Apparatus and method for intra-base station group data forwarding

Abstract

The present application relates to the field of communication technology, in particular to a kind of equipment and method for intra-base station group data forwarding, multiple adjacent base stations are connected with each other, form base station group, the base station group forwarding server is connected with each base station in base station group, and the base station includes inter-base station forwarding information table and local user forwarding information table, and the base station group forwarding server is used to maintain inter-base station forwarding information table.Compared with prior art, the equipment and method for intra-base station group data forwarding of the present application introduces base station group concept and corresponding base station group forwarding information table, the information table is saved in a special local device, called base station group forwarding server, and the base station includes two tables, namely inter-base station forwarding information table and local user forwarding information table, and the data in base station group is forwarded internally, reducing the bandwidth requirement of base station northbound backhaul link;Through internal data forwarding, the time delay in base station group is reduced.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, in particular to a device and method for data forwarding within a base station group. BACKGROUND

[0002] In the network architecture definition of 3GPP, data flow needs to be forwarded by the core network. Taking 5G as an example, the sending process of uplink data is as follows:

[0003] UE, i.e. user equipment such as a mobile phone;

[0004] gNB, i.e. a 5G base station;

[0005] CN, i.e. a core network;

[0006] and an optional external server;

[0007] And the receiving process of downlink data also needs to go through the reverse process. Among them, the connection between gNB and CN, CN and external server generally adopts network connection, which can be collectively referred to as the northbound connection of the base station, and the physical carrier is usually a network cable or an optical fiber.

[0008] With the advent of the 5G era, data traffic has increased significantly, and the requirement for northbound connection bandwidth is getting higher and higher, which requires greater cost to ensure the bandwidth of the northbound connection. In particular, for home-type and enterprise-type micro base stations, the backhaul bandwidth is usually limited, and it is difficult to increase the backhaul bandwidth.

[0009] On the other hand, in the current network architecture, a longer backhaul link will cause a longer delay.

[0010] In addition, for a private network, there is a large amount of internal communication data distributed on each base station of the private network, and the existing data needs to go through a long process of source base station<->core network<->target base station, further aggravating the bandwidth and delay problems. SUMMARY

[0011] In order to overcome the above problems, the present application provides a device and method for data forwarding within a base station group, which can effectively solve the above problems.

[0012] The application provides a technical solution to solve the above technical problems: a device and method for inter-base station group data forwarding, comprising a plurality of adjacent base stations and at least one base station group forwarding server, the plurality of adjacent base stations are connected to each other to form a base station group, and the base station group forwarding server is connected to each base station in the base station group; the base station comprises an inter-base station forwarding information table and a local user forwarding information table, and the base station group forwarding server is used to maintain the inter-base station forwarding information table; the inter-base station forwarding information table comprises inter-base station data forwarding rules, and the local user forwarding information table comprises base station data forwarding rules; the base station comprises a network information detection module and a forwarding information maintenance module.

[0013] Preferably, the network information detection module is used to detect the packet header of the IP data packet according to the network protocol, extract the source address and target address of the data according to the content in the packet header of the IP data packet, and send the user information, the source address and the target address of the data packet to the forwarding information maintenance module.

[0014] Preferably, the forwarding information maintenance module is used to maintain the local user forwarding information table, add or update the base station data forwarding rules according to the information output by the network information detection module, delete the base station data forwarding rules corresponding to the user information according to the received user deletion message, and provide a query function of the base station data forwarding rules.

[0015] Preferably, the base station comprises a base station group information interaction module, the base station group information interaction module is used to interact with the inter-base station forwarding information table and the base station group forwarding server of an external base station group, send the inter-base station data forwarding rules to the base station group forwarding server of the external base station group, and obtain corresponding information from the base station group forwarding server of the external base station group.

[0016] Preferably, the base station comprises a data base station internal forwarding module, the data base station internal forwarding module is used to send information to a target user after receiving inter-base station forwarding data and downlink data; and the data base station internal forwarding module is used to package the data packet into an internal protocol unit.

