KR20210081980A - System and method for monitoring traffic of base station based on Open Radio Access Network - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed are an ORAN-based base station traffic monitoring system and a method thereof. In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the ORAN-based base station traffic monitoring system includes: a fronthaul communication part communicating with the DU through a fronthaul; a signal processing part, which is a signal processing part, performing some physical layer functions of a base station in accordance with ORAN standards, and processing a downlink signal received through the fronthaul communication part to convert the downlink signal into an analog signal, or processing an uplink signal received through an antenna to convert the uplink signal into a digital signal to transmit the digital signal to the DU through the fronthaul communication part; a radio frequency (RF) signal processing part processing the downlink signal, converted into the analog signal by the signal processing part as an RF signal, or processing the uplink signal received through the antenna as an RF signal to deliver the RF signal to the signal processing part; and a traffic determination part monitoring wireless communication resources allocated to downlink signals or uplink signals by a resource block to compare the amount of allocated resource blocks to a predetermined reference value, thereby determining traffic of a downlink or an uplink. Therefore, the present invention is capable of monitoring base station traffic while simplifying operation processes.

Description

BACKGROUND ART System and method for monitoring traffic of base station based on Open Radio Access Network

The present invention relates to an ORAN-based base station traffic monitoring system and method, and more particularly, a base station traffic monitoring system and method for monitoring the traffic of the base station while performing a function of an RU interworking with the DU of the base station according to the ORAN standard is about

ORAN (Open Radio Access Network) is a wireless access network based on NR (New Radio) technology, a 5th generation mobile communication established by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). ) and provides a standard for interworking between them.

In the existing technology, since the RU of the base station processes only the RF signal of the time domain, the RU of the base station can monitor the allocation and usage of radio communication resources composed of the time domain and the frequency domain. There is a problem that it cannot.

In addition, as disclosed in Korean Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-2018-0137397, the existing technology dynamically sets resources between constituent devices when a base station is configured with a plurality of constituent devices, but based on the determination of base station traffic Since it does not, there is a problem that the traffic condition of the base station cannot be reflected in real time.

The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is a base station traffic monitoring system that simplifies the configuration and operation process of the base station based on the ORAN standard, reduces the base station construction cost, and reflects the base station traffic situation in real time to promote efficient use of wireless communication resources and to provide a method.

An ORAN-based base station traffic monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention performs a function of a RU (Radio Unit) interworking with a DU (Digital Unit) of a base station according to an Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) standard, and A system for monitoring traffic, comprising: a fronthaul communication unit configured to communicate with the DU through a fronthaul; A signal processing unit that performs some of the physical layer (PHY) functions of a base station according to the ORAN standard, and converts a downlink signal received through the fronthaul communication unit in the DU into an analog signal, or is received through an antenna a signal processing unit that converts and processes an uplink signal into a digital signal and transmits it to the DU through the fronthaul communication unit; an RF signal processing unit that processes the downlink signal converted into an analog signal by the signal processing unit as a radio frequency (RF) signal and transmits it through an antenna, or processes the uplink RF signal received through the antenna and transmits it to the signal processing unit; and determining downlink or uplink traffic by monitoring the radio communication resources allocated to downlink signals or uplink signals in units of resource blocks and comparing the amount of allocated resource blocks with a predetermined reference value. It includes a traffic determination unit.

In an embodiment, the signal processing unit, when a downlink signal is received through the fronthaul communication unit, performs an inverse Fast Fourier Transform (iFFT) on the corresponding signal and adds a cyclic prefix (CP) to the signal, followed by analog It is configured to perform the function of converting into a signal.

In one embodiment, the signal processing unit, when the uplink signal is transmitted from the RF signal processing unit, a function of converting the corresponding signal into a digital signal, and separating a PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel) signal from among the converted digital signals. It is configured to perform a function of transmitting to the fronthaul communication unit and a function of removing a CP (Cyclic Prefix) of the converted digital signal and performing Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to transmit the function to the fronthaul communication unit.

In an embodiment, the fronthaul communication unit is configured to convert the PRACH signal and the uplink signal transmitted from the signal processing unit into Ethernet packets and transmit them to the DU through the fronthaul.

