Network system, message forwarding method and forwarding strategy issuing method

Abstract

The invention discloses a network system which is applied to meet the requirement of high-altitude airport rate. In the network system, the connection between the plurality of baseband units and the plurality of antenna radio frequency units is realized by designing the forwarding equipment, so that messages related to the plurality of antenna radio frequency units can be processed by the plurality of baseband units, the baseband processing capability is improved, and the requirement of high-altitude port rate is met. Moreover, a forwarding strategy is configured in the forwarding equipment, the transmission network layer address of the received message can be modified based on the forwarding strategy, and it is ensured that the message can be forwarded to a proper processing unit according to the task distribution condition among the plurality of baseband units. Therefore, the message processing requirement under the architecture that a plurality of baseband units are connected with a plurality of antenna radio frequency units is met.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a network system, a message forwarding method, and a method for issuing a forwarding strategy. Background Art

[0002] Mobile communication technology is constantly developing to meet people's growing demand for wireless communication. The fifth generation of mobile communication technology (5th generation mobile networks or 5th generation wireless systems, 5G) is the latest generation of mobile communication technology that has been commercialized and is gradually becoming popular.

[0003] As the most important component of the 5G network, the functions of a 5G base station can be divided into three parts: Centralized Unit (CU), Distributed Unit (DU) and Radio Unit (RU). Currently, in a 5G network, a DU is usually connected to one or more RUs to process uplink and downlink messages related to one or more RUs.

[0004] However, with the development of mobile communication technology, the requirements for air interface rate are getting higher and higher, which means that the requirements for baseband processing capabilities have also increased. The topological relationship of a DU connected to one or more RUs is difficult to meet future communication needs. Therefore, how to design a reasonable network architecture to meet the requirements of high air interface rate has become an urgent problem to be solved. Summary of the invention

[0005] The present application provides a network system that can meet the requirements of high air interface rate.

[0006] The first aspect of the present application provides a network system, including: a forwarding device, multiple baseband units and multiple antenna radio frequency units, and the multiple baseband units and the multiple antenna radio frequency units are connected to the forwarding device. The multiple baseband units and the multiple antenna radio frequency units are devices in the access network. Any one of the multiple baseband units is configured to implement a baseband function; any one of the multiple antenna radio frequency units is configured to implement a radio frequency function.

[0007] During the operation of the network system, the forwarding device is used to receive a first message, and in response to the content in the first message matching the forwarding strategy, modify the transmission network layer address of the first message to obtain a modified first message, wherein the first message comes from any one of a plurality of baseband units or any one of a plurality of antenna RF units, the transmission network layer address is the source address or destination address of the first message, and the forwarding strategy is obtained by the forwarding device before receiving the first message.

[0008] The forwarding device is also used to forward the modified first message. In the case where the transmission network layer address modified by the forwarding device is the source address of the first message, the destination address of the modified first message remains unchanged, and the forwarding device forwards the modified first message according to the destination address of the modified first message. That is, the destination address of the first message does not change before and after the modification, only the source address changes. In the case where the transmission network layer address modified by the forwarding device is the destination address of the first message, the destination address of the modified first message changes, and the forwarding device also forwards the modified first message according to the destination address of the modified first message.

[0009] In this solution, the connection between multiple baseband units and multiple antenna RF units is realized by designing a forwarding device, so that the messages related to multiple antenna RF units can be processed by multiple baseband units, improving the baseband processing capability to meet the requirements of high air interface rate. In addition, the forwarding device is configured with a forwarding strategy, which can modify the transmission network layer address of the received message based on the forwarding strategy, ensuring that the message can be forwarded to the appropriate processing unit according to the task allocation between multiple baseband units, thereby meeting the message processing requirements under the architecture of multiple baseband units connected to multiple antenna RF units.

[0010] In a possible implementation, the first message comes from a first baseband unit among the multiple baseband units, and the destination address of the first message is a first antenna radio frequency unit among the multiple antenna radio frequency units.

[0011] The forwarding device is used to modify the source address of the first message to the first address, obtain the modified first message and forward the modified first message to the first antenna radio frequency unit, wherein the first address is the address of the baseband unit configured in the first antenna radio frequency unit. In addition, the first address is different from the address of the first baseband unit, and the first address is, for example, the address of other baseband units among the multiple baseband units except the first baseband unit; or, for example, the first address is a virtual address uniformly disclosed to the outside by the multiple baseband units.

[0012] In this solution, when the first antenna RF unit actually corresponds to the first baseband unit (that is, the baseband unit configured by the first antenna RF unit is different from the baseband unit that actually processes the first antenna RF unit), the source address of the message is modified by the forwarding device, so that the downlink message sent by the first baseband unit to the first antenna RF unit can be correctly received by the first antenna RF unit and will not be discarded.

[0013] In a possible implementation, the source address of the first message is the address of the first baseband unit, and the forwarding strategy is used to indicate that the source address of the message whose destination address is the address of the first antenna radio frequency unit and whose source address is the address of the first baseband unit or the address of the second baseband unit is changed to the first address. The first baseband unit and the second baseband unit are baseband units among multiple baseband units that jointly process downlink messages of the first antenna radio frequency unit.

[0014] In one possible implementation, the first message comes from the first antenna RF unit among multiple antenna RF units, and the destination address of the first message is the address of the baseband unit configured in the first antenna RF unit; the forwarding device is used to modify the destination address of the first message to the address of the first baseband unit among the multiple baseband units, obtain the modified first message, and forward the modified first message to the first baseband unit. Among them, the address of the baseband unit configured in the first antenna RF unit is not the same as the address of the first baseband unit. For example, the address of the baseband unit configured in the first antenna RF unit is the address of other baseband units among the multiple baseband units except the first baseband unit, or a virtual address that multiple baseband units are unified to the outside.

[0015] That is to say, when the first baseband unit is actually scheduled to process the uplink message of the first antenna RF unit, the destination address of the uplink message sent by the first antenna RF unit is modified through the forwarding device, so that the message can be redirected to the corresponding baseband unit, thereby realizing flexible scheduling of the baseband unit to process the message of the corresponding antenna RF unit.

[0016] In a possible implementation, the first message includes data of a first air interface physical channel, and the forwarding strategy is used to indicate that the message including the first air interface physical channel data is forwarded to the first baseband unit. The first air interface physical channel is, for example, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH, Physical Uplink Shared CHannel) or a physical uplink control channel (Physical Uplink Control Channel, PUCCH).

[0017] That is, in the task scheduling results of multiple baseband units, the first baseband unit is actually responsible for processing the message containing the first air interface physical channel data. Therefore, the forwarding device needs to forward the first message containing the first air interface physical channel data to the first baseband unit based on the forwarding strategy.

[0018] In one possible implementation, the forwarding device is also used to receive a second message from the first antenna RF unit, the destination address of the second message is the address of the baseband unit configured in the first antenna RF unit, and the second message contains data of the second air interface physical channel; the forwarding device is used to modify the destination address of the second message to the address of the second baseband unit among multiple baseband units, obtain the modified second message, and forward the modified second message to the second baseband unit; wherein the forwarding strategy is used to indicate that the message containing the second air interface physical channel data is forwarded to the second baseband unit.

[0019] That is to say, in the task scheduling results of multiple baseband units, the first baseband unit is actually responsible for processing the message containing the first air interface physical channel data, while the second baseband unit is responsible for processing the message containing the second air interface physical channel data. In this way, when the forwarding device receives messages containing different air interface physical channel data, it forwards these messages to different baseband units for processing, thereby enabling multiple baseband units to simultaneously process different air interface physical channels of the same antenna RF unit.

[0020] In one possible implementation, the forwarding device is further used to generate a third message based on the first message and forward the third message to a second baseband unit among the multiple baseband units, the destination address of the third message is the second baseband unit, and the third message and the first message include the same payload.

[0021] In other words, the forwarding device actually copies a new message based on the first message, sets the destination address of the new message to the address of the second baseband unit, and sends the copied new message to the second baseband unit. In this way, the forwarding device sends two messages containing the same payload to the first baseband unit and the second baseband unit respectively, so that the first baseband unit and the second baseband unit jointly process the same message from the antenna RF unit, thereby meeting the needs in specific scenarios.

[0022] In a possible implementation manner, the first message includes data of an air interface demodulation reference signal (Demodulation Reference Signal, DMRS), and the forwarding strategy is used to instruct to forward the message including the air interface DMRS data to the first baseband unit and the second baseband unit.

[0023] In one possible implementation, the network system also includes a forward transmission forwarding configuration unit, which is connected to multiple baseband units. The forward transmission forwarding configuration unit is used to send forwarding strategies to the forwarding device based on the task scheduling results of the multiple baseband units. The task scheduling results are obtained through negotiation by the multiple baseband units. The task scheduling results are used to indicate the baseband unit that processes the message of each antenna RF unit in the multiple antenna RF units.

[0024] In this solution, multiple baseband units can negotiate which baseband units will process the messages of each antenna radio unit connected to the multiple baseband units, thereby determining the task scheduling results of the multiple baseband units. In this way, the fronthaul forwarding configuration unit can generate and send forwarding strategies to the forwarding device based on the task scheduling results of the multiple baseband units, so that the forwarding device can realize message forwarding according to the task scheduling results of the multiple baseband units.

