Repeater device upgrade method for a repeater station system and the repeater station system

Abstract

An embodiment of the present invention discloses a method for upgrading a repeater device in a repeater system and the repeater system. The method includes: a notification step: the network management notifies the repeater device to switch the monitoring software operation mode to the software upgrade mode; the repeater device switches and responds to the network management; a transmission step: the network management fragments the upgrade file and transmits it to the repeater device, displays the real-time progress of transmitting the upgrade file, and after the transmission is completed, the network management sends a message to the repeater device to end the transmission of the upgrade file; the repeater device responds to the network management and switches; an upgrade step: the repeater device installs the updated software and restarts. When the repeater uses the MCP:B method for upgrading, the present invention divides the upgrade stage, which is convenient for distinguishing the progress of the upgrade process; the present invention can display the transmission progress of the upgrade file, which is convenient for users to master the upgrade time and plan the upgrade plan arrangement.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of repeaters, and particularly to a method for upgrading a repeater device in a repeater system and a repeater system. Background Art

[0002] With the rapid development of China's mobile communication industry, various repeaters have become an important part of network construction. After a large number of repeater devices are deployed, operators manage various repeater devices through a repeater network management system (referred to as network management or network management system). Currently, operators generally use the MCP (Monitoring Control Protocol) protocol to monitor and manage repeater devices. The monitoring function of the southbound interface of the network management can be implemented in two ways: MCP:A and MCP:C, while the remote upgrade of device software generally uses the MCP:B method. When upgrading using the MCP:B method, the operating mode of the monitoring software is divided into two types: monitoring mode and software upgrade mode, as Figure 1 shown.

[0003] In the monitoring mode, the device monitoring software normally collects various configuration data of the device and reports the generated alarms according to the settings. In this mode, the repeater device only uses the MCP:A or MCP:C protocol. The network management makes the repeater device enter the software upgrade mode by sending a command of "switch to software upgrade mode" to the repeater device to implement the function of remote upgrade.

[0004] In the software upgrade mode, the monitoring software of the repeater device stops functions such as data collection and alarm, but instead performs file transfer and saving. In this mode, the repeater device only uses the MCP:B protocol. When the software upgrade is completed, or an error occurs during the software upgrade and the upgrade cannot be completed normally, the repeater device can enter the monitoring mode to work by means of automatic reset software, etc.

[0005] The existing technical solutions have the following disadvantages:

[0006] 1. When upgrading using the MCP:B protocol, no upgrade stage division is carried out, which is not convenient for users to understand the overall progress of the upgrade.

[0007] 2. When the network management transfers the upgrade file to the repeater, since it takes a long time, the network management does not provide an intuitive transmission progress value, which is not convenient for users to understand the transmission progress. It is impossible to plan time to handle the upgrade plans of other repeaters. Summary of the Invention

[0008] The technical problem to be solved by the embodiments of the present invention is to provide a method for upgrading a repeater device in a repeater system and a repeater system, so as to facilitate users to understand the overall upgrade progress in real time.

[0009] To solve the above technical problems, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for upgrading a repeater device in a repeater system. The system includes a network management unit and a repeater device. The method includes:

[0010] Notification step: When the network management unit needs to upgrade the repeater device, it notifies the repeater device to switch the monitoring software operation mode to the software upgrade mode; the repeater device switches the operation mode to the software upgrade mode and responds to the network management unit.

[0011] Transmission step: The network management unit fragments the upgrade file and transmits it to the repeater device. During the transmission process, the network management unit calculates and displays the real-time progress of transmitting the upgrade file. After the transmission is completed, the network management unit sends a message to the repeater device to end the transmission of the upgrade file; the repeater device responds to the network management unit's message to end the transmission of the upgrade file and switches the operation mode to the monitoring mode.

[0012] Upgrade step: The repeater device installs the updated software according to the upgrade file and restarts, and then notifies the network management unit of the latest version information and the upgrade success status; the network management unit responds to the received version information and ends the current upgrade process.

