Method for uplink of radio access network, radio access network and radio access network system

Abstract

A method for uplink of a radio access network, a radio access network and a radio access network system, the radio access network for communication connection of a plurality of user equipments with beamforming antennas, and comprising a plurality of radio units for connection with the user equipments, and a host unit connected in communication with the radio units. The host unit controls the connected user equipments through each of the radio units to set a specific phase delay as the setting of the beamforming antennas thereof, thereby making the user equipments form a spatially independent relationship with the connected radio units. Wherein the specific phase delay is determined by the host unit to calculate the minimum error rate of data transmission. Thereby, the uplink flux in the same frequency bandwidth can be maximized, and the spectrum utilization is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a radio access network, system, and related methods. Background Technology

[0002] Intelligent manufacturing generally refers to a manufacturing plant that captures real-time information during the manufacturing and / or testing process and uses that real-time information for monitoring, analysis, and even applying artificial intelligence for anomaly detection, fault prediction, and so on.

[0003] In the above series of processes, real-time information is collected by multiple cameras, sensors and other devices (usually called user equipment, hereinafter referred to as UE) and transmitted to the core network (CN) via the Radio Access Network (RAN).

[0004] See Figure 1 In the Open RAN (O-RAN) telecommunications architecture, a 5G base station is divided into a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), and a radio unit (RU). The RU includes the low-PHY and related radio frequency signal hardware and software, used to connect with the UE via radio waves. The DU is responsible for Radio Link Control (RLC), Medium Access Control (MAC), and High-PHY, and communicates with the RU via an evolved Common Public Radio Interface (eCPRI). The CU is responsible for the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) and Radio Resource Control (RRC). It manages and connects to the DU through interfaces such as the 5G FemtoApplication Platform Interface (FAPI), and communicates with the CN through a Next Generation (NG) interface.

[0005] The current method for establishing a connection between a UE and a RU involves setting the UE's transmit power (TX power) to maximum at power-on to ensure it can scan for and connect to an RU. However, this method causes the UE to simultaneously communicate with the nearest RU and other RUs within signal range. Therefore, when receiving signals from the nearest RU, the UE will be subject to interference from other RUs, and the uplink signals transmitted by the UE will also interfere with other RUs. In the uplink case, when the UE's transmitted signal is interfered with, not only is frequency band utilization efficiency affected, but the UE's signal must also be stronger than the interfering signal to transmit successfully, resulting in transmit power loss.

[0006] Furthermore, when smart factories use 5G enterprise private networks (local 5G network or private 5G network), regardless of whether they use dedicated frequency networks or shared spectrum, the cost of obtaining spectrum is not low. How to improve spectrum utilization without signal interference is a major demand for the industry when introducing related technologies. Summary of the Invention

[0007] One object of the present invention is to provide a method for improving the uplink of a radio access network in the prior art.

[0008] The method for the uplink of a radio access network according to the present invention is executed by a radio access network (RAN) for communication connections of several user equipments (UEs) with beamforming antennas. The RAN includes several radio units (RUs) for data transmission with the UEs, and a host unit communicatively connected to the RUs. The method includes the following steps:

[0009] The RU is connected to the UE.

[0010] The host unit controls the beamforming antenna of the connected UE through each RU to transmit data at various phase delays and calculate its error rate.

[0011] The host unit finds the phase delay with the minimum error rate for each UE.

[0012] The host unit controls the connected UEs through each of the RUs to set the beamforming antenna of the UE with the phase delay having the minimum error rate, thereby making the interconnected UEs and RUs spatially independent.

[0013] Each RU, in the spatially independent relationship, receives uplink data from the connected UE and transmits it to the host unit.

[0014] In some embodiments of the method for an uplink in a radio access network according to the present invention, the step of connecting the RU to the UE includes: the host unit receiving a random access channel (RACH) signal transmitted by the RU from the UE; and the host unit determining the RU to which each UE should connect based on the strength of the RACH signal.