[0017] Preferably, the base station comprises a data base station group internal forwarding module, the data base station group internal forwarding module is used to send data to a target base station after receiving uplink data.

[0018] A method for inter-base station group data forwarding, comprising a downlink data forwarding information acquisition process.

[0019] The downlink data forwarding information acquisition process comprises the following steps:

[0020] Step A1, after receiving the GTPU data packet, the GTPU module finds the corresponding user information according to the packet header information of the GTPU data packet, and bypasses the user information and the resolved IP data packet to the network information detection module;

[0021] Step A2, the network information detection module analyzes and resolves the packet header of the IP data packet to obtain target address information;

[0022] Step A3, the network information detection module queries the target address from the forwarding information maintenance module;

[0023] Step A4, the GTPU module forwards the downlink data to the PDCP module.

[0024] Preferably, the method for forwarding data within the base station group, characterized in that it comprises an uplink data forwarding information acquisition and data forwarding process;

[0025] The uplink data forwarding information acquisition and data forwarding process comprises the following steps:

[0026] Step B1, after receiving the data protocol unit, the PDCP module finds the corresponding user information, and sends the user information and the resolved IP data packet to the network information detection module;

[0027] Step B2, the network information detection module resolves the packet header of the IP data packet to obtain source address and target address information;

[0028] Step B3, the network information detection module queries the source address from the forwarding information maintenance module;

[0029] Step B4, the network information detection module queries the target address from the forwarding information maintenance module, and carries the source user information to enter the data forwarding process.

[0030] Preferably, the method for forwarding data within the base station group, characterized in that it comprises a forwarding data receiving process;

[0031] The forwarding data receiving process comprises the following steps:

[0032] Step C1, the GTPU module determines whether it is a base station group forwarding data according to a specific default Tunnel id, and sends the resolved IP data packet to the network information detection module;

[0033] Step C2, the network information detection module resolves the packet header of the IP data packet to obtain source address and target address information;

[0034] Step C3, the network information detection module queries the target address from the forwarding information maintenance module to obtain the base station internal data forwarding rule;

[0035] Step C4, the target user information in the rule and the IP data packet are transferred to the internal forwarding module of the data base station;

[0036] Step C5, the internal data unit is generated according to the target user information and the IP data packet;

[0037] Step C6, the internal data unit is forwarded to the PDCP module.

[0038] Preferably, the method for internal data forwarding of the base station group, characterized in that, comprising a data forwarding information deletion process;

[0039] The data forwarding information deletion process comprises the following steps:

[0040] Step D1, the GTPU module receives the user deletion information and delivers it to the forwarding information maintenance module;

[0041] Step D2, the forwarding information maintenance module releases all rules related to the user address;

[0042] Step D3, the forwarding information maintenance module establishes an invalid address list, delivers the invalid user information and the invalid address list to the base station group information interaction module;

[0043] Step D4, after the base station group information interaction module receives the information, the related rules are obtained according to the invalid user information, the invalid user information is deleted from the source user information list in the rule, the invalid address list is sent to the base station group forwarding server, and if the source user information list of the rule is empty, the rule is deleted.

[0044] Step D5, after the base station group forwarding server receives the invalid address list, the corresponding rules are deleted by the base station group forwarding server, and the invalid address list is delivered to other base stations in the base station group by the base station group forwarding server;

[0045] Step D6, after the other base stations receive the invalid address list, the corresponding rules are deleted in the base station group information interaction module.

[0046] Compared with the prior art, the base station group internal data forwarding device and method of the application introduces the concept of base station group and the corresponding base station group forwarding information table, which is stored in a special local device, called base station group forwarding server, the base station contains two tables, namely inter-base station forwarding information table and local user forwarding information table, the data in the base station group is forwarded internally, reducing the bandwidth requirement of the base station northbound backhaul link; through internal data forwarding, the delay in the base station group is reduced; the forwarding information table is dynamically detected and intelligently learned from the IP address information in the data packet, without manual intervention; the base station group internal data forwarding does not affect the existing services, and dynamically realizes the separation of local services and remote services; wide applicability, which can be used for 3G, 4G, 5G and other various systems. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0047] Figure 1 The framework structure diagram of the base station group internal data forwarding device of the application is shown in the figure.

