U.S. patent application number 13/042470 was filed with the patent office on 2011-06-30 for distributed base station system and method for networking thereof and base band unit.
This patent application is currently assigned to Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.. Invention is credited to Wensheng He, Peng Lan, Tao Pu, Zhu Tan, Wangjun Wu, Chengdong Yu, Ming Yu, Jun Zhou.
Application Number | 20110158332 13/042470 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 36677367 |
Filed Date | 2011-06-30 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110158332 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Wu; Wangjun ; et
al. |
June 30, 2011 |
Distributed Base Station System and Method for Networking thereof
and Base Band Unit
Abstract
The present invention discloses a distributed base station
system as well as its networking method and base band unit. In this
system, the base band unit (BBU) and RF unit (RFU) of the base
station are separated, and the RFU is equipped with base band RF
interfaces for interconnecting the BBU and transmitting data
information, thereby forming the base station. Based on the
separation of the BBU from the RFU, the BBU capacity is further
divided at the same time, and every unit is also arranged
independently. The BBU networking and capacity expansion may be
achieved with capacity expansion interfaces and base band RF
interfaces provided by BBU interface units in flexible and
convenient ways.
Inventors: |
Wu; Wangjun; (Shenzhen,
CN) ; Yu; Chengdong; (Shenzhen, CN) ; Tan;
Zhu; (Shenzhen, CN) ; Pu; Tao; (Shenzhen,
CN) ; He; Wensheng; (Shenzhen, CN) ; Lan;
Peng; (Shenzhen, CN) ; Zhou; Jun; (Shenzhen,
CN) ; Yu; Ming; (Shenzhen, CN) |
Assignee: |
Huawei Technologies Co.,
Ltd.
Shenzhen
CN
|
Family ID: |
36677367 |
Appl. No.: |
13/042470 |
Filed: |
March 8, 2011 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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10589323 |
Feb 9, 2007 |
7937110 |
|
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PCT/CN06/00044 |
Jan 12, 2006 |
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13042470 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
375/259 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04W 88/08 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
375/259 |
International
Class: |
H04L 27/00 20060101
H04L027/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jan 12, 2005 |
CN |
200510001936.7 |
May 19, 2005 |
CN |
200510070835.5 |
Claims
1. A distributed base station system, comprising: a first base band
unit (BBU) in communication with a radio frequency unit (RFU);
wherein the first BBU comprises: a main processing unit; a clock
unit; a base band signal processing unit; a transmission unit; and
an interface unit; wherein the interface unit is configured to:
intercommunicate digital base band signals with the base band
signal processing unit; and intercommunicate master control
information with the main processing unit; wherein the interface
unit comprises a primary base band radio frequency (RF) interface;
wherein the RFU comprises a secondary base band RF interface and
the RFU is connected to the primary base band RF interface of the
BBU; wherein the distributed base station system further comprises
at least a second BBU; and wherein the interface unit of the first
BBU further comprises a capacity expansion interface, configured to
communicate with the second BBU.
2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the primary base band
RF interface and the secondary base band RF interface both are high
speed digital interfaces.
3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the capacity expansion
interface is further configured to transmit the master control
information from the first BBU to the second BBU.
4. The system according to claim 3, wherein the first BBU connects
with the second BBU via wire cable or optical fiber, and wherein
the capacity expansion interface comprises a primary capacity
expansion interface that provides an active/standby switchover
control signal.
5. The system according to claim 3, wherein the interface unit
further comprises an identification interface for marking the type
of the base station and the position of the BBU.
6. The system according to claim 3, wherein the interface unit
further comprises a dry contact input interface for expanding the
input dry contact functions of the base station.
7. The system according to claim 3, wherein the first BBU and the
second BBU comprise: a master BBU in an active state and a standby
BBU in a standby state.
8. The system according to claim 3, wherein the RFU is connected
with any one of the first BBU and the second BBU.
9. The system according to claim 1, wherein the first BBU and
second BBU comprise a slave BBU that works in a slave state.
10. The system according to claim 1, further comprising: an
exchange base band (BB) cassette with a plurality of capacity
expansion interfaces; wherein the first BBU is connected with a
capacity expansion interfaces of the exchange BB cassette via the
capacity expansion interface of the first BBU; and wherein the
second BBU is connected with another capacity expansion interface
of the exchange BB cassette.
11. The system according to claim 1, wherein the main processing
unit, the clock unit, the base band signal processing unit, the
transmission unit and the interface unit are integrated in a BBU
cassette.
12. The system according to claim 1, wherein the capacity expansion
interface is further configured to transmit the base band signals
from the first BBU to the second BBU.
13. The system according to claim 1, wherein the capacity expansion
interface is further configured to transmit transmission
information from the first BBU to the second BBU.
14. A base band unit (BBU), comprising: a main processing unit; a
clock unit; a base band signal processing unit; a transmission
unit; and an interface unit; wherein the interface unit is
configured to intercommunicate digital base band signals with the
base band signal processing unit; and intercommunicate master
control information with the main processing unit; wherein the
interface unit comprises a primary base band RF interface,
configured to connect with a radio frequency unit (RFU); wherein
the interface unit of the BBU further comprises a capacity
expansion interface, configured to communicate with another
BBU.
15. The base band unit according to claim 14, wherein the primary
base band RF interface is a high speed digital interface.
16. The base band unit according to claim 14, wherein the interface
unit further comprises an identification interface for marking the
type of a base station in which the BBU belongs and the position of
the BBU.
17. The base band unit according to claim 14, wherein the interface
unit is further configured to transmit the master control
information or the base band signals from the BBU to the other
BBU.
18. The base band unit according to claim 17, wherein the interface
unit further comprises at least one of: a reset interface for
resetting a base station in which the BBU belongs; an
identification interface for marking the type of the base station
and the position of the BBU; a power supply switches for
controlling power on and power off for the base station; a test
interface for connecting the BBU with an external test equipments;
a signal input interface for receiving external clock signals; a
dry contact input interface for expanding input dry contact
functions of the base station; an electrostatic discharge (ESD)
connector; and a protect ground (PGND) terminal.
19. The base band unit according to claim 17, wherein the capacity
expansion interface comprises one or a plurality of capacity
expansion interfaces for providing an active/standby switchover
control signal.
20. The base band unit according to claim 18, wherein the signal
input interface comprises a signal input interface for receiving
global positioning system (GPS) synchronous clock signals and/or a
signal input interface for receiving 2M synchronous clock
signals.
21. The base band unit according to claim 18, wherein the test
interface comprises at least one of a 10M test interface for
outputting 10M test synchronous clock signals and a transmission
time interval (TTI) test interface for outputting TTI signals.
22. The base band unit according claim 14, wherein the main
processing unit, the clock unit, the base band signal processing
unit, the transmission unit and the interface unit are integrated
in a BBU cassette.
23. The method according to claim 14, wherein the BBU and the other
BBU are interconnected via wire cable or optical fiber.
24. The method according to claim 14, wherein the BBU and the other
BBU are interconnected via an exchange BB cassette.
25. A communication method between a first BBU and a second BBU in
a distributed base station, wherein the first BBU comprises a main
processing unit and a capacity expansion interface, the method
comprising: obtaining master control information from the main
processing unit of the first BBU; transmitting the master control
information from the first BBU to the second BBU via the capacity
expansion interface of the first BBU.
26. The method according to claim 25, further comprising:
transmitting master control state report information from the
second BBU to the first BBU.
27. The method according to claim 25, wherein the first BBU and the
second BBU are interconnected via wire cable or optical fiber;
wherein the first BBU is set as a master BBU, and the second BBU is
set as a slave BBU.
28. The method according to claim 25, wherein the first BBU and the
second BBU are interconnected via wire cable or optical fiber;
wherein the first BBU is set as a master BBU, and the second BBU is
set as a standby BBU.
29. The method according to claim 28, further comprising; degrading
the first BBU to standby BBU when the main processing unit of the
first BBU fails; and upgrading the second BBU to a master BBU.
30. The method according to claim 25, further comprising:
transmitting downlink data from an radio network controller (RNC)
to the first BBU; transmitting the downlink data from first BBU to
the second BBU via the capacity expansion interface.
31. The method according to claim 25, further comprising:
transmitting uplink data from an remote radio unit (RRU) to the
first BBU; transmitting the uplink data from first BBU to the
second BBU via the capacity expansion interface.
