Patent Application
20080045206
The preferred embodiment of the present invention is described hereinafter referring to the charts and drawings. However, it is to be noted that the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below.
According to the embodiment of the present invention, there is set an initiation condition minimally required for restarting call processing in a plurality of call processing control units constituting a base station, and a maintenance supervision and control unit in the base station decides whether each call processing control unit satisfies the above initiation condition. Even when the entire plurality of call processing control units do not satisfy the initiation condition, only the call processing control unit satisfying the initiation condition is made to restart the call processing control. Thus, the suspension time of the base station is reduced, and the influence upon the user is restricted to the minimum.
Each of the plurality of call processing control units 30 may be provided for each of a plurality of frequency bands (1.7 GHz band, 2 GHz band, and so on). Or, in case that a redundant configuration is introduced or subscribers are accommodated separately, it may also be possible that the plurality of call processing control units 30 are provided for a single radio frequency band.
System data storage unit 10 stores system data i.e. basic data necessary for operating the base station, and is constituted of a nonvolatile memory.
Maintenance supervision & control unit 20 is a control unit for maintaining and supervising the operation condition of the base station, and is constituted of a hardware unit (called shelf) including the following functional portions, respectively realized as on-board hardware devices (computer devices called cards), mounted thereon.
A bus controller 21 in maintenance supervision & control unit 20 includes an arbitration function of a common bus for performing data transmission/reception between each card mounted on maintenance supervision & control unit 20, and manages which card has an access right at present.
An external equipment controller 22 controls external equipment attached to the base station. Typically, as external equipment, there are a low-noise amplifier, station building facilities, an antenna tilt controller, and so on. External equipment controller 22 has interfaces for controlling such the external equipment, and controls the external equipment by transmitting and receiving control signals to/from the external equipment through the above interfaces. For example, external equipment controller 22 confirms whether the low-noise amplifier is operated normally, checks whether the door of the facilities in the station building is kept closed, or whether the air-conditioner works well, and also changes the direction of the antenna tilt.
A database 23 is constituted of a memory for storing call processing traffic conditions. A controller 25 in maintenance supervision & control unit 20 stores the call processing traffic conditions into database 23 according to an instruction originated from upper-level equipment (operation center).
A file memory 24 includes a file storage for temporarily storing system data downloaded from system data storage unit 10, as well as fault information data of the base station. According to an instruction from the upper-level equipment (operation center), controller 25 in maintenance supervision & control unit 20 downloads the system data from system data storage unit 10, and uploads the fault information to the upper-level equipment. File memory 24 temporarily stores such the data.
Controller 25 in maintenance supervision & control unit 20 plays the key role of maintenance supervision & control unit 20, including supervision of the states of the entire cards in the base station, report of a card state change to the upper-level equipment, and execution of control orders from the upper-level equipment and response thereto.
Call processing control unit 30 is a control unit for controlling the radio communication with the user mobile communication terminals. Similar to maintenance supervision & control unit 20, call processing control unit 30 is constituted of a hardware unit (called shelf) including the following functional portions, respectively realized as on-board hardware devices (computer devices called cards), mounted thereon.
A bus controller 31 in call processing control unit 30 includes an arbitration function of a common bus for performing data transmission/reception between each card being mounted on call processing control unit 30, and manages which card has an access right at present.
A protocol terminator 32 extracts a specific signal from the data signals transmitted in a predetermined format from the upper-level equipment, and also transmits a signal to be transmitted to the upper-level equipment after converting into a predetermined format. Through a wired channel between the base station and the upper-level equipment, signal transmission and reception are performed in a certain format. Protocol terminator 32 extracts a specified signal from the above format according to a predetermined protocol, and converts a signal to be transmitted to the predetermined format according to a predetermined protocol.
A global memory 33 includes a memory for storing call processing information currently in operation. Call processing control unit 30 has a redundant configuration so as not to affect the user to the possible extent. The redundant configuration is constituted of two cards: an operation card, and a standby card. The standby card is replaced and operated as operation card when the then operation card becomes unable to continue the service due to a fault, etc. At this time, the then standby card has to succeed the call processing performed by the then operation card. For this purpose, the call processing information in operation is stored into the memory of the then standby card in real time. Global memory 33 is a memory provided in the then standby card, and is constituted of a volatile, high-speed accessible memory.