[0048] Figure 2 The internal function framework diagram of the base station group internal data forwarding device of the application is shown in the figure.

[0049] Figure 3 The downlink data forwarding information acquisition process flow chart of the base station group internal data forwarding method of the application is shown in the figure.

[0050] Figure 4 The uplink data forwarding information acquisition and data forwarding process flow chart of the base station group internal data forwarding method of the application is shown in the figure.

[0051] Figure 5 The forwarding data receiving process flow chart of the base station group internal data forwarding method of the application is shown in the figure.

[0052] Figure 6 The data forwarding information deletion process flow chart of the base station group internal data forwarding method of the application is shown in the figure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0053] In order to make the purpose, technical scheme and advantages of the application more clear and explicit, the application will be further described in detail below in combination with the drawings and examples. It should be understood that the specific examples described herein are only used to explain the application, and are not used to limit the application.

[0054] It should be noted that all directional indications (such as up, down, left, right, front, back, etc.) in the embodiments of the application are only relative positions on the designated view, not absolute positions.

[0055] In addition, the descriptions such as "first", "second", etc. in the present application are only for the purpose of description, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying the relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined as "first", "second" can be explicitly or implicitly included at least one of the features. In the description of the present application, the meaning of "multiple" is at least two, such as two, three, etc., unless otherwise specifically limited.

[0056] Please refer to Figures 1 to 6 The base station group internal data forwarding device of the present application comprises a plurality of adjacent base stations and at least one base station group forwarding server, the plurality of adjacent base stations are connected with each other to form a base station group, and the base station group forwarding server is connected with each base station in the base station group.

[0057] The base station comprises two information tables, namely an inter-base station forwarding information table and a local user forwarding information table. The base station group forwarding server is used to maintain the inter-base station forwarding information table, including adding, deleting, modifying and the like.

[0058] The inter-base station forwarding information table comprises inter-base station data forwarding rules, and the table entries comprise the mapping between the target address to base station information and the source user information list, and the target address is the key. The mapping relationship of the target address to base station information mainly comes from the base station group forwarding server, but there are two points different from the base station group forwarding server: 1. maintaining a source user information list, which is to determine whether the rule still needs to be retained; 2. the base station information can be empty, indicating that inter-base station forwarding cannot be performed, and the data needs to be sent to the core network.

[0059] The local user forwarding information table comprises base station internal data forwarding rules, and the main content is the mapping of the target address to the target user information, and the key is the target address.

[0060] The base station comprises a GTPU module, a PDCP module, an RLC module, a MAC module and a PHY module, and the GTPU module, the PDCP module, the RLC module, the MAC module and the PHY module are connected in sequence.

[0061] The base station further comprises a network information detection module, a forwarding information maintenance module, a base station group information interaction module, a data base station internal forwarding module and a data base station group internal forwarding module, and the forwarding information maintenance module is connected to the GTPU module and the PDCP module.

[0062] The network information detection module is used to detect the packet header of the IP data packet according to the network protocol, extract the source address and the target address of the data according to the content in the packet header of the IP data packet, and send the user information to which the data packet belongs, the source address and the target address of the data packet to the forwarding information maintenance module.

[0063] The forwarding information maintenance module is used for maintaining a local user forwarding information table, adding or updating a base station internal data forwarding rule according to information output by the network information detection module, and deleting the base station internal data forwarding rule corresponding to the user information according to a received user deletion message; meanwhile, the forwarding information maintenance module provides a query function of the base station internal data forwarding rule.

[0064] The base station group information interaction module is used for a base station internal forwarding information table and interaction with a base station group forwarding server of an external base station group, sending the base station internal data forwarding rule to the base station group forwarding server of the external base station group, and obtaining corresponding information from the base station group forwarding server of the external base station group.

