Apparatus, method and computer program product for communication

Abstract

A method is disclosed, comprising: obtaining an identifier of a data service for an antenna, associating the obtained identifier with a first network identifier, assigning the first network identifier and a second network identifier to the data service, performing load balancing on the data service using a hash algorithm, wherein the hash algorithm obtains input based on the first network identifier, and sending the data service using link aggregation.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The following exemplary embodiments relate to wireless communications and the use of link aggregation. Background Art

[0002] Wireless communication networks such as cellular communication networks need to reliably cover wide geographical distances. Therefore, attaching the baseband to the fronthaul transport network in a reliable and resilient manner and load balancing are desirable aspects. Furthermore, load balancing is important and therefore link aggregation can be used to improve resiliency and load balancing. Summary of the invention

[0003] The scope of protection sought by various embodiments of the present invention is set out by the independent claims. Exemplary embodiments and features described in this specification that do not fall within the scope of the independent claims, if any, should be interpreted as examples that help understand the various embodiments of the present invention.

[0004] According to a first aspect, a device is provided, comprising components for: obtaining an identification of a data service for an antenna, associating the obtained identification with a first network identifier, assigning the first network identifier and a second network identifier to the data service, performing load balancing on the data service using a hash algorithm, wherein the hash algorithm obtains input based on the first network identifier, and sending the data service using link aggregation.

[0005] In some example embodiments according to the first aspect, the component comprises at least one processor and at least one memory, the at least one memory comprising computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause execution of the apparatus.

[0006] According to a second aspect, a device is provided, comprising at least one processor and at least one memory comprising computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, together with the at least one processor, enable the device to: obtain an identification of a data service for an antenna, associate the obtained identification with a first network identifier, assign the first network identifier and the second network identifier to the data service, perform load balancing on the data service using a hash algorithm, wherein the hash algorithm obtains input based on the first network identifier, and uses link aggregation to send the data service.

[0007] According to a third aspect, a method is provided, comprising: obtaining an identifier of a data service for an antenna, associating the obtained identifier with a first network identifier, assigning the first network identifier and a second network identifier to the data service, performing load balancing on the data service using a hash algorithm, wherein the hash algorithm obtains input based on the first network identifier, and using link aggregation to send the data service.

[0008] In some example embodiments according to the third aspect, the method is a computer-implemented method.

[0009] According to a fourth aspect, a computer program is provided, comprising instructions for causing a device to perform at least the following operations: obtaining an identifier of a data service for an antenna, associating the obtained identifier with a first network identifier, assigning the first network identifier and the second network identifier to the data service, performing load balancing on the data service using a hash algorithm, wherein the hash algorithm obtains input based on the first network identifier, and sending the data service using link aggregation.

[0010] According to a fifth aspect, a computer program is provided comprising instructions stored thereon, for performing at least the following operations: obtaining an identifier of a data service for an antenna, associating the obtained identifier with a first network identifier, assigning the first network identifier and the second network identifier to the data service, performing load balancing on the data service using a hash algorithm, wherein the hash algorithm obtains input based on the first network identifier, and sending the data service using link aggregation.

[0011] According to a sixth aspect, a non-temporary computer-readable medium is provided, comprising program instructions for causing a device to perform at least the following operations: obtaining an identifier of a data service for an antenna, associating the obtained identifier with a first network identifier, assigning the first network identifier and a second network identifier to the data service, performing load balancing on the data service using a hash algorithm, wherein the hash algorithm obtains input based on the first network identifier, and sending the data service using link aggregation.

[0012] According to a seventh aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium is provided, comprising program instructions stored thereon for performing at least the following operations: obtaining an identification of a data service for an antenna, associating the obtained identification with a first network identification, assigning the first network identification and a second network identification to the data service, performing load balancing on the data service using a hash algorithm, wherein the hash algorithm obtains input based on the first network identification, and sending the data service using link aggregation.

[0013] According to an eighth aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided, comprising program instructions stored thereon for performing at least the following operations: obtaining an identification of a data service for an antenna, associating the obtained identification with a first network identifier, assigning the first network identifier and the second network identifier to the data service, performing load balancing on the data service using a hash algorithm, wherein the hash algorithm obtains input based on the first network identifier, and sending the data service using link aggregation. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] In the following, the present invention is described in more detail with reference to embodiments and accompanying drawings, in which:

[0015] Figure 1 An exemplary embodiment of a radio access network is illustrated.

[0016] Figure 2 An example embodiment of a format of a component extended antenna carrier is illustrated.