[0013] Correspondingly, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a repeater system, including a network management unit and a repeater device. When the network management unit needs to upgrade the repeater device, it notifies the repeater device to switch the monitoring software operation mode to the software upgrade mode; the repeater device switches the operation mode to the software upgrade mode and responds to the network management unit.

[0014] The network management unit fragments the upgrade file and transmits it to the repeater device. During the transmission process, the network management unit calculates and displays the real-time progress of transmitting the upgrade file. After the transmission is completed, the network management unit sends a message to the repeater device to end the transmission of the upgrade file; the repeater device responds to the network management unit's message to end the transmission of the upgrade file and switches the operation mode to the monitoring mode.

[0015] The repeater device installs the updated software according to the upgrade file and restarts, and then notifies the network management unit of the latest version information and the upgrade success status; the network management unit responds to the received version information and ends the current upgrade process.

[0016] The beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: When the present invention upgrades the repeater using the MCP:B method, it divides the upgrade stage, which is convenient for distinguishing the progress of the upgrade process; the present invention can display the transmission progress of the upgrade file, which is convenient for users to master the upgrade time and plan the upgrade plan arrangement. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the mode switching of the repeater device.

[0018] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the repeater system in the upgrade preparation stage according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0019] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the repeater system in the embodiment of the present invention during the stage of upgrading the transmission file.

[0020] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of the repeater system in the embodiment of the present invention during the stage of upgrading and updating the software.

[0021] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the transmission time when the interaction mechanism in the embodiment of the present invention is 1.

[0022] Figure 6 It is a schematic flow diagram of the method for upgrading the repeater device of the repeater system in the embodiment of the present invention. Detailed implementation manners

[0023] It should be noted that, without conflict, the embodiments in the present application and the features in the embodiments may be combined with each other. The present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the drawings and specific embodiments.

[0024] In the embodiments of the present invention, if there are directional indications (such as up, down, left, right, front, back...), they are only used to explain the relative position relationship and movement conditions between components in a certain specific posture (as shown in the drawings). If this specific posture changes, the directional indications will also change accordingly.

[0025] In addition, in the present invention, the descriptions such as "first" and "second" are only for descriptive purposes and cannot be understood as indicating or implying their relative importance or implicitly indicating the quantity of the indicated technical features. Thus, the features defined with "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of such features.

[0026] Please refer to Figure 6 , the method for upgrading the repeater device of the repeater system in the embodiment of the present invention includes a preparation step, a notification step, a transmission step, and an upgrade step.

[0027] Preparation step: The repeater device continuously sends heartbeat messages to the network management several times, and at the same time records the timestamps when each heartbeat message starts to be sent. The sending interval is the reporting period of the heartbeat message;

[0028] When the network management receives the heartbeat message sent by the repeater device, it responds and sends a heartbeat response message to the repeater device;

[0029] The repeater device receives the heartbeat response message and records the corresponding timestamp, and then calculates the transmission delay;

[0030] The network manager sends a query to the repeater device for the communication parameters of the remote upgrade. After the repeater device responds to the network manager, the network manager parses and saves the communication parameters of the remote upgrade. The communication parameters of the remote upgrade include: monitoring software operation mode, MCP:B interaction mechanism, device response timeout, mode conversion time, device remote upgrade method, continuous transmission coefficient, sending interval time and transmission delay; the repeater device responds to the communication parameter information of the remote upgrade, and the network manager selects the corresponding upgrade file after receiving the response.

[0031] As an implementation method, the repeater equipment calculates the transmission delay Td according to the following formula:

[0032] Td = ((T1'-T1) + (T2'-T2) +...+(Tn'-Tn)) / n;

[0033] Wherein, n is the number of heartbeat messages sent by the repeater device to the network management, T1, T2, ... Tn are the timestamps of the start of sending each heartbeat message, and T1', T2', ... Tn' are the timestamps of received heartbeat response messages.