[0015] In some embodiments of the method for the uplink of a radio access network of the present invention, the step of connecting the RU and the UE includes: each RU successively transmits multiple broadcast signals with power from low to high to generate a radio frequency signal coverage range from small to large, so that the UE located within the small radio frequency signal coverage range can preferentially search for the RU and complete the connection.

[0016] In some embodiments of the method for an uplink in a radio access network according to the present invention, the step of the host unit controlling the beamforming antenna of the connected UE through each of the RUs to transmit data at various phase delays and calculate its error rate includes: the host unit controlling the beamforming antenna of the connected UE through each of the RUs to transmit user datagram protocol (UDP) data at various phase delays; and the host unit calculating the block error rate (BLER) of the received UDP packet data.

[0017] In some embodiments of the method for an uplink in a radio access network according to the present invention, the host unit includes a distributed unit (DU) configured with multiple high-PHY layers to be connected to the RU respectively, and a central unit (CU) for managing and connecting the DU; wherein the step of receiving uplink data from the connected UE and transmitting it to the host unit includes: each RU receiving and transmitting uplink data from the connected UE; one of the high-PHY layers of the DU corresponding to the RU receiving the uplink data and performing encoding; and the DU transmitting the encoded uplink data to the CU.

[0018] Another object of the present invention is to provide a radio access network (RAN) for communication connections of several UEs with beamforming antennas.

[0019] The RAN of this invention includes several RUs for connecting to the UE; and a host unit communicatively connected to the RUs. The host unit controls the connected UE to use a specific phase delay as the setting for its beamforming antenna through each RU, thereby establishing a spatially independent relationship between the UE and the connected RU. The specific phase delay is determined by the host unit based on calculating the minimum error rate for data transmission.

[0020] In some embodiments of the RAN of the present invention, the host unit receives the RACH signal transmitted from the UE by the RU and determines the RU to which each UE should be connected based on the strength of the RACH signal.

[0021] In some embodiments of the RAN of the present invention, each RU transmits multiple broadcast signals with power ranging from low to high in sequence to generate a radio frequency signal coverage range ranging from small to large, so that UEs located within the small radio frequency signal coverage range can preferentially search for the RU and complete the connection.

[0022] In some embodiments of the RAN of the present invention, the host unit controls the beamforming antenna of the connected UE through each of the RUs to perform UDP transmission at various phase delays, and performs BLER calculation on the received UDP packet data, taking the phase delay with the smallest BLER as the setting of the beamforming antenna of the connected UE.

[0023] In some embodiments of the RAN of the present invention, the host unit includes: a DU configured with multiple High-PHYs to be connected to the RU respectively; and a CU for managing and connecting the DUs. Each RU receives uplink data from the connected UE and transmits the uplink data to one of the corresponding High-PHYs connected to the DU. After the High-PHY performs encoding, the DU transmits the encoded uplink data to the CU.

[0024] Another object of the present invention is to provide a RAN system comprising the aforementioned RAN and several UEs having beamforming antennas.

[0025] The beneficial effects of this invention are: by controlling the UE antenna signal transmission direction digitally to form a spatially independent relationship with the RU, the uplink throughput within the same bandwidth can be maximized and the spectrum utilization rate can be improved. Attached Figure Description

[0026] Other features and effects of the present invention will be clearly presented in the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0027] Figure 1 It is a block diagram illustrating an existing radio access network telecommunications architecture;

[0028] Figure 2 This is a block diagram illustrating the architecture of an embodiment of the radio access network system of the present invention; and

[0029] Figures 3 to 5 This is a flowchart illustrating the execution steps of an embodiment of the method for an uplink in a radio access network according to the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0030] Before the invention is described in detail, it should be noted that similar elements are represented by the same reference numerals in the following description. The technology disclosed herein relates to data transmission in wireless networks. The wireless network is, for example, based on fifth-generation mobile communication (5G). th Generation Wireless System (5G) technology and / or standards, or mobile communication technologies and / or standards in different versions such as its revisions, predecessors (including 3GPP, LTE, LTE-A, WiMAX-A, 4G), and successors.

