KR20190127305A - Method and apparatus for setting path in communication system including xhaul network - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed are a method and an apparatus for setting a path in a communication system including an Xhaul network. According to the present invention, a method for setting a path of a first Xhaul distributed unit (XDU) comprises the following steps: setting a link with a second XDU adjacent to the first XDU; transmitting an attach request message to an Xhaul centralized unit (XCU) via the second XDU; and receiving an attach response message including a flow ID of the first XDU set by the XCU through the second XDU. Accordingly, the performance of the communication system can be improved.

Description

TECHNICAL AND APPARATUS FOR SETTING PATH IN COMMUNICATION SYSTEM INCLUDING XHAUL NETWORK}

The present invention relates to a routing technology in a communication system, and more particularly, to a control path and a traffic path between communication nodes in a communication system including an access network, an Xhaul network, and a core network. It is about setting technology.

For the processing of rapidly increasing wireless data, LTE-based communication as well as a frequency band (eg, a frequency band of 6 GHz or less) of a long term evolution (LTE) -based communication system (or LTE-A-based communication system) Communication systems using frequency bands higher than the system's frequency bands (eg, frequency bands above 6 GHz) are contemplated. In high frequency bands (for example, frequency bands above 6 GHz), signal reception performance can be degraded due to path loss of radio waves, and cell coverage is narrower than that of macro base stations to solve this problem. A small base station supporting the can be introduced into the communication system. In a communication system, a small base station may be connected to a core network using a backhaul link.

The communication system is a small base station that performs all the functions of the communication protocol (for example, a radio frequency (RF) function, a baseband processing function), and performs an RF function among all functions of the communication protocol. A transmission reception point (TRP) may include a baseband unit (BBU) block that performs a baseband processing function among all the functions of the communication protocol. The TRP may be a remote radio head (RRH), a radio unit (RU), or the like. The BBU block may include at least one BBU or at least one digital unit (DU). The BBU block may be referred to as a "BBU pool", "centralized BBU", or the like. One BBU block may be connected to a plurality of TRPs and may perform baseband processing for a signal for the plurality of TRPs.

In a communication system, a small base station may be connected to the core network using a backhaul link, a TRP may be connected to a BBU block using a fronthaul link, and the BBU block may be connected to a core network using a backhaul link. . The network formed based on the fronthaul link and the backhaul link may be referred to as an Xhaul network. The XHole network may be located between the access network (eg, a network between the small base station (or TRP) and the terminal) and the core network, and may transmit a signal received from the core network to the access network, and from the access network The received signal may be sent to the core network. The XHole network may include a plurality of communication nodes, and when new communication nodes are added to the XHOLE network, routing methods for the new communication nodes are needed.

An object of the present invention for solving the above problems is directed to a method for establishing a path between communication nodes in a communication system including an XHole network.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a path setting method of a first XDU, the method comprising: establishing a link with a second XDU adjacent to the first XDU, attaching an attach request message to the second XDU; Transmitting to the XCU via receiving an attach response message including the flow ID of the first XDU set by the XCU via the second XDU, and when the processing of the attach response message is completed, Sending an attach complete message to the XCU via the second XDU.

Here, the second XDU may be an XDU found by a discovery procedure.

Here, the attach request message may include a global ID of the first XDU, information of sectors constituting the first XDU, and neighbor XDU information.

Here, when the first XDU consists of a plurality of sectors and two or more sectors among the plurality of sectors are activated, the attach request message may be transmitted through one sector among the two or more activated sectors. Can be.

Here, in the path setting method, when the attach procedure between the first XDU and the XCU is completed, receiving a path setting request message for requesting path setting for the first XDU from the second XDU, and the path The path for the first XDU may be configured based on the configuration request message.

Here, the route setting request message may be generated by the XCU and include the flow ID of the first XDU.

Here, the first XDU is composed of a plurality of sectors, and after an attach procedure between the first XDU and the XCU is performed through a first sector among the plurality of sectors, a second sector among the plurality of sectors. Is activated, the method for establishing a path transmits a sector addition request message including the flow ID and information of the second sector to the XCU through the second XDU, and the second set by the XCU. The method may further include receiving, via the second XDU, a sector addition response message including an ID of a sector.

In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for setting a path of an XCU, including: detecting a request for a new traffic flow in a state in which a plurality of XDUs and a first path between the XCUs are set; Setting a second path for the new traffic flow with the remaining XDU except the ingress XDU among the XDUs, and setting the second path with the ingress XDU.

Here, the request of the new traffic flow may be received from an access network connected to the XHole network.

Here, the setting of the second path for the remaining XDU and the new traffic flow may include: transmitting a path setting request message including a traffic classification rule and a forwarding rule for the new traffic flow to the remaining XDU; And receiving the routing response message, which is a response to the routing request message, from the remaining XDU.

Here, the routing response message may indicate that the radio connection is valid in the remaining XDU.

The setting of the ingress XDU and the second path may include setting a path classification request message including a traffic classification rule and a forwarding rule for the new traffic flow when setting of the second path for the remaining XDU is completed. Transmitting to the ingress XDU, and receiving the routing response message, which is a response to the routing request message, from the ingress XDU.

In accordance with a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for setting a path of an XCU, including detecting a request for a new traffic flow in a state in which a plurality of XDUs and a first path between the XCUs are established. Establishing a second path for XDUs and the new traffic flow, and when the setting of the second path is completed, a classification activation request message requesting activation of a traffic classification rule to an ingress XDU among the plurality of XDUs; Transmitting a step.

Here, the request of the new traffic flow may be received from an access network connected to the XHole network.

The setting of the second path may include transmitting a path setting request message including the traffic classification rule and a forwarding rule to each of the plurality of XDUs, and setting the path as a response to the path setting request message. Receiving a response message in each of the plurality of XDUs.

Here, the routing response message may indicate that the radio connection is valid in each of the plurality of XDUs.

The setting of the second path may include transmitting a path setting request message to each of the plurality of XDUs and receiving the path setting response message, which is a response to the path setting request message, from each of the plurality of XDUs. The routing request message transmitted to the remaining XDU other than the ingress XDU among the plurality of XDUs may include the traffic classification rule and the forwarding rule, and may be transmitted to the ingress XDU. The routing request message may include the forwarding rule, and the traffic classification rule for the ingress XDU may be transmitted through the classification activation request message.

According to the present invention, a communication system may include an access network, an Xhaul network and a core network, and a new XDU when a new XDU (Xhaul distributed unit) is added to the XHole network. Can be established between a communication node and another communication node (eg, XDU, XCU (Xhaul centralized unit)). In addition, when an XDU consists of a plurality of sectors, and a sector of the XDU is activated, a path may be established between an activated sector of the XDU and another communication node (eg, a sector of another communication node). In addition, when a request for adding a new traffic flow is detected, the new traffic flow may be set for each XDU or for each sector of the XDU.

Meanwhile, completion times of path establishment of each of the XDUs located on the path may be different, and traffic may be transmitted from an ingress XDU before path setting of all XDUs constituting the path is completed. In this case, the traffic may not be successfully transmitted through XDUs located in the path. To solve this problem, the routing of the ingress XDU may be performed after the routing of other XDUs located on the path is completed. Alternatively, after completion of the routing of other XDUs located in the path, a classification activation request message (eg, a classification activation request message including a traffic classification rule) requesting activation of the traffic classification rule may be transmitted to the ingress XDU. And the ingress XDU may send traffic upon receipt of the classification activation message. Therefore, the performance of the communication system can be improved.