32. The method according to claim 25, wherein the first BBU and the
second BBU are interconnected via an exchange BB cassette; wherein
the first BBU is connected with a capacity expansion interface of
the exchange BB cassette via the capacity expansion interface of
the first BBU; and wherein the second BBU is connected with another
capacity expansion interface of the exchange BB cassette.
33. The method according to claim 32, wherein the transmitting the
master control information comprises: transmitting the master
control information from the first BBU to the exchange BB cassette;
and transmitting the master control information from the exchange
BB cassette to the second BBU.
34. The method according to claim 32, further comprising:
transmitting uplink data from the first BBU to the exchange BB
cassette; and transmitting the uplink data from the exchange BB
cassette to the second BBU.
35. The method according to claim 32, further comprising:
transmitting downlink data from the first BBU to the exchange BB
cassette; and transmitting the downlink data from the exchange BB
cassette to the second BBU.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 10/589,323, filed on Feb. 9, 2007. The U.S.
patent application is a national stage entry of international
patent application No. PCT/CN06/00044, filed on Jan. 12, 2006. The
PCT application claims benefit of priority from Chinese patent
applications CN200510070835.5, filed on May 19, 2005 and
CN200510001936.7, filed on Jan. 12, 2005. The aforementioned patent
applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their
entireties.
FIELD OF THE TECHNOLOGY
[0002] The present invention relates to the base station
technology, and more specifically to a distributed base station
system and a method for networking thereof and base band units
forming the distributed base station.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] In mobile communication systems, base stations are important
components used for connecting user terminals to base station
controllers (BSCs), receiving and transmitting radio signals
between the user terminals and the BSCs, thereby conducting the
user terminals to access wireless networks and simultaneously
accomplishing information intercommunications between the user
terminals and the BSCs.
[0004] As shown in FIG. 1, a base station includes:
[0005] (1) a base station & BSC interface unit, also called
transmission unit, used for accomplishing interface functions
between a base station and a BSC; (2) a main processing &
timing unit, for controlling the base station and exchanging cell
and traffic data among the units in the base station, and for
providing clock signals for other units in the base station; (3) an
uplink/downlink base band signal processing unit, used for
processing symbol-level and chip-level digital signals in physical
layer and communicating digital base band signals with an
intermediate frequency (IF) signal processing unit; (4) the IF
signal processing unit, used for converting digital base band
signals to IF signals or converting IF signals to digital base band
signals; (5) a power amplifier unit and (6) a duplexer, used for
amplifying the IF signals from the IF signal processing unit or an
antenna.
[0006] In the base station, the base station & BSC interface
unit, the main processing & timing unit, and the
uplink/downlink base band signal processing unit compose a base
band part, while the IF signal processing unit, the power amplifier
unit and the duplexer compose a radio frequency (RF) part which
accomplishes conversion between digital base band signals and IF
signals, and transmits the processed RF signals. The components in
FIG. 1 are all placed in one cabinet to form a complete base
station.
[0007] In traditional base station systems, macro base stations and
mini base stations are generally used. A macro base station
generally has large capacity so as to support the configuration of
as many as 3 or 6 sectors, and includes an indoor type and an
outdoor type; while a mini base station usually has small capacity
so as to only support the configuration of 1 to 3 sectors. The mini
base station is generally required to have support capability of
outdoor application, and acts as a strong complement for the macro
base station networking.
[0008] The macro base station supports a large capacity, and its
boards and modules are all placed in one cabinet, and thus the
macro base station has a large size and a heavy weight, therefore,
it needs a special installation room or an outdoor installation
base. While the mini base station supports a small capacity, the
size thereof is comparatively small and it supports pole
installation or wall installation, so that the installation is easy
and it does not need special installation space or floorage. The
construction of the macro base station and the mini base station
generally used are introduced hereinafter respectively:
[0009] (1) In the macro base station, the transmission unit, the
main processing & timing unit and the uplink/downlink base band
signal processing unit forming the base band part are respectively
placed on different functional single boards, which are connected
with one another by a backboard. Different single boards or modules
may be added according to different capacity expansion
requirements; the duplexer, the power amplifier unit, the IF signal
processing unit that form the RF part are also placed on different
functional single boards, which are connected with each other by a
backboard or external wirings. All the above units are configured
in one indoor or outdoor cabinet. An outdoor cabinet additionally
includes such functional units as temperature control equipment,
power supply, environment monitoring equipment and transmission
equipment. With all the components in large sizes, the cabinet is
very large and heavy, resulting in high cost of transportation and
installation and a hard installation site selection, thereby the
network construction speed is badly affected. This kind of
structure takes up a large space and leads to a high power
consumption and cost. When backup is required, it needs to add some
single boards or modules to achieve backup, thereby resulting in
high backup cost and complicating backup action.
[0010] (2) In the mini base station, all the units in FIG. 1 are
placed in a compact structural member module, thereby a mini base
station having a small size and an easy installation. A mini base
station generally supports configuration of 1-3 sectors. In the
situation that one single cabinet supports one sector, a plurality
of mini base stations are necessary for networking when more
sectors should be supported or large capacity configuration is
needed, thereby complicating networking and management of the
system.
[0011] The mini base station has the shortcomings of small
capacity, inconvenient capacity expansion and inflexible
networking, although the mini base station has such advantages as
small size and easy installation. A plurality of cabinets of mini
base station should be combined when capacity expansion is
required, and this is not in favor of wiring, protection and
backup. Therefore, mini base station are not fit for the expected
applications of large capacity, furthermore, are not in favor of
expanding capacity of the base part or the RF part respectively due
to the base band and the RF part adopting integration design.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0012] A distributed base station system has advantages of reducing
space occupancy, deducing operational cost and improving
operational reliability of base station system according to the
embodiments of the invention.
[0013] The distributed base station system includes:
[0014] a base band unit (BBU), which includes a main processing
& timing unit, a base band signal processing unit, a
transmission unit, and an interface unit for providing an interface
for intercommunicating data with an external unit,
intercommunicating digital base band signals with the base band
signal processing unit, and intercommunicating master control
information with the main processing & miming unit; wherein the
interface unit includes one or a plurality of primary base band
radio frequency (RF) interface(s); and the interface unit being
integrated with the main processing & timing unit, the base
band signal processing unit and the transmission unit; and
[0015] a radio frequency unit (RFU) which includes a secondary base
band RF interface thereon;
[0016] wherein the primary base band RF interface of the BBU is
connected with the secondary base band RF interface of the RFU, and
the BBU transmits uplink/downlink base band data and master
controller state information with the RFU via the primary base band
RF interface and the secondary base band RF interface.
[0017] Preferably, the primary base band RF interface and the
secondary base band
[0018] RF interface both are high speed digital interfaces.
[0019] Preferably, the base station system includes a plurality of
BBUs, and the BBUs are interconnected with each other via wire
cables or optical fibers; the interface unit of each BBU includes
one or a plurality of primary capacity expansion interface(s) for
transmitting synchronous clock signals, base band information,
transmission information and the master control information among
BBUs, to achieve interconnection and data sharing among BBUs.
[0020] Preferably, the primary capacity expansion interface
includes a primary capacity expansion interface that provides an
active/standby switchover control signal. The interface unit
further includes an identification interface for marking the type
of the base station and the position of the BBU. The interface unit
may further include a dry contact input interface for expanding the
input dry contact functions of the base station. The BBUs include a
master BBU that works in an active state. The BBUs may also include
a standby BBU that works in a standby state. The RFU may be
connected with any one of the plurality of BBUs.
[0021] Preferably, the BBUs include a slave BBU that works in a
slave state.
[0022] Preferably, the system further includes an exchange BB
cassette with a plurality of secondary capacity expansion
interfaces, and each BBU is connected with one of the secondary
capacity expansion interfaces on the exchange BB cassette via the
respective primary capacity expansion interface of the BBU.
[0023] Preferably, the RFU is a radio remote unit (RRU).
[0024] Preferably, the RRU and the BBU are connected with each
other via transmission mediums.
[0025] Preferably, the RFU is a near-end RFU.
[0026] Preferably, the BBU is placed in a spare space of a standard
cabinet with a height higher than or equal to 1 U.
