Method, device, system, medium and program product for wake-up

By implementing remote wake-up in network devices, using packets sent by management devices to wake up the sleep state of network devices, the residual power consumption problem caused by the inability to power off the main control unit is solved, and the functions of low energy consumption and remote wake-up are realized.

CN119854914APending Publication Date: 2025-04-18HUAWEI TECH CO LTD
View PDF 0 Cites 0 Cited by

Patent Information

Application Number
CN202311354116.0
Authority / Receiving Office
CN · China
Patent Type
Applications(China)
Current Assignee / Owner
Filing Date
2023-10-18
Publication Date
2025-04-18

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

The prior art is difficult to reduce the energy consumption of network equipment while ensuring communication performance, especially when the network equipment is in a sleep state, the main control unit cannot power off, resulting in high residual power consumption.

Method used

By implementing remote wake-up in a network device, the network device in a dormant state is awakened by a packet sent by the management device (such as a magic packet based on WOL standards or a packet contained in a DHCP message), thereby powering up the main control unit and performing a wake-up operation.

Benefits of technology

It effectively reduces the residual power consumption of network devices in the sleep state, and realizes the ability to remotely wake up network devices, avoiding the addition of additional configuration and complexity in the intermediate network.

✦ Generated by Eureka AI based on patent content.

Smart Images

  • Figure CN119854914A_ABST
    Figure CN119854914A_ABST
Patent Text Reader

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a wake-up method and device, a communication system, a computer readable storage medium and a computer program product. In the method, a network device receives a packet for waking up the network device from a management device. The network device is in a dormant state and a master control unit of the network device is powered off. The method further includes, based on the received packet, the network device performing a wake-up of the network device by powering up the master unit. In this way, the problem that the main control unit cannot be dormant when the network equipment is dormant can be solved. In this way, the residual power consumption when the network device is in the dormant state can be significantly reduced. In addition, a dormant state network device whose master unit is powered down may be remotely waken up by a packet for waking up the network device.
Need to check novelty before this filing date? Find Prior Art

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to the field of communications, and more particularly to a method for waking up, an electronic device, a communication system, a computer-readable storage medium, and a computer program product. Background Art

[0002] With the development of communication technology, the performance of communication systems has been significantly improved. At the same time, in order to ensure performance, the energy consumption level of communication systems has also increased accordingly. At present, achieving a compromise between communication performance and energy consumption level or reducing energy consumption level while ensuring communication performance has received attention. For example, sleep modes have been introduced for various electronic devices to reduce the energy consumption level of these electronic devices. During sleep mode, the electronic device can cancel the power supply to some of its components or modules (for example, power off these components), thereby reducing the energy consumption level.

[0003] Taking network equipment (e.g., base stations) as an example, when the network is lightly loaded, the capacity layer cell / network equipment can be put into a dormant state to save energy consumption. However, even if the network equipment enters a dormant state, there may still be some modules or components that continue to consume energy. For this, the dormant state of the equipment can be further optimized to the corresponding wake-up method. Summary of the invention

[0004] Embodiments of the present application provide a method, a device, a communication system, a computer-readable storage medium, and a computer program product for wake-up (eg, remote wake-up).

[0005] In a first aspect of the present disclosure, a method is provided. The execution subject of the method may be a network device, or a chip applied to the network device, or a logic module or software that can realize all or part of the functions of the network device. The following description is taken as an example in which the execution subject is a network device. In the method, the network device receives a packet for waking up the network device from a management device. The network device is in a dormant state and the main control unit of the network device is powered off. The method also includes that, based on the received packet, the network device performs the wake-up of the network device by powering on the main control unit. In this way, the problem that the main control unit cannot be put to sleep when the network device is dormant can be solved. In this way, the residual power consumption when the network device is in a dormant state can be significantly reduced. In addition, a dormant network device whose main control unit is powered off can be remotely awakened by a packet for waking up the network device.

[0006] In some implementations, the above-mentioned packet includes a magic packet based on the Wake-on-LAN (WOL) standard. In this way, a packet with a specific format can be predefined as a packet for waking up a network device. Once a network device in a dormant state receives a packet with the specific format, the network device performs the wake-up.

[0007] In some implementations, the above-mentioned grouping is included in a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) message. In this way, the DHCP protocol network can be reused to implement remote wake-up across the layer 3 (L3) network. The DHCP protocol network is a protocol network used for base station opening. In this way, for remote wake-up of network devices, there is no need to establish a dedicated local area network for network devices and management devices, or to rely on gateway configuration address resolution protocol (ARP) binding, or to enable subnet broadcast functions.

[0008] In some implementations, the packet is included in at least one of the following: an option field of the DHCP message; or a sub-option value field of an operator-specific information option (Option 43) of the DHCP message. In this way, a packet for waking up a network device can be included in the option field of the DHCP message without changing the format of the DHCP message.

[0009] In some implementations, the DHCP message further includes at least one of the following: a media access control (MAC) address of the network device; an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the network device; or an IP address of a DHCP relay between the network device and the management device. In this way, a packet for waking up can be sent to the network device that needs to be woken up through the DHCP network by specifying the corresponding address.

[0010] In some implementations, the packet includes: a key pre-shared between the network device and the wake-up application of the management device. In this way, the packet used for wake-up can be encrypted by using the key, thereby improving communication security.

[0011] In some implementations, the network device is configured to provide a capacity cell, and the method further includes: the network device determines whether the load level of the capacity cell is lower than a threshold level; and based on determining that the load level is lower than the threshold level, the network device switches to the sleep state to power off the main control unit, and keeps the network card module or optical module of the network device in a powered-on state. In this way, the base station providing capacity cell coverage can power off its main control unit in the sleep state to further reduce the residual power in sleep.