1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a first embodiment of a communication system.
2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a second embodiment of a communication system.
3 is a block diagram illustrating a first embodiment of a communication node in a communication system.
4 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a first embodiment of an XHole network.
5 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a first embodiment of a communication node comprised of one or more sectors in an XHole network.
6 is a block diagram illustrating a user plane protocol structure of a communication node in an XHole network.
FIG. 7A is a block diagram illustrating a first embodiment of a control plane protocol structure in sectors constituting a communication node in an XHole network.
FIG. 7B is a block diagram illustrating a second embodiment of a control plane protocol structure in sectors constituting a communication node in an XHole network. FIG.
8 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a first embodiment of a data transmission procedure of an ingress XDU.
9A is a flowchart illustrating a first embodiment of an initial access method in an XHole network.
9B is a flowchart illustrating a first embodiment of a path establishment method in an XHole network.
10 is a flowchart illustrating a second embodiment of a path establishment method in an XHole network.
FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a first embodiment of a sector-by-sector path setting method in an XHole network.
12 is a flowchart illustrating a first embodiment of a method for setting a path for each XDU in an XHole network.
FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a first embodiment of a sector-based path changing method in an XHole network.
14 is a flowchart illustrating a first embodiment of a method for changing a path for each XDU in an XHole network.
FIG. 15A is a flowchart illustrating a first embodiment of a path establishment method for a new traffic flow in an XHole network. FIG.
FIG. 15B is a flowchart illustrating a first embodiment of a method of activating a traffic classification rule when setting of a path is completed in the embodiment of FIG. 15A.

As the present invention allows for various changes and numerous embodiments, particular embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the written description. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, it should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Terms such as first and second may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, the first component may be referred to as the second component, and similarly, the second component may also be referred to as the first component. The term and / or includes a combination of a plurality of related items or any item of a plurality of related items.

When a component is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" to another component, it may be directly connected to or connected to that other component, but it may be understood that other components may be present in between. Should be. On the other hand, when a component is said to be "directly connected" or "directly connected" to another component, it should be understood that there is no other component in between.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the present invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In this application, the terms "comprise" or "have" are intended to indicate that there is a feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or combination thereof described in the specification, and one or more other features. It is to be understood that the present invention does not exclude the possibility of the presence or the addition of numbers, steps, operations, components, components, or a combination thereof.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. Terms such as those defined in the commonly used dictionaries should be construed as having meanings consistent with the meanings in the context of the related art and shall not be construed in ideal or excessively formal meanings unless expressly defined in this application. Do not.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, it will be described in detail a preferred embodiment of the present invention. In the following description of the present invention, the same reference numerals are used for the same elements in the drawings and redundant descriptions of the same elements will be omitted.

1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a first embodiment of a communication system.

Referring to FIG. 1, a communication system may include an access network, an Xhaul network, a core network, and the like. The access network may include a terminal # 1 110-1, a transmission reception point (TRP) 120-1, and the like. The TRP 120-1 may perform a wireless transmit / receive function and may be referred to as “f-TRP (flexible TRP)”. The TRP 120-1 may provide a communication service to the terminal # 1 110-1 and may be connected to an Xhaul distributed unit (XDU) # 1 210-1 of the XHOLE network. The baseband processing function for the TRP 120-1 may be performed in a baseband unit (BBU) block 340.

The link between the TRP 430 performing the wireless transmission and reception function and the BBU block 340 performing the baseband processing function (for example, "TRP 120-1) -XDU # 1 (210-1) -XDU # 2". (210-2) -XDU # 3 (210-3) -BBU block 340 ") may be referred to as a" fronthaul link ". The fronthaul link may vary depending on the network (eg, XHole network, core network) to which the BBU block 340 that performs the baseband processing function belongs. The access network may support cellular communication protocols, wireless local area network (WLAN) protocols, and the like. The cellular communication protocol may be a 4G communication protocol (eg, a long term evolution (LTE) protocol, an advanced protocol (LTE-A) protocol), a 5G communication protocol (eg, a new radio communication protocol (NR)), or the like.

The XHole network may be located between the access network and the core network, and may support communication between the access network and the core network. The XHole network may transmit a signal received from the access network to the core network, and may transmit a signal received from the core network to the access network. The XHole network may include a plurality of XDUs 210-1, 210-2, and 210-3. The plurality of XDUs 210-1, 210-2, and 210-3 may perform a radio transmission / reception function and may be connected based on a multi-hop scheme.

Among the plurality of XDUs 210-1, 210-2, and 210-3, the XDU located at the start point of the transmission path may be referred to as an "ingress XDU" and the XDU located at the end point of the transmission path. May be referred to as an "egress XDU", and an XDU connected to an Xhaul centralized unit (XCU) may be referred to as an "XDU aggregator." In addition, an XDU connected to an end communication node (eg, mobile management entity (MME) 310, serving-gateway (S-GW) 320) of the core network may be referred to as an “XDU aggregator”. The XCU may perform a topology management function, a transmission path management function, a control function of the XDUs 210-1, 210-2, and 210-3.

When the communication system supports the 4G communication protocol, the core network may include an MME 310, an S-GW 320, a packet data network (PDN) -330, a BBU block 340, and the like. It may include. If the communication system supports the 5G communication protocol, the core network may include an access and mobility management function (AMF), a user plane function (UPF), a session management function (SMF), a BBU block 340, and the like. Each of the AMF, UPF, and SMF may correspond to the MME 310, the S-GW 320, and the P-GW 330.

The BBU block 340 may be located in the MME 310 or the S-GW 320 and may be connected to the XDU # 3 210-3 through a wired link. The BBU block 340 may include at least one BBU or at least one digital unit (DU). The BBU block 340 may be referred to as a "BBU pool", "centralized BBU", or the like. The link between the TRP 120-1 and the BBU block 340 may be referred to as a “fronthaul link” and the TRP 120-1 may be connected to the BBU block via a fronthaul link. .

The XDU # 1 210-1 of the XHole network may be connected to the TRP 120-1. Alternatively, XDU # 1 210-1 may be configured to be integrated into TRP 120-1. XDU # 2 210-2 may be connected to each of XDU # 1 210-1 and XDU # 3 210-3 using an XHole link, and XDU # 3 210-3 may be connected to the core network. It may be connected to an end communication node (eg, MME 310, S-GW 320). The XHole link may include a fronthaul link, a backhaul link, and the like. Communication between the plurality of XDUs 210-1, 210-2, and 210-3 may be performed using a communication protocol (hereinafter, referred to as an “exhole protocol”) for the XHole link. The packet to which the XHole protocol is applied may be transmitted to each of the core network and the access network through the XHole link. Here, the packet may indicate control information, data, and the like.

2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a second embodiment of a communication system.

Referring to FIG. 2, the communication system may include an access network, an Xhole network, a core network, and the like. The XHole network may be located between the access network and the core network, and may support communication between the access network and the core network. The access network may include a terminal 110-1, 110-2, 110-3, a TRP 120-1, a macro base station 120-2, a small base station 120-3, and the like. Can be.

