KR19990086641A - Fault Diagnosis Method on Receive Path in Base Station Transceiver - Google Patents

Abstract

A method of diagnosing a failure in a reception path at a base station transceiver is disclosed. The method obtains a received signal strength level and an intermediate frequency level using the received signal strength and checks for abnormalities in the reception path using the above levels. In addition, the inspection result is reported to the upper system, and the base station manager outputs a transceiver error message. In addition, the difference between the received signal strength of each path is obtained and compared with a specific value to report the presence of abnormality.

Description

Fault Diagnosis Method on Receive Path in Base Station Transceiver

The present invention relates to a hardware failure diagnosis method of a base station transceiver. In particular, the present invention relates to a method for diagnosing and reporting a hardware abnormality that may occur on a reception path of a transceiver unit (XCVU) in a code division multiple access (CDMA) mobile telephone base station system.

1 illustrates a failure diagnosis configuration in a conventional base station transceiver. As shown in FIG. 1, a hardware fault diagnosis function that may occur in a transceiver 202 operating in a mobile phone base station system is conventionally used, and a transceiver board is mounted or a phase locked loop unlock alarm is generated or output. When a Tx Power Output Fail Alarm occurs, it is periodically detected by the software application block that controls it and reported to the host system.

On the other hand, there is a problem in that the base station diagnoses only the alarm on the transmission path of the transceiver 202 and does not diagnose the abnormality on the reception path.

The transceiver 202 is a transmission / reception frequency rising / falling conversion board. In addition to the above-described obstacles in the transmission path, the transceiver 202 is required to have a hardware abnormality or failure diagnosis function in terms of the quality of the base station and operational reliability.

In addition, for more stable and reliable operation, it is possible to predict the hardware abnormality on the reception path in the diversity cell receiver board (DCRB) 303 and the hardware abnormality on the reception path of the entire base station. Function required

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for obtaining a received signal strength level and an intermediate frequency level and reporting a failure to a higher system by using the same.

In addition, another purpose is to measure the received signal strength of each path, and compare the difference of these values with a specific value to report that a failure has occurred to the upper system.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram of a fault diagnosis in a conventional base station transceiver.

2 is a block diagram of a transmission and reception system of the present invention.

3 is a diagram illustrating an internal configuration of FIG. 2.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for obtaining received signal strength according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of obtaining a received signal strength level according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a flowchart illustrating a method for obtaining an intermediate frequency level according to an embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a flowchart illustrating a method of diagnosing a failure using a difference in the level of received signal strength between paths according to an embodiment of the present invention.

8 is an overall flowchart illustrating a method for diagnosing a failure in a reception path according to an embodiment of the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

201: digital device 202: transceiver

203: low noise amplifier 301: transceiver auxiliary control board

302: transmission frequency rising conversion board 303: receiving frequency falling conversion board

304: antenna stage

In order to achieve the above object, a preferred embodiment of a failure diagnosis method on a reception path in a base station transceiver according to the present invention,

Periodically requesting the transceiver main control device to check for an abnormality in the reception path to all transceivers in the device;

Obtaining, by the transceiver, the received signal strength;

Obtaining a received signal strength level using the obtained received signal strength;

Obtaining, by the transceiver, an intermediate frequency level;

Checking for abnormalities in a reception path using the levels;

Reporting the check result to a transceiver main control device;

The transceiver main control device receiving the report of the results, collecting and checking a result of an abnormality check on the reception paths of all the transceivers in the apparatus and reporting the result to the base station control processor;

Reporting, by the reported base station control processor, to a call control processor that there is a problem of a corresponding item with respect to a transceiver having an abnormality in a reception path;

Reporting by the call control processor to a base station manager; And

And outputting an error message of the transceiver.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the process of obtaining the received signal strength is

Reading an analog-to-digital converter value that is sensing a received signal strength input level;

Sensing received signal strength corresponding to said value in input level data of an automatic gain controller in memory;

Obtaining a channel offset of the corresponding channel number;

Compensating received signal strength by the channel offset;

Preferably, the method further comprises compensating for the received signal attenuation amount.

The process of obtaining the received signal strength level

Obtaining the received signal strength repeatedly;

Measuring average received signal strength to obtain an average;

Checking whether the received signal strength satisfies a condition between specific levels;

Reporting to a higher system that the received signal strength level state is normal if the condition is satisfied;

If the above conditions are not satisfied, it is preferable to further include reporting to the upper system that the received signal strength level state is abnormal.

In addition, the process of obtaining the intermediate frequency level

Reading a sufficient intermediate frequency level analog-to-digital converter value to obtain an average value;

Obtaining the maximum and minimum values of the intermediate frequency level analog-to-digital converter in memory;

Checking whether the intermediate frequency satisfies a condition between a maximum value and a minimum value;

Reporting to the upper system that the intermediate frequency level state is normal if the condition is satisfied;

If the condition is not satisfied, it is preferable to further include reporting to the upper system that the intermediate frequency level state is abnormal.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a method of diagnosing a failure on a reception path by measuring received signal strength between paths may be performed when a difference between path a and path b is normal with respect to a received signal strength value.