[0025] In a possible implementation, the forwarding configuration unit is used to send a forwarding policy message to the forwarding device, the forwarding policy message includes a table entry for indicating the forwarding policy, the table entry includes a message matching condition and an operation performed on a message that meets the message matching condition.

[0026] In one possible implementation, the forwarding forwarding configuration unit is used to send a forwarding strategy message to the forwarding device within a time period between a first moment and a second moment, wherein the first moment is the moment when the transmission of the message of the first time slot is completed between the baseband unit and the antenna radio frequency unit, and the second moment is the moment when the transmission of the message of the second time slot starts between the baseband unit and the antenna radio frequency unit, and the first time slot and the second time slot are two adjacent air interface time slots.

[0027] That is to say, the forwarding configuration unit sends a forwarding strategy message to the forwarding device at the time interval between the transmission of messages of two adjacent time slots between the baseband unit and the antenna radio frequency unit, so that the forwarding strategy can take effect in the next time slot. Among them, the first time slot can be an uplink air interface time slot or a downlink air interface time slot, and the second time slot can also be an uplink air interface time slot or a downlink air interface time slot, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment.

[0028] In a possible implementation manner, the time interval between the moment when the forwarding configuration unit sends the forwarding policy message to the forwarding device and the second moment is greater than a preset threshold.

[0029] In this solution, considering that after the forwarding device receives the forwarding policy message, it takes a certain amount of time to parse the forwarding policy message and configure the corresponding forwarding policy to take effect, a certain time is reserved as the effective time of the forwarding policy message. That is, the sending time of the forwarding policy message and the sending time of the next eCPRI data message are kept at a time interval, and the time interval is, for example, not less than 20us.

[0030] In a possible implementation manner, the forwarding device is used to receive the forwarding policy sent by the forwarding configuration unit through the service port.

[0031] In this solution, the forwarding policy is received through the service port, so that the forwarding device can immediately configure the forwarding policy to take effect after receiving the forwarding policy, thereby ensuring that the message after the forwarding policy is issued can be forwarded based on the instructions of the forwarding policy, avoiding the delay uncertainty caused by issuing the forwarding policy from the management plane.

[0032] In a possible implementation, the forwarding device is connected to multiple antenna radio frequency units through one or more switches; and / or the forwarding device is connected to multiple baseband units through one or more switches.

[0033] In a possible implementation manner, the first message is an evolved Common Public Radio Interface (eCPRI) message.

[0034] In a possible implementation manner, the forwarding device is a programmable switch.

[0035] The second aspect of the present application provides a message forwarding method, which is applied to a forwarding device, and the forwarding device is connected to multiple baseband units and multiple antenna radio frequency units. The method includes: the forwarding device receives a first message, and the first message comes from any one of the multiple baseband units or any one of the multiple antenna radio frequency units; in response to the content in the first message matching the forwarding strategy, the forwarding device modifies the transmission network layer address of the first message to obtain a modified first message, wherein the transmission network layer address is the source address or destination address of the first message, and the forwarding strategy is obtained by the forwarding device before receiving the first message; the forwarding device forwards the modified first message.

[0036] In one possible implementation, a first message comes from a first baseband unit among multiple baseband units, and a destination address of the first message is a first antenna radio frequency unit among multiple antenna radio frequency units; a forwarding device modifies a transmission network layer address of the first message, including: the forwarding device modifies the source address of the first message to the first address to obtain a modified first message, where the first address is the address of the baseband unit configured in the first antenna radio frequency unit; the forwarding device forwards the modified first message, including: the forwarding device forwards the modified first message to the first antenna radio frequency unit

[0037] In one possible implementation, the source address of the first message is the address of the first baseband unit, and the forwarding strategy is used to indicate that the source address of the message whose destination address is the address of the first antenna RF unit and whose source address is the address of the first baseband unit or the address of the second baseband unit is changed to the first address; wherein the first baseband unit and the second baseband unit are baseband units among multiple baseband units that jointly process downlink messages of the first antenna RF unit.

[0038] In a possible implementation manner, the first message comes from a first antenna radio frequency unit among multiple antenna radio frequency units, and the destination address of the first message is an address of a baseband unit configured in the first antenna radio frequency unit; the forwarding device modifies the transmission network layer address of the first message, including:

[0039] The forwarding device modifies the destination address of the first message into the address of the first baseband unit among the multiple baseband units to obtain a modified first message;

[0040] The forwarding device forwards the modified first message, including: the forwarding device forwards the modified first message to the first baseband unit.

[0041] In a possible implementation manner, the first message includes data of a first air interface physical channel, and the forwarding strategy is used to instruct to forward the message including the data of the first air interface physical channel to the first baseband unit.

[0042] In a possible implementation, the method also includes: the forwarding device generates a third message based on the first message and forwards the third message to a second baseband unit among the multiple baseband units, the destination address of the third message is the second baseband unit, and the third message and the first message include the same payload.

[0043] In a possible implementation manner, the first message includes air interface DMRS data, and the forwarding strategy is used to instruct to forward the message including the air interface DMRS data to the first baseband unit and the second baseband unit.

[0044] In a possible implementation, the method also includes: the forwarding device receives a forwarding strategy from a forwarding forwarding configuration unit, wherein the forwarding forwarding configuration unit is used to send the forwarding strategy to the forwarding device according to the task scheduling results of multiple baseband units, the task scheduling results are obtained by negotiation among multiple baseband units, and the task scheduling results are used to indicate the baseband unit that processes the message of each antenna RF unit in multiple antenna RF units.

[0045] The third aspect of the present application provides a method for issuing a forwarding strategy, which is applied to a fronthaul forwarding configuration unit, and the fronthaul forwarding configuration unit is connected to multiple baseband units and a forwarding device. The method includes: the fronthaul forwarding configuration unit obtains a task scheduling result, and the task scheduling result is obtained by negotiation among multiple baseband units. The task scheduling result is used to indicate the baseband unit that processes the message of each antenna RF unit in multiple antenna RF units connected to the forwarding device; the fronthaul forwarding configuration unit generates a forwarding strategy based on the task scheduling result and issues the forwarding strategy to the forwarding device, and the forwarding strategy is used to instruct the forwarding device how to forward messages from multiple baseband units and multiple antenna RF units.

[0046] In one possible implementation, sending a forwarding policy to a forwarding device includes: a forwarding forwarding configuration unit sending a forwarding policy message to the forwarding device, the forwarding policy message including a table entry for indicating the forwarding policy, the table entry including a message matching condition and an operation performed on a message that meets the message matching condition.

[0047] In one possible implementation, the forwarding forwarding configuration unit sends a forwarding strategy message to the forwarding device in a time period between a first moment and a second moment, wherein the first moment is the moment when the transmission of the message of the first time slot is completed between the baseband unit and the antenna RF unit, and the second moment is the moment when the transmission of the message of the second time slot starts between the baseband unit and the antenna RF unit, and the first time slot and the second time slot are two adjacent air interface time slots.

[0048] In a possible implementation manner, the time interval between the moment when the forwarding configuration unit sends the forwarding policy message to the forwarding device and the second moment is greater than a preset threshold.

[0049] A fourth aspect of the present application provides a network device, comprising: a memory and a processor; the memory stores codes, the processor is configured to execute the codes, and when the codes are executed, the network device executes a method as in any one of the implementation modes in the second aspect.

[0050] A fifth aspect of the present application provides a network device, which includes: a memory and a processor; the memory stores code, and the processor is configured to execute the code. When the code is executed, the network device executes a method as in any one of the implementation modes in the third aspect.

[0051] A sixth aspect of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program. When the computer-readable storage medium is run on a computer, the computer executes a method as implemented in any one of the second or third aspects.

[0052] The seventh aspect of the present application provides a computer program product, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute a method as implemented in any one of the second or third aspects.

[0053] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a chip, comprising one or more processors, wherein some or all of the processors are used to read and execute a computer program stored in a memory to execute the method in any one of the implementations of the second or third aspects.

[0054] Optionally, the chip includes a memory, and the memory is connected to the processor through a circuit or wire. Optionally, the chip also includes a communication interface, and the processor is connected to the communication interface. The communication interface is used to receive data and / or information to be processed, and the processor obtains the data and / or information from the communication interface, processes the data and / or information, and outputs the processing results through the communication interface. The communication interface can be an input and output interface. The method provided in the present application can be implemented by one chip, or by multiple chips in collaboration.

[0055] Among them, the technical effects brought about by any design method in the second to eighth aspects can refer to the technical effects brought about by different implementation methods in the above-mentioned first aspect, and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0056] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the architecture of an access network device of a 5G network provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0057] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the architecture of a network system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0058] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the architecture of another network system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0059] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the format of an eCPRI message provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0060] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a process of forwarding a downlink message provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0061] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of the format of an eCPRI message provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0062] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of a process of forwarding an uplink message provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0063] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of another process of uplink message forwarding provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0064] Fig. 9 A schematic diagram of a DMRS occupying multiple OFDM symbols provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0065] Fig.10 A schematic diagram of the format of a forwarding policy message provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0066] Fig.11 A schematic diagram of sending a forwarding policy message provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0067] Fig.12 A schematic diagram of the architecture of another network system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0068] Fig.13 A schematic diagram of the architecture of another network system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0069] Fig.14 A schematic diagram of the structure of a network device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0070] Fig.15 A schematic diagram of the structure of a computer-readable storage medium provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0071] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all of the embodiments.