The XHole network may include a plurality of XDUs 220-1, 220-2, 220-3, 220-4, 220-5, 220-6, and 220-7. In the XHole network, the XDUs 220-1, 220-2, 220-3, 220-4, 220-5, 220-6, 220-7 may be connected using XHole links, Can be connected based on this. The BBU block 340 may be located in one XDU among the plurality of XDUs 220-1, 220-2, 220-3, 220-4, 220-5, 220-6, and 220-7. For example, the BBU block 340 may be located in XDU # 2 220-2. If the communication system supports the 4G communication protocol, the core network may include an MME 310, an S-GW 320, a P-GW 330, and the like. If the communication system supports the 5G communication protocol, the core network may include AMF, UPF, SMF, and the like.

The XDU # 1 220-1 of the XHole network may be connected to the TRP 120-1, and the XDU # 3 220-3 of the XHole network may be connected to the macro base station 120-2. The XDU # 6 220-6 of the hall network may be connected to the small base station 120-3. The XDU # 5 220-5 of the XHole network may be connected to an end communication node (eg, MME 310, S-GW 320) of the core network and may be referred to as an “XDU aggregator”. have. Communication between the plurality of XDUs 220-1, 220-2, 220-3, 220-4, 220-5, 220-6, and 220-7 may be performed using the XHOLE protocol. Packets (eg, data and control information) to which the XHole protocol is applied may be transmitted to each of the core network and the access network through the XHole link.

The TRP 120-1 may provide a communication service to the terminal # 1 110-1 using a cellular communication protocol. The TRP 120-1 may support a wireless transmit / receive function, and the baseband processing function for the TRP 120-1 may be performed in the BBU block 340. A link between a TRP 120-1 performing a wireless transmit / receive function and a BBU block 340 performing a baseband processing function (eg, “TRP 120-1) -XDU # 1 220-1-BBU. The block of block 340 (or the link of XDU # 2 220-2) may be referred to as a “front hole link” and the BBU block 340 and the end communication node of the core network (eg, MME). 310, a link between the S-GW 320 (eg, “BBU block 340 (or, XDU # 2 220-2))-XDU # 5 220-2—MME 310 (Or a link of S-GW 320)) may be referred to as a "backhaul link." For example, the fronthaul link may vary according to a network (eg, an XHole network or a core network) to which the BBU block 340 which performs the baseband processing function belongs.

The macro base station 120-2 may provide a communication service to the terminal # 2 110-2 using a cellular communication protocol. The macro base station 120-2 may be connected to the core network through an XHole network, and may be “macro base station 120-2-XDU # 3 (220-3)-XDU # 4 (220-4)-XDU # 5. The link of (220-5) -MME 310 (or S-GW 320) may be referred to as a "backhaul link." The small base station 120-3 may provide a communication service to the terminal # 3 110-3 using a cellular communication protocol. The small base station 120-3 may be connected to the core network through the XHole network, and may be referred to as “the small base station 120-3-XDU # 6 (220-6)-XDU # 7 (220-7)-XDU # 5. The link of (220-5) -MME 310 (or S-GW 320) may be referred to as a "backhaul link."

Meanwhile, the above-described communication node (eg, terminal, TRP, macro base station, small base station, XDU, XCU, BBU block, MME, S-GW, P-GW, etc.) may be configured as follows.

3 is a block diagram illustrating a first embodiment of a communication node in a communication system.

Referring to FIG. 3, the communication node 300 may include at least one processor 310, a memory 320, and a transceiver 330 connected to a network to perform communication. In addition, the communication node 300 may further include an input interface device 340, an output interface device 350, and a storage device 360. Each component included in the communication node 300 may be connected by a bus 370 to communicate with each other.

The processor 310 may execute a program command stored in at least one of the memory 320 and the storage device 360. The processor 310 may refer to a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or a dedicated processor on which methods according to embodiments of the present invention are performed. Each of the memory 320 and the storage device 360 may be configured as at least one of a volatile storage medium and a nonvolatile storage medium. For example, the memory 320 may be configured as at least one of a read only memory (ROM) and a random access memory (RAM).

Next, a method of operating a communication node in a communication system (for example, the communication system shown in FIG. 1 or 2) will be described. Even when the method performed in communication node # 1 (for example, the transmission or reception of a signal) is described among the communication nodes, the corresponding communication node # 2 corresponds to the method performed in communication node # 1 (eg For example, the reception or transmission of a signal) may be performed. For example, when the operation of the terminal is described, the base station corresponding thereto may perform an operation corresponding to the operation of the terminal. In contrast, when the operation of the base station is described, the terminal corresponding thereto may perform an operation corresponding to the operation of the base station.

In addition, in the embodiments described below, "exhole" may refer to "exhole network" or "exhole link", and "fronthole" may refer to "fronthole network" or "fronthole link". And “midhaul” may refer to “midhole network” or “midhole link” and “backhaul” may refer to “backhaul network” or “backhaul link”.

4 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a first embodiment of an XHole network.

Referring to FIG. 4, the XHole network may include an XDU 410, an XCU 420, and the like. The XDU 410 may be connected to another XDU via the H2 interface. The XDU 410 may be connected to the XCU 420 via the H3 interface. The XDU 410 may transmit and receive data using a fronthaul link, midhole link, or backhaul link in the XHole network. The midhole link may be a link between the macro base station and the small base station. For example, the midhole link communicates with communication node # 1, which supports some of the functionality of the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, the radio link control (RLC) layer, the medium access control (MAC) layer, and the physical (PHY) layer. It may be a link between communication node # 2 supporting the remaining functions not supported by node # 1.

Links between XDUs belonging to different XHole networks may not be formed. For example, a link between XDUs controlled by different XCUs may not be formed. The XDU 410 may be classified into a fixed XDU and a mobile XDU. The location where the fixed XDU is installed may not change. The mobile XDU may be installed in a mobile entity (eg, a vehicle, a train, a drone, etc.). Links between mobile XDUs may not be formed. In the XHole network, the XCU 420 may perform a topology management function, a transmission path management function, a control function of the XDU 410, and the like. There may be one XCU 420 in one XHole network.

The f-TRP may be used as a transmission / reception point for transmission and reception of a terminal, and may be connected to a communication node belonging to an X-hole network through a fronthaul link or a midhole link. The cloud platform may be connected to the XDU aggregator and may be connected to the f-TRP through a fronthaul link or a midhole link of the XHole network. The cloud platform may be connected with a plurality of f-TRPs. Base station (eg, eNB) functions may be performed by f-TRP and cloud platforms. Logically, one cloud platform may exist in a communication system and physically a plurality of cloud platforms may exist in a communication system.

Meanwhile, communication nodes (eg, XDUs and XCUs) included in the XHOLE network may be configured with one or more sectors.

5 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a first embodiment of a communication node comprised of one or more sectors in an XHole network.

Referring to FIG. 5, each of the communication nodes 510, 520, and 530 may be an XDU or an XCU, and may be configured of six sectors (eg, sectors # 0 to # 5). A wireless link may be established between the sectors of the communication nodes 510, 520, 530. For example, sector # 0 of communication node # 1 510 may be connected to sector # 3 of communication node # 2 520 via a wireless link, and sector # 2 of communication node # 2 520 may be a communication node. Sector # 5 of # 3 530 may be connected via a wireless link. When communication node # 1 510 is an ingress XDU and communication node # 3 530 is an egress XDU, sector # 0 of communication node # 1 510 sends data to the sector of communication node # 2 520. Transmit to # 3, sector # 3 of communication node # 2 520 may receive data from sector # 0 of communication node # 1 510. FIG. At communication node # 2 520, data may be transferred from sector # 3 to sector # 2. Sector # 2 of communication node # 2 520 may transmit data to sector # 5 of communication node # 3 530, and sector # 5 of communication node # 3 530 may be the same as that of communication node # 2 520. Data may be received from sector # 2.