In the case where it cannot become more than a specific value based on a hardware characteristic,

Obtaining received signal strengths of paths a and b, respectively;

Comparing the difference between the intensity values and a specific value;

If the difference is less than the specified value, reporting the balanced state of the received signal strength path to a higher system; And

If the difference is greater than the specified value, the process of reporting the balance state of the received signal strength path is abnormal to the upper system.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, only specific embodiments thereof are shown in the drawings and will be described in detail. It is to be understood, however, that the present invention is not limited to the specific forms referred to in the specification, but rather that the invention is intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and substitutions within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. It should be understood to include.

2 shows a schematic configuration of a transceiver and its peripheral device in terms of a reception path in a mobile phone base station system.

The signal received through the receive antenna terminals of the two paths is input to each path of the diversity cell reception board 303 of the transceiver via the low noise amplifier. Each path is converted into an intermediate frequency level of a constant level via an automatic gain controller (AGC) circuit in the diversity cell receiving board 303. It is input to the base station digital unit 201.

3 shows a more detailed structure of the transceiver. The transceiver includes a Transceiver Slave Control Board (XSCB) 301, a Transmit Up Converter Board (TUC) 302, and a Diversity Cell Receiver Board (DCRB) 303. It is largely composed of

The diversity cell reception board 303 is composed of two paths RX RF_A and RX RF_B for spatial diversity reception. Each path is converted into two signals of constant level Rx IF_A / Rx IF_B so that the gain can be adjusted by the automatic gain controller and processed by the digital device.

The transceiver auxiliary control board 301 is a board with a CPU of a transceiver, and includes a ROM in which firmware is stored and a RAM in which a program for operating a software application block (TRUX) for controlling the transceiver is stored. And a digital-analog converter (DAC) circuit that outputs a voltage to adjust signal strength, and an analog designed to monitor a digital-to-analog converter output by receiving a voltage output from the digital-analog converter circuit as an input. Memory that stores hardware-measured data for controlling the analog-to-digital converter (ADC), the transmit frequency rise conversion board 302, and the diversity cell reception board 303, or EEPROM (Electronic Erasable). Programmable ROM).

In the EEPROM, input level values of an automatic gain controller corresponding to 256 (0 to 255) analog-to-digital converter output values are stored as data related to reception path control.

In addition, the EEPROM measures and stores the difference (channel offset) between the maximum level of the sample and the level value corresponding to each channel number, and the 0-4095 corresponding to the attenuation of 0-70dB. The digital-to-analog converter values are stored one-to-one, and the minimum and maximum values of the analog-to-digital converter output values of the reception intermediate frequencies a and b levels that are output from the diversity cell reception board 303 through the automatic gain controller are stored. .

4 shows a method of obtaining the received signal strength in the transceiver configured as described above.

In the method for obtaining received signal strength according to an embodiment of the present invention, first, an analog-to-digital converter value sensing the received signal strength input level is read and assumed to be R1 (401).

The received signal strength corresponding to the value is found in the input level data of the automatic gain controller in the memory, that is, the EEPROM, and it is assumed that the value is R2 (402). A channel offset of the corresponding channel number is obtained (403), and the received signal strength is compensated by the obtained channel offset. Let this channel offset be R3 (404). Finally, the received signal attenuation amount N is compensated for R3 to obtain the received signal strength (405).

The signal level of Rx RF_A / Rx RF_B is input from the diversity cell reception board 303 through an attenuator to an automatic gain controller. Obtain the auto gain controller input level corresponding to the analog-to-digital converter value from the calibration data stored in the EEPROM.

Next, the channel offset corresponding to the channel number set by the corresponding transceiver is obtained and compensated. Finally, the signal level is compensated by attenuating through the decelerator before being input to the automatic gain controller. Therefore, the received signal strength values for paths a and b are obtained, respectively, and their average values are referred to as RSSI_A / RSSI_B, respectively.

The analog-to-digital converter outputs for the received signal strength and intermediate frequency level determine the timer so that every 1.25msec reads the value stored at a specific address in hardware. It takes 100msec to get 80 each. By calculating the levels of RSSI_A, RSSI_B, IF_A, and IF_B in the above-described method, it is considered that an abnormality has occurred for the corresponding level value when each level value is out of the normal range.

A method for obtaining the intermediate frequency level according to another embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG.

First, the normal range of the received signal strength may vary depending on the hardware characteristics and the propagation environment. It is assumed that a specific value, for example, cannot be exceeded from -100 dBm to -40 dBm.

The received signal strength is measured to obtain an average value (501), and it is checked whether the average value is between specific levels, that is, between -100 dBm and -40 dBm (502).