In an embodiment, the traffic determination unit checks the size of a signal mapped to another resource element other than the resource element allocated to the control and reference signals among the resource elements constituting the resource block to determine the corresponding resource block. is configured to determine whether to allocate

In an embodiment, the traffic determining unit is configured to determine the resource block including the other resource element as the allocated resource block when the absolute value of the magnitude of the signal mapped to the other resource element is greater than a predetermined reference value. is composed

In an embodiment, the system comprises: one master device including the fronthaul communication unit, the signal processing unit, and the traffic determination unit; and a plurality of slave devices each including the RF signal processing unit and an antenna for transmitting and receiving RF signals, the plurality of slave devices dividing and covering a plurality of cells or a plurality of layers.

In one embodiment, the master device, the wireless communication resource of a specific cell or a specific layer among the wireless communication resources of a plurality of cells or a plurality of layers is used relatively more than other cells or other layers, or more than a predetermined amount When used, the method further includes a slave device manager for managing a slave device using a radio communication resource of the specific cell or a specific layer among the plurality of slave devices to use a wireless communication resource of another cell or layer.

In an embodiment, the slave device manager is configured such that, among radio communication resources of a plurality of cells or of a plurality of layers, a radio communication resource of a specific cell or a specific layer is used relatively less than another cell or other layer or less than a predetermined amount. When it is used less, it is configured to reduce the power used by the slave device using the wireless communication resource of the specific cell or specific layer among the plurality of slave devices.

The ORAN-based base station traffic monitoring method according to an embodiment of the present invention communicates with the DU of the base station according to the Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) standard through a fronthaul and uses a computer system that performs the RU function of the base station. A method for monitoring traffic, the method comprising: converting, by the system, a downlink signal received through the fronthaul from the DU into an analog signal; processing, by the system, a downlink signal converted into an analog signal as a radio frequency (RF) signal and transmitting the signal through an antenna; and determining, by the system, a radio communication resource allocated to downlink signals in units of resource blocks and comparing the amount of allocated resource blocks with a predetermined reference value.

In an embodiment, the converting to the analog signal comprises: after the system performs inverse Fast Fourier Transform (iFFT) on the downlink signal received through the fronthaul and adds a cyclic prefix (CP); converting to an analog signal.

In one embodiment, the method comprises: processing, by the system, an uplink RF signal received via an antenna; converting, by the system, the processed signal into a digital signal, further processing, and transmitting the processed signal to the DU through the fronthaul; and determining, by the system, a radio communication resource allocated to uplink signals in units of resource blocks and comparing the amount of allocated resource blocks with a predetermined reference value to determine uplink traffic.

In one embodiment, the step of transmitting to the DU comprises: converting the signal processed in the step of processing the uplink RF signal into a digital signal; separating a PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel) signal from among the converted digital signals; and removing CP (Cyclic Prefix) of the converted digital signal and performing Fast Fourier Transform (FFT).

In one embodiment, in the method, after performing the FFT, the system converts the PRACH signal and an uplink signal on which the FFT is performed into an Ethernet packet to the DU through the fronthaul. It further comprises the step of transmitting.

In an embodiment, the determining of the downlink traffic includes determining the magnitude of a signal mapped to other resource elements except for resource elements allocated to control and reference signals among resource elements constituting a resource block. and determining whether to allocate the corresponding resource block by checking.

In one embodiment, the determining of whether to allocate the resource block including the other resource element when the absolute value of the magnitude of the signal mapped to the other resource element is greater than a predetermined reference value and determining a block.

Embodiments according to the present invention may be implemented using a computer program recorded in a recording medium as a computer program for executing the above-described operation or method through a computer system.

According to the present invention, the base station traffic monitoring system performs some of the PHY functions (L-PHY) according to the ORAN standard without using a separate signal for traffic measurement to improve the function of the radio unit (RU) and the traffic monitoring function. By performing simultaneously, it is possible to monitor the base station traffic in real time while simplifying the configuration and operation process of the ORAN standard-based base station.

In addition, the base station traffic monitoring system is composed of one master device performing signal processing and monitoring functions and a plurality of slave devices performing signal transmission/reception functions, and results of real-time determination of traffic conditions of each cell or each layer By adjusting the wireless communication resources used in each slave device based on the , it is possible to reduce the cost of constructing the base station and to promote efficient use of the wireless communication resources.

