TWI769944B - Message transmission method - Google Patents

Abstract

A message transmission method, adapted to a RAN intelligent controller (RIC) server, the RIC server comprises a management component, and the message transmission method comprises: receiving an application packet information from an application component, wherein the application packet information comprises an application message identification, and the application message identification comprises an application message type and a management port number of the management component, and selectively updating a management routing table of the management component by the management component according to the application message type.

Description

message transmission method

The present invention relates to a message transmission method.

With the widespread use of smartphones, the traffic on the mobile network is also increasing, which in turn causes the overload of the radio access network (RAN). Therefore, in order to allow telecom operators to have more authority when deploying mobile networks on the mobile access network, and to enable the traffic of the mobile access network to be effectively distributed, the open radio access network (open radio access network) , O-RAN) technology came into being.

According to the definition of the O-RAN Association, in the near-real time RAN intelligent controller (RIC) server, various procedures are executed on the E2 interface to adjust the parameters of the mobile access network (such as , adjust resource allocation, transmission rate, transmission priority, switch connection points, etc.), so that telecom operators can continue to operate on the mobile access network. However, when an application (xAPP) wants to transmit packet information to one or more components in the near real-time network intelligent control server, a collision may occur during the transmission of the packet information, thereby preventing the components from being available on the E2 interface Execute various procedures efficiently.

In view of the above, the present invention provides a message transmission method to meet the above requirements.

A message transmission method according to an embodiment of the present invention is suitable for a network intelligent control server, and the network intelligent control server includes a management element, wherein the message transmission method includes: using the management element to receive from an application program element a program packet information, wherein the program packet information includes a program message identifier, and the program message identifier includes a program message type and a management port number of the management element; and the management element is selectively based on the program message type to update a management element routing table of the management element.

To sum up, according to the message transmission method shown in one or more embodiments of the present invention, by making the program message identifier of each packet information include the port number of the corresponding component, thereby making each packet information different from each other, it is possible to avoid Conflicts occur during the transmission of packet information, and the port number of the device on the destination side can be more clearly understood. Therefore, according to the message transmission method shown in one or more embodiments of the present invention, each element can further implement various procedures on the E2 interface. In addition, this case defines that different programs correspond to different program message types, so it can meet the needs of returning various information from the E2 interface by broadcasting, and can further complete the current Open Mobile Access Network (O-RAN) software. , E2 interface program functions such as E2 interface subscription (subscription), indicator report broadcast (indication report broadcast) that cannot be implemented by application program components (xApp) and components in the network intelligent control server.

The above description of the present disclosure and the following description of the embodiments are used to demonstrate and explain the spirit and principle of the present invention, and provide further explanation of the scope of the patent application of the present invention.

The detailed features and advantages of the present invention are described in detail below in the embodiments, and the content is sufficient to enable any person skilled in the relevant art to understand the technical content of the present invention and implement it accordingly, and according to the content disclosed in this specification, the scope of the patent application and the drawings , any person skilled in the related art can easily understand the related objects and advantages of the present invention. The following examples further illustrate the viewpoints of the present invention in detail, but do not limit the scope of the present invention in any viewpoint.

Before describing the message transmission method of the present invention, a network intelligent control server to which the message transmission method of the present invention is applicable will be described below. Please refer to FIG. 1 . FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a network intelligent control server suitable for a message transmission method according to an embodiment of the present invention. The message transmission method of the present invention is suitable for a network intelligent control server 1 , and the network intelligent control server 1 includes a management element 10 .

The network intelligent control server 1 is preferably a near-real time RAN (radio access network) intelligent controller (RIC) server. The management element 10 may be a routing table manager. The management element 10 is communicatively connected to an application xAPP, and the number of the application xAPP can be one or more, wherein the application xAPP is an extensible microservice (extensible microservice), which can intelligently control the network server for different applications Device 1 performs data monitoring and parameter adjustment. The management element 10 and the application program xAPP can communicate with each other through the application programming interface (API) of the RIC message router (RMR), and transmit data in the form of a bus.

Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 together, wherein FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a message transmission method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Step S01: Receive program packet information by the management element.

The management element 10 receives a program packet information from the application program xAPP in step S01, wherein the program packet information includes a program message identification code, and the program message identification code includes a program message type (message type) and a management port number of the management element 10 (port number). The program message type represents the number of the program that the application xAPP requests the network intelligent control server 1 to execute, such as initial procedure, setup procedure, etc., and the management port number is used to indicate the receiving program message type The port number of the object.