[0031] In this embodiment, the wireless network is illustrated by introducing an Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) telecommunications architecture into a 5G network system, which can be applied to a smart factory. In some embodiments, the wireless network may additionally or alternatively use other network systems or telecommunications architectures, and the present invention is not limited to these examples.

[0032] See Figure 2 An embodiment of the Radio Access Network (RAN) system of the present invention includes a radio access network (RAN) 100 and several user equipment (UE) 9 having beamforming antennas 91. The RAN 100 includes a central unit (CU) 1, a distributed unit (DU) 2, and several radio units (RU) 3.

[0033] In this embodiment, CU 1 and DU 2 are integrated into a single host unit 10, which can be located at the near or far end of the smart factory. CU 1 includes a PDCP layer 11 responsible for Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) and an RRC layer 12 responsible for Radio Resource Control (RRC). CU 1 manages and connects to DU 2 through, for example, a 5G FemtoApplication Platform Interface (FAPI), and transmits data with the core network (CN) 200 through a Next Generation (NG) interface. DU 2 includes an RLC layer 21 responsible for Radio Link Control (RLC), a MAC layer 22 responsible for Medium Access Control (MAC), and several High-PHY layers 23. Data transmission between DU 2 and RU 3 is conducted via an Ethernet-evolved Common Public Radio Interface (eCPRI).

[0034] The RUs 3 are distributed separately from each other in the smart factory, for example, one RU 3 per room, or one RU 3 per floor, but are not limited thereto. In this embodiment, each RU 3 includes a low-PHY 31 for connecting to the High-PHY 23 of the DU2, a radio frequency (RF) module 32, and an antenna 33 for connecting to the UE 9 via radio waves. It should be noted that in some embodiments, the type of the RU 3 may be different, and the configuration number of the Low-PHY 31, RF module 32, or antenna 33 is not limited to a specific one.

[0035] In this embodiment, the UE 9 is several wireless communication devices with sensing capabilities installed on or around one or more machines in the smart factory. These devices may include smartphones, tablets, laptops, webcams, surveillance cameras, infrared sensors, pressure sensors, etc. In this embodiment, each UE 9 has a beamforming antenna 91 for communication with the RU 3.

[0036] See also Figures 3 to 5An embodiment of the method for an uplink (UL) in a radio access network according to the present invention includes the following steps. When the UE 9 in the smart factory is powered on, it needs to establish a connection with the RU 3 and start... Figure 3 The steps S31 to S36 for establishing the connection are shown; once each UE 9 has established a connection with one of the RU 3, the following steps are performed as follows: Figure 4 The steps S41 to S49 shown illustrate the formation of spatially independent relationships; when each of the UE 9s and the connected RU3s form a spatially independent relationship, then the following can be performed: Figure 5 The steps S51 to S55 for transmitting uplink data are shown.

[0037] In step S31, RU 3, for example, is started by host unit 10, initially transmitting a broadcast signal at low transmit power (Tx Power) to generate a small radio frequency signal coverage area. If the powered-on UE 9 is located within this small radio frequency signal coverage area, it can then search for RU 3 and complete the connection (step S32). RU 3, started by host unit 10, will subsequently transmit a broadcast signal at higher transmit power to generate a larger radio frequency signal coverage area. UE 9, which initially failed to find any RU 3, has the opportunity to fall within this larger radio frequency signal coverage area and thus also complete the connection with RU 3. Through this mechanism, UE 9 preferentially connects to the nearest RU 3.

[0038] In step S33, when each UE 9 is connected to RU 3, it begins to send a random access channel (RACH) signal through RU3 to request a channel from the host unit 10 of RAN 100. RU 3 receives the RACH signal and transmits it to DU 2 (step S34).