Furthermore, those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains will clearly understand from the following description that various embodiments according to the present invention can solve various technical problems not mentioned above.

1 is a block diagram showing a general base station structure.
2 is a block diagram illustrating an ORAN-based base station traffic monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a block diagram illustrating an ORAN-based base station traffic monitoring system according to another embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a flowchart illustrating a downlink traffic determination process of an ORAN-based base station traffic monitoring method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a flowchart illustrating an uplink traffic determination process of an ORAN-based base station traffic monitoring method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in order to clarify solutions to the technical problems of the present invention. However, in the description of the present invention, if the description of the related known technology rather obscures the gist of the present invention, the description thereof will be omitted. In addition, the terms used in this specification are terms defined in consideration of functions in the present invention, and these may vary according to the intentions or customs of designers, manufacturers, and the like. Therefore, definitions of terms to be described below should be made based on the content throughout this specification.

1 is a block diagram of a typical base station structure.

As shown in Figure 1, in a typical base station structure, a fronthaul (fronthaul) 30 in which a DU (Digital Unit) 10 in a centralized office and a RU (Radio Unit) 20 as a wireless device in a cell site are wired networks. ) to communicate with each other. In this case, the DU 10 is RRC (Radio Resource Control) 11, PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Control) 12, RLC (Radio Link Control) 13, MAC (Medium Access Control) (14), PHY (Physical layer) 15 is configured to perform most of the functions of the base station. On the other hand, the RU 20 is configured to include only the RF signal processing unit 22 and the antenna 24 having a radio frequency (RF) signal processing function.

Accordingly, in the base station structure as shown in FIG. 1 , since the RU 20 processes only RF signals of a time domain, traffic such as whether radio resources composed of a time domain and a frequency domain are allocated and how much is used Monitoring cannot be performed. In order for the RU 20 of the base station structure to know the traffic information of the radio communication resource, it must separately receive the corresponding information from the DU 10 .

On the other hand, even in the ORAN standard-based 5G base station structure, the DU (or O-DU) in the central office and the RU (or O-RU) in the cell site are configured to perform mutual communication through a wired fronthaul. However, in the ORAN standard, in order to reduce the transmission capacity of the fronthaul, the PHY function processed in the existing DU is separated so that the H-PHY (High PHY) function is processed by the DU and the L-PHY (Low PHY) is processed by the RU. . Accordingly, the present invention proposes a system and method for monitoring the traffic condition of a radio communication resource based on the L-PHY function without receiving additional information on the RU side.

2 is a block diagram illustrating an ORAN-based base station traffic monitoring system 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the ORAN-based base station traffic monitoring system 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention interworks with the DU (Digital Unit) 100 of the base station according to the ORAN (Open Radio Access Network) standard. It performs a function of a radio unit (RU) and is configured to monitor traffic of the base station. To this end, the system 200 may include a fronthaul communication unit 210 , a signal processing unit 220 , an RF signal processing unit 230 , an antenna 240 , and a traffic determination unit 250 .

The fronthaul communication unit 210 is configured to transmit and receive packet signals to and from the fronthaul communication unit 120 of the DU 100 through the fronthaul 130 .

The signal processing unit 220 is configured according to option 7-2a of the ORAN standard and configured to perform some functions (L-PHY) of the PHY (Physical layer) functions of the base station, and the signal processing unit 220 is the DU 100 ) by processing a downlink signal received through the fronthaul communication unit 210 to convert it into an analog signal, or converts and processes an uplink signal received through the antenna 240 into a digital signal to convert the fronthaul communication unit 210 into a digital signal. It may be configured to transmit to the DU 100 through the DU 100 .

The signal processing unit 220 may be configured according to option 7-2a of the ORAN standard that separates the downlink PHY function of the base station into H-PHY and L-PHY. That is, when a downlink signal is received through the fronthaul communication unit 210 , the signal processing unit 220 performs Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) on the corresponding signal and adds a Cyclic Prefix (CP), followed by an analog signal. It may be configured to perform a function of converting to . In this case, scrambling, modulation, layer mapping, precoding, and RE mapping functions may be included in the H-PHY 110 of the DU 100 .