[0072] The terms "first", "second", "third", "fourth", etc. (if any) in the specification and claims of the present application and the above-mentioned drawings are used to distinguish similar objects, and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that the data used in this way can be interchangeable where appropriate, so that the embodiments described herein can be implemented in an order other than that illustrated or described herein. In addition, the terms "including" and "having" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions, for example, a process, method, system, product or device that includes a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those steps or units that are clearly listed, but may include other steps or units that are not clearly listed or inherent to these processes, methods, products or devices.

[0073] In the current communication network, the communication between the access network device and the terminal device follows a certain protocol layer structure. The protocol layer may include a control plane protocol layer and a user plane protocol layer. The control plane protocol layer may include at least one of the following: a radio resource control (RRC) layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, a media access control (MAC) layer, or a physical (PHY) layer. The user plane protocol layer may include at least one of the following: a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer, or a physical layer.

[0074] For example, see Figure 1 , Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a 5G network access network device provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 1 As shown, the access network equipment in the 5G network includes CU, DU and RU. Among them, a CU is usually connected to one or more DUs, and a DU is connected to one or more RUs.

[0075] CU and DU can be configured according to the protocol layer functions of the wireless network they implement: for example, CU is configured to implement the functions of the RLC layer, PDCP layer and the protocol layers above (such as the RRC layer and / or SDAP layer, etc.); DU is configured to implement the functions of the protocol layers below the PDCP layer (such as the RLC layer, MAC layer, and / or PHY layer, etc.). For another example, CU is configured to implement the functions of the protocol layers above the PDCP layer (such as the RRC layer and / or SDAP layer), and DU is configured to implement the functions of the PDCP layer and the protocol layers below (such as the RLC layer, MAC layer, and / or PHY layer, etc.).

[0076] The above configuration of CU and DU is only an example, and the functions of CU and DU can also be configured as needed. For example, CU or DU can be configured to have functions of more protocol layers, or CU or DU can be configured to have partial processing functions of protocol layers. For example, some functions of the RLC layer and the functions of the protocol layers above the RLC layer are set in the CU, and the remaining functions of the RLC layer and the functions of the protocol layers below the RLC layer are set in the DU. For another example, the functions of CU or DU can be divided according to service type or other system requirements, such as by delay, and the functions whose processing time needs to meet the smaller delay requirement are set in the DU, and the functions that do not need to meet the delay requirement are set in the CU.

[0077] The RU is usually configured to be responsible for the transmission and reception of radio electromagnetic waves over the air interface, including antenna, RF, and some PHY layer functions.

[0078] DU and RU can cooperate to jointly implement the functions of the PHY layer. A DU can be connected to one or more RUs. The functions of DU and RU can be configured in a variety of ways according to the design. For example, DU is configured to implement baseband functions, and RU is configured to implement RF functions. For another example, DU is configured to implement high-level functions in the PHY layer, and RU is configured to implement low-level functions in the PHY layer or to implement the low-level functions and RF functions. The high-level functions in the physical layer may include a part of the functions of the physical layer, which is closer to the MAC layer, and the low-level functions in the physical layer may include another part of the functions of the physical layer, which is closer to the mid-RF side.

[0079] The connection between CU and DU is called midhaul. The connection between DU and RU is called fronthaul. The fronthaul mainly transmits in-phase quadrature (IQ) signals, which require low latency and high bandwidth. The one-way latency requirement is 100 to 250 us; the bandwidth requirement is several times the air interface data rate. For example, when the fronthaul adopts the evolved Common Public Radio Interface (eCPRI) protocol, the fronthaul bandwidth requirement is about 4 to 5 times the air interface rate.

[0080] At present, the existing cellular networks are all tree topologies, and there will be no many-to-many connections. Moreover, the connection relationship between nodes is semi-static, and there will be no dynamically changing topological connection relationship. Take the 5G access network as an example: a 5G base station includes a CU, one or more DUs, and multiple RUs. A DU will only be connected to one CU, and one DU will be connected to one or more RUs, and a RU will only be connected to one DU.

[0081] However, with the development of mobile communication technology, people have higher and higher requirements for air interface speed. Specifically, in the vision of future mobile communication technology (such as 6G), the peak rate of 6G cell is 1Tbps downlink, which is 1000 times higher than the 1Gbps downlink peak rate of a single cell of 5G.

[0082] On the one hand, the increase in air interface rate requires baseband processing capabilities. According to linear conversion, a 1,000-fold rate increase means that the computing power requirement of a single 6G cell is no less than 1,000 times higher than that of 5G. At present, the baseband processing of base stations is mainly completed using dedicated chips. Even if calculated according to the most ideal situation of Moore's Law (that is, chip performance doubles every 18 months), the computing power of a single chip will increase by at most 10 times in the current few years, which is far lower than the 1,000-fold increase in computing power demand. This means that the baseband processing of 6G base stations is likely to require cluster computing to achieve.

[0083] On the other hand, the increase in air interface rate also requires bandwidth for fronthaul. When the fronthaul adopts the eCPRI protocol, the fronthaul bandwidth is estimated to be about 4 to 5 times the air interface rate. Based on the 6G peak downlink rate of 1Tbps, the fronthaul bandwidth requires about 4 to 5Tbps. Even considering the evolution speed of the optical interface, it is very likely to far exceed the transmission rate that a single optical interface can provide. Multiple links may be required between a single RU and a single DU to transmit their own IQ data.

[0084] Based on this, in order to meet the requirements of air interface rate under future communication technology, this embodiment designs a network system. By designing a forwarding device to realize the connection between multiple baseband units and multiple antenna radio frequency units, the messages related to multiple antenna radio frequency units can be processed by multiple baseband units, thereby improving the baseband processing capability to meet the requirements of high air interface rate. In addition, the forwarding device is configured with a forwarding strategy, which can modify the transmission network layer address of the received message based on the forwarding strategy to ensure that the message can be forwarded to the appropriate processing unit according to the task allocation between multiple baseband units, thereby meeting the message processing requirements under the architecture where multiple baseband units are connected to multiple antenna radio frequency units.

[0085] For example, see Figure 2 , Figure 2 The following is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a network system provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 2 As shown, the network system includes a forwarding device, multiple baseband units and multiple antenna RF units. Among them, multiple baseband units are connected to multiple antenna RF units, rather than one baseband unit connecting multiple antenna RF units. In addition, multiple baseband units are connected to multiple antenna RF units through a forwarding device, and the forwarding device is responsible for forwarding messages between multiple baseband units and multiple antenna RF units. Exemplarily, the forwarding device is, for example, a programmable switch.

[0086] It should be noted that, in this embodiment, multiple baseband units and multiple antenna radio frequency units all belong to devices in the access network. Any one of the multiple baseband units is configured to implement baseband functions, such as the functions implemented by the DU described above; any one of the multiple antenna radio frequency units is configured to implement radio frequency functions, such as the functions implemented by the RU described above. Under future communication technologies, baseband units and antenna radio frequency units may also be configured to implement other functions, which are not specifically limited here.

[0087] Specifically, the forwarding device can obtain the forwarding strategy in advance. In this way, when the forwarding device receives a message from any baseband unit or any antenna radio frequency unit, it first determines whether the received message matches the forwarding strategy, and when the received message matches the forwarding strategy, it forwards the message based on the instruction of the forwarding strategy.

[0088] Based on the working mode of the above forwarding device, Figure 2 The network system shown can be applied to the following scenarios.

[0089] Scenario 1: The message of a single antenna RF unit is processed by multiple baseband units. For example, baseband unit 1 and baseband unit 2 jointly process the message of antenna RF unit 1. In this case, the relationship between the baseband unit and the antenna RF unit is many-to-one.

[0090] Scenario 2: Messages of multiple antenna RF units are processed by multiple baseband units. For example, baseband unit 1 and baseband unit 2 both process part of the messages of antenna RF unit 1 and part of the messages of antenna RF unit 2. In this case, the relationship between the baseband unit and the antenna RF unit is many-to-many.

[0091] Scenario 3: The baseband unit corresponding to the antenna radio unit changes over time. For example, all or part of the messages of antenna radio unit 1 are processed by baseband unit 1 in time period 1 and by baseband unit 2 in time period 2.

[0092] To facilitate understanding, the working method of the network system in the embodiment of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to a variety of examples.

[0093] Exemplarily, during the operation of the network system, the forwarding device receives a first message, and in response to the content in the first message matching the forwarding strategy, modifies the transmission network layer address of the first message to obtain a modified first message. The first message comes from any one of the multiple baseband units or any one of the multiple antenna radio frequency units, the transmission network layer address is the source address or destination address of the first message, and the forwarding strategy is obtained by the forwarding device before receiving the first message. The first message is, for example, an eCPRI message.

[0094] After obtaining the modified first message, the forwarding device forwards the modified first message.