[0017] Figure 3 An example embodiment of link aggregation is illustrated.

[0018] Figure 4 An example embodiment with active mode link aggregation is illustrated.

[0019] Figure 5 An example embodiment of an apparatus is illustrated. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] The following embodiments are exemplary. Although this specification may refer to "one", "an" or "some" embodiments in multiple places in the text, this does not necessarily mean that each reference is to the same (multiple) embodiments, or that a particular feature only applies to a single embodiment. Individual features of different embodiments may also be combined to provide other embodiments.

[0021] As used in this application, the term "circuitry" refers to all of the following: (a) pure hardware circuit implementations, such as implementations in analog and / or digital circuitry alone, and (b) combinations of circuitry and software (and / or firmware), such as (as applicable): (i) combinations of processors or (ii) portions of processors / software, including digital signal processors, software, and memory(s), which work together to enable the device to perform various functions, and (c) circuits that require software or firmware to operate, such as microprocessors or portions of microprocessors, even if the software or firmware is not actually present. This definition of "circuitry" applies to all uses of the term in this application. As a further example, as used in this application, the term "circuitry" would also cover implementations of only a processor (or multiple processors) or a portion of a processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. For example and if applicable to the particular element, the term "circuitry" would also cover a baseband integrated circuit or application processor integrated circuit for a mobile phone, or a similar integrated circuit in a server, cellular network device, or another network device. The above-described embodiments of circuit systems may also be considered as embodiments of providing means for performing embodiments of methods or processes described in this document.

[0022] The techniques and methods described herein can be implemented by various means. For example, these techniques can be implemented in hardware (one or more devices), firmware (one or more devices), software (one or more modules), or a combination thereof. For hardware implementation, the (multiple) devices of the embodiment can be implemented in the following devices: one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), graphics processing units (GPUs), processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or a combination thereof. For firmware or software, the implementation can be performed by a module (e.g., a process, a function, etc.) of at least one chipset that performs the functions described herein. The software code can be stored in a memory unit and executed by a processor. The memory unit can be implemented in a processor or outside a processor. In the latter case, it can be communicatively coupled to the processor via any suitable component. In addition, the components of the system described herein can be rearranged and / or supplemented by additional components to facilitate the implementation of various aspects of its description, etc., and they are not limited to the precise configurations set forth in the given figures, as will be understood by those skilled in the art.

[0023] The embodiments described herein may be implemented in a communication system, such as in at least one of the following: a global system for mobile communications (GSM) or any other second generation cellular communication system, a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS, 3G) based on a basic wideband code division multiple access (W-CDMA) network, a high speed packet access (HSPA), a long term evolution (LTE), an advanced LTE, a system based on the IEEE 802.11 specification, a system based on the IEEE 802.15 specification, and / or a fifth generation (5G) and advanced 5G (i.e., 3GPP NR Release 18 and higher) mobile or cellular communication system. In addition, the embodiments described herein may also be implemented in a 6G communication system. However, the embodiments are not limited to the systems given as examples, but those skilled in the art may apply the solutions to other communication systems that provide the necessary attributes.

[0024] Figure 1 Depicts an example of a simplified system architecture showing some elements and functional entities, which are logical units and whose implementation may differ from what is shown. Figure 1 The connections shown in are logical connections; the actual physical connections may be different. It is obvious to those skilled in the art that the system may also include Figure 1 Other functions and structures than those shown in . Figure 1 The example of FIG. 1 shows a portion of an exemplary radio access network.

[0025] Figure 1 Terminal devices 100 and 102 are shown, which are configured to be wirelessly connected to an access node (e.g., (e / g) NodeB) 104 providing the cell on one or more communication channels in the cell. Access node 104 may also be referred to as a node. The wireless link from the terminal device to the (e / g) NodeB is referred to as an uplink or reverse link, and the wireless link from the (e / g) NodeB to the terminal device is referred to as a downlink or forward link. It should be understood that the (e / g) NodeB or its functionality may be implemented using any node, host, server, or access point entity suitable for such use. It should be noted that, although one cell is discussed in this exemplary embodiment for simplicity of explanation, in some exemplary embodiments, one access node may provide multiple cells.