For example, the DU 100 converts a downlink RE signal generated in the H-PHY 110 and mapped to a resource element (RE) into an Ethernet packet through the fronthaul communication unit 120 and the fronthaul 130 . ) through the base station traffic monitoring system 200 that performs the RU function. The RE signal is the smallest unit of radio resource, and the frequency domain consists of one subcarrier, and the time domain consists of one Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol. The minimum unit of radio communication resource allocation is a resource block (RB), and one RB is composed of several REs.

The system 200 converts the Ethernet packet received through the fronthaul communication unit 210 into a downlink RE signal and transmits it to the signal processing unit 220 having an L-PHY function. The downlink signal processing unit 222 of the signal processing unit 220 performs IFFT and CP addition functions on the received downlink RE signal, adds CP after IFFT processing, and converts the corresponding digital signal into an analog signal.

Meanwhile, the RF signal processing unit 230 processes the downlink signal converted into an analog signal by the signal processing unit 220 as a radio frequency (RF) signal and transmits it through the antenna 240 or receives it through the antenna 240 . It is configured to process the uplink RF signal and transmit it to the signal processing unit 220 . That is, in the case of downlink signal processing, the RF signal processing unit 230 may be configured to process the downlink RE signal as an RF signal and radiate the downlink RF signal to the terminal through the antenna 240 .

The traffic determining unit 250 monitors the radio communication resources allocated to downlink signals or uplink signals in units of RBs (Resource Block) during the signal processing process of the signal processing unit 220, and the amount of allocated RBs is configured to determine downlink or uplink traffic by comparing with a predetermined reference value.

In this case, the traffic determining unit 250 determines whether to allocate the RB by checking the size of a signal mapped to another RE except for the RE allocated to the control and reference signals among the resource elements (REs) constituting the RB. can be configured to For example, when the absolute value of the magnitude of the signal mapped to the other RE is greater than a predetermined reference value, the traffic determination unit 250 may be configured to determine the RB including the other RE as an allocated resource block. .

To this end, the signal processing unit 220 must be able to transmit the received downlink RE signal to the traffic determination unit 250 for each MIMO layer. _{The traffic determiner 250 may check whether resources are allocated in units of RE samples (x k,l} ) for the received downlink RE signal (k = subcarrier number, l = OFDM symbol number). In one embodiment, when the size of the corresponding RE sample is greater than 0 (|x _k,l | > 0 ), the traffic determining unit 250 determines the RB including the RE as an allocated resource block, and the corresponding RE If the sample size is 0 (|x _k,l | = 0), it may be determined that the RB including the corresponding RE has not been allocated so far.

As such, in the present invention, instead of determining whether to allocate all REs constituting the RB, the RB is not allocated to a specific RE, that is, a control and reference signal such as a DM-RS (Demodulation Reference Signal). to determine whether to allocate

Meanwhile, in the case of uplink signal transmission, the RF signal processing unit 230 processes the uplink RF signal received through the antenna 240 and transmits it to the signal processing unit 220 . Then, the uplink signal processing unit 224 of the signal processing unit 220 converts the processed signal into a digital signal, further processes it, and transmits it to the DU 100 through the fronthaul communication unit 210 .

The ORAN standard adopts option 7-2a that separates the uplink PHY function of the base station into H-PHY and L-PHY. Accordingly, when an uplink signal is transmitted from the RF signal processing unit 230 , the uplink signal processing unit 224 of the signal processing unit 220 converts the corresponding signal into a digital signal, and among the converted digital signals, PRACH (Physical Random) Access Channel) signal is separated and transmitted to the fronthaul communication unit, and a function to remove CP (Cyclic Prefix) of the converted digital signal and perform FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) to transmit the function to the fronthaul communication unit is composed

That is, in the case of PUxCH (PUSCH, PUCCH), which is a general channel during uplink signal transmission, De-scrambling, De-modulation, Equalization, iDFT (inverse Discrete Fourier Transform), Channel Estimation, and RE de-mapping functions of the DU 100 are Included in the H-PHY 110 , Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), CP removal, and analog to digital functions are included in the uplink signal processing unit 224 performing the L-PHY function. In addition, in the case of SRS (Sounding Reference Signal), Channel Estimation and RE de-mapping functions are included in H-PHY 110 of DU 100, and FFT and CP removal and Analog to Digital functions perform L-PHY functions. is included in the uplink signal processing unit 224 . In the case of PRACH, the detection and RE de-mapping functions are included in the H-PHY 110 of the DU 100, and the filtering and analog to digital functions are included in the uplink signal processing unit 224 performing the L-PHY function. .