[0095] It should be noted that, when the transmission network layer address modified by the forwarding device is the source address of the first message, the destination address of the modified first message remains unchanged, and the forwarding device forwards the modified first message according to the destination address of the modified first message. That is, the destination address of the first message does not change before and after modification, only the source address changes.

[0096] When the transmission network layer address modified by the forwarding device is the destination address of the first message, the modified destination address of the first message changes, and the forwarding device also forwards the modified first message according to the modified destination address of the first message.

[0097] In this embodiment, a forwarding device is designed to realize the connection between multiple baseband units and multiple antenna radio frequency units, so that the messages related to the multiple antenna radio frequency units can be processed by multiple baseband units, thereby improving the baseband processing capability to meet the requirements of high air interface rate. In addition, a forwarding strategy is configured in the forwarding device, which can modify the transmission network layer address of the received message based on the forwarding strategy, ensuring that the message can be forwarded to the appropriate processing unit according to the task allocation between the multiple baseband units, thereby meeting the message processing requirements under the architecture of connecting multiple baseband units with multiple antenna radio frequency units.

[0098] Optionally, the network system further includes a forwarding forwarding configuration unit, which is used to send a forwarding policy to the forwarding device so that the forwarding device can forward the message based on the forwarding policy.

[0099] For example, see Figure 3 , Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of another network system architecture provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 3As shown, the network system includes a forwarding device, a forward transmission forwarding configuration unit, a plurality of baseband units and a plurality of antenna radio frequency units. Among them, the forward transmission forwarding configuration unit is connected to the plurality of baseband units. For example, the forward transmission forwarding configuration unit is connected to the plurality of baseband units through a bus or a network, so as to realize the high-speed interconnection between the forward transmission forwarding configuration unit and the plurality of baseband units, and the high-speed interconnection between the plurality of baseband units. Specifically, the forward transmission forwarding configuration unit and the plurality of baseband units are, for example, deployed on the same device (such as a server), so the forward transmission forwarding configuration unit and the plurality of baseband units can realize high-speed interconnection through a bus. The forward transmission forwarding configuration unit and the plurality of baseband units are, for example, deployed on different servers in the same server cluster, and the different servers in the same server cluster are connected through high-speed network cables, so that the forward transmission forwarding configuration unit and the plurality of baseband units realize high-speed interconnection through the network. The above introduces some deployment methods of the forward transmission forwarding configuration unit and the plurality of baseband units, and the forward transmission forwarding configuration unit and the plurality of baseband units may also have other deployment methods, which are not specifically limited in this embodiment.

[0100] During the operation of the forwarding forwarding configuration unit, the forwarding forwarding configuration unit is used to send forwarding strategies to the forwarding device according to the task scheduling results of multiple baseband units. That is, the forwarding device obtains the forwarding strategy from the forwarding forwarding configuration unit, and performs corresponding forwarding processing on the subsequently received messages according to the obtained forwarding strategy. Among them, the above-mentioned task scheduling results are obtained through negotiation by multiple baseband units, and the task scheduling results are used to indicate the baseband unit that processes the message of each antenna radio frequency unit in multiple antenna radio frequency units.

[0101] That is to say, in actual application, multiple baseband units can negotiate which baseband units will process the messages of each antenna radio unit connected to the multiple baseband units, thereby determining the task scheduling results of the multiple baseband units. In this way, the fronthaul forwarding configuration unit can generate and send forwarding strategies to the forwarding device based on the task scheduling results of the multiple baseband units, so that the forwarding device can realize message forwarding according to the task scheduling results of the multiple baseband units.

[0102] Exemplarily, assuming that the multiple baseband units include the first baseband unit and the second baseband unit and the multiple antenna RF units include the first antenna RF unit, when the task scheduling result of the multiple baseband units is that the first baseband unit and the second baseband unit jointly process the downlink message of the first antenna RF unit, the forwarding strategy sent by the forwarding configuration unit to the forwarding device may be: modify the source address of the message whose destination address is the address of the first antenna RF unit and whose source address is the address of the first baseband unit or the address of the second baseband unit to the first address.

[0103] In this way, after receiving the above forwarding strategy, when the forwarding device receives the first message from the first baseband unit, and the destination address of the first message is the first antenna RF unit among multiple antenna RF units, the forwarding device modifies the source address of the first message to the first address, obtains the modified first message and forwards the modified first message to the first antenna RF unit. The first address is the address of the baseband unit configured in the first antenna RF unit. In addition, the first address is different from the address of the first baseband unit. For example, the first address is the address of other baseband units among the multiple baseband units except the first baseband unit; or, for example, the first address is a virtual address that multiple baseband units are unified to the outside.

[0104] It should be noted that in order to ensure that the antenna RF unit can correctly process the acquired message and avoid the antenna RF unit from being subjected to security attacks, the antenna RF unit is often pre-configured with a corresponding baseband unit address. In this way, when the antenna RF unit receives a downlink message, it will check whether the source address of the downlink message is the same as the address of the baseband unit configured in this unit. The antenna RF unit will only process the downlink message when the source address of the downlink message is the same as the address of the baseband unit configured in this unit; when the source address of the downlink message is not the same as the address of the baseband unit configured in this unit, the antenna RF unit will discard the downlink message. Similarly, when sending an uplink message, the antenna RF unit will only send an uplink message to the corresponding baseband unit based on the address of the baseband unit configured in the antenna RF unit.

[0105] In addition, due to the large number of antenna RF units, for configuration complexity and security considerations, after the antenna RF unit is configured with the address of the corresponding baseband unit, the address of the baseband unit configured by the antenna RF unit is often not adjusted. Therefore, in the case where multiple baseband units adjust the task scheduling results between multiple baseband units in real time, the baseband unit actually corresponding to the antenna RF unit is dynamically changed. Based on this, in this embodiment, by setting the above-mentioned forwarding strategy, when the first antenna RF unit actually corresponds to the first baseband unit and the second baseband unit (that is, the baseband unit configured by the first antenna RF unit is different from the baseband unit that actually processes the first antenna RF unit), the source address of the message is modified by the forwarding device, so that the downlink message sent by the first baseband unit and the second baseband unit to the first antenna RF unit can be correctly received by the first antenna RF unit and will not be discarded.

[0106] For example, see Figure 4 , Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the format of an eCPRI message provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 4As shown in the figure, in the eCPRI message, the first field is the transport network layer header, which includes the source address and the destination address; the field in the middle of the eCPRI message is the eCPRI message, which includes the eCPRI common header part and the eCPRI payload part; the last field of the eCPRI message is the optional padding field. Therefore, when forwarding the eCPRI message, the forwarding device only needs to modify the source address or the destination address in the transport network layer header of the eCPRI message.

[0107] For example, see Figure 5 , Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a downlink message forwarding process provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 5 As shown, baseband units 1 to 3 are connected to antenna RF units 1 to 4 through a forwarding device. The addresses of baseband units 1 to 3 are AddrB1, AddrB2, and AddrB3 respectively; the addresses of antenna RF units 1 to 4 are AddrR1 to AddrR4 respectively. In addition, the address of the baseband unit configured on antenna RF unit 1 is AddrB, that is, different baseband units (baseband units 1 to 3) need to present the same address AddrB on antenna RF unit 1.

[0108] When baseband unit 1 and baseband unit 3 jointly process the downlink message of antenna RF unit 1, baseband unit 1 sends eCPRI message 1 to antenna RF unit 1, and the source address of eCPRI message 1 is AddrB1 (i.e., the address of baseband unit 1 itself); and baseband unit 3 sends eCPRI message 2 to antenna RF unit 1, and the source address of eCPRI message 2 is AddrB3 (i.e., the address of baseband unit 3 itself). After the forwarding device receives eCPRI message 1 and eCPRI message 2, the forwarding device modifies the source addresses of eCPRI message 1 and eCPRI message 2 to AddrB (i.e., the address of the baseband unit configured on antenna RF unit 1) based on the instruction of the forwarding strategy, and then forwards the message with the modified source address. In this way, from the perspective of antenna RF unit 1, the two messages received by antenna RF unit 1 are from the same pre-configured baseband unit address, ensuring that antenna RF unit 1 can process the received messages normally.

[0109] Specifically, an example of the forwarding policy acquired by the forwarding device may be as follows.

[0110] If (message is of eCPRI type, for example, Ethertype = 0xAEFE) && (message source address == AddrB1 && message destination address == AddrR1):

[0111] Message source address = AddrB

[0112] If (message type is eCPRI, for example, Ethertype = 0xAEFE) && (message source address == AddrB3 && message destination address == AddrR1):

[0113] Message source address = AddrB

[0114] The above describes the process of forwarding downlink messages through a forwarding device. The following describes the process of forwarding uplink messages through a forwarding device.

[0115] Exemplarily, the forwarding device receives a first message during operation, the first message comes from a first antenna RF unit among multiple antenna RF units, and the destination address of the first message is the address of the baseband unit configured in the first antenna RF unit.