[0012] In some implementations, the network device includes at least one of a base station, a radio unit (RU), a distributed unit (DU), or a centralized unit (CU); and / or the management device includes at least one of a DHCP server device, an operation support system (OSS) device, or a cloud service device. In this way, optimized power consumption regulation and remote wake-up methods can be achieved for various communication system architectures.

[0013] In some implementations, the main control unit is a central processing unit (CPU) module. In this way, the network device can power down its CPU module to further reduce residual power consumption.

[0014] In a second aspect of the present disclosure, a method is provided. The execution subject of the method may be a management device (e.g., a network management device) or a core network device, or a chip applied to a management device or a core network device, or a logic module or software that can realize all or part of the functions of a management device or a core network device. The following description is given by taking the execution subject as an example of a management device. In the method, the management device generates a packet for waking up a network device. The network device is in a dormant state and the main control unit of the network device is powered off. The method also includes the management device sending the above-mentioned packet to the network device so that the above-mentioned main control unit is powered on to wake up the network device. In this way, the problem that the main control unit cannot be put to sleep when the network device is dormant can be solved. In this way, the residual power consumption when the network device is in a dormant state can be significantly reduced. In addition, a dormant network device whose main control unit is powered off can be remotely awakened by a packet for waking up the network device.

[0015] In some implementations, the above-mentioned packet includes a magic packet based on the Wake-on-LAN (WOL) standard. In this way, a packet with a specific format can be predefined as a packet for waking up a network device. Once a network device in a dormant state receives a packet with the specific format, the network device performs the wake-up.

[0016] In some implementations, the above-mentioned grouping is included in a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) message. In this way, the DHCP protocol network can be reused to implement remote wake-up across the layer 3 (L3) network. The DHCP protocol network is a protocol network used for base station opening. In this way, for remote wake-up of network devices, there is no need to establish a dedicated local area network for network devices and management devices, or to rely on gateway configuration address resolution protocol (ARP) binding, or to enable subnet broadcast functions.

[0017] In some implementations, the packet is included in at least one of the following: an option field of a DHCP message; or a sub-option field of an operator-specific information option (Option 43) of a DHCP message. In this way, a packet for waking up a network device can be included in the option field of a DHCP message without changing the format of the DHCP message.

[0018] In some implementations, the packet includes: a key pre-shared between the network device and the wake-up application of the management device. In this way, the packet used for wake-up can be encrypted by using the key, thereby improving communication security.

[0019] In some implementations, sending the message of the configuration protocol includes: the wake-up application configured at the management device obtains the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the DHCP relay between the network device and the management device, the IP address of the network device, and the media access control (MAC) address of the network device from the DHCP server device; based on the IP address of the DHCP relay, the IP address of the network device, and the MAC address of the network device, the management device generates a DHCP message including a packet; and the management device sends the DHCP message to the network device via the DHCP relay. In this way, a packet for wake-up can be sent to the network device that needs to be awakened through the DHCP network by specifying the corresponding address.

[0020] In some implementations, the network device includes at least one of a base station, a radio unit (RU), a distributed unit (DU), or a centralized unit (CU); or the management device includes at least one of a DHCP server device, an operation support system (OSS) device, or a cloud service device. In this way, optimized power consumption regulation and remote wake-up methods can be achieved for various communication system architectures.

[0021] In a third aspect of the present disclosure, a communication system is provided, which includes the above-mentioned network device and management device.

[0022] In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, an electronic device is provided. The electronic device may be a part of a server, a chip disposed in the server or the part, or a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the server or the part. In addition, the part of the electronic device may communicate with another part of the electronic device. The electronic device includes: a processor, and a memory storing instructions, wherein when the instructions are executed by the processor, the electronic device executes any method of the first party or the second aspect and its implementation.

[0023] In a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is provided. The computer-readable storage medium stores instructions, which, when executed by an electronic device, cause the electronic device to execute any method of the first or second aspect and implementations thereof.

[0024] In a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, a computer program product is provided, which includes instructions, and when the instructions are executed by an electronic device, the electronic device executes any method of the first or second aspect and implementations thereof.

[0025] It should be understood that the contents described in the summary of the invention are not intended to limit the key or important features of the present disclosure, nor are they intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become easily understood through the following description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] Embodiments of the present disclosure may be further understood by referring to the following drawings.

[0027] Figure 1A An example communication architecture scenario is shown in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented.

[0028] Figure 1B An example communication architecture scenario of interconnecting a network device and a network device management device is shown.

[0029] Figure 1C An example communication architecture scenario of distributedly arranged network devices is shown.

[0030] Figure 1D Yet another example communication architecture scenario of an embodiment for remotely waking up a personal computer is shown.

[0031] Figure 2 A signaling process for remotely waking up a network device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0032] Figure 3A An example of a base station and a network management device interconnected through an L3 network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0033] Figure 3B An example of adding a wake-up application / service in a network management device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0034] Figure 3C An example of waking up a network device through a DHCP protocol network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0035] Figure 4 An example of a DHCP message according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0036] Figure 5A flowchart of a method implemented at a first device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0037] Figure 6 A flowchart of a method implemented at a second device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0038] Figure 7 A simplified block diagram of an example device showing a possible implementation of an embodiment of the present application.

[0039] Figure 8 A simplified block diagram of another example device showing a possible implementation of an embodiment of the present application.

[0040] Fig. 9 A simplified block diagram of another example device showing a possible implementation of the embodiments of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0041] Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Although certain embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the present disclosure can be implemented in various forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments described herein, which are instead provided for a more thorough and complete understanding of the present disclosure. It should be understood that the drawings and embodiments of the present disclosure are only for exemplary purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

[0042] In the description of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the term "including" and similar terms should be understood as open inclusion, that is, "including but not limited to". The term "based on" should be understood as "based at least in part on". The term "one embodiment" or "the embodiment" should be understood as "at least one embodiment". The terms "first", "second", etc. may refer to different or the same objects. Other explicit and implicit definitions may also be included below.