Accordingly, the RF signal processing unit 230 that receives the uplink RF signal of the terminal through the antenna 240 processes the RF signal and transmits it to the uplink signal processing unit 224 . The uplink signal processing unit 224 converts the transmitted uplink RF signal (analog signal) into a digital signal, filters the PRACH signal among the converted digital signals, and transmits the filtered PRACH signal to the fronthaul communication unit 210 . In addition, in the case of general channels such as PUxCH and SRS, the uplink signal processing unit 224 removes the CP of the converted digital signal, performs FFT processing, and transmits the RE-mapped uplink RE signal to the fronthaul communication unit 210 .

In this case, the fronthaul communication unit 210 converts the PRACH signal and the uplink RE signal transmitted from the signal processing unit 220 into Ethernet packets, respectively, and transmits them to the DU 100 through the fronthaul 130 . .

In this case, the signal processing unit 220 performing the L-PHY function should be able to transmit the converted uplink RE signal to the traffic determination unit 250 for each MIMO layer. As mentioned above, the traffic determination unit 250 does not determine whether to allocate all REs constituting the RB, but the signal size mapped to other REs except for the REs allocated to control and reference signals such as SRS and PRACH. can be checked to determine whether the corresponding RB is allocated. In this case, when the absolute value of the magnitude of the signal mapped to the other RE is greater than a predetermined reference value, the traffic determination unit 250 may determine the RB including the other RE as the allocated resource block.

For example, the traffic determiner 250 _{checks whether resources are allocated in units of RE samples (y k,l} ) for the received uplink RE signal (k = subcarrier number, l = OFDM symbol number). In one embodiment, if the size of the RE sample is greater than 0 (|y _k,l | > 0), the traffic determination unit 250 determines the RB including the RE as an allocated resource block, and the corresponding RE If the size of the sample is 0 (|y _k,l | = 0), it may be configured to determine that the RB including the corresponding RE has not been allocated so far.

3 is a block diagram illustrating an ORAN-based base station traffic monitoring system 300 according to another embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3 , the ORAN-based base station traffic monitoring system 300 according to another embodiment of the present invention may include one master device 310 and a plurality of slave devices 320 .

The master device 310 may include a fronthaul communication unit 312 , a signal processing unit 314 , and a traffic determination unit 316 , and may further include a slave device manager 318 . The fronthaul communication unit 312 , the signal processing unit 314 , and the traffic determination unit 316 are components corresponding to the fronthaul communication unit 210 , the signal processing unit 220 , and the traffic determination unit 250 described with reference to FIG. 2 , respectively. to be. The master device 310 may be allocated radio communication resources of multiple cells and multiple layers from the DU 100, and distribute radio communication resources to a plurality of slave units 320 in units of cells or spatial layers. can

Each of the plurality of slave devices 320 includes an RF signal processing unit 322 and an antenna 324 for transmitting and receiving RF signals, and divides and covers a plurality of cells or a plurality of layers. The RF signal processing unit 322 and the antenna 324 of the slave device 320 have configurations corresponding to the RF signal processing unit 230 and the antenna 240 described with reference to FIG. 2 , respectively.

On the other hand, the slave device management unit 318 of the master device 310, the wireless communication resource of a specific cell or a specific layer among the wireless communication resources of a plurality of cells or a plurality of layers is used relatively more than other cells or other layers, or When more than a predetermined amount is used, the slave device using the radio communication resource of the specific cell or specific layer among the plurality of slave devices is managed to use the radio communication resource of another cell or layer.

In one embodiment, the slave device management unit 318 is a radio communication resource of a specific cell or a specific layer among the wireless communication resources of a plurality of cells or a plurality of layers is used relatively less than other cells or other layers, or a predetermined amount When used less, it may be configured to reduce the power used by the slave device using the wireless communication resource of the specific cell or specific layer among the plurality of slave devices.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a downlink traffic determination process of an ORAN-based base station traffic monitoring method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed operations of the base station traffic monitoring systems 200 and 300 will be described in time series with reference to FIG. 4 .