[0065] The data base station internal forwarding module is used for sending information to a target user after receiving base station internal forwarding data and downlink data; and packing a data packet as an internal protocol unit to meet the requirement of an internal protocol stack.

[0066] The data base station group internal forwarding module is used for sending data to a target base station after receiving uplink data.

[0067] The GTPU module and the PDCP module are used for bypassing or transferring the unpacked IP data packet and user information to the network information detection module.

[0068] The GTPU module sends user deletion information to the forwarding information maintenance module.

[0069] The GTPU module is used for sending the base station internal forwarding data packet to the network information detection module.

[0070] The base station group internal data forwarding method of the application comprises the following steps:

[0071] A downlink data forwarding information obtaining process.

[0072] The downlink data forwarding information obtaining process comprises the following steps:

[0073] Step A1, after the GTPU module receives a GTPU data packet, the GTPU module finds corresponding user information according to the packet header information of the GTPU data packet, and bypasses the user information and the unpacked IP data packet to the network information detection module;

[0074] Step A2, the network information detection module analyzes and unpacks the packet header of the IP data packet, and obtains target address information;

[0075] Step A3, the network information detection module queries the target address from the forwarding information maintenance module;

[0076] Step A4, the GTPU module forwards the downlink data to the PDCP module.

[0077] In the step A3, if the target address is not in the data forwarding rule in the base station, the target address and the user information are transmitted to the forwarding information maintenance module, the forwarding information maintenance module saves the target address and the user information in the local user forwarding information table, and transmits the target address to the base station group information interaction module, and the base station group information interaction module forwards the target address corresponding rule to the base station group forwarding server.

[0078] The method for the base station group internal data forwarding of the application comprises:

[0079] The uplink data forwarding information acquisition and data forwarding process.

[0080] The uplink data forwarding information acquisition and data forwarding process comprises the following steps:

[0081] In the step B1, the PDCP module receives the data protocol unit, finds the corresponding user information, and transmits the user information and the IP data packet to the network information detection module.

[0082] In the step B2, the network information detection module resolves the packet header of the IP data packet, and acquires the source address and the target address information.

[0083] In the step B3, the network information detection module queries the source address from the forwarding information maintenance module.

[0084] In the step B4, the network information detection module queries the target address from the forwarding information maintenance module, and carries the source user information to enter the data forwarding process.

[0085] In the step B3, if the source address is not in the data forwarding rule in the base station, the source address and the user information are transmitted to the forwarding information maintenance module, the forwarding information maintenance module saves the source address and the user information in the local user forwarding information table, and transmits the source address to the base station group information interaction module, and the base station group information interaction module forwards the source address to the base station group forwarding server.

[0086] In the step B4, the following cases are included:

[0087] In the first case, if the target address is in the data forwarding rule in the base station, the user information (i.e. the target user information) and the IP data packet are transmitted to the data base station internal forwarding module according to the target user information and the IP data packet, the internal data unit is generated, and the internal data unit is forwarded to the PDCP module.

[0088] In the second case, if the target address is not in the data forwarding rule in the base station, the base station group information interaction module is queried for the target address, and the source user information is carried.

[0089] If the target address is in the inter-base station data forwarding rule, the corresponding inter-base station forwarding rule is acquired;

[0090] If the target address is not in the inter-base station data forwarding rule, the rule of the target address is inquired from the base station group forwarding server, a new inter-base station data forwarding rule is added with the target address as the key, if the server response is null, the target base station of the rule is empty, otherwise the target base station of the server response is recorded;

[0091] If the target base station of the inter-base station data forwarding rule is not empty, the base station information and the IP data packet inquired from the forwarding rule are sent to the data base station group internal forwarding module, the GTPU packet is generated by the data base station group internal forwarding module, a default Tunnel ID is adopted, and the GTPU packet is forwarded to the target base station by the data base station group internal forwarding module;

[0092] If the target base station of the inter-base station data forwarding rule is empty, the data is sent to the GTPU module.