[0116] Then, the forwarding device modifies the destination address of the first message to the address of the first baseband unit among the multiple baseband units based on the forwarding strategy, obtains the modified first message, and forwards the modified first message to the first baseband unit. Among them, the address of the baseband unit configured in the first antenna radio frequency unit is not the same as the address of the first baseband unit. For example, the address of the baseband unit configured in the first antenna radio frequency unit is the address of other baseband units among the multiple baseband units except the first baseband unit, or it is a virtual address that multiple baseband units are unified to the outside. This embodiment does not specifically limit the address of the baseband unit configured in the first antenna radio frequency unit.

[0117] That is to say, when the task scheduling result of multiple baseband units instructs the first baseband unit to process the uplink message of the first antenna RF unit, the destination address of the uplink message sent by the first antenna RF unit is modified through the forwarding device, so that the message can be redirected to the corresponding baseband unit.

[0118] Optionally, the first message includes data of the first air interface physical channel, and the forwarding strategy is used to indicate that the message including the first air interface physical channel data is forwarded to the first baseband unit. That is to say, in the task scheduling results of multiple baseband units, the first baseband unit is actually responsible for processing the message including the first air interface physical channel data. Therefore, the forwarding device needs to forward the first message including the first air interface physical channel data to the first baseband unit based on the forwarding strategy.

[0119] The first air interface physical channel is, for example, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH, Physical Uplink Shared CHannel) or a physical uplink control channel (Physical Uplink Control Channel, PUCCH).

[0120] In some embodiments, in addition to receiving the first message containing the first air interface physical channel data, the forwarding device also receives a second message from the first antenna RF unit, the destination address of the second message is the address of the baseband unit configured in the first antenna RF unit, and the second message contains data of the second air interface physical channel.

[0121] After receiving the second message, the forwarding device modifies the destination address of the second message to the address of the second baseband unit among the multiple baseband units based on the forwarding strategy, obtains the modified second message, and forwards the modified second message to the second baseband unit. The forwarding strategy obtained by the forwarding device is used to indicate that the message containing the second air interface physical channel data is forwarded to the second baseband unit.

[0122] The second air interface physical channel and the first air interface physical channel are two different types of channels. For example, the first air interface physical channel is PUSCH and the second air interface physical channel is PUCCH; or the first air interface physical channel is PUCCH and the second air interface physical channel is PUSCH.

[0123] That is to say, in the task scheduling results of multiple baseband units, the first baseband unit is actually responsible for processing the message containing the first air interface physical channel data, while the second baseband unit is responsible for processing the message containing the second air interface physical channel data. In this way, when the forwarding device receives messages containing different air interface physical channel data, it forwards these messages to different baseband units for processing, thereby enabling multiple baseband units to simultaneously process different air interface physical channels of the same antenna RF unit.

[0124] For example, see Figure 6 , Figure 6 A schematic diagram of the format of an eCPRI message provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 6 As shown, in the eCPRI message, the length of the eCPRI Common Header is 4 bytes, which includes the eCPRI message type field and the eCPRI payload size field. When the value of the eCPRI Message Type field is 0, it indicates that the message content of the eCPRI message is IQ data.

[0125] In addition, the PC_ID field in the eCPRIPayload identifies a set of IQ messages, such as physical channel / user / stream / antenna port, which is defined by each manufacturer; the SEQ_ID field in the eCPRIPayload identifies a specific message in the IQ message set, such as OFDM symbol / subcarrier, which is defined by each manufacturer. Therefore, the forwarding device can determine the type of physical channel corresponding to the eCPRI message by detecting the value of the PC_ID field in the eCPRI message.

[0126] For example, see Figure 7 , Figure 7 A schematic diagram of a process of forwarding an uplink message provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 7 As shown, baseband units 1 to 3 are connected to antenna RF units 1 to 4 through a forwarding device. The addresses of baseband units 1 to 3 are AddrB1, AddrB2, and AddrB3 respectively; the addresses of antenna RF units 1 to 4 are AddrR1 to AddrR4 respectively. In addition, the address of the baseband unit configured on antenna RF unit 1 is AddrB.

[0127] Antenna RF unit 1 sends two eCPRI messages to the forwarding device, and the two eCPRI messages correspond to different physical channels. For example, the first eCPRI message contains air interface PUSCH data, and the second eCPRI message contains air interface PUCCH data. Based on the physical channels corresponding to the two eCPRI messages and the indication of the forwarding strategy, the forwarding device modifies the destination address of the first eCPRI message to the address of baseband unit 1, and forwards the modified eCPRI message to baseband unit 1; and, the forwarding device modifies the destination address of the second eCPRI message to the address of baseband unit 3, and forwards the modified eCPRI message to baseband unit 3.

[0128] Specifically, an example of the forwarding policy acquired by the forwarding device may be as follows.

[0129] If (message is of eCPRI type, such as Ethertype=0xAEFE) && (message source address==AddrR1 &&message destination address==AddrB) && (eCPRI message type is IQ data) && (physical channel is PUSCH, such as PC_ID==0x11):

[0130] Message destination address = AddrB1

[0131] If (message is of eCPRI type, such as Ethertype=0xAEFE) && (message source address==AddrR1 &&message destination address==AddrB) && (eCPRI message type is IQ data) && (physical channel is PUCCH, such as PC_ID==0x12):

[0132] Message destination address = AddrB3

[0133] The above embodiment introduces the process of a forwarding device forwarding messages of different types originating from the same antenna RF unit to different baseband units for processing. The following will introduce the process of a forwarding device forwarding the same message to multiple baseband units for processing.

[0134] Exemplarily, when the forwarding device receives a first message and modifies the destination address of the first message to the address of the first baseband unit for forwarding, the forwarding device also generates a third message based on the first message and forwards the third message to the second baseband unit among the multiple baseband units. The destination address of the third message is the second baseband unit, and the third message includes the same payload as the first message.

[0135] In other words, the forwarding device actually copies a new message based on the first message, sets the destination address of the new message to the address of the second baseband unit, and sends the copied new message to the second baseband unit. In this way, the forwarding device sends two messages containing the same payload to the first baseband unit and the second baseband unit respectively, so that the first baseband unit and the second baseband unit jointly process the same message from the antenna RF unit, thereby meeting the needs in specific scenarios.

[0136] Optionally, the first message received by the forwarding device includes, for example, air interface demodulation reference signal (Demodulation Reference Signal, DMRS) data, and the forwarding strategy is used to instruct to forward the message including the air interface DMRS data to the first baseband unit and the second baseband unit.

[0137] It is understandable that, when the message sent by the antenna radio frequency unit contains DMRS data, the DMRS data in the message is usually used for channel estimation. Since the calculation amount of channel estimation is large, it can be jointly processed by multiple baseband units. Therefore, the forwarding device can forward the message containing DMRS data to the first baseband unit and the second baseband unit for joint processing based on the forwarding strategy.

[0138] For example, see Figure 8 , Figure 8 Another flow chart of uplink message forwarding provided in the embodiment of the present application. Figure 8 As shown, Figure 8 The left side is the uplink frame format of the air interface, in which the PUSCH contains DMRS for demodulation. The DMRS contains several symbols in the time domain and has the same bandwidth as the PUSCH in the frequency domain. Figure 8 In the example, the forwarding device forwards the eCPRI message with the destination address of AddrB and containing DMRS sent by the antenna radio unit 1 to the baseband unit 1 (the destination address is AddrB1) and the baseband unit 3 (the destination address is AddrB3) according to the configured forwarding strategy.

[0139] Specifically, an example of the forwarding policy acquired by the forwarding device may be as follows.

[0140] If (message is of eCPRI type, such as Ethertype=0xAEFE)&&(message source address==AddrR1&&message destination address==AddrB)&&(eCPRI message type is IQ data)&&(physical channel is PUSCH, such as PC_ID==0x11)&&(DMRS reference signal, such as SEQ_ID==0x00):

[0141] Message destination address = AddrB1;

[0142] Copy a message and set the destination address = AddrB3.

[0143] It should be noted that the above embodiment introduces the process of a forwarding device forwarding a message to two baseband units for joint processing. In practical applications, the forwarding device may also forward a message to two or more baseband units for joint processing according to the instructions of the forwarding strategy. This embodiment does not specifically limit the number of baseband units that jointly process the message.

[0144] In addition, in the forwarding strategy exemplified above, in addition to using fixed values ​​to represent the matching conditions, expressions can also be used to represent the matching conditions, and this embodiment does not specifically limit this. Specifically, in the above example, DMRS only occupies one orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol 0. In actual configuration, DMRS can also occupy multiple discontinuous OFDM symbols. Please refer to Fig. 9 , Fig. 9 A schematic diagram of a DMRS occupying multiple OFDM symbols provided in an embodiment of the present application. Fig. 9As shown, symbols 3 and 11 are PUSCH DMRS, so in the forwarding strategy shown above, the last matching condition can be set to (SEQ_ID-3)MOD 8==0, where MOD represents a remainder operation.

[0145] The above describes the process of forwarding uplink and downlink packets based on the forwarding policy of the forwarding device. The following describes the process of configuring the forwarding policy for the forwarding device.