[0043] Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented according to any appropriate communication protocol, including but not limited to cellular communication protocols such as third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), fifth generation (5G) and future communication protocols (for example, sixth generation (6G)), wireless local area network communication protocols such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11, and / or any other protocol currently known or developed in the future.

[0044] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure are applied to communication systems that follow any appropriate communication protocols, such as: universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), long term evolution (LTE) system, wideband code division multiple access system (WCDMA), code division multiple access 2000 system (CDMA2000), time division-synchronization code division multiple access system (TD-SCDMA), frequency division duplex (FDD) system, time division duplex (TDD), fifth generation (5G) system (for example, new radio (NR)) and future communication systems (for example, sixth generation (6G) system), etc.

[0045] For the purpose of illustration, the embodiments of the present disclosure are described below with the 5G communication system in 3GPP as the background. However, it should be understood that the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to the communication system, but can be applied to any communication system with similar problems, such as wireless local area network (WLAN), wired communication system, or other communication systems developed in the future.

[0046] The term "terminal" or "terminal device" used in this disclosure refers to any terminal device that can communicate with network devices or with each other by wire or wirelessly. Terminal devices may sometimes be referred to as user equipment (UE). Terminal devices may be any type of mobile terminal, fixed terminal or portable terminal. Terminal devices may be various wireless communication devices with wireless communication functions. With the rise of Internet of Things (IOT) technology, more and more devices that did not previously have communication functions, such as but not limited to household appliances, vehicles, tools and equipment, service equipment and service facilities, have begun to obtain wireless communication functions by configuring wireless communication units, so that they can access wireless communication networks and accept remote control. Such devices have wireless communication functions because they are configured with wireless communication units, and therefore also fall into the category of wireless communication devices. As an example, the terminal device may include a mobile cellular phone, a cordless phone, a mobile terminal (MT), a mobile station, a mobile device, a wireless terminal, a handheld device, a client, a subscription station, a portable subscription station, an Internet node, a communicator, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, a personal communication system device, a personal navigation device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless data card, a wireless modem (modulator demodulator, Modem), a positioning device, a radio broadcast receiver, an e-book device, a gaming device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a vehicle-mounted device, an aircraft, a virtual reality (VR) device, an augmented reality (AR) device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, etc.), a terminal device in a 5G network or any terminal device in an evolved public land mobile network (PLMN), other devices that can be used for communication, or any combination thereof. The embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to this.

[0047] The term "network node" or "network device" used in the present disclosure is an entity or node that can be used to communicate with a terminal device, for example, it can be an access network device. The access network device can be a device deployed in a wireless access network to provide wireless communication functions for mobile terminals, for example, it can be a radio access network (RAN) network device. The access network device may include various types of base stations. The base station is used to provide wireless access services for terminal devices. Specifically, each base station corresponds to a service coverage area, and the terminal device entering the area can communicate with the base station through wireless signals to receive the wireless access service provided by the base station. There may be overlaps between the service coverage areas of the base stations, and the terminal device in the overlapping area can receive wireless signals from multiple base stations, so that the terminal device can be provided with services by multiple base stations at the same time. Depending on the size of the service coverage area provided, the access network device may include a macro base station providing a macro cell, a micro base station for providing a pico cell, a micro base station for providing a micro cell, and a micro base station for providing a femto cell. In addition, the access network equipment may also include various forms of relay stations, access points, remote radio units (RRU), radioheads (RH), remote radio heads (RRH), etc. In systems using different wireless access technologies, the names of access network equipment may be different, such as evolved NodeB (eNB or eNodeB) in the long term evolution (LTE) network, NodeB (NB) in the 3G network, gNB or NR NB in ​​the 5G network, and so on. In some scenarios, the access network equipment may include a central unit (CU) and / or a distributed unit (DU). The CU and DU can be placed in different places, for example: the DU is remote and placed in an area with high traffic volume, and the CU is placed in a central computer room. Alternatively, the CU and DU can also be placed in the same computer room. The CU and DU can also be different components under one rack. For the convenience of description, in the subsequent embodiments of the present disclosure, the above-mentioned devices providing wireless communication functions for mobile terminals are collectively referred to as network devices, and the embodiments of the present disclosure are no longer specifically limited. It can be understood that all or part of the functions of the network devices in the present application can also be implemented by software functions running on hardware, or by virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (such as a cloud platform).

[0048] As described above, in some cases, even if the network device enters the dormant state, there may still be some modules or components that continue to consume energy. For example, if the number of devices that need to be allocated communication resources within a cell coverage is low, that is, the cell coverage does not need to provide more resources, then the network device (e.g., base station) that provides capacity cells for the cell coverage can switch to the dormant state. However, in the dormant state, the base station still keeps its main control unit (e.g., CPU) powered on so that the base station has the ability to be awakened at any time. In this way, the base station still has a high residual power when it is in dormancy.

[0049] In addition, for a personal computer (PC), the Wake-on-LAN (WOL) technology can be used to wake up a dormant PC. For example, when the PC is dormant, the CPU can be powered off while the network card (NIC) is powered on. In other words, the PC's NIC can still receive information. The WOL technology supports the PC's NIC to wake up the PC after receiving a magic packet, so that the CPU can be powered on. The magic packet is a packet with the following characteristics.

[0050]

[0051] However, the above WOL technology requires a pre-set network environment to transmit magic packets. For example, the magic packet is used to wake up the PC through the local area network (LAN). When waking up across L3 networks, it is necessary to: i) perform ARP binding on the gateway (GW) to avoid the inability to send the magic packet to the destination PC after ARP aging; or, ii) enable the subnet broadcast function on the gateway, which can broadcast the message with the host number field of the target IP address as all 1s in the LAN of the IP address specified network segment; or, iii) the gateway starts the WOL agent, in which the magic packet is first sent to the GW, and the GW then broadcasts it in the LAN.