Please continue to refer to step S01. For example, the program message ID includes "1238888", where "123" is the program message type, and "8888" is the management port number. The program message ID indicates that the application xAPP requests the network The component with the port number "8888" in the intelligent control server 1 (in this example, the management component 10) receives or executes the program with the program message type "123".

Specifically, the application program xAPP can store a comparison table, and the comparison table records the correspondence between various programs and program message types, as shown in Table 1 below. The comparison table can be implemented in the form of comma-separated values (CSV), but the comparison table example of Table 1 is presented in the form of a table for the convenience of explanation.

Table 1 program message type program 123 initial program 234 setup program 345 Traffic Steering Program 900 Add component program

In addition, because the application program xAPP preferably communicates with the management element 10 in the network intelligent control server 1, the management element 10 executes the corresponding program according to the program packet information from the application program xAPP.

In another embodiment, if the application program xAPP is in communication connection with a plurality of components in the network intelligent control server 1, the comparison table can further record the port numbers of these components, and each program message type corresponds to to one or more port numbers. In other words, among the programs that can be executed by all the components of the network intelligent control server 1, there may be some programs that can only be executed by some components, so the comparison table can record the program message types of the partial programs and the execution of the Port number of the component of the partial program.

In addition, the program packet information preferably further includes a management address message corresponding to the management element 10 for indicating the object receiving the program message type, and the management address message includes an Internet protocol of the network intelligent control server 1 address (Internet protocol address) and the management port number. Taking the above program message identifier including "1238888" as an example, the management address message of the program packet information is the Internet Protocol address including the management port number "8888" and the management port number "8888" itself.

For example, if the IP address of the network intelligent control server 1 is "127.0.0.1", the management address information is "127.0.0.1:8888". More specifically, the complete program packet information preferably includes the repeatedly recorded management port number, that is, the complete program packet information is "1238888|127.0.0.1:8888", wherein "1238888" is the program information identification code, "127.0. 0.1:8888" is the management address message. Accordingly, the management element 10 can execute corresponding actions according to the program message type, and further allow the E2 interface to complete subsequent packet transmission. In addition, when the network intelligent control server 1 receives multiple packet information at the same time, by including the management port number in the program information identifier of the packet information, the conflict between the multiple packet information can be avoided.

For example, it is assumed that in step S01 of FIG. 2 , the management element 10 simultaneously receives two program packet information, namely the first program packet information and the second program packet information, and the message type of the first program packet information is The message format used for executing the setting program, and the message format of the second program packet information is a new message format used for adding new components in the network intelligent control server 1 . Since the respective program message identifiers of the first program packet information and the second program packet information both include the program message type and the port number of the management element 10, if the two program message identifiers are different from each other, even if the first program packet information Both the first program packet information and the second program packet information are sent to the management element 10, and there is no conflict between the first program packet information and the second program packet information.

Step S03: Selectively update the routing table of the management element according to the program packet information by the management element.

After the management element 10 receives the program packet information, if the program message type is used to instruct other elements in the network intelligent control server 1 to execute the above-mentioned initial program, setting program, etc., the management element 10 may not update in step S03 Manage the element routing table, and directly execute subsequent actions, such as the above-mentioned initial program, setting program, etc.; if the program message type is used to instruct the network intelligent control server 1 to add a new element, the management element 10 is in step S03. The management element routing table can be updated according to the program message type, and the steps of adding elements can be performed.

In order to describe in more detail the steps of updating the management element routing table by the management element 10 and performing the steps of adding a new element, please refer to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 together, wherein FIG. 3 is a message transmission method according to another embodiment of the present invention. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of a network intelligent control server suitable for a message transmission method according to another embodiment of the present invention. Step S01 in FIG. 3 is the same as step S01 in FIG. 2 , so the content of step S01 will not be repeated here. The architecture of FIG. 4 is substantially the same as the architecture of FIG. 1, but the difference is that the network intelligent control server 1 of FIG. is a remote element, and for other application elements can be a local element. The resident element 11 may be a subscription manager, a radio connection manager, a quality of service (QoS) manager, etc. The present invention does not limit the type of the resident element 11 .