A baseband processor 34 performs baseband signal processing in the communication with the user mobile communication terminal. Between the base station and the mobile communication terminal, communication is performed through data transferred on a high-frequency carrier wave in the radio frequency band (1.7 GHz, 2 GHz, etc.), while in the base station, the data are extracted from the radio frequency, and the frequency is dropped and signal processing is performed on a low frequency band called baseband. Baseband processor 34 performs the signal processing in the above baseband.
A controller 35 in call processing control unit 30 plays the key role of the call processing, and performs communication control with the mobile communication terminal according to instructions originated from the upper-level equipment.
In the first restart processing, as a minimally necessary initiation condition to restart call processing (to be operable) in call processing control unit 30, there is set an initiation sequence in each functional portion of call processing control unit 30. In the restart processing, when the initiation is performed normally, without any trouble such as a fault, the initiation sequence of each functional portion is uniquely fixed. Maintenance supervision & control unit 20 decides whether each functional portion (card) in the plurality of call processing control units 30 has been initiated in regular order of the initiation sequence, and decides that call processing control unit 30 is initiated normally when initiated in the regular order of the initiation sequence. As such, using the initiation sequence, it is decided whether each call processing control unit has been initiated normally. Even when the entire plurality of call processing control units 30 do not satisfy the initiation condition, only call processing control unit(s) 30 having satisfied the initiation condition concerned is made to restart the call processing control.
The following Table 1 shows an initiation sequence of each functional portion in call processing control unit 30.
[Table 1]
In
On receipt of the initiation notification from each functional portion of the plurality of call processing control units 30, maintenance supervision & control unit 20 decides the initiation sequence of each functional portion of call processing control units 30. Then, based on the initiation condition according to the initiation sequence, maintenance supervision & control unit 20 decides whether each call processing control unit 30 is initiated to be capable of performing call processing control (S104).
For example, if the sequence of receiving the initiation notifications from the respective functional portions of call processing control unit 30X handling the frequency band X is identical to the initiation sequence shown in the above Table 1, maintenance supervision & control unit 20 decides that call processing control unit 30X has normally been initiated to be operational.
Also, if the sequence of receiving the initiation notifications from the respective functional portions of call processing control unit 30Y handling the frequency band Y is different from the sequence shown in the above Table 1, maintenance supervision & control unit 20 decides that call processing control unit 30Y has not been initiated normally. It is considered that inversion of the initiation sequence occurred because the initiation of at least one functional portion in call processing control unit 30Y was delayed due to some trouble. Since there is an estimated abnormality in the functional portion of which initiation has been delayed, it is not decided as normal initiation.
On completion of the decision on the initiation condition in regard to the entire call processing control units 30 in the base station, maintenance supervision & control unit 20 issues an alarm notification to call processing control unit 30 having not satisfied the initiation condition (that is, not decided as being normally initiated) (S106). With this, the related call processing control unit 30 suspends the operation, and is separated from the control of maintenance supervision & control unit 20. In the example shown in
Meanwhile, maintenance supervision & control unit 20 issues to upper-level equipment 100 an initiation completion notification of call processing control unit 30 having satisfied the initiation condition (which is decided to be normally initiated) among the entire call processing control units 30 in the base station (S108). In the example shown in
Additionally, in regard to call processing control unit 30 decided as being not normally initiated (i.e. of which initiation condition is not satisfied) from the decision of the initiation condition, maintenance supervision & control unit 20 preserves the cause of the fault occurrence into a predetermined memory (S105), and further, preferably, reports the above cause to upper-level equipment 100 (S109). With this, upper-level equipment 100 can obtain the fault occurrence cause promptly, which enables upper-level equipment 100 to prompt early repair of the call processing control unit 30 having not been initiated normally. By obtaining the fault occurrence cause from upper-level equipment 100, maintenance workers can promptly perform restoration work of the call processing control unit having not been initiated normally.
Referring back to
As such, instead of call processing control being restarted after the completion of normal initiation in the entire call processing control unit 30, the call processing control operation is restarted only by means of call processing control unit 30 having been initiated normally. Therefore, it becomes possible to reduce the suspension time of the base station, which reduces an unavailable time for the user to use the portable telephone to the possible extent, thereby bringing about service improvement.
Also, although users using the frequency band handled by call processing control unit 30 having not been initiated normally cannot receive the mobile communication service using the portable telephone yet, users using the frequency band of call processing control unit 30 having been initiated normally can receive the mobile communication service. Thus, the influence upon the users can be restricted to the minimum.