[0026] The communication system may include more than one (e / g)NodeB, in which case the (e / g)NodeBs may also be configured to communicate with each other via wired or wireless links designed for this purpose. These links may be used for signaling purposes. The (e / g)NodeB is a computing device configured to control the radio resources of the communication system to which it is coupled. The (e / g)NodeB may also be referred to as a base station, an access point, or any other type of interface device operating in a wireless environment. The (e / g)NodeB includes or is coupled to a transceiver. From the transceiver of the (e / g)NodeB, a connection to an antenna unit is provided, which establishes a bidirectional radio link to a user equipment. The antenna unit may include multiple antennas or antenna elements. The (e / g)NodeB is also connected to a core network 110 (CN or next generation core NGC). Depending on the system, the corresponding part on the CN side can be a service gateway (S-GW, routing and forwarding user data packets), a packet data network gateway (P-GW) for providing connectivity of terminal equipment (UE) to external packet data networks, a user plane function (UPF) for packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, quality of service (QoS) processing, and external protocol data unit (PDU) sessions for interconnected data networks (DNs), an access and mobility management function (AMF) for handling connection and mobility management tasks in the 5G architecture, a session management function (SMF) for interacting with the decoupled data plane, creating, updating and removing PDU sessions, and managing session contexts with the UPF, or a mobile management entity (MME), etc.

[0027] The terminal device (also referred to as UE, user equipment, user terminal, user equipment, etc.) illustrates a type of device to which resources on the air interface are allocated and assigned, and therefore any features described herein using the terminal device can be implemented using a corresponding device (such as a relay node). An example of such a relay node is a layer 3 relay (self-backhaul relay) toward a base station. Another example of such a relay node is a layer 2 relay. Such a relay node may include a terminal device portion and a distributed unit (DU) portion. For example, a CU (centralized unit) may coordinate DU operations via an F1AP interface.

[0028] The terminal device may refer to a portable computing device including a wireless mobile communication device that operates with or without a subscriber identity module (SIM) or an embedded SIM, eSIM, including but not limited to the following types of devices: mobile stations (mobile phones), smart phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile phones, devices using wireless modems (alarms or measuring devices, etc.), laptop computers and / or touch screen computers, tablet computers, game consoles, notebook computers, and multimedia devices. It should be understood that the user device may also be an exclusive or almost exclusive uplink-only device, an example of which is a camera or video camera that loads images or video clips to the network. The terminal device may also be a device with the ability to operate in an Internet of Things (IoT) network, which is a scenario in which objects are provided with the ability to transmit data over a network without the need for human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. The terminal device may also utilize the cloud. In some applications, the terminal device may include a small portable device (such as a watch, headphones, or glasses) with a radio component, and perform calculations in the cloud. The terminal device (or in some embodiments, a layer 3 relay node) is configured to perform one or more of the user device functionalities.

[0029] The various techniques described herein can also be applied to cyber-physical systems (CPS) (systems of cooperating computing elements that control physical entities). CPS can enable the implementation and utilization of a large number of interconnected ICT devices (sensors, actuators, processors microcontrollers, etc.) embedded in physical objects at different locations. Mobile cyber-physical systems are a subcategory of cyber-physical systems in which the physical systems in question have inherent mobility. Examples of mobile physical systems include mobile robots and electronic devices transported by humans or animals.

[0030] Furthermore, although the apparatus is described as a single entity, different units, processors and / or memory units may be implemented ( Figure 1 Not all are shown).

[0031] 5G supports the use of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antennas, many more base stations or nodes than LTE (the so-called small cell concept), including macro sites that operate in cooperation with smaller stations and adopt various radio technologies, depending on service requirements, use cases and / or available spectrum usage. 5G mobile communications support a wide range of use cases and related applications, including video streaming, augmented reality, different ways of sharing data, and various forms of machine-type applications, such as (massive) machine-type communications (mMTC), including vehicle safety, different sensors and real-time control. 5G is expected to have multiple radio interfaces, namely below 6GHz, cmWave and mmWave, and can also be integrated with existing traditional radio access technologies (such as LTE). At least in the early stages, the integration with LTE can be implemented as a system in which macro coverage is provided by LTE and 5G radio interface access comes from small cells by aggregation to LTE. In other words, 5G plans to support both inter-RAT operability (such as LTE-5G) and inter-RI operability (inter-radio interface operability, such as below 6GHz-cmWave, below 6GHz-cmWave-mmWave). One of the concepts being considered for use in 5G networks is network slicing, in which multiple independent and dedicated virtual subnetworks (network instances) can be created within the same infrastructure to run services with different requirements for latency, reliability, throughput, and mobility.