[0093] The base station group internal data forwarding method of the application comprises:

[0094] The forwarding data receiving process.

[0095] The forwarding data receiving process comprises the following steps:

[0096] Step C1, the GTPU module determines to forward the data in the base station group according to the specific default Tunnel id, and sends the resolved IP data packet to the network information detection module;

[0097] Step C2, the network information detection module resolves the packet header of the IP data packet and acquires the source address and target address information;

[0098] Step C3, the network information detection module inquires the target address from the forwarding information maintenance module and acquires the base station internal data forwarding rule;

[0099] Step C4, the target user information in the rule and the IP data packet are transferred to the data base station internal forwarding module;

[0100] Step C5, the internal data unit is generated according to the target user information and the IP data packet;

[0101] Step C6, the internal data unit is forwarded to the PDCP module.

[0102] The base station group internal data forwarding method of the application comprises:

[0103] The data forwarding information deletion process.

[0104] The data forwarding information deletion process comprises the following steps:

[0105] Step D1, the GTPU module receives user deletion information and passes it to the forwarding information maintenance module;

[0106] Step D2, the forwarding information maintenance module releases all rules related to the user address;

[0107] Step D3, the forwarding information maintenance module establishes an invalid address list, passes the invalid user information and the invalid address list to the base station group information interaction module;

[0108] Step D4, after the base station group information interaction module receives the information, it acquires the related rules according to the invalid user information, deletes the invalid user information from the source user information list in the rules, and sends the invalid address list to the base station group forwarding server, and if the source user information list of the rules is empty, the rules are deleted.

[0109] Step D5, after the base station group forwarding server receives the invalid address list, the base station group forwarding server deletes the corresponding rules, and the base station group forwarding server passes the invalid address list to other base stations in the base station group;

[0110] Step D6, after the other base stations receive the invalid address list, the corresponding rules are deleted in the base station group information interaction module.

[0111] Compared with the prior art, the device and method for internal data forwarding of the base station group of the present application introduces the concept of base station group and the corresponding base station group forwarding information table, which is saved in a special local device, called base station group forwarding server, the base station contains two tables, namely inter-base-station forwarding information table and local user forwarding information table, the data in the base station group is forwarded internally, reducing the bandwidth requirement of the base station northbound backhaul link; through internal data forwarding, the time delay in the base station group is reduced; the forwarding information table is dynamically detected and intelligently learned from the IP address information in the data packet, without manual intervention; the internal data forwarding of the base station group does not affect the existing services, and dynamically realizes the separation of local services and remote services; wide applicability, can be used for 3G, 4G, 5G and other multiple systems.

[0112] The above description is only the preferred embodiment of the present application, and does not limit the patent scope of the present application, any modification, equivalent replacement and improvement within the concept of the present application shall be included in the patent protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A device for data forwarding within a base station cluster, characterized in that, It includes multiple adjacent base stations and at least one base station group forwarding server. The multiple adjacent base stations are interconnected to form a base station group. The base station group forwarding server is interconnected with each base station in the base station group. The base station includes an inter-base station forwarding information table and a local user forwarding information table, and the base station group forwarding server is used to maintain the inter-base station forwarding information table. The inter-base station forwarding information table includes inter-base station data forwarding rules. The table entries include a mapping between the target address and the base station information and the source user information list. The target address is the keyword. The mapping relationship from target address to base station information mainly comes from the base station group forwarding server. The mapping relationship from target address to base station information maintains a source user information list, which is used to determine whether the rule needs to be retained. The base station information can be empty, indicating that inter-base station forwarding is not possible and the data needs to be sent to the core network. The inter-base station forwarding information table includes inter-base station data forwarding rules, and the local user forwarding information table includes intra-base station data forwarding rules. The base station includes a network information detection module and a forwarding information maintenance module; The network information detection module is used to detect the header of IP data packets according to the network protocol, extract the source address and destination address of the data according to the content in the header of the IP data packets, and send the user information to which the data packet belongs, the source address and the destination address of the packet to the forwarding information maintenance module. The forwarding information maintenance module is used to maintain the local user forwarding information table, add or update data forwarding rules within the base station based on the information output by the network information detection module, and delete the data forwarding rule within the base station corresponding to the user information based on the received user deletion message; the forwarding information maintenance module provides a query function for data forwarding rules within the base station. The base station includes a base station group information interaction module, which is used for inter-base station forwarding information tables and interacts with the base station group forwarding server of an external base station group. The module sends inter-base station data forwarding rules to the base station group forwarding server of the external base station group and obtains corresponding information from the base station group forwarding server of the external base station group.