[0027] A method for networking a distributed base station system
includes:
[0028] separating the base station system into a BBU and an RFU in
dispersed arrangement, wherein the BBU includes an integration of a
base band signal processing unit, a transmission unit, a Main
Processing & Timing unit and a interface unit; the interface
unit of the BBU includes a primary base band RF interface, and the
RFU includes at least one secondary base band RF interface; and
[0029] connecting the BBU and the RFU through the primary base band
RF interface of the BBU and the secondary base band RF interface of
the RFU.
[0030] Preferably, the base station system includes a plurality of
BBUs, and the interface unit of each BBU includes a primary
capacity expansion interface, and then, the method further
includes: setting an operation state of the BBU; and connecting the
BBUs with each other via the primary capacity expansion interface
on the interface unit thereof.
[0031] Preferably, the base station system includes a plurality of
RFUs, each RFU includes a plurality of base band RF interfaces; and
then the method further includes: connecting a plurality of RFUs
with each other via their respective secondary base band RF
interfaces.
[0032] Preferably, the base station system includes two BBUs and
the step of setting the operation state of the BBU includes:
setting one of the BBUs as a master BBU that works in an active
state while setting the other BBU as a standby BBU that works in a
standby state; and the step of connecting the BBUs to each other
via the primary capacity expansion interface includes: connecting
the master BBU to the standby BBU via the primary capacity
expansion interface that provides an active/standby switchover
control signal.
[0033] Preferably, the step of setting the operation state of BBUs
includes: setting any one of the plurality of BBUs as a master BBU
that works in the active state, and setting the others as slave
BBUs that work in slave states; and the step of connecting the BBUs
to each other via the primary capacity expansion interface
includes: connecting the master BBU and slave BBUs via one or a
plurality of primary capacity expansion interface(s) providing no
active/standby switchover control signal.
[0034] Preferably, the step of setting the operation state of the
BBU includes: setting any one of the plurality of BBUs as a master
BBU that works in an active state, and setting the others as slave
BBUs that work in slave states; and the step of connecting BBUs
with each other via the capacity expansion interfaces includes:
connecting the master BBU with the slave BBUs via one or a
plurality of primary capacity expansion interface(s) providing the
active/standby switchover control signal; and the main processing
& timing unit of the master BBU shielding the active/standby
switchover control signal.
[0035] Preferably, the step of connecting BBUs with each other via
the capacity expansion interfaces includes: connecting the master
BBU with each of the slave BBUs via one or a plurality of primary
capacity expansion interface(s) providing active/standby switchover
control signals; and the main processing & timing unit of the
master BBU shielding the active/standby switchover control
signal.
[0036] Preferably, the step of setting the operation state of BBU
includes: setting anyone of the a plurality of BBUs as a master BBU
that works in an active state, setting another one of the plurality
of BBUs as a standby BBU that works in standby state, and setting
the others as slave BBUs working in slave states, the master BBU
and the standby BBU being not the same one; and wherein the step of
connecting BBUs with each other via the primary capacity expansion
interfaces includes: connecting the master BBU with the standby BBU
via the primary capacity expansion interface that provides the
active/standby switchover control signal, and connecting the
standby BBU with the slave BBU via one or a plurality of primary
capacity expansion interface(s) providing no active/standby
switchover control signals.
[0037] Preferably, the step of setting the operation state of BBUs
includes: setting any one of the plurality of BBUs as a master BBU
that works in an active state, setting another one of the plurality
of BBUs as a standby BBU that works in a standby state, and setting
the others as slave BBUs that work in slave states, the master BBU
and the standby BBU being not the same one; and wherein the step of
connecting BBUs to each other via the primary capacity expansion
interfaces includes: connecting the master BBU with the standby BBU
via the primary capacity expansion interface that provides the
active/standby switchover control signal, and connecting the
standby BBU with the slave BBU via one or a plurality of primary
capacity expansion interface(s) providing the active/standby
switchover control signal, and the Main Processing & Timing
unit in the standby BBU shielding the active/standby switchover
control signal.
[0038] Preferably, the step of connecting BBUs to each other via
capacity expansion interfaces includes: connecting the standby BBU
with each slave BBU via one or a plurality of primary capacity
expansion interface(s) providing the active/standby switchover
control signal with the Main Processing & Timing unit in the
standby BBU shielding the active/standby switchover control
signal.
[0039] Preferably, the base station includes a plurality of slave
BBUs, and the plurality of slave BBUs are interconnected with each
other via the primary capacity expansion interfaces, the method
further including any one step of the following steps:
interconnecting slave BBUs to each other via primary capacity
expansion interfaces that provide no active/standby switchover
control signal; and interconnecting slave BBUs to each other via
primary capacity expansion interfaces that provide the
active/standby switchover control signal, meanwhile shielding the
active/standby switchover control signal by the Main Processing
& Timing unit of at least one of the two interconnected slave
BBUs.
[0040] Preferably, the method further includes: configuring an
exchange BB cassette with a plurality of secondary capacity
expansion interfaces among the BBUs; and connecting the plurality
of BBUs with the secondary capacity expansion interfaces of the
exchange BB cassette via the respective primary capacity expansion
interfaces of BBUs to achieve interconnection among the BBUs.
Preferably, the method further includes: the exchange BB cassette
setting up an electrical connection of the active/standby
switchover control signal between the master BBU and the standby
BBU according to the operation state of every BBU.
[0041] Preferably, the RFU is a radio remote unit (RRU), and the
method includes: connecting the BBU and the RRU via a transmission
mediums.
[0042] Preferably, the transmission mediums are optical fibers or
electrical cables.
[0043] Preferably, the RFU is a near-end RFU.
[0044] Preferably, the BBUs are connected with each other via
transmission mediums. The transmission mediums are optical fibers
or electrical cables.
[0045] A base band unit (BBU) includes:
[0046] a main processing & timing unit, for controlling a base
station, exchanging signals and traffic data among the units in the
base station and providing clock signals;
[0047] a base band signal processing unit, for processing
symbol-level and chip-level digital signals in physical layer;
[0048] a transmission unit, which is connected with a base station
controller for intercommunicating data information between the base
station and the base station controller; and
[0049] an interface unit for intercommunicating with external data
information, intercommunicating digital base band signals with the
base band signal processing unit, and intercommunicating master
control information with the Main Processing & Timing unit;
[0050] wherein the interface unit including one or a plurality of
primary base band RF interface(s) for connecting with the RFU and
transmitting uplink/downlink base band data and master controller
state information with the RFU; a power supply interface for
connecting with an external power supply; and a debugging interface
for managing and maintaining the base station; and
[0051] the main processing & timing unit, the base band signal
processing unit, the transmission unit and the interface unit are
integrated.
[0052] Preferably, the primary base band RF interface is a high
speed digital interface. The debugging interface is a serial port
and/or a network port. The interface unit further includes an
identification interface for marking the type of the base station
and the position of the BBU, and the identification interface is a
DIP switch and/or a cable identification interface. The reset
interface is a button or a switch. The power supply interface
further includes a warning bus interface for connecting with
equipment with RS485 port. The interface unit may further includes:
a capacity expansion interface for transmitting clock synchronous
signals, base band information, transmission information and master
control information among BBUs to achieve interconnection and data
sharing among BBUs.
[0053] Preferably, the interface unit further includes at least one
of: a reset interface for resetting the base station; an
identification interface for marking the type of the base station
and the position of the BBU; a power supply switches for
controlling power on and power off for itself; a test interface for
connecting with external test equipments; a signal input interface
for receiving external clock signals; a dry contact input interface
for expanding input dry contact functions of the base station; an
electrostatic discharge (ESD) connector; and a protect ground
(PGND) terminal.
[0054] Preferably, the capacity expansion interface includes one or
a plurality of capacity expansion interface(s) providing the
active/standby switchover control signal.
[0055] Preferably, the signal input interface includes at least one
of a signal input interface for receiving GPS synchronous clock
signals and a signal input interface for receiving 2M synchronous
clock signals.
[0056] Preferably, the test interface includes at least one of a
10M test interface for outputting 10M test synchronous clock
signals and a transmission time interval (TTI) test interface for
outputting TTI signals.
[0057] Preferably, the BBU is placed in a spare space of a standard
cabinet with a height higher than or equal to 1 U.