[0034] Notification steps: When the network manager needs to upgrade the repeater equipment, he notifies the repeater equipment to switch the monitoring software operation mode to the software upgrade mode; the repeater equipment switches the operation mode to the software upgrade mode and responds to the network manager. The network manager waits for T T (mode switching time), prepare to enter the next stage.

[0035] Transmission steps: The network manager sends a message to the repeater device to start transmitting the upgrade file. The repeater device responds to the network manager and is ready to receive the upgrade file. The network manager segments the upgrade file and transmits it to the repeater device. During the transmission process, the network manager calculates and displays the real-time progress of the transmission of the upgrade file. After the transmission is completed, the network manager sends a message to the repeater device to end the transmission of the upgrade file. The repeater device responds to the network manager's message to end the transmission of the upgrade file and switches the operation mode to the monitoring mode.

[0036] As an implementation method, if the interaction mechanism of the MCP:B protocol used by the network manager to upgrade the repeater equipment is 0 (indicating that each packet confirmation method is adopted. That is, each received packet is confirmed once, and the mechanism of continuously sending NC packets and waiting for a response), the network manager calculates the real-time progress P according to the following formula:

[0037] ;

[0038] If the interactive mechanism of the MCP:B protocol used by the network manager to upgrade the repeater equipment is 1 (indicating that a multiple-question-one-answer method is used. That is, a mechanism in which each NC packet is confirmed once and NC packets are continuously sent before waiting for a response), the network manager calculates the real-time progress P according to the following formula:

[0039] ;

[0040] Among them, Index is the packet sequence number during sub-packet transmission, starting from 1; C is the number of fragmentation times, is the sending interval time, NC is the continuous sending coefficient, is the transmission delay.

[0041] The network management shows the progress P value to the front-end page in real time, so that users can understand the progress of the upgrade file transmission in real time.

[0042] The network management calculates the number of fragmentation times C according to the size S of the upgrade file and the maximum message size E that the network management can transmit each time using the MCP:B protocol len The calculation formula is: C = S / E len ;

[0043] Among them, if S divided by E len has a remainder and is not divisible, then an additional fragmentation transmission is required.

[0044] Upgrade steps: The repeater device installs and updates the software according to the upgrade file and restarts, and then notifies the network management of the latest version information and the upgrade success status; the network management responds to the received version information and ends the current upgrade process.

[0045] The repeater system of the embodiment of the present invention includes a network management and a repeater device.

[0046] The repeater device continuously sends heartbeat messages to the network management several times, and at the same time records the timestamps of the start of each heartbeat message sending. The sending interval time is the reporting period of the heartbeat message;

[0047] The network management responds when receiving the heartbeat message sent by the repeater device, and sends a heartbeat response message to the repeater device;

[0048] The repeater device receives the heartbeat response message and records the corresponding timestamp, and then calculates the transmission delay;

[0049] The network management sends the communication parameters for querying remote upgrade to the repeater device. After the repeater device responds to the network management, the network management parses and saves the communication parameters for remote upgrade. The communication parameters for remote upgrade include: monitoring software operation mode, MCP:B interaction mechanism, device response timeout, mode conversion time, device remote upgrade method, continuous sending coefficient, sending interval time, and transmission delay; the repeater device responds with the communication parameter information for remote upgrade, and the network management selects the corresponding upgrade file after receiving the response.

[0050] When the network management needs to upgrade the repeater device, it notifies the repeater device to switch the monitoring software operation mode to the software upgrade mode; the repeater device switches the operation mode to the software upgrade mode and responds to the network management;

[0051] The network manager divides the upgrade file into pieces and transmits them to the repeater device. During the transmission process, the network manager calculates and displays the real-time progress of the transmission of the upgrade file. After the transmission is completed, the network manager sends a message to the repeater device that the transmission of the upgrade file has ended. The repeater device responds to the network manager's message that the transmission of the upgrade file has ended and switches the operating mode to the monitoring mode.

[0052] The repeater equipment installs the updated software according to the upgrade file and restarts, and then informs the network management of the latest version information and the upgrade success status; the network management responds to the received version information and ends the upgrade process.