[0032] The current architecture of LTE networks is fully distributed in the radio and fully centralized in the core network. Low-latency applications and services in 5G may require bringing content close to the radio, which may cause local outages and multi-access edge computing (MEC). 5G enables analysis and knowledge generation to occur at the data source. This approach requires the use of resources that may not be continuously connected to the network, such as laptops, smartphones, tablets, and sensors. MEC provides a distributed computing environment for application and service hosting. It also has the ability to store and process content close to cellular users for faster response times. Edge computing covers a wide range of technologies such as wireless sensor networks, mobile data collection, mobile signature analysis, collaborative distributed point-to-point self-organizing networks and processing, which can also be classified as local cloud / fog computing and grid / mesh computing, dew computing, mobile edge computing, cloudlet, distributed data storage and retrieval, autonomous self-healing networks, remote cloud services, augmented reality and virtual reality, data caching, Internet of Things (large-scale connectivity and / or latency critical), critical communications (autonomous driving vehicles, traffic safety, real-time analysis, time-critical control, healthcare applications).

[0033] The communication system may also be capable of communicating with other networks, such as the public switched telephone network or the Internet 112, and / or utilizing services provided by them. The communication network may also be capable of supporting the use of cloud services, for example, at least a portion of the core network operations may be performed as a cloud service (this is in the context of Figure 1 114). The communication system may also include a central control entity or the like providing facilities for the networks of different operators to collaborate, for example, in spectrum sharing.

[0034] Edge cloud can be introduced into the radio access network (RAN) by utilizing network function virtualization (NFV) and software defined network (SDN). Using edge cloud can mean performing access node operations at least partially in a server, host or node operably coupled to a remote radio head or a base station including radio components. Node operations may also be distributed among multiple servers, nodes or hosts. The application of cloudRAN architecture enables RAN real-time functions to be performed on the RAN side (in distributed units DU 104) and non-real-time functions to be performed in a centralized manner (in centralized units CU108).

[0035] It should also be understood that the allocation of labor between core network operations and base station operations may be different from LTE, or even non-existent. Some other technologies that may be used include, for example, big data and all-IP, which may change the way networks are built and managed. 5G (or new radio, NR) networks are designed to support multiple hierarchical structures, where MEC servers can be placed between the core and base stations or Node Bs (gNBs). It should be understood that MEC can also be applied in 4G networks.

[0036] 5G can also use satellite communications to enhance or supplement the coverage of 5G services, such as by providing backhaul or service availability in areas without terrestrial coverage. Satellite communications can utilize geostationary orbit (GEO) satellite systems, but also low earth orbit (LEO) satellite systems, such as giant constellations. The satellites 106 included in the constellation can carry a gNB or at least a portion of a gNB that creates a terrestrial cell. Alternatively, the satellite 106 can be used to relay signals of one or more cells to the earth. The terrestrial cell can be created by a terrestrial relay node 104 or by a gNB located on the ground or in a satellite, or a portion of the gNB (e.g., DU) can be on the satellite and a portion of the gNB (e.g., CU) can be on the ground. In addition or alternatively, a high altitude platform station HAPS system can be utilized.

[0037] It should be noted that the depicted system is an example of a part of a radio access system, and the system may include multiple (e / g)NodeBs, a terminal device may access multiple radio cells and the system may also include other devices, such as physical layer relay nodes or other network elements. At least one of the (e / g)NodeBs may be a home (e / g)nodeB. In addition, in a geographical area of ​​the radio communication system, a plurality of different types of radio cells as well as a plurality of radio cells may be provided. A radio cell may be a macro cell (or umbrella cell), which is a large cell typically up to tens of kilometers in diameter, or a smaller cell such as a micro cell, a femto cell or a pico cell. Figure 1 The (e / g)NodeB of a cell can provide any type of these cells. The cellular radio system can be implemented as a multi-layer network including multiple cells. In some exemplary embodiments, in the multi-layer network, one access node provides one or more cells of one type, so multiple (e / g)NodeBs are required to provide such a network structure.

[0038] In order to meet the needs for improving the deployment and performance of communication systems, the concept of "plug and play" (e / g) NodeB is introduced. A network that can use "plug and play" (e / g) NodeB can also include a home node B gateway, or HNB-GW (HNB-GW), in addition to the home node B (H(e / g) nodeB). Figure 1 (not shown). An HNB gateway (HNB-GW) that can be installed in an operator network can aggregate services from a large number of HNBs back to the core network.

[0039] As with the backhaul, in the fronthaul, resiliency and load balancing are areas of great interest and therefore improving these areas is beneficial. Therefore, active-active mode link aggregation (LAG) can be used in the fronthaul transport network for attaching the baseband (BB) to the fronthaul transport network in a resilient manner and also for link redundancy in case of link failure at the radio unit (RU) site. LAG can also be used in the intermediate switches of the fronthaul network to improve resiliency and load balancing.