If the average value is between the specified levels, the host system reports that the received signal level state is normal (503), otherwise it reports to the host system that the received signal level state is abnormal (504).

6 shows a method for obtaining an intermediate frequency level according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The normal range of the intermediate frequency level may also vary depending on the hardware characteristics of the transceiver. The reference values are stored in the minimum and maximum values in the EEPROM. Therefore, the analog-to-digital converter value of a sufficient intermediate frequency level is read to obtain an average value (601). The minimum and minimum values of the intermediate frequency level analog values are obtained from the EEPROM (602), and it is checked whether the average value is between the minimum and maximum values (603).

If the mean is between the minimum and maximum values, the intermediate system reports normal status to the upper system (604); otherwise, it reports to upper system that the intermediate level status is abnormal (605).

In another embodiment of the present invention, it is finally considered that the difference between the path a and the path b with respect to the received signal strength value cannot be more than a specific value under normal conditions.

The received signal strengths of the paths a and b are respectively calculated (701), and the difference between the strength values and a specific value are compared (702). In this case, it is generally set to 12 dB based on hardware characteristics.

If the difference is less than the specified value, the balance signal of the received signal strength path is reported to the upper system as normal (703), otherwise the path a and b are unbalanced by notifying the higher system that the balance of the received signal strength path is abnormal. (Unbalancing) to process (704).

The result of diagnosing the failure for each item is reported to the upper base station manager as in the overall flowchart showing the method of diagnosing the failure in the reception path of FIG. 8.

In other words, the transceiver main control device checks the state of the transceiver at a predetermined period (about 10 minutes) and requests a period. The transceiver checks and reports the balanced state of received signal strengths for RSSI_A, RSSI_B, IF_A, IF_B, paths a and b.

In case of abnormality in the reported contents, the base station manager outputs a transceiver error message (XCVU Fault Message) using the corresponding item as a reason.

The present invention operating as described above, by promptly reporting the diagnosed failure to the base station manager, the operator can quickly remove the failure and improve the reliability in the maintenance of the base station in operation.

Claims (6)

A transceiver for providing a mobile communication service, the transceiver comprising an auxiliary control board, a transmission frequency rising conversion board and a reception frequency falling conversion board, Requesting, by the transceiver main control device, a check for abnormality in a reception path to all transceivers in the device periodically; Obtaining, by the transceiver, the received signal strength; Obtaining a received signal strength level using the obtained received signal strength; Obtaining, by the transceiver, an intermediate frequency level; Checking for abnormalities in a reception path using the levels; Reporting the check result to a transceiver main control device; The transceiver main control device receiving the report of the results, collecting and checking a result of an abnormality check on the reception paths of all the transceivers in the apparatus and reporting the result to the base station control processor; Reporting, by the reported base station control processor, to a call control processor that there is a problem of a corresponding item with respect to a transceiver having an abnormality in a reception path; Reporting by the call control processor to a base station manager; And And a step of outputting an error message of a corresponding transceiver. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining of the received signal strength Reading an analog-to-digital converter value that is sensing a received signal strength input level; Sensing received signal strength corresponding to said value in input level data of an automatic gain controller in memory; Obtaining a channel offset of the corresponding channel number; Compensating received signal strength by the channel offset; Compensating the received signal attenuation amount, further comprising the step of diagnosing a failure on the receive path in the base station transceiver. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining of the received signal strength level comprises: Obtaining the received signal strength repeatedly; Measuring average received signal strength to obtain an average; Checking whether the received signal strength satisfies a condition between specific levels; Reporting to a higher system that the received signal strength level state is normal if the condition is satisfied; If the condition is not satisfied further comprises the step of reporting to the host system that the received signal strength level is abnormal, the base station transceiver on the receiving path failure diagnosis method. The process of claim 1, wherein the obtaining of the intermediate frequency level is performed. Reading a sufficient intermediate frequency level analog-to-digital converter value to obtain an average value; Obtaining the maximum and minimum values of the intermediate frequency level analog-to-digital converter in memory; Checking whether the intermediate frequency satisfies a condition between a maximum value and a minimum value; Reporting to the upper system that the intermediate frequency level state is normal if the condition is satisfied; If the condition is not satisfied further comprises the step of reporting to the upper system that the intermediate frequency level state is abnormal, the fault diagnosis method on the receiving path in the base station transceiver. In the case where the difference between the receiving path a and the receiving path b with respect to the received signal strength (RSSI) value is normal, and cannot be more than a specific value, Obtaining received signal strengths of paths a and b, respectively; Comparing the difference between the intensity values and a specific value; If the difference is less than the specified value, reporting the balanced state of the received signal strength path to a higher system; If the difference is greater than the specified value, the method comprising diagnosing the balance of the received signal strength path to the upper system, the method of diagnosing a failure on the receive path by measuring the received signal strength between the paths. The method of claim 5, wherein the specific value is set to 12 dB based on hardware characteristics.