[0146] Specifically, after the forwarding forwarding configuration unit obtains the task scheduling results of multiple baseband units and generates the corresponding forwarding strategy, the forwarding forwarding configuration unit sends a forwarding strategy message to the forwarding device, and the forwarding strategy message includes a table item for indicating the forwarding strategy, and the table item includes a message matching condition and an operation performed on a message that meets the message matching condition. In this way, after the forwarding device receives the forwarding strategy message, it can implement the configuration of the forwarding strategy by parsing the table item in the forwarding strategy message.

[0147] Specifically, the forwarding policy message may include one or more forwarding policy entries. Fig.10 , Fig.10 A schematic diagram of the format of a forwarding strategy message provided in an embodiment of the present application. Fig.10 As shown, taking the forwarding device as a programmable switch as an example, the forwarding configuration unit sends a forwarding strategy message to the programmable switch on the data side, thereby configuring the corresponding forwarding strategy for the programmable switch. Fig.10 The forwarding policy message shown contains a forwarding policy entry. In the forwarding policy entry, Entry ID is used to uniquely identify a forwarding policy entry, Key represents the message matching condition, and Action represents the operation performed on the message that meets the message matching condition.

[0148] It should be noted that the forwarding policy table entry can be directly used as the payload of the Ethernet layer or as the payload of the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) layer, that is, Fig.10 The IP header and UDP header in the forwarding policy message are optional.

[0149] For example, for Figure 5 In the illustrated embodiment, the forwarding policy table items acquired by the forwarding device may be as shown in Table 1.

[0150] Table 1

[0151] Entry ID Key Action 0 eCPRI message + source address AddrB1 + destination address AddrR1 Replace AddrB1 with AddrB 1 eCPRI message + source address AddrB3 + destination address AddrR1 Replace AddrB3 with AddrB

[0152] for Figure 7 In the illustrated embodiment, the forwarding policy table items acquired by the forwarding device may be as shown in Table 2.

[0153] Table 2

[0154]

[0155] for Figure 8 In the illustrated embodiment, the forwarding policy table items acquired by the forwarding device may be as shown in Table 3.

[0156] Table 3

[0157]

[0158] Optionally, in selecting the timing for sending the forwarding policy message, the fronthaul forwarding configuration unit may specifically send the forwarding policy message to the forwarding device in a time period between a first moment and a second moment, wherein the first moment is the moment when the transmission of the message of the first time slot is completed between the baseband unit and the antenna RF unit, and the second moment is the moment when the transmission of the message of the second time slot starts between the baseband unit and the antenna RF unit, and the first time slot and the second time slot are two adjacent air interface time slots.

[0159] That is to say, the forwarding configuration unit sends a forwarding strategy message to the forwarding device at the time interval between the transmission of messages of two adjacent time slots between the baseband unit and the antenna radio frequency unit, so that the forwarding strategy can take effect in the next time slot. Among them, the first time slot can be an uplink air interface time slot or a downlink air interface time slot, and the second time slot can also be an uplink air interface time slot or a downlink air interface time slot, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment.

[0160] Specifically, see Fig.11 , Fig.11 A schematic diagram of sending a forwarding strategy message provided in an embodiment of the present application. Fig.11 As shown, taking a typical time-division duplex (TDD) system as an example, Fig.11 The air interface uplink and downlink time slots and their corresponding eCPRI messages ( Fig.11 Each slot in the byte array contains 14 symbols).

[0161] Generally, each symbol (OFDM symbol) will have a corresponding eCPRI message, which contains all the IQ data of the symbol. Slots are continuous on the air interface, but usually the message transmission time of the downlink slot on the fronthaul interface will be less than the air interface duration. That is, the eCPRI messages transmitted by the same downlink air interface slot on the fronthaul interface are continuous in time; while the eCPRI messages corresponding to different downlink slots on the fronthaul interface are spaced in time. Therefore, after the fronthaul of the eCPRI message corresponding to each downlink slot is completed, there will be a certain time interval before the fronthaul of the eCPRI message corresponding to the next downlink slot begins. Therefore, in the time interval of the forward transmission of the eCPRI messages corresponding to the two downlink slots, the forwarding strategy message can be sent to achieve flexible topology adjustment.

[0162] exist Fig.11 In the example, after the eCPRI message forwarding corresponding to the two downstream slots is completed, the forwarding forwarding strategy unit sends forwarding strategy message 1 and forwarding strategy message 2 to the programmable switch respectively, and both forwarding strategy message 1 and forwarding strategy message 2 can take effect on the next slot. Fig.11 In the example, forwarding policy message 1 can take effect on downlink slot #2, and forwarding policy message 2 can take effect on uplink slot.

[0163] Optionally, the time interval between the moment when the forwarding forwarding configuration unit sends the forwarding policy message to the forwarding device and the second moment is not less than a preset threshold. Since the forwarding device needs a certain amount of time to parse the forwarding policy message and configure the corresponding forwarding policy to take effect after receiving the forwarding policy message, it is necessary to reserve a certain time as the effective time of the forwarding policy message. That is, the sending time of the forwarding policy message and the sending time of the next eCPRI data message maintain a time interval, and the time interval is, for example, not less than 20us.

[0164] For example, assuming Fig.11 The cell topology corresponding to the forwarding strategy message 1 shown is: baseband unit 1, baseband unit 2, antenna radio frequency unit 1 and antenna radio frequency unit 2 constitute cell 1; baseband unit 3, antenna radio frequency unit 3 and antenna radio frequency unit 4 constitute cell 2. That is, baseband unit 1 and baseband unit 2 are responsible for processing the messages of antenna radio frequency unit 1 and antenna radio frequency unit 2, and baseband unit 3 is responsible for processing the messages of antenna radio frequency unit 3 and antenna radio frequency unit 4. Specifically, the cell topology corresponding to the forwarding strategy message 1 is shown in Table 4.

[0165] Table 4

[0166] Antenna RF unit 1 Antenna RF Unit 2 Antenna RF unit 3 Antenna RF unit 4 Baseband unit 1 √ √ Baseband unit 2 √ √ Baseband unit 3 √ √

[0167] Then, for the cell downlink topology shown in Table 4, the following forwarding strategy message settings can be adopted:

[0168] For downlink messages sent by baseband unit 1 and baseband unit 2, the source address of the message is modified to the baseband address corresponding to cell 1;

[0169] For the downlink message sent by baseband unit 3, the source address of the message is modified to the baseband address corresponding to cell 2.

[0170] In addition, assuming Fig.11 The cell topology corresponding to the forwarding strategy message 2 shown is: baseband unit 1 and antenna radio frequency unit 1 constitute cell 1; baseband unit 2, antenna radio frequency unit 2 and antenna radio frequency unit 3 constitute cell 2; baseband unit 3 and antenna radio frequency unit 4 constitute cell 3. Specifically, the cell topology corresponding to the forwarding strategy message 2 is shown in Table 5.

[0171] Table 4

[0172] Antenna RF unit 1 Antenna RF Unit 2 Antenna RF unit 3 Antenna RF unit 4 Baseband unit 1 √ Baseband unit 2 √ √ Baseband unit 3 √

[0173] Then, for the cell uplink topology shown in Table 5, the following forwarding strategy message settings can be used:

[0174] For uplink messages sent by antenna radio unit 1, the destination address of the message is modified to the address of baseband unit 1;

[0175] For uplink messages sent by antenna RF unit 2 and antenna RF unit 3, the destination address of the message is modified to the address of baseband unit 2;

[0176] For the uplink message sent by the antenna radio frequency unit 4, the destination address of the message is modified to the address of the baseband unit 3.

[0177] In general, in this embodiment, after the forwarding of all eCPRI messages corresponding to an air interface slot is completed, a new forwarding strategy message is sent to the forwarding device to adjust the network topology for the next air interface slot, thereby supporting dynamic adjustment of the network topology at the granularity of the slot.

[0178] Optionally, in the process of sending the forwarding policy, the forwarding device receives the forwarding policy sent by the forwarding forwarding configuration unit through the service port, for example, receives the forwarding policy message sent by the forwarding forwarding configuration unit through the service port.

[0179] Generally speaking, a forwarding device is configured with a dedicated management port and multiple service ports. Data packets received from the service port (usually referred to as packets received from the data plane) are usually processed by the forwarding chip in the switch (i.e., the network processor (NPU)). Management packets received from the management port (usually referred to as packets received from the management plane) are usually for device configuration and management, so these management packets are usually processed by the central processing unit (CPU), and the CPU and NPU are connected through the device bus.

[0180] In this embodiment, the forwarding policy is received through the service port, so that the forwarding device can immediately configure the forwarding policy to take effect after receiving the forwarding policy, thereby ensuring that the message after the forwarding policy is issued can be forwarded based on the instructions of the forwarding policy, avoiding the delay uncertainty caused by issuing the forwarding policy from the management plane.

[0181] It should be noted that the above embodiments are illustrated by a simplified network system model, that is, the baseband unit and the antenna RF unit are directly connected to the forwarding device. However, in some practical scenarios, if the number of baseband units and antenna RF units that need to be connected is relatively large, then the limited number of ports on a forwarding device will not be able to support the connection of all baseband units and antenna RF units. Based on this, one or more switches can be introduced into the network system to connect between the forwarding device and the baseband unit or between the forwarding device and the antenna RF unit.