Also, it is possible to classify between processing control unit 30 normally initiated and call processing control unit 30 not normally initiated at an early stage, making it possible to prompt early recovery by the maintenance workers.
In the second restart processing, as an initiation condition of call processing control unit 30 minimally required for restarting call processing (to be operable), there is set a minimum number of cards to be initiated for each card constituting each functional portion of call processing control unit 30. Each functional portion may have three configurations: a stand-alone configuration (constituted of a single card); a redundant configuration (constituted of two cards, which are an operation card and a standby card); and a load sharing configuration (which is a configuration in which an identical function is simultaneously performed in a plurality of cards). The number of cards to be initiated in each configuration is as shown below.
Stand-alone configuration: initiation is required for a card of a functional portion essential for call processing control, while initiation is not always required for a card of a functional portion not essential for call processing service.
Redundant configuration: initiation of one card out of two cards may sufficiently be required.
Load sharing configuration: initiation of a minimal number of cards for starting call processing control may be sufficient, while the initiation of the entire cards is not necessary.
Maintenance supervision & control unit 20 decides normal initiation when the minimum number of cards of the respective functional portions (cards) in the plurality of call processing control units 30 or more are initiated. As such, it is decided whether each call processing control unit has been initiated normally depending on the number of functional portions (cards) having been initiated. Even if the entire plurality of call processing control units 30 do not satisfy the initiation condition, the call processing control is restarted only in call processing control units 30 having satisfied the above initiation condition.
The following Table 2 shows the number of cards to be initiated for each functional portion of call processing control unit 30.
[Table 2]
In
On receipt of the initiation notification from each functional portion (card) of the plurality of call processing control units 30, maintenance supervision & control unit 20 decides the number of functional portions (cards) initiated in each call processing control unit 30 based on the number of initiation notifications for each functional portion. Then, based on the initiation condition according to the minimum number of cards to be initiated, maintenance supervision & control unit 20 decides whether each call processing control unit 30 is initiated to be capable of performing call processing control (S120). The above decision is performed when a predetermined time elapses after the start of the restart processing, and the number of initiated cards is decided from the initiation notification having been received before the above time elapses.
For example, if the number of the initiated cards in the entire functional portions of call processing control unit 30X handling the frequency band X is no smaller than the minimum number of cards to be initiated shown in the above Table 2, maintenance supervision & control unit 20 decides that call processing control unit 30X has normally been initiated to be operational.
Also, if the number of initiated cards in regard to at least one of the functional portions of call processing control unit 30Y handling the frequency band Y is smaller than the minimum number of cards to be initiated shown in the above Table 2, maintenance supervision & control unit 20 decides that call processing control unit 30Y has not been initiated normally. It is considered that, because the initiation of at least one functional portion in call processing control unit 30Y was delayed due to some trouble, the number of the initiated cards did not reach the required number of initiation. Since there is an estimated abnormality in the functional portion concerned, it is not decided as normal initiation.
On completion of the decision on the initiation condition in regard to the entire call processing control units 30 in the base station, maintenance supervision & control unit 20 issues an alarm notification to call processing control unit 30 having not satisfied the initiation condition (that is, not decided as being normally initiated), and instructs call processing control unit 30 concerned to suspend the operation (S106). In the example shown in
Meanwhile, maintenance supervision & control unit 20 issues to upper-level equipment 100 about an initiation completion notification of call processing control unit 30 having satisfied the initiation condition (which is decided to be normally initiated) among the entire call processing control units 30 in the base station (S108). In the example shown in
When the alarm is not received from maintenance supervision & control unit 20, and maintenance supervision & control unit 20 notifies upper-level equipment 100 about the initiation completion of call processing control unit 30 concerned, call processing control unit 30 having been initiated normally restarts the call processing control operation after the initiation (S110).
Also, in regard to call processing control unit 30 decided as being not normally initiated (i.e. of which initiation condition is not satisfied) from the decision of the initiation condition, maintenance supervision & control unit 20 preserves the cause of the fault occurrence (the corresponding fault code shown in
In the third restart processing, there is set an initiation time limit in each functional portion of call processing control unit 30 as an initiation condition minimally required for restarting call processing in call processing control unit 30. The initiation time of each functional portion at the time of normal initiation is measured in advance, and the initiation time limit is set by adding a predetermined time of margin to the measured normal initiation time. Maintenance supervision & control unit 20 decides normal initiation when each functional portion in call processing control unit 30 is initiated within the initiation time limit. As such, it is decided whether or not each call processing control unit has been initiated normally depending on the initiation time limit of each functional portion. Even if the entire plurality of call processing control units 30 do not satisfy the initiation condition, the call processing control is restarted only in call processing control units 30 having satisfied the above initiation condition.