[0058] Preferably, the main processing & timing unit, the base
band signal processing unit, the transmission unit and the
interface unit are integrated on a single board.
[0059] In view of the above technical solutions, in the distributed
base station system in accordance with embodiments of the present
invention, the base band part is separated from the RF part. The
base band unit (BBU) consisting of the base band part and the RF
unit (RFU) consisting of the RF part are connected to each other
via base band RF interfaces. Base band units are connected to each
other via capacity expansion interfaces to achieve capacity
expansion in many flexible ways. In this manner, the distributed
base station system should take up smaller floorage, lower the
operational cost and simultaneously enhance the operational
reliability of the base station system.
[0060] On the basis of separated arrangement of the base band unit
and the RF unit, the base band unit in accordance with embodiments
of the present invention is further divided to several called base
band capacity units which have basic capacity according to the
capacity. The basic base band capacity unit may be separated to
each other so that each of the basic base band capacity unit can
support the minimum configuration of base station capacity
respectively, and the BBU can support macro base station capacity
while combining a plurality of basic base band capacity unit
together. According to the present invention, all the units in the
BBU, including the transmission unit, the Main Processing &
Timing unit, the base band signal processor unit and the interface
unit, for example, are integrated on a single board which is 1 U
high or even lower than 1 U. Then place the single board in an
independent BBU box, thus reducing the size and weight of the BBU.
Therefore, according to the actual needs, the BBU in the present
invention can be installed freely in a standard cabinet with space
being 19-inch wide and 1 U or higher than 1 U, in macro base
station transmission device cabin or in other non-standard
installation spaces. And distributed installation of the plurality
of BBUs can be achieved with cable connection. That means that any
cabinet may house the BBU in accordance with embodiments of the
present invention as long as the cabinet has 1 U high spare space,
thereby more flexible, more practical, and lower installation and
service cost. Difficulties to find new station sites and expensive
rent for station sites may be avoid, due to using the empty space
of the existing stations.
[0061] Additionally, in accordance with embodiments of the present
invention, the base band RF interface for connecting the BBU to the
RFU and the capacity expansion interface for achieving the
fully-connected topology of the BBU are set in the interface unit
of the BBU. Through base band RF interfaces, BBUs and RFUs can
accomplish data intercommunication and achieve a plurality of
networking modes for the base station, such as a ring networking, a
star networking, and a chain networking; through capacity expansion
interfaces, BBUs can achieve self-cascading and BBU backup. Thus,
it not only solves small capacity of mini BBU, and ensures timely
expansion of the BBU capacity according to actual application
needs, but also enhances flexibility for the BBU capacity expansion
and new business features expansion, and lowers cost as well.
Meanwhile, setting master and standby BBUs also can improve
operational reliability of the base station.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0062] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the structure of
a base station in a mobile communication system;
[0063] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a network
structure of a distributed base station system in accordance with a
preferred embodiment of the present invention;
[0064] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a BBU composition
structure of a distributed base station system in accordance with a
preferred embodiment of the present invention;
[0065] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a BBU interface
in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present
invention;
[0066] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating the connection of
a BBU capacity expansion interface in accordance with a preferred
embodiment of the present invention;
[0067] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating the connection of
a BBU base band RF interface in accordance with a preferred
embodiment of the present invention;
[0068] FIG. 7(a) is a schematic diagram illustrating a star network
of BBU and RRU in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the
present invention;
[0069] FIG. 7(b) is a schematic diagram illustrating a ring network
of BBU and RRU in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the
present invention;
[0070] FIG. 7(c) is a schematic diagram illustrating a chain
network of BBU and RRU in accordance with a preferred embodiment of
the present invention;
[0071] FIG. 7(d) is a schematic diagram illustrating a composition
network of BBU and RRU in accordance with a preferred embodiment of
the present invention;
[0072] FIG. 8(a) is a schematic diagram illustrating a first
embodiment of network structure of BBU and RRU in the present
invention;
[0073] FIG. 8(b) is a schematic diagram illustrating a second
embodiment of network structure of BBU and RRU in the present
invention;
[0074] FIG. 8(c) is a schematic diagram illustrating a third
embodiment of network structure of BBU and RRU in the present
invention;
[0075] FIG. 8(d) is a schematic diagram illustrating a fourth
embodiment of network structure of BBU and RRU in the present
invention;
[0076] FIG. 8(e) is a schematic diagram illustrating a fifth
embodiment of network structure of BBU and RRU in the present
invention;
[0077] FIG. 8(f) is a schematic diagram illustrating a sixth
embodiment of network structure of BBU and RRU in the present
invention;
[0078] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a ring network of
a plurality of BBUs in accordance with a preferred embodiment of
the present invention;
[0079] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating a
fully-connected topology of a plurality of BBU in accordance with a
preferred embodiment of the present invention; and
[0080] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating another
fully-connected topology of a plurality of BBU in accordance with
another preferred embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0081] In the base station, according to preferred embodiments of
the present invention, the base band part is separated from the RF
part to respectively form a base band unit and an RF unit, and base
band RF interfaces are configured on the RFU for interconnecting
with the BBU and transmitting data information, thereby forming a
distributed base station system. Based on the separation of the BBU
and the RFU, the capacity of BBU is further divided. Each of the
BBU may be arranged independently, so that each BBU can support a
minimum configuration and a plurality of BBUs in combination can
support the capacity as a macro base station. In accordance with
the embodiments of the present invention, the transmission unit,
the master controller & clock synchronous unit, the baseband
signal processing unit and the interface unit are highly integrated
in the BBU, e.g. are integrated on a single board, and the board is
put in a small BBU cassette to form an on-the-spot replaceable
unit. Through capacity expansion interfaces and base band RF
interfaces provided by the BBU interface unit, networking and
capacity expansion among BBUs and among BBUs and RFUs in flexible
and convenient ways may be achieved, backup functions based on a
plurality of BBUs also may be achieved. In this way, the
operational reliability of the base station may be enhanced and the
base band unit backup cost in traditional base stations may be
lowered.
[0082] The BBU in the distributed base station system and the
networking methods in accordance with the embodiments of the
present invention may be applied to a plurality of mobile
communication modes, such as WCDMA, CDMA2000, TD-SCDMA, and GSM,
and also may be applied to a wide band wireless access (WBA). The
technical solution of the present invention is explained in detail
as follows by taking the WCDMA system as an example.
[0083] The technical solution of the present invention will be
described in detail hereinafter with reference to accompanying
drawings and preferred embodiments.
[0084] It is noted that the RFU in the embodiments of the present
invention, used for converting signals between RF signals and base
band signals and transmitting RF signals, includes an RF signal
processing unit, a power amplifier unit and a duplexer. The RFU may
be either a near-end RFU, or a radio remote unit (RRU) connected
with the BBU via such transmission medium as optical fibers or
electrical cables. The near-end RFU and the RRU both have base band
RF interfaces for interconnecting with BBUs, other RFUs and other
RRUs. The base band RF interfaces may be high-speed digital
interfaces, common public radio interfaces (CPRI), other standard
interfaces, or self-defined interfaces. In the following
embodiments, the RFU adopts the RRU to forms a mixed networking
mode. In actual applications, the RFU may be a near-end RFU, or a
combination of a near-end RFU and an RRU to form a mixed networking
mode.
[0085] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a network
structure of a distributed base station system in the preferred
embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the
separated BBU and RFU may be networked with their respective
interfaces in flexible ways. The RFU may be a near-end RFU or an
RRU. FIG. 2 does not indicate the specific capacity expansion
interconnection methods of the BBU. In actual applications,
interconnection of BBUs illustrated in FIG. 2 may be implemented by
directly connecting BBUs via cables or optical fibers to form
various network topological structures, or by connecting a
plurality of BBUs via additional exchange BB cassettes to form
various network topological structures, such as a star network, a
chain network, a ring network and so on. The network may be
composed in many flexible ways, which will be explained in the
following description in detail. The networking modes between RFUs
and BBUs in FIG. 2 are only an exemplary description. In actual
applications, the networking methods are not limited to these
modes, which will be explained in detail in the following
implementation ways. In FIG. 2, the BBUs are connected with one or
a plurality of near-end RFU(s) or RRU(s) via base band RF
interfaces. Similarly, a plurality of near-end RFUs or RRUs can
form various network topological structures with their own
interconnection interfaces, which are not indicated in FIG. 2, and
the specific networking modes will be supplied in the following
embodiments. In the embodiments of the present invention, both BBUs
and the RFUs include two or more than two units.