[0052] In other words, WOL technology for PCs has the following high requirements for the network: the wake-up service and the awakened object are in the same LAN; or, it relies on the gateway to configure ARP binding, which makes operation and maintenance complicated: the network device configuration needs to know the MAC address information of the base station; the awakened object changes the MAC address due to the replacement of the network card, and the network device configuration needs to be adjusted synchronously; or, the intermediate network opens the subnet broadcast function (Subnet directed broadcasts), which makes the opening and maintenance complicated on the one hand, and brings security issues on the other hand (however, traditional networks do not have this capability); or the WOL agent is started on the GW, the magic packet is sent to the GW first, and the GW broadcasts it in the LAN.

[0053] In summary, there are at least the following technical problems in energy-saving operations for network devices and remote wake-up of terminal devices: the base station does not support the sleep of the main control CPU, resulting in high residual power consumption when the base station is in sleep mode; and how to achieve long-distance wake-up across the L3 network.

[0054] In view of the above discussion, an embodiment of the present disclosure proposes a technical solution for waking up. In a method for waking up, a network device receives a packet for waking up the network device from a management device. The network device is in a dormant state and a main control unit of the network device is powered off. Based on receiving the packet for waking up the network device, the network device performs the waking up of the network device by powering on the main control unit.

[0055] In this way, the problem that the main control unit cannot be put into sleep when the network device is in sleep can be solved. In this way, the residual power consumption of the network device in the sleep state can be significantly reduced. In addition, the sleep state network device whose main control unit is powered off can be remotely awakened by the packet used to wake up the network device.

[0056] Figure 1A An example communication architecture scenario 100 is shown in which an embodiment of the present disclosure can be implemented. The method for remote wake-up provided in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to the communication architecture scenario 100. In the communication architecture scenario 100, a network device 110, a management device 120, and a network device 130 are shown. In the present disclosure, the network device 110 and the network device 130 can be various base stations that provide network access for terminal devices, or can be any other device that has the function of providing network access. Additionally, as shown in the figure, at least one of the network device 110 and the network device 130 can be a base station that provides a capacity cell for cell coverage. In addition, Figure 1A A protocol network is also shown, which may be a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) network. The management device 120 may use the DHCP network to start the network device 110 and / or the network device 130 (e.g., initialize or adjust the network device 110 and / or 130). Additionally, the management device 120 may also use the DHCP network to remotely wake up the network device 110 and / or 130 without the need to establish an additional local area network or broadcast in a subnet.

[0057] Figure 1B An example communication architecture scenario of interconnecting a network device and a network device management device is shown. Figure 1B In the present invention, when the network is lightly loaded, the capacity layer cell / base station 110 may enter a dormant state to save energy consumption. Figure 1B The base station 110 in may be Figure 1AHowever, as described above, when the base station 110 is in deep sleep, the baseband unit 140 and the RU unit 150 can enter the power-down energy-saving mode, but the main control CPU 150 cannot be powered off because the base station needs to be able to be awakened at any time. This will result in a high residual power consumption when the base station 110 is in deep sleep.

[0058] Figure 1C An example communication architecture scenario of distributedly arranged network devices is shown. Figure 1C As shown in , the network devices may also be arranged in a distributed manner. Specifically, Figure 1C The scenario of the decomposition network of RU unit, DU unit and CU unit is shown in FIG. In this case, it is also necessary to maintain connection with the management device so that it can be awakened at any time.

[0059] Figure 1D Another example communication architecture scenario for an embodiment of remotely waking up a personal computer is shown. Figure 1D middle,

[0060] The WOL (Wake-on-LAN) technology can be used to remotely wake up a dormant PC. The technical principle is as follows: After enabling WOL, when PC 152 is dormant: the CPU is powered off, the network card (NIC) is not powered off, and the network card can still receive messages. The WOL technology supports the WOL network card to wake up the CPU of PC 152 after receiving the magic packet from the application (APP) 154. As mentioned above, this has the following technical limitations: the magic packet wakes up the PC through the local area network (LAN). When waking up across the L3 network, it is necessary to: i) perform ARP binding on the gateway (GW) to avoid the inability to send the magic packet to the destination PC after ARP aging; or, ii) enable the subnet broadcast function on the gateway, which can broadcast the message with the host number field of the target IP address as all 1s in the local area network of the IP address specified network segment; or, iii) the gateway starts the WOL agent, in which the magic packet is first sent to the GW, and the GW then broadcasts it in the LAN.

[0061] Figure 2 The signaling process 200 for remotely waking up a network device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. For the sake of clarity and without any limitation, the following embodiments will also be combined with Figure 1A Without any limitation, the following embodiments are mainly discussed with respect to the network device 110 and the management device 120 in FIG1 . It should be understood that the following embodiments can also be applied to the network device 130 or any other network device.

[0062] In the signaling process 200, when the management device 120 determines that the network device 110 in the dormant state needs to be awakened, the management device 120 generates (210) a packet for awakening the network device 110. Additionally, the network device 110 in the dormant state powers off the main control unit of the network device 110 to further reduce the residual power consumption in the dormant state. In some embodiments, the main control unit may be a central processing unit (CPU) of the network device 110. In some embodiments, as described above, the network device 110 may be a base station providing a capacity cell. For example, the network device 110 may determine (201) whether the load level of the provided capacity cell is lower than a threshold level. If it is determined that the load level is lower than the threshold level, the network device 110 may switch (205) to the above-mentioned dormant state to power off the main control unit. Additionally, the network device 110 may keep the network card module or optical module of the network device 110 in a powered-on state in order to receive the packet for awakening. In this way, the base station providing the capacity cell may further power off its CPU unit, thereby reducing the residual energy consumption level. Additionally, in some embodiments, the management device 120 may be configured with a wake-up application for waking up the network device. In this case, a key may be pre-shared between the network device 110 and the wake-up application of the management device 120. The packet 225 for waking up the network device may include the key. For example, in the process of generating a packet for waking up the network device 110, the packet 225 for waking up the network device may be encrypted using the shared key. In this way, communication security may be improved.