As shown in FIG. 4, the systems 200 and 300 are configured according to option 7-2a of the ORAN standard, and some functions (L-PHY) distributed to the RU among PHY (Physical layer) functions of the base station. It is configured to perform, so that the DU 100 may process a downlink signal received through the fronthaul communication unit 210 and convert it into an analog signal (S400). In this case, the systems 200 and 300 may perform Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) on the downlink signal, add a Cyclic Prefix (CP), and then convert it into an analog signal.

Next, the systems 200 and 300 process the downlink signal converted into an analog signal as a radio frequency (RF) signal and transmit it through an antenna (S410).

In this downlink signal processing process, the systems 200 and 300 monitor radio communication resources allocated to downlink signals in units of RBs and compare the amount of allocated RBs with a predetermined reference value to determine downlink traffic. can be (S420).

In this case, the systems 200 and 300 check the magnitude of signals mapped to other REs except for REs allocated to control and reference signals such as DM-RS (Demodulation Reference Signal) among REs constituting the RB. Whether to allocate the corresponding RB may be determined. Also, when the absolute value of the magnitude of the signal mapped to the other RE is greater than a predetermined reference value, the traffic determination unit 250 may determine the RB including the other RE as an allocated resource block.

Then, the systems 200 and 300 may appropriately control the base station according to the downlink traffic determination result (S430).

In one embodiment, the system 300 including a master device 310 and a plurality of slave devices 320 is a wireless communication resource of a specific cell or a specific layer among wireless communication resources of a plurality of cells or a plurality of layers. When this is used relatively more than other cells or other layers or is used more than a predetermined amount, the slave device using the radio communication resource of the specific cell or specific layer among the plurality of slave devices causes another cell or layer to be used. It can be managed to use the wireless communication resources of

In another embodiment, the system 300 uses a radio communication resource of a specific cell or a specific layer among the wireless communication resources of a plurality of cells or a plurality of layers is used relatively less than other cells or other layers, or a predetermined amount When less is used, power used by the slave device using the wireless communication resource of the specific cell or specific layer among the plurality of slave devices may be reduced.

5 is a flowchart illustrating an uplink traffic determination process of an ORAN-based base station traffic monitoring method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed operations of the base station traffic monitoring systems 200 and 300 will be described in time series with reference to FIG. 5 .

As shown in FIG. 5 , the systems 200 and 300 are configured according to option 7-2a of the ORAN standard and perform some functions (L-PHY) distributed to the RU among the PHY (Physical layer) functions of the base station. to process the uplink RF signal received through the antenna (S500), convert the processed signal into a digital signal, and further process it to be transmitted to the DU 100 through the fronthaul 130 (S510) . In this case, the systems 200 and 300 convert the processed RF signal into a digital signal, separate the PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel) signal from among the converted digital signals, and CP (Cyclic Prefix) of the converted digital signal ) and performing Fast Fourier Transform (FFT).

In addition, after performing the FFT, the systems 200 and 300 convert the PRACH signal and the uplink signal on which the FFT has been performed into Ethernet packets, and the DU 100 through the fronthaul 130 ) can be transmitted.

In this uplink signal processing process, the systems 200 and 300 monitor radio communication resources allocated to uplink signals in units of RBs and compare the amount of allocated RBs with a predetermined reference value to determine downlink traffic. It can be (S520).

In this case, the systems 200 and 300 check the size of signals mapped to other REs, except for REs allocated to control and reference signals such as SRS and PRACH, among REs constituting the RB, and whether the corresponding RB is allocated. can be judged Also, when the absolute value of the magnitude of the signal mapped to the other RE is greater than a predetermined reference value, the traffic determination unit 250 may determine the RB including the other RE as an allocated resource block.

Then, the systems 200 and 300 may appropriately control the base station according to the result of determining the uplink traffic (S530).

