specific base station among the plurality of base stations and transmitting the packet to the plurality of base stations; Each of the plurality of base stations selecting and receiving only a packet having its own address from among the message packets received from the base station controller, and bypassing the remaining packets to a next base station; Relaying the packet for the test to the base station controller if the specific base station receives the message packet received from the base station controller for the test packet; and relays the packet for the test to the base station controller. .