[0063] Furthermore, the management device 120 sends (220) a packet 225 for waking up the network device to the network device 110 in the sleep state. In some embodiments, the packet 225 for waking up the network device may be a magic packet based on the Wake-on-LAN (WOL) standard. In this way, a packet with a specific format (i.e., a magic packet) may be predefined as a packet for waking up the network device. Once the network device in the sleep state receives the magic packet, the network device 110 performs the wake-up. Additionally, in some embodiments, the packet 225 for waking up the network device may be included in a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) message. In some embodiments, DHCP may include DHCPv6. A specific embodiment of how to include a packet for waking up in a DHCP message and the DHCP message will be described below. Figure 4Further discussion is omitted here. In this way, the wake-up packet can be transmitted across Layer 3 (L3) by reusing the DHCP network without the need to additionally establish a local area network for both or broadcast in the subnet. For the sake of clarity of discussion and without any limitation, the connection between the network device and the management device 120 via the DHCP network is referred to as Figure 3A Have a discussion.

[0064] Figure 3A An example of a base station and a network management device interconnected by an L3 network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 3A In the example, the base station 110 may be Figure 1A The network device 110 and the base station 130 may Figure 1A The network device 130 in the network management device 120 can Figure 1A The management device 120 in FIG. Figure 3A As shown, the network can be a network that complies with the DHCP protocol. Additionally, the network management device 120 can be connected to the base station 130 via the relay 330 and the relay 310 for the DHCP network. The network management device 120 can be connected to the base station 110 via the relay 330 and the relay 320 for the DHCP network. In this way, the base station and the network can communicate across the L3 layer through DHCP messages. In this way, the remote wake-up of the present disclosure has lower requirements for the intermediate network, because base stations generally use DHCP to start the station, and the intermediate network already has DHCP relay capabilities.

[0065] Reference Figure 2 As described above, the network card module or optical module of the network device 110 is still in a powered-on state, so that the network device 110 can receive (230) a packet 225 for waking up the network device from the management device 120. Furthermore, based on receiving the packet 225, the network device 110 performs the wake-up of the network device 110 by powering on the main control unit (240). In some embodiments, the network card module or optical module of the network device 110 can detect that the packet 225 has a specific format. For example, the network device 110 can determine that the packet 225 is a magic packet, and the network device 110 can perform the wake-up of the network device 110 by powering on the central control unit (240). After the network device 110 performs the wake-up operation, the network device 110 can provide (245) a capacity cell to the coverage area to increase the throughput of the coverage area. Additionally or alternatively, the network device 110 can also perform any other communication operations that require processing by the main control unit. Additionally, as described above, in some embodiments, a key may be pre-shared between the network device 110 and the wake-up application of the management device 120. The packet 225 for waking up the network device may include the key to enhance communication confidentiality. Figure 3BHave a discussion.

[0066] Figure 3B An example of adding a wake-up application / service in a network management device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 3B As shown in , the network management device 120 is configured and / or a wake-up application service 360 ​​is added. Additionally, the network management device 120 may include a DHCP server 350. If the base station 110 needs to be woken up, the wake-up application / service 360 ​​of the network management device 120 may obtain the media access control (MAC) address and Internet Protocol (IP) address of the base station (awakened object) 110 from the DHCP server. Additionally, in some embodiments, the wake-up application / service 360 ​​may also obtain the IP address of the DHCP relay 330 and / or 310. Furthermore, based on the obtained MAC address, IP address, and / or IP address of the base station 110, and / or the DHCP relay 330 and / or 310, the wake-up application / service 360 ​​constructs a DHCP message to the base station 110. The DHCP message may include the above-mentioned packet 225 for waking up the network device. In some embodiments, the packet 225 for waking up the network device may be included in the option field of the constructed DHCP message or in the sub-option value field of the operator-specific information option (e.g., option 43). This will be Figure 4 is further discussed in. Furthermore, the DHCP message can be sent to the base station 110 via the relays 330 and 310. Once the network card module 340 of the base station 110 in the dormant state detects that the received DHCP message includes the packet 225, the base station 110 can perform a wake-up by powering on the CPU 130. In this way, a "wake-up APP / service" can be added to the network management device 120, and the wake-up APP / service is responsible for waking up the specified base station by sending a message; additionally, a "wake-up" function is added to the "network card" on the base station 110: after receiving a specific message, the base station main control CPU can be woken up. It should be understood that "network card" refers to all modules that can complete the IP network message sending and receiving functions, and the "network card" can be powered independently of the CPU. Additionally or alternatively, the examples of the above embodiments also refer to Figure 3C Let's discuss further.