[0086] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a BBU composition
structure of the distributed base station system in the preferred
embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 3, the main processing
unit and the clock unit are collectively called the Main Processing
& Timing unit. As shown in FIG. 3, the BBU of the preferred
embodiment includes the transmission unit, the main processing
& timing unit, the base band signal processing unit, and the
interface unit. All the units are integrated on a single board or
in an on-the-spot replaceable unit, which is placed in an
independent BBU cassette. The BBU cassette may be 1U high so that
in actual applications, according to actual needs, the BBU cassette
may be installed in a standard cabinet, in a macro base station
transmission device cabin with an installation space of 19 inches
wide and 1 U or more high, or in any other non-standard
installation space in flexible ways. The height of the BBU cassette
may be changed in flexible ways according to actual needs, and
dispersed installation of a plurality of BBUs may be achieved via
cables. In the above, 1 U is a measurement unit of thickness or
height, and 1 U=1.75 inches=44.5 mm.
[0087] In FIG. 3, the transmission unit is connected with an RNC
via an Iub interface to accomplish data information
intercommunication between BBUs and the RNC. In this case, if the
preferred embodiment of the present invention is applied to other
communication systems, the transmission unit is connected with the
BSC of the corresponding mobile communication system via standard
interfaces in the applied mobile communication system. The main
processing & timing unit serves to accomplish base station
control functions and signaling and traffic data exchange control
among the units in the base station, and simultaneously provide a
clock reference to the BBU or the capacity-expanded BBU according
to configuration needs. The base band signal processing unit serves
to accomplish the processing of symbol-level and chip-level digital
signals in physical layer, and intercommunicate digital base band
signals with IF signal processing units. The interface unit serves
to provide various interfaces to support intercommunication between
BBUs and external data, e.g., connecting and networking with RRUs,
expanding capacity of BBUs, debugging the base station, resetting
the base station, identifying the type of the base station and the
position of the installation slot, intercommunicating data between
BBUs and the RNC, various testing and inputting synchronous clocks.
As shown in FIG. 4, the interface unit includes the following
units.
[0088] A power supply interface serves to connect with an external
DC/AC power supply to supply operation power for the base
station.
[0089] A debugging interface provides interfaces as serial ports
and network ports to achieve management and maintenance of the base
station by external equipments or service personnel.
[0090] An identification interface serves to mark the type of the
base station in the base station system and mark the position of
the slot where the BBU cassette is located. Based on input messages
from the identification interface, the main processing unit of the
BBU should identify the type of the base station and the position
of the present slot where the BBU cassette is located. Different
positions of slots correspond to different preset slot position
labels, and different preset slot position labels serve to mark
operation states of BBUs, e.g., the master BBU that works in an
active state, the standby BBU that works in a standby state, or the
slave BBU that works in a slave state. The identification interface
may use DIP switches or ID interfaces of cables to achieve the
identification function. In a network of the base station system,
different distributive ways of BBUs correspond to different types
of base stations. For example, BBUs interconnected with each other
are located at the same base station site or at different base
station sites corresponding to different bases station types.
[0091] The BBU that works as a master BBU can configure slave BBUs
or standby BBUs according to the preset configuration circumstance,
e.g. assigns one or all slave BBU(s) to process transmission data,
and assigns a certain slave BBU to process specified subscriber
channels; or configures a certain BBU that takes part in networking
to process the data of a specified RRU.
[0092] The reset interface is a reset button/switch and serves to
reset the base station. When the reset button/switch is pressed,
the main processing unit receives a reset signal and reboots the
system.
[0093] One or a plurality of base band RF interface(s), with each
of the interfaces connected with one RRU, serve(s) to receive the
uplink base band data transmitted by the RRU, and transmit downlink
base band data from the BBU to the RRU. Base band RF interfaces may
be CPRI, other standards interfaces, or self-defined interfaces.
BBUs and the RRUs are connected via the base band RF interfaces by
such transmission mediums as optical fibers or electrical cables.
The base band RF interfaces also may be directly connected with
near-end RFUs to form a mixed type network including local RFs and
radio remote units.
[0094] The transmission interface, which serves to connect the RNC
to the BBU to achieve base station data intercommunication between
the BBU and the RNC, supports a plurality of such transmission
interfaces as E1/T1, and recovers a circuit clock as the work clock
of the BBU from a plurality of such interfaces code streams as
E1/T1 code stream, E3/T3 code stream, and STM-1 code stream. When
the transmission interface is used as ATM interface, it can
accomplish mapping of a plurality of transmission interfaces from
ATM cell to E1/T1. The transmission interface is not limited to an
ATM interface, it also may be an interface that conforms to other
protocols, such as IP.
[0095] The warning bus interface serves to connect equipment
including RS485 interface and performs data collection functions.
For example, the warning bus interface may be connected with an
intelligent power supply to monitor operation state of the
intelligent power supply, and the interface may be built in the
power supply interface. The warning bus interface may be expanded
by the existing interface chips. The interface expansion may
include commonly known expansion methods in the prior art, which
will not be further described here.
[0096] The dry contact input interface serves to expand input dry
contact functions of the base station and performs warning test of
the dry contact. The expansion of the dry contact input interface
may include commonly known expansion methods in the prior art,
which will not be further described here.
[0097] The power supply switch serves to control power on and power
off of the BBU.
[0098] The test interface includes a 10M test interface for
outputting 10M test synchronous clock signals to facilitate
connection with relevant test instruments and includes a
transmission time interval (TTI) test interface for output of TTI
signals to facilitate test of RF 141 protocol.
[0099] The signal input interface includes a GPS signal input
interface for receiving GPS synchronous clock signals; a Bits
signal input interface for receiving 2M synchronous clock signals.
It is noted that the BBU may simultaneously have the GPS signal
input interface and the Bits signal input interface, or have at
least one of the interfaces according to actual needs.
[0100] The capacity expansion interface includes a high speed
digital interface, a clock synchronous interface, and an
active/standby switchover control interface. Each capacity
expansion interface is connected with a BBU for interconnecting
among the BBUs to expand BBU capacity, achieving clock
synchronization among the interconnected BBUs, and transferring
such information as base band information, transmission information
and master controller information among the interconnected BBUs.
The base band information includes base band IQ data, function
control data, and so on. The transmission information is the
relevant information from the RNC while the master controller
information is the control information from the main processing
unit.
[0101] The electrostatic discharge (ESD) connector serves to
connect an ESD wrist strap, and the protect ground (PGND) terminal
serves to connect a protective earth wire.
[0102] In addition, in order to display the BBU operation states,
the BBU interface unit in accordance with the embodiments of the
present invention also provides state indicators for indicating
whether the power supply is normal or not, the interface of the BBU
is normal or not, and etc. The number of the state indicators
depends on actual needs.
[0103] In actual applications, each of the above-mentioned
interfaces corresponds to an interface terminal on the BBU cassette
panel and the installation positions of all the interface terminals
may be arranged randomly on the panel.
[0104] Among all the above-mentioned interfaces, the capacity
expansion interface and the base band RF interface are important
for capacity expansion and networking of the BBU. FIG. 5 is a
schematic diagram illustrating the connection of the BBU capacity
expansion interface in accordance with the embodiments of the
present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, when two BBUs are
interconnected, on the assumption that the BBU with a capacity
expansion interface is BBU1 and the BBU connected to the BBU1 via
the capacity expansion interface is BBU2, then the BBU1 and the
BBU2 share some information as the master control information of
the main processing unit, the transmission information of the
transmission unit, the base band information of the base band
signal processing unit and the master control information of the
main processing unit via a transmission processing unit and a
reception processing unit. That is, the BBU1 transmits the master
control information, the transmission information, or the base band
information to the BBU2 via the transmission processing unit and
the BBU1 receives the master control state report information, the
transmission information, or the base band information from the
BBU2 via the reception processing unit. The capacity expansion
interface is connected with the clock unit to achieve clock
synchronous functions. The transmission/reception processing unit
is connected with the capacity expansion interface to accomplish
signal conversion functions mainly, such as conversion between
signal protocols, conversion between electrical signals and optical
signals, etc.