It should be noted that the management element 10 stores a management element routing table, and the management element routing table records the port numbers of all elements in the network intelligent control server 1 . That is, the management element routing table records the port numbers of the resident elements 11, and if the network intelligent control server 1 further includes other resident elements, the management element routing table can record the port numbers of the other resident elements. In addition, the management element routing table further records the program corresponding to each program message type, for example, the program message type corresponding to the initial program is "123", the program message type corresponding to the setting program is "224", and so on. In short, as shown in Table 2 below, the management element routing table records the correspondence between the program message type, the program that the management element 10 needs to execute, and the port number of the resident element, and the port number of the resident element represents the A resident element that needs to be notified or adjusted of parameters/functions, etc., when the corresponding program is executed (or when the program is executed). For example, when the program message type is "224", the resident element that needs to be notified or adjusted parameters/functions, etc., is the element with the port number "4567", and the management element routing table and the comparison table can have the same program message The pattern indicates the same procedure, but the invention is not limited thereto. In addition, since the initial program is executed by the management element 10, the field of the port number of the resident element may not record any port number.

Table 2 program message type program Port number of the resident component 123 initial program - 234 setup program 4567 345 data transfer guide 5678 900 Add component program 4567,5678

When the program message type received by the management element 10 in step S01 is a new message type for adding a new element to the network intelligent control server 1, the management element 10 executes step S03': Program packet information updates the management element routing table. The new message type indicates that the application program element xAPP requests to add a new element in the network intelligent control server 1 .

For example, when the above-mentioned comparison table records that the program message type of the newly added element is "900", the management element 10 can update the management element routing table to add the port number of the newly added element to the management element routing table. The above Table 2 and Table 3 are taken as examples, in which Table 3 is the updated management element routing table, the port number of the newly added element is "9123", and the port number "9123" is added to the resident element corresponding to the newly added element program the port number field. That is to say, after completing the update of the routing table of the management component, the port number of the newly added component will be listed as the port number of the resident component.

table 3 program message type program Port number of the resident component 123 initial program - 234 setup program 4567 345 data transfer guide 5678 900 Add component program 4567, 5678, 9123

Next, please refer to step S05: generating the first packet information according to the new message type by the management element.

After updating the routing table of the management element, the management element 10 can generate the first packet information according to the newly added message type. The first packet information includes a first message identifier of the resident element 11 , and the first message identifier includes a first message type and a first port number of the resident element 11 . Assuming that the message type of the new component program is "900", the network intelligent control server 1 only includes the resident component 11, and the first port number of the resident component 11 is "4567", the first message of the first packet information The type is "900", the first port number of the first packet information is "4567", and the first message identification code is "9004567".

In addition, the first packet information preferably further includes a first address message corresponding to the resident element 11 , and the first address message includes the IP address and the first port number of the network intelligent control server 1 . Assuming that the IP address of the network intelligent control server 1 is "127.0.0.1", the first address message is "127.0.0.1:4567". More specifically, the complete first packet information preferably includes the repeatedly recorded first port number, that is, the complete first packet information is "9004567|127.0.0.1:4567", wherein "9004567" is the first message identification code , "127.0.0.1:4567" is the first address message.

After generating the first packet information, the management element 10 then executes step S07 : broadcasting (broadcasting) the first packet information to the resident element. In step S07 , the management element 10 needs to broadcast the first packet information to the resident element 11 to notify the resident element 11 that a new element is added to the network intelligent control server 1 .

Next, in step S09, the management element 10 receives the addition result information from the resident element 11, and returns the addition result information to the application program element xAPP, so as to notify the application program element xAPP of the execution result of the addition element program. The added result information may include acknowledgment information (acknowledgment, ACK) for informing the application component xAPP that the resident component 11 of the network intelligent control server 1 has received the instruction to add the component. The added result information can also include the port number "9123" of the added component, which is used to inform the application component that the xAPP network intelligent control server 1 has completed the process of adding the component, and the resident component 11 has been The port number completes updating the routing table of the resident element 11 itself.

In addition, the network intelligent control server 1 may further include a database communicatively connected to the management element 10, and the database is used for storing the routing table of the management element. After step S01 and before step S03 ′ in FIG. 3 , the management element 10 of the network intelligent control server 1 can obtain a default routing table according to the management element routing table in the database, and use the default routing table as a new addition A routing table for an element, wherein a preset routing table manages at least a portion of the routing table for the element. The default routing table not only records the executable programs of the newly added components and the corresponding program message types, but also records the port numbers of the resident components that will communicate with the resident components when the programs are executed. Taking the management element routing table in Table 2 as an example, since the initial program is executed by the management element 10, Table 4 may not include the data related to the initial program. In addition, if the newly added component needs to communicate with the resident component whose port number is "4567" when executing the setup procedure in the future, Table 4 can correspondingly record the program message type "234" and the resident component port number "4567".