[0067] Figure 3C An example of waking up a network device through a DHCP protocol network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 3C In the example, the base station 110 may be Figure 1A The network device 110 in the embodiment of the present invention and the network management device 120 may be Figure 1AIn some embodiments, it is assumed that the base station (or other awakened devices such as RU) 110 has the ability to be awakened by magic packets, and the intermediate network has DHCP relay capabilities. For example, the intermediate network can be a DHCP-compliant network. In some embodiments, the base station 110 enters a deep sleep state. In this sleep state, other devices such as the CPU of the base station 110 are powered off, and only the network card 340 (which can recognize the magic packet module) is powered on. Additionally, the wake-up application / service 350 of the management device 120 can obtain the MAC address, DHCP relay IP address and base station IP address of the base station (awakened object) 110 through the DHCP server 350. Furthermore, the wake-up APP / service 360 ​​can construct a DHCP OFFER / ACK message with a magic packet and send the DHCPOFFER / ACK message to the DHCP relay (Relay). For example, the magic packet is used as the option field of the DHCP message. Additionally, the base station 110 receives the DHCP OFFER / ACK message, and if it is found to meet the magic packet characteristics, the CPU / base station is awakened. Additionally, as described above, the base station 110 and the wake-up APP / service 360 ​​may negotiate a pre-shared key / token before entering sleep mode. In turn, the key / token may be carried in the magic packet to enhance the security of wake-up.

[0068] Reference Figure 2 As described above, the magic packet can be included in the DHCP message as a field of the DHCP message. For the purpose of illustration only, the DHCP message will refer to Figure 4 Let's discuss further. Figure 4 An example of a DHCP message according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0069] like Figure 4 As shown in FIG. 4 , the field giaddr in box 410 may include or represent the IP address of the first DHCP relay, and the destination IP of the wake-up message is the same as the field, which is a DHCP relay close to the wake-up device (for example, Figure 3Bor relay 310 in 3C). The IP address is added by DHCP relay 310 when the DHCP message (e.g., DHCP discover / request in the figure) sent by the DHCP client (i.e., network device 110 or base station 110) to the DHCP server passes through DHCP relay 310. Additionally, the chaddr field in box 410 includes or represents the MAC address of the DHCP client (i.e., network device 110 or base station 110). Additionally, as described above, the magic packet may be included in the option field of the DHCP message; or the sub-option value field of the operator-specific information option (e.g., Option 43) of the DHCP message. As Figure 4 As shown in , the magic packet is part of a sub-option value of Option 43 (Vendor Specific Information Option).

[0070] In summary, the embodiments of the present disclosure utilize the DHCP OFFER / ACK message to carry custom information through the L3 network to reach the characteristics of the specified network device without increasing network requirements. The DHCP OFFER / ACK message carries the wake-up information and an optional pre-shared key. In this way, the wake-up function of the base station (or host) network card can be triggered.

[0071] In this way, when the base station is in deep sleep, it only needs to keep the network card (including optical module) powered on, and the power consumption is lower when in sleep. When the base station is in deep sleep, it has the ability to be awakened remotely at any time. Regarding the network-level energy-saving solution, when the load is low, only the basic coverage cell is retained, and the capacity cell / base station enters deep sleep; when the basic coverage cell detects that the network load has risen above the threshold, the dormant cell / base station can be awakened. Furthermore, remote wake-up has low requirements for the intermediate network. Base stations generally use DHCP to start the station, and the intermediate network already has DHCP relay capabilities.

[0072] Additionally, in some specific examples, the base station may have the ability to be awakened by a magic packet. The wake-up APP / service can construct a DHCP type magic packet and send it to the DHCP relay. The information required to construct the DHCP message (the MAC address of the base station, the DHCP relay IP address, and the base station IP address) supports acquisition through the DHCP server, and can also be obtained through other methods such as pre-configuration and network management. The DHCP relay sends the message to the base station according to the DHCP message forwarding process. The dormant base station detects that the message contains magic packet features, where the MAC is its own MAC address, and then wakes up the base station. Additionally or alternatively, the base station and the wake-up APP / service can negotiate to pre-share a key / token, and add a shared key / token to the magic packet to improve the security of the wake-up. It should be understood that the above description only takes the base station as an example, and the actual awakened device may also be an RU, DU, CU or an integrated base station.

[0073] In this way, in order to solve the problem that "the base station does not support the main control CPU to sleep, resulting in high residual power consumption when the base station is in sleep", the solution of "the base station receives the magic packet to wake up the main control CPU" is adopted to support CPU power-off, so that when the base station is in sleep, only the network card and optical module consume power, and the residual power consumption is low. In order to solve the problem that "there are technical limitations for waking up through the network", the method of "the wake-up APP / service constructs a DHCP OFFER / ACK with a magic message and sends it to the DHCP relay, which forwards it to the base station" is adopted, and remote wake-up across the L3 network can be achieved without modifying the network configuration.

[0074] Figure 5 A flowchart 500 of a method implemented at a network device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. In one possible implementation, the method 500 may be implemented by the network device 110 in the example environment 100. In other possible implementations, the method 500 may also be implemented by other electronic devices independent of the example environment 100. As an example, the method 500 will be described below by taking the method 500 implemented by the network device 110 in the example environment 100 as an example.

[0075] At 510, the network device 110 receives a packet for waking up the network device from the management device 120. The network device 110 is in a dormant state and the main control unit of the network device is powered off. At 520, based on the received packet, the network device 110 performs the waking up of the network device by powering on the main control unit.

[0076] In some embodiments, the packet includes a magic packet based on the Wake-on-LAN (WOL) standard.

[0077] In some embodiments, the above grouping is included in a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) message. In some embodiments, the above grouping is included in at least one of the following: an Option field of the above DHCP message; or a sub-option value field of an operator-specific information option (Option 43) of the above DHCP message.

[0078] In some embodiments, the DHCP message further includes at least one of the following: a media access control (MAC) address of the network device; an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the network device; or an IP address of a DHCP relay between the network device and the management device.

[0079] In some embodiments, the packet includes: a key pre-shared between the network device and the wake-up application of the management device.

[0080] In some embodiments, the network device is configured to provide a capacity cell, and the method further includes: the network device determines whether the load level of the capacity cell is lower than a threshold level; and based on determining that the load level is lower than the threshold level, the network device switches to the sleep state to power off the main control unit, and keeps the network card module or optical module of the network device in a powered-on state.