[0039] In step S35, DU 2 receives RACH signals transmitted from UE 9 via connected RU 3 from all directions. DU 2's MAC 22 determines the RU 3 that each UE 9 should connect to based on the strength of the RACH signal, and issues control commands to the RU 3 and UE 9 to establish the connection. Therefore, each UE 9 maintains a connection only with the RU 3 with the strongest RACH signal (step S36). Specifically, after steps S31 to S34, each UE 9 may establish a connection with one RU 3, but may also establish connections with other RU 3s. Steps S35 and S36 confirm the unique connection relationship of each UE 9. It should be noted that each UE 9 connects only to one RU 3, but there is no limitation on how many UE 9s a RU 3 can connect to.

[0040] See also Figure 2 and Figure 4 In step S41, the MAC 22 of DU 2 of host unit 10 sends a control signal, which is transmitted to the connected UE 9 through RU 3 (step S42) to trigger the beamforming antenna 91 of UE 9 to perform UDP transmission under various phase delays. In this embodiment, each UE 9 receives the control signal, adjusts the phase delay digitally, and transmits UDP packet data under various phase delays in a streaming manner (step S43).

[0041] The UDP packet data is transmitted to DU 2 via RU 3 (step S44), where DU 2 calculates the block error rate (BLER) of the received UDP packet data (step S45), which is the proportion of erroneous blocks (continuous bits) in all transmitted blocks. Specifically, UE 9 transmits several blocks to DU 2 under one phase delay, and each block is accompanied by a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) code calculated using that block. After receiving the block, DU 2 also calculates a CRC code and compares it with the received CRC code. If they are equal, the transmission is correct; otherwise, it is recorded as an error. In step S45, DU 2 calculates the proportion of erroneous blocks for each UE 9 under each phase delay.

[0042] In step S46, the MAC 22 of DU 2 then compares the BLER of each UE 9 under all its phase delays, finds the phase delay with the minimum BLER, and issues a control signal to the UE 9 based on the phase delay with the minimum BLER (step S47). The control signal causes the UE 9 to configure its antenna with the phase delay with the minimum BLER via the RU 3 (steps S48 and S49). In this way, the beamforming antenna of each UE 9 forms a spatially isolated relationship with the connected RU 3 in a digital manner (adjusting the phase delay), allowing radio waves to be transmitted in a specific direction.

[0043] See Figure 2 and Figure 5 In step S51, each UE9 and the connected RU3 transmit uplink data in a spatially independent relationship.

[0044] In step S52, the RU 3 receives and transmits the uplink data in a spatially independent relationship.

[0045] In step S53, one of the High-PHY 23s of DU 2, which is connected to the RU 3, receives the uplink data from the RU 3 and performs encoding. It is worth noting that in this embodiment, DU 2 is configured with multiple High-PHY 23s to connect to the RU 3 respectively. Each High-PHY 23 can encode the uplink data and then transmit it to the same MAC 22 and RLC 21, achieving high-efficiency processing without requiring multiple host units 10.

[0046] In step S54, the DU 2 transmits the encoded uplink data to the CU 1.

[0047] In step S55, the CU 1 transmits the encoded uplink data to the CN 200.

[0048] In summary, when each UE 9 and its connected RU 3 form a spatially independent relationship, signal interference with other RU 3s can be significantly reduced. Each UE 9 will only send uplink data to its connected RU 3 without interfering with other RU 3s. In this case, regardless of the number of RU 3s, the MAC 22 of DU 2 in the host unit 10 can control each RU 3 to simultaneously receive uplink data from its corresponding connected UE 9 without worrying about interference. Furthermore, the uplink throughput can increase proportionally with the number of RU 3s, thereby achieving optimal uplink throughput within the same bandwidth.