The following Table 3 shows the initiation time limit for each functional portion of call processing control unit 30.
[Table 3]
In
On receipt of the initiation notification from each functional portion (card) of the plurality of call processing control units 30, maintenance supervision & control unit 20 measures the time from the start of the restart processing to the reception of the initiation notification, and decides the initiation time of each functional portion (card) in call processing control unit 30 from the reception time of the initiation notification. Then, based on the initiation condition according to the initiation time limit, maintenance supervision & control unit 20 decides whether each call processing control unit 30 is initiated to be capable of performing call processing control (S130).
For example, if the initiation time in the entire functional portions of call processing control unit 30×handling the frequency band X ranges within the initiation time limit shown in the above Table 3, maintenance supervision & control unit 20 decides that call processing control unit 30X has normally been initiated to be operational.
Also, if the initiation time in regard to at least one of the functional portions of call processing control unit 30Y handling the frequency band Y exceeds the initiation time limit shown in the above Table 3, maintenance supervision & control unit 20 decides that call processing control unit 30Y has not been initiated normally. It is considered that, because the initiation of at least one functional portion in call processing control unit 30Y was delayed due to some trouble, the initiation time thereof exceeded the initiation time limit. Since there is an estimated abnormality in the functional portion concerned, it is not decided as normal initiation.
On completion of the decision on the initiation condition in regard to the entire call processing control units 30 in the base station, maintenance supervision & control unit 20 issues an alarm notification to call processing control unit 30 having not satisfied the initiation condition (that is, not decided as being normally initiated), and instructs call processing control unit 30 concerned to suspend the operation (S106). In the example shown in
Meanwhile, maintenance supervision & control unit 20 issues to upper-level equipment 100 about an initiation completion notification of call processing control unit 30 having satisfied the initiation condition (which is decided to be normally initiated) among the entire call processing control units 30 in the base station (S108). In the example shown in
Because the alarm is not received from maintenance supervision & control unit 20, call processing control unit 30 initiated normally restarts the call processing control operation after the initiation (S110).
Also, in regard to call processing control unit 30 decided as being not normally initiated (i.e. of which initiation condition is not satisfied) from the decision of the initiation condition, maintenance supervision & control unit 20 preserves the cause of the fault occurrence (the corresponding fault code shown in
As shown in
Maintenance supervision & control unit 20 issues an alarm notification to call processing control unit 30 which does not satisfy the initiation conditions of the first to the third restart processing at all, and instructs call processing control unit 30 concerned to suspend the operation (S106). In the example shown in
Meanwhile, maintenance supervision & control unit 20 notifies upper-level equipment 100 about the information of call processing control unit 30 having satisfied at least one initiation condition out of the first to the third restart processing (S108). In the example shown in
Because the alarm is not received from maintenance supervision & control unit 20, call processing control unit 30 having been initiated normally restarts call processing control operation after the initiation (S110).
Also, in regard to call processing control unit 30 decided as being not normally initiated (i.e. of which initiation condition is not satisfied) from the decision of the initiation condition, maintenance supervision & control unit 20 preserves the cause of the fault occurrence (the corresponding fault code shown in
Also for call processing control unit 30 performing call processing on the identical frequency band, maintenance supervision & control unit 20 performs the initiation condition decision in either of the above-mentioned first to the fourth restart processing, on a basis of each call processing control unit 30, i.e. each hardware unit (shelf), and controls to permit or suspend the operation. Such the processing on a shelf-by-shelf basis can be made because the initiation state of each call processing control unit 30 does not depend on the other call processing control units 30, nor the operation of each call processing control unit 30 influences the operation of the other call processing control units 30.
Additionally, in
When the restart processing is performed on the basis of each frequency, maintenance supervision & control unit 20 performs the decision of the initiation condition for the plurality of call processing control units 30 in each frequency band, and decides whether the entire plurality of call processing control units 30 in each frequency band satisfy the initiation condition. When the initiation condition is satisfied, it is decided as the normal initiation.
The foregoing description of the embodiments is not intended to limit the invention to the particular details of the examples illustrated. Any suitable modification and equivalents may be resorted to the scope of the invention. All features and advantages of the invention which fall within the scope of the invention are covered by the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-177887 | Jun 2006 | JP | national |