[0081] In some embodiments, the network device includes at least one of a base station, a radio unit (RU), a distributed unit (DU), or a centralized unit (CU); and / or the management device includes at least one of a DHCP server device, an operation support system (OSS) device, or a cloud service device. In some embodiments, the main control unit is a central processing unit (CPU) module.

[0082] Figure 6 A flowchart 600 of a method implemented at a management device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. In one possible implementation, the method 600 may be implemented by the management device 120 in the example environment 100. In other possible implementations, the method 600 may also be implemented by other electronic devices independent of the example environment 100. As an example, the method 600 will be described below by taking the method 600 implemented by the management device 120 in the example environment 100 as an example.

[0083] At 610, the management device 120 generates a packet for waking up the network device 110. The network device 110 is in a dormant state and the main control unit of the network device is powered off. At 620, in some implementations, the packet includes a magic packet based on the Wake-on-LAN (WOL) standard.

[0084] In some embodiments, the above grouping is included in a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) message. In some embodiments, the above grouping is included in at least one of the following: an option field of a DHCP message; or a sub-option field of an operator-specific information option (Option 43) of a DHCP message.

[0085] In some embodiments, the packet includes: a key pre-shared between the network device and the wake-up application of the management device.

[0086] In some embodiments, sending the message of the configuration protocol includes: a wake-up application configured at a management device obtains an Internet Protocol (IP) address of a DHCP relay between a network device and the management device, an IP address of the network device, and a media access control (MAC) address of the network device from a DHCP server device; based on the IP address of the DHCP relay, the IP address of the network device, and the MAC address of the network device, the management device generates a DHCP message including a packet; and the management device sends the DHCP message to the network device via the DHCP relay. In this way,

[0087] In some embodiments, the above-mentioned network device includes at least one of a base station, a radio unit (RU), a distributed unit (DU), or a centralized unit (CU); or the above-mentioned management device includes at least one of a DHCP server device, an operation support system (OSS) device, or a cloud service device.

[0088] Figure 7 and Figure 8 The following is a schematic diagram of the structure of possible communication devices provided in the embodiments of the present application. These communication devices can implement the functions of the sensing device or the server device in the above method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects of the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of the present application, the communication device can be as follows: Figure 1A Any network element device or terminal device shown may also be a module (such as a chip) applied to the device.

[0089] like Figure 7 As shown, the communication device 700 includes a transceiver module 701 and a processing module 702. The communication device 700 is used to implement the above-mentioned FIG. Figure 6 The functions of the first device, the second device, the third device and the fourth device in the embodiment shown.

[0090] like Figure 8The communication device 800 includes a processor 810 and an interface circuit 820. The processor 810 and the interface circuit 820 are coupled to each other. It is understood that the interface circuit 820 can be a transceiver or an input-output interface. Optionally, the communication device 800 may also include a memory 830 for storing instructions executed by the processor 810 or storing input data required by the processor 810 to execute instructions or storing data generated after the processor 810 executes instructions.

[0091] When the communication device 800 is used to implement the method in the above method embodiment, the processor 810 is used to execute the function of the above processing module 702, and the interface circuit 820 is used to execute the function of the above transceiver module 1701.

[0092] When the above communication device is a chip applied to a terminal device, the terminal device chip implements the functions of the terminal device in the above method embodiment. The terminal device chip receives information from other modules in the terminal device (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the network device to the terminal device; or the terminal device chip sends information to other modules in the terminal device (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the terminal device to the network device.

[0093] When the above communication device is a chip applied to a network device, the network device chip implements the function of the network device in the above method embodiment. The network device chip receives information from other modules in the network device (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the terminal device to the network device; or the network device chip sends information to other modules in the network device (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the network device to the terminal device.

[0094] It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0095] When the device in the embodiment of the present application is a network device (for example, a server device), the device can be as follows: Fig. 9The device may include one or more radio frequency units, such as a remote radio unit (RRU) 910 and one or more baseband units (BBU) (also referred to as digital units, digital units, DU) 920. The RRU 910 may be referred to as a transceiver module, which may include a transmitting module and a receiving module, or the transceiver module may be a module capable of transmitting and receiving functions. The transceiver module may be connected to Figure 7 The RRU 910 corresponds to the transceiver module 701 in the base station, that is, the actions performed by the transceiver module 701 can be performed. Optionally, the transceiver module can also be called a transceiver, a transceiver circuit, or a transceiver, etc., which may include at least one antenna 911 and a radio frequency unit 912. The RRU 910 part is mainly used for receiving and transmitting radio frequency signals and converting radio frequency signals into baseband signals. The BBU 910 part is mainly used for baseband processing, controlling the base station, etc. The RRU 910 and the BBU 920 can be physically set together or physically separated, that is, a distributed base station.

[0096] The BBU 920 is the control center of the base station, which can also be called a processing module. Figure 7 The processing module 702 in the embodiment corresponds to the processing module 702, which is mainly used to complete baseband processing functions, such as channel coding, multiplexing, modulation, spread spectrum, etc. In addition, the processing module can perform the actions performed by the processing module 1702. For example, the BBU (processing module) can be used to control the base station to execute the operation flow of the network device in the above method embodiment.

[0097] In one example, the BBU 920 may be composed of one or more single boards, and the multiple single boards may jointly support a wireless access network of a single access standard (such as an LTE network), or may respectively support wireless access networks of different access standards (such as an LTE network, a 5G network, or other networks). The BBU 920 also includes a memory 921 and a processor 922. The memory 921 is used to store necessary instructions and data. The processor 922 is used to control the base station to perform necessary actions, such as controlling the base station to execute the operation process of the network device in the above method embodiment. The memory 921 and the processor 922 can serve one or more single boards. In other words, a memory and a processor can be separately set on each single board. It is also possible that multiple single boards share the same memory and processor. In addition, necessary circuits can also be set on each single board.