In one embodiment, the system 300 including a master device 310 and a plurality of slave devices 320 is a wireless communication resource of a specific cell or a specific layer among wireless communication resources of a plurality of cells or a plurality of layers. When this is used relatively more than other cells or other layers or is used more than a predetermined amount, the slave device using the radio communication resource of the specific cell or specific layer among the plurality of slave devices causes another cell or layer to be used. It can be managed to use the wireless communication resources of

In another embodiment, the system 300 uses a radio communication resource of a specific cell or a specific layer among the wireless communication resources of a plurality of cells or a plurality of layers is used relatively less than other cells or other layers, or a predetermined amount When less is used, power used by the slave device using the wireless communication resource of the specific cell or specific layer among the plurality of slave devices may be reduced.

Meanwhile, the embodiments according to the present invention may be implemented as a computer system and a computer program for driving the computer system. When the embodiments of the present invention are implemented as a computer program, the elements of the present invention are program segments that execute corresponding operations or tasks through a corresponding computer system. These computer programs or program segments may be stored in various computer-readable recording media. The computer-readable recording medium includes any type of medium for recording data readable by a computer system. For example, the computer-readable recording medium may include ROM, RAM, EEPROM, registers, flash memory, CD-ROM, magnetic tape, hard disk, floppy disk, or optical data recording device. In addition, such a recording medium may be distributed in various network-connected computer systems to store or execute program codes in a distributed manner.

As described above, according to the present invention, the base station traffic monitoring system performs some of the PHY functions (L-PHY) according to the ORAN standard without using a separate signal for traffic measurement, so that the radio unit (RU) functions and traffic monitoring function simultaneously, it is possible to monitor the base station traffic in real time while simplifying the configuration and operation process of the ORAN standard-based base station.

In addition, the base station traffic monitoring system is composed of one master device performing signal processing and monitoring functions and a plurality of slave devices performing signal transmission/reception functions, and results of real-time determination of traffic conditions of each cell or each layer By adjusting the wireless communication resources used in each slave device based on the , it is possible to reduce the cost of constructing the base station and to promote efficient use of the wireless communication resources.

Furthermore, it goes without saying that the embodiments according to the present invention can solve various technical problems other than those mentioned herein in the related technical field as well as the related technical field.

Up to now, the present invention has been described with reference to specific examples. However, those skilled in the art will clearly understand that various modified embodiments can be implemented within the technical scope of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments disclosed above should be considered in an illustrative rather than a restrictive point of view. That is, the scope of the true technical spirit of the present invention is indicated in the claims, and all differences within the scope of equivalents thereto should be construed as being included in the present invention.

200: base station traffic monitoring system 210: fronthaul communication unit
220: signal processing unit 222: downlink signal processing unit
224: uplink signal processing unit 230: RF signal processing unit
240: antenna

Claims (17)