[0105] Additionally, if there is no active/standby switchover
control signals between the main processing unit and the capacity
expansion interface, on the assumption that the BBU1 with the
capacity expansion interface is set as a master BBU by using a DIP
switch, while the BBU2 is set as a slave BBU by using a DIP switch,
the BBU1 and the BBU2 are connected via the capacity expansion
interface and form a master-slave mode, in which BBU1 and BBU2 are
both in operation state and work by sharing information. In this
manner, capacity of the BBU is increased. In this case, the
capacity expansion interface with no active/standby switchover
control signals may be called an Eib capacity expansion interface.
The Eib interface serves to transmit base band information,
transmission information, master control information and clock
signals. In actual applications, there may be single or a plurality
of Eib interface(s).
[0106] If there exists active/standby switchover control signal
between the main processing unit and the capacity expansion
interface, as shown in FIG. 5, on the assumption that the BBU1 with
the capacity expansion interface is set as a master BBU by using
the DIP switch, while the BBU2 is set as a standby BBU by using the
DIP switch, the BBU1 and the BBU2 are connected with each other via
the capacity expansion interface and form a master-standby mode. In
normal cases, the BBU1 and the BBU2 work in load-share backup
operation mode with data shared between them. Similar to the
master-slave operation mode, the BBU2 operation states are the same
as the BBU1 except some functions. For example, the reference clock
information is provided by the BBU1. When the main processing unit
of the BBU1 fails, the BBU1 degrades itself to standby state
automatically by the master-standby switchover control signal, and
the BBU2 upgrades to a master BBU when it detects the degradation
of BBU1 so as to promote operational reliability of the base
station. At the same time, because the standby BBU is in hot backup
operation state, the BBU capacity may be expanded simultaneously so
as to achieve the object of BBU capacity expansion. In this case,
the capacity expansion interface with active/standby switchover
control signals may be called an Eia capacity expansion interface,
which serves to transmit base band information, transmission
information, master control information, clock signals and
active/standby switchover control signals. Compared to the Eib
interface, the Eia interface has one more kind of active/standby
switchover control signal, while other signals are similar. In
actual application, there may be single or a plurality of Eia
interface(s).
[0107] A plurality of BBUs may be connected with each other via
capacity expansion interfaces by using optical fibers or electrical
cables so as to achieve BBU capacity expansion conveniently.
[0108] The above-mentioned method to achieve data sharing among a
plurality of BBUs via capacity expansion interfaces is that every
BBU taking part in networking has a transmission unit which is
connected to a logical module via a special parallel transmission
interface to achieve transmission data sharing among BBUs. The
logical module is located in the interface unit to achieve
conversion between the ATM cell and the high speed data or between
other cell and the high speed data. On the assumption that the BBU
receiving uplink data from the RRU or downlink data from the RNC
directly is a source BBU, and the BBU receiving the uplink/downlink
data from the source BBU is a target BBU, so the actual method for
data sharing is described as follows.
[0109] (1) For the downlink data, after receiving the data, the
transmission unit of the source BBU converts the received data into
ATM cell and exchanges the ATM cell to the logical module of the
source BBU via the special transmission interface according to the
target BBU address carried in the data. The logical module of the
source BBU converts the ATM cell into high-speed data and transmits
the high-speed data to the target BBU via the capacity expansion
interface. The logical module of the target BBU receives the
high-speed data via the capacity expansion interface and converts
the received high-speed data into ATM cell, and then sends the ATM
cell to the base band signal processing unit of the target BBU via
the special transmission interface. The base band signal processing
unit turns the received ATM cell into FP frames and processes the
frames with corresponding code modulation to get a base band
downlink data, and finally sends the base band downlink data to the
RRU via the base band RF interface between the target BBU and the
RRU.
[0110] (2) For an uplink data, the RRU sends the uplink base band
data to the corresponding source BBU via the RF interface between
the RRU and the BBU. After receiving the uplink base band data,
based on the target BBU address carried in the uplink base band
data, the logical module of the source BBU sends the received data
to the target BBU via the high-speed data interface in the capacity
expansion interface. The logical module of the target BBU receives
the data via the capacity expansion interface and relays the data
to the base band signal processing unit. The base band signal
processing unit demodulates and transcodes the base band data,
converts the transcoded data into ATM cell, and then sends the ATM
cell to the transmission unit of the target BBU via the special
transmission interface. The transmission unit processes the
received ATM cell and gets the transmission uplink data, and
finally sends the transmission uplink data to the RNC via the
transmission interface between the target BBU and the RNC.
[0111] It should be noted that, the principles of data sharing, as
above mentioned, are the same no matter if the source BBU and the
target BBU have a master-slave relationship or a master-standby
relationship. The difference is in that the switchover function is
available between the master-standby BBUs but is not available
between the master-slave BBUs.
[0112] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating the connection of
the BBU base band RF interface in accordance with embodiments of
the present invention. Compared with FIG. 5, it is shown in FIG. 6
that the base band RF interface and the RRUs connected via the base
band RF interface transmit base band information of the base band
signal processing unit between them. That is, the BBU sends the
base band information to the RRU via the transmission processing
unit receives the base band information from the RRU via the
reception processing unit. The transmission/reception processing
unit is connected with the base band RF interface to accomplish
such signal conversion functions as signal protocol conversion,
format conversion between electrical signals and optical signals
and etc. The RRUs are connected to each other via base band RF
interfaces by using transmission medium like optical fibers or
electrical cables so as to achieve the networking of the BBUs and
the RRUs conveniently. Similarly, the base band RF interface may be
connected to a near-end RFU to accomplish the same functions as
well. Networking of the base station system may simultaneously
include the near-end RFUs and the RRUs according to actual needs to
form a mixed base station system.
[0113] The capacity expansion interface of the BBU provided in
accordance with the embodiments of the present invention brings
great convenience for the BBU capacity expansion and the base
station networking, lowers cost and enhances operational
reliability of the BBU. In the embodiment of the present invention,
one or a plurality of BBU(s) and one or a plurality of RRU(s) may
achieve various networking types, such as star network, ring
network, chain network or mixed network. In the following
networking schemes, the number of BBUs and RRUs is not limited to
thereof. It may be planned according to the actual application
conditions.
[0114] FIG. 7(a) is a schematic diagram illustrating star network
with two BBUs and three RRUs in accordance with the embodiments of
the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7(a), the BBU1 and the BBU2
may be connected via the Eia capacity expansion interface so that
the BBU1 and the BBU2 have a master-standby relationship, or may
also be connected via the Eib capacity expansion interface so that
the BBU1 and the BBU2 have a master-slave relationship. The BBUs
and the RRUs are connected via base band RF interfaces. Each BBU
may provide a plurality of base band RF interfaces for RRUs. For
example, the BBU1 and the BBU2 in FIG. 7(a) have three base band RF
interfaces respectively. Thus the BBU1 and the BBU2 may be
connected with at least three RRUs respectively.
[0115] FIG. 7(b) is a schematic diagram illustrating a ring network
with two BBUs and four RRUs in accordance with the embodiments of
the present invention. Similarly, the BBU1 and the BBU2 form a
network with master-slave relationship by being connected via the
Eib capacity expansion interface. The BBU1 is connected with one
RRU via the base band RF interface, and the BBU2 is connected with
another RRU via the base band RF interface. The RRUs are
consecutively interconnected via base band RF interfaces. In this
way, the two BBUs and four RRUs form a ring network. In this case,
the network capacity is the sum of the two BBUs' capacities. If the
BBU1 and the BBU2 are connected via the Eia capacity expansion
interface and have a master-standby relationship, all the functions
and capacity of the network formed with Eib interface may be
achieved, furthermore, backup function is also provided for the
network so as to enhance operational reliability of the whole base
station.
[0116] FIG. 7(c) is a schematic diagram illustrating a chain
network with one BBU and three RRUs in accordance with the
embodiments of the present invention. The base band RF interface of
the BBU is connected with a certain RRU. The RRUs are consecutively
connected via corresponding interfaces. In this manner, one BBU and
three RRUs form a chain network. In this case, the Eib capacity
expansion interface of the BBU may be used to expand the BBU
capacity or the Eia capacity expansion interface of the BBU may be
used for the BBU backup.