Meanwhile, when each of the communication nodes 510, 520, and 530 is an XDU, a user plane protocol structure in XDU # 1, # 2, and # 3 may be as follows.

6 is a block diagram illustrating a user plane protocol structure of a communication node in an XHole network.

Referring to FIG. 6, the user plane protocol structure in the XHOLE network may further include a MUTP layer that performs a function for data forwarding to a higher layer. The MUTP layer may perform packet encapsulation and decapsulation functions for interworking the XHOLE network and the external network. In addition, the MUTP layer may be a protocol for a multi-hop based data forwarding function in the XHOLE network.

For example, the XDU # 1 510 in the XHole network may have a protocol structure including a MUTP layer, an L2 layer, and an L1 layer. In addition, the XDU # 1 510 may have a protocol structure including a MUTP layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer, and a PHY layer for communicating with the XDU # 2 520. In addition, the XDU # 2 520 may have a protocol structure including a MUTP layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer, and a PHY layer for communicating with the XDU # 1 510 and the XDU # 3 530. have. In addition, the XDU # 3 530 may have a protocol structure including a MUTP layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer, and a PHY layer for communicating with the XDU # 2 520. In addition, the XDU # 3 530 may have a protocol structure including a MUTP layer, an L2 layer, and an L1 layer. The structure of the user plane protocol in the XHole network may be a structure for supporting various external interfaces.

Meanwhile, when each of the communication nodes 510, 520, and 530 is an XDU, the control plane protocol structure in the sectors of the XDUs # 1, # 2, and # 3 may be as follows.

FIG. 7A is a block diagram illustrating a first embodiment of a control plane protocol structure in sectors constituting a communication node in an XHole network. FIG.

Referring to FIG. 7A, when a communication node (eg, an XDU) is composed of six sectors, each of the six sectors may be a PHY layer, a MAC layer, an RLC layer, a PDCP layer, and an MXN H2 control (MH2C) layer. And an MH3C (MXN H3 control) layer. That is, a PHY / MAC / RLC / PDCP / MH2C / MH3C layer for each of six sectors may be independently configured in a communication node (eg, XDU), and communication in each of the six sectors may be independently established. It can be done through layers.

FIG. 7B is a block diagram illustrating a second embodiment of a control plane protocol structure in sectors constituting a communication node in an XHole network. FIG.

Referring to FIG. 7B, when a communication node (eg, XDU) is composed of six sectors, each of the six sectors includes a PHY layer, a MAC layer, an RLC layer, a PDCP layer, and an MH2C layer. It can have That is, the PHY / MAC / RLC / PDCP / MH2C layer for each of six sectors in the communication node may be set independently. However, one MH3C layer may be configured in a communication node (eg, XDU), and one MH3C layer may be commonly used for six sectors. In other words, one MH3C layer may support a communication function for six sectors.

Meanwhile, data of the ingress XDU in the XHole network may be transmitted as follows.

8 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a first embodiment of a data transmission procedure of an ingress XDU.

The following fields may be defined in an integrated transport protocol of an XHole network based on a flow identifier (eg, flow ID).

Flow separator: MXN forwarding bearer separator

Sequence Number: Packet sorting support for bearer splitting and redundancy

-Packet type: Supports various service provider environment and various packet type transmission

The identifier for the forwarding bearer between the ingress XDU and the egress XDU in the integrated transport protocol of the sector identifier (XID) based XHole network may be set to a source sector ID or a destination sector ID. Alternatively, the identifier for the forwarding bearer between the ingress XDU and the egress XDU may be set to a flow ID.

In the XHOLE integrated transport protocol, a field may be defined as follows.

Source Sector ID field: Ingress XDU Sector Address

Destination Sector ID field: Egress XDU Sector Address

-Traffic class separator field

Operator Separator field: Quality of Service (QoS) per operator, priority among operators

Sequence number field: supports bearer splitting and reordering for duplicate bearers

Referring to FIG. 8, a source sector ID, a destination sector ID, a QoS class, and an XHole protocol header may be determined according to a classification rule based on an IP header or an Ethernet header. The IP header may include a source IP address, a destination IP address, and differential services code point (DSCP), and the Ethernet header may include a source Ethernet address, a destination Ethernet address, and a QoS field. When the target sector ID corresponding to the source sector ID / destination sector ID / QoS class of the XHole protocol header exists in the forwarding table, radio bearers for each source sector ID / destination sector ID / QoS class may be mapped.

The XDU sector receiving the XHole data packet may transmit the XHOLE data packet to the target sector with reference to the forwarding table when the destination sector ID of the XHOLE data packet is not its ID.

When an identifier for a forwarding bearer between an ingress XDU and an egress XDU is defined as a flow ID, the flow ID and the XHole protocol header may be determined according to a classification rule based on an IP protocol or an Ethernet header. have. The IP header may include a source IP address, a destination IP address, and differential services code point (DSCP), and the Ethernet header may include a source Ethernet address, a destination Ethernet address, and a QoS field. When the target sector ID corresponding to the flow ID of the XHole protocol header exists in the forwarding table, the XHOLE data packet may be transmitted to the target sector. In this case, when the target sectors satisfy the QoS requirements, the same flows may be transmitted by mapping to the same radio bearer.

An XDU sector supporting a redundant transmission function may generate a duplicate XHole data packet and may transmit the duplicate XHOLE data packet to another sector in the XDU. The XDU sector supporting the redundant reception function may perform a reordering operation on the XHole data packet. An XDU sector supporting the bearer splitting function may transmit an XHole data packet to another sector in the XDU. The classification rule and the forwarding table may be set by the path management message. In FIG. 8, the flow ID based XHole network integrated transport protocol may be defined as a flow ID instead of a source sector ID and a destination sector ID.

Next, when a new communication node (eg, XDU) is added to the XHole network, methods of establishing a path (eg, a control path, a traffic path) for the new communication node will be described.

9A is a flowchart illustrating a first embodiment of an initial access method in an XHole network.

Referring to FIG. 9A, the XHOLE network may include XDU # 2, XDU # 3, and XCU, and XDU # 1 may be newly added to the XHOLE network. Here, a path (for example, a control path and a traffic path) between the XDU # 2, the XDU # 3, and the XCU may be already set. For example, XDU # 2 may be connected to XDU # 3 via a wireless link, and XDU # 3 may be connected to XCU via a wireless link. That is, the path "XDU # 2-XDU # 3-XCU" may be set.

Each of the XDU # 1, XDU # 2, XDU # 3, and XCU may be configured identically or similarly to the communication node 200 shown in FIG. 2, and the communication nodes 510, 520, and 530 shown in FIG. It may be composed of the same or similar sectors, may have a user plane protocol structure shown in FIG. 6, and may have a control plane protocol structure shown in FIG. 7A or 7B.

The path between the new XDU # 1 and other communication nodes (e.g. XDU # 2, XDU # 3, XCU) is unestablished, and is new in the initial attach procedure (e.g. attach procedure). The path for XDU # 1 may be set as follows.