Table 4 program message type program Port number of the resident component 234 setup program 4567 900 Add component program 4567,5678

Next, after obtaining the preset routing table, the management element 10 can execute step S03' in FIG. 3 .

According to the embodiment of FIG. 3 , the management element 10 can add a new element to the network intelligent control server 1 according to the first message type. In addition, when the network intelligent control server 1 includes a plurality of resident elements, by connecting the string of the message type to the string of the port number, it is possible to avoid the conflict between a plurality of packet information sent to the resident elements.

In order to more specifically describe the implementation of sending a plurality of packet information to a plurality of resident elements, please refer to FIG. 5 , wherein FIG. 5 shows the structure of a network intelligent control server suitable for the information transmission method according to another embodiment of the present invention Schematic. The network intelligent control server 1 of FIG. 5 includes a management element 10 , a first resident element 11 and a second resident element 12 , wherein the first resident element 11 and the second resident element 12 are both communicatively connected to the management element 10 . The management element 10 can communicate with the first resident element 11 and the second resident element 12 through the application programming interface of the network intelligent control message routing, and the data transmission is performed in the form of a bus. The first resident element 11 can be the resident element 11 of FIG. 4 , that is, the port number of the first resident element 11 is “4567”, and the port number of the second resident element 12 can be “5678”.

Similar to the embodiment of FIG. 3 , when the program message type received by the management element 10 is a new message type for adding a new element to the network intelligent control server 1, the management element 10 can The management element routing table is updated, and a first packet information and a second packet information are generated according to the newly added message type. The first packet information includes a first message identification code corresponding to the first resident element 11 , and the first message identification code includes a first message type and a first port number of the first resident element 11 . Taking Table 2 as an example, the message type of the new component program is "900", and the first port number of the first resident component 11 is "4567", then the first message identification code is "9004567".

The second packet information includes a second message identification code corresponding to the second resident element 12 , and the second message identification code includes a second message type and a second port number of the second resident element 12 . Taking Table 2 as an example, the message type of the newly added component program is "900", and the second port number of the second resident component 12 is "5678", then the second message identification code is "9005678".

In addition, the first packet information preferably further includes a first address message of the first resident element 11, and the first address message includes an Internet Protocol address and a first port number. Taking the IP address of the network intelligent control server 1 as "127.0.0.1" as an example, the first address message is "127.0.0.1:4567", and the complete first packet information is "9004567| 127.0.0.1:4567".

Similarly, the second packet information preferably further includes a second address message of the second resident element 12 , and the second address message includes the Internet Protocol address and the second port number. Taking the IP address of the network intelligent control server 1 as "127.0.0.1" as an example, the second address information is "127.0.0.1:5678", and the complete second packet information is "9005678| 127.0.0.1:5678".

Then, the management element 10 can broadcast the first packet information to the first resident element 11 and broadcast the second packet information to the second resident element 12, and avoid conflicts between broadcasts of the first packet information and the second packet information. For example, the first message ID of the first packet information is "9004567", and the second message ID of the second packet information is "9005678", although the first message ID and the second message ID have the same message type (both are "900"), but because the first message ID and the second message ID each contain the port number of the destination of the packet, the first message ID and the second message ID are different from each other, so the first message ID and the second message ID are different from each other. The information of one packet and the information of the second packet will not conflict during the transmission process. The implementation manner of broadcasting the first packet information and the second packet information by the management element 10 is the same as that of step S07 in FIG. 3 , so it is not repeated here.

After broadcasting the first packet information and the second packet information, the management element 10 can receive a first addition result information from the first resident element 11 and a second addition result information from the second resident element 12, and send The first added result information and the second added result information are returned to the application component xAPP. The first added result information and the second added result information may be acknowledgement information (ACK) or the port number of the added element, etc., wherein the management element 10 receives the first and second added result information, and sends the first and second added result information. The implementation manner of returning the newly added result information to the application element xAPP is the same as that of step S09 in FIG. 3 , so it will not be repeated here.