[0040] The fronthaul can be based on Ethernet, such as enhanced Common Public Radio Interface (eCPRI) Ethernet, and link aggregation can be used to allow multiple links to be used simultaneously in an all-active configuration. This can be beneficial because links are expensive and ports are scarce, which means that an active-passive mode that avoids link aggregation is effective. In addition, due to the high capacity in the fronthaul, multiple links may be required. Therefore, link aggregation is beneficial when connecting 5G BB, which may mean connecting the virtualized distributed unit (vDU) to one site switch or multiple site switches, and then further attaching the site switch to the network, and also connecting the RU to the network. It is also important to note that there may also be switches in the intermediate transport network that utilize LAG for resiliency and load balancing.

[0041] However, when LAG is utilized in the fronthaul, entropy is required for the packet header. Media Access Control (MAC) and Internet Protocol (IP) addressing and port and Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) identification (ID) can be utilized, although in Ethernet-based fronthaul, there may be little or no difference in the header fields. This may be because, for example, in the RU, when one port is used for all services, the source MAC may be the same for all user (U) and / or control (C) plane services. However, it is important to note that in some example use cases, multiple MAC addresses can be assigned to the same port, although this solution adds complexity.

[0042] Another reason why there may be little or no difference in the header fields may be that if all data traffic flows are targeted to one port in the BB, the destination MAC may be the same for all U / C plane traffic from the RU to the BB. Yet another reason may be that one VLAN is used for one RU, and thus configuring multiple VLANs for one RU (although this is possible) increases the configuration effort and may not be suitable for load balancing when other load balancing mechanisms are also available. Therefore, it may be necessary to configure VLANs for the RU, the BB, and each switch on the path.

[0043] Since there may be little or no difference in the header fields from one RU towards the BB and possibly in the other direction from the BB to the RU, it may not be possible to allocate fronthaul traffic flows since there is only one flow for all traffic. The fronthaul may be based on eCPRI or open RAN (O-RAN), or it may be based on the Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) or the Open Base Station Architecture Initiative (OBSAI), such as RUs carried by Ethernet frames according to IEEE P1914.3 Ethernet Radio (Radio over Ethernet). If entropy is not included in the LAG header field, active-active mode may turn into active-passive mode link aggregation because all traffic goes to the same link until the other links are disconnected, which may cause some network capacity to be wasted. In addition, in IP-based fronthaul, the IP address may not provide more entropy than the MAC address. Therefore, it is desirable to be able to introduce entropy into the header field.

[0044] The Ethernet QinQ format (IEE802.1 ad) allows multiple VLAN IDs to be inserted into a single frame. Therefore, using Ethernet QinQ, two VLAN IDs can be used: an internal VLAN ID and an external VLAN ID. The internal VLAN ID can also be understood as a first network identifier, which can be used as a customer C-VLAN, and the external VLAN ID can also be understood as a second network identifier, which can be used as a service provider S-VLAN. Therefore, in some example embodiments, an extended antenna carrier ID (eAxC ID) can be used in a network that follows the QinQ format to create entropy for a packet header. By using the eAxC ID in conjunction with a transport-based endpoint identifier to distinguish O-RUs, the extended antenna carrier (eAxC) allows different data streams (flows) (such as spatial data streams (streams)) to be uniquely associated with a unique U / C plane endpoint address. In this way, eAxC can be understood as a data stream (flow) for a single antenna of a single carrier in a single sector or a spatial stream (stream) for a single carrier in a single sector. Alternatively, if the fronthaul is according to CPRI / OBSAI, the antenna carrier structure can be according to the definition for CPRI in the O-RAN control (C) / user (U) plane specification, such as 16 bits for defining the following: DU port ID, Bandsector_ID, component carrier (CC)_ID, RU_Port_ID. There may also be 8 bits for defining Sequence_ID, 1 bit for defining E_Bit, and 7 bits for defining Sequence_ID. Alternatively, in the case of CPRI, a flowID according to the Ethernet Radio Protocol (rOE) (such as defined by IEEEP 1914.3) can be used.