[0098] The present application embodiment provides a communication system. The communication system may include the above Figures 2 to 8 Optionally, the network management device in the communication system may execute Figures 2 to 8Any of the communication methods shown in .

[0099] The present application also provides a circuit that can be coupled to a memory and can be used to execute a process related to a terminal device or a network device in any of the above method embodiments. The chip system may include the chip and other components such as a memory or a transceiver.

[0100] It should be understood that the processor mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a CPU, or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may also be any conventional processor, etc.

[0101] It should also be understood that the memory mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (doubledatarate SDRAM, DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (enhanced SDRAM, ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (synchlink DRAM, SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

[0102] It should be noted that when the processor is a general-purpose processor, DSP, ASIC, FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware component, the memory (storage module) is integrated in the processor.

[0103] It should be noted that the memory described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0104] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, the size of the serial numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0105] Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the modules and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

[0106] 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 modules described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0107] In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed communication methods and devices can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of the module is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation, such as multiple modules 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.

[0108] The modules described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components shown as modules may or may not be physical modules, 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.

[0109] In addition, each functional module in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing module, or each module may exist physically separately, or two or more modules may be integrated into one module.

[0110] If the function is implemented in the form of a software function module 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 can be essentially or the part that makes the contribution or the 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 several instructions for 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 in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example but not limitation, computer-readable media may include random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), universal serial bus flash disk, mobile hard disk, or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer.

[0111] As used herein, the term "including" and similar terms should be understood as open inclusion, i.e., "including but not limited to". The term "based on" should be understood as "based at least in part on". The term "one embodiment" or "the embodiment" should be understood as "at least one embodiment". The terms "first", "second", etc. can refer to different or identical objects, and are only used to distinguish the objects referred to, without implying a specific spatial order, temporal order, order of importance, etc. of the objects referred to. In some embodiments, values, processes, selected items, determined items, equipment, devices, means, components, assemblies, etc. are referred to as "best", "lowest", "highest", "minimum", "maximum", etc. It should be understood that such descriptions are intended to indicate that a selection can be made among many available functional options, and such selections do not need to be better, lower, higher, smaller, larger or otherwise preferred than other options in other aspects or all aspects. As used herein, the term "determine" can cover a variety of actions. For example, "determine" can include calculation, calculation, processing, export, investigation, search (e.g., search in a table, database or another data structure), ascertainment, etc. Additionally, "determining" may include receiving (eg, receiving information), accessing (eg, accessing data in a memory), etc. Furthermore, "determining" may include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, etc.

[0112] The above is only a specific implementation of the present application, but the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application is not limited thereto. Any technician familiar with the technical field can easily think of changes or replacements within the technical scope disclosed in the embodiments of the present application, which should be included in the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application shall be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method comprising: At a network device, receiving a packet for waking up the network device from a management device, wherein the network device is in a dormant state and a main control unit of the network device is powered off; as well as Based on receiving the packet, waking up the network device is performed by powering on the main control unit.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the packet comprises a magic packet based on a Wake-on-LAN (WOL) standard.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the packet is included in a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) message.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the grouping is included in at least one of the following: The Option field of the DHCP message; or The sub-option value field of the operator specific information option (Option 43) of the DHCP message.

5. The method according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the DHCP message further comprises at least one of the following: a media access control (MAC) address of the network device; the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the network device; or The IP address of the DHCP relay between the network device and the management device.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the grouping comprises: A key pre-shared between the network device and the wake-up application of the management device.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the network device is configured to provide a capacity cell, and wherein the method further comprises: determining whether a load level of the capacity cell is below a threshold level; as well as Based on determining that the load level is lower than a threshold level, the network device is switched to the sleep state to power off the main control unit, and a network card module or an optical module of the network device is kept powered on.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein at least one of the following: The network device comprises at least one of a base station, a radio unit (RU), a distributed unit (DU), or a centralized unit (CU); or The management device includes at least one of a DHCP server device, an operations support system (OSS) device, or a cloud service device.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the main control unit is a central processing unit (CPU) module.

10. A method comprising: At a management device, generating a packet for waking up a network device, wherein the network device is in a dormant state and a main control unit of the network device is powered off; as well as The packet is sent to the network device so that the main control unit is powered on to wake up the network device.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the packet comprises a magic packet based on a Wake-on-LAN (WOL) standard.

12. The method of claim 10 or 11, wherein the packet is included in a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) message.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the grouping is comprised of at least one of: The Option field of the DHCP message; or The sub-option field of the operator specific information option (Option 43) of the DHCP message.

14. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 13, wherein the grouping comprises: A key pre-shared between the network device and the wake-up application of the management device.

15. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 14, wherein sending the message of the configuration protocol comprises: The wake-up application configured at the management device obtains an Internet Protocol (IP) address of a DHCP relay between the network device and the management device, an IP address of the network device, and a Media Access Control (MAC) address of the network device from a DHCP server device; generating a DHCP message including the packet based on the IP address of the DHCP relay, the IP address of the network device, and the MAC address of the network device; as well as The DHCP message is sent to the network device via the DHCP relay.

16. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 15, wherein at least one of the following: The network device comprises at least one of a base station, a radio unit (RU), a distributed unit (DU), or a centralized unit (CU); or The management device includes at least one of a DHCP server device, an operation support system (OSS) device, or a cloud service device.

17. A communication system, comprising at least one of a network device and a management device, the network device being configured to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, and the management device being configured to execute the method according to any one of claims 10 to 16.

18. An electronic device, comprising a processor and a memory storing instructions, wherein when the instructions are executed by the processor, the electronic device executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 or claims 10 to 16.

19. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, which, when executed by an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 or claims 10 to 16.

20. A computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed by an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 or claims 10 to 16.