[0182] Exemplarily, the forwarding device is connected to multiple antenna RF units through one or more switches; and / or, the forwarding device is connected to multiple baseband units through one or more switches. In this way, the messages sent by multiple antenna RF units and / or multiple baseband units can be aggregated by the switch before being sent to the forwarding device. The forwarding device does not need to provide multiple ports to multiple antenna RF units or multiple baseband units, but only needs to provide a small number of ports to the switch connecting multiple antenna RF units or multiple baseband units.

[0183] In general, by setting the forwarding device to connect to the baseband unit or antenna RF unit through one or more switches, it can be ensured that the forwarding device can access a larger number of baseband units and antenna RF units, thereby supporting a larger fronthaul network.

[0184] For example, the forwarding device mentioned above is a programmable switch. Fig.12 , Fig.12 This is a schematic diagram of another network system architecture provided in an embodiment of the present application. Fig.12As shown, the programmable switch is connected to multiple baseband units through switch 1 and switch 2, and the programmable switch is connected to multiple antenna RF units through switch 3 and switch 4. Therefore, in order to achieve the connection with the baseband unit and the antenna RF unit, the programmable switch actually only needs to provide four ports to connect switches 1 to 4 respectively. Among them, switch 1 connects baseband unit 1 to baseband unit N; switch 2 connects baseband unit N+1 to baseband unit N+M; switch 3 connects antenna RF unit 1 to antenna RF unit P; switch 4 connects antenna RF unit P+1 to antenna RF unit P+L.

[0185] See also Fig.13 , Fig.13 This is another schematic diagram of the architecture of a network system provided by an embodiment of the present application. If the data rate of the fronthaul interface exceeds the capacity of a programmable switch, multiple programmable switches can be introduced into the network system. Fig.13 As shown, the network system includes two programmable switches, namely programmable switch 1 and programmable switch 2. Programmable switch 1 connects baseband unit 1 to baseband unit N, and antenna radio frequency unit 1 to antenna radio frequency unit P. Programmable switch 2 connects baseband unit N+1 to baseband unit N+M, and antenna radio frequency unit P+1 to antenna radio frequency unit P+L.

[0186] It should be noted that if Fig.12 and Fig.13 As shown, although the network system may include multiple switches or multiple programmable switches, there is only one programmable switch between two connected baseband units and antenna radio frequency units. In addition, each programmable switch needs to be connected to the fronthaul forwarding configuration unit to receive the forwarding strategy issued by the fronthaul forwarding configuration unit.

[0187] The above introduces a network system provided by an embodiment of the present application. The following will introduce a device for implementing the functions of a forwarding device and a fronthaul forwarding configuration unit in the above network system.

[0188] See also Fig.14 , Fig.14 A schematic diagram of a structure of a network device provided in an embodiment of the present application, the network device 1400 can be specifically expressed as the above-mentioned forwarding device or forwarding configuration unit, etc., which is not limited here. Specifically, the network device 1400 includes: a receiver 1401, a transmitter 1402, a processor 1403 and a memory 1404 (wherein the number of processors 1403 in the network device 1400 can be one or more, Fig.14In the example of FIG. 1403 , the processor 1403 may include an application processor 14031 and a communication processor 14032. In some embodiments of the present application, the receiver 1401, the transmitter 1402, the processor 1403 and the memory 1404 may be connected via a bus or other means.

[0189] The memory 1404 may include a read-only memory and a random access memory, and provides instructions and data to the processor 1403. A portion of the memory 1404 may also include a non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM). The memory 1404 stores processor and operation instructions, executable modules or data structures, or subsets thereof, or extended sets thereof, wherein the operation instructions may include various operation instructions for implementing various operations.

[0190] The processor 1403 controls the operation of the network device. In a specific application, the various components of the network device are coupled together through a bus system, wherein the bus system includes not only a data bus but also a power bus, a control bus, and a status signal bus, etc. However, for the sake of clarity, various buses are referred to as bus systems in the figure.

[0191] The method disclosed in the above embodiment of the present application can be applied to the processor 1403, or implemented by the processor 1403. The processor 1403 can be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, each step of the above method can be completed by the hardware integrated logic circuit or software instructions in the processor 1403. The above processor 1403 can be a general processor, a digital signal processor (digital signal processing, DSP), a microprocessor or a microcontroller, and can further include an application specific integrated circuit (application specific integrated circuit, ASIC), a field programmable gate array (field-programmable gate array, FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components. The processor 1403 can implement or execute the methods, steps and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. The general processor can be a microprocessor or the processor can also be any conventional processor, etc. The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiment of the present application can be directly embodied as a hardware decoding processor to execute, or the hardware and software modules in the decoding processor are combined to execute. The software module may be located in a storage medium mature in the art, such as a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, or an electrically erasable programmable memory, a register, etc. The storage medium is located in the memory 1404, and the processor 1403 reads the information in the memory 1404 and completes the steps of the above method in combination with its hardware.

[0192] The receiver 1401 can be used to receive input digital or character information, and generate signal input related to the relevant settings and function control of the network device. The transmitter 1402 can be used to output digital or character information through the first interface; the transmitter 1402 can also be used to send instructions to the disk group through the first interface to modify the data in the disk group; the transmitter 1402 can also include a display device such as a display screen.

[0193] The network device provided in the embodiment of the present application may specifically be a chip, and the chip includes: a processing unit and a communication unit, wherein the processing unit may be, for example, a processor, and the communication unit may be, for example, an input / output interface, a pin or a circuit, etc. The processing unit may execute computer-executable instructions stored in the storage unit so that the chip in the network device executes the rendering method described in the above embodiment. Optionally, the storage unit is a storage unit in the chip, such as a register, a cache, etc. The storage unit may also be a storage unit located outside the chip in the wireless access device end, such as a read-only memory (ROM) or other types of static storage devices that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM), etc.

[0194] See also Fig.15 , Fig.15 A schematic diagram of the structure of a computer-readable storage medium provided in an embodiment of the present application. The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium. In some embodiments, the forwarding device and the forwarding configuration unit involved in the above embodiments can be implemented as computer program instructions encoded in a machine-readable format on a computer-readable storage medium or encoded on other non-transient media or products.

[0195] Fig.15 Schematically illustrates a conceptual partial view of an example computer-readable storage medium including a computer program for executing a computer process on a computing device, arranged in accordance with at least some embodiments presented herein.

[0196] In one embodiment, the computer-readable storage medium 1500 is provided using a signal-bearing medium 1501. The signal-bearing medium 1501 may include one or more program instructions 1502, which, when executed by one or more processors, may provide the functions or partial functions of the forwarding device and the forwarding configuration unit involved in the above embodiments. In addition, Fig.15 Program instructions 1502 in also describe example instructions.

[0197] In some examples, signal bearing medium 1501 may include computer readable medium 1503 such as, but not limited to, a hard drive, a compact disk (CD), a digital video disk (DVD), a digital tape, memory, ROM or RAM, and the like.

[0198] In some embodiments, the signal bearing medium 1501 may include a computer recordable medium 1504, such as, but not limited to, a memory, a read / write (R / W) CD, a R / W DVD, etc. In some embodiments, the signal bearing medium 1501 may include a communication medium 1505, such as, but not limited to, a digital and / or analog communication medium (e.g., a fiber optic cable, a waveguide, a wired communication link, a wireless communication link, etc.). Thus, for example, the signal bearing medium 1501 may be communicated by a wireless form of the communication medium 1505 (e.g., a wireless communication medium complying with the IEEE 802 standard or other transmission protocol).

[0199] The one or more program instructions 1502 may be, for example, computer executable instructions or logic implementation instructions. In some examples, the computing device of the computing device may be configured to provide various operations, functions, or actions in response to the program instructions 1502 communicated to the computing device via one or more of the computer readable medium 1503, the computer recordable medium 1504, and / or the communication medium 1505.

[0200] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented in the form of a computer program product.

[0201] The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present invention is generated in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from a website site, a computer, a server, or a data center by wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) mode to another website site, computer, server, or data center. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that a computer can store or a data storage device such as a server or a data center that includes one or more available media integrated. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a tape), an optical medium (e.g., a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a solid-state drive Solid State Disk (SSD)), etc.

[0202] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0203] In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0204] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed on multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

[0205] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit. The above-mentioned integrated unit may be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional units.

[0206] If the integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application is essentially or the part that contributes to the prior art or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including a number of instructions to enable a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: U disk, mobile hard disk, read-only memory (Read-Only Memory, ROM), random access memory (Random Access Memory, RAM), disk or optical disk and other media that can store program codes.

[0207] As described above, the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, rather than to limit them. Although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments, or make equivalent replacements for some of the technical features therein. However, these modifications or replacements do not deviate the essence of the corresponding technical solutions from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A network system, characterized in that: include: A forwarding device, a plurality of baseband units and a plurality of antenna radio frequency units, wherein the plurality of baseband units and the plurality of antenna radio frequency units are connected to the forwarding device; The forwarding device is used to receive a first message, and in response to the content in the first message matching the forwarding strategy, modify the transmission network layer address of the first message to obtain a modified first message, wherein the first message comes from any one of the multiple baseband units or any one of the multiple antenna radio frequency units, the transmission network layer address is the source address or destination address of the first message, and the forwarding strategy is obtained by the forwarding device before receiving the first message; The forwarding device is further used to forward the modified first message.

2. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that The first message comes from a first baseband unit among the multiple baseband units, and the destination address of the first message is a first antenna radio frequency unit among the multiple antenna radio frequency units; The forwarding device is used to modify the source address of the first message to a first address, obtain the modified first message and forward the modified first message to the first antenna RF unit, wherein the first address is the address of the baseband unit configured in the first antenna RF unit.

3. The system according to claim 2, characterized in that The source address of the first message is the address of the first baseband unit, and the forwarding strategy is used to indicate that the source address of the message whose destination address is the address of the first antenna radio frequency unit and whose source address is the address of the first baseband unit or the address of the second baseband unit is changed to the first address; The first baseband unit and the second baseband unit are baseband units among the multiple baseband units that jointly process downlink messages of the first antenna radio frequency unit.

4. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that The first message comes from a first antenna RF unit among the multiple antenna RF units, and the destination address of the first message is an address of a baseband unit configured in the first antenna RF unit; The forwarding device is used to modify the destination address of the first message to the address of the first baseband unit among the multiple baseband units, obtain the modified first message, and forward the modified first message to the first baseband unit.

5. The system according to claim 4, characterized in that The first message includes data of a first air interface physical channel, and the forwarding strategy is used to instruct to forward the message including the first air interface physical channel data to the first baseband unit.

6. The system according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that: The forwarding device is further used to receive a second message from the first antenna radio frequency unit, the destination address of the second message is the address of the baseband unit configured in the first antenna radio frequency unit, and the second message includes data of a second air interface physical channel; The forwarding device is used to modify the destination address of the second message to the address of the second baseband unit among the multiple baseband units, obtain the modified second message, and forward the modified second message to the second baseband unit; The forwarding strategy is used to instruct to forward the message containing the second air interface physical channel data to the second baseband unit.

7. The system according to claim 4, characterized in that The forwarding device is further configured to generate a third message based on the first message and forward the third message to a second baseband unit among the multiple baseband units, the destination address of the third message is the second baseband unit, and the third message includes the same payload as the first message.

8. The system according to claim 7, characterized in that The first message includes data of an air interface demodulation reference signal DMRS, and the forwarding strategy is used to instruct to forward the message including the air interface DMRS data to the first baseband unit and the second baseband unit.

9. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that: The network system also includes a forward transmission forwarding configuration unit, which is connected to multiple baseband units. The forward transmission forwarding configuration unit is used to send the forwarding strategy to the forwarding device according to the task scheduling results of the multiple baseband units. The task scheduling results are obtained through negotiation by the multiple baseband units, and the task scheduling results are used to indicate the baseband unit that processes the message of each antenna RF unit in the multiple antenna RF units.

10. The system according to claim 9, characterized in that The forwarding configuration unit is used to send a forwarding policy message to the forwarding device, wherein the forwarding policy message includes a table entry indicating the forwarding policy, and the table entry includes a message matching condition and an operation performed on a message that meets the message matching condition.

11. The system according to claim 10, characterized in that The forwarding configuration unit is used to send the forwarding strategy message to the forwarding device within a time period between a first moment and a second moment, wherein the first moment is the moment when the message of the first time slot is transmitted between the baseband unit and the antenna radio frequency unit, and the second moment is the moment when the message of the second time slot starts to be transmitted between the baseband unit and the antenna radio frequency unit, and the first time slot and the second time slot are two adjacent air interface time slots.

12. The system according to any one of claims 9 to 11, characterized in that: The time interval between the moment when the forwarding configuration unit sends the forwarding policy message to the forwarding device and the second moment is greater than a preset threshold.

13. The system according to any one of claims 9 to 12, characterized in that: The forwarding device is used to receive the forwarding policy sent by the forwarding configuration unit through a service port.

14. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that: The forwarding device is connected to the multiple antenna radio frequency units via one or more switches; And / or, the forwarding device is connected to the multiple baseband units via one or more switches.

15. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that: The first message is an evolved common public radio interface eCPRI message.

16. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 15, characterized in that: The forwarding device is a programmable switch.

17. A message forwarding method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a forwarding device, the forwarding device is connected to a plurality of baseband units and a plurality of antenna radio frequency units, and the method comprises: The forwarding device receives a first message, where the first message comes from any one of the multiple baseband units or any one of the multiple antenna RF units; In response to the content in the first message matching the forwarding strategy, the forwarding device modifies the transmission network layer address of the first message to obtain a modified first message, wherein the transmission network layer address is a source address or a destination address of the first message, and the forwarding strategy is obtained by the forwarding device before receiving the first message; The forwarding device forwards the modified first message.

18. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that The first message comes from a first baseband unit among the multiple baseband units, and the destination address of the first message is a first antenna radio frequency unit among the multiple antenna radio frequency units; The forwarding device modifies the transmission network layer address of the first message, including: The forwarding device modifies the source address of the first message to a first address to obtain the modified first message, where the first address is an address of a baseband unit configured in the first antenna radio frequency unit; The forwarding device forwarding the modified first message includes: The forwarding device forwards the modified first message to the first antenna radio frequency unit.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that The source address of the first message is the address of the first baseband unit, and the forwarding strategy is used to indicate that the source address of the message whose destination address is the address of the first antenna radio frequency unit and whose source address is the address of the first baseband unit or the address of the second baseband unit is changed to the first address; The first baseband unit and the second baseband unit are baseband units among the multiple baseband units that jointly process downlink messages of the first antenna radio frequency unit.

20. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that The first message comes from a first antenna RF unit among the multiple antenna RF units, and the destination address of the first message is an address of a baseband unit configured in the first antenna RF unit; The forwarding device modifies the transmission network layer address of the first message, including: The forwarding device modifies the destination address of the first message to the address of the first baseband unit among the multiple baseband units to obtain the modified first message; The forwarding device forwarding the modified first message includes: The forwarding device forwards the modified first message to the first baseband unit.

21. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that The first message includes data of a first air interface physical channel, and the forwarding strategy is used to instruct to forward the message including the first air interface physical channel data to the first baseband unit.

22. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that The method further comprises: The forwarding device generates a third message based on the first message and forwards the third message to a second baseband unit among the multiple baseband units, the destination address of the third message is the second baseband unit, and the third message includes the same payload as the first message.

23. The method according to claim 22, characterized in that The first message includes data of an air interface demodulation reference signal DMRS, and the forwarding strategy is used to instruct to forward the message including the air interface DMRS data to the first baseband unit and the second baseband unit.

24. The method according to any one of claims 17 to 23, characterized in that: The method further comprises: The forwarding device receives a forwarding strategy from a fronthaul forwarding configuration unit, wherein the fronthaul forwarding configuration unit is used to send the forwarding strategy to the forwarding device according to the task scheduling results of the multiple baseband units, the task scheduling results are obtained through negotiation by the multiple baseband units, and the task scheduling results are used to indicate the baseband unit that processes the message of each antenna RF unit among the multiple antenna RF units.

25. A method for issuing a forwarding strategy, characterized in that: The method is applied to a fronthaul forwarding configuration unit, the fronthaul forwarding configuration unit is connected to a plurality of baseband units and a forwarding device, and the method comprises: The fronthaul forwarding configuration unit obtains a task scheduling result, where the task scheduling result is obtained through negotiation by the multiple baseband units, and the task scheduling result is used to indicate a baseband unit that processes a message of each antenna radio frequency unit among multiple antenna radio frequency units connected to the forwarding device; The forwarding configuration unit generates a forwarding strategy based on the task scheduling result and sends the forwarding strategy to the forwarding device, wherein the forwarding strategy is used to instruct the forwarding device how to forward messages from the multiple baseband units and the multiple antenna RF units.

26. The method according to claim 25, characterized in that The sending the forwarding policy to the forwarding device includes: The forwarding configuration unit sends a forwarding policy message to the forwarding device, wherein the forwarding policy message includes a table entry for indicating the forwarding policy, and the table entry includes a message matching condition and an operation performed on a message that meets the message matching condition.

27. The method according to claim 26, characterized in that The forwarding configuration unit sends the forwarding strategy message to the forwarding device within a time period between a first moment and a second moment, wherein the first moment is the moment when the message of the first time slot is transmitted between the baseband unit and the antenna radio frequency unit, and the second moment is the moment when the message of the second time slot starts to be transmitted between the baseband unit and the antenna radio frequency unit, and the first time slot and the second time slot are two adjacent air interface time slots.

28. The method according to claim 27, characterized in that The time interval between the moment when the forwarding configuration unit sends the forwarding policy message to the forwarding device and the second moment is greater than a preset threshold.

29. A network device, characterized in that: The network device comprises a memory and a processor; the memory stores codes, the processor is configured to execute the codes, and when the codes are executed, the network device executes the method according to any one of claims 17 to 24.

30. A network device, characterized in that: The network device comprises a memory and a processor; the memory stores codes, the processor is configured to execute the codes, and when the codes are executed, the network device executes the method according to any one of claims 25 to 28.

31. A computer storage medium, characterized in that The computer storage medium stores instructions, which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to implement the method of any one of claims 17 to 28.

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