An ORAN-based base station traffic monitoring system that performs a function of a radio unit (RU) interworking with a digital unit (DU) of a base station according to an Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) standard and monitors the traffic of the base station,
a fronthaul communication unit communicating with the DU through a fronthaul;
A signal processing unit that performs some of the physical layer (PHY) functions of a base station according to the ORAN standard, and converts a downlink signal received through the fronthaul communication unit in the DU into an analog signal, or is received through an antenna a signal processing unit that converts and processes an uplink signal into a digital signal and transmits it to the DU through the fronthaul communication unit;
an RF signal processing unit that processes the downlink signal converted into an analog signal by the signal processing unit as a radio frequency (RF) signal and transmits it through an antenna, or processes the uplink RF signal received through the antenna and transmits it to the signal processing unit; and
Traffic for determining downlink or uplink traffic by monitoring radio communication resources allocated to downlink signals or uplink signals in units of resource blocks and comparing the amount of allocated resource blocks with a predetermined reference value A base station traffic monitoring system including a determination unit. According to claim 1,
When the downlink signal is received through the fronthaul communication unit, the signal processing unit performs an inverse Fast Fourier Transform (iFFT) on the signal, adds a cyclic prefix (CP), and then converts the signal into an analog signal. A base station traffic monitoring system, characterized in that configured to perform. According to claim 1,
The signal processing unit, when the uplink signal is transmitted from the RF signal processing unit, has a function of converting the corresponding signal into a digital signal, and separating a PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel) signal from the converted digital signal and transmitting it to the fronthaul communication unit and a function of removing a CP (Cyclic Prefix) of the converted digital signal, performing Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), and transmitting the function to the fronthaul communication unit. 4. The method of claim 3,
The fronthaul communication unit is configured to convert the PRACH signal and the uplink signal transmitted from the signal processing unit into Ethernet packets and transmit the converted PRACH signal and the uplink signal to the DU through the fronthaul. According to claim 1,
The traffic determination unit determines whether to allocate the resource block by checking the size of a signal mapped to other resource elements except for the resource element allocated to the control and reference signals among the resource elements constituting the resource block. Base station traffic monitoring system, characterized in that configured. 6. The method of claim 5,
The traffic determining unit is configured to determine the resource block including the other resource element as the allocated resource block when the absolute value of the magnitude of the signal mapped to the other resource element is greater than a predetermined reference value. traffic monitoring system. According to claim 1,
The system is
one master device including the fronthaul communication unit, the signal processing unit, and the traffic determination unit; and
A plurality of slave devices each including the RF signal processing unit and an antenna for transmitting and receiving RF signals, the base station traffic monitoring system comprising a plurality of slave devices dividing and covering a plurality of cells or a plurality of layers. 8. The method of claim 7,
The master device, when the wireless communication resource of a specific cell or specific layer among the wireless communication resources of a plurality of cells or a plurality of layers is used relatively more than other cells or other layers or is used more than a predetermined amount, the plurality of Base station traffic monitoring system, characterized in that it further comprises a slave device management unit that manages the slave device using the radio communication resource of the specific cell or specific layer among the slave devices of the other cell or layer using the radio communication resource of another cell. . 9. The method of claim 8,
The slave device management unit, when the radio communication resource of a specific cell or specific layer among the radio communication resources of a plurality of cells or multiple layers is used relatively less than other cells or other layers or is used less than a predetermined amount, the Base station traffic monitoring system, characterized in that it is configured to reduce the power used by the slave device using the radio communication resource of the specific cell or specific layer among the plurality of slave devices. ORAN-based base station traffic that monitors the traffic of the base station using a computer system that communicates with a digital unit (DU) of a base station according to the Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) standard and fronthauls and performs a radio unit (RU) function. A monitoring method comprising:
converting, by the system, a downlink signal received through the fronthaul from the DU into an analog signal;
processing, by the system, a downlink signal converted into an analog signal as an RF (Radio Frequency) signal and transmitting it through an antenna; and
and determining, by the system, a wireless communication resource allocated to downlink signals in units of resource blocks and comparing the amount of allocated resource blocks with a predetermined reference value to determine downlink traffic. . 11. The method of claim 10,
The converting to the analog signal includes: performing inverse Fast Fourier Transform (iFFT) on the downlink signal received through the fronthaul by the system, adding a cyclic prefix (CP), and then converting to an analog signal Base station traffic monitoring method comprising a. 11. The method of claim 10,
The method is
processing, by the system, an uplink RF signal received through an antenna;
converting, by the system, the processed signal into a digital signal, further processing, and transmitting the processed signal to the DU through the fronthaul; and
The system further comprising the step of determining the uplink traffic by monitoring the radio communication resource allocated to the uplink signals in units of resource blocks and comparing the amount of the allocated resource blocks with a predetermined reference value How to monitor traffic. 13. The method of claim 12,
The step of transmitting to the DU includes:
converting the signal processed in the step of processing the uplink RF signal into a digital signal;
separating a PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel) signal from among the converted digital signals; and
Removing a CP (Cyclic Prefix) of the converted digital signal and performing Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). 14. The method of claim 13,
The method further includes, after performing the FFT, the system converting the PRACH signal and the FFT-performed uplink signal into an Ethernet packet and transmitting the PRACH signal to the DU through the fronthaul. Base station traffic monitoring method, characterized in that. 11. The method of claim 10,
In the determining of the downlink traffic, the size of a signal mapped to another resource element except for the resource element allocated to the control and reference signals among the resource elements constituting the resource block is checked to determine the size of the corresponding resource block. Base station traffic monitoring method comprising the step of determining whether to allocate. 16. The method of claim 15,
Determining whether to allocate, when the absolute value of the magnitude of the signal mapped to the other resource element is greater than a predetermined reference value, determining the resource block including the other resource element as the allocated resource block Base station traffic monitoring method comprising the. 17. A computer program for executing the method according to any one of claims 10 to 16 through a computer, and recorded on a computer-readable recording medium.

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