2. The device for data forwarding within a base station group as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The base station includes an internal forwarding module for data base stations. This module receives data forwarded between base stations and downlink data, and then sends information to the target user. The internal forwarding module is also used to package data packets, which are called internal protocol units.

3. The device for data forwarding within a base station group as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The base station includes a data base station group forwarding module, which is used to receive uplink data and then send the data to the target base station.

4. A method for data forwarding within a base station cluster, characterized in that, This includes the process of obtaining downlink data forwarding information; The process of obtaining downlink data forwarding information includes the following steps: Step A1: After receiving the GTPU data packet, the GTPU module finds the corresponding user information based on the header information of the GTPU data packet, and bypasses the user information and the decoded IP data packet to the network information detection module. Step A2: The network information detection module analyzes and decodes the IP data packet header to obtain the target address information; Step A3: The network information detection module queries the forwarding information maintenance module for the target address; In step A4, the GTPU module forwards the downlink data to the PDCP module; This includes the acquisition of uplink data forwarding information and the data forwarding process; The uplink data forwarding information acquisition and data forwarding process includes the following steps: Step B1: After receiving the data protocol unit, the PDCP module finds the corresponding user information and sends the user information and the decoded IP data packet to the network information detection module. Step B2: The network information detection module decodes the IP packet header and obtains the source and destination address information; Step B3: The network information detection module queries the forwarding information maintenance module for the source address; Step B4: The network information detection module queries the forwarding information maintenance module for the target address and, carrying the source user information, enters the data forwarding process.

5. The method for data forwarding within a base station group as described in claim 4, characterized in that, This includes the process of forwarding and receiving data; The forwarded data receiving process includes the following steps: In step C1, the GTPU module determines that the data is forwarded within the base station group based on the specific default Tunnel ID, and sends the decoded IP data packet to the network information detection module. Step C2: The network information detection module decodes the IP packet header and obtains the source and destination address information; Step C3: The network information detection module queries the forwarding information maintenance module for the target address and obtains the data forwarding rules within the base station; Step C4: Transfer the target user information and IP data packets in the rule to the data base station's internal forwarding module; Step C5: Generate internal data units based on target user information and IP data packets; Step C6: Forward the internal data unit to the PDCP module.

6. The method for data forwarding within a base station group as described in claim 5, characterized in that, This includes the process of deleting data forwarding information; The data forwarding information deletion process includes the following steps: In step D1, the GTPU module receives the user's deletion information and passes it to the forwarding information maintenance module; Step D2: The forwarding information maintenance module releases all rules related to the user's address; Step D3: The forwarding information maintenance module establishes a list of invalid addresses and transmits the invalid user information and the list of invalid addresses to the base station group information interaction module. Step D4: After receiving the information, the base station group information interaction module obtains the relevant rules based on the failed user information, deletes the failed user information from the source user information list in the rules, and sends the failed address list to the base station group forwarding server. If the source user information list of the rule is empty, the rule is deleted. Step D5: After receiving the list of invalid addresses, the base station group forwarding server deletes the corresponding rules and transmits the list of invalid addresses to other base stations in the base station group. In step D6, after receiving the list of invalid addresses, other base stations delete the corresponding rules in the base station group information exchange module.

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