[0053] Example 1: Figure 2 As shown, the process of the repeater system in the upgrade preparation stage of the embodiment of the present invention is as follows:

[0054] 1. The repeater device sends three heartbeat messages to the network management system in succession. The interval between the heartbeat messages is the heartbeat reporting period. The repeater device records the timestamps T1, T2 and T3 of the start of the three heartbeat messages.

[0055] 2. The network management system responds to three heartbeat messages.

[0056] 3. The repeater device calculates the transmission delay Td. Furthermore, after receiving three consecutive heartbeat messages, the repeater device records the corresponding timestamps T1', T2' and T3', and calculates the transmission delay Td = ((T1'-T1) + (T2'-T2) +(T3'-T3)) / 3, which is the average transmission delay.

[0057] 4. The network manager sends a query to the repeater device for the communication parameters of the remote upgrade. After the repeater device responds to the network manager, the network manager parses and saves the communication parameters of the remote upgrade. The communication parameters of the remote upgrade include: monitoring software operation mode, MCP:B interaction mechanism, device response timeout (T OT1 ), mode conversion time (T T ), device remote upgrade mode, continuous transmission coefficient (NC), transmission interval (Tg) (this data is meaningful only when NC>1) and transmission delay Td. The meaning of remote upgrade communication parameters is shown in Table 1:

[0058]

[0059] 5. The repeater equipment responds to the communication parameters for remote upgrade.

[0060] 6. The network administrator notifies the repeater equipment to switch the monitoring software operation mode to software upgrade mode.

[0061] 7. The repeater equipment switches the monitoring software operation mode to software upgrade mode and responds to the network administrator.

[0062] 8. The network management waits for T T (Mode conversion time) and then prepares to enter the next stage.

[0063] As Figure 3 shown, the process of the repeater system according to the embodiment of the present invention in the stage of upgrading the transmission file is as follows:

[0064] 1. The network management sends a message to start transmitting the upgrade file to the repeater device.

[0065] 2. The repeater device responds to the network management and prepares to receive the upgrade file.

[0066] 3. The network management fragments and transmits the upgrade file. The number of fragments (C) is calculated by the network management according to the size of the transmitted upgrade software package (S) and the maximum size of the message that can be transmitted each time using the MCP:B protocol by the network management (E len ), and its calculation formula is: C = S / E len + (S % E len > 0)? 1 : 0). Wherein, S / E len takes an integer value, and (S % E len > 0)? 1 : 0) means that if S divided by E len has a remainder and is not divisible, then an additional fragment transmission is required.

[0067] 4. The network management responds to the fragmented transmission of the upgrade file. Further, the network management repeats steps 3 and 4 for C times.

[0068] 5. The network management sends a message to end the transmission of the upgrade file to the repeater device and switches the running mode of the monitoring software to the monitoring mode.

[0069] 6. The repeater device responds to the network management to end the transmission of the upgrade file message and switches the running mode of the monitoring software to the monitoring mode.

[0070] As Figure 4 shown, the process of the repeater system according to the embodiment of the present invention in the stage of upgrading and updating the software is as follows:

[0071] 1. The repeater device installs the updated software and restarts the device. Further, the updated software is the upgrade file that the network management transmits the software package to be upgraded to the repeater device in the stage of upgrading the transmission file. After the repeater device updates the upgrade file, it restarts, and at this time, the repeater device has completed the software update.

[0072] 2. The repeater device notifies the network management of the latest version information and the upgrade success status.

[0073] 3. The network management responds to the received version information to end the upgrade process.

[0074] Embodiment 2: According to the interaction mechanism of the repeater, the network management calculates the real-time progress P of software transmission:

[0075] If the MCP:B interaction mechanism is 0: It means that the per-pack confirmation method is adopted, that is, each received packet is confirmed once.

[0076] ;

[0077] Furthermore, Index is the packet sequence number during sub-packet transmission, that is, which shard of the software package to be upgraded is being transmitted. For example: C = 1000, Index = 10, = 1%. It means that the software package to be upgraded needs to be transmitted 1000 times in total. Currently, it is the 10th transmission, and the overall progress is 1%.