[0045] Figure 2 An example embodiment of a format 200 of a component eAxC (c_eAxCId) is illustrated. In the format, the order of bits 202 is: bit 0 is the most significant bit and bit 15 is the least significant bit. The format includes a DU port ID 210, a band sector ID 212, a carrier component ID 214, and an RU port ID 216. The band sector ID 212 is used to indicate an aggregated cell identifier and distinguish between bands and sectors supported by the O-RU. The carrier component ID 214 distinguishes between carrier components supported by the O-RU, and the RU port ID 216 identifies logical flows such as data layers or spatial streams, as well as logical flows such as separate numerologies (e.g., physical random access channel, PRACH) or signaling channels that require special antenna assignments such as sounding reference signals (SRS).

[0046] One eAxC ID may include multiple c_eAxC IDs that have the same band sector ID, carrier component ID, and RU port ID, but different values ​​of DU port ID, which may be associated with different O-DU / gNB processing units. Therefore, c_eAxC may be understood as defining a portion of an eAxC flow assigned to a specific O-DU / gNB processing element. It should be noted that for one RU, there may be thousands of eAXC IDs in some example embodiments, depending on the configuration.

[0047] Figure 3 An example embodiment of link aggregation is illustrated. In this example embodiment, the link aggregation has an active mode and is therefore an active-active link aggregation. In this example embodiment, the network element can determine a first network identification based on an identification of the data traffic for the antenna, such as an eAxC ID. The data traffic can then be allocated based on the characteristics of the traffic, such as source MAC, destination MAC, provider VLAN, and / or customer VLAN. It is noted that in the fronthaul transport network, in this example embodiment, one or more techniques can be used to achieve resilience, and the algorithm for allocating traffic can also be utilized by any intermediate switches.

[0048] In this example embodiment, when the data traffic is in the downlink (DL) direction, the network portion 310 includes network elements such as edge site fronthaul switches 312 and 314 and network elements 316 as DUs with virtual baseband units (vBBUs) 316 and network elements 318 as DUs with virtual DUs (vDUs). The links are shown by line diagrams, and LAG 300 illustrates that the links are aggregated in an active-active manner, in other words, in an active mode. Optionally, network element 318 (i.e., vDU) can also be connected to both switches 312 and 314 via a LAG, which can increase the resilience of the switches in an active-active manner. One or both of network elements 316 and 318 can obtain an eAxC ID for outgoing data traffic and associate it with a first network identifier, which is an internal VLAN ID in this example embodiment. Association can also be understood as mapping. This can be performed directly, or it can be performed by deriving an internal VLAN ID from the eAXC ID. In this example embodiment, the second network identifier is an external VLAN ID and is assigned to data traffic, and the second network identifier can be used, for example, to indicate a VLAN for an RU U and / or C-plane. LAG 300 is used for links, and a hash algorithm is used to load balance traffic, and the hash algorithm is input according to the first network identifier (which is an internal VLAN ID). Since the internal VLAN ID has a value that changes with the change of the eAxC ID, the hash algorithm has entropy, and thus the data traffic can be distributed to the link aggregation group member links.

[0049] In the uplink UL direction, the same approach can be utilized. In this example embodiment, UL data traffic can also be sent using LAG. The network portion 320 includes radio elements such as a radio unit 326, which can be included in an access node such as a gNB, and cell site fronthaul switches 322 and 324. For UL data traffic, the RU 326 can obtain an eAxC ID for outgoing data traffic and associate it with a first network identifier, which is an internal VLAN ID in this example embodiment. Therefore, the RU 326 can derive the internal VLAN ID based on the eAxCID. The second network identifier, which is an external VLAN ID in this example embodiment, can be used, for example, to indicate a VLAN for a DU U and / or C-plane. The LAG 300 is used for links and a hash algorithm is used to load balance the traffic, which is input based on the first network identifier (i.e., the internal VLAN ID). However, it should be noted that between the RU 326 and the switch 322, optionally, there can be multiple Ethernet links for the LAG (300), as illustrated using dashed lines. It should also be noted that, alternatively or additionally, an external VLAN ID may also be used and the eAXC ID may be mapped to the external VLAN ID.

[0050] As mentioned previously, the intermediate switches 332, 334, 336, and 338 included in the fronthaul transport network 330 can also distribute data traffic in the same manner by using internal VLAN IDs. Therefore, the network as a whole can use LAG to achieve load balancing and resilience in UL and DL directions.