[0049] The above description is merely an embodiment of the present invention and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention. Any simple equivalent changes and modifications made in accordance with the claims and description of the present invention shall still fall within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for uplink of a radio access network, performed by a radio access network, RAN, for a number of user equipment, UE, communicating connected with beamforming antennas, the RAN comprising a number of radio units, RU, for data transmission with the UEs, and a host unit communicating connected with the RUs; characterized in that: The method comprises the steps of: The RUs are connected with the UEs; The host unit controls the beamforming antennas of the connected UEs through the RUs to respectively transmit data with various phase delays and calculate their error rates; The host unit finds out the phase delay with the minimum error rate for each of the UEs; The host unit controls the connected UEs through the RUs to set the phase delay with the minimum error rate as the setting of the beamforming antennas of the UEs, thereby making the connected UEs and the RUs form a spatially independent relationship; And Each of the RUs receives uplink data from the connected UEs in the spatially independent relationship and transmits the data to the host unit.

2. The method for uplink of radio access network according to claim 1, characterized in that: The step of connecting the RUs with the UEs includes: The host unit receives the RACH signals transmitted by the RUs from the UEs; and The host unit determines the RUs to which each of the UEs should be connected according to the strengths of the RACH signals.

3. The method for uplink of radio access network according to claim 1, characterized in that: The step of connecting the RUs with the UEs includes: each of the RUs successively transmits a plurality of broadcast signals with power from low to high to generate radio frequency signal coverage ranges from small to large, so that the UEs located in the small radio frequency signal coverage range are given priority to search for the RUs and complete the connection.

4. The method for uplink of radio access network according to claim 1, characterized in that: The step of the host unit controlling the beamforming antennas of the connected UEs through the RUs to respectively transmit data with various phase delays and calculate their error rates includes: The host unit controls the beamforming antennas of the connected UEs through the RUs to respectively transmit user datagram protocol (UDP) data; and The host unit calculates the block error rate (BLER) of the received UDP packet data.

5. The method for uplink of radio access network according to claim 1, characterized in that: The host unit includes a distributed unit (DU) configured with a plurality of high physical layers (High-PHYs) to respectively connect with the RUs, and a central unit (CU) managing and connecting the DUs; wherein the step of receiving uplink data from the connected UEs and transmitting the data to the host unit includes: Each of the RUs receives and transmits uplink data from the connected UEs; A High-PHY of the DU corresponding to the connection with the RU receives the uplink data and performs encoding; and The DU transmits the encoded uplink data to the CU.

6. A RAN for communication connection of a plurality of UEs with beamforming antennas, characterized by: The RAN comprises: A plurality of RUs for connecting with the UEs; and A host unit in communication connection with the RUs; Wherein the host unit controls the connected UEs through the RUs to set a specific phase delay as the setting of the beamforming antennas of the UEs, thereby making the UEs and the connected RUs form a spatially independent relationship; Wherein the specific phase delay is determined by the host unit calculating the minimum error rate of data transmission.

7. The RAN of claim 6, wherein: The host unit receives the RACH signals transmitted by the RUs from the UEs and determines the RUs to which each of the UEs should be connected according to the strengths of the RACH signals.

8. The RAN of claim 6, wherein: Each RU successively transmits a plurality of broadcast signals from low to high power to generate radio frequency signal coverage from small to large, allowing UEs located in the small radio frequency signal coverage to search for the RU first and complete connection.

9. The RAN of claim 6, wherein: The host unit controls the beamforming antenna of the connected UE through each RU to perform UDP transmission at various phase delays respectively, and performs BLER calculation on the received UDP packet data, and takes the phase delay with the smallest BLER as the setting of the beamforming antenna of the connected UE.

10. The RAN of claim 6, wherein: The host unit comprises: a DU configured with a plurality of High-PHYs to connect with the RUs respectively; and a CU for managing and connecting the DU; wherein each RU receives uplink data from the connected UE and transmits the uplink data to a corresponding connected High-PHY of the DU, the High-PHY performs encoding, and the DU transmits the encoded uplink data to the CU.

11. A RAN system, characterized by: A RAN and a plurality of UEs with beamforming antennas as claimed in any one of claims 6 to 10.

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