[0078] If the MCP:B interaction mechanism is 1: It means that the multiple-question-one-answer method is adopted, that is, the mechanism of confirming once after receiving NC packets and waiting for a response after continuously sending NC packets.

[0079] ;

[0080] In the above formula, NC represents the continuous transmission coefficient, Tg represents the sending interval time (this data is meaningful only when NC > 1), Td represents the transmission delay, Index is the packet sequence number during sub-packet transmission, and C represents the total number of sent packets, that is, the number of shards.

[0081] From Figure 5 it can be seen that all software upgrade packages are transmitted C times, that is, shards 1 to shard C are transmitted in sequence. Among them, there is a waiting time of Tg between each shard. Every time NC is sent, the repeater device responds once, and the response time is a transmission delay Td. That is Figure 5 in one NC transmission process, it takes .

[0082] At the Index-th time, it has experienced NC transmission processes, that is, continuously sending NC times and the repeater responding once. This process takes . Among them, takes an integer value.

[0083] At the Index-th time, after removing the above-mentioned complete NC transmission processes, the remaining number of transmissions is times, and the transmission delay for each time is , then it takes .

[0084] At the Index-th time, after sending the Index-th shard packet, it enters the process of preparing to send the (Index + 1)-th time.

[0085] At the Index-th time, the time consumed is the sum of the time of the complete NC stage experienced and the time of the remaining single stage, that is .

[0086] By analogy, the total transmission time consumed, that is, when the C-th shard is transmitted, the time consumption is .

[0087] Therefore, P is the percentage of the transmission time consumed at the Index-th time / the total transmission time consumed, that is, the formula

[0088] .

[0089] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, those of ordinary skill in the art can understand that various changes, modifications, substitutions and variations can be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention. The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalent scope.

Claims

1. A method for upgrading a repeater device in a repeater system, the system including a network management unit and a repeater device, characterized in that, The method comprises: Notification steps: When the network administrator needs to upgrade the repeater equipment, he notifies the repeater equipment to switch the monitoring software operation mode to the software upgrade mode; the repeater equipment switches the operation mode to the software upgrade mode and responds to the network administrator; Transmission steps: The network manager divides the upgrade file into pieces and transmits them to the repeater device. During the transmission process, the network manager calculates and displays the real-time progress of the transmission of the upgrade file. After the transmission is completed, the network manager sends a message to the repeater device that the transmission of the upgrade file has ended; the repeater device responds to the network manager's message that the transmission of the upgrade file has ended, and switches the operating mode to the monitoring mode; Upgrade steps: The repeater device installs the updated software according to the upgrade file and restarts, and then informs the network management of the latest version information and the upgrade success status; the network management responds to the received version information and ends the upgrade process; The notification step also includes the preparation step: The repeater equipment continuously sends heartbeat messages to the network management for several times, and records the timestamp of the start of each heartbeat message sending. The sending interval is the reporting period of the heartbeat message. When the network management receives the heartbeat message sent by the repeater device, it sends a heartbeat response message to the repeater device; The repeater device receives the heartbeat response message and records the corresponding timestamp, and then calculates the transmission delay; The network manager sends a query to the repeater device for the communication parameters of the remote upgrade. After the repeater device responds to the network manager, the network manager parses and saves the communication parameters of the remote upgrade. The communication parameters of the remote upgrade include: monitoring software operation mode, MCP:B interaction mechanism, device response timeout, mode conversion time, device remote upgrade mode, continuous transmission coefficient, sending interval time and transmission delay; the repeater device responds to the communication parameter information of the remote upgrade, and the network manager selects the corresponding upgrade file after receiving the response; The repeater equipment calculates the transmission delay Td according to the following formula: Td = ((T1'-T1) + (T2'-T2) +...+(Tn'-Tn)) / n; Wherein, n is the number of heartbeat messages sent by the repeater device to the network management, T1, T2, ... Tn are the timestamps of the start of sending each heartbeat message, and T1', T2', ... Tn' are the timestamps of each received heartbeat response message; If the interactive mechanism of the MCP:B protocol used by the network manager to upgrade the repeater equipment is 0, the network manager calculates the real-time progress P according to the following formula: ； If the interaction mechanism of the MCP:B protocol used by the network manager to upgrade the repeater equipment is 1, the network manager calculates the real-time progress P according to the following formula: ； Among them, Index is the packet sequence number during sub-packet transmission, starting from 1; C is the number of fragmentation times, is the sending interval time, NC is the burst coefficient, is the transmission delay.