[0051] Figure 4Another example embodiment with active mode link aggregation is illustrated. In this example embodiment, Ethernet is used as a transport mechanism for U-plane and C-plane messages, and the messages are transmitted via standard Ethernet frames, and the eCPRI header and payload are included in the Ethernet data field. The eCPRI U-plane and C-plane share the same VLAN ID configured per eAxC, in other words, the same VLAN is configured per CC ID (and therefore per cell). In this example embodiment, the DU 410 obtains the eAxC ID for outgoing data traffic and associates it with the first network identifier, which is an internal VLAN ID in this example embodiment. Association can also be understood as mapping. This can be performed directly, or it can be performed by deriving the internal VLAN ID from the eAXC ID. The second network identifier, which is an external VLAN ID in this example embodiment, can be used as, for example, to indicate a VLAN for one RU U and / or C-plane. LAG 400 is used for links, and a hash algorithm is used to load balance outgoing data traffic, which is input based on the first network identifier (which is an internal VLAN ID). Another network element 420 (a multilayer switch in this example embodiment) then forwards the data traffic to network 430, which may be a time-sensitive network, by forwarding the data traffic to network elements 432 and 434, from which the data traffic is then forwarded to the RU.

[0052] As a result, the resiliency from DU 410 to the first switch 420 can utilize the active-active mode of link aggregation. In addition, when necessary, RU can perform active-active load balancing and can also act as an intermediate switch in the network between BB and RU.

[0053] In this example embodiment, the dimensions may be designed so that if one link fails, the remaining links can carry a sufficient amount of data traffic. Note that the links may not be fully utilized, and therefore the network may operate even with little spare capacity - unless it is extremely loaded. Optionally, data traffic may be prioritized at a granularity that allows the highest priority data traffic flows to survive even in reduced capacity scenarios (such as failure of one or more link members).

[0054] Also in this example embodiment, the described solution also applies to the uplink direction, and the RU can tag the internal VLAN ID with the eAXC ID. This allows the switch close to the baseband to use active mode. In addition, when the RU also supports the same hash algorithm, the RU can also attach to the network using active mode link aggregation.

[0055] It should be noted that in the above example embodiments, optionally, the first network identifier may not need to be unique, and if more than a predetermined number (e.g., 4096) of IDs are required, the first network identifier may wrap around. The purpose of the first network identifier is to have different values ​​that direct traffic to different links. It should also be noted that in some example embodiments, there may be network elements in the intermediate network that are not QinQ-capable devices. However, these network elements may also be used in the fronthaul path because they only see the external VLAN ID, and the intermediate network does not need to have many VLANs because the internal VLANs do not need to be seen at all. Moreover, in some example embodiments, LAGs may be utilized even if the RU and DU are directly connected to each other without an intermediate switch.

[0056] In the above example embodiment, the use of eAXC IDs may be beneficial because the packet sequence number runs per eAXCID, so when the eAXC ID flows are kept together as a flow, there will be no frame disorder in normal operation. In addition, the BB and RU can support a small amount of reordering capability to cope with the occasional disorder of a few frames that may occur during network failures and rerouting.

[0057] In an alternative example embodiment, an external VLAN ID may also be associated with the eAXC ID. This may be the case, for example, when there is a network design that performs active-active mode based only on external VLAN IDs.

[0058] It is noted that it is contemplated that fronthaul may also support security features. An example of such a security feature is Media Access Control Security (MACsec), which defines connectionless data confidentiality and integrity for a media access independent protocol. The above example embodiments may also be used with such fronthaul security features by supporting a frame format that allows VLANs to be in text format to enable Layer 2 (L2) features to function, as these features may rely on a flag to be recognized, which may include a VLAN ID, which may not be the case if encrypted. For example, MACsec may be used with a mode where the external VLAN is in the clear state or both the internal and external VLANs are in the clear state.

[0059] In another alternative example embodiment, the same method as in the previous example embodiment can be used for IP-based fronthaul with equal cost multi-path (ECMP) forwarding. In this example embodiment, the source user datagram protocol (UDP) field is populated with the eAXC ID value, or it is derived therefrom. Therefore, it may help to ensure that the eAXC ID-based flow is kept together through the network, there is no packet disorder, there is entropy in the source UDP field that can be used by network elements (such as routers and / or switches), and active-active load balancing is applicable. In this example embodiment, it may be sufficient for the hash algorithm to use a normal 5-tuple (address, port, protocol), and any router can use ECMP accordingly. Therefore, in this example embodiment, load balancing can be performed, for example, by using the source UDP port for load balancing using ECMP. Alternatively, if IPv6 transmission is used, the eAXC ID can be mapped to the Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) flow label field instead of mapping to the source UDP. In the case of using Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) tunnel mode, two IPsec tunnels can be used and flows can be assigned to these tunnels.