The XDU # 1 may perform a discovery procedure with an adjacent communication node (eg, XDU # 2) (S901). Discovery procedures between communication nodes can be performed in a variety of ways. For example, XDU # 1 may broadcast the discovery request message in a broadcast manner, and XDU # 2 receiving the discovery request message may transmit a discovery response message, which is a response to the discovery request message, to XDU # 1. have. Upon receiving the discovery response message, XDU # 1 can confirm the existence of XDU # 2. That is, the discovery procedure may be performed through the exchange of discovery request / response messages between communication nodes.

Alternatively, a communication node (eg, XDU # 2, XDU # 3) having completed path setting in the XHole network may periodically transmit a discovery message (eg, a discovery message including an identifier of the communication node). The new communication node (eg, XDU # 1) that has received the discovery message may confirm the presence of another communication node. That is, the discovery procedure may be performed based on the discovery message transmitted from the communication node where the path setting is completed.

If the existence of XDU # 2 is confirmed by the discovery procedure, XDU # 1 may perform a link setup procedure with XUD # 2. For example, the XDU # 1 may transmit a link establishment request message to the XDU # 2 (S902). The XDU # 2 may receive a link establishment request message from the XDU # 1, and may transmit a link establishment response message, which is a response to the link establishment request message, to the XDU # 1 (S903). The link establishment request / response message may include information necessary for establishing a radio link between XDU # 1 and XDU # 2. Through the exchange of the link establishment request / response message, a radio link (eg, an H2 interface) between XDU # 1 and XDU # 2 may be established. In this case, a radio link may be established between one or more sectors of XDU # 1 and one or more sectors of XDU # 2.

When link establishment between XDU # 1 and XDU # 2 is completed, XDU # 1 may perform an initial access procedure with the XCU. In this case, XDU # 1 is a global ID of XDU # 1, sector information (eg, driven) that is activated (eg, driven) among sectors constituting XDU # 1, and adjacent XDU information. (Eg, information of XDU # 2 confirmed through the discovery procedure), and the like, may generate an attach request message (attach request) message. The XDU # 1 may transmit an attach request message to the XDU # 2 through the link established by the link establishment procedure (S904). Here, when a plurality of sectors of XDU # 1 are activated (eg, driven), the attach request message may be transmitted to XDU # 2 through one sector among the plurality of activated sectors. An activated sector of XDU # 1 may mean a sector in which a radio link is established with a specific sector of XDU # 2.

XDU # 2 may receive an attach request message from XDU # 1. In this case, XDU # 2 may generate an initial access request message that includes a flow ID of XDU # 2 (eg, flow ID # 2) and an attach request message of XDU # 1, and generates an initial access request message. It may transmit to XDU # 3 located in a preset path (for example, the path "XDU # 2-XDU # 3-XCU") (S905). The XDU # 3 may receive an initial access request message from the XDU # 2, and transmit an initial access request message to the XCU (S906).

Herein, when communication between XDU # 1 and XDU # 2 is performed, the message may be transmitted through the H2 interface set between XDU # 1 and XDU # 2, and when communication between XDU # 2 and XDU # 3 is performed. The message may be transmitted via the H2 interface established between XDU # 2 and XDU # 3, and when communication between XDU # 3 and XCU is performed, the message may be transmitted via the H3 interface (e.g., MH3C protocol established between XDU # 3 and XCU). Based H3 interface).

The XCU may receive the initial access request message from the XDU # 3, check the attach request message of the XDU # 1 included in the initial access request message, and the XDU # 1 related information included in the attach request message (eg, For example, global ID, sector information, neighbor XDU information) can be checked. In addition, the XCU may determine a unique ID of XDU # 1 (eg, a unique ID for distinguishing XDU # 1 in an XHole network) and a flow ID of XDU # 1 based on an attach request message. , Flow ID # 1) and the like can be set. The XCU may generate an attach response message that includes the unique ID, flow ID, and the like of XDU # 1, and the flow ID (for example, flow ID # 2) and the XDU # 1 of XDU # 2. An initial access response message including an attach response message may be transmitted to XDU # 3 (S907).

The XDU # 3 may receive an initial access response message from the XCU, and transmit an initial access response message to the XDU # 2 (S908). The XDU # 2 may receive an initial access response message from the XDU # 3 and check the attach response message included in the initial access response message. The XDU # 2 may transmit an attach response message, which is a response to the attach request message, to the XDU # 1 (S909). The XDU # 1 may receive an attach response message from the XDU # 2 and check the unique ID and flow ID (eg, flow ID # 1) of the XDU # 1 included in the attach response message. If the attach response message is successfully received, the XDU # 1 may generate an attach complete message and transmit the attach complete message to the XDU # 2 (S910). The attach complete message may include a flow ID (eg, flow ID # 1) of XDU # 1 set by the XCU.

XDU # 2 may receive an attach complete message from XDU # 1 and includes an initial attach complete message including a flow ID of XDU # 2 (eg, flow ID # 2) and an attach complete message of XDU # 1. Can be generated. The XDU # 2 may transmit an initial access complete message to the XDU # 3 (S911). The XDU # 3 may receive an initial access complete message from the XDU # 2 and transmit an initial access complete message to the XCU (S912). The XCU may determine that the initial access procedure (ie, attach procedure) between the XDU # 1 and the XCU is completed when the initial access complete message is received. In the above-described initial access procedure, authentication for each XDU may be performed.

Meanwhile, when the initial access procedure is completed, a control path (eg, a path used for transmitting and receiving control messages) between XDU # 1 and XCU may be set.

9B is a flowchart illustrating a first embodiment of a path establishment method in an XHole network.

Referring to FIG. 9B, the XHole network may include XDU # 1, XDU # 2, XDU # 3, and XCU. Each of XDU # 1, XDU # 2, XDU # 3, and XCU of FIG. 9B may be an XDU of FIG. 9A. It may be the same as # 1, XDU # 2, XDU # 3, and XCU, and the embodiment of FIG. 9B may be performed after the embodiment of FIG. 9A is completed.

The XCU may generate a path setup request message requesting the establishment of a control path between the XDU # 1 and the XCU. The routing request message may include a flow ID (eg, flow ID # 1) of the XDU # 1 and a flow ID (eg, flow ID # 2 or # 3) of the destination XDU of the routing request message. . The XCU may send a routing request message to each of XDU # 1, # 2, and # 3. The routing request message sent to XDU # 2 may further include a flow ID (eg, flow ID # 2) of XDU # 2, and the routing request message sent to XDU # 3 is a flow of XDU # 3. It may further include an ID (eg, flow ID # 3).

XDUs # 1 to # 3 use the routing request message received from the XCU to establish a control path between the XDU # 1 and the XCU (eg, the "XDU # 1-XDU # 2-XDU # 3-XCU" path). It may be (S910, S911 and S912). In this case, a control path may be established between sectors of the XDUs. If a plurality of sectors of XDU # 1 are activated in the initial access procedure, the XCU may select one sector from among the activated sectors as a sector for which a control path is established, and the information of the selected sector (for example, , Sector index) may be informed to XDU # 1 through a routing request message. Alternatively, a control path may be established in all activated sectors of XDU # 1. After the setting of the control path is completed, each of the XDUs # 1 to # 3 may transmit a path setting response message to the XCU, which is a response to the path setting request message. The routing response message may indicate that a radio connection is valid in each of XDU # 1 to # 3.

Meanwhile, when a new sector of XDU # 1 is activated (for example, driven) after the initial access procedure (for example, attach procedure) of XDU # 1 is completed, the path setting for the activated sector is as follows. Can be performed.

10 is a flowchart illustrating a second embodiment of a path establishment method in an XHole network.