2. The method for upgrading a repeater device in a repeater system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The network management calculates the fragmentation times C based on the size S of the upgrade file and the maximum message size E that the network management can transmit each time using the MCP:B protocol len The calculation formula is: C = S / E len ; Among them, if S is divided by E len and there is a remainder, i.e., it is not completely divisible, then a fragmented transmission needs to be added.

3. A repeater system, comprising a network management unit and a repeater device, characterized in that, When the network administrator needs to upgrade the repeater equipment, he notifies the repeater equipment to switch the monitoring software operation mode to the software upgrade mode; the repeater equipment switches the operation mode to the software upgrade mode and responds to the network administrator; The network manager divides the upgrade file into pieces and transmits them to the repeater device. During the transmission process, the network manager calculates and displays the real-time progress of the transmission of the upgrade file. After the transmission is completed, the network manager sends a message to the repeater device that the transmission of the upgrade file has ended. The repeater device responds to the network manager's message that the transmission of the upgrade file has ended and switches the operating mode to the monitoring mode. The repeater device installs the updated software according to the upgrade file and restarts, and then informs the network management of the latest version information and the upgrade success status; the network management responds to the received version information and ends the upgrade process; Before the network administrator upgrades the repeater equipment, the system also makes the following preparations: The repeater equipment continuously sends heartbeat messages to the network management for several times, and records the timestamp of the start of each heartbeat message sending. The sending interval is the reporting period of the heartbeat message. When the network management receives the heartbeat message sent by the repeater device, it responds and sends a heartbeat response message to the repeater device; The repeater device receives the heartbeat response message and records the corresponding timestamp, and then calculates the transmission delay; The network manager sends a query to the repeater device for the communication parameters of the remote upgrade. After the repeater device responds to the network manager, the network manager parses and saves the communication parameters of the remote upgrade. The communication parameters of the remote upgrade include: monitoring software operation mode, MCP:B interaction mechanism, device response timeout, mode conversion time, device remote upgrade mode, continuous transmission coefficient, sending interval time and transmission delay; the repeater device responds to the communication parameter information of the remote upgrade, and the network manager selects the corresponding upgrade file after receiving the response; The repeater equipment calculates the transmission delay Td according to the following formula: Td = ((T1'-T1) + (T2'-T2) +...+(Tn'-Tn)) / n; Wherein, n is the number of heartbeat messages sent by the repeater device to the network management, T1, T2, ... Tn are the timestamps of the start of sending each heartbeat message, and T1', T2', ... Tn' are the timestamps of each received heartbeat response message; If the interactive mechanism of the MCP:B protocol used by the network manager to upgrade the repeater equipment is 0, the network manager calculates the real-time progress P according to the following formula: ； If the interaction mechanism of the MCP:B protocol used by the network manager to upgrade the repeater equipment is 1, the network manager calculates the real-time progress P according to the following formula: ； Among them, Index is the packet sequence number during sub-packet transmission, starting from 1; C is the number of fragmentation times, is the sending interval time, NC is the continuous firing coefficient, is the transmission delay.

4. The repeater system according to claim 3, wherein The network management calculates the number of shards C based on the size S of the upgrade file and the maximum message size E that the network management can transmit each time using the MCP:B protocol len The calculation formula is: C = S / E len ; Wherein, if S divided by E len has a remainder and is not completely divisible, then a fragmented transmission needs to be added.

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