To sum up, according to the message transmission method shown in one or more embodiments of the present invention, by making the program message identifier of each packet information include the port number of the corresponding component, thereby making each packet information different from each other, it is possible to avoid Conflicts occur during the transmission of packet information, and the port number of the device on the destination side can be more clearly understood. Therefore, according to the message transmission method shown in one or more embodiments of the present invention, each element can further implement various procedures on the E2 interface. In addition, this case defines that different programs correspond to different program message types, so it can meet the needs of returning various information from the E2 interface by broadcasting, and can further complete the current Open Mobile Access Network (O-RAN) software. , E2 interface program functions such as E2 interface subscription (subscription), indicator report broadcast (indication report broadcast) that cannot be implemented by application program components (xApp) and components in the network intelligent control server.

Although the present invention is disclosed in the foregoing embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Changes and modifications made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention belong to the scope of patent protection of the present invention. For the protection scope defined by the present invention, please refer to the attached patent application scope.

1: Network intelligent control server 10: Management Components 11: Resident element/first resident element 12: Second resident element xAPP: application component S01, S03, S03’, S05, S07, S09: Steps

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a network intelligent control server suitable for a message transmission method according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a message transmission method according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a message transmission method according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a network intelligent control server suitable for a message transmission method according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a network intelligent control server suitable for a message transmission method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

S01, S03: Steps

Claims (10)

A message transmission method is suitable for a network intelligent control server, the network intelligent control server includes a management element, wherein the message transmission method includes: receiving, with the management element, a program packet information from an application program element, wherein the program packet information includes a program message identifier, and the program message identifier includes a program message type and a management port number of the management element; and The management element selectively updates a management element routing table of the management element according to the program message type. The message transmission method of claim 1, wherein the program packet information further includes a management address message corresponding to the management element, and the management address message includes an internet protocol bit of the network intelligent control server address and the management port number. The message transmission method of claim 1, wherein when the program message type is used to add a new message type of a new element to the network intelligent control server, the management element is updated according to the program packet information The management element routing table of the management element. The message transmission method according to claim 3, wherein the network intelligent control server further comprises a resident element that is communicatively connected to the management element, and after the management element is used to update the management element routing table according to the program packet information, the The message transmission method further includes: using the management element to generate a first packet information according to the new message type; broadcasting the first packet information to the resident element with the management element; and receiving a new addition result information from the resident element with the management element, and The newly added result information is returned to the application program element, wherein the first packet information includes a first message identification code corresponding to the resident element, and the first message identification code includes a first message type and the resident element. A first port number. The message transmission method of claim 4, wherein the first packet information further includes a first address message corresponding to the resident element, and the first address message includes the Internet Protocol address and the first address port number. The message transmission method according to claim 3, wherein the network intelligent control server further comprises a first resident element and a second resident element, which are connected to the management element, and are updated by the management element according to the program packet information After the management element routing table, the message transmission method further includes: using the management element to generate a first packet information and a second packet information according to the new message type; broadcasting the first packet information to the first resident element and the second packet information to the second packet using the management element a resident element; and the management element receives a first newly added result information from the first resident element, and receives a second newly added result information from the second resident element, and combines the first newly added result information with the The second newly added result information is returned to the application program element; wherein the first packet information includes a first message identifier corresponding to the first resident element, and the first message identifier includes a first message type and the first message identifier. A first port number of a resident element; the second packet information includes a second message identifier corresponding to the second resident element, and the second message identifier includes a second message type and a Second port number. The message transmission method as claimed in claim 6, wherein: The first packet information further includes a first address message corresponding to the first resident element, and the first address information includes the Internet Protocol address and the first port number; and the second packet information further A second address message corresponding to the second resident element is included, and the second address message includes the Internet Protocol address and the second port number. The message transmission method according to claim 3, wherein the network intelligent control server further comprises a database connected to the management element, and the database stores the management element routing table, and the message transmission method further comprises: obtaining a default routing table by the network intelligent control server according to the management element routing table in the database, wherein the default routing table is at least a part of the management element routing table; using the default routing table as the adding a routing table of an element; and updating the management element routing table with a new port number of the added element. The message transmission method according to claim 1, wherein when the program packet information is received from the application program element by the management element, the message transmission method further comprises: Another program packet information is received by the management element, and the other program packet information includes another message type and the management port number, wherein the other program packet information is different from the program message type. The message transmission method according to claim 1, wherein the network intelligent control server is a near real-time network intelligent control server.

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