Referring to FIG. 10, the XHole network may include XDU # 1, XDU # 2, XDU # 3, and XCU. Here, a path (for example, a control path and a traffic path) between the XDU # 1, the XDU # 2, the XDU # 3, and the XCU may be already set. For example, XDU # 1 may be connected to XDU # 2 via a wireless link, XDU # 2 may be connected to XDU # 3 via a wireless link, and XDU # 3 may be connected to XCU via a wireless link. That is, the path "XDU # 1-XDU # 2-XDU # 3-XCU" may be set.

Each of the XDU # 1, XDU # 2, XDU # 3, and XCU may be configured identically or similarly to the communication node 200 shown in FIG. 2, and the communication nodes 510, 520, and 530 shown in FIG. It may be composed of the same or similar sectors, may have a user plane protocol structure shown in FIG. 6, and may have a control plane protocol structure shown in FIG. 7A or 7B.

In the embodiments of FIGS. 9A and 9B described above, after the path setting for sector # 0 of XDU # 1 is completed, XDU # 1 when sector # 1 of XDU # 1 is activated (eg, driven). The path to Sector # 1 may be set. If sector # 1 of XDU # 1 is activated, XDU # 1 is the flow ID of XDU # 1 (e.g., flow ID # 1), the activated sector information (e.g., sector index (i.e., sector # 1). ), The sector addition request message including the adjacent XDU information, etc. may be generated. The neighbor XDU information may be omitted in the sector addition request message. The XDU # 1 may transmit a sector addition request message to XDU # 2 located in a preset path (for example, the path "XDU # 1-XDU # 2-XDU # 3-XCU") (S1001). XDU # 2 may receive a Sector Add Request message from XDU # 1, and may enter a sector in XDU # 3 located in a preset path (for example, the path "XDU # 1-XDU # 2-XDU # 3-XCU"). The additional request message may be transmitted (S1002). The XDU # 3 may receive a sector add request message from the XDU # 2 and transmit a sector add request message to the XCU (S1003).

Herein, when communication between XDU # 1 and XDU # 2 is performed, the message may be transmitted through the H2 interface set between XDU # 1 and XDU # 2, and when communication between XDU # 2 and XDU # 3 is performed. The message may be transmitted via the H2 interface established between XDU # 2 and XDU # 3, and when communication between XDU # 3 and XCU is performed, the message may be transmitted via the H3 interface (e.g., MH3C protocol established between XDU # 3 and XCU). Based H3 interface).

The XCU may receive a sector add request message from XDU # 3 and determine that sector # 1 of XDU # 1 is activated based on the sector add request message. In this case, the XCU may generate a sector add response message including a flow ID of XDU # 1 (eg, flow ID # 1), an ID of sector # 1 of XDU # 1, and the like. It can transmit to XDU # 3 (S1004). The XDU # 3 may receive a sector add response message from the XCU and transmit a sector add response message to the XDU # 2 (S1005). XDU # 2 may receive a sector add response message from XDU # 3, and transmit a sector add response message to XDU # 1 (S1006). The XDU # 1 may receive a sector add response message from the XDU # 2 and check the ID of sector # 1 of the XDU # 1 included in the sector add response message.

Meanwhile, a plurality of sectors are set (eg, activated or driven) in XDU # 1, and a link establishment between a plurality of sectors of XDU # 1 and sector (s) of an adjacent XDU (eg, XDU # 2) is performed. If this is possible, the XCU may select one sector constituting an optimal control path among a plurality of sectors set in XDU # 1, and the optimal control path between XDU # 1 and XCU based on the sector of the selected XDU # 1 Can be set (S1007). Here, the sector is set may mean that the ID of the sector is set by the XCU.

The XCU sets up information on the optimal control path (e.g., sector information (e.g., sector ID or sector index) of XDU # 1 constituting the optimal control path), and flow ID (e.g., , Flow ID # 1) may be generated. The XCU may send a routing request message to each of XDU # 1, # 2, and # 3. The routing request message sent to XDU # 2 may further include a flow ID (eg, flow ID # 2) of XDU # 2, and the routing request message sent to XDU # 3 is a flow of XDU # 3. It may further include an ID (eg, flow ID # 3).

The communication nodes (e.g., XDU # 1, # 2 and # 3) use the routing request message received from the XCU to control the path (e.g. " XDU # 1-XDU # 2-XDU # 3-XCU "path) can be set (S1008, S1009 and S1010). After the setting of the control path is completed, each of the XDUs # 1 to # 3 may transmit a path setting response message to the XCU, which is a response to the path setting request message. The routing response message may indicate that the wireless connection is valid in each of the XDUs # 1 to # 3.

On the other hand, addition of new traffic flows (eg, addition of new QoS, addition of guaranteed capacity by QoS, etc.) may be required in the access network. For example, a communication node (eg, base station, terminal) belonging to the access network may transmit a message requesting the addition of a new traffic flow to the XHall network. In this case, the XCU may detect a request for adding a new traffic flow and assign a flow ID for the new traffic flow. The XCU may send a route establishment request message including an assigned flow ID to XDUs located on the route. In addition, the routing request message may include a forwarding rule for each flow ID (for example, a forwarding table and a forwarding entry). The routing request message may be transmitted for each sector or for each XDU of the XDU.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a first embodiment of a sector-by-sector path setting method in an XHole network.

Referring to FIG. 11, the XHole network may include an XCU, an XDU, and the like. The XDU may consist of six sectors (eg, sectors # 0 through # 5). If a request for adding a new traffic flow is detected, the XCU may generate a route request message for requesting a route for a new traffic flow (S1101). The routing request message may include a flow ID for the new traffic flow, a target sector ID (eg, forwarding entry), and the like.

Of the six sectors of the XDU, if sectors # 2 and # 5 are active (eg, driven or configured), sector # 2 may receive new traffic flows and redirect the received new traffic flows to sector # 5. You can forward it. When sector # 5 sets a path for delivery to a sector of another XDU, the XCU may transmit a path setting request message to each of sectors # 2 and # 5 of the XDU (S1102 and S1103). Each of sectors # 2 and # 5 of the XDU may receive a routing request message from the XCU, and may identify a flow ID and a target sector ID included in the routing request message. When communication between the XCU and the XDU is performed, a message may be transmitted through an H3 interface (eg, an H3 interface based on the MH3C protocol) set between the XCU and the XDU.

Each of sectors # 2 and # 5 of the XDU may determine the sameness between the flow ID of the received traffic and the flow ID included in the routing request message when the traffic is received from another communication node (or another sector in the XDU). have. If the flow ID of the traffic is the same as the flow ID included in the routing request message, each of sectors # 2 and # 5 of the XDU may transmit the corresponding traffic to the sector indicated by the target sector ID included in the routing request message. . The sector indicated by the target sector ID may be another sector in the XDU or a sector in another XDU.

12 is a flowchart illustrating a first embodiment of a method for setting a path for each XDU in an XHole network.

Referring to FIG. 12, the XHole network may include an XCU, an XDU, and the like. The XDU may consist of six sectors (eg, sectors # 0 through # 5). If a request for adding a new traffic flow is detected, the XCU may generate a route request message for requesting a route for a new traffic flow (S1201). The routing request message may include a flow ID for a new traffic flow, an RX sector index for receiving traffic corresponding to the flow ID, a TX sector index for transmitting traffic corresponding to the flow ID, a target sector ID, and the like.