[0117] FIG. 7(d) is a schematic diagram illustrating a mixed
network with two BBUs and six RRUs in accordance with the
embodiments of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7(d), there
are two RRUs in each sector, and each RRU is connected with BBU
respectively. With regard to each sector, RRUs and BBUs in each
sector form a ring network supporting double-RRU configuration.
With regard to a plurality of sectors, star network connection is
adopted among sectors. Therefore, the networking mode illustrated
in FIG. 7(d) is a method for achieving mixed network. The BBU1 and
the BBU2 may have a master-standby relationship or a master-slave
relationship.
[0118] In the following, a star networking mode formed by the RRUs
and the BBUs each of which respectively has two capacity expansion
interfaces and three base band RF interfaces, is taken as an
example for a specific description of the scheme to achieve the
capacity expansion of BBUs with RRUs. Herein, it is assumed that
one of the two capacity expansion interfaces is the Eia interface
and the other is the Eib interface.
[0119] FIG. 8(a) is a schematic diagram illustrating the first
embodiment of the network structure with one BBU and three RRUs. As
shown in FIG. 8(a), one BBU and three RRUs are connected
respectively via a base band RF interface. Each of the RRUs belongs
to a sector, and each of the RRUs adopts a networking configuration
with single carrier wave. That is, the networking mode illustrated
in FIG. 8(a) supports networking of 3.times.1 configuration, in
which 3 refers to 3 sectors, and 1 means single carrier wave.
[0120] FIG. 8(b) is a schematic diagram illustrating the second
embodiment of network structure with two BBUs and three RRUs in the
present invention. As shown in FIG. 8(b), the BBU1 and the RRU2 are
connected via an Eia capacity expansion interface to form network
with master-standby relationship. The BBU1 and the BBU2 are
connected with three RRUs respectively via three base band RF
interfaces respectively, each of the RRUs belongs to a sector, and
each of the RRUs adopts a networking configuration with single
carrier wave backup. That is, the networking mode illustrated in
FIG. 8(b) supports networking of 3.times.1 configuration, in which
3 refers to 3 sectors, and 1 means single carrier wave. Suppose
that the slot position label of the BBU1 is preset as a master BBU
identifier, and the slot position label of the BBU2 is preset as a
standby BBU identifier, then, the operation principles of the
networking in FIG. 8(b) are described as follows. After
accomplishing the networking as illustrated in FIG. 8(b), in normal
cases, the BBU1 and the BBU2 are in independent operation state.
The BBU2 is in hot backup operation state, and the main processing
unit of the BBU1 controlling the whole system, while the BBU1 and
the BBU2 share data through the capacity expansion interfaces. The
specific ways to achieve capacity expansion interfaces and to
achieve data sharing have been introduced in the above, so no more
description is provided here. When the main processing unit of the
BBU1 fails, the BBU1 reboots automatically, and simultaneously
sends an active/standby switchover control signal to the BBU2. The
BBU2 works as the master BBU, and the main processing unit of the
BBU2 controls the whole system, while the BBU1 is degraded to the
standby BBU for operation. The operation states of each BBU will be
reported to the RNC after failure occurs so as to facilitate
personnel in taking opportunity measures.
[0121] It should be noted that the active/standby switchover
function occurs only when the main processing unit fails. When the
other units, such as the base band signal processing unit, or the
base band RF interface, or the capacity expansion interface fails,
the active/standby switchover function is not generally performed.
For example, when the base band signal processing unit or the base
band RF interface is out of order and affects configuration
conditions of the present network, the active/standby switchover
function can do no help at all. In this case, even if the BBU1 is
degraded to the standby BBU, communication between the BBU1 and the
RRU has been interrupted, and normal operation can not be
maintained any longer. Therefore, in such a case, what is needed
only is that the BBU reports the failure to the RNC.
[0122] FIG. 8(c) is a schematic diagram illustrating the third
embodiment of network structure with two BBUs and three RRUs. As
shown in FIG. 8(b), the BBU1 and the RRU2 are connected via an Eib
capacity expansion interface and form a network with master-slave
relationship. The BBU1 are connected with three RRUs respectively
via three base band RF interfaces. Each of the RRUs belongs to a
sector, and each of the RRUs adopts a network configuration with
two-carrier wave. That is, the networking mode illustrated in FIG.
8(c) supports networking of 3.times.2 configuration, in which, 3
refers to 3 sectors, and 2 means 2 carrier waves. Since the BBU1
and the BBU2 have a master-slave relationship, the BBU
uplink/downlink data capacity is increased to twice of that when a
single BBU is used.
[0123] The operation principles of networking illustrated in FIG.
8(c) are completely the same as those in FIG. 8(b). The difference
between them is in that in FIG. 8(c), failure of the BBU1 is only
reported to the RNC with no backup function, no matter what kind of
failure it is.
[0124] On the basis of the above mentioned BBU master-standby
relationship and BBU master-slave relationship for expanding
capacity, the BBUs in accordance with the embodiments of the
present invention may achieve many flexible ways for expanding
capacity by using various networking modes. Several ways are listed
in the following with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0125] FIG. 8(d) is a schematic diagram illustrating the fourth
embodiment of network structure with four BBUs and six RRUs. As
shown in FIG. 8(d), the BBU1 and the BBU2 are connected via an Eia
capacity expansion interface to form network with master-standby
relationship. The six RRUs are divided into groups with two RRUs
belonging to each group to form a main-and-diversity mode. The BBU1
is connected with three main RRUs via three base band RF interfaces
respectively, while the BBU2 is connected with three diversity RRUs
via three base band RF interfaces respectively. Two RRUs belong to
one sector, and this networking mode supports three sectors, in
which, every RRU adopts a network configuration with two-carrier
wave backup. That is, the networking mode illustrated in FIG. 8(d)
supports backup networking of 3.times.2 transmit diversity
configuration, in which, 3 refers to 3 sectors and 2 means 2
carrier waves.
[0126] If the BBU1 and the BBU3 are connected via the Eib capacity
expansion interface to form a network with master-slave
relationship, the BBU2 and the BBU4 are connected via the Eib
capacity expansion interface to form a network with master-slave
relationship, and the networking mode supports three sectors. In
which, every RRU adopts a network configuration with two-carrier
wave backup. That is, the networking mode supports backup
networking of 3.times.2 transmit diversity configuration, in which,
3 refers to 3 sectors and 2 means 2 carrier waves. Herein, Eia
capacity expansion interfaces may be used between the BBU1 and the
BBU3 and between the BBU2 and the BBU4 to form a network with
master-standby relationship. In such conditions, the main
processing unit of the BBU1 or the BBU2 shields the active/standby
switchover control signal sent to the BBU3 or the BBU4, where the
shielding means that the main processing unit sets the
active/standby switchover control signal invalid.
[0127] FIG. 8(e) is a schematic diagram illustrating the fifth
embodiment of network structure with three BBUs and six RRUs. As
shown in FIG. 8(e), the BBU1 and the BBU2 are connected via an Eia
capacity expansion interface to form a network with master-standby
relationship, the BBU1 and the BBU3 are connected via an Eib
capacity expansion interface to form a network with master-slave
relationship, and the BBU2 and the BBU3 are connected via an Eib
capacity expansion interface to form a network with master-slave
relationship. Six RRUs are divided into groups with two RRUs
belonging to each group. The BBU1 is connected to one RRU of every
group respectively via the base band RF interface. The BBU2 is
connected to the other RRU of every group respectively via the base
band RF interface. Two RRUs belong to one sector, and this
networking mode supports three sectors, in which every group of
RRUs adopts a network configuration with three-carrier wave backup.
That is, the networking mode illustrated in FIG. 8(e) supports the
backup networking of 3.times.3 configuration, in which, the first 3
refers to 3 sectors, and the second 3 means 3 carrier waves.