[0060] Figure 5 The apparatus 500 of the embodiment illustrates an example embodiment of an apparatus that may be an access node or included in an access node. The apparatus may be, for example, a circuit or chipset suitable for use in an access node to implement the described embodiments. The apparatus 500 may be an electronic device including one or more electronic circuits. The apparatus 500 may include a communication control circuit system 500 such as at least one processor, and at least one memory 520 including computer program code (software) 522, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code (software) 522 are configured to work with the at least one processor to cause the apparatus 500 to perform any of the example embodiments of the access node described above.

[0061] The memory 520 may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor-based memory devices, flash memory, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory, and removable memory. The memory may include a configuration database for storing configuration data. For example, the configuration database may store a current neighbor cell list and, in some example embodiments, a frame structure used in a detected neighbor cell.

[0062] The apparatus 500 may also include a communication interface 530, which includes hardware and / or software for implementing communication connectivity according to one or more communication protocols. The communication interface 530 may provide the apparatus with radio communication capabilities to communicate in a cellular communication system. The communication interface may, for example, provide a radio interface to a terminal device. The apparatus 500 may also include another interface to a core network (such as a network coordinator device) and / or to an access node of the cellular communication system. The apparatus 500 may also include a scheduler 540 configured to allocate resources.

[0063] Although the present invention has been described above with reference to the exemplary embodiments according to the accompanying drawings, it is clear that the present invention is not limited thereto, but can be modified in various ways within the scope of the appended claims. Therefore, all words and expressions should be interpreted broadly and they are intended to illustrate rather than limit the embodiments. It is obvious to those skilled in the art that, with the advancement of technology, the inventive concept can be implemented in various ways. In addition, it is clear to those skilled in the art that the described embodiments can, but are not required to, be combined with other embodiments in various ways.

Claims

1. An apparatus for communication, comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: Obtaining an identification of a data service for the antenna; Associating the obtained identifier with the first network identifier; assigning the first network identifier and the second network identifier to the data service, wherein the second network identifier comprises an identifier for an external local area network; Perform load balancing on the data traffic using a hash algorithm, wherein the hash algorithm obtains input based on the first network identifier; and The data traffic is sent using link aggregation, wherein the link aggregation is an active mode link aggregation utilized in fronthaul. 2 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the identification of the data traffic for the antenna is one of the following: an extended antenna carrier identification, an antenna carrier identification, and an Ethernet radio flow ID.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the data service is uplink data service or downlink data service.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the apparatus is further configured to: associate the obtained identifier with the first network by deriving the first network identifier from the obtained identifier.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first network identifier comprises an identifier for an internal virtual local area network. 6 . The apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the second network identifier indicates a virtual local area network used for a distribution unit U and / or C plane.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first network identifier is a source user datagram protocol field, and wherein the apparatus is further enabled to: perform the load balancing using equal cost multi-path forwarding based on a source user datagram protocol port or based on an Internet Protocol version 6 flow label.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the apparatus is further configured to: associate the second network identity with the obtained identity.

9. A method of communication, comprising: Obtaining an identification of a data service for the antenna; Associating the obtained identifier with the first network identifier; assigning the first network identifier and the second network identifier to the data service, wherein the second network identifier comprises an identifier for an external local area network; Perform load balancing on the data traffic using a hash algorithm, wherein the hash algorithm obtains input based on the first network identifier; and The data traffic is sent using link aggregation, wherein the link aggregation is an active mode link aggregation utilized in fronthaul.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the identification of data traffic for an antenna is one of: an extended antenna carrier identification, an antenna carrier identification, and an Ethernet radio flow ID.

11. The method according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the method further comprises: The obtained identity is associated with the first network by deriving the first network identity from the obtained identity.

12. The method according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the first network identifier comprises an identifier for an internal virtual local area network.

13. The method of claim 9 or 10, wherein the first network identifier is a source user datagram protocol field, and wherein the method further comprises: The load balancing is performed using equal cost multi-path forwarding based on source User Datagram Protocol ports or based on Internet Protocol version 6 flow labels.

14. A computer program product comprising instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the following operations: Obtaining an identification of a data service for the antenna; Associating the obtained identifier with the first network identifier; assigning the first network identifier and the second network identifier to the data service, wherein the second network identifier comprises an identifier for an external local area network; Perform load balancing on the data traffic using a hash algorithm, wherein the hash algorithm obtains input based on the first network identifier; and The data traffic is sent using link aggregation, wherein the link aggregation is an active mode link aggregation utilized in fronthaul.

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