The XCU may receive new traffic flows in sector # 2 and forward the received new traffic flows to sector # 5. When sector # 5 sets a path for delivery to a sector of another XDU, the XCU may transmit a path setting request message to the XDU (S1202). If sector # 2 of the XDU is activated, the routing request message may be sent to sector # 2 of the XDU. The XDU may receive a routing request message from the XCU, and may check a flow ID, an RX sector index, a TX sector index, a target sector ID, and the like included in the routing request message. The target sector ID may indicate a sector of another XDU located on the path. When communication between the XCU and the XDU is performed, a message may be transmitted through an H3 interface (eg, an H3 interface based on the MH3C protocol) set between the XCU and the XDU.

If XDU-specific path setting is performed instead of sector-by-sector, sectors in the XDU may not be set by the XCU. That is, the forwarding rule in the XDU may not be set by the XCU. In this case, the forwarding rule (eg, MUTP based forwarding rule) for the sectors in the XDU may be set directly by the XDU. In comparison with the embodiment of FIG. 11, in the embodiment of FIG. 12, a procedure for transmitting a sector-specific path request message is not necessary, and a path request message between sectors within the same XDU need not be transmitted separately. In addition, in the embodiment of FIG. 12, traffic received in each of the sectors in the XDU may be transmitted through different sectors, and a backup path may be easily established.

Meanwhile, the path change procedure may be performed based on the path setting request message, and the path change procedure may be performed by sector or by XDU.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a first embodiment of a sector-based path changing method in an XHole network.

Referring to FIG. 13, the XHole network may include an XCU, an XDU, and the like. The XDU may consist of six sectors (eg, sectors # 0 through # 5). When a path change is requested to sector # 4 of the XDU while the paths for sectors # 2 and # 3 of the XDU are set, the XCU may generate a path setup request message requesting a path change (S1301). The routing request message may include a flow ID, a target sector ID, and the like. The XCU may transmit a route request message to sectors # 2 and # 3 of the XDU (S1302 and S1303).

The target sector ID included in the routing request message transmitted to each of sectors # 2 and # 3 of the XDU may indicate the ID of sector # 4 of the XDU. In addition, the XCU may transmit a path setup request message to sector # 4 of the XDU (S1304). The target sector ID included in the path setup request message transmitted to sector # 4 of the XDU may indicate a sector of another XDU located on the path. The path for sector # 4 of the XDU may be set based on the routing request message transmitted to each of sectors # 2, # 3, and # 4 of the XDU.

14 is a flowchart illustrating a first embodiment of a method for changing a path for each XDU in an XHole network.

Referring to FIG. 13, the XHole network may include an XCU, an XDU, and the like. The XDU may consist of six sectors (eg, sectors # 0 through # 5). When a path change is requested to sector # 4 of the XDU while the paths for sectors # 2 and # 3 of the XDU are set, the XCU may generate a path setup request message requesting a path change (S1401). The routing request message may include a flow ID, a target sector ID (eg, ID of sector # 4 of the XDU), and the like. The XCU may transmit a path setup request message to sector # 2 of the XDU (S1402). A path of sector # 4 of the XDU may be set based on one path request message sent to the XDU.

On the other hand, when the path for each XDU is set, the completion time of the path setting of each of the XDUs located on the path may be different, and before the path setting of all the XDUs constituting the path is completed, the ingress XDU is assigned to the new flow ID. According to the traffic can be transmitted. In this case, the traffic may not be successfully transmitted through XDUs located in the path. The path setting method to solve this problem is as follows.

FIG. 15A is a flowchart illustrating a first embodiment of a path setting method for a new traffic flow in an XHole network, and FIG. 15B is a first diagram of a method of activating a traffic classification rule when path setting is completed in the embodiment of FIG. 15A. A flowchart illustrating an embodiment.

15A and 15B, the XHole network may include XDU # 1, XDU # 2, XDU # 3, and XCU. Each of the XDU # 1, XDU # 2, XDU # 3, and XCU may be configured identically or similarly to the communication node 200 shown in FIG. 2, and the communication nodes 510, 520, and 530 shown in FIG. It may be composed of the same or similar sectors, may have a user plane protocol structure shown in FIG. 6, and may have a control plane protocol structure shown in FIG. 7A or 7B.

When a traffic transmission according to a new traffic flow is requested in a state in which the "XDU # 1-XDU # 2-XDU # 3-XCU" path is set, a path for a new traffic flow in the XHole network may be set. For example, the XCU may generate a route request message that includes a traffic classification rule, a forwarding rule (eg, forwarding table, forwarding entry), etc. to set up a route for a new traffic flow. The XCU may first establish a path with the remaining XDUs except for the ingress XDU among the XDUs (eg, XDUs # 1 to # 3) constituting the path for the new traffic flow. If XDU # 1 is an ingress XDU among the XDUs # 1 to # 3, the XCU may establish a path with the XDU # 1 after the path setting with the remaining XDUs (eg, XDUs # 2 and # 3) is completed.

For example, the XCU may transmit a route establishment request message to XDU # 3 (S1501). The XDU # 3 may receive a routing request message from the XCU, and check traffic classification rules, forwarding rules, and the like included in the routing request message. The XDU # 3 may transmit a path setting response message, which is a response to the path setting request message, to the XCU (S1502). The routing response message may indicate that processing of the routing request message is completed in XDU # 3 and that the wireless connection is valid in XDU # 3. The XCU may determine that the routing for the XDU # 3 is completed when the routing response message of the XDU # 3 is received. That is, when the exchange of the routing request / response message between the XCU and the XDU # 3 is completed, the routing for the XDU # 3 may be completed.

In addition, the XCU may transmit a path establishment request message for XDU # 2 to XDU # 3 (S1503). XDU # 3 may receive a routing request message for XDU # 2 from the XCU, and may transmit a routing request message for XDU # 2 to XDU # 2 (S1504). The XDU # 2 may receive a routing request message from the XDU # 3 and check the traffic classification rule, the forwarding rule, and the like included in the routing request message. The XDU # 2 may transmit a path setting response message, which is a response to the path setting request message, to the XDU # 3 (S1505). The XDU # 3 may receive a routing response message from the XDU # 2 and transmit a routing response message of the XDU # 2 to the XCU (S1506). The routing response message may indicate that processing of the routing request message is completed in XDU # 2 and that the wireless connection is valid in XDU # 2. The XCU may determine that the path setting for the XDU # 2 is completed when the path setting response message of the XDU # 2 is received. When the exchange of the routing request / response message between the XCU and the XDU # 2 is completed, the routing for the XDU # 2 may be completed.

Among the XDUs # 1 to # 3 constituting the path for the new traffic flow, the routing settings for the remaining XDUs (eg, XDU # 2 and # 3) except the ingress XDU (eg, XDU # 1) When completed, the XCU may transmit a path establishment request message for XDU # 1, which is an ingress XDU, to XDU # 3 (S1507). XDU # 3 may receive a routing request message for XDU # 1 from the XCU, and may transmit a routing request message for XDU # 1 to XDU # 2 (S1508). XDU # 2 may receive a routing request message for XDU # 1 from XDU # 3, and transmit a routing request message for XDU # 1 to XDU # 1 (S1509).