[0128] FIG. 8(f) is a schematic diagram illustrating the sixth
embodiment of network structure with four BBUs and six RRUs. As
shown in FIG. 8(f), the BBU1 and the BBU2 are connected via an Eia
capacity expansion interface to form a network with master-standby
relationship. The BBU1 and the BBU3 are connected via an Eib
capacity expansion interface to form a network with master-slave
relationship. The BBU2 and the BBU4 are connected via an Eib
capacity expansion interface to form a network with master-slave
relationship. The BBU3 and the BBU4 are connected via the Eia
capacity expansion interface to form a network with master-slave
relationship. It should be noted that the active/standby switchover
control signal between the BBU3 and the BBU4 is shielded when the
BBU3 and the BBU4 are connected via an Eia capacity expansion
interface. The six RRUs are divided into groups with two RRUs
belonging to each group to form a main-and-diversity mode. The BBU1
is connected with the three main RRUs respectively via three base
band RF interfaces, while the BBU2 is connected with the three
diversity RRUs via three base band RF interfaces respectively. The
networking mode supports three sectors, in which, every RRU adopts
a network configuration with four-carrier wave backup. That is, the
networking illustrated in FIG. 8(f) supports the backup networking
of 3.times.4 transmit diversity configuration, in which, 3 refers
to 3 sectors, and 4 means 4 carrier waves.
[0129] With regards to BBUs only, there are different ways for
expanding capacity among a plurality of BBUs, which will be
described in detail hereinafter with reference to the accompanying
drawings.
[0130] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a ring network
with four BBUs in accordance with the embodiment of the present
invention. The BBU1 and the BBU2 are connected via an Eia capacity
expansion interface to form a network with master-standby
relationship. The BBU1 and the BBU3, the BBU2 and the BBU4 are
respectively connected via Eib capacity expansion interfaces. The
BBU3 and the BBU4 are connected via an Eia capacity expansion
interface. In this way, the BBU1 and the BBU3 form a network with
master-slave relationship, the BBU2 and the BBU4 form a network
with master-slave relationship, and the BBU3 and the BBU4 form a
network with slave relationship. Suppose that every capacity
expansion interface of the BBU in FIG. 9 includes one Eia capacity
expansion interface and one Eib capacity expansion interface, the
master-slave relationship between the BBU3 and the BBU4 may be
achieved via the Eia interface. Only the main processing unit of
the BBU3 shields the active/standby switchover control signal that
is sent to the capacity expansion interface connected with the
BBU4. The master-slave relationship between the BBU3 and the BBU4
can also be achieved with an additional Eib interface added between
the BBU3 and the BBU4.
[0131] In the interconnection scheme of BBUs in FIG. 9, every BBU
may be connected via respective capacity expansion interfaces by
using the transmission mediums like optical fires or electrical
cables, and the capacity of base station system increases with the
increase of BBUs quantity. This ring networking mode can achieve
data sharing among BBUs with a small number of capacity expansion
interfaces, and provide circuit protective functions due to the
inherent ability of ring network.
[0132] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating a
fully-connected topology of a plurality of BBUs in accordance with
the embodiment of the present invention. Every BBU in FIG. 10
should respectively have at least one Eia interface and a plurality
of Eib interfaces. The BBU1 and the BBU2 are connected via Eia
capacity expansion interfaces to form a network with master-backup
relationship. The BBU3 and the BBU4 are connected via the Eia
capacity expansion interface that supports the active/standby
switchover function but with the active/standby switchover function
shielded, so that it only achieves information sharing between the
BBU3 and the BBU4 but has no master-backup switchover function. The
BBU1 and the BBU3, the BBU2 and the BBU4, the BBU1 and the BBU4 as
well as the BBU2 and the BBU3 are all connected via Eib capacity
expansion interfaces. It may be seen that every BBU in FIG. 9
should have at least one Eia interface and two or more Eib
interfaces.
[0133] In the fully-connected topology of BBUs in FIG. 10, every
BBU may be connected via respective capacity expansion interfaces
by using the transmission mediums like optical fires or electrical
cables, and the capacity of base station system increases with the
increase of BBU quantity.
[0134] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating another
fully-connected topology of a plurality of BBUs in accordance with
the embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 11, one exchange
BB cassette is added among four BBUs, and it helps achieving
interconnection among BBUs. The exchange BB cassette provides a
plurality of capacity expansion interfaces for connecting with BBU
capacity expansion interfaces, identifies the nature of the BBU
according to the slot position label of each BBU, and builds up
electrical connection for active/standby switchover control signals
between the master BBU and the backup BBU. It is not necessary to
build up electrical connection for active/standby switchover
control signals between the master BBU and slave BBUs, the standby
BBU and the slave BBUs, or among slave BBUs. Data among these BBUs
is transmitted by the exchange BB cassette, which transmits data to
the corresponding BBU according to the address of the target BBU
carried in the data.
[0135] In the fully-connected topology with four BBUs in FIG. 11,
every BBU may be connected via respective capacity expansion
interfaces by using the transmission mediums like optical fires or
electrical cables. The capacity of the base station system may
increase with the increase of BBU quantity. The exchanging BB
cassette exchanges data among the BBUs to achieve point-to-point or
point-to-multipoint information transmission. It is obvious that
the exchanging BB cassette can help to reduce the number of BBU
capacity expansion interfaces dramatically and lower the cost of
the BBU when network composition becomes more complicated with
increased number of BBUs.
[0136] In the BBU in accordance with the embodiment of the present
invention, based on the capacity of base band part, the base band
part of the base station is divided into a plurality of small
capacity base band units that may be expanded in flexible ways. Due
to its small capacity, a base band unit may be made very compactly
in size so that it may be placed in a space-limited location to
achieve the object of "to be invisible." Simultaneously,
interconnection among a plurality of BBUs may be achieved with BBU
capacity expansion interfaces, so as to help the system achieve the
capacity of macro base station. Compared with the macro base
station, the BBU in accordance with the embodiment of the present
invention integrates the master control function, the base band
function and the transmission function, and places all the
interfaces of the master control function, the base band function
and the transmission function on a single box, thereby reducing the
equipment size and weight and expanding application scope of the
equipment. Compared with the mini station, the BBU in accordance
with the embodiment of the present invention, not only integrates
the master control function, the base band function and the
transmission function, but also provides interfaces for
interconnection and expansion, which can achieve expansion and
overlapping of the base band part to reach the capacity of the
macro station, thereby further expanding application scope of the
mini station.
[0137] It may be seen from the technical solution provided by the
present invention that the BBU in accordance with the embodiments
of the present invention may be dispersedly installed by downsizing
design. Mobile communication operators, as long as they already
have base station sites, can install BBUs in accordance with
embodiments of the present invention directly in the remaining
space of their outdoor macro base stations, or in the remaining
space in the machine cabinets or frames of their indoor macro
station machine rooms. They don't have to find additional base
station sites. Simultaneously, because of the minimization and
dispersed installation of equipments, the mobile communication
operators can dramatically shorten their network construction time
to achieve quick network construction.
[0138] The BBU cassette in accordance with the embodiments of the
present invention is an independent device, which solves the
problems of complicated installation, high requirements on weight
bearing and high installation cost aroused by big size of
traditional base station and heavy weight, and avoids the
disadvantages of mini/micro base station's difficulties in capacity
expansion as well as the problems to upgrade base band signal
processing unit and RFU.
[0139] In accordance with the embodiments of the present invention,
every BBU provides the transmission interface function, and a
plurality of BBUs form distributed processing with their internal
functional modules when they are interconnected, and can achieve
networking in various modes with RRUs or near-end RFUs via BBU base
band RF interfaces. Every part of the whole system has protection
mechanism and the system is of simple structure and is easy to
achieve backup with low backup cost, and it can well meet
telecommunication equipment's requirements on base station's
reliability in future.
[0140] In accordance with the embodiments of the present invention,
equipments that the operators have already purchased and base
station sites that the operators have already obtained may be used
to reduce their future investment with further exploitation of the
existing facilities' efficiency. Mobile communication operators can
achieve multi-mode base stations at their existing base station
sites and on their existing base station equipment, so that the
operators can make full use of their existing investments and
reduce repeated investments by utilization of the space in the
existing equipment and the existing power supplies.
[0141] The distributed base stations disclosed in accordance with
embodiments of the present invention may be applied but not limited
to WCDMA products, CDMA2000 products, GSM products and BWA
products, etc.
[0142] The foregoing are only preferred embodiments of the present
invention while the protection scope thereof is not limited to the
above description. Any change or substitution, within the technical
scope disclosed by the present invention, easily occurring to those
skilled in the art should be covered by the protection scope of the
present invention. Therefore, the protective range of the present
invention should be determined by the protective range of
Claims.
* * * * *