The XDU # 1 may receive a routing request message from the XDU # 2 and check the traffic classification rule, the forwarding rule, and the like included in the routing request message. The XDU # 1 may transmit a route setup response message to the XDU # 2 in response to the route setup request message (S1510). The XDU # 2 may receive a routing response message from the XDU # 1, and may transmit a routing response message of the XDU # 1 to the XDU # 3 (S1511). XDU # 3 may receive a routing response message of XDU # 1 from XDU # 2 and transmit a routing response message of XDU # 1 to the XCU (S1512). The routing response message may indicate that "processing of the routing request message has been completed in XDU # 1 and that the wireless connection is valid in XDU # 1". The XCU may determine that the path setting for the XDU # 1 is completed when the path setting response message of the XDU # 1 is received. When the exchange of the routing request / response message between the XCU and the XDU # 1 is completed, the routing for the XDU # 1 may be completed. XDU # 1, which is an ingress XDU, may transmit traffic by activating a traffic classification rule when routing is completed.

Alternatively, even when the path setting for the XDU # 1 is completed, the XDU # 1 may activate the traffic classification rule when the traffic classification rule activation message is received from the XCU. In this case, the order of setting each of the XDUs # 1 to # 3 may be independent of the ingress XDU. For example, routing of XDU # 1, which is an ingress XDU, may be performed before routing of XDU # 2 or # 3.

When the path setting for the new traffic flow is completed, the XCU may transmit a classification activation request message requesting activation of the traffic classification rule to XDU # 1, which is an ingress XDU. For example, the XCU may transmit a classification activation request message to XDU # 3 (S1513). The XDU # 3 may receive a classification activation request message from the XCU, and transmit a classification activation request message to the XDU # 2 (S1514). The XDU # 2 may receive a classification activation request message from the XDU # 3, and transmit a classification activation request message to the XDU # 1 (S1515). The XDU # 1 may transmit traffic by activating a traffic classification rule when a classification activation request message is received.

In addition, the XDU # 1 may transmit a classification activation response message, which is a response of the classification activation request message, to the XDU # 2 (S1516). The XDU # 2 may receive a classification activation response message from the XDU # 1, and may transmit a classification activation response message to the XDU # 3 (S1517). The XDU # 3 may receive a classification activation response message from the XDU # 2 and transmit a classification activation response message to the XCU (S1518). When the classification activation response message is received, the XCU may determine that the traffic classification rule is activated in XDU # 1.

Or, if a classification activation request message is used to activate the traffic classification rule, the routing request message for XDU # 1 may not include the traffic classification rule. For example, the routing request message for XDU # 1 may include only forwarding rules. In this case, the traffic classification rule may be transmitted to XDU # 1 through a classification activation request message. Accordingly, the XDU # 1 may check the forwarding rule from the routing request message and the traffic classification rule from the classification activation request message. The XDU # 1 may transmit traffic by activating a traffic classification rule after receiving a classification activation request message.

The methods according to the invention can be implemented in the form of program instructions that can be executed by various computer means and recorded on a computer readable medium. Computer-readable media may include, alone or in combination with the program instructions, data files, data structures, and the like. The program instructions recorded on the computer readable medium may be those specially designed and constructed for the present invention, or may be known and available to those skilled in computer software.

Examples of computer readable media include hardware devices that are specifically configured to store and execute program instructions, such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. Examples of program instructions include machine language code, such as produced by a compiler, as well as high-level language code that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like. The hardware device described above may be configured to operate with at least one software module to perform the operations of the present invention, and vice versa.

Although described with reference to the embodiments above, those skilled in the art will understand that the present invention can be variously modified and changed without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims below. Could be.

Claims (17)

A path establishment method performed by a first XHAul distributed unit (XDU) in an Xhaul network,
Establishing a link with a second XDU adjacent to the first XDU;
Transmitting an attach request message to an Xhaul centralized unit (XCU) via the second XDU;
Receiving, via the second XDU, an attach response message including a flow ID of the first XDU set by the XCU; And
And when the processing for the attach response message is completed, sending an attach complete message to the XCU via the second XDU. The method according to claim 1,
And the second XDU is an XDU found by a discovery procedure. The method according to claim 1,
The attach request message includes a global ID of the first XDU, information of sectors constituting the first XDU, and neighbor XDU information. The method according to claim 1,
If the first XDU consists of a plurality of sectors and two or more sectors among the plurality of sectors are activated, the attach request message is transmitted through one sector of the two or more sectors activated. How to set up. The method according to claim 1,
The route setting method,
Receiving a path setting request message from the second XDU requesting path setting for the first XDU when the attach procedure between the first XDU and the XCU is completed; And
And setting a path for the first XDU based on the path request message. The method according to claim 5,
The routing request message is generated by the XCU and includes the flow ID of the first XDU. The method according to claim 1,
The first XDU is composed of a plurality of sectors, and a second sector of the plurality of sectors is activated after an attach procedure between the first XDU and the XCU is performed through a first sector among the plurality of sectors. If yes,
Transmitting a sector addition request message including the flow ID and information of the second sector to the XCU via the second XDU; And
And receiving, via the second XDU, a sector addition response message that includes an ID of the second sector set by the XCU. A route setting method performed by the XCU in an Xhaul network including a plurality of XDUs and Xhaul centralized units,
Detecting a request for a new traffic flow in a state in which a first path between the plurality of XDUs and the XCU is established;
Setting a second path for the new traffic flow and the remaining XDU except for an ingress XDU among the plurality of XDUs; And
Establishing the ingress XDU and the second path. The method according to claim 8,
Wherein the request of the new traffic flow is received from an access network connected with the XHall network. The method according to claim 8,
The step of setting the second path for the remaining XDU and the new traffic flow,
Sending a routing request message including a traffic classification rule and a forwarding rule for the new traffic flow to the remaining XDUs; And
And receiving from the remaining XDU the routing response message that is a response to the routing request message. In claim 10,
The routing response message indicates that a radio connection is valid in the remaining XDU. The method according to claim 8,
The step of setting the ingress XDU and the second path,
When the setting of the second path for the remaining XDU is completed, sending a path establishment request message including a traffic classification rule and a forwarding rule for the new traffic flow to the ingress XDU; And
Receiving the routing response message from the ingress XDU that is a response to the routing request message. A route setting method performed by the XCU in an Xhaul network including a plurality of XDUs and Xhaul centralized units,
Detecting a request for a new traffic flow in a state in which a first path between the plurality of XDUs and the XCU is established;
Establishing a second path for the plurality of XDUs and the new traffic flow; And
And when the setting of the second path is completed, transmitting a classification activation request message requesting activation of a traffic classification rule to an ingress XDU among the plurality of XDUs. The method according to claim 13,
Wherein the request of the new traffic flow is received from an access network connected with the XHall network. The method according to claim 13,
The setting of the second path may include:
Transmitting a route request message including the traffic classification rule and the forwarding rule to each of the plurality of XDUs; And
And receiving, at each of the plurality of XDUs, the routing response message that is a response to the routing request message. The method according to claim 15,
The routing response message indicates that a radio connection is valid in each of the plurality of XDUs. The method according to claim 13,
The setting of the second path may include:
Transmitting a route request message to each of the plurality of XDUs; And
Receiving, at each of the plurality of XDUs, the routing response message that is a response to the routing request message;
The routing request message transmitted to the remaining XDUs other than the ingress XDU among the plurality of XDUs includes the traffic classification rule and the forwarding rule, and the routing request message sent to the ingress XDU is the forwarding rule. Wherein the traffic classification rule for the ingress XDU is transmitted via the classification activation request message.

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